#i just saw a post about how to share the gospel

[lizardmonet]

too many christians these days talk a lot about Christ’s death but only acknowledge His resurrection like it’s an afterthought. as if that’s some how less important than the fact that He died? yes He died to forgive our sins but it would be meaningless without the resurrection. He came back from the dead and inaugurated the Kingdom of God here on earth. He kicked off the new redeemed humanity. He defeated death.

quit leaving Jesus on the cross.

[marvelousmop]

The King in Yellow and the War Over the Mind

I think one of the most powerful aspects of Robert W. Chambers's The King in Yellow, and one which sets it apart from a lot of later Weird Fiction about academics who become too invested in the world of the arcane, is the idea that there just isn't anything explainably wrong with the play. People know there's something wrong with it, especially once you get to the second act... but if you just looked at the text itself, you wouldn't find anything.

'No definite principles had been violated in those wicked pages, no doctrine promulgated, no convictions outraged. It could not be judged by any known standard, yet, although it was acknowledged that the supreme note of art had been struck in The King in Yellow, all felt that human nature could not bear the strain, nor thrive on words in which the essence of purest poison lurked.' ~ The Repairer of Reputations

Despite how central it is, I completely missed it on my first reading (mainly because I was young and grappling with a particularly bad printing of it which made the text really small). I only started to grasp it when I listened to the concept album The King in Yellow by experimental post-rock band "Ah Pook, the Destroyer".

This album is largely inspired by Chamber's work, using that premise - an idea that you can't see but can still cause genuine harm - to talk about the current political climate. Songs touch on a wide array of cults and conspiracies - from the modern-day antisemitic ramblings of Qanon and Lizard People conspiracies to the strong figureheads and interpersonal conflicts of cults like Heaven's Gate. They even find time to touch on the Time Cube somehow, all under the framework of the King in Yellow propagating harmful ideas and bringing about the New Age of Madness.

But it's not as simple as just looking at these people and calling them mad. Okay, sometimes it is that (best exemplified in the gospel stylings of "The Tribulation of Alex Jones"), but there are cases where the characters are presented with genuine empathy, such as in "The Road to Carcosa" where we hear about the life of a man who, through exposure to the Yellow Sign (which here is attached to Right-Wing conspiracy theories) ends up destroying his relationship with his family. The singer gets a moment of lucidity in the refrain "The fall of my life came after; And all of my mind was scattered", though this fades away as we hear the end of this story: Him living alone in a gun-filled squalor.

Another thing that elevates this album is how it turns it all back on the listener. There's obviously a specific audience of Left-leaning listeners a project like this would attract, and those people are very unlikely to also share the beliefs of the average Qanon-minded person, but (much like in the book) it constantly emphasises that the actual specific beliefs don't matter as much as the spread of ideas. This is most visible in the refrain heard throughout the album:

The fall you believe Is not far as it seems And the deep can not be so alive The blithe poison meme That you did not believe But you saw and it entered your mind

Belief doesn't matter. Sheer exposure to these toxic ideas means that, in a way, you've already been harmed no matter what you take away from it. This idea is also present in the book, most directly in the story "The Yellow Sign".

In it, Mr. Scott is fully aware of the King in Yellow, but has actively tried to avoid its influence, partially due to the unfortunate fate of Hildred Castaigne (who featured in the story "The Repairer of Reputations" and at the very least wanted to do a monarchist coup of America that would place him as King - all after reading The King in Yellow). By all means, he should be doing the right thing - he has no interest in The King in Yellow and is actively avoiding the play... and it's not like anyone's staging it anymore, so he should be fine... and yet, after strange dreams, an erie watchman, and other bizarre events, he and his model, Tessie, are driven to read it. This is also a story the album quotes right at the start:

'Then, as I fell, I heard Tessie’s soft cry and her spirit fled: and even while falling I longed to follow her, for I knew that the King in Yellow had opened his tattered mantle and there was only God to cry to now.' ~ The Yellow Sign & Beautitudes

It's an idea I think is also evoked in the structure of the anthology. While the first 4 stories directly feature the King in Yellow in one way or another, the rest are tragic, sometimes supernatural romances with seemingly no connection to the title character, to the point where some reprints just do the first 4 and ignore the rest... though I feel it's deliberate when keeping this idea in mind. While the King is absent, Yellow is a recurring motif throughout the book, often emphasising death or danger, and reminding the reader of that titular presence. You have been exposed to the King in Yellow, and now your mind is his domain.

[kayla-2]

I’ll be honest. A post you made popped up on my dashboard so I went to your profile to see other posts you’ve made about ACOTAR.

After about 15 minutes of doom scrolling, I realized something. I never saw a post about what you thought about Nesta saving Nyx, Rhys, and Feyre is ACOSF.

I know you’re an anti-Nesta fan. But I find it hard to believe that any pro-Feyre fans couldn’t appreciate what Nesta did to save her sister and nephew. Especially after completing the Blood Rite and dealing with the Cassian/Briallyn situation like 15 minutes before getting to the River House. I’m pretty sure that would knock anyone on their ass.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that Nesta is no saint. She has said and done things I don’t agree with. I also understand, on a certain level, some of her actions. I think her plan with Thomas was to lighten the load for her family. As one less mouth to feed, it was intended to lighten the family’s load. I also firmly believe that Nesta’s mom was grooming her for the vast majority of her childhood. And that type of abuse is not so easily healed. Also, Elain and Feyre have had their own shares of nastiness.

- Elain’s reaction to how Nesta was not adjusting well after being taken to the HoW and being forced to detox cold turkey made me realize how truly childish and naive she was to her sister’s suffering. Also, the fact that Elain was “pretty” and “quiet” during her suffering was deemed acceptable and the fact that she never contributed to the family’s situation in cabin is just glossed over.

- The constant Nesta bashing carried out by IC when Feyre was present always grated on me. I think it bothered me most because Feyre never defended her sister, like, not even a little. I also find absolutely comedic that the IC are all 500+ but take Feyre’s POV as the gospel truth. Surely they know better than to only seek one version of a story…

Honestly, I like Nesta. I know it’s hard for some people to see and that’s totally fine. That being said, if Nesta was truly as horrid as some people make her out to be, she could have let Feyre die during childbirth and taken Rhys out too. But she didn’t.

I’m not looking to throw hands or anything lol. So please don’t take this as an attack. I’m just truly curious to see what your opinion was concerning Nesta’s sacrifice for Feyre, Rhys, and Nyx. And to see how you think it will play out in the coming books.

I can’t speak for all feyre stans, just me. N.esta “sacrifice” was nothing more than an answer to an already unnecessary plot moment. No one wants her to sacrifice anything, I just need basic respect towards her little sister. The pregnancy and all it’s complications only happened to move feysand out the way so n.esta can finally be useful and “go up the mountain”… it’s quite obvious since cassian was healed after having a worse injury. If the pregnancy was actually for Feyre and feysand plotline I would be much more appreciative

Its barely a sacrifice when n.esta didn’t care or train her powers. Feyre spent all her life sacrificing for n.esta so I would barely call it a favor. I do not care about the IC bashing n.esta the few times they did and Feyre unnecessarily defended n.esta on multiple occasions, please reread. She has the most nice things to say about n.esta. If n.esta can’t handle people not liking her maybe she should be nicer to their family (feyre) or don’t. I don’t get why everyone has to be nice and she can say whatever she wants.

N.esta also admitted to pushing elain away and literally blamed her for their fathers death. What is elain suppose to do? Again, why is she allowed to do these things but everyone else needs to be a saint. Since Feyre returned, Elain apologized, was happy to see her sister alive, and actually works to fix her relationship with feyre and don’t degrade her unlike n.esta so she would be treated nicer it’s common sense. People aren’t punching bags and she couldn’t get any friends or new “sisters” until she respected people which again.. it’s common sense

And point to the part of a.cosf where n.esta disagrees that she treated feyre poorly, how is the inner circle only taking Feyres side of the story when they see n.esta with their own two eyes. She confirmed Feyre story, added more, and truthfully admitted that she didn’t deserve Feyre.

Y’all have to admit that y’all wanted n.esta to be able to treat people however she wants and they have to remain dutiful and nice and patient while offering unlimited support.

[frangipanilove]

The Love Apple and Agape

More On The Apple Symbolism in TWDU

@wdway shared something really interesting with me after my post on apple symbolism yesterday. In my post, I talked primarily about the apple symbolism around TWD 10x13 and TOWL, which of course were all Richonne-centered episodes. But as we know, there's plenty of apple references on the show, some are heavily tied up with TD/Bethyl stuff and thangs.

I just wanted to share @wdway's discovery because there were connections there that I hadn't been aware of, and maybe others will find it interesting as well.

@wdway has been talking about how the French sometimes refer to the tomato as a "love apple", "pomme d'amour" for years, and she suggested that just as the Apple iPhone is synonymous with the apple symbolism in some cases, one could say that in other cases, tomatoes could also be synonymous with apple symbolism.

And for TD, this is particularly interesting in light of episodes 4x12 Still and 4x13 Alone, where we saw cans of tomato sause several times:

As we know, Beth and Daryl's time in the funeral home was paralleled with Sasha and Bob's budding romance, and they had the same type of tomato sauce can-on-strings symbolism around them.

One thing that was completely new to me was that the number "26", seen here feature prominently on the front porch of the funeral home, has some really intriguing connotations to it:

@wdway had discovered years ago that the number "26" corresponds with the word "agape" in the Bible:

Strong's concordance refers to an index over words in the original Greek and Hebrew languages in the Bible, and word number 26 is "agape", which means "love"...

Do with that what you will...

...but I'm inclined to side-eye that HEAVILY! Beth and Daryl's shelter, literally marked with a number that means "love"...?

Keep in mind that while Daryl is arranging the can-on-string alarm system with the cans of tomato sauce, or should I say "love apple-sauce"...

...he gets a visit from the one-eyed dog, the "celestial being", the "heavenly beast with a star in its eye, as poet Robert Frost would have said:

I've talked about how Sirius symbolism is resurrection symbolism in many posts, how it tells a story of reunion, resurrection and rebirth, and in yesterday's post I elaborated on how apple symbolism ties into the same themes of reunion, resurrection and rebirth. Keep that in mind as I remind you that the French call tomatoes "love apples".

So, we have cans of "love apple-sause", directly underneath a large number "26", which means "love" on Beth and Daryl's shelter for the night , and we have a Sirius dog that heralds reunion, resurrection and rebirth.

And, speaking of tomato sauce as "love apple-sauce"...

As @danaredbeard commented on my apple post from yesterday, Aaron actually brought apple sause when trying to recruit TF in 5x10 Them. We saw that in the episode after, when Rick forced him to eat it to prove it wasn't poisoned:

Aaron wasn't personally a fan of apple sauce, but he "argeed" (under some pressure, but still...) to eat a spoon-full to demonstrate that it was safe for human consumption.

Aaron ultimately came with an offer of a new start for TF in Alexandria, a "rebirth"...

...and it came at a time when they needed it the most...

Aaron came with "good news", as though he was spreading the literal Gospel:

And as every TD'er ever will remember, what happend next was a "resurrection” of sorts:

The broken music box responded to Aaron's "good news" by spontaniously resurrecting...

There's actually one more thing, and interestingly, it ties into themes of "good news" and "Gospel":

Yes, it turns out that the number "26" also represents the Hebrew word for God, "Yahweh".

I didn't know any of this, so thanks @wdway for sharing. Hopefully someone else will also find it interesting.

@wdway also has thoughts on how the apple symbolism relates to the story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and a certain apple there that caused quite a stir. We did see symbolism relating to that in TWDDD:

That's probably a post for a different day, but I did touch on in in this post from last year.

Finally, I thought I'd add a little tidbit of my own, something I discovered some time ago, which actually does relate to all the canned tomato/love-apple sauce stuff.

Take a look at the can of tomato sauce/love apple-sause in this shot, right next to the wine bottle (cough *ethanol* cough):

I'd say thats a number 10 can:

Could it be that these cans we see all the time in TWDU are convoluted references to the number 10?

Everyone who's been in TD for any length of time know how we obsess over the 10:10 Slabtown clock seen behind Beth and Dr. Edwards here:

There are plenty of theories on what those numbers on that clock means, here's a recent theory of mine that touches on the subject (X).

Anybody's guess is as good as mine, but some obvious interpretations include 10 as in Roman Numeral X, which obviously is a cross, which obviously is resurrection symbolism. An "X" is also obviously an iteration of a cross such as the one found on the back of the Grady cars, which again ties the symbolism around crosses/X’s directly to Beth.

I also personally love the "X" as in the branding mark Daryl and Michonne suffered in season 9:

Interestingly, in Daryl's case the X seen next to his already existing scars, forms Roman Numerals X II, which could be a foreshadow of episode 10x11 Morningstar. I've explained why that is interesting here, and I also touched on it here. Long story short, "Morningstar", among other things, refers to Revelation 22.16, in which Christ is called the Morning Star. So again, there's resurrection symbolism all over the place.

And while we're on the subject of Morning Stars, I have to mention the Sirius symbolism and the Venus symbolism we keep seeing, as Venus and Sirius are both referred to as Morningstars.

Also, the kind of branding Michonne and Daryl experienced, is technically a form of cauterization, which I discussed here.

Read more about the cauterization and the symbolism around fire and how it relates to a "cure" here, here and here.

And for anyone looking forward to TWDDD season 2, it's reassuring to see that the apple symbolism is alive and well over in France as well:

[sleeplesssmoll]

So I've been reading the traces recently and came across a line that seems like it should be important to well at least something but I haven't seen anyone talk about it? Here's the line btw:

It's specifically the "you're imitating the Messiah" Part that's like making me think. So uhh yeah I just wanted to share it.

Sorry if it's a strange thing to send I wanted to see someone else's opinion on it.

Reverse1999 loves to put Vertin in the position of Jesus. We saw this at the end of Chapter 2 where she was sitting in Judas's position and Schneider was in Judas's spot. Arcana calls her "the savior" and describes Vertin in an almost biblical manner whenever she's interacting with her. Even her little Suitcase is called an "ark". However, this instance is a bit different.

Disclaimer, Idk much about religion but I did try to look this bit up because it reminded me of something too. If anyone has more experience in the matter pls feel free to correct me or add on. I will do my best but I might get stuff wrong.

Note: Vertin was placed in a coma because the Foundation wanted her out of the way. This is relevant to the theory.

Here is what I found:

Source

The Jewish high priests were apparently looking for a reason to get rid of Jesus. As the revolutionary leader of a new movement that challenged the religious status quo, he posed a threat to their power. But they couldn’t just take action themselves. Ultimately, sentencing was up to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor at the time. And they needed to provide him with a legal justification for Jesus to be crucified. The trial of Jesus A number of witnesses testified against Jesus before the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court. Although the Gospel of Mark says many of them gave false testimony, Jesus didn’t confirm or deny their accusations. In fact, Jesus remained quiet through most of his trial, refusing to respond to the charges leveled against him. But he did respond to one question. Asked, “Are you the Messiah?” he seemed to admit that he was. Caiaphas, the chief priest, called this blasphemy. And then the others agreed that Jesus should be put to death. 

This trial parallels Vertin's story.

Moving on, this trail is in the chapter where Madam Z is playing ping-pong while trying to convince her friend to vote for her decision. The whole thing is an analogy to referring to how Vertin started off as the simple Timekeeper who kept records of the end of eras and now she plays this pivotal role that is rocking Foundation's core. She is the real ping-ping ball being batted between two factions of the Foundation. She has no say in the matter because she is now an object in a bigger game. Her fate relies on the people around her. Poor little Vertin is always a pawn in someone else's game. I highlighted some bits in red from the trail posted below that helped me put it together in my head. You can see it if you click "Keep reading." I hope this helps!

Also, thanks for giving me a chance to really look at this. I glossed over it the first time but the scene is even more intense now and I have a deeper appreciation for it. Any corrections or additions are welcome cause I'm out of my depth here.

Source: Chapter 4-16 Ball Game

Ping, pong. Ping, pong. Ping pong ping pong ping, pong. Ping. Pong.

An imitation show?

Yes, an imitation show. A ball imitation show, little thing.

You're imitating the Messiah, while I'm imitating an orange ball made of plastic.

Being pushed back and forth by two rackets, I have nowhere else to go. Once they apply a force on me, I can't help bouncing to the sky. 

You can see how the air flows across my dry, wrinkled skin ...

Oh, what a coincidence! Aren't you in the same situation as mine now!

Ha! Look at your frowning face-

Your face wrinkles from the eyebrows to the nose tip, but people can barely see those light furrows. We know what that means. You have a poker face, and it's never your fault.

But for now, your face is not the thing that matters. Well, maybe for someone it is, but still, it's not. You know what really matters?

The game! Yes, it's the game, of course the game matters!

Everyone loves the game. They gather at the stadium, yelling or roaring vehemently. They choose one team to become its fan and spend good money on a team uniform or an autographed ball.

Yet, it's just a ball. You see where I'm coming from?

Just a ball. Its outline, a circle, could be found in any geometry textbook and anywhere in this world. When the first hominid picked up a coconut and threw it to the sky-and caught it—and threw it—and caught it-and threw it again, when she felt joy and yelped, had she ever thought of the future?

The future where a simple ball has become so complicated and enchanting, now we call it the present.

Complicated and enchanting?

Hahahahahaha! Yes, sure! Complicated and enchanting!

Use your silly and smart head to think about this ball game carefully.

The complex scoring rules, the harsh requirements for reactive agility, the countless possible foul points ... Your fingers, your wrists, and arms, a correct way of using them will lead to victory!

What matters more is, like every ball game, it focuses on how you serve the ball and hitting it back.

It's not an easy job as it sounds. When you are in the game, you need to concentrate. Where will the ball come from, and how will you return it to your opponent-you need to figure that out within half a second.

Use your power in a proper way, move your feet in a stable pace, inhale and exhale at the right timings.

Ping. Pong. Ping. Pong. Ping. Pong. Ping. Pong...

The sound will last forever and ever until that bouncing little thing falls to either side of the court.

[versethetic]

https://www.tumblr.com/versethetic/749152978110447616/hey-can-we-manifest-the-how-or-not-i-used-to?source=share

i think i saw the same post as them, and i'm currently manifesting the how, but after seeing that post i just don't know what to think cuz that blogger has posted some good things and now i'm worried that it won't manifest, i'm just scared of it failing yknow, do you have any advice?

my advice simply won’t change. if it scares you to think like that, if it worries you to align with a certain bloggers way of thinking (no matter how big or small of a blog) then don’t.

there’s no need to take every blogs word as gospel. just cause you like a lot of their posts doesn’t mean you need to align with all of their posts.

i can talk about my views on loa and everyone’ll nod along like “yes verse we agree” but if i then post some bs about “you can only manifest this” “don’t try this method it’s useless” then i guarantee half of y’all will drop my ass and move on. because you don’t believe that particular view on loa that i have.

don’t take feelings as the end all be all (another thing i’ve said before) you know how loa works and if you’re unsure of it, start defining how it works for you specifically and stick to it.

fuck blogs, fuck methods, fuck this thing you don’t like, fuck that thing that scares you and fuck ANYTHING that causes you to doubt your own power. make loa so personal and so secure that nothing anyone else says will shake you.

you can’t base how you think of a LAW on someone else. loa is for YOU. not what someone else tells you, but what YOU tell you.

[yallemagne]

Don't mind me, I saw an edit of the Dracula musical and got pissed.

SO THE GODFORSAKEN DRACULA MUSICAL. I will. I promise. I will fuck up the J&H musical too, it's also by Frank Wildhorn, but I need to hammer on this one shitty thing about the Dracula musical. Or several shitty things about the Dracula musical. I still need to post a rewrite.

TL;DR: The musical is super inconsistent about what it takes to become a vampire, and VH is so useless against Dracula that he's borderline allied with the guy. They're fucking behind the scenes. They're Bonnie & Clyde-ing it. There is no better explanation for how awful VH is at his job.

So, in the beginning, they lean hard into the homoeroticism of Dracula and Jonathan's relationship. Lots of touching and invasion of privacy. Dracula shaves Jonathan. This theme in the story is dropped as soon as the castle scenes are done though. With the Oct 3 scene going so far as to have Dracula tell Mina that he would have already murdered Jonathan if not for the fact he was her husband. What? This point will make less sense in a sec.

Now, here is a kicker. So, this is one of those 'the bites and blood-sharing are basically sex' ones. Jonathan does get assaulted by the Weird Sisters. Unfortunately, they depict him throwing off his crucifix and fully embracing it which is kind of heinous but he is very clearly not entirely well, I assume he's hopped on vampire drugs. In fact, I'd assume that every "consensual" bite in this is under the influence of hypnotism.

They bite him. Several times on several parts of his body. And when they sing the line "I taste your blood on my lips", he sings along, implying that they also fed him their blood. Then Dracula comes in. And he explicitly promises that he will grant both Jonathan and his wife immortality (and yet a few months later I suppose he just decides he's no longer bisexual). Jonathan rejects his "offer", and Dracula retaliates by drinking enough from Jonathan to age down into a young man!

Jonathan and Mina meet Van Helsing at Lucy's funeral. Fucking lazy bullshit way of doing it, but hey, they didn't have that much run time considering how many sad ballads they gave the villain. Van Helsing immediately knows that Lucy's death was the work of Dracula specifically and, without a beat, asks Jonathan if he got bitten.

"Only once," Jonathan says.

CUT BACK TO WHEN THE SISTERS WERE GNAWING ON HIS ENTIRE BODY AND FEEDING HIM THEIR BLOOD. NOW CUT BACK TO THIS SCENE.

This response would be okay if Jonathan were saying it for Jonathan reasons. NOPE. This response is treated as gospel, and you know what VH says? "Okay, only once? Sure, that's nothing. Just rest and eat well I guess."

EXCUSE ME???

In this musical, Lucy dies from getting bitten twice. Once when she sleepwalked and once after her wedding to Arthur. Yeah, they had the wedding, and still, Lucy wasn't allowed to live. Sucks to be blonde, I guess. Lucy hallucinates Dracula at her wedding and passes out. Seward calls up Van Helsing, and you know what Van Helsing does? He forces Lucy to sleep on the couch (okay okay some productions make it a bed) in a room with a doored balcony, completely alone. Then, because the plot hates her, she throws out the tiny amount of garlic decorating the room and lets Dracula in. They sing a shitty love song and Dracula murders her. Very next morning, Arthur goes to kiss her and she pounces. VH aggressively prays at her, and her poor heart stops right then.

TWO BITES. Maybe they intended it to be implied that more bites happened (trust me, it wouldn't make sense if they had), but they did a shit job of it. Maybe that shitty song was meant to communicate that they did the blood ritual? Okay. You know what other song communicated that the blood ritual was done? Blut: the song where Jonathan is assaulted.

Now, I don't think it's a matter of exposure, Lucy having two nights and Jonathan having only one night because Mina gets the blood ritual the very night that she finally meets Dracula in person. Yeah, this musical that tries to play up a Dracula/Mina romance only has the couple meet after Mina has sung more than one song about how much she hates Dracula and wishes he would leave her alone. All other interactions are Dracula creeping on her using the force or something.

So, yeah, Jonathan's bite is trivialized, I can only assume because of sexism. Because what else separates him from Lucy and Mina? He had SO much blood taken from him. What? Can men take more bites, Van Helsing? You absolute whore? How do you know that?

The only thing stopping me from headcanoning that VH is just Dracula but in an overcoat is that they do have a fight song. But you know what? You can still headcanon that they are in cahoots because it's some bullshit. Their reasons for hating each other (VH's gf was eaten by Dracula)? Easily forged. The song they sing? So cliché. They're really hamming up the fact that they're gonna kill each other and then make no move to harm the other. VH's actions? All convenient to Dracula's plans. Disregard Jonathan's bite to make him more vulnerable/a possible threat. Leave Lucy alone in a room with an open fucking balcony. LEAVE MINA ALONE IN THE CASTLE.

YEP, THAT IS RIGHT. The whole team goes to the castle together and VH drags Mina away from the rest of the group, draws a shitty circle around her, and then skedaddles. And moments later, Dracula comes in and forces her to break the circle, forces her to declare her love for him, and then has a sudden epiphany of "whoa actually killing girls is bad" and forces her to stab him. She couldn't even kill her abuser on her own terms.

This whole musical sucks ass. It has to bend over backwards to have the Dracula/Mina romance because they retain the canon fact that Mina despises and fears Dracula. And you know, they retain all the points in which Dracula tortures and kills Mina's loved ones. Remember again that Dracula attacks Jonathan and claims that he would have killed him if Mina didn't love him? *Gestures to Lucy* where was that shit logic with Lucy? Does Lucy not count, you goddamn homophobe?

Anyway, I'll probably post another rant saying how I'd spin it one day with the first course of action being that Lucy doesn't die because it is so pointless to the musical and fundamentally destroys the plot they're trying to set out. And I'm just tired of Lucy dying in every adaptation simply because she must when she could do so much more for the plot alive.

[queer-as-used-by-tolkien]

I have full executive authority to modify my text posts for another audience - to express the exact same sentiment but in words that the new audience will understand. To translate, if you will, from "broad and unknown Tumblr audience" who speak the Tumblr lingo and dialect and who could be literally anybody, to "close family with a humongous bunch of shared experience and similar language to talk about them," who share my worldview and understand what I'm saying without getting offended by a caveat I forgot to include or a specification or detail that I thought was unnecessary. (E.g. on Tumblr I might say "my friend X", but to family I'd just say "X")

Translation from one to the other, and vice versa, is necessary for both clarity and brevity. Different audiences require different approaches.

Tumblr audience might have sentences providing caveats or clarity or introduction to a concept that the family audience already knows or doesn't need. For brevity, I would cut those out, but I might also add sentences to help with transition or to aid in pacing of the ideas, concepts, or story. (This also goes for fic; is the fic for fans only or is it friendly to fandom-blind readers? Same story, told in slightly different words sometimes.)

But they are still my words and all those words remain as true as they were in the original form (assuming I didn't decide to lie to one group). In fact, if somebody had access to both versions (and understood both), they could see more of my mind, heart, and will than otherwise; for example, my willingness to even do such a thing as translating or providing two different versions. A family member who forgot my relation to X might be reassured by the label "friend" when describing her. (It might also mean a lot to the friend, if she read both accounts.) It always helps to see further caveats, examples, side notes, details, or even just different phrasing that I thought would help one group's perspective but wouldn't be too useful for the other unless they were doing a deeper study of my words, for whatever reason.

Now if I DID decide to lie, of course, you can't believe either version (or any new one I came up with), because now I'm a liar and you can't trust anything at all. But assuming I'm not a liar (and nobody has messed with my words, or it's not an outright faked screenshot or deep fake or whatever) - assuming I am truthful and you trust me (and/or my messenger), you can learn a lot from the differences of how I convey the same idea.

Between the two versions I might also do things like update typos or accidental occurrences of misgendering, clarify grammar, institute proper capitalization, and so on.

It makes me think of a post I saw once about the differences between Hunger Games books and movies; how the books tell a story of how awful war is to kids, and how awful the capitol is to make them have a love triangle to survive, and how awful it is for them to sit back and watch it as entertainment. And how the movies have us sit back and be entertained while children have a love triangle and fight each other. It seems like a classic case of "movies butchered the books," but the author was actually involved in and had quite some say in the production of the movie. Looking at them, they both together tell a more powerful story than otherwise. I'll see if I can find that post because it was a JOURNEY.

Anyway. The author has ultimate authority to translate their work to different audiences, with different emphases and details, whether the work is a Tumblr text post or an essay or verbally telling a friend what happened to me today.

Same goes for the Lord Jesus Christ, the word of God (John 1). (For one thing, translating God Himself into human form while preserving his divinity? Major translation skills there.)

The four gospels are an example of this; Matthew, for example, is addressed primarily to the Jews and includes many extra details, adding things like "BTW this was in fulfillment of XYZ prophecy" and including the genealogy through David and all like that. Luke is written by a Gentile to Gentiles, and tells similar stories but often with different details.

Only one gospel mentions that when Jesus fed the five thousand, it was at evening; only one mentions that it was a little boy who had the five loaves and two fishes; when Jesus asks a disciple what they're going to do, only one gospel mentions that Jesus said it "to try him."

John is far more focused on Jesus' divine nature, including many stories not included in the others. Different details, different emphases, different audiences, although ultimately, all four are available to us who have lived after the first century AD.

The gospels also show off another aspect of the author having final authority to translate while still being pure, truthful, and accurate: quotations from the Old Testament.

The OT was written in Hebrew. Jesus reads from a Greek translation and calls it Scripture. (I.e. equally as inspired as the original.) The apostles and writers of the New Testament often do likewise.

The same can be true of other translations as well. Translations into Latin, into German, into French, into Old English, into Early Modern English... God is the master of language. He created it, after all. Jesus is the word. All Scripture is inspired and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness...

But only the author has that authority. If I tell my sister one thing and she tells my friend something in anything other than my own words, it may still be true; but it's slightly less true than my own words. Hopefully, usually the difference is negligible, but in a contest, anything I've ever said or written on the topic is more accurate than what somebody else said.

Hence, if there's something strange about the story my sister tells, my friend would do well to take it with a grain of salt (or more than one, if she knows I have a bad relationship with my sister.) If not, this can pass from one to another like a game of telephone until it devolves into gossip that's wholly untrue, outright malicious, etc.

I and only I retain the right to point to two different versions of my words and say both are equally true. My sister can't say "her words and mine are equal" unless she was there, and even then, any differences would be down to her own different perspective (and level of honesty), not mine.

You never know when somebody might embellish a Bible translation. I hear Satan has quite the interest in perverting God's words (just see Genesis 3). Compare your translation carefully with both itself and others.

On that note, let me share some comparisons to get you started.

One of them has to be wrong. What do you think?

[strawberrystainedd]

Hi!! Got excited when I saw your comment on the Queer Christians unite post, about sharing christianity through a queer lense!! Exactly what I've been looking for as a bi Christian looking for the vouch-for-queer-community-through-the-bible :):) Any tips?

hi so sorry for taking so long to answer!! this ask makes me so happy:) i’m answering this one on this acct but just btw i have a religion sideblog @blessedjudas which is what i usually post all my christianity stuff on!

my biggest tip is to look up churches in your area, find a queer-affirming one (they will usually say it on a website/have a flag in front of the church), and join a group there. my church in san diego is AMAZING and honestly the diocesan events and youth group in hs saved my life and relationship with god!! truly i doubt i would still be a christian if it wasn’t for them!!

if you can’t find a church community near you that is queer affirming, finding a community online is the next best thing!! just finding other people who are queer christians (and queer religious people in general) is the BEST thing you can do- it reminds you that queer christians exist!! and can love god fully!! without sacrificing any part of yourself!! and you also end up learning SO much from them. if you feel safe to do so, you can also try to create a group in your town!! i’m sure it would help other people in the area who might not feel comfortable being the first to reach out.

reading books is also great! there are so many that analyze the bible from a queer lens. here are just a few:

- called out by e carrington keith

-tenderness by eve tushnet

-god and the gay christian by matthew vines

- this i know by jim dant

-hearts ablaze by rolf nolasco

if you have instagram, following people on there is also such a comforting thing. some of my fav accts:

-belovedandqueer

-belovedarise

-marymagdalenestan

-liturgy (my old youth leader from hs/ms actually:))

-andhersaints (who also has a tumblr!! @and-her-saints )

-blackliturgies

-liberating_christianity

when you surround yourself with people who are deconstructing a very white, cishet pov of christianity, you start to realize how anti-jesus that rhetoric truly is. there are so many bible stories and quotes that just aren’t even taught because they aren’t deemed “important” (they are). nowadays i read passages of the bible and find so much more LOVE in it than i used to, because i’ve joined communities of people who truly care about love for the sake of love. once you realize it’s ok and holy to love always, you find so much more love in the bible in so many places!! (you also get a reality check on how flawed the bible can be, and how not everything should be taken literally as it was written by ancient human men in a different language. doing research to find true translations is also a great, if difficult, thing to dig into!!) it just makes me feel so much more connected to jesus and god and the holy spirit, and that feeling of true love is what keeps my faith.

when i was younger i kind of felt like i shouldn’t take the bible very seriously at all because it was so fallible- but now i view it differently, because the more i studied it with other queer people, the more i realized how truly wonderful it is and how warped it had become in translation by american christianity. context is sosososo key when reading such ancient texts and it should not be taken lightly!! pretty much all of those passages that alt-right christians use only make sense in certain context or have been mistranslated. i view the bible as a diary of christians in the past, and in a way i find that even holier. it’s a treasure and the gospel feels even more real to me because of that!!

things just started to make so much more sense when i looked at the bible with a queer eye. when two women who lived together are blessed, that turns from a seemingly pointless story into a story about a romantic couple being blessed by the lord. when it’s mentioned that two men who live together are very close and do everything together, it makes so much more sense to think that they were together. everything just clicks into place! and it fits the image i have in my head of jesus so much better: someone who preached radical love and kindness of COURSE would never say it was a sin to love ANYONE, no matter who it is.

ok this was really long post and honestly i could go on for so much longer but i hoped this helps!! ily and if you have any other questions/musings feel free to ask!!❤️

[soulsam]

Sam Winchester x multiples of 5 for the ask game!

LIV!! hi!!!! yes thank you i will always take an opportunity to ramble about samuel william winchester my darling my beloved my everything

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

oh my god this is such a tough question because there are multiple ;-; one is definitely bubblegum bitch because of that legendary edit. another is "something super sweet" by rory webley which as YOU already know is my season 8-9 sam anthem of choice. there are also like a whole bunch of coldplay songs that i think of right away...trouble is probably the biggest one, but paradise and hurts like heaven are definitely up there. and those are not even the only coldplay songs on my sam playlist akjfhdjkfhdjk he's so coldplay-coded. to me. and just for you. just because it is you who asked this question. forget to remember, by mudvayne. from the saw II soundtrack.

(i did an AWFUL job answering the original question but idc!!! i love music, sue me :P)

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

yes. my toxic trait is that i honestly do believe i could be besties with sam winchester. when i'm watching the show i often find myself saying stuff that sam then says seconds after me. he and i could be true crime girlies together (leave me alone okay i promise i'm normal about it). we have drift compatible autism i just know it. we could therapize each other i think

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

ok now you're just indulging me :P the answer is and has always been and will always be WINCEST. SAMDEAN. THE BLOWJOB BROTHERS. how can you not love them. they're brothers they're mother and son they're best friends they're coworkers they're affair partners they're married they're divorced they've got puppy crushes on each other and they have the deepest and most profound love in the universe. they're everything and i love them and i'll never get them out of my brain as long as i live. when i get old and develop alzheimer's i will forget my own mother's name before i forget about them, i just know it. i have never been more autistic about anything than i am about them. to say they've altered my brain chemistry would be the understatement of the millennium. they are everything and i owe my gf my ENTIRE LIFE for showing me a post about sex and violence and opening my eyes to the truth of the wincest gospel

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

oh no this is a tough one too...especially because i haven't finished the show yet ;-; but just from what i know so far...i do think i have to pick rowena. i'm biased as fuck because i think they should have let sam learn to do witchcraft but also. they're just really funny together. and i think crowley and dean would both be really pissed.

honorable mention goes to pre-ahbl ava because i love ava and i've also seen hunted like six times for. um. reasons. and they're just so cute when she's helping him investigate ;-; meg 2.0 might also have been kinda funny.

conclusion: give! sam!! a girlbestie!!!! please!!!!!!

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

ok this one is slightly unfair because i went in knowing i was and would be a samgirl. i had technically seen some of the show before i started for real last october (though i only remembered pieces of the pilot and pieces of mystery spot) and because sam is ~the intellectual one~ (and the one with longer hair. lmao) i was almost certain he'd be more my type than dean.

BUT. INTERESTINGLY. i do think i was actually kind of a stealth deangirl at first. either that or i'm just Easily Manipulated cause i totally fell for dean's unreliable narration and let myself get mad at sam for things i don't hold against him at all anymore. that's not to say i've turned my back on dean, i adore him, but sam !!!! sam!!!!! he's my everything and he's never done anything wrong in his LIFE.

also. fun and terrible fact. back when i was still watching the first few seasons i used to cringe at any screenshots of him in seasons like. 11 or later. i hate change and convinced myself he looked terrible for the entire latter third of the series. can you believe that. it's so funny though because now i'm like. ok. best sam look, mid-late s8. but SECOND best? SEASON 12. HOLY SHIT SEASON 12 SAM. JESUS CHRIST. i finally saw american nightmare the other day and they hit me with the back-to-back priest outfit and red sweater and i was about to faint like some kind of victorian maiden. hoooooly shit. something something frog in boiling water or whatever but oh my god. late seasons sam. cannot believe i turned my back on him for so long. shameful!!!!

anyway !!! THANK YOU for sending in this ask aaa im sorry i went so crazy on it shfdkjhkdjfhdk i'll really be making the lightest commentary in my tags and almost zero personal posts and then someone sends me an ask and all of a sudden i become the world's chattiest cathy. yes this is an open invitation for anyone to send me asks at any time btw. give me more reasons to be chatty (if you dare)!!!

[peppertaemint]

I don't know if you've seen the new pic Kibum posted, but if you're online I'm sure you've seen the drama about it now...

I don't get it though, usually Key will say himself when he posts something if it shouldn't be shared, so I wonder if even he didn't see a problem with it at first? Why is one picture such a problem? Is Taemin not allowed to exist in public while enlisted?

This isn't a dig at Baekhyun cause I'm glad he was able to do these things, but didn't he have youtube videos coming out while enlisted? And I know he was all over his verified twitter all the time? How is just one picture different than that? Is it cause of the platform? Even though its not Taemin's bubble and he makes no money from it? Would their be so much drama if it had been posted to instastories?

I saw people saying there were articles, but there were articles written when Taemin went to Keys show?

I dunno where I'm getting with this, other than enlistment is confusing, I hope Key and Taemin in particular are okay, and I can't wait for this overlong awful enlistment to be over...

Hi Anon.

I have Bubble so I received the scolding directly via text! That was a shocker, lol. I'll give you my unvarnished opinion on this but as a warning, I'm going to be brutally honest about all of it. You're asking completely legit questions here.

The situation is nuanced, and I think for a lot of fans just the idea that they did something Kibum didn't like and felt the need to tell everyone off about was enough to either upset them or make them scared and 'fall in line." I deleted the posts I made and then I reflected because I never share Bubble content. But this time I made an exception — why did I do that? Because EVERYONE did.

So this is my opinion (don't take it as gospel because I have no access to anyone's thoughts). I think Key misjudged the reaction to that photo and how berserk everyone would go. He sees Taemin all the time; we haven't seen his entire face since his birthday in 2022 (lol). And, we've had virtually no communication from him in almost two years. "We" went nuts. Can anyone blame us? No. But Bubble is a paid service, and Kibum always reminds us not to share his shit. I never share anyone's shit publicly anyhow, but again it was ubiquitous, so I joined in. See the problem?

He had every right to get mad and remind of his boundaries and Bubble policy (there are financial penalties you can face for sharing stuff too btw). I also think he probably felt remorse over sending it in the first place since he likely misjudged what would happen. Is it all about breaking Bubble policy? No. And I don't think it's all about him being annoyed at fans breaking his trust either.

Baekhyun did have a personal YouTube account that he setup himself to use to communicate with fans during enlistment. It's my understanding he did this as a way to keep in touch without it having any links to promo/work. But, do you remember how he had to delete it all, and then he came online to tell us it's okay etc? I think that SM caught wind of extra scrutiny on people doing civil service enlistment, and it was a precaution. I also think this is why they've cooled it on Taemari, and it could be one of many reasons why Taemin stopped doing any posts at all. I'm not saying it's THE reason, but I think it's likely a factor.

There is a lot of criticism of celebrities who do civil service enlistment, and that criticism was present before the investigation involving Ravi and others came to light. People have been criticizing the option for years, saying it's how celebrities get out of doing "actual" service (let's put aside arguments about why that's wrong/insane, etc). Instead, put yourself in Taemin's shoes. He started service one way and is finishing it another. Wouldn't you want to avoid public ire and scrutiny over how you're spending your time in enlistment, ie. "living it up" etc. In my opinion, that's the worry over the photo being everywhere and now in news articles.

Why is the concert different? He went with Lee Soo-Man on the non-Beyond Live day as a private citizen, he kept his face covered the entire time—he even dressed low key. I have the same shirt that he wore (lol, imagine my surprise) except it's the branded version. He wore the non-branded version. Though he did have a Prada bag so maybe my argument falls apart but it wasn't like, in your face, was it? Anyhow, I hope you'll see my point. When he went to that soccer game, Jimin and Sungwoon were also there but they were in a fancy box. He did not sit in the box - he was just with the regulars in the stands. It wouldn't look so good to be in a fancy private box when you're supposed to be serving in the military, would it?

When Minho served, whenever he called Taemin he said he could never show his face. He was allowed to call him on VLives (or comment, lol) but he said specifically he can't show his face. They even argued about it. To bring this full circle, Bubble is a paid promotional, parasocial service. Even though for Kibum, sharing the photo is "private," it's still part of his work as an idol. So technically Taemin was in paid content. Is it a big deal? I really don't think it is (also is he definitely not discharged already?! o.O) so no one should feel sad or bad or whatever. Next time anyone shares anything on Bubble, I know it won't get shared. That's just how the fans roll. There's a level of respect here that is a breath of fresh air tbh.

Why is Baekhyun on Twitter whenever he wants but we don't hear from Taemin often? Personal choice. And that's a choice to be respected. It's not our business unless he chooses to share. Existential perspectives aside, we're part of "work" and the man is not in work nor getting paid for it right now, so he doesn't need to do shit. lol.

[le-souriant]

#MusicMonday Review - April 2024

#MusicMonday is the hashtag I've been using for quite a while to share music recommendations from up-and-coming artists. Always fresh, and always different, trying to look for trends before they become one. You can check March's review for more music.

What does getting lost in the desert, walking through the Campus, a story about nature, love, and just feeling good, have in common? All are the themes of this month's selection. Give it a listen, and dive in, with a word from the artists themselves. 🎧

TV Cult – Empty Quarter

Stranded in the empty quarter Run out of food and water Stranded out here alone But in a mirage I see home

We begin this month in Cologne, Germany for an 80s infused Post-Punk track about not being able to find something to hold on when you need it the most:

"Empty Quarter is about getting lost out in the desert. It's a bit about getting lost in terms of location but also in time.

It's kind of like getting lost from one's inner child (Stranded out by the park, Stranded out after dark). The childhood theme also comes from the title Empty Quarter which is a massive desert in middle east and not far from where I lived as a kid."

Sun God – Campus

walkin through the campus feeling dumb chewin on bubble gum listenin to songs about the dangers of love and no i've never felt it before no i've never felt it before

From Philadelphia, PA, an Indie Rock track perfect for the summer, whistling tunes while skipping stones down at the lake, with no worries at all:

"I think the song is a reflection on being young and wasting time. It’s kind of a sunny weather song, and it’s pretty simple so we wanted to add a bunch of different sounds (layers of warbly guitar, synth, toy keyboards, etc) to make it feel a bit nostalgic."

West Coast Caravan – Them Wicked Ways

Oh baby don't be harsh

From Antwerp, Belgium, let's listen to an Indie Rock song with a story to tell, up for the listener's interpretation:

"All the songs are quite autobiographical or inspired by something I saw someone experience that moved me.

Them Wicked Ways is actually based on a series of events that I and some friends experienced or are still experiencing in this 'wicked' world. We're trying to find a way to act good, which isn't always possible in everyone's eyes.

It was also the first song that wasn't structured like a 'little story'. Normally, the songs I write and we play have a beginning and an ending. Them Wicked Ways is the first one where I just wrote snippets of text that came to my mind and tried to glue them together so it would make sense to the listener, but open to his/her own interpretation."

Andy Smythe – Leaves to Burn

No gospel to learn No faith to confirm No need to discern The reason to yearn

Lovers we're torn By the rose and thorn Damnation to deeds That make these hearts bleed

Look to the river Is its soul with her It winds like a ghost Her spirit evoked

From London, England, a cool retro sounding Brit Pop about the dark depths of life, nature, and love. The tides of reason, distorted by the seasons:

"The track was inspired by my partner commenting that a neighbor who loves their gardening had 'no more leaves to burn'.

I then reimagined my childhood where I spent a lot of time working on farms and thinking back to some of the older men I worked with, who had spent their whole lives working the land. What would such a life be like, you are following a cycle of the seasons, planting in the spring and harvesting in the summer. What if they experienced loss in their lives, would the routine of laboring through the seasons compensate for it?

I'm also influenced a bit by writers such as Laurie Lee, Walt Whitman and Springsteen's writing style on Nebraska, I wanted to paint a panorama of love and loss, the earth and the sky, and reflect on how as modern people we view our connection with nature."

Sugar World – For a Moment

i heard your voice through the speakers tried to call couldn't reach ya i waited up in the bleachers feeling dumb over eager

later on i was tired took a walk through the fire caught a wave in the ocean

Our last stop is Los Angeles, CA for some sugar coated Indie Pop about feeling good for a moment, doing the most trivial things, with the ones you care about:

"It was a combination of being inspired to write a surf rock song, and the lyrics came to be about change, and how situations in life are fleeting.

It's not necessarily about a specific time or person in our own lives, but it was inspired by the feeling of growing up and realizing that things are always changing and will keep changing.

In some ways it's a song about loss, and was inspired subconsciously by loss that we experienced in our own lives."

Listen to them and much more on the complete Playlist:

[barbarastreisandof]

13% of the Palestinian population is Jewish... where do you get this statistic from? I promise I'm not doubting it, I'm genuinely curious. I thought all Palestinian Jews (old yishuv and jews who arrived late 1800's to 1940's) became Israelis in 1948, and generally now live outside the West Bank and Gaza.

I think it's also dangerous to sell those facts as wholesale, I'll admit. Vivian Silver, one of the women who died in the attacks or in the crossfire, regularly helped drive Palestinians to hospitals within Israeli borders, and used her privilege to stand up for them at checkpoints.

Hi anon

I will post my original sources as soon as I'm able to find them. It's a bit of information I came across over the past year and not something I've had saved so I'm currently digging through old searches to find it again. To be clear, I'm not only speaking about people in the West Bank and Gaza - I am referring to all people who identify as Palestinian Arab and Jewish. I can't guarantee it's entirely up to date - it may be data from a decade ago - so it be lower now, say 10%, or could be slightly higher.

I'll remove it from the post for the time being till I can link to the source.

Also, more broadly, you're free to doubt me. I don't expect, or want, anyone to take what I'm saying as gospel. If anything I say sounds questionable or doubtful, by all means, doubt me and interrogate my points and research them or dig deeper. I'm not offended at being doubted - I'm a series of texts posts on a screen, there's little reason to trust what I say without critical thought or reflection and if something I post doesn't sit right, it makes sense to me to challenge it.

To your latter point, I am not saying there are no Israelis sympathetic to Palestinians. I am saying that the narrative that this is a problem of governments and not the people themselves is disingenuous when a majority of Israelis are NOT in favor of a single state where Palestinians are given equal rights and say in the governing of the land. To the point of Vivian Silver, I am not familiar with her specifically. What you've described, however, does not mean she saw Palestinians as equally human or deserving of liberation. It might sound harsh, but those facts alone don't communicate how she saw Palestinians as people or whether she would support true equity and liberation for the Palestinian people.

I personally know people who marched during the Civil Rights movement in the US and who supported black Americans at the time who currently oppose defunding the police and consider many outspoken black liberation activists to be too extreme and unreasonable in their demands.

Her actions and behaviors show a basic regard for Palestinian life that is often missing, but I want to be careful not to valorize those actions - those actions are part of what all Israelis owe to all Palestinians. It is not saintly or heroic for an Israeli to treat Palestinians with the same humanity and regard that they would show other Israelis. Beyond that, I can't say much because that alone is not sufficient information to surmise her politics, which from context I feel is what you're wanting me to comment on, i.e. "Here is an example of an Israeli leftist who stood with Palestine who was killed" which is not a sentiment I can agree with without knowing more about this person. Lastly, I will say, I have neither seen nor heard anything in all my reading or conversations to suggest that any Palestinian, including anyone in Hamas, would wish death upon her or want to kill anyone like her. I have seen and read and engaged in many conversations that assure me that there are many Israelis who would consider her a traitor and collaborator and want her dead for showing any basic decency to Palestinians. This is obviously subjective as I'm just reporting my own experiences, but nothing you've shared here compels me to modify any of my original points.

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

[ad_1] My snarky side debated writing a one-word blog post this week, with “no” as the answer to the title question. But I didn’t want to do that to you. (Although I promise I’ll write a one-word blog post someday!) Let’s dive in and discuss the extended dance mix answer of “Should ChatGPT set your SEO writing strategy?” Here we go… Have you ever gone to a party and met that person who has an opinion on everything? They’ll insist they know how something works — when actually, they’re just spewing out words that sound authoritative and cool. Are they right some of the time? Sure. They may even be brilliant people. But does that mean you should take every word they say as gospel? Oh no. Definitely not. It doesn’t mean that you can’t trust anything they say. But you do want to take their expert advice with a massive grain of salt. Just like with ChatGPT. ChatGPT: High wow factor, but no clue. This topic popped up when I saw this article sharing how Google’s Gary Illyes advises against using AI and LLM (language learning models like ChatGPT) to diagnose SEO issues. Illyes said on LinkedIn, “LLMs have a very high wow factor, but they have no clue about your website; don’t use them for diagnosing potential issues with it.” And this is what’s scary. I’m seeing articles about how to use ChatGPT to diagnose content issues or ranking problems. Sure, with the right prompts, I can compare one of my blog posts in ChatGPT against a competing page with a better ranking and ask what should be improved. I’ve even tested this myself on my most trafficked page. And you know what happened? My ranking dropped. So…yeah. Plus, there was that time I asked Google’s Bard what the best keyphrases were for a page about SEO copywriting training. Bard spit back [digital marketing] as one of the answers — a keyphrase so general and competitive, there’s no way in hell the page would position for it. I’m not saying that ChatGPT is worthless. I use it like a writing intern who helps me do minor research, brainstorm copy ideas and enhance my creative process. But I would never hand over my strategy to an intern and say, “Figure it out.” [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfU8CZVNb6o[/embed] Sorry. I had to throw a Letterkenny reference in there (IYKYK). Writing tools don’t replace smart, strategic SEO writers. The thing about ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Yoast — or even Semrush — is they’re just tools. They help us do our job easier — and they may even flag things we could improve — but they should never dictate our strategy. Especially since we know their advice is often incorrect — no matter how authoritative it sounds. Only a living, breathing human should make those calls. Just like the charismatic person at the party — ChatGPT may talk a good SEO game. It may give you insights or provide some valuable facts. You may feel amazed at its brilliance and want to trust every word from its LLM mouth. But does it have any real clue about what to do with your website? Nope. Only an expert can give you that information. Everything else is just fluff. What do you think? Have you heard that ChatGPT was suitable for SEO decisions? (There’s no shame; that information is out there.)  Leave a comment below! Oh, and did you see my video about the “new Google” and the future of SEO writing? Enjoy! [ad_2] #ChatGPT #Set #SEO #Writing #Strategy #SuccessWorks

[andybondurant]

New Post has been published on Andy Bondurant

New Post has been published on https://andybondurant.com/2023/05/16/contemplation-see-be-god/

Contemplation: See + Be God

I recently heard the story of man who found out at an early age he would slowly lose his sight until he would be completely blind by the age of 40. At the time of the interview, he was in his mid-30’s and had only 15-20% of his sight left. Somehow he was able to turn this setback into an amazing story of overcoming adversity. Though legally blind, he builds furniture by hand and turned it into a full-time business!

Life as a follower of Jesus is most times the exact opposite of this story. Over the course of years we move from complete blindness to the ability to see fully and clearly. Typically, there is an immediate ability to see, but clarity comes through years of the practice of what it means to follow Jesus.

Men like trees

There is a story of man Jesus heals of blindness in Mark 8. What’s interesting about this story is the man begins completely blind, and though Jesus prays for him he only receives a portion of his sight. He says:

“I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So Jesus prays for him again, so he can completely see.

Jesus had the power to fully heal the man the first time, but he didn’t. Why? Jesus was making a point about spiritual blindness. He is referring back to an earlier part of the chapter when his disciples aren’t clear why Jesus had acted as he did (feeding the 4,000). They saw what God was doing, but not clearly. It was blurry in their spiritual vision.

Sometimes spiritual clarity takes time.

Image by Saif71 on UnSplash

You could easily replace the analogy of sight with hearing. We slowly learn to hear God over time. Sometimes we begin by hearing muffled sounds. We know it’s God, but it’s not quite a clear as we’d like. Other times we only know how to hear God in one way. It’s why this is a common theme of my writing. I want to make a few things clear: God speaks today. God wants to speak to YOU today. There are different ways to hear God.

Do you know how to hear him? Do you hear God clearly, or is it just muffled sounds?

Why before the How

Let me begin by encouraging you with the benefits of hearing God. There are many benefits to hearing God, so I’ll share two that Jesus taught about:

1. When you hear God, you are known by God.

The Gospel of John records Jesus walking through the Temple during Hanukkah. He’s asked a very direct question in front of the crowds gathered, “Are you the Messiah?” As a part of his answer is this line:

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”‬‬

John‬ ‭10‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT

When you hear God it indicates God knows you. There is power in being known by God.  When you understand God knows you, you know he cares for you, you know you are an heir to all that God has, and you fully embrace being a child of God!

When you hear God, you are known by God.

2. When you hear God, you build a solid life.

If you grew up in the church, you might remember the Sunday School story Jesus tells of two men each building a home. In this story, one man build his house on sand, and the other man builds his house on rock. Eventually a powerful storm blows through, and the house built on sand is destroyed. 

The house built on rock remains.

Jesus leads the story with the this phrase:

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”‬‬

Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT

When you hear God (listen and obey) you build a life on a solid foundation. Storms will blow through, it’s the one thing you can count on. However, your life will remain when you build it on the what you hear God tell you.

That’s all well and good, but how do you hear God?

How to Hear God

There are multiple ways to hear God. The most common way is through another person. Think about this in form of a pastor, priest, minister, or even a parent, mentor, or friend. The problem with relying on this way of hearing God is it ties you to that person or people to hear God. If they stop speaking to you (literally or figuratively), you no longer hear God.

The other two more common ways to hear God is through the Bible, God’s Word, or in prayer. I’ve shared more on these ways in detail at this post. A less common way to hear God is through meditation. Biblical mediation is only less common because it is much harder to practice. I added this habit into my life recently, and it has been so good for me.

Contemplation

Let me add one more way we hear God — contemplation. Like meditation, contemplation  is a form of hearing God practiced through the ages. If you were to have asked me what contemplation was a few years ago, I probably would have given you an answer similar to what meditation is (being quiet in front of God thinking about Scripture, etc). However, as I’ve studied and learned more about contemplation, I’ve developed a better definition to how contemplation truly seems to operate in our lives.

Contemplation sees God in the world around us, so we can be God to the world around us.

Contemplation: See God

In the story of building of the Church after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus to heaven, we see the apostle Paul travel to Athens (Acts 17). To begin this trip, Paul is alone (very unusual for his ministry model). Alone, walking the streets, listening to conversation, and observing his surroundings, Paul notices something unusual. 

In Athens showcased shrines for all the different gods the Greeks and Romans worshiped. Among these shrines was one labeled “To the Unknown God”. Paul notices this and contemplates what it means. He determines the people of Athens have known from the beginning there is a God they need but don’t know — Jesus.

As Paul walked the streets of Athens, eyes and ears open to clearly hear God, Paul saw God. But Paul didn’t stop there.

Contemplation: Be God

It was Paul’s practice to visit the local synagogue of any new city he entered. Following this model Paul shared the news of Jesus to the Jews in Athens. Word spread beyond the walls of the synagogue, so the city officials invited Paul to share these new thoughts at the Areopagus.

While at the Areopagus in front of the thought leaders of the center of thought, Paul shared this story of seeing the shrine for the Unknown God. He also used their own poets to describe what he saw. Paul shared the good news of Jesus through this avenue of what he saw. Not many believed, but they heard. For just a moment, Paul became God to those in Athens. They heard the Good News of Jesus.

Contemplation: Culture, Creation, World Around You

In this story, Paul saw God in culture. There are two other ways we see God. Contemplation sees God through:

Culture

Creation

World around us.

I want you to hear God clearly. I don’t want you to see ‘trees’ but men. I want you to add a new practice of hearing God, so over the next few weeks, I’ll share more on what it means to see God (hear God) through the three avenues of contemplation.

For now, begin to pray to see God around you. And don’t just see God, determine who you can be God to that world.

Will you hear God through contemplation?

[seekfirst-community]

"If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire." St. Vincent Ferrer).

"Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”

"Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

"But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

"Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

"Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”

"And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1: 43 - 54).

Thursday 5th January 2023, in the Season of Christmas is the feast of a great missionary priest, Bishop, Church planter, pioneer in the Catholic Schools system in USA. His name is St John Neumann (1811 - 1860). Born in Bohemia. Became a Redemptorist priest. Became Bishop of Philadelphia. Worn out by his labors, John died at the age of 49.

In our Gospel today, Bartholomew also known as Nathanael is one of the Twelve Apostles.

Here is the amazing faith of Philip in Jesus who had just launched His public ministry: “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

Philip believes that Jesus is the Messiah.

When Philip told his friend Bartholomew that they found Jesus, he said: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

But Philip, a great evangelist said to Bartholomew, “Come and see.” Both Philip and Bartholomew spent some friendly time with Jesus that afternoon and both became His disciples. The interaction with Jesus closed the sale. And Bartholomew declared: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

St John Neumann is not only a great catechist and educator but a great evangelist.

Who is Jesus planning to draw near Him through you? Evangelization could be likened to seeing a great deal or sales promotion in the supermarket or Amazon and sharing that information with a friend. You share with family and friends what you value highly.

The first step in evangelization might be sharing Scripture or spiritual content with someone. For example, sharing Christian posts that move you from Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc with family or friends. You can follow up with inviting the friend to a special event in your church.

Be a Philip. Introduce somebody to Jesus today. Share your faith.

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com