Essays on Work
Harvey has spent more than two decades writing software — startups, large organizations, daily contract work — and most of these essays come from that desk. Work is the reality these essays are set against. Is it a calling or just provision? Can it be both? What happens when AI can't save you and neither can your reputation? These are the questions of someone still showing up to a job while asking what it's for.
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Transcendence as Self-Annihilation
God chose a human body twice—at His incarnation, and at His resurrection. Having lived and died as a man, Jesus also rose from the dead as a man. The glorified human body of Jesus Christ, a prototype for all who will follow Him in resurrection, has no distance whatsoever from anything that is good.
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On Taking the Next Step
Each next step is not a referendum on my value as a person but an avenue for growth. I am one small person among many, so my next choice, no matter how earth-shattering it may seem to me, is relatively unserious.
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Noticers, Rememberers, and Storytellers
Our busyness, which we may think marks our importance, might actually be a travesty if the reason we are here is to notice all the details of living—to feel, hear, taste, and see the truth of being alive.
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Turning the Corner
I want my work to be my salvation—spiritual, physical, relational. Though I know that 'godliness with contentment is great gain,' I have a lust for more.
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Brilliant Minds Chasing Ancient Demons
We dismiss the Living God as primitive while we chase the ancient spirits worshiped by primitive man.
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Why Buy a Car to Work a Job?
My daughter asked, "Why do I have to buy a car to get a job I will have to work to keep the car?" Beneath her question was a deeper one: What's the point of all the commotion that fills our days?
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When AI Can't Save You
Sometimes, it's OK to quit. My self-worth is not at stake here. God values me non-economically, apart from my work. He wants my heart, not my effort.
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Strategy as Control
I cannot earn through strategic thinking what is only a gift of grace. If I ever truly love my daily work, it will be the result of something God does in me.
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Ministry and Money Pressure
By pushing to create an income from something meant to nurture spiritual growth and detachment from worldly concerns, the whole enterprise would be perverted. What was meant to support life would stunt it.
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Oatmilk and Ordinary Faithfulness
I will not wear work as armor, but see it as a means to a larger end.
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No Blueprint
Not a blueprint. Not a map. Faith, and the next step. That will be enough.
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What Rain Taught Me About Work
The work itself needn't be delightful when its results are.
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Choosing Faithfulness over Anxiety
Am I taking a wrong turn? Do I just keep showing up to everything I feel God is leading me towards and not worry? That's the right thing to do.
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How to Get More Creative Work Done in a Day
Productivity is hard, but the facts are simple. Every one of us has 24 hours available each day. Whether we realize it or not, we allocate those hours to the activities we value most. So perhaps when we say we need more time, we aren't discussing time at all.
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Choose Action Over Analysis
When an idea catches our attention, we ask, "Am I ready to apply this idea if it proves valuable?" If the answer is "No." we move on to other things without regret.
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Your Business Is Better, But for Whom?
People are not alike. At least not in the way most of us believe. During the 2020 presidential election, pundits endlessly discussed the Latino vote, Black vote, College-educated White vote, and the Evangelical vote. Too late, it seems, everyone has discovered there is no such thing as a monolithic vote by everyone who looks similar—even when that similarity is profound.
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Stop Coding Under Stress: Avoiding Bugs & Catastrophes
Programmers and web developers spend most of their time sitting and thinking. How can that be stressful?
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What a Failed Startup Taught Me
Vulnerability and learning from failure. What startup collapse taught me about resilience and growth.