The zap appeared to work on my end. I’m using Primal iOS with Alby.

Brilliant!

Wow, that’s a good insight!

Attempts at compassion that run counter to the truth are not truly compassionate. Sadly, many leaders in the Church act like they don’t believe there are eternal consequences to sin.

In the Passion narrative we see how even the disciples, though they had shared Jesus’ life and listened to his words, were still thinking of a political kingdom, brought about also by force. In Gethsemane, Peter had unsheathed his sword and began to fight, but Jesus stopped him (cf. Jn 18:10-11). He does not wish to be defended by arms, but to accomplish the Father’s will to the end, and to establish his kingdom not by armed conflict, but by the apparent weakness of life-giving love. The kingdom of God is a kingdom utterly different from earthly kingdoms.

Pope Benedict XVI

From: Homily, 25 November 2012

I have no expectation of privacy with ChatGPT, so I've used it carefully and sparingly.

What do you think of the documented experiences of people whose brains stop functioning for a time, but after they are revived, report events that took place while they were brain dead? These reports include events and observations in other locations than where the patient was located because their point of view moved away from their body. This module you describe should not be capable of this.

Rocketry is an easier problem to solve than sin. That took the death of God’s Son to solve, but sadly modern man is rejecting that solution.

What is the thing that experiences the illusion?

That’s interesting. Maybe I can visit Utrecht someday.

God formed man to be imperishable;

the image of his own nature he made them.

But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world,

and they who are in his possession experience it.

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,

and no torment shall touch them.

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;

and their passing away was thought an affliction

and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are in peace.

For if before men, indeed, they be punished,

yet is their hope full of immortality;

Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,

because God tried them

and found them worthy of himself.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,

and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

In the time of their visitation they shall shine,

and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;

They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,

and the Lord shall be their King forever.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

and his care is with his elect. (Wisdom 2:23-3:9)

Hear, O kings, and understand;

learn, you magistrates of the earth's expanse!

Hearken, you who are in power over the multitude

and lord it over throngs of peoples!

Because authority was given you by the Lord

and sovereignty by the Most High,

who shall probe your works and scrutinize your counsels.

Because, though you were ministers of his kingdom, you judged not rightly,

and did not keep the law,

nor walk according to the will of God,

Terribly and swiftly shall he come against you,

because judgment is stern for the exalted–

For the lowly may be pardoned out of mercy

but the mighty shall be mightily put to the test.

For the Lord of all shows no partiality,

nor does he fear greatness,

Because he himself made the great as well as the small,

and he provides for all alike;

but for those in power a rigorous scrutiny impends.

To you, therefore, O princes, are my words addressed

that you may learn wisdom and that you may not sin.

For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy,

and those learned in them will have ready a response.

Desire therefore my words;

long for them and you shall be instructed. (Wisdom 6:1-11)

I appreciate Tim's concern with the problems of feminism, but I think his advice could use some nuance. Feminism has infected the thinking of most people in the west, so it is rare to find anyone unaffected by it. A man and woman considering marriage will need to work out the issue of male headship as well as mutual submission. I know Tim rejects the teaching of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI on mutual submission, but I think he needs to reexamine that. Sometimes the man, as the leader, needs to bend to the needs of the wife, and that is a form of self-sacrificial submission. It takes wisdom and discernment to know when that needs to happen. However, if the girlfriend, after a heart-to-heart discussion on the topic, is unwilling to let the man lead, they should not get married. Conversely, if a woman is not convinced her boyfriend will lead the family by treating her with loving care and respect, they should not get married.

That's a great idea!

The readings for today fit together beautifully, and while they are always important, they are especially relevant for the confusing and destructive age we live in. We must seek wisdom, the oil to keep our lamps filled, so that we are ready for the coming Bridegroom. Of course, true wisdom is only found in the incarnate eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Wisdom is radiant and unfading,

and she is easily discerned by those who love her,

and is found by those who seek her.

She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.

He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,

for he will find her sitting at his gates.

To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,

and he who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,

because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,

and she graciously appears to them in their paths,

and meets them in every thought. (Wisdom 6:12-16)

But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

This is a big one for me.

Good morning, everyone!

Nevermore

nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn is working on something that could be the foundation of something like Teams or Slack. You should follow him.

As others said, bad children are not always the fault of their parents, but I don't know the details of that family. I'm sure it's had to be an emperor and a good father. My impression of Marcus Aurelius is that although he appeared to be a seeker of wisdom and wrote some good things, he rejected the wisdom of the Christian Gospel. If he was truly open to wisdom, he would have listened to the Christian witness that was around him. We know that Justin Martyr wrote to him twice about Jesus.

That's great that you have the support of your wife. I've been blessed to have my wife on the same page through our twists and turns.

Have you entered the Orthodox Church, or are you still in the consideration stage? I came close to becoming Orthodox but instead checked out a conservative Anglican communion called the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC). I thought it would give my wife and I the benefits of Orthodoxy but not seem so foreign, which bothered her more than me at the time.

However, in the CEC I found that they did not have an answer to the problem of unity in the Church. I came to the conclusion that the solution that Jesus gave us is the successors of the Apostles (bishops) who are united around the successor of Peter (the Pope of Rome).

I reluctantly entered the Catholic Church, mostly out of obedience to the truth that I believed had been revealed to me. It has since proved to be a blessing to my wife and I, despite current problems in the hierarchy. Just like in the Protestant world, there are good and bad people as well as good and bad communities within the Catholic world, and we have found some good ones. I have also found great blessings in the saints and established traditions of the Church. Even though there is argument, controversy, and confusion on these things today, especially on the Internet, we have 2000 years of solid doctrine and godly examples to cling to and can pretty much ignore the present-day noise.

Interestingly, there was a scandal in the leadership of the CEC shortly after we became Catholic resulting in several of my friends leaving. Most of them became Eastern Orthodox.

After I came to faith in high school in an Evangelical context, I ran into doctrinal disagreements among friends in college that caused me to start looking back towards the Reformation for answers. For a while, I thought I had found the answers I sought in Calvinism, but when I started seeing cracks in the Reformed edifice, I went deeper into history. Then there was no turning back.

I was a somewhat obnoxious Calvinist for a while in my early 20s. I sympathize with their position even though I have moved on.

It’s so complicated. Hamas is clearly genocidal, but I can’t stand behind everything the government of Israel is doing, either. A lot of innocent people are being used as pawns in this power struggle, and there’s a lot of information we commoners don’t have, so I don’t see how we can make a definitive judgement of one side over the other.

Wow!

The Catholic Current is one I recently discovered. It's from a radio show done by Fr. Robert McTeigue SJ. He's one of those rare orthodox Jesuits. He's very smart and insightful, and he doesn't mince words when it comes to problems in the culture or the Church, not matter how high it goes.

Cap it!

I use Fountain now, but for a while I used Podverse. Features I like in Fountain are:

1. Value-for-value sats streaming and boosts

2. I like the way the queue works, letting me organize what I want to listen to next.

3. The activity feed on the home page is interesting, although I should look at it more.

There are several podcasts I like, but for here I recommend the Thank God for Nostr podcast.

Let me try again, this time using Primal instead of Snort.

Seeing all of these Orthodox clerics made me think you would be interested in this icon. I had the privilege of attending a Bible study led by Abp. Dmitri of Dallas for several months in 1999 while I was on the journey from Calvinist-Evangelical Christianity to exploring historic Christianity. Abp. Dmitri was going through Romans and showed me another way to interpret it, which opened my mind to a world beyond Protestantism. The fact that he was a man who was clearly close to Jesus gave him credibility that was life-changing for me. The first time I saw him celebrate the Divine Liturgy was Triumph of Orthodoxy Sunday. As he preached his homily, questions would come to my mind, and then he would appear to answer my question with his next sentence. It was as if we were having a conversation. Needless to say, it was a very moving experience. Although I did not end up becoming Orthodox, I have a soft spot in my heart for you all. Anyway, this icon was posted on Facebook yesterday in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Many people who knew him are proclaiming he is a saint, and I certainly support that.

That is a great clip. I am going to show it to some people I know who struggle with discouragement.