findingalexius-blog

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Christ the King by Theophilia on DeviantArt

The Lord sits as King for ever. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

How worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and divinity, and wisdom and strength and honor. To him belong glory and power forever and ever.

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MEEKNESS

Meekness isn’t weakness, dammit. It’s strength with restraint. DOn’t look at the dictionary entry, it’s bosch. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness does not cause harm. Meekness is also anger management.

I am raging against the general misunderstanding of meekness. It frustrates me, because meekness is actually a good thing- not some timid blushing-Jesus bullcrap. Jesus meek and effing mild, I can’t even. Jesus meek and mild who wrecked house with the money changers in the Gospel of Mark? No way. God is both meek and dangerous. Righteous anger can be well-managed.

Read Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft, a badass catholic philosopher. He is my source.

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this is everything i ever wanted from catholic tumblr culture. 

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_1oboaQmQA)

“The Church needs to get with the times!”

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Letter of St. Thomas Aquinas to Brother John on How to Study

Because you have asked me, my brother John, most dear to me in Christ, how to set about acquiring the treasure of knowledge, this is the advice I pass on to you: That you should choose to enter by the small rivers, and not go right away into the sea, because you should move from easy things to difficult things.

Such is therefore my advice on your way of life:

I suggest you be slow to speak, and slow to go to the room where people chat.

Embrace purity of conscience; do not stop making time for prayer.

Love to be in your room frequently, if you wish to be led to the wine cellar.

Show yourself to be likable to all, or at least try; but do not show yourself as too familiar with anyone; because too much familiarity breeds contempt, and will slow you in your studies; and don’t get involved in any way in the deeds and words of worldly people.

Above all, avoid idle conversation; do not forget to follow the steps of holy and approved men.

Never mind who says what, but commit to memory what is said that is true.

Work to understand what you read, and make yourself sure of doubtful points.

Put whatever you can into the cupboard of your mind as if you were trying to fill a cup.

“Seek not the things that are higher than you.”

Follow the steps of blessed Dominic, who produced useful and marvelous shoots, flowers and fruits in the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts for as long as life was his companion. If you follow these things, you will attain whatever you desire.

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for a second i thought someone was trolling and put nicholas cage behind the map. now, i’m halfway relieved it isn’t that and halfway horrified that it could have been nicholas cage. 

A map of the North America, featuring a part of the face of the Head of State or Governors of that district.

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I can’t not be a part of this. 

Reblog If You Can Take Off Your Bra Without Taking Your Shirt Off.

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my heart is absolutely ripped open. 

How sad is this? People know that women regret their abortions and they still don’t care.

Abortion regret is real, and a natural feeling for someone that has just ended the life of their child.

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Most Popular of Tags*: Motivation and Discipline

General Posts:

Getting (Re-)Motivated About Your Story

Using Momentum: How a Secondary Project Can Help With Productivity

(I seem to only have two of these posts in the tag)

Q&A:

Learn the cause of your writers block so you can actually work to address it.

Actually writing that story instead of staring at a blank paper or getting distracted is also greatly helped by finding a cause.

So much time, so much planning, yet so little productivity.

Quick Tips:

Writing routines should be customized to your life.

Have the necessary info about a scene but not 100% sure how to write it? Just move on and go back later.

If you’re serious about meeting writing goals, then waiting around for “the right time” to write is too passive for regular productivity.

*Popularity reflects note count and is current as of January 2019.

Check out my Motivation and Discipline tag for more, or the general Tag List for the variety of what the blog has to offer.  Also taking donations via Venmo Username: JustAWritingAid.

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let’s say it again for the folks in the back. God loves you and the Church needs you. No exceptions. No backsies. 

Does the Catholic Church reject transsexual individuals?

The Church doesn’t reject any individuals. People with gender dysphoria are people who need grace and charity like any other people. They are broken by a fallen world, as is everyone. Like everyone, they are called to change their lives to conform to God’s plan for them. And like everyone, that means taking up their Cross every day.

The big Christan story is the same for everyone. It’s the details that change for each person. God offers salvation to everyone. The only person who can’t be saved is the one who rejects the offer of salvation–perhaps because he denies the need to be saved, or because he likes to think his sins so great they can’t be forgiven, or because he likes the sin itself. Those with gender dysphoria aren’t rejected by God or the Church, because nobody is.

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...i genuinely had no idea that these things weren’t normal... i thought everyone did them, maybe not as often as me but enough.  

Super Subtle Autism

“I never would’ve guessed that you’re autistic!”

Good. My plan is working.

But do you remember how I keep asking if we can move to the quieter part of the room? It’s so that I have a snowballs chance in hell of understanding what you’re saying so I can engage in our conversation.

Remember how I have formulas for everyday things like food and what I wear and what books I read? It’s because I only have a limited number of cognisant decisions I can make each day and would rather not waste them on repetitive factors.

Remember how when we go shopping I’m good for like an hour before I seem really out of it? I’m over stimulated by the sounds and colours and choices.

Remember how I tend to mimick someone’s accent when I speak to them? It’s this really neat superpower called echolalia!

I admit that these are the somewhat more “normal” mannerisms that can fall under the category of autism, and that makes my life a LOT simpler than a lot of other autistic people. I guess it also helps that studying the way people tick and culture is one of my hyper fixations. Because of this I’ve gotten really good at asking for what I need in a subtle, even normal way that doesn’t bring much attention to myself. But knowing that I’m on the spectrum (even if it is the less intense end of it) has helped me to understand myself, and it has made me less frustrated about life in general.

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What did we learn?

As the 2020 presidential election begins to rev up again, there is a single question haunting all of us: what can we learn from the election of President Trump? Whether you agree with what he says or not, there is something valuable to be gleaned in his rise to power and shell-shocking victory.               Perhaps the first thing we can learn is that his victory wasn’t shell shocking.            

Most major news sources are still based in major cities. Their sources and attention is on the places they are, and where political power seems to collect. Many were watching and reporting on the political buzz of urban environments, while downplaying rural votes. It is easy to see how a rural upsurge came as a surprise to a media source so focused on urban happenings.

But, Trump did not tap into the rich urbanites that spawned him. He (perhaps accidentally) tapped into the white, rural masses of America – the people who seem most distant from playboy millionaire New Yorker. In an ironic turn of events, Trump is the Bill Clinton of white conservative America. President Trump has a distinctly unpolished way of addressing topics. He does not use complex language or take nuanced stances. When he speaks extemporaneously, his words are clear and his rhetoric powerful to those desperate for someone to validate their opinions about the nation. These everyday Americans saw themselves reflected in his irreverent relationship to the political machines which so readily ignored the importance of their vote. In politics as in art, representation matters.

Still, these facts have been mulled over by political theorists and activists alike. What did the election teach us about Democrats? Well, there’s a lot to say there as well.

First: Democrats were angry. Nay, they were furious. The moment that seats were up to election in midterms, hundreds of minorities flooded the playing field to form a diverse canvas of candidates. It was part gut reaction to the identity politics presented by President Trump, and part active efforts by the Democratic Party after the 2016 loss.

Next: Liberal candidates also learned that some bending may be necessary. The Democratic Party is inherently different from the Republican Party in its heterogenous nature. It is easy to be incredibly conservative because the base is largely homogenous. It is more difficult to be very liberal, because there is such a large gradation of democratic ideology exists. While candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallied against ICE in the primaries, they had to come back towards center to win whole states. AOC was further whipped into position when she became Congresswoman, and fell into line behind Nancy Pelosi.

Finally: the Democratic Party cannot run on an anti-Trump platform, but it can run on policy. There simply aren’t enough radical liberals in the nation to win over districts with a solely anti-Trump campaign – there certainly isn’t enough support to carry Senators. On the other hand, there are enough people who like common sense government to support policies to overturn the House of Representatives.

Not all members of the new class of Democratic candidates got all of these parts. It is still too soon to see who will evolve into what. But one thing is clear: they are united in their zeal. It has only been two years of Republican control, and the DNC is thoroughly tired of the situation. What remains is to see whether the public will fall into line with these intentions of running on common sense policies.

That’s the final piece of this puzzle: the American public is still seething. Many Americans are infuriated by the actions of President Trump. His national approval is incredibly low, especially in the wake of the nation’s longest ever shutdown - which he abandoned without the key campaign promise that he began the shutdown for. The players on the DNC have learned to fall in line, as demonstrated in AOC’s willingness to play nice in the sandbox. The strategy is to run and govern on policy not drama. But even the best laid plans can be destroyed by the tsunami of public opinion.  

Only time will tell whether the American public will get the message – whether they will go high as Michelle Obama suggested, or go low as the current political climate lures. All we can do is wait with baited breath, as the next presidential election begins to unfold.

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Okay, woah woah woah. Let’s all take a deep breath. There are a lot of emotions flying around, so let’s wade into the nitty-gritty of this with compassion and civility - never once has shouting helped someone understand, especially not on the internet. 

Something troubling in the OP which was touched on in the following replies was the idea that we shouldn’t vote with our conscience. This is something unusual among Americans, but let’s remember that the OP began with the label of “unpopular opinion”. One of the ideas that America was founded on is that people should be able to vote for who and what they agree with - now isn’t a great time to abandon that. 

But there is reason to consider how your conscience influences those around you. 

When men chose to vote for Trump, they also (perhaps accidentally) threw women of all stripes under the bus, by supporting a man who openly disregards the God-given dignity of women. When white people chose to vote for Trump, they also (again, perhaps unthinkingly) threw people of color under the bus, by supporting a man who frequently spoke with animosity towards people of color and incited violence. So no, there’s no reason to not vote with your conscious. But there is every reason to consider what ways your conscious might be limited by your privilege - something everyone has in some sense and needs to check once in a while. 

To address some stuff in the above post:

The challenge posed by the Covington Catholic students is the conflicting and incomplete stories released by various news sources. The news is called the first draft of history for a reason; its often misleading and incomplete. The full two-hour documentary that the now infamous clip came from shows that the actual conflict was between a faction known as the Black Hebrew Israelites and Native Americans concerning religious freedom. The boys from Covington Catholic were standing a distance away for most of the situation until one of the drummers walking into the group. The visual of a smiling white boy up int he face of an Indigenous American while wearing a MAGA hat was obviously not a great visual. Here’s an article about microaggressions if you want to learn a bit more. One microaggression often used is disregarding the personal boundaries of people of color. (Hidden message: I don’t respect your body as deserving of respect.)

Other people aren’t required to apologize for an opinion writer’s statements. She wrote them of her free will. She does not speak for the vast majority of feminists, and it’s high time we stop using fringe speakers as our gauge for what “the other side” thinks or believes. I highly doubt that all Republicans believe everything written on RedStorm, and I don’t hold them to it. 

Generally speaking, Democrats don’t bank on the support of women or minorites. They work hard to win and maintain the support of both demographics by endorsing women and minority candidates and crafting policy that protects women and minorities. I don’t want to point fingers, but when was the last time supporting women and minority constituents was part of the Republican platform? 

Unpopular opinion but I feel the need to say this as election year draws closer and Democratic candidates are being announced:

in 2020, the ONLY GOAL is getting that orange sludge out of office. 

That’s it. That is endgame for 2020. If you stick your head up your ass so far as to think anything is more important than that at this point, get an emergency head-ass-ectomy REAL fucking quick because we CANNOT pull another 2016.

I don’t care if the Dem nominee is someone you hate, if you’ve voted Green Party for 34 years, if your goddamn mother is on the ticket. If mama isn’t the official presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, then you DO NOT VOTE FOR HER.

2020 is about blocking another four years of nightmare hell. 2020 is about caring about other people’s realities over your “conscience” (read: online woke points). It’s about standing up for every person hurt, every person harassed, every person KILLED by the hate this piece of radioactive bile spews from every disgusting orifice.

ESPECIALLY my fellow white people better take this message to fucking heart, because WE are the ones who fucked this up, ESPECIALLY my fellow white women. You are not allowed to “vote your conscience.” You are not allowed to “weigh the options.” You are suddenly a single-issue voter, and that issue is Trump Is Evil. You are voting to evict, voting to BLOCK. If the Democratic candidate is less than ideal, you suck it the fuck up for 2020.  This election is not, CANNOT be about idealism, about perfection. It’s about starting to undo four years of damage.

So from the announcement of the nominee until November 3rd, 2020, you better be all fucking in. If you don’t like their stances on certain issues, if they’re not progressive enough, if they’ve reached across the aisle too many times, worry about it November 4th. Spend the next four years pushing them left, protesting everything you don’t like, picket the fucking White House if you need to. I will be right there with you. But that starts on November 4th. Until then, we are on a straight anti-Trump train and y’all better not fucking get off it.

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this. I have always struggled to understand why someone might think that ending a life would be more merciful than simply loving and supporting a disabled child. as others have said before me, anyone can become disabled at any time in their lives. disability is not an excuse to kill a child. 

I work with delayed children.

I work with babies who aren’t “typical.”

I spend my day with babies who are on the autism spectrum, babies with Down syndrome, babies with cerebral palsy, and babies who are a year old but since they were born at 23 weeks they function as a 7 month-old.

I have babies on my caseload who were born at 23, 24, and 25 weeks gestation.

I have babies on my caseload whose parents grieved them when they were born because they are atypical.

I have seen it all in my field- all the disabilities, impairments, delays- and I have not ONCE met a child who is unhappy.

Stop saying it’s humane to abort atypical babies due to a condition discovered before birth. I am SICK of our ableist culture pretending to praise and admire people with disabilities who have successful lives while saying we should kill babies with the exact same disabilities to “spare them.”

I am so sick and angry with our world. Jesus, help us.

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i gagged. 

You: Weird flex but ok

Me, an intellectual:

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well worth the few minutes it will take to watch this. 

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welcome home, glorious portion of my childhood 

THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN