Good Morning Digital Neighbors! Hello ADD Irregulars, Refugees & PHAM! I hope everyone had a good weekend. I know many if not all of us are probably more tweaked about the impending "mostly peaceful protest" season that could be worse than past seasons of outrage. If you live in seasons were the local fauna contains people of rage and irrationality, I pray for your safety and that of your neighbors.
Few things frustrate me more than the fact that those who stoke the fires of outrage and destruction never face the mobs at the doors of their homes or businesses, it is for others to bear the brunt of the monster they have created. I have never forgiven the media for what they did to Ferguson in 2014. Hard to believe that it was 8 years ago. How I wish the mobs would go to their HQs and destroy a few million dollars worth of their livelihood, but instead they send them to neighborhoods far removed from them. I know a little dark for my mostly hopeful posts of the morning cup of Padre. (I know there is some salty bitching on a regular basis, I am an unrepentant curmudgeon after all.) I just can't escape the image of the kid (The Media) throwing gasoline of the fire to watch the flames grow with glee.
SOOOOOOO - it seems like a week of prayers is in order for these morning rambles if I am going to pull my noggin out of the orifice it is tempted to seek. Neither the view or the smell is preferable to actually dealing with life as it is dealt to me or to our nation. Inescapable reality is better dealt with eyes wide open rather than with your head up your arse. Happy Monday my friends at Rubin Report, Phetasy and at Padre's. My visits among you and the Triggeratti are some of the best times spent on the in the internet.
Creator of life and light, we bless thee for the beauty of the world; we thank thee for physical joy; for the ecstasy of swift motion; for deep water to swim in; for the goodly smell of rain on dry ground; for hills to climb and hard work to do; for music that lifts our hearts in one breath to heaven; for all thy sacraments of beauty and joy, we thank thee, Lord.
Mountain flowers from somewhere. - Our planet is beautiful.
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.”
