Good morning, Digital Neighbor! Sundays are for gratitude—well, every day is for gratitude, but Sunday is the peak day of gratitude for me. My worship is all about gratitude. I am thankful for the God I believe in. I am thankful for what I believe that God has done in my life and continues to do. I am thankful for the experiences that have shaped my life thus far, even the ones that have been difficult and did not begin in gratitude or joy but often the opposite. I am thankful for the people that God or fate has placed in my path and who have enriched my life. The list could go on and on; the blessings are almost countless.
It is a good exercise or prayer to occasionally list your blessings or causes for gratitude. Writing them down—or typing them—and seeing them in print helps them sink more deeply into our memory than just saying them, although there is certainly nothing wrong with just saying them. However, writing them lends itself to more depth and more permanency. How often have we reread something that injured or insulted us just to make the wound worse or our angry response more intense? People then make response videos to show the depth of their feeling—and the absence of their thought. The internet is full of those emotional exhibitionists.
I pray today that a wellspring of gratitude springs up in your life. I love Dennis Prager; his Thanksgiving Fireside Chats were always wonderful reflections on having gratitude. From gratitude flows goodness and happiness. Without gratitude, the chance of those two things becoming part of your life is unlikely. Have a blessed day, digital neighbors!
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.
Don’t argue with people over sixty.
Just don’t.
It’s not just an age; it’s a masterclass in survival.
They grew up without Google, without DoorDash, without therapy podcasts, and without an "undo" button. If something broke, they grabbed duct tape, WD-40, a hammer, and a look of sheer determination that made even the broken appliance second-guess itself.
As kids, they knew exactly what kind of mood their mom was in just by the sound of how hard she slammed the cast-iron skillet onto the stove.
They were the original latchkey kids — walking home from middle school with a house key tied around their neck, with strict orders to heat up lunch and not burn the kitchen down. By the time they were ten, they could bike to the corner store, buy a gallon of milk for the neighbor, feed the family dog, and still have time to play freeze tag in the yard until dark.
Their knees were a permanent canvas of scrapes, bruises, Mercurochrome, and rubbing alcohol. Their universal first-aid kit was just ...
