Good Morning Digital Neighbors! Happy Sunday ADD Irregulars and Patrons of the WSN! The following is a reflection prompted over at Phetasy.
@bridgetphetasy The landscape of my heart is the meeting ground of my love for God, people and life. These last two weeks that have hobbled my legs have given me ample time to think about what really matters in life. Immanuel - God is with us. I have had long sleepless nights that have pushed me to the threshold of blame or surrendering in trust. I have knocked on the door of the Mysterium and sough patience and acceptance to whatever the future may hold as I literally take each day as it unfolds. I have wept so much over the interplay of poor-me and I am so freaking blessed and unworthy of these gifts I have received. I don't feel insane even remotely, but I can taste ever so slightly the feeling of being ambushed by the unexpected welling up in my heart before my mind can form it more properly.
I have been blessed by the people God has placed in my life. My parish family, the care of my sister & nephew, the support and laughter of the ADD Irregulars have made all the difference these last two weeks. I have laughed far more than I have cried over things in the last two weeks. Too often illness and infirmity make one feel isolated and alone, I have never felt that even during the longest nights of sleeplessness. All of these good gifts make my landscape one filled with gratitude and peace. Thinking about all of this makes me feel so utterly unworthy of the kindnesses that have been poured in to my lap. Rylee-girl was mostly happy to see me when I returned home, she is a popular puppers after all and has adoring fans to attend to in her morning visits around church.
Finally I am thankful for all the accidentals that make the landscape of my heart even more verdant. The cellphone - often the villain of my rants for turning us all in ourselves has been a real gift for connecting with others. My laptop, which allows me to pen these morning thoughts, typos and all, as I process my interior state, reflect upon experience, ponder things on the outer orbit of my imagination and thought. And finally the experience of Locals itself, connecting with people I often have never met in the flesh but have very much met in person. I am thankful that some of them visited the parish last Autumn for our Sausage Dinner. It was one of the real highlights of 2022.
Thank you @bridgetphetasy Bridget for the opportunity to make this my morning reflection. Life is not all peaches and cream, I have had plenty of moments darkness and doubt in my life thus far, but today, on my favorite day of the week, I my landscape is rich in gratitude.
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.
Quite apart from the fact that I utterly admire, even love, her, this is the best possible response to an idiot, who, in his defense, asked a pretty good question.
https://x.com/TBifford/status/2087992591279407133/video/1?s=61
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.”
