Good Morning! A little later start than normal Friends, Neighbors and all the rest of ya's! Sleeping in an unfamiliar beds is always an adjustment for me, seems more so as I get older. I dropped off to sleep right away around 8:30 but was awake at 11L00 for some unknown reason for an hour or two. (I listened to some audio books.) One more interruption around 2 and then back to slumber land until about 4:30.
I had a very relaxing day yesterday, went to dinner with Randy last night to a little hole in the wall in Columbia, MO. Great steak and potato place with a Greek bent to it with Gyros and the like. It was later meal, pretty much went to bed when we got back home. I think Bell is returning today, she has been enjoying her time visiting with her mother.
It has given Randy and I ample time to visit and reminiscence about our childhood in Elsberry, mutual friends that have floated out of orbit, memories of our parents and speculation about the future which is often more grim than hopeful. That last note is not all fatalistic, there are glimmers of hope, but America's rehab program is not going to be easy. Like many people, life changes often come as a result of the consequences of ignoring the current situation until the proverbial chickens come home to roost. I am hoping the Mother of our Culture does not need a heart attack or stroke to change Her ways, but we rambled on about that seeming to be the path we are on like it or not. Our Nation, like many of our neighbors, seem inattentive to their situation growing worse. I am just hoping we can reset the cultural narrative where the Right and Center Right work on stabilizing the cultural and economy, the Left & Center Left work on the arts and real integration of the richness of American culture and both agree to get out of education as a federal reality and return it to local communities. Probably a pipe dream, but I have enjoy my visits with Randy and of course my sojourns among all of you wonderful people. Happy Tuesday Friends!
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! Happy Monday to all good souls who visit and bring life to Locals and Substack. Each community has its own vibe, and I have sampled a few in the last six years. To this day I am thankful for Dave Rubin and his founding of Locals. I was burnt out on social media because of Facebook and its sanity-draining interactions. Between the coming of the Donald and the dance of the Covidiots, my confidence in social media as a way to connect with meaningful people and have actual conversations or dialogue was almost erased. People I had known for years lost their minds after the 2016 election and then doubled down during the Plan-demic.
Oh well—fond memories, and I am none the worse for wear other than weeding out friends and family members who have forgotten how to communicate or respectfully disagree. I am better off praying for them than seeking their company. I am always open to overtures of reconnection, but as I like to say: always invited, never expected. Off to ...
The Beautiful
Said the Disciple to the Lover, “Sir, 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. Were they then speaking the truth?”
The Lover answered, “Those 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. 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.”
