#worm sin daily

[worm-sin-daily]

Honestly, worm chaos core is the best aesthetic

[iamumbra195]

Not really in the DC fandom and I don't really read many comics but I've been seeing some videos and posts making headcanons about the Al-Ghul family being Muslim and it pisses me off so much.

This interpretation is deeply rooted in Islamophobia and the ignorant notion that every Arab is a Muslim and therefore a "terrorist". The Al-Ghuls are not and have never been Muslims and any parts of the religion found in their characters are likely due to the fact that Arab culture has a lot of aspects of Islam mixed into it and because again, people think that being Arab and being Muslim are the same thing and a lot of the comic writers are white Americans who commonly have this misconception about Arabs.

I'm not going to go into the specifics of everything because 1) I don't know all that much about canon and 2) this is a little hard to explain but I will give several examples that pretty much disprove that headcannon because The Al-Ghuls do things that are considered major sins in Islam on the daily.

Ra's runs an assassin league/cult and despite what many people think killing people is a major sin in Islam except in very specific scenarios where it may be excused like in self-defence or in war. And what the Al-Ghuls do? That isn't excusable in any way.

Ra's' name in and of itself is proof. His name means the Demon Head and I promise you a proper practicing Muslim would not call themself that or commit the atrocities he has on innocent people. I don't know if this is true but I saw on the wiki that apparently a character named Gerhardt asked him if he was a man or a fiend from hell and Ra's, said that he was both and neither and that he was "Ra's al-Ghul". A Muslim would not associate themself with Hell, a place where evildoers are punished in the afterlife.

Talia committed zina (fornication), yet another major sin, and wears extremely revealing clothing despite the fact that modesty is an integral part of the religion.

The Al-Ghuls drink wine, eat pork and apparently Damian was often fed ox blood soup as a child despite the fact that all these things are explicitly forbidden for Muslims to consume in verses of the Quran. (To clarify a bit, in case you're confused about the ox blood soup, Muslims are forbidden from consuming animal blood because it is considered filthy and harmful, much like pork and wine.)

Not to mention the whole thing about Ra's nearly being 500 years old and the Lazarus Pits apparently reviving him every time he dies... but that's a whole can of worms I don't know enough about to open

So yeah, the headcanon that the Al-Ghuls are Muslims perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Islam as a whole. There probably is more to be said about this topic but unfortunately, I haven't read many comics and have only watched a few of the DC animated movies so I can't say much more.

Feel free to correct me if I've said something incorrect or missed something important.

[solspina]

Into Good Night

mephiston ⋆˙⟡

a tiny blurb so the brain worms will stop eating at me until i can get a full story out. god knows if anyone has ever hugged this man, by the emperor i shall be the first. unedited as i just needed to tell myself a bedtime story.

a lack of rest is not easy or healthy for the mind of a psyker. resting once will not hurt

warnings: none, just fluff :)

rage, rage against the dying of the light

do not go gently into that good night.

but perhaps once, and only once, it would not hurt to slip under into a sleep like death. just a few minutes, mephiston promised himself. maybe it would not hurt to pass his time by resting instead of pushing himself to the very limit of his power, escaping the enveloping warmth of the rage right before it consumed him, again and again.

over and over.

the only other being that resided within his chambers was an assistant of his. they were one who carried around countless vials of blood, always prepared to drive them into the thick skin of mephiston in one of the many cases he had ever slipped too far.

but this being was only human, yet tasked with such a great responsibility. perhaps the rest that he took now was purely for their sake.

that’s what he wanted to believe, that he wasn’t engaged in the selfish and vile sin of resting. he was doing nothing good for himself by condemning himself to vulnerability in the arms of this human. and yet he trusted them with his life on a daily basis as he hung by a thread on the edge of his sanity.

they sat with their legs crossed on his bed, staring down upon him, and he stared back. his head was placed strategically in their lap so that they could brush and weave their tiny fingers through his long blond hair. he thought himself greedy for indulging in their affection, and yet they seemed to think the opposite.

they didn’t see the monster his brothers saw, nor did they see the paleness of his skin or the inhumanity that stirred in those glowing blue eyes.

they simply saw mephiston

or perhaps it was calistarius they saw

for they looked at him and smiled. not in a taunting way, not in a way that makes mockery of him. they saw through the emptiness and rage, and peered their own gaze into the heart of the man he was before he was reborn.

there had been nights that they had come to him seeking warmth, in which he had swiftly rejected at first. until a particular sleepless night that he had accepted their request to join him in his bed. the moment their warm stomach made contact with his cold and bare back, he had felt every ounce of anger, rage, and doubt fade from his mind like fleeting waves.

he was calm, serene, and at peace. a look of bliss had made its way across his features, his lips shifting away from his permanent scowl and into something akin to neutrality.

much as he did now.

their fingertips rubbed at his scalp, careful to avoid the metal pools within his temples as their light slowly faded, the tubes disconnected from his head. his eyes had long since closed, even as they moved to caress his face, their palms settling upon his cheeks as their fingers cupped his sharp and gaunt jawline, he did not move.

the psychic weight had completely faded from the air, as had the light emitting from his body. he looked near lifeless, but at peace.

they traced the scars that covered his shoulders as an after effect of the primaris surgery. it had been incredibly difficult for him to sleep since then, as they had only counted a few hours of proper rest for him over the past several months, for no more than minutes at a time.

they prayed he’d stay asleep, at least for the duration of a solar night around terra. it was easy to have an uneasy mind when you were deprived of rest, even as a psyker and primaris space marine.

they leaned down, placing their lips against the bridge of his nose before pulling away and joining him under the blankets as he breathed softly against the pillow underneath him. by some miracle, his skin felt some sort of warm and the perpetual furrow in his brow had completely disappeared.

just one time, go gently into that good night

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Daily Portions

by Joseph Philpot

"I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself." – Jeremiah 31:18

The spiritual feeling of sin is indispensable to the feeling of salvation. A sense of the malady must ever precede, and prepare the soul for, a believing reception and due apprehension of the remedy. Wherever God intends to reveal his Son with power, wherever he intends to make the gospel "a joyful sound" indeed, he first makes the conscience feel and groan under the burden of sin. And sure am I that when a man is laboring under the burden of sin, he will be full of groans. The Bible records hundreds of the groans of God’s people under the burden of sin." My wounds stench and are corrupt, "cries one," because of my foolishness. I am troubled -- I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long"(Psalms 38:5; Psalms 38:6). "My soul, "cries another, is full of troubles, and my life draws near unto the grave "(Psalms 88:3)." He has led me, "groans out a third," and brought me into darkness, but not into light" (Lamentations 3:2). A living man must cry under such circumstances. He cannot carry the burden without complaining of its weight. He cannot feel the arrow sticking in his conscience without groaning under the pain. He cannot have the worm gnawing his vitals without groaning of its venomous tooth. He cannot feel that God is incensed against him without bitterly groaning that the Lord is his enemy. Spiritual groaning then, is a mark of spiritual life, and is one which God recognizes as such." I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself. "It shows that he has something to mourn over; something to make him groan, being burdened; that sin has been opened up to him in its hateful malignancy; that it is a trouble and distress to his soul; that he cannot roll it like a sweet morsel under his tongue, but that it is found out by the penetrating eye, and punished by the chastening hand of God.

[theprayerfulword]

September 27

Jude 1:20-21 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

1 John 5:4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.

2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

Romans 6:13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Love…does not seek its own…

May you listen to the Lord, as do all who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord, and look at Abraham and Sarah, whom God blessed and multiplied, for the Lord will surely comfort you and look on you with compassion, making the barren wilderness surrounding you to be like Eden and the wastelands you know so well like the garden of the Lord, so that joy and gladness will be found there with great thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Isaiah 51

May you hear the Lord as He speaks to His people to declare that instruction will go out from Him, His justice will be a light to the nations, His righteousness draws near speedily, His salvation is on the way, and His arm will bring judgment to all the peoples, and the coast-lands will wait expectantly upon Him in Whom they hope. Isaiah 51

May you lift your eyes to the heavens and look at the earth beneath, for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants will die like flies, but the salvation of the Lord will last forever and His righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51

May you hear the Lord, as do all Who know what is right and have the instruction of the Lord in their hearts, and do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults, for the moth will eat them up like a garment and the worm will devour them like wool, but the righteousness of the Lord will last forever and the salvation of God will endure through all generations. Isaiah 51

May you cry unto the Lord to awaken and clothe His arm with strength as He has before when He smashed the proud one and pierced the scaly one, drying up the waters of affliction and making the sea-bed into a road for the redeemed to follow, so that the ransomed of the Lord will return and enter into Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy, as gladness and joy overtakes them, causing sorrow and sighing to flee away. Isaiah 51

May you not forget the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, lest you start to fear mortal men who are but grass, causing you to live in constant terror daily because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction, for He, even God, is the One Who comforts you, and what can they do before Him? Isaiah 51

May you rejoice in the Lord your God, Who churns the sea so the waves roar the name of the Almighty, for He Who set the heavens in place and laid the foundations of the earth, saying to Zion, “You are my people,” is He Who has put His words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of His hand. Isaiah 51

May you, who have known the rebuke of God and been afflicted, hear what the Sovereign Lord says, your God, Who defends His people, “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger and you will never drink from it again, for I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, those who accuse and condemn you, seeking to gain authority over you,” for they will be cast down from the heavenlies. Isaiah 51

May you awaken, shake off your dust, rise up, freeing yourself from the chains on your neck as you clothe yourself with strength, putting on your garments of splendor and sit enthroned in the joy of your Beloved, in the presence and authority of your Lord and King, for just as you were sold for nothing, even so He has redeemed you without money. Isaiah 52

May you see how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news and proclaim peace, bringing good tidings and proclaiming salvation, as they say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” causing the watchmen to lift up their voices as they shout together for joy. Isaiah 52

May you see it with your own eyes when the Lord returns to Zion, causing you to burst into songs of joys with the rest of the people of the Lord as He comforts you with His redemption, baring His holy arm in the sight of the nations and showing the ends of the earth the salvation of God. Isaiah 52

May you not travel in haste or go in flight as you journey on in your pilgrimage to the city of the Lord, but recall that you carry the precious treasure of His glory that the Lord has entrusted to your vessel, and walk worthy of that hope, keeping your vessel clean and unspotted from the impurities of the world, for the the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear-guard. Isaiah 52, Colossians 1, 2 Corinthians 4

My child, come to Me with nothing to recommend yourself. Draw near to Me with only your need and the confident assurance in My word that I can fill your need. Away with those whose hearts are filled and overflowing with pride of self and bearing lists of their accomplishments. They are an abomination to Me. Heed the rod of My chastisement, My willful one, and let My godly sorrow have its cleansing way in your heart. I will not ever be angry beyond measure with you, My precious one, nor will I remember iniquity forever, for you are Mine, sought after and purchased with My own blood. Do not seek for that which I have not given you, My acquisitive one. Be convinced in your heart that I have not overlooked a single good thing you need, or forgotten a single item that I intended to give you. I would not be so uncaring toward you as to supply you with that for which I have not yet prepared you. That is what you are walking through now, for I have much that I desire to bless you with in knowledge and wisdom, in understanding and revelation, in compassion and authority. It is down the path I am leading you that you will be able to learn to handle the truth of My Word in mercy, and to walk tenderly with those who are wounded and in need of healing. Obey the leading of My Spirit in order to walk meekly before Me in the knowledge of My glory as you carry it in your clay vessel. You must be able to show My glory to others without the desire to keep any for yourself, for that would be deadly to you, even as it was to Uzzah. My child, it is not the wicked who will know happiness all their days, but it is My own who will. My foes will not be given endless comfort, but My chosen will. My enemies will not rejoice with mirth in their inheritance, but My family will. Though there are times of difficulty and sorrow, sadness and exhaustion, there is never a time when the streaks of light are not visible which foreshadow the dawning of your eternal day. Be strong and of good courage, rejoicing, for I am with you always.

May you believe the message of the Lord as it is spoken to you and see the arm of the Lord as it is revealed to you, for though there is nothing of note for the natural senses to see or hear, yet He took your infirmities and carried your sorrows, was pierced for your transgressions, crushed for your iniquities, punished to gain you peace, and wounded that you would be healed, even though you had gone astray and followed your own way, for it was the will of the Lord to cause Him to suffer so that afterwards He will see the light of life and justify many after He bore your sin and made intercession for you. Isaiah 53

May you be an imitator of God, like a dearly loved child, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for you as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5

May you behave as God's love impels you to, without immorality or impurity, because these are improper for God's holy people, but letting your speech express thanks and appreciation, as is appropriate for one who has received so much, for your inheritance in the kingdom of God is not available to those who are disobedient to God – they only get God's wrath, so do not join them in their activities. Ephesians 5

May you live as children of light, bearing goodness, righteousness and truth, which is the fruit of light, and seek to find out what pleases the Lord, having no interest in the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them to the light that they may be removed. Ephesians 5

May you be very careful that you live wisely, making the most of every opportunity to understand what the Lord's will is and, as you are filled with the Spirit, speak to others with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in your heart as you sing and make music to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5

May you understand that you are a part of the body of Christ which we are all being formed into, and He is the head, so learn to submit to Him Who is in charge, knowing you can trust Him to love you for He gave Himself up for you to make you holy, cleansing you by the washing with water through the Word so that He can present you, as part of Christ's body to Himself, a member of a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5

May you be confident that the Lord knows how you have been scorned, disgraced and shamed by your enemies, and how it has broken your heart and left you helpless, unable to find sympathy or locate a comforter, for He has experienced it Himself, and has assigned His own Comforter to dwell with you, that you may be healed and walk in the abundance of His Love, carrying His grace to others as a wounded healer, whose scars bear witness to the healing power of the Loving Physician. Psalm 69

May the salvation of God protect you in all of your pain and distress. Psalm 69

May you praise God's name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving, for it will please the Lord greatly for the poor to see this and be made glad. Psalm 69

May you seek God, for then your heart will live. Psalm 69

May you know that the Lord hears you when you express your needs to Him, and He does not despise His people when they are in bondage and imprisoned. Psalm 69

May you not be like a fool who considers wisdom to be no more than an expensive ornament and not worth the high cost of time and effort required to obtain it Proverbs 24:7

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Daily Devotionals for December 12, 2024

Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living

Devotional Scripture:

Proverbs 30:15-16 (KJV): 15 The horse leach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: 16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough. Proverbs 30:15-16 (AMP): 15 The leech has two daughters, crying, Give, give! There are three things that are never satisfied, yes, four that do not say, It is enough: 16 Sheol (the place of the dead), the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that says not, It is enough.

Thought for the Day

To introduce four things that are never satisfied, Agur described the leech; a blood-sucking worm. It feeds through two suckers, one at each end of its body, thus the depiction of "two daughters" clamoring for blood. Horse leeches live in well water and spring water. As animals and humans drink, tiny leeches enter their mouths and attach themselves inside the throat or similar places. Feeding on their host's blood, they grow rapidly and can cause bleeding, obstruction, and even death. The leech presents a vivid picture of human parasites. They enrich themselves by draining others, and giving nothing but trouble in return. Like the leech, the following four things are never satisfied:

The Grave or Sheol: It takes countless souls every day but is never full. "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it" (Isaiah 5:14).

The Barren Womb: The effects of sin upon humanity rob some women of the ability to conceive. It is heartbreaking for a woman yearning to have a child to be unable to conceive. She is never satisfied and tries every method possible to become pregnant. God's promise and power can break the curse of a barren womb (Deuteronomy 7:13). Whoever follows Christ has God's blessing, including the ability to conceive. My husband and I have seen many women able to become pregnant after being prayed for.

The Earth: It is never satisfied with water. No matter how much rain falls, the earth will become dry and need more. Drought is a curse. Israel was warned that if they turned from the living God to idols, the earth would suffer for it. (Deuteronomy 11:13-17).

Fire: Its very life depends upon consuming everything that it touches. It is devastating to view the aftermath of a fire. At the time of this writing, Arizona has endured its worst drought in over a hundred years, and many fires have ravaged the land. When driving by these areas it is sad to see mile after mile of charred timber that had once been a green forest. It is far sadder, however, to see people's lives ravaged and destroyed by sin. Like fire, sin is never satisfied, but consumes more and more of a person's soul and life.

God has promised to provide for all our needs. He entreats us to trust in Him. "Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present circumstances and with what you have; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]" (Hebrews 13:5, AMP).

Prayer Devotional for the Day

Dear heavenly Father, praises be to Your Name for delivering us from the curses of the enemy! I thank You for Your many blessings, and am grateful that You have redeemed us from the curse. Lord, set us free from all dissatisfaction and discontent. Lord, today, may I find my peace and contentment in You. Father, I am grateful for Your protection against the curses of the devil. Thank You for protecting my property from fire and sending us rain in due season. I am grateful for the refreshing rains You send and I know the animals, trees, grasses and the earth are happy, too. We thank You for Your many blessings and pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

From: Steven P. Miller, @ParkermillerQ,gatekeeperwatchman.org , TM, ‎Founder and Administrator of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups. #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Sparkermiller Wednesday, December 11, 2024, Jacksonville, Florida USA 6:06:31 PM www.facebook.com/gatekeeperwatchnan www.facebook.com/ Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956

[ego-less777]

A Religious Poem for the Atheist Slut

“World’s Best Teacher”

Reishi tea in a Goodwill mug

Daffodils

Her neighbor’s grandmother’s

prescription pills,

Tiny white dog seated on the window sill

waiting for her Lord’s return

She will cleanse the earth by fire

Her bible a scroll of tinder matches

Her daily bread, Beyond flesh —

plant-based substitute for her sins

Her wine yesterday’s PBR can stained

with Pirate by Chanel kisses

Advil, rose tinted sunglasses, pedialyte and Jesus Christ, not again,

Do Not Resurrect

Package addressed to Gainesville,

where her heart lives and her lover lies,

Manatees, Spanish Moss, Everglades,

Anole infested in-ground pool —

she found God in Florida

Krokodil, Disney adults, a trailer park for retired swingers

Mary Magdalene clothed in neon triangle bikinis and tacky ripped skinny jeans

The Lord

Her coming

with the help of silicone decoys and smut

Return to Earth

do not fear sinner—

she is not looking to you,

for this Lord, she is ever-loving

Ever-longing, to become the dirt,

one with the worms

Crossbills feed from her womb

Fertilize her Father’s creation with

tears, spit, squirt, and vomit.

[lost-technology]

Tastes Like Hell

Tri-Tober Fanfic shorts Prompt 11: Smoke Setting: Trigun Maximum and / or Stampede Summary: Wolfwood had a preferred brand of cigarettes. Prompt 11: Smoke Tastes Like Hell Nicholas “Daily Cigarette Consumption” Wolfwood had a preference in brand.  Most people did have brand-preferences in their vices – the whiskey they wouldn’t turn their noses up at, cigars and cigarettes, sugar-loaded fatty foods.  Vash could pin-point find the best donut shop in any town he visited.  Milly had a few favorite brands of ice cream. Meryl was insistent on specific brands and roasts for her damn coffee.  Wolfwood, on the other hand, had a taste for tobacco that was seen world-round as “objectively shit.”  The “good stuff” was Plant-generated tobacco, either full-leaf production or Geoplant grown.  It was Old Earth tobacco, real flora.  What Wolfwood preferred was worm-bit.  The flakes of skin between worm-chitin were long used as a tobacco substitute.  The venom in the creatures laced trace-toxins throughout their bodies, meaning that some of that chitin, well-ground, made for a mildly-intoxicating and highly addictive substance when smoked.   Many children had their first experiences with it from scavenging the legs of the small, flying worms and smoking them.  Skulls was Wolfwood’s favorite brand.  Its tagline, “It Tastes Like Hell” was nothing he’d dispute.  He’d tried some Old Earth flora tobacco once, when an “associate” had given him a congratulatory cigar upon agreement to a “Pastor’s Contract.”  He’d hated it.  It might have been a smoother smoke, but he was unaccustomed to it and it tasted like sin.  He was officially working with the people who’d butchered him while he was still alive. He was only there to protect the same from happening to the others at the orphanage.  The memory of that cigar would linger as the taste of betrayal.  Give him his crappy Skulls brand any day.    

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

11th October >> Mass Readings (USA)

Wednesday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 

or

Pope Saint John XXIII.

Wednesday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Colour: Green: A (1))

First Reading Jonah 4:1-11 You are concerned over a plant. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city?

Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. He prayed, “I beseech you, LORD, is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish. And now, LORD, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the LORD asked, “Have you reason to be angry?”

Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it, where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. And when the LORD God provided a gourd plant that grew up over Jonah’s head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort, Jonah was very happy over the plant. But the next morning at dawn God sent a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind; and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head till he became faint. Then Jonah asked for death, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.” But God said to Jonah, “Have you reason to be angry over the plant?” “I have reason to be angry,” Jonah answered, “angry enough to die.” Then the LORD said, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?”

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10

R/ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for to you I call all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

R/ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my pleading.

R/ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.

All the nations you have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, and glorify your name. For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds; you alone are God.

R/ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.

Gospel Acclamation Romans 8:15bc

Alleluia, alleluia. You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father! Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Luke 11:1-4 Lord, teach us to pray.

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Pope Saint John XXIII  

(Liturgical Colour: White: A (1))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Wednesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First reading Ezekiel 34:11-16 As a shepherd tends his flock so will I tend my sheep.

Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the foreign lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel in the land’s ravines and all its inhabited places. In good pastures will I pasture them, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing ground. There they shall lie down on good grazing ground, and in rich pastures shall they be pastured on the mountains of Israel. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 23:1-3a, 4, 5, 6

R/ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; Beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side With your rod and your staff that give me courage.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 23:9b, 10b

Alleluia, alleluia. You have but one Father in heaven; you have but one master, the Christ! Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: Matthew 28:19a, 20bc

Alleluia, alleluia. Go, and teach all nations, says the Lord; I am with you always, until the end of the world. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: Mark 1:17

Alleluia, alleluia. Come after me, says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: Luke 4:18

Alleluia, alleluia. The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: John 10:14

Alleluia, alleluia. I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: John 15:5

Alleluia, alleluia. I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord: whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: John 15:15b

Alleluia, alleluia. I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: 2 Corinthians 5:19

Alleluia, alleluia. God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel John 21:15-17 Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[heavenbloom]

🇵🇸 BEFORE YOU READ: BOYCOTT TLOU • HELP TODAY • DAILY CLICK.

𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒊: 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒓

knight!abby x princess!reader

you can find chapter one here! and the series masterlist here

songs: (act one) main yeh sochkar uske dar se utha — mohammed rafi, (act two) ang laga de — aditi paul, (act three) sealed in fire and blood — ramin djawadi

summary: in the aftermath of your crime, one is eaten alive by regret and the other is consumed by vengeance. the innocence of a blooming love lies dead and from its ashes rises something raw and sweltering.

warnings: 18+ mdni, smut and angst, fingering (r!receiving), grinding (?), betrayal, typical fantasy and monarchal political themes, typical period-piece misogyny, mentions of death and a funeral, extensive descriptions of blood, violence and death, nightmares, enemies to lovers, threats made with both words and a weapon, side character deaths, profanities, derogatory language used, please read at your own discretion. semi-proofread

wc: 6.3k

a/n: sorry for the wait!! i hope y’all enjoy <3

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄

The turned over soil was dark with its upheaval. The drag of earth, the thud of it, was the rhythm of a drumbeat, one that called for grief and received no answer in turn. The only ones to mourn poor Asha were the other servants. Her mother’s wails cut through the air, a skull-rattling cry of anguish. The others did not allow themselves to weep. The workers of the Palace had seen enough bloodshed within its cold, white walls, now numbed to its horrors. Only exhaustion engulfed their features. Another one…

Asha understood this pain as much as she did the thump of her own heartbeat. That was why she decided to work with you, to be a gatherer of secrets. You could still remember the lightheartedness that graced her features, her lopsided smile when she said, whose eyes are all-seeing if not a maid’s? 

You were the reason for this girl’s demise. It may have been that nobleman’s blade that sliced to the bone, but it was your promises of hope and security that led her to an untimely grave. 

You, a coward. You, a murderer.

You slipped back into the Palace as the rosy shades of dawn swaddled the figures of the grieving, before the welling of tears threatened to fall. Your weeping would have been a mockery, something disingenuous to those who would bear witness. Did you have the right to wear mourning white and feel emotions strong as the beating sun, throat dry and body weak?

Another face flittered into the forefront of your mind, freckled and sharp-lined. Grief clung to the inside of your ribcage. If only you could crack it open and pour this ugliness of yourself out, become pure and benign. Become something worthy of any of the graces you had been given.

You could taste bitter salt on your tongue, feel warmth drip from nose to lip to chin. You could pray and cleanse yourself of your sins all you liked, but it would never be enough. She would look upon your heart with fondness no longer. She saw you as you were, now. Treacherous, rotten, worm-eaten.

☾𖤓

You still adorned funerary attire when you arrived at the Palace’s holding cells. It was located deep within its bowels, lacking its upper cleanliness. The bricks here were haphazardly laid, and an oppressive dampness had seeped itself into each nook and cranny of the place.

The guards had sputtered at your presence, choked words of you not being allowed down here falling from their lips in a weak attempt to deny you entry. But you knew them well. Their loyalties lay at the feet of the Crown’s coin, not at the throne of the King. All you needed to do was shove a necklace and a few bangles their way, and their lips were sealed.

The soft leather of your soles caught slightly with each step, made for marble floors and not the rough and dusty ground beneath. The only sounds present were that of your jewellery chiming with each step and a distant drip, drip, drip.

There were no other prisoners within the holding cells, long since shipped off and never to be heard from again. Icy tendrils ran up the length of your spine as you made your way down the cramped hallway, eyes frantically searching.

She was in the cell at the end. Her back was turned, silhouetted from the little light that encompassed the space. Her outline looked equally defeated and taut, as if she was grappling with what was and what should have been. 

You stepped closer, an exhale forcing its way past your trembling lips.

”Abigail.” Relief tapered the ragged edges of your voice. Your intricately stained hands clasped around the rusted metal of the bars as your entire being lurched forward.

Her body snapped tense, bowstring-tight, the set of her shoulders alone divulging the bitterness that simmered just beneath the surface. There was a moment of palpability as you let your presence hang over her, as unwelcome as pelting rain.

”Abigail,” you said more urgently when she remained unfacing. Softer, “Look at me, please.”

At your coaxing plea, she turned her head to the side. Her familiar profile was illuminated by the weak, flickering flame upon the wall. The sight of her was faint, but there was a certain fatigue about the set of her brow, something restrained in the pinch of her lips. 

”You...” The word was pushed out on a weak breath, hazy as if pulled forth from a dream. Then, she gathered her bearings, shoulders rolling back and straightening so her broad frame swallowed up more space. Acrid venom coated her vocal chords as she squeezed the word, again, through the grit of teeth. “You.”

“What are you doing here?”

You crouched to your knees with the hesitance of somebody trapped at the whims of a beast. Her sclera shimmered violently in what little light there was. Those eyes had always been a weapon against your resolve. Each glance of hers was a nocked arrow aimed at the fortified centre of your heart. Now, it was as if she had dipped the arrowheads in oil and set them ablaze.

Your voice tumbled, an unfamiliar bubble of uncertainty rising within it. Carefully chosen, sweet words would not work on Abigail. You were disarmed by her, at the mercy of your own foulness that had been laid so bare before her.

So instead you decided to speak a truth, one that would not gut either of you so quickly. “Asha, my… the handmaid. She’s dead. She was killed by that nobleman.”

You waited for a response but Abigail remained silent, eyes pinning you in place and searching for any sign of trickery. Your fingers tightened around the bars as you stared back, seeking any crack that she bore, any fissure you could slip through and work to your will, but none sifted to her stony surface. Perhaps she just relished in watching you squirm.

“Her burial was this morning,” you spoke gently, the image of the lively girl flickering across your mind, seared there forevermore. “I came here immediately after. I knew that— I was overcome with an urgency to see you.”

Her eyes drifted to your white clothing. A hateful, bitter smile split the plaster of her features. 

“Will you blame that poor girl’s death on me as well?” she asked in a mocking tone, voice laced with amused contempt. “Oh, I can hear it now, what they will say about me. Abigail, so faithful a knight that she struck down feeble noblemen and maids alike for her princess.” 

Heat crept up your neck as you bristled at her mockery. There it was, the stinging lash of the truth coming to strike once more. 

“If I recall correctly, you were the one who took the fall for the crime. This is on you, Abigail, and your own foolishness. You have… you have no right to scorn me for it.” 

Her body dipped forward, closer, and it was the first time you heard the weighty rattle of chains. They were fastened onto her ankles. Normal conduct for an alleged killer, yet they looked so misplaced now. Such a far cry from the shining knight she was only days ago.

The derisive tone she had moments ago slipped away to reveal a nakedness, a rubbed-raw thing that clawed its impatient fingers up her aching gullet. “And you did not fess up to your crime. You watched like a helpless little lamb as they dragged me away, all the while you were bathed in that man’s blood.” 

Her voice shook with the vulnerability of leaves caught within a storm, but it was not tears that she tried to reign back. It was rage, pure and sharp as the edge of a diamond. 

“Where is your honour, princess?!”

The same dormant fury that she held close to her sparked to life in your chest. If it were anybody else, you would have shoved the vile emotion down, but it was her. She had already seen the violence, the pulsing and ever-malleable wrath, that consumed your entire being. For once, you could be outwardly wretched. You could be honest.

Honour this and honour that. The blood of a hundred monarchs shaped the very drum of your heartbeat and she wished to speak of honour? You would laugh if it weren’t for the tightening fist around your lungs.

The colour seeped from your knuckles as you pressed yourself closer to the iron bars, as if you could melt into them with the very ferocity racing within you. “You forget yourself,” you reprimanded firmly. “If you dare question my honour again I’ll—”

“What will you do?” Her chin jutted out, mouth pressed into a thin, stubborn line. The possibility of challenge hardened her features. “My title has been stripped, my morality brought into question– all on the basis of a lie. There is no worse pain that you can inflict upon me.”

Yet your life remains intact, you thought viscously. Yet I let you sit here and lick your bloody wounds, unharmed. 

“You should know my capabilities well by now,” you whispered, your words drifting to her like opiate smoke; low, heady, perilous. You were not subtle in the ribbon of a threat you wrapped around your words, tightened noose-like in the way your eyes pinned her in turn.

She rose to her feet then, the clank of iron ringing in the air as she dragged herself closer to the bars. She stopped just out of arm’s breadth from it as the chains screeched in protest. 

You had never felt threatened by her presence, but now you could at last understand the notoriety of her legacy that followed her like a shadow. As she looked down her nose at you, you felt a dull pang of sympathy for the long list of her opponents on the battlefield. Even restrained, she was a formidable sight.

“And you remain ignorant of mine…” she spoke lightly despite all things. “You would do well to remember them, princess.” 

There was a pointed promise in the way her lips shaped around each word, as if each one was loaded with the very essence of vengeance.

You lifted yourself from the ground, elegant as ever as you straightened your back and met her eye, drawing the veil that had slipped onto your shoulders over your hair once more. A princess. Her superior.

A smile curled on your lips, the cloying quality of milk beginning to sour. “We shall see, then, how… proficient you are from within a cell.”  

Your head dipped forward slightly, a hand pressed to your left breast. There was a taunt in how respectful the gesture was. It was one only exchanged between equals.

“May the gods smile upon your determined spirit, Abigail.”

𖥸 𖥸 𖥸

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎

You were dreaming of it again. Metal in your hands, metal in a gut. The bubbling groan of a man mere moments away from death. And, oh, the crimson, everything red-slickened and raw. His eyes were no longer his own, but rather beads of boundless contempt, staring and staring and—

Reality slammed its fists into your chest, awakened with a choked gasp squeezing its way out of your throat. Your eyelids flew open to the deep blue near-dawn. The crooning of first birdsong flitted through the arched doorway, eerie in its solitary note. You blinked up at the roof, the carvings of deities and flowers shifting and mingling, one and the same, in your unfocused vision.

The man you killed was not owed any sympathy. He was egotistic and wished to be as close to your brother as a cat curled on its owner’s lap. He would have done anything to garner the love of a tyrant, and you felt a nauseating amount of hatred for him even in his demise. There was no remorse for killing him, and you reminded yourself that it was an act of rooting out bad weeds before your reign, but your subconscious disagreed. 

It was still taking a life and it was a defiling rake of nails beneath your skin. No matter who the man was, he was still human.

You wanted to be ruthless, to cleanse yourself of any feeling and barrel towards your goals with cold, uncaring resolve. But then you would be the spitting image of your brother. The thought of it made your stomach turn.

You sat up then, the sheets slipping off of your torso and heaping onto your lap. You dragged your shaky hands down your face until your fingers traced the soft outline of your lips. 

Your thoughts parted then drifted back to Abigail. At this hour, they seldom didn’t

You recalled the strength in each of her actions even as she moved about with an easy fluidity. The glimpses of raised white scars that littered her body, one that you had never known the complete bareness of. 

What were her feelings when she first killed someone? Was she now plagued by a thousand phantoms in the world of her dreams, still bleeding from the wounds she inflicted upon them? Did she feel nothing at all?  

Your rumination was cut short when a faint breeze wafted through the curtains, fragrant from the foliage below. You lifted your head to it as it stirred the loose hair that brushed against your forehead. The action should have been soothing, but what you spotted turned the blood in your veins glacial. 

You had no idea how long Abigail had been here. She was sitting on top of a floor cushion in front of the balcony doorway, one knee propped just beneath her chin and the other leg stretched outwards. The position would have looked regal, akin to the uncaring languidness of a ruler, if not for the way she watched you. Chin pointed towards her chest, a blue glare slicing through long brown lashes. 

She was motionless in the purpling hues of morning, more beast crouched in wait than leisurely empress.

The fear you felt seeped marrow-deep, but something else lurked beneath it. swirling in the pit of your gut. It had been months since you had seen this face last, yet it was stitched into the seams of your every thought, conscious or dreaming. 

Something within you lurched.

For once, words eluded you. Ambition was a potent drug, you knew, and paired with vengeance it became absolute. How could you placate such a resolute mind?

Your throat dried as you watched her stand. There was no preamble as she crossed the room in a few long strides. This time, there were no chains and bars to keep her sequestered. The truth of this should have sent you scrambling, but astonishment buoyed you to the bed, quiet. 

Her freckled cheeks were awash with a rosy red, almost cherubic despite the face that she wore. A hateful expression. A hate so powerful, it teetered on a look of pain.

Your thumb twitched as she stopped mere inches away, the desire to smooth out the uneasy crease of mouth and brow shoved back into the depths of yourself. Why did her presence, the mere concept of her, steal away all reason and substitute it with something so sickly vulnerable?

You opened your mouth to speak, but the words wilted on your tongue when you felt the cool press of steel against your neck. There was no tremble in the blade. Her grip on the hilt was certain. 

Understanding came as steadfast as the morning unfurling itself to the earth beyond your chambers. You, lovesick. Her, loathing you for it. For all of it.

“If you utter a single word…” she warned through gritted teeth, pressing the tip of the blade closer to your skin, the pressure of its presence imminent. 

Her eyes drifted down to the column of your throat, eyeing the stable heaving of your chest. A scowl fractured her features. “I should end your vicious little life right here and live up to the title you've cursed me with.”

You could sense it, the unspoken however. The wraith of the word settled over you like the gauze of a veil. If she wished to kill you so badly, she could have left you gutted on the fine sheets and fled before buttery sunlight engulfed the room. 

Why hadn’t she?

“I expected the same amount of goodness in response to my sacrifice. I expected you to come clean or… or to at the very least free me from that miserable cell!” Her features contorted at the remembrance of the dark, cramped space, the stifling silence, the numbing solitude. 

Then, the more chilling memories. Your face, flitting behind each blink. Your laugh, heard in the heavy rhythm of her own breath. Your lips, whispers and kisses and bites, felt only in the slumbering hours of a place that remained in stasis. Her hand flexed around the weapon.

Her voice took on the timbre of fervently plucked sitar strings. “The very thing I pledged my life to, the very thing I killed for, left me to rot. My King and his supposed sweet, saintly sister… how do you think such a wound festers, princess?”

You could not dignify her question with an answer. You had known no such discomfort, no such betrayal or ache. 

“Abigail…” Her name, spoken again with the quiet of a clandestine prayer. What else was there to do but acknowledge her through these three sweet syllables?

A prick of pain. The warmth of lifeblood trickling down the length of your throat. Just a nick, a rivulet. Abigail drew in her breath. Her irises seemed to shiver in their anger.

“I told you to be silent,” her voice sank into an exacerbated whisper. “Or would you rather I skewer you now?”

Gone was the radiant, gentle-hearted knight, eclipsed by the moon of this new vindictive creature. You were enraptured by the jaggedness of her being. Hair uncharacteristically dishevelled and loose around her shoulders. Dilapidated sleeves rolled up to the elbow. 

“How angry you are…”

“Insolent–”

“Your beauty shines like this.”

Silence, thick and saccharine as flowing honey, settled over the moment. 

Abigail looked as if you had snatched the dagger from her and plunged it bone-deep. The first tremors of uncertainty twitched beneath her sure, calloused fingers. 

The wanting, besotted thing within Abigail gnashed its craving teeth. No. She would not let you disarm her of this, the one vein of conviction that pumped purpose into her battered heart. I will not waver.

But it was another thing entirely, to resist the beckoning call of surrender when you reached for her.

The moment your sleep-warmed hands came in contact with her own, she knew that fighting was futile. Her grip loosened, the blade slid from between her palms and into your own grasp. 

It was without a doubt stolen. It was weighty and intricately engraved with motifs of the sun and moon. The crest of your kingdom. How ironic.

Your gaze flickered from it to Abigail, whose eyes chased every movement of yours. She was waiting for you to return the favour, to press the blade to her own throat.

It never came. 

The blade was placed on the low, wooden bedside next to the bed, its mass clattering against the varnished surface. Surrender.

“Why…?” she breathed through the constriction of her lungs. Where was the familiar fire, that arrogance she came to despise?

“We were not destined to be adversaries.” Spoken as if this rivalry was something you alone could decide. 

Your features were aglow as first rays of dawn crept its way into the room. Brilliant eyes, straight spine, parted lips. In the liquid, shifting gold, you looked incorporeal. Coaxed from the most bereft parts of her mind.

A large palm cupped the softness of your cheek, a thumb running over the bending bone of your jaw and leading up to the bridge of your nose. She had to remind herself, sometimes, that you were flesh and bone beneath the title and crown. 

They say that the royal blood carried on the legacy of a fallen deity, who perished for nourishing this very kingdom. She never considered herself a particularly pious person but it rang true to her, especially now. 

“Then, enlighten me, princess,” she spoke softly. “What path have the gods carved for us?”

“The gods have no hand in this.” Blasphemous words that cut into her. “No, I won’t accredit this to divinity.”

Your eyes fluttered shut, and you let yourself melt into the coolness of her touch. “I want you, Abigail.” 

A litany of pleas that danced, unsaid, on your tongue. Love me, love me, love me. 

Begging was unnecessary, for the same thrill of need sang in her own bones. She tilted your head up slowly, admiring the way grandiosity slipped from your being as swiftly as it came.

Her lips against yours were a beckoning. They moved with a sure rhythm, gentler than the last time. Her kiss told you to unveil yourself to her. Give me sincerity, it whined. Give me an honest place to lay this love.

You fell back against the plush pillows, pulling her down with you. Her weight crashed against yours, hefty and unknown, yet comforting in its corporeality. She smelled faintly of mildew and rain, a scent splintered with the sharp tang of rust.

Your tongue ran across the bottom of her plump lip gently, asking for entrance. If she wanted the truth, you would offer it in its entirety.

Your searching fingers found her blonde tresses while hers skimmed down to the hem of your nightgown. She slowly drew the airy fabric upwards from your ankles to your knees and then the middle of your thighs. The contact of the calloused drag of skin sparked something within, warmth coiling in the pit of your belly like a slumbering dragon.

You broke away from her to sit up, pulling the piece of thin cloth up and over your head. Abigail watched, sitting back on her haunches, as each inch of your skin was bared to her patient gaze. The softness found in each curve was a marvel to her, a body unmarred by the outside world. She observed you like one would an intricate tapestry, each whorl and knot revealing more depth with each second passed.

A hum of appreciation reverberated through her chest as she began to focus on discarding her own threadbare clothing. First, the tunic and then the tight hose that stuck to her skin. 

Her body was a thing conjured from epic poems and scriptures. Robust and sunkissed, with the new dawn melting over her back and haloing the outline of her body. A hero, draped in the splendour of victory… a god, blessing the mortal realm with its incomprehensible presence.

You reeled Abigail back towards you, the searing heat of her heaving chest pressing against yours. Her lips trailed dulcet kisses along your jaw as her fingers splayed against the flesh of your thighs. 

Your bodies melded together, pressing as if through the sheer force of passion, you could become one. Your bodies sang with pleasure, thrumming out an ancient and gasping melody. 

Hands and eyes, dilated with velvet-black pits of ecstasy, explored. You traced over the scars that ran down her body, transforming them into rivers and pathways, her body an entire world that they occupied. 

Her fingers grazed over the wet, sensitive flesh between your legs, silky and petal-like. They found the sensitive bud there, rubbing gentle circles upon it with her thumb while two of her other digits prodded for entry. 

You arched into her, a sweet noise dancing off of your parted lips as she slid them in knuckle-deep. She lured bliss from your body with each thrust and curl, each sweet word and absentminded, drunken press of her lips against yours.

Your writhing figure against hers was enough to make her own cunt throb with pure need. You felt, even through the haziness, her broad body rocking against yours, her pelvis gently seeking friction against the plushness of your thigh.

A symphonic crescendo of moans swelled in the morning air as you both neared shivery climax. Her ministrations grew more frenzied, eyebrows knitted together and bottom lip drawn tightly between her teeth. 

The pressure snapped, swift and blinding. You held onto Abigail tightly as she shook along with you, shallow breaths mingling together. The hard planes of her stomach were now sweat-slicked and she felt almost feverish against you.

As the throes of orgasm subsided, you raked a hand through her hair and pressed a dry kiss to the junction between her neck and shoulder. She was still panting, slumped on top of you.

 This was a first, this contentment that wound itself through her being. There was not an ounce of tension in the sculpted divots and muscle. 

You pressed another kiss to her temple and you exhaled as she buried her nose further into your collarbone. 

Vulnerability rose up within you, and this time you loosened your grip on its reigns. Insatiability had always been your greatest weakness. You wanted her, you realised, not just in passing but always. You wanted to wake up to golden hair fanned across your pillows and a freckled nose pressed up against yours. You wanted the surety she guaranteed and the devotion that it promised.

 You wanted to love with all of yourself, and not just through the confines of the mould that you had been trapped in since birth. You wanted to be loved, no matter how many times you were forced to bloody your hands.

For that, however, you would have to peel back one last layer.

☾𖤓

Abigail was turned away from you as you told her your plans of usurpation, her face tilted up towards the heat beating in as she gathered up her scattered clothing. She pulled each piece on with a languidness, the nape of her neck still flushed beneath curling blonde baby hairs.

The lack of reaction turned the sweetness of your post-lovemaking haze sour. Your thoughts raced and tangled together in an incessant bundle as you forced the words leaving your mouth to remain a steady stream.

Would this revelation swing the pendulum of rivalry into motion once more? With your prior actions, you could sympathise, but this… this was grander than her. It was the ember that would flare the kindlings of hope; a prosperous future assured.

No remorse could be felt for that.

“Abigail…” you spoke slowly, the shape of her name dripping with solemnity. “My conviction is stone.”

You drew breath into your lungs as you watched her drag her bottoms up her legs, as if you were whispering sweet nothings and not outright treason. 

“If you are not my ally… if your heart's not in this, I will declare you my enemy.” 

You touched the dagger still resting at your bedside, precious and half-forgotten. “Do we have an understanding?”

She turned to face you then, absentmindedly fastening the ties of her tunic. Tousled but bright as noonday, she was beautiful enough to crush the new bloom nestled in your heart. 

She gazed at the weapon before looking at you directly. Clear blue and milky white, unwavering and unreadable.

Not so much an arrow now, her eyes were a roaring blaze, and your resolve was the aftermath of something swallowed whole.

𖥸 𖥸 𖥸

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

The wind wailed into the silence, crashing its invisible body against the looming Palace and whistling in the gaps of the sun bleached stone. Chaos roiled in the underbelly of the night, the closing notes of summer felt in the lashing heat that lingered.

Despite the late hour, the oil lamps in the throne room and surrounding hallways burned low and perilous. Servants scurried out of the way, prostrating themselves on the ground as a cloud of white and gold glided past them. 

The tremendous, ancient doors opened with a loud groan, making you swivel around. Encased in the rigid formation, like an egg warmed by a hen, was your brother. He spared you so much as a glance as he climbed up the stairs leading to the throne, his footfalls muffled by the plush, richly coloured carpet. The knights dispersed to their positions as he did so, silent and armed witnesses.

“My King…” You knelt low to the ground, your head centimetres from the cold marble. You were his subject first, his blood second. 

You heard the rustle of fabric and the sigh of a feather-stuffed cushion being squashed beneath weight. 

“Rise.” His voice was clear and authoritative. You lifted your head to your mirror. The same eyes beneath a cruel set of brows. Same mouth, pressed into a thin line. The same hands, enclosed around the sheath of a sword, merely ornamental. A dutifully polished thing that had never tasted violence.

You stumbled onto your feet, and noted his clothing; a plum-coloured robe and a necklace of pearls and rubies dripping down his throat, like bone and blood congealed. Ever opulent, ever the lavish King, even in the privacy of nightfall. 

“State your business,” he spoke with a now bored inflection. “Tell me why you have disturbed me at so late an hour.” 

There was a hum of warning beneath his tone. If the reason for this disruption was frivolous, you knew he would not think twice about spearing you through.

 After all, what was an imperial daughter? Your value was held in your capability to be married off, to secure alliances, to fawn and charm and pamper. You had proven long ago that you would not be a bargaining chip in the game of monstrous men. 

You may have been worthless in that regard, but perhaps there was a way to regain his favour…

Eyes wide and lips quivering, you huddled your arms to your chest. Weak, small, inferior tohim in every way.

 “I caught her, Your Grace. The knight that escaped her cell,” you spoke through the warbling tones of fear. “She… she made an attempt on my life, but, blessed by the gods, I was saved.”

This piqued his interest. Your brother rested his chin on a thickly jewelled hand, his body leaning forward. Frankly, there was no love in his heart for the nobleman that lost his life, nor was there a thirst for vengeance because of it. Nonetheless, Abigail’s escape had tarnished his punitive, unbested reputation. 

For that alone, her head deserved to roll.

“Ah… finally a useful word you speak.” He smiled, his lips still wrapped around his teeth. Its mirthfulness stopped short of his eyes, still as shrewd as ever.

You watched as he gestured around the room, turning his head this way and that in mock confusion. “Well? Where is the unloyal cunt?” Joy trickled down into his demeanour now and, like a child anticipating gifts, his body straightened and his eyes shone. Only in his cruelty did the more human parts of himself show from within. 

You turned to the guard standing beside the entrance, and inclined your head deeply. 

There was a whirl of feather-white silk as he left the throne room, and mere moments later, the clang of metal against the marble floors reverberated through the vast space. It was different from the cheerful, jingling song of the anklet bells of dancers that typically graced these halls. This was weightier. It held no rhythm or reason.

Abigail was dragged in hastily, adorned from waist-to-toe in chains. The men who pulled her along dumped her onto the ground unceremoniously and her form sprawled with no resistance. The dry scratch of her voice, pain, left her lips. Her golden, knotted hair clashed with the deep red of the carpet, spilling across it as she tried to right herself. It was one last shred of dignity, to rise upon trembling knees.

A low, appreciative whistle shot through the air, drawing your attention back to your brother. A grin now split his features, a thing with too many teeth. Each gemstone shimmered as he stood, a wave of light as he clutched his sword tightly by his side.

“You’ve done well, sister,” he praised as he descended the stairs slowly. His eyes were trained on Abigail as he spoke to you, his steps were punctuated with the chime of finery. He had a likeness to a predator in this moment, something feline slinking towards its prey.

“Very well, indeed.” Deep purple pooled at his ankles, his finely crafted shoes just centimetres from Abigail’s form. He looked down his nose at her, undeterred by the glare she shot up at him. 

There was a hiss of steel being drawn. Your brother’s sword was an elegant thing passed down to the new King when the old died. Golden hilt and flowering carvings that twined up the blade, it gleamed prettily in the lamp light. Despite its deadly point, it had never been used for battle, only a symbolic cementation of status.

What was he…

He tossed the sheath away and its impact rang hollow across the cavernous room. Then he turned away from Abigail, his attention on you. 

Instead of blinding pain, you were met with the handle being held towards you. His eyebrows softened, you supposed, in an act of what he believed was familial fondness. If I cannot exploit you as a flower, I will make use of your thorns.

“I believe this victory is yours.” 

You had no choice but to take the sword in shaking hands. The surprisingly lightweight hilt felt like fire, burning in your grasp. In all your years, you had only ever gazed upon this ancient relic.

Your brother rested a hand on your shoulder, as if to soothe your nerves. You were a skittish animal, always, in his mind. 

“Even a fool can do this if the blade is sharp enough,” he whispered, lullaby-soft. “Get your vengeance, my sweet sister. Honour our blood and let the final image of her life be the throne that she betrayed.”

Your fingers pressed into the cool metal. Abigail’s eyes were trained on you, her mouth parted ever so slightly. You watched as her body shifted. Lungs expanding, throat constricting.

“Now!” 

In an instant, disarray seized the room. The clang of armoured bodies sounded everywhere and so too, the squelch and roar of men dying. The resounding whine of the doors being closed and barred. Trapped in the midst of massacre.

You kept your gaze trained on your brother’s face. First, you watched as he recoiled with shock. The curtain-lift of realisation.

Finally, anger.

The hand on your shoulder tightened and bunched the fabric of your nightgown. His teeth were bared and the veins in his throat protruded with rage.

“What have you done?! You spineless little bitch!”

Your brother was wrenched away from you with full force, curses and spittle still flying from his mouth as he was forced onto his knees. Abigail was out of her chains, never completely restrained to begin with, and she eyed you with a tight expression as she held him down.

“What have I done, brother?” Your voice now trembled with the venom of restraint snapping. “I have done what is right. Our people deserve a true ruler, not a coddled man who plays at one.”

A wet laugh bubbled from his mouth, hysteric over the symphony of steel around you. “And you think you have what it takes to be a ruler?” His eyes were open, drinking in the light, wide pools of disdain. “If I am so coddled, what does that make you? Tell me, what do you know of history? Of warfare?

“What are you but a woman? You were raised for marriage,” he continued, his amused mask slipping to reveal the undercurrents of fear that roared within him. “I was raised to be King! This is my birthright and you cannot simply snatch it away!”

“Princess.” Abigail’s voice was stern over your brother’s prattling. A simple reminder. 

You stepped closer and watched as he faltered.

“W… Wait and heed my words. There is an order to these things,” he spoke desperately. “Disposing of me won’t alter it. Do you think the masses will warm up to you just because you are soft-hearted? They will still starve and slave their lives away, and they will hate you all the more for your gentleness. See things as I do, sister. When their hunger grows, will they look upon you kindly? You struggle, even now, to hold a sword. 

“They won’t view your weakness as benignity.”

Even in the act of begging for his life, he managed to crush you beneath him, like wilted petals in the palm of an enclosed fist. You brought the blade close to your face and inspected each silver bud of jasmine and rose. 

“Should I care about whether they view me as strong?” you asked, the cadence of your voice sounding distant and foreign to your own ears. “You forget that within the hour, I will control your army.”

You held out the sword in front of you then, the steel glinting. Your ancestors were right not to use it. It felt like a sin to have to dirty it.

No matter, you supposed. Today, history will be rewritten. With its rebirth, it was inevitable that some traditions would rot. Best to start with this one.

“What was it you told me before? ‘If the blade is sharp enough…’”

The wailing of a man defeated pierced your ears. His eyes were unseeing and yet so filled with despair. He slumped against Abigail’s grip and she let him fall to the ground with a thud. 

You loomed over your brother, sword raised over your head.

“Goodbye, dear brother. We will meet again, I’m sure, in the land of the damned.”

It was as clean as the business of death could be. A splash of vermillion against the desolate white. A whimper, followed by cloying silence. 

The deed was done.

[worm-sin-daily]

So pretty,,,, I love oranges <3

[ongolecharles]

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 Group, Sun Sept 29th, 2024 ... The Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Reading 1

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

Nm 11:25-29

The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.

Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses,

the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders;

and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.

Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad,

were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp.

They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent;

yet the spirit came to rest on them also,

and they prophesied in the camp.

So, when a young man quickly told Moses,

"Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, "

Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses' aide, said,

"Moses, my lord, stop them."

But Moses answered him,

"Are you jealous for my sake?

Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!

Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"

Responsorial Psalm

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

Ps 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14

R. (9a) The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

The law of the LORD is perfect,

refreshing the soul;

the decree of the LORD is trustworthy,

giving wisdom to the simple.

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever;

the ordinances of the LORD are true,

all of them just.

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

Though your servant is careful of them,

very diligent in keeping them,

yet who can detect failings?

Cleanse me from my unknown faults!

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

From wanton sin especially, restrain your servant;

let it not rule over me.

Then shall I be blameless and innocent

of serious sin.

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

Reading 2

----‐------

Jas 5:1-6

Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.

Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,

your gold and silver have corroded,

and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;

it will devour your flesh like a fire.

You have stored up treasure for the last days.

Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers

who harvested your fields are crying aloud;

and the cries of the harvesters

have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure;

you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.

You have condemned;

you have murdered the righteous one;

he offers you no resistance.

Alleluia

-------‐-----

Cf. Jn 17:17b, 17a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your word, O Lord, is truth;

consecrate us in the truth.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

------------‐---

Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus,

"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,

and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."

Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.

There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name

who can at the same time speak ill of me.

For whoever is not against us is for us.

Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink

because you belong to Christ,

amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,

it would be better for him if a great millstone

were put around his neck

and he were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

It is better for you to enter into life maimed

than with two hands to go into Gehenna,

into the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.

It is better for you to enter into life crippled

than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.

Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye

than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,

where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"

***

FOCUS AND LITURGY OF THE WORD

"Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

The Scripture passages this Sunday speak to the importance of just and healthy laws.  We also hear of this in the refrain to the Responsorial Psalm:  “the precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.”  The Psalmist continues to explore this in the verses of the psalm—Psalm 19—declaring that “the law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul”, and that “the ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.”

The purpose of law is to bring order to a community.  It allows individuals to get along with other, rather than each man, woman, and child being a law unto himself or herself.

Every law, and every person who passes, executes, or judges laws, is answerable to the Creator of all things.  God the Creator created the universe with an intrinsic order.  Every wise scientist knows that the material universe has its own intrinsic order, and will teach those willing to listen that the law of gravity, the law of entropy, and the law of conservation of matter cannot be repealed by any congress.  Every wise physician knows that the human body has its own intrinsic order, and will teach those willing to listen that one cannot pretend that an unhealthy diet, smoking, or exposure to high levels of radiation will make a human person healthier.  So it is with civil law on matters pertaining to man’s intrinsic nature.

Man can pretend to have authority over moral norms, but he does so at his own risk.  The question is whether Christians are willing to speak boldly on behalf of the intrinsic moral order by which God created man.  Modern man might take a cue from today’s First Reading.

“Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”  The First Reading is somewhat mysterious.  It’s mysterious not only because in this passage the “Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses”.  It’s mysterious not only because the Lord took “some of the spirit that was on Moses” and “bestowed it on the seventy elders”.  It’s mysterious in how it reveals the connection between the law and the prophet.

Each and every Christian, through her or his baptism, is called to be a prophet.  It’s easy to imagine Jesus saying during His days on earth, and also today, what Moses proclaims in the First Reading:  “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

Each culture, sub-culture, and religion has its own prophets.  Prophets may differ from one such body of persons to another.  There may be cultures, sub-cultures and religions where to be a prophet is to be nothing other than a “free spirit”, one who lets the wind blow where it wills without regard for rules and regulations, doctrines and dogmas.  But Christianity is not such a body.

The Christian prophet does not oppose the Law of the Lord.  He is precisely the one who takes risks to stand up for it, is willing to be persecuted for his witness, and knows that his life is about the Lord instead of about himself.

The Christian prophet knows that while he himself is vastly imperfect, “the law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul”.  The Christian prophet knows that while he himself is often untrustworthy and simple, “the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.”  The Christian prophet knows that while he himself is often false and unjust, “the ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.”

God asks you to serve Him as a prophet:  to defend His saving Law, which is the Law that brings order, refreshment, wisdom, truth and justice to the spirit.  This is the spirit of Jesus and His Father.  This is God the Holy Spirit, the spirit who gives everlasting life.

We live in a world today that is so topsy-turvy that it becomes more and more clear each day just how much spirit it takes to defend God’s law.  But the great English journalist G. K. Chesterton had a very optimistic view of this sort of challenge.  He noted that the “act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice.”  Would that each of us would give ourselves over to this exhilaration.  “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

***

【Build your Faith in Christ Jesus on #dailyscripturereadingsgroup 📚: +256 751 540 524 .. Whatsapp】

[fordecree7]

THE BIBLE BOOK OF GOD

Old Testament

Exodus 15

Bread from Heaven

16 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. 35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

Exodus 15

Diane Beauford

[wolint]

ACHAN’S GUILT!

ACHAN’S GUILT

Joshua 7

 

A “can of worms” is a subject that is extremely complicated, difficult, or unpleasant to deal with or discuss. It’s a complex, unexpected problem or unsolvable dilemma that alludes to a container of fishing bait, which when opened reveals tangled worms and a bad odour. Achan’s sin was one such situation! For clarification, we must never believe that sin is individualistic, as seen from the opening verse of our scripture.

Achan sinned, but God saw Israel as part of the sin. Just as surely as fire burns, so sin has its consequences. Sin affects not only the one who sins but others, even innocent people. Sin is sin; there are no small, personal, or private sins. Everything and anything that God frowns upon is a sin and has consequences.

You can’t hide anything from God, even if you do manage to hide it from man, according to Luke 8:17. The children of Israel suffered, though only one was guilty; yet his sin was imputed to the whole congregation; they all suffered the shame and disgrace of a defeated army, men died, and general terror spread through the camp.

Proverbs 28:13 says there is no prosperity for those who cover their sin, just like Achan. Have you done something the Lord asked you not to do, something you know is wrong, but you did it anyway? How about something you are hiding and hoping not to be found out?

But why was God angry with the nation when only Achan sinned? In sports, the whole team suffers when a teammate breaks the rule, which is why Hebrews 3:13 instructs us to encourage each other daily. God had commanded Israel’s army to destroy the entire city of Ai because it was sinful. God gave them strict instructions. They were to burn everything in the city that belonged to the people of Jericho except the silver, gold, brass, and iron. These they were to bring to the House of the Lord. But Achan disobeyed the orders, stole, and hid a beautiful garment, and some silver and gold in his tent. Achan felt sure no one would find out, but Achan’s worms were set to soon be opened.

Good luck with trying to hide anything from God! We can’t, according to Hebrews 4:13. Joshua was honestly confused over the defeat of his army, but through God’s process of elimination, Achan’s sin was uncovered in verses 14-21. Unfortunately, God attributed Achan’s crime to the whole tribe until the sin was discovered. Achan stole from God! You might say, “Not me, I’ve never stolen a thing in my life, or at least not from God!” Really! How about those times you’ve done, given, or said less than what the Lord asked you to, especially around tithing, offerings, and seeds according to Malachi 3:8? Or those times when your help, assistance, and support were needed but you turned a blind eye, as James 2:16 and Proverbs 3:27 state.

We may just be like Achan - robbing God and trying to hide it too. Notice that Achan was dealt with swiftly and publicly. We shouldn’t frolic with sin, but we do. We must be quick to run to the Lord for confession, repentance, and forgiveness, says 1 John 1:8-10.

We must learn to encourage and look out for each other, so no one falls and remains down. Accountability is vital to our walk with God because what may seem like an isolated, individual sin or problem may turn out to have a systemic reach to the body of Christ. God does not condone sin, neither should we, even our own. One little wrong move creates room for more, says Galatians 5:9. Be careful not to open a can of worms.

PRAYER: Father, help me to carefully navigate life, and not to be so carried away with the lust of the flesh that it causes one to stumble, in Jesus’ name.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT PRAYER MIN.

[ihasafandom]

And if you want a more grounded horror, there's plenty of animals that people generally don't want to eat, even if in other cultures it is socially acceptable. Then you have a cultural taboo to navigate for something more subtle, or on the other side the horror of someone starving to death when there is plenty to go around. The knowledge that forcing them to eat would violate their boundaries and ethics, but is it okay to watch them wither away to nothing when you could do something about it? Rats, worms, horses, dogs, pigs, beetles. Blood, brain, hoof trimmings, intestines, anus, eyes. Meat from an animal that was tortured, that you remove only one bit from at a time and it lives for years. A corporate "farm" that is packed with cows hip to hip, a square cube of living animals that you slice into to extract your daily bread and then perfunctorily patch back up so it won't fester. Meat that is the scrapings from an dirty slaughterhouse floor, both a mix of species and the threat of dirt and contamination. Where sure, there might be some human DNA in there, but it is from the carelessness and uncleanliness of the workers and the lack of care or regulation from the owners rather than a deliberate act. Meat from a sick animal, from decaying carcass, re-dug up from where someone had buried it to keep it from contaminating anything else. Meat of the desperate, cut with sawdust and clay. Meat from the poisonous, where one wrong step in preparation will take you from a delicacy to an agonizing death. Meat from the ritually or ethically unclean, from carrion animals and beloved stolen pets, meat only to be eaten by kings and holy animals it is a sin to damage, on pain of death from the divine or from the executioner. Meat promised to another; the last of its kind in the country, the priciest and most labour-consuming production, a paleontological find, police evidence, a miraculous test subject. Stumbled upon or mistaken for something else or consumed in desperation. Meat that would have been the salvation of your community, but now it's just that. Meat.

I'm so tired of the way suspicious meat is always human meat like for once I just want to be surprised. Let it be something else I'm so tired of it being human meat

[craftylovegentlemen]

Exodus

Chapter 16

1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. 6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: 7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? 8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD. 9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings. 10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God. 13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. 24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. 25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field. 26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. 33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

Exodus 16

Diane Beauford