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dmndmyth · 3 years ago

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⧼ stana katic, cis female, she/her / this is me trying by taylor swift + dried flower petals littered everywhere, stacks of books beside a too neat bed and the wind blowing her hair, pulling it from the crasp of a broken clip. ⧽ ━━ hey, isn’t that ROLANDA HOOCH? i read a daily prophet article on them, once ; the FORTY FIVE year old [ half blood ] WITCH is a [ RAVENCLAW alumnus who has gone on to be a HOGWARTS QUIDDITCH COACH AND PROFESSIONAL QUIDDITCH COMMENTATOR]. i’ve heard they can be quite COMPASSIONATE & INTUITIVE , but i don’t know… they came off very EVASIVE & ARGUMENTATIVE in that interview. it really is hard to know what to believe these days though, isn’t it?

tw: death, murder, war

Imagine a little cottage by the sea. The sound of the waves there to ease one to sleep and to gently rouse them to wakefulness. The best that England had to offer. That’s what Rolanda Hooch’s parents used to tell her as they would sit out on the deck eating their dinner, little Ro’s legs crossed underneath as she nestled happily in between her mums. Mama was her biological mother and a powerful witch at that with Mum being a woman that Mama had met surely after Rolanda’s birth and the subsequent leaving of her father. Mum was a muggle who got broiled up into the world of magic and children and took it like a camp. That’s how Mama used to talk about it.

Ro’s childhood was as idyllic as one could be. Surrounded by blue skies and plenty of books with parents that loved her. It seemed like nothing could go wrong. Even once she hit Hogwarts and had to figure out what homesickness was and how to deal with it or through all the trials and tribulations that all teenagers go through, she was good. Ravenclaw had become another home and she became the seeker for Ravenclaw at just thirteen. To this day, Ro says that was one of her best achievements. It wasn’t until the later years of Hogwarts where the world that was so bright and colourful slowly started to turn grey and dark and the places that once held wonder now held fear.

Upon graduation, Rolanda was offered a spot with the Holyhead Harpies. Their seeker was about to retire and little Ro (not that she was little anymore) had a reputation. With rumours of Voldemort and his army becoming more than just whispers, she was determined to enjoy something and so she grasped that chance with two hands. It was also upon graduation that like many others in her year, she joined the Order. This was done without the knowledge of either one of her mothers. She knew how they would react and everyone was so certain that those who didn’t know anything would be space. Sometimes, she wished she also knew nothing but she did and her position on the team gave her a unique chance to travel and scout that most did not have. She never did much actual fighting.

She wishes she had. After all, her lack of fighting or time at home didn’t save Mama and Mum. She was twenty years old and was so excited to be home after a long season. It was supposed to be a surprise. Turns out, she was the one in for a surprise. The dark mark was visible before she had even walked down the lane.

Her memories of that night are spotty. Even now. She knew that there was someone holding her. Someone from The Order, many someone’s maybe. She knew that there was crying and that there was ash, because it had stuck to her tears and gotten in her eyes. Her home was gone and for no reason at all then her Mama was with a muggle. Senseless. That’s what it was.

Time became a blur after that. The next year was different homes and another season that pretended that the world wasn’t about to fall apart. Perhaps that was the right thing to do because before it could, Lily and James Potter died and little Harry Potter killed Lord Voldemort. She was twenty-one, yet like everyone else her age, she felt twice that.

As the world recovered, she endeavored to do the same and gave everything to Quidditch, grasping for the joy that the First had just about taken from her. She was Seeker for the Holyhead Harpies for another nine years. In that time, she found love, a wonderful man by the name of William Picard. He was a wizard from America. He was so kind and so good and at twenty-nine when she gave birth to his child, a beautiful boy by the time of Adam, it finally felt like she had grasped onto life again.

Only a few months after he was born, at her first game back after maternity leave, a particularly nasty bludger knocked her off her broom. It should have been an easy fix but even magic couldn’t fix the damage it had done to her hip. It wasn’t that she’d never fly again, it was that playing at a professional level had fallen from her grasp. She was newly thirty years old and sometimes still that hip causes her pain. It was okay though, because she had William and Adam and she would find something else. Right?

And find something she did. Six months after the injury, Albus Dumbledore contacted her. Hogwarts was in need of a Quidditch Coach and he thought she would be perfect for the job. Turns out he was right. Her days were spent at Hogwarts before she would head to Hogsmeade and apparate home.. Somedays Adam would come in with her and others William would have him. It wasn’t necessarily easy to figure out, but they made it work. Somewhere amongst all of that Ro also began to commentate for the British and Irish Quidditch league. Things were good.

And then in 2012, Voldemort came back. There isn’t much to say about the three years following, other than that Ro felt like she was twenty years old again, scared for her family and trying to pretend at work that things were okay. In January of 2014 however, doing so became much harder. She had eagerly left Hogwarts that day, desperate to be out of the dark and fearful place it had become. That day however, she apparated to a painfully familiar sight. The dark hovering over her home. William and Adam, only ten years old, were inside. It happened again. She had wanted nothing more then to run then, but instead she had simply gone back to Hogwarts and sent a Patronus to a member of The Order. Students needed her.

Then May Fourteenth happened and once again the world had to rebuild. She threw herself into it, desperate to continue to ignore what had happened, what she had lost. Stopping was out of the question because if she did so, she was certain she would unravel. And unravel she did when it all finally caught up to her. After all, she was now a widow (even if they had never officially gotten married) and a mother without a child. Who came back from such a thing?

It’s been six years now and sometimes she almost feels like the woman before the Second War. After all, she works at Hogwarts again (but now she lives there) and still travels occasionally to commentate (but now there is no one to send letters too). Even so, she knows that to be false. Especially now as history seems to be on the brink of repeating itself. Well, at least she has no family to get killed this time.

---

if you read all of that i’m very proud! i certainly did get a little carried away there. either way, i would love to plot and am open to most things! i hope you like her, she’s a new character for me so i’m very much still figuring her out!

#murder tw #death tw #war tw #rolanda | history #this gif is just too cute

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tawakkull · 4 years ago

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Forgiveness and Tolerance in Islam: Islam - a religion of tolerance

Islam is a word derived from the root words silm and salamah. It means surrendering, guiding to peace and contentment, and establishing security and accord.

Islam is a religion of security, safety, and peace. These principles permeate the lives of Muslims. When Muslims stand to pray, they cut their connection with this world, turning to their Lord in faith and obedience, and standing at attention in His presence. Completing the prayer, as if they were returning back to life, they greet those on their right and left by wishing peace: “Remain safe and in peace.” With a wish for safety and security, peace and contentment, they return to the ordinary world once again.

Greeting and wishing safety and security for others is considered one of the most beneficial acts in Islam. When asked which act in Islam is the most beneficial, the Prophet replied,

“Feeding others and greeting those you know and those you do not know.”[ Abu Dawud, Adab, 142. ]

Accusing Islam of terrorism

How unfortunate it is that Islam, which is based on this understanding and spirit, is shown by some circles to be synonymous with terrorism.

This is a great historical mistake; wrapping a system based on safety and trust in a veil of terrorism just shows that the spirit of Islam remains unknown. If one were to seek the true face of Islam in its own sources, history, and true representatives, then one would discover that it contains no harshness, cruelty, or fanaticism. They spent their lives preaching tolerance, and each became a legend in his own time as an embodiment of love and tolerance.

Jihad can be a matter of selfdefense or of removing obstacles between God and human free choice. Our history is full of examples that show how this principle has been implemented in life.

Of course there are and should be occasions where war is unavoidable. However, the Qur'anic verses on jihad that were revealed for particular conditions have been generalized by some shortsighted individuals. Whereas in actual fact war is a matter of secondary importance, it has been given priority as an essential issue by these people. Such people do not understand the true meaning and spirit of Islam. Their failure to establish a proper balance between what is primary and what is secondary leads others to conclude that Islam advocates malice and hatred in the soul, whereas true Muslims are full of love and affection for all creation. Regarding this, how apt is the following couplet:

Muhammad was born out of love,

What can be born out of love without Muhammad?

Love is the essence of creation

The Pride of Humanity was a man of love and affection. One of his names was Habibullah (the Beloved of God). In addition to meaning one who loves, habib means one who is loved, one who loves God, and one who is loved by God. Sufi masters like Imam Rabbani, Mawlana Khalid, and Shah Waliyyullah state that love is the ultimate station of the spiritual journey.

God created the universe as a manifestation of His love for His creatures, in particular humanity, and Islam became the fabric woven out of this love. Love is the essence of creation. Just as a mother’s love and compassion compels her to allow a surgeon to operate on her sick child to save his or her life, jihad allows war, if needed, to preserve such fundamental human rights as the right to life and religious freedom. Jihad does not exclusively mean war.

“Disliking on the way of God” applies only to feelings, thoughts, and attributes. Thus, we should dislike such things as immorality, unbelief, and polytheism, not the people who engage in such activities. God created humanity as noble beings, and everyone, to a certain degree, has a share in this nobility. His Messenger once stood up out of respect for humanity as the funeral procession of a Jew passed by. When reminded that the deceased was a Jew, the Prophet replied: “But he is a human,” thereby showing the value Islam gives to human.

This action demonstrates how highly our Prophet respected every person. Given this, the involvement of some selfproclaimed Muslim individuals or institutions in terrorist activities can in no way be approved of by Islam. The reasons for this terrorism should be sought for in the actions themselves, in false interpretations of the faith, and in other factors and motives. Islam does not support terror, so how could a Muslim who truly understands Islam be a terrorist?

The definition of tolerance in Islam is such that the Prophet even prohibited verbal abuse of unbelievers.

For example, Abu Jahl died before embracing Islam, despite all the Prophet’s efforts. His unbelief and enmity toward the Prophet was such that he deserved the Abu Jahl: Father of ignorance and impudence. His untiring opposition to Islam was a thorn in the side of the Muslims.

Despite such hostility, when in an assembly of Companions where Abu Jahl’s son Ikrimah was present, the Prophet one day admonished a Companion who had been heard insulting Abu Jahl:

“Do not hurt others by criticizing their fathers.”[ Hakim, al-Mustadrak, 3:241; Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal, 13:540. ] Another time, he said: “Cursing your mother and father is a great sin.” The Companions asked: “O Messenger of God, would anyone curse their parents?”

The Prince of Prophets replied: “When someone curses another’s father and the other curses his father in return, or when someone curses another’s mother and the other does the same in return, they will have cursed their parents.”[ Muslim, Iman, 145; Tirmidhi, Birr, 4. ]

While the Prophet of Mercy was inordinately sensitive when it came to respecting others, some Muslims today justify unpleasant behavior on the basis of religion. This shows that they do not understand Islam, a religion in which there is no place for malice and hatred.

The Qur'an strongly urges forgiveness and tolerance. In one verse, it says of pious people:

They swallow their anger and forgive people. God loves those who do good. (Al-Imran 3:134)

In other words, Muslims should not retaliate when verbally abused or attacked. If possible, as Yunus says, they should act as if they had no hand or tongue with which to respond and no heart with which to resent. They must swallow their anger and close their eyes to the faults of others. The words selected in the verse are very meaningful. Kazm, translated as swallowing, literally means swallowing something like a thorn, an object that actually cannot be swallowed; thus it denotes swallowing one’s wrath, no matter how difficult. Another verse, while mentioning the characteristics of believers, says:

When they meet hollow words or unseemly behavior, they pass them by with dignity. (Al-Furqan 25:72)

When we look at the exalted life of God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, we see that he always practiced the precepts presented in the Qur'an. For example, a Companion once repented of a sin and admitted:

“I am guilty of fornication. Whatever my punishment is, give it and cleanse me.” The Prince of Prophets said: “Go back and repent, for God forgives all sins.”[ Muslim, Hudud, 17, 23; Bukhari, Hudud, 28. ]

This event was repeated three times. Another time, a Companion complained to the Prophet that someone had stolen his belongings. But as the punishment was about to be carried out the Companion said:

“I have changed my mind and do not want to pursue my case. I forgive this individual.” The Prophet asked: “Why did you bring this matter to court? Why didn’t you forgive him from the outset?”[ Abu Dawud, Hudud, 14(4394); Nasai, Sarik, 4 (8, 68); Muwatta, Hudud, 28, (2, 834). ]

When such examples are studied from their original sources, it is clear that the method of those who act with enmity and hatred, who view everyone else with anger, and who blacken others as infidels is non-Islamic, for Islam is a religion of love and tolerance. A Muslim is a person of love and affection who avoids every kind of terrorist activity and who has no malice or hatred for anyone or anything.

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cryoculus · 5 years ago

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Lunaris [6/11]

!! HEADS UP !! Trigger warnings for graphic depictions of gore in this chapter are put up as well, albeit minimal.

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Chapter Title: Interlude Pairing: Yokai!Akaashi Keiji/Reader Word Count: 2,132

***

The first thing that registered in your mind when you opened your eyes was that you were dreaming.

You were back in the cemetery uphill, wearing your mother's same, old cherry blossom kimono. When you tried glancing at the view of the city that you usually saw this high up, darkness that stretched on for miles greeted your vision instead. It was like the cemetery was the only place that existed in your dreamscape.

Instinctively, your eyes flickered to the vague direction where you remembered your parents' graves have been marked. But instead of seeing the worn tombstones you've regularly been visiting, you saw Akaashi's familiar, demonic form in its place. Suddenly, you weren't in the cemetery anymore, but in the forbidden forest where you first found him.

Dead trees loomed over the two of you much more menacing than they had been alive. Instead of the blood you've witnessed firsthand, the wilted leaves pooled around the clearing. Despite the significant changes in the scenery, it was like the scene replayed the same way. When Akaashi turned around to affix you with his chilling, ruby-eyed stare, he still seemed to be feasting on something in his hands.

But this time it wasn't an unidentifiable carcass.

It was a very human-looking forearm, lopped off at the elbow. Your heart surged in your chest, and you could feel your blood running cold beneath your skin when you caught sight of the familiar bell charm that enclosed the slack wrist. You were too petrified to take a look at the sleeve of your kimono, but at the corner of your eye, you could see the crimson fabric becoming dyed into a darker shade from the spot where you feared your arm must have been missing.

Akaashi darted out his tongue as he licked a single drop of blood that trickled from a cut on your fingers. The bell chimed from the abrupt motion, and the sound rang so loudly in your ears, you winced.

"Foolish, foolish, little human," Akaashi whispered in your ear, and you barely had time to wonder how he appeared behind you so abruptly.

Because the moment you opened your mouth, blood spilled from your lips as you felt him plunge a hand through your chest.

***

"Fujimoto-san, what are you doing?!"

"She's been blighted! This is the only way to purge the negative energy that's infested her body!"

A crash. Shuffling footsteps. Rage. "You will not exorcise my granddaughter because she is not possessed."

"Amatsuki-sama—"

"Please remove yourself from my home immediately." A pause. A shaky breath. "We'll discuss this come morning."

You knew better than to announce that you were awake when you regained consciousness. The dream you had just now threw your mind into a haze. But the familiar feeling of lying on a futon with a soft pillow beneath your head, and the warmth of your grandmother's hands as she gently caressed your arm—still, thankfully, attached to the rest of your body—drastically helped in anchoring you back to reality. When you were sure that Fujimoto, who must have been in the same room, has left, you fluttered your eyes open; squinting slightly at the harsh light that razed your vision.

Your grandmother looked more disheveled than you've ever seen her. The lines of worry were etched onto her aged skin, as she stared vacantly at the tatami in contemplation. But when you managed to call out, "oba-san," weakly, her gaze snapped your way in a split second.

"Thank the gods," she whispered, sounding too relieved for comfort as she felt for your temperature. "Your fever still hasn't gone down... (Name), what did you get yourself into?"

"Sorry," you croaked, struggling to pull yourself upright only to be halted by your grandmother.

"Lie down," she commanded, before standing up to pad over to your dresser. There, she plucked something from one of the drawers before returning to your side, tying your warding charm around your wrist. Wait. When did you take it off?

"You forgot to put this on when you headed out for the festival." The disappointment in her tone was hard to miss, and you could feel yourself shrinking with guilt. "Out of all the times you could have encountered a malignant entity, why did it have to coincide with your forgetfulness?"

You grimaced, examining the charm with curious eyes. "A malignant entity?"

"Are you hiding something from me, child?"

The answer was probably written all over your face because your grandmother all but sighed in the next second, brushing stray hairs out of your face with a tenderness you've gotten so used to receiving over the years. You felt terrible for having to hide Akaashi's identity from her. Even after what you saw, even after what you dreamt of, you couldn't find the courage to be up front about the yokai that's lurking in the shrine's territory.

You couldn't bring yourself to break Akaashi's trust just like that.

When you refused to speak a word, your grandmother pressed her lips into a thin line, readjusting her position so that she's seated comfortably by your futon.

"I suppose it's time I told you the truth of how you survived that car crash."

Your ears perked up, and you shot your grandmother a hard stare. Was she talking about what you thought she was...?

She spared a brief glance at the open window, where the full moon was still on display in the vast sky. It must've been well past midnight, and you were taken by surprise by the fact that you weren't out cold for a whole day just like what happened the last time you blacked out.

"A few years before your mother had you," she began, the stutter in her tone being clue enough of how hard this was to talk about again, "the shrine was infiltrated by a yokai."

You are a false prophet.

Grimacing, you brought your fingers up to massage your temples a little. Where did that come from? And why did the voice in your head sound so familiar? But before you could even wonder why your brain decided to bring forth a random recollection to the forefront of your mind, your grandmother continued.

"Yokai attacks weren't very unusual back in the day, when we still didn't have...appropriate protection. But this yokai, in particular, was different." She paused, looking at you for a moment before she shot you an unreadable look. "He claimed that he was the eldest son of Tsukuyomi-sama, and that he's been cursed to wander the land for being half a demon."

"He's spent centuries searching for his mother's sacred ground, and when he finally found it, he begged for us to help him transcend to the heavens so he could speak with the goddess, himself." Something flashed across her eyes for a brief moment—regret, perhaps? "The thing about being the head of Amatsuki Shrine is that you get this...familiarity of sorts. You'll know when a certain creature is even remotely related to the goddess, just by following the feeling in your gut."

"I believed him," your grandmother said. "Despite the way he looked—a grotesque demon that seemed like he was out to desecrate the shrine—I knew it deep in my heart that he was definitely connected to Amatsuki-sama somehow."

How dare you claim to be of the lunar goddess' progeny when you look like that!

The headaches were getting worse now, but your grandmother didn't seem like she was going to be stopping any time soon.

"But before I could even think about what to do, the monks followed the usual protocol for a breach in the shrine," she spoke with a softer tone now, like she's having a hard time reminiscing. You observed the way she clenched her fists on her lap, lip quivering with an emotion you couldn't identify. "One of them carved the demon's heart out of his chest when they weakened it significantly. We all know that once a yokai loses his heart, he will perish on the spot."

"However, that didn't happen with that one. But instead of lashing out as a final resort to take his heart back, he melted into the shadows and went into hiding. We've yet to see him again, actually."

Your grandmother then spared you another one of her fleeting glances, like she had the same chaos swirling in her mind as you. "The yokai's heart held power like no other—even the monks could tell at one glance. So, instead of disposing it like we should, I agreed to keep it locked in one of the hidden rooms within the shrine. You wouldn't believe how well its energy alone repelled other yokai and malignant spirits."

"Me and Anri lived in peace thereafter. She graduated, prepared to become the next shrine head, met your father, Kazunari, and had you." This was the first time she's cracked a smile in the midst of her story, but there's something bittersweet behind it. "Oh, what joy you brought in this old shrine. Your mother couldn't even take care of a houseplant when she was little, yet she immediately became a busybody mother the moment you were born. She wouldn't give up on you even if you were a really sickly child...but then—"

"The accident happened."

She took in a sharp breath when you took the words right out of her mouth, and your grandmother hastily wiped off the evidence of her still-festering grief from her eyes. Clearing her throat, she managed a somber smile as she took your hand in hers.

"It happened on a night of an eclipse; a hit and run that happened right at the main road in front of the shrine. Your father was killed on the spot," she murmured. "...Anri was severely injured, and she would bleed out if we didn't bring her to the hospital. But she insisted that we saved you first."

"Your legs have been crushed in the wreckage, and I couldn't quite get the sound of your wails out of my head for days after that." Your grandmother laughed, pinching your nose affectionately as if she wasn't telling you the tale of your parents' demise. "I thought I would lose all three of you that day...until Fujimoto-san proposed a solution."

You frowned, staring down at your legs. There had been a time in your life when your they were fucked up? You could never even imagine your life without track, much less having to live as a cripple.

"Yokai have inhuman regenerative capabilities, said Fujimoto-san, and I immediately figured out what he was talking about. He was telling me to transfer the yokai's heart we have in safekeeping into my only granddaughter."

Wait. What?

"It was a practice that the heavens would most definitely frown upon, but I was convinced that Tsukuyomi-sama will forgive this foolish little human for saving the only family she has left," she told you, eyes roving over your pliant form so tenderly, it almost hurt to see her that way. "But it's as if my sins are catching up to me fast, and you have to pay for the grave decision I've made all those years ago."

She reached out for the arm that had your charm tied around it, caressing the bell with lithe fingers. "I made this charm to specifically keep that yokai away from you. I suppose it's worked well for a few years, but I'm not so certain anymore..."

You tried pulling all your focus on what your grandmother was telling you. You really did. But the facts at hand were beginning to add up in a terrifyingly parallel manner as Akaashi's stories.

A human stole his heart. The monks kept a yokai's hidden away in the shrine.

It was breathing life into another human, unknowingly. The heart you had right now was not yours.

It was Akaashi's.

"Is that why...I never get tired even after track practice? Why I've always had such inhuman stamina?" The way your voice trembled with dread or confusion or resentment—perhaps a mix of all three—rang in your ears like white noise. You raked both your hands through your hair, tugging mindlessly as you fought the urge to scream. Your grandmother scrambled to enclose you in her arms, consoling you as you let choked sobs rip past your throat. You could feel her trembling as she held you close to her chest, but you couldn't reassure her that it was okay, that this will all pass.

Because it wasn't okay, and this will not just pass like any other trivial matter that plagued your fickle, little minds.

There was a yokai's heart beating inside of you. And the same yokai—the one you blindly put your trust in—was going back to get what was truly his.

***

Foolish,

foolish,

l̴̟̙̟̣̟̠̐̈́̒̉̽̌̒͝ͅi̵̭̟̦͎̻̱̇̐ͅț̶̨̧̛͇̝̹̟̽͒̓̂͒̓͊͠ṭ̷̡̨̮͖͚̄̀̈́͌͑̊͆͆͝l̵̡̤̘̣̰͎͚̮̾̀͐̊̈͛̒̽̕ĕ̵̦͚̭̰̟̪̱̋ ̴͎̀̀͑̈́͑̀̄ḩ̵̯͔̎̀̒́̆̓̓́u̷͈͍͖̯̪̰̗̒̕m̶͉̀̾̀ã̶̬͖͌̀͂͛ṇ̸̨̭͎̼̖̼̟̌̾̐̇̊.

#haikyuu!!#akaashi keiji #lunaris #bokuto koutarou #akaashi keiji x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #blood #gore #tw blood #tw gore

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orthodoxydaily · 4 years ago

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Saints&Reading: Thu., Oct 1, 2020

Commemorated Septembre 18_ “Old” Julian calendar

Venerable Eumenes, bishop of Gortyna ( 7 th c.)

The Monk Eumenios from the time of his youth was noted for his virtuous life. He strove to serve the One God and therefore he shunned worldly temptations. Concerned about salvation of soul, he distributed all his substance to the poor. By the blessing of God the Monk Eumenios was chosen and elevated to the dignity of bishop of the Gortineia Church on the Island of Crete. The saint like a compassionate father comforted his flock in their sorrows, and cared for the orphaned and indigent. He prayers were so strong before God, that once during the time of drought he called forth abundant rain upon the earth. Saint Eumenios wisely and zealously defended the Orthodox faith against the then arising Monophysite heresy. For his opposition to the heresy the saint was banished to the Thebaid, where he died in the VII Century. His body was then transferred and buried in Gortineia.

Venerable Hilarion of Optina (1873)

On the night of Pascha, April 8-9, 1805, Saint Hilarion (Ponamarov) was born in Kluch, the third son of Nikita and Euphemia Ponamarov, who named him Rodion in honor of Saint Herodion of the Seventy. He always considered April 8, the day of his patron saint’s commemoration, as his birthday. After Rodion, a son and a daughter were born to the Ponamarovs. The daughter, however, died as a baby.

Nikita Ponamarov worked in town as a tailor, and sometimes his business took him to the homes of the local landowners. Consequently, Rodion seldom saw his father until he was fifteen years old.

Rodion was a quiet, uncoordinated child who did not play much with other children, since they made fun of his clumsiness. Even members of his own family behaved in a rude manner toward him, and seldom showed him any affection. The way he was treated made him thoughtful and introspective.

One winter he was playing in the snow with some friends, using an old board as a sled. The board broke and left Rodion with a permanent scar on the finger of his left hand. Another time he injured himself on a saddle-horn while riding. These injuries also had an effect on his health, which was never robust.

The family moved to the Novopersk region of Voronezh in 1820, and Rodion lived there until he was twenty. He helped his father in his work, and gradually acquired skill as a tailor. His parents wanted him to follow this trade, even though his mother once foretold that he would be a monk. Rodion himself desired the monastic life even as a young child, but now he applied himself to tailoring, for he knew that this handicraft would be very useful in the monastery.

Rodion went to Moscow in December of 1825 in order to learn more about being a tailor, arriving with very little money, and with nowhere to stay. He worked with various tailors, but the work was difficult and he became ill. His poor health, he said in later life, probably saved him from falling into many vices. Having increased his proficiency as a tailor, Rodion left Moscow and returned home.

The family moved again in 1829, this time to Saratov. Rodion was engaged twice, but the Lord did not want him to follow this path. His first fiancée died after a short illness, and Rodion simply lost interest in the second.

Saratov was the home to many sectarians of all sorts, and the future saint became involved with certain activists who tried to refute their false teachings. Rodion’s missionary labors may have influenced many sectarians to return to the Orthodox Church. Because of some misunderstanding, however, Rodion and his friends were put on trial. As a result, the authorities kept Rodion under observation for the next four years. This scrutiny was hard for him to endure, and made it very difficult for him to conduct his affairs.

Through his study of the Holy Scripture and the writings of the holy Fathers, Rodion’s desire to become a monk was reawakened. Therefore, he decided to find the monastery which was most suitable for him. In 1837 and 1838 Rodion visited monasteries at Sarov, Suzdal, Rostov, Tikhvin, Moscow, Pochaev, and other places. Finally, he arrived before the gates of Optina. He was thirty-four years old.

At first, Rodion was placed in a cell next to Father Barlaam, a retired igumen of Valaam Monastery. Father Barlaam was a man of great spiritual stature, who had a profound influence on the young man, and became his first instructor in the Jesus Prayer. In later years, Elder Hilarion recalled visiting Father Barlaam to tell him of the various things he had seen or heard. Father Barlaam would ask, “Is that useful? It would be better for you not to see or hear anything. Try to examine your thoughts and your heart more often.” With his wise counsel, Father Barlaam helped Rodion in his spiritual growth as a monk.

The Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration of the Optina Elders on June 13,1996. The work of uncovering the relics of Saints Leonid, Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatole I, Barsanuphius and Anatole II began on June 24/July 7, 1998 and was concluded the next day. However, because of the church Feasts (Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, etc.) associated with the actual dates of the uncovering of the relics, Patriarch Alexey II designated June 27/July 10 as the date for commemorating this event. The relics of the holy Elders now rest in the new church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God...continue reading OCA

The Optina Elders were glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.

Ephesians 4:14-19

14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and from and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ-16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Mark 11:27-33

27Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. 28 And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?" 29 But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 30 The baptism of John-was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me. 31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 32 But if we say, 'From men' -they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. 33 So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

#orthodoxy #orthodox christianity #ancientchristianity #firstchristian #spirituality #holyscriptures #gospel #sacredtexts #wisdom

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militant-holy-knight · 4 years ago

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On a 500-acre campus in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Middle East scholar Raymond Ibrahim was finally allowed to give his speech before a packed, mostly civilian audience at the U.S. Army War College's Heritage and Education Center. Based on his book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West, Ibrahim covered the 7th-century origins of Islam, its conflict with Christianity during the hundreds of years that followed, and revisionist attempts to deny Islam's history of violent warfare and supremacism.

Ibrahim, a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow with the Middle East Forum, was on the receiving end of such an attempt in June 2019, when the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other Islamists convinced the U.S. Army War College to disinvite Ibrahim from his original appearance, fallaciously accusing the son of Egyptian immigrants of being a "bigot" and "white nationalist."

However, Ibrahim wasn't alone. In its press release, CAIR ridiculed the War College as "an academic institution run on taxpayer funds" that was "poised to exacerbate longstanding problems such as racism and human rights violations that exist within the US military."

Ibrahim explained that CAIR is "well aware how important it is to dominate the historic narrative." He pointed to his reliance on primary source material and actual quotes from jihadist and Islamists to support his view that there is "a continuity between past and present; Muslim religious leaders and jihadists see Christianity as both antithetical to the Islamic world and inherently ripe for conquest or conversion."

It took a letter signed by ten congressmen to Army War College commandant Major General John S. Kem, as well as a National Association of Scholars letter to President Trump that included 5,000 signatories, to convince Army leaders to reinstate Ibrahim's invitation.

When CAIR learned that Ibrahim was set to return to the Carlisle campus, it responded by once again suggesting that the Army War College suffers from an "internal problem with white supremacists and white nationalists within its ranks," while claiming that Ibrahim's talk would "instigate hatred against Muslims."

Undeterred by his Islamist critics, Ibrahim began his presentation by saying that "since 9/11," it has "become popular" for media and academia to whitewash the Koran's objectionable passages. "They say Mohammad may have done bad things, but so did King David and Abraham," he said. The difference, Ibrahim noted, is that the Torah acknowledges the wayward path of these leaders and advises against following them, unlike the Koran.

For argument's sake, Ibrahim offered to "put aside what the Koran says" and "see what Islamists have done." Beginning with the Islamic conquests of the Middle East and North Africa, Ibrahim argued that Islamists' consistent goal has been Western submission to Islamic supremacy. This region, which is identified today as Muslim-majority, was home to more Christians than Europe in the 7th century. What remained after the Arab Muslim invasion became "the West." Ibrahim quoted historian Franco Cardini, who wrote, "Repeated Muslim aggression against Europe in the 7th and 8th centuries and again in the 14th and 18th centuries was a violent midwife to Europe."

Ibrahim referred to the late historian of Islam Bernard Lewis, who said, "We forget that for a thousand years since the advent of Islam from the 7th century to the siege of Vienna in 1683 Christian Europe was under constant threat from Islam, the double threat of conquest and conversion violently wrested from Christendom." Ibrahim noted that modern historians often fail to acknowledge this simple truth.

He argued that Mohammad's guidance to spread Islam was the motivation behind the Islamic conquests. The only way peace could be achieved was through acceptance of Islam by conversion, enslavement, or paying the jizya — an enormous annual tribute that the caliphate levied on non-Muslims.

Short of these options, a non-believer's only recourse was to fight to the death. Ibrahim quoted what Islamist conqueror Khalid bin Walid said to a Byzantine general before the Battle of Yarmuk in 636 C.E.: "We Arabs are in the habit of drinking blood and we are told the Romans are the sweetest of its kind. Where you love life, we love death."

Unlike modern historians who identify the various inter-civilizational wars of this age as ethnic and nationalistic, Ibrahim emphasized that the primary sources clearly show that these ongoing battles were manifestations of jihad, inspired by Koranic scripture. He called this tendency "a historic fact that modern day historians censor."

Ibrahim showed that modern jihadists "belonging to groups such as ISIS are well-versed in Islamic historic military jurisprudence" and the Koran and point to historical precedents to justify their violence and brutality.

At the fall of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II motivated his jihadists with the same instructions invoked by modern-day ISIS: "Recall the promise of our Prophet regarding fallen warriors in the Koran; the man who falls in combat will be transported bodily to Paradise [and] will dine with Mohammed in the presence of women."

Next, Ibrahim recounted the American experience with the Islamic Barbary pirates in 1785 and 1786 that attacked U.S. merchant ships and enslaved American sailors. In an effort to ransom the slaves, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams entered negotiations with Abdul Rahman, Tripoli's ambassador to Britain. The American diplomats futilely explained that they "had done them no injury" and "consider all mankind our friends."

Abdul answered that "it was founded on the laws of their Prophet, written in the Koran that all nations not acknowledging their authority were sinners, that it is their religious right and duty to make slaves of non-believers, and all Muslims slain in battle were sure to go to paradise." America's conflict with Islam did not begin on 9/11. Rather, it dates back to the time of America's Founders.

To underscore this message, Ibrahim cited Theodore Roosevelt's 1916 book, Fear God and Take Your Part, where the former president pointed out, "If the peoples of Europe in the 7th and 8th centuries, and on up to and including the 17th century, had not possessed a military equality with, and gradually a growing superiority over the Mohammedans who invaded Europe, Europe would at this moment be Mohammedan and the Christian religion would be exterminated."

The great English statesman Winston Churchill also criticized Islam for institutionalizing slavery. "The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman is the absolute property — either as a child, a wife, or a concubine — must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men."

Ibrahim rhetorically asked, if the violent history of Islam is so well documented, "so ironclad," then "why don't we know about it?" Older historians who studied Islam unprejudiced by political correctness reached conclusions that no longer comport with what the public is told. Conversely, modern historians get away with academic malpractice by reducing previous Islamic studies scholarship to outdated myths.

This is all part and parcel of what Ibrahim referred to as "propaganda as a form of jihad," misinformation of which academics and groups such as CAIR are the most vociferous defenders.

Meanwhile, CAIR, an unindicted co-conspirator in the nation's largest terrorism finance trial and an accused Hamas-supporter, engaged in "propaganda jihad "by working to suppress Ibrahim's historical review, a practice consistent with Islamist suppression of different religious beliefs.

In the end, Ibrahim gave Army service members and the community a coherent and fact-driven presentation of Islamic history that everyone in America should hear, one that dispels the many false, politically correct notions about the nature of Islam. It lays bare the inconvenient truth that Islamic ideology is what motivates Muslim jihadists to perpetrate acts of terrorism against non-believers, both domestically and abroad.

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basicsofislam · 4 years ago

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ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Embracing The World:

ISLAM – A RELIGION OF TOLERANCE

Islam is a word derived from the root words silm and salamah. It means surrendering, guiding to peace and contentment, and establishing security and accord.

Greeting and wishing safety and security for others is considered one of the most beneficial acts in Islam. When asked which act in Islam is the most beneficial, the Prophet replied, “Feeding others and greeting those you know and those you do not know.”[1]

Accusing Islam of Terrorism

How unfortunate it is that Islam, which is based on this understanding and spirit, is shown by some circles to be synonymous with terrorism. This is a great historical mistake; wrapping a system based on safety and trust in a veil of terrorism just shows that the spirit of Islam remains unknown. If one were to seek the true face of Islam in its own sources, history, and true representatives, then one would discover that it contains no harshness, cruelty, or fanaticism. It is a religion of forgiveness, pardon, and tolerance, as such saints and princes of love and tolerance as Rumi, Yunus Emre, Ahmed Yesevi,[2] Bediüzzaman,[3] and many others have so beautifully expressed. They spent their lives preaching tolerance, and each became a legend in his own time as an embodiment of love and tolerance.

Jihad can be a matter of self-defense or of removing obstacles between God and human free choice. Our history is full of examples that show how this principle has been implemented in life.

Of course there are and should be occasions where war is unavoidable. However, the Qur’anic verses on jihad that were revealed for particular conditions have been generalized by some short-sighted individuals. Whereas in actual fact war is a matter of secondary importance, it has been given priority as an essential issue by these people. Such people do not understand the true meaning and spirit of Islam. Their failure to establish a proper balance between what is primary and what is secondary leads others to conclude that Islam advocates malice and hatred in the soul, whereas true Muslims are full of love and affection for all creation. Regarding this, how apt is the following couplet:

Muhammad was born out of love,

What can be born out of love without Muhammad?

Love Is the Essence of Creation

The Pride of Humanity was a man of love and affection. One of his names was Habibullah (the Beloved of God). In addition to meaning one who loves, habib means one who is loved, one who loves God, and one who is loved by God. Sufi masters like Imam Rabbani,[4] Mawlana Khalid,[5] and Shah Waliyyullah[6] state that love is the ultimate station of the spiritual journey.

God created the universe as a manifestation of His love for His creatures, in particular humanity, and Islam became the fabric woven out of this love. In the words of Bediüzzaman, love is the essence of creation. Just as a mother’s love and compassion compels her to allow a surgeon to operate on her sick child to save his or her life, jihad allows war, if needed, to preserve such fundamental human rights as the right to life and religious freedom. Jihad does not exclusively mean war.

Once a friend said to me: “Without exception and regardless of differences in faith, you meet with everyone, and this breaks the tension of Muslims toward probable opponents. But it is an Islamic principle to love those things or people who must be loved on the way of God and dislike those things or people who must be disliked on the way of God.” Actually this principle is often misunderstood, for in Islam all of creation is to be loved according to the rule of loving on God’s way.

This action demonstrates how highly our Prophet respected every person. Given this, the involvement of some self-proclaimed Muslim individuals or institutions in terrorist activities can in no way be approved of by Islam. The reasons for this terrorism should be sought for in the actions themselves, in false interpretations of the faith, and in other factors and motives. Islam does not support terror, so how could a Muslim who truly understands Islam be a terrorist?

If we can spread the Islamic understanding of such heroes of love as Niyazi-i Misri,[7] Yunus Emre, and Rumi globally, if we can extend their messages of love, dialogue, and tolerance to those who thirst for this message, then everyone will run toward the embrace of love, peace, and tolerance that we represent.

The definition of tolerance in Islam is such that the Prophet even prohibited verbal abuse of unbelievers. For example, Abu Jahl died before embracing Islam, despite all the Prophet’s efforts. His unbelief and enmity toward the Prophet was such that he deserved the title Abu Jahl: Father of ignorance and impudence. His untiring opposition to Islam was a thorn in the side of the Muslims.

Despite such hostility, when in an assembly of Companions where Abu Jahl’s son Ikrimah was present, the Prophet one day admonished a Companion who had been heard insulting Abu Jahl: “Do not hurt others by criticizing their fathers.”[8] Another time, he said: “Cursing your mother and father is a great sin.” The Companions asked: “O Messenger of God, would anyone curse their parents?” The Prince of Prophets replied: “When someone curses another’s father and the other curses his father in return, or when someone curses another’s mother and the other does the same in return, they will have cursed their parents.”[9]

The Qur’an strongly urges forgiveness and tolerance. In one verse, it says of pious people:

They swallow their anger and forgive people. God loves those who do good. (Al-Imran 3:134)

When they meet hollow words or unseemly behavior, they pass them by with dignity. (Al-Furqan 25:72)

When we look at the exalted life of God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, we see that he always practiced the precepts presented in the Qur’an. For example, a Companion once repented of a sin and admitted: “I am guilty of fornication. Whatever my punishment is, give it and cleanse me.” The Prince of Prophets said: “Go back and repent, for God forgives all sins.”[10] This event was repeated three times. Another time, a Companion complained to the Prophet that someone had stolen his belongings. But as the punishment was about to be carried out the Companion said: “I have changed my mind and do not want to pursue my case. I forgive this individual.” The Prophet asked: “Why did you bring this matter to court? Why didn’t you forgive him from the outset?”[11]

[1] Abu Dawud, Adab, 142.

[2] Ahmed Yesevi (d. 1166): Sufi poet and early Turkish spiritual leader who had a powerful influence on the development of mystical orders throughout the Turkish-speaking world.

[3] Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960): An Islamic scholar of the highest standing with deep spirituality, a wide knowledge of modern science and the contemporary world. He believed that humanity could be saved from its crises and could achieve true progress and happiness only by knowing its true nature, and by recognizing and submitting to God. His Risale-i Nur (The Epistles of Light) deals with the Islamic essentials of faith, thought, worship, and morality and Qur’anic descriptions of Divine activity in the universe. Containing rational and logical proofs and explanations of all Qur’anic truths, it is his reply to those who deny them in the name of science. In his work, he reveals their many discrepancies and illogical statements.

[4] Imam Rabbani (Shaykh Ahmad al-Sirhindi) (1564?-1624): Indian Sufi and theologian who reasserted and revived the principles of Islamic faith and Sufi tradition in India against the syncretistic religious tendencies prevalent under the Mogul emperor Akbar. He was given the posthumous title: Mujaddid-i Alf-i Thani (Renovator of the Second [Islamic] Millennium).

[5] Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (1778-1827): Naqshbandi master considered the mujaddid (reviver) of the thirteenth Islamic century. The Khalidi order, a new Naqshbandi branch, arose under his leadership and had acquired a large following by the end of the nineteenth century.

[6] Shah Waliyyullah Muhaddith of Delhi (1702-1762): A great scholar of the twelfth Islamic century. Some writers call him Khatam al-Muhadditheen (the last of the hadith scholars).

[7] Niyazi-i Misri (1618-1694). A Sufi poet and member of the Khalwati order.

[8] Hakim, al-Mustadrak, 3:241; Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-’Ummal, 13:540.

[9] Muslim, Iman, 145; Tirmidhi, Birr, 4.

[10] Muslim, Hudud, 17, 23; Bukhari, Hudud, 28.

[11] Abu Dawud, Hudud, 14(4394); Nasai, Sarik, 4 (8, 68); Muwatta, Hudud, 28, (2, 834).

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centerofstupidity · 4 years ago

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Noah Primeval Preface Snark

If you enjoy the content you are reading, please like and follow the Center of Stupidity blog.

Summary: The author claims that his stories are rooted in "the theological and spiritual intent of the Bible." He also loves to scripture drop. The worst is yet to come.

In case anyone wants to read the original author’s preface in order to form their own conclusions, you can read it here.

In the event that this gets flagged, here is another place to read the chapter snark.

Inspired By True Events.

Keep this in mind, folks.

Because...

The story you are about to read is the result of Biblical and historical research about Noah’s flood and the ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context of the book of Genesis.

Translation: Because I did some research, it means that the novel is deep and elevated lit-ra-choor.

While I engage in significant creative license and speculation,

....

..................

......................................

That’s a verbose way of saying “I created a work of fiction.”

all of it is rooted in an affirmation of what I believe is the theological and spiritual intent of the Bible.

Even though there are countless Bible interpretations.

You found all of the "hidden truths"and know the "correct" way to read the Bible.

But silly me.

This is the same person who spews vitriol at movies that don't conform to his beliefs and wrote a paper called Calvinism and the Bible.

In the document, Godawa insists that "Calvinism is simply Biblical Christianity" and how the five points of Calvinism are “truly Biblical doctrines, then most of us western American Christians have been sold a bill of goods as to what the Gospel really is."

For those who are leery of such a “novel” approach,

Like some other writers, Godawa believes that he has a Wildean wit.

let them consider that the traditional Sunday school image of Noah as a little old white-bearded farmer

I gotta call bullshit.

The traditional Sunday school image depicted Noah as being a white man.

It didn't emphasize that he was an old farmer.

building the ark alone with his sons is itself a speculative cultural bias.

It's been a while since I've been to CCD…

But I don't remember them ever discussing at great length on how the ark was built.

They don't deal in the minutia.

Instead they focused on educating people about their faith.

And the whole "speculative cultural bias" comment is rich...

Coming from a man who preaches in his fiction and does evangelizing podcasts with his friends.

The Bible actually says very little about Noah.

Instead we get lengthy details about who begat who and what tribe they came from.

We don’t know what he did for a living before the Flood or even where he lived.

Which is why the Midrash aggadah was written.

According to MJL, Midrash aggadah interprets biblical narrative, exploring questions of ethics or theology, or creating homilies and parables based on the text.

For instance, one of the best known midrashes is the story about Abraham.

It states while Abraham was a young child in Mesopotamia, he was smashing idols.

This story suggests that God didn't randomly pick Abraham.

Instead, God knew that Abraham would be receptive to His voice.

How do we know whether he was just a simple farmer or a tribal warrior?

The answer?

We will most likely never know for certain.

And secondly, who cares? It is minutiae.

Oh wait.

The author is going to bestow us the answer.

Genesis 9:2 says Noah “began to be a man of the soil” after the Flood, not before it.

Genesis 9:2 says this:

The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.

(This comes from the New International Version.)

And I checked two other translations: the King James Version [KJV] and the English Standard Version [ESV].

They are the same as the first.

The passage about Noah becoming a farmer comes from Genesis 9: 20

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. [ESV]

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. [NIV]

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard. [KJV]

So in conclusion:

If the world before the flood was full of wickedness and violence,

Because they would all fight evil physically.

It's not like righteous men would ever combat evil by using their words or practicing non violence.

Noah would not have been that different from Abraham,

Or…

He could have been a prophet whose words inspired others.

Nobody knows for certain what Noah did prior to the flood.

who farmed, did business and led his family and servants in war against kings.

Man, Godawa is obsessed with the idea of righteous warriors.

We know very little about primeval history,

There is a newfangled thing called archaeology.

but we do learn from archeological evidence that humanity was clearly tribal during the early ages when this story takes place.

Um…

The previous line belies the rest of the sentence.

Where's the editor?

Yet, nothing is written about Noah’s tribe in the Bible.

We also don't know anything about Jesus' childhood.

Your point being?

It would be modern individualistic prejudice to assume that Noah was a loner when everyone in that Biblical context was communal.

Who ever said that he was???

Is Godawa just making up arguments so he can tear them down?

Noah surely had a tribe.

You already said that. Move along.

There is really no agreement as to the actual time and location of the event of the Flood.

And in other news…

Bears shit in the woods and the Pope is Catholic.

So B. Godawa lists some theories about when and where the Flood took place.

He thinks it is "Early Bronze Age Mesopotamian contexts" because of some passages in Genesis.

By the by... He doesn't mention any specific passages.

At some other time, I'll take a look at the appendix.

Because right now, I'm not in the mood to read an appendix that is about one hundred pages long.

The Bible also says Noah built the ark.

And now for the following news bulletin:

Adam and Eve lived in a place called the Garden of Eden.

Are we to believe that Noah built it all by himself?

Yes, if you take the Bible literally.

It doesn’t say. With his sons’ help? It doesn’t say.

But that very same book does say earlier that Cain “built a city” (some scholars believe it was Cain’s son Enoch).

Which scholars said that?

Because doing a quick Google search got me absolutely bupkis.

Instead, I got a bunch of websites that talked about Cain building a city and naming it after his son.

Are we to assume that he built an entire city by himself?

No lie… I had to check and see if Cain had a son named Enoch. (And he did).

Because after the bungling of a verse from Genesis, I wasn’t sure if this was another mistake.

As for Cain building an entire city single handedly? I’m sure Christian fundamentalists would respond with “yes”.

My response would be “no” followed by:

Who helped Cain to build a city? A lot of golems? Some demons? Or did he hire a lot of people in the nearby area?

If Cain just hired a bunch of people, wouldn't the idea of God only creating two humans [a.k.a. Adam and Eve] be false?

How did Cain get the materials to build a city?

How would Cain know which materials would be good for building a city?

And why did Cain want to build a city in the first place?

Ridiculous.

Who knew that with one word, such disdain could drip from a person’s tongue?

Cain or Enoch presided as a leader over the building of a city by a group of people,

Wait a tick…

Godawa previously said that it was Cain that built a city but some scholars believe it was Enoch.

And now he is stating that it could be Cain OR Enoch.

Does that mean that Godawa forgot what he wrote previously?

Or the man who sees himself as the Grand Poobah of Biblical Knowledge is finally admitting that he doesn’t have all the answers?

just as Noah probably did with his ark.

So in other words, Noah just sat on his ass and barked orders at people.

Because as we all know, that is a great leadership style.

One of the only things Genesis says about Noah’s actual character is that he was “a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9).

Now a normal person would interpret this to mean that Noah was a good person who conversed with God.

But Noah Primeval turns Noah into a Gary Stu. (By the way, this will be revealed in future chapter snarks).

The New Testament clarifies this meaning by noting Noah as an “heir” and “herald” of righteousness by faith (Heb. 11:7; 2Pet. 2:5).

ESV [English Standard Version] said Noah as a “herald of righteousness” while NIV and KJV described Noah as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5).

While ESV, NIV, and KJV all described how Noah “became an heir of righteousness.” (Hebrews 11:7).

You might be thinking to yourself: What’s your point?

If we are to take into account what the Bible said about Noah… It describes Noah spreading God’s message (like a herald or a preacher). But it also adds that because of Noah’s faith in God, he “became an heir of righteousness.”

This differs from the depiction in Noah Primeval where Noah is the Chosen One from an ancient prophecy.

And that makes him superior to all the other filthy mortals along with slightly less perfect than Jesus.

The popular interpretation of this notion of “righteousness” is to understand Noah as a virtually sinless man too holy for his time, and always communing with God in perfect obedience.

But is this really Biblical?

If you mean, some people acting like sanctimonious hypocritical assholes, then I would loudly shout “Hell yes!”

Would Noah have never sinned? Never had an argument with God?

Personally, my answers would be “no” for both questions.

But in this novel, when Noah isn't acting like a bratty teenager, he acts like a smug douchebag.

Yet the reader is supposed to see Noah as a paragon of virtue.

Never had to repent?

In order to repent, a person must have genuine remorse for their actions. It also requires accountability.

It doesn't entail a person rending their garments melodramatically until they are completely naked and then yelling at the top of their lungs. I'm looking at you, Noah Primeval.

As a matter of fact, the term “righteous” in the Old and New Testaments was not a mere description of a person who did good deeds and avoided bad deeds.

Maybe it is because the writers of the Old and New Testament know that good people are not perfect. They make mistakes and take ownership of their actions.

Righteousness was a Hebrew legal concept that meant, “right standing before God” as in a court of law.

What makes me so fucking disgusted is that Godawa has no qualms with cherry picking things from different mythologies and whatever doesn’t suit his narrative is either discarded or depicted as being malevolent lies.

It carried the picture of two positions in a lawsuit, one “not in the right,” and the other, “in the right”

You mean a lawsuit involves two sides: the prosecution and the defense?

or “righteous” before God.

And this series doesn’t hesitate to jump on a soap box and shout at the top of their lungs.

It was primarily a relational term.

*Sigh*

What’s next?

Are we going to define the definition of is?

Not only that, but in both Testaments, the righteous man is the man who is said to “live by faith,” not by perfect good deeds (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17).

So righteousness does not mean “moral perfection” but “being in the right with God because of faith.”

In other words, ice is cold and fire is hot.

….

This is leading up to rant filled with gratuitous Bible citations.

What’s more, being a man of faith doesn’t mean a life of perfect consistency either.

You mean good people aren't perfect??? Thanks for notifying me Brian Godawa!

Look at David, the “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22), yet he was a murderer and adulterer and more than once avoided obeying God’s will. But that doesn’t stop him from being declared as “doing all God’s will” by the apostle Paul.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, good people are not perfect.

Which is why repeating the obvious makes a person look like a blithering moron.

Or consider Abraham, the father of the Faith, who along with Sarah believed that God would provide them with a son (Heb. 11:8-11).

What does this have to do with anything? Is Godawa trying to dazzle the reader with how many Bible verses he can quote?

Yet, that Biblically honored faith was not perfect, as they both laughed in derision at God’s promise at first (Gen. 17:17; 18:12).

I guess Godawa never heard of a thing called context.

According to the Zohar, Sarah laughed because her son would have a feminine soul.

The Zohar also states that a soul from the "feminine world" cannot have children.

Sarah knew this and laughed because this contradicted God's promise to continue Abraham's bloodline.

God had to remind Sarah that He has the power to do anything. Which means He can turn a feminine soul into a masculine one.

And because Godawa loves to scripture drop, he cites additional examples from the Bible when people either argued or complained to God.

The very name Israel means “to struggle with God.”

I normally don't split hairs but considering the fact that the author fancies himself to be a scholar…

The word Israel means "God contends".

An alternate translation is "He Retains God"or "God Is Upright".

All the heroes in the Hebrews Hall of Faith (Heb. 11) had sinful moments, lapses of obedience and even periods of running from God’s call or struggling with their Creator.

According to the NIV translation, it commended the people for having a strong faith in God and how that faith allowed them to do what it is just. It does not give blow-blow descriptions of their spiritual struggles or a detailed accounting of all of their sins.

Now that I'm thinking about it… I have a sneaking suspicion that this is leading up to Godawa justifying his depiction of Noah.

It would not be heresy to suggest that Noah may have had his own journey with God

Well, duh.

Noah's spiritual journey would have started with baby steps.

It is not like Noah would be chummy with God the very second he was born. A relationship with God is developed during a lifetime.

that began in fear and ended in faith.

That's assuming that every person that started a relationship with God that said relationship was founded on distrust (which is fueled by fear) or the case of Noah Primeval, built on a foundation that is a passive-aggressive hate boner for the Almighty.

For some individuals, their spiritual journey never originated from animosity or distain because they always had faith.

In fact, to say otherwise is to present a life inconsistent with the reality of every human being in history.

I'll say it again.

Every person's spiritual journey with God is different.

To insist that every person's relationship with God originated from negative emotions is not based in reality.

To say one is a righteous person of faith is to say that the completed picture of his life is one of finishing the race set before him, not of having a perfect run without injuries or failures.

It is time for a writing exercise! Let’s take this wordy sentence and make it concise.

I'll go first.

The completed picture of a righteous person’s life is not a perfect run without injuries or failures but rather they finished the race set before them.

Now that I'm thinking about it …

This verbose sentence sounds like something that belongs in a fortune cookie.

Also, I find it odd that this little nugget of wisdom uses the gender neutral phrase “righteous person of faith” but then uses his | him pronouns.

Why am I getting the feeling that this is a subtle message that only a man can be a "righteous person of faith"?

Some scholars have even noted that the phrase “blameless in his generation” is an unusual one,

“They also think it is peculiar that the Flood lasted for forty days and nights. Why not eighteen or twenty-five? Is forty God’s favorite number or did He just pick it randomly?”

reserved for unblemished sacrifices in the temple.

Wait a minute.

So these scholars are stating that the phrase "blameless in his generation" is only used for animal sacrifices.

Which means Noah is likened to an animal sacrifice…

Which is totally different from Noah Primeval's depiction of Noah as a macho and virile warrior who is the Chosen One.

Also, it is really dodgy when someone only gives some citations or doesn't provide any.

This physical purity

…

The words "physical purity" just sent shivers down my spine.

Because when words like that casually enter into a conversation, it is not long before an argument is made in favor of eugenics.

takes on new meaning when understood in the genetic context of the verses

"Genetic context"?

I didn't know that words had DNA.

Flippant comment aside, all this talk of "physical purity" and "genetic context" prompted me to do a quick Google search of the following: Noah blameless in his generation animal and it brought up a thread asking if Genesis 6:9 is referring to Noah's genetic purity.

before it that speak of “Sons of God” or bene ha elohim leaving their proper abode in heaven and violating the separation of angelic and human flesh (Gen. 6:1-4; Jude 5-7).

Um…

This is sort of correct.

Genesis 6:7-4 is about the Sons of God marrying beautiful human women and having children called Nephilim. Yet it also states that humans will live to be 120.

While Jude 5-7, the writer reminds the reader that God delivered his people out of Egypt and destroyed the non-believers. They also said that the angels who "did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling" along with the sinful people of Sodom and Gomorrah will be punished by "eternal fire."

Within church history,

The concept of the Grigori and Nephilim originated in Jewish folklore and legends.

At some point, early Christians either stumbled across an old scroll discussing these ideas or simply heard about it. They probably found the whole story to be fascinating and proceeded to write their own interpretations.

there is a venerable tradition of interpreting this strangest of Bible passages as referring to supernatural beings from God’s heavenly host who mate with humans resulting in the giant offspring called Nephilim.

The idea that some angels came down from Heaven to mate with humans doesn't sound bizarre to me.

Frankly, the Book of Revelation reads like John was on a big acid trip.

Other equally respectable theologians argue that these Sons of God were either humans from the “righteous” bloodline of Seth or a symbolic reference to human kings or judges of some kind.

Again, Christians didn't come with these alternate explanations. For instance, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai strongly opposed the idea that the "benei elokim" were angels.

I have weighed in on the supernatural interpretation

That is a weird way of saying "I have decided to write a novel that depicts the Grigori as angels."

According to the Collins dictionary, the words "weighed in", means:

give an opinion or enter a discussion or argument

to measure how heavy someone is, esp. before a competition

It is important to note that The Free Dictionary and the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries has these definitions but with slightly different wording.

In conclusion?

and have provided appendices at the end of the book that give the Biblical theological foundation for this interpretation.

Only a filthy peasant has opinions.

An enlightened individual only believes in facts and since they are benevolent, they are imparting their wisdom to others.

This novel seeks to remain true to the sparse facts presented in Genesis (with admittedly significant embellishments)

“Admittedly significant embellishments”?

That’s putting it mildly.

More like “being preachy but insisting that you are only telling people facts.”

interwoven with theological images and metaphors come to life.

I’m sorry but I can’t take this statement seriously.

Because it reminds me of a scene in the movie The Ref when Gus is talking about how “a complex web of complications need to be weaved and woven into a quilt of some kind.”

Where I engage in flights of fancy,

That’s putting it mildly.

This story never put its feet on the ground.

such as a journey into Sheol,

Pray tell, what is Sheol?

An explanation would be nice because for all we know, Sheol is the name of a cave or a forest.

I seek to use figurative imagery from the Bible, such as “a bed of maggots and worms” (Isa. 14:11) and “the appetite of Sheol” (Isa. 5:14) and bring them to life by literalizing them into the flesh-eating living-dead animated by maggots and worms.

Let’s break this down, shall we?

Isaiah 5:14 ESV says this:

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite

and opened its mouth beyond measure,

and the nobility of Jerusalem[h] and her multitude will go down,

Isaiah 5 is about the people of Israel who will be punished for their sins. This specific passage is discussing how the sinners are going to die.

Isaiah 14:11 ESV says this:

Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

the sound of your harps;

maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

and worms are your covers.

Isaiah 14 discusses how Babylon will be destroyed by God. This specific passage is about how the haughty King of Babylon will perish.

It still doesn’t answer the question of what Sheol is.

If we are still looking at the Bible for an explanation, the NIV translation of Isaiah 5:14 states:

Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth;

Also, the New International version of Isaiah 14 doesn’t use the word Sheol.

Instead, it uses the words to the grave.

Based on these translations, one can make the assumption that Sheol is the word for death or grave.

However, Sheol is a place where the souls of the dead reside.

Let's take a look at this line more closely:

bring them to life by literalizing them into the flesh-eating living-dead animated by maggots and worms.

The Bible having figurative imagery? That is not a groundbreaking revelation. Plenty of Bible scholars have written papers and or books analyzing this.

Figurative language is not supposed to be taken literally. It is used by a writer to convey an idea (example: time is a thief) or to paint a picture in a reader's mind (example: the flowers danced in the wind.)

To take something figurative and make it literal is asinine.

Also, "flesh-eating living-dead"?

I guess the word "zombie" is too plebeian.

Another player that shows up in the story is Leviathan.

“Another player”?

I bethink he is a pretentious rampallian who thinkest by using an antediluvian word maketh him intelligent and literary sir.

“Player” is an old fashioned word for actor.

It DOES NOT mean character.

So in conclusion:

While I have provided another appendix explaining the theological motif of Leviathan

Translation?

“Behold my dizzying intellect!”

as a metaphor in the Bible for chaos and disorder, I have embodied the sea dragon in this story for the purpose of incarnating that chaos as well.

One word:

I have also literalized the Mesopotamian cosmology of a three-tiered universe with a solid vault in the heavens, and a flat disc earth supported on the pillars of the underworld, the realm of the dead.

Thanks to Brian Godawa, the words "metaphor" and "literalized" annoy me.

I'd hate to rain on your parade but Mesopotamian mythology isn't the only one who had a three-tiered universe.

Below is an image of the Hebrew cosmology:

It also has an universe that has three levels: heaven, earth, and the underworld. The earth is a flat disc floating on water with heaven above it and the underworld below it.

If one takes a second look at the picture, you will notice that there are pillars or the foundation of the earth.

In conclusion, Mesopotamian mythology isn't the only one to depict a universe as being composed of three levels.

This appears to be the model assumed by the Biblical writers in many locations (Phil. 2:10; Job 22:14; 37:18; Psa. 104:5; 148:4; Isa. 40:22),

Jewish people have their own culture. They would not be using Mesopotamian mythology as their yardstick.

so I thought it would be fascinating to tell that story within that worldview unknown to most modern westerners.

You mean a different concept or an idea can be interesting? What a mind boggling revelation!

If I didn't know any better, I’d believe Godawa when he said telling a story from another culture’s point of view would be “fascinating.”

Yet it is painfully obvious that if something doesn't conform to his beliefs, it must be a vile falsehood created by malevolent beings.

The purpose of the Bible is not to support scientific theories or models of the universe,

Actually, the Big Bang Theory does not conflict with the story of creation.

but to tell the story of God through ancient writers. Those writers were people of their times just as we are.

Which is why the absence of Jewish culture is jarring.

Especially since all the "good" characters are Calvinists.

I have also woven together Sumerian and other Mesopotamian mythology in with the Biblical story,

It is randomly inserted (ex: Pazuz) or the deities are evil fallen angels who are destroying Family Values™ and Corrupting the Children™.

but with this caveat:

"Anything that doesn't conform to my worldviews must be the lies devised by Satan."

Like C.S. Lewis,

Did he compare himself to C.S. Lewis?

….

……….

…………………….

It is like trying to compare M. Night Shyamalan to Alfred Hitchcock.

Even though one is a hack while the other one is a talented creator.

I believe the primary purpose of mythology is to embody the worldview and values of a culture.

Aside from helping people to understand the world around them and giving them answers to timeless questions such as: Is there life after death? Why does evil exist?

Mythology also provides a form of entertainment and ensures that certain traditions survive.

But all myths carry slivers of the truth and reflect some distorted vision of what really happened.

This reeks of ethnocentrism!

Sumer’s Noah was Ziusudra, Babylon’s Noah was Utnapishtim, and Akkad’s was Atrahasis. The Bible’s Noah is my standard.

I'll bring this up if anyone tries to claim that Noah Primeval isn't preachy and ethnocentric.

So my goal was to incorporate real examples of ANE history and myth in subjection to that standard in such a way that we see their “true origin.”

....

You know what?

If someone wrote a Wiccan based fantasy series that demonized Christianity, he would be outraged.

Godawa reiterates his "speculation" that the deities were fallen angels with superhuman abilities that once belonged to God's divine council.

See the appendix at the back for my defense of this interpretation from the Bible.

I'm not in the mood to read a lengthy appendix that reads like you giving yourself a giant pat on the back. Perhaps that will be a future snark.

Lastly, I have permitted myself to use extra-Biblical Jewish literature from the Second Temple period as additional reference material for my story.

In other words...

He gave himself permission to steal and vandalize a different culture. Isn't that charming?

I use these ancient Jewish sources

I bet many people wished you hadn't.

not because I consider them completely factual or on par with the Bible,

"They are complete heresy. Instead, believe in the teachings of John Calvin."

but simply in an attempt to incarnate the soul of the ancient Hebrew imagination in conversation with the text of Scripture

Like the Yeti, the Hebrew imagination has yet to be found.

rather than imposing my own modern western one upon the text.

...

............

............................

I am within the tradition of the Church on this since authors of the New Testament as well as early Church Fathers

Just "Church Fathers"?

Christianity also had Church Mothers.

To name a few: Mary Magdalene, Phoebe, Junia, Lydia, Eudia, Thecla, Syntyche, and Prisca.

and other orthodox theologians in church history respected some of these ancient manuscripts as well.

While the author did the opposite.

Many of these texts from the Second Temple Period, such as Jubilees, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs or The Life of Adam and Eve, and others found in the Pseudepigrapha, were creative extrapolations of the Biblical text.

I guess the word of the day is "extrapolations".

Extrapolation is defined as "to predict by projecting past experience or known data" or " to infer from values within an already observed interval."

I find it rather disgusting to imply that the Midrash is a product of guesswork or estimates.

Which means whatever the author's personal beliefs are founded in facts.

These were not intended to deceive or overturn the Bible,

Notice the word "intended".

It infers that the writers weren't deliberately telling lies.

It just happens that they were spreading falsehoods.

but rather to retell Biblical stories with theological amplification and creative speculation

You see, humans are a curious species. We don't like unanswered questions.

Therefore, we come up with a possible answer or an explanation for a particular event.

The purpose of the Midrash is to provide explanations or to give a story details.

Ever wondered who was Cain's wife? According to Book of Jubilees, she was Cain's sister and her name is Awan.

while remaining true to their interpretation of the Scriptures.

They weren't providing interpretations to Mesopotamian mythology.

In short, I am not writing Scripture.

Normally, I would believe this.

But subsequent interviews and podcasts along with the preachy messages written in the story belies this statement.

I am not even saying that I believe this is how the story might have actually happened.

Remember when I said to keep something in mind because it will be significant later on?

Well, now it is important.

This statement and the words "Inspired by True Events" are contradictory.

I am simply engaging in a time-honored tradition of the ancient Hebrew culture:

No, no, no!

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200!

I am retelling a Biblical story in a new way to underscore the theological truths within it.

Godawa only wants to associate with ancient Hebrew culture when it elevates him as a writer and his stories.

From his remarks, it is obvious that he regards the Midrashes as being subpar bodies of work that will mislead undiscerning readers.

That being said, that won't stop him using such texts in order to receive praise for his "creativity" and be commended in scholarly circles for using Jewish texts.

This mentality is similar to Rick Riordan's.

In case anyone doesn't know...

Rick Riordan is best known for writing the Percy Jackson series which retold Greek mythology. He then wrote a series based on Norse mythology called Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

Both series were a hit and he greatly profited from these stories.

After sometime, Riordan made the following statements:

“I didn’t realize some people still worship the old Viking gods. Very strange, and a little scary…In my opinion, the more you learn about the mythology, the more impossible it is to take it seriously as a religion… after you’ve met Odin and Thor in the stories, who in their right mind would ever want to worship them?”

" I love Greek myths, but why anyone would want to worship the Greek pantheon is beyond me. "

"It’s strange to think anyone would still worship the Olympians seriously."

Early in the book, the character Chiron draws a clear distinction between God, capital-G, the creator of the universe, and the Greek gods (lower-case g). Chiron says he does not wish to delve into the metaphysical issue of God, but he has no qualms about discussing the Olympians because they are a “much smaller matter.”

Unsurprisingly, this offended many polytheists.

You might be wondering: what's my point?

To put it simply? Both writers profited from incorporating different mythologies into their stories.

One writer made disparaging remarks about individuals who believe in these deities after becoming a best selling author.

While the other barely concealed their disdain for the source material they used that garnered their popularity and praise from critics.

In conclusion?

Don't build your career on writing stories using different mythologies and deride the believers of said mythos or the very thing that puts money in your bank account.

Then wonder why some people think you are a horse's ass.

The Biblical theology that this story is founded upon is provided in several appendixes at the back of the book for those who are interested in going deeper.

First of all..

Stop peddling your friggin' appendixes.

We get it.

It has citations.

Which means it is supposed to be scholarly...

Therefore... It is deep and elevated literature.

The beauty of fiction

Um, no.

It is not all beautiful.

It can also be bland or terrible.

And in some cases, it is deeply disturbing.

is that we can make assumptions regarding uncertain theological and historical information

Yes, you can.

Up to a point.

The moment when you insist theses assumptions or personal beliefs are based in fact...

Writers like Philippa Gregory and Brian Godawa are born.

without having to prove them one way or another.

You know what also doesn't require proof?

Faith.

The story requires only that we establish continuity within the made up world,

It is called the suspension of disbelief.

and accepting those assumptions for the sake of the story does not imply theological agreement.

Normally, yes.

But this series makes it abundantly clear that if you don't agree with the political and theological beliefs...

At best, you are country pumpkin. (Yes, he does equate them to being stupider than Ana Steele.)

At worst, you are not only a moron but a depraved degenerate as well.

So, sit back and

Reach for the booze because you are going to need it. Also, make sure that the vomit bucket is in front of you.

let your imagination explore the contours of this re-imagined journey

And before long, wishing that you never did and longing to depart for the Undying Lands.

of one of the most celebrated religious heroes across all times and cultures.

And by the end, you want:

To repeatedly punch the "good" characters in the throat and stab them in the groin. Especially Noah.

The villains to shut up and fuck off. Because they are what a thirteen years old boy would think is edgy. Especially if said boy was also a Bible thumper.

#book snark #chapter snark #bad fiction #snark #noah primeval #anti Brian Godawa #anti noah primeval

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heartsofthewisps · 5 years ago

Text

Characters:

Carson Von Somethin

Yes, that IS his last name. Residing in the busy city of Auriga, Carson is a music connoisseur while his views and takes on the world are rather cynical, ever since the tragic death of his parents whom he lost in a brutal car accident when he was only four years old. The leader of the wisps, unfortunately for him. The main man!!

Margie Spellwinder

Margie is from a long, esteemed line of proud witches. She is to inherit the great Spellwinder name!..... That is, if she can even be a proper witch to begin with. Although very gifted with magic, she doesn’t know exactly how to wield it. Margie hails from southern Astraeya, her abode not far from the Witch’s Hamlet. She often fizzles simple ember spells or ends up blowing up her household with potion brews. Either way, she’s determined, and isn’t about to give up! But she could take a break from the constant malfunctions. Constantly anxious, and has a deeper past than first anticipated.

Hitoshi Spirit

Ironic as it is, Hitoshi Spirit is a samurai who has traded in his soul for incredible strength and stamina during a tolling war that took place in Hiragashi, a coastal town in Eastern Astraeya. Now he remains a husk of a man. Still, he is able to feel and experience emotions despite having traded away his spirit. But he is often cold and heartless, not feeling pity for cowards who beg for pity. And somehow, he ended up in a group with a pessimistic music maker, a failing witch, and a bossy, immature guardian spirit. Enjoys the simple things in life, like fishing and painting.

Willow Wispy

Willow is a guardian spirit that, as her name suggests, can control fire and ashes. However being such a small, insignificant spirit, she believes she’s a long-forgotten goddess who has magnificent power (which is proved time and time again to be false by her team). She showed up beside Carson one day, promising to protect him through his compelling journey. Though he pushed her away a lot, being the independent person he is. Has a lot more to her than meets the eye.

Akio Hinode

Appearing to be an ordinary man at first, it is later revealed that he is actually the last remaining kitsune to live. He hails from the small Kitsune Village hidden deep within the Woods of the Lynx. Due to his species being doomed, he has grown bitter and cold from the world, especially towards humans since they are the very things that killed his people. To make their lives as miserable as possible, he pulls pranks and tricks, lies and steals, anything to inconvenience them as much as possible. Be wary - his bright and cheery persona is only a mask for a darker and cold man.

Ichika Gakusha

An avid historian that hyper-studies any subject that catches her eye, to ignore the depression of her family neglecting her for her entire life. Her current obsession is the kitsune people and their past culture, trying to recover and learn about them ever since they went extinct. Little does she know that there IS one living kitsune, who happens to be afraid of her possibly exposing his existence to hunters. Incredibly intelligent, but oblivious to what’s in front of her.

Julian Lores Draconia

Kindhearted prince and sole heir to the throne of Draconia, the kingdom ruled by dragonblood. Despite loving his father for treating him kind all his life, he knows that he’s been slipping away bit by bit, and that one day, he will become a threat to the people of Astraeya. With this knowledge, he defects from the kingdom for a time and joins the main group to restore peace to the world. Due to the draconic blood flowing through his veins, he slowly transforms into a dragon, and cannot revert back to his human self unless using a scale tonic or a magic spell. Has a bit of a crush on Margie.

Faenar Mysticus

For thousands of years, elves, fairies, and fae alike have been known to reject any species that were not their own, having strict rules on what can and cannot be done, and overall are unfriendly, unkind beings. Not Faenar. Absolutely not Faenar. He is the nicest, kindest, most gentle elf in the entire world, and comes from the Treetop Sanctuary, a large settlement of elves in the Woods of the Lynx. Taking Margie in when she was small and frail, he deemed himself her older brother and pretty much everyone else as his little siblings. His mother, an elvish council member, desperately wants him to stop dragging her through this trouble, but has honestly given up at this point.

Dreezna Elfenstof

Dreezna is one of the fairies that reside in the mystical Verdwaald forest, home to the fairies of Astraeya. The queen of fairies, Titania, knew what must be done, and had sent Dreezna away to find the Wisps (the main group), knowing she is among the souls. Despite her pessimistic personality at first glance, she is a person of pure heart, as a healer in Astraeya cannot be one unless their heart is kind and pure. Pines over Viviane hard.

Viviane Samaka

A mermaid from the underwater kingdom of Lu’Lu’, who advocates for the truce between land dwellers and sea creatures, she has a bright outlook for the future, and is unknowingly one of the Wisps. Like other mermaids, she has the sacred ability to entrance a person with her singing voice, though she must be careful not to hypnotize one of her one friends. Pines over Dreezna hard.

Mo (short for Mother Life) is the long-since-forgotten goddess of Astraeya, the creator of the entire world. Don’t be fooled by her young, childlike appearance - she is wise when it counts. Though she provided everything for the people, they still disliked her, angry that she didn’t accommodate their every need (though they weren’t exactly aware their caring goddess is a literal child). She one day mysteriously disappeared after the Gigas Disaster, which crumbled Astraeya’s old society. Whether she’s dead or ran off, nobody in the world knows.

Nightmare

A literal blob of evil black goo, Nightmare is the cause of the Gigas Disaster and the main antagonist of the story. He was born of the hatred and malice of the eight lesser elemental gods’s war. Though I may draw him with a form, the truth is he has no real form, and can only can have one by inhabiting a vessel, a person chosen among his followers. Hasn’t been seen physically for thousands of years, as he disappeared when Mo did, but threatens to return to end Astraeya once and for all.

Slug Prophet

Yes. You heard that right. Slug. Prophet. Born around the the same time Mo created Astraeya, they are a sea slug gained sentience, and gifted with the power of foresight. Mo often came to them in the past for advice and help, but has long since lost relevance and now hangs out in a damp, musty cove by the ocean, eating plankton-algae soup and doing....whatever they do in their free time. Primordial being, on the same level as Mo herself.

Sakura

A totally uninteresting and non-relevant elf lady from the forest, a total nerd and dweeb. She uses magic I guess, but honestly what’s the point, because she is just there. Mostly for background. Created To The Wisps as a fun little comic project on the side but it accidentally became real and she’s powerless to stop it. If you see her, ignore her, she will eventually go away.

#ooc #carson von somethin #margie spellwinder #hitoshi spirit #willow wispy #akio hinode #ichika gakusha #Julian Lores Draconia #Faenar mysticus #will continue the list but it’s like 10 pm and I’m tired #also pinned post #pinned post #dreezna elfenstof #viviane samaka #mother life #nightmare #slug prophet #I WILL MAKE PROFILE PICS FOR THEM. EVENTUALLY. A #Sakura

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seeselfblack · 6 years ago

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Harriet Tubman: 50 Facts…

Born Araminta “Minty” Ross between 1820 and 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland, she took the last name Tubman after her first husband, John Tubman, who was a freed slave. She also took her mother’s name, Harriet.

The couple never had children. Perhaps one reason was that since Tubman was a slave, her children would have been born slaves despite her husband being free.

Tubman had four sisters and four brothers.

In 1849, Tubman’s master attempted to sell her after she fell ill. Just when it appeared that a sale had been finalized, her master died. After that period, the widow decided to sell off all of her slaves. It was then that Tubman declared that there, “Was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would have the other.”

Although John Tubman refused to go north (perhaps because he was free, John felt no need to leave or risk being caught assisting others in their escape) on September 17, 1849, Tubman and two of her brothers escaped. After some time, her brothers elected to return and Tubman was forced to do the same. During their escape, a bounty of $100 was placed on each of them for their return. This is the only bounty ever placed on Tubman. Claims of a $40,000 bounty is false. The claim was fabricated by a former anti-slavery activist in New York named Sallie Holley.

Shortly after the aborted escape attempt, Tubman escaped again, this time without her brothers and without her husband John (who would become the impetus for her first Underground Railroad mission). She made it into Pennsylvania where she worked various jobs in Philadelphia.

Upon crossing the Mason Dixon line and freedom, Tubman stated that, “I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person now that I was free, there was such glory over everything, the sun came up like gold through the threes, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in heaven.”In Philadelphia,

Tubman saved her money and purchased a suit for her husband John. She then made her first trip back into Maryland to retrieve him; however, when she arrived she learned that John had remarried and refused to leave. Although angered and gravely disappointed, she found other slaves and led them to freedom in Philadelphia.

She was often called Moses, a name attributed to her by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison after the prophet in the Book of Exodus who led the Hebrews to freedom.

Tubman may have gotten her courageousness from her mother. In one instance, when the plantation master came to take Tubman’s brother, her mother informed him that, “The first man that comes into my house, I will split his head open.” Her brother was not sold.

At the age of five or six, Tubman was hired out to serve as a nursemaid for an infant. When the baby cried she was whipped. She would wear layers of clothing to protect against the beatings. She tolerated this for two long years.

Sometime around five or six years of age, Tubman ran away for a few days, returning thereafter.

One day as a child, Tubman was sent to pick up supplies at a store when she encountered a slave who had left the field in which he was working without permission. When the slave owner showed up the slave ran. In response, the owner picked up a heavy metal weight and threw it at the running slave. The weight missed the fleeing slave and instead struck Tubman in the head, knocking her unconscious. Tubman, bleeding profusely and lifeless, was returned to her owner. She was laid across the seat of a weaving loom, where she remained without any care for two days when she was returned to the fields. According to Tubman, she worked as blood and sweat poured down her face until she couldn’t see. Her owner tried several times to sell her after the injury.

After her head injury, Tubman would have seizures and sometimes suddenly fall unconscious, although she claimed that while unconscious she remained very much aware of her surroundings.

The head injury also caused Tubman to have visions, which she contributed to God, stating that during these episodes she was “consulting with God”. These visions and seizures continued throughout her life.

After the head injury, she became a devote Christian

She was a republican

Although she carried a pistol for safety reasons, she was not above using it as motivation for escaping slaves. During one trip, an escaping slave said that he was turning back when Tubman pointed the revolver at his head and said, “You go on or you die.”

Perhaps the reason Tubman is never smiling in her photographs because she had no front teeth. She actually pulled them during one escape when they were causing her much anguish.

Despite the proliferation of the quote, “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves,” she did not say it. The quote began circulating in the 1990s.

In reality, Tubman made 13 trips into Maryland to free mostly family members and friends; however, she would take others willing to leave. She is responsible for directly shepherding approximately 70 slaves to freedom and assisting another 60 some in their quest for freedom.

Once while leading escaped slaves to Canada, Tubman stayed at the home of former slave Frederick Douglass.

When conducting escapes, Tubman preferred to do so on Saturday evenings. She did this obviously to use the cover of night. However, Saturdays were important because newspapers did not print again until Monday, affording almost two days of movement before notices of the escapees appeared.

Tubman sang two songs during rescue missions:‘Go Down Moses,’ and, ‘Bound For the Promised Land.’ The tempo of these songs were altered to indicate whether it was safe to come out or not.

So many slaves were disappearing in the Maryland area where Tubman was from, that local...

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revpauljbern · 6 years ago

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Governor Cuomo, the Abortion Debate, and Progressive Christianity

What Does The Bible Tell Us About Abortion?

by Minister Paul J. Bern

For a website view, click here :-)

Without a doubt, this week's commentary is inspired by what transpired this past week in the state of New York, where the abortion law has been amended to legalize abortion right up until the point of birth. The law expands the state’s already liberal abortion laws to allow late-term abortions when “the patient is within 24 weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, or there is an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.” I offer this quote from the Philadelphia Inquirer as further explanation: “The law passed this week makes it impossible for the government to prevent a woman from choosing an abortion during the first six months. The state cannot step in to stop her. This could be catastrophic. Imagine if women in America could wait up to six months to choose to abort their babies for issues.... less devastating than Down syndrome. What if a woman chose to abort because she wanted a boy instead of a girl? That’s feasible under Cuomo’s law.”

The article continues: “The law also legalizes abortion up to the moment of birth if the mother’s life is in danger. In short: The law values the life of the mother more than the life of the child.” As this was being signed into law by governor Andrew Cuomo, the governor stated he “was opposed to abortion personally, but would not deprive others of that 'right.'” By the way, Andrew Cuomo is a Catholic. The Catholic church is by and large opposed to abortion, but usually for the wrong reasons. A prevented abortion becomes a new Catholic convert. That means more members, more robust Sunday collections during mass, and more priests and nuns for the Vatican to recruit.

Many people presume that a human being is created at the time of conception, but this belief is not supported medically or by the Bible. The fact that a living sperm penetrates a living ovum resulting in the formation of a living fetus does not mean that the fetus is a living human being, or at least not immediately. According to the Bible, a fetus is not a living person with a soul until after drawing its first breath. Allow me to explain the results of my research on this very touchy subject as delicately as possible.

First of all, God formed man according to Genesis 2:7, which says, “... the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being”. Although the man was fully formed by God in all respects, he was not a living being until after God put breath into him. In Job 33:4, it states: “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” We were all formed prior to our birth, but we weren't living beings until God breathed life unto us. Again, to quote Ezekiel 37 verses 5 and 6, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: 'I will make breath to enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you, and make flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin; and put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord'.”

The Bible also spells out the appropriate level of punishment for those who would dare to hurt the unborn. In Exodus 21:22 it is written: “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise”. It should be quite clear from this that the aborted fetus is not considered a living human being since the resulting punishment for the abortion is nothing more than a fine; it is not classified by the Bible as a capital offense under these circumstances unless the baby, its mother, or both are intentionally harmed or killed.

It is further stated in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and God's Spirit lives in you?” We are only alive in Christ when we die to ourselves. An unborn fetus lives within the womb, but is not yet a human being until it draws its first breath. Can God live within the unborn baby? Well, the Bible does say, “All things are possible with God”, that is true and I believe it wholeheartedly. But as I have already pointed out, the Bible is absolutely clear that a baby is not a human being until it draws its first breath, so that question is actually besides the point. The physical body of the unborn fetus is surely there, but as before, that body isn't breathing yet.

Destroying a living fetus does not equate to killing a grown, living human being even though the fetus definitely has the potential of becoming a human being. One can not kill something that has not been born or taken a breath. This means that a stillborn would not be considered a human being either. Of course, every living sperm has the potential of becoming a human being although not even one in a million will make it; the rest are aborted. It would appear that God does not have any more regard for the loss of a sperm than he does for the loss of a placenta, or of a foreskin during circumcision, despite the fact that these were living tissue as the result of conception.

Now let's take this to the next level, which has to do with being born again in the Spirit. When Jesus taught Nicodemus about being born again he said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of the water and of the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'you must be born again'. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John chapter 3, verses 5-8)

Flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit to Spirit. Being born of the water is a reference to childbirth first and to water baptism secondly. Being born of the Spirit of Christ refers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Plus, when we read our Bible, it says quite clearly in Galatians chapter two and verse 20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”. If the apostle Paul has been crucified with Jesus and died with him, then we are charged with the duty of being followers of Jesus right up to the very end as well. This is what being born again actually means.

In a number of versions of the Bible, one of the commandments in Exodus 20 that was spoken by God to Moses states: “You shall not kill”. According to the Mosaic text, this should read “You must not murder”, since the Bible has commandments stating that people shall be put to death for a number of different offenses. Exodus 21:17 states: “Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death.” There are also other capital offenses listed in Exodus 21. The popular ten commandments (in the original text there are over 600 of them) that are enumerated in Exodus 20 were given by God to Moses on tablets of stone. Verse 13 simply says, “You shall not murder”. That sums it up very nicely, I think. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that a fetus is considered to be anything other than living tissue and, according to Scripture, it does not become a living being until after it has taken its first breath. Meaning, abortion is not necessarily murder.

Those who say, "If you're a Christian, you have to be against abortion, support our troops no matter what their mission, and therefore you must also vote conservative Republican," are simply reciting talking points from false teachers. There are a disturbing number of these people who have infiltrated the Church who are doing this very thing. Many cite the scripture found in Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." God is omnipotent. He has known all of us since before creation. In Numbers 5 describes "the Lord" ordering an abortion. It's clearly stated in verse 22, "May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries." Many argue that this is a misinterpretation, but I'm not so sure about that. It is better to err on the side of caution with regard to the Lord than not. Before false teachers turned the issue of reproductive choice into a political football, views on this matter were far less extreme.

Does this mean I am pro-life or pro-choice? Sorry, but I will not allow anyone to label and compartmentalize me like that. In many cases, I think that if the mother does not want the baby then she should put the child up for adoption. On that topic, why do women get pregnant in the first place? Often it's due to lack of access to birth control. The cure is national health insurance, such as Medicare for all which would include access to prescription drugs at minimal cost. You know, like birth control pills or other contraceptives?

In cases where abortion is necessary, such as when the baby is already dead before birth, in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in jeopardy, in those events an abortion should be performed by qualified medical personnel or under a doctor's direct supervision. But those are the only exceptions. In the end, if abortion was such a grievous sin Jesus would have mentioned it. He never did. While I am personally against abortion, I do not presume to tell women what they can or cannot do to or with their bodies. Enough said!

#Progressive Christian #Progressive Blogs #abortion #the Bible #real truth #politics #pro-life #pro-choice

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dog-day-morning · 3 years ago

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THIS AIN'T LEGAL

Have you ever heard of absolute immunity? Federal officers who violate the Civil Rights of American citizens in an attempt to do harm with recorded video evidence of the violation in action or officers who willingly falsify a police report of a violent attack in order to frame the victim while the antagonist sits before a judge and jury perjuring herself with alligator tears before an all white jury with her blonde locks, and blue eyes, damn devil, and goes free while an innocent child spends 17 months behind bars. To say that Amerikkka is unjust is an understatement. Too many times Black people are dragged into a court that's already biased, having to face a judge, and jury who may have a vested financial interest in the private prison industry, but let's be real. The school to prison pipeline is not a myth, it's a bloody bruise on the face of Lady Liberty. Liberty, and justice for all never applied to the indigenous people of Amerikkka or any of the ADOS, and FBA citizens whose roots are entrenched in the Earth bleeding from a wound the wicked do not want to heal. The above mentioned scenarios actually happened to one of your own Amerikkka, and a child from the Middle East. It's funny that Amerikkkans appear to want peace seemingly always, but you're forever raising hell outside of your jurisdiction? Joe Biden is deporting Haitian refugees out of the country ASAP, while transporting inland, and giving amnesty to Afghan refugees, and South Americans even so far as to offer them free secondary education, and housing. The culture of Amerikkka is against a Black man ever rising up to experience the American Dream in a Taliban like Aristocracy or Totalitarian society that started centuries before Biden became president. He's not the answer to our problems nor is he the root of the issue. Amerikkka is a canker sore, and a blight that impedes the progression of a once dominant, but humble people. No one needs to preach of racial superiority and use terror tactics in order to justify a calloused approach to validate this viral disease that affects everyone with a modicum of common sense, decency, and compassion. Amerikkka was a Nation before Amerigo Vespucci set foot on these shores. Alkebulan was inhabited by some of the most brilliant minds, and still is before Scipio Africanus named the dark continent after himself, an albino. Ohhh the irony, and moral hypocrisy. Timbuktu, and the city of Alexandria were well established kingdoms in Alkebulan where Greek, and Roman scholars went to gather much needed knowledge because they were dumb as hell. Egypt is a mystery that none can determine for now. When the prophecy is fulfilled by the Father whom the Prophet Joel spoke thereof He would pour His Spirit down upon all flesh, the truth will set you and I free. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. What's impeding us from this prophetic word? Keep your thoughts to yourself. That's a luxury I haven't had since the age of stupid. Not wanting to call you out on the sins of your fathers, but you are just like him. I hope, and pray the Father fulfills His will in time before our hearts wax cold, too late. Amerikkka’s public enemy will not be our Black sons or daughters that are trying to follow the rules of man whose lawlessness has revealed itself to be an entire race of people. You create the laws, and break them leaving everyone with a bad taste in their mouth except those who profit from our pain. Chris Rock said this years ago. “The white man is the only one who profits from everyone's pain, especially a Black man’s.” you see how they treat us, and you have no inclination of what your future will hold for your people in the aftermath of the Zombie Apocalypse. I hate this form of pop culture rhetoric. There will be souls inhabiting these bodies that were once dead, and decomposing. God will deliver the dead from the sea, and He will deliver the dead from death, and hell.

Isaiah 26:17-21

17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

21 For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain..

When our Lord Christ Jesus does this work how do you think those who've hated, and betrayed us for a season of sin will react in the oncoming horror set before mankind? God has placed us on the Earth for a purpose, not to suffer. I can't put the blame on Joe Biden or those who came before him for what this nation or planet has done, and is doing to us; psych!!! The God of our fathers will judge you according to your works which has wrought death and destruction. The wrath, and judgment Joe Biden, trump, and their people will incur, and experience is worse than any Stephen King novel or Jordan Peele, and M. Night Shyamalan movies can induce in your alleged, fragile psyche. I've told Jacob, and warned the gentiles of God's incoming judgment, but no ones willing to heed the words of an idiot savant. I'm guilty of many things by way of my woeful condition. I'm compelled to elaborate these truths to you as they become relevant at a particular hour. Watch out for your young children who may be a pain, but they're innocent, and they're yours. The world sees us as prey, a potential payoff for an organ harvest, and fodder for the wickedly unjust. This woman that they have been searching for these last 5 or so days in a National Park has this Nation all a buzz. Who is she? Do you know how many women of Jacob go missing everyday without any press from the media? We can blame them, but are they at fault? Hell yeah!!! Continue to read. Our people have been limited by those who control the information, the social media platforms, infighting within our own tried Black media organizations that have blessed us over the years who are left open to attack by oppressive censorship that purposely restricts what they can, and cannot reveal to the Black masses. I was amazed to find out in 2017 that Coretta Scott King, and her family successfully sued the US government over the assassination of MLK Jr.; that was in 1999. The Atlanta Black Star might have covered the litigation process, but I didn't hear a peep from anyone I knew or even hear about it on any news media platform, especially from the major media news networks. That's how they've Silenced the Lamb with threats, and bullying tactics. We've come too far to go back to Egypt. The only time I wanna hear mention of going to Egypt is if my Church takes a sabbatical to the Motherland, and my Apostle takes the trip with us to seek the truths that have been denied us. Reference Joel 2:28. Those who stay committed to this ministry will see beyond the veil. If you placed all of your faith in me or Apostle Johnson you have overlooked the reasons God led you to this Church, Elders, Evangelists, Prophetesses, Deacons, Ministers, and the entire Church family. He nor I can do anything without the will of the Father, and I’m stuck on dufus. Get yo tail back to Church ASAP!!! We place our faith in men who have let us down many times. Apostle has done much for me, but Jesus has done everything. God will do a good work in all of us. I want every man, woman, and child in this ministry to reap what they have sown; don't leave. When the sky turns black, and the heavens roll back, peeling back the clouds, that's when you will see or hear the Son of God coming for His faithful. Apostle has taught us of the temporal mental mindset many times. Evidently it’s true as many of us have forgotten his teachings. My mind went off on a tangent, excuse me, where was I ? BET is owned by Jews, who used to own us. They run the entertainment industry that Buck breaks our men, and you wouldn't believe what they do to black women, and children who are all looking for a way to display their talents in order to get wealth, and their name up in lights. Leroy has the talent, all Mr. Epstein can offer you is a bogus contract that rips you off in the end leaving you po, broke, and lonely with a busted a-hole. Those who beat the system at their own game wind up 6 feet deep. Why do you think they murdered Michael Jackson, Prince, Sam Cooke, and James Brown? Michael owned half of SONY BMI. Prince owned all of his Masters that his

siblings sold for pennies on the dollar. Sam was going to start his own label, and brother James who had a label, but the IRS falsely audited him several times forcing him to sell his label keeping Soul Brother number 1 from becoming the first billionaire recording artist decades before JZ did. THIS AINT LEGAL. All that glitters isn't gold people. Ask Mr. Goldberg who runs several porn studios in Silicone Valley California. They run the majority of that particular industry as well as recording, movie and TV production studios while controlling the financial institutions. The majority heads of the Department of the Treasury including the current, Janet Yellen have been Jewish. Not trying to be a dissenter, but someone’s getting screwed. It's the middle class, and our fat, Black… ? William Randolph Hearst made the movie Reefer Madness which was a propaganda film not because hemp was a gateway drug to other crap, hell a pack of cigarettes has killed more people than ten thousand blunts. Smoke a blunt, and 30 minutes later you wanna eat. Smoke crack, and 30 minutes later you're sucking d**k. Hemp can be used in a vast amount of ways that would’ve crippled Mr. Hearst’s other industries. You can use it as fabric for clothes that's stronger, and more durable than cotton. The hemp plant had more useful potential than the soybean, and peanut combined!!! Marijuana isn't a drug at all, it's an herb. The Egyptians used it to cure many ailments including cancer. If I were still on Instagram Mark Suckerberg would personally shut my page down himself… again. That's why I no longer use white run social media websites. Mr. Hearst's only interest in getting the government to make hemp illegal was to keep his financial, investment interests ever increasing. In the end it turned out to do more harm than good. Now that the government has managed to tax the herb, they've made it legal. Why in the hell are Black men, and women still serving draconian, archaic prison sentences for minor marijuana drug offenses that don't make sense to a mongoloid retard?!! Like I said: “THIS AINT LEGAL.” Babylon the Damned will fall on its pancaked derriere soon enough. Pray to God the Zombie Apocalypse runs right past your abode or get some pads from your son's football uniform in order to appease the dead in Christ who may want a ham sandwich or your daughter Becky. This too shall pass. Try lamb's blood? The closer I get to death or that visitation with someone I've been wanting to see for a long time because I can't see, the more these things come back to my remembrance. This is enough for today. Whatever God reveals to me in the next few days hopefully I’ll relate some of that information to you. I thank those for judging me as a simp, punk b**ch, p**sy a** n**gah, punk a** n**gah, sorry a** n**gah, faggot, and everything you project or judge according to your flesh. I have no secrets so what am I trying to hide? Get your house in order Jeff, your life may be required of you, and ya boy in the wheelchair. Still someone else's identity Yippie Yai Kai Yay mother!@#$%& 9/21/2021

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itsyourchoicedevotionals · 4 years ago

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Like A Polluted Land

“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30NLT

Does the USA deserve God’s wrath? Is there corruption within the church? Churches are everywhere—attendance is down. No major biggie, because you still go. How long has it been since you reached out to bring a sinner along?

Besides, pastor isn’t preaching anointed sermons— no fire falls to consume the altar anymore. Have you prayed for pastor to be fired up by Holy Spirit and turned inside out for God?

Truly, the world outside the church is corrupt. No doubt. Jeffery Epstein had an island full of sex slaves, underage children. Most all of the current politicians have frequented there….. but that’s okay, because you didn’t. Why did you retain them in office to represent you as a Congressperson or Senator?

Human trafficking— at an all time high, and the USA is highest among the users of those trafficked sex slaves. Why do some cry when we see another’s child stolen-disappeared, while others rub their hands together in glee over fresh meat? God forgive us!

Abortion has murdered nearly 65million living babies’ since it began. Did you realize a FETUS rejoiced in the womb when Mary pregnant with Jesus arrived, see Luke 1:41? How many of your children and grandchildren were among those murdered?

What caused many denominations to negate sharing of communion? Because of the pandemic? Really? Sacraments can be purchased prepackaged to prevent the spread of the virus and to avoid fear. Isn’t communion important any more?

How could believers in Christ Jesus support a politician without researching their records? Were they bewitched to choose the shedding of blood over every other line item in their rhetoric? One person said both immigration and abortion needed to be done together. Is that why a man was put into office who respects no foreigners’ lives— only uses them for votes, no baby’s life, nor the lives of the elderly?

Here’s what the Lord put on my heart during the night in response to all of the above questions: Ezekiel 22:24-29NLT “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain. Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice."

Praying has became more intense this past year, yet not intense enough. At times as I prayed, I’ve felt like I was trying to clear a manure pile on a milk farm with a teaspoon. During these past months, my repentance intensified. WAKE UP. With the Chinese cancel culture targeted for our lifestyle, there’s no hope for the USA without believers standing in the gap in prayer for our nation. Are you repenting, interceding and standing in the gap? It’s your choice. You choose.

PRAYER: Lord God, forgive our personal sins and we ask you to forgive our national sins. We’re guilty God and ask for mercy from heaven over our land and our people, in Jesus’ name I pray.

#Jesus Christ #lord of lords #Word of God #Holy Spirit #God #it's your choice #devotional #polluted land #praying #repentance #sins #nation #intercession #love #hope #faith

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basicsofislam · 5 years ago

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ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Embracing The World: Part 7

A RELIGION OF TOLERANCE

Islam is a word derived from the root words silm and salamah. It means surrendering, guiding to peace and contentment, and establishing security and accord.

Accusing Islam of Terrorism

Jihad can be a matter of self-defense or of removing obstacles between God and human free choice. Our history is full of examples that show how this principle has been implemented in life.

Muhammad was born out of love,

What can be born out of love without Muhammad?

Love Is the Essence of Creation

The Pride of Humanity was a man of love and affection. One of his names was Habeebullah (the Beloved of God). In addition to meaning one who loves, habib means one who is loved, one who loves God, and one who is loved by God.

God created the universe as a manifestation of His love for His creatures, in particular, humanity, and Islam became the fabric woven out of this love. Love is the essence of creation. Just as a mother’s love and compassion compels her to allow a surgeon to operate on her sick child to save his or her life, jihad allows war, if needed, to preserve such fundamental human rights as the right to life and religious freedom. Jihad does not exclusively mean war.

Despite such hostility, when in an assembly of Companions where Abu Jahl’s son Ikrimah was present, the Prophet one day admonished a Companion who had been heard insulting Abu Jahl: “Do not hurt others by criticizing their fathers.” Another time, he said: “Cursing your mother and father is a great sin.” The Companions asked: “O Messenger of God, would anyone curse their parents?” The Prince of Prophets replied: “When someone curses another’s father and the other curses his father in return, or when someone curses another’s mother and the other does the same in return, they will have cursed their parents.”

The Qur’an strongly urges forgiveness and tolerance. In one verse, it says of pious people:

They swallow their anger and forgive people. God loves those who do good. (Al-Imran 3:134)

When they meet hollow words or unseemly behavior, they pass them by with dignity. (Al-Furqan 25:72)

When we look at the exalted life of God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, we see that he always practiced the precepts presented in the Qur’an. For example, a Companion once repented of sin and admitted: “I am guilty of fornication. Whatever my punishment is, give it and cleanse me.” The Prince of Prophets said: “Go back and repent, for God forgives all sins.” This event was repeated three times. Another time, a Companion complained to the Prophet that someone had stolen his belongings. But as the punishment was about to be carried out the Companion said: “I have changed my mind and do not want to pursue my case. I forgive this individual.” The Prophet asked: “Why did you bring this matter to court? Why didn’t you forgive him from the outset?”

When such examples are studied from their original sources, it is clear that the method of those who act with enmity and hatred, who view everyone else with anger, and who blacken others as infidels are non-Islamic, for Islam is a religion of love and tolerance. A Muslim is a person of love and affection who avoids every kind of terrorist activity and who has no malice or hatred for anyone or anything.

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josephmxa · 7 years ago

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Welcome to Wonderland: Faults of an Armstrong

A Fortunate Side Effect

Livid dreams.

Hope so pure.

A wish lost in a sea of desperation.

She called and prayed upon God.

For her, this experience meant more than when she came to be. Breathing life into anew, for a child’s eye to share the reality of hers. For them to one day define change for ones to come. A few held disdain, a couple lacked empathy. Several were left conflicted and the rest… they shared a false sense of hope. Pessimism wrapped with a nice little optimistic ribbon. But she… she believed in a bright a future, a welcoming life, for the next generation of Pangaea. She wouldn’t dare let the next become like the last; a society full of collected mistakes and greed. A society a full of hunchbacks by all the weight of chained consequences. She vowed for this one moment… this precious opportunity to correct all the wrong she had done.

Was that wrong of her?

Her little baby boy, Ari Armstrong. Strong, beautiful, sensitive; a truly powerful man.

But if she were honest with herself; after three undeserved miscarriages within the last five years, how much longer can her dreams go on? At what point can she continue wasting energy on a hope for the inevitable? She thought; had God lost my wishes? She’d written off the possibility of her body not being suitable enough to carry out life for so long, that maybe it was fate or destiny that prevented her from a child. This was her one last hope as she couldn’t stand her world.

The people of Winheim have long since abused the gift given to them. They’ve since sinned against alchemy. She’d one day watch as her once beautiful country burned. Her world lost in a wonderland gone mad. One day, Pangaea would turn into a dark reflection of the beautiful echo of truth.

Life played cruel jokes.

When she was little, Annaliese Armstrong marvelled at the capabilities of the human body. The beauty from within; the raw, imperfect canvas on the outside. And how could she ever forget the limitless prowess of the mind? Full of wonders and dreams. Hopes and wishes. The whole world locked in space; freedom just and fair. But the one miracle humans were gifted with was the ability to play God. The power to create life. To breath change. The experience of pain and relief siring a joy of another you. What more was there to love? How did that not warm her heart? For damn sakes, her own little brother beat her to the punch and sired a girl with remarkable beauty.

All this and for what? Was she to watch humanity die by the hands of the maddened? For all their work in ruins in favour of natural selection.

So, she asked herself, one more time couldn’t hurt, right? She’d been killed by the pain of her dreams withering away. She became immune to the fact of her blood disease; by the time the placenta took over the blood flow of her body and supplied it to her child, it clotted before it could run through their body.

The world around her… to hell with it.

God did her dirty.

She prayed for Him.

She served Him.

Loved Him.

In her happily ever after, He brought her love and happiness; a virtuous life. And yet this was his answer? No, she refused. So, again… one last time couldn’t kill a dead woman by now.

“Let’s say we try again,” Annaliese once told Burton. The two both comfort in their remote home in Winheim; snugged tight in their bed, free from the hagglers and outcasts of the brighter districts and silenced from all the bleeding white noise.

Burton paused. He looked over from his book and saw what occupied her this late at night. “Annaliese…”

She had been carefully skimming through the family portraits in a nice kept book she made one time ago. Burton shook his head and yet she paid no mind, her eyes glues to the beauty of both their families. Burton certainly ruled her obsession unhealthy and damaging, and over one child? Did she not realize how much he broke and cried? He moved on. He had to. He needed to. He saw lost sleep on her face for a couple of weeks now; hoped she’d learn to move on, too.

Annaliese knew. But the remnants of her dreams tugged on her heart. To deny a felling so right churned her stomach. “I know. But imagine… one last time and I will know our God is a false prophet. He shouldn’t, he can’t, rid me of this beautiful miracle so many women get to experience.”

“Don’t talk so foolishly. You know that holds no weight.”

“What makes you so sure?” Her eyes bore into his, and from he saw, desperation and pain ate away the glimmer he grew fond of. “What has he given us?”

He scoffed. “A virtuous life. Our love. He fulfilled our lives with so much content.”

A sigh left her lops as she shook her head slow. “Our life was to be full with Ari in it. And he’s not. Don’t take this from me, too, Burton. Please.”

Burton rested on the idea. Was his wife foolish? Sure, she was. But when they first met, he was just as foolish to be tied down with her till death do them part. “How sure are you?”

“I swear on the L’Oréal and Armstrong name.”

In the coming silence, Burton brushed a finger on her temple, easing the nerves he saw twitch. His smile, while soft, enlightened her. She caressed fingers across the side of his face till her hand cupped his cheek. Her ears were all in. “For Ari.”

The hope inside her heart smile; for how she glowed under the lamp light. “For Ari.”

With Burton by her side, she prayed to their God one last time. If he didn’t submit to her dying heart’s cries, she knew best.

Dread filled their body over time in the coming months. The pressure weighed on Annaliese more than she expected, though she was lucky of the love she shared with her dearest; the comfort she found. She pushed on no matter how much she overthought. No matter how much overwhelmed her when nine months closed in on them. She breathed through the anxiety running her up and down. Because when she saw her bump grow and reach its full potential, she relived the moment of her gleeful teenage years; the time she found herself drawn to boys.

One day came when she felt a stir in her body. Subtle. The second she moved, she felt something trickle down the side of her leg. “Burton,” she called of hesitance. Soft. She urged a foot forward. The trickled doubled. “Burton,” she called in confidence. She pushed on for a third. A leak sprung. “Burton!” The realization flushed in relief and hearing his name called for a third time forced his body out the library; man ran like he was back in his prime.

Together they rushed to the nearest medical center and Burton concerned himself over whether he was happy or worried of his dear Annaliese; a woman who had gone truly mad. He amused himself knowing his wife would soon develop wrinkles beyond her time.

What felt like mere days—the intense pressure building inside—God finally answered her. The strained frustration on Burton’s face lifted as the reflection in her eyes enlightened him of the pain Annaliese carried, watching as it revived the glimmer he loved.

Ari’s cries brought joy to their ears. His little body adapting to the heat of theirs. The proud-to-be parents held him close—the slightest idea of crushing him rushed through their overclocked minds.

However, what once died couldn’t breath a second life again. Or rather… a fourth. Ari’s cries hushed to a stall. The rise and fall of his chest stilled. His body ran colder to a point where Annaliese figured she’d get frostbite at her fingertips. As little Ari drew his last breath and the tears from his eyes dried, they went wide-eyed.

God did her dirty.

He teased her. Stripped her rights of teaching new life. What was she to do now that He had killed him? She couldn’t understand his motives. She and Burton carried this one last shred of hope and watched it live out its last stretch in a matter of a minute. To think their hopes were heard, their wishes granted, their dreams actualizing themselves, and in the end… it all got lost in the eyes of a false prophet. For surely now, she’d be in a point of no return. They weren’t anything anymore.

The next couple of days robbed their bodies of youth, dragged them through hell and back and had them bleeding. Their minds strung up and abused. They were nothing but shallow vessels. Only a matter of time when desperation caught Annaliese in a moment of curiosity.

She remembered.

A many great people studied alchemy. Since birth many mirrored their lives after the military; some married into it. Her husband devoted a portion of his life to the studies of alchemy and its substantial power. She came to remember the teachings and practices she underwent when she’d gotten serious with him the first few years; alchemy had unlimited potential. Burton finetuned his knowledge the best he could but the mystery of what lied beyond intrigued him. There was so much more behind alchemy than what the world knew. Within the stranger things of alchemy, there had been her dream.

As nice as silence was when they ate dinner, Burton fell curious. Unlike the twisted curiosity of his wife. “Annaliese,” he called. His voice soft, almost too quiet for her ears. “Is it not time yet? We’ve strung this too far now. We need rest. He… he needs to rest.”

There was a pause between her next bite. She bothered not looking up knowing she’d remind herself how worn out they were. Instead, she cleared her throat, straightened up against the back of her chair and drank a quarter of a full glass of water. “I’ve made my peace.”

“So, what keeps you?”

She took the plunge and looked. Like his, her sockets were sunken. The life once on fire soulless. The two differed when her looks spited him. “Why haven’t you told me?”

“Told you what?”

She let silence string him on a tease. The growing frustration of his body cued her to spit it out. “Human Transmutation.”

For a dead face, he lit up in a mixture of madness and confusion. “You’re a damn fool for scouting my library!”

“Me? I’ve made my peace. But I’ll never let go.” Another quarter glass refreshed her. “Can you say the same?”

“You’ve lost it now, haven’t you? You absolutely do not dwell on a subject like that.”

“Why not? If this is our last resort, I will take it.”

The table shuddered when Burton slammed a fist down. It phased everything on it but her. “No, Annaliese! You don’t get it! Do you not understand that alchemy is not a toy for us to play with?”

“It’s a science for us to explore.”

He snickered. “You really are mad. Did you forget the first and most important rule of alchemy? If you want to get Ari back, you give up something in return. Equivalent exchange. How mad are you that you’re so blinded by the inevitable consequences?” Annaliese watched how red his face got as she let silence speak for her. Her deadened eyes bore deeper into his than he’d like to admit. “Do you remember Clive?” he asked once calmed.

She nodded. “He was one of the groomsmen at Oliver’s wedding. Reminds me that maybe I should take up this offer with him instead.”

“Listen,” he ordered. “Do you remember how he lost his son?”

She nodded. “The annual Sona Games. Brutal. Such a waste of a once beautiful country.” She smirked at the twitch in his temple.

“Well, you know what? He attempted human transmutation to bring him back. And like I said, the law of alchemy; in order to obtain, something of equal value must be given. Clive didn’t lose a right arm out on parole. He lost it for his son and what came back was so horrendous… he couldn’t believe he brought him back in such fashion.”

The glass empty at her dinner plate’s side. “He was a fool,” she began, “that breaks the very idea of the law. A right arm equals a body and a soul? Because I’m led to believe he attempted this, at least, a month after his new arm came in, then it’s been two years since Joseph died. He was nothing but ash.” She leaned in. “Do you not understand, Burton? We have a real body, a real source for Ari’s soul. He was by himself. I have you.”

“You couldn’t be more tone deaf.”

“Enlighten me, dearest.”

Burton breathed in heavy, eyes closed. “Do you know how he lost his wife?”

“She was out late. The wrong time. The wrong place.”

“No.” He opened them; stared her down. “She was there when he did it. She was a witness to him withering away for the sin that is human transmutation. She was there and gave her life for his.” Annaliese grew intrigued at the mixture of emotions on Burton’s face. Read his worries and yet thought of him foully. Burton called knowing she took the information to heart, it seemed, but kept his sternness around in case he had to ground her again. “So, do you understand now? I can’t watch you grow more and more stubborn.”

In the still air, nothing but the ticks of their grandfather clock, her eyes called him weak. “I’ve grown desperate. There’s a difference.” His face did no change as he eased into his seat; snickering at the thought of his wife lost beyond all hope. But he listened. “You’ve graduated at the top of your class. You’ve shown me the stranger things of alchemy, of what you can do. You’ve taught me more than I could ever imagine. And what do we have to show for it? Your little library? You slave yourself in there for hours a week; book after book, notes on top of notes. What Clive, and Elizabeth, did wrong… we do better.”

The slow reaction on Burton told her he rested on the idea. In a matter of days since losing their newborn, Annaliese had gone truly made in his mind and appropriately so. And she was going to madden him for the chance of having a history with Ari.

He breathed in slow; and out, arms crossed. “Answer honestly, please.” She nodded. “How sure are you to take this risk?”

She smiled low, snickered, and then brought her eyes back up at him. “I swear on our own child’s life. Mine and yours. Till death do us part.”

Human Transmutation was lawed as forbidden; a crime against God and yet they sworn on their lives. Burton recounted the history of those who performed the act before and yet they sworn on their child’s life. He knew better. He knew the risks the sin carried and here she went, tempting of a family they hadn’t the chance to be. They sworn on their love and understood the disturbing ramifications of the inevitable aftermath.

Reluctance delivered them a spoonful of anxiety as they took their studies slow. They ran through all Burton had on the subject in his personal collection and took up camp at the local library day and night. A few of their friends and immediate family were cautious of their behaviour knowing the details of what they went through. But they weren’t to know what they had up their sleeves. While Burton carried around a bit more hesitance in him, Annaliese powered on. Determined and motivated. She knew the second their families caught wind of their motives, they’d coerce Burton away from her; high and dry and dying.

A foolish mad love, these two.

A month later, morning rose.

An hour passed, hesitance snugged them up tight in bed.

The morgue stood in walking distance and her thoughts thrilled her in all the wrong ways. How could she stand up today, travel to the morgue and plead for a right to share the day with her little Ari and soon set him down in the middle of the transmutation circle they drew the night before? He could she bring herself to end this day knowing anything could happen? She truly thought for a second how in the world Burton could love her.

Shock tingled her body when she felt the warmth of Burton’s hands. Her smile widening at the love in his hands and in this moment of silence, her heart eased in his comfort. Even for just a little while. The quiet air embraced them.

The night came before they knew it.

Crickets sounded off in the distance as Annaliese set Ari down in the middle of the circle. She and Burton stood on opposite ends of the circle and rested on their shins. A cautious look between the two, smiles unknown; they drew in slow, deep breaths to ease their wracking nerves.

“I’m sworn to carry your burdens.”

“I’m sworn to experience a life fulfilled by your side.”

They laid their hands upon the edge of the circle, closed their eyes and prayed. Not for the false prophet, but for each other. For Ari Armstrong.

They spoke gentle prayers of love.

Time slowed. A buzz crawled along the tiny hairs on their arms. Their hearts drummed against their chests and out of concerned curiosity they peeked at what surrounded them. Under the pressure of the power released, their spines tingled. Wide-eyed and speechless, they feasted their gaze upon the flecks of lightning; a crystal white streak with a tinge of cobalt.

A faint high-pitched wail broke through the eerie silence.

Soft.

Sweet.

Rising in crescendo, his cries wrote a string of emotions attacking the Armstrong’s hearts. So much so, tears welled along the crease of their eyes. The two shared a brief look of happiness before they settled back on the fidgety body of their little Ari. Wrapped up so snug and tight in his blanket.

He breathed a second life, awaiting him on the other side an endless opportunity of experiences. Burton’s face had Annaliese cracking a mad laugh. And not a second later did Ari’s cries sound deafening.

The crystal white streak dimmed to a somber morning sunrise.

“Ari!”

Instinct drove both their bodies forward and yet, barely an inch closer, they froze. Something inside them churned. Like the heat of a fist. Like they’ve gone on a fast before they knew how to eat. Annaliese coughed hard and every time she did, she marveled in horror at the flecks of blood spattering across the floor beneath her.

Shock limited their self-awareness. So much so, that neither recognized what they lost. And even if Burton had to force his eyes across the circle at his dearest, he wouldn’t have begun to imagine what she paid for this sin. If she realized what she saw on the other side, how could she react fast enough to save him? The only sound that caught her ears was the faint cry of agony.

Moments passed as years in Annaliese’s perspective. Her vision fogged. The colour gone pale. And before her self-awareness recharged, she found herself lost in an endless white expanse. With a mixture of pain, shock and confusion riddling her body, she stumbled around on two feet until she realized a figure a few feet from her stood. She observed and took in as much as she could, for what she only saw; a white featureless echo of herself.

Poor Annaliese had no clue, however. She thought it strange the figure resembled her body.

A lot coursed her mind and yet her confusion settled for simplicity. “Who are you? Where am I?” While her posture seemed confident and content, the eerie beat of her heart crawled under her skin.

“Many call me God. I am the truth to the universe, the world in your yours,” Truth said. “I am one above all, and all above one. I am simply all that you are. Welcome to Wonderland, my dear.”

On instinct, she shook her head low and mouth no on repeat. Yet the least produced sound of her voice was a crack. In fear of the unknown, the rush of anxiety oxygenated her veins and she took a few steps back before she fully backtracked. But naïve Annaliese Armstrong had not understood.

Truth flashed before her eyes. Or at least, to her, it moved in a blink of an eye. “What the hell?”

“You’ve dared look at the eye and not it’s open for you. This is what you’ve hidden most deep inside, is it not?”

Again, she shook her naïve little head. Again, she set a foot behind her. But her self-awareness hadn’t alerted her of the shadow-like ethereal hands. They reached out from the Eye of Truth behind her, tagging every part of her body, deteriorating a piece bit by bit. She hadn’t understood the act of disappearing into nothing, and for that, her body went on high alert.

“Hush now. I will show you the truth.”

She experienced a small thump in her head. It started slow, soft. Then it grew and drummed against her skull. What ached inside, she could not explain. What she saw before her, she could not find words. It was like she saw the world’s secrets, the truth of alchemy crammed inside her brain. “Stop. Stop! Please, stop! I can’t take much more. I can’t. I-I… it’s too much!”

“Mom…” she heard. Low, husky, reminiscent of Burton’s voice, she first thought… no. “It’s okay.” Hunched over on her knees, head down low and her hands over her ears, she eased herself into the familiar voice. Her eyes opened as she brought her head up and she then understood.

Truth kneeled before her.

Coping with all Eye of Truth showed her, her voice went soft when she spoke. “There was so much more.” She brought herself up as did Truth. “There was so much more! We got it all wrong. Why didn’t we think of this?” she asked herself. She stared Truth down with the same level of curiosity that killed her son. “Show me again. Show me more. The theory of human transmutation was right there. Ari was right there.”

Truth cracked a mad laugh. By the end, its fierce smile showed. “I’m sorry, dear. I can’t do that.”

“What? Why not? I understand now.”

“I’ve already shown you enough for the toll you’ve paid.”

Her features tightened as her brows furrowed. “What do you mean? What toll?”

Truth’s smile stayed. “You don’t know?”

Annaliese took her first step forward, not before she hunched over clenching her stomach; a striking pain hitting her. She distinctly remembered the pain like it hit her sometime before she came in Wonderland. She looked down at her stomach and quickly back up at Truth. By the time she took a running step, realization revving up her legs, she flashbacked to reality. Not a second later she coughed up a pool of blood.

The first she laid eyes on was her little Ari. He laid there motionless. With what strength she found, she crawled out to him. She could feel the ache in her stomach strike hard and wrong with each crawl. She pushed on. Powered through. Reached a hand for the flap of the blanket as she got close. When she came face with the aftermath of her actions, the horror settled in at a disturbing pace.

Her head wandered up and her eyes soon met her husband. Half awake by now, her eyes goggled at the sight of the red river his body made. She tried hard not being so fixated on the price he paid, for he could not hold her in his warmth and comfort again. For she could not be surprised when her feet lifted from the ground. She could not believe. She did not want to believe. “This is not what I wanted. No… this is not what I wanted!”

Amazes me how much energy she had left.

Using this, however, she recounted the practice of basic flame alchemy. She utilized the blood from her body, traced a transmutation circle on both her palms and crawled her way towards Burton. Another quarter of her energy lost, but she wasn’t going to lose someone who concerned himself over her own safety. She wasn’t going to lose all she had left.

Truth showed her what she supressed deep in the depths of her mind. How it made her queasy and reluctant. Because the hardest thing to overcome about oneself was the truth you never wanted to hear. The truth you’ve feared and hesitated to speak about. The truth you saw in nothing. What can be scarier than that?

As she placed her palms on his wounds, she sang a silent prayer. She channelled the energy from the ground beneath and heard a spark fly. She soon caught the sight of flames singeing the circulation of his blood. So, he for surely wouldn’t lose another litre or two. In her mind, she tried believing he could survive from this. She believed she could too. But from how much they lost? She might’ve understood it was best to enjoy the now instead of wishing for a future that was never there. In truth, they over reached beyond their fulfilled life. Another child would bring her pain all the same—as if barring another was possible now.

A little over 4k words. Sometimes I just impress myself. Sometimes, and sometimes is rare. But more on this, I’m sure the questions have risen. All I can say is that the faults of an Armstrong changed histories.

@merigreenleaf (Anyone is free to be tagged)

@isveltetip

@firewritten

#welcome to wonderland #wonderland #writing update #my writing

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