Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
occasionally subtle
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Product Placement
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
RMH
titsay
Cosmic Funnies
$LAYYYTER
Sweet Seals For You, Always
roma★
macklin celebrini has autism
we're not kids anymore.
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
pixel skylines
YOU ARE THE REASON
todays bird
Not today Justin
Noah Kahan
seen from United States
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@johnsonmarlon
Today’s Challenge of Abundance
Many of us grew up in circumstances where the life was about managing scarce resources. Fast forward to now. Pings. Many lifetimes of videos on YouTube. Cheap food. Free smart-phone apps. Pings. Disposable plates and cutlery. Pings. Streaming services, with every movie known to man. Pings. Pings. More pings. With our ‘scarcity mindset’, how are we to teach our children to deal with the…
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The Weird Calculus of Time
Life is busy. It seems that there’s no time for anything else. But, when we choose to focus on the right things, time expands, by some Unseen Hand, to make room.
Solving the Thirst that Won’t Go Away
All around us, every day, we have friends, neighbors, co-workers and family who are experiencing all sorts of challenges. They thirst for a solution, and are frustrated that the thirst keeps coming back. Perhaps we can help by sharing our experience with the Well of Living Water spoken about in John 4:13-14. Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but…
Chasing Peace
If we can only find peace by removing ourselves completely from our daily lives, and being somewhere else entirely, something is terribly wrong. What is it about everyday life that makes us scream for an escape? How can we find peace at all times, and in all circumstances? How we carry that peace within, no matter where we are? Think on these words. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.…
The Wrong ‘Right Way’
A friend recently told me that she didn’t feel qualified to be a Christian, or to even attend church. She didn’t know the Bible cover to cover, and couldn’t quote scripture on demand. So, how would she ever fit in among ‘church people’? How many of our friends have this rules-based impression of a ‘right way’ to follow Jesus, and decide rather to keep their distance from a church?
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On the Shoulders of Giants
From a distance, a mountain looks like one solid mass. It, is in fact, many small stones all gathered for a purpose – to elevate the one stone atop it. So it is with giants. These massive, imposing entities are merely masses of people headed into the same direction, sharing a common purpose. Much depends on the person at its head. In the best case, the giant may clear a path or step over…
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Training for Paradise
The kingdom of heaven, or paradise, requires a certain mentality to qualify our admittance/entry. Jesus’ ministry outlines the required attitudes. Do we Christians really believe and live these? Non-violence Non-retaliation Non-attachment to property Unlimited responsibility for those in need Unending tolerance for offenses Reciprocal reliance on other Christians Non-allegiance to…
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Children - Our Quest for Perfection
Children – Our Quest for Perfection
I note that the things that frustrate me most about my children are the tendencies I dislike most about myself. In correcting or trying to guide them, it feels as if I am berating my own past self for mistakes made or paths not followed. It is human to strive for perfection, and since we cannot go back in time, these improved ‘versions’ of ourselves will have to deal with our insistence of…
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Lessons from Religious Education
Much of the recent debate in America about public school curricula is, sadly, effort in the wrong direction. We’re already headed to the model of a pared-down, bare-bones core provided in public schools. This is already happening, as seen by outright bans of a number of topics and content areas, based on political and religious interests and fierce advocacy. Frankly, this is the federal model at…
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Diluting our Witness
The pernicious stain of politics in religion continues to dilute the Christian witness. My heart falls each time I read a snide remark by a Christian brother or sister on social media, or in conversation. We are at the point now where scoring political points, or making wink-wink references for like-minded ‘friends’, is more important in the public square. We have to stop this. Our claim to…
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On the State of Florida v George Zimmerman (2013): Part 1
On the State of Florida v George Zimmerman (2013): Part 1
Much has been made of, especially in the conservative-leaning US media, that the case against Mr George Zimmerman was unmerited, and worse, politically motivated. Indeed, I watched with great interest as Mr Geraldo Rivera, a Fox News commentator, remarked that, under Florida law, Mr Zimmerman committed no crime in killing Mr Trayvon Martin, a minor. Mr Zimmerman claimed that he had invoked his…
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On The State of Florida v George Zimmerman (2013): Part 2
On The State of Florida v George Zimmerman (2013): Part 2
(Continued from Part 1). The State of Florida had to make the case that Mr George Zimmerman either bore the deceased Mr Trayvon Martin ill-will, or was depraved, and so sought to deliberately kill the child. Over the five-week trial period, the State’s prosecuting attorney Bernie de la Rionda sought to make the case that Mr Zimmerman initiated the tragic events by purposefully stalking Mr Martin…
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Morals matter - sometimes.
Morals matter – sometimes.
As a society, we have shifted toward demanding the ‘real’ version of public people: the more warts, the better, it seems. A person with no skeletons in her closet is a ‘fake’ and ‘obviously’ trying to make others look bad by comparison. There is less appetite for classical role models – clean, ‘good’ living folk. We want those who appear to be ‘ordinary Joes’ – campus stories of drunkenness,…
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Honor and Shame - Old School?
Honor and Shame – Old School?
Honor is an outdated concept. Quaint. Naïve. Suicidal. “I am not a role mode,’ was basketball star Charles Barkley’s position in the mid-1990s. However, he was exactly that, despite hoping to avoid the public scrutiny that it brought. We don’t get a choice in the matter. People, especially our children, will elect to model our actions and behaviors, as much as we may not want them to. “Do as I…
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As the Body, Christians Need Each Other.
As the Body, Christians Need Each Other.
Philipians 2:4 “Look out for each other’s needs.” Christian life, that is, living in close accordance with Jesus’ words, can put one in isolated circumstances. The entire bent of the Sermon on the Mount was to live in a way that is almost opposed to the world’s priorities and ‘common sense’. Allowing someone to ‘get away’ with hurting you with impunity is tough enough, not to mention teaching…
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Illustrations of Evil
As humans, and especially as religious people, there is a overarching tendency to illustrate or personify ‘evil’. Christians speak of the devil as a fallen angel, the most beautiful that was once in heaven. Having grown envious of God, he and other angels rebelled against that Highest Authority. For their efforts, they were cast from heaven. In the popular Western imagination, the previously…
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Divorcing Ethnicity and Culture
Divorcing Ethnicity and Culture
A few recent events have led me to think about society’s notions of ethnicity and culture. How many times have I heard an African-American comedian start a joke with “You know how it is with us Black people, we’re…”?
What usually then follows is a listing of examples of ‘Black’ behavior and attitudes, typically of the negative variety. Baby mama drama. Drug abuse. Credit woes. No job. No income.…
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