Good Morning Friends across Locals & Substack! Happy Thursday, Friends & Refugees, Early Birds & Later Dayers, Phamily, Dawn Patrol, and Political Homeless. Hey there to all of you Supporters, Members, and Lurkers across these wonderful communities—and last but not least, the ADD Irregulars, WSN Curators, and Curmudgeons!
Today’s O Antiphon speaks of the Lord of Sinai who gives the law to govern the children of Israel. Lord — Unless you run in religious circles, play medieval fantasy games, or are active in the SCA, you probably don’t use “Lord” as much more than a low-grade profanity or expletive. For the record, I was never active in the SCA—even if I am a D&D geek—but I was often fascinated by their activities on campus when they did their “historical” reenactments. Too often, they were considered the lowest rung of dorkery or geekdom on the college campus. “Squire, bring me my stick!”
Lord — a rather heavy word and concept, since it carries authority in its meaning. It’s hard to think positively of any authority these days, since we have seen far more misuse and abuse of authority than humble or selfless use of it. There are almost no George Washingtons left among political leadership, corporate leadership, or people within institutions of influence. I would add religious institutions, since they still carry influence in the lives of many. Power doesn’t always corrupt, but few can resist its pull. Unaccountable power inevitably tilts toward abuse, and the illusion that you are unaccountable—or above accountability—leads to its more rapid abuse. A good lord (an occasional expletive among the gentler crowd) is hard to find. Washington was not perfect, but that he walked away from power is remarkable.
Anything you cannot walk away from without authoritarian abuse is an unhealthy community or relationship. By abuse, I mean your life or livelihood being threatened with injury or termination. I guess many are tempted to say that makes almost all governments—and the societies built around them—unhealthy. Enemedia, Big Tech, Academia, Wokertainment, Uni-party Careerists, and now Big Pharma Addicts have all created cultures of punishment for the outliers, heretics, or scapegoats they designate. They often don’t have to do anything themselves; they have flash cancel mobs and legions of bots ready to mobilize online and occasionally show up for mostly peaceful protests. There is not an abundance of Good Lords or Ladies, as it were.
I am not so black-pilled or jaded as to think there are no good people in positions of authority in life, but they are infrequent and rarely celebrated in the current culture. They probably like it that way, to be honest—celebrity is one of the quickest ways to wreck your life. Fame almost always comes with an unmooring from reality, as your perception of self-importance surpasses your actual contribution to humanity. I hope you have had the good fortune of encountering people in good leadership positions at work or elsewhere in life. Authority paired with accountability can open the door to leadership that excels for the good of all, but as soon as the sense of accountability—or actual accountability—disappears, abuse seems to be inevitable. Human beings are deeply broken by sin.
If you ever find yourself in a position of Lord- or Ladyship, I hope you can handle the authority entrusted to you with responsibility and humility. Good Lord, I am thankful I believe in One, and I am thankful that my path through life has been filled with a number of humble servant leaders and only a few authoritarian douchebags. I’m not talking about the world beyond daily interaction—as mentioned previously, there are too many who abuse or misuse authority on the larger stage. The bigger the stage, the larger the fraud. Not always, but often.
Daily interactions with real people in life—and even online—keep the cynicism and resignation at bay. Ever a skeptic, never a cynic. I strive for that, but it is not easy. The two are so similar, yet skepticism opens the door to questions, to hope, to change; cynicism does the opposite. They look the same at the beginning emotional and intellectual onset, but they yield very different results.
Blessed Thursday, my friends across the internet. You are remembered daily in my prayers, and so many of you are thought of fondly and with gratitude for being among the people who brighten my life.
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! I will be away this week at Convocation and mostly offline. I will check in to keep the email from piling up, but I will not be doing my morning missives, checking in for Teams Coffee Talk, or any other posting throughout the week. Please know that you will be on my mind and in my prayers.
Our Vicar for Priests sent out this message to the faithful to explain the nature of the Convocation:
Once every four years for the past four decades, the priests of the Archdiocese of St. Louis have been called together by our Archbishop for a week-long Convocation. It is a time of prayer, enrichment for ministry, and fellowship in priestly fraternity.
As the experience of priestly life and ministry in our Archdiocese continues to evolve — particularly as priests are called upon to pastor multiple parishes simultaneously, and as communities as large as 1,800 to 2,000 households are increasingly served by only one priest — opportunities for enrichment for our priests, such as ...
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.”
