#rich inner world fr

[hopeworth]

zolaw situationship save me….

#zolaw #zoro & law #zoro #trafalgar law #the aroace luffy - demiro zoro - aroace law dynamic compells me…… #but the romance/sex-repulsed luffy - zolaw in love with him and are also e/o’s qpr fuckbuddies dynamic also interests me greatly #zolaw are both sword sex freaks or something. except when they’re not and they’re all aroace. trust me #rich inner world fr #op.txt

[gooppoo]

y'all crazy fr and I love it

tugging along: the trilogy

part 1

part 2

Requests Closed!

mdni.

warnings: more hair pulling duhhh, Jake paying his dues (oral lol)

"Wait - are you serious?"

Jake took a few more steps but you jumped from your seat and scrambled over to him. In a quick succession you had him facing you and your eyes fell to the splotched loincloth and pearly beads of cum running down his thick leg.

"Holy-"

Jake's hand smacked over your mouth and he smashed you against his chest, "Shh!" His eyes darted around you, then he decided to slowly release you with his palm near your lips.

Jake, Toruk Makto, was cumming all over himself over some hair pulling?

Oh...this was rich.

"I...do not know what to say..."

"Nothing-" Jake bit back, "Keep your fuckin' mouth shut."

A siren-like appearance came over your gaze, pairing with your crossed arms, "I will." Jake nodded and added a quick, "Good," but you weren't done there.

"But why should I?"

His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing lethally, "You can't be serious."

"I am very serious."

This was blackmail in its purest form, and Jake had limited (mentally sound) options. His reputation was everything, so he'd be damned to have you muddy it.

A big hit to his ego made his voice softer, "The hell do you want?"

Despite you forcing the conversation in this direction, his willingness to give in left you moderately appalled. Was it ethical to ask this of him?

Ethics were obsolete here.

Running your evil stare up his yummy physique had a sinful tingle exciting the space between your thighs. Perhaps...

"Why don't we," you took one of his braids into your hand, "apply this interest of yours?"

With crooked brows and a tilted head, Jake eyed you suspiciously. Surely his mind was playing tricks on him; this was far from reality. Not after the massive embarrassment he made of himself, how could you want to indulge him in anyway.

Your eyes sheepishly flashed down to your belly button and then you watched Jake's pupils dilate. After all, it seemed, he didn't need an elaborate plan to get his sick fix - you were doing it for him. At a cost of course, but that was a matter for later.

Weakly, he sighed, "Alright..." and reached for your body.

You had another idea, however, and led him by a handful of braids to a more secluded area. Careful to not excitement too much, you were soft in your tugs and was attentive to the progress below his garment.

Once arriving, you both took to the ground below and Jake readied to connect by your lips, but your palm met his expression.

"Wrong lips, Toruk Makto."

The boldness you exuded without thought never disappointed in taking Jake by surprise. Most what you had to offer him wasn't hard to bargain with either.

"Yes ma'am." He chuckled, shuffling toward your thighs.

As a teaser, his tongue traced patters between your hips and along your inner thighs, fingers teasing you enough through your loincloth to encourage a sticky spot to form.

To hear you yelp, he let his teeth graze and nip at the silken skin leading to your groin. He shifted aside your loin cloth to view what you had hidden from the world, to which Jake purred devilishly. His lips grazed your clit and he listened closely to your hum, ears standing on end.

"I don't want to hear it. You did this to yourself." Jake dared to mock you. Before you could retaliate, he latched his lips onto your clit and began swishing his tongue.

When you didn't suppress your moans, he took it upon himself to do the favor for you - his hand once more muffling you. You should've know someone like Jake had a talented tongue - steamy and clever - still, your hips writhed and flicked.

But that wasn't all Jake had under his belt. A gasp ripped through the air after his strength displayed in a way that had your knees shoved against your ribs.

"Stay quiet, or I stop."

Even though you were the one in this predicament because of a threat, he had the gull to threaten you. And you obeyed. You wouldn't imagine depriving yourself of the delectable climax sure to come.

With that, Jake continued to prove himself: introducing you to the talents of his lips and tongue, flicking here and sucking there. Fearful this could end at the smallest slip up, you had your hand covering your chewed bottom lip.

"Give it to me baby, I know your close."

And you did.

Your free hand made a home around Jake's braids, and clawed or pulled when he sent electricity up your torso.

"Fuck-" he'd growl against you, "Sonofabitch-!" he'd moan. His curses adding a filthy vibration to his work.

Now you used his hair as a guide, maneuvering his tongue just the way it needed for your orgasm to get closer and closer and closer-

"Fu-u-u-ck!"

The sob reverberated against your sweaty palm and you quickly swallowed as much as you could of it when it dawned on you it's escape. You knew Jake wanted to pull away to spite you - leave you with a weak orgasm - but the grip you had on his hair made him hiss in the ways he had been craving.

After while, your hips had to stop rolling, and your fingers had to relax, your center needed to breathe. Once again finding your gentleness, you pulled Jake to meet your blissful character and let him dip down to taste yourself on his lips. Your hand started to slip from his hair, but he caught your wrist and kept it stationary, swiping his tongue past yours. Taking the hint, you anchored your fingers into his braids and used this leverage to add depth to your fiery kiss.

Much to your surprise (and maybe even dismay) Jake broke first for a breath of fresh air. He let your fingers dance down to cup his face to share an exchange of contrasting lines of sight. Jake was known for his endless supply of child-like energy, and it seemed to express itself fully during sex. You figured this was multiplied after you were his willing guinea pig.

But his ears flattened against his hair, and his smirk straightened, "You're gonna keep quiet, right?"

"Sometimes, I like to keep nice things to myself." You shrugged.

Jake bit his lip to hide a massive smile and dove back in for another kiss.

#avatar #avatar x reader #avatar smut #jake sully #jake sully smut #jake sully x reader #jake sully x y/n #jake sully x you

[vechter]

ao3 for dick grayson fics is such a trying experience, truly bc what do you mean there's not one, not two but an overwhelming abundance of fics where dick is a bad sibling and jason todd is the ideal, supportive, drops-everything-for-your-crisis sibling?

like i can understand the appeal of exploring the lesser of dick's choices and character traits and how those impact his relationships with the rest of the bats but you mean to tell me that any of them- damian, tim, cass- tim, especially- would willingly go to jason for help when they have the option of asking dick?

as much as red robin is a deeply rich, complex story about grief and morality, i'm afraid it did irreparable damage to dick's character, not to mention tim's (that boy does not have an egregiously high body count, comics would never gloss over that kind of mass death or be implicit about it in any way if that had actually happened)

dick's primary character thesis is being a safety net for people who fall- the way bruce and batman were for him after his parents died. it's one of his chief driving forces. there is no world where he doesn't help out a stranger, let alone his siblings if they come to him for help. and despite all of the bats being notoriously bad at asking for help and support, the number of instances where dick is an empathetic listener, doling out advice and emotional support and compassion (even when people are tight-lipped about needing any of those things) far outweighs the times he has been short-sighted or intentionally harsh. no character is perfect but to see how often jason is written favourably whilst simultaneously dragging dick is maddening fr

like, fine you like jason a lot. it can be fun and cathartic to write about him choosing to develop relationships outside of his grief/trauma/revenge with bruce (although i think that the most compelling thing about jason is how much of his character post-resurrection is driven by existing as a dead boy walking so to see him actually care about living and making healthy choices would probably require something beyond therapy with harley quinn lmao) but is it really necessary to do that while putting dick down? both tim and damian have seen dick while he is decidedly not at his best (reeling from the circus burning down in nw '96, grieving bruce, finding his footing as batman) and have come out the other side firm in their belief in him. cass, unfortunately is more removed from dick's immediate circle but that's a whole other tangent about how peripheral dick is to both of the batgirls that come after babs. steph, by virtue of having a parent who is alive, is lucky enough to be removed from more of the complicated dynamics all of them have with each other. and while dick is an ass in her initial batgirl days, he does warm up to her (but that again is a whole other post considering the legitimacy and nuances of characterizations in batgirl- tim never gets the same flak for his treatment of steph despite being much, much closer to her and actually knowing her beyond the second robin to die- and even then, when dick finds out about steph's death, the gist of initial reaction is to blame bruce, perhaps, rightfully so)

like you're falling for his act!!! as readers of a form of media like comics, we are lucky enough to get a glimpse into dick's inner neuroses and thought-processes while simultaneously seeing how he acts on them. ofc we see him make mistakes but a lot of the other characters don't!! and if/when they do, they don't see beyond the performance he delivers. even barring the fucked-up-ness of a high stakes job like vigilantism where trauma and death and adrenaline are linked together messily, no relationship between two people is perfect. people hurt each other, people lash out!! but the most compelling thing about dick is how often he reaches out, how often he swings back even after he has swung away!! that's what makes him such a source of light, hope and positivity for everybody he encounters

and this is not even touching n52 which seems like the most hasty kind of decision making and writing from editorial with no consideration for a lot of the characters' histories, lore and their core characterizations

#rant post #sorry im so annoyed I was just looking for a good tim and dick fic #and good fucking lord the no. of jason todd is a good sibling and dick grayson is a bad sibling tagged fics #dick grayson

[aroacehanzawa]

What's TWSB? Is it a novel? 👀

Yesss! Third Wheel Strikes Back (TWSB) or alternatively known as What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up, is an isekai/transmigration novel where Jung Yeseo ends up in the body of Jesse Venetiaan, the second male lead in a romance fantasy novel his sister used to read. In the original novel he gets mixed up with the main character and her love interest and then dies in a war, so Yeseo's plan is to survive by not getting involved with either of them using what he can remember from his sister gossiping abiut the novel. And well let's just say that he does get involved with them 👍

It's a great story with super lovable characters, Jesse/Yeseo's inner monologue is a mood at all times, and the supporting cast is rich and vibrant. It's kind of a slice of life novel that's full of Incidents so it never gets boring but also (so far) doesn't get angsty either, and the pacing is excellent because there's always breathing room with comedic relief after more high stakes episodes. It does a really good job at being lighthearted while also knowing how to pull at your heartstrings at the right moments!

Also the description of fancy and delicious foods is out of this world, like don't read this on an empty stomach or you will start salivating... And there's really cute animals as well, our Jesse is like a disney princess fr

The original has over 800 chapters (wild) but the english translation is currently up to 173 on here. There's also a manhwa adaptation that's really cute but i didn't find it as engaging as the novel tbh. I wholeheartedly recommend reading it!!

tl;dr read twsb for bisexuality and polyamory (real) (not clickbait)

#ok it's kind of clickbait because it's not canon? or maybe after the translation idk a lot can happen in 800 chapters #but it's real. to me #twsb

[lottalove01]

im sorry but rich western kids complaining abt their parents divorce which fucked them up apparently are the most annoying people in the world imo then theyll go on and on abt 'healing their inner child' and what that actually means is working on commiting to selfish actions without feeling guilt fr individualism is so annoying

#like i know most of their experiences probably were bad and its not a game with a winner of whos childhood was the worse #but like be normal idk

[nervousbreadpuppy]

no one even cares to ask me about my rich inner world. fucked up fr.

#:)

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

More angsty S1 YasMoon because they're so!!! THEY'RE SO!!! They're so important to me, you don't understand. I've made them both such rich inner worlds that only exist in my mind but by GOD if I'm not Unwell about the complex, nuanced, and BRUTALLY flawed versions of them that live in my head rent-free ;_____;

Like I am gripped by how many things it re-contextualizes if Yas and Moon were hooking up in Season 1. Like that's why Moon so doggedly remained Yasmine's faithful, right-hand Evil Bitch, despite being a very good-natured person normally. That's why these girls were almost grinding in that one concert video Sam showed Amanda. And that's why their beach party confrontation had enough tension to fill an olympic-sized swimming pool. It was a damn breakup akajndslfkjl

Anyways, I'm hoping I can write some full-length one-shots that delve into this more, but I'm just imagining that during S1 and before, Moon was just...an absolutely hopeless pining mess. Like she did everything for Yasmine and went along with whatever she said in hopes that Yas would eventually love her the same...or at least love her openly. She knew Yas could be sweet and giving in private, but she wanted more than anything to be shown off and flaunted like something to be proud of (part of why she eventually ditched Yas for Hawk! Although he went way too far in the other direction to the point of like. Treating her more like a coolness prize than a person ^^;). Yasmine only ever treated her softly and gently when no one else was looking, and it killed Moon. She hated always feeling like a side piece and an afterthought, and still only ever getting dismissively called "a friend." Or sometimes just a lackey, even if Yasmine wouldn't say it directly. I think finally standing up to Yasmine was just as much about wanting better for herself as well as all the people Yasmine bullied.

Like the way she seems guilty about cutting Sam off and horrified to see Kyler mocking her in front of the entire cafeteria implies she's not really comfortable with all the awful stuff Yas does. And like sure, she could stick with Yasmine out of platonic loyalty or to have a popularity safety net, BUT. Being a Yasmine simp would explain just how much she's willing to tolerate before she kicks Yas to the curb XD And hey, she's canonically got a thing for mean, aggressive people, does she not???

Anyways tl;dr poor Season 1 Moon </3 Girl was in love with Yasmine and I WILL die on that hill. Would explain why she was super high and out of it for a lot of S1, too. Girl was coping (er...not healthily) with her gf a) not admitting she was her gf and b) not cherishing her like she secretly wanted </3 Yasmine fr pushes her lesbianism so far down it may as well collide with the earth's core at this point.

In my heart she accepts it and owns it at some point in the distant future, bless iashluybkh

Big, big fan of that locket on the bottom right, btw. Headcanon Yas gifted it to Moon during S1, but was like "if you ever wear this, you CANNOT tell people I gave it to you lest they think we're... g a y" ;______; Like that's not even the first conclusion people would probably come to anyways, but poor Yas is so paranoid about people suspecting she isn't straight that she feels like she has to shut down anything that could possibly point to that D: Also dying on my hill that she has a more difficult relationship with her parents than she lets on and they're either subtly or openly homophobic, which is why she represses her sexuality so adamantly

As always, pic credits available upon request!

#yasmoon #yasmine x moon #moon x yasmine #aesthetic #moodboard #yasmine cobra kai #moon cobra kai #cobra kai #cobra kai season 1

[munamania]

reading thg is so like cathartic cause katniss’s narration is sooo like yeah she gets me fr ms rich inner world kind of a weirdo overthinking cunt i love her dearly also can we talk about her autism she’s actively stimming rn

#abby talks

[rillette]

I wanted so badly to be brave by The Wonder Years for Tom and Roy (⬅️ being delusional about characters who have never met having been friends since childhood again)

YESSSSSSS!! it works so so well, obsessed with your rich inner world fr

#asks <3 #ty for the ask!! #music hour

[mirrinbelde-shitposts]

Heyyy!

Here fr d game!

Umm im guessing ur an pisces mercury*hehe jst types wht comes to mind at 1st

Also i wont mind if u post it publicly or send me privately

Here is my birthchart(tropical)

Lawl SUSPENSE..Hehe

Anw Have a great day/night ahead🤍🥂

Guessing was fun tho..evn if i guessed wrng one💀🤣

Hey!! You did guess wrong, sorry about that xd but it's oki, don't worry about it! Have a good day too ^^

Welcome to your reading. Please remember to send feedback.

First impressions when looking at your chart: you don't have a lot of aspects, but a lot of them are exact: that wedge patter between Saturn, Venus and Mercury is very exact; you have an even distribution of planets among the signs and the houses; also, the angles (except IC) all conjunct planets or points

SUN IN AQUARIUS

As an Aquarius, you are quirky, aloof, dreamy and humanist. People may think you're awkward and detached, which is probably true for you since your Sun is at 0º of Aquarius. Your originality and uniqueness are probably the things you love about yourself the most. Your mind is also quite agile, which allows you to fulfil your dreams. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that the Sun is in Detriment in the sign of Aquarius. This means that the Sun can struggle here, making you feel confused as to who you are and how you can express yourself. You very much value your independence and your rebelliousness. However, you can be stubborn to a fault when it comes to your thoughts and opinions.

SUN IN THE 7TH HOUSE

The Sun in the house of Libra shows that you really enjoy socializing and that's also where you shine the most brightly. The Venusian influence gives you charm and elegance, which cause people to flock to you. Also, you may show your true colours in relationships, particularly romantic ones. Having someone close to you will allow you to achieve a better understanding of yourself. You do well when it comes to working with others; this placement helps the detached, independent Aquarius Sun to be more sociable and better appreciate others. Also, the Venus influence can make people look up to you and see themselves in you, something that doesn't really happen with Aquarius Suns in generally. You may do well in associations or organizations because you have a need to be in society.

MOON IN CAPRICORN

Once again, you have a planet in Detriment. Capricorn, the sign of Saturn, struggles to feel and voice the emotions they experience. Therefore, it is natural that the Moon finds this sign difficult. You think too much. Perhaps you had a complicated relationship with your mother, which may have caused you to repress your emotions. Capricorn placements, in general, tend to grow up and mature quite early, which leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms; you had to raise your walls up high, so you struggle to let anyone in. You may also be socially awkward. At the same time, you may seek validation from society, which is one of the things that may give you that emotional security that you deeply seek. You should work on letting your guard down; emotions are not the enemy, it's okay to feel what you feel. Let out your inner child once in a while.

MOON IN THE 6TH HOUSE

Here, the Moon is in the house of Virgo (but lying almost on top of the Descendant). There is a strong connection between body and mind. You seek emotional safety through your work and other acts of service; you want to be useful to people and to spend your time wisely. You may be a workaholic. Your routines are very important to you; you can get distraught if someone messes with your daily habits. Your health may be a concern to you, but since your Moon is harmoniously aspected, I'd say you're generally healthy. Nevertheless, watch for any hereditary diseases or problems with food or alcohol. The square with Mars suggests to me that you can quickly let out your anxieties. You like discipline, organization and cleanness; you are determined in the pursuit of your goals. You may have a vocation to work directly with people. Your moods may change quickly.

MERCURY IN CAPRICORN

With Mercury in Capricorn, you speak in a very structured, pondered way. You are very analytical and it shows in the way you communicate. You're a realist, but people may think you're more pessimistic. You definitely tend to be pessimistic at times, as well as distrustful and sceptical. You like to research, to gather information before speaking. You're concrete in your thinking, logical and organized. You take your time to make decisions; you weigh all the pros and cons carefully. Probably not the one to daydream or have many fantasies; you prefer the realistic and achievable. Although you're mostly serious, you can be playful sometimes.

MERCURY IN THE 6TH HOUSE

Capricorn Mercury is similar to Mercury in the house of Virgo. You are probably a perfectionist person, determined and organized. You analyse everything, yourself and your emotions included. You're very critical, especially of yourself. You hold everyone to high standards; once again, yourself the most. Like Capricorn Mercury, you can have pessimistic tendencies. You probably repress your feelings and rationalize them instead. Additionally, your knowledge can progress through daily life experiences and through your body. You should practice meditation and mindfulness because your anxiety and stress may have a direct effect on your bodily health.

VENUS IN PISCES

Venus is exalted in Pisces. This sign is intuitive, empathetic and emotional, which are traits that Venus likes. You feel everything and negative energies really get to you, so it's important that you find a partner that gives you emotional stability. You make a good lover, for you are caring and sensitive to people's needs, especially your partner's. Venus here gives you ethereal, alluring vibes. You can seem almost magical to people. You can be very protective of those you love, selfless; you can even sacrifice yourself for them. You're a daydreamer, you live in your own fantasy world. You have great aesthetic taste and you're quite romantic. However, be careful not to be taken advantage of; your too-good nature can land you someone whose intentions are far from the best.

VENUS IN THE 8TH HOUSE

Venus here acquires some Scorpio traits, namely the need to get a deep connection with someone. You are a person of extremes, not of middle-terms. In this sense, you can get effortlessly get people to open up to you, to tell you their deepest, darkest secrets. Since the (H also rules other people's money, you may get rich through an inheritance or a good marriage. Also, people may trust you with their money. In love, too, they aspire to learn everything about their partner. You seek transformative relationships, ones that will allow you to experience a different range of emotions, another dimension, even. Casual relationships are probably not your thing. You can get too controlling and dominating, so beware of that. Also, financial security is important to you; you may even have a job that has directly to do with money.

ARIES MARS

Here, Mars is in its rulership. You are quite reckless and impulsive in your actions. You like to be the first, to be the pioneer (much like Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac). You have a knack for leadership and people tend to be happy to follow your lead. You are quite competitive in just about everything; you can have a sour loser. You are quick to get mad, but after you explode, your anger will be gone in an instant. You are great at achieving goals because Mars helps you to stay motivated and determined; you are quite persistent and usually get what you want. You can also work well under pressure. Laziness is not in your blood. Your independence is quite important to you, as are your opinions. You can be quite stubborn and difficult to argue with, simply due to your relentlessness.

MARS IN THE 9TH HOUSE

Your Mars is in the house of Sagittarius. This placement allows you to acquire the necessary willpower for the journey to the expansion of knowledge and discovery. Your actions should help you with the acquisition of further knowledge, as well as ideas and strengthening your freedom. This placement goes against the need of routine imposed by your 6th house placements; Mars here wants you to get out there, be free, have fun, think about life, yourself and the universe. You have strong morals and philosophical ways. This placement may make you strongly seek, hunt, even, the truth of the fundamental questions. On another note, you can develop an attraction to foreign people and may wish to move away from home swiftly and without hesitation. This can be abroad too.

JUPITER IN VIRGO

Jupiter is in Detriment in Virgo. Whilst Jupiter is all about philosophy, the higher mysteries and expansion, Virgo seeks for the concrete, for what it knows, for the logical and rational. Therefore, this placement requires work. You are sceptical, you need to think and analyse everything before you come to a conclusion. Growth is achieved through responsibilities and being useful to others. A bit of idealism would be good, Jupiter struggles in Earth signs. You may think that you know more than you actually do, that you see the bigger picture when that is not true. Be careful not to grow an ego. Your beliefs will be challenged in this lifetime. You have a desire to help people, and in relationships too you want to do everything in your power to aid your partner.

JUPITER IN THE 2ND HOUSE

This placement generally brings good luck when it comes to money and other worldly possessions. You may also like to spend money, more on your loved ones than on yourself. You may be big into giving gifts. In order to reach that emotional security, you may wish to surround yourself with material items that, to you, hold great value and importance. Once you understand how better to acquire that stability, you may become rather generous with your money. You want a comfortable lifestyle. Like Venus in the 8th house, you may be good at managing your possessions, thus causing others to go to you for financial advice. You may not show it, but you have strong philosophical convictions, which may prove to be impossible to change.

SATURN IN CANCER

Saturn is in Detriment here, which makes it four planets in Detriment in your chart. You may feel a strong need for emotional safety, which could manifest as a fear of abandonment. There may also be some emotional blockages present that you struggle to overcome. Saturn retrograde, being the planet of Karma, may difficult your mission in life. You could be stuck on an unresolved trauma from a past life. This may be represented by a figure of authority in this life, perhaps your father. Instead of attempting to reconcile your past, try to accept the world changing around you. You may be too afraid to venture into the world and to open your heart; accept that it is part of life. Find people that give you that security, but don’t pour out your entire soul to them; find a balance. Not everything can be kept in our hearts, but not everything should be shared, either.

SATURN IN THE 12TH HOUSE

This is quite a strong and powerful placement: you have the planet of karma in the most karmic house. Also, according to Hellenistic Astrology, Saturn has its joy in the 12th house. You may be afraid to mess with the subconscious because your emotions may overtake you. Saturn is related to blockages and yours may be due to paranoia, which is characteristic of Neptune and Pisces. You may repress parts of yourself that you are not happy about, which makes you feel better, but, at the same time, paranoia can set in and make you wonder if that is the right thing to do. That aside, you may also struggle with poor self-esteem and doubts about yourself and life. There can be problems of guilt of some sort, perhaps even related to your life itself. It is very vague, but my thoughts about this placement are, in short, that, from birth, there have been deep traumas within you that have blocked your inner peace. What does are, I do not know. ⬛️

#astrology #game ask #my stuff

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

14th March >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 3:14-21 for The Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle B: ‘God loved the world so much’.

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle B (Laetare Sunday)

Gospel (Except USA)

John 3:14-21

God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’

Gospel (USA)

John 3:14–21

God sent his Son so that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”    For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Reflections (5)

(i) Fourth Sunday of Lent

My father loved fresh air. The bull wall was one of his favourite places. Like many men of his generation, he was a smoker and, sometimes, his breathing became a struggle. He loved to get out in the open where there was a good wind blowing that could fill his lungs. My mother was much less keen on fresh air, especially of the windy variety. It tended to leave her hair in what she considered a mess. After having experienced an abundance of fresh air at my father’s prompting, she was often heard to say, ‘I’m like the wreck of the Hesperus’. As children we were mystified as to what the ‘wreck of the Hesperus’ was. It was only many years later I discovered it was the name of a rather tragic poem about a shipwreck in a storm by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1842. However, as children, we knew that when our mother came out with this expression it meant that she didn’t like the look of herself. In those moments, Saint Paul’s statement at the end of today’s second reading wouldn’t have cut much ice with her, ‘We are God’s work of art’.

Perhaps, we all find it difficult to really believe that we are God’s work of art. We admire the workmanship of great artists, like Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and we recognize their creations as works of art. Many of these great artists were people of faith who were very aware that their ability to create works of art was a gift from God. They understood that God was the supreme artist, and they sensed that they were sharing in God’s creative power. Every new born child is God’s work of art, because they are an image and reflection of God, the supreme artist. In that sense, we are each God’s work of art. Just as a work of art can deteriorate over time and need cleaning and restoration, so, as we go through life, we do not always give full expression to our inner identity as God’s work of art. In that second reading, Saint Paul says that ‘we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life’. We don’t always live the good life that does justice to God’s work of art that we are.

Yet, what we do or fail to do does not fundamentally undermine who we are as people made in the image and likeness of the great Artist. Indeed, not only have we been created as human beings in the image of God, but that identity has been enhanced through God’s sending of his Son into the world and our communion with God’s Son through baptism and faith. Jesus was the perfect image and likeness of God. He was God’s greatest work of art. The closer we come to Jesus, the more he lives in and through us, the more we will grow into our true identity as God’s image and likeness, God’s work of art. We could imagine Jesus as the great restorer of God’s work of art, humanity. As Saint Paul says in that second reading, ‘when we were dead through our sins, he (God) brought us to life with Christ’. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God recreates us in his image and likeness, restores our identity as his work of art. Having created us out of love, God recreated us, restored us, out of love. That is the core message of today’s readings. The gospel reading declares that ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. God’s renewing love embraces the world, all of humanity who have been made in his image and likeness, and, indeed, all of creation. Paul in the second reading states that God’s ‘goodness towards us in Christ Jesus’ shows ‘how infinitely rich he is in grace’. Paul goes on to remind us that God’s loving initiative towards us through his Son is pure gift; it is not a response to anything we have done, as if we had to build up credit with God first.

We are all aware of the good we have failed to do and the wrong we have done. As a result, we can be prone to condemning ourselves, and others can look in judgement upon us. Yet, God is not primarily in the business of condemning. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that through him, the world might be saved’, might have life and have it to the full. The eyes of love always see goodness and beauty in the beloved even though he or she may leave a lot to be desired. Those we love deeply remain works of art to us, even though our shared journey may have had many ups and downs. God’s love for us, revealed in his Son, is infinitely greater than any human love. God continues to see us as his works of art, even though our lives may be tainted by sin. He continually gives us the gift of his Son and of the Holy Spirit so that can grow into that work of art more fully. All God of asks of us is that we keep opening our hearts to that gift of his Son, that we keep coming out into the light, in the words of today’s gospel reading.

And/Or

(ii) Fourth Sunday of Lent

 A painting hung for many years on the wall of a dinning room in the Jesuit house on Lesson Street. No one paid much attention to it until one day someone with a keen eye spotted it and realized that this could be something of great value. He had it further investigated by art experts, and it turned out that this painting was the work of no less a person than the great Italian artist Caravaggio. The painting of the arrest of Jesus in the garden now hangs in the National Art Gallery, and it is one of the Gallery’s great treasures. All those years it hung in the dining room of Lesson Street it was no less a treasure, but its worth, its value, went unrecognized. It hung there waiting to be discovered, waiting for someone to recognize its true worth, its true value as a work of art.

 In the second reading this morning, Paul states that ‘we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life’. Like the painting in Lesson Street, we can go unnoticed as a work of art, especially to ourselves. We don’t tend to think of ourselves as a work of art. Yet, as Paul reminds us in our second reading, God sees us as works of art. Like the person who spotted the painting in Lesson Street, God knows our true worth, our true value. As God said through the prophet Isaiah, ‘You are precious in my sight, and I love you’. We are as works of art to him, of great worth and value, precious in his sight.

 We can probably think of people in our own lives that are as works of art to us. These are people we value greatly, people we treasure, whose worth to us is beyond price. Today is Mother’s day, and most of us think of our mothers in that way, whether they are still living or are with the Lord. When someone is a treasure to us, we don’t count the cost in their regard. We will do anything we can for them. We will travel long distances to see them; we will stay up half the night to be with them if they are ill; we will defend and protect them with all our passion when necessary. We keep faith in them; we are faithful to them, even when that makes great demands on us. How we relate to those we value and treasure is not determined so much by how they relate to us. Even if they do something that annoys us, we tend to make all kinds of allowances for them. We say something like, ‘that’s just the way he is, she is’. Their worth in our eyes, their value to us, is rooted in something deeper than what they do or fail to do. We value them, simply, for who they are.

 Our experience of how we relate to those we value, and of how people who value us relate to us, gives us a glimpse of how the Lord relates to us. God loves us in a way that does not count the cost. The gospel reading today expresses that truth very simply: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. God sent us his Son out of love for us and that sending became a giving when his Son was put to death on a cross. Here was a love that did not count the cost, a sending that became a giving when that was called for. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘God loved us so much that he was generous with his mercy’. We are of such value in God’s eyes that God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all. It is not surprising that the cross has become the dominant symbol of Christianity. This is not because we glorify suffering in any way, but because we recognise that the cross is a powerful sign of how much God values us, how precious we are in God’s sight, the extent to which God is prepared to go to express love for us.

 Our love for those we value is bestowed on them for who they are more than for what they do. The same is true of God’s love for us in Christ. It is pure gift. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘it is not based on anything you have done’. Some of us find it difficult to really believe that. We find ourselves asking, ‘how I done enough?’ Yet, when it comes to someone in our lives whom we know truly loves us, we would rarely ask that question of them. Why should we ask it of God, when even the greatest of human love is only gives us a glimpse of God’s love? God loves us for who we are, people made in his image, and, therefore, works of art.

 What is asked of us in relation to God is that we receive God’s love, or in the words of the gospel reading today, that we come into the light. The light of God’s love falls upon us, but we can hide from it. Children fear the darkness very often. But as adults we often fear the light, because we suspect that the light will expose us in some way. Yet, the light of God is not a harsh light, the kind of light that is trained on a suspect in an interrogation room. It is a strong, yet warm, light that brings healing and generates new life. It is an empowering light that enables us to ‘live the good life’, as Paul says in the second reading. We pray that, as the hours of day light increase in these days, the life-giving light of God’s love would renew us and fill us with a desire to serve him.

And/Or

(iii) Fourth Sunday of Lent

 Children are often afraid of the dark, as the parents here in the church will know. A dim light is sometimes left on while children sleep, so that if they wake up it is not in pitch darkness. Many of us as adults find total darkness disconcerting too. Those of us who live in cities never really experience total darkness. It is different out in the country away from villages, towns and cities. I remember going on a holiday as a young person to the Arran Islands and being struck by just how dark it was at night. There was very little in the way of artificial light to dispel the darkness. The experience of near total darkness after night fell was disconcerting.

 Although most of us would claim to prefer light to darkness, in today’s gospel reading Jesus declares that some people ‘have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil’. Most crime is committed during the hours of darkness. Those who are intent on doing wrong are drawn to darkness because it provides them with cover. As today’s gospel states: ‘Everyone who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed’. One of the many security measures that have become popular in recent years is an array of bright lights that come on at night whenever anyone steps into an area that is out of bounds. Light is considered, with good reason, to be a deterrent to the person who is intent on committing crime. Indeed, there is a sense in which we all fear too much light just as we do too much darkness. Many of us prefer to stay in the background, in the shadows; we don’t like the spotlight being shone on us. We all have secrets that we would wish to remain in darkness, away from the bright lights that human curiosity and inquiry might like to shine on them. There are aspects of our lives that we would prefer to remain in darkness because we are not sure how people might respond to us if a bright light were to be shone on them. We only bring our deepest selves out into the light in the presence of those we really trust.

 The gospel of John frequently refers to Jesus as light. On one occasion, Jesus says of himself: ‘I am the light of the world’. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says with reference to himself: ‘Light has come into the world’. The gospel reading also declares that the light that has come into the world in the person of Jesus is the light of God’s love. In one of the most memorable statements of the New Testament, the gospel reading declares, ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him… may have eternal life’. The light of Jesus is not the probing light of the grand inquisitor that seeks out failure and transgression with a view to condemnation. Indeed, the gospel reading states that God ‘sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world’. The light of Jesus, rather, is the inviting light of God’s love, calling out to us to come and to allow ourselves to be bathed in this light, and promising those who do so that they will share in God’s own life, both here and now and also beyond death.

 At the beginning of today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of Man who must be lifted up. It was on the cross that Jesus was lifted up, and it was above all at that moment that the light of God’s love shone most brightly. It is a paradox that those who attempted to extinguish God’s light shining in Jesus only succeeded in making that light of love shine all the more brightly. God’s gift of his Son to us was not in any way thwarted by the rejection of his Son. God’s giving continued as Jesus was lifted up to die, and God’s giving found further expression when God raised his Son from the dead and gave him to us as risen Lord. Here indeed is a light that darkness cannot overcome, a love that human sin cannot extinguish. This is the core of the gospel. This is why the fourth Sunday of Lent is known as Guadete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday.

 When we are going through a difficult experience and darkness seems to envelope us, it can be tempting to think that we will never see the light again. This is the mood that is captured in today’s responsorial psalm: ‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept’. Today’s readings assure us that there is a light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness will not overcome, a light that heals and restores, in the words of today’s second reading, a light that brings us to life with Christ and raises us up with him. It shines in a special way whenever we celebrate the Eucharist. As we gather around the table of the word and the table of the Eucharist, the light of God’s love revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus shines upon whatever darkness we may be struggling with in our lives.

And/Or

(iv) Fourth Sunday of Lent

 A painting hung for many years on a dinning room wall in the Jesuit house on Lesson Street. No one paid much attention to it until one day someone with a keen eye realized that this could be something of great value. It was further investigated by art experts, and it turned out that this painting was the work of the great Italian artist Caravaggio. The painting of the arrest of Jesus is now hangs one of the National Gallery’s great treasures. All those years it hung in the dining room of Lesson Street it was no less a treasure, but its value went unrecognized. It hung there waiting to be discovered, waiting for someone to recognize its true value as a work of art.

 According to the particular translation of the letter to the Ephesians we read from this evening, we are all ‘God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life’. We don’t tend to think of ourselves as works of art. Yet, like the person who spotted the painting in Lesson Street, God knows our true worth, our true value. We are works of art to God; we are of great worth and value in God’s sight.

 We can all think of people in our own lives whom we value greatly, whose worth to us is beyond price, because to us they are works of art. Today is Mother’s day, and most of us think of our mothers in that way, whether they are still living or are with the Lord. When someone is a treasure to us, we don’t count the cost in their regard. We will do anything we can for them. We will travel long distances to see them; we will stay up half the night to be with them if they are ill; we will protect them with all our passion when necessary. How we relate to those we value and treasure is not determined so much by how they relate to us. Even if they do something that annoys us, we tend to make all kinds of allowances for them. We say something like, ‘that’s just the way he/she is’. Their worth in our eyes is rooted in something deeper than what they do or fail to do. We value them, simply, for who they are.

 Our experience of how we relate to those we value, and of how people who value us relate to us, gives us a glimpse of how God relates to us. God loves us in a way that does not count the cost. The gospel reading today expresses that truth very simply: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. God sent his Son out of love for us and that sending became a giving when his Son was put to death on a cross. Here was a love that did not count the cost, a sending that became a costly giving when that was called for. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘God loved us so much that he was generous with his mercy’. We are of such value in God’s eyes that God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all. It is not surprising that the cross has become the dominant symbol of Christianity. This is not because we glorify suffering in any way, but because we recognise that the cross is a powerful sign of how much God values us, how precious we are in God’s sight; it shows the extent to which God is prepared to go to express love for us.

 Our love for those we value is bestowed on them for who they are more than for what they do. The same is true of God’s love for us in Christ. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘it is not based on anything you have done’. Some of us find it difficult to really believe that. We find ourselves asking, ‘how I done enough?’ Yet, when it comes to someone in our lives whom we know truly loves us, we would never think of asking them, ‘Have I done enough?’ Why should we ask such a question of God, when even the greatest of human love is only gives us a glimpse of God’s love? God loves us for who we are, people made in the image of God’s Son, and, to that extent, works of art.

 What God asks of us is that we receive God’s love revealed and made present in Christ, or, in the words of the gospel reading today, that we come into the light. The light of God’s love falls upon us, but we can hide from it. Children fear the darkness very often. But as adults we often fear the light, because we suspect that the light will expose us in some way. Yet, the light of God is not a harsh light, the kind of light that is trained on a suspect in an interrogation room. It is a strong, yet warm, light that brings healing and generates new life. It is an empowering light that enables us to ‘live the good life’, as Paul says in the second reading, ‘to do good works’. As the hours of day light are increasing in these days, we pray that the life-giving light of God’s love would renew us and fill us with a new desire to serve him.

And/Or

(v) Fourth Sunday of Lent

 We have become very aware in recent weeks of how much longer the days are getting. We are half way through the month of March and already it is bright up until after six o’clock. We have even brighter days to look forward to, especially as the clock goes forward next weekend. The brighter evenings brings everybody out. With the increase in light, there is also an increase in growth. The first blossoms of spring have already come out. Nature is coming to life after a time of hibernation.

 The gospel reading this morning is in keeping with what is happening in nature. It declares that ‘light has come into the world’. The light there is a reference to the light of God that has come into the world through Jesus. Both the second reading and the gospel reading make clear that the light of God is the light of love. The second reading declares that God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy; it speaks of God’s goodness towards us in Christ, the infiniteness richness of God’s grace in Christ. The gospel reading declares that God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. In the light that Jesus brings from God we find mercy, compassion, great love, kindness, infinite grace. Sometimes we don’t like too much light. There is a certain kind of light that can expose us mercilessly, like the light of the interrogator’s lamp. However, Jesus brings a light that need hold no fear for us; it is a divine light that lifts us up, just as the Son of Man was lifted up, in the words of the gospel reading. Here is a light that assures us of our worth and that helps us to see the goodness that is within us and the good that we are capable of doing. It is a light that, in the words of the second reading, allows us to recognize that ‘we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live a good life’. It is the light of a love that shines upon us regardless of what we have done or failed to do. As the first reading reminds us, God’s grace, God’s love, comes to us not on the basis of anything we have done. It is not something we earn by our efforts; it comes to us as a pure gift. When God gave his Son to the world, did not ask whether the world was worthy of his Son or whether the world was ready for his Son. Even when the world crucified God’s Son, God did not take back his Son from the world. Rather, God continued to give his Son to the world, raising him from the dead and sending him back into the world through the Holy Spirit, through the church. Here is a light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness cannot overcome, in the words of the gospel of John.

 We all long for that kind of light, a light that is strong and enduring, a light that can be found at the heart of darkness and that is more resilient than darkness. We have all experienced darkness in one shape or form. It may be the darkness of sickness, or of the death of a loved one or the darkness of failure; we may struggle from time to time with the darkness of depression, with those dark demons that tell us that we are worthless and that life is not worth living. Something of that darkness of spirit finds expression in today’s responsorial psalm. It was composed from the darkness of exile in Babylon. ‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, remembering Zion’. We may have known our own experiences of exile in its various forms, times when we felt cut off from what gives meaning and purpose to our lives. The readings this morning assure us that in all those forms of darkness, a light shines - the light of God’s enduring love that is constantly at work in our lives so that we may have life and have it to the full. In the words of the gospel reading again, ‘God gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him... may have eternal life’.

 Even though this wonderful light has come into the world and wants to shine upon us all, we can be reluctant to step into that light, and allow it to shine upon us. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘though the light has come into the world, people have shown that they prefer darkness to the light’. This is the mysterious capacity of human freedom to reject the light, to turn away from a faultless love and a boundless mercy. Yet, our coming to the light is often a gradual process; it can happen slowly, at our own pace. The Lord is always prepared to wait on us; he waits for our free response. We are not used to a love that is as generous, as merciful, as rich in grace and goodness as God’s love; it takes us time to receive it, to believe in it, to embrace it. Receiving God’s love and then living out of that gift is the calling and task of a life time.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[natasa-pantovic]

A beautiful mind

Entertainment Books August 9, 2020|Ana Matkova|

4 min read

Nataša Pantović and her son Andrej at the launch of the novel Tree of Life: A Journey into the Field of Dreams in Valletta 2019.

Seated on a panel with her fellow writers, Maltese-Serbian novelist Nataša Pantović has been known to use slam poetry to perform her poetic body of work.

Like her prose, the improvised words, tribal music, percussionist sounds, lengthy ‘aum’ chanting, are neither too preposterous nor too earnest but endlessly curious. A bridge builder between East and West, following ancient archaeological findings, she often dives into historic settings more than 2,000 years back in time.

In her novel, Ama: Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras, the 52-year-old author makes a bold swerve into less-travelled territory. She chooses for her protagonists  Ama, an African priestess, living in China’s Macao in the 17th century; Ruben, a Portuguese Jesuit priest; and Fr Benedict, an Orthodox Christian.

The book explores the rapidly-growing Macao, its changing sights, sounds and smells from different perspectives, from that of a bat to a goddess to a spirit. Its miracle and its enigma are within the worlds of inner alchemy of the Age of Enlightenment.

Can you tell us about Ama: Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras?

Both Hesse and Tolstoy were my first spiritual gurus. Through their deep insights and soulful messages, for the first time I experienced the world of spiritual growth and deep contemplation. Many artists have inspired my writings, the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Lao Tzu and Giordano Bruno.  Pythagoras lived on the crossroads of civilisations, as I see us, and he has given us his fascinating research into music and numbers. With my deep respect towards ancient worlds, Pythagoras with his ancient Egyptian mystical knowledge had to be my protagonist.

In your novel, you follow the famous reform of the Chinese calendar during the 17th century. Can you tell us about your research?

I started writing this as a 17th-century novel. In this novel, it was easy to write from the point of view of the main character, a priest or Ama’s mother or a man without a name or a goddess, Lilith.

Holding up a mirror to society of ancient worlds can be fanatical or too obvious within the storytelling environment, so I had to break the rhythm with myths, with art, with dreams

I wanted to bring in the many first-person singular voices, starting with an animal ‒ a bat, as a story-teller, moving to Pythagoras, to people who meet Ama within the setting of her coffee house. This narrative framework is 50 per cent inspired by the ‘yin’ mindset; dreamy and emotional, and five per cent factual, male and mind-driven.

What is it within this black main character that fascinates you so much?

Ama lived with me for 10 years before I knew I would adopt two kids from Ethiopia, yet Ama as the main protagonist of the story has decided to be black.

Was Athens black at the time of the ancient Greeks or was it full of Slavs that during the Dark Ages were not allowed to have their own European history?

All my characters do have strong political, ideological and moral commitments, their ideas are ground-breaking; it is a science against the Church, male against female, East against West conversation.

Holding up a mirror to society of ancient worlds can be fanatical or too obvious within the storytelling environment, so I had to break the rhythm with myths, with art, with dreams.

This novel is, of course, about the search for truth, but from the goddess perspective, about love and union, of the priestesses that have given us the first commandment “Do not kill...”

In this novel you explore the Age of Enlightenment, and ‘Western’ ancient Greek philosophers. Can you talk about your use of the Eastern concept of ‘mindfulness’ in this context?

There are a number of ‘instant happiness’ gurus out there, I do not believe in a ‘get rich in a day’ message, but I do believe that if we learn how to listen to our soul, we will be able to live our highest potential.

We live in a rapidly changing world.  When I was born in Belgrade in 1968, at the time of no TV or internet, the population on the planet was one billion. Now they say it is seven billion.

The changes I have seen during my lifetime are huge. Emotionally, mentally and physically, we have to adopt different behaviour patterns, not just to survive, but to thrive without abusing other social groups or animals or endangering planet Earth.

The next stage, the stage of cultural life, is beyond the knowledge of more than 90 per cent of the population.

Having a percentage of the population that neither collects objects nor watches TV, nor reads newspapers, that is still capable of thinking, un-hypnotised, to appreciate art, or dance or sing, and is able to think creatively, is a part of my research fascination.

Nataša Pantović is a Maltese-Serbian novelist, management consultant, adoptive parent, and ancient worlds explorer based in Malta. Ama: Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras and other books by Pantović can be purchased on Amazon.

Sunday Times interview with Nataša Pantović A Beautiful Mind https://natasa-pantovic.tumblr.com/post/629614127622537216/a-beautiful-mind

#nataša pantović #sunday times #Interviews #Ama #fiction #ancient history #ancient china

[oikawasbread]

(part 1) Ah, okay for matchup’s, I thought it would be cool to try one of theses because I've never done one before. I’m female, and bisexual. I’m a Scorpio, and I enjoy track and cross country, dancing, which i’m fairly good at, photography and reading in general. I also find myself getting back into drawing and singing oftenly. It said I was a INTP-T. I have relatively short brown hair, which is curly. I’m mixed, more on the tan side and i’m 5′6 (I just checked)

I wear glasses majority of the time, and i’m fairly curvy. I see myself as a ambivert who has a bit of a shy shell, but can easily be broken into revealing a very energetic human being. My friends describe me as scary?? Aka, i’m not afraid to defend myself or state my opinion in many conversations. Along with that, I do get anxiety quiet often and wonder frequently if I accidentally made someone mad or not. With people I trust or like, i’m fairly loud and laugh alot- and its to the point where people have to tell me to calm down lmao. I enjoy engaging conversations almost about anything, and I wish I can have those types of talks more in my life. Alone however, i’m usually quiet and don’t start conversations unless I have too, or someone starts a conversation with me. In relationships, I’m just looking for someone who can make me laugh, while also tying me down when my emotions get the best of me, while respecting who I am. A few negative parts about my life can be simply showed with my zodiac sign with me being able to get jealous really fast and holding big grudges other small things, which are two things i’m trying to work on currently. On the positive note, I will say that I will literally take a bullet to save any of my best friends to be completely honest. I enjoy the rain, snow, and cold temperatures. I love animals and I have a very tiny doggo that I treasure with every ounce of my being. finally the last one im so sorry) I really enjoy reading about Greek gods and fantasy books. Another fact is that I get flustered really easily, which a lot of people tease me about. I don’t exactly like to stand out, which is why my wardrobe has more dark colors, as I don’t own any red/orange/yellow or pink shirts. And finally the last fact I thought I should include randomly is that I play the piano and learning it this year was one of the best decisions I've made in my life.

Damn, don’t feel sorry for this detailed description, fr. I actually enjoyed so much writing this. As a scorpio, I relate to you so much. I spent so much time on this and you gave me so much info so i had to do a whole character analysis for you and I felt like i was writing about myself. So I enjoyed writing this so much cause I realised new things I didn’t knew about me and it feels good to know that I’m not the only one who is like this.

Anyways!

MATCHING WITH : OIKAWA TOORU

Aight, I know that so many people hate him. And i don’t know if you hate or love him , but hear me out : Besides being a cancer and working with a scorpio so well, i feel like Oikawa would be perfect for your character.

-

 he’s totally in love with the way you style your brown curly hair. 

he says ‘’it’s almost as good as my hair’’

  he’s a total simp he knows your hair is better than his

 has a thing for your tanned skin. tbh u make him wish he wasn’t so pale :’( baby boy wants to get that tanned shiny skin! but it is what it isss

 you being 5’6 makes it easy for him to mock you. 

but he won’t exaggerate, because he knows you’re going to cut him with your sharp glance

 you’re clearly the top in this relationship. i mean you’re a scorpio. are we surprised?

 y’all r going to volleyball matches looking badass asf with your matching glasses but in reality you two are being crackheads in the last row of seats

 he clearly sees through you, but not since the beginning  

 at first, he was totally a bit scared to approach you. he’s always seen you being intimidating and sarcastic

you were like a challange to him, since Tooru himself is pretty intimidating and sarcastic

until he opens his mouth

and i think this is what makes you two so perfect for each other : you just need some time to warm up, then you suddenly become the funniest people of the group

 as a scorpio,  you can be pretty insensitive, having trouble when it comes to expressing your feelings, and when you and Tooru get into a fight, you won’t hesitate to throw some venomous words. sometimes you just can’t control your anger

but he knows you well. he won’t take it by heart since he knows how short your temper is, and he’s willing to step on his pride and put an end to your argument

 you’’re not afraid to step up. you’ve always went too far to defend your beliefs and he’s totally whipped. he thinks you would make a great lawyer haha

he loves how you always have a good argument for everything and how you can beat people in a fight just with your words. it’s truly amazing for him, the power you hold

so he avoids fighting with you

           I JUST KNOW you guys both have struggles when it comes to following rules. it comes with your zodiac sign. even though he’s way softer and innocent than you, you will drag him into your adventures. and he won’t say no :’)

 sometimes you feel like Oikawa is the only person who understands you, who doesn’t think you’re insane

he may not be a genius, but you can’t deny the fact that he’s actually clever

he understands you without even having to hear any words coming out of your mouth

Tooru knows you’re rebellious, stubborn, independent; he knows how you sometimes can feel 29843 emotions at the same time, and he’s here for you

he won’t question you when you don’t feel like talking. Instead, he would make a cup of your favourite tea, add  some ice in it, and watch you reading your favourite book while you’re drinking the tea in which he put his secret ingredient <3 love!!

you love reading about Greek Gods, and he loves aliens : so you slowly became a fan of the universe, the unknown, and he started to love the Greek Mythology

totally in love with your dance moves ; watching you dance is his favourite hobby; the way your body moves amazes him and he tries to dance like you sometimes . he may be the great king but not on the dance floor.

long story short, he’s in love with everything about you : your passion for photography, the things you’re reading (he actually finds your favourite authors quite interesting) , the way you’re singing in the shower or how you’re humming some familiar songs when you’re focused on something

he thinks he’s so lucky, and skipping some volleyball practices to hear you play his fave song at the piano is totally worth it

when he found out you’re an athlete, his brain went poof

watching you run with the sunlight dripping all over you was what he needed to get his mind off the school and vbc stress

having a thing for sports made you even more interesting and hot (he didn’t knew you could get hotter than you already are)

sometimes he can see that you’re needing approval, and he tries his best to let you know that you are the greatest at whatever you do.

you think he’s bluffing just to make you feel good, but you appreciate it so much even tho baby boy actually thinks you’re the greatest. like fr. you are his grand queen

you have a rich inner world, so you’d rather focus your attention on it instead of the external world. 

Oikawa thinks it’s pretty cute, cause you guys sometimes have lazy Sundays when you just lay in bed all day and do nothing but enjoying each others presence and your own thoughts.

Tooru, just like you, hates failure. losing any type of match puts him down, and the same happens to you. 

you feel like you wanna start over and do things the other way around, but you can’t.

the good thing is, you have each other.

 he mocks the hell out of your jealousy. whenever his fan girls are approaching him, you feel your heart stop and the oxygen fading away. you just wanna let out your anger

but he knows it, and he will reassure you that you don’t have any reason to feel that way. 

he’s only interested in his Grand Queen and no one else can change his mind.

he finds it quite fun that you hold grudges over small things, he can clearly see that you’re vengeful, and that makes you two lil partners in crime.

BUT the way you’re willing to do absolutely anything for him or your friends inspires him so much. 

of course, he would take a bullet for you. But your strong spirit is what’s making him be so passionate about everything : you inspire him

 the best days for him are when you two are around the house, and it suddenly starts raining. 

he only has to look at you once, and you both drop everything you’re doing and run outside to just sit in the rain. the feeling of the cold rain on your skin while you’re trapped between his arms makes your heart explode

 little moments like these are making you both fall in love more and more everyday.

I really really hope you enjoyed this! I tried my best and please feel free to request again whenever you want! <33                                                                                          

-Riley

[pamphletstoinspire]

The hallowed graves of D-Day’s dead: Honoring friend and foe

Military cemeteries have been a source of healing in Europe since the First World War.

A long with numerous dramatic activities commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day, there is a museum-type exhibition in Portsmouth. Guests such as President Trump and Queen Elizabeth will definitely see Air Force flyovers but not the more reflective display by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The CWGC is one of a number of organizations that have been quietly working for more than a century to bring dignity to the aftermath of war. The American Battle Monuments Commission is another seasoned practitioner, ensuring the upkeep of American service personnel’s graves.

France is the final resting place for millions of soldiers from the Commonwealth, USA, Germany, France and beyond. Most of these graves are from the First World War and are located in the northeast of France. For the Second World War, the location with the highest body count was Normandy, in the northwest.

Nobody knows the exact number who died during D-Day and the weeks that followed. There are very precise records of how many are buried, though. Military cemeteries are one of the few aspects of warfare conducted with enormous care, compassion and efficiency. They are also among the most striking reminders of the consequences of war. If ever there was a monument to mankind’s interconnectedness and mortality, it would have to be the war cemeteries of France, and they are as well-ordered and welcoming as ever.

The Normandy cemeteries are places where religious affiliations are respected without being segregated. Where segregation does exist, it is on the basis of nationality and not race or creed. Some cemeteries are for the nationals of one country, while others are for everyone who died in that vicinity, including combat enemies. Within any cemetery there are grave markers that show the religious diversity of the time. Jewish and Muslim headstones stand next to those of their Christian comrades. In cases where religious affiliations were unknown, the deceased were usually assumed to be Christian. The French are the only cemetery keepers to have a fourth category: atheists and “free thinkers.” Their grave markers feature no religious symbols.

Military cemeteries have been a source of healing in Europe since the First World War. Even the appalling bitterness after that conflict did not prevent graves being created for foreign invaders. Normandy has some of the most magnificent examples, with the dead of the German occupiers being given more respect than might be expected.

Not all of those who died in Operation Overlord, from June 6 to August 30, 1944, are buried in Normandy. There were more than 425,000 casualties from both sides, a quarter of whom were American. Many bodies have never been found, and some have been repatriated, but most are still interred in the rich soil of Normandy.

The largest of the Allied cemeteries is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Its 9,388 graves attract more than a million visitors a year. Few who see it are prepared for the profusion of gleaming white crosses, and occasional other symbols, that commemorate the Americans who died on nearby Omaha Beach.

With 21,160 burials, the German military cemetery of La Cambe is twice the size and 10 times as somber. It doesn’t attract anything like the number of visitors that the Allied cemeteries do. The atmosphere of defeat couldn’t be more different from the light and hopeful vigor of the Normandy American Cemetery. The crosses are dark, in roughly hewn stones that stand in small clusters. Some of the occupants were war criminals who never made it back to Germany to stand trial after the war. It’s reassuring that a forgiving younger generation of international school children still tend to this cemetery ever year, as they do with the Allied graves. As the sign outside says, this is “a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight. They too have found rest in our soil of France.”

There are distinct national characteristics to the cemeteries. While the American and French authorities have been using crosses since the First World War, the Commonwealth nations use flat, rectangular headstones instead. They usually have crosses incised into them, and there are large memorial crosses as well. The families of the deceased, when known, would have been asked for their preferences of religious content.

What we hear very little about is the process of the cemeteries’ early burials. This was not as serene an activity as the spotless locations would suggest today. At first the gravediggers tended to be local Frenchmen, usually old or disabled, who worked for the money that the Allies had brought with them. German prisoners of war were also used, without payment.

The organizers of the cemeteries are among the least-hymned heroes of the war. For the Americans, the Quartermaster Graves Registration Service didn’t just arrange for holes to be dug; taking weapons and other US-government material from corpses was part of their job. In most cases an army chaplain conducted an ecumenical service for all the deceased. Catholic Last Rites were not usually an option, although there were many priests such as Fr. Francis Sampson who went far beyond the call of duty. In one of the rare examples of transnational brotherhood in the weeks after D-Day, he was saved from execution by a German firing squad. The Catholic commanding officer spared Fr. Sampson’s life when he realized this was a priest trying to prevent the German soldiers from shedding real combatant blood.

The last word on inner conflict should go to one of the men who did most to honor the war dead with seemly cemeteries. The British poet Rudyard Kipling has a reputation for being an unrepentant imperialist, despite the death of his only son in the First World War changing him to some extent. The grave of the 18-year-old John Kipling is consistent with his comrades’ in its simplicity. As Kipling Senior had lied to get his highly myopic son into the army, the words of one of his war poems are especially revealing:

“If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied.”

From: www.pamphletstoinspire.com

#d-day

[kellyyisstrange-blog]

Warped Tour/Roadie For A Day Blog: July 13, 2018

Okay, wow! I have A LOT to talk about today. This blog might be all over the place because I am terrible at this, but I really want to share my experience with everyone! 

So, Doll Skin. If you haven’t heard of them before, let me educate! Doll Skin is a punk/rock band from Phoenix, AZ. In my opinion, they are beyond wonderful and extremely underrated and I try to bring their music to everyone’s attention as much as I possibly can. The members are as follows:

Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar: Sydney Dolezal | Lead Guitar: Alex Snowden | Bass: Nicole Rich | Drums/Vocals: Meghan Herring

Doll Skin played at Warped Tour 2017 and are currently playing at Warped Tour 2018 on the Owly stage! SO. A few months ago, I had learned about this contest sponsored by an organization called “Girls Behind the Rock Scene.” Basically, this organization helps bring more females into the music industry and showing women what it’s like in the backstage/roadie scenes of band life. I support this 100% because well, being a female myself, I love getting any opportunity that comes my way in a “male-dominated” world. Women are truly making breakthroughs all over the world and I could not be more proud to be a woman in this day and age. Well GBTRS partnered with Doll Skin for Warped Tour 2018 to have a contest, where for each tour date, someone would be selected to shadow/be their roadie for that day. I really wanted to apply, so I did, but at first I had no confidence that I was going to win. I was blessed with that email saying I was going to be Doll Skin’s roadie in Camden, NJ’s Warped Tour show. I had no idea how to prepare or even if I needed to prepare. So I just read up a little bit on what roadies do and took it from there!

Showtime!

So, I rode to Warped with my best friend, Kait. Unfortunately, my car decided to give me problems just 2 days prior. My luck in a nutshell. So, I arrived and had to meet with the girls’ tour manager, Nicole (since there are 2 Nicole’s, one being the manager and one being the bass player of the band I’m going to do this: when I’m talking about the tour manager, I’m going to say ‘Nicole (TM)’ and when I’m talking about the bass player I’m going to say ‘Nicole (DS)’.) So, I met up with Nicole (TM) and she was the absolute sweetest. She did everything in her power to make sure I could soak in as much information as possible, while also staying properly hydrated and having a fun time. It was very hot out that day. She probably gave me a total of 6-7 water cans throughout the day. 

Anyway, Doll Skin was scheduled to perform at 4:30, therefore they did not really need me until 3:45. But, Nicole (TM) asked me if I wanted to go with her and Meghan to see Don Broco at 11:30 (I believe) and I said sure! They took me SIDE STAGE and I was completely blown away. I have never seen any bands side stage before so this was an amazing new thing for me. I was trying to keep my cool because so many band members were just walking right past me. I got to give Meghan her gift, which was a red treble clef necklace and she loved it! She wore it during their set! So, after seeing Don Broco, I was taken to the band’s merch tent and I met Cameron. He was giving me pointers about how to sell merchandise to fans and he is just a natural! He convinced so many people who have not heard of the band to go check them out. He had stickers with the band’s name, set time and stage and handed them out to everyone. My favorite thing about sitting at the tent was when people would come up to us and say, “Doll Skin? I’ve never heard of them” and Cameron would say, “Oh but they are only the BEST band on Warped Tour this year!” with SUCH confidence and I could tell it made everyone interested in learning about them. Though, one lady approached us and asked if they were the “Powerpuff Girl band” which made me laugh because the girls told me they get that all the time. 

After that, I was pretty much free to watch some bands and do whatever I wanted until 3:45. The first thing I did was look for the Christina Grimmie Foundation tent. Since Christina was tragically murdered at her concert in June of 2016, her family decided to start a foundation in her honor and any donations are shared to families/victims of gun violence as well as breast cancer. Christina is one of my idols, and I’m friends with her brother Marcus who was running the tent, so I visited them and hung out for a while. Mark gave me a bracelet and we were laughing and joking around. It’s good to see him happy again. 

I decided to walk around for a while, just to check out all the tents and see what was going on when all of a sudden I notice a sign that said, “Simple Plan free signing 1:00″ It was 12:00 and I IMMEDIATELY went in line!! Simple Plan has been a favorite of mine since I was about 13 years old. I was able to get a selfie with them and my inner child was screaming for joy! Finally, after walking backstage and just looking at all these bands walking past me, I actually MET one! They were signing right next to the stage where Tonight Alive were performing, which made me happy because I really wanted to see them. So yes, another dream of meeting Simple Plan has finally come true! Then I went with Kait to see We The Kings and we got MURDERED in the pit pretty much! Haha, they said they were filming us for a video and around 8-10 fans all decided to crowd surf all at once and they were all coming towards us and we pretty much got squashed. One girl almost fell head first into the concrete! Thank goodness we saved her! Seriously! Be safe when trying to crowd surf people! (Ok, ‘safe’ and ‘crowd surfing’ do not go together, I know. But still, be careful!) 

After their set was done, I was escorted by Nicole (TM) to see Simple Plan side stage!!!! I repeat: SIMPLE PLAN...SIDE STAGE!!! It was an amazing experience. The crowd was fantastic and honestly, seeing everything from the opposite side, meaning from the stage as opposed to the crowd, was life changing for me. It really inspired me to maybe get myself onto a stage performing in front of crazy awesome fans one day! But oh my, were the fans crazy for Simple Plan! The band had huge water guns and were giving water to the fans and they were so loud and active and amazing! I got to see what really happens behind the scenes during a show. It is A LOT of hard work, guys! These shows don’t just have a magic button that you press to make it all happen. These crew members bust their asses for every single show and I don’t think we give them nearly enough credit! So shoutout to all of you wonderful crew members working Warped or working at all for any band! Keep it up!

NOW. It is 3:45 and I’m at Doll Skin’s tent backstage helping them prepare for their set! Now I just want to start this part off by saying that all of the members of this band are the nicest human beings I have ever met! So, I see Alex first, and she gave me a hug and was saying that their photographer, who is also named Kelly and also who I met earlier in the day, kept talking about me and how they were all so excited to finally meet me. I gave Alex her gifts, which were a Harley Quinn plush and Avenged Sevenfold All Excess DVD. Her jaw dropped and she gently put them down and gave me the biggest hug in the world, thanking me and saying I’m such a sweetheart for the gifts and that she is going to be watching that dvd for the rest of the tour and I just thought it was so cool that she loved them so much! Sydney shows up next and I hugged her and gave her the Doll Skin Photo Book I made and HER jaw dropped! She’s going, “Guys did you see this?!” and everyone is saying how awesome it was. I included a letter for them in the book which Sydney promised me they would read together. Nicole (DS) shows up next and it was so funny because Alex goes, “Woah! ...Omg from far away she looked naked!” And I started laughing. So I give Nicole (DS) her gifts, which were a pink wrist pouch, a MCR bracelet with Helena lyrics on it, and a bear keychain that was pink. She put the bracelet and keychain on instantly and thanked me and gave me a hug. I went to take a photo with Alex and Nicole (DS) and Nicole says, “OH WOW I DO LOOK NAKED! ...Oh well” Haha. Amazing. There was even a point when Kait asked me if I could bring her a water and Sydney ended up walking over to the gate and talking to her for a bit! Sydney is so amazing! I told her how much Kait loves her and she immediately wanted to meet her and they took goofy selfies together. It was amazing. Doll Skin really does love and care about their fans!

Their set was starting in a few minutes and basically what I learned was that the girls are pretty much their own roadies. We just helped them bring Meghan’s drums up to the stage and the girls took care of everything else. They are very independent and want to have control over how they set up their stage and I respect the hell out of that! We also put water on the stage for them in case they needed it. So, the set begins and I’m side stage of course. It’s like they have this internal switch, from normal people to ROCKSTARS and they definitely just flipped the switch to star! WOW! As soon as I heard Alex’s guitar and Sydney’s “WHAT’S UP, WARPED TOUR?!” I had so many emotions running through my head. These girls, these normal, average everyday but yet so amazing girls, are also in a band playing at Warped Tour. So, I have been wanting to get involved with music for the longest time. Whether it be doing photography for a band, being a roadie, a tour manager, or actually in the band myself, I’ve always wanted to be involved somehow. BUT, my little to no self-esteem, no confidence and anxiety have always been holding me back. But watching them perform like that just inspired me in so many ways. I don’t think I have ever actually felt THAT inspired before. They kicked ass and had a blast! I found myself in tears a few times during their set. I was so overjoyed! Here I am, just a random girl from Jersey, at the final Warped Tour show in Camden, working for Doll Skin and seeing all of these amazing bands up close and experiencing backstage life. It’s incredible!

Doll Skin’s Set List: Family of Strangers, Daughter, Shut Up (You Miss Me), Lets Be Honest, Uninvited, Persephone and Puncha Nazi. (They also said they were going to play Africa by Toto, then proceeded to play the first 10 seconds, stop and say, ‘That’s all we’ve learned!’ which was hilarious! I could tell they were having fun up there!)

When Puncha Nazi started, Nicole (TM) and I ran off stage to get their cases opened and everything ready to be put away and back on to the tour bus. They ended with Sydney grabbing the large Doll Skin flag and saying, “If you guys wanna hang out with us at our merch tent follow me!” And she took the fans, while Alex, Max, Nicole (both), Meghan and I were putting all of the guitars, bass guitars and drums back on to the truck. I can’t imagine doing that on a daily basis, but I would love to! It is A LOT more work than everyone makes it out to be, but it felt so rewarding to hear all of the ‘thank you’ comments from the entire band and we were just cracking jokes while putting things away. We had to be quick too and according to Nicole (DS) I was very quick and very helpful! It was adorable because there was one thing that was WAY too heavy for Meghan to put onto the truck so I did it for her. Nicole (DS) gave me her water and her chips which was great because I was starving. 

Ok, so on to the meet and greet and dinner. I waited until the girls were done meeting everyone. They were having so much fun meeting their fans! Then Kait and I hung with them a bit and took some more photos together. Then, I went to catering with Nicole (TM) and Meghan. WOW! I was literally surrounded by the majority of the bands! The singers from Mayday Parade and We The Kings walked past me a few times and I was thinking to myself, “Keep calm! You cannot fangirl in front of them! Stay cool!” It was very difficult. But overall the food was great and I was able to chill and eat dinner with the band again. Then Cameron and Sydney came with me to see 3OH!3 side stage. Again, amazing! I cannot put into words what an amazing day it was. After that, I talked to Sydney for a bit at the RV, she gave me a written set list, I thanked her, she thanked me, I saw Motionless in White with Kait and then we went home. 

So, I knew this was going to be a long post but DAMN! Haha, I HAD to share my experience! It was definitely, seemingly like a once in a lifetime opportunity and I just feel so blessed to have learned SO much in just one day about tour life backstage! This definitely inspired me to work harder with my music and hopefully I’ll be performing one day too! HUGE thank you to Doll Skin, Nicole, Cameron, Simple Plan, everyone I encountered at this show! I could not have asked for a better Warped Tour experience and I hope to see Doll Skin again very soon! Thank you to GBTRS for even putting this contest together. Women can do anything!!! Always remember that! 

And with that, LATER EVERYONE! :D 

-KellyKatt 

#dollskin #warped tour #doll skin #roadie #tour #music #bands #warped 2018

[cassianus]

St John Chrysostom on Virtue "When we normally think of virtue we tend to think of ethical behavior, following the rules, obeying the commandments. Saint John Chrysostom reminds us that virtue is much more than just being a good person living according to the rules. He writes, Virtue is to scorn all human affairs, to keep the mind on future realities at each hour of the day, to seek no present good but to know that everything human is a shadow and a dream or even worse. Virtue is to adopt the attitude of a corpse in regard to the affairs of this life and like a corpse take no active interest in what threatens the soul's salvation, but only in regard to spiritual things to be alive and take active interest, as Paul also said, "I am alive, though it is no longer me but Christ alive in me." (Gal 2:20) He says, "virtue is the scorn all human affairs". What could this mean? He is trying to emphasize that virtue is not about gaining any kind of recognition in this world. Any good act we do for esteem of ourselves or others is in vain. What is essential is our love of God, and to be united with Him in His kingdom. He further says that to be virtuous we have to be like a "corpse" in regards to all things of this life. Virtue is beyond the expression of all we can gain in this life. He is saying that virtue comes when we are in union with Christ and are acting out of His love for us and us for Him. Virtuous actions must be done out of His will and not our earthly human will. Of course we must make an effort to purify our heart so that we are able to do so. Like Christ did, we too must align our human will with His divine will. Then we can be said to act with virtue. We will then act as Paul says, as "though it is not longer me but Christ alive in me." This is the idea of virtue that Saint John Chrysostom is trying to express. Once we have gained this high state of virtuous action, He goes on to ask us to protect this virtue just like a rich person protects his material wealth. We should guard it with great care, not expose it to the gaze of all but conceal it in the inmost recesses of our heart, and thus repel all the attacks on the one anxious to despoil us of it; in this way we will keep it intact and be able to leave this life with some resource for the life hereafter. (Homily 5 on Genesis, p 65) Once we are able to act with true virtue then we must conceal our motivations, the source of our actions, and never seek recognition of any kind for our actions. This is a stance of humility that is essential, and, once we boast of our relationship with God, we will lose it. Prayer is a key to developing the proper relationship with God. Prayer is to be done in silence, as an inner work. Saint John tells us the following in His Homily on Gospel by Saint Matthew. Let us not then make our prayer by the gesture of our body, nor by the loudness of our voice, but by the earnestness of our mind: neither with noise and clamor and for display, so as even to disturb those that are near us, but with all modesty, and with contrition in the mind, and with inward tears..... He continues reminding us that we are seeking an inner voice that comes from God. Prayer is a mystery , he says. Prayer come out of silence. From beneath, out of the heart, draw forth a voice,make thy prayer a mystery. Seest thou not that even in the houses of kings all tumult is put away, and great on all sides is the silence? Do thou also therefore, entering as into a palace,--not that on the earth,but what is far more awful than it, that which is in heaven,--show forth great seemliness. Yea, for thou art joined to the choirs of angels, and art in communion with archangels, and art singing with the seraphim. And all these tribes show forth much goodly order, singing with great awe that mystical strain, and their sacred hymns to God, the King of all. With these then mingle thyself, when thou art praying, and emulate their mystical order. It is prayer that we enter into the kingdom of heaven. With our minds purified of the passions of the body we can enter into this silence and truly join with the "choirs of angels." In Prayer we are called to mingle with heavenly bodies and participate in their "mystical order." He also writes, For not unto men art thou praying, but to God, who is everywhere present, who hears even before the voice, who knows the secrets of the mind. If thou so pray, great is the reward thou shalt receive." (Fr. Dn Charles Joiner, post from "Orthodox Way of Life" blog: an excellent resource on Eastern Christian Spirituality)