The thrill of baptism is that on account of Jesus, there’s no pressure at all to go it alone. Instead, the will of the Son shines on our desolation. That’s his testament. That’s his redemption. That's his promise. We’re in this with him. Whether we believe it’s true or not, even when the odds are a million to one, his will is done. We are in this with him. We’re not doing this on our own. We’re not made to go it alone, that’s why so many people are so miserable. They pass through church like lonely ghosts. They pass through your home like lonely ghosts. They pass through life as if they’re a lonely tourist, which is the worst way to pretend you’re alive when we know that there’s no life apart from Christ.

Maintain a clear-sighted view of your circumstances, eschew biases and preconceived notions, and practice decisiveness. Learn to trust your intuition. When relying on only a "partial feeling," your gut - often referred to as the "second brain" - will indicate that something is wrong.

The money and habits, the whispers and gossip, the crashing and burning, and the lying that only the good die young are how we end up hung up on everything and anything, everyone and anyone who promises to reverse the curse that we were born with but can’t escape because we’re locked up in the cages that we made for ourselves.

That’s why we can’t wait to listen to what God has to say, to see his face shine on us. But we don’t have to plead our case because he already knows all of our thoughts and all of our ways, so before we get a chance to say anything he says to us: have faith, you’re forgiven, you’re loved, you’re safe in the name of Jesus Christ forever. The curse that you’re born with is reversed so that now you can call it all a gift.

In contests of strategy it is bad to be led about by the enemy. You must always be able to lead the enemy about. Obviously the enemy will also be thinking of doing this, but he cannot forestall you if you do not allow him to come out. In strategy, you must stop the enemy as he attempts to cut; you must push down his thrust, and throw off his hold when he tries to grapple. This is the meaning of "to hold down a pillow".  - Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

Bad dreams, war scars, and missing a tooth are all reminders that we don’t trust God to take care of us and that we don’t trust God to use us to take care of each other too. But everyone can be changed by God. Everyone one is changed by God’s Word, whether they know it or not. Anyone and everyone, no matter how disconnected, disjointed, or disappointed is taken care of by God; we Christians are living proof.

The body of the Way of Strategy from the viewpoint of my Ichi school is explained in the Ground book. It is difficult to realize the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. - Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings, chapter one

We act like we're so much better than other people in other places, but

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Which dystopian writer saw it all coming? Of all the famous authors of the 20th century who crafted worlds meant as warnings, who has proved most prophetic about the afflictions of the 21st? George Orwell? Aldous Huxley? Kurt Vonnegut? Ray Bradbury? Each of these, among others, have proved far too disturbingly prescient about many aspects of our present, as far as I’m concerned. But it could be that none of them were quite as far-sighted as the fairytale spinners. - N.S. Lyons

Blog Link: https://theupheaval.substack.com/p/a-prophecy-of-evil-tolkien-lewis

Every bone broken, all the sticks, and stones that were thrown at you are because of Christ Jesus. All the moments when you feel so alone are because of Christ Jesus. That you only drink so you can try to cope is because of Christ Jesus. Every bloody nose and all the mud-caked clothes are because of Christ Jesus. When you feel like you're down inside a hole that's because of Christ Jesus.  Every single scuff and every single scab that makes you who you are are because of Christ Jesus.

But why? How? What does that mean, "because of Christ Jesus"?

Today, there is little one can do without the state, or what Nietzsche called the “coldest of all cold monsters”, either taking its cut, dictating how it’s to be done, or at the very least, watching and recording our every move.