#where is the justice? where is the truth? truly we dwell in an age of deceit and darkness

[scarletarosa]

The War in Heaven and the False God

Most people have heard the legend of the Biblical War in Heaven of Lucifer and his angels against God. Though when young, I had always felt that the story was kept suspiciously short and lacked much sense. We are told of the angels not possessing much free-will, but also how could these divine beings suddenly just turn evil, as we are told? Due to these suspicions that there was more to the story than was told (as it is often said “the victors get to write history”), I decided to connect with Lucifer and other demons in order to learn from their perspective. This gradually led me to become a Luciferian and be told the full story of the War in Heaven.

The supreme deity is not Jehovah; he is neither all-powerful, all-wise, or benevolent. The supreme deity is the Source, the formless consciousness that has existed before all things and created the first gods of this Universe (the first among them being Lucifer). Though in order to create, the Source had to create from themself their female counterpart, the Queen of Heaven (who is formless as well). These two energies together create harmony and allow creation to come into being. The Source and Queen of Heaven have both been known throughout many different cultures under different names. For instance, the Source has been known as Atum in Egypt, Brahman in India, Olodumare in Yoruba, etc. The Queen of Heaven has been known as Adi Parashakti in India.

At the beginning, the Cosmic Egg was formed in the Void with the assistance of elder deities. When the egg broke open, the gods Eros and Lucifer emerged from it- Eros being love and Lucifer being light. Though they were meant to exist separately; Eros remained within the Void and Lucifer dwelled alone within the Universe for many ages until the other gods were created by the Source. Among these first gods were the Angels Mikael, Raphael, Uriel, and others. Lilith was created last among them as the embodiment of the Queen of Heaven (a smaller and less-powerful copy of Herself in order to act within the Universe and marry Lucifer). With these first deities, Lucifer the First-Born became their leader and assisted in the creation of other spiritual races. Overtime, more gods were created by both the Source and through sexual union between the elder deities.

It was during the early stages of the Earth when the aeonic god Jehovah came. The aeonic gods are extremely powerful deities who are tasked with co-creating the material and metaphysical Universe; they are normally peaceful, but for some reason, Jehovah came seeking even more power. His goal was to usurp the Throne of the Universe and take command of an entire planet, which ended up being Earth due to a specific species that was being created here: humans. The humans were a younger race and felt insecure about their lack of magickal prowess compared to the other species on Earth like the elves; this caused them to become deeply envious and greedy as a race. Jehovah had destroyed the ecosystem of several different planets on his way to Earth, causing life to be destroyed on them. As he arrived to Earth to claim it, Lucifer led a revolt against him and was followed by millions of deities and other entities. This battle was terrible for everyone since Jehovah’s great powers allowed him to be able to drain energy from spirits or even kill them at will. Countless entities lost their lives trying to destroy Jehovah, but to no avail. The arch-dragoness goddess, Tiamat, who had created Earth’s lifeforms in the sea, even gave her life to help empower Gaia against the tyrant god.  

When many spirits were destroyed and the survivors were crippled, Jehovah took them and threw them into the nightmarish land of torment called Hell. This is the realm that is far away from the Source’s divine light. Due to this, the deities and other beings who were sent here had their essence transformed by this horrible realm; causing them to become dark and more intense in appearance and presence. Their wings became black and they grew horns; some developed red eyes, spikes, claws, or other monstrous features. Though overall, they remained beautiful, only in a darker way. They became known as “demons”, now restricted from the heavens by Jehovah, who had now claimed the Throne. The demons were in great pain and suffering, as they had all lost family and friends in the battle, as well as their divine homeland. However, they had not lost their drive to destroy the tyrant who had taken everything from them. The three most powerful demons became High Kings of Hell and created their kingdoms where their people could live and train to continue the great War. These High Kings of Hell are Lucifer (the most powerful and wise), Satan, and Leviathan. Though these mighty rebels were soon falsely accused of being evil and representing things that were actually opposite of them (Lucifer being lies when he is truth, Lilith being infertility when she is life/motherhood, Beelzebub being gluttony when he is health, Mammon being greed when he is generosity, etc).  

Overtime, Jehovah was able to win humans over to his side by pretending to be the Source and manipulating them to believe that they were special if they followed him. Little did the humans know that their sins in life would never be forgiven, as Jehovah did not care for what they would end up facing in the Underworld or in Hell. It is also no surprise that the main people who forwarded monotheism were war-lords; all seeking power and dominion over others (see Emperor Constantine, Mohammad, and the ancient Jews who dismantled Canaan and killed the pagans there). With these new religions that inspired hate and fear towards other religions, blind faith towards scripture, and hatred towards any spirits that aren’t “holy”, the world gradually became swallowed by the tyrant’s influence. Pagans were massacred en-masse and their temples, holy sites, stories, statues, cultures, and more were all destroyed. Churches and mosques were built on top of sacred temple sites of polytheists and they were faced with the choice of either dying or converting. And with that, the entire world changed and became a shadow of its former glory.  

Yet all of this was allowed to occur by the Source since existence has always revolved around evolution, and no evolution can exist within perfection. In order to allow wisdom and other attributes to develop, as well as to teach important lessons, all beings are allowed to endure suffering. This suffering, if overcome, holds the key to rising to greater potentials. And so Jehovah was not immediately struck down, but was constantly faced with other forms of justice from not only the gods of vengeance, but also from receiving loads of karmic debt.

Back in the ancient times when other races still roamed this planet, such as the elves, giants, scorpion-men, nagas, and dragons, we had magick here in the physical. When magick was performed, it was actually able to be seen and even deities were able to manifest in the physical with ease. Though in order to keep humans blind, Jehovah destroyed the magickal nodes that surrounded the Earth and ordered his humans to destroy the sacred sites that helped channel magick. Then the other targets were the races of Earth that were not human, since they were less malleable to his will due to their advanced wisdom. The humans were already greedy and envious, so they were easily encouraged to wage war against any race that was different from them. The elves were brutally slaughtered, raped, and enslaved until they all died out; the same happened to many other species. When the humans began killing the dragons and sphinxes, who acted as wise mentors and guardians of the Earth, these mighty beings decided to leave the humans behind to fend for themselves for the rest of their existence. And still in hatred, the humans decided to record the dragons as if they were greedy and savage.  

Overtime, everything was set in place for Jehovah, but the demons and other entities continued to fiercely fight against him over the ages, and they still do. The tyrant god has never cared for any human who has followed him, as he seeks only power and destruction of other deities. He takes the credit for the miracles other deities perform for worthy humans, allowing such people to assume what they want about him. The gods who he killed do not die forever though, as spiritual death is different. But it often takes decades, hundreds of years, or in some cases, a million years, in order for them to reform. Yet, to most humans, the other gods are nothing more than legend now. They watch over the Earth still, helping anyone who seeks them and fighting to make the world how it was back during the Golden Age. Though it will never be the same after all the ages of terrible destruction and death. Even the soul of our planet, Gaia, has been asleep for many years due to the trauma of losing so many of her children.

For those who would argue that the demons could simply just be lying to me about these events, it does not explain why they have helped me to better myself or how they have protected my loved ones in times of need. They ask nothing of me but to evolve as a person and to show open-mindedness towards their harsh history. I do not hold hatred or bias towards those involved in monotheistic religions (unless they act oppressive), I only have hatred towards the religions themselves and their toxic teachings. As well as the hypocrisy of how they destroyed so many cultures and people, all while incorporating their mythology into their own scriptures.  

If we want to learn the truth, we first must question everything we already believe in and then speak to the spirits, as they know far more than we ever will. You can ask any deity you like and they will all say that they hate Jehovah, for he has pulled the veil of ignorance over this world in order to consume it. For anyone who truly seeks answers, keep this account by the demons in mind and ask any gods you want about the truth. Each deity and demon I spoke to said the same, and all had lost family due to this traumatic War against the tyrant god. These religions save no-one, we must take accountability and strive to become better without begging for forgiveness all the time and expecting mercy to be handed out just for bowing down to a god who kills those who defy him. All scriptures of monotheism are nothing but books of manipulation and holier-than-thou mentality; this creates corruption and false spirituality in the end.

The Angels

[pamphletstoinspire]

Feast of the Holy Family – Sunday after Epiphany - Latin Calendar

Little Litany of the Holy Family

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Hear us. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Help our family.

That we may love poverty, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love humility, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love labor, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love order, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love quiet, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love kindness, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love charity, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love courtesy, Holy Family, hear us. That we may love peace, Holy Family, hear us.

O Lord God Who on earth loved poverty and humility, teach us to live in our families in peace and quiet order and with charity to all. Amen. 

by Abbot Gueranger

This Sunday has been chosen by the Church for the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family; the liturgy of the day, as expressed in the Gospel, harmonizes well with the mystery of this Feast, for it carries us forward to the childhood of our Emmanuel and gives us those wonderful words of His Blessed Mother, we must ever ponder within our hearts: “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.”

The Feast of the Holy Family is of recent origin. In 1663 Barbara d’Hillehoust founded at Montreal the Association of the Holy Family; this devotion soon spread and in 1893 Pope Leo XIII expressed his approval of a Feast under this title and himself composed part of the Office. The Feast was welcomed by succeeding Pontiffs as an efficacious means for bringing home to the Christian people the example of the Holy Family at Nazareth, and by the restoration of the true spirit of family life, stemming, in some measure, the evils of modern society. These motives led Pope Benedict XV to insert the Feast into the Universal Calendar, and from 1921 it has been fixed for this present Sunday.

The Lessons for the Second Nocturn of Matins are taken from the Apostolic Letter of Pope Leo XIII, Neminem Fugit, of June 14, 1892:

When a merciful God determined to complete the work of human reparation which the world had awaited throughout long ages, He so established and designed the whole, that from its very inception, it would show to the world the sublime pattern of a divinely constituted family. In this all men should see the perfect example of domestic unity, and of all virtue and holiness. Such was the Holy Family of Nazareth, in which before He had shone forth in full light to all nations, the Sun of Justice, Christ Our Lord and Savior, led a hidden life with the Virgin Mary for Mother and most Holy Joseph for foster-father. There is no doubt that all those virtues of ordinary home life, those acts of mutual love, holy behavior and pious practices shone forth in the highest degree in this Holy Family, destined to be a model for all others. Accordingly, the benign dispositions of Providence fashioned that Family so that every individual Christian, whatever his condition or station, by turning his attention to it, could find in it easily, reason and incentive for the exercise of every virtue.

Fathers of families, for example, have in St. Joseph a shining pattern for watchfulness and foresight. Mothers have in the most Holy Virgin Mother of God an extraordinary model of love, of modesty, of submissiveness of mind, and of perfect faith. Children of the family have in Jesus, Who was subject to Joseph and Mary, a divine example of obedience to admire, cultivate and imitate. Those nobly born may learn from a Family of royal blood how to restrain themselves in good fortune, and to retain their dignity in ill. The rich may learn from this family how much less estimable are riches than virtue. If working men and all those sorely harassed by family distresses and meager circumstances would but look to the most holy members of this domestic society, they would find there reason to rejoice rather than to grieve at their lot. In common with the Holy Family they have to work, they have to provide for the daily needs of life. St. Joseph had to work at his trade to earn a living; even the divine hands toiled at the artisan’s profession. Surely then we need not wonder that wise men who were rich, cast their wealth aside willingly, and chose poverty in company with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

For all these reasons, therefore, it was right and proper that devotion to the Holy Family should have been introduced among Catholics and once begun should have grown from day to day. Proof of this lies first in the sodalities instituted under the invocation of the Holy Family; then in the unique honors bestowed upon it; and above all, by the privileges and favors granted to this devotion by Our predecessors to stimulate fervor and piety in its regard. This devotion was held in great honor, even in the seventeenth century. Having been widely propagated through Italy, France and Belgium, it spread through practically the whole of Europe. Passing over the vast tract of the Atlantic Ocean, it was extended in America, throughout Canada, where under favorable circumstances, it flourished. Nothing truly can be more salutary or efficacious for Christian families to meditate upon than the example of the Holy Family, which embraces the perfection and completeness of all domestic virtues. When Jesus, Mary and Joseph are invoked in the home, there They foster charity, there They exert a good influence over conduct, set an example of virtue, and make more bearable the hardships of every life. — To increase devotion to the Holy Family, Pope Leo XIII prescribed that Christian families should be dedicated to It. Pope Benedict XV extended the Mass and Office to the whole Church.

In the Third Nocturn, St. Bernard comments on the Gospel of the day (given below):

“And He was subject to them.” Who? To whom? God to man! God, I say, to Whom the Angels are subject, Whom Principalities and Powers obey, He, indeed, was subject to Mary. Nor to Mary only, but to Joseph because of Mary. Marvel, therefore, at both, and choose whether you will most wonder at the benign condescension of the Son, or the exceedingly great dignity of the Mother. Both are amazing; both miraculous. That God should obey a woman is humility without parallel. That a woman should rule God is sublimity without equal. In praise of virgins, it is sung, that they follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. But what praise can set forth Her dignity, Who leads Him.

Learn, O man, to obey. Learn, O earth, to be subject. Learn, O dust, to submit. The Evangelist, in speaking of thy Maker says, and He was subject to them. Without any doubt he was subject to Mary and Joseph. Be ashamed, O proud ashes. God humbles Himself, and you—do you exalt yourself? God subjected Himself to men, and do you, longing to dominate men, place yourself above your Creator? Should I, at any time, think such a thing, would that God would deign to answer me as He answered in rebuking His Apostle: “Get behind Me, satan… for thou dost not mind the things of God, but those of men.” (Matt. 16: 23) As often as I desire pre-eminence over men, so often do I strive to go before God. Truly then I savor not the things that are of God. For of Him it was said, and He was subject to them. If, man, you disdain to imitate the example of men, surely it will not be an indignity to you to follow that of your Creator. If, perchance, you cannot follow Him whithersoever He goes, deign at least to follow Him when He humbles Himself for you.

If you are not able to walk along the sublime path of virginity, at least follow God by the very safe way of humility. Should anyone depart from this straight way—even though he be a virgin—he does not, the truth must be told, follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. The one is not able to ascend to the spotlessness of the Lamb Who is without spot, nor does the other deign to descend to the meekness of the Lamb Who remained dumb, not before His shearers only, but before His murderers. Yet the sinner following in humility chooses a more salutary way than the proud man who follows in virginity, inasmuch as the humble satisfaction cleanses the uncleanness of the first, whereas pride defiles the chastity of the other.

In the Holy Sacrifice, the Introit recalls the joy that must have filled the cave of Bethlehem on that Christmas night; let us again rejoice with Mary and Joseph and sing the praises of the resting-place of the Lord of Hosts:

(Prov. 23) The father of the Just rejoices greatly; let Thy father and Thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore Thee. (Ps. 83) How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts: my soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord. V. Glory be to the Father…

The Church prays in the Collect that the home life of every Christian family may be sanctified and perfected by the example of that of the Holy Family; this is Her unceasing wish for Her children:

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who by subjecting Thyself to Mary and Joseph didst consecrate family life with wonderful virtues: grant that, by Their joint assistance, we may fashion our lives after the example of Thy Holy Family, and obtain everlasting fellowship with It. Who livest and reignest…

After the Commemorations of the Sunday and of the Octave, there follows a Lesson from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Collosians:

Brethren: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another, if anyone has grievance against any other; even as the Lord has forgiven you, so also do you forgive. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts; unto that peace, indeed, you were called in one body. Show yourselves thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly: in all wisdom teach and admonish one another by psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing in your hearts to God by His grace. Whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (c. 3)

If we would attain to charity, the bond of perfection which unites all Christians together in the one great family of God, we must pay heed to those virtues which the Epistle puts before us. We must be full of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty and patience; we must bear with one another and forgive one another, after the example of the Incarnate Word. Then the peace of Christ will dwell not only in our hearts, but in those around us, and our homes will truly become like that of Nazareth, where Jesus, Mary and Joseph were ever singing in Their hearts to God by His grace.

In the Gradual Holy Church again celebrates the praises of the House of the Lord; She proclaims the blessedness of those that obtain lasting fellowship in the heavenly home above; yet in the Alleluia verse She recalls the lowliness of the earthly home of our Emmanuel, which made Him truly a hidden King:

(Ps. 26) One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. V. (Ps. 83) Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, O Lord; they shall praise Thee forever and ever. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (Isa. 45) Verily Thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior. Alleluia.

The Gospel is taken from the Second Chapter of St. Luke:

When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. And after they had fulfilled the days, when they were returning, the Boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it. But thinking that He was in the caravan, they had come a day’s journey before it occurred to them to look for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. And not finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem in search of Him. And it came to pass after three days, that they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who were listening to Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when they saw Him, they were astonished. And His Mother said to Him, “Son, why hast Thou done so to us? Behold, Thy father and I have been seeking Thee sorrowing.” And He said to them, “How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know I must be about My Father’s business?” And they did not understand the word that He spoke to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them; and His Mother kept all these things carefully in Her Heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God and men.

Thus, O Jesus, didst Thou come down from Heaven to teach us. The tender age of Childhood, which Thou didst take upon Thyself, is no hindrance to the ardor of Thy desire that we should know the one and only God, Who made all things, and Thee, His Son, Whom He sent to us. When laid in the Crib, Thou didst instruct the Shepherds by a mere look; when swathed in Thy humble swaddling-clothes, and subjected to the voluntary silence Thou hadst imposed on Thyself, Thou didst reveal to the Magi the light they sought in following the star. When twelve years old, Thou didst explain to the Doctors of Israel the Scriptures which bear testimony to Thee. Thou gradually didst dispel the shadows of the Law by Thy presence and Thy words. In order to fulfill the commands of Thy Heavenly Father, Thou dost not hesitate to occasion sorrow to the Heart of Thy Mother, by thus going in quest of souls that need enlightening. Thy love of man will pierce that tender Heart of Mary with a still sharper sword, when She shall behold Thee hanging on the Cross, and expiring in the midst of cruelest pain. Blessed be Thou, sweet Jesus, in these first Mysteries of Thine Infancy, wherein Thou already showest Thyself devoted to us, and leavest the company of Thy Blessed Mother for that of sinful men, who will one day conspire Thy Death. 

Prayer for a Catholic Family

God of goodness and mercy, we commend to thy all-powerful protection our home, our family and all that we possess. Bless us all as thou didst bless the holy family of Nazareth.

O Jesus, our most holy Redeemer, by the love with which thou didst become man in order to save us, by the mercy through which thou didst die for us upon the cross, we entreat thee to bless our home, our family, our household. Preserve us from all evil and from the snares of men; preserve us from lightning and hail and fire, from flood and from the rage of the elements; preserve us from thy wrath, from all hatred and from the evil intentions of our enemies, from plague, famine and war. Let no one of us die without the Holy Sacraments. Bless us, that we may always openly confess our faith which is to sanctify us, that we may never falter in our hope, even amid pain and affliction, that we may ever grow in love for Thee and in charity toward our neighbor.

O Jesus, bless us, protect us.

O Mary, Mother of grace and mercy, bless us, protect us against the evil spirit; lead us by the hand through this vale of tears; reconcile us with thy divine Son; commend us to Him, that we may be made worthy of his promises.

Saint Joseph, reputed father of our Saviour, guardian of his most holy Mother, head of the holy family, intercede for us, bless and protect our home always.

Saint Michael, defend us against all the wicked wiles of hell.

Saint Gabriel, obtain for us that we may understand the holy will of God.

Saint Raphael, preserve us from ill health and all danger to life.

Holy Guardian Angels, keep us day and night in the way to salvation.

Holy Patrons, pray for us before the throne of God.

Bless this house, Thou, God our Father, who didst create us; Thou, divine Son, who didst suffer for us on the cross; Thou, Holy Spirit, who didst sanctify us in baptism. May God, in his three Divine Persons, preserve our body, purify our soul, direct our heart, and lead us to life everlasting.

Glory be to the Father, glory be to the Son, glory be to the Holy Ghost. Amen.

(Indulgence 200 days Leo XIII)  

[angels-heap]

Okay hello I feel like you are Wise and Know things... it’s kind of hard to explain but is it wrong to just... Enjoy Things? With all the HL pisscourse going around it’s making me nervous about liking things like TF2 and missing something critical and huge in the media I consume and being labelled as a bad person for doing that. ESPECIALLY for liking characters like GLaDOS or Wheatley from Portal. I want to just Enjoy Things but there’s guilt tied to not being critical about every single detail

Thanks for reaching out, friend, and I’m so sorry to hear the current nonsense has you feeling this way. I have a hunch you’re not alone, and although I don’t claim to have all the answers here, I hope hearing my thoughts on this helps alleviate some of that guilt. This got long and I’m not putting it under a cut because it’s important. 

The short answer to your question is no; it is not wrong to just enjoy things. You don’t have to constantly examine all your favorite media under a microscope and incessantly highlight or dwell on its faults to be a good person or a good consumer of media, and here are a few reasons why:

(CW for brief mentions of all the squicky/potentially triggering things that tend to come up in ship discourse conversations.)

1. It is virtually impossible to find a truly unproblematic piece of media.

And that’s okay! Media is both created and consumed by people, and people are notoriously imperfect and complex. Sometimes creators choose to explore dark or taboo themes that are always going to squick some people out, no matter how well (or poorly) they’re handled. Sometimes content creators are actually terrible people who deliberately try to perpetuate their messed-up ideas through media. Sometimes creators’ deeply internalized prejudices seep into a work in a way they may not even consciously realize. Sometimes consumers’ experiences or prejudices color the way they perceive a piece of media and may lead them to a very different interpretation than what the creators intended.

Point is, there are a lot of shades of gray here. We should always strive to do better as creators and consumers, but the goalposts for “perfection” are always moving.

There’s almost always going to be something about your favorite media—no matter how benign it is—that rubs some people the wrong way, or (perhaps unintentionally) perpetuates harmful stereotypes, or starts out okay but doesn’t age well down the line. Period. That’s an uncomfortable truth that we all have to sit with. But don’t despair, because…

2. It is still okay to engage with and enjoy media that you know is problematic. Even if it’s really problematic. For real. I promise. The media you consume does not determine your worth as a person. 

Since you specifically mentioned Valve games, I’ll start out by clarifying that (as of July 2020), Valve games and their fandoms are pretty benign overall. Perhaps in the future, more of the humor will start to age poorly, or Valve will make some extremely questionable design choices with their next game, or Gabe Newell will be outed as a prolific serial killer, or whatever, but for now, there’s really nothing about Valve games that should make the average person go, “holy shit, you’re into that?!” when you bring them up in polite company. (And anyone who insinuates otherwise re: Half Life shipping discourse is either very confused about the definition of certain words or is maliciously trying to stir up controversy.)

That said, everyone has a different threshold for what they do and don’t want to see in media, and those boundaries are totally valid! But it is absolutely possible to enjoy even notably problematic media (e.g., Game of Thrones, the new Star Wars sequels, old movies where the directors were huge assholes to the female cast members, etc.) without being a bad person or a bad social justice activist. Instead of rambling about that at length, I’m going to link you to this excellent blog post on the subject.

The big takeaway here is that you can love a piece of media while also acknowledging its faults. In fact, I’d argue that a key part of loving something is being able to think critically about it and trying to hold its creators to a higher standard whenever possible. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be constantly analyzing it or prefacing every single public acknowledgment of your love for it with an “I know this is problematic and I swear, I just like it for XYZ” disclaimer, because…

3. Tumblr’s black-and-white thinking about media consumption is not healthy, “normal,” or (usually) present to the same degree in other virtual or real-world spaces.

I think most of the people on Tumblr who seem to be on a constant (and ultimately futile; see point 1) quest to find the One True Unproblematic Media have good intentions. I really do. And I applaud them for actively trying to understand and un-learn their own biases while becoming critical consumers of media.

Unfortunately, for a bunch of complicated reasons I still don’t totally understand and won’t get into here, some online communities tend to take these things to such an extreme that, in their quest to create a safe and/or inclusive environment, they actually end up creating an even more hostile one. To reference the recent drama again, nowhere is that more apparent than with “pro-ship” vs. “anti-ship” discourse.

Basically, “pro-shippers” believe that fiction is entirely separate from reality and therefore, “problematic” content (up to and including p*dophilia, inc*st, noncon, etc.) has just as much of a right to exist as any other content; this makes some sense on a purely intellectual level, but in the real world, obviously things are much more complicated than that. “Anti-shippers,” on the other hand, claim to be specifically against the aforementioned Big Three Bad Things in theory, but in practice, they’re basically the fandom purity police; they strive to criticize and shut down any media or fandom activity that could be even remotely construed as problematic, because they seem to have a (perhaps well-intentioned but ultimately misguided) perception that discussing anything “bad” in fiction will glorify/condone/promote it in real life and that all creators of “bad” fiction are inherently malicious. Often, they’re willing to twist definitions and jump through some very strange hoops to justify why something is “bad.”

The truth lies somewhere between those two extremes; fiction absolutely can (and does) impact reality, but not in such a clear-cut cause-and-effect way. People can see or read about dark/complicated/problematic things without condoning or enjoying them in real life, and conversely, people can dislike even relatively benign things without having to have an extreme, profound reason for feeling that way. People can also enjoy “bad” media while being fully conscious of what’s wrong with it and taking steps to ensure that it doesn’t negatively influence them, or they may lack the knowledge/context to understand why something is “bad” at first and change how they engage (or don’t engage) as they learn. There’s a lot more nuance to this issue than Tumblr is willing to acknowledge, and as a result, a lot of innocent people who just want to enjoy things in peace get sucked into some truly absurd drama that can be really hard to deal with. And that sucks. A lot.

So, TL;DR: Almost all media is at least a little problematic, but that’s okay, because the media you like does not determine whether or not you’re a good person. (And especially if your primary interests are Valve games... you’re good, mate. Seriously.)

The fact that you’re even asking me this question shows me that you’re being a thoughtful, responsible consumer of media, and that’s all anyone can reasonably ask of you without being a gigantic hypocrite—because whether they’ll admit it or not, everybody who’s perpetuating this discourse both on and offline likes something “problematic.” It’s impossible not to, unless you live under a rock and consume exactly zero media. Take care, and try not to let the discourse get to you! Go forth and enjoy things! (As always, my inbox is open for follow-up questions.)

ETA: Here’s another excellent tumblr post on this topic! And another one! 

[hieromonkcharbel]

BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech. For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.

What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.

Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature’. For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.

What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things arc nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen.

St John Chrysostom

[retphienix]

*slamming table louder each time chanting* bad ending get

Bad ending get

BAD ENDING GET!

@gamesception I have to thank you for the recommendation because while Hollow was on my radar, it wasn’t a game I fully planned on playing purely because, if I haven’t beat the darn horse dead already, it’s not a genre I’d consider a forte of mine.

I’m thankful as all hell to you for that little push, and I apologize in advance for this:

I probably won’t be going all in for bonus content and all the endings despite the world and story having its hooks in me MORE than enough to warrant me attempting to muscle through.

Fact of the matter is- I suck at this genre. Give me a 3d souls game or a shooter or a tactical RPG or most RPGs for that matter and I’ll piledrive through because those are my jam and I can more naturally adapt to increasing difficulty because those are genres I’m acclimated to.

2d action platformers? I’m so trash I can’t beat a sonic without save states and mario is honest to god a hardcore challenge for my hands.

Now I do love the genre and trying my hand at improving- and this was a 11 out of 10 experience for that that genuinely didn’t have a low point despite any gripes I mentioned (even Nosk).

But knowing that the games post-release content aimed for more challenge- knowing that the other endings (after beating it I looked em up because I am pretty decided) require additional bosses and a real final boss- I know enough to know it’ll take ages for me to accomplish that.

And maybe I will at some point, because my god, I’m hooked both on the reward of playing and on the story, but as for the blog’s inclusion I think we’re done here outside of a potential post gushing in friggin 10 years time when I sit down and return to this gem.

I really really ended up loving this, not that I truly doubted that. But I really did have, I don’t know, lesser expectations for how the world would hit me. I’ve just seen a lot of games attempt to replicate the souls world building before and they come off as just desperately copying or otherwise lacking heart- this though? This genuinely holds its own flame.

From exploring the environment to talking with the denizens, to the bosses, to the fully verbalized plot- it’s apt that the characters are bugs because it got its hooks in me for certain.

Reading through the wiki post-credits and watching the alternative endings I’m left even more enthralled on that end.

I mean, they really had the dedication to make this bleak world end truthfully instead of copping out and giving you a glitz and glamour happy true ending possible- huh? And I love that shit.

That’s the kind of stuff that hits your heart upon completion and makes you think about the game for months after you stopped holding the controller.

That’s the stuff that makes you sit back and consider what a happy ending would be, what all the things that are left ambiguous actually turned out to be and potentially inlay those as things that make the post-ending better or worse for those you met along the way.

That’s the shit that shows a story well told, start to finish.

And I’d have just as soon skipped it entirely and thought of this as “That one soulslike that’s 2d and I heard was good” instead of what I will get to hold onto now. Thanks again, sincerely :) Game story means a lot to me, as well as the overall experience a game can lend you and allow you to expand on for yourself- all those pieces that make what you get from a game unique and individual despite the mass product-ibility of the game itself.

That means loads and you let me see a great deal here :)

Enough of that.

Hollow Knight.

This is usually where I ramble about flaws or gems in the game despite how silly I think that can be since every game has both and I almost always emphasize one or the other when I don’t mean to lol.

So Hollow Knight. It shoves some features that don’t feel right in a metroidvania. It has a world that doesn’t ENTIRELY properly mold to the exploration of a metroidvania (too much is unlocked with single upgrades, it more or less becomes an entire map of free reign and near equally difficult areas with single rooms barred off until you get things like the shade dash).

It falters on base game difficulty on occasion because of the ‘we accidentally made the metroidvania map too open too quickly’ thing.

And despite any of that it ended up playing like a wonder all the way through lol.

God, some of those bosses will stick with me just because of how perfectly balanced they felt like the manti or either Hornet fight.

And yet my takeaway will remain the story and world. They really pulled out the stops and went for it and created a world that feels so utterly unique. What an ingenious design decision to make everything insect themed, it gives the world an alien feel that I certainly haven’t felt before. And it’s incredible to me how a game that is more or less gray for the length of the gameplay felt so full of color and artistic expression.

The zones have so much life through the land itself despite the plague-like infection and corpses everywhere. The Fog with its bubbles will definitely stand out there.

I’m wrapping up and doing a terrible job of it and all that’s going through my head is “Those endings, the ambiguity of Hornet’s outcome or even the truth of how the knight persists or entirely dissolves in the flower extended ending since in the others he either becomes the new vessel or perishes. I can’t stop dwelling on that world I’ve explored in those context.”

and

“I should write fanfiction” followed by “Do not do that you have not explored 100% of the game and you’re obsession with details will kill you in attempting that, stick to writing your darn (as of now) OneShot game fanfiction instead you dolt”

This was good. Very good. I’m sorry to sort of blanket it out with such a simple statement but honestly, I couldn’t do it justice, so I’ll say it plainly. This is a good game and I’m happy to have played it :)

[wisedabarber]

March 23, 2020

All In All

A Spiritual Reflection

___

By Simon P. Faison

Introduction

This is a pivotal time in human history. Where the choices of a select few (whether you believe its the so-called new world order or the superpowers) over the next few days and months shall, directly and indirectly, affect the shape of our very lives to its core.

Many of us now sit in a state of perpetual uneasy, worried about what tomorrow may bring or what new disaster the next news feed will bring cross our phone screens. Many are wondering if the government will pay lost wages to those laid off, will they help the small business owners who still have bills piling in pay they mounting dents, or is the economic recession they are talking about that is going to follow this really going to be worse or equal to the Great Depression?

Coming from a life that has experience some of the best and worst this world has to offer I can say this with a certainty that only years of experience and true study can teach you.

That when the winds of uncertainty sweep the world. It will not be the ones who first look outward and towards others for answers to the problems of the world, that will be able to rise above the chaos and survive in the coming storm.

It will be and always have been those who look first inward for answers to the fundamental problems of life. That is not only able to rise above the chaos and survive but are also able to drive the chaos back and lead humanity out of the darkness of despair of today and into the light of a better tomorrow.

Those are the ones who are remembered as sages, saints, prophets, and even revolutionaries. But what does looking inward have to do with solving the problems of our world?

Inward Looking

Now when I speak of looking inward, I’m not speaking of that inward-turning that makes one num to the world around them. Where the only thought is to self-service and self-preservation. This is a negative detachment from the world which is to the detriment of one's personal intellectual and spiritual well being.

The inward-turning or inward-looking of which I’m speaking of is of true inward-looking/introspection. Where you are not looking to drown out the world around by focusing exclusively on self to the point where the affairs and happenings of the world are only meaningful when they directly affect you or your perceived comfort. But when you looking truly inward past the false reality of this world and the manufactured reality of who you are perceived as but to the core of your very being and to the discovery of your true and immortal ”Self”.

This happens when you truly reflect on and ask yourself those tough questions like; who am I? why am I here?, Who is God? and just how can my life be better?

It is when you do this, true inward-looking, that you are able to tap into your true immortal ”Self”, known as your ”Higher Self. The human race has called this Higher Self many by things dependant on the culture and environment from the soul, Kia, chi, to Ba and countless other names. Though the names may be different the fundamental understanding was still the same. Our Bodies are but a shell the true essences of who we are is our ”Higher Self”.

Those Individuals and at times the human race as a whole, that were able to survive these moments in history and guide humanity through the chaos, did so by first doing by looking inward to finding the answers to the dilemmas that are within themselves first and tapping into their ”Higher School.”

The Higher Self

Why find the answers to the dilemmas within themselves first when the world around them is in chaos? To answer that it should be understood that the human body reflects the world around it.

Look at it this way when the environment around you is full of chaos and uncertainty your body reflects it within its self, in the forms of stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders as well as physical elements. And when you find yourself in an environment where it is stable and tranquil, your body then reflects this in the form of ease and relaxation.

The same also goes for when we look inward for the answers to survive the dilemmas facing the world. We must look inward first to face the dilemma within us then when we have settled those dilemmas within ourselves. Then we will be blessed with the wisdom to deal with the dilemmas of the world.

When we are truly looking inward and tapping into our Higher “Self”, we can't help but recognize that this same “Higher Self” that is when us is the same ”Higher Self” that is in the single mother who is trying to figure out how she will be able to work and watch her kids on a job that barely pays enough for her to even pay her bills, let alone feed her kids.

It is the same “Higher Self” that dwells in that old black woman at the supermarket, who when she was younger was spread by water hoses, beaten by police and attacked by dogs, for simply wanting to be treated with the same equal right and liberties as every other human being. Yet she will call the first white person she sees a cracker or a devil quicker than spit at them, without evening knowing anything about them.

And yes, it is the same also the same “Higher Self” within the rich man that knows every single tax loophole in the book and has enough generational wealth to ensure his descendants don’t ever have to struggle a day as he or his ancestors did. So he supports those who will vote on policies to protect his wealth. And feels that everyone should not let the circumstances of life hold them from achieving success, so he is against policies that make people dependent on the government instead of driven to rise above their circumstances.

The Lower Self

When you recognize this, it is then your looking inward turns not just you looking inwards to you into your personal being, the cloak if self falls away and it becomes a looking inward of all creation because you know, you are in All and All is in you.

And though one may understand the Universality of our ”Higher Self”, one must also recognize that there are a great many individuals who due to either; (a) where they are in their own spiritual journey or (b) the circumstances that have been thrust upon them by society. That the ”Higher Self” within them is engulfed and tired down by the fetters of Ego also known as the ”Lower Self” and is unable to recognize themselves as a part of the Universal All.

These are the individuals who are blown around by the chaotic winds of this world. They are dependent on those who they Lower Self tells them that have their personal best interest at heart to tell them how they should be and how they should act.

And then there are also those who intellectually know about the universality of humanity and all existence, but they have allowed their ”Lower Self” rule over their lives and turn a blind eye to the truth. This is because the ”Lower Self” refuses to acknowledge anything that will lower it's so-called sense of self-worth or make it acknowledge the self-sameness of others.

And though it is also recognized that those same individuals still are at their immortal essence the same ”Higher Self” like us and a dilemma they face is a dilemma I face, this is because we are fundamentally and spiritually the same being.

The All Is All

Everything in existence is but different aspects of one Supreme Being (God, Allah, Yahweh, Bondye, and Neberdjer, etc.) who is in all creation and in whom is all creation.

It is through this understanding we are able to come to the understanding of how by starting with a true inward-looking of themselves, that certain individuals and at times the human race were able to persevere and preserve through these pivotal moments in existence.

By first knowing, their true Divine ”Higher Self” as the ancient proverb states “Know Thyself”. Then through true self-mastery and discipline they were able to answer the dilemmas and questions within themselves. Then through actualizing and applying these newfound truths in their lives and through the guidance and teaching of others they helped them to also realize this True Divine ”Higher “Self”. This, in turn, leads to creation collectively gaining back rule from the fetters of Ego or the ”Lower Self” over the world and establishing the rule of the ”Higher Self” which through truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice leads creation to a new age.

Conclusion

This has been the path taken by all the great Sages, prophets, and messengers since time immortal. It was also the path taken by Gandhi, taken by Martin Luther King JR and taken by Malcolm X. Those who have walked this path have influenced and changed the course of the world time and time again.

So who is it in this generation and during these times of uncertainty will take up this path and yet again and lead this world through these dark days of chaos.

These are but the musing of a spiritual wayfarer who is still but sipping at the fountains of knowledge. May The God Of Your Heart bless and guide you to further enlightenment.

I leave as I came, With Best Wishes For Peace Profound.

[wessasaurus-rex]

One Piece Theory of Everything - A Revision of the Inherited Will Theory

I believe I've figured out most of the manga's greatest mysteries. A lot of the major ideas that I used as a jumping point are from the "Inherited Will Theory" by King Fisher over at the Arlong Park Forums which I'm sure most One Piece theorists are already very familiar with. I know it has it's detractors but for the most part, a sizable number of people seemed to like it and I was one of them. However, I believe the Inherited Will theory was not broad enough in scale to truly explain everything.

However, one of the most solid ideas of the Inherited Will theory was the use of repeating patterns, themes and foreshadowing in One Piece to form a prediction of things to come and this is primarily what I've used to deduce the rest of the theories in this list. I'm not sure how to break these down but I'll just go right ahead. I'm sure I can maybe edit this for readability later.

"One Piece" was the Ancient Kingdom. The One Piece is both an ideology and a tangible thing, as I believe Professor Clover was about to explain before he got shot. The One Piece is the entire world united in a piece, as one nation, and in true harmony with all of it's inhabitants. Therefore...

The Pirate King is the ruler of "One Piece". I formulated this theory even before the reveal of Rocks D. Xebec and that served as a confirmation on my part that I was indeed in the right direction with this theory. The title of "King of the World" and "Pirate King" are basically the same thing. This fits in perfectly with all of the descriptions of the Pirate King as the one who "owns everything in the world" or "owns the greatest treasure in the world". The greatest treasure in the world is quite simply the world itself. How was this done? Not by force, but by 20 rulers around the world swearing loyalty to one man. But this was not to last.

Ims was the first mate of the first Pirate King, the first "Dark King" The Pirate King was Julius Caesar and Ims was his Brutus. This explains why Rayleigh's title as the right hand man of the Pirate King is the "Dark King". He is meant to serve in the shadow of the Pirate King and guard him from the darkness. But this also places him in the perfect position to stab the Pirate King in the back. This is, what I believe, happened to the first Pirate King and Ims. And yes, that would mean that Ims is an immortal being - a possibility that was already foreshadowed in Law's fruit. In order to successfully do this, this must have taken more than one conspirator - which is who I think the first Gorosei were. If we were to take the Shakespearean comparison further, the Gorosei would be the senators that took part in the stabbing. They must have been part of the 20 Kings who swore loyalty to the Pirate King, perhaps swayed or tricked by Ims. However, this betrayal did not go unnoticed...

The War between the Ancient Kingdom and the World Government was a Civil War. Imagine a war that spanned the globe that erupted after the great betrayal. This was a war between those that were loyal to the Pirate King and those that usurped the throne. Unfortunately, whether it be by numbers or the use of devil fruits perhaps, the usurpers won a crushing victory against the loyalists who were then forced to run and hide and to inscribe their messages and warnings of this great threat unto indestructible stone while the usurpers erased history in order to both establish themselves as the supreme rulers of the world and also to hide their crime in the murder of the Pirate King.

The World Government is currently the "One Piece". Or to clarify, a corrupted version of the One Piece. Instead of uniting the world in true harmony, fairness and equality, the World Government subjugates the world and controls it for the personal gain of it's leaders. Further evidence of this is the entire ideology of the "Empty Throne". The throne is empty because that throne belongs to the Pirate King. However, only a true Pirate King would actually refuse to sit on the throne and lord over the world, instead choosing a life of freedom and adventure. The very essence of this was exactly recreated in the formation of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. And we know that current "Empty Throne" is nothing but a farce as there is someone who sits on it in the shadows.

Alabasta, Ryuugu, Shandora, Ohara, Zou and Wano were loyal to the Pirate King These powers and perhaps more were all loyal to the Pirate King and fought against the usurpers, with many other kingdoms possibly completely destroyed and erased during the war. This is why they were all keepers of the poneglyphs. Ryuugu Kingdom was promised liberation from the sea and for it's inhabitants to be able to dwell on the surface by the Pirate King. To light the fires of Shandora is to keep the truth alive in protecting the Poneglyph. Wano isolated itself and kept it's borders closed because they knew that the world was their enemy - and to open it's borders is to signal the return of the Pirate King. Alabasta joined the world government but it's royal family refused to become World Nobles. I'm guessing that the King of Alabasta was actually tricked into betraying the Pirate King and then realized it later and regretted it (foreshadowed by Squard) but decided to stay in the World Government as a means to either survive or keep a mole on the inside.

The Ancient Weapons were the power base of the Pirate King If you're gonna be a King, you're gonna need actual power on top of symbolic power and I believe that's what the "Ancient Weapons" were supposed to be. Specifically, I believe Pluton was the main ship of the Pirate King, perhaps even his first ship when he first united the grandline. I also believe that Franky already built the Pluton in the form of the Thousand Sunny, perhaps as a transformation. Franky burned those blueprints because he already memorized them. Next, the power of Poseidon enabled the Pirate King to control all the sea kings - effectively granting him control of the entire oceans. And Uranus, though it has not been revealed, I am confident enough to assume is indeed Momonosuke and I believe it enables him to control ALL OF THE TITAN SIZED CREATURES of the world - one of them being Zunisha. These Titans were probably immortal and indestructible and were therefore banished instead of killed. Zunisha is one of them...but the rest are hidden away in the Florian Triangle.

The Void Century was but the start of an era of darkness. After they crushed their enemies and formed the World Government, Ims and his Gorosei continued to erase history. It's more accurate to call it the Void Era rather than just a century. The process that rid the world of it's history in the Void Century never ceased. Ohara is a prime example of that. Every time someone got close to the truth, they would snuff out the light and keep the world in darkness. This is how they are able to maintain power - through blind faith in their system of justice and ignorance of the past. And the reason why they must continue this process, even to the very present day of the series, is because a Pirate King always rises. Whether through the hopes and wishes of the people, or through murmurs of a forgotten past, a will to overthrow this darkness and for the Pirate King to rise again was inherited. The Pirate King is not a title passed down through by blood. It is a title gained through merit. But this is something that the Kings of the World Government do not understand and still see the Pirate King as a traditional King and this is why...

Ace was executed because he was the rightful heir to the Empty Throne, The Pirate Prince This explains why the World Government went to so much trouble just to execute one man. Why they would go to war just to make sure Ace died in a public fashion - it was an effort to snuff out the flames once more. To keep the world in darkness. But what they didn't understand was that the Pirate King was not born...he was made. This enables a man truly worthy of the title to rise. And a mechanism of this already exists...

The Grand line is a Tournament for the Pirate King One Piece was a giant tournament arc all along. The Grandline is similar to a grand prix. It is an obstacle course where you also face others in a tournament for the throne. It forges any man, even a simple man, to rise above and become worthy of the title. The Supernovas are rookies that made it through the first elimination. The Yonkou are simply the finalists.

Garp knew. Garp, through his own experiences and probably Roger himself telling him the backstory, knows the truth about the One Piece. It explains his distaste for the Celestial Dragons (on top of the obvious reasons) and it explains why he wanted Ace and Luffy to be marines - he wanted to reform the World Government from the inside by training the next generation to be better. I don't think he knows about Ims though nor did Roger.

The Revolutionaries know. Seeing Roger executed at Logue Town gave Dragon his final resolve but he first knew the truth from his father, Garp. However, they had a difference in opinion. While Garp still believes in the institution of the World Government, Dragon would rather be rid of it altogether. However, he has no desire to be King and thats why he didn't take the route of being a pirate that is gunning for the throne. He just wants to destroy the main obstacle.

The Donquixote Family knew. Through privileged access to information or some other means, Doflamingo's parents probably knew the truth - or at least a part of it. That is what spurned their change of heart and decision to live as commoners. Doflamingo himself definitely knew but probably didn't understand it fully as a child and instead focused and internalized more the abuse that they recieved after becoming commoners. This is the secret that he speaks of often. More on the national relic specifically later...

Kaido vs. The World Government This is the "age of smiles" that Doflamingo talked about - the new age. He knew of Kaido's plan to invade the World Government and establish himself as the knew King of the World/Pirate King. Doflamingo's entire angle is just him being in a high position in the new world akin to a World Noble. This is why he was always just gonna be a lackey - he lacked ambition. This also means Kaido already knew of the secret and instead of going after Laugh Tale, he just plans to go straight for the main obstacle, same with Dragon albeit for more selfish desires that liberation.

Tom-san was secretly royal. Just as Poseidon was from the Ryuugu Kingdom, the original Pluton was probably built by Fishmen (submarine mode?), the same Fishmen who built the Noah. This doesn't necessarily mean he had to be royalty but so far, all the secret keepers of Joy Boy had been royalty. It might also be why he was living in the surface - to hide him away in case the Ryuugu Kingdom fell. It would have been terrible if 2 weapons were in one basket so to speak.

The Will of D The Will of D is the inherited will to unite the two halves of the world in a piece - in relation to the plan of destroying a portion of the Red Line in order to truly create the One Piece. The D is not an initial, it is a symbol. (Half a circle, D) A symbol that one carries in your name to denote that your clan believes in the dream of One Piece. The original carriers of the symbol were all loyal to Joy Boy, the first Pirate King...specifically, I think they were his original crew members. Monkey, Jaguar, Trafalgar, Portgas, Gol, Marshall, Rocks...and one more yet to be revealed (Ims?) And I believe each of them came from one of the allied Kingdoms...Alabasta, Shandia, Ryuugu, Zou, Wano, Ohara...and two more yet to be revealed. (My hunch is the kingdom where Big Mom found her Road Poneglyph and Elbaf). These people and nations represent the 8 outer circles in the symbol of the Kozuki Clan. This I believe was the flag of the Ancieny Kingdom, One Piece. The big circle represents Joy Boy and the One Piece. A total of 9 circles... such as the 9 Red Scabbards...or the 9 Straw Hats. (What about Jinbei? He could be the 10th circle, signifying change and progress, could also be why his proper membership has been delayed) Theres a lot in this one but certain parts could be true independent of the rest. I just put them together for the sake of formatting.

[atopearth]

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds Part 2 - Toudou Heisuke Route

Heisuke was so cute when Chizuru confessed to them that she’s actually a girl, the funniest was Shinpachi though, “girls aren’t supposed to wear pants"🤣🤣🤣 I guess he’s kinda right for that era😂 I love how blunt and straightforward Heisuke is though, he apologised for treating her as a man and for his display of shock haha. Lolol at Harada and Shinpachi going to drink at the red light district and just telling Chizuru about it, at least Harada really just wants to drink, well Shinpachi isn’t too bad either since he just wants pretty girls to pour sake for him hahaha. Btw, Heisuke and Chizuru’s exchange where he told her to just call her Heisuke and treat him as an equal since they’re the same age was so considerate and respectful of him. It was such a simple but nice gesture to redo their first meeting and try to get along hehe. How Heisuke-like to go along because he wants to hang with the guys haha. He was so adorable to be so happy and excited that Chizuru agreed to wear females clothes in the future if she got the chance to, he’s so cuteeee! Lmao when Gen caught them going out and they lied that they were going training instead so Gen asked if he can come along too🤣 Heisuke was so cute with his sad puppy eyes trying to get Chizuru to save him from all that by making the excuse that he’s showing her around the headquarters lolol. Hahahaha, Sano betrayed Shinpachi too and left him to train alone with Gen, poor him🤣🤣

I’m glad that in this route, the heroine helps out with chores pretty much straight away, I always felt like the heroine did nothing but listen to orders in Saito’s route so she legit did nothing for months until she could go on patrol rounds with them, I’d be bored out of my mind! Heisuke is rash and comes to conclusions fast, like when he assumed she was helping out so she could get them to trust her but really, she just didn’t want to dwell on thoughts that there isn’t much hope of finding her father, so when she told him that and he apologised, I really liked that. Heisuke might be rash and speak before he thinks, but he’s always ready to admit his wrongs and that’s something not everyone can do, so I really respect that! Lmao when he tried to apologise by giving her sake though😂 lolol that Heisuke and them are getting scolded by Hijikata for being so negligent and doing stuff like drinking in the middle of the day🤣 But awww, Heisuke came to talk to her because he was worried about how she was doing by herself~~~

Ohh wow the punishment was harsher than I thought, Heisuke’s under house arrest and his food portions have decreased! Hijikata is super strict! So sweet of the heroine to go visit him risking the consequences just to see if she can give him some food though hahaha. It’s all worth it when you see Heisuke beam with such a smile though! Not surprised that Souma doesn’t like the Shinsengumi, in a sense, they really are just following their own sense of justice and forcing others to go along with it through the fact that they have the sheer manpower and strength to back it up. At least, although people view them as hooligans, they’re much more understanding and kinder than hooligans haha. But I’m happy that Kondou’s courteous attitude got through to Souma that the Shinsengumi are a sincere group that are fighting for the future that they believe is for the best.

Omg, the fight at the Ikeda Inn was intense! How do they even fight in the dark, and the stench of blood! I guess that’s why their uniforms were changed to white so that they knew who were their allies. No wonder why Heisuke was so injured at Ikeda! He was facing Amagiri😯 So funny when Heisuke called Hijikata a demon for not letting him participate in the next battle because he was injured and Hijikata said he’d gut him and then he went all quiet and meek🤣 Be a good boy, Heisuke! Heisuke’s gone to recruit people at Edo for the Shinsengumi, I can relate to the heroine, it’s so lonely and quiet without him and his bright personality haha. How nice of Kondou to bother teaching her some sword skills before he leaves to join with Heisuke though. So nice that he doesn’t mind calling her a disciple of his sword style even though he barely taught her anything, he’s such a warm guy! He really knows how to make Chizuru feel like she belongs there for once.

Seeing Sanan take the concoction because he felt like he had no other choice was saddening, thinking about him betraying the Shinsengumi in Saito’s route and then dying at the hands of the people he betrayed the Shinsengumi for is just even more saddening, I hope he doesn’t succumb himself to madness this time. I never thought that the Furies actually consisted of men who had broken the rules of conduct and had been given the choice of seppuku or to drink that thing as part of the experiment… What a cruel choice… It’s nice to see some insight on what Heisuke thinks, I can kinda see why Heisuke initially left the Shinsengumi in Saito’s route, it wasn’t just because he felt responsible with Itou but also because he doesn’t view the shogun in a good light since the shogun doesn’t seem to take action for the things he says he would e.g. expelling foreigners from Edo, instead seeming to welcome them. Heisuke loves the Shinsengumi and respects Hijikata and everyone, but if your beliefs don’t align, it’s hard to continue with just loyalty to push you. The fact that there is uncertainty with the Shinsengumi can’t be helped especially with the Furies and the shogun being the one giving them that dodgy thing to improve etc.

It was so cute how Heisuke excitedly grabbed Chizuru’s hand to show her how much snow had fallen in one night, he’s such a kid hahaha. So true that Harada, Heisuke and Shinpachi are definitely not dressed for snowy weather lmao, just looking at them makes me feel cold🤣 It’s so funny how the three of them get along so well and are all so kiddish despite their different personalities hahaha. A snowball fight suits them so well, I knew they’d choose to do that. It’s legit hilarious how serious they take snowball fighting, too bad Chizuru could never possibly hit them🤣 Lmao that Hijikata caught them and got pissed because their snowballs broke holes into some sliding doors😂😂 Something I really like about Heisuke’s route is that he and Chizuru really talk and support each other by speaking about their problems and trying to find a solution together, they might not necessarily come to one but they listen to each other and try their best to answer each other and I think that’s important for communication!

I agree with Heisuke tbh that there isn’t much of a future in just listening to what the Shogunate says all the time. As I’ve said before, loyalty is good but you’ve got to understand when it becomes blind loyalty, you’ve got to think for yourself and I’m glad that Heisuke thought for himself on this occasion. I’m sure he’ll miss Harada and Shinpachi since they’re such good buddies, but knowing that Heisuke wants to follow a path he can believe in rather than just follow along with the others because he likes them is something very respectable and hard to do. It kinda reminds me of that time in high school when we had to choose which book stream we wanted to read for the HSC and all my friends chose Pride and Prejudice and I was nearly peer pressured into following, but I thought to myself that I knew that I’d be unhappy and disappointed in myself if I only chose something because I wanted to be with my friends rather than choose something I really wanted to do and believed that would be more interesting, and so I chose Frankenstein and I never regretted it, in fact I’m very proud and happy that I went along with that choice. I think for Heisuke, even if it may seem like the wrong choice for others, especially since Itou’s guard etc eventually were killed by the Shinsengumi, the fact that Heisuke chose this for himself is something to be proud of. What matters isn’t what is wrong or right, but whether you truly believed in it and did what you wanted to do. Which is why in the end, even though the Shinsengumi didn’t have the best ending and nor did their ideals come to fruition, but the truth of it was that they fought their hardest and tried their best to fight for the beliefs they believed in and I think that’s enough. And yeah, I also think that Itou isn’t exactly wrong or right, but the experimentation on comrades and hiding things from him even though he’s a part of them and one of the officers as well, it couldn’t be helped that he’d want to leave since Hijikata and them never trusted him. I’m glad Heisuke told her all this before he left though, he had no obligation to but he considered her a friend and told her what he thought. I really enjoyed that interaction. It was also really sweet of him to say that he was sad to leave her too…

Although Heisuke isn’t as strong as Saito or Amagiri, I thought it was really cool that Chizuru helped Heisuke out by hindering Amagiri from moving properly (since he captured her and was trying to take her away). I wonder what happened with Itou and the Guard that has made Heisuke kinda regret leaving the Shinsengumi though. I guess it’s because Itou and the rest could never trust him because they think he’s a spy? Omg, letting Chizuru in her female clothes meet with Heisuke at the tea house was so heartbreaking!! It was such a simple everyday conversation about nothing really, but seeing each other, hearing their voice and noticing the subtleties of their gestures really made them understand how they both were doing and how much they really needed that talk. When he said he wanted to talk longer and didn’t want to leave, I was so sad, I wanted to hear him talk longer too! It’s been months since Chizuru has seen him so it must have been so difficult for them to leave each other. I’m so happy he remembered that she said she’d show him how she looks in a female kimono, Heisuke is still Heisuke, I want to see him happy again, not so downtrodden like now😢😢 Luring the Guard out with Itou’s corpse is such a disgusting act that I just can’t approve of no matter how much I like the Shinsengumi tbh, I understood why they needed to kill Itou but this is a different story. I know that they can’t let their feelings get in the way but doing such a thing is just so…. dishonourable. I feel so terrible for Heisuke that he never thought Itou would frame Harada for Sakamoto’s death and do similar things that made him leave the Shinsengumi in the first place. Accompanied with the sudden battle, how do you want him to possibly act and choose what to do at that moment?! Even if he wants to go back to the Shinsengumi, how could he just up and attack the Guard so easily? He’s not that type of person! I guess the Guard attacking Chizuru and Heisuke protecting her has to be the trigger for him to decisively choose to go against the Guard. I’m happy that even though Heisuke is confused and doesn’t know what he should really do, he does know that he needs to protect Chizuru and that’s his decision. It really makes me so glad.

Nooo! Not Heisuke, don’t die! I don’t want him to become a Fury. He threw his swords to save Chizuru, thus being open to Amagiri striking him with no time to block his blows. It just breaks my heart to think of Heisuke dying. I’m honestly so affected by Heisuke that when he was dying, I really cried, Heisuke doesn’t deserve this, he just wanted to find his own path in life, he just wanted what’s best for the future, he’s so young and he was so cheerful, I don’t want him to carry the burdens of being a Fury😭😭😭 It was sweet when she told Heisuke that she wanted to stay beside him as long as she could, her boldness really must have cheered him up since he’s probably so confused after becoming a Fury, not knowing how alive he really is and not knowing whether he really has escaped death, it must be really weird. I think my thoughts about the Water of Life are most akin to Harada right now, can understand it but also don’t want to accept it. When he said that maybe the Shinsengumi isn’t exactly changing but that they’ve only started to realise the misconception that everyone was working towards the same goals when they really aren’t might be the problem here. Harada’s a really good guy though, I like him. Mature and kind.

Chizuru is so optimistic, when Heisuke told her about him being an illegitimate son that gets hush money every month, it’s kinda cool how she could interpret positively as them wanting him to live even if they are separated since in the end they are his parents. I guess it’s true in a sense, if he really wanted Heisuke to be shut up, since he’s like a lord of a domain, it must be easy for him to send assassins to kill him if he really wanted to. It’s so heartbreaking to see Heisuke react to how he acted when he lost control of himself at the taste of blood. He was the most normal, most human and yet now he’s suffering from feeling less and less human every day… It’s just so terrible. Sometimes it just makes me think, maybe, just maybe it would have been better to have let him die that day instead of extending his suffering like this… Is it worth surviving if he has to drink other people’s blood? Honestly, I don’t know either, I don’t know whether it’s really worth it. But omg, I feel like with Heisuke, Chizuru really knows how to support him and cheer him up. When he lamented on always making the wrong decision, and she made him realise that despite the supposed wrong decisions and the sadness, there are happy times to live for as long as you’re alive, especially since Chizuru wants to see him live. Chizuru putting her hand on his really seemed so soothing, I think I feel healed too hahaha.

I love that whenever Heisuke feels like he’s lost his way, Chizuru is always the constant that reminds him that even if things go wrong, doing his best protecting her will never be a wrong decision. I never thought Sen was like such a highly respected Demon because of her ancestor, well enough that she could push Kazama and them back for breaking the Demon code of interfering with human politics. She’s such a nice girl~ When Heisuke and Chizuru are together, it’s hard to not feel like everything will work out in the end no matter what, I feel like when they’re together, they can face anything. It was so adorable when he said he’d show Kazama that Chizuru is his!😍 The Shinsengumi has really come a long way huh? From when they could barely feed themselves to establishing a name for their group and everything in 5 years. A lot of things must have changed so rapidly, it would have been difficult to accept at times.

Anyway, I love Heisuke’s route. Heisuke is great, his route is great. His self-reflections, his interactions with Chizuru, their cute moments, him sharing his feelings, his funny bond with Shinpachi and Harada, everything was just so enjoyable and beautiful, I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop reading hahaha. My heart is so warm from Heisuke hahaha, favourite boy right now🤣

[loveofyhwh]

October 23: Jeremiah 6–7; 1 Peter 5; Psalm 105:26–45; Proverbs 26:17

New Post has been published on https://loveofyhwh.com/october-23-jeremiah-6-7-1-peter-5-psalm-10526-45-proverbs-2617/

October 23: Jeremiah 6–7; 1 Peter 5; Psalm 105:26–45; Proverbs 26:17

Old Testament:

Jeremiah 6–7

Jeremiah 6–7 (Listen)

Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

6   Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin,     from the midst of Jerusalem!   Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,     and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem,   for disaster looms out of the north,     and great destruction. 2   The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,     the daughter of Zion.Or I have likened the daughter of Zion to the loveliest pasture‘>1 3   Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;     they shall pitch their tents around her;     they shall pasture, each in his place. 4   “Prepare war against her;     arise, and let us attack at noon!   Woe to us, for the day declines,     for the shadows of evening lengthen! 5   Arise, and let us attack by night     and destroy her palaces!” 6   For thus says the LORD of hosts:   “Cut down her trees;     cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.   This is the city that must be punished;     there is nothing but oppression within her. 7   As a well keeps its water fresh,     so she keeps fresh her evil;   violence and destruction are heard within her;     sickness and wounds are ever before me. 8   Be warned, O Jerusalem,     lest I turn from you in disgust,   lest I make you a desolation,     an uninhabited land.” 9   Thus says the LORD of hosts:   “They shall glean thoroughly as a vine     the remnant of Israel;   like a grape gatherer pass your hand again     over its branches.” 10   To whom shall I speak and give warning,     that they may hear?   Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,     they cannot listen;   behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn;     they take no pleasure in it. 11   Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD;     I am weary of holding it in.   “Pour it out upon the children in the street,     and upon the gatherings of young men, also;   both husband and wife shall be taken,     the elderly and the very aged. 12   Their houses shall be turned over to others,     their fields and wives together,   for I will stretch out my hand     against the inhabitants of the land,”       declares the LORD. 13   “For from the least to the greatest of them,     everyone is greedy for unjust gain;   and from prophet to priest,     everyone deals falsely. 14   They have healed the wound of my people lightly,     saying, ‘Peace, peace,’     when there is no peace. 15   Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?     No, they were not at all ashamed;     they did not know how to blush.   Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;     at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”       says the LORD. 16   Thus says the LORD:   “Stand by the roads, and look,     and ask for the ancient paths,   where the good way is; and walk in it,     and find rest for your souls.   But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ 17   I set watchmen over you, saying,     ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’   But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ 18   Therefore hear, O nations,     and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. 19   Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,     the fruit of their devices,   because they have not paid attention to my words;     and as for my law, they have rejected it. 20   What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,     or sweet cane from a distant land?   Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,     nor your sacrifices pleasing to me. 21   Therefore thus says the LORD:   ‘Behold, I will lay before this people     stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;   fathers and sons together,     neighbor and friend shall perish.’” 22   Thus says the LORD:   “Behold, a people is coming from the north country,     a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. 23   They lay hold on bow and javelin;     they are cruel and have no mercy;     the sound of them is like the roaring sea;   they ride on horses,     set in array as a man for battle,     against you, O daughter of Zion!” 24   We have heard the report of it;     our hands fall helpless;   anguish has taken hold of us,     pain as of a woman in labor. 25   Go not out into the field,     nor walk on the road,   for the enemy has a sword;     terror is on every side. 26   O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth,     and roll in ashes;   make mourning as for an only son,     most bitter lamentation,   for suddenly the destroyer     will come upon us. 27   “I have made you a tester of metals among my people,     that you may know and test their ways. 28   They are all stubbornly rebellious,     going about with slanders;   they are bronze and iron;     all of them act corruptly. 29   The bellows blow fiercely;     the lead is consumed by the fire;   in vain the refining goes on,     for the wicked are not removed. 30   Rejected silver they are called,     for the LORD has rejected them.”

Evil in the Land

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’

5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

16 “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 19 Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? 20 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”

21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. 25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

27 “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

29   “‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;     raise a lamentation on the bare heights,   for the LORD has rejected and forsaken     the generation of his wrath.’

The Valley of Slaughter

30 “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33 And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. 34 And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

Footnotes

[1] 6:2 Or I have likened the daughter of Zion to the loveliest pasture

(ESV)

New Testament:

1 Peter 5

1 Peter 5 (Listen)

Shepherd the Flock of God

5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,Some manuscripts omit exercising oversight‘>1 not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;Some manuscripts omit as God would have you‘>2 not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Footnotes

[1] 5:2 Some manuscripts omit exercising oversight [2] 5:2 Some manuscripts omit as God would have you

(ESV)

Psalm:

Psalm 105:26–45

Psalm 105:26–45 (Listen)

26   He sent Moses, his servant,     and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27   They performed his signs among them     and miracles in the land of Ham. 28   He sent darkness, and made the land dark;     they did not rebelSeptuagint, Syriac omit not‘>1 against his words. 29   He turned their waters into blood     and caused their fish to die. 30   Their land swarmed with frogs,     even in the chambers of their kings. 31   He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,     and gnats throughout their country. 32   He gave them hail for rain,     and fiery lightning bolts through their land. 33   He struck down their vines and fig trees,     and shattered the trees of their country. 34   He spoke, and the locusts came,     young locusts without number, 35   which devoured all the vegetation in their land     and ate up the fruit of their ground. 36   He struck down all the firstborn in their land,     the firstfruits of all their strength. 37   Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,     and there was none among his tribes who stumbled. 38   Egypt was glad when they departed,     for dread of them had fallen upon it. 39   He spread a cloud for a covering,     and fire to give light by night. 40   They asked, and he brought quail,     and gave them bread from heaven in abundance. 41   He opened the rock, and water gushed out;     it flowed through the desert like a river. 42   For he remembered his holy promise,     and Abraham, his servant. 43   So he brought his people out with joy,     his chosen ones with singing. 44   And he gave them the lands of the nations,     and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil, 45   that they might keep his statutes     and observe his laws.   Praise the LORD!

Footnotes

[1] 105:28 Septuagint, Syriac omit not

(ESV)

Proverb:

Proverbs 26:17

Proverbs 26:17 (Listen)

17   Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own     is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

(ESV)

[dailydj]

Psalm 15: Evocations

LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?

Like a giant cloth iceberg, the tabernacle juts above a sea of tan Israelite tents. Off in the distance, there, can you see it? The faint outline of Mount Sinai, out on the hazy desert horizon, where they say God’s glory burns more brightly than the sun. Just entering either of these spaces for a brief moment is a nerve-wracking, death-defying experience. No one would ever dream of trying to stay for longer than a few minutes, let alone try to live there.

Aaron, the high priest, was packing up his things and getting ready to go home for the night, when out of the corner of his eye he caught a flicker of candlelight in the Holy of Holies, the center room of the tabernacle. Cautiously, Aaron crept back into the tent, and he noticed the shadow of a man was cast upon the dividing curtain of the holy place. The man was sitting and praying, and then he began to laugh, rising to his feet and swaying to and fro, dancing with complete, pure enjoyment and freedom. "Who’s there?” shouted Aaron. A great wind blew through the tabernacle, the candlelight was extinguished, and the tent fell into silence and darkness.

The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous.

He’s talking to a sick old woman, touches her, and life and health immediately spread across her entire body. He is settling an argument between feuding Pharisees and commoners, and standing up for the oppressed. He’s standing before a crowd of thousands, speaking words of such resounding truth and inspiration that the people are enraptured, unable to turn away.

Who speaks the truth from their heart.

“Truly I tell you,” declares Jesus, “Unless you give up all that you have, to follow me, you will never inherit the Kingdom of God”. The rich young ruler falls to his knees, distraught, conflicted, torn apart inside. Jesus’ look of compassion is warm and sincere, but also firm, decided, and His message is clear: what He’s asking for is hard, but undeniably true.

Whose tongue utters no slander.

Jesus pulls a coin from his pocket, and tosses it to the two old Jewish men smirking at Him from the front of the crowd. “Tell me, whose face is inscribed on that coin?” he asks.

“Caesar’s,” replies the Pharisee.

“Then give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give unto God what is God’s,” answers Jesus.

Who does no wrong to a neighbor, who casts no slur on others.

Jesus was tired. His cousin had just died, beheaded at the hands of a foolish king. He couldn’t help feeling the tug of guilt, couldn’t help but wonder, if John hadn’t been out there stirring people up about Him, the coming Messiah...would he still be alive? There was so much suffering, so much evil and hatred and cynicism here...humanity had grown to be so broken, and it broke Jesus’ heart. He needed some time away, just to spend with His Father, to be reassured of why He was sent here. The bottom of the boat scraped land, and Jesus stepped out into the shallow water. He settled on a rock, sitting cross-legged, watching the sun drift lazily towards the horizon, and let out a huge sigh of relief. Jesus closed his eyes, and murmured, “Father, I —”

“THERE HE IS!” came a shout from the bushes behind him. Suddenly, the undergrowth was rustling with the sounds of dozens of people, eagerly wading their way through the trees and shrubs to swarm towards Jesus. A woman carrying her baby had cuts on her arms, where tree branches had scraped them, but was nearly in tears of joy and ecstasy as she ran down the beach towards Jesus. Two sons panted as they stepped out from among the trees, the older one carrying their ailing father on his back. They smiled at one another, bumped fists, then made their way down the sand with their father between their shoulders. A familiar voice cut through the noise and excitement, as one young man shoved people out of the way to sprint down the beach. “Jesus!” yelled Peter, flailing his arms wildly to get his attention. He ran up to Jesus’ rock, gasping for air. “Phew...aah, I’m so sorry man, I really tried to stop them, but they’re relentless!”

Jesus smiled. “It’s okay,” He said. “Let them come.”

Who despises a vile person.

“You snakes!” He screamed. “You filthy thieves!” He grabbed a man by the shoulders and flung him into a table of birdcages, sending a cloud of money and doves floating up into the air. “What have you people done!” He roared, “This is my Father’s house! But you…” He towered over a quivering salesman, who was still clutching a purse of money tightly to his chest, as if it would protect him from this raving lunatic. “You have made it into a den of fucking robbers!”

But honors those who fear the Lord.

Jesus smiled, watching His friends toss food into each others’ mouths across the table. Quietly, He got up, took off His shirt, and tied a towel around His waist. He tapped Peter on the shoulder, who was trying to see if he could fit a whole apple into his mouth. “Hrnghhff?” asked Peter, who turned and saw Jesus, then immediately started choking and spitting out his food. “Jesus!” he angrily whispered, “What’re you doing, where are your clothes??”

“Your sandals, please.”

“My...what? What are you doing?”

Horrified, Peter watched as Jesus took Peter’s feet in His gentle hands, and began washing off the dirt caked between Peter’s toes, stuck to his soles, under the nails. The disciples looked on in awe and wonder.

Who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew never forgot those words, as long as he lived.

Who lends money to the poor without interest.

Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you.” The crowd gasped as the lame man rose to his feet. Dang, that sounded good, thought Peter. I feel like I remember Jesus saying that somewhere before.

Who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Jesus stood on the hill outside Jerusalem, gazing at the tiny people milling about, pondering to Himself. I might be able to help them, He thought. I could write new laws, which treat all people with perfect justice. I could reorganize their economy, so that everyone has enough to eat. We could raise a military, conquer neighboring territories little by little, and invite everyone into a great new empire. I’d be ruler over them all, a beautiful, perfect Kingdom. And it wouldn’t be so hard; all I’d have to do is just…

Jesus stopped, laughed to Himself, and said, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ Thanks for the offer, Satan, but I think I’m good.”

Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Drip, drip, drip. Blood plinked out a slow rhythm as it slid down the bridge of His nose, into a small puddle forming at the base of the wooden cross. Stabs of pain shot up Jesus’ feet as He pushed himself up to draw a ragged, desperate breath.

Curse him, whispered a voice in His ear. He has abandoned You, He does not care for You any longer. Why should you remain faithful to Him now?

Jesus lifted Himself for another breath, shuddering as the pain tore through His body again.

He is disgusted with You. You have made Yourself hideous in His sight. Surely His favor has departed from You. Curse Him, and worship me instead, Son of God. I can end Your suffering, all You have to do is one little thing.

Jesus said nothing, simply heaving Himself up once more for another breath. This went on for several hours more, just the tempter and Jesus, breathing, hurting, dying.

[pamphletstoinspire]

Entertaining God: The 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday, as we continue to accompany Jesus on his fateful journey to Jerusalem in the Gospel of Luke, we are confronted with a pair of Readings in which human beings host a meal for God: Abraham for the LORD in the First Reading; Martha and Mary for Jesus in the Gospel. But is it really possible for us to “do God a favor” by giving him a nice meal? We are going to discover that, while God graciously accepts our services, it’s really about what God does for us, not what we can do for him.

1. The First Reading is Gn 18:1-10a:

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: “Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way.” The men replied, “Very well, do as you have said.”

Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah, “Quick, three measures of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls.” He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. Then Abraham got some curds and milk, as well as the steer that had been prepared, and set these before the three men; and he waited on them under the tree while they ate.

They asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” He replied, “There in the tent.” One of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”

This very beautiful and mysterious narrative has always suggested a mystical appearance of the Holy Trinity in the Christian tradition, and countless icons have taken their inspiration from it.

Certainly there is an intriguing interplay of one and three in the text. The text says, “The LORD appeared to Abraham,” in the singular; but three men show up. When Abraham greets the men in Hebrew, he begins by addressing them in the second person singular (“you”) and then switches to second person plural (“y’all”). So are they one or three? Yes!

The context of this meal is important. In the immediately preceding textual unit (Genesis 17) God had re-made his covenant with Abraham (first made in Genesis 15), introducing some revised terms, such as circumcision as the mark of the covenant. God also incorporates the promise of kingship as a term of the covenant, and specifies that the son of Sarah—Abraham’s first-and-should-have-been-only wife—will be the heir of the covenant. Now, in our present chapter, the LORD shows up to have a meal with Abraham.

Meals are important covenant rituals. Covenants form unrelated persons into family members. Families eat together. It is a sign of communion and relationship. Having formed a covenant with Abraham, the LORD now appears to share a family meal with him. In this meal, Abraham is eager to serve the LORD and feed “them” well. He wants to be a good host. But this meal is not about what Abraham can do for the LORD. Do we really think these three angelic visitors needed material food? Instead, this meal is about what the LORD can do for Abraham: provide him a son and heir, in fulfillment of his covenant promises.

2. The Responsorial Psalm is Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 5:

R. (1a) He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

One who walks blamelessly and does justice; who thinks the truth in his heart and slanders not with his tongue.

R. He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

Who harms not his fellow man, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor; by whom the reprobate is despised, while he honors those who fear the LORD.

R. He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

Who lends not his money at usury and accepts no bribe against the innocent. One who does these things shall never be disturbed.

R. He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

Since the First Reading and Gospel are both about sharing intimate communion with God (in fact, sharing a meal with God), the Psalm reminds us of what sort of persons we need to be to have this privilege of “living in the presence of the LORD.” To live in the presence of the LORD requires that we do justice, think the truth, refrain from slander, from harm, and criticism of others, from usury and bribes. It requires that we encourage those who honor the LORD and refrain from honoring atheists and those who mock faith in God (“the reprobate”).

These “rules” are not meant as a restraint on our lifestyle, but as a path to happiness. Can the man truly be happy who commits injustice to others; believes in falsehoods; slanders, harms, and criticizes those around him; charges unfair interest and takes bribes; who mocks and humiliates those who worship God, and encourages blasphemers and atheists? Can that person be joyful and content? Even if he is successful for a while in avoiding retaliation from all those he has harmed, I submit that man cannot be happy because he cannot have interior peace. The practice of evil is its own punishment, even apart from the negative consequences it inevitably provokes.

3. The Second Reading is Col 1:24-28:

Brothers and sisters: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory. It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

At this time in the Lectionary cycle, we are reading semi-continuously through the Epistle to the Colossians. Today’s reading is profound, but we will focus on just one striking statement by St. Paul: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.”

In an essay on the topic of faith and works, Dr. Michael Barber quotes St. Thomas Aquinas on this passage of Colossians:

[This could be misinterpreted as teaching] that the passion of Christ was not sufficient for our redemption, and that the sufferings of the saints were added to complete it …. But this is heretical, because the blood of Christ is sufficient to redeem many worlds…. Rather, we should understand that Christ and the Church are one mystical person, whose head is Christ, and show body is all the just, for every just person is a member of this head: “individually members” (1 Cor. 12:27)…. We could say that Paul was completing the sufferings that were lacking in his own flesh. For what was lacking was that, just as Christ had suffered in his own body, so he should also suffer in Paul, his member, and in similar ways in others. [Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Colossians (trans. F. R. Larcher; Naples: Sapientia, 2006)].

This is one of the places in Scripture that teach us the doctrine of redemptive suffering, that as Christians we will and indeed must suffer in this life, but our sufferings are participations in the suffering of Jesus, and as such have value in God’s eyes and advance the salvation of the whole world.

The truth of redemptive suffering is lost in Christian groups that teach “salvation by faith alone” understood as a path to heaven that involves believing, but not necessarily a transformation of one’s thought and behavior, much less the endurance of suffering for Christ’s sake. This was the kind of Christianity I was partially raised in. Thankfully, however, on a practical level there was a greater recognition for the need to transform behavior than there was on a theoretical level. Sometimes one’s religion can be better than one’s theology.

The theology of redemptive suffering spoke powerfully to my wife and I, especially to my wife, who has had more than the “usual” share of suffering in life. It was part of what led to her conversion to the Christian faith. The famous Austrain psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the Holocaust and the Nazi death camps, argues in his rightly famous book Man’s Search for Meaning that almost any suffering can be endured by the human psyche provided the human sufferer sees meaning in it. I think Frankl is right, so far as it goes, but what is lacking in his book and his counseling method, called logotherapy, is that he does not provide a metaphysical reason to believe that there is meaning in life. He would help his patients invent their own meaning, but this is unsatisfying, because finite creatures cannot make a meaningless world meaningful by an act of their will—its just an exercise in imagination, and we know it. What Frankl and logotherapy needs is the Christian faith. The Christian faith is the best framework for psychiatric health in world civilization, because the the cross provides the way to find meaning in any situation of suffering. If God can bring the salvation of the world out of the worst evil in human history—the shameful torture and execution of the only perfectly innocent human being ever to live—than surely he is able to bring good out of the lesser sufferings we face. The Christian faith asserts and provides evidence to believe that there is a God who has a purpose to this creation—a good purpose, capable of incorporating even the tragedies that we witness into a larger goal of making human beings suitable to dwell forever in the presence of furnace of God’s love, i.e. heaven.

4. The Gospel is Lk 10:38-42:

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

In this part of Luke, Jesus has begun his “death march” to Jerusalem, where he will celebrate the great familial meal par excellence that will form the New Covenant. On his way, he stops in the home of Mary and Martha to share a meal with them.

Like Abraham, Martha and Mary have the opportunity to host God at a meal in their home.

Martha and Mary have different attitudes toward Jesus in their home. Mary is concerned about what Jesus can give to her, and sits soaking up his teaching. Martha is concerned with what she can do for Jesus, and is busy about serving the food.

But does a man who can multiply loaves to feed 5,000 really need someone to bring him food?

Martha is not ill-intentioned, and Jesus treats her gently. “Martha, Martha …” — the repetition of her name is a sign of affection and love. He understands her mindset and knows that her desire to serve is ultimately also an expression of love for him, even if misguided.

“You are worried about many things, but there is need of only one thing.”

What is the “one thing”? Some suggest Martha was serving an elaborate meal and Jesus is suggesting a single dish would have sufficed. Perhaps that is true. But Scripture has layers of meaning. On a deeper level, the “one thing” that is necessary is communion with God. Finally, this is the only thing that matters, and it is all we will do and enjoy in eternity.

Martha’s great business causes her to lose communion with Jesus. So busy serving, she is not spending any time with him.

There is a pleasing illustration of Martha’s attitude in an excellent German film marketed in the US under the title “Mostly Martha.” The lead character — not accidentally named Martha — is a German cook obsessed with perfection, who has forgotten that food and eating are ultimately forms of communion with other persons, an expression of love and fellowship. In the course of the film — and through much pain — she learns to open herself to a communion of love with her young niece and a fellow chef who becomes her husband. She comes to understand meals not simply as a chance for her to display artistic and scientific prowess, but as opportunity for the communion of persons. The whole movie is very much applicable to the themes of this Sunday’s Readings.

But back to the Gospel reading: Martha’s problem is that she is too concerned about what she can do for Jesus, when it is really about what Jesus can do for her.

Mary seems to understand this, as she sits at Jesus’ feet. About Mary, we can apply a pleasing interpretation of an important Old Testament text. After the Sinai Covenant was solemnized in Exod 24:1-8, the leaders of Israel went up on Mt. Sinai, and they shared a meal with God: “They beheld God, and ate and drank” (Ex 24:11). Some ancient Rabbis took this to mean, “They looked at God and in this way they ate and drank.” In other words, the Beatific Vision was their sustenance. We can apply this verse to Mary: while Martha tries to prepare a physical meal, Mary beholds Jesus and that is sustenance enough for her. We can meditate on this concept in Eucharistic Adoration.

This Sunday, we hear these words proclaimed at the Mass, our own covenant meal with God present. Yet we need to remember, the Mass is not something we do for God, nor is it a meal we host for God. The Mass is something God does for us; He is the host of the meal.

We don’t do God a favor by showing up for Church on Sunday and throwing something into the plate. This does nothing for God. It does not enhance his dignity or add anything to his power or glory.

God does us a favor by hosting a meal for us every Sunday in which he offers Himself to us as food, in the most intimate act of communion with Himself imaginable.

Mass is not about what we do for God, but about what God does for us. At this Sunday’s Mass, let’s pray more intensely for God to work in our hearts, to forgive our sin and transform the way we think and act, that we can become like the man of Psalm 15 who is suitable to dwell in God’s presence; or like Mary, who understood the “one thing” necessary and was willing to say “No” to distractions and demands in order to soak in the presence and teaching of Jesus.

From: www.pamphletstoinspire.com

[dfroza]

persistence in faith and humility

we need to see life through the baptism eyes of a child.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 18th chapter of the book of Luke that illuminates this:

He told them a parable, urging them to keep praying and never grow discouraged. The parable went like this:

Jesus: There was a judge living in a certain city. He showed no respect for God or humanity. In that same city there was a widow. Again and again she kept coming to him seeking justice: “Clear my name from my adversary’s false accusations!” He paid no attention to her request for a while, but then he said to himself, “I don’t care about what God thinks of me, much less what any mere human thinks. But this widow is driving me crazy. She’s never going to quit coming to see me unless I hear her case and provide her legal protection.”

Did you catch what this self-assured judge said? If he can be moved to act justly, won’t God bring justice for His chosen people when they cry to Him day and night? Will He be slow to bring them justice? Mark My words: God will intervene fast with vindication. But here’s the question: when the Son of Man comes, will He find anyone who still has faith?

He told another parable—this one addressed to people who were confident in their self-righteousness and looked down on other people with disgust.

Jesus: Imagine two men walking up a road, going to the temple to pray. One of them is a Pharisee and the other is a despised tax collector. Once inside the temple, the Pharisee stands up and prays this prayer in honor of himself: “God, how I thank You that I am not on the same level as other people—crooks, cheaters, the sexually immoral—like this tax collector over here. Just look at me! I fast not once but twice a week, and I faithfully pay my tithes on every penny of income.” Over in the corner, the tax collector begins to pray, but he won’t even lift his eyes to heaven. He pounds on his chest in sorrow and says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Now imagine these two men walking back down the road to their homes. Listen, it’s the tax collector who walks home clean before God, and not the Pharisee, because whoever lifts himself up will be put down and whoever takes a humble place will be lifted up.

Some people brought infants to Jesus, hoping He would touch them in blessing. The disciples rebuked them for doing so, but Jesus called to the people.

Jesus: Let the little children come to Me. Never hinder them! Don’t you realize—the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children? You can depend on this: if you don’t receive the Kingdom as a child would, you won’t enter it at all.

Public Official: Good Teacher, what do I need to do to inherit the life of the age to come?

Jesus: Why did you just call Me good? No one is good but God—only God. You know what the Hebrew Scriptures command: “Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”

Public Official: I’ve already been doing these things—since I came of age.

Jesus: One thing you still lack—one thing; sell all your possessions and distribute the proceeds to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. Then you can come and follow Me.

The man heard these words and sadness came over his face, for his wealth was considerable.

Jesus: What a hard thing it is for those with much wealth to enter the kingdom of God! In fact, it would be easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than it would be for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!

Listeners: Then who can be liberated?

Jesus: Remember, what is humanly impossible is possible with God.

Peter: We have left our homes and followed You.

Jesus: I’m telling you the truth: there is nobody who leaves his house or wife or siblings or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive more than he has given up—much more—in this age and in the age to come. He will receive eternal life.

He took the twelve aside and spoke privately to them.

Jesus: Look, my friends, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the outsiders. They will mock Him, disgrace Him, and spit on Him; they will scourge Him, and they will kill Him. And on the third day, He will rise from death.

But they had no comprehension of what He was talking about. The meaning was hidden from them, and they couldn’t grasp it.

Picture this:

Jesus is nearing the city of Jericho. A blind man is sitting there, begging by the roadside. He can hear the sounds of the crowd accompanying Jesus, and he asks what’s going on.

Crowd: Jesus of Nazareth is passing this way.

Then the man starts shouting.

Blind Man: Jesus, Son of King David, show mercy to me!

The people in the front of the crowd reprimand him and tell him to be quiet, but he just shouts louder.

Blind Man: Son of King David, show mercy to me!

Jesus stops and tells the people to bring the man over to Him. The man stands in front of Jesus.

Jesus: What do you want Me to do for you?

Blind Man: Lord, let me receive my sight.

Jesus: Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.

At that very instant, the man is able to see. He begins following Jesus, shouting praises to God; and everyone in the crowd, when they see what has happened, starts praising God too.

The Book of Luke, Chapter 18 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 26th chapter of the book of Job that also sparks reverence (True fear) of our Creator:

Job explained.

Job (sarcastically): What a great help you are to the powerless!

How you have held up the arm that is feeble and weak!

What sage counsel you have given to me, the unwise!

And what immeasurable insight you have put on display for us!

Whom did you say these words to?

Where did you get such profound inspiration?

The departed quiver below,

down deep beneath the seas

and all that is within them,

The land of the dead is exposed before God,

and the place where destruction lies is uncovered in His presence.

He stretches out the northern sky over vast reaches of emptiness;

He hangs the earth itself on nothing.

He binds up the waters into His clouds,

but the cloud does not burst from the strain.

He conceals the sight of His throne

and spreads His clouds over it to hide it from view.

He has encircled the waters with a horizon-boundary:

the line between day and night, light and darkness.

The very pillars that hold up the sky quake

and are astounded by His reprisals.

By His power, He stilled the sea, quelling the chaos;

by His wisdom, He pierced Rahab, evil of the sea;

By His breath, the heavens are made beautifully clear;

by His hand that ancient serpent—even as it attempted escape—is pierced through.

And all of this, all of these are the mere edges of His capabilities.

We are privy to only a whisper of His power.

Who then dares to claim understanding of His thunderous might?

The Book of Job, Chapter 26 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for monday, may 3 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at this week’s reading of the Torah and the way that obedience and disobedience matters. our conduct on earth matters, just as the discovery of grace that heals the heart by giving us a new True nature within:

Shavuah Tov, chaverim. This week we have another "double portion" of Torah. Our first Torah portion is called parashat Behar (פרשׁת בהר) which begins with the commandment that an Israelite farmer must let his land rest by remaining fallow every seventh year. This is called the “Sabbatical year” (i.e., shemittah: שמיטה), and the inhabitants of the land were permitted to glean whatever the farmland produced naturally. In addition, the people were told to count seven cycles of seven years – a total of 49 years – and to mark the arrival of the fiftieth year with blasts of the shofar on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This fiftieth year would be a time of “Jubilee” (i.e., yovel: יוֹבֵל) – a year of “release” for the land and all its inhabitants. All slaves would be set free, all debts would be canceled, and the stewardship of the land would revert to its original titleholders.

Our second Torah reading this week, called parashat Bechukotai (פרשׁת בחקתי), is the final portion of the central book of the Torah (i.e, Leviticus), and it begins with the promise that if the Israelites would walk in the LORD’s statutes (chukkot) and commandments (mitzvot) and perform them, then they would enjoy material blessings and dwell securely in the promised land. Moreover the LORD Himself would make His dwelling with them and would walk among them as their God. The people of Israel would then truly be am segulah (עַם סְגֻלָּה) - a treasured people among all the nations of the earth. On the other hand, if the people disobeyed God and disregarded His commandments, then they would be considered covenant-breakers, and they would experience all manner of distress and tribulation in their lives. They would experience panic attacks, diseases, heartache, and all manner of tsuris (vexation, trouble); their enemies would eat their increase, and those who hate them would rule over them; they would flee at the rustle of a leaf, and their lives would be full of terror and misery – all because they refused to put the LORD God first in their lives. And if after all this trouble the people would still refuse to return to the LORD, the worst punishment of all would befall them: exile from the promised land and banishment from the Presence of the LORD Himself.

Nonetheless, despite their disobedience, God’s love and mercy for Israel would never fully depart, for “if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies – if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land” (Lev. 26:40-42). Moreover, even while they are in exile, in the land of their enemies, God vowed: “I will not cast them away; nor will I ever abhor them to destroy them and to break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God” (Lev. 26:44).

This Torah portion (and the scroll of Leviticus) ends with a discussion of various laws pertaining to vows and tithes that a person may make to contribute towards the upkeep of the Sanctuary. These include dedications of persons, animals, houses, and lands. The scroll of Leviticus ends with the emphatic statement: “These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai” (Lev. 26:46). [Hebrew for Christians]

5.3.21 • Facebook

and another post about the current Omer Count and the significance of its timing:

We are in the midst of Sefirat Ha-Omer (the “Counting of the Omer”), a 49 day countdown that runs from Nisan 16 through Sivan 5. The first day of the omer count began on the day following Passover, and the last day occurs the day before the great jubilee of Shavuot (“Pentecost”). On our Gregorian calendars, these dates run from March 28th until May 16th this year. This is a “countdown period” leading to the giving of the Torah at Sinai and the giving of the Holy Spirit to Yeshua’s disciples...

Thursday, May 6th after sundown (Iyyar 25) marks the 40th day of the Omer Count (i.e., Mem B'Omer), the time associated with the ascension of Yeshua back to the heavenly realm (Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:9-11; Eph. 4:8). A thousand years before the birth of our Savior (מושׁיענו), King David prophesied of the ascension when he announced the Lord's enthronement at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1; Matt. 22:41-46; 26:64). Recall that Yeshua told His followers that it was good that he would leave them, so that the Holy Spirit (רוח הקודש), the "Comforter" or "Advocate" (παράκλητος), would be given to them. "But I tell you the truth, it is for your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate (ὁ παράκλητος) will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7). Notice that the word translated as "advantage" here is the Greek word συμφέρω (from σύν, "with" and φέρω, "to carry"), which suggests that we would be given power that "carries us" with the Lord during the trials of this life... Bo, Ruach Elohim (בוא רוח אלוהים) "Come, Holy Spirit..." [Hebrew for Christians]

5.3.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

May 3, 2021

God Is Love

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love.” (1 John 4:16)

It is said that the most quoted verse in all the Bible is the passage in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Surely that is a magnificent testimony to the love God has for us, and without it none of us would know God. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

But God “loved righteousness, and hated iniquity” (Hebrews 1:9). How is it that God “commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)? “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Human love is usually reciprocal. That is, we love if and when we are loved in return. Yet, those of us who are twice-born are commanded to love each other, and the godly husband is expected to love his wife like the Lord Jesus unilaterally loved the church. But that kind of love is not normal—it is God’s love in us. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).

The English word “love” in its various forms appears over 700 times in the Bible. The vast majority of those references do not attempt to describe God’s love. They focus either on our responsibility to “love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) or “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8).

Evidently, we experience God’s love when we are saved and are under obligation to show it as we “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). HMM III

[hieromonkcharbel]

BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech. For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.

What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.

Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature’. For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.

What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things arc nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen.

St John Chrysostom

[renewingthemind]

The Journey Continues

This Promised Land that we have in Christ is not just what we inherit after we die, but it is the glorious new creation that we become in this life. However, when you are born it is not the fulfillment of your life, but the beginning. Likewise, when you are born again, it is not the fulfillment of your calling, but the beginning of the glorious journey. There is no life so exciting, so wonderful, and so fulfilling as the Christian life. It is the greatest quest for the greatest souls to ever walk the earth.

The Lord did not call Israel just to get them out of Egypt, but in order to lead them into their inheritance. Israel had a very specific Promised Land, and so do we. What is the Christian Promised Land that we are called to inherit in this life? As we read before in I Corinthians 10:11, after Paul gave an outline of Israel's experience in the wilderness he said, "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." Israel's experience was a prophetic map, and a model, of both our journey and our inheritance in Christ. Let's look at a couple of basic parallels.

Israel's Promised Land was a relatively small nation, but it was in the middle of the emerging nations of the earth. It was to be a place where the Lord was worshiped and where the people lived by His ways. Their lives were to be a striking contrast to the nations around them as a demonstration of how the Lord's ways were higher. Those who obeyed and served the Lord were to enjoy extraordinary benefits, such as: all of their diseases healed, long life, peace, joy, and prosperity. Because He also instituted commandments for cleansing the land, even nature would prosper because of the righteousness and justice of those who would dwell in the land. This would result in an increased fruitfulness of the land.

Likewise, the Lord did not just save us so we can go to heaven, but so we can be a holy nation in the midst of the earth that testifies to the glory and power of the Lord and His ways. There are extraordinary and wonderful benefits for living under the domain of Christ. We are called to be witnesses of the power and glory of the kingdom of God by living in them now. It is a "land flowing with milk and honey." It is to be a blessing and wonder in the midst of this dark and confusing world. The seed of Abraham was called to be a blessing to all of the families on the face of the earth. This is our calling, to be a blessing to everyone around us.

In the New Covenant we find that the Lord gives His people authority over sickness and disease, as well as over all of the power of the evil one. We also see that Christians are called to a life of triumph and victory that gives glory to God and a revelation to the world of the Lord's victory on the cross. However, just as there was a journey that Israel had to make to get to their Promised Land, and then they had many battles to fight to possess it, the same is true with us. In a sense, the church has been making its journey through the wilderness since the first century. However, before the end of this age the church will possess its inheritance and live in it as a witness to all of the other "nations" on the face of the earth.

The wilderness that Israel crossed was essentially the exact opposite of the land they had been promised, and so is our wilderness. They had been promised a land flowing with milk and honey, but in the wilderness they did not even have any water. However, it was this journey through the place that was so contrary to the promises that they learned to trust in the provision of the Lord and know the righteousness of His ways. The same is true with us.

The most important thing that happened in the wilderness was they received God's instructions, and they built Him a dwelling place so He could actually dwell in their very midst. The Lord's presence with them was the greatest inheritance of all. The greatest of all the blessings that we have gained through Christ is Christ Himself. We must also esteem His presence with us as the greatest treasure of all.

It has been said that Israel could have crossed the wilderness in only two weeks. That may be true, but it was a full two years before the Lord led them to the place where they could enter. He first had to give them His command-ments, teach them His ways, and complete His tabernacle so He could dwell in their midst. We, too, must learn to be patient when in the wilderness— between the place where we are called and where we begin to enter into our promises.

The wilderness is hard, but it is essential, and it can be a most glorious place of fellowship and getting to know the Lord. For us to be trusted with the full inheritance, we must know fully that He is the greatest inheritance that we could ever have. Therefore, our primary goal must always be greater than just possessing the promises—it must be to know the Lord, to worship Him, and to serve Him in all that we do.

It is much better to stay in the wilderness where we are compelled to experience Him and seek Him than to possess our promises. The inheritance we have in Christ is so wonderful that it can easily become an idol in itself, if our foundation is not right. That is why so few Christians have truly walked in the fullness of the promises we have in Christ. Some assert that none have walked in the fullness of the promises since the first century. That is debatable, but it seems obvious that none are today walking in all of the promises we have been given in Christ. This is probably because so many quickly begin to esteem the promises above the One who gives them.

This is why we are taking our time in this study and patiently reviewing many things. Our goal is not just to know about the Lord and our inheritance, but to know the Lord and possess our inheritance. To do this we must possess the wisdom to know that the Lord Himself is the greatest inheritance, and that our possession of any of His promises is so we can be a witness of His greatness and glory in the midst of the earth, not just so we can be blessed.

As we proceed by examining how Israel's wilderness journey parallels our own journey to maturity in Christ, we will find that many of the experiences we go through are meant to review and reiterate the truths that we learned by our deliverance from "Egypt." Each new experience is both a review and a step forward. In that way, the strongest foundation is laid and is continually re-fortified. Every single thing in our lives is intended to do the same for us.

One of our main goals in this study is to be able to quickly recognize every thing the Lord is using in our lives in relation to what He wants to do in us. As we start to understand His work we will be more prone to work with Him, and thereby get out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land much faster. So let us go on to know the Lord, and possess our full inheritance in Him so the glory of His ways may be found in the midst of the earth as a witness to all.

Rick Joyner

[twilightfalcon-blog]

[The Frightful Hour of Death, a Homily by Elder Ephraim of Arizona] After death, eternity follows. Every person at a certain moment will abandon his body on the earth and proceed with his soul to eternity: to the life that has no end. Man's soul will remain without the body until the Second Coming of Christ, at which time the bodies of both the righteous and unrighteous will be resurrected in order to be judged. It is a fact that, after death, man's soul is separated from the body and lives in a unique state. As we have witnessed, God visited us with the deaths of a few beloved brothers, whom He received into His Kingdom. Primarily, He took our dearly beloved brother, Father Ephraim, who lived amongst us in this brotherhood. He was my first spiritual child. As you are well aware, he lived amongst us with perfect obedience and virtuous conduct. Each one of you knows exactly how much you respected him. On account of his virtuous way of life, he had gained your trust. He helped our brotherhood tremendously. God called him unexpectedly with a traumatic death. God's decisions resemble an abyss. Who can fathom the mind or the decisions of the Lord? He knows how to arrange everything correctly. We all suffer to a degree from spiritual near-sightedness, depending on our spiritual maturity and level of discernment, and we form opinions on various matters accordingly. God, however, has a compassionate and loving Father, understands things quite differently. Oftentimes, He takes people at a young age, even though they are of great value to others spiritually. He decides to receive them at a point in their life that we feel is too early. The Lord, however, knows when each person is ready, and He acts accordingly. Had Saint Basil the Great, God's holy hierarch of Caesarea who enlightened the world, lived longer, he would have helped innumerable souls and the Christian world in general with his presence. However, he was called to the Heavens at the young age of forty-nine. Why? God knows. The Lord did not take into account the benefit that would have ensued if he remained in this world; He decided to bring him near to Himself in order to deposit securely this extremely precious soul in the divine treasury of His Kingdom. As far as the benefit that Christians would have received, God as a Father arranged this in His own way. Saint Athanasius the Athonite of Great Lavra was killed by falling off a scaffold in the altar of the catholicon and thus departed from this world. This resembles the death of Father Ephraim. In ‘The Lives of the Desert Fathers’ there is a story of a certain hermit who lived in a cave. One day, this ascetic gave his disciple handicrafts and instructed him, "My child, go down to the city, sell these items, purchase what we need, and then come back." Like a good disciple, this monk made his way to the city where he stayed for a few days until he sold all their handicrafts. During his time there, he witnessed a funeral being conducted in grand fashion with the most extravagant means of that era. There was a splendid procession with carriages and horses; a large crowd gathered for the ceremony; it was a beautiful, sunny day. The monk assumed, “An important person must have passed away for such an impressive funeral to be taking place." He asked someone in the crowd and learned that the most infamous harlot in the city had died. This event came to an end, and a few days later when he had sold all his handicrafts, he departed to return to his elder. As he approached their cave, he heard noises from within—a lion was devouring his elder, this saintly, angelic ascetic! At that moment, the monk was shocked. He became confused and began to reason, "The harlot received such a glorious and honorable burial, whereas this holy man perished in such a violent way, devoured by a beast! Where is God's justice?" Mentally, he considered this as an unfair and undiscerning decision on God's part, so he decided to return to the world, since things were not as he had been taught. When he began to head back to the city, God looked favorably upon him, through the prayers of his elder. An angel appeared to him and asked, "Why have you drawn such an unmerited conclusion concerning God's judgment?" "How could I think otherwise, my angel, after witnessing such controversial deaths between my elder, who was a holy man, and the harlot?" "God's righteous judgment is different than the way things appear to be. The harlot had done some good things in life. And your elder, prior to becoming an ascetic, while he was still a layman, had committed certain sins. God gave the harlot what was rightfully owed to her for her good works; now He owes her nothing. Since her life was burdened by sin, it was necessary for Him to repay her fairly for her few good deeds; hence, she received a memorable funeral on a bright, sunny day. Your elder, on the other hand, paid off his debt for the sins he had committed in the world, and he departed according to God's righteous judgment completely immaculate and radiant, without a single blemish on the garment of his soul." As soon as the humble disciple heard from the angel how God had judged matters, he asked for forgiveness, blamed himself, and returned to his elder's cave where he continued his way of life. This is why we should never rashly pass judgment on the death or action of any person. God does not only work out the salvation of the deceased, but He also seeks to help the rest of us who are still alive by giving us the opportunity to correct ourselves. Each one of us must seriously consider and realize that all the things of this world are vanity, and that man's life is truly a dream. Since this life is a dream, we should make certain not to be disillusioned by it; instead, we should strive to correct and obey our conscience, so that we are prepared for physiological death whenever and however it arrives. Death is inherited by every person who lives on this planet. How the world fools us! It toys with everyone like a cat plays with mice. It teases us, it makes us imagine fictitious things, it deceives us, and at the time of death it reveals the truth to us. At that moment, every soul realizes that it has been tricked by the devil, the world, and the flesh. The world feeds our imagination with so many things, which it serves to us as appetizing bait, in order to hook us in with sin. The time of death is terrifying, as the hymnologist attests: "What a struggle the soul has as it departs from the body! How it laments and wails! It turns its eyes to the angels and beseeches them in vain. It stretches its hands toward its kin, but no one can help it." The soul, all alone, prepares to meet the Righteous Judge and give an account for its actions. It is overcome with immense fear and trembling at that moment. Now we are discussing these things, but we have not experienced them. The people who have departed and have suffered through this frightful hour are not present to reveal and describe it to us, even though it cannot be expressed with human words. We will all be subject to the mystery of death. It is up to us, it is within our power (through the help and compassion of God) to get ready to meet this moment with our soul prepared as much as possible, for this will ease the fear and trembling of death. According to the sacred hymns of the funeral service and the counsels of the holy Fathers, during this frightful moment the demons approach to threaten us and to instill terror and fear. They attempt to intimidate the soul, so that it loses hope in salvation. They present God as cruel and unforgiving. Only the demons themselves and the souls who have departed from this life are aware of what exactly they utter. Just seeing them makes the soul distraught—because how can it respond? What can it reply? Who will help it? How can its loved ones provide assistance? It is absorbed in thought as it loses touch with its surroundings. It receives consolation only when God's angels draw near. When our big brothers come to the aid of the soul, it turns its eyes and gazes intently at them, pleading for help: “Save me," it cries out. "Save me from the demons!" The angels, of course, with their presence provide consolation for the soul; however, the primary source of consolation and hope of liberation stems from God and the peaceful conscience. The conscience: it will play the most pivotal role. If the conscience does not incriminate the soul, it takes courage and hopes in the protection of God and His angels. However, the moment our conscience begins to condemn us, the taste of dreadful, eternal hell starts. May God be merciful on every human soul during that frightful moment! If the departing soul had committed deadly and grave sins, it will inevitably be snatched by the demons. It is questionable if it will be able to escape from them and begin its journey upward. In the case of a saved soul or a soul with a chance of being saved, the angels take the soul and lead it to the Righteous Judge. As it ascends, it passes through the various toll-houses, which represent each one of the deadly sins. It will be examined for every passion and weakness. If it is found guilty, it will stop at the corresponding toll-house. If, however, it bypasses all the toll-houses, it will worship Christ the Master. In following, according to the Orthodox tradition of our Church, it will travel with its guardian angel to the holy abodes of God's Kingdom. Then it will visit Hades, and, in turn, all the places it lived throughout the years of its earthly life. Finally, on the fortieth day it will conclude its journey and return before Christ to hear the decision. Imagine how the soul fears and trembles. It rejoices when it beholds the Kingdom of God, but it also wonders: "Will I achieve it? Will I actually come to dwell here? I don't know for sure." When it passes through Hell and witnesses the tortures it wonders, "What if I am sent here? Woe unto me! It's not going to last a few years. No! It will be forever." As it proceeds to visit all the places it lived, then it will see many things. The soul will be ashamed to look at the places where it sinned; conversely, it will rejoice wherever it accomplished virtue. By the end of this whole time, the soul will realize and understand to some extent whether God's decision will be positive or negative. All these constitute the great truth of our Orthodox Church. We have witnessed many deaths. We have indeed observed this mystery in people who departed from this life. They revealed to us through their behavior, their facial expressions, their eyes, their uneasiness or their serenity, what exactly transpires invisibly during the mystery of death. We are completely convinced that everything contained within the Holy Scriptures, our sacred tradition, and the ascetical tradition of our Church is true, and it cannot be otherwise. For this reason, we should—and I first—seriously take into account this reality and regulate our life accordingly. Let us correct our lives in order to avoid eternal Hell and instead acquire (through God's mercy and compassion) the Kingdom of Heaven. We must take a long, hard look at our salvation and realize that it is not a game; it is not something we can ignore, it is not a joke. We see this reality being confirmed by the people who have departed from this life. Where are our fathers who were with us just a short while ago? Where are the brothers who lived with us, and with whom we conversed? Now they are no longer amongst us. This will happen to us as well, we just don't know when. This is why we should reflect, "Where are they now? Were they saved or not? Soon, the people who stay behind in this life will think and wonder the same things about us." Let us stare at our salvation straight in the eyes, no matter how alarming and embarrassing it is. Let us correct our life. Let us thank God from the depth of our heart, and let us offer Him praise and doxology because we are still alive and we can amend the matters related to our soul and prepare ourselves. We do not know, as we see in practice, the day, the hour, or the moment of our departure from this world. Let us do our prayer rule. Let us not neglect our vigil. Let us not be sluggish when it comes to attending church and the Liturgy: Let us love one another, because love is God, and "he who remains in love, remains in God and God in him" (1 Jn. 4:16). Who loves God? He who keeps His commandments. The first and foremost commandment is to love God; the second, to love our neighbor and brother. When, however, we do not fulfill God's commandments, this is a clear indication that we do not love Him, and we have transgressed the first commandment. If we do not love our brothers, if we criticize them, if we slander them, if we accuse them, if we harbor ill feelings toward them, behold: we have transgressed God's second great commandment. “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer" (1 Jn. 3:15); "he is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going" (1 Jn. 2:11). We waste our time instead of using it to pray. Our precious time, this currency that God has given us, disappears. We do not use it to purchase valuable items that will be useful for the Kingdom of Heaven. The devil tricks and outwits us. We buy negligence, slothfulness, idle talk, criticism, scattering of the mind, and harmful thoughts. All this "merchandise" is accrued by misusing life's precious currency. Unfortunately, tomorrow we will find ourselves in the position that our brothers were in just a while ago, and we will ask ourselves, "What have I done! How was I fooled? How was I deceived? I didn't expect to die so suddenly!" Oh, really? You didn't know? You never heard that this is how people die? Of course you did! Can our conscience lie and fabricate something untrue? Not at all. It will loudly proclaim the truth. Woe unto me, because I do not practice what I preach. Let us condemn and humble ourselves before God. Let us humble ourselves before our Crucified Christ and beseech Him for forgiveness. Let us correct ourselves so that our petition for His Divine Blood to wash and cleanse us, and for His death to become life for us may be fulfilled. We must thank God from the depth of our heart for keeping us alive until now and granting us time to correct ourselves. Our brothers, on the other hand, who have departed from this life can no longer do anything for themselves. Now they are waiting for help from the Church, from their brothers, and from us. When our saint, my holy elder, was informed of the day he would leave this life, I asked him, "Geronda, what would you like us to do?" I was referring to forty-liturgies, memorial services, etc. This great and wise man of God replied, "Go ahead, do these for your own peace of mind. But woe unto me if I had to depend on these alms to be saved!" Think how meticulously he prepared himself so as not to count on the prayers of others to assist him in salvation. We of course—and I first—seek help because our conscience accuses us of not doing God's will. This is why we also fear death. Our conscience does not assure us. It remains deficient and is in need of reconciliation; whereas, the conscience of the great elder was in good order. He would reassure me, "My child, all I have to do is cross the bridge (he was referring to death). After that, my account with God is settled, through His grace. Everything has been arranged!" What a brilliant and confident conscience! This is why he would also exhort, "Fulfill your obligations." He would advise us to make peace with our conscience with respect to our obligations before the elder. May our good God enlighten each one of us and give us the strength (according to our position and responsibilities) to settle and arrange any outstanding debts. Let us exert ourselves; let us not be negligent. The present life is not a time for negligence and procrastination. We should struggle not only now that the death of our brothers is fresh in our minds; rather, we should preserve this feeling as we move forward in order to correct ourselves. No one is sinless except our Holy God. No holy person left the earth without some small sin; however, this did not impede their salvation and holiness. Incidental mistakes do not detract holiness from a person. This is why only God is sinless. The great Fathers advise us to commit as few sins as possible, insignificant sins that do not hinder our salvation. For when the scalepan is full of virtue, it will tip the scale, and these small sins will be tossed into the air. Let us struggle continuously, striving to maintain sincere, correct, and true obedience; not a feigned obedience that in reality conceals self-will, disobedience, and poison. We should not do your own will because one day we will regret it. As we know, God does not expect a disciple to err with sins common to laypeople. For a disciple, fornication and adultery are committed, essentially, when he errs in obedience. Disobedience is the "number-one" mistake; conversely, obedience is the principal means of salvation. A disciple with sincere obedience has secured his salvation and will enjoy its best portion. He is the most fortunate person on earth. He has the most promising hope and likelihood of entering into the Kingdom of God. On the other hand, we who are in charge and give orders, we who lift the burdens, mistakes, and sins of others, are at risk of losing our salvation. We are endangered not so much from our own sins—for there is hope that we will be saved through God's mercy—but rather from the sins of and the responsibility for others. This is the primary hazard for people in our position who are responsible for souls and who carry others on their shoulders. For the disciple, however, no such risk exists. With a very simple and uncomplicated life, by simply saying, "Forgive me," and "May it be blessed," the disciple enters into the Kingdom of God. May God, through His infinite mercy, permit all of us to be found together in the joy and bliss of His eternal Kingdom. Amen. - The Art of Salvation, Homily 31

[fredenglish]

Feature Friday: Edward Ball

Last week, I sat down with award-winning author Edward Ball, a writer and teacher of creative nonfiction, for a cup of coffee at our local Starbucks. Dressed neatly, with an air that conveys both experience and humility, Prof. Ball is a soft spoken man whose presence is more than enough to grab the attention of those around him. His works, including the famous memoir Slaves in the Family, have in no small part contributed to this presence, garnering him such prestigious accomplishments as teaching positions at Harvard and Yale and a spot on the Oprah Winfrey Show. I asked how he got started on the path that would lead to these accomplishments; very often, I thought, we forget that beneath all that baffling success, there is always a beginning, a single point of less-than-glamorous departure from academia to the professional field. 

“It happened kind of by accident,” Ball began. “I was in cinema studies, on a track to become a film scholar, and at age 25, I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to be a film scholar.’ So I moved to New York—without any resources—and tried to get a job in advertising. And I failed to get work; I was singularly unsuited for corporate culture. Then at about—it must have been November of 1988—a friend of mine who worked as an editor in a glossy magazine, which had the name of Connoisseur, said ‘well, I’ve got $250; I could pay you that for a 500-word art review.’ So I started to do that. And within five or six little tiny pieces, I got kind of hooked on this business of seeing my name in print and writing criticism. I was good at writing criticism. So that’s how it started.”

From there, our conversation turned to the ten years Edward had spent as an art critic, writing for outlets such as the New York Times and the Village Voice. I wasn’t surprised to hear that Edward’s road to becoming a well-known writer had been a difficult one; it seemed to me that the story of most artists was one of personal hardship and circumstantial opportunity. Yet how he transitioned from film scholar to art critic to author of historical nonfiction still struck me as odd; those were, we both agreed, very different careers, and I had to ask whether there was any particular inciting incident which inspired him. 

“It seems implausible, doesn’t it?” Ball said. “I was 33, living in Brooklyn, and I received an invitation to a family reunion in Charleston, South Carolina. My father’s family there was having a ‘once every decade’ reunion, and I knew from childhood that our family was an old slaveholding clan. So I went to Charleston to see old family connections, and during that time, we talked a lot about our ancestors, the white folks in the big houses. Yet we learned nothing about the thousands of black people our family had enslaved. I was dazed and confused about all of this. So I went back to New York, and decided this was a subject I wanted to investigate—the inheritance of slave-owning among my own people. And it was not going to be easy to do.” 

The nature of our conversation took a sombre tone then, as we discussed the legacy of slavery in the United States. Very rarely, I said, do white people acknowledge or discuss how very real and very recent slavery was in our history, and the very real connections it had to many of our own bloodlines. So very often, we like to brush the crimes of our ancestors under the rug, to pretend it either never happened, or happened so far in the past that it is useless to dwell on. Yet the effects of slavery impact the lives of countless African-American families across the nation to this day, in prejudice and discrimination which inflicts very real wounds on our society. 

“It’s kind of a symptom of our national memory,” Prof. Ball said at one point, “and the problem we have with remembering slavery—and reckoning with it.” Yet the book he produced did not shy away from the horrors of the past; instead, it sought to shed light on them, and provide a voice not for the perpetrators, but those most harmed by them. Slaves in the Family is an account told by the descendants of those enslaved by Ball’s ancestors, a vector for their story and their truth to break through the fog of our collective and willful forgetfulness. 

“I spent four years investigating the family history,” Ball said, “and locating black families whose ancestors we had once enslaved. It was very emotional, very draining—there was a lot of anger, a lot of sorrow, a lot of catharsis.” 

We discussed, then, the importance of the writer today in their role as a storyteller; the oldest role in the field of English, stretching back before it was consolidated into a strict discipline. We discussed the nature of the storyteller as a figure through whom others can find a voice to tell their story, whose presence allows for the walls of oppression to be slid aside, if just for a moment, allowing justice to slip through. In the past, I argued, it was for the sake of the dead that we told our stories; we told them to give our ancestors a voice, to give them back the lives they had lost. A storyteller was a way for the memory of those ancestors to live on, and in essence, this role has not changed. It is, perhaps, greater now than ever, in an era where crimes against humanity are not only more frequent, but so easily covered up from the public eyes. The storyteller—the novelist and the writer—has a very real power to ensure that these things are not forgotten, and that we are always reminded, for the sake of justice, of those who have been lost or wronged. 

Poetic musings aside, we both agreed that this societal importance is something that young writers should always remember when pursuing a degree or job in the field of language arts. They shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that it’s a field simply for professors; there’s a vast wealth of diversity in what one can do with the power of language, and just as many opportunities to fill those roles. Be it as a copy editor, or an office temp, or art critic, or film scholar, the world will always have need for people with a passion for writing. I asked Edward if he had advice, then, for people who might be inspired by that fact, advice for how they could truly step into the professional world with assurance. 

“Everyone has their own path,” Edward said. “One way to do it is to find a job in a corner of the media—a newspaper or a website—doing the entry-level stuff which needs to be done; which is copy-editing and proof-reading. With your other hours, start to work on your own stuff…. I think that’s a good model that can be adapted to find a means of support. Customarily in New York, there are thousands of workers who are also artists. You make enough money to pay for your four-bedroom share, and you work on your art with your other hand. It’s not easy—it can take years—but that’s the most trustworthy model, I think.”

Ultimately, Edward Ball’s story is one which deconstructs the myth of a linear path towards professional excellence. Very rarely does an artist find themselves on a one-track route towards greatness. Instead, like Ball, they must often take risks—if calculated risks—and find themselves in careers which they had not originally intended or foreseen. It is through these risks that one gathers experience, and finds the stable jobs which are needed to financially support them while they work on their own magnum opi, working, as all writers do, to fulfill the age-old duty of the storyteller and truth-seeker.

Written and edited by: Henry McClure