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psidrako3 · 2 months

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The Little Things: A chronological and vauge saga of my Europe trip.

Mario Kart Wii kart selection music over airport waiting.

When I started this idea.

Airplane pillow surplus

Star-shaped purple helium balloon that saw Iceland.

Outdoor boarding.

Iceland Chocolate.

Beef Jerky discarded.

Granola! oh shit it went everywhere.

Overstimulation from being awoken from a jetlagged nap.

Exotic clothes display cases.

A bronze statue featuring a bear, an inflatable ball, and man with a dog's head.

Brand soda bottle with cap designed to stay on the bottle.

Stage play Spirited Away.

Ea Nasir's Shitty copper.

Plush cat of the goddess Bastet.

Struggling in UK TSA.

Abandoned infrastructure ft C148's "The End".

Haunted by a Hyperfixation.

Really Cool Pharmacy Sign.

Sandwich Friend (Wasp)

Dog walking, but parkour dog.

Lock bridge.

Citywide prep for the Olympic Games, Giant logo on Eiffel Tower.

Only I was able to get through the transit gate.

Big Macaron.

Sections of wood paneling in repair.

Topiaries.

Held an outlet converter in place in a bad socket.

I legally didn't exist in a train.

Munich thunderstorm.

Devil's Foot.

Overstimulation at Hofbräuhaus.

Book of Mormon in our hotel room instead of a phone book.

Quaint German Countryside.

Decorative fountains for filling water bottles.

Me being right about us not being on the path to The tour entrance gates at Neuschwanstein Castle sare the same sounds as the entrance gates at my hometown ski mountain.

Salzburg Day Passes.

Why was the fountain fenced in? Water crimes.

Key man.

Public giant chessboard. [Forgot to take a photo when I was down there so here it is!]

That's a lot of change that people drop down there.

Steep slope Railcar.

Wierd lighting where a figure in a painting had a circle of shadow around his head, forming a halo.

A travel group wearing full black robes, on a hot day.

The crosswalk characters were in love!

Barcode Sticker not placed flat.

Pillar stuck in wall

"Maybe You're allergic to Austria." -Mom

Artificial creek water feature that lets you send ballpit balls floating to the bottom.

*Goes to watch choir performance.*

Dragon statue on funky roof between two larger buildings.

Ambushed by a Trick Fountain.

Stood inside a Cloud.

Air density science w/ a Coca-Cola bottle.

Couple of high-end cars with numbers 69 and 72 printed in gold.

Some form of interference turns a 3 hour train ride into something else.

Mom couldn't Escalator correctly.

Private seating on Train.

KitKat cereal.

Unofficial The Amazing Digital Circus plushies.

Duck Boutique.

City Tour tram decorated like a steam train.

Black Bagel Burger Bun (Say that 5 times fast).

Scale models of buildings in Prague, each with a ruined portion.

Sat around outside.

Choir Performance 2: String Instrument Boogaloo.

Elevator with a swinging door.

Mom getting so turned around by Google Maps we take a Taxi. (We have come to the conclusion that Mom's bad at Google Maps and we just had it good this whole time)

Choir 3 & Wellerman by The Longest Johns (At Beethoven's funeral Venue XD???)

Beethoven's grave.

Alto Clef Floral arrangement.

Finally rained again.

gm_[make joke later] (I'm not doing that it's the spiral parking lot)

Recalling important buildings from the trip.

Lack of bag storage foils day plans.

I was certain that I heard the sound of electricity flowing in our hotel room.

A very well dressed Rabbi.

Older sister being a suitcase clutz.

Overstimulation from the weight distribution of a double Decker Bus.

Shit. (Took Airline Bus without party.)

Burnt trees make mountains look fuzzy from the air.

Glitchy Iceland airplane advertisement roll.

#spirited away #miraculous ladybug #goku #tadc #garry's mod #gmod

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progressivejudaism · 5 years

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Amazing digital learning opportunity

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, the senior rabbi at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah - CBST in NYC (the LGBTQ+ Synagogue), is hosting a 30 minute series on the psalms 10:00-10:30 AM EST starting next week via zoom.

From next Monday, 3/16 through Thursday, 3/19, and from Monday, 3/23 through Thursday, 3/26, from 10-10:30 am, Rabbi Kleinbaum will lead a 30-minute study on a different psalm each day, starting with Psalm 1. Please have a translation with you. No Hebrew required. We'll end with a healing prayer. ZOOM INFORMATION Click the link below to join, or dial the number below if you're using a mobile: Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/513468144 Meeting ID: 513 468 144 One tap mobile: +16468769923,,513468144# US (New York time)

#rabbi #Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum #Rabbi Kleinbaum #CBST #congregation beit simcha torah #torah study #psalms #jewish study #jewish education #judaism #jewish

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rabbi-brian · 4 years

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PASSION FOR PASSOVER WEDNESDAY

PASSIONATE PASSAGE:

14 When the hour came, Yeshua reclined at table, and the emissaries (apostles) with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will never eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” - Luke 22:14-16 (TLV)

PASSIONATE PRINCIPLE:

What an amazing Passover we had as we stayed isolated in our homes but watched the Passover Seder digitally. It was an honor to teach as a rabbi the ancient, yet relevant teaching of the exodus from Egypt from a Messianic perspective. The miracles of our Messiah were first mirrored in the miracles of Moses. As a deliverer, Moses set the captives free, through the power of the blood of the lamb, and the outstretched arm of God to liberate Israel from their Egyptian bondage. Our Messiah, as the new Moses, became our deliverer to set the captives free by his own blood, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He became the outstretched Arm of the Lord, fulfilling Isaiah 53, and liberated us from spiritual bondage. The signs and wonders in Moses day was 3500 years ago, and the miraculous signs and wonders of our Messiah took place 2000 years ago. Here we are today looking back at both of these historic and biblical revelations of redemption, as we stay under the blood of the lamb in the midst of the plague known as the coronavirus (COVID-19). We haven’t celebrated a Passover like this since the original 10 plagues came down upon Egypt in the book of Exodus. We discovered last night Four Passover Principles:

1. The Purpose of Passover is REDEMPTION

2. The Plan of Passover is RESTORATION

3. The Process of Passover is REMEMBRANCE

4. The Provision of Passover is the REDEEMER

The commandment of keeping the Passover reminds us of where we have been, where we are, and where we’re going! We were slaves in Egypt, we are called to be servants of God, but our true destiny is to live as sons and daughters of the Most High God. We’ve been freed from SLAVERY, we have embraced SERVANTHOOD, but we must live in the revelation of SONSHIP. We are God’s people, and we refuse to live in fear or give it any power to destroy our faith. We take precaution, but we will not live in panic. This international crisis has forced true believers to rise up and be who we’ve always been called to be! So let’s not lose hope or give into the current threat of disaster, but trust in the Lord for his divine protection and provision. In Jeremiah 29:11, The Lord promises to give us a hope and a future, because He knows the thoughts He has concerning us. This encouraged us to also know his thoughts and to live out his plans and purposes the Daly application of the word of God. Let’s fulfill the “Great Commission,” go into all the world and preach the good news, as we become the hands and feet of our Messiah!

PASSIONATE PREPARATION:

1. We passionately live our lives as unleavened Matzah in celebration of the Lamb of God and the power of Messiah’s resurrection this Passion Week.

2. We passionately pray for the sufferings of Messiah to be the cure of this viral plague as we believe our God for protection and provision.

3. We passionately allow the Holy Spirit to help us shine Messiah’s light in our communities, nation, and world this holiday season.

#PassionatePreparation

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a-kosher-dunk · 5 years

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I have a lot of emotions about this week’s Torah portion, Behaalotecha, so here are some resources I’ve consulted which may be helpful to other people:

1. Alicia Jo Rabins - “Snow/Scorpions and Spiders”

This song imagines what Miriam experienced while exiled in the desert. It’s part of Rabins’s thesis on women in Torah and incorporates various midrashim about Miriam. You can hear Rabins talk more about her project and the traditional commentaries she consulted here.

2. Bad Jew Weekly - Radical Amazement, Spiritual Audacity and Holy Cravings

This podcast episode from Jenna Reback features a summary and in-depth discussion of the entire Torah portion. The irreverent humor may be off-putting for some people, but she does an incredible job of tying all the different elements of Behaalotecha together.

3. Chabad - Parshat Behaalotecha

The Chabad website includes a summary, some midrashim, and a list of themes for Behaalotecha. For once in the history of the internet, the comment section is also worth reading.

4. On the Other Hand - Ten Minutes of Torah

This weekly podcast from Rabbi Rick Jacobs offers discussion of each Torah portion. Here are the Behaalotecha episodes for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

5. Sefaria

You can read the full text of Behaalotecha plus commentary on Sefaria, a digital archive of Jewish texts.

6. YaeL (thesometimeswarrior) - “Bitter” and “A Servant of”

These two modern midrashim show the viewpoints of Miriam and Aaron, respectively, in the immediate aftermath of Behaalotecha. They’re short but very emotionally impactful.

#midrash #behaalotecha #torah #torah study #jewish podcasts #podcast recs #my posts

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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Ben Schwartz’s 10 Best Roles (So Far), Ranked | ScreenRant

Most people know Ben Schwartz for his hilarious and layered performance as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on Parks & Recreation. But he’s been doing comedy, especially improv, for years now. He currently voices Leo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and appears in Bojack Horseman as Rutabaga Rabitowitz. Right now, we’re all awaiting his first starring role in a big studio movie: Sonic the Hedgehog.

We won’t know enough to rate his performance as Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog until the film is (finally) released a few months from now. Until then, here are Ben Schwartz’s top ten roles, so far.

RELATED: BoJack Horseman's 10 Saddest Moments, Ranked

10 BB8 — Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Hardcore Star Wars fans might have looked this up by now, but for the rest of us who didn’t know, the initial work for BB8’s personality and conversations with the other characters was first acted out by Ben Schwartz. In initial run-throughs, he worked with actors like Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, responding to their lines in English, and then those lines were translated into the beeps and boops that make up BB8’s lines.

It took a lot of rounds of trying to get the sounds just right. Apparently, the initial try sounded too human. Schwartz has said he isn’t sure how much of his voice is in the movie and how much of BB8 was digitally created, but he will always be one of the people who helped create BB8’s persona.

9 Bill Hoyt — Undercovers (2010-2012)

This comedic take on undercover spies was created by J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims. It only lasted for 13 episodes, 2 of which didn’t even air until years after the first 11. It was canceled pretty quickly, before it was really given a chance to breathe, and Abrams has taken the blame for that, saying he was trying to do something light and frivolous when that’s simply not in his wheelhouse.

RELATED: Parks & Rec: 10 Episodes That Actually Tackled Deep Issues

Nevertheless, Schwartz is hilarious as the awkward computer nerd Bill Hoyt. Bill worships the leading male spy, Steven Bloom, and is so into the whole spy gimmick that he insists on using all the “lingo.” If you’ve ever wanted a comedic James Bond, this is the right show.

8 Milk Man - Jake & Amir (2009-2014)

There are several episodes of CollegeHumor’s web comedy show Jake & Amir that Ben Schwartz has guest-starred in over the years. His role as Milk Man (and doctor) in 2012 is probably his most iconic episode though. He comes in as a milkman who pours rotten milk all over Amir then helps him deliver a shoe. Schwartz does a lot of improv comedy and it really shines through in his Jake & Amir appearances.

Because Ben Schwartz kept making up his own hilarious character names in Jake & Amir, Redditors have actually created a Ben Schwartz Name Generator inspired by the insane combinations of phonemes he’d put together.

7 Josh Bath — The Earliest Show (2016)

In this miniseries, Ben Schwartz stars with Lauren Lapkus as two co-hosts of an early morning TV show. Guest stars on the show include comedians like Jake Johnson, Eugene Cordero, Reggie Watts, and Thomas Middleditch.

Josh Bath gets dumped live on air, and he and Samantha Newman (Lapkus) have to struggle through the rest of the show as he deals with the seven stages of grief. They hilariously harass, comfort, and are comforted by the guests that take a risk on this weird morning talk show. Schwartz is hilarious and heartfelt. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.

6 Rutabaga Rabitowitz — Bojack Horseman (2015-2017)

This fluffy bunny is not at all that he seems. Schwartz plays Rabitowitz, a scheming, sarcastic, and relentlessly cheerful agent on Bojack Horseman. The character has a romantic relationship with another agent, Princess Carolyn, who he then hurts by not divorcing his wife. He also has a tendency to steal roles for Princess Carolyn’s clients right out from under her nose, something which drives her crazy.

RELATED: The 10 Best Guest Stars from Bojack Horseman, Ranked

For people used to the high-pitched sing-song voice he’s done for other roles, Schwartz’s voice is almost unrecognizable here. But he brings so much life to this character that we’re glad the part didn’t go to someone else.

5 Clyde Oberholt — House of Lies (2012-2016)

Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell also star in this comedic take on a group of management consultants who get the job done, no matter the cost. Schwartz plays a consultant who specializes in marketing and spin. He is often cruel, jealous, and beyond arrogant. One of the only emotions he ever shows is anger, but he’s always down for a good time. He can read people like a book and uses their weaknesses against them.

Schwartz’s normally silly brand of comedy works surprisingly well with a darker spin. His presence pulls the show toward a helplessly darker while the rest of the characters largely pull him back from the dark side.

4 Leo — Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018—)

The new remake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was greeted with skepticism, but has been steadily getting better and better reviews as the shows continues. The show’s brighter colors accompany a lighter adaptation, something a bit more fun and humorous than previous versions.

Leonardo is normally the taskmaster of the turtles, but in this new take on the characters, Leo actually gets to have fun as a teenager. He still retains his leadership and analytical qualities, but he isn’t annoying or domineering. It’s that fun-loving spirit that Schwartz brings to the voice. He gives Leo the brevity he needs to be a fun teen once again.

3 Dewey Duck — DuckTales (2017-2019)

In this adaptation of DuckTales David Tennant stars as Scrooge McDuck and Ben Schwartz plays his grandnephew Dewey, the adventurous and funny triplet. He’s a classic middle child, always trying to stand out from the crowd, including starting his own internet talk show. As always, Schwartz brings depth to the role. We see hints of Dewey’s deep-seated fear that he’s just an ordinary duck. He is constantly trying to prove himself by throwing himself into dangerous situations.

RELATED: David Tennant's 10 Best Roles, Ranked

This role and Schwartz’s role as Leo (see previous) only rank as 3 and 4 on our list because so much of the hilarity of Ben Schwartz is the physicality he brings to his comedy. While these roles are great—and he deserves every leading role—the next to let us see the full spectrum of Schwartz’s comedic talents.

2 Rabbi Charles “Boner” Grodner — This is Where I Leave You (2014)

This movie is a powerhouse of comedic talent. Ben Schwartz plays Rabbi Charles Grodner, who was friends with Adam Driver’s character in high school and earned the nickname Boner, for obvious reasons. After the four Altman siblings moved away to start their lives, he stayed behind and became a rabbi. When he handles their father’s funeral, they struggle to take him seriously and he falls back to his old high school insecurities as he tries to earn their respect.

Even though he’s a side character, Schwartz does so much with the time he’s given. He has heart and brings so much warmth to a role that would have come off as pathetic in the wrong hands.

1 Jean-Ralphio Saperstein — Parks & Recreation (2010-2015)

This is the role Ben Schwartz is most recognized for, and deservedly so. Every time Jean-Ralphio appears on screen as Tom’s ridiculous, grossly sexual, and trouble-plagued friend the comedy soars to new heights. He is outlandish and ridiculous, but also has so much heart. Jean-Ralphio always thinks he’s killing it and never seems to realize that he is his own worst enemy. He’s basically a puppy, and no matter what terrible thing he does, it’s impossible to be mad at him. He’s maybe not the best friend anyone wants to have, but everyone needs a Jean-Ralphio in their corner to cheer for them and encourage them to let loose sometimes.

Schwartz appears in 21 episodes of the show and each one is a brilliant performance. In anyone’s hands, the character would be frustrating, but Schwartz makes him a memorable and amazing character.

NEXT: 10 Amy Poehler Quotes That Are Too Funny For Words

source https://screenrant.com/ben-schwartz-best-roles-ranked/

#screenrant

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imagineclaireandjamie · 6 years

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Hi 🙂 I really loved Truth or dare fic! Any chance for the new chapter soon?😃 Thank you! You guys are amazing!

Part Three:

Itonly took her a moment to reorient herself as the moisture in the air hoveredaround her calming her frayed nerves. Heat burned in her belly and her lipstingled, the pleasure radiating through her as she clutched her hands over herpounding heart.

“Yearena thinking of sleeping out here, are ye lass?” Jamie whispered as he cameup behind Claire, his hands itching to touch her but just loitering close toher back as she turned to face him. He could see, already, the lingering desirethat flashed behind her irises as she looked up at him shyly, but it was gonein an instant as she took one step backwards.

“How longhave you known?” She asked, tugging the imaginary veil from their terriblymasked pull towards one another.

“ThatI loved ye?” He answered in an instant. “Or that ye loved me back?”

Jamiequirked a brow as Claire held her breath, her lungs constricting painfully asshe tried to think back to a time when she hadn’t loved Jamie.

Clairehad never been one to succumb to her emotions, she’d always been level headed,smart and thoughtful but heavily ruled by logic and science. It’s what hadfirst attracted Jamie to Claire, but her rational side had always brushed asidelove and wanting as (sort of) human flaws. She’d never witnessed her parent’saffection for one another and therefore her own understanding of such intensefeeling didn’t register. Nonetheless, she had loved him – almost from themoment they met.

“Either?”She said, more of a question that a statement. “Both. Whichever, really. Ijust–“

“Dinnaken how to approach the situation? I kent that well enough from the way yeavoided any alone time wi’ me.”

“Ididn’t do that.” Claire exclaimed, shocked by how much the truth stung.

“Aye,lass, ye did. But I understood it.”

“Icouldn’t deal with it,” Claire whispered, her fingers inching upwards as herpalm tilted towards Jamie’s face, “how forceful it was, that immense feeling of…somethingotherworldly…pressing down on my chest every time I looked at you. I didn’tknow how to compartmentalise it and use it successfully. So, I ran from it.”

“Andnow?” Jamie asked, unwilling to push her but excited by the prospect of heropening up to him.

“Andnow we’re miles away from one another with intense careers. Jamie, I know whatI feel for you, I always have. That’s why Mary pushed for us to come here thisweekend. But I won’t derail my doctorate for it. Not now. I’ve come so far…”She trailed off sadly, a single digit of hers sliding effortlessly across Jamie’snewly shaved cheek.

“Idinna want that, Claire.” Jamie sighed, stepping closer and tentatively placinghis hands on Claire’s hips. “But I love ye, can’t we try? Ye have time off,days off. So do I. I could come to you on weekends, and ye could come here whenye have the time. We could make this work wi’out disrupting anything. Isn’t itworth it? To try.”

Hereyes burned with tears as she tried to pull herself away. But finding herselfunable, Claire collapsed into his arms instead.

Havinglost her parents to a car accident when she was only six, Claire had grown upin boarding schools, only leaving occasionally when her uncle came back fromhis archaeological digs. Mary had been her closest ally, more a sister than afriend, when her affluent family had dropped her off at the same school at theage of eleven and the two had been inseparable since. But that had been theonly love Claire had experience of, familial love, and she’d watched thehorrors of university dating all too closely to see relationships in a positivelight.

“Areyou telling me, James Fraser,” She replied quietly, running her nose along thecolumn of his throat as the earthy scent of him filled her senses, “that you’vecome home, run your father’s farm all this time and never met someone you wantto be with more than me?”

“Yer irreplaceable,Claire.” Jamie returned, bending his head down until his lips came level withhers. “And I kent from the moment I met ye that I wanted ye more than anythingelse in this world.”

Theystayed that way for a while, letting the cool breath of the other wash overthem as the brisk night encased them with Jamie’s heartfelt confession hangingin the air.

“Idid contemplate coming into the city to find ye plenty of times. I talked itthrough with Mary, too. But I wasna all to brave in the end, and then mamrelapsed…”

Helet his words trail off and Claire held him closer, her head tipping to theside so that he could nuzzle against her, his arms wrapping fully around herwaist now. Ellen had been diagnosed with breast cancer right at the end oftheir degrees and Jamie hadn’t hesitated, he’d come straight home to be withhis father and siblings. It wasn’t the first time she’d been sick and they’dall, Mary, Geiliis, Rupert, Angus and herself, hoped she didn’t succumb to thehorrid disease. After a year of intense chemotherapy and a mastectomy, Ellenhad finally been given the all clear only to fall fowl to pneumonia a fewmonths later. It had been a truly trying and terrifying time for Jamie. They’dlost his older brother, Willie, to meningitis at only twelve and he didn’t feelold enough to lose his mother – not yet anyway.

“Evenafter Rabbie plastered your room with post-it’s reading ‘YOLO’?” Claire joked,running her hands down Jamie’s back as they cradled one another close. Sighing,Claire placed a delicate kiss on Jamie’s exposed cheek before continuing. “Youare so brave, Jamie. One of the bravest people I know – in fact. You’ve lost abrother. You’ve taken care of you mother, run the farm almost singlehandedly sothat Rabbie could go off to university and Jenny could bring up her kids. It’s astounding,and I know your father is so proud of you.”

“Aye,but no’ so brave as to risk being rejected by you, Claire.”

“Howis your mum?” She asked bringing the conversation back into safe territory.

“Somuch better now. I’m sure she’d love to see ye before you leave, if you want tocome up to the big house?”

“Doesthat mean I get to avoid the walk of shame as I slink back into the cottage?”She quipped jokily. “After I told them I was going to bed I don’t think I canhandle their drunken foolishness when I waltz back in there -using the wrongdoor- and have to actually find my room again.”

Subtlewisps of tension filled the night as Jamie and Claire made their way from thewee cottage up to Lallybroch. They knew it was late, way too late for Ellen andBrian to still be awake, but the pretence of it kept them both moving in theright direction. Neither of them had returned to their friends to inform themof their plans, each knowing the group to be way too intoxicated now. Angus,Rupert and Geillis had been blotto, and Mary wasn’t far behind. Telling themwould have only incurred jibes and whoops of silliness followed by completeoblivion and Jamie and Claire were too lost in each other’s company and didn’tparticularly want to burst that bubble…yet.

“Whatdo we do now?” Claire whispered as they both snuck quietly into the big house.She wanted to laugh at the naivety of it all, but she knew if she started she’dnever stop as the remainder of alcohol slipped calmly through her veins.

“Can Ikiss ye again, Claire?” Jamie asked, his tone exposing his nerves as he pushedher gently against the hall walls.

Injust a moment his hands were resting either side of her head, his fingerstapping out an odd rhythm that Claire was certain she recognised. But the worldwas a blur. The subtle tang of Jamie’s breath wafted over her face as shetilted her chin upwards in silent answer to his question. Droplets of moisturehung -delicately balanced- along his auburn curls as they brushed against hercheeks.

“It’slate…” she found herself saying, the haze of their previous encounterenshrining her once more. “What if we get caught down here?”

“Icould take ye to my room, Claire,” Jamie replied, his body taking control ofhis mouth as he hovered dangerously close to her, “to sleep, aye?” He added asif to clarify the situation.

ButClaire knew that sleep was unlikely in their current heightened state and herheart beat out of sync for just a moment as she processed his words.

“Andthen what, Jamie?” She asked, her tongue slipping out to wet her lips as shespoke.

“Yecanna ask me that question, Claire. If it was up to me, I’d have marrit ye agesago. I can see ye, you know, here at Lallybroch wi’ me.” He whispered, his mouthplacing tender kisses along her bottom lip before moving in one, sleek motion,to just beneath her ear. “I can see our lives together,” he continued almostbreathlessly, “our bairns…”

Hadit been anybody else, Claire thought idly, mentioning marriage and childrenlike this, she’d have run a mile. But rather scarily, Jamie’s notions of theiralternate lives made her insides heat uncontrollably. Family wasn’t a conceptClaire knew much about, but she knew that it would never be hard with Jamie byher side.

“Jesus,”she moaned, her hands shaking inadvertently as she tried to pull him closer toher, “Jamie. You thought about that for us?”

“Cometo bed wi’ me,” he coaxed, pulling away from her only to take her hand andguide her away from the front door and into the moonlight-drenched lounge, “andI’ll tell you everything, Claire.”

#;Mod MBD #Truth or Dare AU #Truth or Dare #Jamie X Claire

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tpanan · 3 years

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My Sunday Daily Blessings

July 4, 2021

Be still quiet your heart and mind, the LORD is here, loving you talking to you..........

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Roman Rite Calendar) Lectionary 101, Cycle B

First Reading: Exodus 2:2-5

As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day.

Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD! And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 123: 1-2, 2, 3-4

"Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy."

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Brothers and sisters: That I, Paul, might not become too elated, because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.

Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Verse before the Gospel: Luke 4:18

Alleluia, Alleluia

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor."

Alleluia, Alleluia

Gospel: Mark 6: 1-6

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

**Meditation:

Are you critical towards others, especially those who may be close to you? The most severe critics are often people very familiar to us, a member of our family, a relative, or neighbor or co-worker we rub shoulders with on a regular basis. Jesus faced a severe testing when he returned to his home town, not simply as the carpenter's son, but now as a rabbi with disciples. It would have been customary for Jesus to go to the synagogue each week during the Sabbath, and when his turn came, to read from the scriptures during the Sabbath service. His hometown folks listened with rapt attention on this occasion because they had heard about the miracles he had performed in other towns. What sign would he do in his hometown?

Look upon your neighbor with the eyes of Christ who comes to heal and restore us Jesus startled his familiar audience with a seeming rebuke that no prophet or servant of God can receive honor among his own people. The people of Nazareth took offense at Jesus and refused to listen to what he had to say. They despised his preaching because he was a mere workman, a carpenter, and a layman who had no formal training by a scholar or teacher. They also despised him because of his undistinguished family background. How familiarity can breed contempt. Jesus could do no mighty works in their midst because they were closed-minded and unbelieving towards him. If people have come together to hate and to refuse to understand, then they will see no other point of view than their own and they will refuse to love and accept others. How do you treat those who seem disagreeable to you?

The word "gospel" literally means "good news". Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring freedom to the afflicted who suffered from physical, mental, or spiritual oppression (see Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus came to set people free - not only from their physical, mental, and spiritual infirmities - but also from the worst affliction of all - the tyranny of slavery to sin, Satan, and the fear of losing one's life. God's power alone can save us from hopelessness, dejection, and emptiness of life. The Gospel of salvation is "good news" for everyone who will receive it. Do you know the joy and freedom of the Gospel?

Lord Jesus, you are the fulfillment of all our hopes and desires. Your Spirit brings grace, truth, freedom, and abundant life. Set my heart on fire with your love and truth.

Sources:

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

**Meditations may be freely reprinted and translated into other languages for non-profit use only. Please cite copyright and original source.Copyright 2021 Daily Scripture Readings and Meditation, dailyscripture.net author Don Schwager

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twenty-nothing · 4 years

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OneHundredSeventy

Which form of public transport do you prefer? - Car

What do you typically have for breakfast? - I usually don’t have breakfast

What’s your least favourite word? - Moist lol

What did you want to be when you grew up? - It changed almost every year

Have you ever had a secret admirer? - Probably not

If you could ask your future self one question what would it be? - Did everything turn out good?

If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature what new animal would you create? - Shark and Elephant

What’s the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had? - I always have unusual conversations if I’m being myself

How long could you go without talking? - A day maybe

What’s your favourite accent? - British

Do you prefer green or red grapes? - Red

Do you prefer liquid soap or bars of soap? - Liquid soap

What’s your favourite saying? - “It’s a lot.”

What’s your most expensive piece of clothing? - I have a $30 cardigan lmao

What’s your favourite smell/scent? - Citrus

What was the last book you read? - I Survived.. The Titanic

If you could learn any language fluently what would it be? - French

What historical Figure would you love to see in 21st century life? - I’m not sure

Best compliment you have received? - I am smarter than I realize

What’s your perfect pizza? - extra sauce, pineapple, bacon and jalapenos

If you could be any age for a week, what age would that be? - 17

What question do you hate to answer? - “Find a boyfriend yet?”

What cheers you up? - Hanging with Lisa or Elaine, food, movies

If you had to be named after a Country, state or city, which name would you choose? - Tenessee

What is one thing you will never do again? - Let myself be treated like shit

What would your parents be surprised to learn about you? - I’m actually very selfish

What’s your most listened to song? - At the moment “Remember That Night”

If you were a performing artist, what would you title your first album? - Hope

What fictional character reminds you most of yourself? - Rizzoli maybe

Would you give up one of your fingers if it meant you’d have free wifi wherever you go, for the rest of your life? - No fucking way

If someone told you you could give one person a present and your budget was unlimited–what present would you get and for whom? - I would pay off my parents mortgage

What is your strongest sense? - Touch

What is the strangest thing you believed as a child? - I can’t really remember lol

What’s something that amazes you? - How people can treat others with absolutely no regard to their feelings

What’s one thing you’d rather pay someone to do than do yourself? - Cleaning

What are the top three qualities that draw you to someone new? - Humor, warmth, kindness

Do you believe ignorance is bliss? - Very much so

What is your earliest memory? - I remember the start of my depression in middle school due to incessant bullying

Whats your favourite animated or cartoon program? - Spongebob

Do you prefer straight or bendy straws? - Bendy

What’s your favourite type of Pie? - Pecan

What do you think the greatest invention has been? - TV

Who’s your favourite Comedian? - I have a few

Whats your favourite Movie quote? - I can’t pull one out of my head right now

What’s your favourite flower? - Lily

Which was the greatest Empire? - I don’t know what who comes up with these quesions

Do you like licorice? - Only the red kind

What’s your favourite letter of the Alphabet? - H

Do you prefer digital or analogue clocks? - Digital

If you were captain of a ship, what would you call it? - S.S Jabby Rabby after my dog

What would you say is your favourite album of all time? - No idea

#short #survey #random #courtneyhelene

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tadc-funfair-au · 4 months

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🌊{F-UNFAIR POMNI INFO}🌊

🎀{ABOUT HER CHARADESIGN}🎀

Her clothes are inspired by :

Tradditional poland clothes.

French lyonnais clothes.

🎀{ABOUT HER GENDER IDENTITY}🎀

transgender MtF (she/her) 🏳️‍⚧️

She's lesbian.

She decided to keep her bottom part.

🎀{ABOUT HER RELATIONS}🎀

Pomni is in couple with mimine an got 7 children with her

You may ship pomni with the casts or npcs if you want to.

EXEPT : (Caine/Fabel/Moon/Sun/Oggy) that are Mimine's family members !!

🎀{ABOUT HER ROLE IN THE FUNFAIR}🎀

She's an hopefull and inspiring person

She repairs the broken caravans and machines

she takes care of the archery range and is Very strong with shooting arrows

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psidrako3 · 2 months

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The Little Things: A chronological and vauge saga of my Europe trip.

Mario Kart Wii kart selection music over airport waiting.

When I started this idea.

Airplane pillow surplus

Star-shaped purple helium balloon that saw Iceland.

Outdoor boarding.

Iceland Chocolate.

Beef Jerky discarded.

Granola! oh shit it went everywhere.

Overstimulation from being awoken from a jetlagged nap.

Exotic clothes display cases.

A bronze statue featuring a bear, an inflatable ball, and man with a dog's head.

Brand soda bottle with cap designed to stay on the bottle.

Stage play Spirited Away.

Ea Nasir's Shitty copper.

Plush cat of the goddess Bastet.

Struggling in UK TSA.

Abandoned infrastructure ft C148's "The End".

Haunted by a Hyperfixation.

Really Cool Pharmacy Sign.

Sandwich Friend (Wasp)

Dog walking, but parkour dog.

Lock bridge.

Citywide prep for the Olympic Games, Giant logo on Eiffel Tower.

Only I was able to get through the transit gate.

Big Macaron.

Sections of wood paneling in repair.

Topiaries.

Held an outlet converter in place in a bad socket.

I legally didn't exist in a train.

Munich thunderstorm.

Devil's Foot.

Overstimulation at Hofbräuhaus.

Book of Mormon in our hotel room instead of a phone book.

Quaint German Countryside.

Decorative fountains for filling water bottles.

Me being right about us not being on the path to The tour entrance gates at Neuschwanstein Castle sare the same sounds as the entrance gates at my hometown ski mountain.

Salzburg Day Passes.

Why was the fountain fenced in? Water crimes.

Key man.

Public giant chessboard. [Forgot to take a photo when I was down there so here it is!]

That's a lot of change that people drop down there.

Steep slope Railcar.

Wierd lighting where a figure in a painting had a circle of shadow around his head, forming a halo.

A travel group wearing full black robes, on a hot day.

The crosswalk characters were in love!

Barcode Sticker not placed flat.

Pillar stuck in wall

"Maybe You're allergic to Austria." -Mom

Artificial creek water feature that lets you send ballpit balls floating to the bottom.

*Goes to watch choir performance.*

Dragon statue on funky roof between two larger buildings.

Ambushed by a Trick Fountain.

Stood inside a Cloud.

Air density science w/ a Coca-Cola bottle.

Couple of high-end cars with numbers 69 and 72 printed in gold.

Some form of interference turns a 3 hour train ride into something else.

Mom couldn't Escalator correctly.

Private seating on Train.

KitKat cereal.

Unofficial The Amazing Digital Circus plushies.

Duck Boutique.

City Tour tram decorated like a steam train.

Black Bagel Burger Bun (Say that 5 times fast).

Scale models of buildings in Prague, each with a ruined portion.

Sat around outside.

Choir Performance 2: String Instrument Boogaloo.

Elevator with a swinging door.

Mom getting so turned around by Google Maps we take a Taxi. (We have come to the conclusion that Mom's bad at Google Maps and we just had it good this whole time)

Choir 3 & Wellerman by The Longest Johns (At Beethoven's funeral Venue XD???)

Beethoven's grave.

Alto Clef Floral arrangement.

Finally rained again.

gm_[make joke later] (I'm not doing that it's the spiral parking lot)

Recalling important buildings from the trip.

Lack of bag storage foils day plans.

I was certain that I heard the sound of electricity flowing in our hotel room.

A very well dressed Rabbi.

Older sister being a suitcase clutz.

Overstimulation from the weight distribution of a double Decker Bus.

Shit. (Took Airline Bus without party.)

Burnt trees make mountains look fuzzy from the air.

Glitchy Iceland airplane advertisement roll.

#spirited away #miraculous ladybug #goku #tadc #garry's mod #gmod

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100percentdirtball · 7 years

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the delightful @possumpossumpossum asked me th’other day about my time at camp, and i just started writing to her, and in the end i’d written a fuckin’ novel, and i know some other folks have been curious, so... here’s this thing.

content mentions: csa, drug abuse, suicide, a whole lot of love

the camp is called camp grounded and there are eight rules: no digital technology of any kind; no telling time equipment or using time; no talking about work, including what it is that you do; no age talk, age doesn't matter; no drugs or alcohol, cigarettes are ok but only in like one little zone; no glow sticks or blinky lights; explicit consent is needed for any kind of physical contact; leave your name behind, use a new name of your choice until the closing ceremony. there were like 350ish ppl there, at this camp in the middle of fuckin nowhere in the redwoods.

it's been a really really huge part of my mom's life, and she billed it like it was going to be this whole big transformative thing for literally anyone, and i thought it sounded a little goofy, my attitude basically was like-- it'll be dope to not have to answer phone calls and see some trees for a couple days. right away tho like right away, it's just... well, once ppl start showing up, you get together with your village. everyone is in a particular village of 20-30 ppl, a little subgroup, if it's a tent village everyone pitches their tents in the same zone, cabin villages are all in the same cabins. i was in jackrabbit which was a tent village and so camp starts with a getting together with your new village and doing some like, silly icebreaker games but also like... pair off randomly by a silly method and make eye contact with your new partner and just like, get intimate for a minute. we talked about how we picked our camp names, what we wanted to get out of the weekend, and... idk, already i just was feeling really good about these ppl

on the bus ride up i was sitting with splash and sunshine who were from philly and we bonded a little bc i'd been there ever, and princess proton and lulu who knew each other from previous camps and this guy pickles was sitting next to me who was kind of a weird dude from colorado and it was his first camp also and after we talked a little it turned out he had gone to a rehab thing in this part of the country so we bonded over bein sober buds

the first jackrabbity ppeople i met were bee bee sting who gave me this AMAZING nametag thing to replace my very bad nametag and the counselor ladybug who like is basically a perfect human??? one of the things we did in the group thing was go over the rules, and talk about why those rules are the rules, and about setting a like intention, a what we hope ot get out of the weekend, and by this time i had been with camp folx for like six hours so i was starting to Feel It&tm and i said my intention was that like

what i do in my life is say no. and saying yes to everything is a ridiculous goal, but my intention was to say no deliberately instead of reflexively, to see if maybe there was a yes hidden in the no.

THIS WILL BE RELEVANT LATER

like, that's the thruline, like i am going to tell you more about camp, but... there were only like two or three times the whole weekend where someone offered connection or activity or whatever and i said no, and it wasn't actually even because of my resolution most of the time?? i said yes bc i felt safe and loved and accepted the whole time, the whole whole time.

like, i don't know that i can describe what it's like to be in a place where at any time, with any person, even a stranger you're passing on one of the trails, you make eye contact and you smile and you say hi and it's a real actual connection, even if it's just for a moment, it's a real being acknowledged as another human spirit, nothing rote or formality about it

it was so easy!@!!! i don't talk to people, like i don't do that, but i was standing in line to get breakfast and the guy in front of me was looking a little like he didn't have anyone to talk to and i didn't so i was just like, hey what's up? it was the last day of camp and i just asked him like, what's one thing you're going to take home with you? and we had like 20m of conversation, and we got into some real deep stuff. and it felt as easy as breathing. his name was sparkle.

i feel like i'm skipping from one place to the other, like there isn't a cohesive narrative here, and that's something i'm always wanted about, but i just don't know how to describe it, i don't know how to show you what it felt like so i just keep pulling little trinkets out of my bag and putting them next to the growing pile and hope if i pull out enough the shape will make sense

there was a talent show, and i think it speaks volumes about how open and inviting the community is that out of like 350 ppl 55 people signed up for the talent show, including a lot of ppl who had literally never been on a stage before. there were people who were, speaking from a critical standpoint, not super good at the thing they were doing, and also legit professional performers, and the crowd!!! responded in exactly the same way for each extreme!!!! and it didnt' feel forced at all

i found out after camp was being broken down that the talent show started at 9 pm, and went 'til almost 3am. it moved from one stage to a smaller stage, and i was like third from last, and still there were thirty or so people in the audience. i closed the stage out, i wanted to be there to the end. at first i was upset about going on so late but it was so perfect, the audience was in just the right place to receive me and i was in just the right place to tell a bummer fuckin story about my shitty granddad. two spots before me a woman named fulfilled got on stage and worked her way slowly and faltering through the story of forgiving her brother for molesting her and her family for covering it up, then a guy named happy feet who did a dance and stream of consciousness about, i don't know, maybe taking too much ecstasy and just wanting to stay high forever, and then me, and then an opera singer, and sprinkle lifestyle talking about his ex-best friend blaming him for her husband’s death, and then a man named rabbi doing a guided meditation about finding your perfect self and becoming it

i cried so much, i already cry a lot but i cried so much, and i cried in front of other people, and i didn't wipe my tears i just let them fall and let myself be red and smeary and blurry and people joined me

at the 90's themed dance they played a song one of my old friends who committed suicide used to play, and bee bee walked me away from camp and just held me and then took me to the typewriter village and i wrote him a letter and then i went back into the place and danced to nirvana

there was a tea spot, a yurt where there were tea tastings and people ended up falling over each other, and i met a woman named scoby and she said "can i put my head on your shoulder" and we watched scarecrow, real name john craigie, and then the set ended and we started walking and she curled her arm around mine and we took the long way and i said, "our eyes will adjust, thank god for the moon" and we sang rent and talked about how we ended up in kind of the same place but by different routes, how she was poly and working on not falling in love so easily, and how i was just starting to allow myself to want intimacy again, and we slept together in her tent all tangled up, we talked about how we really definitely wanted to fuck, but also really didn't want to do that and i looked for her in the morning but she had already left

i was saving the last picture on my disposable camera for a picture of her but she had gone so i took a picture of myself instead, i hadn't taken any of myself

i read tarot, i read for myself and i read for a bunch of other people, and there was a tarot workshop, and i did that and we sat together in a circle and passed decks around and i cried and cried and cried when i pulled the queen of cups. i've seen the queen of cups a lot of times in reading for myself and it's always been someone else, some external force, but in that moment it was me. i had brought my deck, and it was the first time anyone other than me had touched it, and i could feel the hum of the camp in the cardstock when i read for superman later in the day, and justice jumped out of the deck, and i sat with him and his wife danger and we puzzled over the cards and then i laughed and laughed and laughed because he chose to call himself superman and we couldn't figure out what justice was supposed to mean

in the hotel last night i cried for an hour, by myself, walking from the bathroom to collapse on the bed to shuffle back towards the taps, ,how can i leave all that behind? how can i be in the real world again? how can i go back to being closed off, go back to being jack instead of dizzy?

when rabbi walked us through a field holding fallen stars, each one of them a crystal-encased version of ourselves, a past or present or future that could be, and he asked us to find our perfect self, what i saw was how i looked in that moment, i saw the me at camp, the me who everyone says couldn't stop smiling, the me who speaks soft and true, who reads cards and holds hands and says yes instead of no and has a shoulder that looks like a good place for your cheek

#camp grounded #trash can of emotions #i just wanna fuckin live in the redwoods and throw my phone in the ocean

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hell0-there-lady · 8 years

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I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. Here's why I left.

I was a blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked five-year-old when I joined my family on the picket line for the first time. My mom made me leave my dolls in the minivan. I'd stand on a street corner in the heavy Kansas humidity, surrounded by a few dozen relatives, with my tiny fists clutching a sign that I couldn't read yet: "Gays are worthy of death." This was the beginning.

Our protests soon became a daily occurrence and an international phenomenon, and as a member of Westboro Baptist Church, I became a fixture on picket lines across the country. The end of my antigay picketing career and life as I knew it, came 20 years later, triggered in part by strangers on Twitter who showed me the power of engaging the other.

In my home, life was framed as an epic spiritual battle between good and evil. The good was my church and its members, and the evil was everyone else. My church's antics were such that we were constantly at odds with the world, and that reinforced our otherness on a daily basis. "Make a difference between the unclean and the clean," the verse says, and so we did. From baseball games to military funerals, we trekked across the country with neon protest signs in hand to tell others exactly how "unclean" they were and exactly why they were headed for damnation. This was the focus of our whole lives. This was the only way for me to do good in a world that sits in Satan's lap. And like the rest of my 10 siblings, I believed what I was taught with all my heart, and I pursued Westboro's agenda with a special sort of zeal.

In 2009, that zeal brought me to Twitter. Initially, the people I encountered on the platform were just as hostile as I expected. They were the digital version of the screaming hordes I'd been seeing at protests since I was a kid. But in the midst of that digital brawl, a strange pattern developed. Someone would arrive at my profile with the usual rage and scorn, I would respond with a custom mix of Bible verses, pop culture references and smiley faces. They would be understandably confused and caught off guard, but then a conversation would ensue. And it was civil — full of genuine curiosity on both sides. How had the other come to such outrageous conclusions about the world?

Sometimes the conversation even bled into real life. People I'd sparred with on Twitter would come out to the picket line to see me when I protested in their city. A man named David was one such person. He ran a blog called "Jewlicious," and after several months of heated but friendly arguments online, he came out to see me at a picket in New Orleans. He brought me a Middle Eastern dessert from Jerusalem, where he lives, and I brought him kosher chocolate and held a "God hates Jews" sign.

There was no confusion about our positions, but the line between friend and foe was becoming blurred. We'd started to see each other as human beings, and it changed the way we spoke to one another.

It took time, but eventually these conversations planted seeds of doubt in me. My friends on Twitter took the time to understand Westboro's doctrines, and in doing so, they were able to find inconsistencies I'd missed my entire life. Why did we advocate the death penalty for gays when Jesus said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?" How could we claim to love our neighbor while at the same time praying for God to destroy them? The truth is that the care shown to me by these strangers on the internet was itself a contradiction. It was growing evidence that people on the other side were not the demons I'd been led to believe.

These realizations were life-altering. Once I saw that we were not the ultimate arbiters of divine truth but flawed human beings, I couldn't pretend otherwise. I couldn't justify our actions — especially our cruel practice of protesting funerals and celebrating human tragedy. These shifts in my perspective contributed to a larger erosion of trust in my church, and eventually it made it impossible for me to stay.

In spite of overwhelming grief and terror, I left Westboro in 2012. In those days just after I left, the instinct to hide was almost paralyzing. I wanted to hide from the judgement of my family, who I knew would never speak to me again — people whose thoughts and opinions had meant everything to me. And I wanted to hide from the world I'd rejected for so long — people who had no reason at all to give me a second chance after a lifetime of antagonism. And yet, unbelievably, they did.

The world had access to my past because it was all over the internet — thousands of tweets and hundreds of interviews, everything from local TV news to "The Howard Stern Show" — but so many embraced me with open arms anyway. I wrote an apology for the harm I'd caused, but I also knew that an apology could never undo any of it. All I could do was try to build a new life and find a way somehow to repair some of the damage. People had every reason to doubt my sincerity, but most of them didn't. And — given my history, it was more than I could've hoped for — forgiveness and the benefit of the doubt. It still amazes me.

I spent my first year away from home adrift with my younger sister, who had chosen to leave with me. We walked into an abyss, but we were shocked to find the light and a way forward in the same communities we'd targeted for so long. David, my "Jewlicious" friend from Twitter, invited us to spend time among a Jewish community in Los Angeles. We slept on couches in the home of a Hasidic rabbi and his wife and their four kids — the same rabbi that I'd protested three years earlier with a sign that said, "Your rabbi is a whore." We spent long hours talking about theology and Judaism and life while we washed dishes in their kosher kitchen and chopped vegetables for dinner. They treated us like family. They held nothing against us, and again I was astonished.

That period was full of turmoil, but one part I've returned to often is a surprising realization I had during that time — that it was a relief and a privilege to let go of the harsh judgments that instinctively ran through my mind about nearly every person I saw. I realized that now I needed to learn. I needed to listen.

This has been at the front of my mind lately, because I can't help but see in our public discourse so many of the same destructive impulses that ruled my former church. We celebrate tolerance and diversity more than at any other time in memory, and still we grow more and more divided. We want good things — justice, equality, freedom, dignity, prosperity — but the path we've chosen looks so much like the one I walked away from four years ago. We've broken the world into us and them, only emerging from our bunkers long enough to lob rhetorical grenades at the other camp. We write off half the country as out-of-touch liberal elites or racist misogynist bullies. No nuance, no complexity, no humanity. Even when someone does call for empathy and understanding for the other side, the conversation nearly always devolves into a debate about who deserves more empathy. And just as I learned to do, we routinely refuse to acknowledge the flaws in our positions or the merits in our opponent's. Compromise is anathema. We even target people on our own side when they dare to question the party line. This path has brought us cruel, sniping, deepening polarization, and even outbreaks of violence. I remember this path. It will not take us where we want to go.

What gives me hope is that we can do something about this. The good news is that it's simple, and the bad news is that it's hard. We have to talk and listen to people we disagree with. It's hard because we often can't fathom how the other side came to their positions. It's hard because righteous indignation, that sense of certainty that ours is the right side, is so seductive. It's hard because it means extending empathy and compassion to people who show us hostility and contempt. The impulse to respond in kind is so tempting, but that isn't who we want to be. We can resist. And I will always be inspired to do so by those people I encountered on Twitter, apparent enemies who became my beloved friends. And in the case of one particularly understanding and generous guy, my husband. There was nothing special about the way I responded to him. What was special was their approach. I thought about it a lot over the past few years and I found four things they did differently that made real conversation possible. These four steps were small but powerful, and I do everything I can to employ them in difficult conversations today.

The first is don't assume bad intent. My friends on Twitter realized that even when my words were aggressive and offensive, I sincerely believed I was doing the right thing. Assuming ill motives almost instantly cuts us off from truly understanding why someone does and believes as they do. We forget that they're a human being with a lifetime of experience that shaped their mind, and we get stuck on that first wave of anger, and the conversation has a very hard time ever moving beyond it. But when we assume good or neutral intent, we give our minds a much stronger framework for dialogue.

The second is ask questions. When we engage people across ideological divides, asking questions helps us map the disconnect between our differing points of view. That's important because we can't present effective arguments if we don't understand where the other side is actually coming from and because it gives them an opportunity to point out flaws in our positions. But asking questions serves another purpose; it signals to someone that they're being heard. When my friends on Twitter stopped accusing and started asking questions, I almost automatically mirrored them. Their questions gave me room to speak, but they also gave me permission to ask them questions and to truly hear their responses. It fundamentally changed the dynamic of our conversation.

The third is stay calm. This takes practice and patience, but it's powerful. At Westboro, I learned not to care how my manner of speaking affected others. I thought my rightness justified my rudeness — harsh tones, raised voices, insults, interruptions — but that strategy is ultimately counterproductive. Dialing up the volume and the snark is natural in stressful situations, but it tends to bring the conversation to an unsatisfactory, explosive end. When my husband was still just an anonymous Twitter acquaintance, our discussions frequently became hard and pointed, but we always refused to escalate. Instead, he would change the subject. He would tell a joke or recommend a book or gently excuse himself from the conversation. We knew the discussion wasn't over, just paused for a time to bring us back to an even keel. People often lament that digital communication makes us less civil, but this is one advantage that online conversations have over in-person ones. We have a buffer of time and space between us and the people whose ideas we find so frustrating. We can use that buffer. Instead of lashing out, we can pause, breathe, change the subject or walk away, and then come back to it when we're ready.

And finally ... make the argument. This might seem obvious, but one side effect of having strong beliefs is that we sometimes assume that the value of our position is or should be obvious and self-evident, that we shouldn't have to defend our positions because they're so clearly right and good that if someone doesn't get it, it's their problem — that it's not my job to educate them. But if it were that simple, we would all see things the same way. As kind as my friends on Twitter were, if they hadn't actually made their arguments, it would've been so much harder for me to see the world in a different way. We are all a product of our upbringing, and our beliefs reflect our experiences. We can't expect others to spontaneously change their own minds. If we want change, we have to make the case for it.

My friends on Twitter didn't abandon their beliefs or their principles — only their scorn. They channeled their infinitely justifiable offense and came to me with pointed questions tempered with kindness and humor. They approached me as a human being, and that was more transformative than two full decades of outrage, disdain and violence. I know that some might not have the time or the energy or the patience for extensive engagement, but as difficult as it can be, reaching out to someone we disagree with is an option that is available to all of us. And I sincerely believe that we can do hard things, not just for them but for us and our future. Escalating disgust and intractable conflict are not what we want for ourselves, or our country or our next generation.

My mom said something to me a few weeks before I left Westboro, when I was desperately hoping there was a way I could stay with my family. People I have loved with every pulse of my heart since even before I was that chubby-cheeked five-year-old, standing on a picket line holding a sign I couldn't read. She said, "You're just a human being, my dear, sweet child." She was asking me to be humble — not to question but to trust God and my elders. But to me, she was missing the bigger picture — that we're all just human beings. That we should be guided by that most basic fact, and approach one another with generosity and compassion.

Each one of us contributes to the communities and the cultures and the societies that we make up. The end of this spiral of rage and blame begins with one person who refuses to indulge these destructive, seductive impulses. We just have to decide that it's going to start with us. Source (video)

#Ted Talks #westboro #westboro baptist church #megan phelps-roper #video

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caseyveres · 5 years

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I saw the commercial did you? It was amazing and I started to do some research and I found this...

I saw the commercial did you? It was amazing and I started to do some research and I found this website. It is so sweet!

From Google’s “Loretta” Super Bowl Commercial to Immortality

The emergence of voice computing interfaces represents the biggest technological disruption since the smartphone. Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are becoming the new universal remotes to reality, upending multibillion-dollar business models in Silicon Valley and beyond. Today, though, most of what people do with voice devices is fairly prosaic—setting timers, playing music, and asking basic factual questions.

In the future, however, one of the most dramatic applications of voice technology will be to enable what’s known as “virtual immortality”—the creation of digital replicas that live on after the real people who inspired them have died. Early signs of this future have already started to show up. The new Google Super Bowl ad, “Loretta,” showcases the company’s search technology as it has never been used before: As a tool to help us remember facts about loved ones who have passed away.

The tech company HereAfter, meanwhile, uses conversational technology to help people to save and interactively share their life stories. Not surprisingly, the company’s founder has an interesting take on the “Loretta” ad, which you can read here. Other projects have begun exploring artificial immortality as well. Consider a groundbreaking effort called New Dimensions in Testimony. A joint effort by the Institute for Creative Technologies and the USC Shoah Foundation, the project aims to memorialize Holocaust survivors.

In 1943 the Nazis captured a ten-year-old boy named Pinchas Gutter and his family and imprisoned them in concentration camps. Gutter’s sister and parents were killed in the gas chambers before he could even say goodbye. He would go on to be beaten, shuttled between different labor camps, and put on a death march before finally being freed by the Red Army in 1945. Gutter, now in his eighties, has devoted himself to sharing these horrors, giving talks and answering questions. But like all of the remaining Holocaust survivors, Gutter will not be around much longer to do so. Testimonies like his have, of course, been captured in print, audio, and film. But telling a story in person has unique power. As Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, once explained, “There’s nothing like the human witness who can look you in the eye and say, ‘Look, this is what happened to my husband. This is what happened to my children. This is what happened to my grandparents.’”

Targeting the immediacy of in-person storytelling, the New Dimensions team interviewed Gutter and more than a dozen other Holocaust survivors, asking them hundreds of questions apiece in multiday sessions. The interviews took place on a soundstage inside of what looked like a giant geodesic dome. Mounted on the inside of the dome were thousands of tiny LED lights and thirty cameras recording the survivors from every angle. Using visual-effects technologies that were originally developed for military training simulators and movies such as Avatar, the project’s scientists transformed these recordings into movie clips, which, when projected onto a special screen, appear to be three- dimensional. As holographic display techniques continue to improve, the scientists will be able to create even more lifelike holograms. They could project Gutter or another survivor into any room, illuminate him as if by the ambient lighting of that space, and allow people to walk around him. Paul Debevec, a professor of computer science at USC, says that the goal is to make it “seem like they are sitting in the same room as the audience.”

ICT’s conversational-AI experts, in turn, created a natural-language system to interpret what people were asking about and retrieve an appropriate answer in the digital version of the survivor’s brain. Those answers might be short but often are many minutes long. The system is currently being displayed in museums around the United States. David Traum, an ICT computer scientist, says he believes that interactive preservations of the dead will become widespread in the future. If the price of the technology comes down enough, ordinary people may keep versions of their late relatives around.

Fritzie Fritzshall, another Holocaust survivor who participated in the New Dimensions project, is a believer in the technology. Most of Fritzshall’s family perished in concentration camps, forever silencing their voices. Fritzshall, too, will die before long, and she says she is glad that her digital double will continue to share her narrative. “I have passed it on to my twin, so to speak,” Fritzshall told a journalist. “When I’m no longer here, she can answer for what’s asked of me. She will carry on the story forever.” Click on Google’s Loretta commercial to check out these guys!

source https://himpoks.blogspot.com/2020/02/i-saw-commercial-did-you-it-was-amazing.html source https://lovebakerscookie.tumblr.com/post/190614625529

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tpanan · 4 years

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My Sunday Daily Blessings

January 31, 2021

Be still quiet your heart and mind, the LORD is here, loving you talking to you...........

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 71, Cycle B

First Reading: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20

Moses spoke to all the people, saying: “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him. Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.’”

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 7-9

"If today you hear his voice, Harden not your hearts."

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35

Brothers and sisters: I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided.

An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

Verse before the Gospel: Matthew 4:16

R. Alleluia, Alleluia.

"The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light; on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen."

R. Alleluia, Alleluia.

**Gospel: Mark 1: 21-28

Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority.

He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

*Meditation:

Do you believe that God's word has power to set you free and to transform your life? When Jesus taught he spoke with authority. He spoke the word of God as no one had spoken it before. When the Rabbis taught they supported their statements with quotes from other authorities. The prophets spoke with delegated authority - "Thus says the Lord." When Jesus spoke he needed no authorities to back his statements. He was authority incarnate - the Word of God made flesh. When he spoke, God spoke. When he commanded even the demons obeyed.

Faith works through love and abounds in hope Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) remarked that "faith is mighty, but without love it profits nothing. The devils confessed Christ, but lacking charity it availed nothing. They said, 'What have we to do with you' (Mark 1:24)? They confessed a sort of faith, but without love. Hence they were devils."

Faith is powerful, but without love it profits nothing (1 Corinthians 13). Scripture tells us that true faith works through love (Galatians 5:6) and abounds in hope (Romans 15:13). Our faith is made perfect in love because love orients us to the supreme good which is God himself as well as the good of our neighbor who is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26,27).

Hope anchors our faith in the promises of God and purifies our desires for the things which will last for eternity. That is why the word of Christ has power to set us free from all that would keep us bound up in sin, deception, and despair. Bede the venerable abbot of an English monastery (672-735) contrasted the power and authority of Jesus' word with the word of the devil: "The devil, because he had deceived Eve with his tongue, is punished by the tongue, that he might not speak" [Homilies on the Gospels 1.8].

Faith must be nourished with the Word of God Faith is both a free gift of God and the free assent of our will to the whole truth that God has revealed. To live, grow, and persevere in the faith to the end, we must nourish it with the word of God. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds that we may grow in his truth and in the knowledge of his great love for each of us. If we approach God's word with trust and submission, and with an eagerness to do what the Lord desires for us, then we are in a much better position to learn what God wants to teach us through his word. Are you eager to be taught by the Lord and to conform your mind, heart, attitude, and intentions according to his word of truth, goodness, and love?

Lord Jesus, your word is power and life. May I never doubt your love and mercy, and the power of your word that sets us free, and brings healing and restoration to body, mind, heart, and spirit.

Sources:

**Meditations may be freely reprinted and translated into other languages for non-profit use only. Please cite copyright and original source at dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org

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