#shower thought of a (culturally) christian

[cloudbellsv3]

I'm sorry I gave everyone the impression that I was gonna be active allie when I first joined this fandom 😔🙏🏿 I planned on it but I should have warned the masses that my life often loves to backhand me away from my interest.

[mountain--bones]

4/11: They Lament, But We Rejoice

(Some personal ramblings which also can function as day 1 of the Sol System's Alterhuman Writing Challenge!)

While I was showering yesterday I, as I often do, got lost in thought. I was thinking about myself and the path my life has taken, and how I've learned to relate to myself in a holistic way – flaws and all.

As I was thinking, I remembered some lyrics to a song I'd heard, but I couldn't remember the rest of the song or what it was called.

"'Cause when I saw my demons I knew them well and welcomed them"

This idea resonates with me a lot. Partially, it resonates in terms of my personality; I try my very best to accept the flaws in myself, and find the value in what they represent and connect to in my holistic self.

But, even more so, it's very easy to see my nonhuman self in this. I've come to understand that I am, at my core, something monstrous. I've related that inner, spiritual self to many different things before – a deity, an eldritch beast, an ancient spirit – but one of the first things I found myself thinking of it as was a demon.

I didn't think of it as demonic in a religious sense; it was more that it struck me as deeply, almost intrinsically adversarial to many of the things which are valued in the mainstream spirituality of western culture. It was chaos, animality, instinct, decomposition, death. And so: a demon.

When I found my demon, I knew it well, and welcomed it.

Given the melody of the song, it was pretty clear that the intended message was not one of radical reclamation of a self that would conventionally be considered abhorrent. So then I was curious – what's it really about?

And that's what made this so impactful and fascinating to me.

The song is The Lament of Eustace Scrubb, by the Oh Hellos.

Eustace Scrubb. If there's any character that stands out as an impactful early influence on my nonhumanity, it's Eustace Scrubb. But what's funny is how for me (and I'm sure a lot of other nonhuman folks), Eustace Scrubb is a character who represented an enigma – a contradiction to something which I so fervently craved.

For those who aren't familiar, Eustace Scrubb is a character from the Chronicles of Narnia whose selfishness led him to be turned into a dragon. And he hates it. He's so miserable about being a dragon instead of the boy he's meant to be. I couldn't understand it as a kid. Why would he hate being a dragon? Why would he want to be human?

The Lament of Eustace Scrubb is a song which was symbolically inspired by the struggle of this character – a lament about the loss of some valuable, sacred aspect of humanity, beneath layers of flaws and faults.

Here's the full lyrics.

Brother, forgive me We both know I'm the one to blame 'Cause when I saw my demons I knew them well and welcomed them I knew them well and welcomed them

But I'll come around I'll come around

Father, have mercy I know that I have gone astray 'Cause when I saw my reflection It was a stranger beneath my face It was a stranger beneath my face

But I'll come around I'll come around Someday

When I touch the water They tell me I could be set free

It's very easy, given context, to see the Christian themes here – especially given than the Chronicles of Narnia are also a deeply, explicitly Christian work.

But that just makes it more interesting how, reading these lyrics in the way I naturally want to in spite of the context, I find a meaning in them that's entirely opposite to what's intended – one that's positive and healing.

When I saw my demons, I knew them well and welcomed them.

When I saw the parts of myself that were unacceptable in society's eyes, instead of shunning them, I reached out. I offered them a welcoming hand. To embrace myself in a genuine way has always been more important than following along with what I'm told is "right".

Brother, forgive me – humanity, forgive me – because when I saw the monster inside me, I turned from humanity without a second thought, and without a single regret. The "demon" in me opened my eyes, set me free from rules and structures and beliefs which I never belonged or fit within.

I chose the monster over my humanity. I don't need humanity to forgive me for that, but there's something striking about the idea of regret. Not the regret of my path, or who I am; just a quiet regretfulness to betray something which utterly needed to be betrayed.

'Cause when I saw my reflection It was a stranger beneath my face

My reflection shows a human face. The stranger underneath – the self that I had never been allowed to be. It was a stranger to me, at first. I didn't know myself, because I had never been taught how to. I'd been taught how to speak and how to act, and all that ever amounted to was layers and layers of masks, obscuring the heart of me underneath them.

The grief here, for me, isn't that the stranger is inhuman. The grief is that the deepest part of me, that lay beneath the facade, was a stranger. That I didn't recognise my true self underneath, because it was hidden by the body showed in my reflection, and all the different ways I'd been taught to act as I "should" in a body like this.

When I touch the water They tell me I could be set free

A reflection in a pool. The surface shows a human face, but there's something stranger underneath it.

Touch the water. Break the reflection. Free the you which you've never let yourself be.

See what I'm saying here?

It's striking because this is so completely not what is intended by the lyrics of this song, and yet it forms such a meaningful picture of what nonhumanity is to me. It's striking because, like the story of Eustace Scrubb, there's joy and freedom and actualisation found in a concept that is presented as, and intended to be, something horrible.

The inhumanity is supposed to be a curse.

But for me, embracing my nonhuman self – welcoming my demons, the stranger in my reflection – was a release from a curse that I didn't know I was burdened with.

There's something deeply poignant in here for me. Something which felt worth writing about.

[liuisi]

tagged by @brown-little-robin to share 5 topics I could talk on for an hour without preparing any material!!! mwah thank u 🫶

- poetry: i am writing video essays about poetry every time i take a shower. i just!! i love talking about Writing Poetry about what works and what doesn't about how to effectively achieve a rhythm or a mood or convey the message you want to convey ITS SO FASCINATING TO ME I ADORE IT

- microbiology slash immunology: hashtag woman in stem. but like the problem with this is that nobody (who's not already into it) wants to listen to me talk about it because i like it in the way that i find everything we learn in class interesting. i have. Very Few fun facts. and to people who have no idea what im talking about its not very interesting to hear me talk about what the expression of CD62L and CD44 markers on T cells means. you know . anyways so CD62L also called L-selectin is[GUNSHOT]

- popular "christian" (mostly american) culture (sorry for stealing this one robin but i do this So Much. like as a horrified outsider): its been years and i still cant wrap my head around megachurches (among other things). WHAT DO YOU MEAN!!!! instagram lovesss going omg you're a christian right. here's the worst take you've ever seen in your life. and i watch it all out of morbid fascination and then i send it to my friends and we hold a socratic seminar about it so you can imagine that instagram. keeps suggesting those things to me

- writing but specifically prose!! and stories!!: this is separate from poetry. i LOVE talking about story structure and how it works and how you write it out and what you include and dont include and the writing style brings to it. its so. tears it apart with my teeth

- this one is niche but symbolism in the books of the law: when i was a kid i had 3 Bible books on rotation and one of them was leviticus. which is kind of ridiculous considering that at that age i had No idea all of that was some type of symbol i just thought it was interesting. but yes Every Single Thing in there is a symbol. from the smallest piece of the tabernacle to a singular step in a sacrifice its kind of crazy!! i adore it!!!!

tagging: @ghosts-and-blue-sweaters @idontwantrobyntodie @sunflower-chai @thatfriendlyanon

[mariacallous]

Sherwood Eddy was a prominent American missionary as well as that now rare thing, a Christian socialist. In the 1920s and ’30s, he made more than a dozen trips to the Soviet Union. He was not blind to the problems of the U.S.S.R., but he also found much to like. In place of squabbling, corrupt democratic politicians, he wrote in one of his books on the country, “Stalin rules … by his sagacity, his honesty, his rugged courage, his indomitable will and titanic energy.” Instead of the greed he found so pervasive in America, Russians seemed to him to be working for the joy of working.

Above all, though, he thought he had found in Russia something that his own individualistic society lacked: a “unified philosophy of life.” In Russia, he wrote, “all life is focused in a central purpose. It is directed to a single high end and energized by such powerful and glowing motivation that life seems to have supreme significance.”

Eddy was wrong about much of what he saw. Joseph Stalin was a liar and a mass murderer; Russians worked because they were hungry and afraid. The “unified philosophy of life” was a chimera, and the reality was a totalitarian state that used terror and propaganda to maintain that unity. But Eddy, like others in his era, was predisposed to admire the Soviet Union precisely because he was so critical of the economics and politics of his own country, Depression-era America. In this, he was not alone.

In his landmark 1981 book, Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba, Paul Hollander wrote of the hospitality showered on sympathetic Western visitors to the Communist world: the banquets in Moscow thrown for George Bernard Shaw, the feasts laid out for Mary McCarthy and Susan Sontag in North Vietnam. But his conclusion was that these performances were not the key to explaining why some Western intellectuals became enamored of communism. Far more important was their estrangement and alienation from their own cultures: “Intellectuals critical of their own society proved highly susceptible to the claims put forward by the leaders and spokesmen of the societies they inspected in the course of these travels.”

Hollander was writing about left-wing intellectuals in the 20th century, and many such people are still around, paying court to left-wing dictators in Venezuela or Bolivia who dislike America. There are also, in our society as in most others, quite a few people who are paid to help America’s enemies, or to spread their propaganda. There always have been.

But in the 21st century, we must also contend with a new phenomenon: right-wing intellectuals, now deeply critical of their own societies, who have begun paying court to right-wing dictators who dislike America. And their motives are curiously familiar. All around them, they see degeneracy, racial mixing, demographic change, “political correctness,” same-sex marriage, religious decline. The America that they actually inhabit no longer matches the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant America that they remember, or think they remember. And so they have begun to look abroad, seeking to find the spiritually unified, ethnically pure nations that, they imagine, are morally stronger than their own. Nations, for example, such as Russia.

The pioneer of this search was Patrick Buchanan, the godfather of the modern so-called alt-right, whose feelings about foreign authoritarians shifted right about the time he started writing books with titles such as The Death of the West and Suicide of a Superpower. His columns pour scorn on modern America, a place he once described, with disgust, as a “multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial, multilingual ‘universal nation’ whose avatar is Barack Obama.” Buchanan’s America is in demographic decline, has been swamped by beige and brown people, and has lost its virtue. The West, he has written, has succumbed to “a sexual revolution of easy divorce, rampant promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, assisted suicide—the displacement of Christian values by Hollywood values.”

This litany of horrors isn’t much different from what can be heard most nights on Fox News. Listen to Tucker Carlson. “The American dream is dying,” Carlson declared one recent evening, in a monologue that also referred to “the dark age that we are living through.” Carlson has also spent a lot of time on air reminiscing about how the United States “was a better country than it is now in a lot of ways,” back when it was “more cohesive.” And no wonder: Immigrants have “plundered” America, thanks to “decadent and narcissistic” politicians who refuse to “defend the nation.” You can read worse on the white-supremacist websites of the alt-right—do pick up a copy of Ann Coulter’s Adios America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole—or hear more extreme sentiments in some evangelical churches. Franklin Graham has declared, for example, that America “is in deep trouble and on the verge of total moral and spiritual collapse.”

What a terrible place all of these people are describing. Who would want to live in a country like that? Or, to put it differently: Who wouldn’t sympathize with the enemies of a country like that? As it turns out, many do. Certainly Buchanan does. Russian cyberwarriors work with daily determination to undermine American utilities and electricity grids. Russian information warriors are trying to deform American political debate. Russian contract killers are murdering people on the streets of Western countries. Russian nuclear weapons are pointed at us and our allies.

Nevertheless, Buchanan has come to admire the Russian president because he is “standing up for traditional values against Western cultural elites.” Once again, he feels the shimmering lure of that elusive sense of “unity” and purpose that complicated, diverse, quarrelsome America always lacks. Impressed with the Russian president’s use of Orthodox pageantry at public events, Buchanan even believes that “Putin is trying to re-establish the Orthodox Church as the moral compass of the nation it had been for 1,000 years before Russia fell captive to the atheistic and pagan ideology of Marxism.”

He is not alone. The belief that Russia is on our side in the war against secularism and sexual decadence is shared by a host of American Christian leaders, as well as their colleagues on the European far right. Among them, for example, are the movers and shakers behind the World Congress of Families, an American evangelical and anti-gay-rights organization that Buchanan has explicitly praised. One of the WCF’s former leaders, Larry Jacobs, once declared that “the Russians might be the Christian saviors of the world.” The WCF even has a Russian branch, which is run by Alexey Komov, a man in turn linked to Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian oligarch who has hosted far-right meetings all across Europe. At the WCF’s most recent meeting, in Verona, senior Russian priests mingled with leaders of the Italian far right, the Austrian far right, and their comrades from the American heartland.

Carlson’s support for Russia, by contrast, takes the form of snarling sarcasm rather than open admiration. Much as Jane Fonda once posed, just for the provocative kick of it, with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, Carlson has started teasing his viewers and his critics with his amusingly contrarian views on Russia. “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia?” he asked recently. A couple of days later, he tried it again: “I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”

Ironically, during the Reagan administration, Carlson’s father ran Voice of America, the radio station that broadcast American values into the U.S.S.R. Or maybe this is not an irony, but rather an explanation. In his book, Hollander described the prestige that Albanian communism once enjoyed in Sweden and Norway. Few Scandinavians had ever been there, but that didn’t matter: “Albania is picked up simply because it seems to be a club with a particularly sharp nail at the end of it with which to beat one’s own society, one’s own traditions, one’s own parents.” Now Carlson is using Russia as a club with which to beat his own society and his own traditions.

Fortunately for all such critics, they don’t have to spend much time in the country they are “rooting” for, because there is no greater fantasy than the idea that Russia is a country of Christian values. In reality, Russia has one of the highest abortion rates in the world, nearly double that of the United States. It has an extremely low record of church attendance, though the numbers are difficult to measure, not least because any form of Christianity outside of the state-controlled Orthodox Church is liable to be considered a cult. A 2012 survey showed that religion plays an important role in the lives of only 15 percent of Russians. Only 5 percent have read the Bible.

If American Christians would find little to cheer for in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, American white nationalists would be disappointed too. Carlson has wondered aloud about America’s racial mix, asking, “How precisely is diversity our strength?” He would have a real dilemma in Russia. Nearly 20 percent of Russian citizens do not even identify as Russian, telling pollsters that they belong to different nationalities, ranging from Tartar and Azeri to Ukrainian and Moldovan; more than 6 percent of Russians are Muslims, as opposed to 1.1 percent of the U.S. population. And that might be a gross underestimate of the actual number of Russian Muslims, since in some parts of the country, Muslims are off-limits to census takers. Remember all those phony stories about Swedish and British neighborhoods that are supposedly no-go zones ruled by Sharia law? Russia has an actual province, Chechnya, that is officially ruled by Sharia law. The local regime tolerates polygamy, requires women to be veiled in public places, and tortures gay men. It is a no-go zone, right inside Russia.

As for Putin himself, there is no evidence that this former KGB officer has actually converted, but plenty of evidence that Putin’s recent public displays of Christianity are just as cynical as Stalin’s vaunted love for the working classes. Among other things, they are useful precisely because they can hoodwink naive foreigners. But you don’t need to listen to me say so. Listen, instead, to the words of a young Russian, Yegor Zhukov, who was put on trial for publishing videos critical of the regime. In an extraordinary courtroom speech, he addressed the loud support for “the institutions of the family” that Putin often offers in Russia, and contrasted it with reality:

An impenetrable barrier divides our society in two. All the money is concentrated at the top and no one up there is going to let it go. All that’s left at the bottom—and this is no exaggeration—is despair. Knowing that they have nothing to hope for, that no matter how hard they try, they cannot bring happiness to themselves or their families, Russian men take their aggression out on their wives, or drink themselves to death, or hang themselves. Russia has the world’s [second] highest rate of suicide among men. As a result, a third of all Russian families are single mothers with their kids. I would like to know: Is this how we are protecting the institution of the family?

The reality of Russia isn’t the point, just as the reality of Stalinism wasn’t the point, not for Sherwood Eddy and not for George Bernard Shaw. The American intellectuals who now find themselves alienated from the country that they inhabit aren’t interested in reality. They are interested in a fantasy nation, different and distinct from their own hateful country. America, with its complicated social and political as well as ethnic diversity, with its Constitution that ensures we will never, ever all be forced to feel as if “all life is focused in a central purpose”—this America no longer appeals to them at all.

Most of them know that this fantasy foreign nation they admire seeks to put an end to all of that. It seeks to undermine American democracy, beat back American influence, and curtail American power. But to those who dislike American democracy, despair of American influence, and are angered by American power? That, truly, is the point.

[haggishlyhagging]

… [I]t is quite strange that many people seem not even to dream that history could have been different, that progress could have taken different paths and we could have had—could still have—the benefits without the problems. It's an attitude brutally summed up by the binary adage, or rather, blackmail, that offers only "the nuclear age or the stone age" (with the result that we'll likely be stuck with both at once). Hence, at the end of his thoroughly researched history of the witch-hunts in Europe, which veils none of the horror, reconstructs the story as it unfolded and presents a rich and complex discussion of their cultural significance, Guy Bechtel comes to the surprising conclusion that, in essence, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Indeed, he feels that this episode should be seen as a "revolution," and revolutions, Bechtel argues, "can only be achieved by the annihilation of opposing positions and of those who uphold them (or claim to uphold them)" He says, "The movement that tried to kill the witches is also, unwittingly of course, that which paved the way, later on, for the lives and thought of Montesquieu, Voltaire and Kant." In conclusion, he gives his blessing to a logic that he sums up with the maxim: "Killing the women of the past to create the men of the future." And, in doing so, Bechtel shows, once again, that historians of the witch-hunts are themselves products of the world that hunted the witches, and that they remain locked inside the frame of reference that the witch-hunts created. Bechtel's point of view is a stark contrast to the very different views of Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, who describe not only individual tragedies—the quashed aspirations and broken spirits of the hunts' victims—but also all that society denied itself by outlawing them, all that these women were prevented from developing and passing to future generations. Ehrenreich and English speak of "the sheer waste of talent and knowledge" represented by the witch-hunts, and urge us to undertake the "important task [. . . ] of recovering, or at least pointing out, what was lost."

Bechtel's determination to forcibly insert the horrendous history he has just pieced together into the virtuous account of the dawn of progress prompts him to come up with theories that are far-fetched to say the least: "It is likely that we are, at least partially, indebted to the unjustifiable massacre of the witches for a change in mindset toward greater rationalism, greater justice, stronger support for the right to legal defense and general awareness of human rights," as he puts it. An attempt to justify what you have, in the same sentence, just called unjustifiable? Matilda Joslyn Gage's analysis (as early as 1893) seems altogether more plausible:

“During the witchcraft period the minds of people were trained in a single direction. The chief lesson of the church that betrayal of friends was necessary to one's own salvation created an intense selfishness. All humanitarian feeling was lost in the effort to secure heaven at the expense of others, even those most closely bound by ties of nature and affection. Mercy, tenderness, compassion were all obliterated. Truthfulness escaped from the Christian world; fear, sorrow and cruelty reigned pre-eminent. [. . .] Contempt and hatred of women was inculcated with greater intensity; love of power and treachery were parts of the selfish lessons of the church. All reverence for length of years was lost. The sorrows and sufferings of a long life appealed to no sympathetic cord in the heart.”

A much more appropriate tableau to offer overexcited and gushy humanists requiring a cold shower.

-Mona Chollet, In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women are Still on Trial

[irlnikeiyomiuri]

🍓🍄🔪 for the ask meme -iris

share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

TOUGH QUESTION bc what's something i haven't discussed before.... these are all gonna be for beta sorry canon sdra </3. some ships some platonic duos all non despair verse

-tsuzuna LOVE shopping. favorite thing in the world is to go out <3 and buy things <3 even tho they're both kinda broke <3 ..... hpa student discount needs to come in clutch for them :( they're on friendly terms w like.. every food court employee that exists.

-kobashikawa tends to find pebbles around his things (on his desk, in his bag) bc maeda just Likes the pebbles and will absentmindedly grab a few to toy with as he wanders abt. but he tends to wander by koba and they just... magically join his things. he's got a small, growing pile of them in his room. sometimes tho, when he finds them, he throws them at otori

-uehara and otori have a weird frenemies thing going on. they both legitimately have a positive view of each other but for some reason they get into fights abt it. i think they even know they both look at each other positively. why are they fighting. what is it even over. huh.

-taira never brushes her hair and this did something negative to tomoris brain when she found out. wdym you only finger comb it in the shower. when was the last time you held a brush. she wants to have a sleepover w taira and do some self care stuff but taira is so not interested

-beta hpa is in kyoto which iirc has a looot of forested areas? so hpa is set... not Far from any towns, maybe a half hours walk, but its directly surrounded by woods for REASONS THIS ISNT THE POINT. maetai like to go for walks together that's what matters. most interaction they typically have is that they may share earbuds. maeda only has corded ones tho and tai doesn't usually trust him w her wireless ones so it's an interesting experience

-uehara loooves to watch tsu play games, and tsu loooves to sink seven hours into a game, so this works out well. uehara has an odd skill for handheld rhythm games (dont let him try ddr it'll kill him) so tsu only ever tries rhythm games if uehara is there to bail him out if he can't get it

-that was more than one pair :(...

what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project? god... Tough question, like actually? first thought is immediately gonna be smthn for one of the beta deaths? but tbh i don't think any of that's all toooo weird/out there. beta is sci-fi with a bit of a heaver dosage of the fi aspect??? so like... 30% of the time if there's information i can't find w ease, i can just use the background sci fi elements (how do i say this in a non spoilery way... even if the kids cant come up w explanations for everything- if it happened, then i know how it happened, even if the kids can't explain it rn)... ykw, i'll say i got really deep/niche into japanese geography. half saying this bc i never really utilized it? so it's weird i got Soo particular seeing as stuff just got scrapped. i don't think i even retained anything so what was the point.

more random things ive researched (in a way this too is beta lore. i guess.) -odds of having twins -apraxia of speech -punk culture of the 60s (specifically in england) -every street in harajuku -cloud formations -so many different aspects of chemical bonds -made to fade tattoos -christianity (how odd)

[vamppvania]

How would you fill this but for Betty?

https://www.tumblr.com/copied-factory/731265243644411904/ask

This is a long one so under da cut

Ok these center more on pre crown betty bc i imagine magic betty to be a drastically different character and i didnt want to cause confusion. Also sorry if these don't make sense I'm very tired, if anyone has any Thoughts on these hcs lmk!! :)

- What is the character’s go-to drink order?

Beer drinker fs. Orders bud light bottled not on tap

- What is their grooming routine? (how do they treat themselves in private)

On good days, she'll shower, brush her hair & teeth, shapewear, mascara even. On bad days, long stretches of time goes by without a shower, brushed teeth, clean clothes ect

- What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go?

I don't think she has much disposable income, most of it goes into work because work Is her leisure time. Oh but her and simon are absolutely That kind of couple that go on yearly backpacking trips, which can be pricey

- Do they have any scars or tattoos?

Got a tattoo when she was 16 and thought it was so fucking cool and awesome. It was a crow on her back

Lots of scars though. A careless child that spent a lot of time outdoors and an impulsive adult with no self preservation; shes a collection of calluses, burns and scars with their own stories to tell

-What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances?

I think betty is an angry/overstimulated crier so it can be anytime from minor inconveniences adding onto stress to because a coworker insulted her intelligence.

- Are they an oldest, middle, youngest or only child?

Youngest child to one older sibling. Its why she's a biter

- Describe the shoes they’re wearing.

Boots boots boots. From the mountaineering boots made for like 7000M of expedition to tasteful suede ankle boots for events. Obsessed with those mid calf boots she wears post YFYF I know she's that kinda dyke

- Describe the place where they sleep.

Damn bitch you live like this? I think her personal space is always invaded by work, education, or whatever niche interest, so there's little space for Her. She still makes space for treasured belongings though (picture of simon she kept). But if work demands her full attention, she's inexorable. Cleanliness/hygiene is put to the wayside, allowing dust to pile up alongside dirty dishes and used laundry. Who needs sleep when you have coffee and cigarettes

Also she'd have a fern or two. It feels nice to be needed by something.

-What is their favorite holiday?

I dont think she celebrates any traditional american holidays, but shed happily dig into holidays not taught/acknowledged by christian american culture, especially if they connect to anything shes decoding or studying. Halloween still rules though

-What objects do they always carry around with them?

OK so I think she carries around a backpack everywhere she goes and there's a Lot in there that she thinks is essential like

Multi tool, utility knife, lock picks, travel sized codebook, journal, books, flashlight, marlboros, camera, adderall, cool rock she found, Walkman. All this and she still Always forgets her wallet

[timhatchlive]

God of Boundless Abilities

Isaiah 45:1–3 (ESV) Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: 2 “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

Isaiah 45 speaks of Cyrus, the ancient king of Persia. Even that king was under the authority of Almighty God. God will make his way level. He will break doors that are closed. he will lead him forward where God wants him to go. 

Imagine the prophet for your nation considering the king of another pagan nation God's instrument whom God will lead! But this is the Holy Scripture that invites us to see the God of the Universe and not the "god" of our own imagination. He does as He wills, not as we wish. 

Notice the phrase, "Whose right hand I have grasped". God holds the power of Cyrus and does with Him what He wants. Cyrus will be the vessel through which God will open the way for the exiles to return. 

God tells Cyrus that nothing is required concerning Cyrus' knowledge of the Lord for the Lord to do this. 

Isaiah 45:4 (ESV) For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.

It is earth-shattering for some of God's people to hear passages like this. We think world leaders need to repent before God can use them. Nonsense! God is not bound by our will or desires. God is not bound by our conversions! He can do what He wants with His clay at any time and in any way. 

Isaiah 45:5–6 (ESV) I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

God also says to Cyrus, "I equip you, though you do not know me." Consider the leaders and world-changing thinkers through history. Is it not also possible that God gave them those thoughts and abilities without their repentance to accomplish His divine purpose throughout history? YES! Ultimately all of this is so that people may know the Lord even through the tools and gifts of people who do not know the Lord. 

I think in this case of Elon Musk. A world-changing thinker and creator. God has certainly gifted him beyond normal human ability. His actions are shaping society's travel and speech. He is not a confessing Christian but God is using him to transform culture so that censorship might be eradicated on social media. God does not need repentance or belief to use people. And that reminds us that He alone is God! Our hopes are never dashed because our God is never restricted. 

A troubling text follows: 

Isaiah 45:7 (ESV) I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

God is going to use the wars and calamities of the nations to accomplish this. Sadly, and we cannot understand it, the troubles in our world are also used by God to bring people to Himself. But remember, God is working with a fallen creation. Sometimes the means seem dark. 

Isaiah 45:8 (ESV) “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it.

This could be the verse from which Jesus tells us the Father causes the rain to fall on the righteous and unrighteous. All good comes from Him. But only He can open the Earth and bring our righteousness out of death through His Son. 

Isaiah 45:9 (ESV) 9 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?

We fail to grasp these things when we are busy trying to figure God out according to our own understanding. In fact, Isaiah declares doom for those who fight it. He is the potter and we are the clay. Do not ask "Why this and not that?" Rather ask, "What is God saying to me and asking of my life?"

Amen. 

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[steamedtangerine]

Okay....so Tumblr got walloped by a spree of empty accounts pestering any active blog with shallow follows here for over two and half months. I mentioned to someone who brought this up, that these accounts are low-effort trolling, and that in my past experience, they usually act as ground cover distraction for something far more convincing (and worse) on the way.

-so, yeah, while we were swatting at gnats, Tumblr was bombarded by a lot (A LOT) of accounts shilling like crazy for the fake-ass QAnon conspiracy fiction film "Sound of Freedom" in that time. These recent accounts were good at appearing anime ("i aM An arTIsT!") or safely "gay" or appearing like Christian mom's who get gooey over Caviezel (the worst are these incredibly fake "Catholic" accounts who have never heard of Dorothy Day and think showing a generic pic of an icon will convince others-along with the word "Catholic" in their URL-that they are the real deal). The accounts were trying really hard to "appear Tumblr", and the fact there were so many of them makes this "the big hill they wanted to die on" for this year (so far). Chances are these accounts (many with goofy pop culture reference names) are ones you wouldn't even go near following, but they very likely lurked near any popular post you had lately to beef up their cred here.

One account aptly pointed out that they sound like cultists parroting the same things "everyone must see this film!", "this film really opened my eyes" (to what? trafficking? something human rights groups have been yelling about since the 70s and 80s?), and "God's children are not for sale!"....many went as far as to get conspiratorial saying that the movie itself was a victim of a plot to undersell it, to show it in poorly air conditioned theaters, or that outlets aptly critiquing the film, like Rolling Stone, are part of the "evil Soros (((elite)))" (actual dog-whistles in use) trying to suppress the film. If the film were suppressed, it simply would've not been released. You have guys like Musk, Trump, and that antisemite, Mel Gibson supporting it.

-by far the worst and most combative spew to come from these accounts is the false dilemma of "anyone who dislikes this film is a Pedo"-oh, like we haven't heard this ugly, slanderous drivel from scores of trolls on every platform over, basically anything, in the last eight years. This ranks with "If you criticize the state of Israel's actions in Palestine, you must be antisemitic." Oddly enough, the persons involved in the film are antisemitic, far-right POSs.

Now....

If anyone had a lingering thought that this movie was typically RW deflection and projection away from all the pedophilia found within circles of RW A-holes (There have been eight guys who worked under Trump called out as pedos....this is not including Trump's heavy ties to Epstein, or associations Trump has had with pedos like Roy Moore or Matt Gaetz....just recently, an anti-abortionist named Cole Wagner was arrested for child sex abuse, and a Patriot Front member in Utah arrested with child porn)....well, guess what, the above producer of the film, Hutchinson, was filmed in 2016 feeling up the breasts of a trafficked underage girl...y'know, to stay "in that deep cover". Recently, Tim Ballard was discovered using women to "pose as wives" (y'know, that "deep cover thang") in his self-indulgent crusade, and it involved him insisting the women must shower and sleep with him. A financier for the film, Fabian Marta, was found to be a child-kidnapper, and though it is not proven, there have been wild rumors that the far-right nut Caviezel was watching child porn "for research on the subject matter".

So, yeah, the call is coming from inside the building, and anything these dead-in-the-water accounts say by praising this film is complete BS (thanks for the extensive blocklist, Tumblr).

It's bad enough you had accounts here pushing the Wayfair conspiracy crap over two years go or some that actually shilled this phony "outrage" over oil-heiress-funded fake clean-cut "climate activists" causing disruptions at events (unmasked) and "vandalizing" art work at museums that chose to no longer allow support from BP, but to come on here and stir up a repackaged QAnon like a re-heated dogturd and use that as Carte Blanche to label critics with the worst things you could possibly label someone just to protect the name of a truly rotten political party that has been going down in flames for years now is unforgivable.

This fictional film does absolutely nothing to stop the real danger of human trafficking and child pedophila. It bolsters this "white Christian man" is gonna fight the "menace across the border", rather than look at what is going on in churches and cults and scout groups and locker rooms and Olympic gymnast training committees and with the family members, friends, and coaches we think we know. It has proven again and gain, such films engender misguided Satanic Panic style hysteria and hamper the efforts of real groups trying to fight this menace for decades.

-and again, I'm sorry for the clumsy comments I left elsewhere about who was involved with what and how, but the four (at least three) I mentioned involved in the film above are now getting exposed as the hypocrites that they are.

[rainafoxfire]

Purple Fairy Cocktail (Ostara, Spring Equinox)

Inspired by the spirit of the Spring Equinox, this purple fairy cocktail with butterfly peaflowers enchants any Ostara brunch.

Natural flower extracts give this delightful drink its rich, magenta color.

Add some ground ginger, vanilla vodka and a splash of bubbling club soda, and you’ve got yourself a good reason get a little drunk throw an impromptu garden party.

(Please note:  This section may contain affiliate links. )

Magical Correspondences

A kitchen witch cocktail is really just a drinkable potion.

For this one, I chose the ingredients for their flavor as well as their magical correspondences to the spring season.

In particular, I kept Ostara and Beltane in mind.  This serves really well during the cakes & ale portion of the ritual, or simply to add a little character to your Spring Equinox gathering.

But spring weddings, handfastings and bridal showers also make appropriate gatherings for the purple fairy cocktail.

(And if you’re a practicing Christian witch, or you simply celebrate Easter as a cultural holiday, you might enjoy serving it then, too.)

Butterfly Peaflowers

These magical flowers change color from deep indigo to purple on contact with acids (like the lemon juice in this recipe).

Their color-changing effect symbolizing transition, emerging, and the constant, seamless metamorphosis of life.

We include them here to infuse our cocktail potion with these qualities.

(Bonus?  You can use up the leftover peaflowers  to make some full moon milk).

Ginger

This warm, beautiful root spice is one of my go-to for kitchen witch recipes.

Ginger’s many metaphysical properties make it a versatile and heart-warming spell ingredient.

Here, we use it for its healing vibrations to sooth and smooth away old wounds and renew ourselves for the coming growth of spring.

Club Soda

Who knew club soda also works as a spell ingredient?

The bubbly, effervescence of club soda inspires fresh thought, new ideas and the dreamy, ethereal quality of fairies.

All things that usher in good vibes for the spring season!

Lemons

The cool, vibrant flavor of lemon calls to mind the dappled rays of early morning light on a crisp March morning.

Besides their knack for cutting sweetness, lemons are also a classic sun magic ingredient.

We include them in this recipe to dispel winter darkness and usher in a sense of lightness and brightness.

Flower Garnish

If there’s one thing that symbolizes the spring season, it’s flowers!

You might be surprised to know that many flowers, including violets, roses and lavender, are edible.

I love to include edible flowers in my spring recipes.  It gives any dish or drink a dreamy, feminine flair.

Pairings

This cocktail is especially pleasing with floral pastries and cookies.

It pairs well with any of the following:

Flower Moon Cookies

Violet Fairy Cakes

Cinnamon & Rose Love Spell Cookies

Lemon Sun Cakes

A few tips.

Minor adjustments make or break any recipe, so consider the following variations to take this purple fairy cocktail from average to enchanting.

Balancing the Lemon with the Sugar

If you go too heavy on the syrup, you’ll end up with a drink that’s way too sweet.

Even if you like a sweet cocktail, start out light on the syrup, sip it and then add some more until you get a ratio you like.  You can always add, but you can’t subtract.

If you notice you went to far with the syrup, add the more lemon juice.

Work all that out before you top it off with the club soda.

Chilling the Vodka

Consider throwing the vodka in the freezer 10 or 20 minutes before you make this.

It slows down the chemical reaction of the peaflower with the lemon juice.

This adds another dimension of awesome, because you get these psychedelic  transitional layers of blue and purple.

Choosing flowers.

Definitely go with fresh (not dried) flowers here.

It gives it a just-picked-from-the-garden wow factor.

Be careful about getting them from the grocery store or picking them from a garden that you didn’t tend yourself.

If you get them from a grocer, make sure they were grown organically and rinse them in sink before use.  Pesticides on flowers on not held to the same safety standards as pesticides used on foods and edibles.

Last but not least—the ginger.

As tempting as it seems, resist the urge to sub dried, powdered ginger in the syrup.

It makes the syrup brown and throws the color off, ruining the whole shabang.

Either grate ginger with a cheese grater, or cut it into very thin slices before stirring it into the syrup.

I like it spicy, so I let it steep for 3-5 minutes.

You can go longer, but lower the heat, and be careful not to boil off too much water.

Ingredients

-1 cup sugar

-1 cup water

-2 tbsp dried peaflowers

-1 tbsp fresh grated ginger (do not sub ground or dried)

-4 ounces vanilla vodka

-1 whole lemon, cut into quarters

-1 can club soda

-(optional) edible flower garnish

Step 1

Put water and sugar in a small pot or saucepan.

Heat, whisking constantly until the sugar dissolves.

Add fresh grated ginger.  (Do not sub ground ginger).  The longer you steep it, the stronger the ginger flavor becomes.

Add the dried butterfly peaflowers.  The longer you steep them, the deeper the color becomes.  At this point, the color will look more navy blue than purple.  That’s okay.

Step 2

Strain the mixture through a mesh strainer to get out the chunky bits.

Put the syrup in a clean glass jar and let it refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Step 3

Divide vanilla vodka evenly among 4 martini glasses.

Add peaflower/ginger syrup.  More for a sweeter cocktail, less for a drier cocktail.

Squeeze lemon juice in.  The color will change from deep blue to purplish.

Top off with club soda and a floral garnish.

Serve and enjoy!

Source: https://www.moodymoons.com/2020/03/01/purple-fairy-cocktail-ostara-spring-equinox/

[jraker4]

*sniff sniff* Do I smell somethin'? Oh! It's chickenshit fragile culturally Christian bigot again! Damnit, here I thought you were downwind. Or is that upwind? I'm not outdoorsy, I forget. Hey there, lil' buddy! I miss the dedicated hate blog:( Did that one get banned because of your explicitly violent antisemitism, or did you just retire it because it was time for another round of your years-long hobby (of your own admission) 'go shout at Jews on social media and pretend it's meaningful to anything but my own hatred!'? I suspect the latter, but unless you've actually experienced some sort of growth, time will very quickly tell. I don't know if you've got blood on your hands. I know you'd like to, if you could get Jewish blood on your hands in a safe way that didn't put your precious self in the slightest bit of danger. That goes hand in hand with your entitled cowardice, you see. But-and here's the funny thing-the 'victimization' you claim to endure (y'know, meaaaaan ole Jews callin' you culturally Christian on account of y'are), that victimization that's sooooooooo terrible? Jews experience the sort of prejudice and hatred and victimization that'd have your fragile, culturally Christian ass hugging your knees to your chest and rocking back and forth while shaking. And not only do they not spend their time making sock puppets as transparent pretexts to yell at atheists, they're generally living productive, meaningful lives in the face of adversity you love to claim but have never endured. Some of `em even made a nation in that place you only care about because Jews live there. And they ain't goin' anywhere. Make sure to keep seething and crying about it!:) (And shit, I'd say 'take a shower', but I'm not sure if cleanliness would liven up the smell of fragile, chickenshit cultural Christian, or if gettin' dirtier would help mask it.)

the thing is, if your younger self was a bigot or an abuser, u can't make people forgive you. but you still gotta forgive yourself, like that's non-negotiable, dude. that happens before u can even ask the question of earning forgiveness from anyone lese

[nfumbewalk]

Psychic Stuff & Memories

Biffy's Place.

Sorry - I apologize in advance. This post could come off as bragging but I'm not. I'm actually really freaked out. I've mentioned before that an old ex-friend of mine told me more than 20 years ago that psychic ability can manifest and get very strong with age. Well, It freaking has, by like 10,000%!! Holy balls. Thought I had it young. Not by a long shot of what I've got now. And it's practically breathless to deal with.

In my shower last night, I heard my grandpa Ben's voice. Weird? I told him it wasn't a proper time to talk. He understood and said he'd come back. It's not just that. I'm seeing ppl in my regular mirror, not my scrying mirror! My channeling is getting beyond awesome. It's weird, comforting, and oddly satisfying.

Most notably, I mentioned a bit back that my old padrino/Tata (godfather) in Palo has contacted me via channeling to tell me he died and that he'd help me with some spiritual things. He said that he likes Muerteria. And that I'm doing very well. Also, he said he was sorry he ignored me after I disrespected him. He said he shouldn't have done that and he didn't know how serious my depression was.

Antonio means a lot to me. He got me in touch with my power. He opened up my abilities by believing in me and showing me his rich Cuban culture. First, he taught me how to build and attend a boveda. The word boveda is Spanish for vault or tomb. It is where one attends to their ancestors. It's very similar to the photos of Rodolfo's altar that I post here. Really though, it only looks similar. The intentions are very different. He started with a bit of Santeria. He was also an initiated Santero. I never asked his rank because I knew nothing about African Traditional Religions at the time.

He introduced Palo easily but with a trickle. Still, my time with him was very short. He told me not to read Palo books in English and to learn Spanish for these paths. Right he was. Most English Palo books are crap. Actually, Montenegro has a few useful ones. If your kinda in Palo, you know what he's purposely leaving out or using slang for. Lol! Sorry. Palo memories. I miss Antonio. And my two Tata's named Angel.

I'm not meant for that religion. Too many clashes. Somehow I have fewer clashes with Christianity. Odd. Got sort of off topic. I bet if I tear my entire closet apart (I've tried) I'll find that damn Siete Rayos collare! That's my mpungo Papa. Um...father deity in Palo. Or Shango in Osha-Ifa, Orisha. I've been obsessing over that collare for years! Angel No. 1 made it for me & left the menga (blood) on it! Didn't clean off the rooster blood. Or didn't wash it well with the chamba. Oh well. If I ever find it, I'll post a pic of me wearing it.

Back to psychic shit! 😊 When this stuff happens, its like Reveille sounding off in my brain constantly! I know a lot of soldiers don't miss that. Lol! I certainly don't like it either. I mean, yeah - its cool. Its spooky & weird. But it can get annoying. I used to love Ouija boards. Not anymore. The muertos come out for sure around me. Like Antonio said: "You are like a moth to the flame with muertos." Yup, I am nowadays! The graveyard always gets busy when I arrive. 💀

Especially when I do Tributas for Santa Muerte. Ha!

M.M. 💖💀💖

[scentedchildnacho]

Uhm he wanted to know about the motorized bikes if they do it for its inexpense so I said no....their like 600 dollars and up ....i thought they just hate women and enjoy that women died of poverty and deprivation so they could do unsafe awful things

Their capitalist platoons or mai lai incidents they just really hate women....and get into things like Turkish nationalism

Mother God is gone to work with even the illiterate so these types of things back fire mother God would care about the illiterate workers though

The mother God though loves you and wanted you though

It is women counter cultural or other differences would perceive different legislations but iw it is about how much it all hates women

Its women who would treaty the issue uhm places like peets coffee knows they cannot bring bisexual or alternate genders there

Because all gender restrooms finally really batter and kill the bitch

The white light alien knows she was suppose to stop turning down non profit ideas if she was going to public alternate gender activity

No you have to let them go back to private practice women don't have to die supporting every gender

Its for women only to talk about cellulite and work outs so they publicly burn the models and men know their not allowed at those clubs or they wife kill

Well it's men and optical illusion...men know they need transgender stripping ideas and stalk around ass displays like playmates

Its butt and it's only for women to think about these secularisms....we are all of river asylums so

She has to finally do something creepy to the men or its Jesus she isn't dressed to go out and your burning her cannibal

The men stop caring if their perceived as slaughtering playmates so that's why she starts ordering razor wire

Well I suspect it is all just a skam and I will have been really severely psychologically abused but it's just to keep making war money in the mid east and it's just irrational and I don't want to

Anyway mafiaites if they want to hate and blame women illiterate workers become police and he sets up systems of self abuse for them till they learn when they don't hate women a lot of that stops for them

If she wants to prove herself and largely only care about a male domestic abuser....she can buy a high powered bike and scare herself to death get ate up with dogs and hit with cars

Or he is bisexual and he does more choose masculine presences in areas I don't ask pronouns so if he is going to keep stealing things from homeless women like a health club pass to regularly shower he can give it to someone who puts a large tattoo on him....

It's been my experience of California that spa services are taken as very rude requests.....and to not go unless films like the women are correct....if I'm actually from a wealth group that didn't share well with the lady christian who is my masseuse or retailor otherwise it's all into rape punishment.....and as poor and homeless it just gives their practice felonies and im.not sure they arent doing factual things

So I think his tattoo did really hurt and the lotion care applications did give him melanoma or carposi sarcoma like acne

Then they have to put the french cosmetics on it

Dugas is a politic?......

Anyway I just said to him at the time about the bikes that I think they are domestically abused and have never gone through recovery processes to protect themselves because the person who bought the motorized bike claims she is homeless

She can't do anything normal to protect herself like grab a place to stay for a month or purchase her car in advance

She has enough to join a women's military group and may only spend it on getting hit in traffick

So I think they call themselves mental peers and steal it off my program because they can't do anything with it but hurt themselves if it's my programs

Uhm their weird and their told stealing that much off homeless programs will cause COVID clinics so they start slowly getting placed in nightmares out of song of the cell their around indigenous people and appear fooled by the charm and they report people not giving them their developments and this is what it turns them into

I was white and I often report people for turning me into a crowd to klannish watch these executions and see if I can be merciful.....

They create KKK with those types of rejecting of common law ideas then complain when whites are like well you really raped my ass so I know that I don't understand you so I didn't show up at your emergency because you told me my emergency was just a character defect to beat

That's me about what the subtle alliance is in California....if white development and renewal is rejected I get turned into a cannibalistic vampire if indigenous peoples developments and renewals are rejected they get turned into cannibalistic Africans it's that's its that bad sympathy is mostly for just how violent they can make people feel....

They do need to just fly confederate flags then and only do business with their country

She....nya reyes wanted to be a woman and was whipped in all sorts of ways to forcibly serve military duty as a man.....so I think She....figures out he and kind of keeps the kids too

Slaves slave like characters had to grow up in and figure out these post modern counter cultures so

[f0xd13-blog]

" i like dragon ball and anime and pumpkins" you like dried ass crusty spanish pussy that's what you like

And then he be dressed all thug thinking that's his culture... like a fucking clown.

Edit coz i can't make new posts: I DON'T CARE! Now you're gonna pay for your lack of thought... you just need to get with low resources but that happens with time while that i'll be having a vacay from you in prision coz honestly the world outside is way worst and y'all made it that way for me... remember when I said that i wasn't exerating??? I'm wasn't... at all!! i had one of the worst lives you could ever imagine but i still managed to know more than you, be smarter than you, look better than you... coz that ain't got nothing to do with being poor or not ok? Most homeless people get like that because they gave up on life it's different poor people don look that bad because wes shower (or at least try lol althought i live in better conditions now and shower everyday, you get my point tho) and have nice clothes even if not many and if you was ever really really really REALLY poor and from the guetto like y'all like to throw around so much, you would know that... that is why i know most people are full of bullshit when they say that... their daddies said no to them like two times and that made them a hard childhood. So yah hope you rotten in hell. And hey christianity was mainly gypsy like i said before and that shit god and jesus told you... that you've betrayed has everything to do with this... so don't pray to him coz he ain't gonna help you.. in fact everything that is happening are consequences sent by them. After all y'all just a bunch of jews right? Caring for 10 kids with money just coz they have money. You see how eveything actually makes sense? Eveything makes sense, nothing is nonsensical that is why the univers is infinte... one would not be able to coexist without the other.

So conclusion that is how i know you were never really poor when i tell you this and you assume i'm also playing the victim like you and look at me like oh you poor looking like that? THAT'S HOW I KNOW YOU NEVER BEEN THROUGH THE HARDSHIPS YOU LIKE TO CRY SO MUCH ABOUT

You see how this sounds dumb and stupid...? And you want me to relate to this?no hate... just questioning how do i relate to a person that could be eveything but decide to do what we once would do in TRAUMA MODE?

[the-hem]

"The Parable of the Mustard Seed." Matthew 13:31-43.

Jesus explains there are secrets the universe has kept from man since the beginning. These are only to be revealed through the use of Hebrew, the language of the God of Israel and the gods of heaven, the Angelic Host. All spiritual thought on this world came from Hebrew, it is the bedrock of faith, and Judaism represents the topical features which sit upon it. As we have discussed in my other forums, the process of growing up life on a world that was once a hot, bitter smoking rock is evolutionary. One character feature at a time, the world made itself under the direction of God and the gods.

We were programmed from the beginning of time to come into existence to follow a certain course. During the process, God gave us Vedanta, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity in order to for us to be able to keep up, to remain parallel partners in the development of humanity.

This seems odd to us in a time of mass media and instant communication but this was once a very disconnected world with cultures that showed more differences than similarities from one another. As we are learning religion was one of the similarities. Not only in practice but in sentiment.

It's this sentiment that is the secret- the artificial bond man has to his intelligence and his continual striving to be in absolute, utter, elegant control over all that befalls him. Still, there are problems...Jesus likens the proper combination of factors that will outmode the problems to the possibilities inherent in the mustard seed, now recognized world over as a lesson, the secret of how to grow a splendid world up out of one that appears, at times, to be completely damned.

The God of Israel spoke of this Himself to the people, uniformed as one them:

31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Grains are blessings showered upon this earth by an ingenious God:

Food that is made from grain (wheat, barley, rye, spelt or oat) but is not bread gets the blessing mezonot (מְזוֹנוֹת). This includes cakes and pastries, most crackers and cereals, pasta and other cooked grain products like farfel and couscous.

The blessing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא מִינֵי מְזוֹנוֹת

Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei minei mezonot.

Blessed are you L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, Who creates various kinds of sustenance.

Mustard seed is measured against other grains in the following verse, associated with the writings of the Jewish Prophet Maimonedes.

4. What is implied? [For example,] mustard seed was mixed with grain. Now a kav10 of mustard seed is sown in the area fit for a se'ah of grain.

If one twenty-fourth of a kav of mustard seed is mixed with a se'ah11 of grain or legumes, one must reduce [the mustard seed].

Similarly, if it was customary to sow two se'ah of a species of garden seeds in an area where a se'ah of grain would ordinarily be sown,12 should a half a kav13 be mixed in a se'ah of grain or legumes, it must be reduced.

A kav represents the Cup. It is mixed with grains to complete the Eucharist. A se'ah is the weight of the Glory of God, symbolic of the moment of revelation.

If there is too much mustard, then what one gets is a zealot, which is forbidden. The Prophet said to reduce the instance of "faith poisoning" caused by the cup, one reduces the mustard to one 24th, which means "apsad" to look inside [the temple] and partake of other grains or legumes richer in knowledge-sustenance:

"The mustard seed’s growth is forbidden. It should not be there. But look at the mustard seed’s character. If you are just using one tiny mustard seed and let it grow, it will break through and impose itself to the point of becoming the ONLY element. If you have this type of faith, you will erase any existent obstacle or doubt by letting your faith grow to into a mustard tree!"

So in the case of the sowing of the mustard seed it represents the serving of the Cup to humanity, with the appropriate kinds of effort behind it, resulting in the end of all bloodshed, violence, and discontinuity between people and their governors, and explains why Jesus brought mustard up in the first place. It explains how the world is come by its needed changes. The Cup can't do everything but what it represents might mean it can do what is needed.

The next part of the Parable of the leavening of the flour using three parts to one follows this pattern. All equanimity with creation, whether the end of doubt, the end of violence, the end of delusion or a habit arrive at on the Third Day, or during what is called "thirds."

Leavening represents foreign ideas. In Egypt it was obvious the Jews had just about enough of that and God told them not to leaven their bread with Egyptian yeast. To "eat" Egyptian germ bugs in the bread made no sense.

Here Jesus says the flour is indeed to be leavened with His radically different ideas about how persons should live together.

So really the two parables explain the purposes of the Eucharist which take us beyond the Passover into new territory. Both are just observances of Shabbat and serve principal roles in the outfitting of humanity with the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven.

To be separate truly from it, cause harm then claim righteousness from within it, and finally an Atonement is blasphemy. What kind of world would sentiments such as these leave behind?

[beninparis]

Day 6… I think… It’s at least the end of week 1

In the past few days, I have kind of settled into a bit of a morning routine here in Paris. Every morning I get up early to give myself at least 30 minutes before class starts. I get a 50 cent cappuccino from the coffee machine, the kind that's foamy and bitter on top and chocolatey sweet on the bottom. I then walk down the street as the awaking sun shines over the Latin Quarter and the cool breeze carries pigeon coos with it. My goal is Maison Dore. Croissant, pizza, sandwich, I figure it out when I get there. Of course I don’t want to take my breakfast back in since this is one of the few times I have this little piece of France to myself. So I park myself at the wall of Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas for food and show. The show being children playing on the sidewalk, cars going by, any dogs that show up, just whatever is on at the moment. It’s a far cry from my normal routine at home and it’s a welcomed one. It's a moment where I am alone with peace and can make this part of the city mine. If you see me doing this, please do not join me.

We’re a week in and some of the initial thrill is starting to wear off. It could just be the hustle of each day and sticking to a certain schedule. I am beginning to grow tired of bread and tired of ham. However I still find moments of joy in the day to day, usually in the few instances where it’s just me and the city. For instance, I once sat at a cafe by myself and wrote as I was taking in the atmosphere. So maybe I just need to carve out more time alone in the city. I also appreciated the concert, even if it didn’t leave me transformed. It was just a nice moment where the rest of the world didn’t seem to exist and there was only now.

What I found very enriching however was the Louvre. While the Mona Lisa may be the star attraction, there are many other works that I found to be more emotion provoking and awe inspiring such as The Intervention of the Sabine Women, Liberty Leading the People, and The Wedding Feast at Cana. Many of the pieces held tragic or beautiful stories that got my imagination running and many had such beautiful use of light that I want to replicate in my own works. The order we viewed them in coincidentally seemed to tell a story that begins in the bloodshed of Rome and leads to the birth of Christianity and Catholicism. It was also interesting to learn of the Louvre’s original purpose as a fortress and to see the remnants of that purpose.

There was a bit of culture shock when I discovered that bills were often not separated. In fact, a waiter seemed calmly angry at us for daring to ask for our drinks to be separate tabs. Why does this happen? I don’t know. It makes about as much sense as the toilet, shower, and sink being in completely separate rooms here.

There was also a day where I went to Disneyland. As fun as it was, there’s not much I can say that connects the day to history or culture. The best I can say is that there seems to be a better effort for potable tap water over here than there is in the US. I can now say I drank water from a French DisneyLand bathroom sink, which I never thought I would say.

Also, a question. Does anyone else think the Comédie-Française has some of the most acrophobia inducing theater seating in the world? Like, so much could fall off at any given moment…