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carewyncromwell · 4 years ago

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Zut alors! This art sure makes this Cinderella AU look like...well, a Cinderella AU, doesn’t it??

One critique I have about many Cinderella adaptations is about how the “ugly stepsisters” are either portrayed as one-dimensionally bad so as to make our Cinderella look more saintly by comparison or given just enough dimension that one could see them as secondary victims of their mother’s abuse and yet aren’t given an ending that frees them from it the way Cinderella does. And yes, obviously in many of those cases, the stepsisters jump in on abusing Cinderella too, but it’s a learned behavior the stepsisters acquire from their mother and, in some cases, one could also point to there possibly being an element of the child joining in on their parents’ abuse of their sibling, etc. as a method of self-preservation. There are a few adaptations where one stepsister “reforms” themselves while the other doesn’t, but in this story, I wanted to show that -- as unpleasant as the entire Cromwell clan is, including Carewyn’s cousins -- there’s some logic to how they behave. And in Claire Cromwell’s daughters’ cases in particular, they’re just as trapped by the expectations of their gender as Carewyn is, arguably more so because they’ve lived with Charles their whole lives and the importance of marrying well has been drilled into them much more than it ever was for Carewyn. Although it’s obvious how much worse Carewyn’s situation is compared to her cousins, I kind of liked the idea of showing how a character in the “ugly stepsister” role would feel, being constantly outdone by her relative despite her best efforts. And even in Carewyn’s canon, she does project a “perfect paragon” affect that irritates characters like Merula to no end, so this isn’t too much of a stretch. Doesn’t mean Iris is a good person or anything, but what can I say, I like giving my antagonists understandable motivations.

In Carewyn’s canon, she becomes a robin Animagus. Part of it has to do with their size and coloring; part of it has to do with their symbolism (being associated with spring and, in the Christian tradition, selfless kindness, as they either earned their “red breast” when they sang comfortingly in Jesus’s ear while he bled on the cross or when they got burned fetching water for souls stuck in Purgatory); and part of it is because “Robin” was my deceased paternal aunt’s name, as well as my middle name! 🧡

Previous part is here -- whole tag is here -- Katriona “KC” Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-needs-coffee -- and I hope you enjoy!

x~x~x~x

On Charles’s instructions, Carewyn was returned to the tower room at the back of the Cromwell estate, this time with thick ropes tied her wrists together and lashing them to the legs of the cot set up in the corner. As Blaise finished securing Carewyn to the bed, he went out of his way to scold her that all of this was her own doing for trying to abandon her family before departing.

Carewyn tried everything she could to get free, but within an hour, she determined that there was nothing sharp enough in the room that she could use to cut her bonds, even if she could move more than two feet in either direction. And so, in utter frustration, she collapsed to the floor, her eyebrows knitting tightly over her closed eyes.

Talbott, she thought, please warn Orion...please, make sure he’s safe...

She wished she could simply have faith in Talbott, but being unable to do anything to protect Orion made Carewyn feel number and more afraid than she’d ever felt near the battlefield between Florence and Royaume.

A moment later, Carewyn was startled by the sound of the door being unlocked. When it opened, she found Iris standing in the doorframe. Claire’s middle daughter was decked out in a striking dark blue and emerald satin gown and a dark blue feathered mask, and her dark hair was put up in a beautiful braided bun trimmed with peacock feathers.

“So you are locked up here,” said Iris.

Carewyn raised her eyebrows very dully. “So I am.”

Iris’s face, for once, didn’t look particularly haughty. Her blue eyes, the same color and shape as Carewyn’s, swiveled over her cousin’s frame, taking in not just her bound ankles but the sewn-up back of her green dress. The dark-haired Cromwell looked almost disconcerted.

“This is your own doing, you know,” Iris said in a slightly higher voice than normal. “If you’d just left Prince Henri to me...done what Grandfather told you to do...”

“Blaise has more than given me that lecture already, thank you,” Carewyn said coldly.

Iris’s expression turned very offended.

“So much for you not talking out of turn!” she said scathingly. “I would’ve thought you’d have learned your lesson, after what Grandfather did to you...”

Her eyes flickered over to Carewyn’s back again. Carewyn could see the discomfort and macabre fascination swimming in her eyes -- as if part of her wanted to see how bad the scars were, and yet the thought made her feel nauseous.

Perhaps it was the compassion Carewyn felt, seeing her cousin struggle with feeling any kind of pity for her circumstances after how long they’d always hated each other...but she couldn’t help but address her a bit more gently than usual.

“Just because Grandfather says something doesn’t mean it’s right.”

Iris scowled. “Just like you, to be ungrateful, after everything our family’s done for you...”

She turned her back on Carewyn as if to leave.

“I’m not just talking about myself,” Carewyn murmured. “I’m talking about you.”

Iris stiffened, stopping in the doorframe.

“I heard Grandfather yell at you, when you first came home,” said Carewyn.

“So what, you want to rub it in my face?” Iris huffed, sounding rather like a snake bearing its fangs after being stepped on. “Boast about how you always twist everybody around your little finger, without even trying?”

Carewyn couldn’t help but cock her eyebrows. “Boast? Iris, the only thing that’s twisted around here are the ropes that have been tied around my wrists -- and they hurt quite a bit.”

“You know what I mean!” said Iris impatiently. She crossed her arms, her shoulders sulking. “Stop being so...so bloody witty, will you!? You’ve always been so witty -- able to talk about absolutely nothing with complete strangers...even people you don’t want to impress! And then, all of a sudden, all those people can do is talk about you. Like Prince Henri...every time we talked, the conversation would always end up coming back to you and the dresses and shoes he wanted to make for you!”

Carewyn’s face became a bit more solemn.

“The Prince and I are friends,” she admitted. “It was never anything more than that.”

Iris sniffed. “And I suppose it was ‘never anything more than that’ with Duke Lestrange either?”

“I didn’t even know Duke Lestrange,” Carewyn said exasperatedly. “And I had no interest in him romantically either. I think I made that quite clear both before and after you ripped my dress so badly that it exposed my undergarments.”

“And yet even then, you still charmed him!” said Iris, whirling around to glare at Carewyn. “You didn’t want anything from him, so why did you talk to him? Why did you smile and act all nice with him?”

“Because it was the polite thing to do!” said Carewyn, flabbergasted. “Because he was a guest! And one doesn’t have to get something in return to have a reason to show someone respect! It’s not something to be treated as a transaction!”

Iris’s face appeared more surly than ever as she looked away, adjusting the skirt of her gown.

Carewyn looked down at her bindings and then back up at Iris’s back. She exhaled slowly through her nose, as an idea started to prickle at the sides of her brain.

“...Iris...I’m sorry if I’ve wronged you,” she said softly. “I never had any intention to sabotage you...I know how much a proper marriage would endear you to our family.”

She took a deep breath.

“If you want me out of the way...then I’ll go.”

Iris looked at Carewyn, startled. Carewyn stared her intently in the face.

“Just undo my bindings,” she said, “and leave the door unlocked...and when you and the others return from the ball, I’ll be gone. You’ll never have to live with me again.”

Iris stared disbelievingly. Carewyn’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, betraying some desperation.

“Grandfather won’t have to know it was you,” she said. “No one would know except for me and you, and I won’t be here to tell anyone. Please...just let me escape.”

Let me get out to warn Orion. Let me save Orion.

Iris stared at Carewyn for another long moment. Then, very slowly, her eyes narrowed.

“You...you really want this,” she said lowly. “Don’t you?”

Carewyn gave her a very serious look. Iris’s eyes narrowed that bit more, darting from her face to down at her bindings and back.

“...Well, then...”

She bent down, took hold of Carewyn’s bindings...and tightened them sharply.

“Ack -- !”

Carewyn couldn’t quite choke back a yelp of pain. Iris shot back up to her feet, her eyes burning with resentment.

“You probably want to live your own life just as much as the rest of us do,” she said. “Only you keep stopping me from starting my own life, by charming every man I could persuade to marry me. So I guess it’s only fair I make sure you can’t escape either.”

She strode for the door, snatching it up and glaring at Carewyn one more time.

“At least tonight I won’t have to worry about you catching anyone else’s eye. You’ll be locked up here, far away from the ball, and unable to charm anyone.”

And with this, she slammed the door behind her and locked it with a loud CLACK.

And so all Carewyn could do was sit helplessly on the floor, bound tightly to the bed, as the sound of her family’s carriages clattered off of the estate and toward the palace of Florence. Carewyn couldn’t even look out the window to watch them go.

She tried several more times over the next hour to try to break free of her restraints, but as the sun grew lower and lower in the sky outside the window, she once again found herself falling still. All she could do was hope and pray and think of Orion...pleading with every entity of fate and justice that he was still alive. Soon enough she found herself falling off into a restless sleep in her uncomfortable position on the floor.

This is why, when she heard a bizarre CRASH from downstairs, Carewyn was slow to react, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. It took her a moment to even gather her thoughts enough to try to escape her bonds again, so as to try to figure out what was going on. Once she did, however, she caught the sound of a voice calling out.

“Miss Cromwell! Miss Cromwell, are you there?”

Carewyn’s heart leapt in a combination of disbelief and delight.

“Baroness!” she cried.

She tried to get up and run for the door, only for the rope around her wrists to hold her back.

“Ack -- Baroness, I’m here!”

There was a sound like two sets of footsteps quickly climbing the stairs. Then, after a moment, she heard Talbott’s voice.

“Carewyn, stand back! We’re going to get you out of there -- let me just adjust this -- ”

Carewyn was glad she was tied up away from the door when a few minutes later, it was thrown off its hinges with another CRASH.

Talbott and Baroness McGonagall came running through the dust into the room. At the sight of Carewyn on the floor, Talbott immediately ran over to try to undo her bindings.

“They’re -- they’re too tight!” he hissed in aggravation.

“Leave it to me,” said McGonagall sharply. “Focus on the spell keeping that door off its hinges: once your concentration breaks, it’ll return to the way it was.”

She materialized a knife from the pocket in her gown and, with a strong SNAP, cut the thick cord attaching her to the bed, which helped her pull the rest of the bindings off of Carewyn’s wrists.

Once her hands were free, Carewyn threw her arms around both her and Talbott’s shoulders, hugging them both in gratitude and relief. Within a second, though, she’d pulled away to look at them both urgently.

“Baroness, we need to move fast...my grandfather -- ”

“Yes, Talbott told me,” said the Baroness curtly. “Quickly now -- ”

She swept back down the stairs, Talbott and Carewyn at her heels. Once they crossed the threshold, the door magically floated back up behind them, slamming back into place with just as much force as it had been blasted off.

“The palace of Florence is at least three hours from here,” explained Talbott as they ran down the stairs. “I knew I couldn’t stay transformed that long, and I’ve never flown so far before -- didn’t reckon it’d be smart to try to fly somewhere I’ve never been and risk falling right out of the sky on the way, so I decided to go get the Baroness instead. Fortunately, on our way back here on foot, we collided with Badeea, and she was able to ride on ahead to the palace and tell the Weasleys the change in plans -- ”

Carewyn’s eyebrows furrowed. “‘Change in plans?’”

Talbott smirked broadly, showing teeth. “Yeah -- the plan to bust you out of here.”

Carewyn gave a start.

“It was KC and Bill Weasley’s idea,” Talbott explained. “After I delivered Cosimo’s message to you and took a break to recuperate from flying, I turned back into an eagle and headed to the palace. Figured Prince Henri would want to know the state you were in and might be able to do something to help. Unfortunately he couldn’t -- Charles Cromwell’s wealthy enough that he’s ingratiated himself to the King and Queen, and as your legal guardian, there isn’t much anyone else could do, unless you decided to run away. But Bill and Charlie didn’t like the thought of you being stuck there. Bill had already told Charlie to hold onto this coach he was fixing for the royal family, so they could use it to smuggle you out of the Cromwell estate and take you to their family’s house. And KC realized that the perfect night to do that would be the night of the ball, when the entire Cromwell family is supposed to be in Florence and you’d therefore be left completely unguarded. So Bill, Charlie, Badeea, and I decided to stay behind while everyone else at the palace headed out to Orion’s ball, so that we could come get you.”

Carewyn could hardly believe what she was hearing. Her eyes had gone very wide.

“You...you mean you all put this together, just to help me?” she said shakily.

Talbott’s face was very serious as they reached the ground floor. “Of course we did. You’re a good person, Carewyn -- you don’t deserve being trapped here.”

Carewyn’s eyes welled up with emotion despite her best efforts.

“Talbott...” Her lips spread into a weak, overwhelmed smile. “I...thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Talbott said brusquely. “We’ve still got to get you to Florence.”

In the distance, Carewyn could hear the sound of a coach pulling up in front of the estate. McGonagall with her long legs reached the door of the manor first, and she unlocked and opened it, sweeping out into the courtyard. When Carewyn and Talbott darted after her, Carewyn gaped.

The broken royal coach she’d gone to help Charlie bring to the Burrow was as good as new, as clean, shining, and upright as it likely was when the King and Queen first purchased it. And sitting up in the driver’s seat was --

“CAREY!”

Charlie, dressed in a white-feathered black hat and a dark red velvet doublet trimmed with silver scales, dropped the reins connected to his and Bill’s chestnut horses and Badeea’s gray horse and leapt right off the coach and over to Carewyn. Jumping off the boot of the coach was Bill, dressed in a brown suede coat decorated with silver trim, and climbing out of the coach itself was Badeea, dressed in silver-dusted white satin.

“Charlie!” cried Carewyn. “Bill! Badeea!”

The Weasley brothers launched themselves at her, throwing their arms around her and squeezing tight. Unfortunately the wounds on Carewyn’s back made her crumple slightly, flinching away from their touch with a barely suppressed hiss of pain.

“Carey?” said Bill, instantly concerned.

“I’m all right!” Carewyn said very quickly. “I’m all right...”

Her blue eyes flooding with emotion, she threw her arms around both Charlie and Bill in return, squeezing them back.

“It’s so good to see you,” she whispered.

Bill’s eyes were very emotional too as he cradled the back of her head with his hand. The joy Carewyn felt just at the memory of her friends days earlier was back in full. She thought it’d be a long time before she’d ever see them again...and yet they were here. They’d come for her when she’d needed them most...

Badeea came up beside Carewyn, her dark eyes very concerned as she trailed a hand lightly along the stitching at the back of Carewyn’s dress.

“Carewyn...your dress...”

The ginger-haired woman gave her a reassuring look. “It’s all right.”

She looked around at all of them, taking in their fine clothes.

“Then...we’re all going to the ball ourselves?” she asked uneasily. “That’s the new plan?”

“Yep!” said Charlie brightly. “Andre had been working on some costumes for us, so we could all attend his mother’s New Years masquerade, before the whole thing at the border went down. He wasn’t able to finish any of them...but I borrowed a spare doublet from Andre’s closet for Talbott and Badeea was able to finish decorating the costumes that were closest to being done...”

He pointed out the “scales” on his doublet, while Bill held up the sleeve of his brown suede coat to show off the sparkly silver painted trim.

Carewyn’s eyes widened. “That paint...is that -- ?”

“The paint Orion gave me? Yes,” Badeea said, beaming as she showed off the shiny “fur” detailing she’d applied to her own hijab. “It’s the first time I’ve ever purposefully applied my paints to fabric, but for a first try, I’d say it turned out pretty well. Your shoes and dress look even better, though...look!”

She moved over to the open door of the coach and pulled out a gray and orange gown and a pair of shoes.

The chest was decked out with reddish-orange feathers arranged in a rounded heart shape, while the rest (made out of gray satin) was painted to look like it was covered in feathers. And the shoes...they were truly the most beautiful dancing slippers Carewyn had ever seen. The heels were made of colorful pumpkin diamond, while the shoes themselves, made of cloth, were nonetheless painted in a way that it looked like yellow, red, and orange stained glass. There was even a sheen on each panel, no doubt made with the slightest brush of the silver paint Orion had given Badeea, that made it look like it was sparkling.

Carewyn brought up a hand to tentatively hold the skirt of the gown, staring in disbelief and awe. Badeea’s dark eyes were sparkling with pride.

“It’s a robin, see?” she said. “Andre thought it’d be the perfect way to apply your supposed ‘favorite color’ -- ash gray -- to your dress. He originally wanted to trim your shoes with more diamond, but after seeing everything on the battlefield, he was reluctant to spend any more money on materials. So I tried to make it look like it was made of diamond anyway...it didn’t quite work out the way I hoped, but I don’t think it turned out too bad.”

“Badeea...it’s beautiful,” breathed Carewyn, her eyes trailing over the “stained glass” slippers.

Despite this, though, she whirled on the others with a severe expression.

“...But I can’t go to the ball! My entire family will be there, as will Lord Malfoy and Patricia Rakepick -- none of them would let me get within twenty feet of Orion -- ”

“They will if they do not recognize you,” said McGonagall crisply. She turned to Badeea and extended a hand. “The mask, please.”

Badeea handed McGonagall a hand-painted robin mask to her. McGonagall then set about tracing a yellowish-gold spell in mid-air, which she then lightly tapped with the mask. In an instant, it sparkled with traces of golden light.

McGonagall then placed the mask in both of Carewyn’s hands.

“This mask has an illusionary enchantment placed on it,” she said solemnly, “one that will activate solely for you, while you are within the gates of Florence’s palace, for today only. While you wear it, you will appear, to the person seeing you, as a beautiful stranger. You will not look the same to any two people...meaning that, were anyone to try to identify you later, no one would be able to agree how tall you are, how slender, how old...not even any physical features like hair or eye color.”

McGonagall’s expression then turned very grave.

“Just be sure that you leave the palace before the final stroke of midnight. Once the next day begins, my spell will break no matter what I might do...and if you’re still in the palace when that happens, then I daresay there’ll be plenty of people there who will recognize you.”

Carewyn nodded. Considering how willing Charles was to commit treason and murder, the last thing she wanted was for her grandfather to know she’d made it to the ball and who had helped her get there.

“I understand,” she said.

“I will not fit in the coach with you,” said McGongall as she glanced at Talbott, “but I can maintain the illusion for the rest of the night, even from a distance. And I know my apprentice will do everything he can to make sure you get back to Royaume safely, once Orion is out of danger.”

Carewyn’s eyes became a little smaller and softer. “Thank you, Baroness...for everything.”

McGonagall’s usually stern face softened noticeably as she brought a hand to gently rest on Carewyn’s cheek.

“Godspeed, Miss Cromwell.”

And so Carewyn, Badeea, and Talbott all climbed into the coach. Once they were all inside, Bill -- playing the role of footman, snapped the door shut behind them and leapt up onto the boot of the coach.

“Let’s go, Charlie!”

With a nod, Charlie bounded back up into the driver’s seat, snatched up the reins, and flicked them sharply with a “YAH!” The three horses charged off, pulling the coach right off the Cromwell estate and toward the reddening horizon.

On their way to Florence’s palace, the group got themselves dressed. Carewyn politely averted her eyes as Talbott changed into the handsome purple velvet doublet Andre had been wearing when Carewyn first arrived at the palace, and then Talbott climbed out onto the boot of the carriage with Bill while Badeea helped Carewyn get dressed.

When Carewyn took off her dress, Badeea saw her injured back for the first time. The artist’s gasp of dismay was silent, but she nonetheless trailed a cool, gentle hand along Carewyn’s bare back.

“I don’t think your gown will hide these,” Badeea murmured. “It’s cut low, to show off your back.”

Carewyn set her jaw grimly. “Then we’ll just have to leave them. Once I reach the palace and the Baroness’s illusion is activated, no one should be able to see them anyway.”

Badeea nodded grimly, her dark eyes very sad as she helped Carewyn pull the gown over her head.

“We all worried Lord Cromwell wasn’t treating you well,” she confessed, “but...I don’t think any of us thought he’d do something like this to you.”

Her usually serene expression betrayed a flicker of resentment.

“He’s a horrible man,” she said very softly. “Just...horrible.”

Carewyn offered Badeea a weak smile, bringing a hand onto her shoulder and squeezing to show some reassurance.

Charlie had never been to the palace of Florence before, but he was fortunately able to follow the many, many sets of long tracks left by other carriages and carts from Royaume that had already left for Florence’s capitol. He set the horses off at the fastest gallop he could manage without endangering his passengers, and within three hours, Charlie caught sight of some more carriages in the distance. He rushed to catch up with them, pulling up just behind them as they headed through the open gates of the Florentine palace.

The palace of Florence couldn’t have been more different than Royaume’s. While Royaume’s castle was white stone with extensive hedge gardens and many rounded towers trimmed with pointed dark rooves, Florence’s was made of tan-colored clay bricks stacked a mile high with geometric railings along the edges of towers and beautifully carved marble columns and arches framing the interior courtyard. It was also lit up with dozens of torches, making it blaze with golden light in the night. The warmer color palette, in contrast to Royaume’s palace’s pure white marble and clean lines, made Florence’s palace look significantly older, even though it was just as well-maintained. Carewyn couldn’t help but wonder what sorts of interesting histories she might read, if she could take the time to look over the yards of text etched into each column and wall.

“I think I see Andre’s coach!” said Charlie.

He pointed out a coach parked almost directly in front of the grand staircase. Its coachman was tending to their horses.

“He must not have arrived too long ago,” said Bill. He looked at the others through the window of the coach. “Do you have the masks ready, Badeea?”

Badeea lightly waved the last mask she’d been painting back and forth to help it dry. “Just about...”

Carewyn could also see the white coaches belonging to the Cromwell family parked on the far right end. She could even see her horse among the white steeds pulling them -- it kept pulling at its reins tensely, as if not liking being lashed together with its fellows to the coach.

Charlie pulled up in front of the castle, as far back and as far left as he could, so that they could stay close to the gate in case they needed a quick exit. As soon as they came to a stop, Bill pulled open the door of the coach.

“Are you ready, Carey? Your hair and dress okay? Got your mask?”

“Yes,” said Carewyn.

“Go on, then -- we’ll be right behind you.”

Carewyn nodded determinedly and quickly climbed out of the coach, holding her skirts up so as to keep them clear of her “stained glass” slippers.

Charlie couldn’t help but gape. “Whoa, Carey...the Baroness wasn’t kidding! You don’t look like yourself at all!”

Carewyn blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah! You’ve got, like, blond hair and green eyes -- like some emerald dragon!”

“You look like a brunette to me,” said Bill sheepishly.

“We can gush about the Baroness’s talent for illusions later,” Talbott cut them off brusquely. “Carewyn -- go find the King.”

Carewyn nodded. Turning her gaze toward the palace, she ran straight for the stairs, charging right past the guests that walked more leisurely up the stairs and ignoring how their heads turned in her direction.

Orion...please don’t let me be too late...!

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fundiesimsfamily · 3 years ago

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My fathers birthday

Dear diary,

My father recently celebrated his birthday. He is already 65 years old. He retired from his own company and now my older brother Joseph is in charge of it. My father was already grooming him to take over for a while so Joseph will be fine running the company now. My mother will be pleased having him home more often.

We made a birthdayparty for my father at our place. He got his own cake with candles to blow out. He liked it, I think.

I'm so thankful for both my father and mother in my life. They have taught me so much even thow Denver is leading me in a different direction sometimes. I respect the choices they made when I was growing up. I love them so much.

My parents are the best!

Love, Juanna

(pose by @ancasims )

Oh, and an update below the cut about all my brothers and sisters and their family's. It's about time.

Johanna is 38 years old and has 4 daughters, Everly 18, Erin 16, Estelle&Erica 14. She is happy with her daughters even thow she would have loved to have more childeren. God just didn't gave her more.

Janine is 36 years old and has 9 childeren. Charles 17, Simon 15, Rachel&Benjamin 13, Elisabeth 10, Andrew 8, Richard 6, Anna 3 and Rosalie 1. She is also expecting her 10th child. She is happy and content with all her childeren and her husband on the farm.

Joseph is 35 years old and has 3 childeren. Josiah 13, Kendra 11, Samantha 10. Olivia couldn't have more childeren after she got sick. But they are happy with their three childeren and Joseph now has the company of my father to run so he is very buzy.

Then I'm in the line up with six childeren.

James is 33 years old. He has three childeren, James 5, and twins Maddox and Manuel who are 3 years old. James has gone a different direction in live. They are still christians.

Jadyn is 32 years old. She got a daughter out of wedlock, Emma, who is 13 years old. A couple of years ago, Jadyn got married after all and she got twins with this man. Two little boys who are a year and half. I don't see them often and don't visit her but they do live nearby. She has gone such a different direction in live and cut off my parents.

Joelle is 30 years old. She has eight childeren. Sam 9, Rebecca 8, Lydia 7, Hannah 5, Rafael 4, Daniel 3, Felicity 2 and Israel 0. She has her childeren really close together just like my parents did. I don't envy her at all. I'm just waiting until she announces another pregnancy.

Jedidiah is 29 years old. He is married to a man and I heard they adopted. I don't know much more. I have zero contact with them.

Julie is 27 years old. She has 6 childeren. Gloria 5, Marie 4, Irene&Tabitha 3, Matthew 1 and Julian 0. She is really following in my parents footsteps just as Joelle with having childeren close together. She seems totally happy and contant and is so in love with her husband. You can see it of their faces all the time.

Jackson is 26 years old. He has 3 childeren. Addison 5, Jackson 3 and Carver 0. He is having his childeren a bit more spaced out, on purpose. He and Denver talked a lot and Jackson was convinced after that to prevent pregnancy until you are ready for the next child.

Jenelle is 24 years old and engaged to be married. She has a hard time letting go the childeren she taught the violin. But she will be happy once she is married, I'm sure. She is the last one to get married of all of us.

Jocelyne is 23 years old. She has three childeren, Luuk 1, and twins who just got born. A boy and a girl, Joice and Pascal. They are so tiny and cute. It makes you wanna have another little baby yourself.

Jonathan is 21 years old. He has a little boy, Jonah, with his wife Mia. Jonah is still only a couple of months old. And so cute! He was my youngest buddy and it's so weird to see my youngest brother married and being a father. But he is a very good husband and father.

Jessica is 19 years old. She married a man who lost his wife during the birth of his son, Paris. Paris is already a year old. And Jessica is expecting. Franklin is very nervous for the delivery of this baby. We are all praying for him and Jessica, and their little baby ofcourse.

My parents are so blessed with 14 childeren who are all married or about to get married. And they already have 49 grandchildern and two on the way. I'm sure that number will only grow bigger as time passes.

Their oldest grandchild is already 18 years old so before you know it they will be having greatgrandchilderen too. I can't imagn having a grandchild myself but Johanna might have one before we all know it.

#fundie #sims 4 #crowleyfamily #juannabaker #bakerfamily #evybaker #bobbybaker #gen2 #gen1

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years ago

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10th January >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Mark 1:7-11 for The Feast of The Baptism of The Lord: ‘You are my Son, the Beloved’.

Feast of The Baptism of The Lord

Gospel (Except USA)

Mark 1:7-11

'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you'

In the course of his preaching John the Baptist said: ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’ It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan by John. No sooner had he come up out of the water than he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’

Gospel (USA)

Mark 1:7–11

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Reflections (4)

(i) Feast of The Baptism of the Lord

Today, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, marks a transition from the season of Christmas to what is called in the church Ordinary Time. During the Season of Christmas we were reflecting on the beginning of Jesus’ human life. On this first Sunday in Ordinary Time we reflect on another beginning in Jesus’ life, the day of his baptism which was the beginning of his public ministry. Jesus was probably about thirty years of age, a fully formed adult, when he travelled from his home village of Nazareth to be baptized by John the Baptist, probably close to where the Jordan River enters the Dead Sea. Why did Jesus wait so long to embrace this new beginning in his life? Here, as in so much else, we are thrown back on the words of the Lord in today’s first reading, ‘for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways’.

It is also puzzling as to why Jesus decided to begin his public ministry by going to John the Baptist to be baptized. The gospels tell us that John was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and that people streamed to him from all over Judea confessing their sins, opening themselves to the gift of God’s forgiveness. Jesus was without sin. Why did he submit to such a baptism? Perhaps he wanted to show that he was entering into solidarity with us as people who have been tainted by sin. Jesus would go on to share table with sinners, much to the horror of the religious leaders. By his actions Jesus was showing that he wishes to embrace us in his love as we are, and not as we thing we should be. He walks with us on our human journey, flawed as it may be, so that he can more easily take us on his journey, which is a journey towards God and others in loving service. Similarly, the risen Jesus walked with the two disciples on their journey to Emmaus, which was a journey in the shadow of Good Friday, so that they could journey with him in the light of Easter. The Lord meets us where we are, so that he can take us to where he desires us to be, to a place where life is stronger than death, light is stronger than darkness, and love conquers all.

Jesus entered into the waters of Jordan in solidarity with struggling, sinful, humanity. He was showing us that he was grounded with us in this fragile earth. Yet, when he came up out of the water, it was the world of heaven that opened up for him. The gospel reading says that he saw ‘the heavens torn apart’. One writer speaks of a ‘gracious gash in the universe’. That image of the tearing of the heavens suggests that at Jesus’ baptism heaven somehow touched earth, God was present among us in the person of Jesus. Jesus wasn’t only one of us, but he was also one through whom God was powerfully present. At this moment, the Spirit of God filled him anew, and his identity as God’s beloved Son was affirmed. Now he could begin his mission in earnest, which was to be the one through whom God’s gracious presence would powerfully touch the lives of all men and women. Just as at his baptism, the world of heaven, the world of God opened up for Jesus, he went forth from his baptism to open up that same world to others. As God’s beloved Son in a unique sense, he wanted all people to know that they too were God’s beloved sons and daughters. As one on whom the Holy Spirit had come down in a unique way, he wanted to baptize others with the Holy Spirit, as John the Baptist had announced. He wanted others to know that, regardless of where they were on their life’s journey, there was a gracious gash in the universe through which the Spirit of God’s love was always descending upon them.

There was thirty years between Jesus’ birth and baptism; the interval between our birth and baptism was much shorter. Just as on the day of his baptism, Jesus was grasped by the Spirit of God, assuring him that he was God’s beloved Son, so on the day of our baptism, we were grasped by the Holy Spirit, and our identity as God’s beloved sons and daughters was affirmed. The day of our baptism was a momentous day in our lives. We spend our whole lives catching up with our baptism, exploring its richness. We never leave our baptism behind. It faces us every day. Our baptism wasn’t something that happened to us in the past; it is who we are now. We don’t simply say, ‘I was baptized’, but, rather, ‘I am baptized’. The Spirit whom we received on the day of our baptism remains a living power within us, reminding us of our God given identity as God’s beloved sons and daughters, prompting us to live out of that identity. The Spirit is given to us every day to make us sensitive to the various ways God is present in the world and to strengthen us to overcome the forces of evil in our world. Every day we can claim our baptism anew by praying the simple prayer, ‘Come Holy Spirit’.

And/Or

(ii) The Feast of The Baptism of the Lord

With the feast of the baptism of the Lord, we know that we have left the liturgy of Christmas behind us. The child Jesus has now become an adult. It is as a full-grown man that he steps into the river Jordan to be baptized by John and to begin his public ministry. He leaves behind the sheltered life of Nazareth and he steps onto a more public stage. As he does so he experiences the coming of the Holy Spirit and he hears God say to him, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you’. What a wonderful way to begin this significant new stage of his life - empowered by God’s Spirit and assured of God’s favour.

Unlike Jesus, we came to the waters of baptism as children not as adults. We did not walk there as Jesus did; we were brought there by our parents. Yet, our own baptism was similar to the baptism of Jesus in one fundamental way. Like him, we too at the moment of our baptism were filled with God’s Spirit and were given the same assurance of God’s favour. God looked upon each of us and said to us, ‘You are my beloved son/daughter; my favour rests on you’. We started life blessed by God, graced by the Spirit of his love and by the word of his favour. We were of course too young to appreciate what was happening to us at the time. We were given something extraordinary which we did not have the capacity to appreciate at the time. We were given a gift that would take a lifetime to unpack..

That is why it is so important to revisit our baptism as adults, to journey back to that moment in our mind and heart, and in some way to experience it again. Although the moment of baptism was shortly after birth for most of us, the reality of baptism, what it means, endures throughout our lives. The Spirit that God poured out upon us at baptism continues to work deep within us throughout our lives. The words of favour that God spoke to us back then, God continues to speak to us throughout our lives. He continues to say to us today, ‘You are my son/daughter, the beloved; my favour rests on you’. Now, as adults, we have the opportunity to really receive that Spirit of God and to allow those words of favour to sink into us and to recreate us. Yet, it is because we are adults that we can find it so hard to receive his Spirit and to hear those words. We have lived enough of life to realize that we are not all we could be; we are aware of our imperfections and our inadequacies. We may have got to a point where we find it hard to love ourselves. As a result, we struggle to hear God say to us, to me, ‘my favour rests on you’. We assume those words are intended for others, not for me.

Yet, God addresses those words to each of us personally. St. Paul, who did not have a perfect past, knew that better than most. In one of the most marvellous statements in the New Testament he said to the Christians of Rome, ‘Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’. He would not have minded if we substituted ‘me’ for ‘us’. Indeed, in his earlier letter to the Galatians, he spoke of his faith in the Son of God ‘who loved me and gave himself for me’. The reality of Paul’s baptism was alive to him every day of his life. Today, the feast of the baptism of the Lord, is a day to pray that our own personal baptism would come alive for each of us. In response to God’s continued gift of the Holy Spirit to us, we pray ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart and enkindle in me the fire of your love’. In response to God’s word to us today, ‘You are my beloved; my favour rests on you’, we pray, ‘Let this word penetrate my being and fill me with new life’.

It was in the power of this Spirit and this word that Jesus began his public ministry. It is in the power of that same Spirit and that same word that each of us will be able to set out on whatever journey the Lord is calling us to make at this time. In the first reading, God says to the prophet, ‘I have made of you a witness to the people’. But before he spoke that word of mission to him, God said to him, ‘Come to the water… pay attention, come to me’. The prophet is invited to receive before his is sent to minister. So it was for Jesus, and so it is for each of us. We need first to hear the call of God to come and drink, to drink of his Spirit and of his favour. Only then can we do what he is asking of us; only then can we really share in his Son’s mission in the world. Today we pray that each of us would experience anew the grace of our baptism, and commit ourselves anew to living our baptismal calling to the full.

And/Or

(iii) The Feast of The Baptism of the Lord

Unlike Jesus, most of us came to the waters of baptism as children not as adults. We did not walk there as Jesus did; we were brought there by our parents. I have a tin box in the house where I keep important documents. I was going through it the other day and I came across my baptismal certificate. I noticed that I was baptized five days after I was born, which was the norm in those days. I had never really paid any attention to the date of my baptism before. Our birth day is a day that gets remembered every year. There is something to be said for giving our baptism day a remembrance also.

The early Christians paid at least as much attention to the day of Jesus’ baptism as they did to the day of his birth. Indeed, the baptism of Jesus stood out more for the first Christians than his birth. They recognized that the day of Jesus’ baptism was a kind of a watershed for him. This was the day when Jesus began to make an impact. Such was the impact Jesus made that it reverberated down the centuries, resulting in our presence here today in this church.

Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the day of our baptism was as significant a moment in our lives as the day of Jesus’ baptism was in his life. Our baptism day was the day when God said to us what was said to Jesus on his baptism day, ‘You are my son/my daughter, the beloved, my favour rests on you’. The same Holy Spirit who came down on Jesus on the day of his baptism came down on us. We started life blessed by God, graced by the Spirit of his love and by the word of his favour. We were of course too young to appreciate what was happening to us at the time. We were given a gift that would take a lifetime to unpack. That is why it is so important to revisit our baptism as adults, to journey back to that moment in our mind and heart, and in some way to experience it again.

Although the moment of baptism was shortly after birth for most of us, the reality of baptism, what it means, endures throughout our lives. The Spirit that God poured out upon us at baptism continues to work deep within us throughout our lives. The words of favour that God spoke to us back then, God continues to speak to us throughout our lives. He continues to say to us today, ‘You are my son/daughter, the beloved; my favour rests on you’. Now, as adults, we have the opportunity to really receive that Spirit of God and to allow those words of favour to sink into us and to recreate us. Yet, it is because we are adults that we can find it so hard to receive his Spirit and to hear those words. We have lived enough of life to realize that we are not all we could be; we are aware of our imperfections and our inadequacies. We may have got to a point where we find it hard to love ourselves. As a result, we struggle to hear God say to us, to me, ‘my favour rests on you’. We could assume that those words are intended for others, not for me. Yet, God addresses those words to each of us personally. Today, the feast of the baptism of the Lord, is a day to pray that our own personal baptism would come alive for each of us. In response to God’s continued gift of the Holy Spirit to us, we pray ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart and enkindle in me the fire of your love’. In response to God’s word to us today, ‘You are my beloved; my favour rests on you’, we pray, ‘Let this word penetrate my being and fill me with new life’.

It was in the power of this Spirit and this word that Jesus began his public ministry. It is in the power of that same Spirit and that same word that each of us will be able to set out on whatever journey the Lord is calling us to make at this time. In the first reading, God says to the prophet, ‘I have made of you a witness to the people’. But before he spoke that word of mission to him, God said to him, ‘Come to the water… pay attention, come to me’. The prophet is invited to receive before he is sent to minister. So it was for Jesus, and so it is for each of us. We need first to hear the call of God to come and drink, to drink of his Spirit and of his favour. Only then can we do what he is asking of us; only then can we really share in his Son’s mission in the world. Today we pray that each of us would experience anew the grace of our baptism, and commit ourselves afresh to living our baptismal calling to the full.

And/Or

(iv) The Feast of The Baptism of the Lord

We have a baptism team in the parish. I think they would all say that it is a lovely ministry. They find it a great privilege to be involved with parents, godparents, and family members on the occasion of the baptism of the child. Most priests would fell the same about celebrating the sacrament of baptism. It is a truly joyful event.

The liturgy of baptism in our parish church has its own shape and dynamic which brings out the meaning of what is happening. We begin at the door of the church, where the opening rite of welcome take place. As we welcome people into our homes at our door, so the children are welcomed at the door of the church. Just as the people we welcome at the door of our homes are not being welcomed just into a house, but into a family, so the children we welcome at the door of the church are being welcomed into the family of the church. The focus then shifts from the door of the church to the ambo or lectern, where the liturgy of the word is celebrated. Today’s gospel reading is one of the gospel readings that can be read at this time. I like to read the gospel reading where parents bring children to Jesus for him to bless them, and the disciples try to prevent this from happening. Jesus’ indignation at his disciples finds expression in that wonderful invitation to children, ‘Let the children come to me, do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs’. Jesus then proceeds to lay his hands on the children and bless them. Jesus continues to say to all of us. ‘Let the children come to me’. He wants even little children to experience the rich blessings of the presence of God’s kingdom he came to proclaim. We all have a role to play in allowing, encouraging, children to come to the Lord so that he may bless them with the riches of the gospel. Children are naturally receptive to the world of the Spirit. Indeed, Jesus reminds us that we have something to learn from children in that regard, ‘Truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it’

In the liturgy of baptism, the focus shifts from the door and the lectern to the baptismal font, where the children are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This morning’s gospel reading throws light on what is happening at this moment of the liturgy of baptism. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, he had an experience of the Spirit descending on him, and he heard God his Father say to him, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you’. At every baptism, something similar happens. Through the words and actions of the ritual, the Holy Spirit comes into the young life of the child, and God the Father says to the child, ‘you are my son, my daughter, the beloved; my favour rests on you’. The child’s baptismal identity is formed and affirmed at that moment, the child’s identity as a Temple of the Spirit, a son or daughter of God, a sister or brother of Jesus and our own sister or brother in Jesus. What a rich identity! There is indeed something to celebrate here. The short rituals that follow the moment of baptism proclaim the reality of this rich identity. The child is anointed with chrism, a precious oil what was used to anoint kings, priests and prophets, in recognition the child’s baptismal dignity. The child is clothed with a white garment, expressing that he or she has been clothed with Christ, wrapped in the mantle of his love. The baptismal candle is lit showing that the light of the Lord, the light of his risen life, has shone upon this child, and will remain shining upon him or her into eternity, a light that no darkness can overcome. Parents are asked to keep this light burning brightly. After that focus on the door, the lectern, the baptismal font, the family return to their seats for the concluding blessing, a blessing of the mothers, then the fathers and then all present.

Jesus was fundamentally shaped by his baptism. It was the moment when his identity as God’s beloved Son was confirmed and when his mission arising from that identity was inaugurated, his mission to proclaim the reign of God’s love in and through his life and ministry, his death and resurrection. We too were fundamentally shaped by our baptism. We received a precious identity. We also received a mission that is rooted in that identity, the mission of sharing in the Lord’s work of bringing the rule of God’s love to the world. We received both a gift and a call. That is why every day we can say, ‘I am baptized’, and not just ‘I was baptized’. Baptism isn’t something that just happened to us in the past. It is an ever-present reality. We spend our lives catching up with what happened at the beginning of our Christian journey. Each day is a day both to celebrate the gift of our baptism and to respond afresh to the call of our baptism.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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neighbourskid · 4 years ago

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What’s Your Story?

(original date: 30 July 2016)

At ComicCon, two weeks ago, I got this free shirt that says "What's your story?". And now that I've been wearing it, every time I've looked in a mirror or just seen a reflection of myself, I have been wondering, what exactly is my story? Why am I the way I am? What made me like this? Where do I come from, and where do I go to? And I have thought a lot about this, to be honest. But I guess, I just gotta start at the beginning, right?

I am pretty bad with childhood memories. I barely know anything. Everything that I do know, I feel like only knowing because people told me or because I've seen pictures of it. Which honestly bums me out. I am also constantly not sure if things I feel like I actually do remember, aren't just things that I made up at some point. But anyways.

I grew up in a small-ish town in Switzerland. We've lived in other small-ish towns and villages before, but I was definitely too young to remember any of that. There are memories of me feeding my older half-brother, but I am quite sure that I only know this because there's a picture of it. Right now, I'd say my earliest memory is my half-brother (who's autistic by the way) helping my brother and me out of beds we couldn't get out on our own. I know that I know this. I was probably around three or four at the time. Anyways.

My parents got divorced when I was four. Although I have lived with my mom until I moved out this July, I never really connected with her as much as other girls do. Those good mother-daughter relationships you see in movies sometimes? We didn't have that. I was always very focused on the men in my family. My dad was my hero, even though I only saw him every second weekend and on special occasions like birthdays and Christmas. But he was my hero. Still is.

My brother was my role model from early childhood on. My mom always says, that I was always okay with everything that he chose to do or have. My brother wanted these pants? Me too. My brother wanted chocolate milk? Me too. Those were my most said words. "Me too."

My mom feared that I would be too dependent on his decisions and never be truly me, because I was okay with doing whatever he did. But I don't think that this is what happened. I just loved my brother. My dad wasn't always there because of the divorce, so my next go-to person was my brother, because I didn't see my mom as a role model or go-to person. We didn't connect like that.

My brother and me, we're 18 months apart. That's a wonderful age gap. It's not too close, but it's also not too far away to get along splendidly.

Of course, one of the reasons why I was always okay with doing/having what my brother did, was because I thought we were the same. As a child, I didn't really get the concept of gender or that there is a real difference between boys and girls. I just knew that some people had other parts than others, but I was like, yeah and? What does it matter?

I just knew that I always liked hanging out with boys more than I did with girls. I had this friend in kindergarten who I always stole Legos with. Then in first grade, I was seated next to a girl with the same last name as me, and we got along and I got to play at her house a lot, but in second grade I was back to being with boys. And I was friends with the same boy until probably fourth grade, then expanded my friend group - to even more boys. And they accepted me. I got to hang out with them, got to play video games with them, played with pokemon cards, played football. It wasn't until probably sixth grade that I actually got girl friends. And even then, my main friend group were still the boys. And I was kinda the "cool girl" because I got to hang out with them.

It was nothing I was striving for, but it happened nonetheless.

I remember that one of my best friends had a crush on me, and I didn't get it. I was oblivious to that. Until I cut my hair in sixth grade, and thus looked more boyish than ever before, and he lost his interest. In retrospect, I should've seen it. But it doesn't really matter anyway.

Then seventh grade came around - new teachers, new class - and I only had four of my old classmates left: two girls who I didn't spend that much time with, the guy who had had a crush on me and another guy who I had often played video games with, but more due to other people than actually him. So in short, four people I wasn't really that good friends with. So I had to find new ones.

As many of you might now, I am an insanely introverted person. Well, at least to new people. People who have known me for a long time often can't believe that I am actually very shy and introverted. But that is that.

I made friends rather quickly, though. Well, at least I think so. I got along well with pretty much everyone, but I mostly spent my time with one or two of the girls. But in the end, I didn't really bond with them that much, because I haven't talked to anyone of them in years. It didn't matter anyway, because I had to repeat 8th grade, and had new classmates anyway. And that is where I made friends, who I still see to this day and am still friends with. I'm even living with one of them! Which is great to be honest.

In the two years I was with those people, I changed a lot. I was always the tomboy, the girl dude. The bro that just so happened to be a girl, but nobody cared. But with those people, I think I finally wasn't the bro friend anymore. I was still the stereotype "cool girl" especially because I wasn't girly (I'm still not) and I didn't give two shits what people thought (still don't). But I got more girlier than before. I dressed less manly, could finally get to like tank tops, skinny jeans, and shorts that didn't cover my knees. Even jewelry! Well rings, mostly.

But I was still me; boyish, reckless, climbing-on-trees-and-falling-down self-destroy-ish.

My dad always wanted a son and a daughter. And that is what he got. I am not the typical daughter, the typical girl. But I have a lot in common with my dad, so I think he got the daughter he wanted, or he came around to accept that I would never be the girly girl. He loves me and I know that.

I know my mom loves me. And that she accepts me for who I am. But I think she always had more issues with me being the way I am, than my dad had. With me being so very boyish. We always fought when buying clothes. Oh, the memories. It was a war.

After ninth grade I went to grammar school. I only knew my friend Angie, but soon enough I got along with pretty much everyone in that class. I think I was still the "cool girl" which got me friends easily. I got along with the girls, I got along with the boys. I think I was good friends with everyone, with some exceptions obviously. I had friends in other classes as well. I wasn't typically popular, mind you, but I am friendly. People get along with me. People tell me I'm funny, trustworthy, loyal, a good friend.

I made a habit of getting along with teachers, too. Mostly teachers I didn't have class with, but still. The class teacher of the one's we had PE with, was one of those teachers. After the first half year, I decided that he was going to be my victim, and so after the skiing camp he became exactly that. I mocked him constantly. After a fantastic incident - I shouted across the school yard that I thought his pink shirt was extremely manly - he asked one of his students who was my friend, if I meant harm or if I was always like that. She told him that this was just who I was, and from that moment on he returned my "bullying". We had a great time. I tried to sell him shoes, he was my go-to person for pain killers, he mocked my headaches, he told me with the biggest smile to "shut the fuck up". We had a great time. I always have one or two teachers like that at every school I go to. My English and German teacher was the other victim. He was a great teacher, and I think he appreciated me as a student. I met him yesterday and he was very pleased to hear that I was going to study English. We had bitch fights in the middle of class. While everyone looked at me like I had death wishes, we had the greatest fun mocking each other. It was great.

I am no teachers pet. I just feel like you need at least one teacher you actually like and have a good relationship with, or else you won't make it through school without constant mental breakdowns.

Anyways. I am rabbit trailing (I would like to personally thank Zachary Levi for adding this word to my vocabulary).

As some of you might know, I am a Christian. Not the "it says on my papers that I am a Christian, so I am one" but actually an active Christian. I go to church. I pray. I believe. I wouldn't call myself religious. I am a person of faith. There's a difference.

Anyways. When I was in second grade, my mom got a job where she had to work shifts. So we got someone where we could go eat, and spend our free afternoons at. They are great people and I'm still friends with them. Their two children are basically my little siblings and I consider their daughter one of my best friends.

These people, this couple, were Christians, and they went to church in our town. I don't know exactly when my mom converted, but I know that we started going to that church, and I made friends for life. When I was twelve or thirteen, there was a baptism service coming up and I told my mom that I wanted that, too.

Usually, it is waaaaay to early to get baptised at twelve or thirteen. Mostly, teens are "allowed" to do so when they're sixteen or eighteen or whatever. But I felt like this was the right thing to do, so I did. And they let me.

Over the course of my life as a person of faith, I have always searched for role models. Someone I could look up to in that aspect of my life. I found a few. The dad of the two girls I live with at the moment was one of them. He was the pastor of our church, is a missionary in Central Africa now. Then there were various people from our church who I looked up to because they just have so much faith and trust. And in 2012 someone new made his way into my line of sight and is now not only a role model as a person of faith, but for life in general. In 2012, through the movie Avengers and through Tom Hiddleston, I discovered Zachary Levi. Who is not only a brother in Christ, but an all around good person in general and just the sweetest guy I have ever had the good fortune of meeting.

Through various interviews and NerdHQ panels, Zac has over and over again inspired me in so many ways. He inspires me to be more kind, to be more gentle, to be more passionate. He inspires me to trust God, to bring important decisions before God. He inspires me so much. Every time NerdHQ comes around again, or every time I just watch panels throughout the year, I get giddy and I'm full of energy to live my dreams, go out and change the world, be the best version of myself.

This year I have had the wonderful opportunity to finally attend NerdHQ and meet Zac for the first time. And he did not disappoint. He was everything I wished him to be. Even better. He gave me something so precious that I feel like this will fuel me for a very long time. With a simple sentence he changed my life more than he already has before. And I am eternally grateful for that.

"What's your story?" Well, my story is still in the first chapters. There's a lot more to come. I've been through things that I wish I hadn't. I lost people very dear to me. I'm still trying to find out some things about me. But there's one thing I know. God will help me write my story. He will be there every step of the way. God will put people in my life that help me figure out who I am, what to do, and where to go. He put Zac and NerdHQ in my life for a reason. And there's no way I am letting that go. Ever.

I told my mom yesterday that I plan to never miss NerdHQ ever again, if I can anyhow avoid it. She said, "that's big talk." But I'm not kidding. I will do everything in my power to never miss the awesomeness that is NerdHQ ever again. Those are four days of granted happiness. Why should I ever wanna miss that again? There are likeminded, amazing people who I wouldn't be able to see anywhere else. They don't live in Switzerland. They live all over America.

My story is about a girl who loves stories. And storytellers. I would love to be one, too. I get inspired every other day by stories I read or hear or see, and I would like to give back. Tell stories to inspire future generations, the way people like Zac have inspired me.

My story is about finding purpose in inspiring others. My story is about being passionate, "loving too much", knowing a shit ton of "fun facts" about movies and books and people I've never met in my life. My story is about me. Your average neighbourhood nerd. The kid next door. The introverted kid who doesn't seem introverted at all, once you get to know them.

So, that is me. What's your story?

#blog post #import from old blog #personal #comic con #sdcc #story time

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itsyourchoicedevotionals · 2 years ago

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No Regrets

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12NIV

With the continuous onslaught on the family by satan, he has accomplished massive inroads in the area of elder care. A Facebook post caught my heart, probably because I’ve been watching and feeling the brunt of this disrespectfulness lately.

A letter written supposedly by a nursing home patient— The gist of this letter was the overbearing loneliness this patient felt. Trying to keep herself busy, she recalled all the busyness of former years caring for the children, then grandchildren and finally the great-grandchildren. Now those ‘well’ cared for children might show up once a month. Grandchildren rarely, if ever, visited. Great-grandchildren never put in even a token visit.

Times sure have changed. My grandma owned the house I grew up in. She never stayed in a nursing home. All my cousins knew me, the baby of the baby child, as I knew them, because they visited grandma often.

When we went to visit Uncle Charlie, we’d find his mother-in-law lived with them. She cared for their children, while my aunt and uncle did the farm chores. Life was taking care of the previous generation, because they took care of you and your children. For us: My parents lived with Lou and I until their deaths. We had five generations living in our house simultaneously. It was wonderful.

My elderly cousin, a godly lady, is facing being forced into a nursing home. Currently, she’s unable to care for —all— her needs. Her biggest is to have some clean-up work done where a tree branch came down on her roof plus some raking in the backyard. With nearly twenty grandchildren and seventy plus adult great-grandchildren, aside from one nearby daughter’s bi-weekly visits, we were her first visitors in five months. ‘Everyone is busy.’ she told us. She’d ‘hate to ask’ one of them to come rake for an hour. Should this be so?

People have completely gotten away from living life according to the Ten Commandments, especially the one Commandment with a promise— our text scripture. The new standard of living: ‘if it doesn’t make you feel good, don’t bother doing it.’ Had I lived according to that premise, my life would’ve been wealthier, quieter, more carefree, unhappier and more selfish. Instead I have no regrets, nor do I feel any guilt.

An area which is very touchy with some people is helping their parents with finances. They cite Proverbs 13:22. Jesus made it quite clear, Pharisees were in the wrong teaching — “But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God …you have made void the word of God.’” Matthew 15:5-6ESV.

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27NLT. I know a widow, who after years of abuse, is emotionally handicap. Her adult children speak degradingly to her and laugh about her homelessness. In the least, they can’t see the seeds they are sowing for their future, see Galatians 6:7.

Lou and I visited Quebec recently to care for his ailing mother. It brought joy to my heart to watch her health return as I cared for her. Before we left, she was capable of living on her own again.

Giving and honoring is truly a life of no regrets. This also shows the genuineness of your Christian love. Can you give in this manner? It’s your choice. You choose.

LET’S PRAY: Father God thank You for raising me up in the era of having no regrets about caring for their parents. Help this generation to see, it has no effects on salvation, but sways 100% the quality of future life, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

#Jesus Christ #lord of lords #Word of God #Holy Spirit #God #it's your choice #devotional #no regrets #honor #father #mother #care #touchy #helping #love #hope #faith

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automatismoateo · 3 years ago

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We Wish You A Merry Jesus Poop via /r/atheism

We Wish You A Merry Jesus Poop

Since others are sharing their holiday stories I figured I'd share one of mine. It's funny, and a good ending, so please enjoy.

Our family of 3 (me, wife, 4 year old daughter) aren't religious, as you might guess from my being on this sub. My parents, as with many of yours, are Christian. I was raised Christian, and they still comment often about me needing to "find a good church", which they've been doing since we moved away over a decade ago. I've yet to come out as athiest, but I'm sure they have their suspicions, though they probably think I've just "lost my way" and will come back eventually.

It would appear that my parents have been discussing Jesus with my daughter when I'm not around though, as it's come up a few times. For example, we're on our way home from preschool and listening to James Taylor's Christmas album, and "Go Tell It On A Mountain" comes on. My daughter asks "Is he singing about Jesus?"

"Yes. Do you know who Jesus is?"

"He can..he can make a city." (She's 4, so, sure, whatever)

"Who told you about him?"

"Nanna and Pappy"

So I give her a brief talk about skepticism, as best you can with a 4 year old, without saying anything one way or the other about what is true or not, what I believe, or what she should believe, and leave it at that.

So that's the background, and now we fast forward to the week before Christmas and we're back home visiting my grandmother with my parents and my daughter. My daughter has to use the potty, so I take her back the hall to the restroom. The poor girl has a history of occasional constipation and painful poops, and this was one of them. She'd been sitting, struggling for a good 10 minutes when suddenly she asked me to "close my ears". Odd, but OK. So I put my fingers in my ears and she starts praying "Jesus, please help me poop." Repeating it several times. She stops and I take my fingers out of my ears and she asks "Did you hear?"

"Yes, I did. Were you praying?"

"Yes"

"Who taught you to do that?"

"Nanna, one time when I stayed with her and had a hard poop."

"Why didn't you want me to hear?"

"I don't know. I thought you would laugh at me."

So I just let it drop, telling her she doesn't need to hide things from me and I'd never laugh at her about something like that. So we sit through another couple of minutes of struggling and me asking if she's having any luck and, as she's oft to do, she starts singing. She loves to sing. Today's performance was "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", but somewhat improvised.

"We wish you a merry Christmas, we errgh you a merry Christmas, we arrggh you a merry mmmmmph-mas, and a happy new year"

This repeated several times with her giggling and the noises getting louder and sillier. Then, suddenly, a smile spreads across her face. "The singing is helping me poop!"

"We wish you a merry Christmas, we errrrgh you a merry Christmas, we aaaafffrggh you a merry rrrrmmmmph-mas, and a happy new year"

And then...

"...I DID IT! JESUS DIDN'T HAVE TO HELP ME POOP AFTER ALL!"

No, he didn't, sweet child. No, he didn't.

Submitted December 27, 2021 at 09:23PM by eloydrummerboy (From Reddit https://ift.tt/3HfXhvr)

#reddit

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mynotsosecretdiaries-blog · 6 years ago

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I got worse by the second...

Self Experience.

It all began when I had turned 10 years old. The first trigger was my period and my health never been the same since.

I would get mysterious pain on my stomach and constant nausea. There was never a day I would wake up without an upset stomach. I would have to threw up and then deal with diarrhea. It was tolerable at first since I would get it occasionally and I bounced back quickly. I would feel perfectly fine after each episode. However that was only one problem.

The other problem was my time of month. I would get excruciating pain from my stomach to my foot, back and hands. I could not even walk. Pain killers only took away 25% of the pain. The only peace I had was when I was sleeping and so I only slept for the entire day. This pain would last for two, at the most three, days and after I was healthy as a horse.

We (My parents and I) don’t know if it was a coincidence that I got sick just around the time my first got my period or that it was connected to it somehow. However I didn’t worry about it since I was okay afterwards. Since I was fine and didn’t really care, my parents also brush it off because I kept telling them I was fine, I was okay and nothing was wrong. To be honest, I did feel okay so I didn’t feel the need to worry them unnecessarily.

This lasted for some years until one of the worst nights of my life.

My watch alarmed signalling it was midnight. I sighed. I twisted and turned. I groaned in frustration. I was nauseous and unable to sleep. Suddenly a feeling of discomfort overcome my stomach. I curled up in a child’s pose and began to take deep breaths. In my head I kept praying and saying “please not now”.

You see at this point I had gotten used to the agony I would get and this may sound weird but I could differentiate between my period pain and the other weird thing that has been happening to me and this is one of the weird ones. Although, in my head I knew it was the weird pain, something felt off.

It worsen by the second and so I got up and had to call my mum. I couldn’t have handled it by myself, I was trembling in pain. Hence one of the worst episodes of pain. It lasted till around 5 in the morning and normally it would be around an hour. This time it was 5 hours of pain, vomiting and dysentery and this wasn’t the only different thing. Usually I would bounce back quickly, this time I felt weak, drained, tired and very sick. At first we didn’t care much but still was very worried. We were right to be, I got worse by the second.

We decided it was time to visit a doctor. Honestly we went by so many I could hardly remember them all. I’ll only state the main ones. So the first set of doctors we went by they all told me the same thing. “There’s a virus going around, you must have gotten it. Don’t worry, here take these and you will be fine.” In my head I was like, There had been a virus going around 365 days a year now. That was the first year of my health deterioration. Endless doctors diagnosing me with some virus and medication took over my life.

Coming into the second year, we went by another doctor once again. This doctor for once told us something different. He said that I was lactose intolerant, that milk could be the cause because of all the processing and chemicals that are placed into the milk before it reaches the cartons. So we stopped all diary. This did help...for a little while and it was back to square one again. At this point I had done so many tests, blood, urine, stool and now probably the biggest test I did. It may sound all that scary but to me I was terrified.

We were recommended to a doctor by one of my teachers at school. The doctor was about 2 hours away from where I live considering traffic. We went and she told us that she needs to see inside my stomach. I was alright fine thinking it was a ultrasound. Boy, did I thought wrong. She said we needed to place a camera down your throat to see inside your stomach, it is called a endoscopy and a camera in another place I refuse to speak of to see your lungs and that is called your colonoscopy. As much as I didn’t wanted to, I had no choice and so the test was done. I asked to be asleep because there was no way on earth was I going to stay awake through that.

After the test now. The results were, I was indeed lactose intolerant and also there was a gap in my stomach where acid is seeping through and that being the reason why I was nauseous the whole time. Despite all of this and new medication, I didn’t get better.

At this time my father was really interested into car music, he wanted to make a sound system for his enjoyment only for our car. He met this person who was going to make a battery for his car and just so happens that same person also happens to be a family doctor. Upon learning about this, my parents informed him of my health and he told them to bring me in his office.

Now this was the start of my healing journey. This doctor was the only one who actually listen to us and really thought about my symptoms. He said for my period problem I might have PCOS. PCOS is polycystic ovary syndrome and it affects everyone differently. We checked and it was that and that was one case solved. Unto the other problem, firstly he wanted me to do a blood test to check if my thyroids are low because that could be partially the cause for my illness. Low and behold my thyroids were dangerously low so that was another discovery made and he began treating for that.

However he still suspected me of having a gut problem and needed to do more research to pin point the exact issue. Meanwhile he took me off all of my previous medication. It turns out too many different types of medication is very bad for your health and that could have also been a reason why I was getting worse. He started me with a pro-biotic tablet to restore some good bacteria in me and some vitamins c and d because let me tell you I was lacking alot in that area.

Not only that, he told me that I need to go on a diet of no gluten, diary and soy. Basically treat me like a baby, let me heal and then one by one introduce back proper food in my life and see what agrees with me. This was probably the most hardest thing I ever had to. I could only eat provisions but no potato. Imagine that! But as much as I hated this, I have to admit, it did help. In less than a month I was atleast 50% better and kept improving.

There was only one problem but we didn’t really care to pay attention to it since we were so focused on me getting better and that was what was wrong with me? What was the reason I was sick?

Then one day my mum and dad was shopping in the grocery for my gluten free food where they met up with a lady. Her daughter was also ill, she had similar symptoms to me and her daughter had lupus. My parents and I knew I didn’t have that but we still wanted to know. The lady had referred us to their doctor. At first we didn’t bother to go until one night I had a relapse. It was the first time in a short while I ever felt like that. Just when I thought I would never have to feel that pain ever again. Life is quite funny huh?

So we decided to pay that doctor a visit. Now let me tell you, that was the absolutely the rudest doctor I ever had met. Despite his attitude, I am still wondering how he even got his degree. He told us that the only solution is to operate on me. Cut me open. Why you may ask? Well I am wondering to. When we asked why, he said, you want to find the problem don’t you? Basically what this sorry excuse for a doctor wanted to do was to cut me open to look for something he, himself don’t even know about.

After that day, I got another relapse and my parents were talking. Honestly we weren’t exactly financially stable, doctors took alot of money and so does medication and this food diet I am on. My dad told my mum that they should take whatever little money they had left and do the operation. At-least then they can find the problem and take care of it and it will all be over.

Luckily it didn’t get to that. This is where the real healing began. My dad is a mechanic and he has his own garage at home. He goes by this place to buy parts and one day the owner who doesn’t even know anything about our lives told my dad that he got problems. Now that haunted my dad that for a while he avoided buying parts there. The next time he went the owner said to come to his church Christ Our Banner Ministries, he said to come three times and decide if you want to stay. Every time my dad and mum would go, the owner would leave his business and come to talk to mum in the car. So just to get him off our backs we said we would go.

The very next Sunday we all got dressed but I got sick again and only my dad and sister was able to go as my mum had to stay with me. My dad came home literally a new person. He said the moment he step into that church he felt like all the weight has left his shoulders. The next Sunday I made it my mission to go and I walked out of that church healed.

Since Pastor prayed for me on that alter, I knew it. I knew I will never be the sick girl ever again. Now I have no pain whatsoever. I can eat anything even diary. I am literally a new person and it just wonderful and I am forever thankful because Jesus healed me. I feel incredibly lucky to receive such a miracle and it is just so amazing. My family and I are happy now and are in peace, all given by our savior.

From then to now, we have been baptized, my mum converted from a Hindu to Christian. My dad was already baptized but over the years had strayed, now he is renewed. My sister and I were only dedicated but now fully baptized in the Lord’s name.

This is not obviously the whole story, there’s alot more detail, unfortunately I really can’t remember them much and there more aspects to this other than the being sick part. If you have any questions at all or even your own story to tell please feel free to and also your thoughts. I would love to hear what you would have to say.

- Adina Gordon

#sick #hospitalized #doctors #pain #self experience #truth #life #lifestory #blog #post #healing #miracle #saved #agony #illness #suffering #diet #health #mystory #worry #sickness

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pope-francis-quotes · 6 years ago

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1st July >> (@zenitenglish) Pope Francis’ Angelus Address: On Two Requirements for Jesus to Heal Us. ‘To have access to His heart, to the heart of Jesus, there is only this required: to feel in need of healing and to entrust himself to Him’. (Deborah Castellano Lubov @zenitenglish) Below is a ZENIT translation of Pope Francis’ Angelus address today at noon to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square: **** Before the Angelus: Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! The Gospel of this Sunday (cf. Mk 5,21-43) presents two prodigies worked by Jesus, describing them almost as a sort of triumphal march towards life. First, the Evangelist tells of a certain Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, who comes to Jesus and begs Him to go to his house because his twelve-year-old daughter was dying. Jesus accepts and goes with him; but, along the way, comes the news that the girl is dead. We can imagine that father’s reaction. But Jesus tells him: “Do not be afraid, only believe !” (v. 36). Upon arriving at the house of Jairus, Jesus sends out those who had been weeping – there were also the women who were screaming loudly – and enters the room only with the parents and the three disciples. Addressing the deceased, He says: «Little girl, I say to you: get up ! “(V.41). And immediately the girl gets up, as if waking up from a deep sleep (v. 42). Inside the story of this miracle, Mark inserts another: the healing of a woman who suffered from bleeding [hemorrhages] and was healed as soon as she touched Jesus’ mantle (v. 27). Here strikes the fact that the faith of this woman attracts – I want to say “steals” – the divine saving power that exists in Christ, Who, feeling that a force “had come out of Him”, tries to understand who it had been. And when the woman, with so much shame, comes forward and confesses everything, He tells her: «Daughter, your faith has saved you» (v.34). These are two interlocking stories, with a single center: faith; and show Jesus as the source of life, as the One Who gives back life to those who trust Him fully. The two protagonists, the father of the girl and the sick woman, are not disciples of Jesus and yet they [are restored] because of their faith. They have faith in that Man. From this, we understand that everyone is admitted on the path of the Lord: no one should feel like an intruder, an abusive person or someone who has no right. To have access to His heart, to the heart of Jesus, there is only this required: to feel in need of healing and to entrust himself to Him. I ask you: does each one of you feel in need of healing? Of something, some sin, some problem? And, if you hear this, do you have faith in Jesus? These are the two requirements to be healed, to have access to His heart: to feel oneself in need of healing and to entrust oneself to Him. Jesus goes to discover these people in the crowd and takes them away from anonymity, freeing them from the fear of living and daring. He does it with a look and with a word that puts them on the road again after so much suffering and humiliation. We too are called to learn and to imitate these words that liberate, and these looks that give back, to those who are not [liberated], the desire to live. In this Gospel reading, the themes of faith and new life, that Jesus came to offer everyone, are intertwined. Entering the house where the girl lies dead, He drives out those who are agitating and lamenting (v.40) and says: “The child is not dead, she is asleep” (v. 39). Jesus is the Lord, and before Him, physical death is like a sleep: there is no reason to despair. Another ‘death’ is to be afraid of: that of the heart hardened by evil! Of that, yes, we must be afraid! When we feel that our hearts are hardened, our hearts harden and, I allow myself to say ‘the mummified heart,’ we must be afraid of this. This is the death of the heart. But even sin, even ‘the mummified heart,’ for Jesus is never the last word, because He has brought us the infinite mercy of the Father. And even if we fell down, His soft and strong voice reaches us: “I tell you: get up!” It is beautiful to hear that word of Jesus addressed to each one of us: “I tell you: stand up! Go. Stand up, be brave, get up! ” And Jesus restores the girl to life and gives life back to the healed woman: life and faith to both. We ask the Virgin Mary to accompany our journey of faith and concrete love, especially towards those in need. And let us invoke her maternal intercession for our brothers who suffer in body and spirit. [Original text: Italian] [Working Translation by Deborah Castellano Lubov] After the Angelus: Dear brothers and sisters, Renewing my prayer for the beloved people of Nicaragua, I would like to join the efforts made by the Bishops of the country and many people of good will, in their role of mediation and witness for the process of national dialogue on the road to democracy. The situation in Syria remains serious, especially in the province of Daraa, where military actions in recent days have also hit schools and hospitals, and have caused thousands of new refugees. I renew, together with the prayer, my appeal that the population, already hard tried for years, are spared further suffering. In the midst of so many conflicts, it is right to point out an initiative that can be defined historical – and we can also say that it is good news: in these days, after twenty years, the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea have come back to talk about peace together . May this meeting ignite a light of hope for these two countries of the Horn of Africa and for the entire African continent. I also assure my prayers for the young people who have been missing for over a week in an underground cave in Thailand. Next Saturday, I will go to Bari, together with many Heads of Churches and Christian Communities of the Middle East. We will live a day of prayer and reflection on the ever dramatic situation of that region, where so many of our brothers and sisters in the faith continue to suffer, and we will implore one voice: “Peace be upon you” ( Ps 122: 8). I ask everyone to accompany this pilgrimage of peace and unity with prayer. I address my greeting to all of you, Romans and pilgrims. I greet in particular the faithful who came from Portugal and the priests of the Sacerdos Institute of the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum ; as well as the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity from Poland, and the faithful of Iraq. I greet the parish groups and associations; the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, the youth group of the pastoral unit of Gallio, the diocese of Padua, the young democrats of the parish Maria Himmelfahrt in Schattdorf and the spiritual family of the Most Precious Blood of Christ, to whom it is especially dedicated the month of July. I wish you all a good Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and goodbye! [Original text: Italian] [Working Translation by Deborah Castellano Lubov] JULY 01, 2018 14:37ANGELUS/REGINA CAELI

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years ago

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08/28/2021 DAB Transcript

Job 28:1-30:31, 2 Corinthians 2:12-17, Psalms 42:1-11, Proverbs 22:7

Today is the 28th day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward through the Bible and through the year and through life together. And, so, we’ve been moving pretty rapidly, large chunks at a time because it's a narrative conversation in the book of Job. And, so, we’re gonna continue the journey through the book of Job today. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Job 28, 29, and 30.

Prayer:

Thank You, Father for Your word, for another week to spend together in Your word, the last full week of this month. We’re just days ahead from moving into some new territory. And time moves by day by day, step-by-step. And we are thankful that as we go day by day and step-by-step the Scriptures are a part of that story. Every day it's being tilled into the soil of our hearts. And, so, as we continue this journey forward may we be…may we be fertile soil that yields the fruit of the Spirit. Come Holy Spirit and tend this garden, the garden of our hearts we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, its where you find out what's going on around here. So, certainly check it out. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can check it out there by pushing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. Open up…open up that drawer and you’ll see the different categories.

So, like check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources there for this journey, things like God of Your Story, which is a written resource that is…it's kind of the gold, it's kind of a 365-day devotional one year kind of book and it's beautiful. It's beautiful. But it contains some of the different kinds of commentary, the different kinds of stuff that we talk about every day as we navigate a year. And, so, it is a fantastic resource if you’re kind of offline for a while and continue the journey, but it's also a fantastic resource to just take it deeper because we talk about different things all the time every day. And, so, it kind of brings it home, cements it. And we pray for that all the time, asking God to…to plant what we've heard, and we've processed into the soil of our lives. This is a way to…to kind of make that go deeper, kind of and fertilize that a little bit. So, yeah, resources like the God of Your Story as well as all of the other stuff that you would find at the Daily Audio Bible Shop are there for this journey, the journey that we are on right now. They exist or that journey. So, check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. If…if you use the app you can prep press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning today is August 25th and I just finished listening to the Bible sermon for today. I heard the prayer of miss Cindy from California and I first want to say I'm very sorry for the pain you're going through. I wish in some capacity we could take each other’s pain and kind of carry it for a little bit just to give you some peace and comfort, some relief. But I know that's only God's ability. So, I just want to pray for you and pray that He wipes your tears, our Father in heaven. And in the name of Jesus, that pain, that fire that you're feeling, all the hurt that you're feeling that the Holy Spirit covers you and cools that fire, that He cools everything in our lives to peace and comfort. I pray that the pain goes away in the name of Jesus. I pray that you don't have to worry anymore in the name of Jesus, that his condition is healed the name of Jesus. That our Father who can grant miracles, who can grant healing, who knows all and sees all who is sovereign, His will…His will is immaculate, that You heal miss Cindy Father and that You protect her from harm within her body from any attacks within her body Father that You protect her children, her two wonderful children. I know You love Cindy Father and Cindy loves You more than ever. Hear her cries, hear her please and please protect her, please heal her, please comfort her. In Jesus’ name I pray for miss Cindy. And for all these blessings I ask in your son's holy name Jesus. Amen.

Hello from beautiful Cincinnati OH it's Daniel Johnson junior how the heck are you? Let's throw another log on the Global Campfire, shall we? Alright let's pray. And I just want to ask you for some prayer for me. My dad has had some issues this year with his alcoholism and right now he's not speaking to me because of some issues related to all of that and I just…I pray for reconciliation and for his continued sobriety and recovery, but I also just want to lift up so many people here as other people have often prayed and…and shared. There are people that are that are writing down your prayer requests and praying for you that aren't ever going to call in and I just really lift them up to you…to you right now Father, all of our prayer warriors that are silent and…but still praying. Thank you so much for all of that Lord. You are truly amazing and all that You do our Father. And Jesus we want to emulate you…

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening DABbers it's your girl Val in Vegas. Haven't called in a while but oh best better believe I listen and pray every single day. Oh God I just want to praise God for all the amazing praise reports. Oh man you guys, God’s…God is healing eyes. Thank you, Lord for healing doctor John's eyes. And then I just listened. Today is my sister’s birthday, it's Aug 25th and some other gentleman just called while he was in the emergency room. It made me think of how God like literally grabbed some dirt, spit in his hands, and put it over that man's eyes and Jesus is healing eyes today guys. Not only is he healing eyes, He's healing hearts. I want to pray right now for all of the parents that have lost children. Lady of Victory you are line in my thoughts and prayers on this day. Also, there is another woman who…she's looking for…oh God…hope and joy in the midst of grief. And while sister that might sound like an oxymoron, we know that all things are possible through God. With him we can do all things. So, sister please believe that even though you're beautiful 22-year-old son's not with us now you can have joy in that. I think back to our guy James from Dallas Fort Worth who called in with his testimony of losing his daughter and that blessed me. That blessed me. I sent it to my aunt who lost a child. And while that is not the natural course of things, I pray right now heavenly Father that every parent that has lost a child God that You give them grace and mercy. Above everything Lord give them peace and joy in the midst of grief in Jesus’ name.

Hello DAB family this is Doctor Bob from Arizona. I am on my second year of listening to the DAB and Proverbs and Psalms and all of your prayers and requests. Lord knows I can use prayer myself. I guess we all can, but at this time I'm asking for prayer for my beautiful 19-year-old granddaughter Haley Mae who is being oppressed by the evil one, by darkness and not opening up her heart to our entreaties to…to listen to the light, come into the light, listen to Jesus, listen to our prayers. Let us pray for her. My wife, God bless her, is such a soldier for the Lord. She's an inspiration to me but she'll not be able to penetrate her…her…our granddaughter who just refuses to listen to our…our prayers for her, refuses to listen to the word of the Lord. Please pray for her if you will so that she can come into the light, come out of the darkness so that she can learn to cast off these evil spirits that seem to be attacking her every night. She's a beautiful girl. She's been very unstable all of your life. She's now living with us so that we can hopefully give her some stability. Please DAB family, please pray for her, Haley Mae from Arizona. I'll continue to listen, participate. I…I bless this family, bless Brian, bless you all. Thank you. Bye.

This message is for Carmen from Canada. This is Betty from upstate New York. Carmen I am so sorry that Christians feel that you should be getting over this…the loss of your son. I lost a son 52 years ago from a car accident, he was nine years old, and he lived for nine days and for 39 years I suffered each year during those nine days until an evangelist was given a prophetic word for me. And I didn't know the Lord until I was 40 but he healed me of those nine days showing me the miracles that happened on those nine days which I didn't understand. But I just want you to know that you will remember. But keep on seeking God. He is our comforter. Seek the word we're He comforts us, He’s telling us He's our husband, He's our lover, He’s our…just…just turn to Him for your comfort. It's been 52 years as I said and I still…apparently those Christians that say you should get over it haven't lost a child. But it will ease up. You will find times when it will get better but it will stay on your mind. But I'm trusting the Lord to give you a complete miracle and a healing and a deliverance from the pain. And I just praise God and I just want you to know that I love you and that I…I know your pain and I know that you will...one day you will just thank God that He has brought you through the…the terrible pain. And I pray God bless you abundantly. And take care. God bless in Jesus’ precious name. Amen and Amen.

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mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune · 4 years ago

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Between Light & Shadow Is Twilight (Poem or Song)

*Author’s Note:

This Was Written On February 10, 2021.

This Might be, well not really all that perfect or good.

I was originally gonna try to make another attempt in trying to make another Fan Hazbin Hotel Song, but this time write and post it here instead, but this seems more different from what I had originally planned. oh well, I can always try to make a Fan Hazbin Hotel Song next time. even if this might have a lot of bad grammar, and possibly isn’t really perfect. but I hope some of you still like it.*

falling, falling, into the despair of the shadows.

show me the comforting loving embrace of the light

that I have once known before.

that will take me out of this imprisonment of melancholy solitude.

hear me, hear me, is anyone out there beyond the infinite of space & time?

Mother’s Love, Is What I Have Found Comfort,

Father’s Protection, Is What I Have Felt Most Safe.

it was just many life times ago,

such a young and innocent earth angel souls came into existence.

curious and amazed by new discoveries.

feminine appearance, these daughters of The Divine Mother,

who created them with all her love and tried to give them happiness where they would love and grow, born as human babies to a family on this earth.

but in early times, her daughters kept being harmed,

emotionally or physically, they seem no true escape.

in ye old Salem, They Had Their Trials.

called them witches, burned them by the stack.

but what those old citizens of Salem really did,

was sealed their fate when they brought deadly harm

to Earth Angels whom were accused of being witches.

the only hope for the curse to be broken

is for a Earth Angel to pray for it to be.

currently The Souls of Earth Angels that were called “Witches”

are stuck in Salem, and can’t be reborn thanks to the curse.

these poor lost daughters of the mother that gave their souls life,

are known as The Fallen Earth Angels of Salem,

turned evil by the evil actions of The Old Citizens of Salem,

it is possible for those Fallen Earth Angels to turn good once again,

if saved by the sisters that weren’t born in Salem during their ill fate.

but the wounds of the poor girls that were accused of being witches,

will take time to fully heal even when they are redeemed.

Earth Angels being harmed is not unheard of, for you see.

it has happen even before The Advance Age of Modern Technology,

and you better hope that the Earth Angel never cries while outside.

cause if they are seen crying in sadness, it means bad weather ahead.

so best be prepared and stay safely inside during such a storm of emotions

that will come your way, and hope next time,

The Earth Angel is inside when they feel a overwhelming sadness that brings them to tears, cause if they cry that way while outside,

bad weather will come once again...

“Big Brothers” are always watching, from both sides so it seems.

but they should never bring the fight to earth,

otherwise a Earth Angel might take a stand,

cause even they can be pushed to the limit and be protective of mother earth

and those that live on it.

over time Earth Angels have become so much more,

they have gender identities that is beyond the biological binary,

some have male gender identities now, even non-binary too.

this is our evolution, and not all Earth Angels will be Hetero don’t you see,

might as well accept it, this is how it will always be from this day forward.

strong negative outside energies will cause harm to Earth Angels,

if they have a seizure, doctors will have a misdiagnosis.

but when there comes a time, when they are told they can be taken off of it.

too bad for the docs, you made them addicted.

when does medicine stop being medicine for a Earth Angel?

when it becomes a drug that they can’t seem to quit.

if she show signs of withdrawal, let it play out,

don’t just get her back on the pill, you will just make it much harder

for her to get off the drug.

try to tell the difference between the seizures that plague your child,

because it wont always be the kind that needs medicine.

just one wrong mistake and a misdiagnose,

you could get your Earth Angel daughter hooked unintentionally.

just get her away from all that negative energy,

to a place with less negative energy,

where she will be safe and feel more at home.

falling, falling, into the despair of the shadows.

she cries out for help, but all she is met with is silence.

defective earth angel, is what she knows she is,

she can’t help she was born between the light & dark.

joined bloodlines of the blessed and the cursed,

a new bloodline made and gave birth to something new.

brought up in a Christian Family that love her dearly so,

but being a Christian is not who she is at her core.

believing in Divine Father and Jesus,

is What They Truly Will By Their Heart’s Free Will.

but they also believe in the Divine Mother, who gave birth to their soul.

believe it or not, it doesn’t matter.

Earth Angels believe in Free Will of Choice,

and hold displeasure of force converting of the mortal soul.

you mortals are doing to save their souls,

but the free will should be given voice and their choice.

no matter if we are religious or atheist,

we are children of this planet known as Earth.

but that is not her true name, that is what we just know the planet by.

Humans are Lemurians and the planet Earth is Lemuria.

Earth Angels are those who are born on to different planets

of different earths, but that doesn’t mean the planet will be called Earth.

Earth Angels of Lemuria, are awakening to the truth.

their home of their mortal birth, is Earth/Lemuria.

even though this may be true, not all will listen with open heart or ears.

so let those believe it has always been called Earth.

even if Earth Angel might seem strong,

they are fragile and can break just like any other person that you know.

but if the Earth Angel is broken too many times during the many lives that they are born into, they will become damaged that it would take time for them to heal fully so.

King David’s daughter Tamar, was a Earth Angel don’t you see?

but she was hurt by a demon in human skin that King David called a son,

did Daddy ever right the wrong?

no he didn’t, he didn’t even punish the monster that deflowered her.

oracle foretold to King David,

that in the future, in his daughter’s next life,

she will despise him for not punishing that monster.

daddy’s favorite was his son, but what of his broken daughter?

the other brother only took the life of the other,

for power and not for the sake of Tamar.

stories will tell you, that he did it to avenge her,

but truly he only did it for himself, to use her as excuse

and not to truly avenge her.

in one of her life’s she had bewitching beauty so they say,

but she was always bullied by the maids.

caught the eye of a prince of lust,

who kept killing her husbands to be,

worried too much of what the jerks back then had to say,

should of just did herself a favor and ran away.

but she gave in to the darkest that was making her feel so low,

wanted to please her parent by being wed.

but each of the nights, the husbands lives were taken away,

she prayed for own death is what future story tellers say,

but a man came to her rescue,

to become her last husband in that life, as he was not killed by the prince that was smitten by her so.

but after the man drove the prince of lust away,

in his drunken state he did not see his wife Sarah in laying in bed,

all he saw in his vision was the demon prince of lust,

when morning came and he became sober,

realizing too little too late, that it was his dear wife Sarah’s life he took instead.

luck would have it, in this life he isn’t into girls.

so if they should meet in this modern age of today,

she will be happy to just to have him in the Friend Zone

and that is where he will stay.

even though back in long ago times,

Earth Angels were mostly born into female bodies,

but today can be reborn as baby boys as well.

every growing, every changing Earth Angels.

most preferring to only be reborn biologically girls,

but others have a choices to be reborn as biologically boys.

but that doesn’t mean they wont still have a slightly different gender identities.

some will be binary, non-binary, open your eyes to the new and unique.

falling, falling, into that cold shadow of loneliness a Earth Angel Will cry out for help...

if left alone for too long that she will start to feel like she is worthless,

broken soul takes time to heal and mend.

best to not make any more worse, lest she give in once again to the despair.

so as the light starts to break through the shadows that kept her prisoner.

the hand from the light will take her own hand

and hold her into a healing embrace.

----------

yeah this might not be perfect....

I’m not sure if this can be seen as a song or poem.

but even if it isn’t perfect, at least I tried.

also please don’t take this too seriously.

I rather not have this be taken the wrong way.

I was brought up in a Christian Family.

but I can still believe little the same as them,

but at the same time hold on to my new different view.

anyway see ya later, and stay safe everyone.

PS:

this didn’t get finished until February 11, 2021.

so it became tomorrow when I was still writing it.

#mature #original poem #song lyrics #implied

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frederickwiddowson · 4 years ago

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Leviticus chapter 18 comments: Hebrews warned against sexual improprieties

Leviticus 18:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. 3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. 4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. 5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

Here God through Moses makes it clear that the Hebrews are to be different from the people where they came from and from the people where they are going. Not only the wicked religions of the heathen but their personal practices must be avoided. It is safe to say that anything listed as forbidden was something that was not uncommon among the heathen. For instance, eating animals killed by other animals or dying on their own as mentioned in the last chapter for we know of primitive tribes that until recently scavenged on carcasses of animals killed by large predators in Africa.

So, now, God is going to take this down to the level of the lewd behavior of the Egyptians and the residents of their former tributaries in Canaan. The way that God prescribes is the way of life so conversely to show contempt for God’s laws is the way of death.

Leviticus 18:6 ¶ None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. 7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. 9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. 10 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness. 11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman. 13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman. 14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. 15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness. 17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. 18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

Here we have the meaning of uncovering their nakedness in context. Just a reminder, please note;

Genesis 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

By contrast and comparison the Holy Spirit has given us another scene to ponder.

1Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

Verse 8 says The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.

Keep this in mind when interpreting the Bible by cross-referencing assuming the Holy Spirit gave the men who wrote it understanding and wisdom.

The implication here is not just about seeing someone without their clothes. Additionally, the prohibition against incest between a father and a daughter or step-daughter is covered in verse 17. These admonitions were necessary only because they were part and parcel of the land in which the Hebrews were headed much like the under culture in today’s America who regards their spontaneous sexual impulses as more important than God’s commandments. The, “I have a right to be wicked,” crowd could not care one whit about these standards. They are all around you in society and even in your neighborhood and perhaps your family in case you think no one could be so wicked.

Leviticus 18:19 ¶ Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. 20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her. 21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. 23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. 24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: 25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. 26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: 27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) 28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. 29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

These are pretty straightforward and don’t need a lot of interpretation. Verse 20 gives us some understanding of what uncovering someone’s nakedness means in the context of this entire passage.

Verse 21 refers to the heathen practice of sacrificing babies to the gods. Carthage in North Africa was a colony of Phoenicia. The Roman historian Plutarch wrote about their practices in his On Superstition;

…with full knowledge and understanding they themselves offered up their own children, and those who had no children would buy little ones from poor people and cut their throats as if they were so many lambs or young birds; Meanwhile the mother stood by without a tear or moan; but should she utter a single moan or let fall a single tear, she had to forfeit the money, and her child was sacrificed nevertheless; and the whole area before the statue was filled with a loud noise of flutes and drums took the cries of wailing should not reach the ears of the people.[1]

Mourning the child was supposed to nullify the effect of the sacrifice. Wikipedia quotes various sources;

Cleitarchus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch all mention burning of children as an offering to Cronus or Saturn, that is to Bal Ammūn, the chief god of Carthage. According to Justin, the Carthaginians accepted the Persian Achaemenid Empire's instructions to stop sacrificing children (and eating dogs). Some of these sources suggest that babies were roasted to death on a heated bronze statue. According to Diodorus Siculus, "There was in their city a bronze image of Cronus extending its hands, palms up and sloping toward the ground, so that each of the children when placed thereon rolled down and fell into a sort of gaping pit filled with fire."They placed their children alive in the arms of a bronze statue of the lady Tanit:

The hands of the statue extended over a brazier into which the child fell once the flames had caused the limbs to contract and its mouth to open... . The child was alive and conscious when burned... Philo specified that the sacrificed child was best-loved.

According to Stager and Wolff, there is a consensus among scholars that Carthaginian children were sacrificed by their parents, who would make a vow to kill the next child if the gods would grant them a favor: for instance, their shipment of goods were to arrive safely in a foreign port.[2]

Other behaviors forbidden to the Hebrew were homosexuality. This reference here is not specifically to the homosexual temple prostitutes which are mentioned elsewhere as sodomites which we will see referenced starting in Deuteronomy as explained earlier part of the heathen religious practices that marred Israel’s worship. This is a reference to personal practices. God also condemns bestiality here and as is reported in verse 24 by not practicing these things they will distinguish themselves from the people around them in the land of Canaan where such practices are apparently accepted and even, perhaps, common. The Hebrew who defied these proscriptions was to be killed.

It is important to note that Christians are not justified by the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ. We are given no warrant to harm anyone who commits a violation of these regulations although the civil law should rightly punish the abuse of children and animals. Our only recourse for someone whose life is characterized by their sin is to not have fellowship with them but to pray for them. Christians will often work and live in situations where people do things that rankle them. But, remember what Paul said about a brother or sister in Christ.

1Corinthians 5:9 ¶ I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

And remember Paul’s command when that person repents and wants to that fellowship restored lest Satan use discouragement to destroy a Christian.

2Corinthians 2:5 ¶ But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. 6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;

11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Here in Leviticus, chapter 18, God is telling them not to do like the people whose land they have been given do. These people have lost the land because of this wickedness which is not God’s standard and as Noah prophesied Canaan was and would be cursed.

Genesis 9:24 ¶ And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

[1] Plutarch, On Superstition, Loeb Classical Library Edition, Vol. II, 1928, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_superstitione*.html (accessed 11.8.2019)

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Carthage (accessed 11.8.2019)

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