#christ has overcome the world

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

by Chris Larson | Has your heart been troubled lately? If your answer is yes, you’re certainly not alone, and we have a special resource to help encourage you. We’ll send you Dr. Sinclair Ferguson’s book and teaching series Lessons from the Upper Room when...

#Ligonier Ministries #Chris Larson #Take Heart for Christ Has Overcome the World #ligonier.org

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Okay so here, I think, is why I think Red, White and Royal Blue succeeds spectacularly as a romcom, and actually to me is a better-than-average take on the genre.

First, the leads have absolutely scorching chemistry. They are incredibly believable as two men absolutely infatuated with each other. They each kiss like drowning men shown water, right down to how each grabs at the other, at hair or back or neck and face.

They each have developed their character having a specific characteristic even when flirting or kissing. Henry grabs Alex's hair, for example, every single time, in a way that makes it clear he spends serious time thinking about that hair.

Fair enough, Henry.

They also do something even goddamn better.

They are friends. They are believable as two people who could actually get along long enough to fall in love.

They are allowed to become FRIENDS.

They are given time to get to know each other before they get physical. You can feel their interest in each other growing. And, to my opinion, you can tell that Henry is feeling Alex out through texts to see if the interest might be reciprocated even though he thinks it can't possibly be.

One thing that kills me about romcoms is how the leads will have witty "sexy" banter but don't seem to actually like each other. They are enemies who fall into bed but aren't really believable as lovers.

Henry and Alex are believable, because they... Well. They're impossibly silly even when tearing at each other's clothes. They have awkward moments.

They laugh.

Alex laughs in bed. He holds Henry in a way that is romantic, openly so. Henry is overcoming the conditioned hesitation and avoidance he has, his smiles and warmth and laughter come with rare vulnerability - Alex is a man who throws himself head first into life and has no such compunctions in the moment. He laughs because this is awesome and Jesus Christ, Prince Henry is too hot to be real.

They like each other, they stumble, they laugh.

But also, another reason this works so well?

The sex scene isn't scorching.

Watching the sex scene felt realistically intimate. It felt like I had walked in one real people and needed to leave. It was intense in a way that felt like something I maybe wasn't meant to see.

It was filmed so well. So much romanticism and deeply felt adoration in a simple grasping of a hand, the look in soft eyes, a hand pressed against a back. The edge of a knee just in frame. Looking up and looking down.

It felt like we walked into their room during and saw them both laid utterly bare.

Henry's look of vulnerability and nerves and pleasure, Alex looking slowly over his face to take it all in. Moving slowly, then, when everything they do before this is hurried or hidden.

It works as a romcom because you believe 100% these two men could get to like each other, fall in love, and stay that way.

You believe Henry's very real terror of rejection from the public because he already knows his family, beyond his sister, will reject him. You believe that Alex is a headstrong idealist who is sure that you can bulldoze through any wall too tall to climb.

And you believe that between the two of them, they can find a way around the wall entirely.

This movie is a master class on how a movie can get you to suspend so much disbelief if the leads sell their characters. The importance of believable chemistry.

And also... Isn't it nice to see a queer love story in a world that is, in some ways, just a few shades better than our own?

P.S. you cannot tell me Stephen Fry did not chew the goddamn scenery in circles all around everyone during his single scene. That man was having a ball.

#red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #rwrb film #rwrb spoilers #red white and royal blue spoilers #Ash's Pointless Film Analysis #nicholas galitzine #taylor perez #romcom #romantic comedy

[trashogram]

He Chose You (Pt. 11)

Lucifer/Reader: Lucifer chooses you to be the mother of his child. Rated E for Explicit.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11

“Adam, for your transgression, you will be dealt with accordingly. For now, you are dismissed.” 

Adam’s voice and demeanor had become so grating to you that you actively blocked out the bitching that followed. You weren’t sure if, when he’d finally stopped having a foul-mouthed tantrum, a lot of time had passed or not. 

It didn’t matter when you were blessed with near silence at last. A slip of harsh gold out of the corner of your eye led you to believe that Adam’s lackey had followed him out. 

“Emily, please follow.”

“But Sera…” 

“No harm will come to her here. She just needs time.”

There was no need to look up, as the fluttering of Emily’s wings were now telltale in spite of how little you’d known her. 

“Go on.” 

You hadn’t seen her go, but it was like all the energy in the air had been sucked out as she left you behind. In her stead was a still, oppressive atmosphere where anxiety lingered to crawl up your spine the longer you sat in it. 

Sera was staring down at you. 

“Why…” Your voice was hoarse, even if you hadn’t been screaming or sobbing as you wanted to. 

Swallowing back the thickness that had built in your throat physically hurt. An errant thought that it shouldn’t (nothing should hurt anymore) passed you by. 

“Why am I here?” You looked up, staring back at Sera. 

The Angel considered you for a long moment. 

“Your place here has been ordained by the Father, a privilege bestowed upon you for your act of service.” 

The words from her lovely mouth didn’t make sense for so long that you almost asked the Seraphim to repeat herself. Your eyes narrowed as your gaze turned roundabout, as if whatever could make sense of this was somewhere in your surroundings. 

“I… Wait, I’d have thought that…” Head shaking, you implored Sera again with your eyes. “What service?”

“You delivered upon the world Christ’s opposing force through your union with —” Here, you saw Sera’s long throat flex with the effort of swallowing.

“Lucifer.” You finished, watching and confirming as Sera’s frame twitched that just the mention of the Devil made this powerful force uncomfortable. 

It was odd, but didn’t take away the pain that just mentioning his name brought. You felt as if a great gaping hole had been punched through your chest, taking with it all your vital organs and the power of your lungs.

Impressions of his anguished face and the sound of Charlotte crying were permanently etched in your mind. You bit down on your tongue, lest you scream your grief. 

It felt like they had died and not you. 

“I’ll never see them again.” Your head fell into your hands as you were overcome. “I barely got to hold my own baby.”

Sera sighed deeply, inching toward the War Table adjacent to you both. 

“I understand that leaving people behind can be painful.” Her great arms reached over the table, motioning until light rose from the board and took on fantastical shapes. “But time heals all.” 

Instead of comfort, her wisdom made you sniffle. You rubbed your eyes like a child to prevent the steady rise of tears threatening to escape. 

Through the blur, you saw Sera smile wanly. “You may feel grateful with time. Staying any longer could have led you further astray.” 

That made you pause between shuddering sobs. 

Fuck, you’d been sobbing on the floor of heaven.

Fucking Heaven. 

“W-what?” You asked finally.

Sera’s idle hands continued to create new sources of light and shape. You rose from the floor of cumulus and nimbus on jelly legs and walked toward her, for lack of anything else to do. 

A perfect sphere rose above the table, with little pinpricks of light surrounding it. It could’ve been anything but you had the sense to imagine it was a depiction of Earth. 

“Had you stayed mortal and lived another 10, 20, perhaps 30 years, you could have become susceptible to the enemy’s mindset.” Sera said. “It’s not unthinkable when human beings are often led by their hearts, even if it goes against their best interest.”

Your heart was jabbed with indignation at that.

“Acts of Service can become Acts of Sacrifice if one veers off the path.” She gently swirled around the Earth with one hand, and it fell into a tilt naturally before rotating among the stars. 

Sera eyed you from her peripheral as you stood beside her to watch. “You might’ve grown attached and… denied yourself.” 

“Hold on, please — just…” You closed your eyes after several moments.  “I’m here, in Heaven, because Lucifer asked that I be let up here when I died?” 

“That is correct.” Sera guided the stars in a variety of paths. 

“And you agreed because having his baby was actually a good thing?” You asked. “But how? Why would God want that to happen if the Devil is his enemy?”

“Life is all about balance.” The celestial took on the role of teacher naturally. “Light needs darkness to exist. This is how it has been and will always be, since He created the Heavens and the Earth.”

“Lucifer has gone on too long without an heir - Hell cannot be unmanned should anything happen to its King. To ensure that this would never come to pass, He agreed to certain terms, which have been abided by — despite Lucifer’s constant revisions.”

At that, the Seraphim looked borderline petulant. Her disapproval was clear in the way the many eyes that decorated her wingspan, hair and crown-like halo shrunk into slivered crescents.

“It’s been centuries since he was ordered to conceive a child. Out of Love, the Father bestowed an exorbitant amount of time on him to make it happen. Once you were found and the contract was signed, your place in Heaven was guaranteed as stipulated.” She halted her recital to spare a glance your way.

“His ways can be opaque, but they are always meant to take us in the right direction.” Sera offered after a lull, to dispel the dumbfounded look on your face. You could see the way her lips pursed, as if daring to question that explanation was an affront to her existence. As if what she’d just told you didn’t change your perception so thoroughly that your head was spinning.

Self-preservation no longer being a factor, you rolled your eyes.

“Oh, ‘God works in mysterious ways’.” You mocked. “People say that when they don’t know what to say. But you actually work under God, don’t you??” 

“That is a crude way to describe my role here.” Sera responded with reproach. 

“But essentially correct.” You crossed your arms over your chest. “You take orders from Him, clearly.”

The Seraphim’s manicured nails pierced through the infinitely shifting stars, fingers curling into a claw as the line of her mouth grew severe. Her brow downturned as she faced you, irritated. 

“Just like Lucifer took orders from Him, I bet.” The pieces were slotting into place. “Until he… until he… did exactly what he was supposed to.” 

You laughed with disbelief at the revelation, hands coming up to grab at your thankfully unchanged hair. The starlight before you began to dim, falling back into the passive marble of the war table. Sera pivoted rather abruptly, a touch of disquiet in her fractured facade as she took in your dysfunction. 

Her gaze became shifty, and you caught it, but it was the least of your concerns. You were in the middle of a manic breakdown for the second time in less than an hour. 

Lucifer didn’t like to talk about Heaven — that was evident from his stuttering when he first revealed himself to you. So, whether it was out of the goodness of your heart or built-in doormat passivity, you hadn’t discussed the place. Truthfully, you’d thought very little of it as a place and more as a concept, even when the Devil came knocking on your door in flesh and blood. 

It was an uphill battle to calm yourself. You closed your mouth to stop the laughing and coughed at the tickle to your throat. You’d never been good at breathing through your nose. Arms slid down to clutch at your stomach and center yourself, frame slowly easing out of the hyperventilation.  

“So… God damned his own son to Hell and made him into Heaven’s Big Bad for the sake of balance… And he wanted that Big Bad to have a child like He Himself did, also for the sake of balance…” 

‘And Lucifer agreed as long as you got to go to eternal paradise…’

Your summation was stated lifelessly, a knife’s edge away from sarcastic. The big secret to Life was out: it was all a fun little show that God put on for himself to stave off boredom. Even those he held closest weren’t safe from it. 

“An-nd you’ve never ever questioned this?” You asked faintly, a crooked smile of disbelief on your face. “Ever?”

A breeze blew back the hair that had fallen into your face.

Sera was suddenly so much closer in proximity, and you flinched back at the power exuding from her like an aura. 

“We do not question the Father.” The Seraphim’s glower betrayed her true feelings toward you. Yet, instead of continuing to back away from the hostility, you forced yourself to stand in place as best you could. 

It gave you whiplash when Sera’s pinched face relaxed. She straightened up with another deep, deep sigh. The danger that felt like static electricity dissipated from your skin, but you held onto the edge of the war table regardless. 

The light show had gone off as quickly as it was turned on. You felt its loss of warmth as sharply as you’d felt Emily’s. 

“Lucifer was unable to fully grasp the Great Purpose.” Sera was imposing as she straightened to her fully height and towered above you once again. “He questioned everything, and for it he Fell.” 

“And I would suggest,” The Seraphim glared at you as if you were an insect she wanted to crush. “that you do not emulate his sin. For the sake of your immortal soul.” 

***

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#hazbin hotel #lucifer morningstar #lucifer x reader #hazbin hotel lucifer #lucifer morningstar x you #hazbin hotel x reader #Thank y’all for being patient #good news is there will be more chapters bc I cut this one in half #bad news is Lucifer’s whereabouts are put on pause a chapter longer than anticipated

[libraincarnate]

astrology notes: 8 🧸🍬

quick note: i'm absolutely not an astrologer. these are just a collection of some observations, thoughts, theories, and personal experiences. above all this is just for fun. lastly, these may or may not apply to you but you might find something to be true about your friends, family, or lover. enjoy!

🧁 scorpio mercury: okay if you didn’t know i have a thing for eyes, but i also have a thing for voices and i have placements that indicate that too. anyways, people with scorpio mercury? wow just wow. probably one of my favorite placements and one of the most captivating ones in my opinion. i recently heard someone’s voice and i guessed they had a scorpio mercury and i was right. girls with this placements may have a deeper voice but regardless it’s so damn sexy and sultry. their intelligence and broad vocabulary and various expressions leave their lips with ease. they ooze seduction unintentionally. this is THE bedroom voice. such power behind their words, the power to both uplift and destroy. it demands attention. speaking like they know more than they let on, discerning what you know and don’t know so that they can decide what and how much to reveal. hard to lie to these individuals. they’re quick to detect deception. they use their words decisively & directly.

🧁 uranus dominant: community & togetherness is a wonderful thing to these folks. they find it beautiful to see people working together to accomplish a common goal or simply sticking together, loving & supporting one another. unfortunately society isn’t always like that but when they do witness something like that it makes them happy. they think, “see? that’s how it should be.” it’s a wish they have for the world, more unity.

🧁 neptune-pluto aspects: rock star alice cooper has neptune sextile pluto in his birth chart. he suffered from alcohol & drug addiction. some of his songs have meanings that have a double entendre. for example, when listening to his song called poison for the first time, it sounds like a love song about how badly he wants this person even though they may not be good for him, they bring him both pleasure and pain. but really that song is about his toxic relationship with drugs and alcohol.

he’s a libra rising & his chart ruler is venus in pisces which is in the 6th house of health, routine, and habits.

his neptune is a prominent placement for him being in his 1st house & conjunct his ascendant.

his neptune is at 12° (pisces degree) which is also associated with drugs/alcohol, addiction, a lack of boundaries, but also spirituality, musical talent, healing, the emotions, and creativity. and his pluto which brings transformation is at 13° (aries degree) which can indicate some form of struggle or abuse but there’s also courage, determination, and perseverance.

alice cooper has overcome his drug and alcohol addiction, has helped others including other rock n’ roll artists to do the same, and he became a christian and gave a lot of credit to Jesus Christ as the reason why he was able to beat these addictions.

i’m not saying everyone with this aspect will have a similar story, it’s just one way i’ve seen this aspect play out.

🧁 leo venus/venus in the 5th house: you might be attracted to people who are talented. somone who plays an instrument really well. maybe you find it attractive watching someone play the guitar and rocking out, headbanging and stuff lol

someone who is really good at sports, seeing their athleticism, their skill, their dedication to the sport they play. touch down celebrations might be something you like to see if football is your thing. perhaps play fighting with your love.

someone who is a talented artist, seeing them use their creativity and skills to create something out of nothing. seeing their passion come to life in their art, how it tells a story. how they assign their own meanings to the colors, shapes, and materials they use.

🧁 harsh mars-uranus aspects: might be more willing to do something bad if they feel like they’re doing it for a good reason. reminds me of thomas shelby from peaky blinders. he does a lot of bad things for the sake of his family/loved ones, to better their lives. he shows his loyalty in extreme & intense ways. he also performs some philanthropic deeds. he’s smart, ingenious, unpredictable, has been to war and applies a war-like strategy or mindset in his approach to achieving his goals. he does what he wants when he wants and rarely takes the advice of others.

🧁 jupiter in the 4th house: motherhood may be a blessing for you. your child or children might feel like you’re the best mom ever and you might feel like that too lol your child may make your life better, more meaningful and fulfilling. you pass on the wisdom you’ve gained to them. encouraging education and spirituality in their upbringing. motherhood definitely alters your perspective on life. you learn so much from being a mom and part of that is because your child teaches you so much including by just watching them grow.

🧁 one thing i feel like is underrated about virgos is their sense of style. they can dress & it’s authentic. they stand out among the sea of fad loving doppelgangers because of their originality. and while they may not vocalize their judgements, i promise you they are analyzing every detail of your outfit, hairstyle, choice of accessories, etc. all in silence. they notice the smallest details which is part of the reason why they look so pristine & put together. they simply have good taste. potential as a stylist & designer.

🧁 4th house ruler in 11th house: this native may have, want, or prefer a chosen family rather than the family they were born with. their friends may feel more like a family to them and they may spend more time with them. may be an adopted child or feel like one, and you may want to adopt if you decide to start your own family. the people you look to as your mother or father figure may not be your biological parents. a community or sense of family with the ones you are closest to but not necessarily the ones you are related to.

🧁 the sign in your 2nd house may show you how you feel about sharing the things that belong to you (food, money, clothes, car, info on where you got something, and so on):

capricorn would probably only share with you if they actually like you or respect you.

virgo might be picky about who they share with or who gets to touch what.

libra i think would be both of the above but may feel bad when they want say no so they might just say whatever and give in for that reason.

sag is ruled by jupiter which is associated with generosity so i think they’d be more willing to give things away or tell you where they got their stuff from like a nice shirt that they have.

aquarius is another sign i feel like would be willing to share, since they’re about community & philanthropy but regardless of how social aquarius may be i think they’re a bit detached from people & they like their originality so they may not want everyone looking like them or having what they have so they may say no to most but yes to those closest to them.

scorpio may be a bit more possessive and private about what’s theirs so they may only share with those they trust.

gemini likes to talk and exchange information, they’re lighthearted individuals who may have no problem sharing or telling you where they got something.

to me taurus is 50/50. they’re known to be savers and spenders. they know how to gather and save their resources, can be hoarders and a bit selfish but they also like pleasing themselves, indulging in the things they like. they know how to spoil others as well so they’d probably just buy it for you instead of giving you what’s theirs.

🧁 aquarius lilith: might be a misanthrope, someone who dislikes humanity or society as a whole. however you may like people as individuals. i see this being a lone wolf/outcast placement.

🧁 your jupiter in their 1st house (synastry): you are a blessing to this person’s life. you definitely make their life better and an impactful difference would be felt with out you in their life. you make them feel good about themselves, make them feel confident, you support them. you broaden their outlook on life, providing fresh perspectives. you share the knowledge you have with them, make them wiser. the 1st house intrigues jupiter and wants to understand the 1st house person better. jupiter person could be one of if not the 1st house person’s favorite person.

you lift them up, bring optimism and encouragement. you guys feel good around each other, have a lot of fun together, make each other happier. you help them in their journey of self improvement whether you know it or not. the jupiter person sees the potential in the 1st house person during the times they don’t see it themselves. they encourage you to be your best authentic self. jupiter person may also discover things about themselves through their relationship with the 1st house person. jupiters perspective and understanding is broadened as well. also, jupiter probably spoils the 1st house person & 1st house person appreciates them so much and just knows how much they mean to them.

🧁 omg how many people with prominent 7th house placements have walked in multiple weddings? like you could’ve been a flower girl, ring boy, a bridesmaid or groomsman etc. especially with venus, jupiter, asteroid juno (3) here, or a 7th house stellium.

🧁 placidus vs whole sign house system: i mostly use the whole sign house system but i encourage you not to ignore the placements in your chart using the placidus system. you won’t relate to or notice the impact of all of your placements at once. you grow and develop as a person and this takes time, so it may take time to see the influence of certain placements and aspects in your chart regardless of which house system you use. people experience different areas of life at different times. i may experience the 6th house and 7th house related themes earlier in my life but you may experience much them later in your life.

remember each house has themes and different areas of focus. take the 8th house for example: you may not relate to the theme of death in this house (either literally or figuratively in the form of rebirth/transformation) and so you may not relate to the inheritance aspect either (or not yet) but you may relate to the themes of the occult along with sex & intimacy in this house. it’s normal to not relate to everything related to that house, and it’s normal not to relate to everything all at once.

i relate to the placement of my sun using the whole sign system more than the placement of my sun using placidus. when using placidus my sun is in the 4th house. initially i didn’t relate to this placement what so ever. but then i recently noticed something, i literally am the kim k of my family. if i die the light goes out in this family. i’m not even trying to be funny, vain, nor am i trying to boast. my relatives love me and are always asking for me. they adore me, think i’m funny and they just like hearing from me. they talk to me the most. most of my parent’s friends mainly ask about me and want to talk to me on the phone and i’m not the only child. i literally ask my parents if their friends forgot that they had more than one child. their friends are always giving me money and gifts and food. i play an important role in this family, i’m basically a leader & i manage a lot of things in this house/family. my parents tend to brag about me as well.

however there are other themes in the 4th house which i do not relate to and there are other placements in the chart that i don’t relate to at all, or perhaps not yet.

apart from that, there’s something called intercepted signs, houses, and planets & duplicated signs and houses. they apply to house systems like placidus but not to those like whole sign. you may have these in your placidus chart. it might be something you relate to and you may learn something about yourself as well.

i cannot and will not attempt to explain but them if you’re interested here are some posts that do explain them:

https://www.tumblr.com/boyzgotojupiter/706271020564234240

https://bobmarksastrologer.com/intercepted-signs/

https://bobmarksastrologer.com/duplicated-signs/

https://www.tumblr.com/boyzgotojupiter/706271008694353920/duplicated-intercepted-houses

if you read this until the end i hope you enjoyed it & thank you so much for reading. ♥︎♥︎♥︎, those hearts are for you.

#astrology #astro observations #astrology observations #astrology notes #astro notes #libraincarnate

[paellegere]

as they suffer, they compare themselves to christ. but the difference between them is striking. crozier says he is (like) christ, while fitzjames insists he's not. it makes me think about authenticity: crozier is "real" while fitzjames is "fake." and this idea is brought up again in the show. in episode 1 crozier hesitates to stand in recognition for his feats of valor, and in episode 4 fitzjames himself questions him as to why he even volunteered for a voyage—one whose purpose is essentially glory and fame. crozier is therefore framed as someone who shies away from the spotlight and instead focuses on earnest, hard work to achieve his goals. he cares more about his work than the recognition for it.

fitzjames is his opposite: he is all vainglory and mirrors, achieving feats of valor just to spread his name and climb the social ladder. and he talks excessively of his accomplishments, to the point that it seems to disgust crozier in episode 1.

so here is christ and christ's imposter, suffering upon their cross as they seek redemption for their own transgressions. crozier overcomes his alcoholism, and fitzjames overcomes his vanity.

to be eaten is to disappear entirely, to be erased from the world. with his request to be consumed fitzjames does overcome his vanity. he gives everything he has and asks nothing in return, so he achieves the authenticity that crozier naturally has as the "real" christ figure. i have no idea where i'm going with this but i am staring wide-eyed at these parallels. i don't know. i just don't know.

#liveblogging: the terror #the terror #.txt #i just don't know #crozier comparing himself to christ in his vulnerability #and fitzjames comparing himself to christ as he dies #there's so much to unpack here

[givemearmstopraywith]

how do i reconcile being religious (catholic specifically) while also being pro-choice? I’m sorry if this sounds like a bait question, it’s not i promise! But recently i’ve been grappling with my faith again and trying to immerse myself with god again and i feel a bit….dissonant i guess? over having strong opinions on abortion and then on the other hand being religious. i don’t feel grief about being pro-choice, it’s something i believe proudly and w integrity. but it seems like i am in between two opposing great forces which demand of me to choose one over the other? do you have any kind words on how i could possibly reconcile with these? thank you x

i just finished writing research close to this topic, specifically on the problem of mary's consent. which of course comes back to issue of bodily autonomy which is central to questions of abortion. and mary is a problem: theology can neither acknowledge the problem of rape nor accept a consenting woman. to not consent is to be raped, to have control over your body, to say "yes," to consent, is to show a yearning for sexual pleasure, for oneness, and to innate acknowledge that a woman has control over her body before Go does. women must be both and neither: that is why we have the virgin mary. according to contemporary understandings of consent, mary simply could not consent: effectively God has autonomy over her body before she does.

the historical mary is a woman: she is jewish, poor, young, unmarried, and pregnant, and is the ultimate embodiment of liberation theology’s “preferential option for the poor.” but she is absolutely absent of any sexuality. when marcella althaus-reid states that poverty is a bodily and sexual matter, mary cannot be included in this statement. mary is never indecent: her existence is pinioned on the concept of her decency. she is the “right” version of all women, the perfect mate for the god-man: she is submissive, and receives him without becoming distracted by the matter of her self-determination. mary is never overcome by a profane hunger. theology requires this ultimate model of femininity to measure against all other women.

elisabeth schussler fiorenza calls attention to the danger to ecclesiastical and political authorities if mary is rendered as a self-determining single mother: a single woman who is “god-empowered, god-protected” and “filled with the holy spirit who exalts the violated and makes the fruit of illegitimacy holy.” if mary was rendered as excitedly or joyfully consenting to the act of impregnation by god, she would not suit the dominant narrative of women’s sexuality in theology: her joy can only be vocalised after she has already submitted to the masculine-penetrative god-man.

a woman who leans into the oneness and pleasure of union with god because it is pleasurable, out of the locus of her body and her sense of self-determination rather than a sense of duty or submission, has no defined place in christian theology. she can only be appropriated and co-opted by dominant patriarchal narratives, talked over, and silenced. a mary who found pleasure and joy in her impregnation, who readily and excitedly agreed to the divine directive in full knowledge of its implications, implies a femininity which cannot be controlled.

i mention mary because mary is the nexus of most catholic arguments about abortion, whether she is specifically named or not. she is the excuse used to block anyone regarded as "receptive" to patriarchy from having control of their body. i personally read the lucan narrative as mary consenting: let what you have said be done to me. this is consent, though we may debate whether or not it was informed or coerced. but i cannot imagine that christ would have come into the world through an unwilling mother. nor does God force belief on those who do not consent to believe: only people, only dogma, forces itself on the unconsenting. so in this way i can say that God cannot exist to us without consent. violation is a human creation: it is humans who violate God at the crucifixion. as such God cannot exist to us without bodily autonymy, without allowing us choice- it is the human creation of fascism which denies choice, and i hold that dimension of denial absolutely separate from God, because it is not part of God. God may be used to excuse it, but God cannot deny the natural choice and autonomy of his creation without also violating his own existence.

as for catholicism, it is old and it loves augustine. the idea that abortion is wrong is a fairly new invention in the cahtolic church and really only comes from fears that all babies are destined to hell. medieval catholicism saw life as beginning at the "quickening," which could mean anything but was seen as the first movement of the child in the womb. quickening was seen as the moment of ensoulment, and church views of abortion dictated that after ensoulment, a baby would be condemned if not baptized. it is this bizarre and exceptionally antiquated view that is the foundation of contemporary abortion debates: but even contemporary ideas of "human at conception" are ludicrous in comparison to how medieval catholicism understood when a person became a person separate from the person of the one bearing it. christianity dispelled with the judaic idea that the mother's life was more important than the fetus: it is typical of christianity to dispel of its own humanity.

effectively what i'm saying is that things change. the church changes: we find ourselves in unfortunate epochs, but the catholic church is prone to evolution and i appreciate that. but i don't feel, in any way, that being pro-choice and being catholic are at odds with each other. your morality is simply beyond where the magisterium can currently gather itself, and that's okay. the church has always been like that and probably always will be. it is the body of believers, those in the grassroots, those out in the world, who matter the most: over and above canon law, since all law (unlike God) is subject to editing and change. maybe that's a bit controversial: i don't believe it is. jesus didn't live in the temple, he lived on the street. he loved his religion, but he also knew that certain aspects did more harm then good. and maybe he felt conflicted over his love for his faith and his conviction about humanity. you walk where he treads: be proud of that.

#replies

[thewordfortheday]

As a believer in Christ, you are an OVER-COMER!

Over-comers are not perfect people. They fail time and time again, but they get themselves up, fix their eyes on Jesus and OVERCOME!

We have this idea that if God is with us, He’ll keep us from trouble, and when bad things do happen, we conclude that God has abandoned us. But this is not true.

In this broken, sinful world bad things do happen to all people. Jesus didn’t promise us a carefree life. He didn’t promise to remove it. He promised to be with us. And that makes all the difference. When you know Jesus is with you– walking with you every step of the way– it makes the difference between despair and hope.

Are you struggling through a time of temptation, suffering or loss? God is near you during this time. Jesus promised us this: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

#bible verse #daily devotional #christian quotes #bible quotes #inspiration #daily devotion #christian quote #christian life #scripture #bible #encouragement #overcome

[walkswithmyfather]

“Mathew 8:27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

“There is absolutely nothing that can stand in the way of Jesus.

No enemy has the power He simply casts out demons.

No teacher or skeptic can stump him with a question.

No disease can withstand his call for healing.

Not even nature can baffle or threaten him.

He is not just a man

He is God's Son

He is Immanuel

God with us.

Until we go home to Him it is only then we will fully understand who He is. We can be secure that He will care for us and bring us to his home

Fear is not just being troubled with circumstances it also is the uncertainty about what will ultimately happen to us.

Jesus shows his disciples that their safety, their destiny, is under his command and nothing can withstand his grace offered to bless his disciples

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

There are sometimes times in our lives when we have been hit by blow after blow, and we feel depleted and also defeated. During these occasions, it is easy to lose all hope. The good news is God does not want us to live out our daily existence discouraged or hopeless so He has given us His word as a source of blessing and encouragement.

Deuteronomy 20:4 For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

One of the most encouraging thoughts for you to know is that even when things seem the worst God is in control. He easily overcomes what feels impossible to us.

Every time we struggled with feelings of loss and defeat we have to remind ourselves so our hope can be restored.

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

God does not want us to be overcome by feelings of defeat and despair in spite of the crushing blows we receive. He has given us His powerful word full of encouragement and hope to strengthen us instead.

His will for us is that we live our lives in victory.

We all have battles that we fight every day . It might not be a physical war against other human beings, but rather our struggles may be against our own thought patterns, bad habits or weaknesses.

Sometimes these situations and circumstances that we face that are out of our control. When this occurs read Deuteronomy 20:4 this verse can fill us with hope and courage.

It reminds us that it is the Lord who goes with us to fight for us against our enemies whoever or whatever that may be. God not only fights for us but he also gives us the victory.

2 Samuel 22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

Heavenly Father

Please act with Your strong power to still the storms in the hearts of those we love. Give them peace and calm and lead them to know that Jesus is their source of help. We ask You to replace our sadness with joy, defeat with victory, and weariness with praise. Help us when we feel defeated, weary or sad to focus on Your blessings in our life rather than on my circumstances. Remind us to praise You the Father at all times so we may obtain life and hope. We ask that You bring all things to our memory that concern You and Your plans in my life. Please increase our hope as we focus on Your Word. Help us to not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our mind. Strengthen and renew us in our innermost being. Destroy the fiery darts of the enemy that attempt to pierce our souls. May we always hear Your voice and obey Your will. Father, help us to overcome today fears. Thank you for the ones in our life that Love us. We praise You and Love You Lord in all circumstances. In Jesus’ name we pray

Amen.”

(Via)

[mwebber]

I think the biggest reason why martian appeals to me over other f1 rivalries is that mark never won a wdc. He came sososo close in 2010 but ultimately was beaten by sebastian. Brocedes, prosenna, makkinen, etc, both parties have ensured that they will go down in history. Both have achievements outside of the other. However, mark is doomed to be forgotton by history and forgotten by everyone. That is, everyone except seb. Mark's career is only defined by seb's, but it isn't the same the other way round. They're obsessed with each other and you have made me obsessed with them. Diagnosed with martian brainrot and i'm afraid it's terminal <3 sorry for the long rant

so much to unpack here... like yeah no i'm with u, it's the whole humanizing factor of "almost" with mark that first made me overcome my initial squick. christ, even just sympathizing, it's a gut-wrenching loss. and immediately it's like, how did he cope, what did he do, etc, and i won't lie and say i haven't contributed to this, but it's really just grief porn, isn't it? bleakly realistic or exaggeratedly unrealistic depending on whose take it is, but grief porn nonetheless. who's the real mark webber?

i get what you're saying, but honestly, i'd contest it. mark isn't doomed to be forgotten by history; he's there in the history books as one of australia's best, and also he's literally a world champion in endurance racing. just because he never got that f1 championship doesn't mean he didn't succeed or find fame in other areas. i think there's this idea that he was shit as an f1 driver and his only thing is getting mopped by seb, but when you look at even just the stats, mark still beats out ricciardo. MARK WEBBER is the third-best driver red bull racing has ever had, third only to seb and max.

plus, like, he's literally fine with everything. he doesn't see himself as a victim or a tragic character, the man is just. living his best life! travelling the world! meeting cool people! girlblogging on instagram! not saying this is necessarily you, but i think when one gets deep in the fandom, it's really easy to latch onto the idea of these people and the fleeting snapshots of their stories that are captured in media, and miss the person themselves.

and i'd also argue that seb's career IS defined by mark. i know multi-21 feels commonplace on tumblr dot com, but when the masses of fans think of vettel, they think of malaysia 2013. they think of red bull and 4 championships in a row. sure, haters focus on the tail end of his ferrari career or how godawful aston martin's car was, and haters often have loud voices, but oh my goodness. seb's racing legacy is so deeply entwined with mark's. i think it's reductive to wave that off for the sake of the narrative comparison.

i love that you're just getting into martian, and i love the renaissance that's happening where people are finding their footholds with the ship and exploring the two of them, because there are a great many treasures to find! just be wary of falling into the larger fanon, i guess is what i'm trying to say. this ship has had over a decade to marinate and both seb and mark have had their identities and stories boxed into one-liners like the ones you've described. what else is there? that's where the gold is.

#inbox

[queerprayers]

It's the times when I have no words that people ask for them, it seems. I don't tend to navigate current events publicly, and I don't want my online presence to be one of knee jerk reactions/first instinct opinions. I barely have a high school education. I am not a news source or a current politics page, but I am also not indifferent and do not desire silence. I trust that prayer, charity, and love has accompanied everyone reading this as you respond to ongoing genocide and war. You already know what God has asked of you. It may feel like too much to ask, but it has been asked. I don't know that anyone needs my words, but I was asked to pray a little bit louder today. Prayer comes hand in hand with work to do. May God be with you in that work, even if it is simply (or not-so-simply) acknowledging your broken heart and researching the best way to share your extra $5.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. For the captives, the refugees, the healers, the wounded, the dying, the mourning, the oppressed, the oppressors, the children, we pray. For the blood on the hands of many countries, for the prejudice in our own hearts, we cry out. For the systems that keep violence close, we seek to tear down. For the empty prayers for peace, we seek to tear open with healing justice. For the softening of revenge without falling into the temptation of neutrality in the face of oppression, we pray. For acknowledging the full humanity of every person we see or read about or find within a numbered statistic, we pray. For our Muslim siblings who have lived under the shadow of apartheid for too long, and for Muslims around the world who battle against prejudice and mourn for their community, we pray. For our siblings in Christ in our Lord's homeland, who are oppressed alongside them, whose churches are being destroyed; and for Christians around the world, who need opened eyes, solidarity, and a renewed yearning to follow the Jesus of liberational peace, we pray. For our Jewish siblings who are living through violence while feeling helpless to affect their government's actions, and for Jewish people around the world who experience antisemitism while they hurt to hear of the crimes done in their religion's name, we pray. For those who need the courage to lay down their weapons, for those reckoning with their own part in colonialism, for those who cannot see a way out except for violence, for those in power with hardened hearts, for those who seek the truth, for those whose guilt is all they have, for those whose rage threatens to overcome them, for the hopeless, we pray. God of all, of many languages and peoples, Prince of Peace, holy and life-giving Spirit, Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.

#i am uninterested in political debate on this post but please feel free to add your own prayers #i probably have not said this perfectly but god hears. and i trust you will give me grace as well

[welcome-to-the-end-of-eras]

Pulleyverse Characters as ATLA Benders

Mori: If any one of the pulleyverse characters were to be the avatar it would definitely be Mori, but if he weren't the avatar I think he would be an earth bender who specializes in metal bending. Like I think he would have so much fun making little metal sculptures and moving structures and stuff like that, not unlike the Beifongs in LoK. So combining those ideas, he'd be an avatar born in the Earth Kingdom who very much does not want to be the avatar.

Shenkov: He's definitely a fire bender, no question. He has that classic fire bender strength and honor routine basically engrained in him from a young age, and I feel like he could be pretty accomplished as a fire bender, but again he probably wouldn't want to do much fire bending. He'd kinda be like an Iroh situation; was and could be the strongest person in the room if he let loose, but all he really wants is some tea.

Joe: Water bender, and a damn good one too. He really mastered the calm meditative nature required of a water bender, (the man stared blank faced at a ticking bomb two feet from him, for Christ's sake) but he can also be really ruthless about it too. I don't necessarily think he would be a blood bender or anything like that, but he would definitely be able to pull the freezing rain thing like Katara.

Missouri: He would also be a water bender for the same reasons as Joe, but I think he would in fact be a blood bender. In the world of ATLA, blood benders are very widely feared, and for good reason, and I think Missouri would absolutely be capable of using something like blood bending to instill fear in people. He wouldn't like doing it of course, but he could and would if necessary.

Gale: They're very much an air bender. They're very calm and meditative when they need to be, and that is how they prefer to be, but they could definitely pull a Yangchen and just go buckwild if they needed to. And I feel like of all the pulleyverse characters, they're the least attached to their "earthly desires" (and that is relative bc none of these mfs are detached at all). Plus imagine them having a fuckin MAMMOTH as their little companion buddy instead of a bison!!! A big ass flying mammoth!!!

Valery: I honestly think Valery would be a non bender. He's all for science and everything like that, and of course benders can be scientists, but I feel like he would spend a lot of time studying what makes people able to bend instead of being a bender himself. If I were to choose one element for him I would probably choose fire, but at the end of the day it makes the most sense to me if he were more interested in studying bending.

Merrick: Earth bender. There is no other answer for him that earth bender. He's very grounded and stable in his character, but also undeniably strong. His arc about overcoming the "weakness" he feels after his leg gets messed up honestly is very reminiscent of Toph to me, and I feel like he would absolutely take the time and learn from the creatures of the earth to become an incredibly powerful earth bender. Also adding in him being a mentor for Mori and it's just >>>

Raphael: I feel like he would also be an earth bender tbh. Like he just so ardently respects the land he lives on and constantly learns from his environment to adapt, especially considering he can't always rely on the people around him, so he would turn to learning from the world around him. If I were pressed to choose another one I think he could also fit into the fire bender role, but I prefer the earth bender interpretation tbh.

January: He honestly could be a non bender too, but the Sokka kind of non bender who takes the time to learn actual fighting moves from all of the nations and become just an incredibly powerful fighter on his own. I feel like he would be especially inspired by air nomad moves being a dancer and all, and that would be the way he bonds with Gale which I think is vvv cute.

Thaniel: he has stumped me this entire post, which is very odd considering I think about this man at least five times a day, and the best conclusion I think I've drawn is he'd either be a non bender or an earth bender. So probably then a non bender born in the earth kingdom, because he does embody the earth kingdom ideals of maintaining outward strength and balance in life, but not necessarily the actual ideals of an earth bender. And tbh he seems like he couldn't give less of a fuck about bending.

#this took me longer than expected and I reserve the right to change my answers later #the way I normally make these posts is by stewing on the ideas throughout the day and then putting all of my ideas out in a mad dash #it is to quote the mars house 'projectile autism' #but I was asked personally this morning to make this and I don't have a lot of time today so this is what we're rocking with for now #and I'd happily do it again bc I love making these and I love atla #the watchmaker of filigree street #the lost future of pepperharrow #the bedlam stacks #the kingdoms #the half life of valery k #the mars house #twofs #tlfop #tbs #tk #thlovk #tmh #natasha pulley

[alasse-earfalas]

Once I was suicidal.

I have been many times. But this instance was many years ago, when being suicidal was still a new struggle. I had recently fled my dream university due to plummeting mental health. I was now caught in a horrible place, living with my abuser and sequestered to a basement room. I was also not properly medicated.

I was stuck. I saw no way forward. I didn't know how to handle the despair, the crushing desire to just stop existing so I couldn't feel the weight of the emptiness anymore.

And then, one day, as I laid in bed, feeling all the awfulness of everything weighing down on me at once, a still, small voice spoke to my mind: "This is not the worst thing you will ever go through."

(Note that I would not advise using this line on anyone who's struggling with thoughts of suicide. It's a miracle that it helped me the way that it did.)

Rather than sinking me further into the pits of despair, or making me feel like there was no hope—because how could I possibly survive anything worse than what I was feeling right then?—for whatever reason, that one little thought brought me hope. It gave me perspective. It felt like a promise.

"You are stronger than this," it was saying. "You will face worse things and overcome them, too. What you are feeling right now will not destroy you."

And you know what? It didn't. And many years later, it still hasn't. I have gone through worse things since then and survived them, and I expect there will be even greater challenges ahead. But I know I'll be okay.

I trust in the Lord to protect and preserve me, so long as it is in accordance with His will.

I've survived the suicide of a family member. I've survived discovering new and complicated mental health issues. I've survived surfacing trauma. I've survived terrifying downward spirals and very close calls.

I'm still here. The Lord has carried me through everything, and I'm still going.

I want to share this as a message of hope. I do not know your situation, but I know that God loves you infinitely and perfectly. You are precious to Him. No matter what you're facing in life, know that you never have to face it alone. The Lord is always aware of you. Jesus Christ is always there for you. Even when the world seems black and empty and utterly alone, He is there. I've come to trust in that. It's saved my life.

God is watching out for you. Everything will be okay.

#tw suicide #tw: suicide #suicide #suicidal ideation #hopeful message #suicide awareness #suicide awareness month #mental health #mental health awareness #christianity

[butterflies-and-bumble-bees]

Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King's triumph!

Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness.

This is the night, when once you led our forebears, Israel's children, from slavery in Egypt and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea.

This is the night that with a pillar of fire banished the darkness of sin.

This is the night that even now, throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and from the gloom of sin, leading them to grace and joining them to his holy ones.

This is the night, when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.

Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed.

O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!

O truly blessed night, worthy alone to know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld!

This is the night of which it is written: The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me, and full of gladness.

But now we know the praises of this pillar, which glowing fire ignites for God's honor, a fire into many flames divided, yet never dimmed by sharing of its light, for it is fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious.

O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to the human.

Therefore, O Lord, we pray you that this candle, hallowed to the honor of your name, may persevere undimmed, to overcome the darkness of this night.

Receive it as a pleasing fragrance, and let it mingle with the lights of heaven.

May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star: the one Morning Star who never sets, Christ your Son, who, coming back from death's domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity, and lives and reigns for ever and ever.

(my favourite parts the Exsultet)

#catholic #catholicism #easter vigil #the easter vigil #easter #easter sunday #holy saturday

[borzoilover69]

I know that you've already kinda figured out why dirkjakers like LE jake but I want to offer a more mundane reason and that is the absolute power fantasy that this man offers. I hate epilogues with a passion that could burn universes but ult dirk? My bpd ass was in shambles (that's why I'll someday make an essay on why dirk strider homestuck has bpd and/or npd), having control over people, over narrative itself, and most importantly fucking desimating your ex who called you clingy that one time while simultaneously still being obsessed with him, I've never lived vicariously through a character so much in my life. He is a horrible person but I Get him. "What would you do with this power" he asked the audience, and I solemnly nodded bc I would do the same thing (probably). And I suspect power fantasy LE jake offers is the same for some people bc don't you want to go apeshit? Don't you want to stop (not very successfully) conforming and be weird and off-putting freely? Don't YOU want to desimate YOUR ex? Both ult dirk and ult jake are what audience wants them to be and I think the audience wants them to be powerful, insane and murderous bc we ourselves cannot be like that irl. Their relationship is cathartic, their actions are cathartic, it's like religion if you relate to the god from old testament. Or I'm projecting big time which is also a possibility

Everyone take notes because this anon is speaking cold true facts and this shit is getting carved into the walls. I agree with the Dirk Strider has BPD headcanon, I offer up to you the Jake has BPD too headcanon in return.

I like the idea of Jake going batshit insane. I think a lot of people do, after all if the ancestors were anything to go off of, Jake and Dirk are pretty nuts.

Also fun sort of related fact, really fond of Ultimate Jake, it's because it plays into the mythos of their Demiurges / Denizens and how important that is to their stories. (I'm getting autistic here). Yaldaboath (Dirks Denizen, Destroyer of Peace) is considered a false god, harbinger of chaos, and uses the light he inherits from his mother, Sophia (personification of light and wisdom) to try to rise above others, even if he is blind and is not as aware of the aeons as his mother is.

Jesus destroyed Yaldaboaths kingdom and thus, Yaldaboath had him crucified, made a martyr. But before his martyrdom could set in, Jesus ascended and returned to the world. In Gnosticism, they viewed Yaldaboath as evil, and that Jesus had to overcome him "by destroying the Jewish Temple with an Earthquake lifting the veil or Yaldabaoth’s curtain of illusion, by Jesus’ resurrection and rapture. "

Now, who do we have quite literally representing Jesus Christ himself? Okay, you're going to say Karkat, but do you know who *specifically* represents the place where Christ himself died and was made a martyr and the rapt- OK ITS JAKE ENGLISH OKAY ITS JAKE ENGLISH. And the sufferer BUT THATS NOT IMPORTANT.

There's quite a few parallels with Yaldaboath being one that wanted to be recognised as a god and in his jealous fury condemned a mortal god and Dirk Strider. There's quite a few parallels between Jesus Christ, Karkat, and Jake English, his rapture and ascension. There's an INSANE amount of parallels between Yaldaboath's mother, Sophia, and Rose Lalonde. Even down to Rose going grimdark, which Sophia DOES, after she loses her light, which is something i'll go on about in another ramble. Thematically, if we're following gnosticism, Jesus Christ, aka Jake English, is the one able to recognise and overcome Yaldaboaths illusion, aka Dirk Strider. It just makes SENSE.

#borzoi talks #borzoi meta #rose lalonde #dirk strider #jake english #ultimate dirk #ultimate jake #le jake #homestuck #homestuck meta #hom3stuck #karkat vantas

[hermajestyimher]

Project: Becoming Her, Ultimate Self-Improvement Guide to the Disciple of Christ.

On my blog I've touched upon my spirituality in the past, my ups and downs as it pertains to my faith walk, my experience with religious trauma, and how my relationship and knowledge of God have changed through time.

At times I allowed the religiosity of people around me to cloud my judgement and become judgemental like them, other times pushing me away from my faith, not realizing that people can only speak for themselves and it's their actions and not their words that show if they are truly disciples of Christ and the teachings of the Bible, or not.

In this new phase of my life, God has revealed and shown so many things to me, and I want to take you all on this journey of self-discovery and realization. I want to open a space in my blog to discuss faith and spirituality through a Biblical lens, but not through a religious archaic way. I want to be able to grow in my relationship with God alongside those of you who also want to follow a similar path (my intention would never be to push my beliefs onto anybody else, disagreement is understandable and I'm ok with that).

I want to apply that Biblical wisdom that through centuries has shaped the lives of important figures to improve my life, get closer to God, and bring some light to whoever may be experiencing moments of darkness. That is what this project will be all about.

In a world of information overload, confusion, and materialism, I hope I can show people that there is more to life. To get closer to God you do not need to adhere to a dogmatic and rigid religious way, but through discipline in all areas of your life: spiritual, mental, physical, intellectual, etc. You can master yourself into becoming the absolute best version you can be, and a true example of what a disciple of Christ in the modern age looks like.

My posts will from now on be based on Biblical teachings and how to best apply this knowledge to our lives to better improve ourselves, understand the nature of God, and not allow those around us to taint our self-perception and drag us down the wrong path because we aren't receiving the right information.

As cliché as it may sound, being a disciple of Christ is not about religion but about relationship. Religion is man-made and it has brought a lot of suffering to the world, but Christ came to overcome the world and we are set aside as disciples of Him because of it. We are in the world, but not of the world. We are disciples, not Christians. That's how I like to look at it, though semantics is the least of it and each person's personal religious identity is up to them.

If this resonated with you or if you want to explore a relationship with God in a different way (maybe you've been wronged by religious institutions or people in the past), I invite you to send me suggestions on my inbox of the things you'd like me to cover in-depth in this new series. We're all in this together.

Daphne.

#faith series #becoming her #blog piece

[mauriceclivealec]

ok- so i just finished the novel and i had a thought. some people, typically religious traditionalists, would view clive as the true hero. what do you think of this? in all honesty, i think the novel was unbiased; in which (to me) maurice still reigns as the hero. in the film, it’s clear the bias was for maurice… i mean the score “clive and anne” was heart wrenching, presenting the tragic fate of clive. i mean- of course the novel was biased to some extent (the name of the book lol) but it’s difficult to say whether or not clive truly regrets his decisions in the novel. if clive had no regrets, would a traditionalist say he was able to surpass his sinful desires and frame clive as a hero? strange thoughts :/

You say you have read the novel in full – so I hope you have also read the author E.M. Forster’s ‘Notes on Maurice’ at the end (written in 1960 when Forster was 81 years old). If not, I urge you to do so.

If you understood the novel, my feeling is that you already know that the answer to your question is ‘No’. Clive is emphatically NOT the hero. Forster’s novel was NOT written to promote an anti-sex/purity or anti-gay agenda. Unambiguously, Forster’s purpose was the complete opposite.

Regarding Clive, in the novel teenage Clive rejects his devout Christianity (i.e. the Church of England: Edwardian England’s religious establishment, the church of the state) and replaces that faith with Hellenistic beliefs drawn from the Ancient Greeks. Forster does not write, or suggest, that Clive reverts to Christian faith later on (in Parts 3–4). Clive’s marriage to Anne – who is active in the Church of England – signals his social conformity: it’s a social convenience, not a return to Christian faith, reflecting social/class expectations on Clive.

In Maurice’s very last paragraph, Forster tells us that, the older Clive becomes, the more he dreams of the Maurice of ‘the May term’. The Maurice of Cambridge on their perfect day out in the Fens becomes physically present for the older Clive when, in reality, Maurice has gone from him for ever. This is not the dream of someone who has overcome their ‘sinful’ [sic] desires. This ending is Forster’s punishment to Clive, who chooses social conformity as a convenience (as an upper-class landowner, he is about to become a Conservative MP in a safe/uncontested Parliamentary seat) while living a lie. (‘He never saw her [Anne] naked, nor she him. ... Secrecy suited him, at least he adopted it without regret.’ – Maurice, Chapter 33)

Perhaps you need to re-read Maurice for a fuller understanding. I would also suggest you read around and about the novel and its history. There’s a very good academic paper, ‘Maurice and religion’ by Krzysztof Fordonski (2012), which you might find interesting.

You don’t clarify who/what you mean by ‘religious traditionalists’. There are many religions, many ‘traditions’, and a spectrum of Christian positions on same-sex attraction and sex. (From your Ask I infer that you might be an American fundamentalist anti-sex Christian.) As you might be aware, same-sex couples have had marriage rights in the UK since 2013, with church marriages conducted by some Christian denominations (including the Anglican Church in Scotland but not England). Self-evidently, LGBTQ+ Christians exist, around the world. Most want acceptance – not to have to live chaste or secretive lives.

Forster was from a family who were important members of the Clapham Sect (Christian social reformers and prominent anti-slavery abolitionists in the UK) but was himself a secular humanist. His 1939 essay ‘What I Believe’ – written against rising totalitarianism at the start of WW2 – is his best-known piece of non-fiction writing.

I’m guessing from your wording, however, that your motive for this Ask is that you yourself are (i) a ‘religious traditionalist’ (American? anti-sex?) and (ii) (for reasons which aren’t clear) very keen to appropriate – or twist – Clive and Maurice to serve a ‘traditionalist’ Christian anti-sex, anti-gay agenda. If that’s correct – why?

There’s no shortage of Christian literature and anti-sex puritanical literature in the world. So I do wonder what your motive is for wanting to impose this reading on a pro-gay, pro-happiness novel by a gay author (and one of the 20th century’s greatest novelists), filmed in 1987 by gay filmmakers. If you don’t approve of Forster’s purposes and beliefs as expressed in his novels, why not just stay away?

(Endnote: Some Forster fics have also recently appeared on ff.net which seek to ‘Christianise’ several of Forster’s novels in ways which miss and disrespect the point of the originals. Again, I wonder why.)

#em forster #maurice 1987 #clive durham #christianity #Asks #Anon