#Rejoice always

[4him-iwrite]

[thelordismylightandmysalvation]

Verse of the Day - 1 Thessalonians 5:16

[aspirant1598]

[momentsbeforemass]

Rejoice always?

“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”

Rejoice always? Always always? No matter what’s happening?

Yes.

No matter how bad it gets?

Yes.

That makes no sense at all. And the context doesn’t help.

Paul is writing this to a church that’s being persecuted. How are you supposed to rejoice when you’re being persecuted?

First, Paul isn’t telling them to ignore the hard stuff in life. Or to pretend like they’re not being persecuted.

It’s almost like rejoicing is a separate thing from everything they’re dealing with. Because it is.

How is that even possible?

It all depends on why you and I are rejoicing, on the source of our happiness.

If our happiness is a reaction, a response that depends on something or someone else, then (as much as we might not want to think about it) we know that it’s not going to last.

This is the truth behind C.S. Lewis’ much-quoted line, “Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose.”

That is, do not let your happiness be a reaction. Let your happiness be a choice.

I know people who say they have resting b*tch face. Regardless of how they really feel, that’s just what they look like when they’re not really doing or saying anything. That’s just what happens. That’s their default.

The thing about defaults is that they don’t have to just happen. You can choose your default. If you want to.

Choose happiness as your default. Choose to “rejoice always.”

Not by ignoring what’s going on in your life. Or how hard it is.

But also – by not going with whatever just happens. By being intentional. By choosing how you are going to feel while you’re dealing with it.

And the only way to do that is to do it with God.

Which is the point of the rest of it – “Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”

That the only way to do it, the only way to rejoice always, is to do it with God.

By drawing close to God in prayer. Not just formal prayers or prayers in church, but a simple, ongoing, often jumbled, conversation with God.

Sharing everything with God. Including frustration and anger, even if it’s with God.

Pouring out your heart to the One who has always loved you. And who will always love you.

And by giving thanks. Even if the only thing left to give thanks for is that God is with you right there in the middle of it.

If you do, if you’ve got the courage to do it, don’t be surprised by what happens in your heart.

No matter what’s happening in your life.

(I know these are last Sunday’s readings, but this one really stayed with me.)

Sunday’s Readings

[dkcdude]

Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks

Introduction Life presents us with a series of highs and lows, victories and struggles. It’s easy to find joy when things are going well, but what about when they aren’t? How do we maintain a heart of gratitude when life feels like it’s falling apart? How do we—or do we—help each other navigate life’s valleys and peaks? These questions often challenge us, but in his first letter to the church at…

[beblessedbybella]

"ALWAYS Give Thanks In All Circumstances"

In every situation [irregardless of how difficult the circumstance(s) may be], be thankful continuously and give thanks to God, for this is the will of God for you.❤️

[entrepreneurdrjlifestyleadvocate]

[dwuerch-blog]

Let the Joy Bells Ring

Today is the third Sunday of Advent and we should be singing “Go Tell It on the Mountain”! Well, not necessarily from a mountain. That would mean we’d have to go climbing! Perhaps we can start right here at ground zero to be joy-filled and full of the good news of Christ’s coming to this earth for you and me. The pink, third candle on the Advent wreath is lit today. The pink candle symbolizes…

[plutonicbees]

for never was a story of more woe 🪽💘🪽

[naomistares]

short comic about a queen's peculiar tower activities

(this is kind of unrelated to the rejoice mini comicverse i just wrote this dumb thing in 10 minutes cause i wanted to try horizontal comics pages 😭)

[zuzu-draws]

So after the spoilers for Chap 257 dropped, I saw some tweets clarifying the meaning of the Kanji Sukuna used in the chapter when referring to his mother, and the overall reveals in the chapter got me thinking.

I’m making this post as a way of gathering my thoughts, personal speculations and where I think all of this connects to Sukuna’s character and the information Gege has given us over the years. Nothing I say is by any means new information, but like I said, I’m just collecting my thoughts here. By the way, just a warning, this post contains SPOILERS for the JJK Manga! If you don’t like that, please don’t read this!

Something I’ve noticed is that the theme of “Hunger” and symbolism of “Cooking/Food” is heavily referenced with Sukuna throughout the Manga. Gege in a previous Fanbook has disclosed Sukuna’s favorite Hobby to be “Eating”.

This theme is again very much ingrained within Sukuna’s cursed techniques and even his Domain Expansion, the “Malevolent Shrine”. With his two main techniques being “Dismantle” and “Cleave” are cutting-type attacks. He is also able to use a Flame-Arrow, and Fire is essential for making Food. The Shrine in his Domain Expansion literally has mouths on all sides, looking eager to chew down anything in-front of them!

This symbolism also heavily influences Sukuna’s own manner of speech, and the way he speaks to other characters in the series as well. With his post-fight chat with Jogo before his death, Sukuna mentions Jogo lacking the “Hunger” to take control of his desires, preventing him from reaching the heights of Gojo Satoru. Before the Start of their fight in Shinjuku, Sukuna called Gojo a “Nameless Fish on top of his cutting board”, and that he was going to start by “Peeling off the scales”(refering to Gojo’s infinity). There’s also further symbolism that supports this by analyzing the Kanji and meaning of Sukuna’s “Malevolent Shrine” but I’m not very educated on that so I won’t be opening that point here.

What all of this points to is that Eating and Food……is extremely important to Sukuna, to the point that it literally affects him in manners innumerable.

Eating is an instinct, a necessity for the survival of every single living being.

And In the face of extreme Hunger and starvation, even those with the strongest will could lose their Humanity and revert to the basic animalistic side of their existence. (The Heian Period also had a Famine, although I believe the timing to be a bit off, but do with this info as you see fit)

In JJK Chapter 257, it is revealed to us that Sukuna and his Twin were most likely starving in the womb of their starving mother.

On the brink of starvation, Sukuna had to consume his “other self”(his twin), so that he could survive.

Btw, this tweet and this thread gives additional characterisation to Sukuna:

Link to the original thread: Link.

More context (and reactions :P):

Link to original thread: Here

This reveals to us that indeed, Sukuna was born a twin. And as we all know, “Twins” are seen with extreme scrutiny in Jujutsu Society, they’re not well liked. This too in a period where Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcery was at its peak, it is not far-fetched to assume that his Mother may not have been treated very well by the people in her surroundings, especially as she bore twins.

When Kashimo asks if Sukuna was born the Strongest or if he made himself the Strongest, this is the response Sukuna gave to him:

When you think about it, how do you think the people around them would have reacted when the woman: who was supposed to birth two twins, gave birth to a single child instead? and that child had consumed his other twin in the womb itself?

No doubt people would’ve been horrified, disgusted and even revulsed. With the woman and her newborn child.

This would’ve led to their further ostracisation in the already very close-minded society. Unable to fend for herself and her newborn child, it must’ve been difficult for Sukuna’s mother to survive. I feel like somewhere along the line, Sukuna was left alone to fend for himself at an extremely young age. To protect himself from both Curses and Society alike.

This is why I believe Sukuna knows what true starvation, weakness and hunger feels like. Both in the emotional and literal sense. He was left without another person caring about him or his well-being, in a cut-throat period where it was “Fight or be killed”.

Powerful curses roamed all across Japan, nowhere was safe. Simply be strong, or you'll die. There's no room for weakness. And initially, a kid!Sukuna was weak, as anyone would be in the beginning when they're just starting out in this world. (and maybe, he didn't have much to eat, leading to long periods of starvation? :') )

I believe it is this debilitating hunger, and feeling of weakness that eventually led to Sukuna’s current Hedonistic mindset.

He’s essentially traumatised by it, and believes that it was his own weakness that led him to experience this sheer starvation. That he deserved to feel this way because he was weak then. Perhaps, the people around him were right, that as long as they have the power and strength to overcome anything, they’re free to do as they please; And there is nothing anyone else could do about it.

I feel like the irony here is that Sukuna himself, must’ve been a “weakling” before eventually rising the ranks to become History’s Strongest Sorcerer. This is also why he values Strength so much.

Ultimately, Sukuna has decided that there was nothing more important than being strong enough to fulfill your own desires. And “eating” is one of his most important desires. It’s his favourite thing to do, the one he derives the most pleasure out of. And like an animal, whose main focus is to consume, consume and consume. He too, simply consumes.

Most morals likely have no meaning to him. He doesn’t care who he hurts, what he does, as long as he’s able to get what he wants. And this isn’t limited to eating.

This is why people referring to Sukuna as a “Natural Disaster” is so befitting of him. Because Natural Disasters also don’t care about what or who they’re destroying, they just come and go, wreaking havoc appropriate for their nature and magnitude.

I believe Sukuna himself has said lines similar in nature, when talking to Kashimo:

Now I’m not sure how Sukuna perceives or even experiences this “Love”, because I think he has a rather very warped idea of it. I do think that this definition of love is similar to the one that Gojo also understands, but I don’t think he knows what “love” truly is. I’m not sure how I could comment on this, but I do think that Sukuna’s emotionally starved, whether he realises that or not.

Because, like Kashimo himself asked Sukuna “What is the point of dividing your soul into 20 different parts and then traversing across time if you’re satisfied with this?” we do not know the answer to that yet.

But many people have speculated that “Black Box” panels in JJK manga represent a curse (either self-inflicted or put by someone) on the speaker. Like, take a look over here where Sukuna reiterates the same dialogue, except it looks like he’s trying to reassure himself:

This once again shows that Sukuna has only ever strived for himself, in the same hedonistic fashion, to a very very extreme degree. It is possible that he's been lacking something, and he himself does not realise that he’s lacking it. Maybe it was this subconscious feeling, that led to Sukuna agreeing to Kenjaku’s plan of dividing his soul into 20 different parts, and to traverse across time as a Cursed Object.

Sukuna’s an incredibly complex character, and I’m excited to see where this goes. Gege has put extra care in the way he characterizes and depicts Sukuna, and again, I’m really sad that a lot of that characterization gets lost in translation. Still, I’m going to try my best to understand and get the most accurate feel of his character as I possibly can.

If you made it this far, Thank you for reading! And if you would like, please do leave a comment in the tags or replies because I would love to read what other people think of this and just Sukuna in general. I do not see a lot of people doing critical analysis of him, and a lot of his actions are seemingly swept under the rug. I don’t like that, so hopefully this contributes to people focusing more on Sukuna and his character. (/^v^)/ <3

[royalnavyart]

I am afflicted.

God’s doing?

… Yours.

❣️prints❣️

[eatdirtforfun]

Something really funny about getting gender euphoria from just being some fucking guy

[aspirant1598]

[kyouka-supremacy]

I remember writing literal essays on how lukewarm at best and arguably indifferent Atsushi's reaction to Akutagawa's death was for how it was shown to us, and now we got an equally lukewarm and indifferent Akutagawa reaction upon seeing Atsushi dying, which is kinda funny.

[planetyard-art]

Tyo wake up!! It’s December 13!!!! Artyom????

Gift for @lucaninae