Aristotle Alviso https://aristotlealviso.com/blog/ Writing by Aristotle "Ace" Alviso: devotionals, and what I wrestled with, what God showed me, what I built and what happened. en-us https://aristotlealviso.com/assets/headshot-square.jpg Aristotle Alviso https://aristotlealviso.com/blog/ Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT The safest place I know https://aristotlealviso.com/blog/the-safest-place-i-know/ https://aristotlealviso.com/blog/the-safest-place-i-know/ Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Aristotle Alviso What God showed me A friend asked me to picture the safest place I know. What came up first wasn't analysis. It was gratitude. A friend asked me to picture the safest place I know. What came up first wasn't analysis. It was gratitude.

A worshipper seen from behind in a dark sanctuary, arms raised toward a glowing screen. Text: Picture the safest place you know. A real place.

A friend asked me this week to picture the safest place I know. A real place.

I landed in a sanctuary in Metairie on a Sunday night with the lights down low. And what came up first wasn't analysis. It was gratitude.

A wooden cross lit gold on the wall of a dark sanctuary during Sunday night worship. Text: The safest place I know. Sunday night, lights down, worship going.

So I sat with that.

I'm grateful the room is safe, and I'm grateful I can see why. It isn't the walls. It's what fills them. Pastors who are hungry for the presence of God. People who are hungry too. Nobody performing, nobody watching you. Everyone looking at Him.

That's Jehovah Shammah: the Lord is there. Loneliness answered by Presence. When His presence is cultivated in a room, the room becomes safe, and I'm free in it. Cry, dance, kneel, lie flat. However I need to meet Him, I can. What a gift to have a place like that.

And underneath it all is the gratitude I keep coming back to: God is real. He knows me, He wants to know me, and He speaks. His promises are yes and amen. His mercy endures forever.

I'm grateful I'm not wasting my life on a dead religion. I get to know the one true God, and I get to know Jesus Christ.

A worshipper with both arms raised in a dark room. Text: Grateful, for a room where I'm free to meet Him.

This week: picture your safest place. Then name the people who made it safe, and thank them. Then thank Him.

Photos: Victory Church

]]> Three builds in two weeks https://aristotlealviso.com/blog/three-builds-in-two-weeks/ https://aristotlealviso.com/blog/three-builds-in-two-weeks/ Sat, 03 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Aristotle Alviso What I built I'm not technical. I just like to tinker, and AI is letting me ship things I couldn't build a few years ago. I'm not technical. I just like to tinker, and AI is letting me ship things I couldn't build a few years ago.

I've always liked to tinker, but I'm not technical. A few years ago, none of this was possible for me.

In the past two weeks I've built three things with Claude Code.

AI-assisted reel. The app screens are real; the scenes are generated.

  1. A system for the admin side of my civilian job. First, I had Claude audit two months of my email. About 75% needed nothing from me. Now it writes my morning brief, flags what actually needs me, and tracks the one-on-ones with my team that used to slip. It even builds my weekly team huddle deck and other documents without me opening PowerPoint or Word. Nothing goes out until I approve it.

  2. A scoring app for an Army Reserve best squad competition. It replaces paper scoresheets and a 40-tab spreadsheet. Graders score on their phones, even without signal, and every change is logged.

  3. A field app for a staff ride I'm leading on the Battle of New Orleans. It shows each person's live location on the battlefield. At each stand, groups commit to a decision before the app reveals what actually happened. Their inputs export to me for the after action review and EXSUM.

All three are live. Neither app has been used at its event yet.

I haven't figured this out. I burned most of a month's AI budget on day one. But if you like to tinker, the gap between an idea and a working tool is smaller than ever.

God gave me a curious mind. I'm trying to put it to good use.

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