#i have too much knowledge about Jewish misery through history

[nessamaurice]

Simple Ch. 6 (Loki x F!Reader)

Masterlist

Summary: Tony and the Avengers are in desperate need of something like a “babysitter” to have an eye on Loki and teach him “how to human”. He decided to stay on Midgard over the dungeons of Asgard as punishment for his deeds in New York. That’s where you swoop in. A simple receptionist at the Avengers compound. You have to share an apartment in the compound with Loki and damn, he’s a really tough nut. With your open and kind character it seems that you are slowly cracking his shell. But suddenly things are getting twists that will change your life and your relationships there irreversibly.

Story rating: M

Chapter trigger warnings: harming

Words: 2108

6

It turned out the tests Bruce made with you seemed to be alright, nothing you didn't knew or that wasn’t indicated before. The following days passed without anything special happening, except your relation with Loki. You tried to pick up the conversation with Loki again but apparently the moment was over. He shut himself off again. But you didn't miss out that he continued to feel more comfortable around you. The next day he accepted your tea offering for the first time. That made you ridiculously happy and you couldn't hide the big grin appearing on your face.

"What's so funny?"

"What? Oh, no, nothing." After a few moments of silence you couldn't hold back, "Do you like my tea? Today I chose a rose flavored green tea. I love the scent of roses. I don't like the flowers themselves, they are everywhere you look, being pretentious, I'm just weary of them, but their scent...“ You let out a little, soft moan. „Wonderful."

Your rambling was met with silence and you almost gave in, disappointed. But before you looked away you could see a small smirk tugging on his lips.

A few days later you just couldn't contain yourself anymore. You turned in your winged chair to Loki.

"How are you feeling today?"

"...What?"

"How do you feel? We've been sharing these rooms for quite a few days now and have barely spoken to each other. Tell me something. Anything. Or ask me something! Just let us interact in any way. I can't take it any longer."

He looked you straight in the eyes, the dimmed sunlight making the green-blue almost glow. Then a question seemed to pop up in his mind.

"What are you reading?"

You looked down at the book on your lap. "What I’m reading? Oh, that is something specific. It's called Antiquitates Iudaicae. It's not that easy to read, it's not like a novel or something, it is more like a history book. The text is about 1900 years old. A roman-jewish historian named Flavius Josephus tries to explain his beliefs to the Greek to help them understand his culture."

"Why are you reading this, since it is not easy to read?"

"I am a faithful person and it helps me a bit understanding the setting and the time when the bible was written. There are no other ancient Jews from the first century left around here, so I wanted to know how he tried to explain his culture to persons that have no relation with it."

"So, you believe in god? Then you must be humbled to be in the presence of one." A lofty expression appeared on his face, but was wiped away the second you started laughing.

"I'm sorry, really. Don't want to be disrespectful. But do you really think you are a god? Just because you have access to other dimensions and live a few thousand years? Not that this wouldn't be highly impressive, honestly. But you are as far away from being a god than I am. You are a creation, not a creator."

Loki wanted to say something but the words kept stuck in his throat. His face turned sly.

"You have no idea what I am capable of." His voice was low and husky.

"You are completely right. If there was some sort of food chain, I'd clearly be beyond you because of your many skills and knowledge. But they don't make you the summit, neither. Look, I totally see why the ancient Norse people thought of you as gods. What you can do is really admirable. But I would never give you this title. I got too much respect of it."

Loki tried to swallow down his anger. He really wanted to behave but even more he wanted you to explain that. "So, what do you think deserves this title?"

"Love. Compassion. Mercy. Omnipotence. I think, nothing in the whole universe happens without him allowing it to happen. Even the bad things. For the most people it's hard to accept that. They blame him for all the terrible things. It's not like that he would cause the bad things to happen. But he knows exactly what's going on. He knows every outcome of every move. And, I believe, he leads us on the tracks we should go. Not like we are just marionettes and he sets every move, but at some points, big decisions that give our lifes a turn, he may give us a certain push. A lot dreadful stuff happened to me in my life, but who knows that it couldn't have been even worse? Who is able to say the way it went is not the best of all possibilities? Even if it is hard to cope with, I know he gives me the strength to get through. Whether it is some sort of energy that comes from within me or he puts people in my life that will help me with whatever comes my way. But that is my totally personal point of view. The nice thing is, I don't have to persuade anyone to believe the same. My faith is individual. Nobody has to agree with me. This is what helps me get through life. Not to give up.... What sort of faith do you have? ...if you have one at all?"

Loki listened carefully and his face slowly softened as he followed your thoughts. He seemed a bit surprised as you addressed the question to him, like he was asked for his opinion for the first time in his life.

"That is a very interesting point of view, I have to admit. I can imagine that it is not very popular, but interesting, though. I... I never really developed something you could call faith. My culture is full of myths and legends. I learned everything about our Allfathers and Gods, but never took it really personal. I was not attracted to do so."

He stopped talking and started pondering on that thought. You watched his face, his eyes getting lost. You used the opportunity to take a closer look and studied his face. It was edgy and delicate at the same time. His bright eyes pierced right through you every time he looked at you. He was very concentrated on what he wanted to say next, so you simply kept quiet and waited for him to form his thoughts into words. It was rather beautiful to watch his mind work.

After a short while he continued, "I think there might be something like a higher force that has impact on our lives. But that started just recently. I long thought that I am the master of every of my own steps and if I place them right, everything will work out just fine. I will get what I want if I only fight hard enough for it. So that's what I did, I fought for my own purposes. But all I got was misery, sorrow and hatred." 

You could literally see his pain boiling up from the inside. It was tearing him in two. You reacted out of instinct and reached out to lay your hand on his cheek. His eyes darted at you immediately, turning glassy. Softly you stroke over his cheek with your thumb. You wished you could just pull him into a tight embrace and help him let go of all expectations towards himself. To put down his guard. It was like you could literally feel his inner need of ease and solace. But he was just too much of a proud man. He pressed his lips together and pushed your hand away, abruptly stood up, stepping towards the window front, staring outside with his arms crossed.

"I'm sorry." Was all that came to your mind. Pathetic, you thought. And he thought that as well.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." He hissed turning towards you. "Don't act like you would understand. YOU HAVE NO IDEA!" He shouted at you and disappeared right in front of your eyes. You sat there in your winged chair, nonplussed. You looked around the room, but no sight of him.

Far beyond puzzled, you started to talk with the air. "I... I don't if you are still here? But, I wanted to say that you are right. I have no idea what you've been through. What it feels like to be in your skin. If I were, I know I would have done the same that you did, because you are the only person that feels this way. I am no one to judge. I never judge. Well, at least I try. The big truth is that it's simply impossible to compare individuals with each other. We are the summaries of our experiences and we all have our very own way of perceiving the world around us. So, I have to add as well that you also have no idea what you are talking about. I do understand. Traumata are a serious thing and everyone reacts differently to that, but don't treat me like I had no empathy. Maybe everyone else treated you like you didn't even had the right to speak your mind, but I'm not like this. You are intelligent and attentive and if you haven't noticed that by now, you are obviously blinded by some kind of rage and hatred. And pride. But I don't want to push you. Just know that I won't let you treat me like this. I will not leave you because I can imagine that you've been left too often in your life, but I will not tolerate it. Okay, and because it feels like I have a serious conversation with myself outside of my head I'm gonna go into the kitchen to get me a drink because that's fucking strange. Feel free to join me there."

You sat on a barstool and looked out of the giant window front at the other side of the even bigger room. You felt the cold sweat of the glass condensing in your hand, running over your fingers. Totally lost in your thoughts you didn't notice Steve sitting down next to you. He really tried not to startle you but failed.

"Sorry Y/N. Just thought you looked like something was on your mind you'd like to talk about?"

"No problem. Ah, no, it's okay. There were just some intense emotions between Loki and me."

Looking at his raised eyebrows you awkwardly cleared your throat as you explained yourself, "Oh no no no, not something like that. Totally not. No no." Somehow you dwelled in that thought a bit too long.

"Well, that were lots of 'no's but okay." Steve laughed and pushed you slightly with his shoulder to the side.

Before you could blush too obviously you changed topic, "Have you seen Tony? The last time I saw him was when were having pizza. Is everything alright?"

"To be honest I haven't seen him, neither. Well, at least not in person. I walked by the lab and saw him video chatting with Bruce, so he must be okay. But don't worry, wouldn't be the first time he disappears for a few days without telling anyone. ... Are you sure you don't want to talk about what's weighing you down?"

"Thank you Steve. Everything's fine." You conjured a smile though you didn't felt like smiling which made it totally implausible. But Steve accepted you didn't want to talk right now. He assured you can knock on his door whenever you wanted before he left the open kitchen of the common room again. You really, really hoped Loki would show up in the kitchen. You imagined both of you together having a drink, talking, enjoying each other's companionship... But you were pulled out of your day dream by a polite voice.

"Miss Y/N, your presence is demanded outside of the personal rooms."

"What? Me? For what?" You thought JARVIS sounded differently than usual.

"I am sorry, Miss, but I was not given further information than it being important and urgent."

"Uhm, okay. Sure. Just a sec." You gulped down the rest of your Gin Tonic and jumped off the barstool. For a moment it felt like someone was slightly brushing your arm as to hold you. You stopped, looked around, but didn't see anyone, so you went on.

After you slipped into your shoes and a coat you were going down to the ground floor with the lift. The doors opened and the blood in your veins froze. Two giant, black-suited men immediately entered the lift. One grabbed your arms and pulled them violently behind your back and the other one pressed a strongly sweet smelling piece of fabric on your mouth and nose. You felt a sharp sting right into the side of your neck just before everything went limp and dark.

Taglist: @it-jinxed-us​, @humbledarkness​, @lunawitch19

[mrlnsfrt]

The Cure for Spiritual Lethargy

(This is not a Christmas post, though it also applies to Christmas)

It is December and all around me I hear Christmas songs and see Christmas decorations. This is the time we usually talk about God’s great gift, the gift of Sis Son! This post is about God’s great gift, but more specifically this post will focus on our response to God’s gift. When we think of the birth of baby Jesus, of His eternal humiliation to live and die in this sinful world, do we stop to think about what our proper response should be? I do, I often think about this. In my post Reflecting on my life - 2020 (and also Who I am) I mention how I grew up as a believer. This means I do not remember learning about Jesus, I always knew. So Christmas and calvary are stories that I have known from my earliest memories. This presents a unique challenge for me because how do I react to a story that I already know? Maybe some of you are on a similar boat. You know the story, so this extraordinary story, one that has the power to transform lives, becomes rather ordinary due to familiarity. I can’t change the story, I shouldn’t. So how do I keep it fresh in my heart? How should I react to God’s desire to be with me? (I have several posts on God with us)

In this post, I would like to outline some things we can do to keep our relationship with God from growing stale.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: - Joel 2:1 NKJV

There are so many different things related to Jesus coming. How are we supposed to feel?

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. - Joel 2:12-13 NKJV

One of the things we are called to do is to turn to God with our whole hearts. This cannot be done outwardly only. Cold formalism and religiosity spell spiritual death. Never trust your dress and behavior, those can be shaped by outside pressures. What is the state of your heart? Do you long for Jesus? Of is Jesus just a cultural artifact in your social and personal life?

Can I be completely honest with you? This next part concerns me. This next part troubles me, personally.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. - Joel 2:15-16 NKJV

As you probably know, I am a pastor, a spiritual leader. Yet I have no idea how to sanctify the congregation. I can blow a trumpet, I can call for a fast, if it wasn’t for COVID I could even try to gather the people and assemble the elders. But here is the thing. How often are we willing to do this? When was the last time you tried fasting and praying? When was the last time you were concerned with your standing before God? I am not talking about your good works or obedience. I am talking about your love for God. Do you really love Him? If you do, how often are you concerned about His mission for your life? How often are you concerned about showing your love for Him through all that you do? Do we come together as a church, as a family, and seek God? Is that how I sanctify the congregation? Do I encourage and invite everyone to humble themselves and seek God?

If you keep reading, Joel 2 is not all doom and gloom.

“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming [k]locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. - Joel 2:25-27 NKJV

God ultimately promises restoration. Ultimately God provides for His people. My concern here is not with God. My main concern is with me being asleep in my relationship with God, and not even realize that my love for Him is growing colder each day as I simply go through the motions. My understanding of Joel is that there was a great need for spiritual reformation before the people would be ready for the day of the Lord.

I believe we need faithful men and women, who are sensitive and obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the teachings of the Bible, and will proclaim this warning to the world. God gave us prophecy in the Bible for a reason.

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. - 2 Peter 2:19-21 NKJV

Do we seek the knowledge of God more than all hidden treasures? Do we count it “better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold?” (Proverbs 3:14) God is willing to reveal to us the great things of the kingdom.

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. - Psalm 25:14 NKJV

So, are we are seeking God, at all?

The Birth of Jesus

Think of the Christmas story. At the time of Christ's first advent the priests and scribes of Jerusalem, who had access to all the prophecies, might have recognized the signs of the times and proclaimed the coming of the Messiah. The prophecy of Micah designated His birthplace (Micah 5:2); Daniel specified the time of His advent (Daniel 9:25).

God committed these prophecies to the Jewish leaders; they were without excuse if they did not know and declare to the people that the Messiah's coming was at hand. Their ignorance was the result of sinful neglect. - The Great Controversy 313

Today, we have the Bible available to us. We all have access to the word of God. Yet how much time do we dedicate to its study?

Could Christians become so absorbed in their ambitious strife for place and power that we lose sight of the divine honors given us by God? Do we get so caught up chasing after worldly things that we forget our responsibility of sharing the gospel and helping those in need?

Imagine this with me.

People have been waiting for the Messiah since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden (someOne is coming). The elders of Israel should have been studying the prophecies concerning Jesus. With profound and reverent interest they should have been studying the place, the time, the circumstances, of the greatest event in the world's history—the coming of the Son of God to accomplish the redemption of humanity. All the people should have been watching and waiting that they might be among the first to welcome the world's Redeemer.

“But, lo, at Bethlehem two weary travelers from the hills of Nazareth traverse the whole length of the narrow street to the eastern extremity of the town, vainly seeking a place of rest and shelter for the night. No doors are open to receive them. In a wretched hovel prepared for cattle, they at last find refuge, and there the Saviour of the world is born.” The Great Constorversy p313

Imagine, God is born among us, and we miss it.

The majority of the people were distracted. The religious leaders were seeking earthly power and honor and missed the most anticipated event in the history of the world (up to that point). This season, as we think about the birth of Jesus, this ought to be a sobering thought. The majority of people missed the birth of Jesus.

Imagine the angels with me.

Imagine heavenly angels who had seen the glory which Jesus shared with the Father before the world was. Now imagine these same angels looking forward with intense interest to His appearing on earth as an event filled with the greatest joy to all people. Imagine the angels who were appointed to carry the glad tidings to those who were prepared to receive it and who would joyfully make it known to the inhabitants of the earth.

This is unbelievable! But Christ had stooped to take upon Himself human nature; He was to bear the infinite weight of misery as He would make His soul an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:10). Nevertheless, the angels desire that even in His humiliation the Son of God might appear before men with dignity and glory befitting His character. Would the great men of earth assemble at Jerusalem to greet His coming? Would legions of angels present Him to the expectant company?

Imagine, all of heaven excited about the birth of Jesus, meanwhile here on earth, virtually nobody, is anticipating this incredible event. Everyone is just going through the motions…

Imagine the angel, disappointed, about to return to heaven and report that no one was available to receive the good news. Then at last the angel discovers a group of shepherds who are watching their flocks by night, and, as they gaze into the starry heavens, they are contemplating the prophecy of a Messiah to come to earth and longing for the advent of the world's Redeemer. Finally! Here is a company that is prepared to receive the heavenly message! And suddenly the angel of the Lord appears, declaring the good tidings of great joy. Celestial glory floods all the plain, an innumerable company of angels is revealed, and as if the joy were too great for one messenger to bring from heaven, a multitude of voices break forth in the anthem which all the nations of the saved shall one day sing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

“Oh, what a lesson is this wonderful story of Bethlehem! How it rebukes our unbelief, our pride and self-sufficiency. How it warns us to beware, lest by our criminal indifference we also fail to discern the signs of the times, and therefore know not the day of our visitation.” - The Great Controversy 315

But if you’re familiar with the story you know that those shepherds were not the only ones that the angels found watching for the birth of the Messiah. In a distant land, there were also those that looked for Him; they were wise men, rich and noble, the philosophers of the East. As students of the natural world, the Magi had seen God in His handiwork. They then studied the Hebrew Scriptures and learned of the Star to arise out of Jacob, and with eager desire they awaited His coming, who should be not only the “Consolation of Israel,” but a “Light to lighten the Gentiles,” and “for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” Luke 2:25, 32; Acts 13:47.

What does this story tell you about God? These men were not Jews, yet, they sought light, they sought God, and light from the throne of God illumined the path for their feet. What a tragedy that the priests and rabbis of Jerusalem, the appointed guardians and expounders of the truth, were shrouded in darkness. And how wonderful that the Heaven-sent star guided these Gentile strangers to the birthplace of the newborn King.

Jesus came not just for the Jews, not just for the middle-east, He came to save all.

When Jesus was born as a baby, the Jewish religious leaders should have been the first to lift their voices and proclaim the birth of Jesus, the first to warn the people to prepare for His coming. “But they were at ease, dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep in their sins.”(Great Controversy 315)

Jesus described His church like the barren fig tree, covered with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit. There was a boastful observance of the forms of religion, while the spirit of true humility, penitence, and faith—which alone could render the service acceptable to God—was lacking. Instead of the fruit of the Spirit the church was full of pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, and even oppression.

Israel, at the time of the birth of Jesus, was like a backsliding church who closed their eyes to the signs of the times. God did not forsake them, His faithfulness did not fail them; but they were the ones who departed from Him, and separated themselves from His love. As they refused to comply with the conditions, His promises were not fulfilled to them. 

This is what happens whenever we neglect to appreciate and improve the light and privileges which God bestows. Unless we follow on in His opening providence, accepting every ray of light, performing every duty which may be revealed, religion will inevitably degenerate into the observance of forms, and the spirit of vital godliness will disappear. This truth has been repeatedly illustrated in the history of the church. God requires of His people works of faith and obedience corresponding to the blessings and privileges bestowed. Obedience requires a sacrifice and involves a cross; and this is why so many of the professed followers of Christ refused to receive the light from heaven, and, like the Jews of old, knew not the time of their visitation. Luke 19:44. Because of their pride and unbelief the Lord passed them by and revealed His truth to those who, like the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Eastern Magi, had given heed to all the light they had received. (The Great Controversy 316)

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” - Luke 19:41-44 NKJV

[troybeecham]

Fr. Troy Beecham

Sermon, Proper 9 A, 2020

Matthew 11:16-19,25-30

In this morning’s Gospel reading, John the Baptist has sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether or not he is the expected Messiah. John, like most Jewish folks of the era (and today) had a very specific understanding of what the Messiah would do: lead a military revolt that would rid the Jewish people of their oppressors and restore Israel as an independent nation. This was exactly what had happened roughly 160 years before with the Maccabean Revolt. The people of Israel wanted a Maccabean re-do, and their desire for freedom from oppression is entirely understandable. If we are honest, we all want the military victor for our messiah, who destroys our enemies and gives us all the power. In response, Jesus tells the disciples of John for him to decide for himself: does he, Jesus, not do the deeds of healing as foretold in Isaiah? Rather than casting himself in the mold of the Maccabeans, Jesus is presenting himself as the suffering Messiah as foretold by Isaiah, and he is teaching that freedom from oppression is primarily based within the heart of each person, a freedom that has nothing to do with circumstances or who has power. His disciples must learn to walk by faith that God will bring about his kingdom at some point in history, rather than walking by sight because the world under human dominion is a grotesque, inhumane competition of who can be the most cruel, oppressive, and wicked. If we rely only on our eyes, there is little hope to be found in this world. If we live by faith, we can be truly free, regardless of our circumstances, until that glorious day when God brings about his kingdom on the earth, and sin and suffering are no more

In the reading, the parable of the “children” is about John and Jesus. Both are teaching the people about trusting in God, but the leaders of the people reject their message, whether as told by John with the austere imagery of a funeral or by Jesus with the joyful imagery of a wedding banquet, because neither fits with their own desires for control and power. The religious and civic leaders attempt to turn the people against both John and Jesus. Even though the leaders reject them both, God proves them right by his presence, that is, the turning of many of the common people – those without power – to God in hope and faith through John’s message of repentance, and in Jesus through the preaching of faith in God, in the performing of miracles, and even in bringing the dead back to life. But the people were divided: two great teachers, prophets, were out and about. Which one should people follow, or are they both asking for too much?

Now John stayed largely in one place, inviting the people of Israel to come to the Jordan River to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus has been traveling all over Israel, and even into Gentile lands, inviting all people to turn to him in faith, performing great deeds of power to prove that he is who he says he is, the Son of God. In many places, though, the people have ignored his message, and Jesus sadly foretells that they will be condemned at the Last Day, while those who accept him will be saved. In a prayer heard by others, Jesus thanks his Father for choosing the simple, uneducated folks, spiritual infants, over the religious leaders who claim to be wise.

But what wisdom is it to reject the Son of God? He is the Father’s representative, the perfect expression of God in human flesh. It was a difficult thing for people to believe; they knew his family, his hometown. How could he be the Son of God? The same is true today. Even so, Jesus says that we must come to him by faith. He says that only the Father knows him, that is knowledge that doesn’t require faith, the opposite of us, who require faith in order to know. Jesus then says that only he, and those to whom he chooses to reveal the Father, can know the Father. But the offer is freely given and open to all who will receive him as Lord and Savior!

Jesus invites all people to have faith in him, and to follow him. The Gospel calls the great mass of the people “downtrodden” because of the oppression of the Roman Empire, and of the spiritual oppression of the corrupt Temple hierarchy and the zealots among the Pharisees, all of whom had made the people their cattle, placing yokes around their necks, their lives, in order to be personally enriched and empowered to do as they willed. Rabbis spoke of the “yoke of the Law”, with its many regulations, but the overwhelming weight of their laws were derived by cultural wisdom rather then by the Scriptures. Jesus rebukes them for their burdensome, non-Scriptural rules, and says that he is offering a different kind of yoke, one which is light and promises freedom.

His yoke is easy and the burden light because he is sharing the yoke with us and is doing all the heavy lifting for us. We have only to believe and have faith, and not try to determine the course of our plowing, wrestling with Jesus over control. When we do that, the yoke becomes a burden, yet we do it all the time. Who doesn’t desire to be in control of the direction of their life? Faith is hard work!

And what is his yoke? Only to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. And that is where the yoke begins to chafe. We desire the authority to decide whom to love, who deserves to be loved. But Jesus, with whom we share a yoke, calmly walks into the fray of human discord, disarray, and sinful brokenness with his arms and heart wide open, and the willingness to be rejected and to suffer at the hands of those he has come to save. We see that part and want no part of it. “Can’t I just follow you from a safe distance, Jesus, and join you when it’s all happy banquets and universal acclaim?” Jesus says no, that is not what it means to be his disciple. He calls us to remain yoked with him, a yoke shaped like a cross, the cross of emptying ourselves of our desires for control over where we are called to go and whom we are called to love. Jesus calls us beyond the familiar, to love the unlovable, to make peace with the bellicose, and heal those who are sick in body and soul.

No wonder we ask, just like John the Baptiser, if Jesus is the one that all of humankind, indeed all of creation, longs to see and know. We are just as perplexed, burned out, and frightened by the misery, corruption, and violence of our world – all of which is of our own making. The call to take up the cross and follow Jesus into the broken world is frightening. Energy so, that is the call, to follow Jesus, and to love as he loved, and to suffer as he suffered. Thanks be to God we do not do this on our own. The Father offers faith as a gift to all who are willing, and the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish our vocation of following Jesus into the heart of darkness and their to make disciples for him of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them the way of obedience.

Looking around at what is happening around the world: war, slavery, famine; and the unrest in our own beloved country, the call to the life of a disciple, the life of faith in Jesus, is just as frightening and just as crucial for the salvation of humankind as it ever has been. Will you take the hand of Jesus reaching out to you today, will you be yoked with him and not wrestle him for control, will you walk by faith and not by sight, even if the world is filled with terrible perversion and grotesque wickedness? If you are willing, God will give you the gift of faith to see and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to deny your own desires for control and to follow and obey Jesus as Savior and Lord.

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you with our whole heart, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourself: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and be united with Jesus and each other; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

[helloanime247-blog]

For the One Piece character question thing, I'm gonna give you: 1. Monkey D. Luffy, 2. Nico Robin, 3. X Drake, 4. Jinbe, 5. Gecko Moria, 6. Buggy, 7. Aokiji, 8. Akainu, 9. Tashigi, 10. Marco, 11. Magellan, 12. Shirahoshi, 13. Momonosuke, 14. Monet, and 15. Bartolomeo! :P Sorry, stole some of the ones you asked me, you just picked great ones!! XD

1. MonkeyD. Luffy: Whatis your dream job?

I honestly have no idea and it seriously kills me that I appear to be wandering around aimlessly not knowing what my dream job is!! :( I really just want a job where I go to work everyday and feel both happy (and incredibly lucky) that this is my job!! I’m still waiting for some ‘sign’ to tell me what my vocation in life is.....hahahaha!! Unfortunately, I must endure my current misery until that ‘eureka’ moment comes along. :P Maybe Gintoki will hire me to work as part of his Odd Jobs gang!! ;) :P

2. NicoRobin:What was the first book that you can remember reading?

I remember the first books that I ever borrowed from my local library were ‘The Famous Five’ series by Enid Blyton. I was just blown away by the adventures that they went on! I always craved adventure and I still do....I would love to (one day) go on some sort of epic adventure myself! :D

I also discovered ‘The Harry Potter’ series when I about seven years old. I remember going into town with my Mum and picking up ‘Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone’. I saved up my pocket money to buy it and when I got home I distinctly recall sitting on my bed to begin reading it. I couldn’t put it down, my Mum kept calling me to eat my dinner, but I kept refusing to go downstairs. I finished the book before I went to bed, I was such a weird child! XD

3. XDrake: Ifyour dad was a pirate, and you were captured by Marines would youserve for them?

No, I don’t think I would, as I really hate the Marines. I’m only on episode 27 of ‘One Piece’ so my knowledge of them is still a little bit hazy. However, in the earlier episodes I came across a Marine called Fullbody and he was such a despicable human being. He was both arrogant and nasty, if there are two traits that I absolutely cannot abide in a person....it’s definitely those two. Fullbody acted as if he was better than everybody else, which was ultimately his downfall, as Sanji’s reaction was AMAZING. Sanji certainly used some words of wisdom to bring Fullbody down a peg or two, which he most definitely deserved.

4. Jinbe:Would you take up Luffy’s offer to be in the crew or act as anally?

I would definitely love to be part of Luffy’s crew!! I already mentioned that I have a thirst for adventure, so what would be a better way to quench this thirst than to set sail with Luffy and his gang of pirates! It’s always said that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. This would certainly be true if I could become a member of the straw hats. I mean, it would be great to find the elusive treasure that is named one piece, however, it would also be pretty great to be able to be friends with Luffy and the rest of the gang! Also, as we would be setting sail and having so many adventures along the way.....life would indeed be wonderful!!

5. GeckoMoria: Areyou fan of horror movies?  If not, what was your worstexperience.

I am most definitely not a fan of horror movies, I like psychological thrillers, but the horror genre is most definitely not my thing. Emmmmmmm.......my worst experience was probably more embarrassing than anything else!! I remember I went to see a horror movie with my friend, unlike me he’s obsessed with this film genre! I can’t recall the name of the film that we went to see, but it was terrible....and when I say terrible, I mean terribly bad! Anyway, this really ridiculous moment happened in the film.....and I screamed so loudly......and nobody else screamed at all........everybody started laughing!! I immediately went bright red, and in that moment, I just wanted to leave the cinema! XD

6. Buggy:Are you a leader or a follower?

I have my own beliefs, my own opinions and my own way of dressing! If anybody goes against what I believe in, then I will engage in a lively debate with them! I will never willingly accept what another person says to me to be the ‘Gospel truth’! I like to think of myself as being able to independently evaluate a situation for myself.....that doesn’t mean to say that my mind can’t be changed. However, you must present a good case for me to undergo this change of mind. I don’t know if that’s necessarily being a leader, I think it’s just more of a case of being true to yourself.

I used to always be a follower when I was younger, as my first friend was a bit of a bully towards me! I think that negatively impacted on my self-confidence, as we were friends from junior infants up until first class. When I finally stood up to her....it was one of the best things that I have ever done and from that point on I told myself that nobody would treat me like that again. 

7. Aokiji: Wouldyou throw away all position and power in your job because you don’tagree with the ethics of the organization?

Yes, I actually think I would!! I have certain core beliefs that are like my foundation stones which guide me through life....almost like a moral compass. I would like to think that no amount of power could corrupt me into accepting unacceptable ethical practices by any organisation. 

I was once involved in such a situation where I tackled one of my teachers over his absolutely appalling views on animal rights. From that moment on.....he HATED me with a passion.......he really turned on me! He actually told my Mum that I was too headstrong for my own good......!! 

8. Akainu:What kind of justice do you believe in?

I believe that if you commit a crime then you should be made pay for your actions! Of course in an ideal world there would be peace and everybody would be able to live in harmony with each other! Unfortunately, this type of world is non-existent, therefore, certain measures must be put in place in order to prevent things such as murder from occurring! If these measures didn't exist, then society as we know it would descend into a state of lawlessness. People themselves have different beliefs as to what is right and what is wrong. This is why we look to those in power to guide us in the right direction as to what is the proper conduct. We all know that government officials, the police force etc are corruptible! This means that often those who should pay for their evil deeds end up not paying for their crimes. Unfortunately, money seems to be the deciding factor in determining whether or not a person does indeed go to jail for their crime. I personally feel as if we should treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Our moral compass should guide us through life and we should have the presence of mind to know right from wrong. If somebody carries out a premeditated murder then they should pay for their actions by spending the rest of their life in jail! 

9. Tashigi:Do people ever tell you that you look like someone they know?

Emmmmmmmm....no......I don’t think that anyone has ever told that I look like somebody else!! :( I did once get mistaken for being a boy though, does that count??!! :P If you have any ideas about who I may look like.....please tell me!! :P

10. Marco:If you could have any devil fruit, what would it be?

I had to look up the different types of devil fruit that are available....and out of all of them....I would probably eat Ope Ope no Mi, as it definitely seems like the most useful fruit! 

11. Magellan:Are you allergic to anything?

Yes, I’m allergic to pollen, as I suffer with hay fever! :( I have a spray that I use whenever I get a headache or sore eyes! It also means that I normally don’t wear perfume, I especially try to avoid perfume whenever I have to study....as my brain wouldn’t be able to function at all!!

12. Shirahoshi:Do you hold grudges?

Emmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......yes.....I hold grudges....eeeekkkk! I once had an argument with my friend that lasted a couple of months!! I was just so angry with her that I didn’t want to see her at all!! XD 

I also used to hold a grudge against people who had hurt me in the past, however, I slowly realised that this type of grudge was hurting me more than them, so I gradually learned to overcome it! Sometimes you need to move on for your own sake!

13. Momonosuke: Whenwas the last time that you had a nightmare?

Thankfully, I haven’t had a nightmare in quite a long time! However, I do have a recurring one where I’m being chased by a witch! I spend that entire nightmare running and running away from her! I always wake up in a cold sweat from that dream! XD

14. Monet:Do you enjoy writing?  Share a snippet?

Yes, I love writing!! It’s one of my favourite hobbies! :D Emmmmmmm.......I would be too nervous to share a snippet......but I will tell you that I’m currently writing a novel based during the Second World War! I love German history and I’m especially interested in politics! Therefore, it’s a story about the struggle of a Jewish family, who are living in fascist Germany! It documents their desire to escape from this society, however, will they be able to escape in time to avoid being sentenced to death??!!

15. Bartolomeo:Are you massively obsessed with something?

Yes.....I’m obsessed with anime guys......I really wish I was joking when I say that! :P

I’m also currently obsessed with collecting anime figures!! I check the websites of both AmiAmi and Mandarake at least once a day! HELP ME!! 

Finally, I love anime so much! I tend to incorporate watching anime into my daily routine!! XD

Thanks for asking me these questions, Sophie! @akatsuki3519

[martin9395]

A Course In Miracles

A Course In Miracles

 A Course in Miracles is therefore pure, therefore splendid, therefore effective, therefore so much more spiritually enhanced than any kind of other part of the planet's literary works (past and found), that you need to actually experience it to think it. Yet those whose thoughts are too affixed to worldly thoughts, and lack the rooting being thirsty for accurate spiritual knowledge that is essential for its understanding, are going to likely certainly not comprehend a solitary entire page. That is actually not because A Course in Miracles is confusing - as a matter of fact its own concepts are remarkably simple - but instead since it is the nature of religious know-how that those who are actually not all set to recognize it, just may certainly not know it. As explained in the Bible, at the start of guide of John: "The sunlight shineth in night, as well as night knew it not".

https://acourseinmiraclesnow.com

 Ever before because I first heard of the marvelous and mind-blowing existence of God, I have enjoyed going through many excellent religious jobs like the Bible (my favored parts are the Sermon on the Mount as well as Psalms), the Bhagavad-Gita, the Upanishads, the Koran and the verse of Kabir and also Rumi. None of all of them happen close to the greatness of a Course in Miracles Reading it along with an open thoughts and also center, your fears and issues remove. You hear of a magnificent affection deeper within you - much deeper than anything you recognized previously. The future begins to seem so bright for you and your really loved ones. You think love for every person including those you formerly have actually attempted to leave behind excluded. These knowledge are incredibly strong and sometimes toss you off balance a little, but it is actually worth it: A Course in Miracles offers you to a love therefore relaxed, thus solid therefore universal - you will certainly ponder just how many of the globe's faiths, whose intention is actually purportedly a similar experience, obtained so mistaken acim.

 I would certainly just like to state here to any type of Christian who believes that his church's trainings carry out certainly not really please his being thirsty to know a kind, merciful as well as loving God, however is somewhat worried to read through the Course as a result of others' claims that it is inconsistent with "accurate" Christianity: Don't worry! I have actually gone through the gospels numerous opportunities and I assure you that a Course in Miracles is totally consistent along with Jesus' mentors while he performed the planet. Do not fear the obsessed defenders of exclusionist dogma - these unsatisfactory people think themselves to become the only service providers of Jesus' information, and also the just one deserving of his great things, while all other will definitely go to heck. A Course in Miracles demonstrates Jesus' true information: outright affection for * all people *. While he was actually on planet, Jesus pointed out to determine a tree through its fruit. Therefore give it a go as well as see how the fruit products that advance in your life preference. If they try poor, you may desert A Course in Miracles. Yet if they try as sweet as my own do, as well as the countless various other correct seekers that have actually located A Course in Miracles to become absolutely nothing lower than an incredible treasure, then congratulations - and also may your center constantly be actually generously loaded with peaceful, caring happiness.

 Changing Lives Through A Course in Miracles.

 As the headline implies, A Course in Miracles is a mentor tool. It instructs our team what is real and what is unbelievable, and leads our company to the direct adventure of our personal Inner Teacher.

 The Course is actually organized in three parts: a text, a workbook for students and a handbook for teachers. The Text provides the concepts underlying the Course. The workbook has 365 regular sessions that provide pupils the opportunity to administer as well as experience the concepts on a functional amount. The instructor's guide is presented in a question and response style, addressing regular questions that a trainee might talk to; it also delivers a clarification of phrases made use of throughout the Course.

 On How everything Began

 The Course was actually created through Helen Schucman and also Bill Thetford, 2 very trained and also effective Professors of Psychology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Helen was the scribe for the Course, jotting down in shorthand the interior information she got. Bill entered what Helen composed. It took a total of seven years to complete A Course in Miracles, which was very first published in 1976 in the United States. Helen wrote additional handouts. Her Song of Prayer was released in 1977 and The Gift of God in 1978.

 Over recent 34 years, the attraction of A Course in Miracles has actually developed as well as dispersed worldwide. It has actually been translated into 18 various languages and also additional interpretations remain in the jobs. Throughout the globe, individuals compile along with other compatible students to read through the Course together in purchase to a lot better understand the Course's information. Within this time of digital and social networks, A Course in Miracles could be acquired in e-book format, on CD, and also with iPhone Apps. You may connect along with other Course students on Facebook, Yahoo Groups, Twitter, and numerous other web sites acim.

 Experiencing the Course

 The Course is actually developed to be actually a self-study device. Nonetheless, several pupils discover that their 1st communication with the product is hard and overwhelming - the improvement in viewpoint that it offers is in contrast to traditional reasoning. Taking a promotional training class with a competent facilitator or even educator allows a gentler position to these brand-new suggestions as well as a more satisfying experience.

 There are actually several lessons and also training courses of research based upon the approach of A Course in Miracles, and also even certain training class on crucial Course concepts, including True Forgiveness or even Cause and also Effect. Such lessons offer pupils the opportunity to experience the concept as well as treatment of particular product more greatly. Through such deep adventure, numerous students discover the peace of mind of interior calmness and also the happiness of knowing the Inner Teacher.

 A Very Brief History of a Course in Miracles

 Over 40 years earlier, a psycho therapist from Columbia University began to carry discoveries from a religious company that she was actually enticed was Jesus themself. She and her associates created teachings that loaded manies empty web pages over a period of 7 years which eventually became "A Course In Miracles."

 The psycho therapist was a Jewish woman named Helen Schucman, and she told folks that Jesus Christ himself was her own sense quick guide for these sessions as well as mentors. These courses were meant to offer support for folks to learn that they were actually the a single in management of their own feelings, perspectives, activities and also serendipities. The trainings took numerous fines of actions away from the formula. Without a doubt, a characteristic of the ACIM course is actually that heinous itself carries out not exist. The ACIM mentors insist that through qualifying your thoughts effectively, you can find out that there is no such trait as evil, and that it is only an assumption or even something that people have established to scare as well as manage the actions and also ideas of those that are actually certainly not competent of presuming on their own. ACIM urges that the only factor that carries out exist is pure passion which innocent minds and also spiritually correct reasoning will certainly not enable just about anything like wicked to exist.

 These tips and ideas outraged many individuals who came from several of the primary religions due to the fact that, while they espoused much of the exact same concepts, this training program likewise looked for to have people strongly believe that misery is actually unreal and as a result wrong is additionally certainly not actual. ACIM itself makes an effort to possess individuals care about the sanctity of right as well as wise views and also actions and in the fact that nothing may injure you unless you think that it can. New Age authorities were fast to grasp onto these concepts because most of the New Age religious beliefs are actually located out wrong and also redemption yet the power of one's very own mind and also sense.

 ACIM carries out deliver some teachings about how to clear yourself of upset and adverse emotional states that are actually flooding your lifestyle along with problems as well as generating ailment and distress everyday. A Course In Miracles instructs you that you are in charge of these feelings as well as they are actually merely hurting you. As a result, it falls to you to free them coming from your lifestyle for your personal joy and also abundance.

[how2to18]

THE 19TH CENTURY, violent and progressive and anxious and confident all at once, seems to be getting closer to us the further it recedes into the past. Many of the defining characteristics of the age, roughly bracketed in Europe and the United States by the French Revolution and World War I, are no longer so foreign. We, too, know what accelerated technological change feels like, how it can rearrange the experience of reality and unsettle the future of work. We have our own callous oligarchs and grotesque inequalities. We are readjusting to the geopolitical jockeying of rival powers, to the brittleness of our inherited structures for international peace. Like the men and women of the 19th century, we can sense that our world is both hyper-connected and coming apart at the seams. In 1895, Oscar Wilde skewered his own paradoxical century as “an age of surfaces” in which a veneer of rationalist optimism concealed subcutaneous truths: hypocrisy, suffering, cruelty, resentment.

Holly Case, an associate professor of history at Brown University, has wagered on the surfaces. Her ingenious and often demanding new book, The Age of Questions, is concerned less with the century’s lived experience and more with the language used by its leaders to understand and change it. The thorniest challenges, she shrewdly observes, were often framed as questions. The “social question” pondered the status of the working poor, how to soften their misery and either prevent — or provoke — a revolution. The “Jewish question” assessed the possibility of assimilation or integration. The “Eastern question” was frequently shorthand for the gradual disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Debated by prime ministers and pamphleteers alike, questions were a widespread tool for structuring problems, from strategic puzzles and social upheaval to literary arguments (the Shakespeare question), professional regulations (the dentist question), and much else. “[A]ll the most important questions of Europe and humankind in our day are forever being raised simultaneously,” Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky commented in 1877. The conundrum, he continued, was to figure out precisely when and why all these questions had exploded onto the scene.

Taking up Dostoyevsky’s riddle, Case has produced a path-breaking account of the question form: its spectacular rise in the 1830s, its fall from grace after World War II, and (she hints) its possible resurrection in our own time. Roving and ambitious, with an unusual literary-philosophical sensibility, the book itself recalls the 19th century. And the full title is positively dizzying: The Age of Questions: Or, A First Attempt at an Aggregate History of the Eastern, Social, Woman, American, Jewish, Polish, Bullion, Tuberculosis, and Many Other Questions Over the Nineteenth Century, and Beyond. Joining erudition with a poetic if occasionally enigmatic style, this book shivers with the restless spirit of the age it describes.

The great queries of the 19th century resonate still. It was by framing issues as questions, after all, that men and women went about resolving the essential problem of modern politics: how to convert thought into action, bridging the gap between reality and ideals. But questions also whisper of a lost world. At the heart of this story lies the conviction — held by the leading lights of the period no less than Case herself — that political language matters, that the words we use to interpret the world are markers of possibility for finally changing it. That, in short, the frame of things defines our vision. Whether or not this remains true for a postmodern age of information overload, industrial-strength deceit, and atrophied political imagination is a question for us to answer.

¤

In the beginning was the American question. In the 1770s, as the inhabitants of the 13 Colonies clamored to be heard in London, British politicians began thinking about the problem as a query. Edmund Burke called the tensions “American questions” in a 1774 address to Parliament. Before long, parliamentarians and journalists were widely invoking “the grand American question” and “the question of sovereignty over America.” That question was answered by revolution and independence. Next came the bullion and India questions, parliamentary discussions over currency depreciation and the expanding authority of the British East India Company. The question form, then, first arrived as a peculiar kind of legislative convention — a formulaic way for British politicians to confront opponents, organize debates, and make decisions.

By the 1830s, questions had broken away from their British origins to shape political issues across the European continent. Suddenly, men and women from Paris to Moscow were discussing questions Belgian and Jewish and Polish and maritime, Algerian and Eastern and labor and Greek. And they were doing so within the parameters of a new global public sphere that made such transnational arguments possible. After the final defeat of Napoleon’s armies in 1815, European statesmen sought to guarantee order through diplomacy and cooperation — a system known as the Concert of Europe. Together with the expansion of periodicals and the press, the slow strengthening of parliaments and voting rights, and a rapid-fire sequence of startling international incidents, most of all revolutions in France, Belgium, and Greece, an arena emerged for which the question form was particularly well suited.

After all, the great questions of the 19th century were not genuine inquiries. They were not open-ended explorations seeking knowledge and truth. They were weapons. To reframe a complex issue as a question was a powerful way to define the terms of debate, foreclose alternatives, and advance a preferred course of action. As Marx succinctly put it, “the formulation of a question is its solution.” Regarding the Eastern question, pulpy German novelist Karl May noted in 1882 that “whoever can first define it gets to solve it.” Much like the -gate suffix does today, questions instantly organized the public’s understanding of a problem. Rather than implying scandals or cover-ups, however, questions told confident stories about how even the most overwhelming dilemmas might be analyzed, understood, and resolved. Questions were tools of progress. Those who posed them, Case says, “were prophets with one foot in the present and another in some imagined future.”

As the century drew to a close, questions gradually lost their force and urgency. But they returned with a vengeance after World War I and the Versailles peace settlement, when the undoing of empires and redrawing of borders made dramatic change seem once again possible, even desirable. Nobody was better at putting them to work than Adolf Hitler, the cruel yet natural heir to the long age of questions. That the Third Reich sought a Final Solution to the Jewish question is well known. But the Nazis also provoked a cluster of new territorial and ethnic problems as they consolidated power, each one framed (as Case astutely notes) as a question to be solved: the Saar question, the Austrian question, the Danzig question, the Sudeten-German question. Hitler argued that German greatness hinged on their simultaneous resolution. “Each of us will pass,” he said in 1933, “but Germany must live, and in order for her to live all questions of the day must be overridden and certain pre-conditions established.”

Throughout their lifespan, questions were effective devices for those determined to bring about revolutionary change. They helpfully translated the complexities of human life into simple problems to be clinically and rationally resolved. It is perhaps not all that surprising that they came to serve the megalomaniacs of the 20th century — or that the question form was so definitively forgotten after the Holocaust. “[T]he path to war and mass violence was paved with questions,” Case concludes. “The Final Solution was no perverse coda to the age of questions but rather its fullest realization.”

¤

From the 1770s to the 1970s, questions lived mostly in pamphlets and treaty negotiations and speeches and debates. That’s where Case has gone to find them, exhaustively digging through the archives of 11 countries and sources in 16 different languages. This is research of staggering breadth, certainly of a piece with the sprawling, interconnected 19th century. But this enormous scope seems necessary for the question form, too, a species of political language distinguished by especially great hubris and ambition during what was already, as Eric Hobsbawm wrote, “an age of superlatives.” And the longer certain questions lingered, the more universal and grandiose the solutions became. Intractable issues like European cooperation or the status of ethnic minorities appeared to demand not minor adjustments but rather the violent creation of a completely new world.

Reconstructing the vast question economy is a breathtaking scholarly feat, though it sharpens the contours of the 19th century more than it redraws them entirely. The question form ascended because it was brisk and snappy and able to generate headlines in a world choked with information. But it also appears to have tapped into deeper currents. Questions channeled not a particular political ideology so much as the spirit of the times — a rationalist, scientific, often masculine sensibility that ruled the century with confidence and a belief in progress. “With a little patience and attention,” noted one representative figure in 1865, writing on the Hungarian question, “everything that can be known […] can be simplified and solved.” Driven by quiet arrogance, questions wondered what was to be done about a given problem; it was assumed both that a solution existed and that those posing the query were, naturally, the ones to bring it about. This bourgeois sensibility, the engine of the century’s breakneck technological and industrial development, must be part of what made questions so authoritative. They are what it sounds like when power speaks.

Has the question form returned? Case suggests that maybe it has, detecting among recent geopolitical events a growing tendency to frame complex problems as queries. She finds Vladimir Putin discussing “the Ukrainian question” as well as journalists and critics analyzing the English, Irish, Scottish, Catalonian, and migrant questions. We might add the Russian question to this list. “Could it be that we are now on the cusp of another age of questions?” Case wonders. “Is it indeed part of the past, or are we still living in it?”

If the magic of questions lies in the form itself, this may be so. But it is difficult to read Case’s brilliant account and not sense that it is really about a certain kind of political imagination — one that we have mostly lost, for better and for worse. As citizens at least, we have generally turned away from the world-making assurance that shaped the age of questions. We know more than ever how our problems are inextricably tangled and interrelated, how our decisions affect the planet and each other. And our political cultures have been scarred by the violent totalitarian projects of the 20th century no less than by the constricting force of neoliberalism. We have generally come to favor tweaks and fixes over transformative, paradigm-breaking political change.

There are notable exceptions to this humbling of our imaginations, from the brash, disruptive faith of Silicon Valley to the burn-it-down bravado of the American right. For the most part, however, we have come to meet our political challenges with less certainty than our 19th-century forebears. Tracing the history of questions, then, is more than an exercise in form. It is an opportunity for us to hold our own political sensibilities up to the light and think anew about what it means to have the confidence to change the world.

¤

Ian P. Beacock is a historian of modern Europe and PhD candidate at Stanford University. His essays and reviews have appeared in The Atlantic, the New Republic, and elsewhere.

The post The Frame of Things appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

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[truthandlove]

The Core Mindset of all Evil

The instant you start to justify that your well-being requires another to suffer (abortion is one such example, mataphorically backstabbing someone in the office to get ahead yourself is another example, and of course witches are 100% about this cursing others to take for oneself in spiritual vampirism), you've taken a big step into a terrible darkness, and have become part of the problem. The bloodiest ideologies in recorded history all embrace this core deception -- Communism and Islam. Christians know that Jesus has an abundance of provision - just waiting to be released in God's goodness over ANYone willing to align themselves with the heart and purpose of God for their lives and their community, nation and planet. Jesus took ALL the suffering for this planet so that we could have access restored to all the life-answers, and innovative solutions needed to overcome all the challenges of living. I rebuke the cop-out and shortcut for witches, satanists, abortionists, pedophiles, corrupt politicians and all those that seek to "energize" their ambitions through the suffering of others. I call forth the truth of God's Kingdom that service to others, not justified abuse and bloodletting, is the doorway to real living. For another to suffer, they much be alive and be capable of feeling pain. (such as a human fetus) Recent medical history is replete with the survival of those humans the establishment deemed as not viable. Satanists laugh at the gullible. Both they and their demons are fully aware that each life snuffed out energizes their spell casting. Wake up friends to contemporary socially engineered conditioning to normalize the activities of the ancient nephilim. May I remind everyone that we are all "terminal". We all have an expiration date from this planet. The difference from human to human is measured in the smallest of scales, mere years, between those that die as infants and those that die of old age. My God created life, LOVES life, because he IS life itself. We're not charged with being responsible for deciding when another's terminal moment is, only God is. Its terribly arrogant to steep up as the final judge of that. Instead, we are here to serve others, not abuse or terminate them. We are here to reflect the final reality - meaning to live in alignment with Who God is. Because God, as revealed both in the Hebrew scriptures and Jewish New Testament is a God who loves people, seeks only to BLESS them, and treasures the life he has given humans, so should we. Anything else is to be on a slippery slope or subjective rationalization that will only hurt our lives and set us up to damage other lives. Because God loves life and loves people, we will answer to God, personally and directly, for every action we took that violated His character. God loves us so much as to give us the opportunity to reflect him in the very short time we have to serve each other on this planet. The satanist is a human who has been deceived into resenting God's love and, by seeking to do his own thing, only dooms his/herself to receiving exactly what they are asking for -- namely, to be forever removed from the presence or intervention of the God of life, beauty, truth and grateful and lavish other-centered contribution. We thus are completely free to choose our destiny with every moment we have left. My post is here to point out the identical mental process a person goes through to rationalize abortion, and the core tenants of satanism or lucierianism, realizes they are the same EXACT pattern and sequence. Those willing to recognize that fact, will benefit by seeing how they are being conditioned and aware to better resist and choose for themselves the values the stand for -- as opposed to the patterns handed to them by someone or something with its own agenda. You're either willing to receive that awareness, or you're not cognizant enough of how satanism and social engineering overlap. In either case, more research and awareness is your answer. I am here to simply point out that there is only a difference in DEGREE - but not a difference in KIND - from the person willing to abort their child and the person willing to perform human saccrifice and the person willing to provoke a war, to traffic and pimp others. It is the same mental process that first creates an us-versus-them paradigm and assumes that to be reality or the only way things can be. (a trap to start with) Second, it presumes that us (me) is more important to me than you (them). Then it moves to the second deception: that I am in competition with you for a limited resource (or life, happiness, success - whatever words you want to use). Lastly it makes a choice - at whatever degree of awareness - that they are willing to sacrifice the "them" with the false belief that in doing so, the "us" will end up in a better place. This post simply exposes that the model is the same model - the abortionist, the witch, the dictator, the victim of abortion, the satanist are all participating in one mindset, one paradigm, one larger agenda of destruction, but in lower levels, disassociated from this very truth such that they call doing evil a good thing. That is called "being deceived". You learn from those who have come out of (high awareness levels of) witchcraft, of satanism, of luciferianism and they all tell of how it was decided it was necessary to make abortion socially acceptable, how think thanks were installed to best engineer this process, how drug money was poured into mass persuasion campaigns and how the the words of "choice" had to be neuroassociated with fetus death in other to get people to pour infant blood down the throats of the demonic entities the higher ups consciously serve. If you have not researched these facts, the testimonies, the documentaries, etc. you're not in a good place to comment either way on the subject matter. For example: the writings of Springmeier, Svali, Rebecca Brown, Cathy O'Brien and hundreds of others. You need that prerequisite knowledge to even have an informed opinion, or else the best you can hope to do is voice an uninformed opinion. My hope here is that those who are willing to be informed that the same rationalization that allows a mother to dissociate sufficient from her motherhood as to kill her child to protect her former way of life, is the identical destructive disassociation that rationalizes is it OK to kill one ethnicity, or population or country. Kill the other to somehow benefit the self. When in reality, that is NEVER the answer at any level. When a country does that, it is called propaganda. When a mother pays someone to kill her child it is called freedom to choose. Both are tragic, separated by the amount of lives lost, but identical in the justification to end someone else's life to serve your own self-inflated interests, which only end up destroying the individual or the nation long-term. People who want their 'Free Choice' to include hurting/murdering others, will one day have to come to terms with it. Is it fair that we must be burdened with the task of growing the next generation in our bodies, even from a violation against our will (such as pregancy resulting from rape)? No, it's not fair at all. We weren't promised a fair and easy life on Earth. Women were given this responsibility. To some, it's a burden and to others it's a wish never fufilled. But God will NEVER justify murder of an innocent for your "convenience", no matter how you try to rationalize it. You will not ever receive comfort in your soul until you ask God for His forgiveness, but at that same moment of forgiveness, that lack of comfort will become grief because you will mourn those souls and realize how much love you'll have in your heart for your babies who wait to meet you with joy and they have always loved you without any blame or bitterness. This is what I have witnessed from life. The choice will never be easy unless your heart becomes too hardened and I'm pretty sure that's a much worse misery to bear.

[annabelaplit]

Why Remember?

Below is my submission for the Lawrence Alan Spiegel Holocaust Remembrance Scholarship.

In today’s world the Holocaust is known. It is more than known; it is famous, the ultimate symbol of evil and tragedy. It is the great archetype of fear-mongering, the most taboo topic for off-color jokes. Give people a historical figure to kill, and Hitler invariably ends up with 1,000 bullets in his skull. But I think there is a difference between knowing what the Holocaust is and remembering it. It can be hard for people dozens of years and thousands of miles removed to see its magnitude, its misery, and its effects on their own lives.

Growing up, my brother and I saw Sylvia, our great-grandfather Jack’s second wife, infrequently. The pair lived in Florida and the rare times they would visit we would often find ourselves captured by other childish pursuits. However, we always heeded our mother’s warning not to inquire about the strange markings on Sylvia’s arm. In fact, it took years of curiosity for my mother to give the scars context, and even then I was too young for the answers of Holocaust and Auschwitz to have any real meaning.

My mother would also tell me stories of my other great-grandfather, Martin. Although implausible in retrospect, they seemed like fairy tales to my young mind. Martin was the youngest sibling in a very wealthy Hungarian family, perhaps even royalty. However, his parents and siblings supposedly treated him very badly, locking him away in a basement and making him do a great many laborious chores. Finally, he was able to escape in the middle of the night and flee to America. His abusive family met a far more grisly fate; their comeuppance in the form of a certain faith based persecution, implied but never explicitly named. The story ends with Martin catching the eyes of my beautiful grandmother Madelyn on the deck of a ship in the early 1940’s.

I knew these things about my family, knew their Jewish face caused them great hardship, but this knowledge always seemed abstract. To me, the Holocaust was a tragedy, but it was a tragedy consigned to the past, an atrocity before my time. About it I felt a detached sort a sympathy, a recognition of its immorality but not much deeper. It was not until my sophomore year of high school that I started to think differently.

In 2015, I was lucky enough to go on the Carl Burkhardt Gymnasium-Thornton Academy German Exchange. Besides creating enough memories and anecdotes to last a lifetime, the trip was also an incredible educational experience, as I gained first-hand knowledge of German history and culture. Our group spent the final day of the exchange in Berlin; we walked the streets for twelve hours, soaking up the city’s beauty and life. At about 8pm, we passed the Holocaust Memorial and decided to go inside. Although our group entered together, we soon found ourselves splitting apart. I had been conversing with a friend, but as we went deeper into the memorial, we grew silent and then she went one direction and I went another. I found myself standing in the center of four concrete slabs, each rising far above my head. The sky was dusk and the world around me was completely silent.

There’s something about that memorial that makes you think. Alone like that in the dark and quiet, the stones take on an almost menacing presence. The feeling is unsettling, something resembling the sensation of being lost and frantic. It makes you think, question why the memorial was built like this, why the memorial was built in the first place. Standing there, flanked by four sides of stelae, I thought about Sylvia, wondering for the first time about the horrors she might have endured. I thought about Martin, realizing how lucky he was to have escaped in time. I thought about the other branches of my family, the ones who weren’t so lucky, and how inexcusable bigotry and hatred culled them from the pages of history. I thought about how the dark demons of my family’s past are actually amplified by six million.

This is why I believe it is important to remember the Holocaust; because it affects all of us. For every person like me, able to exist because of random combinations of luck and fate, there are thousands who never came into being, whose ancestors perished in the worst genocide known to mankind. The Holocaust has stolen our potential pen-pals, doctors, neighbors, and loves of our lives, people who could have brought more meaning to our existence. It is a not a tragedy tucked into the past, rather one whose tentacles stretch into the present day. We must mourn for the people the Holocaust has robbed us of, and those who bear the brunt of its mental and physical scars. We must mourn and we must make sure history will not repeat itself.

So let us do our best to learn. Let us read Night, watch Life is Beautiful, and search online for witness testimony about what happened in concentration camps. Let us face the horrors head on, embrace the grief and guilt and anger that intertwines with this tragedy. Let us not stop with the Holocaust, but look at Rwanda, Cambodia, and Bosnia and other places where we failed to remember. Let us feel that sick drop in the pits of our stomachs when news articles state abortion statistics as “half a Holocaust”, and major political figures insist Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons on “innocent” people. It is only through learning, through trying to understand the impossible, and committing ourselves to stand up to bigotry of all types, that we can achieve remembrance.

Fighting for these lessons requires courage. It is easy to be brave in the abstract but retreat back into cowardice under the weight of specific scenarios. The United States, the great purveyor of equality and freedom, showed this in 1939 when it turned away 900 Jewish refugees on the St. Louis who were trying to escape from the Third Reich. America’s lack of empathy doomed over a fourth of the passengers to death. To go against protocol and popular opinion may be terrifying, but the cost of such cowardice is paid in lives and your name being inscribed on the wrong side of history.

However, standing up for one’s beliefs can have a tremendous impact, even if one faces nearly impossible odds. Hans and Sophie Scholl were two siblings alive during Hitler’s reign. Appalled by the ideology and actions of the Third Reich, they helped to create a resistance movement at the University of Munich. Between 1942 and 1943 they pronounced and distributed leaflets denouncing World War II and other Nazi crimes, including the treatment of Jews. Although they were caught and executed, their words managed to reach thousands of others throughout Germany, and today they serve as a symbol for the ability of morality to take root in even the most desolate of circumstances. I think that emulating the Scholls, even in small ways, is essential for opposing bigotry. The siblings are certainly heroes of mine.

The history and the lessons that stem from the Holocaust have shaped my life, and will continue to do so as time progresses. I hope through the study of history and German in college I can dig deeper into this tragic event and explore its causes and consequences. But I am just one person. It requires a collective effort in the part of my generation to keep the remembrance of the Holocaust alive.