#i just think if you can do a baptism after death why not a sealing. but doing one would perhaps open a floodgate? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nerdygaymormon · 4 years ago

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So, I know the Church places,a lot of emphasis on getting married in the temple, and I think somewhere I heard it was necessary to achieve the highest level of glory, but recently I've been considering the label a romantic for myself and I was wondering what my place in the church would be. Is marriage really necessary for exaltation?

I wrote a very long response, and then at the end figured out the answer I should give you.

Listen to your heart. What is the Spirit trying to whisper to you?

Since you’re aro, check out the apostle Paul’s message in I Corinthians chapter 7. He says if you’re ace/aro, great! God has work for you. In fact, Paul seems to value being ace/aro over being married.

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I’ll still share the really long answer about whether marriage is necessary for exaltation,

I’ll begin with the Church’s answer. Then I’ll provide some historical context. And finally, I’ll share my thoughts.

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I suppose we should begin by defining what the LDS Church means by someone being exalted.

They will live in the presence of Jesus and God (which means living in the highest level of heaven)

They will become gods (children of God grow up to be like God)

They'll be united with their spouse for eternity, and linked to their righteous children and others through sealings

They will have eternal offspring (Wendy Watson Nelson is quoted in a 2020 manual for Sunday School teachers as saying marital sex "will continue eternally")

They'll receive everything Jesus and God have--power, glory, dominion and knowledge

Two of the items on the list involve being married/sealed together, which is why the LDS Church puts such an emphasis on this.

For those who are unmarried, or whose marriages aren't sealed in the temple, they can still make it to the highest kingdom of heaven but they will not be exalted, they'll be ministering angels

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In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), a person has to strictly observe all the Jewish laws involving sacrifice, prayer, and observance of holy days.

These laws cover everything from what clothes a person can wear, what they eat for lunch, and even if it’s okay to have sex with your wife when she is menstruating. God is very involved in the details.

These laws could be considered the "covenant path" of the Jewish faith.

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Jesus & his apostles reject the idea that people have to keep all the Jewish laws in order to be saved in heaven.

Rather than a bunch of boxes to check, Jesus taught there's simply 2 great commandments.

The first is to love God above all else.

The second is to work diligently for the welfare of others, especially the poor, outcasts, strangers, foreigners, marginalized and even those who are our hated enemies. In other words, help God accomplish His great work, which is us.

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This idea that Jesus rejected following strict laws and covenants, along with the command to love God, it lead to the Christian teaching of people being "saved" through their faith in Jesus.

First, a person has to believe that Jesus is the Son of God

Next, they must believe that they can't go to heaven unless Jesus saves them

Then they ask Jesus to come into their life by prayer. They admit that they've sinned and ask for forgiveness and pledge to follow Jesus for the rest of their life. This is often referred to as being "born again"

Finally, they are baptized as a sign of their commitment to Christ (baptism is not a requirement to get into heaven, but is a way to follow Christ’s example and show they've had a significant spiritual experience)

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Joseph Smith taught that most people go to heaven, and that heaven has layers.

To get to the highest level we must complete certain ordinances and live a certain way. President Nelson refers to this as the "covenant path."

Faith in Jesus (not an ordinance, but a requirement to begin this path)

Repentance (not an ordinance, but having a desire that to do better)

Baptism by immersion (symbolic of our repentance that washes us clean and saves us from eternal death to eternal life)

Laying on of Hands to receive the Holy Ghost

Melchizedek Priesthood ordination (for men only)

Washing & Annointing ordinance

Endowment ceremony

Celestial Marriage (sealed to spouse in the temple)

Sealing to parents (done in the temple, or if your parents were sealed to each other at the time of your birth, you were born sealed to them)

These collectively are known as the saving ordinances.

For people who died without completing this list of ordinances, these can be performed vicariously for them at the temple (except for the ordination to the Melchizedek priesthood).

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Since Joseph Smith put this new path of ordinances in place, there’s been a big change. For decades, "Celestial Marriage” meant polygamy, without it exaltation was not possible.

Since the Church was forced to stopped practicing polygamy, we've changed how we interpret the scriptures that talk about celestial marriage.

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In order to go to the temple to receive the saving ordinances necessary for exaltation, the Church requires we pass a worthiness interview. I suppose that in a sense, these are changes as to who qualifies to be exalted. This additional list of requirements includes:

follow the Word of Wisdom

sustain the current prophet and apostles

obey the law of chastity

pay a full tithe

attend church meetings and partake of the Sacrament

if divorced, pay your child or spousal support

wear the temple garments

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A Safeguard

There's many people who find themselves outside of this Covenant Path.

Many lived and died without knowing anything of Christ, and we do not have records for them and thus can’t do temple work for them

Some people are specifically forbidden by the Church from completing the requirements for exaltation

Queer people

In the past, people of African heritage were also forbidden by the LDS Church

Given there's an obvious lack of fairness and opportunity, there has to be a way to fix things, otherwise God would be very unjust.

I believe this idea has influenced the LDS concept of the Millennium, which is a period of 1,000 years of peace after Christ comes again.

The Church believes that during the Millennium, people will be taught the gospel, repent, marry, raise children. The temples will be busy with resurrected people getting temple ordinances done.

People who died single will have an opportunity to find someone to marry.

Some people believe that queer people will not be queer anymore and this will make it so they can find someone to marry and be sealed together.

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My thoughts.

We know next to nothing of heaven and post-mortal life, yet we speak about it in very definitive terms--what it’s like, who’ll be there, what they’re doing.

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I know we often speak of the highest level of heaven as very exclusive, but I’ve had the opportunity to speak with several Seventy and an apostle and they speak of the Millennium as the great hope.

Parents with wayward children should have hope, the lesbian should have hope, all will be made right, we all will have an opportunity to develop and grow. It sounds like everyone will be exalted if they want to be.

While I don’t quite agree with all the ways they think things will be fixed in the Millennium, I can get on board with the idea that God will make things right.

For example, the idea of a queer genocide that wipes out all LGBTQIA+ people and replace them with a cishet version of the person just doesn’t sit well with me.

What I do believe is that any blessing a person should’ve had during their lifetime will be made available to them.

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Something about the idea that in heaven married couples are having sex and creating babies for eternity is a little weird to me. Do women like the idea of an eternity of pregnancy? Imagine an eternity of morning sickness and child birth as your destiny.

Mormon scriptures teach that we all began as intelligences, without beginning or end. God came and organized intelligences into spirits. In that way we’re God’s spirit children. Does that sound like sex? It doesn’t to me. I don’t know when celestial sex became the Church’s explanation of what it means to organize intelligences.

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The ideas of what exaltation is causes leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to struggle with the idea of people who are ace, trans, gay, aro and so on. They see themselves in the idea of heaven and not the rest of us.

Their idea of what exaltation means makes them see no space for queerness in God’s Plan.

That’s pretty bold to deny the existence of God’s diverse creations. Here we are, we exist, we are known, yet rather than expand the Plan, to find how we can fit into the Plan, they choose not to see us.

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It makes me very sad to think our Heavenly Parents might have set up a plan that would cause most of their children to not be exalted, and that means they’d never get to see those children or speak with them again, yet that’s what many Church members seem to believe.

If our Heavenly Parents are supposed to be a model for us on how to be parents, most humans would reject the idea of setting up a plan to make their kids fail so they would never see or speak to them again. That's the opposite of what we'd consider good parenting.

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While I find meaning in the ordinances performed by the LDS Church, I'm more inclined to believe what Jesus taught on the matter--Love God, love & lift those in need. Jesus called this "true religion" and those who follow it will find they do well in heaven, no matter what earthly church or religion they belong to.

I think of the story of 3 eighteen-year-olds who carried members of the Martin Handcart Company across the icy waters of the Sweetwater River. Those young men died from the extreme exposure, and upon hearing of what they did, Brigham Young wept and said they’d be exalted for their sacrifice. Their exaltation wasn’t dependent on being married or having the Melchizedek priesthood. Service & sacrifice for people in need was enough.

I imagine Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and others who've spent their life developing Christlike traits (regardless of whether they were Christian) will be much further ahead when the Millennium arrives. It only takes a few hours to complete the ordinances, and so much longer to become the kind of person who can be exalted.

I suspect a lot of Mormons will be surprised to find that their ordinances weren't enough to qualify them for exaltation

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Since I'm forbidden by the Church from being sealed to a husband, I instead focus on being a good person, on helping others, on being a great uncle and a good neighbor and friend.

Is marriage really necessary for exaltation? I don’t know.

I don’t know what heaven is like, there’s some Mormon beliefs about heaven that I really like, such most everyone goes to heaven, and we can be together with the people we most love.

While I don’t know much about heaven, I think we can know things about God’s character, and that’s what causes me to question some of what is taught about heaven & marriage and a Plan that excludes queer people.

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smallwomanlongstory · 4 years ago

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Our Lady of Czestochowa

My memory once contextualized major events using seasons, or tenure at a certain job or school. At some point, though, I began to mark time according to traumas. I knew we sold a property right before the second big relapse. Our daughter's baptism happened a week or so after the first night S slammed my body into furniture.

When it all started, it was October. I took T on a trip to a field across the Hudson River to pick pumpkins. At the farm stand, I picked up a jar of four berry jelly. Waiting in line, I stared at the jar lid and counted the little red, pink and white checks, arriving at an even number. I smiled, thinking there was a potion sealed beneath the gingham. Magic that would vanquish those little drug baggies that tumbled from S's jean pockets into my washing machine. The jelly would show him that I’d thought of him. Foolishly, back then, I still hoped things could be fixed with kind gestures, or the right string of words.

That October was defined by my bare feet slapping cold hard pavement as I chased after S; by tears streaming down my face as I grabbed him and begged him to go to the hospital. October was my mother’s hand moving back and forth between my shoulder blades as I struggled to fall asleep in my childhood bed. My own bed was uninhabitable because it was where I held my husband and felt his heart beat so hard and so fast, I thought he would die. October was fear; fear that the handful of diet pills S took would give him a heart attack; fear when he called from a far-away city, paranoid and crying; even greater fear when my phone wasn’t ringing.

S moved to the United States, to a middle state, without knowing a word of English, when he was seven. His father took him to a park where S saw kids his age playing soccer. Wanting to join, S asked his dad for an English lesson. His dad told him to just stretch out the Portuguese word for sock, Meia (pronounced "May-Uh"), and taught S a new word, “play.” S sprinted across the grass, repeating his line, “Meia play, Meia play, Meia play,” in his head. When he finally reached the children and asked the rehearsed question, they said, “no”, and ran away.

In the emergency room that October, S squeezed my hand, turning my knuckles white, begging me to tell the doctors he was ok to be released. I knew he wasn’t. I knew he would get out and use again, but I looked at the other people in the psychiatric emergency room; a man in hospital scrubs pacing up and down the hall, spitting into a cup; a women on a gurney, the fluorescent ceiling lights highlighting something brown smeared across her pant leg; a teenage boy behind plexiglass and wires, his knees drawn up to his chest, rocking and sobbing. On drugs, S terrified me, I didn’t want him home, but I could also see the little boy in him, scared himself, running across the park wondering if his shy “May I Play” would be understood, and I couldn’t leave him alone with all that filth and sorrow.

That night, from the depths of my jewelry box, I resurrected the Our Lady of Czestochowa medallion that my grandmother gave me and I started wearing it daily. Every night I told Our Lady my fears, took the necklace off, and placed it under my pillow. Through spiritual osmosis, I hoped, The Black Madonna would take my worries.

The real Our Lady is a wooden icon, an image of The Virgin mother and her child that was painted by Saint Luke onto a table-top. Said to be fortified by the tears Mary shed ceaselessly following her son’s death, many miracles are attributed to the relic.

During a fourteenth century war with the Tartars, Our Lady’s wooden throat was struck by an arrow. A mark was left. That time period was a bloody one for Poland, and just a few decades later a Hussite pillager added two gashes to her cheek. When the pillager lifted his sword to make a fourth scar, he dropped to the ground and died in agony. Restoration attempts have tried to smooth the icon’s face and neck, but the stigmata always reappear.

Our Lady of Czestochowa is nicknamed The Black Madonna. Theologians speculate that her face was tinted by soot, centuries of candle offerings. I knew smoke had nothing to do with her coloring. There is no point in consecrating one’s suffering to something blithe.

When S was healthy, we had a favorite skit. Whenever T woke up wet or hungry, we went together into her room and lifted her from the crib. S would voice-over T’s crying, pretending to be a disgruntled hotel guest. In a pinched English accent, S would say something like: “The service around here is outrageously slow. It took three whole seconds for you people to get here.”

Then I would go, “So sorry sir, I came as soon as you rang. Can I get you a fresh Elmo diaper?”

In the fussy indignation common to infants and crusty old men, S would continue, “What must I do for some warm milk? Need I write a letter to management? Notify my grandmother perhaps?”

T would see her parents laughing and tending to her. Her tears would dry up and she’d smile or coo. I loved our little act. In it, we were our own little universe, a normal family.

Except we weren't, and I became obsessed with Our Lady of Czestochowa. I bought a thick book, a collection of the miracles attributed to the icon: men at war made safe though the odds were against them; blind women made to see; ships manned by devout sailors, righted after being flipped. My favorite was about a little boy who, not understanding the damage it would cause, placed his baby sister in a warming hearth. The mother returned from some chore to find that her baby was charred, and immediately carried the little burnt body up the hill and into the monastery where our Lady presides. The child was healed and the story wrapped neatly with the family reunited, no questions raised about the brother’s intentions, or the mother’s distraction.

The Black Madonna has two elaborately decorated dresses; one adorned with jewels and one that was hand-sewn with gold thread and beads by peasant women. As liturgical seasons pass, the monks change her. I liked to picture them preparing for the ceremony like school girls given new ornaments for an exceptionally pretty paper doll, competing for a chance to fuss over the amber and embroidery. In my mind, the brothers would become fresh, exchanging snubs and lightly slapping the back of one another’s hands. I wanted to believe that the Black Madonna made them devolve into pettiness, because I wanted Our Lady to be powerful.

Somewhere, I read that I should picture the person I was worried for wrapped in a warm blanket, protected. Desperate for a tool, some nights I put S in every blanket, sheet, and towel in our linen closet. I’d put him in God’s palm, next to Jesus, on a radiant cloud with my dead grandparents. I would feel stupid, childish, still worried.

It wasn't until the week or so before I left S that, suddenly, finally, I recognized why the blanket imagery never worked. The warm places I'd managed to create weren’t meant for S, they belonged to me. I still love to lift the Black Madonna medallion to my lips and kiss its scars. She reminds me that I can always access faith and safety; it's in my experience, in all the ways that I've survived.

#saints #icons #hope #black madonna #alanon #addiction #families of addicts #children of addicts #prayer #codependency

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madasthesea · 5 years ago

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Hi hi! Can you possibly explain the Mormon post about ‘no hell’ and ‘the different afterlifes’?

Absolutely! Sorry for the small delay, my family was over for Pioneer Day and I wanted to give this the attention in deserves :)

So, we have this chart:

Which looks a little confusing, but basically that little circle "outer darkness?" That's "Hell." So we do technically believe in one, but it's different for two reasons. Firstly, very very few people go there. I'm talking like three in the history of the world. Because in order to completely fall, you have to have complete understanding of God and His plan with absolutely no room for doubt. Basically, you have to have talked with Him face to face and then turn around and fully deny Him. That's pretty much only Cain and Judas. And two, even though it's "Hell" you don't get tortured for eternity in fiery pits. You don't have a body, what would that do? The spiritual anguish of being completely denied the presence of God is all the torture you would need.

And the second part of this question: the three kingdoms of glory. As seen above, they are Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. These are all "Heaven." Literally, they are more beautiful and wonderful than we can imagine, but there is a difference between them. Celestial is the highest glory and Telestial is the lowest. Celestial glory means living in the presence of God. Literally in His presence. That is the goal, that is what we aim for, because living outside of His presence is not what I consider Heaven. Furthermore, in the Celestial kingdom, you live with your family. Forever. Some people think that sounds scary, cause some families aren't good to each other. But in a world with no sin, no pain, where all grievances have been righted where it's a choice to be alone or with your family, why would you not want that?

As for choosing your afterlife, that's essentially true. After death, there is a period before judgement in which you can learn the gospel, repent of your sins and accept the saving ordinances (baptism, confirmation, initiatory, endowment, and sealing) that allow you into the Celestial kingdom.

If you decide you don't want that, if you don't want the ordinances done for you, if you can't let go of your sins, or the idea of living in God's presence is unappealing to you, you can decide to not go to the Celestial kingdom, and go to the area that would make you most comfortable. Telestial would be rather like Earth, actually, just... better.

That's a pretty good rundown, but I strongly suggest you go to https://www.comeuntochrist.org/beliefs/purpose-of-life/there-is-life-after-death and learn more.

It's a really, really beautiful doctrine and it brings so much peace into your life, knowing that there's always a second chance and that death is literally just another step in life.

#answered #I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints #religion

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fightevilandthengetblownup · 5 years ago

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Crowley + Jo Chats

Chat #1 - After Gray goes on a killing spree, after Anna deals for Ellen's safety

*Jo hadnt rung in the body yet, considering it as she’d gotten the hell out of there and headed towards the lake side beneath the pier despite the late hour. Scrubbing at her hands, face, neck and hair to get rid of the blood, she wasn’t sure what was going to be worse - rampage Gray went on next or what Anna might pull now*

*Crowley not fully satisfied with his chat with Gray decides to make the rounds, Ellen was off the hook but her daughter was still fair game and he smiled finding her washing blood off of her. Walking heavily down the pier Crowley cheerfully called out to the hunter.* “When your done come on up Jo, we are far over due for conversation.”

*Her head jerks up at the voice, looking behind her to see Crowley standing on the pier.* “Aren’t we always? That’s what I find to be the best part of this relationship - we never talk.” *She mutters to herself as she looks about trying to decide whether its best to run or do as he says, washing the last of the died blood out of her hair*

*Crowley puts his hands behind his back watching Jo.* “A long time ago, a bathing beauty along the shoreline would have been a welcome treat but I have other pleasures now, so do hurry up.”

*Rolling her eyes, Jo jerks on her jacket again before staring up at him. Letting out a quiet sigh, she goes to the rickety iron ladder and climbs up from the short with a scowl* “I’m quite glad to hear that, Anna I’m presuming? What did you want, Crowley?”

“I was thinking more of Grey, Anna needs just a bit more time before she’s ready to be sampled.” *Crowley holds his hand out for Jo as she climbs up the ladder. “I’m here to give you good news.”

*Jo stops seeing his hand and at his words, scowl morphing into a glare as she doesn’t move to take his assistance or to get further up the ladder* “The good news being my mother is safe again? Yeah, Anna already told me about that little arrangement.*

*Chuckling Crowley lifts his foot, kickinng Jo back down the ladder and appearing next to her when she lands.* "Of course, did she tell you how she made that arrangement?”

*Falling back, she lets out a groan when she lands, glaring up at him* “Something about doing what you you ask of her…”

“Oh it’s more than that, she’s mine. I own her fully now.” *Crowley walks around Jo grabbing her by the back of the jacket and dragging her to her feet.* “If Anna does anything to go back on that, then I’m going to take it out of your mother’s hide. One strip of skin at a time, slowly peeled like an orange. Do we understand Jo?”

“How could I think otherwise?” *Struggling to free her jacket from him, Jo sneers back before shaking her head* “I figured as much Crowley, you don’t have to illustrate for me, I get the picture. I don’t think I’m the one you need to tell that too though, given your arrangement is with /Anna/ not me…”

*Crowley chuckles merrily as he drags Jo into the lake till they are hip deep.* “Oh but you see ever kennel needs a keeper and since you have fucked both my pets that makes you the perfect canidate.” *Shoving Jo under the Crowley holds her under a few seconds before bringing her back up.* “Think of this as your baptism into your eternal servitude to me.”

“What, wha-” *Jo tries struggling as he drags her, before the dunk down into the cold water cuts her off, water filling her mouth. Coughing when he pulls her back up, she coughs out as much as she can, still trying to pull away* “What the fuck?! I’ll do no such fucking thing. What the hell are you trying to make me do? I’m not doing anything you want me to, you jackass!”

“Oh Jo Jo Jo..” *Crowley shoves her under the water holding her under longer before bringing her up and shaking her hard* “You really and truly don’t understand the chance I’m giving you. You’re mother is safe, she’ll grow old and die in her sleep, I’ll even let that soul go to heaven again. You’ll have Grey and Anna and if you are an especially good girl, I’ll let you kill Gray.”

*Spluttering as he dunks her and she comes up again, Jo swallows down what water got into her mouth this time, looking at him incredulously even as she stills from fighting to free herself* “…What? What are you trying to do with.. Why do you even need someone to, given youre fucking god or whatever..? What is it you get out of that?” *Shaking her head to try and get the water from her eyes, she adds quietly* “…Whose soul?”

“Anna and Grey thanks to my previous attentions if you haven’t noticed, are a few potatoes shy of a bushel. They need emotional support and somehow your it and it’s just fun to watch you clean up after me.” *Giving Jo another hard shake he looks at her with a smug expression. “There got the water out of your ears? Good. The soul I’m talking about is your mothers. Instead of having a reaper bring it to me to eat I’ll let Ellen go up and live with good old Bill.”

*Jo’s look turns sour as he talks, bringing her arms up to wrench herself away from him and stumble a few steps back* “After you? You think I’d agree to just sit back and watch you hurt /people/ I care about, just so me and my Mom get left alone? I think that fuckin’ powers gone and made you insane, I’m not making any deals with you.”

*Crowley sighs and simply appears behind Jo, his hand in her hair, jerking her head up by it till she’s forced to stand on her toes. His other hand trails over her neck, running his fingers over her spine.* “Did you know that if I wanted to, I could break your neck right now in such a way that you would be forever trapped inside your body. Fully alert, alive but unable to communicate in anyway. I could make you watch as I hurt people that way. And after i’ve hurt them they would have to take care of your useless, dead body.”

*Trying to struggle, Jo shivers at the touch and the cold of the water, swallowing tightly like the last time he suggested taking her out like that. Clenching her jaw, she snarls back* “What is with you jackasses and breaking my neck.. I have that message, Crowley. You could also turn this lake into acid and have my legs eaten alive by the chemicals when you dunked me in and out. You could make my mouth disappear like in the Matrix so I’d starve slowly to death and not be able to call for help. You could do every imaginable bad thing, but you’re not going to.. Cause you don’t care enough to be bothered.” *She scrunches her eyes tightly as she talks trying to stop from shaking and truly hoping he doesnt follow any of the suggestions*

“Interesting suggestions. Grey or Anna, Jo?” *Crowley leans down close to her ear as he asks, his hand sliding around her neck, gripping her chin tightly as he pulls her head back to look at him.*��

*Jo grits her teeth, trying to look away even as his fingers dig into her chin* "What for?”

*Crowley jerks her head sharply, twisting her neck.* “Grey or Anna, Jo?”

*Hissing, she blinks at the sharp pain in her neck before spitting out* “Anna. ….You already own her, right?”

“Anna makes sense, she’s already lame, she won’t miss her legs at all will she? And Grey, well we will have to find something creative for him since he can just jump meatsuits.” *Crowley chuckles as he shoves Jo back under the water again*

*Jo opens her mouth to speak just as he shoves her back again gasping and hitting at his hand when he doesnt bring her straight back up*

*Pulling her up Crowley shakes Jo off.* “What can we think of to do to Grey hmmm? You’re so full of ideas, give me some.”

*This time spitting out the lake water at him, Jo shakes her head* “Heres one, how ‘bout you put those souls away and go right back to fuckin’ hell where you fuckin’ belong?”

“Very well Jo. Everything that happens to Grey and Anna is now on your head.” *Crowley takes Jo far out into the middle of the lake and drops her in it.* “I’ll let you calm down as you swim back, rethink your choices. You can either help your friends as best you can or you can be a burden to them.” *Crowley shoves Jo under one last time before leaving the stubborn girl alone*

*Glaring at his words, Jo wasn’t expecting it when they suddenly move spots and she gets dunked underneath the surface. Kicking her way upwards, she tries not to panic before flapping her arms about to shrug off her jacket, before starting the long swim back towards the shore, hoping she doesn’t get weighed down by her boots as she pushes the words out of her mind as much as possible.*

Chat #2 - Jo confronts Crowley, is given the knife and information regarding the seals/binding

*Jo was getting closer to finding out the answer to potentially decrowning the self proclaimed God, but she knew it wasn’t going fast enough. The number of outbursts she’d been hearing and seeing from Anna, the way Gray was just not reacting to anything at all but orders and Grey’s swings between pissed off and touchy were just driving the point home that some sort of bandaid or quick fix was

needed. Grey was out of the house, hunting for the first time in a while (not that Jo was complaining at all), so she decided to quickly take advantage of that and the empty oval nextdoor for school rennovations to contact the ‘demon’ himself. She doesn’t bring anything for summoning just yet, instead planting her hands on her hips and screaming loudly* “Where ever you are, Crowley, I wanna talk!”

*Crowley was debating tracking down Ruby to see how she was enjoying Anna’s new lessons but then the call of his stable keeper peeked his interest so the demon could wait. Appearing behind to blond woman he smirks at her stance and he leans over her shoulder becoming visible, talking close to her ear.* “You called darling?”

*She practically jumps out of her skin, even though she was on edge and preparing for him to show up, spinning around and stepping back from him with an angry flush to her cheeks* “Yeah, I did. Enough is enough, you need to stop something of what you’re doin’ Crowley because I can’t keep this up if you keep adding more to it. You’re going to have to leave Anna alone.” *Jo raises her brow before adding* “Or restore Gray.”

*Crowley chuckles at the brazen demands as he crosses his arms across his chest, tapping a finger to his chin as he studies Jo. He wonders if she realizes just how dangerous of thing she just did but for now he’ll play along.* “Explain, I did put you in charge of their well being so I’ll listen to your council about the well being of my pets.”

“Ex-fucking-zactly. You put me in charge, I ignored you and you… you made your point. Now I’m tellin’ /you/, I’m just a human Crowley, I can’t take care of a broken monster /and/ a crazy angel /and/ a guy trying to prove himself.” *Jo stares back at him, not shrinking back any more. What was the worst he could really do, and she was willing to play his games now* “You can’t make Anna any more unstable or she will destroy everything, especially not if I can’t control her because I’m trying to fix Gray or stop Grey from killing the both of them!”

“Hmmm interesting.” *Crowley turns walking off, smiling devilishly as Jo seems to be coming apart at the burden of taking care of everyone. Summoning a plush chair he sits down, schooling his expression and he creates another one for Jo, summoning her an expensive bottle of beer.* “ So you’re saying that everything is going to hell in the proverbial handbasket and you are failing to control it?”

*She twitches at the obvious invitation, shaking her head and then nodding before turning her back on him. Running a hand through her hair, Jo lets out a breath to try and calm herself before responding.* “Not exactly, just that it will be if anything more happens. I can only control so much, I’m not exactly 'all powerful’ like you.” *The sarcasms laid on heavy as Jo turns to face him again*

*Crowley raises his hand pulling Jo forward and forcing her to sit.* “I see. You say Anna’s unstable, she seemed to be learning her place rather well for me today. It’s amazing what a few shocks will do and of course a thorough lesson in humiliation. You’re coddling them Jo, you must have a firm hand with the live stock, take control and show them who’s boss. Even if you hurt a few feelings, it is for their well being in the end.”

*Jo snarls, sinking into the other chair trying to jerk away from the force but settles after a few seconds, fingers digging into the soft edge of the armrest* “I thought I was here to make them all happy after you’ve beaten them down, Crowley. Hurting feelings isn’t going to make for happy… pets.” *She chokes out the word, crossing her knees as she glares across at him*

“True I did say that but if they are being unruly then you must sometimes show them who is in control. I would have thought you would have no problem doing that, was I wrong? Should I look to maybe putting one of my demons in charge if this is to much for you Jo?” *Crowley smiles faking concern as he summons a drink for himself.*

“If any demon you send comes near my house or Anna’s I will personally gut them and send them so far downstairs you’ll never find them again.” *Jo hisses back at him, rising to the bait easily before getting control of herself. reclining back even as her hands twitch* “I’ve kept them from it this long, I’m just concerned about your keeping them happy rule more than keeping them under control, Crowley. Something has to give, and I’d suggest that seeing Gray as he is now is… torment enough for Anna that you shouldn’t… need to.. to humilate and punish and… and yeah.” *She swallows thickly as she finishes, feeling the heat rise in her face as her arguments stumble down as she tries not to think about what Crowley might have already done or is planning to, hand reaching for the beer*

“Punish, no Jo this is what Anna willingly gave herself over to this to keep me from revisiting Gray and finishing what I started. She is taking her place, the fool!” *Crowley stands up laughing as he’s obviously enjoying what he’s done.* “Did you know she begged me to fuck her today? Oh it was a lovely sight, the angel on her knees, begging for it. Of course this was after she begged me to return Gray his abilitty to feed naturally. Which of course I denied beacuse why would I stop torturing them both.”

*Jo forces herself not to react, even as she brain screamed for her to run back to the house for a knife or a gun or to just give in and fling herself at him hoping her nails weren’t too bitten off today. Instead, she just digs her fingers further into the arm rest and attempting to school her face blank taking a sniff and then sip of the drink provided* “I had thought she might have, thanks for confirming that for me. …I’m not going to be able to fix her if you play with her too much, Crowley. I’d think even /you/ might have trouble with it.”

*Crowley stands up walking Jo’s chair, thinking about what Jo’s saying and he hmmmms loudly.* “So you think restoring Gray would help her, make her less crazy?”

“I… it could help, yes. Not playing so hard with her would probably work better, but if she thought she could have his support still rather than what he is now, then I’m sure she’d be a less unstable.” *Jo tilts her head back in order to following him with her eyes as she can almost feel her attempt to help Anna herself slipping away, but not sure where he’s going with this*

“Hmmmmm, let’s talk for a moment about Grey. How’s he doing Jo? It’s amusing to see how much Anna hates him, but it’s a good thing she’s just shy of useless or else Grey might be in trouble.” *Crowley leans over the back of Jo’s chair, picking up a strand of her hair, running it through her fingers as he waits for an answer.*

*She flinches slightly at his words, not able to contain the shudder at the idea the other was touching her even if all she could feel was the slight tug of her hair - mind racing with ways this conversation could go wrong now that she thought about it* “Grey’s fine, he’s.. …he’s the least trouble for me, very accommadating and if I can give a good reason he’ll agree not to do things which might disrupt the other two. Anna won’t be an issue, so long as she doesn’t become any more unhinged.” *It felt dreadful to be talking about her friends, the both of them, like that - but talking to Crowley she knew it would be better to keep as unattached absolutely possible*

“Wonderful to hear that he’s still the compliant little pet! So then this should make things easy for you Jo!” *Crowley reaches around, grabbing Jo around the throat, holding her back against the chair as he wraps his other hand around her forehead and the knowledge of the seals used to keep Gray bound sears into her mind. Once he’s sure she’s alive he sits back down smiling at her, a dagger in his hand.* “Still with me Jo?”

*Jo panicks the second he grabs her, kicking her feet and trying to pull away before something starts forcing its way into her mind. She scrunches her eyes shut through it, the pain causing her to black out for a few seconds before it brought her right back, disorientated and not sure she wants to know what it was even as she sees the same symbols as on Gray’s back run through her mind with new clarity. Not trusting herself to talk just yet, she blinks up at Crowley and nods her head almost imperceptibly*

“Good. Now listen carefully Jo. I’m giving you a choice to solve your problems. This dagger has my powers in it, you could very easily skin them off Gray, restoring him fully or you could break certain ones, feeding, his strength and so on. Are you following me on this Jo?” *Crowley leans offering the dagger to Jo, handle first with a smirk on his face.*

*Jo curls her hand around it, eyes flicking between it and him as she tries to blink away the stars still bluring some of her vision. What he says makes complete sense to her, mind whirling with what she knew about it but not sure what he was getting at* “I know… What’s it going to cost me to do any of them, or all of them?” *The dagger shakes slightly in her hand, a small part of her wanting to stab the blade into him, but the smirk on his face made her think that would be the worst possible idea right now*

“It’s simple really darling, before you can remove one on Gray, you must either convince Grey to willingly allow you to seal him or by force if you feel that it’s so important. The choice is entirely up to you Jo, you can leave Gray as he is, knowing that you have the power to end his suffering and help Anna’s or you can bind Grey like his brother and hope that he doesn’t hate you for it.”

*Jo stares at him in confusion, wondering for a second how this would count as a punishment before the full problem with that idea settles down on her like a boulder, making her outrightly shake in indignation, anger and contempt* “You.. You… You fucking bastard. That’s.. That’s /not/ a choice!”

“You asked for me to either leave Anna alone or restore Gray. Leaving Anna alone isn’t a possiblity and I’ve given you the power to restore Gray or not, I trust your judgement in these things Jo. Now it’s been a pleasure chatting with you but I have things to do, I’m a very busy God.” *Crowley stands smiling at Jo as he walks by, petting her on the head before vanishing.*

*Jo was opening her mouth to response, snap at him, something! when he disappears, the chairs thankfully not disappearing like normal. When she feels like she can stand, she moves off towards home, twisting the dagger over in her hands trying to work out what she would do.*

Chat #3 - Post binding removal, Crowley gets revenge for Jo not playing ball and the collar comes into play

*The kitchen had been getting incredibly bare recently but that wasn’t Jo’s real concern as she left the house was to check in Harry’s lists of available hunts as her own were shrinking even as she stayed up later and later searching for nearby monster or demon attacks. Pulling her coat tighter around herself as the nights chill got to her walking along the roadside towards the bar, Jo rubs at her

nose, turning pink from the cold, and momentarily regrets waiting until almost closing to head to the bar itself.*

*Crowley walks behind Jo unseen, he’s not exactly happy with the hunter right now, he’s been to see Anna even if she didn’t know it and the fact his collar and brands are no longer there displeases him greatly. The other thing that makes him an unhappy god is the fact Jo was not the one that freed Gray, the fact he was free wasn’t the issue, it’s the fact that Jo didn’t listen to him. Without appearing he simply reaches out and grabs Jo, taking her away to one of her own lockers and dropping her on the floor.* “You and I darling need to have a chat because I am very unhappy with your recent behavior.”

*Jo jumped the second she felt something grab her and the footpath is replaced with the inside of one of her lockers, her less used hidey-hole even. When she falls and hears Crowley’s voice, she scrambles back, trying to get a back to her wall as she tries to compose herself* “Oh really? I thought I’d done everything you’d asked.”

*Snapping his fingers he strips Jo coat and he pulls her back to him, pointing down to his feet.* “No, you haven’t Jo and I think that it’s time to remind you of that.” *Another wave of his hand he forces Jo to her knees, forcing her arms out and placing her hands flat on a work table.* “You were to keep my pets happy and while Grey is happy, you have broken my little fallen angel.”

*Jo jerks and twists when he grabs and pulls her, cringing when her knees hit the concrete floor of the locker hard.* “You said that sometimes I needed to be rougher.. hurt now so they learn and avoid it in future.” *She tries to pull her hands back from the table, twisting her head up to look at him as goosepimps appear on her arms - whether from the temperature or expectation of what could happen she’s not sure* “I didn’t think you’d like her freeing Gray the way she did, thought punishing her for what it did to both the boys was a good idea..” *Her voice is quiet as she explains herself, well aware it’s a blatant lie and that he’d probably know it*

“No Jo, you didn’t punish her for me, you punished her for yourself.” *Crowley walks over to the wall, looking at the tools there and he pulls a hammer off the wall, turning it over in his hand, swinging it to test the weight.* “You put yourself above my orders, this makes me very very unhappy. I ask you Jo, how does removing my collar and destroying my brands punish Anna?”

*The second Crowley steps away Jo springs back up, turning around to look at him and moving her hands around in front of her as she shrugs her shoulder nonchantly, despite the angry flush on her cheeks* “The collar was because up until then Anna was behaving herself, she was being quiet and keeping Gray… happy. The brands..” *She stumbles, trying to think of an answer* “Were because I wanted her to feel what she put both shadows through, they both had their brands ripped apart, and I know cutting through scars can be worse than normal sometimes. Thought it might be the same for her.. And I didn’t think you’d want me to touch anything …else.”

*Crowley frowns as Jo moves and his gaze turns icey as he slams her back down into the position he put her in before.* “If you move again before I tell you too I’ll cut your legs off and let you bleed out.” *Walking around to the table he swings the hammer down onto her right thumb.* “You weren’t to remove the collar to begin with Jo.” *Lifting the hammer up he brings it down on the next finger.* "And of course the monsters were supposed to feel the pain of being cut up, you stupid girl. If I had wanted it painless I wouldn’t have given you a dagger.“

*Biting down on her lip to cut off the groan when she gets shoved back down, Jo shakes her head at his comment about moving before letting out a yelp at the first hit.* "Fuck!” *She doesn’t mean to but her hands jerk, the one not being hit jerking off the table as the next hit makes her cry out again, fingers throbbing painfully all the way up her arm* “Well then.. fuck, maybe it could compensate for Gray not.. being in pain. Think she knocked him out, never felt any of it.”

*Crowley scoffs and grabs her wrist of the hand Jo moved, holding it on the table as he brings the hammer down on her thumb.* “And who’s fault is that Jo? I gave you a choice to make and you made it. You decided to leave Gray bound and you told Anna that you had a way to free him!” *Crowley snarls as he brings the hammer down again on her fingers* “I think since you can’t understand how to take care of my pets I should simply add you to the collection.” *A collar appears on the table infront of Jo.* “Pick it up and put it on Jo.”

*She whimpers with each blow, trying to pull back instinctively but she can’t - glaring up at him between the hits darkly. When the collar appears, Jo shakes her head and lets out a pained laugh* “I would, ‘cept someone’s fuckin’ breaking my fingers.. So I’m goin’ to have to pass and say 'fuck you if you think that’s going to happen’.” *She knows its a stupid game, but Jo’s not sure how bad it can really get any more and figures after blowing at Anna she was going to stick on point and not back down* “So… /fuck you if you think that’s going to happen/, Crowley.”

*Crowley gives a long drawn out sigh as he walks around behind Jo, her legs feet exposed while she’s on her knees and he lifts up a foot, bringing down on her foot hard,* “Pick it up and put it on Jo, or I continue to break bones till there isn’t anything left but little pieces of bone.” *He looks at her hands seeing the swelling and discoloration of bruises forming, he’ll break every bone in them she doesn’t obey.*

*The hit on her foot actually makes her scream as she feels the blow reverberate through her whole foot and up her calf - not able to work out what was really hit as it throbs and jars* “Bring.. it on. Not like you, fuck, couldn’t anyway. I’m not.. a pet, Crowley, and you really wouldn’t..want that anyway.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t want you for a pet Jo.” *Crowley reaches forward as he stands on the foot he stomped, grinding it into the floor while he picks up the collar and he shows it to Jo. The works “Property of Grey” burn into it.* “I think I’ll give Grey a reward since you favor him so much and he’s been so good at following all of your instructions to him.” *Crowley places the cold metal around Jo’s neck, sealing it shut.*

*Shrieking and trying to pull away as he crushes her foot beneath his shoe, Jo glares back at him as he holds up the collar, not really reading it but figuring it would be like Anna’s until he continued speaking. Throwing her head about, she reaches to scratch and pull at it before the movement shocks her broken fingers, screaming out as she thrashes at it and at the pain* “No, no, get it off, get it off! Fuck, no, fucking no, get it off take it off!”

*Crowley chuckles as he watches Jo freak out. Seeing this side of the hunter is putting him in a better mood and he pets her head.* “Don’t worry Jo, this collar is dagger proof, you won’t be removing it the same way you did Anna’s.” *Reaching around her he takes her hands in his, pulling them away from the collar as he begins to crush them.* “You’ve made this perfectly clear that Anna was the one that orchestrated Gray’s freedom, what do you think I should do to punish her?”

*Jo’s still trying and tugging and pulling at her hands as he crushes them, letting out gasping whimpers as she does so before shaking her head at his words. Taking a deep breath and focussing on the pain instead, she tries to clear her mind before looking up at him hatefully* “What does this one do instead..?” *There’s a pit in her stomach worrying about it before she lets out a laugh* “As for Anna, whatever the fuck you want you fucking bastard.. Give her a puppy.. Give her all the power again.. Spoil the fuckin’ bitch rotten…” *She’s practically hissing, looking down as she talks before jerking her head up to sneer at him - a dark and angry look behind it as she adds* “Then take it all fuckin’ away again.”

“Hmmm interesting.” *Crowley drops Jo’s hands and steps back rubbing his chin as if in thought.* “Not sure if you’ve seen the angel but she’s not exactly in the position to recieve anything and Gray’s I’m still sure not up to snuff even after having been freed. Perhaps I’ll go do the humane thing with them both and put them down.”

“Sure you can fix that. You’re the one with the fuckin’ god complex.” *Jo mutters, looking up at him before shaking her head and speaking louder* “Like I said.. do whatever the fuck you want. It’s not like any of us can stop you..” *She shifts to cradle her hands together against her chest, feeling the claustrophobic feeling of the collar around her neck creeping up on her*

*Crowley chuckles watching the huddled form of Jo and he snaps his fingers. When she opens her eyes she’s back in Grey’s bedroom on the bed, the bedroom door locked so she can’t run away to keep Grey from finding his presant.*

*Jo’s not sure what happened, again one second she was in the locker and the next sitting up in the familiar bedroom and hearing the lock click over as the adrenaline of pissing off Crowley fades back and the pain takes the centre stage. Curling in on herself in the middle of the bed, looking away from the door, she takes advantage of the time alone to let out the pained tears rather than screams*

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evanora-coven · 5 years ago

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An Unwanted Marriage

I'm walking down the aisle, the dress they gave me is at least two sizes too big. It keeps slipping down the front of me exposing to much cleavage. One wrong placed step and I am going to take it off of me completely. Which might just be the final action to make them take me back to the stake. An hour ago, I was tied with my arms chained above my head and a muzzle over my mouth so I was not able to curse my attackers. I had been accused, tried, and convicted of witchcraft in less than 24 hours. A crime that I still had not admitted too or even given any proof of evidence.

The entire court process had taken less than thirty minutes. I was captured in front of a large crowd in a city that I did not know. Something I should have considered when I started to run. A major city, who could possibly spot the one amongst thousands on the list of suspected witches. Once they had caught me I was tied and put with in the back of van with other various criminals. A large rosary was placed around my wrists, so if I was a witch I would not be able to cast a spell. Any witch that was worth damn knew that their hand jesters would cast a more powerful spell. The muzzle clearly just supported the idea that the people who were running the show really didn't know that clear words for a spell weren’t always necessary. Sure a spoken word did make a difference, but there were plenty that could be accomplished by a simple flick of the wrist. Why did they think there were so many rude hand jesters? It was very clearly witches that were casting simple spells around on people who pissed them off.

So there I was freshly set to death, with gas dripping off of me. I'm grateful now that they had muzzled me, I would have screamed all kinds of thing like I was going to curse them and it would be sealed in my death. Of course, it was all going to be bullshit but in the end it would have left every one there wondering if they were going to fall in misfortune. I had said my peace to any deity out there who might have been willing to listen to me, but none the less I shook waiting for the flames to begin to lick my flesh off of my bones. The sun was glaring down with an insane heat that was all over my face and it seemed like a cruel joke of the universe that I was burning before they even lit a match.

Then all at once, I heard someone say, “On three.” I closed my eyes I would not let see the tears that were wailing up and trying to get me to let them spill.

On two, I could hear the matches lighting near the trail they had laid down for me. I was as prepared for this as I was ever going to be. With my eyes shut I turned my face to the sky. A shout broke through the air, it broke my concentration on not crying and once the tears and sob started, they had no intention of ever stopping.

“Don’t, Don’t,” someone was screaming. I opened my eyes to see a man that I had spotted briefly when I was running through trash filled alley ways. He had motioned for me to follow him earlier,but I ignored him. I had a price on my head and the people that were chasing me knew and I’m sure he did too. My thoughts went back and forth with whether or not I had made the right decision earlier, but once again he was here. I wanted to believe that he was a true savior and was there only to help me, but in the end of it all I nearly knew that was impossible, he was just trying to find a way to get the money for himself.

“I’ve read over all of this woman’s paper work,” he cried, and he was carrying a large stack maybe this was the evidence there was against me.

“And?” asked one in the crowd. Her eyebrows were raised. She was clearly ready to drop her match.

“She is only accused of witchcraft!” the man said loudly, grabbing the attention of everyone around him. Despite his raised tones there was not any anger in his voice.

It really was an unnecessary statement, everyone knew what was going, it’s not like they had just grabbed someone off the street and taken them in to kill them. Which someone else seemed to agree with, because they said, “We know.”

“Unless there is an actual proof, she doesn’t have to burn she could be married off to a Christian man. A man that could cleanse her soul,” he said. Holding the one paper that was apparently could get me off this stake. There was a lot of grumbling from the crowd, they were ready to see me burn.

So after a good deal of arguing back and forth the man finally managed to pull me from the stake with him being the only one who was an eligible suitor from someone covered in gas and just about to be murdered. I think the witchcraft probably factored in there somewhere. He pulled the muzzle off of me and I throw up everywhere. It wasn’t like that cute girly throw up, the vomit just gushed out of me, at one point I found myself choking on it only to feel the feeble attempts of someone patting my back. I assumed that it was the man and looked to see that I was in fact right about my assumption.

The next thing that happened was I was dragged off into a cold shower and given no soap to wash off the gas. It just wouldn’t leave me, no matter how much I scrubbed and rinse my hair the gas smell stayed. The two women that came with me pulled me out, well one pulled while other just stared at the floor. I was given a towel something that must have been used for baptisms. I tried to use the hand drier to dry my hair, but it burnt my scalp.

“You’re in luck, we’ve been having a rummage collection and there was this dress,” said the girl that had not been willing to pull me from the shower. “Every bride should be able to wear a dress on her wedding day.”

She seemed so sincere I wanted to thank her, but before I could the older woman poked her in the ribs, reminding the girl that I was a vermin that was not meant to be her friend. I pulled on the dress and tried to straighten the best that I could. I would have been beautiful if it was in the right time era, but it was at least 30 years old and had been thrown in a closet and probably long forgotten.

Reaching the end of the aisle and standing here in front of the man that I was about to marry quickly brought me from the past into the present. He was tall, with short brown curlyhair and an eye color brown eyes that seemed to have a tint of red to them. I started sobbing again all over when he smiled down at me. It was only a few years ago that I was at the alter for the first time. It was such a change between to the two. I had loved the first with my entire heart and the one tear that I had cried that day was a tear of joy. Brody had been my everything and I was his, it was a short two years that we were together and he passed away. This time I had never met the groom and had no clue what type of a man he was. I tried hard to remember his name. Luckily the Preacher offered it to me.

“Andrew Davis, you still have time to back out this, even a good Christian man cannot be expected to completely tame a witch,” said the Preacher.

“She is only accused of witch craft, I can always divorce her if it does not work out,” said Andrew. I hiccupped to cover up a laugh, a divorce was suddenly an extremely comforting idea in this whole thing.

“Then let's continue,” said the preacher.

A few of the people that had been across the street in the court house yard left in an angry hurry, but the majority of them stayed. I could feel hate radiating in every direction except from Andrew who took my hands in his very cool ones. I should have felt cold to the touch after I was just thrown into the cold shower, but with all the crying and heavy breathing I had worked myself into a very heavy sweat and was instead the one that felt hot. Andrew rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand trying to sooth me. At least I assumed he was trying to sooth me.

I vaguely listened to what the preacher was saying, Andrew was copying him. It must be the vows. I had taken very few vows when I married Brody, I promised that I would love him, in front a few family members. I did love him and I still do.

It was now my turn, I barely paid attention to what I was saying. Until I heard the preacher say, “to honor and obey.”

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, “To honor and obey.”

“With your eyes open,” said the preacher.

I opened my eyes, looked at the preacher to Andrew. I was far from obedient to anyone. Andrew squeezed my hand tightly, and moved his eyes to the preacher and then to the people who were waiting. His message was clear, make it through this ceremony or go with back to the stake. Neither seemed ideal but there was no chance for a better tomorrow, if I burned.

“To honor and obey,” I said, looking Andrew in the eyes. I didn’t mean it at all and I felt like he knew that, I decided I had to trust him for now as he was the only person that did not want me dead.

He smiled at me, showing his beautiful teeth and the fact that he had more smile lines on his face than he anger lines. This is when for the first time I was aware of how handsome he actually was. He was wearing a black button up shirt that was way too warm for this time of year. And he stood very proud causing me to straighten my back and take pride in myself.

“Kiss the bride,” said some one in the audience.

“Yes, kiss the bride,” said the preacher. It really seemed like they just wanted to see if Andrew would go through with it.

He took my face in both his hands, pulling me up so I was looking up at him. I searched his eyes looking for any trace of emotion but there was none. But the warmth I found in them caused me to relax some. He was waiting for some signal that it was okay for him to kiss me.

“Okay,” I breathed, I wasn’t sure that anyone else had heard me.

He swiped the tears off of my face before he knelt down to kiss me. I wanted to pull away as soon as our lips met, but he held me there for a moment longer, whispering, “Believable.” Maybe he wasn’t so bad. We signed the paper the certificate and rushed out of the church. I had no idea where we were going, but any where was better than here.

#writing #story #witches #mywriting

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shan282-ao3 · 5 years ago

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The Devil Has Come Ch3

Originally posted on Archive of Our Own [x]

Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Far Cry 5 Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Female Deputy | Judge/John Seed, Female Deputy | Judge/Jacob Seed, Female Deputy | Judge/Joseph Seed Characters: Original Female Character(s), John Seed, Jacob Seed, Joseph Seed, Faith Seed, Staci Pratt, Nick Rye, Sharky Boshaw, Female Deputy | Judge (Far Cry), Original Male Character(s), Kim Rye, Boomer (Far Cry), Joey Hudson, Earl Whitehorse Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Torture, Fluff, Minor Character Death, Recreational Drug Use, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Eventual Smut, Character Death, Slow Burn Series: Part 1 of Bottom of The River

Summary: They should never have been there. Whitehorse and Pratt were right when they spoke against going to Eden’s Gate. They should have left The Project alone. They’d started something and there was no going back now. The lamb had broken the first seal and the deputy had been helpless to stop her.

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The sun was starting to set on Holland Valley and Sarah felt a shiver run through her body. Her clothes were all still sopping wet from the baptism. She was really wishing she hadn’t left her jacket back in the truck with Rook and Boomer.

She was trying to keep track of where they were going, trying to latch on to any sort of landmark, but all the trees looked the same and John’s warm hand wrapped firmly around hers was pretty goddamn distracting. In fact, she was struggling to look anywhere besides his hand as she mentally shouting at herself. What was she doing? She should run now. She could easily pull away and knock him down, give herself enough time to run to safety. Yet just like at the baptism she didn’t fight him, she just stared at his hand where it intertwined with her’s.

“It’s not much further.” He said, his voice filled with excitement all over again. She really fucking hoped they got wherever they were going soon because on top of being cold her feet were starting to really fucking hurt, she had been cursed with old lady feet.

Just as the trees around them were getting almost too dark to see, a warm light poured out ahead and John picked up the pace. A large house came into view and Sarah marveled at how pristine it looked, almost as if it had come straight out of a catalog.

“Whose house is this?” She asked as he led her through the set of double doors closest to them.

“Mine.” He answered simply as he ushered her ahead of him and towards another door. He snapped his fingers and a man appeared from yet another set of doors at the end of the hall. How many freaking doors did this rich idiot have? “There dry clothes in here, they’re Faith’s but she won’t mind. When you’re done Brother Thomas will bring you to me.” He told her and gently shoved her inside, shutting the door behind her.

Sarah took a few seconds to herself to look around the room. It was rustic, expensive looking, and so obviously Faith’s when she stayed with John. There were jars of dried bliss flowers and a few potted bliss plants on the windowsill that someone had obviously been tasked with watering.

Taking a deep breath, she locked the door and ran to the windows. John was gone so now was her chance to get away. Only the windows, she now noticed, had bars outside of them so that was a no go. There was only one guard outside the room, but she had no weapons and there were definitely way more than she could handle outside the ranch. She had no options. Her best bet was to wait it out for another opening.

She looked around the room slightly paranoid once more before stripping out of her wet clothes and hanging them up in the ensuite bathroom. There was a large dresser against one of the walls and inside she found all sorts of dresses and panties but no bras. Did this woman not wear bras?

Sarah opened the rest of the drawers hoping beyond hope that she might find something other than a dress but to no avail. With an annoyed huff, she picked out one that was considerably longer than the others and with sleeves this time, though it was still that barely off-white color. She slipped it on and looked at herself in one of the mirrors. She looked like she was about to get married. It was all loose and lace seemed to billow away from her with every movement. It was downright gorgeous but so fucking impractical for her situation.

A loud knock on the door snapped her back into the present and she swiftly opened it, her eyes meeting her guard’s, Thomas’s, hazy blues. “Ready?” He asked and she was almost certain she heard a hint of annoyance in his tone.

“No,” She deadpanned but stepped out of the room, letting the door fall closed with a click. “But let’s go.”

He gave her a forced smile and lead the way towards, well Sarah wasn’t actually sure where the fuck they were going or what the hell she was being led into. They went back out the doors she and John had come through and she wrapped her arms around herself against the cold though it didn’t actually help in the slightest. Thomas stopped at the foot of a small set of stairs leading to another set of double doors and nodded for her to move ahead. She hesitated for a second before giving him a polite smile and ascending the steps.

Once inside the house, she fought to keep her eyes from bugging out of her skull. If she’d thought Faith’s bedroom was extravagant then she didn’t know what to call the rest of the house. There were stuffed animals and mounted antlers all over the place. A giant fireplace in the middle of the floor warmed the whole room and cast a soft, welcoming glow on everything.

Right in front of her was a massive dining table and John Seed sat at the end, his back to the fireplace. He’d changed as well, swapped out his signature blue shirt and vest for a slightly darker blue shirt. Like the cocky bastard he was, he’d left three buttons too many undone and was leaned back in his chair smirking at her.

“What do you think?” He asked, gesturing to the room. He knew what she thought, he just wanted his goddamn ego stoked. She merely shrugged and watched Thomas, who’d entered after her, pull out a chair near John for her.

“Thank you, Thomas.” Sarah gave him another polite smile and took her seat. Another cultist came scurrying in with two plates of food and Sarah looked towards John questioningly. “What is this?”

“Dinner.” John gave her an amused smile before he thanked the cultist and waved Thomas away. “And no it’s not poisoned. You look lovely by the way, white looks good on you. Though I would have gone with something slightly shorter.”

Sarah gave him an unamused look and lay a napkin across her lap before picking up her knife and fork. She had to admit, it looked and smelled delicious. She watched John for a second to make sure he didn’t try anything before she took a bit. She couldn’t help a happy moan that escaped her lips as the food hit her tongue. She’d been eating canned crap for weeks she’d almost forgotten what real food tasted like. John chuckled and she held back a glare.

“I’ll take that to mean you’re enjoying it, Deputy.” Sarah stopped eating and looked up at him, mouth open slightly as a realization dawned on her.

“Do you not know my name?” She asked, her mouth widening more in shock at the sudden flustered look he got.

“I— well— of course, I know your— well…” He trailed off, not meeting her eyes and took another bite of his food.

“Jesus Christ you don’t know my name. You just baptized me and you don’t even know my name.” She let out a genuine laugh at that. “God I’ve been running around this valley wrecking your plans and you still haven’t even learned my name?”

“It wasn’t something important enough to know.” He gritted out, anger covering embarrassment now. Sarah took a few deep breaths to calm her dying laughter but the grin stayed on her face.

“Of course it wasn’t, you only want to free me of my sins and bring me into the cult. Why would my name be something important to know?” She stabbed at some of the chicken on her plate and chewed it. She got a grunt in response and they fell into a slightly tense silence, waiting to see who broke it first. It was of course John.

“Joseph has plans for your deputy friend, she will reach atonement one way or another. I hope you will help me guide her to that.” He told her, his voice soft, much like it had been at the baptism.

“Look, Johnny,” He gave her a sharp at that nickname, “I’m not so sure I want to atone for anything. You’ve done some pretty fucked up shit to the people around here and your followers have been stealing from my friends. So why do you think I’d want to join Eden’s Gate and help you convert my friends?”

“Because it is what God has planned for you.” His answer sounded fake, manufactured. It was said in John’s voice but so clearly Joseph’s words.

The rest of the meal was passed with awkward small talk: the weather, John’s interior decorating, a rather lengthy description of his planes which he promised to show her tomorrow before they went to his bunker to continue the atonement process. When finally they’d finished eating both dinner and a mouthwatering dessert course, John sighed and threw his napkin down on his plate. He stood and pulled her chair back from the table, extending a hand to help her up.

Sarah looked at the hand with an unimpressed look and batted it away, standing on her own. An amused chuckled filled the air. “You can stay in Faith’s room for tonight.” He said and grabbed his jacket before he began walking her back to the room.

Outside was still cold, the wind not helping one bit, and the sleeves of her dress were all lace and did nothing to keep her warm. She could feel shivers coming on when John’s jacket wrapped around her shoulders. Sarah looked over at him with questioning eyes but his were fixed on the stars above. The sky was gorgeous, she had to admit, and he had a beautiful view of it from his ranch.

The walk back to the bedrooms passed in comfortable silence and before she knew it they were back inside standing outside her room.

“Thank you for the uh, well for dinner and the jacket,” Sarah said and handed it back to John, he’d been so uncharacteristically nice it was throwing her off. Sure she’d never actually met the guy before, but from everything she’d heard about him she had not expected today’s show of kindness.

He took back his jacket with a nodded and a smile before he reached around her to open the door. “Goodnight, Deputy.” He bid her before turning to continue down the hallway towards the other set of doors leading outside.

“Sarah,” She called after him and he abruptly stopped and looked back, his face contorted in slight confusion. “My name, my name is Sarah.” She clarified and watched what seemed like a genuine smile spread across his face.

“Well, goodnight Sarah.” He disappeared out the double doors and was consumed by the darkness outside. His absence in the hallway was quickly filled by Thomas when he stepped inside to stand guard by the doors. She gave him a polite nod before retreating into her room and locking the door behind her again.

It had been nearly two hours since she’d entered the room, surely everyone was asleep by now. Sarah lay on the bed, her eyes fighting to stay open as she mindlessly watched the clock bidding her time. She’d heard Thomas leave nearly a half hour ago, though she was certain he was close by. But by the sounds of it, he’d left out the door furthest from her so the doors she’d taken to get to dinner should be clear. Unless there were other Peggies out there. She’d cross that bridge when she got to it.

She was practically bouncing when she finally stood up and went to the bathroom to get her clothes. As quickly as she could, she pulled the dress off and got back into her still damp clothes, at least they had dried somewhat.

There were no weapons in the room so she’d have to rely on sneaking past people to get out. As quietly as she could, she unlocked the bedroom door and slowly opened it, peering around for any sign of Thomas or another guard before slipping out. She kept her steps slow as she crept to the doors leading to the back of the house and held her breath as she opened them. She didn’t dare breathe again until she was outside and had confirmed there were no guards close enough to see or hear her.

The flickering light of a dying fire pit to her right had her moving as fast as she could in the direction of the rest of the house. She had just reached the stairs when the murmuring of voices and crunching of gravel reached her ears as two guards came up on the corner. If she didn’t move quickly they’d be right on top of her in a few seconds. With only a moment of hesitation, she dashed up the stairs, crouching low as she opened a door and slipped inside. She had just closed the door when she heard the men come around the corner and she let out a quiet sigh of relief.

She stayed low as her eyes searched for another exit. The room was considerably darker than before, most of the lights had been turned off, but the fireplace was still roaring in the center. There was a door to her right that she was pretty sure lead outside and well if it didn’t she was screwed either way so she didn’t have much to lose. To get to the door she’d have to leave her cover, but the room was dead silent apart from the fire so she was fairly certain she was alone.

As soon as Sarah had started her half jog towards the door, the sound of a throat clearing had her frozen to the spot. She turned slowly, dread filling her movements, and bit back a shout of frustration when she saw John sitting forward on his couch and closing whatever book he must have been reading. Of fucking course he’d be awake, that was just her luck.

“Oh hey, John didn’t see you there. I was just— uh— going for a walk to clear my head?” Her excuse was pathetic and really she didn’t know why she was trying.

“Oh really? From where I’m sitting it looks like you were about to run into the darkness without so much as a goodbye.” He stood from his spot and started stalking towards her, something dark glinting in his expression.

“Ah well, you see…” She trailed off, inching away from him and towards the door. Only a few more feet and she’d be home free but as she moved closer he lunged forward. Her fingers grazed the doorknob as his arms wrapped around her and yanked her back deeper into the room. “Get. The fuck. Off me.” She exclaimed between elbowing him as he dragged her back.

He threw back against the wall of the fireplace and caged her in. “I was really hoping we could do all this without pointless fighting.” He said, his tone dripping with promises of punishment.

“Fuck. You.” She spat and reared back only to throw her head forward and slam it into his forehead.

“Fuck!” He roared and backed away, hand on her forehead covering where their skulls had just collided. His rage, which had been slightly tamed before, was now filling his facial features and spilling over into his movements as he began to surge forward again. Only this time Sarah was ready and she threw out her fist in time to hit him smack in the jaw, sending him falling back on his ass.

She didn’t waste a second getting out of his reach and running for the door. She paused at the door to look back at him, he was slowly picking himself back up, clearly still dazed. She took the moment to grab a jacket of one of the hooks beside the door before she ran out into the night.

Sarah pulled the jacket on as she ran, not daring to look back when she heard John’s angry shouts after her. She didn’t stop to catch her breath until she was well off the ranch property. She crouched in a field of tall yellow flowers while she struggled to get her breathing under control and soon found herself laughing in spite of her situation.

She just punched John fucking Seed in the jaw. Boy was he gonna be pissed next time they ran into each other. She was a little sad she wouldn’t get to see the bruise, though based on what she’d seen of his lifestyle so far he’d probably cover it with expensive concealer so no one knew.

Once she could breathe again and had stopped laughing she started walking again. It was late and she didn’t have any of her gear or a radio to call Rook so she decided to go to the closest place she knew: the Ryes.

#the devil has come #tdhc #deputy sarah lamb #sarah lamb #ao3 #ao3 feed #far cry 5

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junionigiri · 6 years ago

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BNHA Rarepair Month - Day 17 - Future

for @bnha-rarepair-month -- waaah im late

Summary: Shiozaki Ibara is concerned about Hatsume Mei's future.

Relationship: Shiozaki Ibara / Hatsume Mei (ShioMei)

Rating: T

Warnings/Notes: Flanderized, yandere!Shiozaki (but I don’t think it’s as extreme as it could be)... also, OOC Mei

Links: AO3 | FFNet

The moment Hatsume Mei lay her eyes over Shiozaki Ibara, she knew that this girl will be the end of her.

She can’t even remember how their paths crossed. Mei isn’t one to remember names or faces of her classmates or of her clients in the hero courses, instead she remembers them by their distinct traits and the support items they use--for example, billboard muffler-legs and broken-arms with supports and brainwasher with artificial vocal cords. She can probably pick them out in a crowd and tell you with confidence how the items she’d lovingly made worked with their quirks. But ask her about who that person is, their hero names, what they stand for? She'd probably stare at you quizzically, with a I don't understand the question and I refuse to acknowledge it kind of expression on her face, and resume working on her babies.

Yet, Shiozaki Ibara… of course the first name she remembers is hers. It's baffling and astonishing that Hatsume Mei recognizes a human being other than Powerloader-sensei, and she is loath to admit that fact to anyone, even herself.

She remembers her as clearly as the blueprints to her baby jetpack legs--a girl from one of the hero classes who thinks that most hero costumes are useless vanities and support items are massive displays of human arrogance. “One needs only their God-given quirks to fight,” she declared loudly enough for Mei to hear, as a response to some extra or another who asked her why she has chosen to fight her battles in nothing but a flimsy white pillowcase. Without even bothering to wear sandals, even in the wintertime. Her power remains fearsome, all the same.

It’s impressive to many, yet all Mei sees is, funnily enough, a massive display of human arrogance.

For the first time ever, the machinist feels a strong human emotion for a fellow human being, and not a machine. And of course, of all things, it has to be contempt. Granted, Mei doesn’t know that it’s contempt at first, because all her life she’s never felt anything but detachment for organic life-forms.

Which is why, on this fateful encounter with her, Mei declares her beliefs loudly for the thorny girl to hear. “I don’t believe in God, I believe in science.” And she does it while she’s working on one of her latest babies, the leg-engine glasses dude’s set of armor. It’s merely an experiment, of course, one that’s admittedly loaded with bias with poor outcome measures, but she tries it out just the same.

Shiozaki turns her frighteningly blank green eyes at her, and she knows her hypothesis is correct. Mei feels a little proud of herself for being able to produce a frown on that perfect angelic mug of hers.

She makes a show of ignoring her, instead keeps her eyes on the machines in front of her. From the corner of her eyes, she sees the mesmerizing way she moves, as if she’s walking on water on a dark and stormy night. The scent of olives tickles her nose, even through her face-mask, as the vine-girl comes closer to her.

“I see a lamb lost in the valley of the shadow of death.” Her voice is chilly as it enters Mei’s ears. A thorny vine curls around her neck and pricks the bottom of her chin lightly, as Shiozaki uses this to turn her head to face her.

“What was that? Sorry, I can't hear you over the sounds of sound scientific reasoning,” Mei quips, in a tone that’s hopefully sharper than her thorns.

Shiozaki stares at her, her mouth slightly agape at her retort. It’s satisfying only for a second, because in the next moment there’s an absolutely condescending look in those cold eyes. As if she’s looking at a wretched orphan caught stealing from the church coffers. “As I’ve said, I see you are truly lost. Swayed by earthly temptations, misguided by these these idolatrous adornments. You godless machinists are all the same.”

Mei is wearing a set of thick goggles and a face mask, but she finds herself fighting to keep a straight face at how piercing Shiozaki’s gaze is. The tightening vines around her don’t help, either.

She tries not to falter as she says with a challenging grin, “I’ll take godless machinist as a compliment, thank you. But do me a favor and not call my babies earthly temptations. They don't deserve being sullied by the likes of you.”

Shiozaki hums contemplatively. She keeps her two hands clasped in front of her, like she’s praying to God for strength and enlightenment. “A shepherd must return all sheep to its flock. What must I do to bring you to the path of righteousness and away from eternal damnation…?” she mumbles, blatantly ignoring Mei’s yelps as the vines keep winding around her, closer. Tighter.

Mei’s arms are bound to her side as they entwine around her like ropes. The thorns poke through her clothes and through her thick work gloves. They draw no blood, but perhaps they will if she struggles. It’s only a matter of time before the machinist is lifted off the ground by Shiozaki’s quirk.

“I for one, forgive you for all your transgressions, my little lamb. If I act quickly… I can see your future in striking, heavenly clarity, Hatsume Mei,” she says with an enlightened smile that’s creepy in all possible ways. “I know now what I must do.”

Before she can ask what she means by ‘her future in striking, heavenly clarity’--because it sounds suspiciously like the girl has every intention of sending her to the other side, if such a thing exists-- thick vines wrap around Mei’s mouth, sealing any and all future complaints. The scent of herbs and flowers floating across a quiet stream overwhelm all her senses, until her mind forgets the comforting and familiar scent of grease and iron and steel. Quickly, before she is able to struggle and let the thorns shred through her skin, Shiozaki is already calling out to the dim areas of the support office, “Powerloader-sensei, I am borrowing one of your disciples. I need to save her from eternal damnation.”

Mei starts to protest, but the blasted vines are still around her mouth. Powerloader is just a tad surprised at the development, but shrugs. “Um… sure, Shiozaki-kun. Can you feed her something while you’re at it? She hasn’t eaten anything in a day.”

“Ask and you shall receive. I shall feed both her body and spirit,” answers Shiozaki, already turning away. “For man cannot live on bread alone.”

Mei doesn’t need bread, she needs science! Besides, from this interaction alone, she’s sure that Shiozaki’s going to feed her tasteless flatbread without anything on it! Not that Mei would oppose to that--she’d eat anything, if she can eat it quickly and has enough nutrients to last her until her next meal 24 hours later.

Her sensei is unperturbed though. Even seems relieved that Mei’s having such a prolonged interaction with anybody else, even though that person happens to be someone with serious delusions of grandeur. “Uh, sure. That’d work. A bath would be nice too.”

“I shall submerge her body in waters as pure as the River Jordan and cleanse her spirit anew.”

More like slam-dunk her in a nonconsensual baptism! Some of the vines move, as if they’re ready to undress Mei as soon as Shiozaki wills it. She screams fruitlessly once more.

“And sleep?”

“If she is weary, she shall rest forever in the fields of Eden after I am done with her.”

“Okay, that’ll do. Thank you kindly.”

You Judas! Powerloader-sensei!!! While Mei isn’t one for biblical references, this is what she chooses to uselessly scream within the vines as she feels herself being carried away.

After she’s threatened to feed her bread, drown her, and take her to her eternal resting place with Powerloader-sensei’s blessing, she gives an eerie, self-satisfied smile up at the struggling Mei. “Worry not, little lamb. I shall be the angel who will guide you to the light.”

“Mmmmph!!!!” cries Mei, locking in her zoomy eyes over her beloved teacher, who looks a little too much like a man who’s suffered centuries of misfortune (or a semester full of explosions in his precious laboratory) suddenly had something right happen in his life for a change.

“No flirting in my office, please,” Powerloader calls out brightly as they leave the room.

#bnha fic #bnha rarepair month #shiozaki ibara #hatsume mei #shiomei #yandere shiozaki #thornplay omg

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maealbert · 6 years ago

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The Liaison // Accident

AU Characters: Team x OC (Lucy De Luca) A/N: Short people should never climb on chairs! Chairs are death straps! Master List The Liaison

tag list: @idkbutspencer @literallyprentissstwin @remember-me-forever-silent-angel @cynbx @tenaciousarcadeexpert @rawritsmolly @dontshootmespence @princesswagger15 @drspencerreider @illegalcerebral @marvelfanlife @rt8815 @punkpenguin2019 @extremeobsessions101

Previously on..

“What? You’ve never seen twins before?”

“No, it’s just…. Uh, I didn’t really think my mom was right.”

“Okay, I know I’m legally insane, but I wouldn’t joke about this.” Diana says as she walks over to her bed.

“The only difference is that she has blue eyes and you have dark.” Spencer says still looking between the two women.

“Contacts.” They said simultaneously. Spencer still wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. Was he really awake or was this all a dream?

As Rose and Lucy sat in the living room catching up on each other, JJ stood in the kitchen with the others watching them as they laughed and joked with each other. Just like Spencer, no one could believe that Lucy has a twin sister. “If Rose wasn’t wearing contacts, I don’t think I could tell them apart.” Emily whispers to Rossi.

“How did this even come about?” Tara asks Spencer.

“We went to see my mother and she told us that a nurse kept telling her how much she looked like my mother’s new doctor. Well… Sure enough..” Spencer says.

“I never knew she had a twin.. It’s not in her file.” Emily says.

“That’s because according to Rose, her parents were told that Rose was pronounced dead at birth so Lucy’s parents never knew she was really alive.”

“What the..” Luke says rubbing his temples. “How did they not know that she was alive?”

“She wasn’t responding to anything they were doing.”

“So no one contacted Lucy’s parents about this?”

Spencer shakes her head. “Hospitals are strange places. Babies being switched at birth can be more common than a baby cheating death.”

“So what is it like working for the FBI? Is it really as gruesome as it is on television?” Rose says.

“It can be. But I don’t always go to the crime scene.” Lucy says shrugging her shoulders. “I deal mostly with choosing what cases the team takes on and communicating with the police before, during, and after the case making sure everything goes smoothly.”

“So you get to decide what the public knows and doesn’t know?”

Lucy nods her head. “But it’s a lot harder than you might think. People talk and I’ve had a few officers leak cases even though we want to keep in unwraps until we know exactly what is going on.”

“And I thought my job was hard.” Rose says shaking her head. “So I’ve been wanting to ask.. When can I meet our parents?”

Lucy looks down at her lap. This was the subject she was hoping would never be brought up. Rubbing the back of her neck, she shakes her head. “I was hoping this wouldn’t come up.”

“What do you mean?” Rose says cocking her head to the side. “They are my parents. Why wouldn’t I want to ask about them?”

“Uh because.. It’s… It’s a lot harder to talk about..”

“Are they bad? Were they mean?”

“No no!” Lucy exclaims shaking her head. “It’s just… I barely knew our mother.. She left when I was three years old so I only really knew our father..” Lucy took in a deep breath before looking over at Spencer. Standing up from the couch, she takes Rose by the hand and leads her into her bedroom. She pulled out different photo albums from the shelf in her closet. She opened one and the first page was a photo of her mother, Margaret dressed in a flowered dress holding Lucy in her arms with Josh and AJ standing on either side of her. The photo was taken right after Lucy’s baptismal. Something her father’s grandparents were serious about. “This is our mother.. Although now she has gray hair, wrinkles, and in a mental hospital.”

“What’s her name?” Rose asks.

“Margaret..”

“De Luca.. Right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know? I never told you my last name.” Lucy says.

“That’s because your mother is in the same ward as Diana. She isn’t my patient but I’ve seen her records. She’s our mother?” Lucy nods her head. “How long has she been diagnosed?”

“Apparently since I was born. Growing up, dad always told us kids that she left us because she didn’t want to be a mother anymore but then I found out that he sent her away because he was afraid she was dangerous to be around us. I grew hating her because I thought she didn’t love us anymore..”

“But she’s not dangerous.”

Lucy shakes her head. “She came back because she needed help. She wasn’t getting the right treatment back in Dallas where she had moved to so she showed up at dad’s funeral..”

“Funeral?” Rose says looking up from the photo album. “He’s dead?”

Lucy nodded her head as she looked down at the other photo album opened on her lap. She looked at a photo of her father. He was dressed in his Marine uniform having just gotten back from his tour overseas. He had Lucy placed on his shoulders, a big smile on his face and an American flag in Lucy’s hand. She could remember that day like it was yesterday. The enormous crowd, the many American flags being waved in the air by families waiting for their loved ones to arrive. She remembered being too tiny to see her father through the crowd of people. Their grandfather hoisted her up on his shoulders so she could search for their father. Soon she could see him amongst the other Marines as they marched their way into the airport hanger. He was the only one sporting a pink bracelet on his wrist. The same bracelet that Lucy had made for him during arts and crafts time and had sent to him with her letter. “I see him! I see him!” She gets down from her grandfather’s shoulders and begins pushing her way through the crowd until she saw her father standing over stop of her. A smile spreads across her face. “Daddy!” His chuckle fills her ears as if he’s in the bedroom with her. Gasping she wipes her eyes and closes the photo album.

“He passed last year during his tour. He was...killed...actually..” Another tear slipped down Lucy’s cheek and she quickly wiped away. “But he would’ve loved to meet you, I know it. And mom.. Gosh she isn’t going to believe this is real..no pun intended. But she’s going to meet her other daughter..”

“She still thinks I’m dead..” Rose softly spoke as she closed the photo album on her lap. Suddenly her pager beeped in the pocket of her jacket. Pulling it out, she looks at it and sighs. “I have to go.. There’s an emergency at the hospital.”

“Diana?”

Rose shakes her head. “No, no. I’d know if it were her. I’ll call you, okay? Maybe we can get together again. Maybe grab something to eat or do some shopping. I’m an only child so I didn’t get to do much like siblings would have.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll let you know when I’m free next.” Lucy says as she gets off the bed. “Oh! Uh, here’s my number by the way.” Lucy says pulling out her wallet. “It’s my work card but it’s has my office, my cell, my email. And if we’re not on a case, you can always call me or come for a visit. I’d like to buy you lunch sometime.”

“And maybe a little shopping?”

Lucy smiles and nods her head. “Sure why not?”

Rose smiles. “Good, I’ll see you later then.” As she leaves the room, Lucy leaves her bedroom as well to find the team still surrounding the kitchen island.

“Lucy, are you okay?” Spencer asks as he walks over to her. She looks at Spencer, the smile growing bigger on her face. She threw her arms around him as she squealed in excitement. “I take that a yes.”

“Oh I am so over the moon right now!” Lucy exclaims. She pulls away from him. “It’s like we’ve known each other for years! I mean… Seeing Rossi for the first time in God know how long doesn’t compare to how this feeling is between me and Rose. I mean.. I have a sister! After all these years have this feeling that I wasn’t alone always bugged me. You know like how twins have like this telepathy feelings?”

“Yeah?” Spencer says.

“Well that’s how I’ve been feeling for my whole life. I knew there was something odd. Now it makes sense.”

“Lucy, I know you’re excited about this and I hate to be the one to burst your bubble but--”

“But? But what Spencer?”

“What are the odds that she shows up now? Of all this time and NOW she shows up? If she really was searching for you like she said she was, she would’ve found you by now.”

“But my records are sealed, Spencer. You know that.”

“I do..”

“So why are you questioning why she showed up now?”

“I just think it’s weird.”

“For once, can I just be happy?” Lucy says. “Every time something good happens to me, something bad always takes its place. When I got the job with the BAU? My dad dies. Finally reconnect with my mother? She tells me she’s schizophrenic and her psycho sister murders eleven couples. I find the love of my life and get pregnant with his child but what happens? I have a miscarriage. Now my twin sister comes into my life after being pronounced dead for twenty-eight years and you’re questioning why she showed up now?”

“Luce--”

“No, just stop. Let me please just be happy for once. That’s all I want.” Lucy says before going back into her bedroom and closing the door. Spencer looks at the others. JJ shrugs her shoulders.

“Guys, we should leave.” Emily suggests. “Give them space to figure this out.”

Spencer walks over to the bedroom knocking on the door. “Lucy.. Open up..”

“Go away.. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Lucy, please? I’m sorry. I’m very protective.”

The door swings open. “Protective? Over what? She’s my sister! I saw her records. Everything is real, Spencer. She’s my sister, whether she showed up when we were eighteen or now.” But before he could utter a word, she slams the door again in his face.

Huffing, he goes to the hall closet and grabs a spare blanket before going back to the couch. He turned on the tv keeping the volume as a minimum as to not upset Lucy more than he already had. Picking the clothes from her floor, Lucy tosses them into the hamper. Lucy was the kind of angry that made her want to clean. So she decided tidy up the bedroom. Taking the photo albums back to the closet, she stands on her desk chair to put them on the shelf. Feeling the chair wobbling underneath she tries to steady herself. Unfortunately the chair had other plans.

Spencer perked up when he heard a loud thud coming from the bedroom. Jumping off the couch he runs into the bedroom to see Lucy laying on her back clutching her arm to her chest. “What happened?” He asks helping her off the floor. She was already crying from the pain shooting through her arm.

She sniffled still keeping her grip on her arm. “I...I tried to p-put the ph-ph-photo albums back i-i-in the closet…” She took in a shaky breath. “A-And the chair f-fell out from u-under me.”

“Can you move your arm?” He asks. Lucy shakes her head not letting go of her arm. “Let me check it out.” He says gently placing his hands around her arm.

“No..No..” She says violently shaking her head and moving away from him. “It really hurts.”

“I have to move it to feel if it’s broken. I promise I’ll go slow and carefully, alright?” He says reaching out for her arm again. He moves her hand away and gently begins to straighten out her arm.

“No no! Stop!” Lucy cries out.

“Okay okay,” Spencer says taking his hands away. “We should get you to the hospital.”

_______

Sitting in the waiting room, he kept hearing her still sniffling and still clutching her arm to her chest. “Hey, I came as I got the page.” Rose says as she runs through the waiting room. “What happened?”

“She was cleaning the room and tried putting the photo albums back onto the shelf in the closet and the chair gave out from under her.” Spencer explained.

“Did you try catching yourself?” Rose asks Lucy.

Lucy shakes her head. “It happened so fast… I d-didn’t know anything h-had happened until my arm started hurting. I-I-I couldn’t move it.”

“Is she checked in yet?” Rose asks Spencer.

Spencer nods his head. “They told us to wait out here until they could get a room open.”

Rose nods her head as she feels around Lucy’s arm. Lucy winced as she held on tightly to Spencer’s hand. He could see tears start to fall down her cheeks. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “I feel like I’m comforting my daughter.” He jokes hoping to make her laugh.

“Shut up..” She says trying to keep herself from laughing. “It hurts.” He hears her voice rise indicating that she was still upset.

“Well I can see the bruising around your forearm but we’ll know for sure how bad the break is once we get an X-ray.” Rose says as she stands up. “I’ll send out a nurse to take you two back to the room so we can your x-rays while we wait for a room to open up. Hopefully one will be ready when we finish.”

“Sounds good.” Spencer says.

“Do you want any ice, Luce?” Rose asks. Lucy shakes her head as she rests it on Spencer’s shoulder.

________________

Luckily a room opened up as soon as they finished taking x-rays of Lucy’s arms. The same nurse who escorted them back took them to the open room. “You still look shaken up.” The nurse says. “Would you like some water?” Lucy nods her head. They had her put her arm into a sling until the Orthopedic doctor can mold a cast on her arm. Shortly after the nurse had left the room, a knock comes on the door before the doctor peers his head inside.

“Lucy De Luca?” Lucy nods her head and he steps into the room. “It’s a good thing your sister caught me before I left. She explained to me how you broke your arm. How do you feel right now?”

“Kind of numb.” Lucy softly spoke.

“Must be the small dose of morphine they gave you to help with the pain. I know mostly kids like to pick out their color for their cast.” He says with a chuckle. “But do you want to pick one out?”

“How excited would Garcia be if you chose pink?” Spencer chuckles making Lucy smile.

“I take it that pink is the choice?” The doctor asks again. Lucy nods her head with a small giggle.

“Is Garcia your daughter?” The doctor asks as he carefully takes Lucy’s arm out of the cast.

Lucy shakes her head. “She’s our technical analyst.” She says.

“Who do you two work?”

“The BAU.”

“Oh so FBI? That must be fun. I thought about joining the Bureau after the military but I’m not sure how I could be away from my family for so long on cases. So I became a doctor. A lot of work too but I’m just glad I get to see my kids at night. Do you two have kids?”

Lucy shakes her head again. “Not yet.”

“Well I looked at your medical records and there’s mention of your ever breaking a bone. You had a minor sprain on your right left ankle when you were sixteen. So this is probably a lot different than a sprain for you.” He says carefully spreading the mold around her arm. “So this case is going to stop on your forearm because your only had a hairline fracture just below your wrist so you won’t need one on your whole arm. You’ll be able to still move your arm, you just can’t pick up anything with this hand, alright?” Lucy nods her head. “I am going to let this dry for ten minutes before taking it off again to dry the inside out and then I’ll wrap the tape around it.”

___________

Sitting in the car, Spencer pulled out his phone and turned the camera on. It still amazes Lucy that he finally has a smartphone. “We should send a photo to the team.” He says. “I want to see how they react.” They both smile big as Lucy hold her broken wrist in the air. He snaps the picture before captioning it and sending it out to the team. Instantly a message popped up from Luke.

‘What the hell happened?!’ - LA

‘Are you shitting me?!’ - EP

‘This why we can’t leave either of you by yourselves.’ - JJ

‘Should I even ask?’ - DR

‘My poor baby! I’m coming over! I must be the first one to sign your cast!’ - PG

‘I just.. I don’t understand.. How?’ - MS

‘Do you get Dr. Ryland? He’s really cute ;)’ - PG

‘Excuse me?’ - SR

‘Sorry boy wonder but he is cute.’ - PG

Lucy giggled before typing her response. “Let’s just say that my desk chair hates me… And no Garcia, we didn’t Dr. Ryland. We had Dr. Poole.’ - LDL

‘Ooooo he’s cute too!’ - PG

‘Again I say, excuse me?’ - SR

‘Relax boy wonder, we all know that Lucy had the hots for you.’ - PG

‘Boy do we..lol.’ - JJ

‘I wish I didn’t..’ - EP

‘So does this mean I get to stay longer?’ - AH

‘AARON! Didn’t we just discuss this?!’ - EP

‘Oooooo someone’s in trouble ;)’ - LA

‘Hey, it was an innocent question.’ - AH

‘We’ll see you all work tomorrow.’ - LDL

‘Aaron, you better call me.’ - EP

If you liked this part, than please be sure to leave it some love and feedback!

Thank you! :)

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spiritsoulandbody · 2 years ago

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#DailyDevotion Shall We Walk In Sin Or Newness Of Life

#DailyDevotion Shall We Walk In Sin Or Newness Of Life Rom. 6:1-5 What shall we say? Shall we go on sinning so that God may be more gracious to us? 2Certainly not! We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4Now when we were baptized into His death, we were buried with Him so that as the Father's glory raised Christ from the dead we, too, will live a new life. 5If we were united with Him in this likeness of His death, then we will be united with Him also in the likeness of His resurrection. To understand versed 1 and 2 we need to read the versed in the previous chapter, “20The Law came to multiply sin, but where there was much sin, God's grace was so much greater 21that, as sin ruled in its deadly way, so His grace is to rule, giving a righteousness by which we live forever through our Lord Jesus Christ.” So if God's grace is greater than sin and gives life in spite of our sin, why not sin all the more so grace may abound all the more? Well that is the reasoning of a degenerate man. It is the thinking of a man still living in death. But as St. Paul says, we have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? When, where, how did we die to sin? St. Paul reminds us of the reality of our baptism. Some people think baptism is something they do for God. They think is some work of theirs. I cannot comprehend that especially reading chapter 6 of Romans in these words above. Baptism into Christ brings about a new reality for us. It is not just a symbolic action. It actually seals us to Christ crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. Before you were baptized into Christ, you were dead in your sins. Sin and death had its seal on you. The only escape from sin and death is to die. So in baptism Jesus unites us with his death and burial. So we dead. It is like we've had this life sentence but that ends when we die. In baptism into Christ we died. In being made dead in Christ we died to sin. It is no longer lord over us. The devil is no longer lord over us. Our flesh is no longer lord over us. Upon our death, they all have lost their control and right to us. So we can no longer live in sin anymore. You see, we have been raised with Christ in baptism. That is to say our once dead soul/spirit has been regenerated. We have been born from above as John and Jesus promised in John 1 and 3. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. Having raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we walk about now in the newness of life. Some translations make this sound like a command. But it is descriptive of our conditions. We have been given a new life in Christ Jesus by the glory of the Father here in baptism. We are no longer the people we used to be after baptism. Sure, chapter 7 will remind us we still have this fallen flesh which we struggle with, but in newness of life we actually fight against it. Finally, in baptism we have the promise that just as in baptism we have been joined to Jesus in the likeness of his death we also shall be raised in the likeness of his resurrection. That is to say, having been joined with Christ in baptism, even as he has been raised immortal, imperishable, and glorious, we too on the Last Day be like Jesus Christ in his resurrection. Since this is so we all the more want to live according to his life and not according to Adam's death. Heavenly Father, ever keep before our eyes the death and resurrection of Jesus so we may know what is ours having been baptized into him and into his name, and live in newness of life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

#baptism #Christ #Christianity #death #devotion #faith #Jesus #LCMS #Lutheran #Messiah #Newlife #resurrection #sin

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dfroza · 3 years ago

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the sacred truth of Love isn’t trying to be “cool” with the world.

it will just keep being True no matter what people think of it.

and for our part it takes humility to Love our Creator, and not all surrender to this.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 4th chapter of the Letter of Ephesians:

[Our Divine Calling]

As a prisoner of the Lord, I plead with you to walk holy, in a way that is suitable to your high rank, given to you in your divine calling. With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience. Be faithful to guard the sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit among you in the bonds of peace, being one body and one spirit, as you were all called into the same glorious hope of divine destiny.

For the Lord God is one, and so are we, for we share in one faith, one baptism, and one Father. And he is the perfect Father who leads us all, works through us all, and lives in us all!

And he has generously given each one of us supernatural grace, according to the size of the gift of Christ. This is why he says:

“He ascends into the heavenly heights

taking his many captured ones with him,

and gifts were given to men.”

He “ascended” means that he returned to heaven, after he had first descended from the heights of heaven, even to the lower regions, namely, the earth. The same one who descended is also the one who ascended above the heights of heaven, in order to begin the restoration and fulfillment of all things.

And he has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ. These grace ministries will function until we all attain oneness into the faith, until we all experience the fullness of what it means to know the Son of God, and finally we become one into a perfect man with the full dimensions of spiritual maturity and fully developed into the abundance of Christ.

And then our immaturity will end! And we will not be easily shaken by trouble, nor led astray by novel teachings or by the false doctrines of deceivers who teach clever lies. But instead we will remain strong and always sincere in our love as we express the truth. All our direction and ministries will flow from Christ and lead us deeper into him, the anointed Head of his body, the church.

For his “body” has been formed in his image and is closely joined together and constantly connected as one. And every member has been given divine gifts to contribute to the growth of all; and as these gifts operate effectively throughout the whole body, we are built up and made perfect in love.

So with the wisdom given to me from the Lord I say: You should not live like the unbelievers around you who walk in their empty delusions. Their corrupted logic has been clouded because their hearts are so far from God—their blinded understanding and deep-seated moral darkness keeps them from the true knowledge of God. Because of spiritual apathy, they surrender their lives to lewdness, impurity, and sexual obsession.

But this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you. If you have really experienced the Anointed One, and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life; for we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus!

And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self-life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him! For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness. So discard every form of dishonesty and lying so that you will be known as one who always speaks the truth, for we all belong to one another.

But don’t let the passion of your emotions lead you to sin! Don’t let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not for even a day. Don’t give the slanderous accuser, the Devil, an opportunity to manipulate you! If any one of you has stolen from someone else, never do it again. Instead, be industrious, earning an honest living, and then you’ll have enough to bless those in need.

And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them.

The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted his holy influence in your life. Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.

The Letter of Ephesians, Chapter 4 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 8th chapter of the book of Jeremiah that warns the people because of their lies:

Eternal One: When that sad day comes, the graves of My people will be desecrated. The remains of Judah’s kings and her leaders, of priests and prophets, of the citizens of My city Jerusalem will be pulled from their graves. Their bones will be spread out over the ground, exposing them to the sun, moon, and the stars of heaven, the heavenly hosts, which our enemies loved, served, chased after, sought out, and worshiped. These bones will not be gathered or buried again, but they will be scattered like dung on the ground. As for the survivors of this wicked nation, they will prefer death to life in all the places where I have driven them.

The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has spoken!

Eternal One (to Jeremiah): Tell My people that these are My words:

“When people stumble and fall, don’t they get up again?

When people are lost, don’t they try to find their way back?

So why have these people turned away from Me

and refused to come back?

They hang onto lies that lead them further away

instead of embracing the truth and coming home to Me.

I listen intently for someone, anyone, to speak the truth.

But it never happens. No one corrects his lies.

No one regrets his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’

Instead, everyone keeps running farther down that path, away from Me,

Like a horse charging into a battle.

Even the stork in the sky knows her time to migrate.

The dove, the swallow, and the crane

All take flight when the time is right.

But not so with My people.

They do not know or care about the Eternal’s commands.”

How can any of you say, “We are wise, because we have the Eternal’s law”?

How little you care about the truth!

A pen in the hand of your teachers drips nothing but lies.

The day is coming when these so-called wise teachers will be put to shame;

their lives will be shattered when they are captured and taken away.

Why will this happen? Because they have rejected and perverted My word.

Are these the works of wise men?

This is why I will give their wives away to intruders

and their property to invaders.

Greed has corrupted this culture, from the least to the greatest:

everyone is tainted with this lust for what they don’t deserve.

The prophets and priests are no better.

Their lives reek with deceit.

To heal the brokenness of My people, they offer superficial words.

They say, “Peace, peace” as if all is well, but there is no peace.

Do they feel any shame for their disgraceful deeds?

Absolutely not. My very own have forgotten how to blush.

And so it is that they will fall among the fallen and be defeated:

when the time comes, they will stumble beneath the weight of My punishment;

The harvest will soon be gone, a thing of the past.

There will be no grapes on the vine, no figs in the tree;

Even the leaves will wither and fall.

For what I have given so generously, I will now take away.

People: Why are we still sitting here, exposed and waiting for death to come?

Let’s get together and run to the walled cities and die there.

We are without hope because the Eternal our God has pronounced our judgment.

He has given us a cup of bitter poison to drink because we have sinned against Him.

We were counting on peace, but none came.

We waited for a time of healing, but now all we have is terror.

We can hear the snorts of their warhorses as they charge into Dan;

at the thunder of their hoofs and noise of their neighs the whole land trembles.

They have come to devour us—our land and everything in it,

the city and all her citizens.

Eternal One: Look, I have released an army of serpents against you;

they slither like vipers across the land.

There is no hope of charming them.

There is no escape from their deadly bite.

Jeremiah: There is no cure for my grief.

My heart breaks for what I see and hear.

Listen, my Lord, don’t You hear the daughter of our people weeping, crying out to You from exile?

“Is the Eternal no longer in Zion? Does her King no longer reside there?”

Eternal One: But Jeremiah, why have they provoked Me with their dark and evil practices?

Why do they worship these handcrafted idols, these worthless gods?

Jeremiah: The harvest is over, summer has ended,

and we are not saved.

And because the daughter of my people is being ripped apart, I am ripped apart.

From within, a dark and cold hurt arises.

From without, I am strangled by the horror of it all.

Is there no healing medicine in Gilead, no balm that could help my people?

Is there no physician who can help?

Why is there no healing for the wounds inflicted on my people?

The Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 8 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Saturday, August 21 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at the suffering we experience in life and our response to it:

How we choose to deal with trouble and suffering (i.e., tzuris) makes all the difference. We may be tempted to bitterness over our lives, but then what? To paraphrase Soren Kierkegaard, the way of life is how more than it is what. You may be powerless to control reality, but you are nevertheless responsible for how you respond to it. Check your attitude. Do you chose to live in lament over a healing that has not yet happened, or perhaps regard yourself as a hapless victim? Or will you attempt to justify your suffering as a means of personal atonement, accepting it passively as a "good child" or martyr? Does your suffering stretch your heart, or does it cause you to shrink back in fear or self-pity?

In this connection, recall that when the Jews came to Marah, they “could not drink the water because it was bitter” (Exod. 15:23). The Hebrew, however, could be read, “they could not drink the water because they (i.e., the people) were bitter (כִּי מָרִים הֵם). The problem is often not “out there” but within the heart (Matt. 15:19-20). How we choose to see, in other words, says more about us than it does the external world. If you make the mistake of reading the daily news and taking it seriously, you will see only ugliness, and you run the risk of becoming hardhearted. Worldly despair eclipses apprehension of the Presence of God....

We have to use ayin tovah, "a good eye," whenever we encounter the inevitable (and ubiquitous) adversities of life. Instead of seeing ourselves as victims of undeserved trouble, and instead of harboring resentment over the past and entertaining fear of the future, we must learn to see adversity in the light of faith that teaches lessons about finding resilience and hope. Faith affirms that adversity has an end that is ultimately good. Faith will not bow the knee to dark visions and live in dread of worldly fate.

It's been said, "hurt people hurt people," which means that if healing is not found for our woundedness, our pain will likely “leak out” as depression and hostility toward others... Finding inner peace is therefore crucial lest we become poisoned through a "root of bitterness" that defiles many (Heb. 12:15). The worst sort of prison is the one we make for ourselves, by choosing to be taken captive by fear and anger. May the Lord show us mercy and help us grow in grace and in the knowledge of his heart in all things. Amen. [Hebrew for Christians]

8.20.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

August 21, 2021

Sealed by the Holy Spirit

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

From very ancient times it has been the custom to confirm and guarantee an agreed-on purchase by sealing the contract with a seal that could only be broken by the buyer when he was ready to take possession of his purchase.

The marvelous transaction seen by John at God’s throne in heaven was in reference to this practice. There, only the Lamb is found worthy to open the seven-sealed scroll on which is recorded the title to the whole creation. “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the [scroll], and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood” (Revelation 5:9). The purchase price had been paid on Calvary, and the resurrected Lamb had come to claim His possession.

And we are part of that possession! The price has been paid for our redemption from sin’s bondage, but we have not yet entered on the inheritance which our great Redeemer has promised us. In the meantime, our individual title deed, as it were, has been sealed by none other than the Holy Spirit. He is not only the seal, but also the “earnest”—that is, the down payment, the earnest money—who guarantees the total “redemption of the purchased possession.”

His personal presence in our lives is our assurance that the full promise will be fulfilled, and we are urged to “grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). He “hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:22). HMM

A tweet by illumiNations:

@IlluminationsBT: With your prayers and gifts, the Urdu speakers will gain access to Scripture in their own language!

Learn more at: https://bit.ly/3gdTnY5

8.21.21 • 12:01pm • Twitter

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nerdygaymormon · 5 years ago

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Gospel Topic Essays

In 2013 & 2014, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a series of essays that address a number of question and criticisms. These essays have been approved by the First Presidency and Quorum of 12 Apostles. The stated reason for the essays is gathering accurate information and making it available.

I added a few thoughts in italics

Are Mormons Christian - Members of the Church believe in and teach of Christ, but they don’t believe in the post-New Testament Creeds, and have scriptures in addition to the Bible. The LDS Church also is not a direct descendant of an existing Christian church.

What Mormons mean by the word “Christian” is different than the rest of Christianity. Mormons are Christian in that they believe Jesus was the Messiah and redeemer of the world.

Becoming Like God - Since people are the spirit children of God, we have the potential to develop and grow to become like God. The essay includes some Bible verses to support this teaching, but most of the world interprets them differently.

The essay leaves out Bible verses that would seem to contradict this teaching. The Bible, at best, is mixed. There aren’t any verses from the Book of Mormon included because this concept is absent from that book.

God was once like humans are now. And people can become gods. We teach God is married, so there are godly roles for both men & women. Does this make us polytheists? Yes, in that there are many gods, but really no because we only worship our Heavenly Father and will continue doing so even when we become gods ourselves.

How does someone become like God? It’s the covenant path we hear so much about. Baptism, Melchizedek Priesthood (if you’re male), temple endowment, sealed to a spouse, obey temple covenants.

Sounds pretty good, except...

What about if your spouse or children are unworthy? If you’re gay? If you get divorced? A widowed husband gets married & sealed to a 2nd wife, what if the 1st wife isn’t into polygamy?

Book of Mormon and DNA Studies - The purpose of the Book of Mormon is spiritual, not historical. There’s no DNA evidence to confirm that Middle Eastern people came to the Americas prior to Christopher Columbus. This essay goes through many possible excuses for why no DNA of the Jaredites, Nephites or Lamanites has yet been found in the Americas.

The introduction page to the Book of Mormon used to say that the Jaredites & Nephites were destroyed, leaving the Lamanites who are "the principal ancestors of the American Indians.” DNA evidence forced a change, it now says, Lamanites are “among” the ancestors of the American Indians.

Book of Mormon Translation - Joseph placed either the interpreters (Urim & Thummim) or his seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out light, and read aloud the English words that appeared. He dictated the words, not punctuation, to the scribes. The scribes wrote their own punctuation and that is what was printed. Most changes in the Book of Mormon have involved punctuation and creating verses & chapters.

It’s not a “translation” in the usual sense of that word. An examination of the characters on the plate wasn’t typically involved (despite much of the artwork that suggests otherwise), in fact, the plates often weren’t visible. There’s no way to test the accuracy of the translation.

Also, some other changes beyond punctuation and creating chapters/verses has taken place, like having some of the more racist language toned down.

First Vision Accounts - Joseph had a vision (not necessarily an actual visitation) in which 2 heavenly beings appeared to him.

Joseph published 2 accounts of this vision during his lifetime. Two additional accounts (from his autobiography and from a journal) have been found and published in the 1960′s. There are also 5 descriptions of Joseph Smith’s vision recorded by others who heard Joseph speak about the vision.

That makes 9 different accounts, and there are some differences between them. The essay explains that different accounts emphasize different details. Memories fade over time and things get remembered differently.

There is a generally consistent theme across the different versions, but the first written account comes many years after the vision is supposed to have occurred, which makes me wonder how accurate or reliable it is.

Joseph Smith’s Teachings about Priesthood, Temple and Women - During the 19th century, women frequently blessed the sick by a prayer of faith, and many women received priesthood blessings promising that they would have the gift of healing. In reference to these healing blessings, Relief Society general president Eliza R. Snow explained in 1883, "Women can administer in the name of JESUS, but not by virtue of the Priesthood."

That’s because the priesthood was new & fresh, but understanding changed as Joseph Smith received more revelations.

I think they stuck to Joseph Smith’s teachings so they wouldn’t have to go into the misogynistic teachings of Brigham Young or Spencer Kimball. At the time of Joseph’s death, women were still doing healings & had control of the Relief Society.

Priesthood power is given to women in the temple as part of the endowment ceremony. When a couple is sealed in the temple, together they enter into an order of the priesthood. Women can officiate in the priesthood in ordinances for other women. Women can officiate when only women are getting the ordinance, when it is for men & women then the men are in charge.

Women and the Priesthood today - well, they still can do stuff in the temple.

Mother in Heaven - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. This understanding is rooted in scriptural and prophetic teachings about the nature of God, and the godly potential of men and women. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.

According to things taught through most of church history, this essay could have been titled Mothers in Heaven. We each have a mother & father in heaven, we each have the same father but there could be many different mothers in heaven. Good old polygamy, interwoven into our theology.

6 paragraphs, that’s all? Shouldn’t we know more? What is heaven like for women?

Peace in Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints - The Latter-day Saints were persecuted, often violently, for their beliefs. Several incidents are discussed.

Well, to be accurate, it was more for their actions than their beliefs. We weren’t exactly great neighbors to non-members of the church.

And, tragically, some Church members participated in deplorable violence against people they perceived to be their enemies. Joseph Smith had the Danites, and a stake president ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Brigham Young taught that some sins were serious enough that the person should be killed as part of forgiveness process (blood atonement).

The early Mormons had many threats and violence done against them, and they also did the same to others. It was a rough time.

Imagine all the things said & done against the LGBTQ+ community by the Church--denying they exist, electro-shock therapy, advocating for laws to limit & take away their rights. In a real sense the church isn’t a good neighbor to this group. In an earlier time, this might get settled via guns and violence.

Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo - God commanded people in ancient Israel to have polygamous marriages. As part of the restoration of all things, God commanded Joseph Smith to introduce polygamy.

The verses cited just indicate that polygamy was practiced in Old Testament times, not that God commanded anyone to have such marriages.

Joseph really didn’t want to do it (or worried about how his wife Emma would react), so God had to send an angel 3 times between 1834 and 1842 to command him to proceed with plural marriage. During the final appearance, the angel came with a drawn sword, threatening Joseph with destruction unless he went forward and obeyed the commandment fully.

The concept of polygamy was part of the revelation on eternal marriage and is how to be exalted with God.

The essay says there wasn’t much instruction on how to do polygamy, I think this is meant to suggest that mistakes happened because people didn’t know better. D&C 132 does have a number of instructions, some of which were ignored. Such as the 1st wife had to give permission for any additional wife, and the additional wives each have to be virgins.

Joseph kept most of his marriages secret from Emma, and he married other men’s wives who most assuredly weren’t virgins.

Joseph had 30-40 wives. His oldest wife was 56 and the youngest was 14.

Polygamy was illegal. Most people who participated were told to keep it secret. Also important for married women to keep it a secret from their first husband. Rumors spread and so “carefully worded denials” were issued in which they’d switch one word, or change the meaning of a word. Basically it looks like they were lying because it would mean trouble.

Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto in 1890 which led to the end of polygamy (eventually...it took a second manifesto in 1904 to end it officially).

A form of polygamy still survives. Men who remarry may be sealed to their additional wives. People can do temple work to seal women who were married to more than one man during their lifetimes but not sealed to them. Only men are allowed to be sealed to more than one person whilst alive.

Plural Marriage and Families in early Utah - Church members do not understand the purposes for instituting the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century. The essay heavily suggests that having a lot of children was a primary purpose.

Footnote 6 says “Studies have shown that monogamous women bore more children per wife than did polygamous wives except the first.” In all likelihood, polygamy led to fewer children than probably would have been born in a monogamous society

Accounts left by men and women who practiced plural marriage attest to the challenges and difficulties they experienced, such as financial difficulty, interpersonal strife, and some wives’ longing for the sustained companionship of their husbands. Virtually all of those practicing it in the earliest years had to overcome their own prejudice against plural marriage and adjust to life in polygamous families.

Few would have entered into plural marriages if leaders didn’t emphasize that polygamy was required for a man’s highest exaltation in the life to come, and women who refused plural marriage could find themselves single & a servant in heaven. Polygamous wives were so unhappy that Brigham Young eventually gave an ultimatum, 2 weeks to freely leave the territory or stop whining and fully live their religion.

Plural marriage was an illegal practice and members engaged in civil disobedience against such laws. In direct violation of the 12th Article of Faith

The essay shows Mormon polygamy in a very favorable light.

The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage - Polygamous marriage was illegal in the United States and the LDS Church fled to Mexico but the United States took the territory they were fleeing to. The Church felt that polygamy was protected under the Constitution’s freedom of religion but the Supreme Court disagreed.

Given the importance polygamy to the church’s beliefs about heaven, the members were encouraged to disregard the law and obey God. After 2 decades of increasing troubles, many polygamous families headed to Canada or Mexico to escape US justice (nevermind polygamy was just as illegal in those countries).

When the US Supreme Court upheld the legality of confiscating church property, this could mean that temple ordinances would end when those buildings are seized. Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto to ban polygamy in 1890. This calmed things with the US government and within 3 years Utah was admitted as a state.

Members continued entering into new plural marriages for about 15 more years, but in declining numbers. In 1899 the newly-elected senator from Utah was not allowed to take his seat in Congress because he had 3 wives, including one he married after the manifesto. When an apostle was elected in 1903, he also was not allowed to take his seat as an investigation took place into the church & polygamy, even church president Joseph F. Smith testified before Congress.

President Smith testified that the Manifesto removed God’s commandment on the church to practice polygamy, but didn’t forbid individuals from choosing to continue to be polygamous. He issued a Second Manifest at the April General Conference forbidding members from entering new polygamous marriages.

Race and the Priesthood - The Church was established in 1830, many people of African descent in the United States lived in slavery, and racial prejudice were believed by most white Americans.

From the mid-1800s until 1978—the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to its priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances.

This is true, but one would hope a church which claims revelation through prophets would be able to overcome cultural norms that aren’t in line with the gospel.

Church leaders taught many things to explain the ban, and today, all of that is rejected by the church and considered error. These weren’t just teachings, they were doctrines. And the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham were used to justify bigotry, such as stating that the curse of Cain was a dark skin.

International expansion of the church, especially in Brazil, forced the church into difficult situations. The Church in the USA was also under heavy pressure for the priesthood restrictions.

Church president Spencer W. Kimball spent many hours praying for revelation to undo the priesthood ban. The essay makes it sound like some big revelation was received, but it wasn’t that way. It was a process, a statement drafted and changes made to it and voted on.

Today, the Church disavows all teachings that teach any race or ethnicity if inferior in any way, or that mixed-race marriages are wrong. Church leaders unequivocally condemn all racism.

No reason for the priesthood ban is put forward in this article other than racism. The past leaders were racists and that blinded them to what God wanted for black people. There’s a big lesson in that.

Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces the book of Abraham as scripture.

A traveling salesman sold several Egyptian papyri and mummies to Joseph Smith. He was excited to learn one papyrus was scripture from Abraham and set to translating it.

After the church left Nauvoo, Joseph’s family sold the Egyptian artifacts and they eventually ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In 1967, the museum transferred these fragments to the Church.

Discovery of the papyri allowed an examination of Joseph Smith’s translation. Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham.

Joseph’s translation was not a literal rendering of the papyri as a conventional translation would be. Rather, the physical artifacts provided an occasion for meditation, reflection, and revelation. They catalyzed a process whereby God gave to Joseph Smith a revelation about the life of Abraham, even if that revelation did not directly correlate to the characters on the papyri.

The essay mostly tries to explain how it is possible for Joseph Smith to have called the process for bringing forth the book of Abraham a "translation" when it is obvious that it was not a translation of the Egyptian papyri in his possession

#before these essays many of these positions would be considered anti-Mormon #tumblrstake

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alcenoterius · 7 years ago

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Absolute Destiny Apocalypse Complete 絶対運命黙示録・完全版

Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku is a song from the Banyu Inryoku play Kaspar Hauser. Which was in... 93? It was before Utena. (Seal Spell was also from there.) Kaspar Hauser was a German boy who supposedly grew up completed closed off in a cell. He was taught to say phrases that he only knew by sound and they did weird experiments on him and NOTHING MAKES SENSE. Which is probably why there's a Banyu Inryoku play about him, because, well, nothing makes sense. Anyway he died with a note written backwards on him and everyone collectively went what the fuck. And so Seazer did a play of it because of course he did.Banyu Inryoku is post-Terayama Tenjo Sajiki, led by Seazer who inherited the group after Terayama died. I’m under the assumption it wasn’t going well for them, but Ikuhara FUCKING LOVED Tenjo Sajiki because uhh, Tenjo Sajiki is awesome, and omg neeeeded Seazer to do his anime. Apparently he went eh sure, why the hell not food is nice, here, take some of these songs I already did, and we got weird remixes of them by Shinkichi Mitsumune. At the end of the second season he actually started recording and making original music for the show. While this song arguably isn’t, the second half maybe is.

Also, the Complete version happened in a live concert, the first stage of which was three Utena songs. This was the opening piece. It had more notes. I want those notes back. Please go back and record a studio version with literally everyone please. Yes, that poor girl had to sustain that awful note live.

Anyway, I did the whole thing, cause it felt cheap if I only did half, and I didn’t want to use someone else’s half. Obligatory tags for @hirakumblr and @empty-movement because.

絶対運命黙示録・完全版 Absolute Destiny Apocalypse Complete (Barbara Dwarf Star Child Apocalypse version)

絶対運命黙示録絶対運命黙示録出生登録・洗礼名簿・死亡登録 zettai unmei mokushiroku zettai unmei mokushiroku shusei touroku senrei meibo shibou touroku

The absolute destiny apocalypse The absolute destiny apocalypse birth records, baptismal registry, death records

絶対運命黙示録絶対運命黙示録わたしの誕生．絶対誕生．黙示録 zettai unmei mokushiroku zettai unmei mokushiroku watashi no tanjou zettai tanjou mokushiroku

The absolute destiny apocalypse The absolute destiny apocalypse My birth, absolute birth, apocalypse

闇の砂漠に燦場・宇葉金のメッキの桃源郷昼と夜とが逆回り時のメッキの失楽園

yami no sabaku ni sanba uba kin no mekki no tougenkyou hiru to yoru to ga gyaku mawari toki no mekki no shitsurakuen

A brilliant place in a dark desert, made of leaves A gold gilded Eden Day and night turning upon eachother Time gilded paradise lost

ソドムの闇光の闇彼方の闇果てなき闇絶対運命黙示録絶対運命黙示闇・黙示録

sodomu no yami hikari no yamo kanata no yami hatenaki yami zettai unmei mokushiroku zettai unmei mokushiryami mokushiroku

Darkness of Sodom Darkness of light Distant darkness Endless darkness The absolute destiny apocalypse The absolute destiny apocalyptic darkness, apocalypse

絶対運命黙示録絶対運命黙示録死して復活プロメティウス星体永生(衛星)登録

zettai unmei mokushiroku zettai unmei mokushiroku shishite fukkatsu purometius seitai eisei touroku

The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse Death then revival Celestial body of Prometheus Records of eternal life (satellite)

絶対運命黙示録絶対運命黙示録プロトゴノス　わたし宇宙　生命　黙示録

zettai unmei mokushiroku zettai unmei mokushiroku Purotogonosu watashi uchuu seimei mokushiroku

The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse The Protogonos Me Universe, Life, Apocalypse

起嫄の中の無限わたし二つの月と太陽に宇宙開闢わたし誕生わたしのわたしがわたしプラクリティ

kigen no naka no mugen watashi futatsu no tsuki to taiyou ni uchuu kaibyaku watashi tanjou watashi no watashi ga watashi purakuriti

In the origin is the infinite me, in the two moon and sun, I am born in the creation of the universe, my myself is the Prakrti me

原初の起こり受胎モナリザシオンと誕生円満愚息球体わたし宇宙原理

gensho no okori jyutai monarizashion to tanjou enman gusoku kyuutai watashi uchuu genri

Conception of the original source Mona Lisa's Zion and birth Sphere of the perfect foolish son Myself, the universe, philosophy

天地　昼夜��暗闇光双月　男女アンドロギュヌス

tenchi chuuya an__kou futatsuki danjo andorogyunusu

Heaven and earth, Day and Night, Darkness and light Twin moons, hermaphrodite, Androgynous

もくしくしもしもくくもしもしくしくも

mokushi kushimo shimoku kumoshi moshiku shikumo mokushi kushimo shimoku kumoshi moshiku shikumo

Oh yay. Notes! So many notes! (Conversely, the song didn't have enough, I'm making up for that.)

桃源郷 Literally means The Peach Blossom Spring, which is a story about a magical utopia, full of happiness where they're untouched by politics and the outside world and some guy just waltzes in. (It's mostly about politics really. Please take me. I love peaches.) Anyway the dude leaves and can never find it again. Apparently it gets used to mean a magical utopia, and I just preferred Eden over Shangri-La, especially since I was in an oasis type thing and statistically speaking, in English I don't need to explain it.

Paradise lost is also written the same way as the novel title.

Prometheus was a Greek titan that made humans and gave them fire and is now punished for eternity.

Protogonos (but apparently usually Phanes) is the first born and deity of procreation and life in Orphism. Who is also apparently both male and female. And hatched from the world egg. And created the universe. He smashed the world shell.

Prakṛti, which has a weird dotted R apparently, is the primal matter of nature and femine existence in Hinduism.

Mona Lisa Zion. (Or it's Mona Lisazation. But Probably not.) Okay. Seazer apparently made this word up. Team Japan seems to think it's a combination of Mona Lisa and Zion, and according to that and a few random books that put the words beside eachother, it seems to mostly be based off the idea that Leonardo da Vinci filled La Gioconda with secrets about Jesus and stuff, which I will always think is stupid.

The original live version of ...this version, had the ending lines 天地　昼夜　太陽　月ラララ　男女アンドロギュヌス Heaven and earth, Day and Night, Sun, moon Lalala, hermaphrodite, Androgynous

Also, I have no fucking clue how they got darkness and light to sound the way it does in song. I hear like, aninkou or an'ninkou or something. I didn't feel it was worth holding this up for that though. What's written means darkness and light though.

mokushi kushimo, etc is the syllables of apocalypse tossed into a blender. Mokushi by itself does mean apocalypse. 黙示録 is also the way Book of Revelation is written, but they seem to like it as Apocalypse. FYI if you join the Utena 4 lyfe club you're legally required to randomly spew this line.

#utena #shoujo kakumei utena #revolutionary girl utena #j.a. seazer #banyu inryoku #translation #barbara dwarf star child apocalypse #absolute destiny apocalypse #少女革命ウテナ #J・A・シーザー #バルバラ矮星子黙示録 #lyrics

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luckyladylily · 3 years ago

Note

The mormons collect names of people so they can posthumously baptize and do other rituals “in their name”, the doctrine being that without these rituals performed by the correct authority of god they cannot be saved, and thus all the souls of dead people are waiting for someone on earth to do these things so they can be saved.

The thing is they need the genealogy of the people in order to properly perform the rituals. It isn’t just baptism, which is an individual thing, but also what is called a “sealing”, which is supposed to connect each individual to their parents and children by the power of god (because for some reason god can’t just make your houses next to each other in heaven). To this end, they have compiled a ridiculous amount of ancestry information. If you live in the USA they almost certainly know your ancestry better than you do, and they are getting there in europe too.

They would see no problem with performing all these rituals for any of us if they had this information, confirmation of death, and the consent of a living descendant or someone reasonably connected to you in a similar way (for example, if you had no kids, the descendant of your mother would do.) That last requirement was added on as a requirement after the mormons got super bad publicity from performing baptisms for the dead for the jewish victims of concentration camps back in the 50s.

The places where last names are currently active is, technically, useful for this data gathering effort but in this particular case is more them sharing a thing they think is cool, because mormons are really just super into genealogy on top of this divine mandate, which is why it is insidious. People start to see mormonism not as a cult but as a quirky branch of Christianity that is super into genealogy.

Anyway the upshot of all this is they compile all this data to get names and lineage so they can perform their rituals in the names of the dead and in 70 years they might make you, and all your relatives, a posthumous mormon with it.

That is sketchy in and of itself, but people are using this compiled and freely available information in other ways. They are not careful about who they give this stuff to. I think it is actually possible for anyone to their entire database at any time, which can be a bit of a scary thing to think about. On the good side, you could use it to help determine if you are genetically predisposed to cancer. On the not so good side, you can use it to determine if an individual carries “unwanted” genes, if you get my meaning.

If a genetic dystopia happens it is almost certainly because the Mormons compiled the lists that made it possible.

sorry to be annoying, but the post you reblogged about the site that checks for surnames, its owned by the mormon church. there's other people in the comments (and also on other posts) calling it out as unsafe bcs the mormons use it to post humously baptize people and for collecting data

Seriously? Why in god's name do they need to do that? It's incredibly easy to get surnames, just flip through a bloody phone book! If they're not collecting any other data on top of it, what on earth are they doing with just a list of surnames? I'm presuming the data they collect is primarily on people who sign up for accounts and give them more information?

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the-christian-walk · 3 years ago

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EXECUTION (PART 3)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to [email protected] In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Peter began to speak:

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him.”

“We are witnesses of everything He did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised Him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One whom God appointed as Judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

Acts 10:34-43

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When one places a priority on preparation, then executing a plan typically find success.

We’ve seen this over the past four devotions from Acts 10 where we see preparation and execution executed to perfection by people who were obedient to God’s preparation and then His will and way.

Cornelius prayed and received orders from the angel of the Lord to send men to Joppa to get Peter.

He complied.

Peter prayed and the Lord prepared his heart for what He wanted him to do by driving home the point that only He, God, could deem something or somebody as unclean. Peter was commanded to eat any and all animals that were in the sheet contained within the vision because there was no discrimination as to which was clean and which wasn’t. The point was that Jesus had come for all people, the Jew and the Gentile, and salvation was available for anyone who simply believed that Jesus was their Savior. Typically, Peter would not have allowed himself to remain long in the company of Gentiles but the Lord was preparing him for his coming encounter with Cornelius and his gathering of family and friends. All were God worshiping and God fearing people who would soon hear the Gospel and Peter would be the messenger God would use.

And so an angel of the Lord told Peter to go with the men sent to Joppa by Cornelius.

He complied.

So the stage was set and as we left off yesterday, Peter had asked Cornelius why he had summoned him and the Roman centurion let Peter know that all gathered were eager to hear everything the Lord had commanded Him to say.

The Lord had prepared them for such a time as this. They were ripe and ready to receive the message Peter would share. All Peter needed to do was execute what he had been trained to do.

For you see, Peter’s preparation went well before his vision on Simon’s roof in Joppa. It ranged back to that very first say that a man named Jesus came to him as he was working near the Sea of Galilee because he was a fisherman by trade. You’ll remember Jesus telling Peter that He would show him how to fish for people if he chose to follow him which Peter did. More than three years later, after hearing Jesus preach the good news of the Gospel over and over and over again, Peter stood before Cornelius and the others in company with him ready to do same because Jesus had prepared him to do so.

And so as we see in our passage for today, Peter draws from all the preparation he had received and executes a perfect delivery of the good news found in Jesus. His message contained the following key points:

1. Jesus is an equal opportunity Savior.

It took a vision of animals in a sheet and a command to eat any and all of them for Peter to understand that there was no delineation anymore between Jew and Gentile. He realized that God did not show favoritism but rather would accept anyone, no matter their nationality, as long as they feared Him and sought to be righteous in the way they lived.

2. Jesus was God’s chosen Messiah, empowered to save from on high,

Note here how God is once again at the forefront. He doesn’t show favoritism and He so loved all the world that He sent His one and only Son to serve as a living sacrifice and atonement for the sins of everyone. It was God’s will and His plan to save, and He chose to do so through His Son Jesus, the Lord of all and Prince of peace who brought tranquility and serenity to those who placed their hope in Him.

3. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power by His Father and He put it to good use.

Jesus started his adult ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. As He came up out of the water, we read this from Matthew’s Gospel:

As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17

Indeed, God had anointed Jesus “with the Holy Spirit and power”, preparing Him for the work He would be called to do. Then Jesus used what God had granted to execute the will of His Father, “doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil”. All along the way God was with Him.

4. Jesus was crucified.

Peter and the rest of his brother disciples spent three years with Jesus and knew His life story in a very intimate way. They had been eyewitnesses to everything He had done “in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem”, and they fully knew what was going to happen to their Master, even if they didn’t want to believe it.

Jesus had told His chosen followers how it was necessary for Him to die and then to be raised up on the third day but I don’t think they truly grasped what He was telling them. That is, until it really happened as He was arrested by the Jewish religious leaders, falsely accused and unjustly tried, beaten and abused, and then executed as a criminal, nailed to a cross where He would hang until death.

5. Jesus did not remain dead but was raised from the dead on the third day.

The Jewish religious authorities believed they had eliminated their arch nemesis Jesus but they were so very wrong. For on the third day, as women went to His tomb to anoint His body, they discovered He was gone. Angels told them that He was very much risen and alive. Jesus Himself even sealed the deal by appearing to them.

Indeed, there were many witnesses who God had chosen for Jesus to reveal His resurrected body to including all His disciples, minus Judas of course, who “ate and drank” with Jesus “after He rose from the dead”.

6. Jesus gave a Great Commission to His disciples and all who would come after them to serve the living Savior.

Jesus ordered His disciples “to preach to the people and to testify that He (Jesus) is the One whom God appointed as Judge of the living and the dead”. They were to commit themselves to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing all new Christians in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit while teaching them to obey all Christ had commanded.

In today’s passage and in so many other places in Acts, we find the apostles doing just that.

7. Jesus and His life were foretold thousands and thousands of years before He was born.

Peter wanted Cornelius and his gathered guests to know that Jesus’ coming should have been of little surprise to anyone. This is because “all the prophets” had testified about Him so that “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

God spoke through His appointed messengers and we know that He speaks only truth. If the prophets said something would happen, then it would without question. Jesus’ story confirmed this as it unfolded.

Seven key Gospel spreading points used by Peter as he executed the plan that first Jesus and then God had prepared him for.

Today, we find this section of God’s word preparing us to execute a delivery of the Gospel when He brings the time to us. All we need to do is execute it at His appointed time, just as Peter did.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to [email protected]

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