Good morning, Digital Neighbors! Happy Friday ADD Irregulars and WSN Curators, and Curmudgeons. Hello again Friends & Refugees, Early Birds and Later Dayers, Conversants and Lurkers at the Report; Misfits, Political Homeless and Pham at Tribe Phetasy and finally you Awakening Wonders at Russel Brand.
I grew up with pets, mainly cats and dogs, and went for a long absence without any during my early years of priesthood. In 2012 I rescued Holly-cat and in 2014 Monsignor Jackson. Churchie people mistakenly thought he was a deacon, a slight Jackson was willing to overlook and forgive after treats, but since I was tasked with picking up after him, he knew he was of higher status in the community. He was a great dog and well loved by the parishioners of IHM. Letting him go in 2022 was much more difficult than I imagined. I am well acquainted with death and have buried many people I have grown to know and love. His passing was more personal and his absence more pronounced. I am ever so thankful to have had him, he was the best of boys.
Two weeks after the passing of Jackson, Rylee-girl came into my life. She was the coonhound-mix that belonged to another parishioner and friend of mine, Ginger, who is active in my community at Padre’s. I knew Rylee and had some doubts about her making a good church dog. I had taken Jackson on some walks with Ginger and Rylee and knew too well of her personality. I also knew about her boisterous barking, she is true to her heritage and can howl like nobody’s business. I could not have been more mistaken; Rylee is a natural flirt and melded right into the community. She is the quintessential moochie-poochie, she loves greeting everyone, but she really loves her patrons and peddlers of treats. I have been further demoted to butler and support staff by Rylee, but it is worth it. It is an 80/20 mix with Rylee-girl. 80% of the time I love her personality and energy, she is so smart and attentive, however 20% of the time she pissed me off way more than Jackson ever did. She is stubborn and at time slow to cooperate. I am pretty certain her main thought is “You’re not the boss of me.”
This Monday I adopted Ivy-kit. Ivy is 5 months old and full of energy. The last time I dealt with a kitten was in my childhood. Ivy is mostly isolated from the rest of the pack, but has had some encountered with both Holly & Rylee. Holly hissed and makes guttural sounds, Rylee wants to be friends but is too intimidating for Ivy. The introductions are moving along at a slow but predictable pace. I suspect Ivy will befriend Rylee before Holly grows to accept her. Holly is such a great cat; I am hoping in time she will adopt Ivy as he little sister. Time will tell. Happy Friday Digital Neighbors!
A True Perspective
In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him. - DEREKE BRUCE
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.
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.”
