#his name is primarily sin but I embrace any meanings

[sysirauta]

It took me this many years to art Pride with any pride flag during Pride Month. Anyway here you go.

[eveningstar1516]

Rise of the Demon King ~ Chapter 9

Rise of the Demon King

Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: I gotta Discord server guys! It's primarily Obey Me but other fandoms are welcome as well. It's kinda baby and dead so me and the other members are looking to revive it and we'd love for you to come join us. A roleplay area is included :) https://discord.gg/F3YEmDZCPS Please remember to read and accept the rules once you join for access to all the channels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previously: “Of course, what are big brothers for. Anyway, about my payment, maybe you can forget about the money I owe ya?” Groaning, Levi started walking faster, leaving Mammon and his whining behind as he made his way back to the safety of his room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 9 - Not So Different After All (1754 words)

You were practicing your swordsmanship in the garden clearing when Michael approached you. You’ve been living with the council for 3 decades by now and was confidently running them like Lucifer used to. This left you little time for yourself and you cherished these moments to yourself. That doesn’t mean you don’t like teasing Michael from time to time.

“Good afternoon Y/N”

“Good afternoon to you too Mike. What’s up?”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” “Just be glad I don’t call you that at work. Anyway, how can I help you?”

“May I join you?”

“I don’t see why not, but on one condition. If I win, tell me why you despise Lucifer and why you refuse to call him by his new name. If you win, I’ll answer 2 questions with complete honesty, no restrictions on the type of question.”

Michael visibly stiffened at this. He contemplated this for a moment then agreed. He summoned his sword and stood opposite of me in a ready position. I matched his stance and parreyed off with him, signalling the start of our match. Michael started with a calculated quick strike to my neck. I brought my sword up to block his strike and tried to twist it from his grip but he pulled back and made a quick swing toward my left leg. I jumped up and switched to offence striking for his sword arm trying to land a hit. He saw this and backed away. This continued on for a few minutes. Michael attacking and me blocking and returning the favour. After a few more strikes, I saw an opening, he shifted his legs a little too wide. I dropped my weight and swept his feet out from under him. Before he realized, he hit the ground and I was standing above him, my right foot on his sword arm and my sword by his throat.

“Looks like I won.” I withdrew my sword and extended my arm to help him up. He grabbed my hand with a distasteful look on his face, ashamed at making such a mistake and losing to someone with less skill and combat experience than him.

“Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

Handing him a towel and some water I sat under a date tree and took a sip from my own bottle.

“Lucifer. I took an interest in it after seeing him practise one day and he took it upon himself to teach me, his excuse being that I should know how to protect myself if I insisted on taking up a blade. Enough of that, you lost, now can you tell me why you despise Lucifer so much?”

Michael took a seat next to me and leaned back against the trunk.

“You mean other than the fact that he went against Father, started a civil war, killed numerous angels, abandoned his duty, embraced the very sins that father forbade us from committing, birthed a demon of wrath, and willingly bowed down to the demon prince and still serves him to this day like a loyal lapdog all because he couldn’t take care of Lillith enough to keep her from trying to break one of our laws to save a human? No, no reason.”

“Wow, and I thought humans were the masters at holding grudges.” I took a swing of my water.

“Think about it, at the root of all that, Lucifer did it to protect his family, to protect his little sister. He may have embraced and embodied the sin of pride, but he pushed all of it away to save her. You don’t really think he serves Diavolo just because he asked him to? His pride would never allow it, and yet he does because by doing so, he can protect his family and the ones he loves. Isn’t that a virtue in Father's eyes, protecting loved ones no matter what you need to sacrifice?”

“Well yes, to an extent. You are supposed to do that, unless it means you defy him. If protecting your family results in you turning your back to him, he’d tell you to leave them behind.”

“Why do you keep calling Lucifer "Samael"?”

“That is the name Father gave him, that is the name I will call him. Samael was my brother and I don’t want to remember him for the destruction he caused but for the moments we shared as brothers. He was the pride of the heavens. Despite that, he embodied humility. He never took advantage of his authority. He always made sure the minority were heard. He worked himself to the point of exhaustion as Father's right hand. He never let the praise get to his head. Despite all that, he still embodied pride. He would never ask for help insisting that he could take care of things. He still took in his siblings and raised them, despite the burdens that were already placed on his shoulders. I used to look up to him and saw him as a role model. I accepted the fact that he is no longer an angel and is now a completely different being. In my mind, Lucifer and Samael are 2 separate creatures. I will remember him as Samael, my brother and best friend and Lucifer as the demon serving Lord Diavolo.”

“Would it make you feel better if I told you that they aren’t that different from each other? Samael may have taken all the burden and worked himself till he passed out from exhaustion, but Lucifer still does that. I can’t tell you the number of times I would enter his study just to find him clinging to consciousness trying to finish the never ending paperwork for both the Devildom and from his brother's antics. He does his best and works himself to the bone to make sure that his family has a roof over their heads, enough food to eat which I got to tell you is hard considering they are living with someone who embodies the sin of gluttony. He works himself to make sure that Diavolo doesn’t do the same and can focus on running his kingdom and school without having to worry too much about what goes on behind the scenes. Even with all those responsibilities he took, he still makes sure to be there and protect his family. He raised Satan as a first time father with no knowledge on demonic children. He always set aside some time each week, no matter how busy he is to spend some time with the rest of us. He may be harsh, but he isn’t heartless. He may look incapable of it, but he is very caring and compassionate towards the ones he holds close to him. He is still very much the Samael you knew, he just looks a little different.”

“Was your intention just to tell me these things so that I wouldn’t act distasteful to you or Samael?” “No, I just wanted you to see things from an outsider's perspective, nothing more.”

With that, I got up and left Michael in the garden to think about what I had said as I went to shower and finish up any outstanding work before dinner.

In the Devildom After they lost Y/N

After they lost Y/N, Asmo could barely function. Some days, he would lock himself in his room and not come out for days on end. When Beel would come and drop off some food, Asmo would always insist he just leave it outside the door. When Beel would come back to collect the plate, he found that only a small portion was eaten and that more than half of the food was left. They would never find out that it was because he was unintentionally starving himself and that he was dropping his self care routine. Other times he would leave for days on end and when he did eventually come home, he was either stoned or drunk out of his mind, but he always had a lingering scent of sex on him. It continued on like this for weeks before Satan found him. Asmo had just come back after being missing for a week and once again refused to leave his room. This time, Satan insisted on delivering his food. He needed to check on his little brother no matter how much Asmo didn’t want him to. When he got to the door he knocked and announced he was coming in. Without waiting for a reply, Satan broke the lock on the door and was greeted with an emotionally exhausted and physically wrecked Asmo laying face up on his bed. Tears streaming down his face. Satan closed the door and looked around the room noticing how everything was thrown around and the state of what used to be one of the most organized rooms in the house, now looking like a hot mess. Carefully, he cleared a spot on his dresser, making sure nothing got damaged in the process and set the tray down. Next he went to the washroom, equally messed up, and located a washcloth. He ran it under some warm water and went back to Asmo, carefully wiping away any tears and smudged make-up. Slowly, Asmo opened his eyes to look up at the soft expression on Satan’s face. He turned his head the other and screwed his eyes shut.

“Asmo, look at me.”

When he didn’t turn his head, Satan asked again, a little softer and put a comforting hand on his shoulder to ground him.

“Asmo, can you please look at me?”

Slowly, Asmo turned his head towards Satan and reluctantly opened his eyes. Satan gently lifted him up and pulled him into an embrace. Asmo couldn’t take it anymore and broke down on Satan’s shoulder. Satan rubbed soothing circles on Asmo’s back and stroked his tangled hair, grounding him. Eventually, when Asmo stopped crying, he pulled away from Satan with a sad smile on his face. Satan cupped his right cheek.

“It’s alright, we all miss them too. It’s ok to break down. When was the last time you took care of yourself?”

“I don’t know,” Asmo mumbled.

“That’s alright. Let’s get some food into your stomach first.”

Satan spent the rest of the night by his brother's side, cleaning his room and slowly, step by step, bringing back how his brother usually looked like. A glowing masterpiece, worthy of both envy and praise.

[morethanaprincess-a]

@despairfiles​ said:  ship bias + DR2 muses edition

Ship Bias meme (please send a theme for these if possible! Otherwise it’s hard for me to think of ships after awhile)

I’ll start with the three most obvious ships I have for Sonia for Danganronpa 2. Obvious in the sense that I’m currently or have written these ships on this blog:

Sonia/Gundham - My favorite ship of canon muse ships, period. I mean, I could go on and on about why I adore them, why they work so well, and why their relationship dynamic is just such fun to write no matter the verse they’re in. But in short, I love them, I’m always thinking about them, and if the chemistry is good, I always want to write Gundham/Sonia content.

The day I don’t want to write or share or post Gundham/Sonia content in any capacity, please assume something is seriously wrong. 

Sonia/Nagito - Here’s the amusing thing about this ship: until I saw Jenny/ @hcpefulmarshmallow​‘s Nagito, I wasn’t actually a big Nagito fan (Jenny please don’t hate me for this I love him now I swear). I feel like in the DR fandom, Nagito is a character you either really love or really loathe due to how polarizing some of his words and actions can be. I was bordering on indifferent towards Nagito based on the canon, but after following and writing with Jenny’s Nagito and all of the excellent headcanons incorporated for him? I now really adore Nagito and the Nagito/Sonia ship. They’re so supportive of one another and just want the happy, loving family dynamic that neither of them ever had. 

Sonia/Hajime - Like I was going to leave this one out, and it’s primarily due to Sin’s portrayal of Hajime. While I’ve seen some fanfics and art support this ship, the fandom in general is sleeping on it. The combination of snark and salt with kindness and patience is just too wholesome, and Sonia definitely admires Hajime’s leadership qualities throughout the game (though we won’t talk about some of the interactions, namely the whole ‘you look like the hero from Novoselic’s legend’ bit. Because that part of the canon sucked). But finding one another in a post-game verse as they’re both struggling with moving past feelings for other muses? Top-notch angst. Pre and during-DR 2 they might be interested in one another, but post-DR 2? They need each other. They just have to figure that out.

And two ships that I’m not currently writing and have yet to write on this blog:

Sonia/Akane - Both of these girls make family and leadership priorities, but in very different situations. I like the combination of Akane’s energy and extroversion with Sonia’s refined sensibilities, though they both can get considerably excited about their favorite things. Also: the chance for bonding in a post-DR 2 verse, despite how angsty it can (and will likely) get. 

Sonia/Peko - One of my favorite DR ships for Sonia that I’ve yet to write! Two girls with a deep sense of duty, tradition, and following the paths they were born to. Beyond being intrigued and impressed by each other’s skills, I can see Peko’s serious and focused nature complimenting Sonia’s warm and cheerful one quite well, and vice-versa. These two would definitely have some cute, fuzzy pets should they become a couple and live together.

And the honorable (dishonorable?) mention:

Sonia/Kazuichi - I do ship this for her, but in a very limited and likely highly plotted capacity. Both Kaz and Sonia need to grow up a bit before they can enter anything resembling a healthy relationship (or at least, for Sonia to even consider it). The obvious change is that Kazuichi needs to knock Sonia off the pedestal he’s put her on and love her for her, not the fantasy of a hot blonde princess he’s got in his head. But Sonia too needs to be nicer to him, especially if he makes an effort to treat her respectfully. I feel that there’s plenty that happened to Kazuichi in the past that’s made him the way he is, especially where Sonia and his idealization of her is concerned. Embracing some of each other’s interests (or at least respecting them) would also be an excellent step past the initial ones I’ve listed above, too. I like these two in a university or adult verse if it’s a Non-Despair/UTDP situation, or a post-DR 2 verse where, after all the trauma they’ve endured, they’re pretty much forced to grow and evolve.    

[haruatori]

Common list of misconceptions

Had great fun learning about these, maybe now I will remember it better:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions

Fortune cookies, despite being associated with Chinese cuisine in the United States, were invented in Japan and introduced to the US by the Japanese.[11] The cookies are extremely rare in China, where they are seen as symbols of American cuisine.[12]

The United States does not require police officers to identify themselves as police in the case of a sting or other undercover work, and police officers may lie when engaged in such work.[25] Claiming entrapment as a defense instead focuses on whether the defendant was induced by undue pressure (such as threats) or deception from law enforcement to commit crimes they would not have otherwise committed.[26]

Parody singer "Weird Al" Yankovic did not write or perform most of the songs and comedy sketches attributed to him or "Weird Al Yankovich" on the Internet.[48]

The forbidden fruit mentioned in the Book of Genesis is never identified as an apple,[51] a misconception widely depicted in Western art.The original Hebrew texts mention only tree and fruit. Early Latin translations use the word mali, which can mean either "evil" or "apple" depending on if the A is short or long respectively, although the difference in vowel length had already vanished from speech in Latin at the time. In early Germanic languages the word "apple" and its cognates usually simply meant "fruit". German and French artists commonly depict the fruit as an apple from the 12th century onwards, and John Milton's Areopagitica from 1644 explicitly mentions the fruit as an apple.[52] Jewish scholars have suggested that the fruit could have been a grape, a fig, an apricot, or an etrog.[53]

The Bible does not say that exactly three magi came to visit the baby Jesus, nor that they were kings, or rode on camels, or that their names were Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar, nor what color their skin was. Three magi are inferred because three gifts are described, but we only know that they were plural (at least 2); there could have been many more and probably an entourage accompanied them on their journey. The artistic depictions of the nativity have almost always depicted three magi since the 3rd century.[57] The Bible only specifies an upper limit of 2 years for the interval between the birth and the visit (Matthew 2:16), and artistic depictions and the closeness of the traditional dates of December 25 and January 6 encourage the popular assumption that the visit took place in the same season as the birth, but later traditions varied, with the visit taken as occurring up to two years later. The association of magi with kings comes from efforts to tie the visit to prophecies in the Book of Isaiah.[58]

No Biblical or historical evidence supports Mary Magdalene having been a prostitute.[59]

The idea that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute before she met Jesus is not found in the Bible or in any of the other earliest Christian writings. The misconception likely arose due to a conflation between Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany (who anoints Jesus's feet in John 11:1–12), and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anoints Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36–50.[59]

The Quran does not promise martyrs 72 virgins in heaven. It does mention companions, houri, to all people—martyr or not—in heaven, but no number is specified. The source for the 72 virgins is a hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi by Imam Tirmidhi.[74][75] Hadiths are sayings and acts of the prophet Muhammad as reported by others, and as such they are not part of the Quran itself. Muslims are not meant to necessarily believe all hadiths, and that applies particularly to those hadiths that are weakly sourced, such as this one.[76] Furthermore, the correct translation of this particular hadith is a matter of debate.[74] In the same collection of Sunni hadiths, however, the following is judged strong (hasan sahih): "There are six things with Allah for the martyr. He is forgiven with the first flow of blood (he suffers), he is shown his place in Paradise, he is protected from punishment in the grave, secured from the greatest terror, the crown of dignity is placed upon his head—and its gems are better than the world and what is in it—he is married to seventy two wives among wide-eyed houris (Al-Huril-'Ayn) of Paradise, and he may intercede for seventy of his close relatives."[77]

Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were originally painted bright colors; they only appear white today because the original pigments have deteriorated. Some well-preserved statues still bear traces of their original coloration.[127][128]

The accused at the Salem witch trials in North America were not burned at the stake; about 15 died in prison, 19 were hanged and one was pressed to death.[172]

Marie Antoinette did not say "let them eat cake" when she heard that the French peasantry were starving due to a shortage of bread. The phrase was first published in Rousseau's Confessions when Marie was only nine years old and most scholars believe that Rousseau coined it himself, or that it was said by Maria Theresa, the wife of Louis XIV. Even Rousseau (or Maria Theresa) did not use the exact words but actually Qu'ils mangent de la brioche, meaning "Let them eat brioche" (a rich type of bread). Marie Antoinette was a target of attacks from radical jacobins; therefore, political activists attributed the phrase "let them eat cake" to her, to promulgate an image of her as disconnected from her subjects.[173]

Napoleon Bonaparte was not short. He was actually slightly taller than the average Frenchman of his time.[180] After his death in 1821, the French emperor's height was recorded as 5 feet 2 inches in French feet, which in English measurements is 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m).[181] He was actually nicknamed le Petit Caporal (The Little Corporal) as a term of endearment.[182] Napoleon was often accompanied by his imperial guard, who were selected for their height[183]—this may have contributed to a perception that he was comparatively short.

There was no widespread outbreak of panic across the United States in response to Orson Welles's 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Only a very small share of the radio audience was even listening to it, and isolated reports of scattered incidents and increased call volume to emergency services were played up the next day by newspapers, eager to discredit radio as a competitor for advertising. Both Welles and CBS, which had initially reacted apologetically, later came to realize that the myth benefited them and actively embraced it in later years.[200]

Rosa Parks was not sitting in the front ("white") section of the bus during the event that made her famous and incited the Montgomery bus boycott. Rather, she was sitting in the front of the back ("colored") section of the bus, where African Americans were expected to sit, but refused to give up her seat to a white man who asked for it (which was also the expected action of African Americans at the time).

Although popularly known as the "red telephone", the Moscow–Washington hotline was never a telephone line, nor were red phones used. The first implementation of the hotline used teletype equipment, which was replaced by facsimile (fax) machines in 1988. Since 2008, the hotline has been a secure computer link over which the two countries exchange emails.[220] Moreover, the hotline links the Kremlin to the Pentagon, not the White House.[221]

Bulls are not enraged by the color red, used in capes by professional matadors. Cattle are dichromats, so red does not stand out as a bright color. It is not the color of the cape, but the perceived threat by the matador that incites it to charge.[238]

Dogs do not sweat by salivating[239] Dogs actually do have sweat glands and not only on their tongues; they sweat mainly through their footpads. However, dogs do primarily regulate their body temperature through panting.[240] (See also: Dog anatomy).

Bats are not blind. While about 70 percent of bat species, mainly in the microbat family, use echolocation to navigate, all bat species have eyes and are capable of sight. In addition, almost all bats in the megabat or fruit bat family cannot echolocate and have excellent night vision.[244]

The notion that goldfish have a memory span of just a few seconds is false.[250][251] It is much longer, counted in months.

There is no such thing as an "alpha" in a wolf pack. An early study that coined the term "alpha wolf" had only observed unrelated adult wolves living in captivity. In the wild, wolf packs operate more like human families: there is no defined sense of rank, parents are in charge until the young grow up and start their own families, younger wolves do not overthrow an "alpha" to become the new leader, and social dominance fights are situational.[254][255]

Mice do not have a special appetite for cheese, and will eat it only for lack of better options. Mice actually favor sweet, sugary foods. It is unclear where the myth came from.[260]

Sunflowers do not always point to the sun. Flowering sunflowers face a fixed direction (often east) all day long, but not necessarily the sun.[287] However, in an earlier developmental stage, before the appearance of flower heads, the immature buds do track the sun (a phenomenon called phototropism) and the fixed alignment of the mature flowers toward a certain direction is often the result.[288]

Petroleum does not originate from dinosaurs but rather bacteria and algae.[308]

No human genome (nor any mammalian genome for that matter) has ever been completely sequenced. As of 2017, by some estimates, between 4% to 9% of the human genome had not been sequenced.[311]

Trickle-down theory of economics does not work.[325]

Waking sleepwalkers does not harm them. While it is true that a person may be confused or disoriented for a short time after awakening, this does not cause them further harm. In contrast, sleepwalkers may injure themselves if they trip over objects or lose their balance while sleepwalking.[332]

Stretching before or after exercise does not reduce muscle soreness.[338]

Exercise-induced muscle soreness is not caused by lactic acid buildup.[339] Muscular lactic acid levels during and after exercise do not correlate with soreness;[340] exercise-induced muscle soreness is thought to be due to microtrauma from an unaccustomed or strenuous exercise, against which the body adapts with repeated bouts of the same exercise.[341]

Shaving does not cause terminal hair to grow back thicker (more dense) or darker. This belief is due to hair that has never been cut having a tapered end, whereas, after cutting, the edge is blunt and therefore thicker than the tapered ends; the sharper, unworn edges make the cut hair appear thicker and feel coarser. That short hairs are less flexible than longer hairs also contributes to this effect.[355]

A person's hair and fingernails do not continue to grow after death. Rather, the skin dries and shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails, giving the appearance of growth.[356]

Acne is mostly caused by genetics, rather than lack of hygiene, eating fatty food, or other personal habits.[360]

The order in which different types of alcoholic beverages are consumed ("Grape or grain but never the twain" and "Beer before liquor never sicker; liquor before beer in the clear") does not affect intoxication or create adverse side effects.[381]

Hand size does not predict human penis size,[385] but finger length ratio may.[386]

There is no physiological basis for the belief that having sex in the days leading up to a sporting event or contest is detrimental to performance.[390] In fact it has been suggested that sex prior to sports activity can elevate male testosterone level, which could potentially enhance performance.[391]

Glass does not flow at room temperature as a high-viscosity liquid.[442] Although glass shares some molecular properties found in liquids, glass at room temperature is an amorphous solid that only begins to flow above the glass transition temperature,[443] though the exact nature of the glass transition is not considered settled among scientists.[444] Panes of stained glass windows are often thicker at the bottom than at the top, and this has been cited as an example of the slow flow of glass over centuries. However, this unevenness is due to the window manufacturing processes used at the time.[443][444] No such distortion is observed in other glass objects, such as sculptures or optical instruments, that are of similar or even greater age.[443][444][445]

Most diamonds are not formed from highly compressed coal. More than 99 percent of diamonds ever mined have formed in the conditions of extreme heat and pressure about 140 kilometers (87 mi) below the earth's surface. Coal is formed from prehistoric plants buried much closer to the surface, and is unlikely to migrate below 3.2 kilometers (2.0 mi) through common geological processes. Most diamonds that have been dated are older than the first land plants, and are therefore older than coal. It is possible that diamonds can form from coal in subduction zones and in meteoroid impacts, but diamonds formed in this way are rare and the carbon source is more likely carbonate rocks and organic carbon in sediments, rather than coal.[446]

Although the Greek philosopher Pythagoras is most famous today for his alleged mathematical discoveries,[452][453] classical historians dispute whether he himself ever actually made any significant contributions to the field.[450][451] He cannot have been the first to discover his famous theorem, because it was known and used by the Babylonians and Indians centuries before Pythagoras,[454][455][456][457] but it is possible that he may have been the first one to introduce it to the Greeks.[458][456]

There is no scientific evidence for the existence of "photographic" memory in adults (the ability to remember images with so high a precision as to mimic a camera),[478] but some young children have eidetic memory.[479] Many people have claimed to have a photographic memory, but those people have been shown to have good memories as a result of mnemonic devices rather than a natural capacity for detailed memory encoding.[480] There are rare cases of individuals with exceptional memory, but none of them has a memory that mimics that of a camera.

[apenitentialprayer]

Hi, are there any catholic theology books you could recommend? I really want to dive deeper into my faith and be ready when somebody tries to bad mouth Catholicism or spread false information. I feel like I should know more than I do? Idk if that makes sense😅

I’m not sure how many books I can recommend that are straight up theology, but I’ll recommend a few, sure! I’m going to start with two that I haven’t actually read yet but have heard good things about; after that, I’ll talk about books I have read and can confirm. First, all of my siblings were given this book the years of their Confirmations; Joe Paprocki’s The Bible Blueprint: A Catholic’s Guide to Understanding and Embracing God’s Word, which is pretty much exactly what it says: a guidebook to learning how to read Scripture. It explains how Catholics view the Bible to be structured, explains different interpretive lenses Catholic theologians have used in analyzing the texts, and ways to quickly locate and reference passages. Likewise, I have heard good things about Matthew Kelly’s Rediscovering Catholicism: A Spiritual Guide to Living with Passion and Purpose, which attempts to bring the essentials of the faith into one easy to read book. I’m looking at the table of contents of my copy now, and among the subjects that the book covers is the basic philosophy of Catholicism, an attempt to describe how to live out an authentically Catholic life, and the practices that are the pillars of a Catholic’s spiritual life. As I have already said, I haven’t read this book, but I have read another of his (which I will recommend next), so I can confirm he is a clear writer. Onward to what I have read.... Matthew Kelly also wrote The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity: How Modern Culture is Robbing Billions of People of Happiness. A very click-baity title, I know. But the book nonetheless has what I thought was a life--changing idea; that as saints in the making, we shouldn’t be worried about the fact that our lives are not continuous streams of holiness. Rather, what makes a saint a saint is that they seize the chance to make moments holy as the opportunities present themselves. Kelly tries to explain how to find those moments where grace presents itself in our lives, and choose to act on those moments. Not so much theology as Christian living, but still, a good (and quick) read. Hilda Graef wrote two books that I am a huge fan of. The first is titled Adult Christianity, and its primary objective is to elaborate on a worldview beyond the “God is the king in the sky who rules all of creation” image. The book tackles the subjects of what it means to believe in a transcendent God, the use of symbolism in religious language, the significance of Christ and how we encounter Him spiritually and in the personhood of our neighbors, and suffering, death, and resurrection. The other one she wrote is The Commonsense Book of Catholic Prayer and Meditation, which talks about the nature of Catholic prayer, the pitfalls many Catholics fall into, and some suggestions concerning methods and guildelines, as well as elaborations upon Eucharistic theology, the cardinal virtues, and praying alongside the liturgical calendar. G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith isn’t really theology in the normal sense of the word, but it nonetheless represents a very important worldview in that it beautifully explains the sense of wonder faith can bring. As the title suggests, Chesterton saw faith primarily through the lens of romance and adventure, and so he emphasizes the fantastical, the paradoxical, the heroic, and the revolutionary elements of Christianity. This is less of an intellectual discussion on Christianity, but more about the mood that faith is capable of producing. Hilaire Belloc wrote a book called The Great Heresies; as the name gives away, it isn’t so much about Catholicism as many of the great movements that have challenged Catholicism (Arianism, Islam, Albigensianism, Protestantism, and Modernism). Nonetheless, what Belloc does is use the differences between Catholicism and these movements to talk about the philosophical underpinnings of these competing theologies. My biggest takeaway from this book is that even seemingly small theological differences can created profoundly different worldviews. I’m going to give you one more modern author before I take a step into the past; Caryll Houselander is the author of one of my favorite books, The Passion of the Infant Christ. This book is important for its concept of the inscape; essentially, the world is patterned after the Life of Christ, which itself is patterned after the Passion of Christ. It’s a good introduction to the concept of typology, but beyond that we have a book with a special reverence for the sacramental aspect of our faith, as well as some profound insights on the Eucharist and how each individual is a mother of the Christ-life. I don’t think I can overestimate how impactful this book was on me. Okay, so now books from the early Church Fathers, which you can find online. I’ll provide links for all of these. The first is one that literally everyone will recommend you; The Confessions of Augustine of Hippo. The book is structured as an autobiography, the story of how Augustine ultimately found the truth of and joined the Catholic faith. It talks about his experiments in philosophy and religion, his relationship with his mother, and the tensions he experienced in his attempts to find God while living a life of fornication. Interspersed throughout are his own observations and thoughts about the nature of God, humanity, sin, and salvation. (X) You might also be interested in his City of God, which is a massive door-stopper of a book that is part Biblical commentary, part history of the world as told through a theological lens, and part defense of Christianity against angry pagans. (x) After that, I’d recommend Athanasius of Alexandria’s On the Incarnation, which provides a short outline of the fall of humanity and its redemption through God’s decision to assume human nature. Athanasius talks about not only why the Incarnation happened, but also how this helps to solve the problem of sin and redemption, and argues against certain arguments made by detractors. (x) Justin Martyr’s First and Second Apologia are two short works that try to justify Christianity in the eyes of the pagan society that he was addressing. He tries to explain some of the similarities between Christian and ‘heathen’ mythology, attempts to show how the great pagan philosophers anticipated Christ in their writings, and provides arguments for how Christians have improved life in the Roman empire. (X, X)

[dailyaudiobible]

09/17/2020 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 25:1-28:13, Galatians 3:10-22, Psalms 61:1-8, Proverbs 23:17-18

Today is September 17th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is great to be here with you today just like it is great to be here with you any day. It is a great to be alive upon the earth no matter how crazy things get upon the earth. The life breath of our Father is within us. We are here. Our ears are open, and we invite the Holy Spirit to speak through the word of God as we do every day. And, so, let's dive in. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Isaiah chapter 25 verse 1 through 28 verse 13.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Galatians, the letter to the Galatians from what we read today we…we arrive at justification by faith. And that's a theological term for sure. And…I mean…you know our eyes can glaze over with theological concepts easy enough. I like them…I love them actually, but it's easy enough to…that it becomes cliché - justification through faith. But what is the essence here? And…and we’ve been talking about how Paul was controversial and we’ve even been kind of putting ourselves in the position of his hearers to understand like how complex and how difficult it would've been for them to embrace what Paul is saying and why they thought he was a heretic, but we should understand that this could not have been an easy road for Paul. We met Paul when his name was Saul and when we met him he was persecuting people who believed in Jesus trying to stamp this message out, even being present at the first…the first recorded martyrdom, that of Stephen, where Saul’s there holding everybody's cloak while they’re killing, like throwing rocks at Stephen until he dies, which cannot be a good way to go. Paulk’s on his way to Damascus to continue the same, right, when he meet…when he meets Jesus. And, so, you can only imagine like the complete rewiring of a whole system that you have given your life to, the just…the complete disruption of it all for Paul so that he has to go and just really examine what it is he believes as it's being revealed by Jesus. And, so, we can see why Paul would start at the beginning with Abraham and move forward. And we can see why things would start to click for Paul, once he does that because he begins to realize there isn't any action, there isn't any kind of obedience to a certain rule or set of rituals that is gonna make us righteous before God. Maybe if somebody could actually live into those things, maybe God is saying, “okay, if you can do all this then you can be righteous, but nobody can, nobody could. So, that can't be the endgame.” So, Paul goes back to the beginning of the story, he goes back to Abraham, he finds out Abraham believed and that belief, that faith in God and what God had said, that trust in the experience that he had had, that this was real and wasn’t gonna be stolen from him, that God had spoken to him, and he believed it, that was counted to him as righteousness. And righteousness was Paul’s goal. That's why he was such a strict Pharisee. That's what they were trying to do, obey the law and be made righteous before God ultimately. So, Paul’s like, “hang on”, basically, “hang on. Abraham didn't have a law to obey and he still was made righteous before God.” In fact, and as we read in our reading today, “the law didn't come for 430 more years. So, what about all those people? Like were they able to be made righteous through faith in God? Because that was the only way. There was no rituals, there was no system of organization…organizing the people around something. They believed and were made righteous. This is the origin of justification by faith.” And, so, then, having that laid out, having that perspective unpacked, then Paul says, and I quote him, “is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” It's back to his original, his…his constant argument. The law shows you that you are impossibly separated from God and dying that way unless you can achieve it, like unless you can live a perfectly. But you can't and Abraham didn't either. He believed. He believed. He trusted God. And, so, for Paul, he’s like “that's all we have to do here. Like, that's the long and short of it. We have to believe and allow that belief to transform us because we are experiencing the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is transforming us from within and leading us forward into life.” I mean we could just…you know…put an exclamation point there or whatever, and just go, “there, that's the story, like that's what he’s saying”, because that is what he’s saying. We just have to acknowledge based on all of the back story that we have…that we've entered into is that, as good of news as this was it was like too good, right? Like too good, too simple. Like “really, that's it. I believe and then I die, and I’m resurrected, and I relax. I…I…I fall into the soft pillow of grace and I am then enveloped by the arms of the one that I can now call Father, Abba, God, the God that I'm so afraid of, that I'm following all of the rituals to try to…to try to stay on His good side. The hoops that I'm jumping through, the levers that I'm pulling, the recipes that I'm building, the stew of my life that I'm trying…trying to whip up, all of that's not gonna get me there, like that doesn't do anything? All I have to do is believe and let God transform me?” That is good news friends. That is the good news. And it was difficult good news for many to embrace. And then we gotta look in the mirror. What recipes are we making? What rituals are we following? What hoops are we jumping through? What levers are we trying to pull to get the same thing to get the attention of God and try to stay on His good side when it's all done? All we have to do is believe and fall back into it, ease back into it. Yes, yes, we have to fight the flesh. Yes, we have to live into sanctification. Yes, it requires a lot of things, primarily endurance, but we’re not in this alone, we’re not navigating alone. It's done. Our Father loves us enough to…enough to be so intimate with us that He dwells inside of us. He is within us. It is His work of sanctification. It is His work of conversion. It is His work of restoration and renewal. It's not our work. We keep trying…we keep trying to be made righteous. We can't. We can’t be made righteous. We can believe and become righteous because of the gift of God that is constantly at work within us. May we live into this good news. May this good news accelerate inside of us the transformation happening, moment by moment, day by day step by step as we continue our journey through life with our Father.

Prayer:

Father You are so good. When we understand this, You are so good. And, so, much that You have made available to us through faith we’re still trying to earn and we’re still feeling guilty every single step of the way because we can't earn it. When You have to find moments of exasperation, I suppose You don't, Your God, but You have to have these moments where it's, “like my darling, my son, my daughter, my precious one, You don't have to do this, it's done. Let's enjoy being together. Let's enjoy life together. And as You live into this and it transforms You then You will be doing what You're supposed to be doing. You will be shining brighter than You can possibly know.” Help us live into this. Come Holy Spirit, well up from within us. Help us to live this today. We ask in the name of the risen Christ. Amen.

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And, as always, we’re a community of prayer and we love each other well by praying for each other and caring for each other. If you have prayer request, if you're carrying the burdens that you’re trying to shoulder, they just happen to be crushing you, maybe you don't have to do that completely by yourself. Maybe just calling in, just letting…just releasing it, just saying it out loud and releasing it and knowing that no matter what happens thousands and thousands of people are going to pray for you. That makes a difference, a pretty profound difference. So, you can always reach out. There is a hotline built right into the app that no matter where we are on this big blue planet, as long as there's an Internet tower somewhere, we have a hotline. We can reach out. So, be aware of that. That's in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi everybody it’s Carla Jean from Promp Nevada I’m calling with praise report. Many of you remember that last year I was divorced from my husband of 25 years and at the beginning of this year I lost my job and I was homeless and he allowed me to stay in his guestroom and we rekindled our relationship and on Friday, September 11th on what would’ve been our 27th wedding anniversary we were remarried. I know that many of you had prayed and I’m just so thankful for this community. And today on the 13th Brian read from second Corinthians 13:11, “rejoice, strive for full restoration. Encourage one another. Be of one mind. Live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.” Thank you, my brothers and sisters for encouraging me, for being of one mind, and for living a life of peace. Please know that I pray for all of you every single day. I love you and I’m just rejoicing. God bless. Bye.

Hi this is Paul from Wales my DABber name is Why I Follow Jesus 365 which I run on Facebook but today I was out on mission again. I’m just grateful for the way that following the DAB has absolutely changed my life over the last five years. And saw another two people saved this morning. That’s either the 28 or 29. Got three people in the message book waiting to discuss Jesus. Be praying for them for a while. And just want to give a praise report. God’s at work. It’s fantastic. It’s going brilliant and none of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t started with DAB. And it’s just changed my life to walk the walk and be encouraged. That’s were called to do. And as much as giving mission and telling people God loves you and has a perfect plan for your life it really is about us learning to be obedient. And until we do as He tells us people won’t be saved and it’s just hopefully an encouragement for somebody no matter the difficulties in the challenges. And the other fantastic thing is I learned this week to really follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance in my personal life over things like buying cars. And none of that what I even have attempted to consider before DAB. So, thank you bless you take care stay safe in America, terrible what I’m seeing on the news. You’re in my prayers. Take care.

[Singing starts] dear God please help all the people that are in the fire. Please help them to be safe and not to get hurt. Please help them to know that you’re with them. Dear Lord, we love you so much. Dear Lord, we love you. You’re in our heart. We’re in yours too. Please help other people to learn about you [singing stop’s]. Thank you.

Hi, DABbers this is Kari from California I am also a longtime listener in the first-time caller. Today is Monday the 14th I was just listening to the prayers and Sue’s from California I heard your prayer and just wanted to call and thank you for calling in for the first time to ask for prayer for your family. I was so touched by your message and will be praying for you and your family but also just encouraged by the faith that all of you have as you’re in the midst of all these challenges and a lot of unknown. You are standing strong in your faith and your encouragement has encouraged me and will encourage others. So, Lord we just lift up Sue’s and her family Lord. We lift up her husband who’s on hospice now and we just ask for Your intervention Lord. Be with the family as they walk through this time with him. Lord lift up Sue’s and ask that You would just take this depression away Lord, that You would flood her with Your peace and encourage her for her daughter and this cancer Lord. We ask for a miraculous healing. We rebuke this in Your name Father, and we claim healing for her daughter that she wouldn’t even have to start this chemo in October. And for her son, whatever is going on there that he’s not ready to share Lord that we also ask for healing for him. We ask for healing for Sue’s colon and we just ask Your grace and peace and mercy on this family. DABbers I love you all. Thank you for this community. Have a blessed day.

Hi, good morning this is Jeanette from Denmark. I’d really appreciate some prayer. I have recently had a virus and my body’s been trying to get back to normal after it. And I take some medicine to help keep my immune system up and when that is playing together with an infection it usually means I don’t sleep very well. I want to share what the Lord comforted me with last night while praying, that, yes, He is our God who sees us but He’s not a human being like people who only can look. He’s our shepherd who sees us through everything. When Abraham’s son Ishmael was together with his mother, the Egyptian slave in the desert, God didn’t just let them go. He sent an angel to provide water and encouragement. And our God is the very best shepherd we have. He’s more powerful than everything that is around us, no matter what it is. I love you guys over in the states. I am…I’m praying for you guys during the election season. Remember to guard the door of your heart. Be careful what goes in your eyes and your ears and have peace. The Lord sees you. The Lord knows you and He loves you.

Hi, Brian hi DABbers this is Emily in Seattle. I haven’t called in a while. I just wanted to let you know that things are good. Things are really good. I’m still dealing with my vision loss and that isn’t fun but everything else in our life can be summarized in one word, grace. The grace is abounding more and more in these last days and I pray you guys feel His grace as much as I do and are experiencing His grace even through all the hardships that we’re going through in these last days of COVID and everything happening in the world. And I just wanted to let you know that I love you all very, very much. God bless you guys so, so much. Keep listening to the DAB. Keep out there with your faith. Keep the faith going. You got this. I love you all. Bye.

[skellylicious]

The Ending

I suppose this was inevitable. Aloe and I had a falling out back in August of 2018, and even before then, she no longer had time to write with me anymore. At this point, I feel that I have to do this in order for both myself and Voidster to have closure. Voidster needs to be able to move on with his story and his relationships with other muses, without being held back by his damaged relationship with his mate, G. 

If you haven’t already, you can read about Voidster and his mate here. I consider this to be the conclusion to The Sin Mansion, but I’m still unsure whether to post it on AO3. I’m sorry about this. I know a lot of people shipped Voidster and G, but I no longer have the heart to write them together. Everything comes to an end eventually. (This story mentions spokenwithhands’s muse, (not by name), but it is primarily about allocatealoe’s muse, who is also called G. Sorry for any confusion!)

He rested his palm against the cool glass of the window. It was winter, but the snow on the ground had been melted by a steady downpour of rain. Outside was grey and dismal, much like his mood. Every time he returned home, he found himself spending less and less time there. G actively ignored him most of the time. When he wasn’t ignoring Voidster, he spoke in the flat monotone he had affected for dealing with humans, primarily. A voice he used on strangers, not with his mate.

The girl rarely left her room now, and Voidster let her be. He had touched her only once since they had brought G back from the brink of death together, and her typical reaction of fear and disgust had unnerved him, somehow. Instead of soft human flesh in his grasp, he had seemed to see a fragile, skeletal limb. He had expected to look up and see a fearful half-face spilling over with indigo galaxies and stars.

Since then, he had left her alone. And in turn, G had taken more interest in her. He moved her things to the bedroom right beside his office, and spoke more frequently with her, as if she were his equal. As if...he cared for her. While his soul spilled over with disdain for Voidster, his mate, he showed only tenderness to the human. At first Voidster wasn’t sure what to make of it. Now, the pieces had begun to fit together, and the shape of the puzzle left him shaken.

He wouldn’t normally have heard his mate approach, but since G’s leg had been crippled, he made the faintest whisper of sound when he moved. Despite the surgery, despite Voidster’s best efforts to repair the damage he had done, some consequences of his insanity remained. The slight limp that now affected G’s leg was the least of these consequences.

“You’re home.” He hadn’t expected G to make the first move, to open the conversation. G had not sought Voidster out since they had returned from the prison, where G had gone to die. Against the slight ache in his soul, Voidster turned. As he expected, G’s face was flat, expressionless. When he spoke again, his words were too.

“I want you to leave.”

Hearing G say this stirred memories within Voidster. Memories of when he had first arrived in this timeline with the intent to stay. G had tried everything to force him to leave. He had tortured Voidster, tried to kill him, even tried to fling him back into the void. But Voidster wouldn’t leave. He’d had nowhere to go, and G presented a worthy challenge for his abilities. A strong male that intrigued and enticed him. He had stayed. And then, when Sun had died, G had needed him to stay. He had finally embraced Voidster, as Voidster had always dreamed of happening. He had wanted him, he had even said he loved him.

For a long time, it was enough for both of them. G was in agony over the loss of his human mate, and Voidster provided the comfort he needed, in the form of specialized torture and vicious sex that left them both aching and satisfied. And it kept escalating. They kept pushing each other harder and harder, fighting and making love with the ferocity of beasts. They cared for their human pet together, and tortured other, different humans together in an effort to replicate her shimmering gray soul. The research had been intriguing, but more than that, it had been a thing that further bound them together. A common purpose that gave them something to strive for besides mutually assured destruction.

There were no subjects in the basement now. It was silent and empty, the black stains of G’s blood still splattered on the table where Voidster had destroyed his leg. That room had been the one he always used when G was hurting and in need of the tender therapy of his blades. Now it had been violated, saturated with remembered hatred and violence. Voidster couldn’t bring himself to enter, even to clean the mess that had been left during his rut.

G would never forgive him for what he had done. That much was clear. It was shown in the loathing in his face whenever Voidster entered a room. It was shown in the bitter silence that had settled between them like an impenetrable mist.

At first, Voidster had thought...had hoped...that this recovery would be no different from the rest. It was hardly the first time he had hurt G, had scared him, had broken trust. But once G had recovered from his time in the human prison, it was clear this was not the case. He had bitterly blamed G for being so spiteful, for being so implacable and unforgiving, at first. But slowly, over time, he had come to realize the severity of the damage he had done. Not just physically, but emotionally.

G made a noise in his throat, and Voidster glanced back up at him, then felt something on his cheek. He slowly raised his claws to face, and felt shocked when they came away wet. He was...crying? How strange. He cleared his throat, and finally said, [Very well.]

G nodded slowly, and Voidster continued. [How long do you want me to leave you for? You realize I have hardly been here, I have given you space, as you have seemed to desire it. But you can’t patrol the entire property by yours-] “Forever.”

Voidster halted, shocked. Forever? G couldn’t mean that. He needed Voidster. Yes, he was angry at him now, and would perhaps never forgive him for what had happened, but Voidster was still needed to help protect the property from intruders, to watch over G, to eventually warm his bed again. He gave a weak chuckle, running his claws over his skull in a sweeping motion, stopping when he realized his hand was trembling.

[Forever? Don’t be dramatic, G. You know that you need me here, a-and besides that, this is my home.]

G’s expression hardened, the white pinpricks of his eyes standing out in the shadows of the still room. “This was your home,” he corrected slowly, his voice cold and static-laced. “No longer, Voidster. I don’t need you like I once did. I don’t want you.”

The cold in G’s voice was nothing compared to the freezing sensation in Voidster’s soul. He felt numb, this couldn’t be happening. He hadn’t expected G to forgive him, but to say he no longer needed him? To say that he no longer wanted him? G was lying, he had to be, but as Voidster searched his face, he found no trace of a lie. The ice in his heart was pierced by a searing heat, and he took a step forward, angry. [How dare you. After everything I have done for you, after everything we have shared together! Have you forgotten my promise? If you abandon me, I will unleash the full force of my rage upon this world, I will destroy everything you hold dear. Is that what you want? For the girl to die? For your human friends to die?]

G remained motionless, his eyes narrowing. “That was true, once. But now? If you carry out your threats, Voidster, I will ensure that the people you have come to care about find out what you have done. If you destroy this timeline, it will follow you to every timeline you visit thereafter. I will ensure it.”

Voidster paused in his tirade, suddenly cautious. [What are you talking about?]

Sneering, G took something from his pocket, tossing it toward him. Voidster’s phone landed on the floor with a soft thump, the screen opened to a picture of the eldritch being he had claimed as his pet. The one who shared G’s name, but little else with the hateful lich standing before him, except perhaps Voidster’s care for them both. Voidster was silent, staring down at the phone, at the picture before him.

“You were far from subtle about your relationship with him, Voidster. About your friendship with the others in that timeline you’ve been visiting. Did you think I would not notice your wounds having been healed after our fights? That I would not notice their scents upon your hide? You did nothing to hide the pictures or messages on your phone from them. And I have the information to contact them, now.”

His mind wasn’t working, all he could do was stare down at the picture of that familiar, beloved face. If his pet found out...if Bird found out...surely he would never be allowed near them again. The bar he had come to regard as a second home, the room he had been given in Bird’s home...he would lose that.

The threat he had made to destroy G’s timeline had been made almost two years ago. Yet so much had changed in the past few months. Voidster had never believed he was capable of coming to care for anyone but his mate. And yet...the thought of losing his pet, of losing the others he had grown familiar with...it filled him with dread.

[You are making me leave because of this other male? Because of this other timeline?]

At that, G looked almost amused, giving a slight shake of his head. “No, Voidster. I’m not angry that you’ve found someone new to torment. I am...relieved. I am relieved to be rid of you. You were my own personal demon for far, far too long. Now you are somebody else’s cross to bear.”

Voidster felt the sting of those words, flinching slightly at the venom in G’s voice. He had known G was angry at him, he had known that G had not forgiven him. He hadn’t known that G had grown to hate him so much. His naturally violent and volatile nature struggled to surface, but it was subdued by the pain and dread saturating his soul. Stooping, he picked up the phone, slipping it into his trouser pocket with a gentleness that belied the extremity of his emotion.

“I’ve packed your things, and left them on the kitchen table. Your blades, your instruments, the drugs, the trinkets you’ve collected. All of it. Take it and go. Go to that other timeline, and never come back.”

A pained snarl was building in his throat, burning and aching to be released. But he refused. His face felt like a mask, too stiff and heavy to reflect the turmoil within him. G had given him no choice. But there was one last thing.

[And the girl?]

G paused, then said slowly, “She is mine now. Consider her your payment for the pain you have caused me. Besides, where would you take her? Your friends don’t know about her, do they? They don’t know how you’ve hurt her, how you’ve raped and tortured her.” [It was no more than you did!] He said with a snarl, his claws clenching into a fist. [Acting as if you had never taken her against her will, as if you had never harmed her. How amusing.] He wasn’t amused, he was furious. [Tell me, has your weakness for human girls finally won? Will you make her your new mate when I’m gone? Love her until your soul breaks from it, and you finally shatter into dust when she dies? FINE! I wish you both the joy of your suffering!]

His words didn’t seem to affect G as he had hoped. The other man simply shrugged, his eyes never leaving Voidster. “That is no longer your concern. What happens to her...what becomes of me. That is a story you are no longer part of.”

Voidster’s shoulders sagged. His anger drained from him, leaving him empty and aching. [You truly want me to leave.]

“Yes.”

[Then, there is nothing more to say.]

“No. Take your things and leave, Voidster. I wish…” G paused, a distant, almost pained expression in his eyes. “I wish that I had never met you. You’ve brought me nothing but pain. Leave me in peace, now. It is the only way your debt can be repaid.”

Voidster was silent and motionless, the white noise of the rain enveloping them both. His soul seemed to shudder within him, the fractures growing deeper and wider. After several long moments, he finally stirred, forcing his foot to lift, forcing himself to take a step toward G, to walk past him to the kitchen.

When he was near, when he felt his mate’s heat, when G’s scent drifted into his jaws, he almost faltered. He wanted nothing more than to turn and envelop the smaller male in his arms, to keep him, to refuse to leave. How he ached for the comfort of a single embrace, a touch, any sort of connection. But G stepped away from him, and the moment was over. Shoulders slumping, Voidster kept walking.

He walked into the kitchen, and saw some unfamiliar luggage on the table. G must have purchased it just for this. For some reason, that thought hurt even more. There wasn’t much to carry, just the barest remnants of the life he had shared with the lich, of the work he had done here with him. He was leaving behind much more than he was taking.

He gathered the bags into his arms, holding them for a moment and looking around, committing the details of this home to memory. When movement caught his eye, he paused, his gaze lighting on the girl. She was in a pale nightgown, her long blonde hair falling down to her waist. She didn’t look surprised, he realized. She had known, G had told her. Of course he had.

Rallying himself, he inclined his head toward her, unable to hide his pain. [Pet,] he rumbled, and she met his eyes warily, her hand gripping the doorframe.

“What is it?” she finally said, her voice barely audible.

For a long moment, he didn’t speak, bowing his head. Then he raised it, his eyes glittering with unshed tears. [Take care of him.]

She hadn’t expected that, he could tell. But she smiled a little sadly, and nodded. “I will, Voidster.”

[Good.]

He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to do this. For a moment he even forgot how, his magic swirling uncertainly within him, not remembering how to access the void. Then he thought of his pet, of that other home in his pet’s timeline. Not his true home, but now the only place he had left. Instinct took over, and he finally stopped fighting it, letting his magic draw him away. Forever.

[aion-rsa]

Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again

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This article is sponsored by As a species, humans have more or less always been obsessed with vampires. (The earliest references to blood-drinking creatures date back to ancient Mesopotamia, believe it or not.) But the way we relate to these creatures has shifted throughout the centuries, as legends, folklore, and popular culture have adapted to the needs and fears specific to respective societies. 

Published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula may have sparked a particular vein of horror story that continues to this day (looking at you, American Horror Story: Double Feature), but Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, published in 1976, changed how audiences relate to bloodsuckers forever and plenty of contemporary vampire tales have continued to cast the creatures as broody, desirous, long-suffering anti-heroes burdened by the weight of immortality. 

But don’t expect bestselling Australian author Jay Kristoff’s new book, Empire of the Vampire, to follow this modern trend. In this story, the first in a new epic fantasy trilogy, vampires are 100% terrifying again, vicious monsters who kill violently and indiscriminately, and whose powers mean that few humans are capable of standing against them for long. 

“When I was a kid, vampires were the monsters under the bed. They were the scary things that were trying to eat the good people,” Kristoff explains during a wide-ranging conversation with Den of Geek. “I grew up reading books like Salem’s Lot and watching films like The Lost Boys and Near Dark. Those were the vampires that I grew up with.” 

Those aren’t generally the sorts of vampires we tend to see in much contemporary fiction nowadays, however. From The Vampire Diaries and True Blood to the Twilight franchise, recent mainstream pop culture has embraced the idea of the vampire as a version of the ultimate bad boy boyfriend, a secretly romantic figure still searching for true love after centuries of loneliness. 

“Over the course of the last 20, 30 years they have evolved into something very different,” Kristoff says. “[And] there’s nothing wrong with exploring that kind of vampire,” he adds, describing himself as a “massive fan” of The Vampire Diaries and firmly “Team Delena” when it comes to the love triangle at the show’s center.  

“The cool thing about [the ‘vampire’ concept] is they’re a dozen different things to a dozen different people. You can have a dozen different vampire fans in the room, and they’ll all tell you a different reason why they like them, why they’re attracted to them.”

Though Kristoff may enjoy the world of The Vampire Diaries—he’s currently making his way through its spin-off The Originals—Stefan and Damon Salvatore were not the sort of creatures whose story he was interested in exploring in Empire of the Vampire. The novel is set in a kingdom where the sun has barely shone for nearly three decades, the dead walk during the daytime, and vicious vampire factions fight for control over the remaining human territories. Its world is bleak and frightening, and his vampires reflect that fact.

“I did want to make them monsters again,” Kristoff says. “I wanted to explore the way eternity and immortality would just warp you beyond all recognition. [How] it would make you inhuman.”

The author cites Rice’s aforementioned Interview with the Vampire as “the biggest influence” on this story. “I’ve loved that book since I was a kid,” he says. “And one of the strong themes that permeates that text is that nothing is forever. Everything goes away on a long enough timeline.” Including the humanity of those who were once human. Kristoff’s novel includes something of a nod to Rice’s work, as the story is framed by our primary protagonist recounting the highs and lows of his life to a vampire historian named Jean-Francois, who is our first consistent glimpse into the removed, detached attitude with which these creatures view human beings.

“Over the course of hundreds upon hundreds of years, if you’re killing a person every night, you very quickly stop seeing people as people and start seeing them as food,” Kristoff explains. “That can’t help but affect your worldview and the way that you interact with it. I don’t think you could help but become inhuman …That’s really what the older vampires in this world are. They’re truly alien and truly monstrous. They look at us the same way that we look at the hamburger that we’re about to eat for dinner.”

Empire of the Vampire is not for the faint of heart. Clocking in at over 800 pages, this is a book bursting with darkness of both the literal and the figurative variety. From the cataclysmic event known as “daysdeath,” which literally darkens the sun to violent, to bloody battles between the living and the dead that lead to (multiple) heartbreaking deaths, this is not a story that’s here to coddle its readers or pull any punches, narratively or figuratively speaking. 

“There’s only [redacted] named characters—as in major characters—left alive at the end of the book,” Kristoff teases. “Everybody else is dead.” 

But as a result, Empire of the Vampire is also genuinely compelling, a rich, layered story that embraces real stakes and wrestles with complex questions about faith, belief, and family, both found and otherwise. 

“It’s the biggest book that I’ve written. It’s definitely the hardest book that I’ve written,” Kristoff says, whose previous works include the Nevernight trilogy, another massive fantasy shot through with violence, corruption, and complex stakes. “Now that I’m at the tail end of it, [I think] it’s the best book that I’ve ever written. I’m more proud of this novel than anything I’ve ever written in my life, and that’s against some pretty stiff competition.” 

Ostensibly, Empire of the Vampire follows the story of Gabriel de Leon, the last Silversaint, a member of an elite order of warriors who have sworn their lives to the Church in order to defend the world from the encroaching vampire plague. The novel is his reflection upon his own life, told from what feels very much as though it could be the end of it, imprisoned by the very creatures he was once charged with hunting. 

Told in split narratives that look back at the beginning of his time as a Silversaint and his final desperate journey to save the world, Empire of the Vampire not only shows us a hero in crisis but one who has forgotten why he wanted to be a hero in the first place.

“[Gabe’s story] is two sides of the same coin,” Kristoff explains. “One, when he’s young and passionate and thinks all the world is good and bright and he can be a positive force in it. And the other one where he’s gotten old and realized that things don’t always work out the way they do in the storybooks.”

Though Gabe was once the sort of hero who tends to have songs written about them, by the time he’s recounting his great deeds to his vampire captors, he’s become more of a “fallen hero” whose story is primarily “about redemption, or at least a reclamation of faith.” 

“Faith was something that was really important to him as a young guy,” explains Kristoff, “but terrible things happened to him over the course of his life and he lost his faith, as many of us do. Part of his journey, at least in Empire, is about finding something to believe in. He’s on a pretty destructive path at the start of the book when we meet him, and he’s 32. He doesn’t have a heck of a lot to live for. At least in part, his journey is about finding something that’s bigger than himself, that’s something more than the revenge that he’s driven toward…something worth fighting for.”

That something arrives in the form of a quest. Like so many before him in popular literature, Gabe ultimately finds himself on a search for the Holy Grail, a magical object that is rumored to be able to end daysdeath, and with it, the vampire plague. Whether the Grail is real or not is a spoiler that only those who read the book will find out, but Gabe’s search for it will quite literally change his life and expand the events of the second and third books in this trilogy in new and different ways.

In Empire of the Vampire, Gabe’s hunt for the Grail forces him to reckon with the darkest aspects of his own life as “ a lot of his own sins come back to haunt him.” As an example, Kristoff describes a later chapter in the book (it’s called “The Worst Day” for those who want to skip ahead) as “the hardest chapter I’ve ever written in my life.”

“I think some of the darkness that was happening in the world around me permeated my head and permeated the story,” Kristoff says of a scene in which, as you might have already guessed, something awful happens to a major character. “I wrote that scene and at the end of it I slammed the laptop shut and just pushed it away from me. I didn’t touch it for four days. I couldn’t bring myself to look at it. That’s the heaviest thing I’ve ever written. Even reading it back now, I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s really tough, you bastard.’”

Empire of the Vampire is just the first piece of what is shaping up to be a massive fantasy saga, and its second installment—which Kristoff says he’s writing right now—is set to expand the series’ world even further, introducing us to the matriarchal clans of the western Ossway as well as the dangerous vampires of the Blood du Voch, whose strength makes them especially difficult to kill. But, according to Kristoff, readers shouldn’t be shocked if the sequel turns our understanding of the story we’re reading on its head once more. 

“One of the cool things [about Book 2] is you get a second POV. There’s another character that’s imprisoned in the tower and we get their version of events,” Kristoff explains. “You start to realize that maybe Gabe hasn’t been entirely truthful, or maybe he’s just viewing the past and certain people through rose-colored glasses.”

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In other words: Buckle up. This adventure has only just begun, and plenty of Kristoff’s dark creatures are still waiting in the wings.

Empire of the Vampire hits bookshelves in the U.S. on September 14th, and in the U.K. a week prior. Find out more here.

The post Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[rebelincdk]

Oh, my God...

I'm having a rather interesting debate in the comments section, on a slightly "blasphemous" cartoon drawing, on Facebook. These christian people – I will not name – reveals not to have a strong ability for rational thinking, and have a hard time distinguishing between facts and jokes, i.e. claimed that I was some kind of believer in witchcraft, because I have stated that I was educated at Hogwarts. Take a few seconds to let that sink in. Now you get the level.

Usually I try to avoid these kind of fruitless debates with people living in their own awkward fantasy universe, but in this case it has been aiding me in a direction, that might make me more capable of understanding why the world is in the state it is in.

That kind of people generally makes a few weird assumptions, primarily trying to monopolise love, compassion and moral standards, and putting them into a box with some "family values", blasphemy-phobia, homophobia, and condemnation, without any rational explanation. Welcome down the rabbit hole!

One: They often claim that there's a relation between morals, love and their superstition. You know, like saying that only people with a specific conviction are fitted with emotions and a moral compass.

I'll leave it to the history geeks, and people with some life experience, to have a field day with this argument.

In this particular thread I have been accused of condoling child pornography, because I find it funny that a priest has a hard time nailing Jesus to a cross (IKEA-style).

So some of them actually believe that their own superstition is the only defence against the evils of the world. And they believe that blasphemy is linked to harmfull behaviour, in some way. I should find it hilarious, but it actually makes me sad. It means that they are trapped in this cirkle of misguided bullshit.

Two: Referring to the number of people believing, as a proof of being right. That makes God present and true in the US, and not true in the Scandinavian countries. So God has a limited territory, and is subject to democratic realities. I don't even know how to respond to that.

Three: As a wise man said "Believing in the Bible will make you a believer, actually reading the Bible will make you an atheist". Many of these christians squeezes their faith into the moral values of their surroundings and present life. Jesus was – according to the gospels found in the Bible – a rebel, who would forgive the traitors and sinners, hang out with prostitutes, vandalise the temple, living a very humble life, and claiming to be the son of God. He never condemned anyone to hell (the concept of hell is actually not mentioned in the gospels), and he did not conform to the predominant family values of the time and place. But it is common among religious fanatics to use their faith as an argument for traditional family values, and against prostitution, premarital sex, and a number of other things, that reveals that they have read the gospels with a preconceived opinion.

Every time I read the gospels I think "Wow – this could make a GREAT religion, if the world needed one!" But sadly, even the gospels could have made a religion focused on the open mind, tolerance and forgiveness of the Jesus myth, it has been turned upside down, ever since the Romans took over the religion: Crusades, inquisition, witch hunts, conquistadors, and so on.

I'll make a short detour here, on the subject of prostitutes, as it is quite interesting. If we follow the mindset of this Jesus character, he would (according to the chosen gospels) hang out with prostitutes, even pointing out one as no more sinful than her persecutors, and thereby saving her life. I can not think that Jesus would condole prostitution. That would just be odd. But embracing the people living a misguided life was right up his alley. That is actually characteristically for the legend about Jesus: Embracing instead of condemning. Setting an example instead of blaming. I actually fail to find a single line in the gospels that claims he tried to make them turn away from prostitution.

So if we take this line of thinking into a different context: How to deal with an alcoholic. Sit down and have a drink with him. Befriend him, and show – by example – how life can be improved by drinking in moderation, as blaming and condemning will only have an alienating effect. And behold: Most people working with addicts actually confirms that this is the only way that works. No shit, Sherlock?

Four: Many of them claim that God makes them do good things for the world. Well... Atheist – for example making up the vast majority of the people involved with Doctors Without Borders – do good as well, without the "divine inspiration". As the world shows good people do good things, with or without God. Even good religious people, loosing their faith, continue to do good things (but with a slightly more open mind).

Faith in God has no more claim to charitable behaviour than it has to love.

Five: Many of them claim that rituals are bound to religion. Rituals are – often – a healthy psychological act, but all they see is idolatry, hidden faith or witchcraft.

Six: In their twisted minds many of them compare religion with science, or see a conflict between them. That's like comparing colour with size; it doesn't make any sense. Religion is a faith in a phantom, often referring to books that are very seldom updated and edited to reflect the progress of knowledge and society. Science is simply the collection of our rational observations, and are updated every time we find flaws, at a rate of more than 10.000 a day (if we count all scientific fields). It happens ever so often that science will prove the religious books wrong, simply because the religious books are venturing into areas where they have no function, like human history or natural history. It's like a professor of psychology doing heart surgery.

If the religious books – and priests – would just keep to moral guidance all would be fine and dandy, and this argument, or weird comparison, would never be an issue.

Unfortunately they do overlap in one context: The mind. Science dictates an open mind, and religion dictates a closed mind, when it comes to examination. A scientist will accept criticism, or ridicule, with joy and curiosity, while a religious fanatic will often be offended and defensive.

Seven: When the romans took over christianity they mixed it up with the ancient greek concepts of hell and condemnation. If he could, Jesus would rotate in his grave with frustration, I'm sure. Suppressing people with alternating values or natures, such as homosexuals, rock'n'roll fans, premarital sex, and people with different faiths is not suited for people claiming to believe in an all loving, caring, forgiving God. But so it went, in so many cases.

And this makes these seven points the "seven mortal sins" of a large group of christians: They have turned christianity into a tool of evil. Sending their homosexual sons off to "rehabilitation", condemning certain kinds of cultural expression, keeping their children from medical treatment, blowing up abortion clinics, etc. – added to the long bloody history of genocide and persecutions.

But worst of all, there is even a point eight:

Eight: The world is a miraculous place, full of amazing wonders. Every grain of sand, every wave, every breath of fresh air, every tone, every colour, every life, and every BigMac is a wonder. A true miracle! The probability of you being alive, as a result of many millions of generations living long enough to breed with success, on this inhabitable planet, is mind-blowing. You, and everything that surrounds you, are such a miracle that it is impossible to wrap your head around it.

Many of these people claim that it is not a miracle at all, but was simply planed and executed by a higher being. On top of that they try to monopolise the concept of "miracles".

Simple people need simple explanations...

So should we detain them, and maybe eradicate them? Oh, no, that's THEIR way, and we are better than that! We have to treat them with a concept they talk about, but rarely put into practise: Compassion.

Loving my cat doesn't make me love everything it leaves on my doorstep. Compassion for a person doesn't mean that you should condole – or accept – their faith, especially not when it is used for suppression. Keep them in the friend zone, show them, by example, the benefits of a life based on rational thinking, keep an eye on their children, so you can pull them away in case the parents commits some form of abuse.

Thankfully, even some change religion, and some religious people see that as a marker of their succes, truth is that fewer and fewer people in this world are religious, and in some distant future our descendants will live in a world where it is a thing of the past, to be puzzled about.

Like with ancient greek and mayan religions, people will scratch their heads, asking "how could they believe THAT???"

Please note that I have only discussed the gospels that made their way into the Bible. There are many other gospels ("apocryphal") with deviating stories of Jesus of Nazareth, claiming, for example, that he was a prophet (not the son of God), that Mary Magdalene was his "companion" (spouse), and not a prostitute, that he was not resurrected, and so on.

Neither have I dived into the wide array of other texts that make up the Bible, as they are so messy and contradictory, that they don't actually make any sense to discuss. In them you can find arguments both for and against almost anything, from animal sacrifices to pedophilia and slavery. The God portrayed in the old testament is racist, vicious, vengeful and petty, in stark contrast to the conception of God presented in the gospels. You simply can not claim to believe in – or follow – the Bible in its entirety, as you would then be suffering from severe split personality disorder.

[thewahookid]

In the message of May 25, 2001, Our Lady says:

« … pray and fast that God may give you peace … »

Praying and fasting for peace was the substance of the whole life of Fr. Slavko Barbaric, from the very day he entered in the service of the messages of Our Lady. In his last book: “Fast with the heart”, Fr. Slavko wrote especially on fasting and praying for peace. Let us read some passages from this book:

Mary is the Queen of the Prophets

All the Prophets called for conversion, fasting and prayer as conditions for peace. She does not have any better or different means than those by which the Prophets called to peace, namely: conversion, prayer, fasting and firm faith.

In calling us to fast on two days a week, Mary remains in the tradition of her Israelite nation and reminds us of the multy-century tradition of the Eastern and the Western Church.

While the Second Vatican Council calls everyone to return to “the source”, we must admit that we have not discovered fasting but, instead, the opposite has happened. In the past decades, fasting has been reduced to the least possible mesaure – to two days a year: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

The apparitions in Medjugorje have not presented anything new nor have they revealed anything unknown. Instead, they help us accept what God asked for through the prophets – what Mary did and Jesus Himself has done.

In Biblical revelation, fasting is connected with the call to prayer and conversion

Prophets fasted before accepting their service as prophets and before special revelations. Individuals fasted in various circumstances of life – of joy, gratitude, sorrow and sinfulness. Even the entire nation fasted in preparation for certain feasts, to be saved from a catastrophe or to come out of a catastrophe once they had fallen into it.

(Fasting and Visions: Ex 34,27-28; Dt 9,9-11; Dn 10,1-8. Lamentation of Sins: 1 Sm 7,3-6; 1 Kgs 21,20-29; Dn 9,3-5. Fasting in a Time of Sorrow: 1 Sm 31,11-13; 2 Sm 1,11-12; 1 Chr 10,11-12. Prayer and fasting for healing: 2 Sm 12,13-17. Fasting and Inner Healing in an Experience of God: 1 Kgs 19,6-13. Fasting and Danger of War: 2 Chr 20,2-4; Jdt 4,12-13; 1 Mc 3,44.47; 2 Mc 13,11-12; Jon 3,4-9. Prayer and Fasting for a Blessing and a Safe Journey: Ezr 8,21-23. Fasting after Destruction of War: Neh 1,3-4. Fasting after Returning to the True God: Neh 9,1-2. Fasting, Prayer, Almsgiving and Righteousness: Tob 12,8. Life-long Fasting out of Sorrow: Jdt 8,5-6; Lk 2,36-38. Fasting in a Situation Endeangering the poeple: Est 4,1-3.15-16,17k. Fasting in Psalms: Ps 35,13; Ps 69,11-12; Ps 109,24-25; Sir 34,26. The Meaning of Fasting – a New Relationship: Is 58,1-6; Jer 14,11-12; Zeh 7,4-5; Zeh 8,18-19. Fasting and Preparation for Listening to the Word of God: Jer 36,5-7. Responding to the Word of God with Prayer and Fasting: Bar 1,3-6. Fasting and Prayer as a Way out of a Common Sinful State: Jl 1,13-14; Jl 2,12-15; Jesus' Fast: Mt 4,1-11. Jesus Speaks about Fasting: Mt 6,16-18; Lk 18,10-14; Mt 9,14-15; Mk 2,18-20; Lk 5,33-35. Fasting and Prayer Strengthen Faith: Mt 17,20-21. Fasting and Prayer Used Against Satan: Mk 9,25-29. Fasting and Prayer Before Being sent to Serve: Acts 13,2-3; Acts 14,21-23. St. Paul Fasts: 2 Cor 6,3-8; 2 Cor 11,25-28.)

Fasting and Peace

Peace is a fruit of the Spirit.

The deepest longing of man’s heart is actually for peace. In everything we do, whether good or bad, we seek peace. When a person loves, looks for and experiences peace, or even when he hates and wants revenge, he seeks peace. When he stays sober or fights against addiction, he seeks peace. When he becomes drunk, he also seeks peace. When he fights for his life and the lives of those he loves, he realizes peace. Even when he raises his own hand against himelf and commits suicide or kills someone, again he seeks peace. Therefore, every decision of man is, in its essence, a decision for peace. Clearly when good is being done, personal peace and the peace of others are being realized. On the other hand, when evil is being committed, it is a search for one’s own peace at the expense of the peace of others.

Looking at it from yet another perspective, we can see how often we loose peace because we are egotistical, selfish, envious, jealous, avaricious and consumed by power and honour. Experience confirms that through fasting and prayer, evil, egoism, and selfishness are overcome; the heart is opened and love and humility, generosity and goodness grow. Thus, true conditions for peace are realized. Whoever has peace because he loves and forgives also remains spiritually and physically healthy. He remains capable of shaping his own life in a manner worthy of man, who is the most exalted of God’s creatures. Through fasting and prayer, human needs are also diminished and brought to proportion. Also by this, conditions for peace along with a proper relationship with others and material things are being created.

This is why a misunderstanding comes about when fasting is experienced in a negative way, as a renunciation of something: namely, when its benefit is not recognized on the spiritual level. For this reason, it is not possible to speak about replacing fasting with good works or anything else. In this contexte, we can understand why peace is always promised after conversion and after fasting and prayer.

It is, therefore, through fasting that a person comes to understand what he must fight against in himself. In this way, our subconscoius is also freed from everything that drives us to restlessness and disorder. The soul then becomes still and conditions for peace are realized. The following text beautifully presents an image of this battle:

“When a king wants to occupy a city of the enemy he first seizes the water source and stops every supply. When the inhabitants begin to die from hunger and thirst, they surrender to him. This is what it is like with physical cravings: when a religious comes against them with fasting and hunger, the enemies of the soul lose strength.”

Experience clearly confirms that without a battle against internal enemies of peace, it is not possible to come to peace. This is why fasting is a very tried and tested means. This is also why it is not accidental that all of the prophets, together with Jesus and then the entire Church tradition, have called man to fasting and prayer, so that he may open himself to true peace. The problem is that man is inclined to follow the way of false prophets who promise an easy peace that actually does not exist.

Fasting and Prayer

Fasting, prayer and good works are often mentioned together both by Jews and Christians. Prayer does not stand ahead of fasting, and good works independent of them, but as something that binds them from within. The most complete understanding of prayer is particularly offered in its connection with fasting. When we briefly look at what is said about prayer and how it is defined, we can see that the emphasis is naturally more on the state of the heart and soul and less on the body as a possible expression of prayer or of prayer generally.

The answer to the question, “What is prayer?” is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is the definition of St. Therese of the Child Jesus: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” It is also the definition of St. John Damascene: “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requisition of good things from God.”

Primarily, the conversation with God as a spiritual activity is emphasised. However, there is also the practice and the experience that not only thoughts, conversation and spiritual acts on their own are included in prayer, but so is the body. Prayer becomes more complete by means of the body and the movement, which accompanies the words of prayer. The body and its movement support prayer making it more complete and expressive so that it may more easily encompass the entire person.

The unification of the body and soul in prayer are particularly manifested in fasting and prayer. The physical fast makes prayer more complete. A person who fasts prays better and a person, who prays, fasts more easily. In this way, prayer does not only remain an expression or words, but includes the entire human being. Physical fasting is an admission to God before men that one cannot do it alone and needs help. A person experiences his helplessness more easily when he fasts and that is why, by means of the physical fast, the soul is more open to God. Without fasting, our words of prayer remain without a true foundation. In the Old Testament the faithful fasted and prayed individually, in groups and in various life situations. Because of this, they always experiences God’s help. (Cf. Ezr 8,21-23; 2 Chr 20,12) Jesus ascribes a special power to fasting and prayer, especially in the battle against evil spirits (cf. Mk 9,29). The same practice is found in the tradition of the Catholic Church and us most evident in the rules of all orders and religious communities. St. Bernard wrote about the relationship between fasting and prayer saying:

“I will tell you something that you will understand easily and that you have often experiences, if I am not mistaken: fasting gives certainty to prayer and makes it fervent… By means of prayer, strength is gained for fasting and through fasting the grace of prayer. Fasting strengthens prayer and prayer strengthens fasting and offers it to the Lord.”

This is apparent because by means of fasting one becomes more awake and open to God and to what is spiritual. For the same reason, fasting is connected to the Eucharist. While a person practises renunciation and lives for a period of time with bread, he prepares himself for a meeting with the Divine Bread. This exceptional meeting with God, especially in connection with the Eucharist, is evidence of how fasting is positive in itself and how it enables us to realize the fundamental goal of prayer – the meeting of the entire person with God, the Saviour.

In our time, Gandhi is known as a man who fasted and prayed. He said: “My religion teaches me that in every affliction which cannot be alleviated, it is necessary to fast and pray.” Although it is known that Gandhi fasted and prayed with political goals in mind, he deeply believed that only God could change the heart and man’s intentions through fasting and prayer. He believed that with fasting and prayer, man is purified within and frees himself from guilt, which, et the same time, is an expression of solidarity with those who suffer.

From the above, it must be concluded that fasting and prayer are inseparable just as man as a whole, comprised of the spirit, soul and body, is inseparable.

Cf: Fr. Slavko Barbarić: Fast with the heart, Informativni Centar „Mir” Međugorje, 2000 (You can find this book in the Souvenir Shop of the Parish office in Medjugorje)

[bldgrelationshipwgod]

RE:RE: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-14 | To some who trusted in their own righteousness & viewed others w/ contempt, He also told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee & the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself & prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week & pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast & said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”              ________________________________________________________

MacLaren's Expositions | THREE KINDS OF PRAYING [Luke 18:1-14]

I. The wearisome widow and the unrighteous judge.

Both take a very unlovely character as open to the influence of persistent entreaty; both strongly underscore the unworthiness and selfishness of the motive for yielding.

Both expect the hearers to use common-sense enough to take the sleepy friend and the worried judge as contrasts to, not parables, of Him to whom Christians pray.

But the judge is a much worse man than the owner of the loaves, and his denial of the justice which it was his office to dispense is a crime; the widow’s need is greater than the man’s, and the judge’s cynical soliloquy, in its unabashed avowal of caring for neither God nor man, and being guided only by regard to comfort, touches a deep depth of selfishness.

The worse he was, the more emphatic is the exhortation to persistence. If the continual dropping of the widow’s plea could wear away such a stone as that, its like could wear away anything.

Yes, & suppose the judge were as righteous & as full of love & wish to help as this judge was of their opposites; suppose instead of the cry being a weariness it was a delight; suppose, in short, to go back to Luke 11:1-54, we ‘call on Him as Father who, without respect of persons, judgeth’: then our ‘continual coming’ will surely not be less effectual than hers was.

But we must note the spiritual experience supposed by the parable to belong to the Christian life.

That forlorn figure of the widow, with all its suggestions of helplessness and oppression, is Christ’s picture of His Church left on earth without Him. And though of course it is a very incomplete representation, it is a true presentation of one side and aspect of the devout life on earth. ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation,’ and the truer His servants are to Him, and the more their hearts are with Christ in God, the more they will feel out of touch with the world, and the more it will instinctively be their ‘adversary.’ If the widow does not feel the world’s enmity, it will generally be because she is not a ‘widow indeed.’ And another notable fact of Christian experience underlies the parable; namely that the Church’s cry for protection from the adversary is often apparently unheard. In Luke 11:1 - Luke 11:54 the prayer was for supply of necessities, here it is for the specific blessing of protection from the adversary. Whether that is referred to the needs of the Church or of the individual, it is true that usually the help sought is long delayed. It is not only ‘souls under the altar’ that have to cry ‘How long, O Lord, dost Thou not avenge?’ One thinks of years of persecution for whole communities, or of long, weary days of harassment and suffering for individuals, of multitudes of prayers and groans sent up into a heaven that, for all the answers sent down, might as well be empty, and one feels it hard to hold by the faith that ‘verily, there is a God that’ heareth. We have all had times when our faith has staggered, and we have found no answer to our heart’s question: ‘Why tarry the wheels of His chariot?’ Many of us have felt what Mary and Martha felt when ‘Jesus abode still two days in the place where He was’ after He had received their message, in which they had been so sure of His coming at once when He heard that ‘he whom Thou lovest is sick,’ that they did not ask Him to come. The delays of God’s help are a constant feature in His providence, and, as Jesus says here, they are but too likely to take the life out of faith. But over against these we have to place Jesus’ triumphant assurance here: ‘He will avenge them speedily.’ Yes, the longest delay may yet be ‘right early,’ for heaven’s clock does not beat at the same rate as our little chronometers. God is ‘the God of patience,’ and He has waited for millenniums for the establishment of His kingdom on earth; His ‘own elect’ may learn long-suffering from Him, and need to take to heart the old exhortation, ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, and will not tarry.’ Yes, God’s delays are not delays, but are for our profit that we may always pray and not faint, and may keep alight the flame of the sure hope that the Son of man cometh, and that in His coming all adversaries shall be destroyed, and the widow, no longer a widow, but the bride, go in to the feast and forget her foes, and ‘the days of her mourning be ended.’ II. The Pharisee and the publican.

Luke’s label on this parable tells us that it was spoken to a group of the very people who were personated in it by the Pharisee. One can fancy their faces as they listened, and how they would love the speaker! Their two characteristics are self-righteousness and depreciation of every one else, which is the natural result of such trust in self. The self-adulation was absolute, the contempt was all-embracing, for the Revised Version rightly renders ‘set all others at nought.’ That may sound exaggerated, but the way to judge of moral characteristics is to take them in their fullest development and to see what they lead to then. The two pictures heighten each other. The one needs many strokes to bring out the features, the other needs but one. Self-righteousness takes many shapes, penitence has but one emotion to express, one cry to utter. Every word in the Pharisee’s prayer is reeking with self-complacency. Even the expression ‘prayed with himself’ is significant, for it suggests that the prayer was less addressed to God than to himself, and also that his words could scarcely be spoken in the hearing of others, both because of their arrogant self-praise and of their insolent calumnies of ‘all the rest.’ It was not prayer to God, but soliloquy in his own praise, and it was in equal parts adulation of himself and slander of other men. So it never went higher than the inner roof of the temple court, and was, in a very fatal sense, ‘to himself.’ God is complimented with being named formally at first, and in the first two words, ‘I thank thee,’ but that is only formal introduction, and in all the rest of his prayer there is not a trace of praying. Such a self-satisfied gentleman had no need to ask for anything, so he brought no petitions. He uses the conventional language of thanksgiving, but his real meaning is to praise himself to God, not to thank God for himself. God is named once. All the rest is I, I, I. He had no longing for communion, no aspiration, no emotion. His conception of righteousness was mean and shallow. And as St. Bernard notes, he was not so much thankful for being righteous as for being alone in his goodness. No doubt he was warranted in disclaiming gross sins, but he was glad to be free from them, not because they were sins, but because they were vulgar. He had no right to fling mud either on ‘all the rest’ or on ‘this publican,’ and if he had been really praying or giving thanks he would have had enough to think of in God and himself without casting sidelong and depreciatory glances at his neighbours. He who truly prays ‘sees no man any more,’ or if he does, sees men only as subjects for intercession, not for contempt. The Pharisee’s notion of righteousness was primarily negative, as consisting in abstinence from flagrant sins, and, in so far as it was positive, it dealt entirely with ceremonial acts. Such a starved and surface conception of righteousness is essential to self-righteousness, for no man who sees the law of duty in its depth and inwardness can flatter himself that he has kept it. To fast twice a week and to give tithes of all that one acquired were acts of supererogation, and are proudly recounted as if God should feel much indebted to the doer for paying Him more than was required. The Pharisee makes no petitions. He states his claims, and tacitly expects that God will meet them. Few words are needed to paint the publican; for his estimate of himself is simple and one, and what he wants from God is one thing, and one only. His attitude expresses his emotions, for he does not venture to go near the shining example of all respectability and righteousness, nor to lift his eyes to heaven. Like the penitent psalmist, his iniquities have taken hold on him, so that he is ‘not able to look up.’ Keen consciousness of sin, true sorrow for sin, earnest desire to shake off the burden of sin, lowly trust in God’s pardoning mercy, are all crowded into his brief petition. The arrow thus feathered goes straight up to the throne; the Pharisee’s prayer cannot rise above his own lips. Jesus does not leave His hearers to apply the ‘parable,’ but drives its application home to them, since He knew how keen a thrust was needed to pierce the triple breastplate of self-righteousness. The publican was ‘justified’; that is, accounted as righteous. In the judgment of heaven, which is the judgment of truth, sin forsaken is sin passed away. The Pharisee condensed his contempt into ‘this publican’; Jesus takes up the ‘this’ and turns it into a distinction, when He says, ‘this man went down to his house justified.’ God’s condemnation of the Pharisee and acceptance of the publican are no anomalous aberration of divine justice, for it is a universal law, which has abundant exemplifications, that he that exalteth himself is likely to be humbled, and he that humbles himself to be exalted. Daily life does not always yield examples thereof, but in the inner life and as concerns our relations to God, that law is absolutely and always true.

[lokiarsene]

doing this on anon because i'm a weenie. consider: Goro's ultimate persona being Helel, like how Akira's is Satanael.

(hi, anon!) ohhh my god

oh my god I love the hell (heh) out of this idea. And not to take Hifumi’s S-Link’s ultimate Persona away from her or nothin’, let’s just play with this idea a bit more -

The fridge brilliance of this is great as well, anon, because as I’ve said in the past, some of the angels you fight on your way up to the final boss sound an awful lot like Akechi in the Japanese language track. Now, I’m not saying they’re the same VA–I can’t confirm atm that they are, and I’m not sure Atlus would actually reuse the same VA for that (and I’ve yet to play through the game in English to see if the dubbing maintained that)–but the fact that they do sound alike at all is… interesting to me. Because these angels, which any SMT/Persona veteran would recognize, are arguably good guys, right? I mean, they’re angels… but they’re opposing you… That cognitive dissonance alone is fascinating even without throwing the VA bit in there.

But to go back to your ask: Who else perfectly encompasses that confusingly brilliant complexity, of light and dark, rebellion and freedom in one? Helel.

AKA

Lucifer.

Helel - “A fallen angel in Judeo-Christian lore whose name signifies "Morning Star”. Primarily known for defying God, but also worshiped as a bringer of light to mankind.“ (Persona 4 description)

And here’s Lucifer/Helel’s Persona wikia page.

A fun thing to look at is Helelucifer’s line from Persona 2 Eternal Punishment: “You want power that defies the heavens…? Then go, and embrace sin and hatred… And I, Lucifer, shall embrace you…“ This definitely puts me in mind of Akechi’s alliance with Shido and his plans to get revenge on him. And “defying the heavens” is something Akechi never got a chance to actually do, because the deck was stacked so surely and brutally against him from the start.

Which is why I demand Philemon poke his ass into P5 DLC and go “NAH FUCK THIS, TIME FOR A DO OVER.” But that’s someone else’s meta and I can’t take credit for it.

And to sum it up: Helel as Akechi’s ultimate Persona as the “light” to Satanael’s “dark” is just  👌👌👌

I may come back to this to add more thoughts because I’m a bit scattered atm, so.. fair warning!

[mikestertz]

The Ten Commandments and God’s Love

Some suggest that the Ten Commandments are harsh and are not really consistent with the message the church should present today.   Recently a well-known megachurch personality even delivered an address titled "Thou Shalt Not Obey the Ten Commandments."  The thought is that the Commandments and the Old Testament Law in whole comes across as judgmental and unattractive to the people who today's church seeks to attract, and besides, the Beatitudes are really more demanding and more consistent with the message for the current age.  We should hold out the Sermon on the Mount and the love of God, not the Old Testament teachings.  Yet, throughout the history of the church, pastors and theologians have upheld the Ten Commandments as well as the whole of the moral and civil requirements enumerated in the Old Testament as an expression of God’s character and of His requirements for humanity.  The church needs to recover the practice of considering and meditating on the Ten Commandments as we grow in understanding the ramifications of the gospel and pursue the life of Christ has for us.  The church needs to present and proclaim the requirements of the moral Law and the Ten Commandments, recognizing that failure to do so is a grievous error.  It is not judgmental to recognize the commandments; rather the Ten Commandments and the moral Law are supremely the expression of God's love.

In the first table of the commandments, the people of God were told to rigidly uphold the centrality, primacy, and holiness of God.  They were to recognize no false deity, have no idols, reverence the true God supremely, and set aside a day each week to consider and meditate upon Him.   The second group of commandments regulates human behavior in family and society.  The family unit was to be upheld, parents to be respected.  The sanctity of human life was to be observed, with murder prohibited.  Honesty and truthfulness were commanded.  Private property rights were advanced with the prohibitions against theft and coveting.  And the prohibition against adultery regulates sexuality in society and upholds the sanctity of marriage.  These principles appear throughout the moral and civil Law in the Old Testament.  Further, they are not replaced or repudiated in the New Testament; rather, they are foundational to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount and the way of life exhorted throughout the New Testament.

It is abundantly clear that the Scriptures present the necessity of salvation from sin, salvation not by works or upholding the Law, but by grace and faith.  One cannot be saved by the Law, by upholding the Ten Commandments, or for that matter by aspiring to live by the high standards of the Sermon on the Mount.  The New Testament, particularly the books of Romans and Galatians (especially chapters 3 and 5), make it absolutely clear that salvation is not obtained by keeping the Old Testament Law, but by grace.  And yet, the Law points us to Christ.  First Corinthians chapter 6 beginning in verse 9 tells us, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived.  Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you.  But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."  Recognizing their sin, repenting of sin, lost people turn to God by faith in Christ and are saved.  That is the only way of salvation.

The Ten Commandments and the Old Testament moral Law demonstrate God's love to us by showing us the folly of sin and rebellion against God, and thus pointing us to the Savior.  In so doing, by pointing us to the great atoning acts of Christ, they direct us to the love of God.  Even in the Old Testament ceremonial Law, God's plan for redemption through the atoning sacrifice of Christ is demonstrated.  Seeing our own sin and unworthiness, we then begin to understand the surpassing greatness of the love of God.  Christ paid the penalty for all sins so that God might be merciful to all sinners.  On the cross Christ satisfied God's justice.  We need not shy away from the Old Testament; we need to embrace it and clearly explain it.

Yet sadly many pastors reference sin (many won't even refer to it as such) as if it’s little more than brokenness, hopelessness, lack of motivation, or an overly negative perspective.  While these things show some of the alienating effects of sin, they obscure its real nature and undermine the reality of true guilt before the Lord.  It’s the language of postmodern culture but not biblical truth.  Unbelievers’ most essential problem is not that they’re ignorant, apathetic, or without purpose or direction, but that they’ve personally, willfully, and happily rebelled against the God who made them. Their real enemy is not merely the challenges and difficulties of life in the world, but themselves and their sin.  If this is true—and the Scriptures say that it is—then what unbelievers must concern themselves with is nothing less than escaping the just judgment of God.  And yet, many supposedly evangelical churches and leaders tell them to merely affirm the person who stares back at them in the mirror and aspire to be the best person they can be, to look to Jesus as their divine life coach or inspiring cosmic boyfriend.  This is nothing less than a redefinition of salvation and of the gospel.

I saw a quote recently that indicated it is a mistake if you think that your "mess-up" is bigger than God's grace.  This is a half-truth.  Sin is far more than just a "mess-up."  As a child, I might have "messed-up" when I carelessly broke my Grandma's favorite vase.  I might have felt a bit of remorse, and certainly a little panic.  She loved me, and, though a bit miffed, would have forgiven me.  But my momentary remorse, and her gracious forgiveness of my mistake, hardly compares to God's grace in the forgiveness of sin.  The poverty of spirit Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount means recognizing how truly deficient we are apart from God.  It means seeing ourselves as we really are: spiritually lost, hopeless, and helpless.  The "poor in spirit" are people who have recognized their spiritual destitution and their total inability to save themselves and who acknowledge their complete dependence on God.  They know their only hope of salvation is to repent and ask for forgiveness.  No person can enter the kingdom of God until he or she realizes they are unworthy of that kingdom, until he or she realizes the gravity of their sin.  Our sin is not merely a slip-up.  The kind of gospel (so popular today) that omits any need for repentance and mourning because of sin is a false, unscriptural gospel--or, as Paul calls it, "a different gospel" (Gal 1:6).

Churches should speak about sin primarily as personal and willful rebellion against God. They should be clear that Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for sinners (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2, 4:10), not as a guide, inspiration, or rudder for the rudderless.  Jesus didn't come with a controversial, inspiring message and take a risk of rejection that resulted in His martyrdom; He came as the promised sacrifice for sin determined by God before creation and foreshadowed in the Old Testament.  Mercy that ignores sin is false mercy; Christ paid the penalty for sins so that He might be merciful to all sinners.  On the cross Christ satisfied God's justice.  Thus churches should be clear that humans are sinners by nature and by choice, and we need salvation from that reality, and not just salvation from social and indirect problems given to us by others or ourselves.  Of course, sin in the world causes bad things to happen to us.  It isn't hard to convince someone that they sometimes make mistakes or that they’re a victim of others’ sin or have been materially affected by others’ sin.  It doesn't require a work of God to convince people that we live in a flawed world.  It doesn't take much effort to convince most people that they have "issues" that need to be addressed in order for them to become happy and successful and have better relationships.  But it’s quite difficult, certainly so apart from God’s grace, to convince someone that they themselves are guilty of sin against both God and others.

Scripture reveals an overarching narrative played out in the history of mankind - creation, the fall, redemption, and consummation at the end of the age.  God created mankind, and mankind sinned supremely by rebelling against the Creator.  Yet the Creator in love chose not to merely destroy creation, but to provide for the salvation of sinners.  It is the Law that reveals our sin and leads us to the Saviour.  And further the Law reveals for us God's standards both for salvation from sin and the standards by which we should live.  The law reveals our sin and leads us to our Saviour.

Following the commandments of God not only points us to salvation from sin, but  regulates human behavior in a positive manner.  It is no accident that societies that have engaged in the enlightened fulfillment of the Judeo-Christian ethical standards have been demonstrably more prosperous, just, and free.  Individually, following God's wise instruction allows us to escape the consequences that come from choices we later wish we could change and make us freer to enjoy our lives.  The high ethical standards of the Ten Commandments make for happier, more fulfilled lives.  The traditional family enjoined in the Bible is for the benefit of people, not an impediment to their imagined happiness and pleasure. The standard of one man, one woman for life marriage is a bedrock of western civilization, and the ongoing retreat from that standard is leading to societal disaster.

Regrettably, American evangelicals are sometimes known more for their commitment to public displays of the Ten Commandments than to actually obeying them.  But the Ten Commandments are a faithful summary of God’s requirements for humanity.  We need to, in love, remind people of this, both lost people and believers.  God doesn't want to control us with dos and dont's; rather, His guidelines show that He loves us.  Romans 13:8-10 tells us, "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."  This passage doesn't negate the value of the commandments, but tells us that we should observe these principles and present them not in a spirit of judgmentalism or harshness, but with a spirit that shows the love of Christ in us.  God does not give us commandments that are arbitrary or simply designed to prevent our enjoyment of life.  He loves us.  All of God's commands are for His glory and for our good.

[airoasis]

Riverdale's Black Hood On That Shocking Reveal, [SPOILER]'s Motivation, And KJ Apa's Hilarious ReactionTrendGlobe

Warning: Spoilers for “Chapter Thirty-Four: Judgment Night time” lie ahead, so if you happen to haven’t viewed the most modern episode of Riverdale, now’s a valid time to construct fancy Sublime and race far, far away.

I produce no longer want to express “I told you so,” but… I told you so. After that spurious-out within the midseason finale, the categorical Dim Hood modified into in a roundabout plan published within the dramatic penultimate episode of ‘s 2d season. That darkness that Betty has been lamenting since Season 1? Seems to be, she purchased it from her dear venerable dad, Hal Cooper, a.k.a The Dim Hood.

And valid fancy that Hal officially wins the title of “Worst Parent in Riverdale,” one plan or the opposite usurping the gradual Clifford Blossom — the one who shot his own son level-murky within the head — for the special distinction.

The CW

In the episode, Hal confessed to the Dim Hood’s frightful crimes, which encompass shooting his neighbor and friend Fred Andrews at Pop’s; strangling Ms. Grundy to loss of life together with her cello bow; shooting Moose while the teen modified into excessive on Jingle Jangle in Fox Wooded space; murdering the Candyman in his prison cell; striking his own daughter thru never-ending psychological torture; framing wretched Mr. Svenson for the murders; stabbing Midge Klump to loss of life at some level of opening night of Carrie: The Musical; and, in a roundabout plan, killing Doctor Masters on the scientific institution. (He did no longer, alternatively, shoot up Fred and Hermione’s debate, so there’s in truth a reproduction-cat killer on the loose in Riverdale.)

As for his motive, it be published that Hal modified into brainwashed from a younger age to abolish sinners, and Riverdale, he says, is a metropolis fat of them. Truly, Betty comes from a protracted line of murderers. Big-Grandpappy Cooper murdered his brother, Big-Grandpappy Blossom, and took on the Cooper identification within the aftermath. And Grandpappy Cooper modified into surely the one accountable for murdering the Conway family, and it modified into Hal who made obvious younger Joseph Conway (later is generally known as Mr. Svenson) accused an innocent man of the slayings. Hal describes his gruesome family historical previous as a darkness. “And now it lives in Betty,” he says ominously.

MTV Data chatted with the Dim Hood himself, actor Lochlyn Munro, about Hal’s descent into darkness, how the solid reacted to the massive cloak, and what this implies for Season three.

MTV Data: So Hal is now officially the worst guardian in Riverdale. How does it feel?

Lochlyn Munro: It feels unheard of! It feels fancy I valid won a Razzie. I am very mad.

MTV Data: When did you undercover agent out that Hal modified into the Dim Hood?

Munro: I learned out in Episode 21. I did no longer know that I modified into officially the Dim Hood unless the desk-learn, that scene after I am exhibiting the dwelling movie to Alice and Betty.

The CW

MTV Data: So you learned out with all americans else?

Munro: Yeah! It modified into more or much less cool. We in any respect times focus on this as actors on the expose, that we pick as much as participate as fans because of Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] and the writers again us guessing, too. They produce no longer location up storyboards for us for 22 episodes. We produce no longer grasp any belief the put the legend goes because it unfolds, so we expose all the pieces as we lumber, script by script. I had no belief! For my allotment, I in any respect times idea it modified into Sheriff Keller, and then all of unexpected I expose up on the Cooper put of living with a tiny blood stain on my shoulder and a few creepy home motion photos.

MTV Data: Who from the solid had the finest reaction to the massive cloak?

Munro: Potentially KJ. KJ in any respect times thinks all the pieces’s valid a large silly silly legend. I judge he even location free a large guffaw. He couldn’t trust that it modified into me, but I assume I presumably had the largest reaction because of I modified into basically the most tormented by it. To tell you the fact, after I first learn it, I modified into surely somewhat bummed because of I idea, “Oh man. I produce no longer even feel fancy I’ve gotten going on the expose, and now I am accomplished.” You know? On myth of I in truth idea I modified into accomplished. But Roberto came up and we talked afterwards, and he modified into fancy, “It is never any longer over for Hal. It’s valid a full novel arc for him.” So now I am embracing seeing what they can bring to it because of now I think fancy I’ve purchased a character to play.

MTV Data: It feels fancy the starting put of Hal’s storyline, no longer the cease.

Munro: Exactly. There would possibly perchance be somewhat just a few characters in our expose, and it be onerous for the writers to jot down for all americans, so I fully understood why my character wasn’t in any respect times flushed out, why there wasn’t somewhat just a few dimension for him. I judge this shall be surely no longer easy, and it be one thing I am having a undercover agent ahead to. I can’t wait to survey what they give you.

MTV Data: But it absolutely’s natural to feel bummed which means expose does grasp a notice sage with killing of us off, particularly villains.

Munro: I felt that manner for Barclay [Hope], too, when Clifford hung himself on the cease of the first season because of it be somewhat just a few fun to work on that expose. I valid felt that per chance within the 1/three season Hal would possibly perchance well pick up a tiny bit more to enact so that americans can understand who he is. Then after I learn [episode] 21, I valid felt fancy my lumber modified into over earlier than I had even gotten a likelihood to originate. But then Roberto and I talked, and now I am surely embracing being a serial killer. I under no conditions idea I would express that.

The CW

MTV Data: Did you ever put on the veil? On myth of obviously that is never any longer you in Pop’s diner within the Season 1 finale.

Munro: No. On no myth. Attributable to this I under no conditions idea I modified into the Dim Hood. I had my inkling, primarily based on who they employed to be the Dim Hood at some level of these scenes and his physicality. If I stood next to the Dim Hood, he modified into about four inches shorter than me.

MTV Data: What did you suspect of his motivation? On myth of he tells Betty and Alice that he desires to rid the metropolis of sin, but it be easy somewhat imprecise. And then there’s the fact that he mentally tortured Betty for whole episodes!

Munro: I grasp to get that more. I under no conditions performed Hal as the Dim Hood, so for Episode 21 I had to rapidly give you a backstory so as to pick out up contained within the thoughts of somebody who would enact that. So I in truth produce no longer know. That goes to be a onerous one for me because of I in any respect times performed him fancy he loved his youth loads, but he valid went about issues the nasty manner. So his mind will grasp to be very messed up and scrambled from all of that manipulation as a younger boy. Whoever raised him, whether it modified into valid his mom or it modified into a community of of us that raised him to evaluate he needed to purge the metropolis of sin, I grasp yet to get that out. That will doubtless be one thing we stumble on within the 1/three season, I assume.

MTV Data: The finest villains are the ones who trust that they’re the heroes, and besides you would per chance construct a case for Hal believing that he modified into the hero of his own legend, saving the metropolis from sin.

Munro: It can were more animated to per chance be more of a vigilante serial killer. I produce no longer judge purging the metropolis of sin implies that it be vital to exit and abolish a girl in a university play valid because of she does Jingle Jangle.

MTV Data: Or shoot Fred Andrews, your neighbor.

Munro: Factual? It’s animated to me to contemplate how Hal created Hal Cooper. He obviously created that character to pick out up thru his life, and to evaluate that Alice did no longer know and all of these of us that had been shut to him had no belief. It’s unheard of.

MTV Data: I am surely mad to survey what occurs to the Cooper family from right here due to expose has slowly chipped away at their image-supreme facade. First Polly left, then Sublime modified into out to be an imposter, and now Hal is the Dim Hood. I am strange to survey Alice and Betty work thru all of these demons.

Munro: This is doubtless to be animated to survey what they enact with Hal and Betty’s relationship. I in any respect times idea that there modified into this form of tight bond with them that it would possibly perchance well shield loads to break that. Yeah. right here’s loads, but I am questioning if Betty will feel compelled to abet her dad because of it modified into under no conditions Hal’s fault anyways — if his name is Hal. He modified into brainwashed as a child. I think sorry for the man to tell you the fact. So now we grasp to resolve out if he can even be redeemed and what made him tick. Is he the completely man that modified into on this scenario? Became as soon as he the completely one taught to purge the metropolis of sin? I produce no longer know.

MTV Data: I am obvious Betty will resolve it out.

Munro: If anybody can, it be her.

[jenncarmen]

The Beauty of Community

Just before confession, we lined up like huddled sheep, shepherded by our CCD-instructor who slaved over our salvation each Wednesday afternoon. This confession, we were told, was like playing on an Etch-A-Sketch; what was there once would be erased, leaving a blank slate.

Children can’t conceptualize blank slates any more than they can focus on tying their own shoes. As I walked, alone, into a small, hollow, and dark room, I remained focused on counting my footsteps. One, two... three, four...

My knees caved in, perfectly positioned before the thin veil that separated me from my church’s priest. Though I could not see him, his voice was gentle. It never did demand more from us than he likely thought we could handle – and considering I was focused primarily on getting out of there, just breathing in the same space as my priest was more than I was willing to take on.

That was the thing about confession so young. Rarely did we ever know what to say, and even if we did, we knew we shouldn’t dare mention it. The enemy was quick to grab hold of my shoulder, each word as gentle as my priest’s.

“They don’t want to know about the hurt,” the enemy said then (and still says). “They don’t care about how you’re actually doing.”

And so confession, all my life, went by in strategic blurs.

I was ten, battling sin and still kneeling, a small expert at folding my hands and looking demure. My face was near cherubic, all chub and jet-black and spiral curls.

“I was mean to my mom,” I would always say. “She yelled at me. I yelled at her. I didn’t respect my mother or father.”

My penance was the same: pray. Pray and ask the Lord to guide you.

And Lord knows I never did.

CCD wasn’t the kind of place you sought spiritual growth. Instead, you tried not to giggle while reading strange-sounding names, got distracted by your middle school crush, and threw snowballs in the parking lot at each other. You drank holy water because someone dared you to. You generally ignored the special needs kids because, sheesh. You’re thirteen and all types of headstrong judgment. You’re thirteen and you’ve never even heard the word grace.

I was grateful for the friends I saw each week there, but never once did I realize I was thankful for a sense of community.

It wasn’t until I was an adult – twenty-five, and way past my confessional days – that I felt the weight of community’s importance, because I had never been aware of its absence.

But once my eyes had opened to the sore spot loneliness had once been, I hungered for it. I hungered for people who thought like me, laughed with me, and were encouraging. I craved people who would bow their heads in prayer with me instead of checking Instagram every forty-seven seconds. Once I realized I had grasped the concept of community, I knew I would always know true loneliness, too.

Loneliness is a lot like kneeling before a priest, searching for meaning in stained glass constellations. Loneliness is a lot like feeling numb as you glanced upon the face of a towering, marble-crafted and crucified Jesus – with his blood slipping below his jawline, forever gazing somberly below us. Or was he looking through us?

That’s loneliness.

And that’s how easily sin and fear can seep into our souls. Not only did CCD become a wasted investment of my time, but my heart became wounded by people within the church who seemed to confirm this flawed thinking. The enemy took hold of this tiny church, sleeping soundly in a small town.

But community conquers that. Community fosters growth, communication, and communion. Community allows us to reach out to each other, extending grace in trying times because Christ allows us to.

Communities are never perfect, but they’re opportunities to connect with like-minded people who can embrace the comforting knowledge that we weren’t built to be perfect.

We are simply built to love one another.

[thecloserlook]

While the academic exposure that the SGC Pastor’s College offers is truly singular, the real feature that sets it apart from virtually every other ministry training is the focused, attentive, personal, and consistent investment by veterans in the field. And two of the greatest weapons in the PC arsenal are Gary and Betsy Ricucci. If you know them, you would agree with the description that they are utterly unassuming. They are very approachable and entirely relatable. They don’t stand out in any way to make themselves appear greater than they are. But man. They are so great. Gary and Betsy are pillars for the PC class to lean on, and deep well of insight and experience to draw from. I dare you to name a problem or conflict you have had that they don’t have a corresponding personal testimony for, or close exposure to that makes them knowledgeable and equipped for service. Now, you know how these kinds of people typically can be. People who have seen a lot in life, and they make sure you know it. They love saying things like “oh that’s nothing” or “you have no idea”, and other proverbial “been there, done that, my version is more dramatic than yours, sit down child.” Gary and Betsy are NOT like that. They are the epitome of kindness and understanding. They maintain your dignity, they respect your unique experiences, they listen with empathy and a desire to learn, and they do it without acting like it is a diving board for a long-winded monologue on everything they have to offer you by way of advice and wisdom. Don’t get me wrong. They are a wealth of wisdom. But they walk in humility, and thus don’t boast in what they know, but in WHO they know. That is their greatest act of service, and their most profound gifting. They know their Savior, they know their Maker, they know their Helper, and they know how to articulate that knowledge in a winsome, helpful, and life-giving way. Gary is a quintessential loving-dad-like figure. When he greets you, it’s warm, and his “how are you” is said with a readiness to listen to the answer. He is not about formality for formality’s sake. He speaks respectfully to each wife, encouraging her and building her up intentionally and regularly. To the husbands, he is more likely to do some good, old-fashioned verbal takedowns. He is a sucker for hot-heads (there are a few in this class). He rarely passes up the chance to joke about them or put them in their place (mainly, as undeserving of the wife who they brought here). It’s not mean-spirited. It’s fatherly. Betsy has a broad smile and body posture ready to lean in for a hug. She walks with her arms loose and body slightly leaning forward, like you could walk right into her and somehow end up in an embrace. And that’s also her facial expression. Betsy has a “vortex” of specific attention. You get within a certain few feet of her, and all of a sudden, her hands are on your shoulders, her eyes are locked on you, and she’s saying “you are amazing and I’m so affected by your example”...or something like that. I don’t honestly remember because every time it happens it feels like it’s an exaggeration. But she is being entirely genuine. She genuinely lives in awe of what God is doing in the lives of others. It’s such a compelling mix of personal humility and godly confidence. As a couple, they oversee all the PC families by way of care and spiritual oversight. Gary and Betsy lead couple’s groups monthly, and Betsy leads our monthly Saturday morning ladies meetings. Both contexts begin with asking for prayer needs, and an extended time of intercession. This allows those who come burdened to be able to express themselves, reorient at the foot of the cross, and access the help of the Spirit to engage. During our couple’s meetings, Gary will ask simple questions for each couple to answer. If one spouse answers “for the couple,” he will make sure to turn to the other one and ask “would you agree with this? Anything you would add or change?” He does this for a few reasons; to be sure that spouses feel like these environments are safe places to have conflicting views or ideas; to train us to see that the “iron-sharpens-iron” occurs primarily with your greatest spiritual ally (ie. your spouse); remind us that our role as husband/wife are to make sure we are living with one another in an understanding way; it also emphasizes meekness and humility, living “in the light," and that what we share is as accurate as possible with those charged to serve us in accountability. Next, as couples explain conflicts or problems, he often asks “so what would the biblical equivalent be for that?” If you are saying “I’m really stressed out by the workload, and I take it out on my wife,” he will press you for more specific biblical wording. The more specific we can be in addressing our sinful nature, the more specific our help can be found in the Bible. Stress can be an outworking of fear of man, or unbelief, or pride/autonomy, or self pity. And that leads you to speak in anger or indulge in addictive habits or idols. Once you find a biblical equivalent, the Bible has a lot more to say about it than you may have originally thought. He makes us take those extra steps in those settings so we are practicing that in our own hearts. “What is at the ROOT of this? And what does the Bible say about THAT?” Betsy, in leading the monthly ladies meetings, uses handwritten notes. She copies and pastes quotes and verses BY HAND. But that’s not exactly the point, even though shows her heart to really pour herself into these times together. The point is that in each meeting, she spends the most time building foundations and frameworks for our thinking from the Word of God. As someone who grew up aware of the practices that resulted from the principles, I’ve been incredible refreshed listening again to the life-giving truth in the Word of God. I have found myself sitting in those meetings, feeling like Betsy is taking a bucket and washcloth, and gently scrubbing away the smudges and burns of my warped perceptions and ill-founded convictions that yielded patterns of legalism and self-righteousness. I blame no one for these but myself. I have always had the Word of the Lord at my disposal. It was always available to me. And I have been taught SO WELL. But when harsh realities of life are not handled in the Word, you can allow false words to creep in, and subtle foundation cuts can be made, and all of a sudden your practical theology does not make sense, and it doesn’t support you like it used to. And most importantly for me, I stopped seeing the Bible as my authoritative framework, but as a resource to process my life. It was backwards. That’s where Betsy has been so skilled, so gently compelling, in helping us as women regain an affection and conviction for the Word of God. We like to call them “The Betsy Bombs.” She will close her eyes, fold her hands, and then say “I read in a book once…” (she usually knows the author AND the title, or the exact verse reference), and then proceed to share a short, tweetable, one-liner, that just floors you with its profound insight. It’s always perfect for the moment. It’s always just enough, not overkill. And it always stems from her personal mental library. She doesn’t pull it up on her phone or paraphrase. It’s just how committed she is to fighting for truth. The truth is IN her, not merely around her. She KNOWS it, because she has spent so many years building her mental library with resources and references, and like a truly skilled librarian, she can listen to your struggles, close her eyes, look through her mind’s shelves, and pull out that perfect quote you needed hear. She takes us back to the Word, stripping away all the application points or how-to’s, and just invites us to refresh our hearts with the truth as it is displayed in Scripture. I love God’s Word, and more importantly, God Himself, as a direct result of those meetings with Betsy. Leo and I consider it a privilege to have been one of the many couples cared for by Gary and Betsy, and we hope that those we are called to serve feel the reverberating effects of their investment in us. And most importantly, we hope that the Lord blesses THEM for their faithfulness to continue to sow seeds into the future generations.