#Seek ye first

[momentsbeforemass]

Mine

Mine.

A simple, four-letter word. A basic concept.

And the most dangerous idea our species has ever come up with.

When I say “mine,” I mean all mine. Not just me first.

It’s not enough that I win. You have to lose.

Taken to its natural conclusion, that is where “mine” ends up.

If you’ve ever wondered what can destroy the strongest bonds of love and friendship, this is it.

If you’ve ever wondered what can separate us from God, what got us tossed out of the Garden, this is it.

“Mine” is the original sin.

We disguise “mine” in all kinds of ways. But whether we clothe in the language of success. Or power. Or influence. Or wealth. Or even fear. They’re all just different ways of saying “mine.”

In today’s Gospel, the questioners of Jesus may have dressed it up as a question about eternity. But Jesus sees it for what it really is. Just another way of saying “mine.”

It would be funny, if it wasn’t so sad. Because they’re saying “mine” about something that none of us can ever really say “mine” about. Eternity.

Not because eternity is beyond our control (although it is). But because eternity is the exact opposite of “mine.” As C.S. Lewis put it,

“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it.

Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body, in the end submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life.

Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours.

Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.

Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay.

But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

Today’s Readings

[brucedinsman]

Faith's Checkbook

#Outreach: That the world may know #Prayer Focus: Pray for Our Prodigals #Praise the Lord Please follow my blog  Guam Christian Blog Please follow my blog Guam Views Blog Podcast: https://anchor.fm/bruce-dinsman Bruce’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dinsman Featured book: https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Service-4-Bruce-Dinsman-ebook/dp/B07W64BCD1 Twitter: @bad671 Instagram:…

[babythegod]

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Sorry for not having a Year of the Dragon MDZS artwork; Unfortunately, I can only picture Dragon LWJ in this particular flavour.

[noblessyousforgiacomo]

Tumblr Hall of Fame post about how daddy issues make you a people pleaser but mommy issues make you a sociopath is so Dick Grayson and Jason Todd coded.

[puppetmaster13u]

Stephanie me thinks has a habit of hanging from the ceiling and twisting her head around with no care about how other people feel about it. A bit of an issue with the Justice League lol

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

As far as character progression goes, I'd argue that the most important aspect of the RLJ reveal isn't just Jon learning that he isn't Ned's son. The most important part is him learning that he isn't Ned Stark's bastard son. He's spent all his life chasing after Ned's shadow, trying to prove to himself and to the world that he is worthy of being Ned Stark's son, "let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons not three", “he was not a Stark but he could die like one” and all that. He's internalized the shame of being the one stain on honorable Ned Starks' reputation

“But it’s a lie,” Jon insisted. How could they think his father was a traitor, had they all gone mad? Lord Eddard Stark would never dishonor himself … would he? He fathered a bastard, a small voice whispered inside him. Where was the honor in that? And your mother, what of her? He will not even speak her name.

So it's important for him to finally stop chasing after that elusive shadow. It's important for him to understand that Ned's dishonor was a deliberate choice that he made by himself, and it's thus no fault of his own. Once Jon internalizes that, then he can finally move on and ask himself, who am I? What do I want for myself? What can I be in this world, just as I am? So far, he's been unable to do that successfully because he still has an incomplete (and false) understanding of who he is.

[la-pheacienne]

Some People : Ohhh Daenerys will be S O mad when she finally meets Jaime she will want to burn him alive for treason

What Daenerys will actually do : stare at Jaime for a long while in sheer amazement and then just say "tell me about T H E M".

[rubywolf0201]

How Mahoro was initially presented in early promo materials and the first episode OP & ED

When Mahoro was first revealed, she was presented as this cute and peppy love interest character that you typically see in shoujo manga. And when I first look at her, I immediately thought she is kind of an odd duck due to the delinquent-like setting BUCCHIGIRI?! is.

The promo teaser even showed a split second shot of her just being the cute character who would give the main characters some motivation (well just Arajin lol). This of course made me fear that she would be a plot device that would cause a shitty ass love triangle.

OP and ED gets a bit weird in this. When she is presented in the OP, all of the guys (sans Kenichiro and Marito) are immediately taken aback by her. In the ED, all of the main guys are dancing with her, have few shots of them getting ship teased with her and when she did the heart hands thing, all of them are immediately charmed by her.

(Wish I could include all guys being heart handed by Mahoro but I want to put in more photos)

But in the main series? Nope. None of the guys except for Arajin (obviously) really like her or are close to her. And that’s because underneath her cute appearance, lies a selfish and toxic girl who only wants her brother’s attention only. And by doing so, she ‘dates’ guys in hopes that they become the new leader of Siguma and have Marito step down so that she can have him all for herself.

The Siguma members relationship with Mahoro:

- Outa is seen being exasperated by her fangirling antics in the first episode.

- One of the mooks commented that Mahoro dated guys 24 times all so that they can be beaten up by Marito, satisfying her brocon fantasies (which in truth they’re ’tests’ to see if they can beat her brother or not)

- Hagure is shown to be intimidated by her and kept running in circles while being behind Jabashiri’s back in the second episode.

- Jabashiri hardly noticed, much less pay attention to Mahoro.

- Marito is the exception since he is the older brother but even he has limits if the face he made in the second ep is of any indication.

This even applies to Minato Kai as well:

- Kenichiro, Kamao and Zabu doesn’t know her yet but in the case of the latter two, they probably know her in passing but otherwise they hardly paid attention to Mahoro.

- Matakara does but he dislikes the way she is manipulating Arajin for personally selfish reasons. When he tried to confront her, she straight up ignored him. When he did it again but with force, she screeched like a siren and ran off.

But with all that said, let’s take a glimpse of Mahoro’s character:

- Presents herself as a shojo manga-esque character.

- But in actuality, she’s a massively unhinged brocon.

- toxic and manipulative. All it takes is using a hand heart sign and guys would immediately be ‘motivated’ by her.

- Is known to go out with guys but has never really shown any care about their personal lives (if her actions in 1st and 3rd episode are of any indication)

- morally selfish but not downright evil. Just selfish.

- can fight back if she wants to.

- doesn’t care about anyone other than her brother.

- hates being touched by other random guys who tried to question her.

- ignores people who tried to confront her about her motives.

I know that I’ve made quite a few posts about Mahoro but she strikes me as an interesting character despite her actions in today’s episode but at the same time, I do hope that she at least have character development along the way, have a backstory that explains why she is the secretly toxic and selfish brocon that she is today and last but not least not thrown or sidelined into a unconventional damsel in distress.

Anyways, peace! ✌🏻

[majorproblems77]

Taken by nightmares

TW - nightmares, Cia being creepy, warriors gets bullied by his own brain 101, warriors get his soul stolen (in the dream F), Sky gets a little present, but its not pleasant, blood

Running running running

He was running out of time

Time ticked forward. The flames rose higher. The pain in his soul turned sickly.

"LINK!"

Turning around he found a monstrous beast.

Ganondorf.

The glow of the stolen fragments of the triforce shone from his head as the beast stomped forward. But he felt frozen in place.

Impa lay still on the ground nearby. He was too late to save her.

He raised the master sword in front of him, her glow reflecting in the beast's eyes. A final light in the darkness that was consuming the world around them as it fell away in pieces. The screams of his fellow soldiers echoed through the abyss as the wind picked up into a torrent of pain and destruction.

"You have failed."

A sickening voice echoed from behind him. Female....

Cia...

Unable to move he found hands tracing up his arms as nails dug into his flesh. slow steady footsteps filled his ears as she came into view. Her eyes glowed crimson as she tilted her head and smiled.

"You caused this pain." she smiled. Plaicing a hand to his chin as she drew herself into his face. He could feel the blood rushing to his ears. "You should have given yourself to me. It would have made this so much easier..."

He couldn't speak. He couldn't get away.

Trapped.

Alone.

"My chosen one, my perfect soul. Give yourself to me."

He struggled, he cried, but no noise came out.

Let me go! Let me go!

"Your gods can't hear you now..." She giggled, as she took a step back from him, "By my guiding hand, you are mine to the end!" Turning to him she raised her staff, a dark red mist emanating from its gemstone. Stretching across from her and ensnaring him in its grip.

Gold light begain to stretch across his body, "I will manipulate you into my image. And together my hero we shall rule this world."

Nonononononononononono

Let him go!

"..nk"

He could feel his very essence being drawn from him as the darkness began to seep into his bones.

"....ink..."

Just another sacrifice for her war.

Just another one converted to her perfected image...

"LINK!"

Bolting upright the first thing he did was grab the thing in front of him. Turning it around as a scream of pain left it. Green and red filled his vision as gold joined it.

"Link it's okay!"

"NO! NO I WONT BE A PUPPET! I WON'T BE PART OF YOUR PERFECT IMAGE!" He gripped tighter. forcing the object into the green fabric. Another sound reached his ears. Another yell. More pain more suffering.

"Sky can you get free?"

Sky?

"No."

Sky? Sky... Sky...

The next thing he registered was a knife in his hands. A blade pressed against skin. Panicked voices.

"Step back. You're scaring him." A calm voice, unwavering and unafraid.

Who were they ? They wanted to kill him. They were going to kill him or take him to Cia or or or...

"Link. It's okay. The threat has passed." He pushed the steel against the man's neck. "Put the knife down. No one is going to hurt you."

Dusty blond hair filled his vision. As he registered the wrist in his hand roll slightly.

"Who do you work for?" His voice was low, and the knife pressed tightly against his neck. "You have five seconds."

"I work for Hylia. My name is Link. Like yours. I'm a hero from an age before yours." The man spoke plainly and slowly.

Other Links? Other Links...

the chain...

He moved the knife away slowly but The man did not relax. "Put the knife down, captain. It's okay..."

"Its okay... ITs okay.... Its okay..." Slowly repeating it to himself he moved the blade ever so slowly away from his neck. Watching for sudden movements.

The shift of grass from a boot...

On instinct, he turned the blade and stabbed quickly. Finding his blade stopped short of the man's neck by his own arm. Which was now dripping crimson red blood.

Pushing the man to the ground he jumped on top of him, removing the blade from his arm and trying to space it into the neck where it would be safest.

If they can't talk they can't tell. If they can't tell they can't find you.

The man below him pushed away at his arms, pain ghosted his features as he found leverage and twisted his body sending him to the ground. The man above him pinned him down, his arms placed above his head as he felt something heavy collapse across his legs.

"Warriors! It's me! Sky!" The piercing blue eyes looked down at him.

Sky... Sky....

Sky!

He let out a gasp before looking towards the skyloftian again. "Sky?"

"Yep. Thats me. You back?"

Everything came rushing back to him. He'd attacked Sky. He'd almost killed him.

Dear hylia....

"Sky?"

"You had a bad dream, that knocked your senses for a bit." The skyloftian smiled. and offered him a hand.

He offered him a hand?!

His eyes fixed to the skyloftians bracer where blood pooled around some damage. He didn't say anymore. Turning away. "I'm sorry..."

He felt a pat on his shoulder. "I'm okay." You could hear the grimace in his voice. Trying to hide the pain. "Get some rest, we can talk in the morning."

Why would he want to talk to him in the morning?

"I almost killed you!" He spoke to the air. His voice filled with shock as a hand raised to his lips.

"You were taken by a nightmare. That is not your doing." Sky's voice was unwavering and calm.

How could he be so calm at a time like this?

"I...." He tried again.

"No. Get some rest. We will talk in the morning."

Curling up on his side he spoke no more, but he would not sleep either. The threat of nightmares returning too close for comfort.

[momentsbeforemass]

First

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

That is harsh. Even for Jesus. Who is not exactly known for avoiding difficult things.

But that’s how today’s Gospel starts. So why would Jesus say that?

First, this isn’t about shock value. This – and the rest of the teaching that follows it – is Jesus unpacking something He said earlier,

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”

This is what Jesus is following up on. Because when we hear, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” what you and I are thinking is, “Okay, this is important.”

So we add it into the mix. Think about it, maybe. And keep doing what we’re doing.

It’s like Jesus knows us (which He does). Which is what today’s Gospel is about.

Jesus is saying to us, “There’s more to ‘seek ye first.’ You’re missing out. First means first. Before anything else. Even before what you think are the most important things in life.”

Truth be told, those things that we think of as the most important things in life? Our relationships with those closest to us?

It’s not that they’re not important. They most certainly are.

It’s just that the road to get there isn’t direct. There’s someplace we need to go first. Because we don’t have everything we need. Not on our own.

If you want to have the insight you need to truly hear to someone, you’re going to need something more.

If you want to have the patience you need to truly help someone, you’re going to need something more.

If you want to have the strength you need to truly love someone, you’re going to need something more.

And that something more, is being grounded in God. Rest wholeheartedly in God. Depend fully on God’s grace. Be filled with God’s peace.

Which is the only way that you and I can have everything we need, so that those relationships can be all that they were meant to be.

“All these things will be added unto you.” Especially the most important things.

That is the secret, the “why” behind “seek ye first.”

Today’s Readings

[brucedinsman]

Music Mix: Seek Ye First Maranatha Singers

Seek Ye First Maranatha #GIVETHANKS GiveThemJesus #Outreach: That the world may know #Prayer Focus: Pray for Our Prodigals #Praise the Lord Please follow my blog  Guam Christian Blog Please follow my blog   Guam Views Blog Podcast: https://anchor.fm/bruce-dinsman Bruce’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dinsman Featured book:…

[fulgurbugs]

what do you think is the worst octopath take you’ve ever seen

ok i’ve seen a lot on reddit. because sadly i do crosspost there… so i can’t remember everything but one from recent memory that i remember clowning on with my friend is someone on reddit saying that alfyn and tressa wouldn’t like each other. literally why the fuck would they dislike each other they’re actually best friends forever

[fragmentedblade]

Goodness, apparently Argenti's One and Only is named in Chinese after Rocinante, which is so fitting for him, especially with Himeko's words about him in mind

[socialtomcat]

i know that it is not the widely accepted headcanon but i must say janice and josh siblingism is incredibly fun to knock around my noodle

[theflyingfeeling]

yes it's just me whining about the same thing for the billionth time, pls just scroll past nothing new to see here 👋