#sermons on spiritual depression

[battleforgodstruth]

Spurgeon's Sorrows / Realistic Hope for those Struggling with Depression - Pastor Patrick Hines

Spurgeon’s Sorrows / Realistic Hope for those Struggling with Depression – Pastor Patrick Hines

▶️Reformed Presbyterian Pulpit Supplemental (Pastor Hines’ YouTube Channel):https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClW5Qzh27Zx7HO2fKkCcR5g ▶️Bridwell Heights Presbyterian Church http://www.bridwellheightschurch.org/ ▶️Pastor Patrick Hines (PLAYLIST): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzOwqed_gET2vqbY_shSW0MfXtYGSoCnT From church website: We subscribe to the Westminster Standards as our…

[daughterofsticks]

sermon on the mini-mount 2

what is the cost of poverty? what is the cost of being put in a position to give up everything you have and all that you are? my granny was telling me that her neighbor was the victim of violence: her car windows were shot out and her garage was vandalized. where we're from you have to have insurance on your home and having it on your car is 'mandatory'. It's great to have those things. Granny's neighbor was able to get her items fix/repaired. yet, using your insurance causes your rates to go up. if you live in an area that is systematically underfunded, overpoliced, surrounded by urban blight where the effects of systemic poverty are crime, violence, drug use, and general dissatisfaction with self/life then you're in a 'high-risk' area. meaning in order to have this necessary insurance that you pay for each month (or however often) it’s going to cost you more than other people.

and that will continue to happen in perpetuity. that's good for the insurance company. [this also drives the property value down].

my granny also mentioned that a certain individual has moved back into the area to stay with their people. she wondered if that had anything to do with it. maybe. it's easy to focus on the problem in the center of your palm (the problem at hand). that's fine. the palm is the most sensitive area and represents the thing that's right up in your face. AND at the same time there are other places on the hand to consider. the issue at hand, while it has a palm, also has phalanges. [now, this is an analogy about hands, not abilities]. phalanges. typically 5 (k?). the phalanges, in their state of 5, also have joints (usually 3, per, minus the thumb), in addition to finger nails, nail beds, fingertips/finger pads. also the tissue part at the bottom of the palm. and as we know from the anatomy of the character Thing from the Addam's family, a hand will also typically have a wrist. (a glove usually has a wrist) so we're gonna include the wrist. and the wrist also has a lil piece of the body that can tell someone what your heart rate.

these things make up the hands. not to mention the lines carved so beautifully. not to mention the dirt that sometimes finds itself underneath. these components are also important. if the one is too painful to focus on, if it feels to big (the palm *is* very large, compared to other parts mention), focus on something else connected to said palm. what can you bring with those hands to the situation?

perhaps you're an intercessor. you can bring specific and constant prayer. not praying into the abyss and stamping Jesus’ name at the end. specifically. intentionally. to a living God who hears, understands, and answers. if your prayer is “woe is me, Idk what to do,” what can be said? that is the truth! however, if you change your prayer you can change your life. so, what could your prayer be?

God help the people doing these acts be fulfilled in ways that improve their lives.

God show me what I can have someone take over to them, resources that will be beneficial and expeditious in the execution

specific. tangible. “God send help!” you’re there. now, you don’t want to put your hands on it? okay. that’s the reason for the prayer examples already given.

“God, help my community heal from the effects of systematic racism, from systemic oppression and depression.”

“God bring light.”

what does light do? it illuminates the darkness.

“God, bring light into this situation. Bring light.”

you wanna heal everything? “everything done in the dark will be brought to the light”.

“God bring light. God bring light.”

“God, what is it you would have me do to free myself from the depression I feel oppresses me every day”

“God, what can I do to change the direction of the people in my circle around for good?”

“God, who is my neighbor?”

“God show me what it means to love my neighbor as myself”

and these are things you have to do between you and God and your group of trusted advisors and no one else. these are things you’re not telling people about. these are prayers that you pray between yourself and God. what’s so important about that? there are a lot of voices in our lives. I binge a lot of television. there are a lot of voices in our lives. I meet a lot of people on the daily. at work. concerts. out on the street. at parties. a lot of voices in our lives. a reason to keep these kinds of prayers very private is this: if you have a lot of voices weighing in on the question how will you hear from God? especially if there’s no history to go on. you cannot search the archives of your life because you do not talk to God. you let other people talk to God for you and you say “amen”. if everyone is speaking to you about the question in the prayer you won’t be able to hear God in the noise.

if you’ve already talked to a bunch of people about your hopes and dreams and questions, that’s okay. it’s important to get away—to the quiet and to the still. other things will pass away when you get time away from them and don’t replace them with other voices. when you get away, you’re listening for, sifting through, swimming (of course this is all metaphorical) through all the bullshit. see yourself doing it in your mind’s eye, sifting through all the bullshit, then of course you will find the voice of God. because you are seeking.

this is not profound. this is scripture in action. you have not because you ask not. you ask vague questions, you get vague answers. or you get nothing. you ask specific questions you get specific answers. seek. find. seek. find. that’s what it says. seek and you will find. knock and the door will be opened to you. doesn’t say how long you have to knock. what does the lil song say? “keep walking but you won’t knock down our walls?” KEEP MARCHING. continue the pursuit of truth in God. the weariness is from the weight of the world. the sadness is from the unfulfillment of the promises of God. act on the promises of God. march until the wall comes down. march until you hear ‘go the other way’. that means something is about to happen, something that you’ve never seen before. imagine the walls of Benin being sucked into the earth, pushed down by Heaven. who has ever seen that? miracle. you have to seek first…

that’s it. that’s the revelation, the rhema word for today. this is basic. you want to make a difference and you don’t know what to do? that’s okay—

“God, shine light on what I can do to alleviate the situation with an outcome of justice.”

What can EYE do?

keep asking until you get an answer. keep it to yourself. stand on faith. believe God. listen to your heart. “what is it that I must do to be saved?” specific to me. what is it that EYE must do to be saved? it’s specific to you. no one else can hear from God for you. “what must EYE do to be saved?”

this is a message for Bible believers. for others reading this, feel free to take what you need. there is peace for all. everyone is not going to believe in Jesus Christ. it was foretold. everyone can benefit from the message of God. come partake. it’s free.

the altar to God is in your heart. the altar call is there; go there.

[rue-with-the-tarot]

I will never, ever trust anyone who calls themselves a priest(ess) unless they have a myriad of qualifications and experience behind them. Are you aware of the kind of responsibilities you’re accepting? Are you able to comfort the downtrodden effectively and not just say “the gods love you” and leave it at that? Are you able to keep your composure and not allow the plights of others to affect you so you can better be of service? Do you have experience in counseling and leadership? Are you prepared for when someone comes to you with a pile of woe upon their shoulders? Do you have experience or knowledge about community building? Are you well studied in both the culture, history and religious traditions of your chosen religion? Are you able to guide and nurture countless individuals and modify your knowledge and beliefs to fit into their lives? Are you able to continue the work of uplifting a whole community even when you are tired, depressed, or going through hardship yourself? If you are not able to be initiated and guided under a trove of elders and the more experienced, what are you going to do to combat that problem? Who are you responsible to? What are your morals for leadership? Are you able to admit when you are mistaken? Have you been acknowledged by others to be worthy of that title? How are you enriching someone’s life and practice outside of the culture of doomscrolling on the internet? Do you know how to write sermons? Do you know how to lead prayer and ritual for a lot of people? What will you say when a congregate comes to you, devastated by death? Rape? Trauma? Mental illness? Can you recognize the signs of spiritual psychosis? Do you know how to navigate that? Can you spot cultural appropriation? Have you deconstructed from white supremacy and colonialism? Do you have connections with others that have experience in other belief systems so you can direct people to where they need to go? Have you and the gods ever discussed what you are willing to sacrifice in order to hold this position? Are you aware that you will make sacrifices at all and that this isn’t just a cozy, fun thing? Are you even old enough? Do you have enough life experience? Are you able to guide someone older than yourself effectively? How will you serve your community outside of religion?

I know everyone is different in their religious lives, but for me personally, it took me 5 years to answer the call of priesthood, and I AM STILL NOT A PRIESTESS. I am unable to be initiated, so my path involves seminary and intensive theologian study for what will likely be about the next 10 years of my life. Under no circumstances will I set up a group chat and call myself a priestess, no disrespect, but the ease of it takes away from the sacredness. In ancient times, priests were educated from CHILDHOOD and assumed their duties in ADULTHOOD.

At best it feels self-serving and at worst, cultish, to just set up a digital server, call it a temple, and give yourself a flashy title.

[awideplace]

Songs in the Night

When believers enter “the dark night of the soul,” those times when God’s mysterious will, worked out through difficult providence, makes the Lord appear veiled and unapproachable, what should they do? As we look at Scripture, one conclusion is apparent. They should sing. For the biblical testimony is that God provides “songs in the night”—lyrics to bring to Him in times of great heart distress.

We would not, at first thought, naturally reason that a time of struggle, suffering, or pain is also a time for singing, especially when God seems absent and hidden. It can almost seem cruel to suggest that a hurting, disillusioned soul should sing. Crying, wondering, and groaning seem more fitting. But singing? Is not lifting our voice in song for happy times? Certainly, but singing is also for trying times. Indeed, perhaps especially so.

Christian songwriter Michael Card has noted that in the book of Psalms, sixty-five of the 150 songs found there, or more than 40 percent, contain lamentations. As His people live in this sin-cursed world, God knew that they would need help pouring out their souls to Him in distress. So, He provided them with songs to sing at those times—songs in the night. 

Job’s younger friend Elihu testifies to this truth when he acknowledges that God “gives songs in the night” to those in distress (Job 35:10). Likewise, the psalmist, so troubled in soul that he says he moans when he remembers God, stirs himself with the words, “Let me remember my song in the night” (Ps. 77:3, 6). He then goes on to sing five agonizing lines of a song that, stated in questions, describe how spiritual midnight truly feels. “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (vv. 7–9). 

One such song in the night is Psalm 42. The psalmist, far from God and His people, taunted by his foes, says he longs for God like a hunted deer pants for water (v. 1). He describes his experience as having the breaking waves of God’s sea washing over him (v. 7). He gives expression to dismay, as seen in the twice-repeated question of the psalm: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (vv. 5, 11). 

However, this song also provides proper heart redirection. For in the midst of his despair, the psalmist also recalls these truths: “By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life” (v. 8). He answers his repeated question with the same refrain each time. “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” As Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds us in his work Spiritual Depression, psalms like this one encourage us to “preach to ourselves” instead of just “listening to ourselves.” We can counter our feelings of defeat and discouragement by preaching to our souls sermons provided by God in His Word.

Truly He puts our tears in a bottle (56:8).

When Jesus entered the dark night of His soul on Calvary’s cross, He had these same songs on His heart. He quoted from the Psalms, expressing both His despair in the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1), and His hope when He finally said, “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (Ps. 31:5). Friend, if your Lord needed these words at His blackest hour, so do you. When you do not know what to say or pray, when you have groaning too deep for words, when the darkness falls, then turn to the songs in the night the Lord Himself used, and that He still provides for you.

By Barry York, published May 2019

[bodyalive]

Illustration by Monica Garwood

* * * *

From The New York Times Well newsletter

By Carolyn Todd Feb. 9, 2024

Of the thousands of self-help books on the market, which ones are truly helpful? “It’s uncommon to find a self-help book that feels different,” said Vienna Pharaon, a marriage and family therapist in New York City.

But genuinely useful titles abound. The best of the genre invite reflection or offer practical tools to promote emotional, psychological or spiritual well-being. And there are some that therapists personally turn to or suggest to their patients.

“Almost every therapist I know has a whole list of self-help books to recommend,” said Daniel Tomasulo, a counseling psychologist and the academic director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.

When sorting through the self-help stacks, who better to help than mental health professionals? We asked seven to share their picks.

1. "The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World," by the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams

How do we experience joy in the face of personal and collective suffering? The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu spent five days reflecting on their own lives to answer that question, and they compiled their stories and guidance in this 2016 book.

“The Book of Joy” is an opportunity to learn from two spiritual leaders in an intimate, accessible way, said Sona Dimidjian, director of the Renée Crown Wellness Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Through their dialogue, which is punctuated with laughter and tears, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu teach readers how to cultivate joy and work through difficulties like illness and despair. Dr. Dimidjian recommends the book to “anyone who is feeling overwhelmed by the realities of our world and daily life today,” she said.

2. "The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living," by Russ Harris

This book, first published in 2007, teaches you to accept your negative thoughts and feelings as they arise, instead of resisting or being consumed by them — a refreshing approach known as acceptance and commitment therapy.

Diana Garcia, a South Florida-based therapist, says this easy-to-read primer made her “first fall in love” with ACT. She has clients use the book as a supplement to their sessions and recommends it to friends who are feeling stuck. It teaches you how to keep taking actions that move you in a positive direction regardless of how you’re feeling, she explained.

3. "Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion," by Gregory Boyle

Gregory Boyle is a Jesuit priest who founded Homeboy Industries, a rehabilitation and re-entry program for former gang members. His 2011 book is a collection of real, raw stories about people he worked with and the lessons we can all draw from their experiences.

“Each chapter reads like a Sunday sermon to be savored and meditated upon,” said Jacob Ham, director of the Center for Child Trauma and Resilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. While faith is woven throughout the book, Dr. Ham recommends the title to anyone who feels “that their traumas and all the ways they’ve coped with them have left them broken and unredeemable.”

4. "The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity," by Julia Cameron

This 1992 workbook from Julia Cameron, a teacher and author, is a 12-week guide to recovering your sense of childlike creativity. And it’s not just for artists and writers, said Britt Frank, a trauma specialist in Kansas.

“Of all of the books I have ever used with clients, this one has the most staying power,” she said. “Because everyone is creative, and creativity is medicine.”

For years, Ms. Frank has returned to the book’s tools — like the “morning pages,” a stream-of-consciousness journaling practice. And she uses “The Artist’s Way” when treating clients with issues like depression and addiction. But skimmers beware, Ms. Frank cautioned: “It’s not a book you read. It’s a book you work.”

5. "Homecoming: Healing Trauma to Reclaim Your Authentic Self, by Thema Bryant

Thema Bryant is a trauma therapist, ordained minister and professor who offers a “distinctive lens on health, hope and healing trauma,” said Ayanna Abrams, a psychologist in Atlanta.

Drawing on her clinical work, spirituality and personal recovery from trauma, Dr. Bryant shares stories, reflections and exercises in this 2022 title. She helps people believe in their capacity to heal, Dr. Abrams explained. Dr. Bryant also avoids the “gimmicky, bypassing or vague” language that so many self-help books lean on, she added.

6. "The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality," by Ryan M. Niemiec and Robert E. McGrath

This 2019 guide helps people recognize, honor and nurture their brightest qualities, Dr. Tomasulo said. The idea of cultivating your “character strengths” comes from positive psychology, which centers on promoting well-being, he explained. “It’s about moving from focusing on ‘what’s wrong’ to ‘what’s strong.’”

People who lean into their character strengths tend to be happier, Dr. Tomasulo said. This book, he explained, is a good pick for “people who are doing OK, but want to have more joy and well-being in their life.”

[Follies of God]

[phlve]

The Enneagram of Divine Forms — Point 8: The Moralist

Look for the truth in the moral sense in their life and the lives of others, their own society and the world at large

Constantly evaluating everything from their moralizing point of view

Merciless critics of others, but even more devastating and unforgiving critics of themselves

Will fall from times to times into bouts of self-criticism (imagining themselves as being bad and doing wrong; sense of uncontrolled sexual lasciviousness, followed by unending moral chastisement)

Ego-position of being the final authority on moral, religious and political matters

Like to sermonize

Feel very acutely the lack of spiritual and moral authenticity

Lust to discipline others

Inclined to impose on others cruel moral sanctions, heartless judgment and righteous indignation

General existential attitudes of sadness and depression, a ‘broken heart’

Project themselves as having been morally abused, which provokes a form of corruption in them

Ego-delusion that they are living in moral disarray

Lust, not only in its sexual manifestation, but in the sense of excess and exaggeration in everything they are doing

Dichotomy of self-denial on one side and self-indulgence on the other

Go from the extremes of asceticism and self-criticism to indulging themselves to excess

Rationalization: superficial and primary defense mechanism of the moralist's over-critical stand to morally justify their excesses

Distort the facts, rationalizing their intolerant feelings or actions by elaborating plausible motives or excuses to make these appear acceptable

Appear to be constantly self-righteous

Assert to themselves: ‘I am ethical and open-minded’

Constantly inhibited as a result of their self-criticism

Their ego-reaction to the situations of life and more particularly to the criticism of others is violence by word or deed

Ego-justification: duplicity or astute explanations

Fair on one side and critical on the other

Source: @/if u seek amy on PDB

[yardsards]

can i ask about your experience as a quaker (or growing up as one? i just saw you mention bein one in some tags)

i jus don't know much about them

so i was not raised quaker, i was raised baptist. which was. 0/10, do not recommend. all the guilt of catholicism with none of the stained glass lmaooo

like, i did resinate with the idea of there being some sort of higher power and i liked the idea of getting together with other believers to discuss spiritual matters but as i got older and started thinking for myself i realized i really didn't like a lot of things about the church. i hated the bigoted beliefs of its members. i hated the emphasis on blind obedience to authority. i didn't believe that the whole literal truth could be found within one book, specifically one group's interpretation of said book. and the idea that people were born inherently bad and sinful and that a supposedly kind and just god would condemn people to eternal suffering just for not believing the "right" things just did not sit well with me at all

when i went off to college i decided to try out a few different churches around town. i ended up settling on a progressive presbyterian church. the community was great and very accepting of queer people. i had some minor qualms with the theology but it wasn't like with my parents' church where every sermon made me feel increasingly nauseous, and i generally felt *good* during and after the services

and then covid hit and while they did stream their sermons, i lost that sense of community and just kinda... fell away

throughout all this i was researching different faiths online, both christian and non-christian. and one faith that kept popping up a lot that i liked the sound of was quakerism. like at one point i remember taking some online quiz of like "what religion do your values most align with" and quakerism was very in the lead. (before this, i'd only really been exposed to quakerism in history textbooks and assumed the religion died out alongside puritanism)

in the end what got me really interested was actually a video by a youtuber i liked, a queer/disability advocate and historical fashion enjoyer who also happened to be quaker

and after looking more into it, i decided to try attending a quaker meeting. which was easier due to covid cuz i could find a church online (located physically hundreds of miles from me) that did their sunday services over zoom

and so i attended and the people there were great and were doing actual good in their communities. and the way services were run, and their beliefs about what god *was* and all of that just hit me with an intense feeling of like. holy shit this is what i've always wanted from religion.

the video explains the sort of core beliefs and practices of quakerism better than i can but the main belief is that like. every person is godly. as such, it's our job to treat all living people as equally and kindly as possible. additionally, since we all have god inside of us, we need to look inwards and come to our own conclusions about our own religious beliefs and practices (and generally respect other people's religious beliefs even if they differ from our own, so long as they're not causing real tangible harm)

i haven't attended any meetings in a while, due to that group going back to semi in person (they still stream it out but it feels more like being a spectator than a member) and there being no quaker meetinghouses in the tiny town i currently live in, coinciding with me being too depressed to regularly attend anything. but i'm planning to start attending quaker meetings again once i move to a real city

[icouldntthinkofabetternamesook]

It Devours! Ramble

I should be going to be but instead have this rant about an amazing book

killing God but God is representation of your trauma, lies and repression and destroying it ultimately does nothing to solve the issue because ultimately the damage is coming from inside of and your own refusal to face how what happened still lurks in your life, and God was never really a god just a scared cornered animal acting out it’s own survival and it only has the status of a God because people are using it as a symbol to project their fears and hopes on, making it bigger and having it killed for their satisfaction

the world simply being as it is and people projecting different world views on it in their own feeble attempts at understanding and comfort

religion being primarily based in community and belief, fulfilling and yet also restricting. Science being primarily based in isolation and uncertainty, necessary for safety and yet eternally contaminated from its own ideals by human nurture. viewing reality from any angle ultimately guarantees bias and as such by witnessing and trying to understand the world we fundamentally misinterpret it and how at the end of the day the important thing is to be open to other perspectives and view points and to open yourself up to human connection even if it means being wrong, both in the technical sense and in the sense that you hurt someone even with the best intentions and those good intentions do not undermine the hurt

Nilanjana is amazing. I way over identify with her lonely girl who only needs work not friends routine

Carlos really hates local government and would be weirdly fine with seeing NighVale as a whole burn if it meant keeping the specific people he loves safe and that is very sexy of him

Loved Pamela. She’s just so much fun, well intended but terrible at communicating and that fits into the border themes of connection doesn’t it

the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God really went off on the aesthetic. both the pamphlet and the slide show sermon where so fucking good, a perfect mix of creepy, spiritual and well intended. there just enough authentic about the ideology to make you understand why people would fall for it and actually believe in what they say with just enough so overtly wrong it’s unsettling

there was little hits of the old Strex here and there, but for the most part this had no continuity with years 2 or 3 and thats kinda fine because it manages to take the themes and aesthetics of what came before and weave it into something new and amazing. the dessert bluffs and Kevin timeline is totally broken but time is literally broken so...

I loved all the digressing and meanderings of the plot to focus on other set-random Nightvale characters rather than on the main plot and it really drives home the fact that Welcome to NightVale is about NightVale as a community rather than about any one protagonist or narrative. it makes that fact that you can pick up any piece of NighVale with no prior knowledge and jump right in work all the more because everyplace is just a small one in the grand mosaic that is NighVale where every person and every world view counts and this circles back around to what I was saying about community 

and you know what lets circle back around to what I said about Carlos being willing to let Nightvale burn for his family and the lack of continuity with year three and there’s really 2 main things to say, the first being the slightly bizarre retcon to make Carlos’ otherworld stay 10 miserable years instead of 1 where he’s “just staying, not trapped” and how I think we can all agree that Carlos’ “come move to the dessert otherworld with me and abandon all your friends and family became this otherworld is so great for research and my science work babe” and the fact that they never really felt with how Cecil was straight up suicidal and deeply depressed for the later half of the year and the lack of actual resolution to what was going through Carlos’ mind when he decided to come back with absolutely no shown issue or effort, and it is so much weirder for Carlos to try to talk Cecil into moving to a place where he is actually secretly miserable

and the second thing about that is that when Carlos comes back he refers to importance of NightVale as a community rather than a place and how Cecil needs to reconnect wth the people around him and focus “on the everyone” and how Carlos really did primarily come back for Cecil and to be with Cecil and how he says that NightVale is where everyone Cecil loves lives and Carlos really have a very small protective domain of people considered his own

Cecil literally be used as a stand in for the concept of love and connection and dependability itself with Nilanjana contemplating of wanting to find her Cecil and wanting to be Cecil for someone, the emphasis on the radio tower where Nil and Darryl's relationship gets physical for the first time. It is weird to read a piece of Nightvale that doesn’t have Cecil's perspective coloring every thing and never allowing me into his mind but its kinda cool because we instead just see him as a distant pillar of love, support and community and how those are ultimately the things the book believes is universal to science and religion and how concerning that then kinda makes Cecil’s statement that he would give up all of Nightvale for Carlos, even if he would much rather not, but also how good it is that Cecil is allowed to be selfish about something when he has had so much of life decided for him, being prophesied to be the voice of the community, being a tree who’s fruit is fed to the people, who’s truck is chopped down and used to make their shelter and how he nearly did almost once give up all of Nightvale for Carlos by going the the Otherworld with him

It was great seeing Abby even if only for a second

An entire book in the Nightvale style of deeply unsettling and profound and funny is a wonderful idea, with human nature so beautifully captured with in the pages and prose

the appearance of happiness being valued above the actual emotion. teeth as a fragmented symbol, being a part of something natural being a small segment of a symbol of joy and goodness and of course that piecemeal symbol being divorced from context and being made so creepy in that isolation, teeth both as a part of smiling and a part of biting, piece in isolation that could be either joy or devouring

always love me good cult

always love killing God and the horrible thing it makes of us

always love the conflict between understanding and belief

by the way, and I think this is a good thing, Never thought that any of the devoured people where dead. it would fuck with status quo to hard if Larry or Rico where gone. made it more a mystery of how they where going to comeback than an actual threat and thats a good thing

and you know how Cecil never actually talks about Homophobia or racism or any kind of discrimination is his show? and then we step outside of his heavily edited, censored perspective and it turns out theirs still antisemitism and racism and sexism and stuff like that in Nightvale? I think it makes me appreciate Cecil more to know that his pride in his identity and his dedication to showing a mostly egalitarian world, is intact a dedicated choice that he makes about his own identity and not just a passive aspect of his environment. Cecil overall came across as a lot more put together and reliable from other perspectives than his own. I would not have expected Cecil to be able to cook or be an emotional pillar right after his nice almost died. I think he might just have really low opinion of himself and it comes through in the show.

It can be really hard to tell the difference between Cecil being dumb because he’s putting on a show for the audience and trying to get around censorship Cecil being dumb die to reeducation side affects and timeline shenanigans, and Cecil being dumb because he just is. theres so many layers of truth and deception

religion being about the community, belief and interpretation of it all even when the facts are horrible

My god Carlos would have killed so many people and 1000% believed that it was City Council hating him enough to cut off their nose to spite their face and never once stopping to question his remarkably biased assumption. He really took the conflation of hero and scientist hard and is complete willing to force the issue with his own self rightness. Baby Girl you are so deranged!!! and he’s completely head over heels for Cecil. nice to know it goes both ways

I would like to get some more Darryl and Nil feels but its 11:54 and I have work tomorrow

also catch me think that Luisa is ‘like that’ as a result of being re-educated a bit to hard after having a mental break down from watching one of her co-workers die from Strex. two scientists went missing that day and we still don’t know what happened. and least one could have died

Nils absolutely came to town later and not with the rest of the research group

Carlos really killed God with gasoline and a flare gun when It was helpless and pinned. Darryl really looses faith in God when that faith is corroborated by fact and the truth can never be as real as the fantasy. Nil and Darryl really don’t work as a couple blue they just don’t have comparable word views and Darryl winds up wth the childhood best friend he shares a life and community with. Nil hooking up with Kareem would create perfect symmetry of scientist and radio host, so they clearly won’t work because it not their story its just one their would parallel, but her trying for a Cecil stand in works thematically due to all that Cecil represents within this story and Kareem is closer to Nils world view as a acts as the rational outsider to Cecil’s world view in the podcast

Hey, hey. invisible food and how you may or may not be eating anything, about how devouring is about becoming full, finding nutrients and fulling your body and taking care of yourself. you are flesh and you take in solid sunshine to be able to move and live and choosing to take the risk of starving yourself, of putting nothing in your body when it needs something, hearing your stomach growling and contracting around imaginary food who’s taste you made up, because it would ruin the fun to find out if you were actually taking care of yourself. Jon Peters constantly insisting that he is a farmer because he is unsure if he actually is a farmer, how he lives in fear and shame that his identity, the identity passed down from his father, built with the brother he lost to a distant war, is actually a lie, that he failed at what he was supposed to do because of the facts of his environment and how he decided to make up a story, spin a fantasy rather than admit the truth. how Nightvale eats empty air and no one is willing to admit the truth of their hunger because nightvale is a town of lies, secrets and stories

contrasting that with the flesh and weight of the smiling god. how for all its lofty thoughts and belief at the end of the day its just blood and crunching teeth. what seems like a lie, a fantasy, a story is really just plain naked truth, the blood and sweat and bile that we are, how we are just lumps of grey matter draped in bone and at the end of the day we die and that Charlie Bair who wanted his ghost license so he could continue on after death, Charlie Bair who will one day pay 10000$ to have his brain scooped out and turned into a cyborg slave of the smiling god, how bodies are just parts, how his fear of death turned to eternal pain. the smiling god devours. you are food. you will die

a science that chooses lies and fantasy and a religion that chooses facts and flesh

there is no one with out the other

Kevin and Darryl and Kasper and church being a business that can’t feel like a business to all but those in charge. a cybernetics company and a church that looks like a cheap office building

community being death, love being clear so all you see is the real, practical things on the other side of it, love being what is, love being the act of going about your life, the fox eats itself, the fox kills its pack, you kill the fox, skin it and wear its face over your own, what could be fire or trees with what could be chemicals or water, what would harm one or save the other but you don’t know if friendship is toxic, destructive, mutualistic or beneficial, the many faces of a relationship 

Nils throwing up in church, in that yellow costume that hides all of what she is, that makes her just one in a crowd, you go to church hungry but she ate her fill and this becomes her salvation because it allows her to escape the pull and get away from the locked room of cultists she’s pretending to be a part of

starving and feasting. devouring and imagining

this wound up being more about the visceral then the communal

stand by for something more coherent, there is to much to say about this book

tldr; understanding of the world is fundamentally flawed due to human subjectivity so its only by opening ourselves to other world views can we find understanding

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

As a preacher who struggled with periods of depression, Spurgeon proclaimed the power and grace of God amid spiritual darkness. This strange paradox enabled him to declare, “How much reason have we to bless God for nights! for if it were not for nights how much of beauty never would be discovered…were it not for winter we should never see the glistening crystals of the snow; we should never behold the beauteous…

[in-the-whisper]

Do you go to church

Not really. For a very long time I didn't go because I had too much anxiety and depression and church services just brushed up on my mental injuries and it just hurt too badly. I've had a much greater capacity to handle disagreements with people even when the beliefs I hold are informed by some traumatic experience - something I have not had the mental energy to do in the past. But even after recovering more I still don't really feel the desire to attend.

The way I see it, there are three main reasons to go to church. First, it's important to have a community that can encourage and support you when you're having a bad time, as well as to just talk to, get advice from, and generally just not be alone. I'm really lucky to already have a community of Christians who can mentor and encourage me, so that isn't really something I would go to church for, and I'm not quite in a place where I'm healthy enough to go to contribute by mentoring other people.

Second reason is to worship God with other people. I find i can't connect to God through worship at church because I find the singing and the crowd so overstimulating. I also find worship really personal and I'm just not comfortable doing that in a big group of people I don't know. So that doesn't really benefit me spiritually.

The third reason is the teaching. Because of my background, I just don't find most sermons at churches in my area very helpful. I just think most of the time pastors tackle subjects that need more than an hour to be fully fleshed out, and I think they're trying to reach as big of an audience as possible. Im not trying to sound like I just think I'm so special or anything but I've found that I just have to work really hard to apply the sermons to my life, whereas I could pretty easily find podcasts and books that are more tailored to the type of spiritual content that I need.

I think I'd probably be better suited to a house church environment since most of my issues are just "big church scary & unhelpful" but I haven't gotten around to finding one and I feel pretty fulfilled as I am right now.

[battleforgodstruth]

Fighting the One Two Punch of Depression & Temptation - Pastor Patrick Hines Sermon

Fighting the One Two Punch of Depression & Temptation – Pastor Patrick Hines Sermon

“Amazing how our own sinful flesh, the world, and Satan wait until we are the most vulnerable to launch their all-out attacks to tempt us to discard caution, discard our love for Christ, discard our reliance upon gospel promises, and to discard our own consciences for the passing pleasures of sin, isn’t it? Depression and Temptation are often partners in this regard. A depressed person can so…

[youllallriseintheink]

What cult tactic would each one use to gain followers. Joey Drew. The plague doctor. And I am William Afton.

Awesome question!

To be clear, I do not think any of this canonically happened, but all of them would make for a not-very-divergent AU.

For Joey Drew, it's obvious. It was the Great Depression. If he were to start a cult, he'd prey on the desperate, who would be abundant at the time.

Once he has them hired, the employees would be subject to many tactics that cults use: sleep deprivation, limited contact with outsiders, and dietary control. Joey canonically encouraged his employees to sleep at the studio and kept Henry from seeing Linda thanks to his heavy workload. Doing this intentionally, with a special emphasis on doing it to those who seem susceptible, along with encouraging his employees to live on a nutrient-deprived diet of bacon soup and vending machine snacks, isn’t that much of a stretch.

So, now your target population is isolated from the outside world, most of their friendships and even relationships being from within the studio. They don't have any of their own time to seek meaning. They're dependent on you for a paycheck during a time when jobs were hard to come by. And they're tired and dazed. It's the perfect time to start bringing a... spiritual element into work. He'd start having mandatory sermons about demon worship and creativity and Bendy, making their labour out to be noble and the studio's creations to be above all else. He'd plaster such messages everywhere in the studio, in every poster and memo. Sure, to some, they're just being dragged to church, but others would fall for it, and Joey would know the difference.

Joey would collect an inner circle of loyal people to do his bidding. If he wants someone specific, he can always spike their coffee with ink. A part of their servitude would be getting sacrifices and participating in rituals, or being sacrificed into ink creatures themselves, but so too would be creating a culture of obedience and fear in the studio, such that not even the most skeptical speaks against the cult.

The Plague Doctor also has a desperate demographic he could exploit: the terminally ill and their loved ones. He could use his followers as proxies to recruit people straight from hospital waiting rooms. In extreme cases, they would kidnap people from hospital beds and bring them to the doctor for supernatural healing in exchange for a period of servitude.

He wouldn't have to explain the zombies, or what "the pestilence" is. His followers would follow him because it's in exchange for life-prolonging treatment. Leave the cult, and you quickly get sick and die.

Most would not believe him, but some would be convinced that a healer so powerful must know what he's talking about when it comes to the pestilence. These would be his inner circle and would clamp down on the disobedient by dragging them to Doc for zombification.

William Afton would take a different approach. As a pillar of his community and a social butterfly, he interacts with all sorts of people, and he's keenly tuned to people who are a lot like him. Scared. Guilty. Filled with terrible urges to commit violent acts. Wanting a way to sate their desires and quell their negative feelings. William would find said people, often at churches or parties, recruit them with the promise of immortality, interactions with others like them, and a goal that allows them to sate their bloodlust. He would hire these people, train them, and elevate them to leadership roles in his company. He would also get on the good side of powerful people such as Hurricane’s mayor so he could have others look the other way on his crimes.

While William would only recruit a small number of people, he would also have his company at his beck and call. They don't know why they're being asked to design the things William asks them to, and the most obviously evil parts of the job are left to the higher-ups.

The cult continued after William's death. They created Glitchtrap so he'd live on in some form, not realizing that William's obsession with immortality was less about avoiding nonexistence and more about not wanting to experience a punishing afterlife. They're still recruiting new members, researching remnant, and concocting new ways to wreak havoc.

[plentyculture]

Usually my thinking process for the day is as follows. I pray, then I go to Bible Gateway and read the verse of the day. I read the whole chapter to get the context. I get ready for the day. I watch a sermon. It's pretty random after that. I'm just trying to get to the point as to how I ended up writing on tumblr today. Aside from the horrible Kdrama I saw yesterday that almost got me all depressed. I don't even want to think about it now. I will explain it on another post on another day.

Back to why I'm having to process my thoughts right now. On the channel where I was watching the sermon today, there was a show instead of a sermon and they were talking about perceptual intelligence. This man wrote a book about it and you would think he would talk about how to apply it to understanding the life of Jesus. Instead he was talking about how to apply it to your relationships in life. He didn't really explain perceptual intelligence, they would just ask people what they thought it meant.

So naturally if the man isn't going to explain it I'm going to google it.

This is what it means, because it's fun to learn.

I'm going to copy paste it on here.

What is the meaning of perceptual intelligence?

“Perceptual intelligence” (PI) refers to the way people interpret their experiences in order to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Individuals have different levels of PI, a skill you can develop through conscious practice. You can change how you view the world.

Now I'm going to admit I did not hear much about what the man was saying because I was just thinking about what that has to do with Jesus or Christianity because he went off about it in relationships. The only relationship I'm thinking about is Jesus when I'm watching a sermon.

So yeah my whole thought process for today was the verse of the day at Bible Gateway which was John 15 ( because I read the whole chapter for context) and perceptual intelligence.

Then this is where it got messed up because I got on TIktok and you know Tiktok. Someone shows up on my fyp talking about Celine Dion and how she has a rare sickness. Because social media pretty much uses our perceptual intelligence to give us information, you know the person talking about it was a christian and she was saying that Celine Dion had the sickness because of her spirituality and how she made a children's line that was pagan like (to use other words).

Already I feel like I'm going to have to make another post. These are pretty long but ... the person on Tiktok isn't lying. The problem is that people don't know about sin or what it is. People don't know what wickedness is. This world is a free for all. People only want order and rules when they can benefit from it and as long as they don't get hurt. That's great when you live in the fantasy of your own importance, however we have to share the planet with other people. Therefore, if you want to live with other happy people you have to take care of people in general and think about their mental well being.

That means being responsible with your character, and your beliefs and how you care for other people's character and beliefs. That contributes to the mental health of humanity. Oh you don't think it does but, it does. Especially in this influencer driven society we live in now.

So sin is understood by most people as something that you do that is not good but you were tempted to do it. That's the general understanding of sin. In the bible, sin is separation from God because it harms you and others. The bible has a few lists of certain sins and many examples of how people sinned and how God reacted to sin.

I can now see whey people don't talk about God, it's a lot of information. But to make it simple if you happen to read this and you're not a christian, every action you make has a reaction.

Good with good and bad with bad. God is honest and really forgiving, the reason for Jesus. But people have to find out for themselves. We don't want people to suffer and try to say things to help but ultimately they have to hear from God, either through someone that speaks their language that God sends but usually most people hear it from reading the bible.

I say this all to say that, life is hard. Let's listen to each other while we can. No matter what we believe in. The reality is that we all live on this world and thank God we're all different. God isn't the one who does the bad stuff, it's the bad you pay attention to. Therefore, pay attention to who you pay attention to. Pay attention to the good things. Like there is always hope.

This is coming from someone who once posted on here about being led by a false hope. That sucked. That's why I wouldn't do it to anyone else. Don't do that, that's wickedness.

Honestly, I get on here to distract myself but hopefully God willing, this helps someone in the best way.

Humanity Matters.

My next post, on another day, will be about the american health system and how fv<ked up it is, and how covid really mucked it up.

[riverdamien]

The Odyssey!

"Sloughing Towards Galilee!"

May 9, 2024

The Feast of the Ascension!

The Odyssey!

Poet C. P. Cavafy (1863–1933) expressed this understanding most beautifully in his famous poem “Ithaca”:  

Ithaca has now given you the beautiful voyage.   Without her, you would never have taken the road.  With the great wisdom you have gained on your voyage,   with so much of your own experience now,   you must finally know what Ithaca really means. [1]  

National Mental Health Month!

During this "Mental Health Month" I am reflecting upon my journey. Raised in a small southern town we never heard the term "mental health", depression, too was never talked about, and seeing a psychiatrist. "O my god", you are crazy.

There were no therapists within 300 miles. When I was caught acting out sexually with a fellow adolescent at fifteen my pastor, a conservative man, brought my "sin" forth in a sermon, shaming me, and my mom took me to a shrink, of course, no one knew. And what did he do: gave me anti-depressants. All he said as he wrote the prescription was "masturbation is normal, just don't get caught."   And so the shame continued and continued for many years to come.

And so began my "Odyssey", where I sunk into "darkness", and depression, and suffered with it for years. Being called to ministry I played the game of being "straight", and my depression became worse, until I came "out", and my "odyssey" continued onto the streets of L.A., with a good therapist, and finally here in San Francisco, where I had a caring shrink for 15 years, who through therapy and meds, opened my life up to new fields of joy! And the "odyssey' continued!

Shame was always a large part of my life, largely from my religious upbringing, but the positive was I had encountered the living Christ and through experiencing his grace of freedom, knowing that he loved me no matter what, and called me to ministry was my salvation!

My former denomination within days after coming out removed me from my parish, tried to stick me into conversion therapy, and my many, many friends stopped speaking to me and turned their backs on me. Talk about shaming!

When I returned to ministry in a queer church what I found was they wanted to duplicate the straight church as far as they could, and thus began my process of decentralization. In so doing, they were inadvertently continuing the process of shaming. The biggest blessing I was given was being ordained a bishop (to get rid of me)  and forming the Society of Franciscan Workers, Inc.

And thus my "odyssey" continued into "coming home"! Respecting others wherever they stand! I view the Church, and on Ascension Day we are reminded of Christ "ascending" to his Father symbolically to become the head of the church. A church of love and grace. He became the Cosmic Christ, embracing all without judgment. My faith is in the Universal Christ, the One who is a part of all expressions of God, and in non-expressions, the One who is found in loving our neighbor as ourselves.

I was "spiritually" homesick for years, it was a dulling grief. It was not depression, so much as an uncomfortable unknowing that I was coming to the end of one thing and the beginning of the next. It was fearful and yet joyful.

For me this journey of mental health has been returning home to where God dwells, I'm no longer interested in making it a quick visit so I can run back to the world of "what other people think" and " what I can get done".

Today I simply "listen" to others, without judgment; I have no judgment on anyone, seeing all as children of the Divine.

Leaving the first half of my life was scary. Most of us have the first half of life hustle down. The thing is, I am just never, never homesick for the first half of life. . because it has never really been my true home!

========================

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

Post Office Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

paypal.com

415-305-2124

Fr. River Sims, D.Min., D.S.T.

Director

Prayer of St. Brendan!

"Help me to journey beyond the familiar

and into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You. Christ of the mysteries I trust in You to be stronger than each storm within me.

I will trust in the darkness and know that my times, even now, are in Your hands.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,

and somehow, make my obedience count for You"

------------------------------------------------

(Temenos and Fr. River seek to remain accessible to everyone. We do not endorse particular causes, political parties, or candidates, or take part in public controversies, whether religious, political or social--Our pastoral ministry is to everyone!

================================

[walnutjuniors]

Announcements Ask Anything: Fun or serious questions for Aaron and Tiff. Walnut Classroom: YouTube playlist featuring our podcast.

Features Q&A with Kevin: Personal questions, theology, church planting, and serving. Serving with Sharon, Tiff, and Kevin: How has God led you to serve him?

Giveaway and Reviews The Good Book Company Easter Family Giveaway Sermons on Ephesians by John Calvin What is Faith? by J. Gresham Machen Gospel Life by John Owen Gospel Ministry by John Owen

Recommendations 12 Tips: How to Read the Bible Better Listening Well to Preaching Is a Spiritual Discipline Atomic Habits and Bible Intake: How Tiny Changes Add Up

Schedule 3/24 Aaron (Envy/Jealousy) 3/31 Tiff (Envy/Jealousy) 4/7 Tiff (Special) 4/14 Aaron (Pride/Humility) 4/21 Tiff (Pride/Humility) 4/28 Aaron (Depression/Hope) 5/5 Tiff (Depression/Hope)

Subscribe Walnut Weekly: New resources from our social media ministry.

[deaconwords]

Whose Son is He?

In today’s gospel lesson Jesus asks the Pharisees a question. “Whose son is the Messiah?”

The Pharisees are quick to answer, “The Messiah is the son of David.”

Jesus then analyzes King David’s own words as offered in Psalm 110. They read: (This is David speaking) “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Now, this “Lord” to whom David refers was commonly accepted as being the Messiah, the promised one of God who would lead Israel to conquer all its enemies. So, Jesus asks the Pharisees, how can David’s hereditary son also be his “Lord?”

This question silences the Pharisees. They have no answer and don’t even seem to want to consider the question.

Why is this? What would be so difficult in saying that a son is greater than his father? Yet, it was, and perhaps still is, unusual for a father to relinquish authority and power to his child. Even today many parents don’t expect, or perhaps hope, that their children will outshine them.

As a youth I played high school football. I was the son of a man who had played semi-professionally in Chicago, back in the days before they even wore face masks. I recall making a comment to him one day about how I was sure that every father wants his children to accomplish more in their lives than he had in his. And I noticed that what I said caused him to pause, to grow silent. He couldn’t readily affirm my statement. Sure, he wanted a better life for his children than the one he had lived through, what with troubles like The Great Depression and World War II, but to eclipse his accomplishments with their own? Therein lies the rub.

Perhaps it was this rub that bothered the Pharisees when Jesus suggested the son to be greater than the father. They could see where this thinking could lead. It meant abandoning their commitment to David, and perhaps even Moses, should the Messiah really appear. His appearance might shake things up, might demand a radical change in their current level of authority.

Isn’t this the fundamental difference between the haves and the have nots?

The haves strive to maintain the hierarchy of the social order. They are on top and that is where they want to stay. The havenots hope for a savior, one who will possess greater authority to bring about real justice and real peace.

I was talking to Cathe about the war between Israel and Hamas. I thoughtlessly asked, “Why would anyone living in poverty-stricken Gaza have children? Gaza has been dangerous for years and years, yet it has more children living in it than any other age group. Insane,” I said.

She was gentle in her reply. “The poor,” she said, “often live in dangerous places. That is their norm and it has no effect on their plans for a family. They were called upon to care for aging parents and the children they give birth to will, one day, care for them.”

“Yes,” I thought. “The poor live at the bottom of the social hierarchy. They need their children as much as their children need them.”

Privileged folks have no needs. They refrain from granting authority to others, even at the end of their lives, while the underprivileged count on their children to provide for them when they can no longer provide for themselves. And this humble reality is to their spiritual advantage.

For you see, the privileged Pharisees cling to the worldly possessions granted them because of their social status, while the poor await expectantly the coming of the one through whom salvation will arise. The Pharisees hold to a stagnant world order that is doomed to die, while the poor have hope that a child will prove itself greater than its father and life will become more than it now is.

The Pharisees and the poor show clearly the difference between faithlessness and faithfulness. It is summed up in Jesus’s sermon on the plain when he says:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

And I would add, blessed are you who can see the child as greater than its parents, for to such belongs the hope of salvation.

Whose child is the Messiah? He or she is our own. Amen.

—Offered at St. George’s Episcopal Church on 10-29-2023. Dedicated to my humanist chaplain friend, Jack Mong