Good Morning ADD Irregulars, Friends & Refugees, Phamily, Triggeratti, Seekers and all Digital Neighbors at Locals!
King of Nations - Of all the titles, this one probably sits the least well with me since most of us think a global anything is for the worst, double down on that with an unelected and unaccountable head of state to make it any one of hundreds of dystopian scenarios. King of the world and a mountain of dead bodies is usually how the story goes.
It is hard to believe that there could really be a selfless leader. I always grew up with the story of Cincinnatus and George Washington. Apparently many doubt the stories around Cincinnatus and his selfless service as a dictator and return to the simple life of the farm. The movie Gladiator carried this vibe, one of my favorite movies. George Washington is a more recent example and we know he walked away from becoming a President for Life. (A Geek aside - If you have never played Junta, you would appreciate the President for Life position.) One of the best games to play among friends.
https://www.ultraboardgames.com/junta/game-rules.php
Power doesn't always corrupt, but there are few who can resist the pull of the dark side. My frequent rants against the Careerists of DC and the most recently revealed local tyrants of States & Cities gleefully abolishing rights for the "safety" of the rest of us. 2020 was the year of the Unmasking more than the masking. The public was told to mask up while leaders reveals their desire to abuse power like never before in their great unmasking. That is a a rabbit hole to go down, one many citizens of planet earth may enter. I will be safer if we only deal with "those" people. Those people - they are always around out there waiting to be exploited by the Powers-that-be and blamed by the Masses for the dangers of the current chapter. "Those people, the Not-my-Peeps" can always be blamed when things go wrong. Hating them and dehumanizing them is something we adopted in caves and at campfires long ago, it is some pretty primal programming to overcome. Sorry - leaving the rabbit hole to return to our previous programming.
King of Nations - In the World of Cath-O-Land and other Disciples of the Nazorean, their King is on a Cross. Not exactly the throne worldly leaders aspire to obtain. Sure there is judgement, the specter of Hell and the hope of Heaven, but the King of Nations is about reconciliation, even if it is practice poorly by so many of His adherents. A King of justice, a Lord of mercy, a leader of service rather than privilege, is preferable to corruption we have always accepted. Disciples are called to be different, but even worldly corruption infects their communities if they are around long enough. Anyone who happily points out the splinter is just waiting for their own plank to be revealed. Disciples struggle, Hypocrites and blind and deny. The skeptics among still think leaving society behind might be a better option in the end, humanity if just too broken, and authority is just too corrupt. I don't subscribe to that view of Jeremiah Johnson (I do like the movie) and move away from civilization, but no one can deny the brokenness or pretend there isn't corruption.
Longing for a King of genuine honor, actual integrity, with a sense of service is a longing for all people who live in oppression. The vast majority of people are happy to let others lead as long as they aren't in state of non-stop suffering. Rome had its bread & circus, and we have ours. Distracting people from the emptiness of their lives, suffocating desire so you settle for having more rather than being more is the key to placation. Incremental losses are the least noticed and not likely to alarm the sheep that they are being slaughtered and not sheered. YIKES! But there are good shepherds and there are people who see that there is more than just sheering taking place, they are the ones who will help the flock. One can pray we find more good shepherds until the ONE comes conclude it all. Until then I continue the odd dance with hope and skepticism, Hope leads, but skepticism sure throws in some odd steps. Happy Thursday my friends!
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
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Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Other chats as posted in the community.
XIII
The Proud Minister
One day there came into the Garden a man in torn clothes badly bruised and cut, who said to the Lover, “In the name of the Beloved I demand your help.”
So the Lover and the Disciple let him in and dressed his wounds and prepared the best of the vegetables from the Garden for him to eat. When his wounds had been dressed and he had eaten and rested the Lover asked him how he had fallen into this plight, to which the man replied, “I was Minister of the Beloved in a city near this place, where I preached His gospel and expounded His doctrine to the people. I pointed out to them how their sins had made them wholly hateful to the Beloved and how therefore they were utterly beyond the range of His love and He would condemn them to eternal torments, whereon some fell into despair and wept bitterly but many were angry. One day the magistrates called me before them and begged me to leave the city and preach elsewhere for they said I had made many people so angry and desperate that they feared there might be a riot and they might not be able to protect me but that I might suffer some injury. I, however, very zealous for the Beloved and believing that the magistrates only feared that their own sins might be proclaimed, preached the more vehemently, denounced the magistrates and made it abundantly clear that the whole wicked city was foredoomed to eternal punishment by the just provision of the Beloved. Whereon a mob, stirred up no doubt by the corrupt and venal magistrates, fell upon me with sticks and stones, nearly killing me and driving me out of the city in the state in which I came to you.”
“My friend,” said the Lover, “this was not a good deed of yours, for besides denying the unfathomable compassion of the Beloved, you have by your obstinacy caused these people to commit a grievous sin, and this cannot be pleasing to the Beloved, that through you who profess to be His minister the people should become worse. Surely you remember that He Himself said, ‘If they persecute you in one city flee to another.’”
Therefore the man was very angry, and cursing the Lover, said, “I see that I have had a very false report of you and I do not believe that you are a servant of the Beloved at all. When I came to you so injured for the Beloved’s sake you set before me only herbs and fruits although the garden is full of birds which you could have killed to make me a worthy meal. I shall proclaim everywhere that you are no true servant of the Beloved but a mere falterer who dares not suffer in the cause of the Beloved. Be sure that you are foreordained to eternal torments who suffer nothing here.”
For the man was so blinded by his own pride that he could not perceive the scars on the hands and feet and the brows of the Lover nor how the cloth beneath the armpits of his tunic was dyed with a red dye. So he went out of the Garden cursing and shouting.
But the Lover looked sad and said, “A man like this does much harm to the cause of the Beloved, for by thus speaking falsely about the Beloved he may bring men to fear Him but none to love Him, and by love alone can any man approach the Beloved.”
