Good morning, Digital Neighbors! Happy Saturday, ADD Irregulars @ Padre’s, Friends & Refugees at the Report, and all you Phamily members over at Phetasy. I hope this extended weekend and time-warping holiday are treating you well. One of the most amazing things about Thanksgiving and the weeks that follow leading up to New Year’s is that they are filled with an abundance of memories. Other than family vacations and a few other standout moments through the years, how much do we actually remember well?
Thanksgiving and Christmas carry such powerful memories—and so much emotional freight—that one is either pushed to overflowing gratitude or, just as often, the opposite: exhaustion and disappointment. I pray that your present-day experience of these memorable days is filled with the judgments and expectations that open you to gratitude and safeguard you from unrealistic demands on yourself and others that lead to stress, disappointment, and further cynicism about the goodness these days can hold.
I want neither sugar-coated exaggerations about the past nor to wallow in all that was imperfect so that it robs me of hope and gratitude. It is so difficult to navigate these feelings if you don’t bridle them with good thoughts and acts of the will that tilt you toward gratitude for all things—even the difficult experiences of the past that helped shape the person you are today and that, with enough grace and reflection, become the seedbed for thanksgiving. I have found it is not a place of arrival so much as a balancing act I strive to maintain through good habits and by intentionally praying to the Giver of all good things. A few quotes on memory and reflection as this week of gratitude runs its course. I hope and pray you all have a wonderful Saturday, dear digital neighbors.
“It would add much to human happiness if an art could be taught of forgetting all of which the remembrance is at once useless and afflictive, that the mind might perform its functions without encumbrance, and the past might no longer encroach upon the present.” — Samuel Johnson
“The one who thinks over his experiences most, and weaves them into systematic relations with each other, will be the one with the best memory.” — William James
“To be able to enjoy one’s past life is to live twice.” — Martial
“Life is all memory, except for the present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going.” — Tennessee Williams
Thanksgiving Dinner - Davey Gravy - Unsplash
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.
Good Morning, Digital Neighbors, and Blessed Sunday to one and all!
Sundays are for gratitude, and few things impact our lives more than intentional gratitude. It is not enough to say you are blessed or that you are fortunate; the actual naming of our blessings plants them deep in the heart, transforming us as persons rather than leaving us with the bland “thankful for everything.”
Two years ago, I wrote this reflection on resentment and gratitude. In light of the celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary, I think it’s worth revisiting. We can choose to be among those who are thankful for America or among those who find nothing but fault with it.
You cannot build a future based on resentments of the past. You cannot grow if you are mired in the injuries of yesterday. God and life do not call us to ignore such experiences, but He constantly calls us forward—to be more, to receive more, to live more. Heal those wounds and work through those injuries, but do not be defined by them, and do not try to ...
