Good Morning Digital Neighbors! Hey there Early Birds & Dawn Patrol, Triggeratti & Fascinating People, Joyful Bigots and Phamily, Supports, Members, Visitors and Random Scrollers paying a visit to Locals! Whoever, and wherever you are, Happy Saturday. Lost a good neighbor yesterday in the parish, Dave @TankerCaptain will be missed, his passing was unexpected, but his life was about a ready to go home as one can be on a given day. I was hoping when I visited with him yesterday it was home to his Arsenal in the Woods, but instead a heart attack has called him beyond the veil. I hope he discovers what we believed to be true and that there is Communion rather than nothingness beyond the breathe of life. My sorrow at his passing is far surpassed by the joy of knowing him. While I will have tears for myself, I've already had a few, I have nothing but gratitude for having known him these last few years. Wilford Brimley's twin, The Captain, Gunner, a man of raw honesty, hearty laughs and fierce loyalty and honor.
(In the photo he is on the left sporting the Wilford Brimley look, across from him is Big Mac, next to him his wife Jetpack Gina and across from her my Sister Jane.) I was at the second table of poker players. Happy Saturday friends!
THE DANCE OF LIFE
Nature blesses us daily:
birds burst into song just as we pass by,
thunderstorms dissolve the dust of drought,
clouds melt away to reveal distant mountains,
stars emerge, glowing against a velvet sky.
Others bless us:
strangers share smiles,
someone gives us a hug,
a colleague defends us at work,
loving friends surround us during a crisis.
Responding to these blessings,
our hearts expand, and we know
we too participate in life’s divine dance,
giving and receiving blessings.
SUZANNE C. COLE
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
All welcome - none expected - enjoy your day either way!
Padre - Tom Miller invites you to a Coffee Talk, Speakeasies, Schmoozes, Tea Times, Afterhours and other gatherings.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
2026 Coffee Talk with the ADD Irregulars
Thursday, January 1, 2026
6:00 AM - 8:00 AM (CST)
Occurs every day starting 1/1 until 12/31/2027
Coffee Talk - Daily beginning at 6:00 AM Central Time Zone - USA
White Pilled Wednesday - A break from the heaviness of news and current events to focus upon things more personal & positive for the first hour of Coffee Talk.
Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Other chats as posted in the community.
The Beautiful
Said the Disciple to the Lover, “Sir, before I left the world I heard certain men who were held in high esteem and thought to know the will of the Beloved say that those who loved the Beautiful did not love the Beloved but loved idols, yet in the Garden of the Beloved we are ever striving to create beauty for the pleasure of the Beloved. Were they then speaking the truth?”
The Lover answered, “Those who said this had never glimpsed the form of the Beloved nor ever truly sought Him, for all beauty is but the reflection of the beauty of the Beloved, although seen very dimly as in a dark and faulty mirror, even as all goodness is a dim reflection of the goodness of the Beloved. So it is that those who love beauty and goodness recognize dimly in them the form of the Beloved and though often in ignorance those who are seeking the Beautiful and the Good are seeking after the Beloved.”
