Good morning, digital neighbors! Happy Thursday, my friends! Here’s a good reflection on why we are so blessed to have dogs in our lives. Cats are a blessing and a joy too—I’m thankful for Holly & Ivy—but Rylee is the ambassador of goodwill in the parish, and before her it was Jackson. Have a blessed day, my friends!
IF YOU CAN
If you can start the
day without caffeine,
If you can get going
without pep pills,
If you can resist complaining
and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day
and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones
are too busy to give you any time,
If you can overlook it when something
goes wrong through no fault of yours
and those you love take it out on you,
If you can take criticism
and blame without resentment,
If you can ignore a friend’s limited education
and never correct him,
If you can resist treating a rich friend
better than a poor friend,
If you can face the world
without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension
without medical help,
If you can relax
without liquor,
If you can sleep
without the aid of drugs,
If you can honestly say
that deep in your heart
you have no prejudice
against creed, color, religion, or politics,
Then, my friends,
you are almost as good
as your dog.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
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.”
