#when He says he who is without sin throws the first stone so you don’t throw stones but you throw all your money into the bank accounts of

[humanityinahandbag]

Steddie: Sticker Fic (Part 1)

“Hey, Munson?” Eddie turned and Steve was there, in his space, leaning forward until Eddie was pressed back into the kitchen island. He could smell Steve’s cologne, could see the moles and freckles across his face, could taste the air around him, like honey and butter and frosting. And then Steve reached out and pressed his fingers to Eddie’s chest, drawing back just as quickly, leaving Eddie’s skin warm and tingling. He’d also left something else on Eddie’s shirt. He barely registered what had happened until he was sitting back down, and Dustin's eyes were on him along with the rest of the kids. "No fair!" Dustin pointed, scowling at Eddie's shirt. "How come you got that one!" "Uh," said Eddie and looked down. I Did an Amooooozing Job Today! said a cow in a cowboy hat.

Eddie Munson was doing his best to push down his absolutely tragic crush on Steve Harrington. He'd been doing a pretty good job of it, too.

And then Steve brought out the goddamn stickers.

(or: Steve flirts using stickers. The kids go feral for them. Puns are everywhere and they are terrible. And Eddie is losing his goddamned mind.)

-

The first sticker appeared on a Tuesday.

Hellfire Club had been tentatively invited back into the school as a sort of withering olive branch, most of the school officials and adults shamefaced about the whole almost killing a kid in a jock-led Satanic Panic Mob thing. They’d put on their best faces and tried to appeal to Eddie’s mercy (even Principal Higgins had swallowed down his repulsion to say mistakes were made). 

But in the end it hadn't made much of a difference, and Eddie Munson got to watch each and every one of their faces fall deeper into sticky guilt when he said “no thank you”. 

It wasn't easy. Hellfire had been held in the back of the theater room since he'd started the club. Through bullies, black eyes, and the burning stares of teachers, that room had given Hawkins High at least one space he could be himself without apology. Without danger of being called a fag. Of being too slow to dodge a punch.

It was him, his friends, the stories they crafted.

And giving it up was like leaving a piece of himself behind.

But the fumbled apologies from adults (who should have known better, who'd never liked him, who'd been completely okay throwing words and stones and demanding his head, who suddenly looked to him to absolve their sins) made him feel skeevy. The guilt was warranted, but as his Uncle firmly told him it wasn’t his job to make a bunch of no-good-kid-hunting adults feel better.

"You ain't their priest, son. If they can hunt my boy so easily, then they shouldn't have any problems hunting down someone to listen to their goddamn confession, too."

Eddie had the scars along his body, a chunk of flesh eaten from his thigh, and a missing left nipple to show for their mistake . He had nightmares and flashbacks and nights where he woke up in a cold sweat expecting to see a mob outside his window shouting vile, obscene words to cut him deep or vines crawling across his ceiling to cut him even deeper. 

So he’d said no, even if it meant he might have needed to give up one of his most sacred spaces in the world. 

And then Steve Harrington (with his perfect smile and whiskey eyes and warm touch) had stepped in and said, “why don’t you just have Hellfire at my house?” and that was that. 

Steve Harrington's house provided safety, a giant ass dining room table, from-scratch cookies and cakes that Steve insisted on baking each and every time they met. 

It also provided Steve, who was wonderful and sweet and kind and-

And.

And.

And whatever the reason (that Eddie was definitely not avoiding, not at all), it was enough for Eddie to wind up at the head of Steve's dining room table, leering at the small group from behind his screen.

It was snickerdoodle that day; Jeff's favorite. Eddie had already put back two and was happily considering a third. The rest of Hellfire looked like they were regretting eating any as Eddie hunched forward in the ridiculous oak dining chair. Dustin was green in the face, staring down at his miniature like he might as well have dug a tiny grave right then and there.

"You arrive at a door." Eddie steepled his fingers, resting his chin against the points. "Ancient symbols are carved throughout. Runes from another time, another place." 

"Shit," Gareth murmured. "God, not another fucking door."

"Your only other escape is through the tunnels where you came, but you can already hear the Orc armies clashing their way through. What do you do, oh mighty heroes?"

"We're fucked." Dustin threw up his hands, pressing the heels against his eyes. "Oh Jesus we're so fucked."

"We're not fucked!" Lucas said, even if his face said otherwise. "We need- shit, we need a strategy! Will-?"

"I'm barely hanging on!" Will stared down at his character sheet, scribbling notes down furiously. "We could do an observation check-"

Dustin groaned. "We don't have time for that!" 

"Well then what are we supposed to do, Genius," Erica snapped. "Sit here and die?"

The table erupted into an argument, insults and strategies twisting together through the fray, Eddie watching it all delighted. 

From the corner of his eye he could see Steve leaving the kitchen with a fresh plate of what looked like carrot sticks. He walked carefully and silently through, mostly ignored by the still bickering group as he began to collect the empty cookie plates and gather napkins, stepping from spot to spot to curiously look over shoulders. 

"Enjoying the peace and quiet, Harrington?"

Steve snorted, dropping the plate of carrots by Eddie's elbow. "Oh yeah. Getting in a quick meditation." 

Eddie laughed, glancing back down at his notes to hide the blush already crawling up his collar, scribbling out a quick direction on the paper.

And then-

“What the hell is that?”

-the table fell silent. 

There could have been a million reasons for those words to be said by any one of the Hellfire Club, and so Eddie wasn't much phased by the squawk from the other side of the table beyond the sea of miniatures and D20s. It was only when the other kids began to grumble that he looked up from behind his screen. 

What he found was a scene that didn’t fully belong at the table of dark cloth and menacing figurines and leather clad nerds who were all now staring at Mike Wheeler holding up his character sheet, staring at Steve who had been coming over to grab empty plates from the middle of the miniature battle. 

The character sheet, which was now adorned with a circle just bigger than a quarter. 

Eddie squinted. The circle was a bright, neon green with a star in the middle. And the star was wearing- Huh. He squinted again, and, yup. The star was wearing sunglasses. 

Steve turned back, empty stack of plates in one hand. “It’s a sticker.” 

“No shit, Steve,” said Mike. “What’s it doing here though.” 

Steve shrugged. “I thought your little dude was cool. So.” He reached into his pocket with his free hand and held up a roll of stickers. Eddie could see more sunglass wearing stars scattered in between a small galaxy of suns giving them the thumbs up and a moon with a backwards hat.

"We're not babies, Steve."

Steve rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to be a dick about it. Just say thank you.” 

“Whatever,” said Mike, which was as close to thanks as he ever got. “I’m throwing it away.”

“Do what you want,” said Steve. He rolled his eyes and looked down at Eddie. “So ungrateful,” he said, as if Eddie was meant to commiserate somehow with a freshman. 

Then again, Eddie was always happy to play along. “Oh yeah. Kid doesn’t know how good he’s got it. Crowning achievement, that prize.”

“You jealous, Munson?” 

Eddie snorted. “Sure, Harrignton. Whatever you want to tell yourself. Now stop distracting my sheepies. We’ve got stuff to- to…”

He trailed off when Steve leaned closer. His cologne was woodsy and dark and from the angle where he leaned, Eddie could see chest hair poking from the open neck of his polo shirt. He reached out and pressed his fingers against Eddie’s shoulder. His touch was firm and sure and Eddie wanted to sink against it. “Well,” he said, “I’d hate to be a distraction.” And then he leaned back like nothing had happened, getting the kids’ attention with a sharp whistle and a call for pizza orders. 

When Eddie looked down, there was a sticker on his shoulder. 

Eyes on the Prize said a festive looking potato. 

Eddie did his best to scoff, swallowing back the thrumming in his chest. 

.

.

.

Though if he put the stupid thing inside his binder afterwards. Well. That was no one else's business but his own. 

-

Want to read the rest of this fic? This is only a part of chapter 1! The rest of it (as well as the next three chapters) can be found on AO3!

If you want to watch Steve Harrington woo Eddie Munson with stickers, then this might be the right story for you.

Warning: (Slaps story) This baby can hold so many bad puns.

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Do I Have a Log??

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

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Isaiah 41:13 For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'

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VERSE OF THE DAY

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+ Matthew 7:3: “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?

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** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM NOT JUDGY

I AM SAVED

I AM COMPASSIONATE

I AM LOVING

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READ TIME: 7 Minutes

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THOUGHTS:

======================

    We often worry about how to evangelize to people or save a soul, and we learn all these tactics on how to do it. So, we try to save a soul, or some of us judge others' sins out in the open. We think this is the best way to save a soul. It's not actually when we do this; we are running people away; judging someone isn’t going to help anyone grow closer to God; the verse today says why worry about the speck in their eye when you have a log in yours ? We must be careful how we judge others and what we say and do because sometimes we are worried about people with something small., and we are fighting something more significant than them.

 Verse 4 How can you think of saying to your friend,’ Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your eye?

 Jesus goes on to say how dare you do such a thing when you can't even get past the problem you're having in your life. You will judge someone dealing with something minor; that's why we need to pray to God every day. We let him examine our heart ,and we must correct whatever it is that is stuck in our heart.

   Many of us don’t consider what we are doing that could draw us further away, but we see someone doing their sin openly. We are ready to tell them they are wrong. Just because someone can't see your sin doesn’t make it better than someone you can; we can see a drunk sin, we can hear someone that cuss sin, we can see a specific sin, but some sins we don’t even see because they are done behind closed doors and are hidden, it doesn’t make that sin better it makes it just as worse.

 Verse 5 Hypocrite! First, get rid of the log in your eye; then, you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

     We must deal with our sins before we deal with anyone else; that is, before we cant explain to anyone or teach anyone, we must understand the word for ourselves because if we don’t understand, how can we go to anyone else and teach them, Jesus calls that’s being a hypocrite because we are then judging someone based on a sin that they are committing.

   Every day, we can go to God and ask for forgiveness of our sins, but we have that choice: will we change or continue to be the way we are? God's word says come to me, and I will give you rest; come to me as you are; a lot of us don’t try to come and try to change who we are; we are ready to change others, but we aren’t ready to do it ourselves why??

Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

 Here's another verse that says to watch yourself, lest you be tempted. It's okay to tell others what is wrong, but you need to make sure you are walking in the spirit before you go to anyone and say what they are doing is wrong. A lot of people don’t want to do that. They don’t want to correct what is in their lives; they want to correct other people's lives, but the word says to check yourself before you try to restore anyone, and when you restore them, do it gently.

 John 8:7-9 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more, he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

  Jesus asked a group of men once if they were without a sin to cast the first stone, and all of them left because they realized just because this woman openly sinned didn’t mean they had no sin; a lot of us must start looking at our lives and say the same thing, but we don’t take the time to do that we pick and bother people that have their sin out. Still, what about worrying about your own life? Everyone likes these videos where people call out someone's sin or wrongdoing, but have we taken the time to look at ourselves? Have we asked Jesus today to change us? No, we haven’t; we must work on ourselves before we can work on others.

  ***Today, we learned about looking at ourselves; we learned we can’t pick on others and bother others because we have sin too. Jesus saw who people were, and he didn’t like it, but that doesn’t mean he stopped teaching ,doesn’t mean he openly called out their sins. He always told people to go and sin no more; he never openly embarrassed anyone; we must learn how to save a soul and talk to people without embarrassing them.

 John 2:24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.

  Jesus knew exactly how people were; he knew what they were thinking and what they did, and he still wanted to save them; he still wanted to give his life for them; he didn’t look at this sin as being greater than the other he looked at all sin the same, and that’s what we must do. If you judge others, ask God to help you not to but to be kind and compassionate and allow him to change you.  ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

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PRAYER

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Heavenly Father, thank you for everything you have done for us; lord, help us to be more like you and help us not to judge others but to love , lord if there is anything in our life that looks like a log, please remove it; help us to love you with all our heart and all our soul lord we thank you for allowing us to see another day that you have made, lord we give you praise glory and honor in Jesus name amen

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REFERENCES

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+ Proverbs 21:2 All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.

 

+ Mark 2:8 Jesus knew in His spirit that they were thinking this way within themselves. “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” He asked.

 

+ Luke 9:47 But Jesus, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, had a little child stand beside Him.

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FURTHER READINGS

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 Proverbs 17

Revelation 1

Mark 3

Acts 4

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[theforgottenmcrmy]

live reactions to house of the dragon season 2, episode 3

this is still for my own amusement, but as always, I’m open to polite discussion🖤

spoilers below the cut

Still loving this new intro, is it just me, or is it changing with each episode? it’s definitely changing, right?

Ooooooo we’re getting right into the Bracken and Blackwoods, let’s freaking go! 👏🏻

Lmao, everyone calling Rhaenyra a kinslayer, conveniently forgetting Aemond threw the first stone with Luke

Blackwoods standing on business, as usual 💅

Wait that transition was💀 We’re not even into the thick of the war yet, and look at the cost…

Rhaenyra “I cannot fault him for keeping his oath” you’re too good for this world ma’am

Rhaenys spitting stone cold facts. And so poetically too.

This might be a hot take, but I don’t feel like Rhaenys suggesting Rhaenyra make another attempt at peace with Alicent would be a weak move. She’s right on the money with suggesting they’re both largely backed into their respective corners by the men who surround them. One last attempt at peace, woman to woman, is not a sign of weakness (in my opinion at least).

Crispy Cole having imposter syndrome already?!💀👀

this man has the balls to abandon his duty to canoodle with the dowager queen, but can’t take the position of Hand in stride with a bit more confidence?

Lmao, Aegon’s own council doubting him and Cole already😂😂😂

Daeron mentioned again, I want to see the Blue Queen let’s go 🤞🏻

Aemond holding onto that same coin, interesting…

Cole really having a chuckle at Ser Arryk’s death as though he did not single handedly sentence him to that death. And a few people are still disputing that this guy has to be one of the worst ever in Westeros?

I’m pretty sure Aemond’s trying to bait Aegon here, plant some doubt in his head about his suitability to actual fighting in the war🤔

Mysaria, the voice of the small folk

Does this mean Laenor’s dead? And it was recent? I can’t help but think Seasmoke at least would have tried to follow him years ago when he left… and if he’s just recently become restless, what changed?

I understand why Rhaenyra is asking what she is of Rhaena, and I don’t think she’s doing it to hurt Rhaena at all. But Rhaena, that poor girl🥲 she needs to have her moment, even if it’ll take a few episodes or longer. Not to prove her worth to others, but to herself.

Also, definitely getting Daemon vibes from her, in terms of wanting to prove herself

HARRENHAL, here we go! 👻

I know this is supposed to be serious and hall because Harrenhal is haunted, but Daemon sneaking around Scooby Doo style waiting for something to come at him is so unintentionally funny to me

Speaking of Scooby Doo, not the bat flyby😂

Also, Daemon’s armor is sickkk.

Wonder if Daemon ever thought, “This is where Rhaenyra’s last serious lover died. So wtf am I doing here?!👀”😂😂😂

Daemon “knock out guard first, ask questions later” Targaryen

“I’m claiming Harrenhal.” (Tywin Lannister voice): “Any man who has to say he claims a castle did not truly claim the castle at all”

It was so anticlimactic too😂 you will not convince me that the writers don’t know what they’re doing, rightfully throwing in these sort of bits to diffuse the tension

Alys Rivers, that you?!?!?!👀

Simon Strong disowning Larys😂 we love to see it.

Sin begets sin begets sin. This line has no right to go so hard-

“The throne?”

“It’s a big chair, made of swords.”

Music this season is (not surprisingly) serving as always

Do you think Ser Gwayne has his suspicions about Criston and Alicent yet?🤔

This man is so bold, I stg- if you’re that bold, Ser Crispy, why don’t you show Aemond what you just received from his mother? Or better yet, Aegon?

It’s kind of ironic, how Cole has probably deluded himself to thinking he finally has this great courtly and noble love with the widowed queen- all without seeing the hypocrisy of it all.

Rhaenyra needs to set these men straight. I cannot believe how quick they are to suggest she go into hiding. She’s already made plans to send her most vulnerable children away to safety. You cannot convince me that, were she a man, her councilors would not even dare to make this suggestion to her.

Rhaenys steadfast support of Rhaenyra is going to make the inevitable hurt that just more.

Rhaenys suggesting Rhaena become the heir to Driftmark?👀 I like the idea tbh

This is the last time we see them have a one on one conversation, isn’t it?🫥

Chillllllllllls with the dragon eggs. Morning is coming.

Joffrey😓 and Viserys and Aegon.

Helaena trying to rationalize her son’s death.😭 And still acknowledging the small folk…

Also, poor Helaena forgiving her mother🥲 she’s a better woman than me, because I could never.

Larys, the pot stirrer. I swear this man’s only motivation in life is chaos.

But I do have to wonder, is his allegiance really to Aegon, or is it some backwards attempt to keep Aegon safe to garner Alicent’s favor still?

Her name is escaping me rn, but not the poor girl who Aegon assaulted STILL being assaulted by men at her new job😭

I get the desire to make the connection with the audience that Ulf has to Targaryens, but of alll the people the writers could have chosen from, choosing Viserys and Daemon’s father doesn’t sit well with me. Not saying it is impossible, but from what we know of Baelon and Alyssa’s relationship, it just doesn’t seem super likely he’d have a lot of bastards running around out there.

Ulf, already showing his turncoat ways🫢

Oh Lordy, that’s a bit graphic

Aegon, still being a terrible bully to his younger brother. Great to see how little his truly changed over the years.

Oh Lordy, the Aemond girlies are going to go absolutely feral after this scene———

Daemon might have been the one to call him Ser Crispin, but his daughter is about to make the name become a reality 😂👏🏻

Just the foreshadowing of Rook’s Rest is already too much for me personally🥲

Here we go, more mystery solving antics from detective Daemon…

🫨🫨🫨

Now if that man didn’t truly love Rhaenyra in his own way (or at least have some guilt over what he had done) why the hell would he have had that reaction to that vision?

The Sept?👀

SEPTA RHAENYRA👏🏻

The new Kingsguard members might not have even recognized Rhaenyra if they had seen her

Alicent swearing on the memory of her mother, just like Rhaenyra had years before🫢

Literally seeing a lightbulb moment go off in Rhaenyra’s head-

Ooooooooooo god, Alicent realizing all this started because of a misunderstanding and her hearing what she wanted to hear👀

And of course, she has to double down. It’s already gone too far.

I do have to pity Alicent a little here. Just like Cersei, she has to admit that she knows her son has become a monster she cannot control.

Alicent can think she is taking the upper hand now, but the next time she sees Rhaenyra, it’s likely to be another story😏

Chillllllllls for next week’s preview

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

18th March >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 8:1-11) for Monday, Fifth Week of Lent: ‘Neither do I condemn you’.

Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

Gospel (Except USA) John 8:1-11 'Let the one among you who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone'.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do not sin any more.’

Gospel (USA) John 8:1-11 Let the person without sin be the first to throw a stone.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The gospels often show the religious leaders putting Jesus to the test with some trick question, hoping to catch him out and humiliate him. We have an example of this in today’s gospel reading. However, on this occasion the question involves the humiliation of a woman. They drag her before Jesus and ask him whether the letter of the Jewish Law should be followed through in her regard, which would have involved death by stoning. If Jesus had said ‘no’ to the question, he could be accused of being a law breaker. If he said ‘yes’ his reputation as a merciful friend of sinners would have been fatally damaged. The religious leaders were using the woman as bait to catch Jesus out. It was Jesus they had in their sights not the woman. The woman was just being used by them to trap Jesus. In so doing, they were showing profound disrespect for her. In contrast, Jesus treated her with the utmost respect. He reminded the religious leaders that if she had sinned, they too had sinned and were sinning by bringing her to him in this way. He went on to assure the woman that he was not condemning her. God was not condemning her. He then called her to live in a way that was more in keeping with her dignity as a daughter of Abraham and the beloved daughter of God, ‘Go away, and don’t sin any more’. As this gospel of John had already declared, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. God sent his Son that we may life and have it to the full. Our calling is to make present, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the non-judgemental, life-giving presence of the Lord’s love. The Lord has the utmost respect for each one of us, regardless of our past failings, and we are called to relate to one another in the same way.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

In the gospel reading the Pharisees who brought an adulterous woman to Jesus were suggesting a simple answer to her moral failure. Condemn her to death by stoning. The gospel reading also makes clear that this was not Jesus’ way of dealing with moral failure. He understood that the situation was far more complex that the Pharisee’s crude and simplistic solution allowed for. The men who brought the woman to Jesus saw her only in terms of her immediate past. Jesus’ way of looking at her was far more generous; he saw the whole picture of her life, not just one little bit of it. Seeing the whole picture of her life, he also saw that she had a future, a future that those who brought her to Jesus would have denied her. When the Lord looks at us he sees the whole picture too; he does not become obsessed with one or two details of the picture. He hears the full story of our lives, not just a couple of lines of our story. The Lord knows that our story is unfinished, and will only be complete when he himself comes to transfigure our lowly bodies into copies of his glorious body.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The religious leaders who brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught committing adultery seem to have had a very black and white view of things. As far as they were concerned, they were good and she was bad. Furthermore, the bad needed to be eliminated to protect the good - they reminded Jesus that death by stoning was what the Jewish Law prescribed. Jesus was reluctant to engage these men in conversation at all, but when he did speak, his brief comment cut through their primitive analysis, and showed it up in all its inadequacy, ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone’. Jesus was reminding them that the sin which they so despised in the woman was alive and well in themselves. When they pointed one finger at her, three fingers were pointing back at themselves. They could not look at her without looking at themselves, and if they looked honestly at themselves their attitude to the woman would have to change. Jesus did not deny that the woman had sinned, but he strongly denied that her sin made her any different from anyone else, including those who were so sure of their own virtue. The gospel reading reminds us that we all come before the Lord as sinners, but it assures us that when we bring our sin to the Lord we will not hear a word of condemnation. Instead we will hear a word of forgiveness and an invitation to something better: ‘I do not condemn you; go away and don’t sin any more’.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

It is clear from this morning’s gospel reading that the religious leaders are very much in the business of condemning. They bring a woman to Jesus expecting him to condemn her, because, as they say, ‘Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this’. Earlier in his gospel, the fourth evangelist had placed a very striking saying on the lips of Jesus, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. Jesus did not come to condemn the world but so that it might have life and have it to the full. When Jesus asked the woman the question, ‘Has no one condemned you?’ he immediately declared, ‘Neither do I condemn you’. He gently reminded those who were quick to condemn her that they too were sinners. We all have something to repent of. To all of us Jesus says what he says to the woman, ‘go away and don’t sin any more’. The Lord does not condemn us but, in his love for us, he calls us beyond where we are; he continually invites us into a greater light and a fuller life.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The story of Jesus and the woman caught in the act of adultery is one of those gospel stories that we find ourselves drawn to. The portrayal of Jesus in the story is one that we that stays with us. We are struck by the contrast between the way the scribes and the Pharisees relate to the woman and the way that Jesus relates to her. The religious leaders have condemned her of a serious breach of the Jewish Law, one that is worthy of the prescribed punishment, death by stoning. Jesus, however, refuses to condemn her; ‘I do not condemn you’. As the evangelist, John, says a little earlier in his gospel, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. Rather than condemning her, Jesus pardons her and calls her to a way of life more in keeping with God’s purpose for her life. We may not have sinned in the way the woman sinned, but we are all sinners. We all come before the Lord as people who have not lived in accordance with God’s will and purpose for our lives. The reading assures us that when we come before the Lord in our sinfulness, we will not hear a word of condemnation, but a word of forgiveness. ‘I do not condemn you’, and also an invitation, ‘Do not sin anymore’. Condemnation comes easily to human nature. Thankfully, it is not in the nature of Jesus or of the God whom he reveals.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The men who brought the woman to Jesus saw her only in terms of her immediate past, while being blind to their own past. Jesus’ way of looking at her was very different; he saw the whole picture of her life, not just one little bit of it. Seeing the whole picture of her life, he also saw that she had a future as well as a past, a future that those who brought her to him would have denied her. When the Lord looks at us he sees the whole picture too; he does not become obsessed with one or two dark details of the picture. The Lord is attentive to the full story of our lives, not just to a couple of lines of that story. He also knows that the story of our lives is always an unfinished story. It is the Lord himself who will endeavour to write the final chapter of that story when, in the words of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he will come from heaven to transfigure our lowly bodies into copies of his own glorious body. Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord says, ‘I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future full of hope’. The Lord offered the woman, and offers all of us, a ‘future full of hope’. He can offer us such a future because, again in the words of Paul, ‘his power at work within is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine’.

And/Or

(vii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

There are three characters in this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus, the woman and a group of male experts in the Jewish Law. The group of men brought the woman to Jesus to test him. They were using her against him. It was Jesus who was in their sights rather than the woman whom they claimed was caught in the act of adultery. They were of the view that if Jesus was to be faithful to God’s Law, he should condemn the woman. If he didn’t condemn her it would confirm their view of Jesus as someone who broke God’s Law and was, therefore, a sinner. Jesus did not fall into their trap. He gave himself time by writing distractingly on the ground with his finger. When the group persisted, Jesus issued that striking challenge, ‘if there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’. They had brought the woman to Jesus as a sinner; they were of the view that Jesus himself was a sinner. Now Jesus faces them with the reality of their own sin. Their walking away was their acknowledgement that there was no one among them who had not sinned. We are all sinners; we just sin in different ways. We can never set ourselves up as the moral superior of others. Jesus did not condemn the woman. Yet, he did call her to live in a new way, ‘go away, and don’t sin any more’. Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus said, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. The Lord’s instinct is not to condemn but to call us and empower us to take a path which will lead us to a share in God’s own life, both now in this earthly life and in eternity.

And/Or

(viii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

We all have to deal with human weakness and moral failure both in ourselves and in others. The gospel reading raises the question as to how moral failure is to be dealt with. The religious authorities who bring the woman to Jesus deal in the currency of condemnation when it comes to moral failure. They invoke the authority of the Jewish Law which condemns the act of adultery. They test Jesus to see whether he will go along with the Jewish Law in this matter, thereby undermining his reputation for mercy, or whether he will reject the Jewish Law, thereby showing himself to be in defiance of God’s Law. Jesus’ enigmatic response, bending down to write on the ground, shows that he refuses to engage with this situation in the terms put to him by the religious authorities. Jesus’ concern is not whether or not the woman is deserving of condemnation, but rather that she be free for a new life that reflects God’s desire for her. Jesus’ searing proposition to the woman’s accusers, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’, stops the woman’s accusers in their tracts. Jesus is the only one who is without sin, and he is not in the business of condemning the woman. Who are sinners like the woman’s accusers to do so? Once the accusing men have slunk away, Jesus looks directly at the woman for the first time and addresses her personally. Jesus’ declaration to her that he does not condemn her and his call to her to go away and sin no more show that his entire concern is to rescue her from her terrible plight and set her free for a new direction of life. None of us is without sin. Yet, the Lord is not in the business of condemning us for our many failings. His primary desire is that we live in a way that is worthy of our dignity as sons and daughters of God. He came to show us the way that will be truly life-giving for ourselves and for others and to empower us to follow that way and to keep returning to it after we have failed.

And/Or

(ix) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

Earlier in this fourth gospel, Jesus had said to Nicodemus, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. In today’s gospel reading, people bring a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus, expecting him to condemn her, ‘Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this… What have you to say?’ It was a kind of a trap for Jesus. If he went against Moses, he could be accused of breaking God’s Law. If he followed Moses, he would lose his reputation as a friend of sinners. The best way of dealing with a trap is to sidestep it, and that perhaps is what Jesus was doing by writing on the ground with his finger in silence. He was buying time. Yet, when those who brought the woman persisted with their question, he finally had to break his silence. He did so in a way which took attention away from the woman and place it on her accusers, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’. Jesus was reminding the woman’s accusers that they too were sinners. Jesus did just enough by this question to get her accusers to leave her alone. When Jesus is alone with the woman, he doesn’t condemn her, ‘Neither do I condemn you’, but he does call her to a way of life more in keeping with God’s desire for her, ‘go away, and don’t sin any more’. This gospel passage is a study in how the Lord relates to us all. He loves us as we are and never stands before us as one who condemns. Yet, his love for us will always call us beyond where we are towards becoming more fully the person God desires us to be. God desires us to grow into the person of his Son, to become as loving as he is, and God keeps giving us the Holy Spirit to help us to become this person he desires us to be. This journey of becoming is one we will all be travelling until the end of our lives.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[buggie-hagen]

Minor Festival Homily: Michael and All Angels (9/29/23)

Primary Text | John 7:53-8:11

----------------------------------------------

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

          Today’s passage from John teaches us the difference between God’s judgment and God’s mercy. This passage is traditionally called “the woman caught in adultery.” The scribes and the Pharisees drag the woman to Jesus not because they actually care about what she had done. They bring her so they can trap Jesus and discredit him. So they ask him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (John 8:4-5). They think, “Aha! Now we have him! We have him caught no matter if he says ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’” If Jesus says, “Yes, stone her” then they’ve won their case against him—he will contradict himself. If Jesus says, “No, don’t stone her” they can accuse him of teaching against Moses. What none of them saw coming was what he would say to them. First, he said nothing. But when they pressed him more on the matter, he said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). In this way he blows them all out of the water.

          Let’s consider what Jesus did here. He does not deny the wrongdoing of the woman caught in adultery. Adultery is no little sin. It destroys the divine institution of marriage. It tears families apart. It unsettles any little ones involved affecting them the rest of their lives. Adultery causes black mold to grow on the trust necessary for such intimate relationships. God’s judgment in the law of Moses for such a sin is death by stoning. Which, Jesus does not deny. God’s judgment is unbending. It condemns outright and totally—that is the function of the law. But Jesus says here only the one without sin can be the one to stone her. In saying that Jesus slings the mud right back at the Pharisees. For they realize that they do not qualify to throw stones—they too, have their sins. Turns out, it was not they who caught Jesus, but Jesus who caught them. So they leave one by one so that Jesus and the woman are left alone to themselves.  Then, Jesus said to the woman, “‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again’” (John 8:10-11). Now we begin to see the difference between God’s judgment and God’s mercy. The kingdom of Jesus is filled only with sinners, actual sinners. But forgiven sinners. Luther wrote on this passage, “God’s mercy does not deal with insignificant sins, half-sins, imaginary sins, or sins that are no sins, but real sins that are felt. For example, not to fear God, not to trust Him and believe in Him, not to love one’s neighbor, not to pray, not to hear preaching, not to keep the commandments of Moses, any violation of God’s command, something that cannot be ignored—these call for a genuine, not a meaningless, forgiveness.” According to the law this woman caught stands condemned in her adultery. According to the gospel, this woman is forgiven. 

The Pharisees walked away because as sinful as adultery is, Jesus has held up the mirror, showing them that they are not so holy and pure as they think they are—they do not have a better standing than this woman they brought to shame. When it comes to sin, we are all on equal ground and equally condemned. Let us not think that we ourselves are pure and holy on the basis of what we do or do not do. In his teaching on adultery Jesus does not lower the severity of the sixth commandment on adultery—he illuminates its scope by saying anyone who even gazes at another with lust in their heart has committed adultery. So he has caught us in the act. But like the woman caught in adultery, you and I are upheld by the kingdom of the gospel—where there is no longer punishment or condemnation. The slogan of Christ’s kingdom is this: “I forgive you your sin; for in My kingdom no one is without forgiveness” (from Luther). Dear people, it is not holy, pure, and good people who are admitted to the kingdom. Those he sends far away. It is the adulterers and any who know the depth of their sin, these are the ones he brings in. And so he has brought you in by the hearing of the word, that first word that puts to death, and that second word that raises you from the dead—whatever your sin Jesus says to you, “I do not condemn you. I do not condemn you.”

[wolint]

THE UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE!

THE UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE

2 Samuel 12:1-9

 

We know how easy it is to judge or to be judged, unfairly. Unfortunately, we judge people daily based on what we see and hear, not considering their actions according to our idea. Funnily, we do not even consider that, we may very well be casting the first stone when we are more guilty of what we’re judging others for.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18:1-8 and the story of Nathan rebuking David both highlight themes of justice and accountability, though in different contexts.

In our text, the prophet Nathan tells King David a parable about a rich man who unjustly takes a poor man’s only lamb. This story is meant to convict David of his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. When David reacts with anger towards the rich man in the parable, Nathan reveals that David himself is the guilty party

David, unwittingly, passed sentence on himself when he stood as the unrighteous judge in the text. It was in David's hand, what his letters were in the hands of the brave but unfortunate Uriah, whom he had killed because of his wife, Bathsheba.

God wants and expects us to rebuke or correct others but in love and compassion, not in judgment as David did. When we correct in spirit-led approach, we will accomplish much more than when we do so in self-righteous judgment.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:1 categorically not to judge! But, as weak humans, we can’t help ourselves. We judge with impunity!

The parable of an unrighteous judge who didn’t give special treatment in Luke 18, nor considered anybody, great or small but was effectively worn down by persistent prayer.

We are so quick to jump to conclusions on hearing something that we don’t consider the other side of the coin, we take one person’s story, taking sides to decide who should be castigated and condemned.

David didn’t for a moment think of his sin against God and humanity and was quick to jump to condemning and passing sentence by decreeing “The man—shall surely die” telling us that David saw him as a very bad man, who deserves to die. But the law did not sentence a sheep-stealer to death, let us hear it: instead, Exodus 22:1 says if a man steals an ox or a sheep, he shall restore Five Oxen for an ox, and Four Sheep for a sheep.

Ironically, David passed the severest punishment to what he perceived as a sin, without considering what he had done as one.

We have a habit of explicitly judging the characters of others and their action but Nathan’s parable, presented as a legal case, was aimed at getting David to pass the verdict on himself unwittingly.

The Bible’s command that we do not judge others does not mean we cannot show discernment. Immediately after Jesus says, “Do not judge,” He says, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs” in Matthew 7:6.

Watch how we criticize and condemn the people we come across. We judge people based on their clothing, speech, looks and behaviour without compassionately considering why they are like that.

David passed judgment confidently until Nathan declared “you are the man, what awful words that pierced David’s heart, aroused his conscience, and brought him to his knees in repentance. The sincerity and depth of his penitent sorrow are evinced by the Psalms he composed in Psalm 32:1-11 and he was forgiven.

David may have never thought of the consequences of his actions with Beersheba, hence his high character for piety, but his deplorable fall was calculated to do great injury.

David was not condemned, according to his view of what justice demanded but David was truly concerned about justice, when not blinded by his passion seen in 2 Samuel 12:5. don’t be the unrighteous judge.

PRAYER: Righteous judge and father, help me to judiciously, and fairly treat everyone as you would have me do with humility and grace in Jesus’ name, amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT’L PRAYER MIN.

[wrenwinchester]

Okay, as a Christian. I have things I need to say about pride to my fellow Christians. And because I don’t have a voice in my family, or at least haven’t found it yet, tumblr gets it.

Y’all are so mad about these people celebrating who they are, and “shoving” their so called “agenda” in your face, but that’s not it at all.

They’ve been crying out to be heard, to just receive basic human rights, we are called to love our neighbors. We should be out in the streets with them, their sins, whatever they may be, are between them and God, and who are we to judge?

Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin, throw the first stone.” And everyone walked away except for him. And He looked at the woman, and told her to go forth and sin no more, but that’s His job, not ours, our only job is to set an example and be an example of Jesus’ love.

How we treat people in the lgbtqia+ community says more about us as Christians than it does about them.

Also they didn’t steal the rainbow, they chose rainbow colors to represent themselves, there’s a difference. And why can’t we share? They’re God’s children to, even if they never believed, or turned away because of how they were treated by so called “Christians” or any number of reasons, God still loves them, and so should we. They are still God’s beautiful creations.

We don’t have to be best friends with them, but we should still love them. And show them love, not hate. And if you hate them, or find yourself feeling disgusted or ashamed of someone you know when you find out they’re a part of the lgbtqia+ community, you should reexamine yourself, because God doesn’t want us to be divided, Jesus said “a house divided amongst itself cannot stand.” He doesn’t want his children divided, and He wants every last human to meet Him where they are, because as the father of the prodigal son was, He is waiting for us with open arms. All of us.

I’m gonna reiterate because it feels important. We are supposed to be living examples of what Christ was like. Christ who spent his time with tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners. Showing them kindness in a world that so often isn’t. A world that we as Christian’s know is failing, but we shouldn’t be letting the world pills define how we look at people, we should see them as Children of God, even when they aren’t acting like it.

The Golden Rule, you know “treat others how you would have them treat you,” isn’t an invitation to treat people poorly just because they treat you poorly, it’s a call to treat them how you want to be treated, even, and especially when they aren’t treating you well.

To be able to help others they have to trust us, and they can’t do that if all we’re doing is judging them for who they are.

Frankly, it’s the same for other religions too. We must show respect to them, for them to even consider hearing us.

Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. And those who treat it like a religion are missing out on the main point of it. Which is a personal relationship with our creator through Jesus Christ.

And I don’t mean to make this an us vs. them, it’s not. Not in my mind. I’m asexual. I don’t experience sexual attraction, and the idea of sex is meh for me as an individual. Like it or not, I’m a part of the LGBTQIA+ community (I do like it by the way, many if them are more welcoming than a lot of the Christians I know. At least to people who aren’t like them.

[mylyricpages]

'THE GREAT MIGRATION' ( FULL LENGTH VERSION ) ( 2017 )

THE ROAD AHEAD OF US

HEART OF THE CITY

HEAVENLY RAIN

ANCIENT HYMNS

MEET YOU IN THE MORNING

BROKEN DAYS

SAIL YOUR SEAS WISELY

O’ REST MY WEARY SOUL

ODE TO YOU ( SONG FOR JAYDEN )

OLDER THAN YESTERDAY

WILL YOU WEEP? ( I TRIED MY VERY BEST )

ODYSSEY OF YOU & I

February 2017 - March 2017

THE ROAD AHEAD OF US

You’re wrapped up in all your old memories stood on an unfamiliar corner cause your old street’s no longer there you’re driving past the same old places you and I used to know so very well where we used to live our lives without a single care reminded of all the times you and I would hang all the good time rock and roll songs you and I sang with the boys and girls on a Saturday night

We had our glory days, our halcyon days we knew we had to keep going the horizon always calling us the road always ahead of us

We’re always gonna need the road ahead of us We’re always gonna need the ground beneath our feet We’re always gonna need the horizon to be just out of reach

You’re caught up with all your old ghosts in the ruins of our shared past looking for something that’s no longer there you’re driving past the old Royal where you and I spent so many nights where everyone we knew was always gonna be there reminded of all the times when we used to laugh all the precious moments that so quickly passed with the jukebox poets on a Friday night

We had our glory days, our halcyon days we knew we had to keep going the horizon always calling us the road always ahead of us

We’re always gonna need the road ahead of us We’re always gonna need the ground beneath our feet We’re always gonna need the horizon to be just out of reach

It don’t matter how good some things are we all need to change in the end we all need to move on be something new something else instead always follow the road follow the road ahead of us

the road ahead of us the road always ahead of us

HEART OF THE CITY

Mourning for the morning, living for the night making enemies, starting bloody fights throwing biblical stones breaking every bone falling in love, living on lust no gold, just rust everything or nothing everybody wants something gonna lose, gonna win gonna be good gonna sin

no money, get a life, living on empty edge of a knife another poison trip, a lonely night strip inject through the eyes tell tale lies hit out hard, vicious greeting card back against the wall in blood we shall scrawl waiting for the call never gonna fall so fuck ‘em all

guess it’s better than most so raise a fuckin’ toast to all the lost like you and me

Welcome to the underground Welcome to the underground Welcome to the heart of the city

Surviving till morning, scrambling through the night grasping hands, one night stands flame on a spoon, gone way too soon vague like a whisper burn like a blister needle’s chill, poppin’ a pill shoot from the hip don’t give a shit bullet proof, stone cold aloof a sassy bitch, gotta scratch that itch

self soothing, body abusing, the longest race a pretty face the loneliest girl, a scary world a slow romance, the dead can’t dance he who prayed, last of the glitter brigade up against the wall still standing tall never gonna crawl so fuck ‘em all

guess it’s better than most so raise a fuckin’ toast to all the lost like you and me

Welcome to the underground Welcome to the underground Welcome to the heart of the city

Well, look at the junkie angel shooting up in front of heaven’s gates So blissfully unaware of the all mighty’s stare as she struggles to get her daily kicks guess when it comes right down to it she’s just like you and me another lonely soul lost in the heart of the big bad city

HEAVENLY RAIN

You are the headlights through the fog you are the lighthouse through the storm the first light of every dawn you are the recurring image in every stolen dream you are the most beautiful soul I have ever seen

Oh, say you’ll take me home tonight Oh, say you’ll take me home tonight

Oh, you feel like heavenly rain upon my face Oh, you wash all of my sins away

Without a single trace without a trace

You are the sunshine on the grey days You are the brightness through the winter days the sweet scent of early may You are the soul I knew in another time You are the dream I have dreamt my entire life

Oh, say you’ll take me home tonight Oh, say you’ll take me home tonight

Oh, you feel like heavenly rain upon my face Oh, you wash all of my sins away

Without a single trace without a trace

I can see the sunset reflected in your eyes see our love writ large across the sky as the night sweeps in around us

All I wish every time I wake is to spend the rest of my days with you All I wish every time I wake is to spend the rest of my days with you

All I wish All I wish

ANCIENT HYMNS

I long to return and stay and not forever roam I long to return to my sweet ancestral home I long to see the shadowed spires high against the red evening sky I long to sleep in the place where I also wish to die I long to see the silver moonlight ‘a shining in a star filled night I long to see thatched roofs a’ silhouetted at morning light I long to hear the words of all the timeless stories long since untold I long to dream forgotten memories of a time long ago

I long, I long, oh how I long

I long to see such ancient buildings of old I long to see the scars of the countless centuries unfold I long to sing the words of the ballads and the sweet blessed hymns I long to stand high upon them ol’ rolling hills I long to stand beneath clear skies while I’m awake from dawn till dusk I long to see our forgotten history gathered in the dust I long to return to those fair dales of ever English green I long to wander in all the places so very rarely seen

I long, I long, oh how I long

I long to return to where the trees gently sway I long to see crops shine like gold in the sweet light of day I long to see the rivers ‘a gently glisten in the beams I long to see the waters of the purest streams I long to see the summer a’ slowly growing I long to see the horizon still a’ softly glowing I long to hear those distant but familiar chimes I long to return to such hallowed times I long to find the secret place of that old oak tree I long to find the secret place where I first met thee

I long, I long, oh how I long to see it all once again I long, I long, oh how I long to see thee once again

I long to sing, sing such ancient hymns for thee I long to sing, sing such ancient hymns for thee

MEET YOU IN THE MORNING

Darling, put your head against my shoulder I’ll hold you through the dark of night until the dawn I’ll hold you in my arms I’ll carry your hopes I’ll carry your fears let me hold your dreams when all your strength is gone

I’ll meet you in the morning I’ll meet you in the morning

Darling, put your head upon my chest I’ll comfort you in the dark until the day begins to dawn I’ll hold you in my arms I’ll carry your angels I’ll carry your ghosts let me hold your dreams when all your strength is gone

I’ll meet you in the morning I’ll meet you in the morning

Lying here, hearing your song waiting for you to wake up you can sweep it all away turn everything around just like the first time I met you

I’ll meet you in the morning I’ll see you in the morning When you open your eyes

BROKEN DAYS

No one ever showed us how to punch out against the sadness in our lives No one ever taught us how to find that single truth in an avalanche of lies No one ever showed us how to stumble through each and every single day to keep picking ourselves back up again No one ever taught us how to turn it all around when we know we’ve really had enough

No one ever showed us how to be so grown up when somehow nothing ever seems to go right No one ever taught us how to sleep soundly when all our fears find us in the dark of the night No one ever taught us the words of this ever changing song I guess somehow we just made it all up as we went along

I guess we just learnt how to figure it out be ourselves and always shout aloud I guess we just learnt all the many ways we could get through our broken days

You and me, you and me we’re bullet proof angels nothing can bring us down nothing can bring us down You and me, you and me we’re bullet proof angels we’ll carry on we’ll carry on

SAIL YOUR SEAS WISELY

We were the few, the foolish and the brave but we really knew nothing at all We thought we heard the alarms we carried on and we kept ourselves calm we thought we heard the rallying calls but soon we found out we really knew nothing at all

We let ourselves be dragged before the court of our elders we let ourselves be put on trial never put our case forward no words of denial put ourselves before our peers exposed our hopes our desires, our fears let the bastards judge if we should really be free simply because we were young

Well, in the ever changing days of our lives it was a moment in time never to be forgotten we knew the road stretched ever onwards as soon as the opportunity arose we were already gone left everything we knew behind us

Well, everything’s taken for granted and nothing’s ever for free we take our chances and we pay our dues and most days that’s good enough for me

Well, real magic isn’t pulled from the air it’s from taking chances when life’s really not playing fair And when we get where we’re going I’ll meet you there

And if anyone should put you down tell them to go fuck themselves and never go to ground and if you can, walk away your head held high and look every enemy squarely in the eye

Oh, sail your seas wisely my friend, sail your seas wisely

Oh, sail your seas wisely my friend

O’ REST MY WEARY SOUL

O’ rest my weary soul now all my fields are finally sown take me back faraway to the place where I once was known O’ rest my weary soul now all my dreams have never dawned take me back faraway to the place where I once was born

O’ rest my weary soul now I’ve returned to the sea take me back faraway to the place where once I felt so free O’ rest my weary soul now all my long days have begun to gently fade take me back faraway now all my debts have been repaid

O’ rest my weary soul now all my promises are made take me back faraway to the place that always reminds me of younger days O’ rest my weary soul now my soul’s no longer mine to sell take me back faraway to the place I’ve always known so very well

Well, I’ve walked many long roads crossed many rivers and seas memories and places are the things that really matter to me and when I’m lost to them I know I’m truly free

O’ I know I’m truly free

ODE TO YOU ( SONG FOR JAYDEN )

Well, here’s to you, dear nephew with brave of soul and shining eyes of blue Well, here’s to you, dear nephew young of spirit, may goodness always follow you

May your life never be empty May all your fields always grow aplenty May sadness never weigh down upon you in all your given days

Well, here’s to you, dear nephew with strength of will and beating heart so true Well, here’s to you, dear nephew free of spirit, may happiness always follow you

May your life never be sad May all your times always be glad May darkness never weigh down upon you in all your given days

All I’ve learned in this life I’ll try to pass on to you show you all the roads I’ve taken all the many chances I’ve foolishly forsaken All the bad choices I’ve made all the good days that will never fade All the mistakes I wish I could somehow always take back all the things that always pull us from our proper path

I can tell you all these things yet I know you have to make your own way upon this road I have no real answers but I can show you what I think I know maybe help you on your way as you change and as you grow

For the ‘Little Punk’

OLDER THAN YESTERDAY

Staring in the mirror at the lines on my face seeing a man with a sadness he just can’t hide I’m getting older but am I really getting any wiser inside still somehow I keep on trying while the heart inside of me keeps on dying I’m tired and broken and fucked up but there’s one thing you should know I got it somewhere inside me to change and to grow

I’m just a simple man I’m doing all I can to change the way I used to be but I’m fragile and I’m weak I’m just a simple man

Always, it’s the kind of thing that keeps you up at night wonderin’ how they really do see you

Always, it’s the kind of thing that keeps you up at night wonderin’ how you’re gonna make it through to the day

I remember all the songs I used to sing about sleepless nights and hard living and waking up in unfamiliar places I remember the words of every song all those special ones I never invited along and carried on upon my own road with no regret or doubt at all

Now I’m so much older than yesterday I remember all the things I used to say now all my regrets I finally feel for all the precious moments I did steal and I wish to one day gladly wake somehow turn back the clock and soundly forsake all the stupid choices I made back in the day

WILL YOU WEEP? ( I TRIED MY VERY BEST )

Will you weep for me, will you weep for me will you say I lived my life well Will you eulogise my name or damn my soul to hell

Will you weep for me, will you weep for me will you sing my name in the streets Will you sing all my songs to the ancient seas

Will you weep for me, will you weep for me Will you carve my name in ancient stone Will you tell fond stories of the days when I walked this fair land alone

Will you weep for me, will you weep for me Will you call my name into the howling wind Will you stand at my graveside until time itself grows still

Will you all weep when I go and die will you remember the man who used to be the boy yes, I fucked up so many goddamn times and all of the rest but I hope you know I tried my very best

Will you all weep when I go away will you hold all night parties, hang banners in my name yes, I fucked up too many goddamn times, to that I will attest but I hope you know I tried my very best

I tried my very best I tried my very best but things never quite went the way I’d hoped for

ODYSSEY OF YOU & I

You and I, memory fades, pale hands, eyes deep sea blue You and I, dreams linger minds still asleep smell of day newly arriving birdsong and early morning breeze You and I, solitude clings sleepy shapes grow into woken dreams You and I, puzzle the many pieces missing no sense of grey hope rises and love is born

You and I, watching the crashing of eternal waves footprints like memories in the sand You and I, echoes of each other bare feet on grass under blue sky You and I, entwined upon the same path lost in our footsteps always moving on You and I, an endless odyssey of only one always looking forward moments lost forever gone

And so it goes on and so it goes on

[belafujoshisdead]

Snakesick

Orialu and Orineimu have a slumber party.

----

Orialu had never especially liked her chambers, but at least there she had some semblance of privacy, and a few personal touches all her own. In her bedroom was the vanity before which Orialu stood on days when she could do her makeup as she wished instead of submitting to House Ilisaf’s stylists. Across the room, on the other side of her bed, the wall was taken up by shelves full of holotapes: stageplays, reenacted myths, duels and executions from years past, lectures on anatomy and theater-craft and channeling and combat, all of them seventy-seven times more interesting than the lessons Orialu was forced to sit through during the day. In the back, next to her bed, was an archway, beyond which lay her solitarium, with its mirrored wall for her to check her form when she moved through spear drills alone, and a figure-stand upon which she could set training dummies made of false bone and gelflesh to practice her cuts.

But even with those touches, the bones of Orialu’s rooms were still ilisaafi, made of the same kind of stone carved into the same kind of shapes as the rest of her mother’s court. Your court too, one day, don’t forget, she thought, and immediately felt like throwing something.

Still, there was one thing to be said for her chambers: they were one of the only places other than Syata Kuur’s lesson room where she needn’t confine Ai Naa’s anchor to its case.

The first thing Orialu had done upon reaching her rooms was call a servant to bring her a set of cold compresses. The second thing she’d done was start thinking about what she might say at court tomorrow; most reporters would be focused on her mother, but someone was bound to point a microphone at the heir to House Ilisaf as well. That had set her pacing, as thinking so often did. Even the soreness in her muscles couldn’t override her need for movement. By the time a servant showed up with the cold compresses she’d called for, asking where she’d like them, Orialu was so deeply buried in thought that all she could do was thank them distractedly while pointing at her vanity. As soon as the servant laid down the compresses and left, Orialu forgot them entirely.

She paced back and forth, and forth and back, and back and forth some more, her feet padding silently against the marbled pink-and-violet floors. Orialu already knew what she should say: that she didn’t want her royal father to die, but he had to answer for his sins. That she didn’t want to believe him capable of what he’d done, but the evidence was undeniable. That the high jurists’ verdict and the votes of the venarchs’ panel and the voice of the crowd all outweighed whatever she felt. That her heart bled for her father’s house as they reeled from this blow to their family name, and that she trusted the greater blood of House Tauhrelil to prevail in her veins over whatever madness had infected her father.

All of it was true, yet none of it felt like enough. Was there nothing more between them? Orialu rifled through her memories of her father, back and back with increasing desperation, and found only silence.

It wasn’t as if she wanted him to die. If someone had given Orialu a choice between having her father dead or alive, she would have chosen the latter without hesitation. She wanted to watch him be killed even less. But the longer she thought about it, the more Orialu realized that that was all the further it went. It didn’t seem right. A daughter about to lose her father should be saddened; she should be fighting not to weep like a son. She should be furious at whatever was taking her parent from her. She should feel hollow, as if half the living blood were being drained from her body.

Weep for a father who never so much as smiled at you, Orialu thought, and instead felt her lips peel back reflexively into a grin. Rage at the loss of your father, never mind that you remember his absences more than anything else. Her hand tightened around Ai Naa’s spearshaft. When had she picked it up? How long had she been holding it? Mourn the death of your father, who gave you these tauhreliili features and then disappeared into his lab full-time – except for when Mother dragged him out. Guess she should have done that more often, but it’s a little late to course-correct now, isn’t it?

Vene’s death wouldn’t be much different from Vene’s living absence. She would watch her father die upon the Court, and perhaps some people would speak to her differently afterwards, but her daily life would barely change. That made Orialu want to weep, or laugh wildly, or maybe just scream.

To one side of Orialu’s rooms stood a set of glass doors, and beyond them a balcony of pale stone, half-glowing under the moonlight. Orialu threw the doors open, though she felt more like just smashing through them, and stalked out onto the balcony.

It was a beautiful, still night. Below the balcony, her mother’s court spread out in a splendor of colored lanterns and captive light. What was it Mother said? In House Ilisaf, dawn reigns eternal, no matter how black the night. I think she was quoting someone. Orialu shook her head sharply and looked up, breathed deep. Maybe the Ilisaf court was all dawnlight forever, but the sky above it was as dark as the night sky anywhere else on Tei Ura. The split moon hanging over her head hung just the same over the rest of the world; the same glittering sea of stars would look down on her no matter where on the planet she stood.

Looking at the moon was better than pacing the floors of her rooms, letting her brain chew itself to bloody shreds. Maybe if she was lucky and looked hard enough, she’d see a shooting star, or a lunar relay rocketing up the transit tethers that linked Tei Ura to its moon. Orialu sank a mental nail through Ai Naa’s anchor, pinning it in midair, and perched atop it, face tipped skyward. A warm breeze washed over her, scented with night-blooming flowers and the leftover rain-smell of that afternoon’s storm.

Perfect night for flying, part of her whispered, and Ai Naa responded with a flare of excitement. She could feel the spear-shaft all but thrumming under her thighs. Stop that, she ought to have said, and then followed it up by wrestling Ai Naa back into silence, but instead Orialu let the spear bob a little higher in the air. Then a little more. The night wind smelled so fresh, so free…the spear rose a little higher, and if she glided forward just a little she would clear the parapet…

The sound of glass chimes broke into her thoughts. Orialu swore, hopped back down to the balcony, and pulled Ai Naa’s anchor down to her side. Who the scabbing fuck is trying to get into my rooms at this hour?

“Can I come in?” Orineimu asked when Orialu opened the door. “Please? I can’t sleep.”

“Of course you can,” Orialu said, her irritation evaporating like morning dew. She leaned Ai Naa’s anchor against the wall and stood aside so her sister could enter. “You alright, Neimu? You look upset.”

Orineimu waited until Orialu had closed the door. As soon as it hissed shut, Orineimu’s face crumpled into a frown, and tears began to bead in her gray eyes.

“I don’t want to go to court tomorrow,” she said, her voice trembling. Orialu’s heart cramped at the sound of it, and she fought to keep a frown to match Orineimu’s off her face. At nineteen, Orialu had already begun her second growth phase, but Orineimu had yet to hit hers, and so barely came up to Orialu’s chest. Orialu had to go to her knees before she could hug her sister. As soon as she did, Orineimu threw her arms around her in return and pressed her face against Orialu’s shoulder.

“Hey,” Orialu said, and had to keep her own voice from trembling. “You need to cry? Go ahead. It’s just us in here.” She tried to smile, even though Orineimu wouldn’t see it. “As future head of House Ilisaf, I hereby decree that my baby sister can cry in my personal chambers as much as she wants.”

Orineimu’s shoulders hitched in what could have been a sob or a giggle. Then she was crying in earnest, leaking hot silent tears against Orialu’s shirt.

“It’s not just about court, is it,” said Orialu after her sister’s sobs had tapered off.

Orineimu pushed back from her, damp-eyed and sniffling. “Do you have any tissues?”

“Oh, take this, you’ve already been using it,” Orialu said, and pulled off her shirt. “What’s a few more wet patches, am I right? Just throw it in the laundry chute when you’re done.”

“That’s gross,” said Orineimu, but took it anyway, and as Orialu was putting on a fresh shirt, she heard Orineimu blow her nose.

“So,” Orialu said as she returned to her sister’s side, clean-shirted, “do you want to talk about it? Or do you want a distraction, instead?”

“I…” Orineimu looked at the floor and bit her lip.

“You don’t have to answer me,” Orialu cut in. “Let’s not even think about it right now. Want to watch something?” She gestured at her wall of holotapes before another thought struck her. “When was dinner – like six hours ago, right? You hungry?”

Orineimu looked up at her sister, clearly wanting to say yes, and clearly worried all the same. “It’s so late,” she said. “We really shouldn’t…”

“Sure, we shouldn’t,” said Orialu, “but doesn’t eating spicy snakemeat and watching Phantoms of the Shadowed Sea with your sister sound better than going back to your room?”

Orineimu stuck out her tongue at that. “You like spicy snake,” she said.

“And you like seared sweetbelly ants and melon rice, want me to order those too?”

“Well…” Orineimu glanced up at her sister and picked at a seam on her linen nightdress.

“Do it, come on,” Orialu said, and grinned. “Be bad with me.”

“…Can we get some nectar ice, too?”

“You can.” It was Orialu’s turn to stick out her tongue, which finally got a smile out of Orineimu. Nectar ice wasn’t truly made of nectar, only flavored with it, but it was still sweet enough that the thought of eating it made Orialu want to gag.

Orialu picked out Phantoms from the wall of holotapes and handed it to her sister. Then she picked up her cellband from where it had indeed being lying abandoned by her bedside all day, tapped it awake, and found thirteen messages from Rahelai, each one containing more question marks and desperation than the last. Orialu cursed internally and keyed off a quick reply – I didn’t lose my band and I know about court tomorrow, don’t worry – before sending another message to the kitchens for the food. Behind her, she heard the holocaster hum to life, and then a swelling of waves and a shiver of strings as Phantoms began to play.

Orineimu was already seated on the bed, but her gaze was focused on the holocast display. While her sister’s back was turned, Orialu retrieved Ai Naa’s anchor from where she’d leaned it against the wall, then slid it under the bed; her beloved would have to go without her touch for the next few hours, but the closer she kept him, the easier it was to bear. And now that that’s taken care of…

“WATCH OUT!” Orialu yelled, and then threw herself belly-first onto the bed hard enough to make Orineimu tip over, which finally got her to laugh aloud. Satisfied, Orialu propped herself up on her elbows to watch the cast. Beside her, she felt Orineimu adopt the same pose.

Orialu had always liked holocasts better than two-dimensional recordings. With a flat screening, you could really only sit and look. With a cast, it was like having a theater right there in your room, as long as you ignored the part where everything was a captive light projection instead of flesh-and-blood actors. You could get up and walk right into the picture to get a closer look, or rotate the display and watch everything from a different angle, and there was something about the depth of a three-dimensional cast that held Orialu’s attention better than screens ever could.

“Now I must take sail, sister mine,” Captain Arevai Renenn, the heroine of Phantoms, was saying, “and return what was stolen to its rightful place. You must head the family in my absence. When you see my sails again, you will know the curse is lifted…”

The food came just as Captain Renenn and her seventy-seven sailors were facing the Harrowing Cliffs, the first of the many disasters that plagued their journey. Orialu took the platters from the servant who’d brought them and bore the steaming trays straight to her bed, the foot of which was carved stone and broad enough to use as a table, as long as they were careful. Orialu lifted one cover and exposed Orineimu’s food: fried river rice dotted with bits of charred melon, fresh-cooked and still steaming; ants with crispy bodies and bellies fat with honey; a lacquered bowl of shaved ice drizzled with nectar syrup and garnished with edible flowers.

“Your sweets, sweet sister,” she said, and pushed the tray a little ways towards Orineimu before opening her own. Chunks of snakemeat glistened up at her, stewed in a spicy-salty red sauce made with dragonbreath peppers and a touch of culinary venom. The cooks had sent up a little jar of pepper oil along with the meat, in case for some reason the sauce wasn’t searing-hot enough on its own. There were vegetables, too, but Orialu ignored them. Ai Naa had tastes, specific tastes; her beloved fed on pain and flesh, and the food of humans sickened him.

Sometimes, though, he’d take burning spices and red-dripping meat in place of – but thinking of what Ai Naa wanted would only worsen Orialu’s chances of keeping the food down. Instead of thinking, Orialu speared a long strip of snakemeat, dropped it into her mouth, and felt her tongue take flame. She swallowed and reached for another. The more she ate now, the better her odds of actually getting some of it digested before Ai Naa made her throw it back up. If he did, Orialu reminded herself; he didn’t always make her. Sometimes, she got to keep everything she ate.

But the older she got, the less often it happened.

Please. Thinking it made Orialu feel dirty, weak, but she couldn’t stop the thoughts any more than she could stop her own heartbeat. Please, I’m having such a nice time with Neimu right now, let me keep it down, tonight at least…

Her beloved didn’t answer; he was too busy basking in the capsaicin blaze that filled Orialu’s mouth and savoring the feeling of flesh sliding down her throat. Maybe she would get to keep what she ate tonight, maybe the spiceburn and the meat dripping red would satisfy him enough, but there was no way for her to find out except to count down the hours – after four, it was usually safe – and wait.

Half an hour passed; Orialu finished her dish of snake as Captain Renenn’s first mate dueled the first mate of the pirate vessel Serpent Star. “Oh, I hate this part,” Orineimu whispered as Renenn’s woman fell, and Renenn and her crew lined up and submitted to capture. Orineimu put down her spoon and watched the next part through her fingers: Captain Renenn violating the verdict of the duel by killing the pirate captain with a hidden knife. Her sailors wavering a moment, before joining her and killing off the rest of the Serpent Star’s crew. It was too choreographed and story-stylized to hit Orialu in the gut, but she couldn’t blame Orineimu for hiding her face; her sister had never shared her stomach for blood.

You don’t fucking say, Orialu thought, and had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing wildly.

An hour gone. Renenn and her crew were making their way through the hazards of the Seaborne Forest. Orineimu’s food was half-gone and her eyes were half-closed; she seemed to be drowsing in between bites of nectar ice. Half an hour later, she was asleep. Orialu debated waking her up – they were coming up on Renenn’s interlude in the unseen world, and she knew it was Orineimu’s favorite part – but with court tomorrow, her sister needed the sleep. And if Orialu did lose her food later, it would be best if Orineimu were too busy dreaming to hear the vomit.

Orialu looked down at her sister. She’d fallen asleep with her head at the foot of Orialu’s bed, her hair in her face, the nectar ice spoon still in her hand and drooling a little sticky-sweet puddle onto Orialu’s sheets. Orialu tucked the blanket over Orineimu, then reached under the bed with one hand. Ai Naa’s anchor was there, not on the floor, but pressed to the underside of the bedframe, as if trying to force its way through so that they could reunite.

Orialu shifted so that she lay on her stomach. So that it was easier to reach the spear. She put her hand under the bed again and found the spear shaft. Curled her fingers around it. It would have been easier to just pull the spear up onto the bed with her. Orineimu was fast asleep and wouldn’t have noticed…but something about the thought of having Ai Naa’s anchor in her bed while her little sister was in it made Orialu’s skin crawl.

Be easier to just get out of the bed. Only she’d put on the cast to watch with Orineimu, and getting up before it was over felt like abandonment. Neimu’s asleep, Orialu reminded herself, she won’t know if you get up. Even so, Orialu waited until the cast had ended before carefully extricating herself from the bed. As soon as she was up and standing, Ai Naa’s anchor fairly flew into her hand. The rings adorning the crossguard jangled as the spear’s shaft smacked against her palm, making Orialu freeze momentarily. Only when she was sure that the noise hadn’t woken Orineimu did she step away.

It had been over two hours since Orialu had eaten her snakemeat, over two hours without even a flicker of nausea, and she’d begun to hope, faintly, cautiously, that she’d get to keep it after all. But she’d scarcely taken two steps from her bed with the spear in hand before her stomach began to churn in a way that Orialu recognized only too well. Perhaps the motion of getting up had set it off, or perhaps reuniting with the anchor let her beloved impose his hunger upon her more easily. Or maybe he was never going to let you have it in the first place. She supposed she should be grateful that Ai Naa had waited until after Orineimu was asleep to reject the food. Orialu hooked two fingers through the rings of the spear to keep them silenced, then half-ran for the bathroom, her other hand pressed to her mouth, desperately swallowing to keep the vomit at bay until she’d closed the door behind her. Then she knelt in front of the toilet, still holding the spear with one hand, pulling back her hair with the other, and retched up all she’d eaten. Tears stood out in her right eye, and behind her eye patch, a hot needle of pain stabbed at the ruined tear duct of her empty socket. Orialu told herself it was only because of the pain, for, mixed as it now was with stomach acid, the searing pepper sauce burned twice as much coming up as it had going down. Soon the food was all out of her; soon she was bringing up acid alone. Only then did Ai Naa let it end.

Orialu sat back and stared into the porcelain bowl, her stomach empty, her throat burning. The snakemeat glistened back up at her, half-digested, swimming in red.

“Fuck you,” she said hoarsely, and spat into the bowl. “I’m still not feeding you for another two weeks.”

The spear-rings twitched under her fingers. Orialu clenched her hand and forced them into stillness. She stared at the pulped meat, at the red sauce mixed with water and bile. In the dim half-light of the bathroom, it looked like a pool of blood; and because Orialu’s eye and mind saw it as blood, Ai Naa saw it the same way.

And so Orialu’s stomach clenched again, this time in hunger.

Orialu waited for it to pass. Then she gathered her legs under her and stood, flushed away the vomit, and went back to her bedroom. Orineimu was still deep asleep, motionless save for the soft up-and-down of her breathing, which Orialu could see even from across the room. She pulled her eye away before Ai Naa could make her start hearing her sister’s heartbeat, too.

With her beloved’s hunger still haunting her, it was safer to leave the room entirely, but if Orialu stepped out of her chambers, someone might see, and then word might make it back to her mother. Up night-walking, when I should be resting up for tomorrow’s session at court. Another mark against me, no matter how good of an excuse I can think up. Orialu sighed and turned to the balcony doors. She slid one open as quietly as she could, peeked over to make sure the sound hadn’t disturbed Orineimu, and then stepped out onto the balcony.

She sat there, alone save for Ai Naa and his spear in her lap, and stared at the sky, waiting for the hunger to fade. She watched as the moon sank; as the horizon lightened; as sunlight began to bleach the stars from the sky one by one.

When the sun was up and the hunger had faded, she went in to wake Orineimu, so that the two of them could prepare for court.

Well, I’ll get her some breakfast first, Orialu thought. And if she asks why I’m not getting anything…I woke up first. I ate already.

She told herself that it wasn’t fully a lie.

[jdgo51]

Practice the Art of Gentleness

Today's inspiration comes from:

Love the Life You Have

by Nathalie Ouederni

"Nothing is so strong as true gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as true strength." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Have you ever seen gentleness de-escalate a tense situation? If so, maybe you were the source of that gentleness.

The Bible tells us that a gentle answer can calm a person’s anger (Proverbs 15:1). Gentleness almost always contributes to contentment as well as peace. Throughout His life, Jesus showed us by His example the power of gentleness. See in Matthew 11:29 the way He described Himself:

Accept my teachings and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. — NCV

And consider His gentleness with a woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were ready to stone her in accordance with Jewish law. Then Jesus made this simple statement:

Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. — John 8:7

When no one did, when each one walked away, Jesus was alone with the woman. To her He said simply,

Go and sin no more. — John 8:11 NLT

Choose gentleness today. Refrain from judging others. Treat the people you encounter the way you would like them to treat you, the gentle way your Good Shepherd treats you.

Psalm 23 is perhaps the most beautiful expression of Jesus’ gentle ways with us:

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Grace is the face that love wears.

Extend Grace

Grace is the face that love wears when it meets imperfection. ~ Joseph R. Cooke

The world was a kinder place when people interacted face-to-face. It isn’t easy to say rude things when you’re looking someone in the eyes. Slamming someone over social media or with a flippant text message is much easier — and that is happening far too much. Freedom of speech has lost its filter. Thoughtless, disrespectful, hurtful comments run rampant today in social media, late-night talk shows, and even the news.

How do you deal with rude people? When someone is rude to you, maybe your first reaction is to be rude right back. Rudeness responding to rudeness destroys peace. There are better ways to deal with a person’s lack of courtesy and kindness.

Recognize that someone’s imperfections are just that. If a person makes a disagreeable comment on your social media post, cuts in front of you in the grocery line, or, ignoring you, keeps talking on their cell phone, don’t take it personally. Their behavior is about them, not you. So rather than allowing something to upset you and steal your contentment, practice grace by taking the following steps:

Take a deep breath. Remember what you’re committed to in your heart. Lead by example and treat them the way you would like to be treated. Go one step further and offer authentic listening, an act of kindness, or help with something you learn they are dealing with. Extending grace to difficult people takes practice, but remembering how many times you have received grace makes extending it to others a little easier. Blessing people with grace — with the grace of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, or patience — can help break the cycle of upset in the world. Become a beacon of grace and peace.

Grace is the face that love wears."

Excerpted with permission from Love the Life You Have by Jean Fischer, copyright Thomas Nelson.

[maryholmes94]

So, let’s start a Saturday with a discussion about Mary ;)

To be honest, the John/Mary storyline of ‘Sherlock’ always seemed to me one of the most wholly parts of the series. I’m not a fan neither of Martin Freeman, nor of Amanda Abbington, but every time I rewatch seasons 3 and 4 I again and again feel captivated by their acting skills and by their ability to bring to the screen the words and feelings put in the respective scripts. However, it doesn’t mean that I am happy with every part of their story – I am not, although not in a way which is typical for the majority of the fandom.

In my opinion, as I’ve already mentioned it here several times, ‘His Last Vow’, which presents the most dramatic part of John/Mary story, is the worst episode of the whole series, and one of the reasons is the writers' handling of the ‘big revelation’ of Mary’s past. Here I want to point out that I was never mad at her for shooting Sherlock. Not because I dislike him and want him to be dead, obviously, but because I see no alternative in the situation she got herself into (I was thinking about other possible solutions yesterday and found none, but if you have some thoughts on it, I would be very happy to hear them). And I also must point out that your expression from the previous thread is false (although, as I believe, not intentionally – sometimes fandom speaks through us without our knowledge of it) – Mary never ‘tried to kill Sherlock’. Jacques Clément tried to kill Henri III, and Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter, because they had the intentions to do so, but Mary never had an intention to kill Sherlock. She was forced to shoot him because of the awful circumstances, but she never wanted him dead – otherwise she would certainly have succeeded.

The aspect of her story that I find difficult to accept is the sequence of the said scene, when Sherlock brings Mary to John without her knowledge and exposes her secret in front of him. I think that Moffat put in these scenes in the empty house and at Baker-street all the pathos he could lay his hands on, and the greatest accusation Sherlock and John throw at Mary in this moment is that she is a liar. But two very important aspects prevent me from supporting their ‘noble’ stance. Firstly, there are two basic reasons why people lie. Either they want to deceive someone, or they want to protect someone. To be able to judge them one has to know why did they lie. However, neither John nor Sherlock knew that before Mary sat on that chair in the living room. And yet John is ready to throw the first stone just because she lied. But what if her lie, for example, were concerning her health? Like she found out she was mortally ill without any chance for recovery and didn’t tell him because she didn’t want to hurt him. That still would be a lie, of course, but what would be his reaction? Similar to what we saw? I don’t think so. Lie is a big sin, no doubt, but judging people without knowing their whole story is even bigger.

Secondly, what I find even more appalling, is the fact that Sherlock and John exposed Mary’s lie by… creating another lie. And all this looks so despicable, that if someone really wants to find sexism in ‘Sherlock’, this scene is as good an example as Holmes bringing Adler to tears in ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’. The taste both these scenes leave in one’s mouth is disgusting – am I supposed to side with Sherlock and John in condemning Mary after that? I don’t think so.

However, having said all that, I cannot say that anything was missing in the whole Mary storyline. Because what I believe is that in this Christmas scene John had forgiven Mary because he realized that he himself is not without a sin and it’s not for him to throw a stone at a woman who loves him so much. And how symbolic this scene is: a Christmas period is a time of reconciliation and good will, and John does something that everyone should do on this holiday: he forgives. It is truly beautiful scene, one of the best in this episode, and it mirrors the scene from ‘The Empty Hearse’ perfectly, where John also forgives Sherlock despite all the pain he endured. I’m not a fan of this character, but that was no doubt his finest hour.

That’s why I think that the Mary conflict was resolved at the end of season 3, and I again have to disagree with you: Mary was never a ‘saint’ and she never became one. That’s the whole point – nobody of them is saint, but they all grow and learn to live with their scars and imperfections. So it’s not a question of ‘forgetting’, it’s a question of acceptance and forgiveness. John forgives Mary, just like Sherlock will later forgive Eurus – and how much pain did she bring him compared to Mary?

So these are my thoughts on the subject. A bit long, perhaps, but I never had the chance to express my thoughts on Mary before, so thank you for this opportunity :)  Also I want to add a link to my John/Mary video – it’s a classical music this time, not Carla Bruni, and I hope you’ll find it enjoyable ;)

P.S. Was re-reading your post and have to say that I don’t believe that Molly was the only one who meant it in the ‘I Love You’ scene. I think Sherlock loves her, but in a brotherly-sisterly way. However, it is a subject for another thread ;)   

@maryholmes94 and @aveline-amelia if you don't mind I prefer to keep our discussion here, because I feel like we took over the other thread with unrelated discussions way too much already ;)

@maryholmes94 please tag me when you post about the antagonistic figures in Sherlock! I'm looking forward to reading it :)

You said you disagreed about what I said about Mary. I also think myself it wasn't pulled under the rug the same way John's violence towards Sherlock was (if that's what you meant), but I still think something was missing in the way her situation was treated by the writers. I'm of course interested in your thoughts!

@aveline-amelia I agree Sally was never a villain, but she was still an antagonist in the strict sense of the word. She isn't a bad person, but she's definitely not Sherlock's ally. I agree about her use of the term 'freak'. I reckon that if the show was written in 2023 she would call him something else, but back in 2021 it was very commun to use "freak" as an insult against anyone who thought out of the box and didn't have good social skills. Not saying this to excuse the writers, but for having been called 'freak' a shit ton of times in the early 00s only because I was different, I think it's more a reflection of the time in which the show was written, than of the character's opinion that Sherlock had a mental illness.

I TOTALLY agree about Greg Lestrade! Pointing Sherlock as a mastermind criminal was a team effort: Moriarty implanted the idea, Sally and Philip thought they finally had a proof of what they always suspected about Sherlock, but Greg listened to them and along with his superior, decided he could be guilty. We see a couple of newspapers pointing at the cops for being wrong about Sherlock's guilt, but... That's it? Sherlock and Greg act as if nothing happened, while idk..... Maybe a "sorry I thought you kidnapped two children and fed them with poison while you were my friend" would have been nice :/

Yep, Wiggins had potential. In a board game I have, Sherlock trained him to be a detective and gives him and his team of street kids some of his cases to solve. It's said John didn't have much faith in him but Sherlock saw his potential. They could have given him a similar arc in Sherlock, instead they hinted at his deduction skills but finally turned him into.... I don't even know what Wiggins was for Sherlock in TLD. His sitter?

[lebada]

honestly i’m not viscerally angry about a lot of things but. as a christian i just wanna say a big fuck you to the rich texan evangelical communities who fund, among other things, homophobic and anti-abortion campaigns and societies in eastern european countries that make our lives a living hell

[bonny-kookoo]

Sing to me: JJK x Reader 🔞

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Mermaid AU, Siren!Jungkook, Prince!Jungkook, homeless!Reader, Romance,  Smut duh

Wordcount: 5k (medium)

Tags/Warnings: okay so, spoiled kook, possessive kook, Theres literally an attempted murder lol, drowning? whoops, blood oh no, reader is hella fucking dense ok, biting, courting lol, fish boy is in love, whoops, anyways we got sexy times too, because in this AU fishboy got legs n all of that hah, unprotected sex because, guys pls this ain't supposed to he realistic, wrap it before you tap it folks, its also not all that filthy lol, blink and you'll miss the scene, honestly I didn't include much smut because yall nasty so you will ask for dirty drabbles anyways, not that I mind lol, k I'm done I think, wow mom I've sinned less than usual..

Summary: Help me love myself, and I might learn to love you as well.

Or alternatively: you save Jungkook from being killed, and he totally gets the wrong signals. But he's cute, so its fine. Probably.

Jungkook is floating.

He thinks about what lies above the waves, and cant think of anything he really finds interesting. The surface is littered in junk, in things humans leave behind without thinking twice about it. It's air is thick and stuffy, hard to breathe and never clear at all. It's crowded, with creatures who at the end of the day all look the same in his eyes. There's nothing exciting about the world people walk on.

Its boring, and dirty.

His own home is, compared to that, a kingdom radiating like the moon itself. It shines and sparkles, and harbors some of the most beautiful creatures ever to be found. He and his family, as well as everyone else, live in peace with nature down underneath the waves, existing side by side instead of trying to gain the upper hand all the time.

And he's reminded of the cruelty of man, when he finds himself caught in a net.

He's somehow made the fishermen drop it instead of pulling him up on their boat. But that doesn't mean he's free- he's still struggling with it, fighting it, but he cant rip it apart. All he does really, is tie the knots tighter, have them dig into his skin until spots are rubbed raw. He can't really swim anywhere at this point, gives up as he can see the last lights of his distant home fade into the distance.

Jungkook is floating.

He's slowly being led by the waves, by the love of wind and waters, as he closes his eyes. Its a pity, really; for a prince held so high to die by the mere hands of the poor, he thinks. It's upsetting him, very much so, but he takes it as it is. There's nothing he can do anyways, as he slowly comes into contact with the sand below. It washes him up onto short, the dry sand sticking to his body, waves pushing him higher and higher onto the ground.

He shivers, the cold outside air biting at his skin now unsheltered and defenseless.

He doesn't know how long he lays there.

But at some point, steps are heard on the sand. He keeps his eyes closed, doesn't care about what will happen next- he really just wants to have it be over by now, the ropes already painfully burning his skin at certain spots. He's sure theres sand in his wounds as something touches him- warm fingers, hesitant, and almost shy.

He keeps his eyes closed.

"My god, I hate humans.." You mutter under your breath, your voice hitting his ears, making him notice the way it sounds. He thinks it sounds very similar to some of his kind; sirens being blessed with voices sweet and enchanting. Maybe you were one of the strays who had decided to live on the surface for some reason? But your smell was entirely human, although much sweeter and pleasant than anyone he'd met before. And then, after a small short moment of pain-

He's free.

His arms flop to his side, and he breathes in deeply- finally able to fully move again. His eyes open, and adjust to the night for a moment, before they meet yours.

How interesting.

"Jungkook?" Jimin asks him, curious to what has gotten the young Siren so occupied. Typically, Jungkook would be watching the annual kingdom dances with at least some form of interest; even if it was just a glimpse of it, just to make his parents worry less about him misbehaving. But today, as the graceful dancers move around to the orchestra playing, the young prince is absolutely not there. At least not mentally. "Jungkook." The older one scolds, getting Jungkooks attention- his gaze hard and annoyed. "Please, young prince- at least try to pretend you're interested. This is after all part of our culture." He strategically uses his title as teasing- something which makes Jungkook snort without any fun.

"I really don't want to be here." He explains, and Jimin sighs. "I'd rather be at the surface.." He mumbles, being careful not to be too loud- but Jimin does pick it up, and so does his partner, Taehyung, next to him- now leaning a bit forward to hear better.

"Oh?" Jimin asks. "What could be of interest there, I wonder?" He teases, and Jungkook grows even more irritated.

"Nothing that should interest a whore like you." He says harshly, though Jimin knows he means no harm with it. Jimin is, after all, a man who enjoys the simple pleasures in life- which is why he can't quite grasp why Jungkook, a young man in his prime like himself, doesn't seem to care about whats going on around him.

"Hm, but I think she must be absolutely divine if you're willing to risk the wrath of your own mother just to see her." He says, and Taehyung snickers next to him, clearly amused.

But to both of their surprise, Jungkook grows.. calm. Theres even a glimpse of a smile on his lip as he rests his head on his head, elbow on the armrest of his throne. "That she is." He says, quietly, as he watches the young woman in front of him. He has to imagine you there instead, moving oh so gracefully to the sounds of his Kingdom's greatest musicians- dressed in the most beautiful gown he'd gift you. "That she is.." He repeats, a dreaming look on his face that Jimin has not seen before.

Jungkook watches you.

He enjoys watching you on your daily trips to the beach, picking up cans and bottles, and other things people throw away without care. You're cleaning up the beach, and he thinks its a very good behavior- he likes the way you always carefully scan the ground and sides for any garbage. He swims a little closer as he spots you squatting down; eyes lighting up as you pick up a shell he'd personally not care much for. It's slightly pink- but nothing he hasn't seen in his life. They're so common, and he suddenly thinks that if this already makes you happy, what if he was to bring you something else? Something better, something more worth your attention?

He feels a rush of excitement.

Dashing into the opposite direction, he makes his way towards the ground below, eyes scanning the ground as he searches for something. He spots it after a few minutes of searching, but when he holds the pearl, he hesitates.

Its not enough.

No, that's not what you should get. He's only paying back his dept, yeah, that's what he's doing. But what if he was overdoing it by bringing you something too expensive or rare? No, he should be smart about it, yeah. Start small, and work your way up he thinks, as he takes the pearls he's collected while deep in thought, and pushes himself back to the top, swimming easily. He hopes you're still there-

And there you are, dipping your feet into the water.

He looks at what he can see; only able to see clearly underneath the waves rather than above. There's a bracelet hanging around your ankle, and it looks cheap, he thinks. It only helps him by giving him ideas for his next gifts- if you would accept his first, that is. He's never been rejected before, but then again, has always rejected instead. Nothing had interested him to the extend you did. Maybe you really were of his kind, secretly.

When he slowly brings his head up the waves, you don't get scared, or flinch. You simply look, spot him, and smile.

He likes that expression.

He comes closer, free hand helping him onto the stone you sit on, his hand holding your gift eagerly pushing against yours. You understand quickly, and open them, and he smiles. You're smart, he notes, and it only adds to your qualities, he thinks. Dropping the pearls, your eyes sparkle again- as they should, he thinks with pride. You inspect them with big eyes, as if you've never seen something alike. He enjoys your reaction- and you nod at him. "Thank you- are they for me to keep?" You ask, pointing to them, and then at your chest. He's not fully fluent in human language, but has picked up on some words and phrases, since Seokjin had recently strayed- teaching him some stuff whenever he got bored and visited his younger brother.

So Jungkook nods. "You." He says, and you like the sound of his voice; fittingly just as handsome as the rest of him, you think. But then again- his kind is known for its beauty and enchanting voices. "Keep." He tells you, pushing your closed palm a bit closer to your body as if to underline his statement. You think its cute, in a way.

"Okay." You say. "I'll keep them-?" You ask, and he doesn't understand, until you point to yourself, and say a name- yours, he supposes.

"Ah-" He starts, pointing to himself. "Jungkook. Jeon, Jungkook." He tells you, and you nod, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you, Jeon Jungkook." You smile, and he grins back, slightly sharpened canines in stark contrast with his bunny-like smile.

He thinks its nice to meet you too.

"But you're a witch, aren't you?" Jungkook argues, staring at Taehyung. "I thought you were all so capable." He challenges, and Taehyungs eyes darken- quite literally, since sea witches do technically have black eyes- but conceal them, as to not scare off people. He regains his composure however when Jimins hand lays on his shoulder.

"Now now, no need to become huffy." He says. "He didn't say he can't do it- he simply told you that its not that easy." He explains, and Jungkook sighs, rolling his eyes. Ever the spoiled prince, they think to themselves.

"I don't care about that." He states. "Can you do it, or can you not?" He asks, and Taehyung thinks for a moment.

"I.." He begins, before he sighs. "I can. But, there's a catch, Jungkook." He tells him, and this time, the youngest of the group seems just as serious as he listens. "I can't promise that.. the result will be what you will expect." He says.

"What do you mean?" Jungkook asks.

"There's a chance she won't survive it."

He doesn't think much about why you're so often sitting on that rocky structure close to the deep- he likes not having to get out of the water to be close to you. And you think, Jungkook is quite the interesting being.

He’s curious; that much you can tell. His hands rest on your knees, your toes sometimes brushing against his abdomen as he swims closer- face coming forward to properly look at you. His vision must be bad outside of the waters you assume, his brown eyes squinting in concentration until he huffs and let’s himself back into the waters. You chuckle, and simply take off your jacket, slipping into the water as well as you control your breath- his entire face brightening at your body now underwater in his world, finally clear to see for his eyes.

You’re pretty, he thinks, definitely prettier than any other human he’d encountered before. The clothes covering your breasts and private parts a bit dull and boring for his taste- but he’d change that soon. He smiles, happy, before holding up his finger as if to signal for you to wait before he swims away, elegantly and fast. You swim up to breath some air, catch your breath, until there’s a hand around your calf, holding, fingers running over the skin, signaling you to come down again. You follow his question, taking a deep breath to meet him underneath the surface; his excited hands wrapping something around your neck, before he swims in circles as if he’s suddenly got too much energy. You point to yourself, as if to ask if you can keep it- and he nods, wide eyes watching you with a smile that you can’t help but mirror.

You don't quite realize what he's doing.

He however thinks you know. You know that he's courting you, and you're interested in him. You know that he's just given you more than a simple gift. He only believes you're letting him work for it- something he happily does, taking on the challenge as always. He swims closer, holds your shoulders, as his eyes look into yours, his gaze happy and child-like almost. He's close to finally showing you affection- but you suddenly swim to the surface instead.

And even though he knows you only wanted to breathe, he can't help but feel slightly sour at the ruined moment.

"You're awfully happy these days." His mother says, watching her son in the gardens of the palace. "May I ask what has gotten you in such a bright mood?" She asks, and Jungkook doesn't quite know how to break it to her. He knows its not forbidden, knows it has, and does, happen each and every day it seems- but there's still fear inside of him. Theres still hesitation, even though he is not ashamed of what has happened- of what he has done. His mother however notices. "You know you can trust me, right?" She says, and he nods.

Its now or never.

"I've found a mate." He says, and his mother smiles warmly, holding his cheek as she kisses it in congratulation. "Its a human." He says, quietly, hurried- but his mother continues to smile.

"I have suspected as much." She states. "Your friend- Park Jimin- is not very good at talking quietly." She snickers, and Jungkook curses under his breath about how he wants to strangle him. Theres a huge weight lifted off of him however; finally having said it, made it very real to him, in a way- even though it was already.

Because, after all; you were wearing his kingdom's sigil around your neck already. He had claimed you.

He's restless the next time he swims to the shore to meet you again- eager to see you to give you the news of his family's acceptance.

You're late- later than usual, and his brows are furrowed, mood upset at your mannerism. You're usually always on time, always just as eager to see him he thinks- but this time, you're not there. After his anger however, he grows increasingly worried instead. What if something had happened to you instead? Oh what a bad person he would be to be mad at you for getting into an unfortunate situation. As guilt slowly makes his way into his body, claims his muscles, he moves to sit on the stone he usually finds you on. He tries to look around- rain on his skin making it possible to be out way more comfortably.

He spots movement above.

Theres a person he can't make out- throwing something off the cliff down into the sea, and Jungkook clicks his tongue in anger, already upset- but still curious on what it was the person had been so eager to discard. Typically, its tiny things or plastic he finds- but this is something else, he knows.

Underwater, he smells blood.

His pupils contract, eyes widening, as he spots the black bag slowly making its way to the bottom of the sea- red trail leading from it. Its not the blood however that makes him frantic- its the smell of it, of you, that stops his heart.

He gets you out the bag, his anger over the entire situation diminishing into nothing as he holds you close, eyes spotting the deep cut on your side, and the scratches on your face. Unsure where to bring you, he holds you close, brings you onto his back as one of his hands hold yours, your arms around his neck. He swims quickly to the only place he knows you can breathe.

The underwater cave is big enough for now, he thinks, as he brings your body onto the ground, out the water. He doesn't notice he's crying, doesn't quite speak, his native language of clicking sounds and little noises escaping him as he whines out for your attention, waiting for you to wake up somehow. He's been so invested in making you like him and accept him that he's got no idea what to do with a human. Are you cold? How can he warm you up? How does he stop bleeding wounds? How much can you bleed before you die? Are you already dying?

Jungkook doesn't know what to do. So he simply lays by your side, holding you close, in hopes his slightly higher body temperature can keep you warm.

"He's doing the best he can-" Jimin says, Seokjin next to Taehyung as they both lean over your body. Both witches are concentrated, already exhausted, but there's no way they're giving up on you now. Not only because you're important to Jungkook- but because no one deserves to simply die like this.

"I know, I know!" Jungkook huffs out, pupils turned into cat like slits- a clear sign of the absolute terror and chaos inside of him. "What if they're best isn't good enough? Jimin, I can't loose her, you don't understand-" He starts, but Jimin holds the younger one's shoulders, for the first time serious with him.

"I do." He glances at Taehyung. Jimin had saved Taehyung before as well- the young sea witch having been hit by a fisherman's harpoon years ago. Ever since then, Jimin had been attached to the witch like glue. "Trust me, I really do. And they're doing all they can to make sure she's going to be fine." He promises, and Jungkook nods.

All he can do is pray.

When you wake up, there's several things you notice.

First, you're alive. Having a raging headache, and your limbs and muscles feel horribly tender, but you're alive. There's also strings of rope tied to two rock formations acting like a clothing line, several blankets and clothes hanging from it. They don't look human-made to you- the fabrics and designs not something you would think of as regular. There's a bucket and several stained rags- now copper-brown with old blood. Its then that you look down, seeing your cut sewed shut.

You also notice its rather soft underneath you.

Its sheepskin laid over seaweed you notice- the whool soft and fluffy, and warm. Everything seems to be so thoughtfully placed, even some decorative items- you can spot fireflies casually sitting in a jar close by, and burned wood, probably to . Probably to make light during the night. You're tired however, so you simply lay down again. Quite honestly, surely you should fee worried about the situation- but then again, there was no one to miss you, no place you called your home anyways. No use in worrying- because deep down, you had your suspicion.

A Jungkook swims to the surface with the plastic box in his arms, he's careful not to throw it too hard onto the ground. As he steps out the water, he's sure to at least try and his his hands of most the water before he goes to check on the blankets he had brought this early morning. They've dried enough, he notices, and is glad about that, as he picks one up.

You don't have to be cold anymore, he thinks.

He's unnaturally careful for his typical character- his usual behavior quite the opposite as it was now. Now, he's making sure you're properly tucked in, as he notices your eyes watching him.

He freezes, for a moment.

Jungkook hasn't really thought much about what would happen if you were to wake up- after all, Seokjin had told him he was unsure if you were to wake up this early in the first place, and Taehyung didn't even know if you would wake up at all. He'd told his younger brother to be prepared for any reaction really; fear, confusion, maybe even anger. But you seem calm, curious even, and Jungkook decides to sit down in front of your face, waiting.

"You brought me here, right?" You ask, and he nods, eyes not leaving your form.

"You-.. hurt." He points to the spot where your wound had been. "Also hurt." His hand points to your head. "Brothers, helped." He informs you, and you smile, nodding at his words. He suddenly looks at the ground, mumbling. "I.. worried. Thought... you, dying." He tells you, and you sit up slowly again, keeping the blanket around your shoulders.

"I'm not dead though." You say, and he nods. "Thank you, Jungkook. Now we're even." You say, and he tilts his head in confusion- a mannerism you could only think of as cute. "I saved you- you saved me." You say, and he smiles, nodding.

"I-" He starts, leaning forward a bit, now way more energetic and lighthearted as before. "I- we-" He growls a little in frustration, and you cant help but giggle at his troubles- the chirps and clicks escaping him foreign- but somehow, they feel hazy, as if your mind knows the language, but has forgotten what it meant. He's trying so hard you notice, and appreciate. "You like here?" He asks, and points around. You nod, and he beams at you. "I made." He tells you, proudly so.

"I guessed as much. Its very thoughtful of you, thank you." You say, and he nods, happy you like what he did for you. Its not a permanent solution, obviously, but as soon as you're healed well enough, he already planned a new spot for you to come with him.

You just don't know it yet.

There's a weird feeling inside of you.

It's like homesickness, you think. Every time you look at the waters, you feel- sad? It's making you uneasy, and with every day passing by, it just gets worse and worse. But it's today, that you cant take it.

When you dip your legs into the water, it soothes an ache you can't recognize ever having. It helps your skin, it somehow feels as if you're breathing again. But It's not enough, you think- before you let yourself fall into the deep end.

You're floating.

It's like leaving a stuffy and crowded mall, just to stand in a park, fresh air after it had rained, and light breeze clearing your head. Everything is silent, but not at the same time- the water around you feeling as if you're being hugged, held. It makes you relax, makes you let go, makes you only exist for a moment.

You're floating.

And there's a sudden wave of realization that you're also breathing. There's no water in your lungs- or maybe there is, and you just don't feel it being there. Darkness surrounds you as you don't know where you are exactly- theres no telling where is where, no way to know if you're upright or not. Maybe you've died?

Did you drown?

If you did, it would explain Jungkook being there. He's swimming towards you with a face full of worry, as he grabs your wrist and holds you close. "I can't even let you out of my sight for a mere day it seems, my love." He sighs, and your eyes widen. Its almost comedic how his own do the same, focusing on your neck, as he touches.

You're sensitive, and shift away from his touch.

"It-" He starts, now holding your shoulders, as he begins to smile. "It worked! It really did- by the dragon kind, you look absolutely divine!" He laughs, and can't help but hold your hands, eyes roaming your appearance, as you don't quite get it- until you follow his gaze.

Just like him, there's fins now on the sides of your calfs, smaller ones on your ankles as well. Theres also ones decorating your outer forearms- they look like the ones you'd always see on goldfish as a kid. There's something alike to scales as well, but barely noticable. "I- what happened to me?" You ask, and Junkook smiles.

"You.. almost died." He admits, taking your hand and swimming to what you assume is back towards the cave. "You had been robbed during the day, and when I found you.. well, you know what happened." He says. "While you were asleep, we were thinking about what to do. There was no way you would survive as a human- so, a friend of mine- Taehyung- performed a ritual, together with Seokjin, my brother." He says. You finally spot light, glad to be able to have at least some form of orientation. "I'm glad you're adjusting so quickly, my love." He states, smiling at you.

You notice the petname again.

"Jungkook-" You start, as you both reach the cave again, sitting on the edge of where the ground of the cave meets the water. "Why are you.. calling me that?" You ask, and Jungkook seems confused.

"Why do you ask?" He questions. And you don't quite follow, until he continues. "You're my mate- I am only addressing you as such."

Your eyes widen. "Wait- we're-" You start, and its only then that it clicks in Jungkooks head.

"Oh." He says- the dissapointment bitter and evident in his voice. "You.. didn't know?" He asks, and you shake your head, unsure what he means. "I see.." He tells you, suddenly distant. "I.. will bring you breakfast tomorrow.. sleep well." He abruptly says, and before you can say anything, he's already gone.

What just happened?

"There you are!" A voice says, deeper than Jungkooks, but not unfamiliar. Taehyung had been visiting and bringing you food and nescessities ever since that talk with Jungkook. This time, however, Taehyung seems like he wants to say something. You look at him, silently urging him, and he sits down next to you, sighing.

"Does he hate me?" You ask, quietly, and Taehyung looks sad.

"He could never." He says. "He just.. didn't take the rejection well. He'll need time to come around. It won't take that much time- his mother is already trying to get a new partner for him." He explains, and your head whips around towards him. "I- you.. did reject him, right?" He asks, slowly. "You do.. not love him, right?" He urges again, and you groan suddenly, throwing your face into your hands.

"Oh my god I'm so stupid.." You say. "It all.. everything was so overwhelming, I didn't even notice what he was doing." You cry into your hands, as Taehyungs hand places itself onto your back, trying to soothe you. "I though.. especially after I found out about his status.." You mumble. "How could he want me?" You ask, and Taehyung sighs.

"Head up, little siren." He says. "He's still able to hear you sing, if you want to." He says, and you look at him.

"But how?" You say. "I have no idea where the kingdom, or anything really is. And he won't come see me until its too late." You say.

"Well-" Taehyung says, standing up, and holding out his hand. "-allow me to escort the future princess to her lover."

"How did you find me?" He simply asks, not turning around, as you float closer. "I'm sorry, but I still need time to.. get over-" He starts, but you don't let him finish, instead leaning into his back, your arms around his middle.

"I'm stupid." You say. "I'm really, really stupid." He shakes his head, but you continue. "Just because I didn't realize- doesn't mean that I don't feel anything for you." You say. "I just.. felt unworthy, I guess. Insignificant." You admit, and he turns around, holding your face in his hands.

"You really are not gifted with the mind of the dragons king, my love." He states teasingly, the glimmer in his eyes returning. "My status means nothing to me, if that meant I could not have you." He says, and you lean forward, capturing his lips. "I hope you know what this meant, at least." He teases, and your eyes widen, scared you might've done something wrong. "It means you love me." He says, and you chuckle.

"Good." You say. "Because I do."

Even though he thinks you looked like a goddess reborn in your white and pearl decorated gown from the wedding, he enjoys you without it, close to him, just as much. He's alive, he's feeling, he's in love, as his hands move over your skin, his senses filled with you and nothing else.

The sounds you make for him are sweeter than any siren's song he's ever heard or could ever sing himself. No member of his kind is as enchanting as you, he decides, as he bites and kisses the sensitive skin of your neck. Jimin had teased him relentlessly the entire evening and night by trying to send you sweet words, to which you didn't react- but that didn't mean that it didn't piss him off.

You were his.

His princess- and soon to be queen, one day.

And he's planning on making that very evident, as he marks up your skin with little bites, visible for everyone to see. He wants everyone to know, even though by tomorrow, the entire Kingdom will celebrate the marriage of its prince anyways. He's more than ready to show you off, to hold you close, to have people see the divine being at his side that's you.

It's only natural for his hands to roam your skin, for his lips to worhip every inch it seems, as you reach out for his hand every second it leaves you. It's painfully endearing he thinks, how you can be so innocent and pure, while he's between your legs, performing the sinful act of pleasuring you with his mouth.

You pull him towards you, as you straddle his waist, leaning down to kiss him. He's in god's divine lands he thinks, as he suddenly feels you sinking down on his awaiting length. You fit around him perfectly, more so than he could've ever imagined. And as you both move, he holds you close, happy that here, in his world, he doesn't need to breathe.

He can kiss you as long as he wants.

(c)Bonny-Kookoo. I spilled strawberry milk on my poor laptop while writing this.

[yuxatengri]

Don't know if there is any use in writing all this, but speaking my mind? Why not? Maybe someone decides to discuss.

I know that it's difficult to disown someone as their fan. I know that itchy emptiness in the stomach when you find out that they did something wrong. For a lot of fans it's not really putting them on a pedestal as much as blindly loving them, having that hormone explosion of adoring that people usually have towards crushes that sugarcoats their image. They do realize that this person, usually man, is not going to fuck them. But he is their comfort person. I'm lucky that Seb wasn't my crush already.

But why all of you like these people so much... one of the main reasons is because they're such a sweet, good person, right? So even if you like them so much, just stop for a moment, and thank what you would have felt if you were a person of color. Think about how it is to realize that the person you adore is disrespectful towards your kind. Including you. At the time when that kind of treatment ends into murdering people. Even if you don't understand the harm that it brings, people are allowed to be insecure and uncomfortable with what is about them. And allowed to talk about it. I mean, usually we have no problem in realizing that someone is a bad a person, when it comes to other personality traits. Why is it so difficult at this time?

But yes, Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone, right? That's the other side of adoration of sugar-coated crushes - we forget that they're also human beings and are flawed as literally anyone and they can and will make mistakes. That's a normal thing you should be ready for. As well as it's totally normal to point out people's mistakes and tell them if they're doing something wrong you're not comfortable with.

I agree, cancel culture is shit. But the whole point is that "We're all flawed", "Learn to forgive" and "Give them a space to grow" works as an excuse only when people are growing, when they realize what was their mistake and do everything not to do it again. While in the case with Seb... well, these mistakes and accidents repeat, so it doesn't look like he learned something. A lot of people don't want him to delete his media, or stop being an actor, or die, or whatever. They just want to point the mistake and maybe even hope that he'll listen and maybe change.

So please, stop attacking people, especially people of color, who talk about this issue.

In this case my personal question is... what's next? What are we going to do about it? It could've been good and maybe could've worked out if a huge number of people called out. Adequately I mean, without death threats. Idk why some people think that's helpful. But as usually most of fans will just get defensive. Personally it's kinda ironic how almost everyone I see in the fandom is all #BLM!!! until it comes to their celebrity crushes. I don't want to mock them as many do, but that is a hypocrisy. Being able to put justice prior to your comfort is what actual care for any kind of social justice is. No, I'm not saying that you should hate Seb, I'm saying that you should listen to people when they say that something is harmful and do something. Even if you don't like it.

As to me, I'm just deeply disappointed. Disappointed in fandom as well.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

27th March >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 8:1-11 for Monday, Fifth Week of Lent: ‘Neither do I condemn you’.

Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

Gospel (Except USA)

John 8:1-11

'Let the one among you who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone'.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

   The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do not sin any more.’

Gospel (USA)

John 8:1-11

Let the person without sin be the first to throw a stone.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The gospels often show the religious leaders putting Jesus to the test with some trick question, hoping to catch him out. We have an example of this in today’s gospel reading. However, on this occasion the question involves the humiliation of a woman. They drag her before Jesus and ask him whether the letter of the Jewish Law should be followed through in her regard, which would have involved death by stoning. If Jesus had said ‘no’ to the question, he could be accused of being a law breaker. If he said ‘yes’ his reputation as a merciful friend of sinners would have been fatally damaged. The religious leaders were using the woman as bait to catch Jesus out. It was Jesus they had in their sights not the woman. The woman was just being used by them to trap Jesus. In so doing, they were showing profound disrespect for her. In contrast, Jesus treated her with the utmost respect. He reminded the religious leaders that if she had sinned, they too had sinned and were sinning by bringing her to him in this way. He went on to assure the woman that he was not condemning her, God was not condemning her. He then called her to live in a way that was more in keeping with her dignity as a daughter of Abraham and the beloved of God, ‘Go away, and don’t sin any more’. God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn. As this gospel of John had already declared, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. God sent his Son that we may life and have it to the full. Our calling is to make present, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the non-judgemental, life-giving presence of God’s love. The Lord has the utmost respect for each one of us, regardless of our past failings, and we are called to relate to one another in the same way.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

In the gospel reading the Pharisees who brought an adulterous woman to Jesus were suggesting a simple answer to her moral failure. Condemn her to death by stoning. The gospel reading also makes clear that this was not Jesus’ way of dealing with moral failure. He understood that the situation was far more complex that the Pharisee’s crude and simplistic solution allowed for. The men who brought the woman to Jesus saw her only in terms of her immediate past. Jesus’ way of looking at her was far more generous; he saw the whole picture of her life, not just one little bit of it. Seeing the whole picture of her life, he also saw that she had a future, a future that those who brought her to Jesus would have denied her. When the Lord looks at us he sees the whole picture too; he does not become obsessed with one or two details of the picture. He hears the full story of our lives, not just a couple of lines of our story. The Lord knows that our story is unfinished, and will only be complete when he himself comes to transfigure our lowly bodies into copies of his glorious body.

 And/Or

(iii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The religious leaders who brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught committing adultery seem to have had a very black and white view of things. As far as they were concerned, they were good and she was bad. Furthermore, the bad needed to be eliminated to protect the good - they reminded Jesus that death by stoning was what the Jewish Law prescribed. Jesus was reluctant to engage these men in conversation at all, but when he did speak, his brief comment cut through their primitive analysis, and showed it up in all its inadequacy, ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone’. Jesus was reminding them that the sin which they so despised in the woman was alive and well in themselves. When they pointed one finger at her, three fingers were pointing back at themselves. They could not look at her without looking at themselves, and if they looked honestly at themselves their attitude to the woman would have to change. Jesus did not deny that the woman had sinned, but he strongly denied that her sin made her any different from anyone else, including those who were so sure of their own virtue. The gospel reading reminds us that we all come before the Lord as sinners, but it assures us that when we bring our sin to the Lord we will not hear a word of condemnation. Instead we will hear a word of forgiveness and an invitation to something better: ‘I do not condemn you; go away and don’t sin any more’.

 And/Or

(iv) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

It is clear from this morning’s gospel reading that the religious leaders are very much in the business of condemning. They bring a woman to Jesus expecting him to condemn her, because, as they say, ‘Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this’. Earlier in his gospel, the fourth evangelist had placed a very striking saying on the lips of Jesus, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. Jesus did not come to condemn the world but so that it might have life and have it to the full. When Jesus asked the woman the question, ‘Has no one condemned you?’ he immediately declared, ‘Neither do I condemn you’. He gently reminded those who were quick to condemn her that they too were sinners. We all have something to repent of. To all of us Jesus says what he says to the woman, ‘go away and don’t sin any more’. The Lord does not condemn us but, in his love for us, he calls us beyond where we are; he continually invites us into a greater light and a fuller life.

 And/Or

(v) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The story of Jesus and the woman caught in the act of adultery is one of those gospel stories that we find ourselves drawn to. The portrayal of Jesus in the story is one that we that stays with us. We are struck by the contrast between the way the scribes and the Pharisees relate to the woman and the way that Jesus relates to her. The religious leaders have condemned her of a serious breach of the Jewish Law, one that is worthy of the prescribed punishment, death by stoning. Jesus, however, refuses to condemn her; ‘I do not condemn you’. As the evangelist, John, says a little earlier in his gospel, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. Rather than condemning her, Jesus pardons her and calls her to a way of life more in keeping with God’s purpose for her life. We may not have sinned in the way the woman sinned, but we are all sinners. We all come before the Lord as people who have not lived in accordance with God’s will and purpose for our lives. The reading assures us that when we come before the Lord in our sinfulness, we will not hear a word of condemnation, but a word of forgiveness. ‘I do not condemn you’, and also an invitation, ‘Do not sin anymore’. Condemnation comes easily to human nature. Thankfully, it is not in the nature of Jesus or of the God whom he reveals.

 And/Or

(vi) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

The men who brought the woman to Jesus saw her only in terms of her immediate past, while being blind to their own past. Jesus’ way of looking at her was very different; he saw the whole picture of her life, not just one little bit of it. Seeing the whole picture of her life, he also saw that she had a future as well as a past, a future that those who brought her to him would have denied her. When the Lord looks at us he sees the whole picture too; he does not become obsessed with one or two dark details of the picture. The Lord is attentive to the full story of our lives, not just to a couple of lines of that story. He also knows that the story of our lives is always an unfinished story. It is the Lord himself who will endeavour to write the final chapter of that story when, in the words of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he will come from heaven to transfigure our lowly bodies into copies of his own glorious body. Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord says, ‘I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future full of hope’. The Lord offered the woman, and offers all of us, a ‘future full of hope’. He can offer us such a future because, again in the words of Paul, ‘his power at work within is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine’.

 And/Or

(vii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

There are three characters in this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus, the woman and a group of male experts in the Jewish Law. The group of men brought the woman to Jesus to test him. They were using her against him. It was Jesus who was in their sights rather than the woman whom they claimed was caught in the act of adultery. They were of the view that if Jesus was to be faithful to God’s Law, he should condemn the woman. If he didn’t condemn her it would confirm their view of Jesus as someone who broke God’s Law and was, therefore, a sinner. Jesus did not fall into their trap. He gave himself time by writing distractingly on the ground with his finger. When the group persisted, Jesus issued that striking challenge, ‘if there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’. They had brought the woman to Jesus as a sinner; they were of the view that Jesus himself was a sinner. Now Jesus faces them with the reality of their own sin. Their walking away was their acknowledgement that there was no one among them who had not sinned. We are all sinners; we just sin in different ways. We can never set ourselves up as the moral superior of others. Jesus did not condemn the woman. Yet, he did call her to live in a new way, ‘go away, and don’t sin any more’. Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus said, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. The Lord’s instinct is not to condemn but to call us and empower us to take a path which will lead us to a share in God’s own life, both now in this earthly life and in eternity.

 And/Or

(viii) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

We all have to deal with human weakness and moral failure both in ourselves and in others. The gospel reading raises the question as to how moral failure is to be dealt with. The religious authorities who bring the woman to Jesus deal in the currency of condemnation when it comes to moral failure. They invoke the authority of the Jewish Law which condemns the act of adultery. They test Jesus to see whether he will go along with the Jewish Law in this matter, thereby undermining his reputation for mercy, or whether he will reject the Jewish Law, thereby showing himself to be in defiance of God’s Law. Jesus’ enigmatic response, bending down to write on the ground, shows that he refuses to engage with this situation in the terms put to him by the religious authorities. Jesus’ concern is not whether or not the woman is deserving of condemnation, but rather that she be free for a new life that reflects God’s desire for her. Jesus’ searing proposition to the woman’s accusers, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’, stops the woman’s accusers in their tracts. Jesus is the only one who is without sin, and he is not in the business of condemning the woman. Who are sinners like the woman’s accusers to do so? Once the accusing men have slunk away, Jesus looks directly at the woman for the first time and addresses her personally. Jesus’ declaration to her that he does not condemn her and his call to her to go away and sin no more show that his entire concern is to rescue her from her terrible plight and set her free for a new direction of life. None of us is without sin. Yet, the Lord is not in the business of condemning us for our many failings. His primary desire is that we live in a way that is worthy of our dignity as sons and daughters of God. He came to show us the way that will be truly life-giving for ourselves and for others and to empower us to follow that way and to keep returning to it after we have failed.

And/Or

 (ix) Monday, Fifth Week of Lent

Earlier in this fourth gospel, Jesus had said to Nicodemus, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. In today’s gospel reading, people bring a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus, expecting him to condemn her, ‘Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this… What have you to say?’ It was a kind of a trap for Jesus. If he went against Moses, he could be accused of breaking God’s Law. If he followed Moses, he would lose his reputation as a friend of sinners. The best way of dealing with a trap is to sidestep it, and that perhaps is what Jesus was doing by writing on the ground with his finger in silence. He was buying time. Yet, when those who brought the woman persisted with their question, he finally had to break his silence. He did so in a way which took attention away from the woman and place it on her accusers, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’. Jesus was reminding the woman’s accusers that they too were sinners. Jesus did just enough by this question to get her accusers to leave her alone. When Jesus is alone with the woman, he doesn’t condemn her, ‘Neither do I condemn you’, but he does call her to a way of life more in keeping with God’s desire for her, ‘go away, and don’t sin any more’. This gospel passage is a study in how the Lord relates to us all. He loves us as we are and never stands before us as one who condemns. Yet, his love for us will always call us beyond where we are towards becoming more fully the person God desires us to be. God desires us to grow into the person of his Son, to become as loving as he is, and God keeps giving us the Holy Spirit to help us to become this person he desires us to be. This journey of becoming is one we will all be travelling until the end of our lives.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Will The Chosen get into what Jesus could have thought about gay people? Did gay people approach Jesus asking Him to perform marriage ceremonies? Did people suffering from gender dysphoria ask Jesus to use His power to change their gender?

I doubt that the Chosen will tackle topics like that, since because of how much attention is given to conversations about those subjects, it's likely that any attempt to touch on it would take the show's focus (and what people take from the show) away from what it should be: the Gospel, and Yeshua Himself.

As to the historical aspect, it's pretty certain that no gay person would have asked Yeshua to perform a marriage ceremony. Homosexuality was a capital offense at the time (along with a host of other things, such as adultery--more on that later), so it would have been incredibly dangerous to admit to openly practicing it. Additionally, because ancient Jewish marriage was a much larger endeavor than marriage today, this would have been practically impossible: the first stage of the marriage ceremony began a year prior to the final feast and consummation, and the families of both parties were deeply involved. Basically, it would have taken much more than just Yeshua's approval to facilitate any marriage! (As an aside, many of the rich traditions in these ancient ceremonies are carried on in modern Jewish weddings. Some really cool stuff!)

That being said, what we do know is that Yeshua sought out the lowly, the outcasts, and those who suffered; it's quite possible, then, that He did meet someone struggling with their gender or sexuality and the way those things affected their life, and perhaps some of them did seek Him out for advice or help.

As to how He would have responded or what He thought about these people: while I won't speculate as to what He would have said or done, I know Yeshua always spoke and acted with the perfect balance of grace and truth. Probably the best example of his approach to difficult matters like this is found in John 8:2-11:

At daybreak, He appeared again in the Temple Court, where all the people gathered around Him, and He sat down to teach them. The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim [Pharisees] brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery and made her stand in the center of the group. Then they said to him, “Rabbi, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in our Torah, Moshe commanded that such a woman be stoned to death. What do you say about it?” They said this to trap him, so that they might have ground for bringing charges against him; but Yeshua bent down and began writing in the dust with his finger. When they kept questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “The one of you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he bent down and wrote in the dust again. On hearing this, they began to leave, one by one, the older ones first, until he was left alone, with the woman still there. Standing up, Yeshua said to her, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” Yeshua said, “Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and don’t sin any more.” - John 8:2-11

There's a lot we can learn from this passage, but most of all we are shown that our God is a loving and merciful God who cares for us when others, or even society as a whole, do not, and He will guide us to the right path to enable us to live a life honoring to Him. That love that He showed to the woman in the passage above is the same love He showed to everyone--and can show to us today! You and I can personally experience His love, and your own interaction with God will be much more valuable than anything I can hypothesize about :)