Good Morning, Digital Neighbors! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you fine souls at The Rubin Report, Phetasy, and Padre’s! Sure, I could go through one of my roll-calls that I’m so fond of repeating, but you all know who you are. For most, Christmas is already a distant memory, and thinking about the New Year has been reduced to not writing 2025 anymore and learning to replace it with 2026. Some are working earnestly on changes for the New Year, and I think that is more than commendable—especially if they are undertaking some new discipline or endeavor that goes against years of worse habits or passive living. I would much rather see people succeed at their goals for positive change than fail.
Our culture has become so self-absorbed and tainted by the corruption of broken dreams and meaningless paths that it takes greater delight in the failures of others and the fall from success than in achievement. Some call it wisdom when they bleat out “I told you so” or some other dismissive statement that tells others they knew all the striving and lofty goals were in vain. If you ever find yourself in those dark currents of cynical corruption, I hope you remove yourself as soon as possible. Those are the real dwelling places of the Fallen. There is no joy, no peace, and no solace to be found there. Even if one tries to comfort themselves with the idea that they are insightful—that they knew—it is a knowledge not worth celebrating or possessing.
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. — Seneca
It is a far better thing to encourage one another during our trials. Instilling a fear of complacency is more important than a fear of failure. Fail 100 times, try 101. Say it until you believe it. It’s easy to say and hard to do—much harder when one struggles with their own doubts and finds no support or motivation to try again. There are those rare souls who can push forward without any support and who are undeterred by failure, trial, or hardship, but that is not most of us. We are created for communion, even if it is with only a few people who can help us recover or discover our better selves. Our better self has so much to experience in the limited time we have before us. I hope there are a few good souls to help bring about that polish in your life—a polish that will not only be a blessing to you but to all those around you. We need them much more than the torrents of negativity and human sorrow that are so much a part of the media cycle and our venturing online. Peace, dear neighbors.
Over at Padre’s, I am introducing White Pilled Wednesday for Coffee Talk at 6:00 a.m. Central. Yeah, it is early. Always has been, always will be. Speakeasies, Shmoozes, and Tea Times are more of an afternoon thing. While our conversations are often positive and amusing at Padre’s, there is a tendency among any of us online explorers to become bogged down in the heavy news of politics, culture, and the negative drama so readily broadcast across the media and internet. Our world is a mess and it is easy to talk about it. It is very easy to surrender ourselves to the anger, frustration, or heat of the moment. While it can be occasionally cathartic, too much is often just draining. I don’t want to join the ranks online who substitute drama for meaning in their lives. Since you are reading this, I doubt you do either.
White Pilled Wednesday – Come share stories of interest: your favorite hobbies, books you have read or are reading, favorite music or musicians, fond memories of the past, or positive current experiences in your life. Talk about work, family, friends, or whatever it is that has brought you joy or peace. Talk about sports, the arts, interesting or amusing pursuits—it doesn’t really matter as long as the focus is good. For one hour, once a week, make an effort to not surrender ourselves to the latest global, national, or online drama. It will still be there when the hour is over, but for this moment let it be a haven to nourish what is good and praiseworthy.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
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
Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Always invited, never expected.
Other chats as posted in the community.
I will go back to something I've been saying for a while
Ukraine was a diversion while Europe was silently invaded
Putin/Russia may not be "the good guys" but they did warn Europe and the US
It has pissed a lot of people off in the past pointing this out
But the brutal truth (as if there is any other kind) is in your face now
Deal with the real threat as harshly as necessary
Or be swept into the ash-bin of history
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.”
