Good Morning Digital Neighbors! Happy Tuesday & New Year Friends & Refuges, Early Birds & Later Dayers, Conversants & Lurkers, Phamily & Misfits, ADD Irregulars, Weird Shit Niche Aficionados and all the rest of you Wanderers, Seekers and Lost on Locals.
A edited reprint from last year, seems fitting as we move into this new year. Enjoy or skip, the choice is in your hands! - Padreš
A BIT OF JOY
Days run into night, night into days;
we adapt, we adjust,
to ever-changing challenges.
A stranger once said to me,
"I pray you find a moment of joy
in each day." That loving bit of wisdom
has inspired me to search for that gleam
of unexpected joy which lifts me up again.
Faith sustains . . .
Family stays close . . .
Friends uphold . . .
Music soothes . . .
Books can bring respite . . .
For all that, I am grateful.
Each may bring that moment
of joy in what may be an
otherwise intense day.
Betty Ann Leavitt
I like Betty's morning sentiments. In particular her list of things; faith, family, friend, music & books. I would add to her list the beauty of nature, endearing pets, and shared laughter among the little things that make each day a reason for gratitude. There so many little things, we each have our own personalized list of things that can be a cause for joy, a springboard for gratitude. I hope you have yours. If you find joy difficult to discover, I hope you meet someone who c an show you the path to joy and how to embrace it more readily each day. Joy doesn't rule out bad moments, experiences or days, but helps to sooth them, transform them and keep us grounded in the midst of them when emotional turbulence and the trials of life would make us lose perspective.
There are many more little things to open up the joy of living in your life if you choose. One either treats life as a gift or a given. Those who see life as a gift respond with gratitude more often than not. Those who see life as a given often give voice to resentment for all that life has failed to delivered. Be a gift receiver rather than a given demander. Happy Tuesday my friends!
And a final note . . .
7 Effective Ways to Make Others Feel Important
1. Use their name.
2. Express sincere gratitude.
3. Do more listening than talking.
4. Talk more about them than about you.
5. Be authentically interested.
6. Be sincere in your praise.
7. Show you care.
ā Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
A winter path - from a Bing search
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman FranƧois-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the āSun Kingā (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, Voltaireās main love was writingāan 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.Ā
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 āifferismsā for your Friday cup of Joe.
If you get gloomy, just take an ...
Ā
The Beautiful
Ā
Said the Disciple to the Lover, āSir, 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.Ā Were they then speaking the truth?ā
The Lover answered, āThose 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.Ā 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.ā
