Thru Mary's Eyes.

Hi there! My name is Mary. I am a Nigerian-Canadian-American third culture kid (TCK) and I blog at verilymerrilymary.com.

[speakingwhentheworldsleeps]

If you have never considered everything theology, everything moral, everything something you must hold up to the light to determine its truth, its hard to explain the exhausting hyper-focus that must come from that. Everything could bring us to Christ or drive us away: there is no in-between. No mindless entertainment allowed, no moment you can escape, because you must constantly analyze its message. It’s why stiff figured actors monotoning scripture was always better entertainment than the most meaningful, emotional story that might have a single line like “You deserve to be happy.” Such sin. Such horrifying, blasphemous sin that might slip into your mind and wreck havoc on your faith.

So you have to become hyper aware, not just of your own thoughts, but the thoughts of others. You cannot have a conversation without checking every single sentence someone says against your own morality. You cannot let anything go, because the moment you let something stand as “agree to disagree” you might let your guard down, might let it shift your thinking, and then you have bought into deception. Better to judge every line. Better to never rest, to stay vigilant, to decide the morality of something by every last sentence. Did a character swear? It’s garbage. Did your friend say they think God is love and not wrath? Better keep your emotional distance. Everything is out to get you. Of course you’re being persecuted, because there’s nothing, literally nothing that is safe in this world, not when hearing one wrong statement risks damning your very soul. Don’t read too much secular fiction. Don’t watch too many secular movies. Don’t let yourself have too much access to the world outside your faith. You might hear an idea that contradicts the things you believe. And for a moment, you might consider it. There’s nothing more dangerous than that.

[e-sadg]

There are other women like you. There are other women who think the way you think, who feel the way you feel, who act the way you act. There always have been and there always will be. Womanhood isn’t whatever shallow archetype the world has tried to convince you that it is. It’s going to be okay.

[larcarioca]

[duskenpath]

Guys I just realized the last supper was the first murder mystery dinner!!!

[duskenpath]

My Roman Catholic parents did not find this as funny and thought provoking as I did

[catsbeaversandducks]

UPS drivers have the most interesting photos to share. 

Photos via UPS Dogs

[miridai]

[cerebralisticblog]

The 65 Books I Read in 2017 (Free Books Included)

I honestly did not know if I could do it. But late into December 2016, I bit the bullet and made it a new year’s resolution for 2017: read 50 books.

I read 65*.

It is worth noting that I read widely, reading both fiction and nonfiction, reading books that appealed to my sensibilities, and reading books that did not reflect my personal opinions. The topics/genres of the books I read included (but are not limited to) thriller, memoir, religion, human sexuality, astrophysics, psychology, self-help, philosophy, history, satire, poetry, and biology.

Ever since I have began sharing my reads in Facebook and Instagram, I have gotten quite a few requests to share my 2017 booklist. And I am happy to do that! Nearly every book title has a link that leads to Amazon where you can see more about the book and purchase the book if you decide to do so. For full disclosure, if you do decide to buy the book, I get a small commission from that sale at no additional cost to you. Also, a good number of the books I read are under public domain (meaning that copies of them are easily accessible for free) or are free on Amazon. That is also indicated in the list. 

I should also mention that the titles with a double asterisk next to them (**) are books that I personally recommend with a lot of enthusiasm. 

So, without further ado, here are all the books I read in 2017!

1. “We Should All Be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie**

2. “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro

3. “The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story” by Hyeonseo Lee**

4. “Firmly Grounded: Seven Reasons to Believe in an Age of Scepticism” by Ruel Fordy

5. “The Future of an Illusion” by Sigmund Freud**

6. “Queen Sugar” by Natalie Baszile**

7. “Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow: an organizing guide” by Daniel Hunter**

8. “The Mis-Education of the Negro” by Carter G. Woodson**

9. “Euthyphro” by Plato** (Free copy here)

10. “Ako na Uche” by Nnennaya Amuchie

11. “2084: The Short Story Version” by Mason Engel

12. “Alone (The Girl in the Box, #1)” by Robert J. Crane (Free Kindle copy here)

13. “History of Religion: Complete Guide to World Religions and Religion in America, including the History of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Atheism, Mythology, Buddhism, Hinduism, and more” by Howard Colvin

14. “The Genealogy of Morals” by Friedrich Nietzsche** (Free copy here)

15. “Empath: Empowering empaths, healing, sensitive emotions, energy & relationships” by Melissa Anna Holloway

16. “The Beginning (Jessica Christ, Book 1)” by H. Claire Taylor**

17. “A God for Atheists: Three Essays on Religion” by Liam Martin

18. “An Atheist Manifesto” by Joseph Lewis (Free copy here)

19. “A Comparative View of Religions” by Johannes Henricus Scholten** (Free Kindle copy here)

20. “The Universe Doesn’t Give a Flying F*ck About You (Epic Series Book 1)” by Johnny B. Truant** (Free Kindle copy)

21. “The Good Life Handbook: Epictetus’ Stoic Classic Enchiridion” by Chuck Chakrapani (Free Kindle copy here)

22. “You Are Dying, and Your World Is a Lie (Epic Series Book 2)” by Johnny B. Truant** (Free Kindle copy here)

23. “Disobey (Epic Series Book 3)” by Johnny B. Truant (Free Kindle copy here)

24. “How to Live Forever (Epic Series Book 4)” by Johnny B. Truant** (Free Kindle copy here)

25. “Just Between Us: Inspiring Stories By Women” by Selena Haskins (Free Kindle copy here)

26. “The Black Death: A History From Beginning to End” by Henry Freeman** (Free Kindle copy here)

27. “Homo Deus: The Future of Mankind” by Samuel Harris (not the famous religious critic and neuroscientist Sam Harris)

28. “Sex=Love: And its place in free society (Annotated)” by Edward Carpenter

29. “Core Masculinity: Volume 1 - Mental Toughness: Become the Bold, Powerful Man Women Dream About” by Alex Reacher

30. “Culture and Power in the Classroom: A Critical Foundation for Bicultural Education” by Antonia Darder**

31. “Drunk With Blood: God’s killings in the Bible” by Steve Wells**

32. “Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion” by David Hume** (Free copy here)

33. “The Natural History of Religion” by David Hume (Free copy here)

34. “And It Was Good (Jessica Christ Book 2)” by H. Claire Taylor**

35. “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” by Frans de Waal**

36. “Meridian” by Alice Walker**

37. “Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them)” by Bart Ehrman**

38. On The Shortness Of Life by Seneca** (Free copy here)

39. “The Story of Awkward” by R.K. Ryals (Free Kindle copy here)

40. “It’s a Miracle! (Jessica Christ Book 3)” by H. Claire Taylor**

41. “Nu Alpha Omega (Jessica Christ Book 4)” by H. Claire Taylor**

42. “It is Risen (Jessica Christ Book 5)” by H. Claire Taylor**

43. “A Great Gulf” by H. Claire Taylor**

44. “This Is Your Brain on Sex: The Science Behind the Search for Love” by Kayt Sukel**

45. “Conscious Robots: Facing up to the reality of being human” by Paul Kwatz

46. “Mastering Logical Fallacies: The Definitive Guide to Flawless Rhetoric and Bulletproof Logic” by Michael Withey**

47. “Hyperbole and a Half” by Allie Brosh**

48. “I Am Watching You” by Teresa Driscoll**

49. “The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day” by David J. Hand**

50. “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur**

51. “The Shipping News” by Annie Proulx**

52. “A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing” by Lawrence M. Krauss**

53. “Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil” by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (Free copy here)

54. “Night (The Night Trilogy, #1)” by Elie Wiesel**

55. “Behold the Dreamers” by Imbolo Mbue**

56. “Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence” by Esther Perel**

57. “Embryology: The Beginnings of Life” by Gerald R. Leighton (Free copy here)

58. “The Garden of Dead Thoughts” by Natasha A. Salnikova

59. “Elements of Debating” by Leverett Samuel Lyon (Free copy here)

60. “Judaism” by Israel Abrahams (Free copy here)**

61. “Many Many Many Gods of Hinduism: Turning believers into non-believers and non-believers into believers” by Swami Achuthananda

62. “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari**

63. “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology” by Leah Remini**

64. “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry” by Neil deGrasse Tyson**

65. “Afterlife” by Marcus Sakey**

*I was reading the Bible from beginning to end in 2017. Before the year ended, I had finished the Old Testament and then some (80% done). If you see the books of the Bible as individual books, then I technically read 100+ books in 2017. 😜

Which books on the list caught your eye? What are your reading goals for 2018? Share them with me in the comments below. And if you have any questions or comments about any of these books, you are more than welcome to chat with me in the comments section below.

Happy New Year and happy reading!

[newwavefeminism]

The United States Secretary of Energy fixed his taxpayer funded mouth to say this ridiculous shit.

[britishhumanistassociation]

Karl Popper, a member of Humanists UK’s advisory council in the twentieth century, on the paradox of tolerance. http://ift.tt/2w4yPMz

[draincock]

[x]

[humansofnewyork]

Today in microfashion… (São Paulo, Brazil)

[jedavu]

Modern Art Explained In One Comic

[metaphysicallyexisting]

Milk and Honey / Rupi Kaur

[imagecaptain]

[image description:

a photo of a page from a book featuring a drawing of a person in a skirt and long hair. next to the drawing is highlighted text that reads:

“every time you tell your daughter you yell at her out of love you teach her to confuse anger with kindness which seems like a good idea till she grows up to trust men who hurt her cause they look so much like you

- to fathers with daughters”

end image description.]

[avpdcommunity]

‘Walking the middle path’ is a term often used in DBT to describe finding the balance with black and white thinking. Above is an information sheet about various forms of black and white thinking, as well as a sheet of examples that seek to disprove black and white trains of thought.

From DBT Skills and Training, 2nd Edition, by Marsha M. Linehan.

[the-art-of-leaving]

This is great for those of us who experience a lot of black and white thinking!

[revolutionaryatheist]

(via check.jpg (JPEG Image, 703 × 766 pixels))

[nudygoon]

[jessehimself]

“Someone call for Apple Care?”

[thehappyrealityproject]

Do you know how powerful you are?

You are powerful enough to think for yourself.

You are powerful enough to do what you know is best for you.

You are powerful enough to refrain from doing anything that wouldn’t benefit you.

You are powerful enough to create an amazing life for yourself.

As an incredible bonus, by doing all the above, you will also be inspiring others to do the same, and that’s one of the greatest gifts you can give.