partsofspeaking

The only place where you have a story bemoaning the loss of religion by millennials right above a story about JLo portraying a stripper, pictures included.

This won honorable mention at the Chattanooga Writers Guild contest. Belonging On Tuesday Wesley Cook sat in the dining area of Unity Insurance Company, where he worked as an actuary. It was his 45-minute lunch break. Wesley was alone, despite the lunch crowds in the dining area. He used his time, after finishing his sandwich brought from home, to read two chapters in a mystery novel. He put his book down and looked up, refocusing his eyes. “I need to make that eye appointment,” he thought. Across the expanse of the dining room, he saw many tables surrounded by four persons. Squinting, he noticed that these figures were unfamiliar to him. After thirteen years at Unity, he recognized almost every person in the dining room on every other day of the workweek. He did not know their names, but he recognized faces and patterns of eating and interacting. He recalled those who normally ate together. Some of those people were in the room now, but these tables of strangers caught his e...

https://albertmohler.com/2019/08/01/joshua-harris

In regard to this recent "crisis," I cite I Timothy 3 from the New King James Version and cut and pasted from the Bible Gateway cite, thus the hyperlinks. "This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a [ a ] bishop, he desires a good work. 2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3  not [ b ] given to wine, not violent, [ c ] not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not [ d ] covetous; 4  one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5  (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6  not a [ e ] novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7  Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." Emphasis mine.  See h...

One reason I keep this blog is to post things I want to remember. We assume the Internet is eternal. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/08/jeffrey-epstein-and-the-myth-of-the-underage-woman/596140/ https://getpocket.com/explore/item/my-perfect-pictures-and-the-pain-behind-them?utm_source=pocket-newtab These are two related articles on, well, women as sexual objectified, from two different perspectives. I am thankful I was spared from abuse. I see this two ways: women truly are victimized by men, and men just plain have a hard time seeing a woman as a total person, separate from themselves but equal in their own way. A strong faith system helps, but can also have its own bad consequences. On the other hand, I have to wonder if women who want to be known for their beauty (models and actresses) don't inherently or even knowingly make themselves victims. The second of these articles seems to chronicle this pattern.  It's the old, "Why show up at ...

Recently I’ve heard the question, “What gets you out of bed in the morning?” The answer is supposed to be your (my) passion. I’m having an awful time trying to answer that question. There are smart answers: ·       My bladder ·       The alarm ·       Hunger and having a roof over my head I don’t know what my passion is that gets me out of bed. And it worries me. I like my job, a lot, well, most of it. But that’s not a passion. I value that I am able to help student and my colleagues. I know my husband, son, and other close family would be deeply affected by losing me, if I were not around. I love Jesus and want His kingdom to spread, and I love His people. But passion? I don’t think there’s anything I really get passionate about. I’m too tired. My pastor is a wonderful preacher in many ways, but mostly because he is honest. He doesn’t give us five walking point...

This article was a God-send. https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2019/august/virtue-vice-why-niceness-weakens-our-witness.html I agree with it 100%. I'm working really hard not to be "nice" any more. Living in the South one learns a lot about being "nice." I can do the act. And I hate it when I do. I make myself sick being so nice. I am going through a Brideshead Revisited phase. I read the book this year and just watched the whole 1981 series.  Now I'm reading literary criticism of it.  The odd character Anthony Blanche talks of how Charles has been trapped or ruined by "charm." It has ruined him and his art. I think there is a connection there between what he means by "charm" and "nice." Nobody likes "nice" art. One of Charles Ryder's problems is his aloofness and lack of emotional connection, as Julia berates him when he compares their evening to a play. I have to admit I was touched by her reacti...

Why are we supposed to care when some actor we’ve never heard of says they are homosexual?   Seriously? Is this just their publicist trying to get them clicks? (Dumb question, of course it is.) Perhaps fifteen years ago it was a shock or big deal if a celebrity "came out." Now, it seems to be a cry for attention or to make claims about ongoing discrimination. On another note. I read an article recently by animal activists about pets and how wrong of us it is to keep them. It pointed out how much emotional attachment, dependence, and satisfaction we expect from them. How we have bred them to a way that is not good for them. I tend to agree with the article, which is funny because I am in no way an animal activist. However, I do see how people are incredibly emotionally involved with their animals, more than with people and their family members. And I do see how people expect their pets to live a lifestyle that is against nature: taking the claws off cats, keeping ...