Happy Saturday, Digital Neighbors! I pray that your week has been a good one and that this weekend holds the promise of rest and renewal as it unfolds.
I think of all the pets I’ve had over the years — numerous dogs and cats, ferrets, tropical fish, and wildlife that I usually kept for a summer and then released if it survived the challenges of unintentional imprisonment. I think of the countless hours observing life in a pond, birds at the feeder, or too many bugs to imagine. This summer I saw antlion traps for the first time — and even watched one catch an ant. I always looked for them in my childhood but never saw any.
Creation is amazing, and I often think of the One responsible for its unfolding wonder. That idle time spent with pets, observing wildlife, or simply being closer to nature is so good for my heart and soul. I hope you have your own places of renewal — whether prayer, music, nature, or some other art — that help you rediscover the wonder and awe of being alive.
BLESSINGS
Lord, thank you for blessing our lives with animals.
Tender of heart and pure in soul,
They touch us in so many ways.
Commitment, unconditional love, faith, and forgiveness,
Inherent traits never questioned nor compromised,
Yet shared and bequeathed freely
Upon any and all who offer them the same.
It is with animals that we are taught tolerance and diversity,
For their uniqueness serves to brighten our existence.
They are an incomparable gift from God,
One that we open and rediscover daily,
Showing us how to make the world a little better,
And our society a bit more humane. Lord, thank you for blessing our lives with animals. For it is within these divine creatures that we rediscover
the true meanings of your teachings and infinite wisdom. – Heather Berry
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.
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.”
