Good Morning Friends & Neighbors ! Hello Again and Happy Monday! Taking a little time away from the parish to visit one of my life long friends and his wife in an even more remote location than were I normally hang my hat. A few miles out side of Fayette, MO. Quiet - I mean - SUPER quiet during the day and at this early hour there is the fly buzzing around the room and a little light Jazz, Coltrane, paying softly on the iPhone. A small mini-vacation of sorts for me.
Randy and I went for a country drive for a few hours yesterday - hardly a car on the road, lush countryside everywhere, a little flooding here and there and a few small towns in-between our stops. We passed through Fayette, New Franklin, Booneville on out tour of the area. It was one of those slow rides, barely doing the minimum so as to soak in the sights. Belle is visiting family and will return this mooring with Tator the Pomeranian. Rommel the 95 pound attention needy shepherd and his older girlfriend Gypsy who weights in around 70 pounds are our other house mates along with countless flies and a few lizards running there are there. It is a an old house - built in the 1870's I think that is being rehabbed and restored by Randy & Bell who have a love for antiques and most things old & historic. But thy do have fairly decent internet so Randy can work remotely from here. That is a plus. š
I can't say if this place creates quiet humility - but it opens to door for its discovery if one wants to find it. There will be visiting, reading and some country walks by myself or with the pack depending on how the days flow between now and Wednesday when I return home.
No schedule for me is the real vacation, I don't desire busy vacations, I don't desire to take in every sight, I just like to slow down, to be away from demands and interruptions which I appreciate but at times find draining. I love my vocation and ministry, I couldn't ask for a better parish family, but breaks from the norm do the mind, body and souls well. Happy Monday Friends!
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman FranƧois-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the āSun Kingā (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, Voltaireās main love was writingāan 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.Ā
Happy Friday, Digital Neighbors!! Slept in a little this morning. Woke up at my ordinary time, hit the hour timer, and wandered back into short, incoherent dreamland. It was a good hour to try and get a little more rest after a long day yesterday. We had a good staff team-building day with personal prayer and then looking at the DISC tool as a way to appreciate our gifts as we work together for the good of our parish family.
Had a meeting in the evening to explore using our auditorium for an Emergency Overnight Shelter in the winter for the homeless and unhoused in our local area. Lots of potential, lots of work if that is to come to fruition. As I mentioned last night, this is where the rubber hits the road on personal charity. People feel comfortable giving money to support charities, but the possibility of hosting and staffing one is way out of the comfort zone for most. Prayer and time will tell.
Off to some āifferismsā for your Friday cup of Joe.
If you get gloomy, just take an ...
Ā
The Beautiful
Ā
Said the Disciple to the Lover, āSir, 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.Ā Were they then speaking the truth?ā
The Lover answered, āThose 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.Ā 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.ā
