Good Morning Digital Neighbors & Friends! I hope you had a good beginning to your week! My Monday was pretty good overall, day off that allowed some puttering around the house, out to dinner and an early evening. Back into the grind to day with appointments and a couple of meetings. A couple of quotes from Benjamin Franklin, my favorite Founder.
Mr. Franklin was contemplating his death as early as 22 and wrote his humorous epitaph.
The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, (like the cover of an old book,
its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding), Lies here, food for worms; But the work shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author.
I buried Jim Cox back in 2010 and his obituary had a nice note at the end. I used to enjoy my visits to Jim & Eileen when their health kept them homebound. Jim & Eileen shared plenty of stories of their childhoods, Jim's military service and Eileen's busy life at home managing the house and their four children. It was some of the best visiting and listening I had been invited to share. Jim had a great sense of humor and was a champion of public education in the 50's & 60's as a means of lifting poor children, white & black out of poverty. He always said that parents were the game changers for children really learning their lessons at home and remembering them for the class. Eileen followed a few years later. Good folks. Jim wrote his own obituary and ended it with this:
In lieu of flowers, other memorials, Jim suggests you drop by your favorite lounge, or pub or tavern or even in the privacy of your own home, and have a couple of drinks to celebrate his demise in a matter best befitting your memories. Visitation Sunday, August 8, 4-8 p.m.
Jim lived a very full life and loved all that it offered him. He had many former students who attended his funeral, you can't ask for a greater honor than to be remembered by those you taught decades ago. It made Jim's children very proud when they saw how many lives he touched. They knew how good their father was, but confirmation like that is gold.
A final Franklin quote Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five.
Happy Tuesday my friends! And of course an old winter barn.
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 ...
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.
Happy Friday, Digital Neighbors!! Slept in a little this morning. Woke up at my ordinary time, hit the hour timer, and wandered back into short, incoherent dreamland. It was a good hour to try and get a little more rest after a long day yesterday. We had a good staff team-building day with personal prayer and then looking at the DISC tool as a way to appreciate our gifts as we work together for the good of our parish family.
Had a meeting in the evening to explore using our auditorium for an Emergency Overnight Shelter in the winter for the homeless and unhoused in our local area. Lots of potential, lots of work if that is to come to fruition. As I mentioned last night, this is where the rubber hits the road on personal charity. People feel comfortable giving money to support charities, but the possibility of hosting and staffing one is way out of the comfort zone for most. Prayer and time will tell.
Off to some “ifferisms” for your Friday cup of Joe.
If you get gloomy, just take an ...
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.”
