Dear Digital Neighbors I am preparing for a funeral this morning and thinking of how I often approach the Divine. My faith is in the Healer of Souls, and my expression of that in creed & worship is Roman Catholicism. Today's funeral is one touched with more sorrow than most. Samantha (Sam) was only 31 years old and her lived ended so early because of the experience with postpartum depression.
If anyone understands the darkness of suicide, the distortion chamber that depression is, it is the Healer of Souls. Sometimes His light is powerful enough to break through the darkness and other times it is not. It makes it very difficult for Disciples when loved one fall to the power of depression and see death as the only means of ending their exile from self. An all powerful, all loving and all good Deity ought to be able to break through such things, and the framing of respecting free-will and invitations to trust and patiently accept often break many struggling Disciples. The problem of evil is one of the most persistent arguments for those who walk away from organized religion and all of its trials.
My words to Sam's family will be one of encouraging them to seek Jesus, the Healer of Souls. My invitation to them is to hold each other lovingly and patiently and eventually surrender the sorrow, pain and confusion to Him as they move through this experience of loss. There will be many questions that will remain unanswered and their eventual ability to release them to God, the great unknown or just humble acceptance of the reality will determine how their future unfold. Feelings may not be reality, but powerful dark ones can overshadow our ability to see and live in the light of life.
I will encourage them to remember Sam in her vibrancy of life and all the things she loved in life. Those things were the real and true experiences of her life. Depression was the lie and distortion. Depression was the thief robbing her of joy and hope. Depression is real, but its lies are not. If you are the praying type, your prayers for her and her family are appreciated. Please lift her up to the Healer of Souls. Please pray for Christian her husband, their three children Lyra, Roselia & Lucia. Please remember her parents, Barry & Karen, and her brothers Dane and Max. Peace my friends, and thank you for reading this and remembering them.
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/26025747/samantha-renee-grandon
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.”
