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cursecuelebre · 4 months ago

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Ancestral Veneration and Why it’s Important

This is going to be a post about a topic that people seem to forget or deem unimportant even fearful about with either good reasons or just never thought about it. I just wanted to mention YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORK WITH ANCESTORS IN YOUR PRACTICE this blog is mostly for those who are interested in it and not sure what ancestral veneration is.

I’m a pagan and a witch that practices Ancestral veneration in my practice, not around it but it’s definitely a big part of why I practice certain paths. I’ll go in beginner tips, what to expect and the myths, the offerings and the recommendations. But let me go a bit into the importance of Ancestral Veneration and worship in human history since it’s still prevalent today.

Historical importance of Ancestral Worship

Ancestral worship and veneration has been at least one of the oldest religions that humans have ever believed in. Archaeological evidence shows the early humans taking care of their dead and burying them for respect and dignity maybe even courtesy to the deceased. It became sacred to them, imagine back then without fully understanding about the world someone that you spoke and saw now gone, it’s a profound moment one’s life that they must believe that their spirit lives on and they themselves wanted a peaceful resting place. It’s a cycle, many cultures and religions believe that life is a cycle, death is never the “end” rather an end of a journey to a new part of one’s life.

To this day people honor their deceased loved ones, visiting their graves, offering them gifts at their resting places, speaking to them, having their picture on a table surrounded by their favorite flowers, etc. Honoring the dead and respecting the dead is a very revered part of human life and something that we all would like to expect when we’re gone from our living family. Spirits also related or not, the dead as well should be treated with outmost respect and dignity like our ancestors did.

Some cultures like the Romans believed that if the spirits especially ancestral spirits (Lares) weren’t appeased they become angry if worshipped improperly or their will have not be been fulfilled. In Ancient Greek tradition they would place a coin in the mouth for the deceased to make sure their spirits would go into the afterlife safely and less traumatic. Each culture and society had a different way of how the ancestors would live in the afterlife.

Even in the Christian Bible shows the significance of ancestors, there is a reason why genealogies are included in the Bible. How Jewish people revere Abraham as their founding father since he is the first Hebrew patriarch which is very important to them and their religion. How even Jesus is related to David on both sides. Even immediate family is important like Jesus’s mother Holy Mary. In Norse Paganism it’s said that the kings were descend from gods like the Swedish Royal family related to Freyr. In Shintoism it is said that the First Emperor of Japan is related to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. Japan and other many East Asian countries have a strong relationship and traditions regrading Ancestors.

Why Ancestral Veneration?

Ancestral Veneration is generally taken outside of paganism and witchcraft a very sacred thing for families, they can heal, they can come together, grieve together, reminisce together especially if they knew that person in life. But also asking the deceased loved ones for guidance and protection, to help their family in life whom they love the most. Plus this can help especially if you are into past life regression, we reincarnated with our ancestors many times and they have been able to see us in their time and now. It can be really insightful to understand of who we were in those lives.

Whatever legacy they left behind that you admired from them is continued for generations to come as well as heirlooms, a mother passing down her sentimental items to daughters or their children alike it’s a remembrance of what they were known by as well.

“Cows die, family die, you will die the same way . I know only one thing that never dies: the reputation of the one who’s died.” Havamal, Stanza 77.

If you’re going into paganism or witchcraft or both that are related to your ancestry. Your ancestors are the best teachers and mentors especially if they also have been in these specific practices and traditions. If you want to learn Seidr for instance a magical practice rooted within Scandinavian traditions and you have said Scandinavian roots you can contact a ancestor that practiced it in life and willing to help and teach you. What’s unfortunate about ancestral veneration looking down upon for many centuries making people turn away and against the practice is that it’s said that spirits can become lost if they aren’t being honored or remembered that makes them fade and lost.

Five Myths about Ancestral Veneration and what to expect. This is not going to be sugarcoated, I’m being honest and this what I’ve experienced in my own practice and how many others have experienced as well. I would add on if I forgot anything but these are most common misconceptions I have heard. The red are the myths if you are wondering.

Myth #1: All ancestors on the other side have my best interest and support all what I’m doing This is a common misbelief, now there is ancestors that will support you no matter what and your actions. But if you’re a pagan and a witch there is going to be Christian ancestors who won’t support you at all. Their human spirits with still human functions and beliefs. Not to say you can’t communicate but set your intentions and boundaries before meeting them, some will tolerate and some will make their opinions and beliefs known possibly even try to convince you. I know it sounds like fear mongering but it’s to what you would expect. This doesn’t mean you cannot make contact or venerate them because of it. It’s a choice that is a two way street, even spirits in the other side have freewill just like we do.

Myth #2: All Ancestors are well in spirit No, not exactly, when humans on earth do horrible things or experience horrible things it will take affect in the spirit world no matter what. Keep in mind time works very differently in the other world that it will take centuries for those who are healing to fully recover and those to actually realize their problems, messed up life on earth if they choose to recognize it. Again as I said just humans in the physical world human spirits also have free will and choices.

Myth #3: Only Human spirits are ancestors Nope commonly yes when we think of Ancestors we think of human beings that lived either with us or before us. But this isn’t the case, pets for instance that became our beloved family members and part of our inner circle are our ancestors. My cat that recently passed I had him since I was nine years old, I always thought and treated him like family because of that he merged into my family circle. Also animals can symbols of family, like a bear, an owl, an elephant, etc. that they can be represented as your ancestors as a whole.

Myth #4 : Ancestors are limited to just blood family Also a misconception, close friends and even adopted family members are considered to be close family. Some people won’t have blood relatives in life and find their found family which is just as valid and meaningful like a blood family is. This also goes to if you’re a person that likes to write you might venerate your favorite author, if you like to draw or paint you can venerate an artist that you admired a lot. Your family might have patron saints, deities, or local heroes and spirits that have been part of your family for generations. That’s why it’s nice to know where your family originated from what country, village, city, etc.

Myth #5: No Ancestors of mine did anything wrong Everyone’s ancestors did something horribly wrong in their lifetime, some were messed up people. But there are good ones that aren’t like that anymore, if you want to venerate them that’s up to you and your practice. I personally don’t do it because especially if they did something wrong and have no remorse for it I ain’t venerating none of them.

There is no reason to be afraid.

I know I seemed to be fear mongering in the previous part that’s because I don’t want to sugarcoated of which is most likely to be expected.

The Bottom line when contacting (if you want to have contact with them) and venerating your ancestors is that their no different from a human person in this physical realm. They will have personalities, likes, dislikes, opinions, beliefs like any other human being BUT from my experience a lot of my ancestors are very wise, humorous, kind, and non-judgmental. My advice if you really want to contact someone who is going to be supportive and helpful in your paganism and witchcraft, ask specifically for that person I usually ask for ancient ancestors pre Christian wise but there many folk witches and pagan ancestors that are more modern and recent that can most definitely help you! Speak to them like any other human interaction would be as if you’re talking to a living friend, family member or complete stranger you’re meeting for the first time.

How to Communicate with your ancestors

I have mention “contacting” your ancestors you can speak with them it’s not impossible.

1. Meditation and dream work: Most common and effective way to really get them to communicate you and send signs is through dreams. Meditation for a clear and close connection with them.

2. Tarot: Very common and just as effective, my most recommended first step when communicating with your ancestors. Using a tarot deck can help with putting your foot through the door. There is a great book which will recommend at the of the blog that does ancestral and tarot together.

3. Pendulum and a spirit board: This is more in depth but it has been very effective for me and many others to really connect and communicate with my ancestors. It’s good to state your intentions and boundaries before doing any of said above, but this is where you really need to set it. Before starting grab the pendulum over the board don’t let it swing and say, “I ask of the good and supporting ancestors that have me in good intent and support of my path and practice, I would like to meet you”. Of course you get specific like “I would like to meet an ancient Roman ancestor” that’s just an example of how it would go safely and respectfully.

4. Just talking to them. Yep sounds easy enough, you would just get something that represents ancestors or even a specific ancestor. For instance your grandmother’s rosary and just talk to them or pray to them. It’s a very simple and comforting way to bond with your family.

Offerings

This is going to be a “it depends on the ancestors” but there has been a universal notion of what ancestors do really like. From items, food, drink, etc.

Rosaries for catholic ancestors or the cross for Christian ancestors generally speaking

Pagan symbols for your pagan ancestors

Statues of ancestral gods or saints or other important entities

Sweets: Cookies and cakes are very popular

Alcohol: my Germanic ancestors love it when I offer beer, mead, ale. But also wine and other alcoholic beverages for others.

Regular libations like water, coffee, tea. juice, etc. good substitute if you cannot use alcohol.

Their meals from their home country, my Italian ancestors, recent and ancient love it when I make them pasta.

Incense some cultures call it the food for spirits

Heirlooms

Family photographs

Candles

Coins

Book of the dead, if you meet an ancestor you can record them down into a book that is solely for your family and to be passed down on and on. It’s a memorial service to them that someone knows their name and who they were.

Specific traditions that your ancestors came from for instance libations of wine for your Greek ancestors.

Good ancestral veneration books that personally helped me a lot and I know a lot of others to get started.

Ancestral Tarot by Nancy Hendrickson she helps how to contact and connect with your ancestors and ancestry using tarot

Ancestral Grimoire by Nancy Hendrickson like Ancestral Tarot she goes how to connect with your ancestors but this time how to really work with them. One of the exercises is to work with an ancestor for a month and a different for the next one.

Honoring your Ancestors by Mallorie Vaudoise she gives good information on different ways to connect with your ancestors, the different types of ancestors, she does have a Southern European and Catholic folk magic take to it which is fine but it’s not the sole focus of it but she does put good information in the book to help someone get started.

Badass Ancestors by Patti Wigington also good beginners guide to ancestral veneration and how to connect through meditations and develop relationships with them even how to deal with problematic ancestors. She goes into how to research your genealogy and useful tips!

#paganism #hellenic polytheism #witchcraft #hellenic community #norse paganism #celtic paganism #kemetism #ancestral worship #ancestry #ancestral veneration #paganblr

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sgiandubh · 2 years ago

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Waypoints, Take 2: POV Shipper

It's been touted and mentioned at length. It has been awaited with immoderate, naïve anticipation. It has been read highlighter in hand, in the hope to discern its true meaning and purpose. It also was the last straw for some people, pushing them out of the fandom when above anticipation and expectations proved somewhat hollow.

To the dismayed and the heartbroken, I say: I hope you do realize this is a) heavily edited and b) published with the substantial contribution of a ghostwriter, handsomely paid to neatly round off the edges and fit this travelogue-cum-memoir in a pre-shaped pitch.

This bloke:

The dilligent Matt Whyman, novelist. Agony uncle for several UK press and online outlets, specialized in teenage love and relationships' counselling. British Council executive, with several stints abroad under his belt. Part and parcel of a number of public health awareness campaigns sponsored by the UK Government, with a special interest for above teenage love, sexuality and relationships. And established, top-tier ghostwriter.

Among others, on behalf of Billy Connoly, the "Big Yin" himself, proof that the Scottish mafia is discreet, but by no means inexistent (an excellent thing). Ah, Sir Billy Connoly and his New-Zealander wife, Lady Pamela Stephenson, whom he met in 1979, while filming together a sketch for BBC2's Not the Nine O'Clock News. Chemistry took care of itself, because she ditched her recently married husband and moved in with Connoly in 1981. Both (at least nominally: Connoly considers himself an atheist, nowadays) Roman-Catholic and married at the time of getting together, Stephenson divorced in 1984 and Connoly in 1985 from their respective partners and live in marital bliss since 1989. For some reason, I think these tidbits are important, go figure.

Sidenote: if you haven't already, watch (if still available on Netflix, otherwise I implore you to look for it on other platforms) an exceptional French series, Call My Agent. You will not only love the humor, you will educate yourself with the basic ropes of celeb PR.

At face value, I couldn't think of a more appropriate consigliere to deal with the brief that (spare the failed Everest movie project) prompted this book. It is not that difficult to figure out:

Evoke at length the past to offer a modicum of explanation of the present. Mention traumatic relationship with father to explain fear of commitment in a solid, steady relationship.

In the process, pay lip service to the Narrative, but take substantial liberty and a daring stand when discussing the horrific Wentworth episode-that-nobody-could-watch. Express controlled discontent towards TPTB, to have the upper hand while negotiating a possible season 8 (fun fact, it worked)

Conveniently send into oblivion Flukenzie Floozy, Quarantein Hooter's Madonna and any other two letter combo born from the hyperactive imagination of the Queen of Nothing, while respecting ToS of bachelorhood - it's still good for the Sales Department.

Camouflage reality of S&C entity, under a London Blitz-worthy blanket of smoke & mirrors, but allow leaks that could easily pass for creative license or babble. Shippers will get it. Dots will connect, coins will drop. We shall overcome.

Simultaneously, offer a plausible explanation for the above UFO co-star/bro-sis/Ginger Jesus- Mother Mary relationship, primarily to comfort and control Mordor, that Troll Nursery. Say what the hell you want, including something along the lines of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, but say it LOUDER FOR THOSE SHIPPER PEOPLE IN THE BACK OF THE COACH. They are used to this one step forward/one slap backward tango and by now, few (if any) will budge elsewhere on the fandom spectrum.

Discreetly crush homosexuality rumors, because they are borderline calumny, at this point in time. However, the Data Lounge crowd could make Mordor look like Bora Bora, so the sooner they get bored and move to the next babyface, the better.

Substantially promote MPC and Great Glen Company, consolidating the image of the giving, thoughtful individual, with a creative mind and savvy enough to branch out in lucrative business projects. Extend fan/consumer/client base to a younger demographic.

Pave the way for exit plan. This report will not discuss it, but hints may have been detected. :)

Wow. This is a mouthful. And I have to say Mr. Whyman did a more than decent job of it, even if for a trained eye the seams are showing, at times.

Like this:

Frazer. You can't make this shit up. This is SRH.

As compared to this (excuse the repetition: the blogger is not lazy - the blogger tries to make a point):

This is Whyman. This has been probably paid extra for. This is painful to read. This failed.

As for leaks, I've found a good handful. Adding all of them here higgledy-piggledy would be tedious, boring and I am not Miss Marple. But I've noticed that feelings hide in plain sight, usually disguised in a song you whistle or some verse you remember, just to keep you company on the road, a propos of nothing (my foot):

I don't know what this woman is talking about, you might say. Whatevs. How about this:

To keep myself sane, I usually rip off a Twix bar or light up a Benson. Others resort to Shakespeare, in lieu of granola bars. The world is a wonderfully diverse place. LOL, don't mind me. I am a dillusional woman, for whom all hope is lost.

Sometimes, this whole pastoral reverie has a Lewis Carroll charm to it (you might want to open this in another tab):

Who is your queen, Sir? Surely not the cheerful woman in leggings, flats and a Playboy T-shirt, huh?

Maybe the key is this childish botanical pun, tucked away at the end of the book:

Knowing that the P in Psillyosam is silent, as in *urv the Psychologist, we read and we grin:

[P]sillyosam Mushroom. Silly O'Sam. Silly, oh Sam.

Hashtag silly. An apt response to lemon and hugs.

To sum it up on a cheerful note, Waypoints is the 4 S book:

Struggles - Success - (fake) Solitude - (with a clear optic to avoid at all costs) Scandal

I thank you for your time while reading this. I hope it was worth it and yes, I confidently rest my case. Until the next memoir, which I reasonably hope would be vastly different.

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mobymartin · 24 days ago

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Adventures on the set of Werner Herzog’s ‘Nosferatu’

By Beverly Walker, Sight & Sound, Autumn 1978

The scene is recollected like a dream: I am standing barefoot in the middle of a poor Czechoslovak farmer’s hut, dressed in a nun’s robe of white silk, surrounded by gypsies. Next to me is Dominique, the very serious make-up assistant, playing a doctor and next to him is a real actor, Bruno Ganz, perspiring and ashen. He is supposedly ill, having fallen from Count Dracula’s castle while escaping, and indeed he looks rather ill. Across from us are the farmer and his wife, looking like a portrait by Thomas Hart Benton, and in my mind are passing images already committed to celluloid: Klaus Kinski running across a square, his emerald green cape fluttering behind him like the wings of a primeval insect; Isabelle Adjani staring sadly from a window; Jacques Dufilho, strapped to the wheel of his death-boat, floating mysteriously into harbour.

A cathedral-like silence has seized the room, and the lights are so bright and definitive that I feel caught in space and time. Activity outside the illuminated rectangle is barely perceptible: everyone moves very slowly, as if under water; the faces are opaque and grave.

This pre-shooting preparation was eerily like the rushes I had seen of the film we were finishing, Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu, and the ensuing day’s work provided more insights into the creation of this dark fairy tale than all the preceding weeks of watching this unorthodox production unfold from behind the camera.

A new reading of the Dracula legend, Herzog’s film is both an homage to and loosely based upon F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic, Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror, the film which began the vampire genre. Both in turn draw on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. But except for the plot skeleton and a preoccupation with the wages of fear, Herzog’s film is quite different from Murnau’s and, indeed, from all those in between. Calling it ‘a new version of the subject,’ to be seen, ‘in the same respect as various works about Jeanne d’Arc and Jesus Christ,’ he continues the dissection of bourgeois complacency begun in earnest with The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974). The basic story line has been used countless times: a real estate agent sends his employee to Transylvania to sell Count Dracula a house. Imprisoned by the ‘undead’ monster (‘nosferatu’ is a Romanian word meaning ‘undead’), he finally escapes, but arrives back home too late to prevent catastrophe. His wife, in an ultimate act of sacrificial love, destroys the vampire.

Starring Klaus Kinski as the count, and Isabelle Adjani and Bruno Ganz as the couple destroyed by him, Nosferatu is something of a turning point for the 36-year-old director. For the first time, Herzog has an adequate budget and the backing of the film establishment. Made in English (and, secondarily, German), the film will be distributed by 20th Century Fox, currently America’s most adventurous studio. Herzog is producing it himself and has complete artistic control and production autonomy, a rare if not unprecedented privilege for a director whose austere vision has yet to connect with the broad-based (American) public. But Fox is well aware of his standing in Europe, and with critics and many young filmgoers everywhere, and agreed to participate in the project under his precise conditions. They did not even see a script until two weeks before filming began in the Netherlands.

The scene in which I took part was taking place in the High Tatra, the mountain terrain on Czechoslovakia’s Polish border, serving the film as the Carpathian Mountains. We are nearing completion after two tortuous months in Delft (Holland), Lubeck (West Germany), Pernstein and Telc (Czechoslovakia). Kinski and Adjani have left, and the remaining scenes involve Bruno Ganz, a former German stage star who became a major cinema actor with his fifth film in four years, Wim Wenders’ The American Friend. I am here to assist with the English dialogue, and like almost everyone else on the ‘team’ – one rarely hears the word ‘crew’ – I now find myself in front of the camera.

These cameos are ‘treats’ awarded to Herzog’s helpers like the Toblerone chocolate he proffers at special moments, a small but telling manifestation of his genius for bringing everyone into his particular universe. They also provide his work with a singular continuity and, at least for himself and those involved, blur the distinction between process and result. The roles are eagerly sought as a sign of his approval, and each one seems uncannily apt because Herzog relies almost entirely upon a performer’s persona in casting. He says he first became interested in Isabelle Adjani from the poster – not the film – of The Story of Adele H. (1975), and he cast several roles in Nosferatu from photographs. (He cast himself as a monk.)

Herzog’s repetitive – and conscious – use of the same actors in different films has often been noted. Walter Ladengast and Clemens Scheitz, the two elderly gentlemen from Kaspar Hauser, are in this film (Scheitz was also in Stroszek, 1977); Klaus Kinski was, of course, the volatile star of Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) and also of Woyzeck (1979), the film Herzog began on the heels of Nosferatu. The current scenario of Fitzcarraldo, his next project, includes roles for many major performers in previous films; but of equal significance is the utilisation of his highly individual team. After watching the filming at Pernstein Castle, a young Czech woman said, ‘I think they make this film for just themselves.’ It was an astute observation.

Though the Nosferatu group included French, Dutch and Czech technicians in the respective locations, as required by co-production and other legalities, the core of Herzog’s unit are young Germans who have worked with him for some time. Jorg Schmidt-Reitwein, the cinematographer of La Soufriere (1977), Kaspar Hauser and Heart of Glass (1976), among other films, has known him for ten years and actually lived with the Herzogs for three of those; executive producer Walter Saxer has managed all his productions since Aguirre. Others, notably Henning von Gierke and Gisela Storch, the production and costume designers, and their assistants, have been with him since Kaspar Hauser and have never worked on anyone else’s films. Von Gierke is a successful painter and Storch works at Schaubühne Berlin, the theatre where Bruno Ganz reached his apogee as an actor. Their assistants included a professor of political science, another of rarefied mathematics and a painter/collagist who has a workshop for children in Munich.

It is a unique and gifted group whom one would never find on a ‘normal’ production because of union regulations. (Germany has no film unions except for actors.) They are Herzog’s collaborators in the most profound meaning of the term; indeed, it is obvious that they have definitively influenced the look – if not the theme – of his films. Kaspar Hauser, Heart of Glass, Nosferatu and Woyzeck are of a piece, reflecting the refined and painterly sensibilities of the Schmidt-Reitwein/von Gierke/Storch triumvirate – very different from Aguirre and Stroszek, shot by Thomas Mauch. They are a kind of ‘family’; protective of Herzog and of their relationship to him; fiercely loyal to each other; convinced of their importance to his work and monumentally uninterested in the exigencies of film as an industry. ‘We do not like stars and we do not like these press people because they only come for the stars,’ one of them said adamantly, and she was merely echoing prevailing sentiments. They were openly sceptical about the film’s American connection, and the reception to anyone perceived as representing those interests could be quite frosty.

Additionally, it was almost impossible for an ‘outsider’ to apprehend either the interior creative dynamics or the production logistics. Communication was largely in German – even to Adjani, who speaks the language fluently – and decisions also tended to be made via private asides, oblique signals and tacit understandings. An example of this ‘sign language’ was given by Jorg. He is filming Nosferatu in shimmering pastels and does not want any bright, ‘pop’ colours – not even one red flower sticking in a window box. When he tried to remove one for a certain scene, Herzog objected and put it back. Jorg then spotted Henning von Gierke, nodded very slightly towards the offending blossom and, when Herzog’s back was turned, von Gierke replaced it with a yellow one. Like loyal but independent cardinals to Herzog’s Pope, Jorg, Henning and Gisela are constantly consulting each other and making critical visual decisions without reference to Herzog.

Obviously Herzog likes what he gets, for taking suggestions is not one of his strong points and he is genuinely devoted to these people. But for those trying equally hard to assist him, it could be an exceedingly difficult situation. Like Nosferatu’s theme, the production always seemed to be teetering on the brink between tyranny and chaos—except before the camera, which was sacred territory. There, the atmosphere became intensely pure and intimate, a phenomenon I never really perceived or appreciated until I experienced it myself.

As we waited within the illuminated rectangle for lighting refinements, Herzog began bringing the players under his spell. He does not speak privately with anyone nor does he play director’s tricks, but he does create an extraordinary ambience, aided and abetted by his filmmaking family’s intuitive grasp of the moment. His own belief in the sliver of life he is shaping is so complete that those participating simply follow. After a brief explanation to the gypsies through a translator, in front of my own eyes they take on the countenance of dark angels – sombre, guarded, inaccessible. True to his penchant for people scarred by society’s neglect, Herzog had become fascinated by the gypsies upon his arrival in the Tatra, and had himself fetched them from their village especially for this scene. In the days to come, he increasingly incorporated them into the fabric of the film. And expressed no sympathy for those complaining of bites from the army of fleas leaping off them. ‘It’s the justice of the flea! ’ he said, immediately placing his loyalties on the side not only of the gypsy, but also of the flea.

We rehearse twice. Herzog’s comments are simple but exactly to the point. When he says urgently, ‘take your time’, I realise that my movement is sharp and therefore out of synchronisation with the pace and mood of the film. Like the activity I observed outside the playing area, life within this film is dreamy and somehow distanced, as if the characters had long ago taken leave of their bodies and are now merely watching themselves, like puppets, from another place. It is perhaps not paradoxical that the film is an attack upon precisely this kind of unthinking mummification and blind obedience.

Though the last rehearsal was full of dialogue mistakes, Herzog assures us that it will be just fine and steps before the camera with the clapboard. He always holds it, believing that he alone should be the last person within the performers’ magic arena before the scene begins. He crouches under the camera as we do the scene, twice fully, twice in close-up. His faith is rewarded: we do it right… somehow. After a break for lighting adjustments, we do another brief scene – ‘quickly, so it will be spontaneous’ – because he has given some lines to a gypsy. Bruno Ganz, an actor with a rare sense of truth, seems extraordinarily good as he departs this last haven before catastrophe with the warning, ‘Evil is on the way.’ Later, he tells me it is his favourite line.

Far from being a detached observer, Herzog is so completely ‘with’ the performers that one feels an enormous responsibility to meet the challenge, and one also feels that the effort is just for him. I remember watching Adjani rise majestically through a trap-door into a room full of two thousand rats. Some were falling over the edge, into her hair, down her dress – but she never flinched. Kinski never lost his composure although he was coping with the most difficult make-up imaginable – false ears, false teeth, four-inch long fingernails and elevated boots. An actor who could not swim none the less plunged into the stormy North Sea waters in the dead of night because Herzog assured him that he’d be right behind him – and was, though the two nearly drowned because the currents swept the boat a half-hour’s distance away.

The intensity in Herzog’s films emanates from the power of his personality and his pristine sense of truth, and its extraordinary force is not explainable or really comprehensible even when one is watching – or participating in – its creation. Sometimes I wondered if this gift was a blessing or a curse. Herzog is by now aware of his ‘visionary’ impact upon audiences, but there was never any evidence during the making of Nosferatu that he consciously tries to achieve this effect. The contrary. He violently refuses interpretation, and his creative triumvirate each told me separately that any type of psychologically or metaphysically charged discussion is strictly forbidden. ‘We must not talk about this,’ he will say, and wander off. The process has mystery even to them. ‘We don’t talk about style or atmosphere,’ says Jorg, ‘but we’re on the same wavelength. Sometimes there must be a dictator to bring about this fusion; we accept it.’ Whether in front of the camera or behind it, one has no choice but to surrender to Herzog’s vision, and though this is sometimes infuriating, it also has a dangerous appeal.

As we returned to our lodgings after filming, I reflected upon the whole experience on Nosferatu. The obstacles had been so enormous that I had sometimes felt the film was cursed – and yet Herzog somehow prevailed. A comment made by Isabelle Adjani some weeks earlier in Delft came to mind. We were discussing the many internal problems which were complicated by the refusal of the city to provide even a modicum of co-operation. Adjani, a perspicacious realist, finally shook her head. ‘But the film won’t be touched,’ she said. ‘It’s like a benediction. You can feel it, pulling the film forward.’

A benediction. Herzog himself had set the tone at a dinner before the start of shooting. Taking the floor, one of the many times he would lecture with righteous fervour, he said, ‘We do not make Nosferatu just for ourselves. We have a responsibility. We have the blessings of Lotte Eisner, a woman who was chased out of Germany during the time of barbarism; she is some sort of spiritual guide for us, and because she has given her blessing, we have legitimacy.’

Legitimacy is a term of import to Herzog. At an early press conference, one of the many held throughout the Delft location to prevent the city withholding all permissions, he said, ‘Before the war, we had great, and what I call “legitimate”, German culture. But this was broken. That is an historical fact.’ Identifying Lotte Eisner, the film historian who has known nearly every great filmmaker of the century, as the first person to call the New German Cinema a ‘renaissance’, he continued: ‘My challenge in doing a new version of Nosferatu is to link the great epoch of Expressionist filmmaking with this renaissance… to create a bridge over this historical gap.’ Finally, he drew upon the memory of ‘Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, a man who died too soon.’ When Lotte Eisner visited the set, she said, ‘I never thought I could be friends with a German again. But here I am… Werner is somehow like Murnau brought back to life.’

For a man who endorses his own line, ‘I only believe what I see with my own eyes,’ Herzog seems to be touched by an amazing grace. Though the ‘fusion’ referred to by Schmidt-Reitwein works brilliantly on a creative level, Herzog’s working methods in combination with his theme came very close to undoing him in the simple matter of surviving and getting the film made.

The catastrophe wrought by the malevolent Count is the unleashing of plague-infested rats into a serene bourgeois city. The provincial 17th century town of Delft was a perfect choice. Though it had some importance three hundred years ago, it has slowly evolved – one might even say ‘atrophied’ – into a museum piece, albeit an exquisite one. Flowers blossom in profusion; the cobbled streets carry as many bicyclists as motorists; the windows of every dwelling are framed by sparkling white curtains. And there are the canals lined by blossoming lime trees, perfectly described in Herzog’s screenplay as ‘going no place but back on themselves.’ Delft’s New Church, in whose shadow Herzog shot many scenes, is the official burial place for kings and queens of the Netherlands. Queen Wilhelmina reportedly used to say, ‘I do not go to Delft because eventually I have to go there.’

Herzog, who often displays a kind of naive candour, told the Dutch press his reasons for selecting Delft. ‘It’s so well ordered, so neat and beautiful, so bourgeois… I don’t mean that in disrespectful terms, for bourgeois culture has made some great achievements. But just because it’s so well organised, it’s interesting for me as a filmmaker to show the disintegration of order, the collapse of public morale.’ He was equally candid about the necessity of filming with rats, the creature which was to become his bete noire. ‘My film is about a community invaded by fear, by an anonymous terror that can hardly be named. The rats are a decisive element because they signify this invasion of fear. I ask this town with all my heart to allow me to make a few shots, in controllable areas, with the rats.’ But a city that provided Johannes Vermeer with a proper tombstone only two years ago would certainly turn its back on Werner Herzog.

The picture of a large rat accompanied the Dutch newspaper’s bold headline: ‘PESTEPIDEMIE OP OUDE DELFT.’ Translated, it said ‘The plague has come to old Delft’, and the accompanying article clarified the hateful metaphor. Werner Herzog, his young and predominantly German team, and ten thousand white rodents from a Hungarian laboratory had dared enter Delft to make a movie. Like a caravan of old-time artisans, they came by truck, van and modest cars sagging with the weight of material and equipment. Settling communal style into a large house in the old section of the city, they went about their work. Coffins must be built; museums altered; properties constructed; costumes dyed and sewn. This was not like the Lana Turner-Clark Gable movie made in Delft thirty years ago, nor like Joe Levine’s luxuriantly budgeted A Bridge Too Far which had just left. No one could accuse the group of laziness or impropriety, but they were German, free-spirited and passionate – and they were up to something with a lot of rats.

The newspaper headline had the effect of a battle cry. Lines of resistance went up almost overnight; channels of communication were suspended. The Netherlands is renowned for its hospitality and devotion to democratic principles, and Herzog had not anticipated such resistance. True, the local officials had always hedged about the rats, but Herzog was confident he could bring them round – and why not? To a man who has braved the jungles of Peru, the Sahara, a churning volcano, Delft looked like child’s play.

‘We have a serious and dignified project,’ he told a gathering of government officials and journalists. ‘The Murnau film is the most exciting and probably the best film in German history. It was an important film, courageous, and the first to predict the barbarism which came later.’ His eloquence captured the local film enthusiasts, who showed a retrospective of his work, circulated petitions and arranged a series of meetings with the Mayor and officials. ‘We do not come as an invading army,’ he said, mindful of the Netherlands’ long occupation by Germany. ‘I am a guest here, and a guest has some sort of natural right, but a very limited one. Therefore, I ask for clemency.’

The effort was exhaustive, but largely unrewarded. An incident on the first day’s shooting proved a portent: a small graveyard Herzog had himself created on a sand dune the night before was, by six o’clock that morning, destroyed. The sound of ‘Führer’ rang out more than once, and Delft’s Mayor never gave an inch. A ‘safety’ deposit of one hundred thousand dollars was demanded, and the company was further taxed just to film the streets. Extremely limited amounts of time were set for all exterior locations – and permission to film the rats was never given. The company was besieged by Dutch journalists and photographers; a day never passed without an article appearing about the film, always focusing on the rodent. The fear and paranoia of the citizenry mounted in the same way as in the film, through innuendo and rumour. A slow panic set in.

While all this was going on, Herzog continued making the film, altering his needs as necessary. When Kinski returned a few days late because no one had informed him of the schedule, Herzog shot something else. When Bruno Ganz was badly bruised falling off his horse, he shot with a double. If it rained, he bundled everyone into vans and said, ‘We wait for sun,’ and when it was so bitterly cold that everyone was nearly paralysed, he stripped to the waist – and kept filming.

Internally, morale was disintegrating. Delft is an extremely expensive city with few hotels, and a decision was made to rent a large house, put pads on the floor, hire some local girls to cook and live like monks. But this house was also the production centre and there was little privacy. Anyone off the street with nerve could walk through it day or night; hundreds of extras had to be dressed, fed and allowed access to the single toilet. The flying dog, bats, flies and other live exotica needed for the film were stored there; coffins were built in the courtyard flanking the bedrooms, and a huge pig was slaughtered there for use in a scene. After filming at four o’clock one morning, Herzog spent the remainder of the day cleaning the toilet and soothing fractured nerves.

In the midst of all this came news that Gaumont was withdrawing its support. It seemed that the Centre Nationale had to give permission for all co-productions and papers had been filed late. I asked Herzog what he was going to do. ‘I will continue discussions and make the film,’ he said, and left for the location.

It all culminated in a violent scene three days before the completion of filming in Delft. The ten thousand rats had been stored in a barn outside the town, where they were cared for by two young women biologists. But the farmer who owned the barn had not been feeding them properly and they were dying. When the girls reproached him, he kicked them off the farm and then refused to allow the production access to the animals – this at exactly the time Herzog had finally found a means of filming them. Herzog, accompanied by a few members of his team and the two women, went to retrieve them. They were met head-on by the farmer and a dozen workmen wielding all manner of farming tools as weapons. A large van was placed horizontally in the driveway to block their exit, and a truly nightmarish fight followed. Windscreens were smashed, cars were damaged, everyone was badly beaten, scratched and bruised. Herzog himself was almost killed when a workman drove a huge crane straight at him.

However, the rats were retrieved, filmed and later sold to laboratories, and the company moved on to Czechoslovakia. There, bruises and wounds healed; Kinski did work so brilliant that this non-star-loving team applauded him; the Centre Nationale and Gaumont finally sent the money – and Nosferatu at last reached completion. To me, it seemed miraculous, But I had seen the rushes and I knew Adjani was right: the film had not been touched. Something had pulled it forward.

#nosferatu #werner herzog #film review #Sight & Sound #beverly walker #isabelle adjani #klaus kinski #bruno ganz #f. w. murnau

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ghostmemesource · 2 years ago

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👻୧‿︵‿︵ ash vs. evil dead sentence starters

these are quotes taken from the starz series ash vs. evil dead. send in one of the prompts below for my muse’s response. please change pronouns/names where you see fit.

First thing I got to do is see a guy about a book. Must be some spell I can say to undo all this.

The other first thing I got to do is some cardio, ’cause my heart is jackhammering like a quarterback on prom night.

One false move, and I will Second Amendment your brains all over this truck.

We’re not leaving a trail of blood and guts behind us, we’re keeping Michigan moist.

There’s one thing I learned from [name]. Shoot first, ask questions never.

Last time I was here with a girl, I was hopin’ to get laid.

If I’ve learned anything from you, [name], it’s that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Hey, I’m looking for a friend. He’s, uh, tall, dumb, smells like… bread.

You fought this thing before. Maybe you just got to finish what you started.

Yes, I’m upset. Yes, I’m behind the wheel. Yes, I’m drunk. And maybe my license isn’t the fancy kind from the DMV. But at least I’m drunk!

Without good, there is no evil.

With all due respect, your tiny brain is a lot safer without my problems inside it.

Trust me, once you get jacked in the face, it’ll all click. I can’t even get my nut up to rumble unless I’ve had a good shot to the chin.

Once again I saved the world. Now it's time to get the girl.

Most people go through life thinkin’ they’re totally safe. People like us, we know the truth. Life is hard and dangerous, and sometimes you just gotta chop off somebody’s head to survive.

I kill demons, not people. Unless those people are demons, who look like people. And then I kill people, but they’re not really people, they’re demons. You understand?

Never get between a papa bear and his cub.

What’s out there knows that you’re alive, and it wants you to be… un-alive.

Well, good news I found a piece of pie with no blood on it. Anybody want a bite?

To save those two, I would submit to a prostate exam.

This town is only big enough for one asshole, and that asshole is me.

Sometimes what you think you saw, it’s exactly what you saw.

Someone needs to wash your mouth out, kid. And that someone is me.

Now I’m gonna kill you, just like I killed your father! I didn’t really kill your father, that just kinda sounded cool.

I gotta warn you, you’re gonna want to leave your husband for me, and I can’t let that happen. Family values.

I’m not drunk enough to know if this is good-weird or bad-weird. But I’ll get there though.

I’m going to be like a ninja losing his virginity, quick and discreet.

I told you. A good shot to the face always gets the juices flowin’.

Thanks for the opinion, appreciate it. Now you can take it, turn it sideways, shove it right up the old poop chute.

When you get back to Hell, work on your aim.

Do you know what evil is, [name]? It’s power without fear, without guilt, and without pain.

Hey, good looking. You here to break me out or break me in?

I'm gonna get you pregnant later.

I'd know that caboose from anywhere.

Even if this goes perfectly, there's a good chance you'll die.

Well, [name], it's been fun catching up. Sorry I got to kill you.

Don't you get it? Everybody dies here. It's just a rule.

If once you start down that path, forever, it will dominate your destiny.

Did you just Yoda quote me?

Alright, look, we get this done quick enough, we might have time to stop for churros.

Yeah, well, your cooking was shit.

Yeah, I remember when I was like you. Young, dumb, full of… conflicting emotions.

Sweet musical Jesus, that's your friend? Oh, she's filthy and fine!

She haunts my dreams. Just kidding. She does, though.

Do me a favor will ya, thank your mother for me? She passed her genes down to you in all the right places.

Damn, [name]. Badass.

Why are you covered in blood?

So look, uh, I'm not a grief counselor, but if it's any consolation, I have had to kill and bury loved ones before. A bunch of times, actually.

Oh sure. I'll just sit here with the police officer we tied up and rethink my recent life choices.

Get ahold of yourself, woman!

I'm gonna say a lot of dumb things.

#rp meme #rp memes #sentence starters rp meme

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scribeforchrist-blog · 5 months ago

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Everlasting to Everlasting

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

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+ Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

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VERSE OF THE DAY

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+ 1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are aliens and temporary residents in your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow without hope.

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** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS**

I AM POWERFUL

I AM FOCUSED ON GOD

I AM NOT FEARFUL

I AM BEAUTIFUL

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READ TIME: 7 Minutes & 11 Seconds

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THOUGHTS:

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This verse was something the Holy Spirit showed me . Lately, he has been urging me to read 1 Samuel – 2 Chronicles, and if you have time, go through those books and read it honestly once a year. He has me read through those books, and as I read, I always get something different than I did the previous year; I can say that about everything in the Bible, in different seasons of your life, different verses will mean and be interrupted differently because as we grow and learn most scriptures changes, its meaning or we gain something different

Many times, I can read something this week, and then two months later, I get something different because God wants us to understand and be able to apply the word to our lives. After all, this isn’t our home, and what we go through here isn’t going to last forever, nor will we be here forever. Many people don’t believe that, and I can say I do believe this because the word tells us in so many verses we are but a mist, and this isn’t our home, and as we grow, the Holy Spirit helps us to realize that the world isn’t our home and the things here aren’t for us.

• 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

•James 4:14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

•1 John 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

•Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

See, these verses are telling us the same thing the Holy Spirit just said: we aren’t from here; our citizenship is in heaven; we can think our life here will last forever, it won't our lives are just a vapor it will vanish; we can’t put all our eggs into one basket, we will learn that the things here won't last and it's not meant for us but God is not saying to not enjoy our life but don’t make life here your final stay a lot of people want to rush their life along, but each moment we need to see as a blessing .

We all have a purpose and a journey; my purpose and journey won’t look like yours and vice versa, but we must respect one another and know that whatever God has spoken over our life is how our life will be when we follow him. Everything he has for us is proper, and everything he has for us will align according to his riches and glory. The things here only can make us as happy ,but it won't give us joy , but what will last is the joy of God it can and will give us; not every day will be great, but when the bad days come, he will be right there with us.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

I know living in this world has some cruel moments and then it has the greatest moments, and we can’t help but love and hate it BUT WE MUST ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL FOR EVERY DAY as we know it THE WORLD WE LIVE IN won’t be here forever; we have to decide who we will serve the world or God, the word of God will always be something we need and need to replenish us, we can drink all the water in the world and take every vitamin we can but when we do this it still won’t help us stay on this earth forever.

Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.”

We won’t ever be able to stay here forever, but what will replenish us and help us live forever is trust in the power of the almighty God and believing that when we die, we are going to a place that doesn’t have pain, we won’t be crying anymore, and the streets are paved with gold! And there’s no need for light because the glory of God will be that bright to us, who wouldn’t want to live there, here on earth, there’s pain, there’s misery, there loneliness, all these factors, remember to place your trust in God, and in God alone

***Today, we learned that we won’t be here forever and that this isn’t our home; our home is in heaven, and the world won’t last forever. God wants us to realize that his word is what keeps us fed spiritually; we will starve spiritually if we aren’t careful. We must understand we weren’t meant to be on this earth forever, and while we are here, we are on an assignment; my assignment isn’t going to look like yours nor work like yours, but we all have the same mission to save a soul! To save a life! To walk in his way!

Life may have it’s an up-and-down in this journey, and it might feel like the things here are important, but it isn’t, having money only lasts for a little while, just like the other things here on earth everything is meaningless, and the quicker we realize this, the quicker we will hold on to God unchanging hand . ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

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PRAYER

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for being with us and showing us your ways. Lord, help us to replenish with you, Father; we realize the things here don’t last forever, but we know your love does. Forgive us if we have done anything wrong; forgive us if we offended the Holy Spirit. Lord, we love you and thank you for everything. Lord, continue to help us through our day. Help us to be strong in you and not to lean on the things here, lord; we also realize our life is nothing but a vapor; help us to hold on to you; in Jesus' Name, Amen

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REFERENCES

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+ 1 Peter 2:24 He bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.

+ 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

+ Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

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FURTHER READINGS

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Proverbs 16

Leviticus 16

Exodus 21

SOS 21

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inconveniently-discorporated · 7 months ago

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Like, I'm just ✨sick of this shit✨, ok? I'm sick of this shit. I AM SICK OF THIS SHIT. I'M FUCKING SICK OF THIS SHIT. I'M FUCKING TIRED OF SEEING DEAD BABIES ON MY FEED AND HAVING REAL LIFE PEOPLE (with their behavior and words they know are in my earshot) TELL ME THEY'RE BETTER THAN ME AND THEY DON'T RESPECT ME BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN. AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE IT THAT BAD AND OTHER PEOPLE HAVE IT WORSE AND IT MAKES ME SICK.

I am fucking sick of knowing that:

The chair of my city's Republican party PUBLICLY says that women are ONLY equal to men when it comes to making babies, and otherwise it is "WORKING MEN" who are the key to society because villages don't raise families, MEN do. And NO ONE gives a singular SHIT that he said this

My coworker AGREES WITH and supports people like this.

I REGULARLY CLEAN UP AFTER MY COWORKER WHO SITS ON HIS PHONE ALL DAY LISTENING TO TRUMP SHIT AND OCCASIONALLY SONGS THAT HAVE HOZIER NO SIR THAT IS ✨NOT✨ FOR YOU. BUT I HAVE TO SIT NEXT TO HIM -- AND,

Listen to him TALK SHIT TO HIS FRIENDS ABOUT HOW NO ONE WANTS TO HAVE DAUGHTERS BC SONS ARE WHERE IT'S AT AND BLAH BLAH BLAH, LIKE I HAVE DAUGHTERS AND THEY'RE PRETTY FUCKING GOOD YOU ASSHOLE?

Fucking jesus fucking christ it's the stupidest fucking bullshit I've ever heard of. This man sits here listening to his bullshit AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I'LL HAVE RIGHTS NEXT YEAR????? BUT HE'S BETTER THAN ME????

So like, I was pretty big into HP awhile back because I was bullied heavily as a child, and I found a lot of solace in those stories. Even more when my parents died and I really related to that aspect of the stories. I thought it was about welcoming those who were otherwise unaccepted, those who were cast out for dumb fucking reasons. It heavily shaped my worldview into believing I should be KIND and ACCEPTING and fight against bigotry.

And like. Look. I have trans friends who are the KINDEST, SWEETEST, BRAVEST, MOST HARD WORKING people I fucking know who are just as TERRIFIED of being jailed or killed as I am of my little girls being shot bc their mom is a pretty staunch supporter of lgbtqia+ and POC and women's rights; or trump gets into the Whitehouse and decides to level the blue cities to send a message. So obviously it was pretty crushing when the author of the works that INSPIRED ME TO BE THIS FUCKING EMPATHETIC IN THE FIRST PLACE decided to double triple quarter pounder cheeseburger down on being a bully to people like this.

WHY SHOULD MY FRIENDS BE THIS TERRIFIED WHEN THEY'RE THE BEST PEOPLE I KNOW, AND OTHER PEOPLE IN MY LIFE WHO ARE LAZY FUCKING DUMB ASSHOLES JUST GET TO DO WHATEVER THE FUCK THEY WANT WITHOUT CARE??????? "WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT ABORTIONS IT'S NOT LIKE I'LL EVER NEED ONE" BECAUSE YOUR DAUGHTER MIGHT NEED ONE SOMEDAY AND COULD DIE WITHOUT IT? WTF WHY DO THESE BULLIES ALWAYS GET A FREE PASS TO BE BULLIES???????

And I'm not going to comment on today's news because it broke today and maybe there's more facts and maybe there's not but what I am going to say is it fucking SUCKS to think that someone who was an advocate, maybe doesn't really respect you or people like you, maybe hurt people, maybe doesn't care -- I don't fucking know but it SUCKS. It's STUPID and it SUCKS and it ESPECIALLY sucks for the people hurt along the way.

I'm not trying to make any kind of definitive declaration or comment, I just have so much ANGER and fear these past few months and just so much SHIT has happened and I just am so fucking beyond cannot evening anymore with this bullshit WHY DO WE TREAT OTHER HUMAN BEINGS LIKE THIS AS IF MOST OF US DIDN'T DIE OFF IN A PLAGUE IN THE 14th CENTURY YOU'D REALLY THINK THE PEOPLE LEFTOVER WOULD LEARN TO DO BETTER AND APPRECIATE EACH OTHER.

So fuck it I'll make this a voting PSA

PLEASE VOTE

PLEASE VOTE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T WANTING TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY

IF YOU CAN VOTE PLEASE HELP OTHERS VOTE

IF YOU CAN'T VOTE YOU CAN STILL HELP, LOOK INTO VOTE FORWARD OR VOLUNTEER TO HELP YOUR OLDER FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO SIGN UP OR OFFER A RIDE OR BABYSITTING OR SOMETHING

PARTICIPATE IN PRIMARIES AND SHIT AND LOCAL ELECTIONS TO TRY TO EFFECT ✨BETTER✨ CHANGE THAN THE OPTIONS BEFORE US RIGHT NOW

I'm just sick of this shit. Fucking do better. FUCK

#lol is it good omens related???? IDK???#I've not been well for awhile #now I'm just pissed #fuck it take the goddamn laudanum happy fucking 4th

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theprayerfulword · 10 days ago

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January 15

Proverbs 31:8 Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.

John 13:15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Matthew 6:25 …do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

May you not over-value material possessions, but treat them as the tools in God's kingdom that they are. May you find them useful but not necessary, convenient but not required, enjoyable but not the source of joy, to be assigned by God for a task, and returned to Him when the assignment is completed. Genesis 31

May you come to understand that in every conflict, God is working on both sides to do His will, not to side with man. Genesis 31

May your speech be plain, letting your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no,” because speaking rashly, in the heat of emotion, will have consequences, for even though Jacob did not know what his beloved Rachel had done, his unnecessary curse came to pass. Genesis 31

May you recognize that things which can be taken from you are not gods, but merely goods, for none can take God from you, or separate you from His love; therefore enjoy such things as God blesses you with, but ensure that your love remains with Him. Genesis 31

May you be as willing to serve the living God in whatever way He directs, for the sake of the eternal Reward He lovingly provides, as Jacob was toward Laban who cared little for how much Jacob suffered and did nothing to provide for his needs. Genesis 31

May you be strengthened by God's messengers to walk with humble confidence in God's power and promise when dealing with this world's powers and authorities, committing your fears and anxieties to the Lord. Genesis 32

May you always stand on the promises of God, ever prepared to quote them back to the Lord, knowing what you believe and why, ready to remind Him of what He has given you. He delights in hearing you demonstrate your trust in Him and being shown the evidence that you have been listening to Him. As a result, in the midst of turmoil and change, conflict and concern, you will not be focused on the events but will take the issues, lay them at God's feet, and ask Him to do as He has said. Genesis 32, 2 Samuel 7

Confront Me, My child. Hold Me to My Word. Bring My promises to Me and ask for payment. Show Me that you have heard My voice and hold My words dear enough to remember, to dwell on, to have faith in and to rely on. Demonstrate your dependence on My fulfilling My promises to you; turn from all other sources and voices, renouncing your reliance on them and come to Me with your petitions and the promissory note from Scripture that will supply the need. Require of Me that I do as I have said, and then allow Me to work. Permit Me access to your heart and soul that I may deposit into your life the abundance I have prepared and stored up for this time.

May you come to learn that there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What the Lord strengthens you in and comforts you with when you are closed in with Him in the spirit is not to remain cloistered, but is to share with others as freely as you received it. Matthew 10

May you properly and rightfully be in respectful awe and reverent obedience to the One Who can destroy both soul and body in hell, and have no fear of those who can kill the body, but cannot touch your soul. Matthew 10

May you gratefully realize that the Lord, Who even knows and cares when a single common sparrow falls, and does not allow it to happen apart from His will, lovingly values you so much more than them, constantly considering you, knowing every detail right down to the number of hairs on your head, because He lovingly treasures you so much and cannot get enough of you, never growing tired of you. Matthew 10

May you willingly acknowledge the Lord before men, returning His love and caring only for how He views you. Then He will also acknowledge you before His Father in heaven, disowning those who spurn His love, who care more for the regard of men. Matthew 10

May you accept the fact that the Lord has come to bring peace to your heart but division and conflict on the earth. Though you need to love others as yourself, you must love the Lord more than these, and those who love themselves most will not accept you putting them in second place. Matthew 10

May you persist in your faith and rejoice in the work of the kingdom, for you will be blessed if you do not take offense at Christ. Matthew 11

May you trust in God's unfailing love and your heart rejoice in His salvation, for He will prevent your enemy from overcoming you and you will rejoice when you see His victory over the spiritual powers that come against you. The Lord will look on you and answer you; though He let you wrestle with your thoughts for a time and have sorrow in your heart for a while, He will not allow your enemy to triumph over you. Psalm 13

May you clutch tightly the wisdom which comes from the tree of life, for you will be joyfully blessed by the long life that is in her right hand and the riches and honor, not of this world, that are found in her left hand as you walk in her pleasant ways and peaceful paths. Proverbs 3:16-18

#daily #blessings #prayers #scripture

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basicsofislam · 3 months ago

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ISLAM 101: CONVEYING THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM: Part 4

Apparent Properties in the tabligh (conveying) of Hazrat Prophet (pbuh)

Since the Messenger of Allah is ‘a beautiful pattern (of conduct)’ for believers, with the expression of God Almighty, his methods and forms of tabligh are the only references for us, the believers. The Messenger of Allah acted in accordance with the general principles that happened in the general course of the universe, called the laws of creation and he set an example for his umma (community) for all kinds of situations. If he had wanted, he would have begged his Lord and could have obtained all kinds of worldly belongings; if he had wanted and if it had been appropriate for the divine wisdom, all of the polytheists would have been destroyed or they would have adopted Islam. However, since they would have happened as miracles, he would not have been a model to be followed.

Since the Messenger of Allah was an example in every issue, soldiers of heart who were determined to exceed seas of blood for the cause that they believed in and who were so mature and respectful towards the Exalted Creator as to attribute everything to Him when they attained their destination emerged. When we examine the mission of calling people to Islam of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), we see that the following principles, among many other characteristics, are essential:

1. Patience, 2. Treating people softly and Tolerance, 3. Gradualism, 4. Attributing the results to Allah, 5. Inner depth, 6. Modesty, 7. Reckoning.

1. Patience

The prophets were always subject to the greatest troubles and misfortunes. However, they showed the greatest patience against troubles and misfortunes. Almost all believers know what Hazrat Nooh (Noah), Hazrat Lut (Lot), Hazrat Musa (Moses) and Hazrat Eesa (Jesus) were subject to. However, all those troubles and misfortunes did not prevent them from propagating their causes; on the contrary, they continued to convey the message of Allah and His orders to people with patience and perseverance. That general aim and duty of the prophets are expressed as follows in the Quran: "(It is the practice of those) who preach the Messages of Allah, and fear Him, and fear none but Allah: and enough is Allah to call (men) to account." (al-Ahzab, 33/39)

God Almighty says the following to our Prophet regarding tabligh: "O, Messenger! proclaim the (Message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord. If thou didst, not thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His Mission: and Allah will defend thee from men (who mean mischief). For Allah guideth, not those who reject Faith." (al-Maeda, 5/67)"

The Messenger of Allah spent all his life proclaiming Islam after undertaking that lofty duty. He visited one house after another and looked for people whom he could convey the message of Islam to.

The reaction of the opposite front was in the form of indifference and boycotting at first. Then, it continued with mockery and ridicule. In the last phase, it continued with all kinds of torture. They placed thorns on the ways he was going to pass; they placed tripe over his head while he was praying and they insulted him. However, the Messenger of Allah did not give up his struggle despite all of those difficulties. It was the reason why he came to this world. He visited everybody including his most severe enemies repeatedly and conveyed them the divine message. He went to the enemies of Islam like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab so many times; he told them about the religion and the truth..! He went to the fairs. He went from one tent to another in order to be able to guide even one person; they closed the doors on his face; however, he went to the same door again and told them the same things.

When the people of Makkah gave him no more hope, he went to Taif. Taif is a place suitable for an outing. Taif people, whom slackness spoiled, outdid Makkans. All of the flotsam and jetsam of Taif people came together and threw stones at the Messenger of Allah, who was the son of the suns that even the angels could not look at so as not to harm him, and chased him away. Zayd bin Haritha, whom the Messenger of Allah accepted as his son and loved, was together with him. Zayd used his body as a shield to protect our Prophet but some stones hit the body of the Prophet and caused a lot of bleeding on his body.

When they managed to run away from that intolerant atmosphere and took refuge under a tree, Jibril (Gabriel) appeared suddenly. He said that he could pull down the mountain over those people if the Prophet wanted. The Messenger of Allah said no to that offer even at a time when he was suffering. He said no to that offer because he hoped that even in the future some people from their descendants would believe in Allah…

Then, he opened his hands and begged his Lord:

O, Allah! I complain to you about my weakness and being despised by people. Oh, the Most Merciful of the Merciful ones! You are the Lord of the despised and the helpless. You are my Lord. To whom are you leaving me? To the people of bad words and bad faces or to the enemy that interferes with my duty? If you have no wrath against me, I will not care about the difficulties and troubles I suffer. However, your welfare is vaster and better. O my God! I take refuge in your luminous face that brightens the darkness and that is the means of salvation from being caught by wrath or from your displeasure. O, my Lord! I expect your forgiveness until you are pleased with me. Oh my Lord! All power and strength are in your hands.

While he was praying like that, somebody approached him silently; he gave a bunch of grapes in a plate to the Messenger of Allah and said, “Please help yourself.” When the Messenger of Allah reached out his hand to the plate, he said “Bismillah” (in the name of Allah). It was an unexpected happening for the slave named Addas, who treated him the grapes. He asked astonishingly: “Who are you?” The Messenger of Allah answered: "I am the last prophet and messenger!" Then, Addas leaned over him and started to kiss him. He found what he had been looking for for years suddenly and he believed in Islam. (Ibn Hisham, Sirah, 2:60-63; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, 3:166; repr: S. Nur 1997, 1: 70-73). Our first shelter to take against the difficulties that we will face while conveying the message of Islam today must be patience.

Patience is mentioned in more than eighty places in the Quran and believers are ordered to follow patience. The verse: "O ye who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere." (al-Baqara, 2/153) is only one of them. As believers, we can apply patience in three categories in our life: Patience against troubles and misfortunes. It puts man among those who show patience and tawakkul (trust in Allah.

Patience for avoiding sins. It makes man attain taqwa (fearing Allah) and become a muttaqi.

Patience in worshipping and obeying Allah. That patience makes man enter among the people that Allah loves.

To show patience against troubles and misfortunes means to abandon fury and not to complain when one faces unwanted and painful situations.

Patience for avoiding sins can be achieved by abandoning bad things, avoiding disobedience and persevering. It necessitates a permanent belief and a strong determination because sins weaken and blur belief and eliminate its light and brightness.

Patience in worshipping and obeying Allah means to continue worshipping, to be sincere and to act in accordance with Islamic criteria.

The scholar, Abdullah Qadir, adds this to the kinds of patience: Patience for keeping to the Quranic line without changing ways and directions when faced by the attractive beauties of the world.

Patience against the frenzy of the time in the tasks that need time.

Patience for the desire to meet Allah until the command of “return” comes from Allah by realizing the fineness in obedience to orders.

A Muslim shows patience in order to attain the pleasure of Allah by obeying Him. That kind of patience is a means for the love and pleasure of Allah. Sincerity is essential in such patients. Sincerity means to do everything only for the sake of the pleasure of Allah.

Man should show the same patience against haram too. When a man is exposed to haram first, the resistance shown against it will eliminate the bad sparks coming from it and thus will overcome it. Therefore, our Prophet said the Hazrat Ali "The first glance is for you but the rest are against you." That is, harams can catch a man’s eyes. However, if he closes his eyes and turns his face away, it will not be recorded as a sin for him. Even a reward can be recorded for him because he has not looked at haram. Similarly, man is always face to face with committing sins. As he shows resistance against committing sins, he will reach taqwa (fearing of Allah) and higher ranks in taqwa.

Testing is the sunnah of Allah for his slaves in their lives. Allah tests His slaves in order to disclose their talents and abilities. With such testing, it becomes clear how a person uses the ability of will and choice that has been granted to him. Allah tests any one of His slaves that he wishes at any time and however He wills. A person can be tested through his closest relatives. Therefore, a man should think that he can be tested both through his enemies and friends; he should do favors to his friends, who can be used as a means of testing against him by God Almighty.

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mybeautifulchristianjourney · 7 months ago

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There Is None Righteous

1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief abolish the faithfulness of God? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written,

“That You may be justified in Your words, And overcome when You are judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is the God who inflicts wrath unrighteous? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6 May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.

9 What then? Are we better? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 Destruction and misery are in their paths, 17 And the path of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God through Faith

21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith, for a demonstration of His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that faith, is one.

31 Do we then abolish the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. — Romans 3 | Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. Cross References: Genesis 8:21; Genesis 18:25; Leviticus 16:10; Deuteronomy 4:8; Deuteronomy 6:4; Job 40:8; Psalm 10:7; Psalm 36:1; Psalm 53:2-3; Psalm 107:42; Psakm 130:7; Psalm 143:2; Psalm 147:20; Proverbs 20:9; Isaiah 59:7; Jeremiah 23:6; Daniel 9:42; Matthew 25:30; Luke 1:80; Luke 20:16; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:17; Romans 6:1; Romans 8:4; Romans 9:19; Romans 10:16; James 2:18; James 3:8; 1 John 1:8

Romans 3: Commentary, Bible Study And Summary

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childofchrist1983 · 2 years ago

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But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. - 1 Kings 21:25-27 KJV

In this follow-up to yesterday's Bible reading, God sent Elijah to Ahab to tell him the punishment he would suffer, because of his sins. When Ahab heard this, he humbled himself before the LORD God Almighty and God took back his punishment. It's not clear in the readings if Ahab was aware of Jezebel's maneuvering to kill Naboth, but he was guilty of all of the other sins of disobedience and rejection of the Law.

There are a few important lessons here for us to learn and keep in mind: The first is that God knows when we sin. There is nowhere we can go, and no place where we can hide from God. He knows when we sin and He knows when we do the right thing. The second lesson is that sins are always punished. Usually, the sin carries its own punishment. The liar and the thief cannot be trusted! Violence brings on violence, and it usually escalates. The third, is that God respects the one who confesses his or her sin, repents and does penance. We can't be sure if Ahab repented and did penance because he was actually sorry or if he was afraid of the punishment God proclaimed.

The same can be true for us - Do we repent, because we fear the punishment we deserve, or because we are truly sorry for our actions? It is our responsibility to truly think about this and ask God to help us examine our hearts when answering this question. Children don't like to get caught, because they don't want to be punished. But even as we age into adulthood, we should avoid sinning as best we can everyday and in every moment of our lives, not just because we know of the suffering and punishment walking in our sins can bring, but also because it's the right thing to do and pleases God. We can be like Ahab, or we can follow God and His Holy Word daily - including the commandments within it - and not put ourselves in Ahab's position. God wishes that all His creation and children know and serve Him and be saved, as well as to be happy during our time on this Earth. That means putting God first and doing the right thing in humble and faithful obedience to Him. He given us the Commandments and Jesus Christ's law of love throughout the Holy Bible to guide us. May we try to always do what is right and also know that when we fail, He is there to forgive us and strengthen us. May He help purge us from every sin and set us free to serve Him in humble and wholehearted sincerity, faith and truth.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for calling us to Him and to serve Him. May He equip us to do all that He has called us to do so that as He works through us, He may use us to produce fruit, to reach others, and to encourage all brothers and sisters in Christ. May He work all of these things in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all His creation, for His miraculous ways and for everything He does and has done for us! Keep the faith and keep moving forward in your walk with Jesus!

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

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coffeeman777 · 1 year ago

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Hey kreg, I received the twin series of the covid vaccine and I did not receive the third one because I really don’t think I need to. I tend to workout regularly and want to get stronger and keep working out I already suffer from anxiety and I have had people tell me so and so has passed because tu ey took that vaccine and it did something to their heart and I know Jesus says do not fear, yet at the same time my mind goes 🙃🥲

I totally understand where you are, that fear can be really crazy. I've had some health scares myself over the past two years that really threw me for a loop.

There is a lot of stuff about the vaccines out there that must be scary for everyone who took them, and for those of us who didn't but have family and friends that did. I don't know which way the wind is gonna blow with respect to the science, but as far as faith goes, I can offer you some encouragement.

Nothing is beyond the Lord's power. He can do anything. He is a healer, and He delights in giving good gifts to His children. There is nothing of this earth, whether natural or man-made, that can override God's will. Each of us will die at the time and in the manner that the Lord decides, and your vaccine status isn't going to change anything.

Pray and ask the Lord to heal you from any damage that you may have incurred from the vaccines, and ask Him to keep you healthy and strong. Every time you feel even a little fear about the issue, pray again. Ask the Lord to give you faith to trust Him and His plan. Then just carry on as you normally would. Commit yourself into His care, and try not to worry. If you keep living with no problem, praise God, the Lord gave you what you asked for. And if, for any reason, you suffer some physical set back, trust the Lord for healing and ask Him to help you learn whatever lessons you can from the experience. And if the Lord calls you home, praise God, you get to stop working and be with Him forever.

I'll pray for you. Trust the Lord, come whatever may.

Be blessed!

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troybeecham · 1 year ago

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Today, the Church remembers St. Joseph of Arimathea, Disciple of Jesus, one of the Seventy.

Ora pro nobis.

Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical Christian Gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with Glastonbury, where the stories said he founded the earliest Christian oratory, and also with the Holy Grail legend.

Matthew 27:57 described him simply as a rich man and disciple of Jesus, but according to Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea was "a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God"; and Luke 23:50–56 adds that he "had not consented to their decision and action".

According to John 19:38, upon hearing of Jesus' death, this secret disciple of Jesus "asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission." Joseph immediately purchased a linen shroud (Mark 15:46) and proceeded to Golgotha to take the body of Jesus down from the cross. There, according to John 19:39-40, Joseph and Nicodemus took the body and bound it in linen cloths with the spices that Nicodemus had bought. The disciples then conveyed the prepared corpse to a tomb hewn into rock. The Gospel of Matthew alone suggests that this was Joseph's own tomb (Matthew 27:60). The burial was undertaken speedily, "for the Sabbath was drawing on".

Legends about the arrival of Christianity in Britain abounded during the Middle Ages. Early writers do not connect Joseph to this activity, however.

Tertullian (AD 155–222) wrote in Adversus Judaeos that Britain had already received and accepted the Gospel in his lifetime, writing, "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons—inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ."

Tertullian does not say how the Gospel came to Britain before AD 222.

However, Eusebius of Caesarea, (AD 260–340), one of the earliest and most comprehensive of church historians, wrote of Christ's disciples in Demonstratio Evangelica, saying that "some have crossed the Ocean and reached the Isles of Britain."

Saint Hilary of Poitiers (AD 300–376) also wrote that the Apostles had built churches and that the Gospel had passed into Britain.

The writings of Pseudo-Hippolytus include a list of the seventy disciples whom Jesus sent forth in Luke 10, one of which is Aristobulus of Romans 16:10, called "bishop of Britain".

In none of these earliest references to Christianity’s arrival in Britain is Joseph of Arimathea mentioned. William of Malmesbury's De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae ("On the Antiquity of the Church of Glastonbury", circa 1125) has not survived in its original edition, and the stories involving Joseph of Arimathea are contained in subsequent editions that abound in interpolations placed by the Glastonbury monks "in order to increase the Abbey's prestige – and thus its pilgrim trade and prosperity" In his Gesta Regum Anglorum (History of The Kings of England, finished in 1125), William of Malmesbury wrote that Glastonbury Abbey was built by preachers sent by Pope Eleuterus to Britain, however also adding: "Moreover there are documents of no small credit, which have been discovered in certain places to the following effect: 'No other hands than those of the disciples of Christ erected the church of Glastonbury';" but here William did not explicitly link Glastonbury with Joseph of Arimathea, but instead emphasizes the possible role of Philip the Apostle: "if Philip, the Apostle, preached to the Gauls, as Freculphus relates in the fourth chapter of his second book, it may be believed that he also planted the word on this side of the channel also."

Merciful God, whose servant Joseph of Arimathaea with reverence and godly fear prepared the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, and laid it in his own tomb: Grant to us, your faithful people, grace and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #faith #early church #Celto-British Church #Britain

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 2 years ago

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5th July >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 8:28-34 for Wednesday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’

Wednesday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA) Matthew 8:28-34 The Gadarene swine.

When Jesus reached the country of the Gadarenes on the other side of the lake, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs – creatures so fierce that no one could pass that way. They stood there shouting, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?’ Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding, and the devils pleaded with Jesus, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.’ And he said to them, ‘Go then’, and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off and made for the town, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs. At this the whole town set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave the neighbourhood.

Gospel (USA) Matthew 8:28-34 Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?

When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. They cried out, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go then!” They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.

Reflections (5)

(i) Wednesday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The incident in the life of Jesus described in today’s sounds strange to our ears, in some respects. Clearly, the two people whom Jesus encounters are extremely disturbed. We are told that they were so fierce that no one could pass close to where they lived. Their fierceness had isolated them from others. They lived among the tombs. Their only company were the dead, and they themselves were the living dead. Yet, when Jesus stepped ashore on the other side of the lake of Galilee to where he normally ministered, they approached him. As they did so, they hurled angry questions at him. Most people would have run a mile from them, but not Jesus. He engaged with them and delivered them from their demons. The gospels suggest that no individual and no group was out of bounds as far as Jesus was concerned. He drew close to all, in a life-giving way, even to those whom no one would approach out of fear. The gospel reading is reminding us that no matter how disturbed we may feel within, regardless of how many we have driven out of our lives, the Lord is always close to us. He comes to us to calm the storm within, just as he calmed the storm at sea. Jesus calms the disturbed, and he also disturbs a false calm. When Jesus healed the two disturbed people, their townspeople told Jesus to leave. Everyone had become accustomed to these fierce people living among the dead, where they belonged; they didn’t want their ordered world disturbed. Jesus was disturbing their calm. There are times when we need the Lord to disturb our calm, just as there are other times when we need him to calm our disturbance.

And/Or

(ii) Wednesday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading this morning, Jesus comes face to face with aggression. Crossing over to the pagan side of the lake of the Sea of Galilee, he is met by two fiercely disturbed people who aggressively ask him, ‘Why do you want with us, Son of God?’ When people are aggressive towards us we can react in a variety of ways. We can take flight and get as far away from them as possible. We can respond in kind, becoming aggressive ourselves in response to their aggression. Jesus’ response to the aggressive approach of these two people was of a different order. He stayed his ground and he calmed the disturbed aggression of these two men, just as he had earlier calmed the storm on the lake. The gospels suggest that Jesus had a calming influence on disturbance, whether it is to be found in nature or in people. We can find ourselves very disturbed for one reason or another; a storm can be howling within us, whether it is characterized by anger or some other emotion. The gospel reading this morning encourages us to come before the Lord in our disturbed state. We don’t have to wait until we are calm to pray; we can pray out of our disturbance, and the Lord of life will bring calm and peace to our disturbed spirit.

And/Or

(iii) Wednesday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus brings two demoniacs to a greater fullness of life. It is striking that after doing this, the people of the region implored him to leave the neighbourhood. It might have been expected that they would have wanted someone who could bring freedom to the enslaved, to stay among them for some time. Surely, there were others in this region who could benefit from the presence of God’s power at work in Jesus. Perhaps the people were nervous of such power for good, fearing that it might make demands on them. We too can be tempted to ask Jesus to leave our neighbourhood, to leave our lives. We sometimes want to keep him at a distance. We sense that his nearness might be very demanding. He might call us to go out towards those who live on the edge of the community, as he himself went out towards the two demoniacs who lived among the tombs. Yet, if we welcome the Lord into our lives, rather than keeping him at a distance, we will discover that he gives us the strength to respond to the challenging call of his presence and in responding to that call we too will find a greater fullness of life.

And/Or

(iv) Wednesday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus is met by two very disturbed people. They were so disturbed that they lived among the tombs and no one would pass that way for fear of them. Jesus, however, was not afraid of them, even though they initially addressed him in a very aggressive way. Undisturbed by their aggression, Jesus went on to heal them and to restore them to themselves and to the community. Jesus’ power to give life was stronger than the power to damage, destroy and disturb which he confronted. That remains true today. The risen Lord’s life-giving power at work in our lives is stronger than the forces in our world which dehumanize and damage. That is why we need always to be people of hope. The Lord at work among us and through us can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, in the words of Saint Paul. We need to open ourselves to the Lord’s presence so that he can work through us. In contrast to the townspeople in the gospel reading who asked Jesus to leave the neighbourhood, we invite the risen Lord to use us as his instruments in his healing and life-giving work.

And/Or

(v) Wednesday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

There is a strange ending to today’s gospel reading. Jesus had just healed two very disturbed people. They were described as so fierce that nobody could pass near them. They address Jesus very aggressively, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’ Yet, their fierceness and aggressiveness did not deter Jesus from ministering to them. He released them from the spirit that had left them so disturbed. He restored their humanity. Yet, in response to Jesus’ life-giving work, the whole town implored him to leave their neighbourhood. It seems that the local people were more comfortable with having two very disturbed people about than with a display of God’s healing power. Jesus’ liberating ministry did not always meet with welcome and faith. The same is often true of the ministry of the church. The church’s work on behalf of the well-being of others, especially the most vulnerable, does not always meet with a welcoming response. Sometimes our own efforts to do what is best for the well-being of others does not always meet with a welcoming response either. Our efforts to share in the Lord’s liberating ministry will often leave us exposed to the same negative response as he experienced. Yet, the Lord remained faithful to the good work that God had sent him to do. We, as members of the church, are called to that same faithfulness. We try to keep doing the Lord’s life-giving work, regardless of how it is received by others.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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