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torgawl · 1 month

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instead of just cross eyes and star eyes distinguishing dynasties in khaenri'ah, why do some khaenri'ahns cover one eye specifically? there’s many things that seem interconnected regarding the lore:

crimson moon turning around to look like an eye; irmin the one-eyed king; the unknown god’s cubes containing eyes in their design (same ones present in the cataclysm as well as the crimson moon), her glitching looking like arlecchino’s, and the four pointed star pattern that appeared when she showed up to the twins; forbidden knowledge and nibelung’s influence; fischl's auge der verurteilung aka eye of condemnation (crimson eye) and her skin's description "o holiest of sovereigns, high princess of immernachtreich (kingdom of evernight)!".

kaeya's note about the alberich saying "i saved this one memento from the fire 'father' made while he wasn’t paying attention. this was in violation of our principles. our clan's affairs should never be recorded" and "though we could not restore khaenri'ah to life, we of the alberich clan should lead lives as those who blaze like fire, rather than those who wallow in the embers [small piece of burning or glowing coal or wood in a dying fire]", father being in quotation marks and references to fire and ashes; the orphanage in khaenri'ah that wanted to house children from destroyed worlds and non-threats that leaked into the kingdom, in hopes of finding beings from beyond the sky who could transcend the gods; perinheri's first memory being transversing something like a chimney, filled with ash and being asked if he wasn't dead just for him to see the eye (crimson moon) and being told he was reborn; dust and the blood of of dragons (or dragon-like beings like durin and elynas) being connected to rhinedottir and the art of khemia; fire as rebirth and life but also, the balemoon blood specifically being connected to loss of memories and loss of memory being equivalent to death (not physical); despite the orphanage never being able to find that transcendal person, it had many unusual individuals who became knights of the kingdom.

irmin as the first divine halberd (that once pierced the axis mundi [cosmic/world axis, world pillar, center of the world, world tree, etc.] and connected the nine worlds), the prinzessin der verurteilungas (fischl) as the last one; fischl and kaeya comparing themselves to one another and their parallels to irmin and odin; der ring des nibelungen, in which the dwarf (or nibelung) alberich creates a ring capable of controlling the world, using gold he stole from the rhinemaidens (or rheintöchter "rhine-daughters"). the conflict that arises over the ownership of this ring eventually leads to the destruction of the gods and their home, valhalla.

irminsul (irmin + sul) meaning great pillar and being a reference to the yggdrasil, the tree that supports the universe; the description of the item silver twig – collected in the center of the world - talking about a sage that hanged himself upside down in the irminsul tree to gain knowledge of the runes and the cosmos, then going into a secret kingdom down its roots [also a reference to hanged man in tarot that symbolizes wisdom, divination, sacrifice, prophecy, etc.]; odin who hung himself upside down from the sacred world tree, yggdrasil, for nine days and nights sacrificing his eye and throwing himself on his spear (gungir) as a ritual sacrifice in order to obtain secret wisdom; memories, fire and crimson moon hand in hand with the irminsul, king irmin and the concept of fate; the fake sky, the stars and being able to see fate but also fate being a means of the heavenly principles to control the world (neuvillette calling it puppet strings); khaenri'ah, a supposed godless nation but the crimson moon dynasty revering the moon (and hilichurls worshiping istaroth); the crimson moon having an eye on humanity and always being present associated with punishment and destruction (fall of gurabad, remuria and the catclysm).

crimson moon's semblance (arlecchino’s weapon) implying the crimson moon sought vengeance (“few survived the utter destruction of their kind, hiding in the shadows where the sun did not shine, longing for the crimson moon to decree their desire for vengeance be repaid”); the design of the weapon and arlecchino’s boss attacks resembling the double helix present in deathly statuette material dropped by abyss heralds, abyss lectors and shadowy husks, which has a single red eye. it apparently whispers "see, my child. all that lies under the throne of heaven shall be destroyed by upheaval. the eternal peace of the pitch-dark void shall embrace us all.” as you gaze at it.

the abyss order being founded by chlothar alberich and pierro being the first harbinger; the "sinner" – the crystal in chains from the chasm, protected by an abyss herald - not being a god but still worshipped by the abyss order. the voice stating to chlothar and the traveler’s twin that he "[knows their] fate well" and urged them to become a "transcendent one" saying he would "shed a tear at the end of time... as i gaze back upon your life". he also imbued chlothar with the power of the abyss, which alleviated his worsening conditions. the “sinner” refered to chlothar as “dear creature”; dainsleif, pierro and kaeya being examples of khaenriahns who hide their right eye; dainsleif being called “bough keeper”, bough is a branch of a tree, but also his constellation being a snake ring like ouroboros – representing the eternal renewal cycle of life, death and rebirth; the loom of fate being an operation of the abyss order first encountered during "a herald without adherents" quest.

“the threads of your fate lie in my hands” a quote by fischl connecting to the weaves of fate; fischl stating that if she does not obtain the divine halberd “...this world and everything in it is going to burn in hellfire” (legend of the shattered halberd vol. ii). some other excerpts of the book also include: “but unbeknownst to him, this was the greatest cursed sword of all, that had once burned the entire world to cinders: laevatain [in norse mythology, a weapon crafted by loki and the only capable of defeating the cockerel viðofnir, inhabiting the top of yggdrasil], the sword had extinguished after the world was burned, but... it burned bright once more. ‘the whole world... destroyed again...’ weiyang [fischl] fell unconscious as she spoke” (vol. iv), and, "the world is beyond repair. it shall be born anew from the ashes of the last” (vol. vi); dainsleif saying “none will escape the flames. see for yourself” but also neuvillette’s character story including “the puppet strings glossed as "divine rules" would one day be burned away by the fires of judgment” when talking about constellations; burning away the old world, project stuzha by the fatui and the image of dottore burning the irminsul; nahida saying fontaine's prophecy was engraved in the irminsul, implying the tree also contains the history of the future; sibylla, a prophetess who guarded the irminsul in an ancient city located in what later became the high seas (referred to as abyssal depths). she sacrificed her life for the sake of creating phobos, remus' grand symphony, but her lack of a will ultimately caused the project to fail, as her vague desire to "grant happiness to all in the world who are called humans" caused phobos to attempt to satisfy everyone's desires — including destructive and selfish ones — and set remuria towards the course of its self-destruction (possibly tying concepts of will and fate together); thinking of dottore's plan, it would make sense to burn the tree that holds memories with a fire able to erase them (arlecchino's balemoon powers) so that the world can be born anew breaking away from the shackles of fate.

there’s also the improvisation kaeya does during the play in his hangouts. "do you believe in fate? if fate decreed your life was to end in tragedy, what would you do?". he then throws a prop and we interact, choosing if we would face our fate bravely or challenge it and rise above it. kaeya then goes on saying "then so must it be! yes, so must it be! i shall discard this intaglio and rid myself of the shackles of fate", "fate means to send the machinations of war to every corner of the land to fan the flames of conflict till they ungulf the entire world… fate would see my sword tainted with the blood of innocents, that the bright banner of my homeland might fly in every nation known to mankind. but i shall not bow to the will of fate i am no pawn in heaven’s plan. i, qubad, will spend the rest of my days in a foreign land, 'till i breathe my last in a place far from home" and finishes the play with "but i must walk this path, or freedom dies by my hand. goodbye, my tribe and kin. farewell, sweet land of my birth". the prop we get from kaeya, the intaglio, symbolizes the noble origins of prince qubad in the play and the blood-red jewel (blood, red... funny, uh?) is said to be a crystallization of the question kaeya asked us about destiny. furthermore, an intaglio can be a type of engraved gem or metal signet ring.

#random post with thoughts and connections because my brain is all over the place and my brains is about to explode gsdfasjg #but yeah idk something about fischl's eye of condemation an eye that can see all threads of fate and all truth. considering the parallels i #don't think it's crazy that it could be the reason they all hide their right eye. the red eye in the statuette dropped by abyss heralds is #also the right one. also the alberich's not being noble family... idk. this game loves implying kaeya is a prince lol but i'm also keen on #the art of khemia the orphanage and the whole thing with rebirth!!! i forgot to talk about alchemy maybe another day.#guess it kind of depends what being noble blooded also means because arlecchino's noble blood gives her some pretty unique powers #(also forgot to say arlecchino's afterimages are like sinshades in enkanomiya which are ley line anomalies!!! remnants thoughts leaving #shades of the past. nether realms. it could also connect to istaroth but anyways irminsul again!!!)#the ring of nibelung also seems important and kaeya's prop from the hangouts despite not being a ring directly can very much symbolise one #there's also the khaneri'ah ruin machines power source!!! i forgot but whatever this goes deeeeeep #i'm tired so i'll end here with the yapping bye #genshin thoughts #< just to save it somewhere because i will forget points i want to research better some other time

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jo-harrington · 1 year

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As Above, So Below - Prologue: Annunciation

Prequels: Heaven - Hell - Purgatory

Summary: Burdened by a centuries-long curse, you must follow the path fate has set for you and defeat evil that roams the Earth. You've left everything your heart desires behind to follow this path, and unfortunately, it still isn't enough. Fate has other plans for you, and for your love, Eddie Munson.

Word Count: 6.9k (nice)

Pairing: Eddie Munson/Fem!OC (Told in 2nd Person POV - you/your)

Warnings/Themes: Violence, Death/Suicide, Torture, Body Horror, Blood, Established Relationship, Romance, Religious Themes, Criticism of Religion/Catholicism, Fate vs. Free Will, Supernatural Encounters, Angst, Biblical and Other Literary/Media References

Note: Welcome to As Above, So Below, my take on Kas!Eddie fic and a story inspired by Van Helsing (2004). This story has 3 prequels linked above that I highly recommend you read as this story will reference them.

This story is going to be EXTREMELY HEAVY to write, so I will not be putting out a posting schedule. Chapters will get posted as they are completed, however long that takes.

Please keep in mind, although this is an OC fic, our Knight will not be named or have physical descriptions noted. She is of European/Italian-American descent on her father's side. She was raised Roman Catholic, but her beliefs are very loose and you will see why if you read. You are free to imagine her as you wish. But her cultural identity will be referenced in this story, at least at the beginning and the end.

This series will not be for the faint of heart, nor is it something that was written with a general audience in mind. Please check the above warnings and ask yourself if you are in the correct headspace to proceed. I am happy to answer any questions via PM or Ask.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

“Do not be afraid […] for you have found favor with God […] With God, nothing will be impossible.” — Luke 1:28-37

March 25th, 1986

In your short time on this earth, you had certainly seen a lot. Mysteries of the universe were made known to you, you'd encountered heroes and villains alike—monsters, even—and been to many places, far and wide.

But you could honestly say that you had never set foot in a lair before today.

And, truly, lair was the only word you could use to describe this place.

Vaulted ceilings, marble floors, velvet curtains. There was an elaborate organ set up on a platform and an ominous set of stairs that descended deeper into the ground at the far end of the room.

Eddie would say this looked like something out of a C-list horror movie or a James Bond film.

You were already deep enough as it was; you'd navigated through an abandoned old mansion and the Los Angeles County sewer system just to get here. To anyone else, it would have seemed as though it took some divine intervention to find this place at all, but the divine is what you knew best.

Archbishop Jinette had given you minimal information to stop the evil that was at play. A ritual to bring forth a River of Life that would flood the San Gabriel Valley and kill millions. More importantly, to Jinette at least, it would create a rift in the fabric of reality that would cause a surge of Heavenly Power to flow freely throughout the Earth.

The Church never cared about the details, didn't care if a sacrifice or two came about, as long as their power remained safe. So the Who's and How's and Why's were left up to you. Thankfully your adversary had been careless with the clues he left behind.

You couldn't tell if it was a coincidence or not. Easter was a few days away so a River of Life made sense but surely a ritual that mirrored the ten plagues of Egypt would be more fitting a little closer to Passover.

"Doctor," you called out, your voice echoed through the cavernous room. You gripped your weapon—a nightstick taken off the body of the police officer that had been swarmed by locusts—and ventured forwards. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help."

"You are not here to help," a stiff, croaking, disembodied voice reached your ears, filtered through some sort of unseen sound system. "You're here to stop me."

"Stop you from killing anymore innocent people," you explained.

"One remains," the voice replied. "Nine shall die. Nine eternities in doom."

"It will be a lot more than that if you don't stop whatever it is you have planned." You tried to reason with him, but you were met with silence. "Doctor! Doctor Phibes!"

Music suddenly blasted through the sound system and the room went dark, the only source of light came from whatever lay at the bottom of the stairs.

You knew the doctor wasn't done talking, he was just luring you deeper into his web to tip the playing field in his favor. You both knew there was no time to waste, so you walked into the trap willingly, with swift feet and a brave, but possibly foolish, heart.

Below the cavernous lair was an even bigger cavern still; a half-finished room with the same marble floors that suddenly gave way to rock formations and stalagmites and an underground river that offered a steady roar of rushing water. You didn't know where to rest your eyes, there were too many carefully crafted horrors laid out before you.

An altar with a body carefully placed atop it, a series of nine half-melted wax busts, a four-piece jazz band comprised of mechanical figures, a sterile area with a surgical table, and a ragged man who was elbow deep in another person's chest cavity.

A heavy hand clamped on your shoulder and you jumped to find the elusive Doctor Anton Phibes behind you. He was an imposing man who towered above you, his face sallow, waxy, and sagging. His red-rimmed eyes were bright with lively mischief, although his aura was heavy with the infernal stench of death.

You expected him to speak, but he simply tilted his head forward and urged you towards the altar. Not a question or suggestion, but an order.

You quickly weighed the possibility that if you killed him, struck him down, the ritual would simply end. Of course, then came the equally possible outcome that it would only hasten it.

Phibes pushed you the last bit of distance until you fell against the altar table itself and came face to face with the body resting there. You knew a dead body when you saw one, and generally you disagreed when people said they looked as if they were sleeping....this one however...she was peaceful in her eternal rest.

Face was full and serene, plump lips painted a succulent violet, with long, kohl-laden lashes that kissed her blush-dusted cheeks. Her skin was glowing and her long black hair had been fluffed and haloed around her. Her hands were folded below her chest and a lovely bejeweled ring glinted in the light of the candles that flickered from beside her on the altar.

The woman was preserved perfectly. Unnaturally.

"She's beautiful," you muttered.

"My wife," Phibes' voice croaked from beside you. You glanced over your shoulder to find that he had held a cord that ran from a porthole in the side of his neck to a phonograph-like speaker beside him. "My Rose. Taken from me far too soon, stolen from me."

"My God, please help my son," came an echoed mutter from the sterile area across the room. The surgeon had his bloodied hands folded in prayer as they rested on his patient's chest.

"Murdered!" Phibes voice grew louder and wrathful. "Don't cry upon God, Dr. Vesalius. He is on my side."

"And how do you know He's on your side," you questioned and Phibes' eyes cut back to you.

"He led me here," he explained. "Showed me the way in the quest for vengeance. Showed me the key to resurrection for my beloved and eternal life for us both. I plan to move Heaven and Earth to achieve it."

"Who are you to resurrect her?" you asked. "To bring about devastation for your wife? Is that His plan? The death of millions for the life of one?"

"He told me of you too, little Knight," he ignored your question. "It's how I knew to expect your arrival. He told me that you would appear to stop me."

"You're not only here to enact God's plan but to prophesize as well?"

"He said you would be the last step in bringing me back to my beloved Rose."

"So I must die too?"" You shrugged. "I'm the ninth?"

"No," he croaked. "Vesalius. Or rather, his wretched son. You must complete the ritual."

"I could kill you instead."

"Oh, but virtuous little Knight, I'm already dead." He released the cord and lifted his hands to his face. He peeled the waxy flesh and the tufts of hair on his head to reveal a twisted and burnt husk beneath. He was skeletal, barely a visage left; his nasal cavity shook with each labored breath and his exposed jaw clenched every so often.

Phibes inserted the cord into the porthole once again.

"I lost everything," he explained. "I lost my life, my purpose. And just when I thought it was enough, I lost my love too. I asked myself over and over: what was God's plan in taking it all away from me, in the blink of an eye? All at once? When I decided I would do anything—sacrifice anything—just to bring her back, He showed me the path and I took it. Wouldn't you? If you'd lost your love, what wouldn't you do, give, to get them back?"

A bitterness settled deep in your gut.

What did he know? What didn't he know? What was God's plan?

You'd asked yourself this many times over the course of your life, had become desensitized to the constant lack of an answer. Fate was an answer you couldn't stomach anymore.

So you had tried to run from it, only to collide with it instead. Fate cruelly led you to Eddie, and then away from him again...to protect him from the pain that was your damned life.

Yes, you would have done anything for him, even let him go. Love, for you, had to wait so that Fate wouldn't have been tempted to take him away.

Like it had for Phibes and Rose.

As you turned and stared down at Rose again...you felt for them...you truly did.

"Do you know resurrection takes more than just...some fancy ritual?" you asked Phibes. You could hear his feet shuffling closer to you. "It's unpredictable. The soul...the soul needs to be put back together, and by the time they ascend...or descend..."

"Rose was an angel," Phibes interjected and insisted. "My angel. My muse."

"...sometimes it's too late. How long has it been?"

"4 years."

"The ancient Egyptians had it right," you explained. "The Ka, the Ba...the Ahk...to put her back together after this long...would be impossible. Moving Heaven and Earth? More like breaking the walls between them. We could complete this ritual and resurrect her, but even still I don't think she would be whole ever again. She'd never really be your wife."

"And when would I have had to..."

"24 hours...48, maybe?" you offered.

Phibes' eyes slowly shut and he let out a painful hissing noise you could only attribute to a wail, or whatever equivalent his body could produce.

"I'm sorry," you muttered, hoping to provide some sort of balm on his wounded spirit. "But she's in Heaven...waiting for you."

You moved out of the way as Phibes collapsed on the altar and spoke in garbled tones to Rose's body, the cord pulled out of the porthole. Whatever confession in his mind was just for them.

You immediately ran across the cavern to Dr. Vesalius and his son. The surgeon sobbed his thanks to you as you began to work on the younger man. You didn't get the opportunity to heal others often—you were used more as an instrument of destruction than one of renewal—though the capability was always there. You dug deep into the celestial light within you and slowly his wounds knit back together.

Once Lem regained consciousness, Vesalius tugged at the restraints. Another spark of your power severed the chains and set the boy free and before long, father and son scampered up the steps and out of this pit of despair.

Vesalius had grabbed your hand before they had, though.

"Thank you," he said. "You're a hero."

No...you were nothing of the sort.

You walked back to the altar to check on Phibes, only to find his form still as it lay next to his wife.

"Doctor?" you shook him. "Doctor?"

You pushed him onto his side and a knife clattered to the marble floor; you balked at the needle in his arm and a slash in his wrist that lazily dripped...dripped...dripped...

Tubes ran out from the needle and embalming fluid rapidly replaced blood. It hadn't been that long for you to heal Lem had it? Had this always been Phibes' plan if the ritual failed? He was sure that you would be the one...the last step in reuniting him and Rose.

You touched his chest and closed your eyes.

Eight were dead but the first born son lived. The ritual was unsuccessful. The secrets of what really happened would stay buried deep below the city.

You could feel it...the ambient energy stirring around Phibes...slowly leaking from every pore of this mortal prison as his body died and he began his ascent. Anton and his beloved Rose would spend eternity together.

He was a good man, a loving man, led astray...and God was willing to forgive him and let him into Heaven.

You looked around the room again and felt sick.

For all the money that the Catholic Church had, the best they could afford when they sent their attack dog—you—to save the world for the umpteenth time was a crappy roadside motel off the 101.

You were used to uncomfortable plane and train rides, questionable motels and cots shoved into the corners of storage rooms in monasteries and missions when space could be spared.

This was your life though.

You had run from the safety of your Nonna's home when you turned 18 and then again from your little apartment in Hawkins a little over a year ago after Fate finally caught up to you. The next closest thing to...a base of operations, if you could call it that, was a tiny, unkempt bungalow house in a small suburb in Chicago that you barely set foot in because evil reared its ugly head a little too much.

Home was not a luxury you could afford, and even if it was...for you, it wouldn't have been a place, it would have been a person.

So you took comfort after a trying assignment in crappy gas station food and lumpy beds because it reminded you of the home you wish you didn't have to leave behind.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" you exclaimed as you kicked the door to your room open and found an unexpected visitor sitting crosslegged on the bed you hadn't claimed for yourself. He held a stack of palm branches in his hand, a small pile of folded crosses placed neatly beside him.

"Watch the way you talk," he began. "Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth."

"Is it not a little...weird for you to quote the Bible?" you asked.

"I didn't write it," he replied simply.

"Well your boss did." You fell onto the unoccupied bed and sighed. You didn't know if it was just the adrenaline finally wearing off after a successful end to your task—if you could call it successful—or something else. Something within you felt like you were...trapped under water.

"He did not either," he dismissed and went back to folding crosses. "You're planning to visit the cemetery." It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

"Yes."

"When?"

"Before Easter, if Jinette doesn't have another errand for me to run." You fished a bottle of YooHoo from your bag of snacks and offered one to him. His lips quirked and in a blink, all of the palms were folded into neat crosses and he was on his feet.

"Good." He stared at you blankly, expectantly, and it made you feel claustrophobic.

His presence was greater than what was apparent to the naked eye, and in times like these where he was about to spring something on you, your soul could sense the swell of his being. It never got easier.

"I know this isn't a social call or a job well done for preventing the destruction of the Earth for the hundredth time," you begin and cover your face with your hands. "I'm tired, so if you could please just—"

"You say that a lot," he noted.

"What?"

"That you're tired."

"It happens when you're a human," you retort.

"Then you will do well to listen to me now," he says gravely. You peek through your fingers to look at him. "Something is coming. Something bigger than you've ever encountered before."

"Shit, really?" you asked. "When will I have to go?"

"You won't," he stated with an air of finality. "Or else, you will die."

Your hands fell from your face as your ears started to ring and your pulse pounded in your head.

You'd heard many warnings in the past, throughout your life, from him. Pain, suffering, duty. This was the first time he had ever warned you of your death.

Why now? After all of the other missions you'd been given, after facing Hell on Earth dozens of times...

You always knew it was a possibility...but a guarantee?

"W-when...why...when?"

"Soon."

That was helpful. You couldn't even prepare. It would be sprung on you. The next time you were called into action maybe? Or the time after that?

"So I just...I tell...tell Jinette o-or whatever Bishop that I can—” you stammered and he cut you off.

"This is not something that they will ask you to do," he explained. "This is something you will feel compelled to do. Strongly compelled. But you must heed my warning, young one. For you will perish and damnation will surely await you."

"I don't understand," you squeezed your eyes shut. "Isn't...isn't it already awaiting me? What makes this any different?"

"Because it will hurt. It will destroy you." What would...the task? Or the damnation? There was a rustle of wings and a roar of fire in your ears. "Do not be afraid."

They were words you had never heard from his mouth, but you knew he had said them before.

When you opened your eyes, he was gone, and you were left in the motel room alone.

"Gabriel?" You called for him, like you used to when you were a child and nightmares of monsters and demons plagued you. When you used to look for comfort when your father was off on a quest so similar to your own and your mother had no way to sooth you on her own. "Gabriel!"

March 27th, 1986

You knew from the moment you woke up that morning, something was off. As though you were operating on a different frequency than usual. You felt simultaneously sluggish and as though lightning surged just beneath your skin.

It didn't happen often, if ever really, which is what caused some alarm.

Perhaps when you were much younger and your abilities began to manifest. The holy light within you couldn't be contained by such a young body. It had led to massacres and miracles alike.

You remembered seeing Empire Strikes Back for the first time and feeling a kinship with Luke. "Luminous beings are we, not this cruel matter," a phrase you muttered to yourself often, taking comfort in the Light, when your future could only possibly be shrouded in Darkness.

It had taken years to control it, and you were well past grown now, but somehow you couldn't just shake the feeling that plagued you today. It was as though your fight or flight response was primed and ready, despite no danger in sight.

If Archbishop Jinette was any sort of reliable figure in your life, you would have confided in him. Looked to him for guidance. For help. Instead, you'd sat in his office with him for the past hour as he debriefed and lectured you—reamed you—for your handling of Phibes and the ritual.

"It was, quite frankly, irresponsible," he said for the tenth time. His cassock swished around him as he paced before you. "The number of innocent lives that could have been lost."

You rolled your eyes, fully of the belief that he wouldn't have given a shit about any other lives lost at all. You used to give Jinette—give all of your handlers—the benefit of the doubt, used to believe that they cared about innocents. Maybe they had once, but now it was twisted by the power their positions afforded them.

Once they donned a pectoral cross, guilt no longer affected them. It was only a tool used to bend others to their will.

"How can we rely on you to your duty fully if you take the time to negotiate?" He asked. "If you try to reason with agents of evil?"

"Phibes was not evil. He mentioned that God led him to this path," you interjected, and Jinette stopped in his tracks. "That He led Phibes to the ritual in order to reunite him with his wife."

"They would be reunited in Heaven," Jinette dismissed with a hiss. He turned his judgmental, wet eyes to you and glared pointedly. You knew exactly the warning he was trying to convey and you straightened your shoulders.

"It must have been the devil in disguise. Trickery. You, more than anyone, should know how easy it is to fall for temptation." The burn of his stare became righteous, but it was not what caused you to turn your eyes downward.

Was temptation really so bad if it brought you peace? If it made you feel more whole than you'd ever felt in your life? A year with Eddie and you felt sure in your skin, safe, loved. Was that bad? Did that make you evil?

You had let your pain get the best of you in the moment, but after a few days of clarity...Phibes had been right...

What you wouldn't give right now to be back there? To be anywhere but here?

It was regret.

There was a sharp knock at the office door and Jinette sighed and looked at the clock.

"It is time for Mass," he announced. "Think on your sins and the Lord may offer his forgiveness."

After he vacated the office, you forced yourself to your feet, trudged through the rectory, and into the cathedral where you slid into one of the last pews. You would hardly consider yourself a devout attendee—certainly not as you disassociated through the psalms and readings—but you knew if you missed Mass after your supposed sins, there would be Hell to pay.

"...Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world. He loved his own in this world and he loved them til the end..."

You'd heard this Mass before, the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Not your typical Sunday service, so you couldn’t recite it verbatim, but familiar enough. Your Nonna dragged you to as many masses as she could, in every language offered at the local parish, hoping to spare you of this fate in a way she couldn't spare her son or her husband.

Over the years, her hand shrunk in yours. What was once a healthy, strong hand that guided you became small and weak, shriveled and brittle. Until one day, there was no hand left to hold at all.

"...I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

You spotted a group of women further up the aisle. Novitiates, probably. You could sense a tenuous peace about them. One could tell she was being watched and she turned to look at you. She was young, maybe around your age, and her eyes were wide and curious.

You tried to smile at her, encourage her—it was all you could do not to scream, actually—but she rolled her eyes a little and turned back around.

The sound of rustling bodies washed through the Cathedral like a wave as everyone got to their feet—

"Pray my Sisters and Brothers that my sacrifice and yours should be acceptable to God, The Father, Almighty."

—and as you rose, your stomach dropped.

Your body burned.

It felt like a thousand cuts were made along your skin. You gasped for breath but could find no air. Your bones cracked and crunched beneath an invisible weight, and the pressure felt as though your sides would split and your insides spill out through phantom wounds.

You fell to your knees and grasped the back of the pew in front of you. You tried to make a noise, to call for help, but nothing could overcome the rumble of the congregants.

"Lord have Mercy. Christ have Mercy."

The polished wood splintered under your grip before the world went dark.

When your eyes opened, you were met with a muted haze. A dark sky, with clouds that shifted in tandem with the howling wind, sizzled with infernal lightning over and over.

You laid on cold, damp ground. You could feel it seep through your clothes and leech into your skin, deeper and deeper, until it settled uneasily in your bones. An acrimonious rigor that would have overtaken you had you allowed it.

Something deep within your subconscious wanted you to.

You needed to gain control quickly.

Your fingers dug into the thick, unforgiving clay of the earth beneath you, and you pushed yourself upright, only to be met with a chilling sight that made your heart stop in your chest.

His was body was aligned with yours, the soles of his feet just inches away from brushing against you. His skin was pale and smeared with gore, and his ripped clothes belied the true extent of his injuries. He choked on his blood with fit of coughs, too wet for a death rattle. He was practically drowning in his own life's essence.

Eddie Munson lay dying in front of you, and there was nothing you could do to stop it.

Your mind raced. Was this a vision? A prophecy? The gift of sight had never been one you could tap into before. Why now?

Was this a warning? If you didn't stay on the path He had in store for you, didn't listen to those He tasked to guide you, would this be your future?

You could hear a voice—an ominous, venomous voice—at the very corners of your mind, speaking to Eddie.

They left you behind. Left you to this fate. Left you to me.

What did that mean? You didn't leave Eddie. Not really. A part of you would always be with him.

You struggled and scrambled to get to his side. Your hands were unsure of where to touch him, how you could let him know you would be there without bringing him more pain.

He looked up at you with unseeing eyes.

"Eddie, please, please," you begged. "I'm here, I'm here with you."

His eyes wrenched shut and he cried out, mouth opening in a feral, heartbreaking howl.

To do with you what I please.

You knew it wasn't the Devil's voice. He wouldn't taunt and tease this way. It had to be some other malevolent creature who tried to get an innocent soul in its' clutches.

You closed your eyes and concentrated, tried to pour as much of your light into Eddie as you could, but despite his body being torn open the way that it was, he simply would not receive the help you could give.

You knew you couldn't leave him.

But Eddie was already gone.

And do to you, I shall...

When you came to, mass was over.

The closing hymn, heavy with organ song, rang throughout the cathedral as the procession made its way back up the aisle. You watched as Jinette glared at your prone form, laying on the pew, as he passed, but a light voice offered a distraction.

"Slowly, there you go, wake up," it said. A small, strong hand shook your shoulder then carefully tapped your face. "Sister Margaret went to call an ambulance."

"No," you groaned. "No ambulance. I'm fine." You immediately tried to push yourself upright, but the hands held you down to the pew.

"Don't get up, I don't know if you hit your head."

"I don't think so," you muttered. The pain that had wracked your body was nothing but a memory, a tell tale static that surrounded you, much the same way it would if your foot fell asleep.

You finally got your wits about you and found that your savior was the young woman you spotted earlier. Hell, if she didn't already think you were some creep off the street who'd wandered into the cathedral before...

"You're a part of the Order, right?" she asked disarmingly and pointed down to the small medallion that must have escaped from the confines of your shirt when you collapsed. Your hand immediately went to it and tucked it back into its hiding place; it was a reminder...a shackle. "A Knight of the Holy Order. Mother Superior said to steer clear of you if we ever crossed paths with you. She didn't say much else.

"I never thought I'd see one...just...pass out during mass."

"We're normal people," you sighed. "Not...Gods."

"Saints?"

"Sinners," you clarified and she laughed lightly.

"Yeah, me too" she agreed then frowned again. "Do you feel well enough to sit up?”

"I'm fine, just...tired," you explained and pushed her away from you. "I need to get back..."

"Back home?" she asked eagerly.

"Back to my motel." You got to your feet as the organ music stopped and the last few stragglers left. "Thank you for staying with me..."

"Oh...uh...Mary...Victoria..." she provided her name and you must have made a face. "I'm still working on it. I know I have time. But Victoria was my grandmother's name...so..."

"Well, I think it's a lovely name then," you offered a tight smile and your own name, then shuffled past her to make your escape. "See you around Mary Victoria."

March 30th, 1986

In the days following Holy Thursday, something was still off.

You had woken up the following morning with a sore jaw and a hoarse voice. Sometime later that day, you'd started crying blood. Only for an hour, but there was no controlling it. You were overwhelmed with emotion.

Hopelessness was the most prominent of them all.

You hadn't blacked out again, but something lingered beneath the surface. Given Gabriel's warning, you figured it would be best to lay low.

You knew it was a futile attempt to try and summon Gabriel again; he appeared when he felt like it or when it would best serve God.

The only time you’d ever desperately called for him, as fire almost consumed you and damp earth threatened to bury you alive, it had fallen on indifferent ears. It was then that you realized stories about Guardian Angels were just that: stories.

So instead, you went about your day as you typically would. Unless you were summoned somewhere by the clergy, they generally left you to your own devices. Especially on Holy Days like today.

Your plans for Easter Sunday specifically consisted of visiting the local cemeteries—

You would miss mass at the Cathedral today. Running your hands along the marble headstones and brass nameplates of those long-since-passed-and-forgotten and offering them a thought or two brought you more peace than any prayer or blessing would.

—and getting absolutely hammered.

You weren't a big drinker, really, since you typically were expected to have your wits about you. But it was a Holiday and you were far from home and alone. You made a blind choice at the liquor store on your way back from the cemetery, and it would numb you either to the point of blacking out, or make you give into your temptations to call Eddie.

You'd been thinking about him more lately.

Well...that was a lie, you always thought about him. Thought about calling, about visiting. You knew you couldn't trust yourself, so you did what you could to keep him safe. You skipped the letter M in the phonebook on the off chance he had finally made it out of Hawkins to follow his dream. Made it a point not to drive through Indiana if you could help it.

Maybe you didn't want to help it anymore. Maybe you should...maybe not visit...just call him.

Someone had left behind an honest-to-God glass in your motel room, and after a thorough cleaning, you poured yourself a helping of the nondescript amber liquid. It burned on the way down. Maybe it was a warning about the bad decisions that lay ahead of you.

You'd been tempted to call for his birthday last year, for Christmas...you sent a card. No return address, no name. Just a heart. You hoped he knew it was you because he always said your hearts looked like butts.

Another glass and you stood in front of the nightstand. You stared, transfixed, at the dingy rotary phone as you sipped your drink, savoring the burn this time. As if it had a mind of its own, your hand moved to grab the handset, but it just hovered for a moment.

How would Eddie answer? What would you say? What if it wasn't Eddie at all, what if it was Wayne? What if Wayne told you...that Eddie was spending Easter at a girlfriend's house? What would you do? What could you do? You practically forced him to say that he would wait for you...could you really blame him if he didn't?

Next to the phone was the remote for the television.

You hadn't really left him much hope after all.

You grabbed the remote and mindlessly aimed it behind you to turn the small set on. As it came to life and started bleating a commercial for some local restaurant, you momentarily prayed that it wasn't one of those Biblical epics, like The Greatest Story Ever Told.

Instead, the commercial ended and, as you poured yourself one more glass, the sterile voice of a newscaster reached your ears.

"...currently 68 degrees at the Los Angeles Civic Center. Lovely weather for Easter Sunday. For our top story, we bring you live to our own Robert Gilroy in Roane County, Indiana. Rob?"

You turned in shock and stared, dumbfounded, as the screen flashed to show a severe man in a brown suit. He frowned at the camera while a convoy of cars inched by behind him. You couldn't help but notice plumes of black smoke in the distance and you hoped that it was just a defect with the cheap motel tv.

"Thank you Laura. It's been less than 48 hours since a 7.4 Magnitude Earthquake rocked the quaint town of Hawkins, 80 miles outside of Indianapolis in an event that seismologists are calling a natural disaster of near unprecedented scale."

A wash of colorful stripes rolled across the screen before it showed b-roll of people running and crying, of a team of firefighters desperately trying to extinguish the burning Hawkins Public Library building, that was half rubble anyway, a man in camo bandaging a little girl's leg.

"The death toll now stands at 22, but with hundreds more filling Roane County hospitals and many more still missing, officials expect those numbers to rise."

You immediately dropped your glass and turned back to the phone, fumbling with the rotary dial to input a number you knew by heart.

"Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up." You listened as the ringing went on and on and on. You hung up and dialed again, and you desperately hoped you just got the number wrong. You screamed as it didn't even ring, but blared a taunting busy signal. "No! No! Who are you talking to? Pick up!"

"This is only the latest tragedy to befall this once safe town. Most recently, a string of high school students were killed in a series of ritualistic murders which have been linked to a local Satanic cult known as Hellfire."

Your blood ran cold at the word Hellfire and you refused to look at the television.

There was more b-roll, some chitter chatter saying how the Hellfire boys were always up to no good. How some upstanding students were killed, taken too soon.

Your breathing got heavy, enough that you started becoming lightheaded. The alcohol didn't help at all.

You tried to savor the last few minutes of ignorance as you wrenched your eyes shut, because if you didn't see it. It wasn't real.

"Eddie Munson, the leader of this cult and prime suspect in the murders..."

But you knew. You knew that this was the moment. You knew that this was what Gabriel meant. If you went to Hawkins, if you had to fight for Eddie, you would do it in a heartbeat and you wouldn't stop until you died.

"...has been missing since the earthquake..."

Those seconds that the reporter needed to take his dramatic breath were an eternity, one you would savor. Because it was easier to pretend that the only thing you had to do was just stop yourself from going to Hawkins, stop yourself from being selfish and wrathful, to punish those who would accuse the sweet, dumb, foolish, clumsy, trustworthy innocent love of your life.

It was just easier if you still lived in a world where you didn't have to hear what you knew was coming next.

"...and is presumed dead."

People often mistook the power of heaven to be one of peace, of hope, of new beginnings. And it could be. It usually was. But they forgot that the beginning of one thing was also the end of something else.

Divine retribution, a burning smiting wrath, the like of which had leveled Sodom and Gomorrah, flowed freely with your grief. It was illogical and irrational and inexplicable to any mortal, including you.

You remembered screaming.

Remembered the pain of the bones in your fingers splintering as you dug them into your skull. Your nails cut deep into the flesh of your scalp as you peeled the hair and flesh, as you opened the top of yourself to release the pressure that had suddenly and violently built up in your core.

Glass disintegrated into sand, furniture turned to ash, even the frame of the building began to buckle.

But there was a voice that called your name. A soft, sobbing voice that pulled you back from the edge of whatever precipice you subconsciously teetered on.

"It’ll be ok. I’m here."

You could practically feel arms slither around you, the phantom weight of them pressed into your skin. Dextrous fingers wove together with yours, soothed them, healed them. They caressed your wounds and the broken flesh stitched itself back together.

A cool breath grazed your ear and the screams that ripped from you began to subside. It shushed you and said unascertainable words of comfort as your fury subsided into woe.

"Close your eyes. It'll all go away if you don't look."

"But you're gone," you wept. The tears rolled down your cheeks and over your lips. You sniffled and licked at them; blood, again. "Why?"

There was no answer. You were about to open your eyes, eager to see and not just to feel, but the fingers glided over your face again. Over your cheeks to wipe the blood from them, over your lips to play with the softness of them, then over your eyelids.

Places he liked to kiss...places you wished you could feel lips instead...wished you could know that he was there.

"I'll never really leave. Even if you can't see me. I’m here.”

Every fiber of your being wanted to go, would have walked to Hawkins, run til your feet bled, to find his body. To clear his name. To say goodbye.

To die a most miserable death. Like Phibes and his Rose.

You would leave this world, happily, if it meant you could be by his side. But there was no guarantee. You could toil for a lifetime and hope to join him, and still be denied access to Heaven.

“I’ll be waiting for you. As long as it takes. I’ll be here.”

You heard the lovely whisper of your name, over and over as you sunk to your knees and you curled in on yourself. Every second it faded into the depths of your mind, and you couldn't help but crack your eyes open.

Lightning struck, the firefighters would explain to you later, on a clear day. The building went ablaze and was destroyed, but all the rooms were empty except for yours. The paramedics said it was a miracle you weren't injured. They touched you lightly, almost reverently.

"Hallelujah."

You were alone again.

It was a disquieting procession.

The creatures moved in a way that seemed unnatural, unfamiliar to them. Their feet shuffled across the barren waste and they dragged a hulking beast behind them. It was a large and ominous and twitching thing, and although the formality of this event it felt like a funeral, you knew that you were witnessing a birth instead.

The wings conjured images of Beelzebub...but Asmodeus felt like a more fitting comparison given how familiar you were with the inner workings of its mind.

Thinking of him as Beast or It was wrong. It felt sinewy and astringent. A bite you were reluctant to take.

You bore witness for three days.

It took two to break him, but images would haunt your mind and your heart for eternity. You tried to protect him, tried to undo what was done. You offered him comfort and a place to hide when he desperately needed a break he would never get.

How he had survived it, you would never know? But he was always stronger than you; if not in body, then in spirit. You never lasted long before you were forced to pull him back in. If you had remained, given him a longer rest, you knew you would have broken before he did.

He finally begged for mercy. He finally relinquished his soul.

You would stay beside him. No matter what they did to him. No matter what he did to himself.

They dragged him to their pit to put him back together again, and you forced yourself to watch, to listen, and to pray that every addition and alteration would stick. That he wouldn't have gone through the torture only to perish so close to the end of it.

You wondered where prayers went when they were made in Hell. Did they reach God's ears? Were they intercepted by Lucifer and his court? Or did they just...float in the void of oblivion?

He muttered words, you'd even heard your name escape his lips several times before they filled his mouth with too many teeth to speak.

By the end of the third day, he rose again.

And you sobbed in relief because somehow the sight of him complete, the sight of him rising and blinking and roaring brought you more comfort and warmth and joy than you had ever felt in your cursed existence.

It didn't matter how grim of vision he was. There was a beauty in that too. The beauty existed...simply because he still did.

Whatever they did to him, he was alive, and he would always be your Eddie. And that meant you had a chance to save him.

“When you loved someone, you put their needs before your own. No matter how inconceivable those needs were; no matter how fucked up; no matter how much it made you feel like you were ripping yourself into pieces.” — Jodi Picoult, The Pact

Special thanks to @big-ope-vibes and @pastel-pillows who can read even though she says she does not. And @fracturedarkness who I am determined to destroy/delight with this story.

Next Chapter: Illumination

#vampire eddie munson #vampire!eddie #kas!eddie #Eddie Munson fic #tw: death #tw: violence #tw: religious themes #stranger things fic #tw: suicide

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the-rockinahard-place · 29 days

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I’m a relatively fresh convert and I really agree with your post about how queerstake is important. The hardest pill to swallow with my conversion is the rejection of LGBTQ+ people and identities in the church.

As reference for my age, I’m a young YSA. I’ve identified as a lot of things over the last ten years as I’ve grown up, and I think I’ve generally settled on bi or queer as my label in terms of sexuality. I’m cis-ish, so I don’t face gender/presentation issues at church (besides the regular issues of being a woman in the church), but I experimented a lot with gender over the past eight years. I’m comfortable now identifying as a cis woman, but I experienced a lot of dysphoria in my early teens, and to know that five years ago I would probably not be welcomed in the church — at least to the degree I am now — is painful.

I feel like I can’t express my bisexuality/queerness and my previous struggles* with gender with church people IRL, especially as a new convert. It’s like I have to prove that I belong. I’m also very very active, which makes it harder.

Like you, I really appreciate queerstake as a community and resource to know that Heavenly Father loves and accepts me. We will not be resurrected and chastised for being too loving, too accepting, too “ourselves” in this life. That is not what Christ lived and died for.

*To be clear, I do not in any way think transness or questioning is a “struggle” that needs to be solved. I say “struggles with gender” only to refer to my own personal experience with internal and external pressures wrt my gender.

This is everything^^^ talking about our personal experiences like this is exactly why queerstake is so important. I hear you, being gay, ace, trans, bi, pan, & etc is a struggle in our church!! When some days feel harder than normal, I have to remind myself why I do it, I have to ask myself Why do I show up? but the only question that gives me answers is Why does God want me to show up? the way I see it is that we are here for a reason, God put us in the world at this time for a reason as you said 5 years ago in the church is different to today and 5 years from now its only going to get better. We serve as the church’s reminder that there is progress to be made and we aren’t something you can get rid, thats not what God wants. If the only change I could provide is showing up to church on Sunday in a suit and forcing those around me to accept it, then so be it. I’ve met plenty of members who have just relaxed when then realized they weren’t the only queer one here. We must simply find eachother and hold on. (ik I talk a lot about dances but its relevant trust me) I was my best friends date to prom because she was too scared to bring her girlfriend. She didn’t want people to see her different and its little stuff like that, that truly hurts me. All we can do it hope, and “fight” the harmful church beliefs that push us away, one day, someday, who we are will be seen as special, and not something to be afraid of.

#queerstake #trans mormon #mormon #lgbt mormon #tumblrstake #lgbtq+

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walkswithmyfather · 1 year

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“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” —Hebrews 4:12a (KJV)

“So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.” —James 4:7 (AMP)

“Our Defeated Foe” By Billy Graham:

“How do we overcome the devil in everyday life? First, we need to recognize that the devil is a defeated foe. The Son of God came to undo the work of the devil. The crucifixion of Christ, which looked like a mighty victory for Satan, turned out to be a great triumph for God, because it was on the cross that Jesus took your sins and my sins. God laid our sins on Christ, so that when our Lord bowed His head and said, “It is finished,” He was referring to the plan of redemption and salvation. Then . . . we are to resist the devil. If we resist him, Scripture says, he will flee from us. Jesus overcame the devil not by argument but simply by quoting Scripture. That is why it is so important to learn and memorize Scripture passages.

Prayer for the day: Thank You, heavenly Father, for the protection of Your Word as I face everyday temptations.”

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jttwaudiodrama · 9 months

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Zhuang's JttW Doodles #3

(The True Lord) laughed and said, “This must be that macaque! He is trying to fool me again. I’ve seen temples before, but none of them would stick their flag pole at the back! This must be that beast in disguise! If he fooled me into entering, he would take hold of me with a bite. How could I go in then? Maybe I should pull a few punches to break the windows first, and then kick the doors open!” The Great Sage heard it and thought in horror, “How cruel! How very cruel! The doors are my teeth and windows my eyes. If he really hit my teeth and gouged my eyes, what should I even do?”

Journey to the West, Chapter 6

This poem appears in Chapter 6, Part 2 of the audio drama.

Also featured on our Patreon page.

===

Hi, this is Zhuang. I made all the art for this series.

Here are some doodles I made almost 10 years ago when I could kind of draw but not really. Not sure if I'm entirely out of that state now but hopefully I have improved.

Each one corresponds to a specific passage in the original text, as written on the doodle itself in traditional Chinese. And I will also put the English translation from the audio drama down below for your reference. Not every chapter has a doodle, so I will post the ones we've already covered in the drama, and the rest as we eventually get there.

===

Why I chose this scene:

Er Lang Shen will forever be special in Wu Kong's heart for being the first opponent he truly feared(and respected, as we will later learn). In the JttW universe, Er Lang Shen also stands out in his very own way, which probably resonated with Wu Kong's situation too.

Er Lang Shen's mother was an immortal goddess, and his father was a mortal man. In a sense, he was born a crime, and was the center of conflict between gods and humans in a deeply personal way. This would explain why despite his immense powers (something that could allow him to take very high office in Heaven), he preferred to keep his own military force and be, quite literally, a down-to-earth sort of god.

He finds kinship in the human world, in the low ranking gods who'd never get to meet His Majesty up high, staying as far away from his emperor uncle as possible. Mundane prayers from the common people probably brings him more joy than the formality and bureaucracy in the Heavenly Palace. And ironically, at the end of the day, it was up to him, someone who quite obviously despised the way of life up high, to save heaven from destruction. Heaven could pretend he wasn't one of them, but only until the day when they desperately needed his powers.

His pride had a good day that day.

This could also explain why he and Wu Kong had no hard feelings against each other. Er Lang Shen is about as cool and gracious a person as you can imagine. He will only appear once more in future chapters, and you'd love to see how Wu Kong deals with this reunion.

#journey to the west #chinese literature #sun wu kong #sun wukong #monkey king #xi you ji #the fifth monkey #er lang shen

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animechristi · 3 months

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Ranking of Kings: Hell and Demons

Offered to Jesus through Mary

Matthew 22:13 “Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Spoilers?

No big spoilers this time around. I’ll refer to one scene and one character out of context, but that’s all. If this whets your appetite for the show then go ahead and watch it. If not, then still give it a try. It’s a good show that keeps you hooked. Not to mention the second opening is a banger.

Our Topic

Towards the end of the show, we’re shown a depiction of hell where the souls of the damned are eaten, regurgitated, reformed, and then eaten again ad infinitum. If this reminds you of Dante’s Inferno, you’re not alone. Also, good job! Being well-read in literature guarantees you pick up on all the inside jokes and references people make. Setting aside the early Italian renaissance – what’s important here is that Hell isn’t just a fiery time out corner. The damned aren’t just thrown into Hell. They are actively punished while in Hell and they’ll be in Hell forever. This should properly terrify us. If we think the “sweet release of death” frees us from all our problems, we may be in for a rude awakening.

The unnamed demon eating someone’s soul.

But before we get too gloomy, let’s take a step back. Ranking of Kings did a good job showing us how horrific hell is. But if this article is going to serve a purpose, we should see how someone ends up in Hell. We could say ultimately this is done by rejecting salvation through Christ. That’s the general answer. For specific answers we can look at all the various ways someone separates himself from Christ. For now, I’d like to focus only on one way: pacts with devils. If we believe the rising statistics of people claiming to worship pagan gods, then we shouldn’t be surprised that more people – knowingly or unknowingly – are entering into pacts or contracts with devils.

In Ranking of Kings things are comically straightforward. Miranjo, a young woman, has made a pact with a demon who tells her upfront “when you die, I’ll devour your soul”. We might dismiss this and say “she was desperate, and it was for the sake of the plot.” That’s fine with me. I’m not trying to prove or disprove her character. Pay attention to what the demon says. It’s simplistic, sure, but the pact made between Miranjo and the demon demonstrates truths about our spiritual warfare this side of Heaven. Contracts are a two-way street. Each party does something for or to the other. But this doesn’t mean both sides are equal. In making a pact or contract with a demon, a human places himself under that creature’s power structure in the hopes that one metaphysically higher than himself can achieve what he cannot.

Christ casting out demons

Here’s the catch. Demons cannot guarantee their side of the bargain. All their actions are confined by the permissive will of God. They serve the father of lies, so why should we believe anything they promise?

Alternatively, the Paschal Mystery of Christ is what establishes a new covenant (i.e. contract) between God and mankind. In Baptism we die and rise with Christ. This takes us out from the domain and power structure of sin and death and places us in our Heavenly Father’s house. Only by our own free choices do we find ourselves outside such divine protection.

Okay, so what?

I don’t expect many readers to have experimented with occult practices. Again, good job! But regardless of our history, I want to recommend a simple practice: repeating the renunciations made at our Baptism. It’s a small way of reminding ourselves who exactly we’ve put our trust and hope in. Let us firmly say I do to the follow.

Do you renounce Satan?

And all his works?

And all his empty show?

Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth?

Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father?

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

St. Justin Martyr, pray for us!

#catholicism #catholic anime #anime analysis #animechristi #ranking of kings #ousama ranking #hell #baptism

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 18 days

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19th May << Fr, Martin's Homilies / Reflections on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 15:26-27; 16:12-15) for Pentecost Sunday: ‘He will lead you to the complete truth’.

Feast of Pentecost

Gospel (Except USA) John 15:26-27,16:12-15 The Spirit of truth will lead you to the complete truth.

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset.

‘I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine.’

Gospel (USA) John 15:26–27; 16:12–15 The Spirit of truth will guide you to all the truth.

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

Homilies (4)

(i) Pentecost Sunday

There is a story told about a conversation between an Archbishop and a learned Japanese writer who wasn’t a Christian. The writer said to the Archbishop, ‘I think I understand about the Father and the Son, but I can never understand the significance of the honourable bird’. He was thinking of the many images he has seen of the Holy Spirit as a dove. Perhaps, like the Japanese writer, we can all struggle to understand the Holy Spirit. Yet, the Holy Spirit is at the heart of our faith. It is the Holy Spirit that brings us together at this Mass on the feast of Pentecost.

Jesus promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples, and he encouraged us to pray to God his Father for the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives. He said on one occasion, ‘If you… know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ In the gospels, Jesus is referred to as ‘full of the Holy Spirit’. When he stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth, he said, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me’. His whole life was shaped by the Holy Spirit and he wanted the lives of his disciples to be shaped by the Holy Spirit too. That is why he promised to send us the Holy Spirit. In today’s gospel reading he speaks of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, ‘whom I shall send to you from the Father’. Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to empower us to live in the same loving way as he did. The Act of Sorrow that the children learn at school concludes with the words, ‘Help me to live like Jesus and not sin again’. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to live like Jesus. One of the most profound statements about God in the New Testament has three words, ‘God is Love’. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love. Because the Holy Spirit completely filled the life of Jesus, he was the most loving human being that ever lived. The Holy Spirit inspires us to live loving lives, lives that reflect the life of Jesus and reveal the God of Love today.

That is why Saint Paul says in today’s second reading, ‘What the Spirit brings is… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control’. Another, more familiar, translation is, ‘The fruit of the Spirit is…’. Our candidates for Confirmation learn about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul doesn’t speak about fruits of the Spirit but fruit of the Spirit, in the singular. It is as if he is saying that the Holy Spirit produces one fruit in our lives, a fruit that is so rich it needs several words to do it justice, the words, ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness or faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’. Paul is saying that this is what a life filled with the Spirit, guided by the Spirit, shaped by the Spirit, looks like. This is what it means to be ‘spiritual’, alive with the Spirit. Whenever we find these qualities in a human life, there the Holy Spirit is to be found. It can be hard to imagine the Holy Spirit, but it is not hard to imagine the kind of life that Paul describes in that reading. We have all known people whose lives display the qualities of love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. Our own lives will have displayed those qualities, at least from time to time. At the end of that second reading, Saint Paul, says, ‘Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit’. The Spirit is our life. Those whose lives are shaped and directed by the Holy Spirit are fully alive as human beings; they live fully human lives. Because Jesus was totally filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God’s love, he shows us what it means to be fully human.

The role of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to make us more like Jesus, to lead us to Jesus. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit, ‘will lead you to the complete truth’. The complete truth is not so much a teaching but a person, the person of Jesus who said of himself, ‘I am the truth’. Just as Jesus leads us to the Father, by revealing God the Father to us, so the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus, reveals Jesus to us, helps us to grow in our relationship with Jesus, so that Jesus can live in us and his love flow through us. When Jesus lives in us through the Spirit we witness to Jesus. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, ‘The Spirit of Truth will be my witness… and you too will be witnesses’. We witness to Jesus not so much by what we say but by how we live, by living lives that are full of the fruit of the Spirit. That is why the very ancient prayer to the Holy Spirit never goes out of date, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love’.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Pentecost

As soon as we emerge into the light of day at birth we begin to communicate with those around us. The crying of the new born baby is an initial attempt to communicate. As new born babies begin to grow their efforts to communicate become more articulate. They begin to speak their first words and before long they start to shape phrases and then to put sentences together. The ability to communicate in writing comes later, through their schooling. Children learn to communicate reasonably quickly. Before they have reached the age of twelve, most children will have acquired the basic communication skills of speaking and writing.

Yet, we know from our experience that the challenge to communicate well is a life-long one. As children move into the teenage years, they can struggle to communicate with others something of what may be going on within them. As they become aware of depths within themselves, they often don’t find it easy to communicate from out of those depths, even with those to whom they are closest. Children can have a wonderful openness and spontaneity, but they tend to loose that as they move into their teenage years. As teenagers move into their adult years, they can form deeper relationships with people and in that context a deeper form of communications becomes possible. Hopefully, as adults we can all find someone with whom we can communicate at a deep and personal level, in the knowledge that we will be received and understood. Yet, we are all aware that, in other ways, we do not always communicate well as adults. At the most basic level, we may be given information to pass on to others and we fail to do so. At another level, what we think we are communicating and what people actually hear can be quite different. What is very clear to us may not be so clear to others and, therefore, may have required much more by way of explanation than we had realized. At another level still, we can communicate one thing but actually, in our heart of hearts, believe something else. When we say what we don’t mean and don’t say what we mean, the consequences are invariably chaotic. People don’t know where they stand, and there is a breakdown in trust and cohesion.

When the Holy Spirit came upon the first disciples of Jesus on that first Pentecost, according to Luke, they received an ability to communicate in a way they had never communicated before. There were Jews present in Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire of the time. They would have spoken a great variety of languages and yet, they were able to say, ‘each of us hears the disciples in our own native language’. The Spirit at work among the disciples broke down the language barriers that are normal obstacles to communication. The Spirit gave the disciples a new gift of speech; they were enabled to witness to the marvels of God in a way that people from other cultures and language groups could understand and receive. Luke would have us believe that one of the signs that the Spirit is at work is when there is real communication between people about the marvels of God, when something of the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus is proclaimed in a way that is received by others.

The Spirit of God comes to help us to communicate with each other about the Lord, to build communion in the Lord. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to help us to communicate the Lord to each other. St. Paul had this same understanding of the Holy Spirit. In today’s second reading he states that ‘what the Spirit brings is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control’. These are qualities that we associate with the Lord. The Spirit comes to form these qualities within us so that by living these qualities we can communicate the Lord to each other. Whenever we display any of those qualities, we are communicating the Lord to one another and the Spirit is at work among us. St. Paul was convinced that we cannot communicate the Lord to each other without the help of the Holy Spirit. As he says in his letter to the Romans, ‘the Spirit helps us in our weakness’. It is because we are weak that we need the Holy Spirit. We need to pray, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts’, if we are to communicate the Lord to each other. We can only communicate the Lord to each other if we know the Lord ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to know the Lord – and to know him not just with our heads but with our hearts. This is the message of St. John in today’s gospel reading. The role of the Holy Spirit is to lead us to the complete truth, to lead us to Jesus who is the Truth. The Holy Spirit, according to that reading, takes from the Lord and tells it to us. The Spirit communicates with us about the Lord, leading us into a deeper communion with him. We need the Holy Spirit if we are to come to know the Lord and, so, communicate the Lord to others in what we say and do. Because the Holy Spirit is so necessary to us in our Christian lives, the Lord is not slow to share the Spirit with us. Pentecost is not a once off event. The Lord continues to pour out the Holy Spirit on all those who ask for this gift. On this feast of Pentecost, we ask for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit on each of us, so that we, like the first disciples, will be able to communicate the Lord to each other today.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of Pentecost

We appreciate it when people are truthful with us. None of us likes to be deceived. We can be very understanding of people who fail in some significant way, if they acknowledge it and are open and truthful about it. But if they pretend that all is well when it is not, we feel cheated. We can sympathize with weakness, because we know that there but for the grace of God go any one of us, but we are irritated by deception and pretence.

A double agent is someone whose real loyalty is in direct opposition to his proclaimed loyalty. On one occasion, Jesus’ opponents accused him of being a double agent. Although Jesus proclaimed himself to be an agent of God’s power, his opponents declared that in reality he was an agent of Satan’s power, ‘by the ruler of demons he casts out demons’. His public self was not his real self; he was a deceiver, they claimed. There was, of course, no conflict between who Jesus publicly claimed to be and the person he was. He was a man of truth, or as we might say today, a person of integrity. Indeed, according to John’s gospel, Jesus was truth itself; he says of himself, ‘I am the truth’. Jesus also says in that same gospel, ‘if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free’.

Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit. Today’s gospel reading from John’s gospel refers to the Holy Spirit as the ‘Spirit of Truth’, and declares that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to lead us to the complete truth. The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus, the truth; the Spirit works in our lives to keep us truthful, as Jesus was truthful. The more open we are to the Spirit, the more of a single agent we become, the greater harmony there will be between who we proclaim to be and who we are in reality.

That quality of complete integrity does not come to us overnight. Jesus speaks of the Spirit as leading us towards the complete truth. We are always on the way towards being fully truthful people. At every step of our life’s journey, we look to the Spirit to lead us towards the complete truth, towards a completely truthful life style. When we come to Mass on a Sunday we not only proclaim the gospel; we also proclaim ourselves to be gospel people. We do that knowing that there is a gap between the proclamation we make and the daily reality of our lives. The gospel we proclaim is a very high ideal, and the Christ we follow is always beyond us to some extent. We will always be straining to reach the values of the gospel. In that sense, being a Christian is a strain, what Paul calls, straining forward to what lies ahead. Being a Christian involves tension, but it is a healthy tension, one keeps us on our toes and gives us something worthwhile to aim for. Yes, we fall short and we miss the mark, but as Paul reminds us, ‘the Spirit helps us in our weakness’. The Spirit is given to us to empower us to keep journeying towards the truth, especially in the times when we are painfully away of the gap between the person we feel called to be and the person we are in reality.

At the first Pentecost, the Spirit was given to those who were painfully aware of that gap. The disciples had only recently deserted the very one they had set out to follow with great enthusiasm in Galilee. Yet, it was to such people that the Spirit was given, and given repeatedly. It is to such people – people like us - that the Spirit is given today. The Spirit is always given to those who are very aware that they have not yet reached the complete truth. All that is asked of us is that we recognize our need, and implore the coming of the Spirit in our weakness. The Sequence before the gospel captures that attitude beautifully, ‘Heal our wounds, our strength renew, on our dryness pour thy dew; wash the stains of guilt away’. That is a very appropriate prayer for the church to pray in these days. It is the prayer of people who know they have a long way to go, but who have not given up, because they know the Lord has not given up on them.

As a people who, with the Spirit’s help, are trying to journey towards the complete truth, we need to be open to truth, wherever it is to be found, even when the truth is painful. The recent Ryan report contained many painful truths. Our hearts have gone out to all those who have been the victims of institutional abuse. There is much to be learnt from the truth in that report. We all have a long way to go on our journey towards embracing what the gospel calls ‘the complete truth’ On this feast of Pentecost we implore the Spirit to come afresh into our lives and to lead us closer to the complete truth, closer to the Lord who is the truth, so that his truth may find expression in the way we think and speak and relate.

And/Or

(iv) Pentecost Sunday

When you look around our little church here in Clontarf you will find that there is no shortage of images, mostly in the form of statues, paintings, stained glass, carvings and plaster moulds. They are mostly images of Jesus, Mary and of the saints. There are also images of some figures from the Old Testament, such as Abraham and Melchizedek to the front of the altar. There is a long tradition of images within the church, beginning with the paintings in the Catacombs in Rome. The Holy Spirit, whose feast we celebrate today, does not lend itself all that easily to imagery. The traditional image of the Holy Spirit is the dove. That is drawn from the gospel accounts of the baptism of Jesus. However the language of the evangelists in that passage is very tentative; they simply saw that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, in the way that a dove might descend. There are two other images of the Holy Spirit in this morning’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. There again the language is very tentative. Luke says that all who gathered in one room heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven; he goes on to say that something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire. Just as the evangelists do not say that there was an actual dove at the baptism of Jesus, Luke does not say that there was an actual wind and fire at Pentecost. There is something about the Holy Spirit that does not lend itself to any kind of concrete representation, because the Holy Spirit cannot be seen as such. Yet, the Holy Spirit is profoundly real.

There is a great deal in our universe that is real but is not visible to the naked eye. We may need a microscope or a powerful telescope to see it. What we see with our eyes is only a fraction of our physical world. The Holy Spirit is part of the spiritual world, and so it is not surprising that we cannot see the Spirit with our physical eyes. Yet, there are helpful ways of imagining the Holy Spirit. In today’s second reading, for example, Saint Paul, uses an image drawn from nature; he speaks about the fruit of the Spirit. He is talking about the visible impact of the Spirit on someone’s life. We may not be able to see the Holy Spirit, but we can see the impact of the Spirit in someone’s life, just as we cannot see the wind but we can see the impact of the wind on people and objects of various kinds. Paul is saying, ‘wherever you find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control, the Spirit is there at work’. The Spirit becomes visible in and through these qualities, these virtues. The person who possessed those qualities in abundance was Jesus because he was full of the Holy Spirit, full of the life of God. The Holy Spirit is essentially the life of God, and that life is a life of love. It is that divine life, that divine love, which was poured out at Pentecost, initially on the first disciples but through them on all who were open to receive this powerful and wonderful gift. Saint Paul expresses it very simply in his letter to the Romans, ‘God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us’. It is that Spirit of God’s love we have received who bears the rich fruit in our lives that Paul speaks about in today’s second reading. The Spirit is constantly at work in our lives making us more like Jesus. The ordinary, day to day expressions of goodness and kindness, of faithfulness and self-control, of patience and gentleness, are all manifestations of the Spirit that has been given to us by God. We need to recognize the Spirit’s presence in the common happenings of everyday life. The spiritual is not something other worldly; it is humanity at its best.

We have an example of humanity at its best in today’s first reading. On that first Pentecost, there was a wonderful communion between people from all over the Roman Empire. They were united in hearing in their own native language the preaching of the first disciples about the marvels of God. In spite of differences of language and culture there was a profound communion among them. Wherever we find such communion of heart and spirit today among those who are strikingly different, there the Holy Spirit is at work. Unity in diversity is the mark of the Spirit. In the gospel reading Jesus points out another manifestation of the Spirit, and that is the pursuit of truth. Jesus declares that one of the Spirit’s roles is to lead us to the complete truth. If someone has a genuine openness to truth, a willingness to engage in the search for truth, there the Spirit is at work. Full truth is always beyond us; we never possess it completely. In John’s gospel Jesus declares himself to be the truth and he is always beyond us; we never fully possess him in this life. One of the roles of the Spirit is to lead us towards the complete truth, in all its dimensions and manifestations.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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fr-martin-gospel-reflections · 18 days

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19th May - ‘He will lead you to the complete truth’, Reflection on the readings for the feast of Pentecost (John 15:26-27; 16:12-15)

Pentecost Sunday

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gatekeeper-watchman · 3 months

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Daily Devotionals for March 18, 2024

Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living

Devotional Scripture:

Proverbs 11:29-31:(KJV): 29 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be a servant to the wise of heart. 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. 31 Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

Thought for the Day

Verse 29 - Proverbs could be called a basic training manual for good relationships, providing incentives to live harmoniously with others. Selfishness is at the root of family break-ups. People can be so mean and irresponsible that even a family's natural love cannot endure it. Those who use and abuse their families eventually find that they will have nothing to do with them. Their inheritance will be as insubstantial as the wind. God meant for the family unit to be blessed and unified, not cursed and divided.

The last half of this verse tells us that those who are fools will end up serving those who are wise. In the Old Testament, the word for "fool" usually refers to one who is sinful, rebellious, and practices folly. The foolish are irresponsible and careless. Because of these traits, they are not able to obtain a good position in this life and they end up working in a servant capacity. This is not to say that servant jobs are inferior. Many successful businessmen and women took servant jobs so that they could go to college, which made it possible for them to obtain better jobs. Others worked their way from the bottom of a company until they were promoted to the top. Hard work is something that a fool will avoid since his aim is for immediate gratification. That is why he will never attain a better status but will have to be under someone else's supervision as a servant.

Verse 30 - As the fruit of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden gave eternal life, so the fruit of the Spirit in a Christian's life should lead others to eternal life in Christ. Each of us is an influence for good or evil - the choice is ours. If everyone claiming to be a Christian truly lived according to Christ's commands, we could quickly win the whole world for Christ. It breaks God's heart to see His children behave like unbelievers. He desires that we be "fishers of men." If we are wise, we will make soul-winning a priority in our lives (Daniel 12:3). We can do this by praying for and witnessing to those who do not know Christ and by supporting ministries that do so.

Verse 31 - Because we reap what we sow, we do not have to wait until we get to heaven to receive rewards. By sowing righteousness, we shall have rewards in this life as well as in heaven. One of heaven's greatest rewards will be meeting those for whom we prayed or helped lead to Christ. Every soul whom we lead to Christ will be eternally grateful for our witness. This should inspire us to pray, witness, and give.

Prayer Devotional for the Day

Dear heavenly Father, thank you to those who have prayed for me over the years. Although I may not know many of the people whom You have had to pray for me, I am thankful for those prayers, and I know that I may meet these same people in heaven. Help us all to be faithful in interceding for others who may be needing special prayer this very day. What a wonderful privilege to pray for others. Increase our prayer life, as this is the way You have designed to channel blessings to the earth. Prayer is an act of love, so may I love others today in this manner. Bless Your faithful saints who have prayed and stood in faith to see their family members come safely home to heaven to be with You. I ask this in the blessed holy name of Jesus. Amen. Steven P. Miller

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giantkillerjack · 1 year

Note

Christ's sacrifice on the cross fulfilled prophecies, freed us from the old covenant (that would be what your friend was talking about with the animal sacrifices), and reconciled us in our fallen nature to God our heavenly Father. Why would God want to prevent the fulfilment of a prophecy of our redemption through his Son? You can find really clearly broken down explanations with simple Google searches. or even on Youtube, if reading isn't your thing.

[Continued in second anon]:

also, catholics don't believe that people capable of change are condemned to hell... that's sort of the whole shindig of purgatory.

it seems like the issue wasn't that you were "too much of a fag" to stay, but rather when the questions you had weren't addressed by those in your immediate circle of influence you decided it was all bogus. cause these are good questions! good questions that have been answered hundreds of times over hundreds of years beginning with the early church fathers

[This is in reference to a post I made about how I feel Jesus died for no reason and that my childhood in Catholic school failed to explain it to me. I wrote "thank goodness I was too much of a fag to stay."]

I mean I very much was too much of a fag to stay - the Catholic Church is not kind to queers, and there's a reason every one of my queer friends who grew up Catholic is no longer part of the Church. Lil Nas X knows what's up! Better to rule in Hell and all that. My girlfriend often talks about how she believes if she was raised Catholic as an autistic queer, she would not have lived to adulthood. I agree with her. The shame of it all would have destroyed her. So I very much was and AM too faggy to be a Catholic, and I am immensely grateful for this because I was very very unhappy in the Church.

But actually, the initial reason I had a long agonizing crisis of faith and then dropped it entirely was actually a thought that occurred years before my realization of my own queerness would have forced me either out of the Church anyway or else deep into dangerous self-loathing.

I think the actual heart of the question that destroyed my faith is this:

Is God omnipotent, or not? And if yes, why does he need us to suffer?

Because if he's not omnipotent, then all of this makes sense to me. The whole theology, I mean. Horrible sacrifices had to be made to stop every human soul from going to Hell for all eternity. A long painful battle against the Adversary waged by the good God and his people! It would make sense that he had to suffer if there are other powerful forces at play that established the prophecies he is fulfilling!

But... if he wrote the prophecy..... then....... why? Someone has to write the prophecy in the first place, right? It's not impressive to fulfill your own prophecy, and it doesn't explain why he made one.

If God is not omnipotent, then of course child abuse exists in this world on a massive scale. He hates it and is doing his best to fight it! This fits with the picture of a loving and merciful God that I was taught in school.

But... if he IS omnipotent, then I need to know why child abuse exists. "Mysterious ways" won't cut it because that just means "it doesn't make sense and also maybe that suffering is actually necessary." Which is not an answer I will accept.

The thing that killed my faith was the idea that God cannot be both all-powerful AND kind.

And everything I have experienced about God's Love has been through threats of Hell. I don't think it's kind to save someone from Hell if you condemned them in the first place and also you created Hell. That sounds a lot like an abuser saying you ought to be grateful they didn't hit you and will let you make it up to them. It's a warped version of mercy.

The Catholic church has historically relied on and continues to rely on shame, fear, and social ostracization in order to gain funding and influence. These are very powerful weapons that they use very liberally - shame, fear, isolation - and as long as that Central Paradox I mentioned above continues to exist, then their claim to power and righteousness sounds awfully hollow.

Which brings me back to the concept of martyrdom. I was taught, in no uncertain terms, that sacrifice was something inherently holy. Even when it didn't help anyone! Lent was just a practice in self-denial. It was never clear why Jesus needed it from us.

I was told the only way to 100% be a good person is to never stop sacrificing myself, and even after I stopped believing in a god, this attitude remained deeply, poisonously rooted. (Thanks, Capitalism!) When I was 25, I worked myself nearly to death, and I'm still dealing with the permanent health consequences of that. So ingrained is this mindset in me.

Being gay helped me to avoid falling back into the Church because they hate queers so much, and I am so so grateful for that.

The day I decided God didn't exist, I remember feeling like I could breathe for the first time. I was free! I was loved! I was no longer alone! I no longer had to define my life around shame and guilt! It was terrifying, but also like going from a world full of gray to one full of color!

I think in the end, little 11-year-old me decided that if God was not kind, then I don't know what the point of him is.

And as much as it hurt, knowing that going back wasn't an option for me also helped me stay safe!! Thank goodness I am a dyke!!!

#child abuse #abuse #violence #religious trauma #original #catholic tumblr #come answer my paradox i want to know why this doesn't bother others #dimension 20 #fantasy high #ally beardsley #< tagging with that stuff because part of the reason I'm having this revisitation of my old faith is their character in season 1 #they play a D&D cleric who has a complete crisis of faith when their god can't answer why bad things happen to good people #their character is a complete wreck for the rest of the season and it's very funny and very well done #and as I understand it a little bit autobiographical #d slur #I didn't even get into sexuality here. the church hates sex but nobody's more obsessed with sex than Catholics. it is #restrictive and judgmental even to straight people and there's never a clear explanation besides God said so #i remember the first time it occurred to me that i could potentially grow up to be a whore.#AND I AM PROUD TO REPORT--#THE PROPHECY IS COMPLETE #hehehehee

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yieldfruit · 1 year

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Why is it father and not mother? Why is it trust in Him(Jesus) and not her?

Hmmmm

The first thing to recognize is that God does not have a body and therefore does not have gender in the technical sense. At the same time, God is consistently referred to as our heavenly Father in Scripture, never as a heavenly Mother.

There are a few places in Scripture where God describes Himself in motherly terms in that He does some of the things that a mother might do, like comfort or feed her children (see Hosea 11:3–4; Deuteronomy 32:18; Isaiah 42:14; 49:15; 66:13). There are about a dozen more verses where God speaks of gathering His children under His wings, as in Psalm 91:4: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Covering with feathers, it is said, is something a mother bird normally does. However, in Psalm 91 masculine pronouns are clearly used. Some cite Deuteronomy 32:11–12 as comparing God’s actions with those of a mother eagle: “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them, and carries them aloft.” Notice, however, that the text does not refer to a mother eagle, and eagles are one species of bird where the father will also sit on the nest. Even if it is granted that God does some things that a mother commonly does, He is still Father—just as a human father may do some things that a mother normally does but is still the father, not the mother.

If God does not have literal gender, why does it matter if He is called Father or Mother? In brief, because God the Father is a biblical term (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 1:1), and God the Mother is not. The idea of “God as mother” usually comes to the fore when discussing issues of gender equality and gender roles as defined in the Bible. The Bible teaches that men and women have different yet complementary roles. Both men and women are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:28) and are equal before God, both in sin and salvation. However, God, for His own purposes, has designated men to be leaders in the home and church; and He holds men responsible for how they exercise their authority. Since God is the Ultimate Leader, His position is best conveyed in masculine terms such as Father and King (rather than Mother and Queen). To call God “Mother” is unbiblical.

There are evangelical Christians who reject the idea of gender roles and male headship. They would suggest that the society in which Scripture was written was patriarchal, and, while that worldview is reflected in the Bible’s use of language, it does not carry divine endorsement. However, evangelicals who believe this would not normally go as far as to call God “Mother.” Usually, those who promote using the title God the Mother are solidly outside the evangelical camp and view the Bible as a human work, written by men and simply reinforcing the long-standing (and self-serving) patriarchal systems in which they lived.

It is reported that a well-known Bible translator was approached by someone who felt that the translation he was working on should use feminine pronouns to refer to God. The translator asked if feminine pronouns should be used to refer to the devil as well: “Resist the devil and she will flee from you.” That rejoinder was not well-received.

Unfortunately, in our society many mothers do reflect the loving, caring, and providing nature of God better than fathers who have often failed to live up to their God-given responsibilities. Many people would testify that they have trouble with the concept of God as Father because they associate Him with their absent or abusive human fathers. The solution is to get to know God the Father as He really is, not to substitute Him with God the Mother. Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/God-the-mother.html

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shammah8 · 9 months

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RHAPSODY OF REALITIES DAILY DEVOTIONAL

HIS NAME, THE WORD, AND THE SPIRIT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30TH 2023

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts (Zechariah 4:6).

PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME

Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Then John 1:3, referring to the Word, says, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” Then we come to Ephesians 5:18; Paul, by the Spirit tells us, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Hallelujah!

As you study the Scriptures, you find that it’s about these three: the Name of Jesus, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. The apostles ministered in the Name of Jesus, with the Word of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why they had such extraordinary results. It’s the same today. We do all things in His Name, live in and by His Word, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Name of Jesus never fails. Doing all things in His Name means that you live your life every day in and with the consciousness of the power, glory and dominion of His Name.

Some people try so hard to succeed through their own might and natural wisdom, yet, true success eludes them. This is because they’re not acting on the Word; they’re not living the Word. They function from the mind—the sense-realm—which is grossly limited. Yet, true and lasting success is the result of meditation on the Word of God (Joshua 1:8).

Thirdly is the power of the Holy Spirit. If you’ve been trying to succeed by your own power or ability, it’s time to quit the struggle and rely on the strategies of the Spirit and His wisdom to guide you. Our competence—the ability, wisdom and grace by which we function are of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:5). Trust in Him. He’s the key to a life of joy, praise, endless victories and extraordinary success.

PRAYER

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in my life, who causes me to be effective, productive and walk in your perfect will. I’m continually filled with the Spirit to effectively communicate the Gospel and impact my world with your divine presence, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

Acts 4:12; Acts 20:32; 2 Corinthians 3:5 AMPC

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childofchrist1983 · 1 year

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Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. - Acts 11:25-27 KJV

Sometimes, people wonder why we are called "Christians" since Jesus Christ was a Jew. There are a couple of reasons.

One is that originally they were in fact a sect of Judaism until they were thrown out of the temple. Now, Messiah is the Hebrew name for the "Anointed One". In Greek, this is "Christ". So it follows that they would be called Christians by those who spoke Greek and were Gentiles, not Jews. We are also "anointed ones" because of our Spiritual Baptism. We often call this day the day of our Christening. We are anointed with the faith of Christ – The Anointed One. Christ is sometimes thought of as Jesus' last name. Actually, it is His title. In Jesus' time, the last name usually referred to something descriptive, one's occupation, the place where a person came from, or his father's name. The people of his time would have called him, Jesus bar Joseph, and Jesus the Nazarene. Remember, Joseph was called "the carpenter."

Names were considered to be very important. In many cultures, a person may have four or five names. The relatives may have some say in the naming. A person may have names that include blessing, merciful, gift or beautiful, qualities that they either believe the child has, or will develop, as well as the name he or she will be called and then the family name. Different cultures even put the family name first. Our names are so important that the Jews will not call God by the name He gave to Moses. This is why the Jewish leaders were so upset when Jesus called Himself “I AM”. The people of Antioch were convinced by Paul and Barnabas that Jesus was in fact the Messiah, the Christ, and so the followers were now named "Christians." Our Heavenly Father promised that He would send a Messiah to save His people. He sent us Jesus, the Christ, now we bear His name as Christians. May He also give us the graces and strength that we need to be worthy of the name.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His mercy and grace. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives and give us a new direction according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

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mrlnsfrt · 1 year

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It Is Finished 2023

Heaven beheld as Jesus was betrayed into the hands of the murderous mob, and with mockery and violence hurried from one tribunal to another.

Angels heard the sneers of His persecutors because of His lowly birth.

They heard the denial with cursing and swearing by one of His best-loved disciples.

All of heaven saw the frenzied work of Satan, and his power over the hearts of men and women.

Imagine this terrible scene...

The Savior seized at midnight in Gethsemane, dragged to and fro from palace to judgment hall, arraigned twice before the priests, twice before the Sanhedrin, twice before Pilate, and once before Herod, mocked, scourged, condemned, and led out to be crucified, bearing the heavy burden of the cross, amid the wailing of the daughters of Jerusalem and the jeering of the crowd.

Heaven viewed with grief and amazement Christ hanging upon the cross, blood flowing from His wounded temples, and sweat tinged with blood standing upon His brow.

From His hands and feet, the blood fell, drop by drop, upon the rock drilled for the foot of the cross.

The wounds made by the nails gaped as the weight of His body dragged upon His hands.

His labored breath grew quick and shallow, as His soul panted under the burden of the sins of the world.

All heaven was filled with wonder when the prayer of Christ was offered in the midst of His terrible suffering, —“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34.

Yet there stood men, formed in the image of God, joining to crush out the life of His one and only Son. What a sight for the heavenly universe! (Inspired by The Desire of Ages)

Controversy

How did we get here?

How can anyone make sense of Jesus, a man who lived a perfect life hanging on a cross? Even more puzzling how do we end up with the Son of God dying on earth? To make matters even more complex, Jesus is God, He is our Creator, why is He dying, when it would be more convenient for Him to simply destroy us and make a brand new earth?

The Bible refers to Jesus dying on the cross as “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23).

If you were starting a revolution, a movement to impact the whole world, would you have the hero of your story, the savior, die a humiliating and painful public death?

Seems odd right? Who would come up with this story and think it is a good one? Would it not be much better to have the hero be incredibly strong and have him destroy all his enemies? Would that not be a much better story to tell, would that not be a better hero? One you could be proud of?

Why would you tell the story of the hero dying a terrible death while all his followers ran away? The cross sounds more like a defeat than victory. Yet here we are, still talking about it, some 2000 years later. Why does this story persist?

A story about an all-powerful God who toys with His creation and uses them as mere entertainment or slaves makes sense.

A story about a mighty God who is indifferent to the lives of lower beings living in a speck floating around in a vast universe makes sense.

There are so many stories about various gods, so many religions and beliefs, and so many fables, yet here we are talking about one which is particularly challenging. A story where we have the most powerful God, in fact, the only God, the creator God, dying for His creatures, that He created, that He could easily destroy, that cannot live without Him. Yet God not only sustains us, even as we live in rebellion against Him, but He also died for us.

This kind of love, and this level of self-sacrifice, make my head spin.

This story is so odd, that this God, after doing all this, offers us the gift of salvation, offers us eternal life, as a free gift. He then tells us to tell everyone the good news, that they don’t have to die, that they can have eternal life, that they can have hope, and that everything will be okay. There is no special reward for us doing this, we do not gain bonus eternal life, or a bigger house on the new earth depending on how obedient we were.

Yet, people who truly believe in this wild story, of a God who loved the world so much that He sent His one-of-a-kind Son to die so that everyone who believes in Him would not have to die, but instead have life that would never end, live a transformed life. These people who believe in the God of the Bible live a transformed life. Their life does not make sense. They help people for free! They go out of their way to be kind to people they don’t even know. They volunteer and give and help and do things to help those who could never repay them. You would expect these followers of the God of the Bible to be miserable people, to be poor and exhausted from all that volunteering and helping and donating. Yet, they seem to be healthier, happier, and more content than those who live simply to gratify their own selfish desires.

Many of these people give away 10% of their income, and a good number of them give even more, not to mention countless hours of volunteer work. How can people who give so much live happy and healthy lives? How can they have enough for themselves? Especially in this economy?

In a world that is becoming more and more divided. When people find all kinds of reasons to fight and offend and attack, these believers in Jesus come together and enjoy a sense of community based on helping each other and even those outside of their group.

This is very puzzling indeed.

As you can probably tell by now, this story is no regular story. Though many try to discredit it, poke fun at it, and downplay it, it is the most powerful story in the world, because it introduces the listener to the very heart and character of God.

The enemy

This is explained in more detail in my post One Story to Rule Them All, but Jesus explains the existence of evil by claiming “an enemy has done this” (Matthew 13:28). This enemy is called Lucifer (light bearer), Satan (adversary), Devil (false accuser), among other names.

Lucifer had been originally an angel of light.

“You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. - Ezekiel 28:12-15

Lucifer was cast out of heaven because he desired to be God.

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. - Isaiah 14:12-15 NKJV

Lucifer started a rebellion in heaven. He wanted to be God. Lucifer believed that he could do a better job than what God was doing.

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. - Revelation 12:7-9 NKJV (bold mine)

Not only did Satan start a rebellion, Revelation 12:4a tells us that "His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth." I understand that to mean that one-third of the angels of heaven followed Satan in his rebellion against God. (In prophecy sometimes stars represent angels Revelation 1:20)

Satan had been so crafty with his lies that I believe it was not until the brutal death of Christ on the cross that the character of Satan was clearly revealed to the angels. Satan's deceptions had been so masterful that even holy beings had not clearly seen the true nature of his rebellion.

These verses help paint a fuller picture of the story of redemption.

You may be wondering, why did God not destroy Satan right away? Why cast him to earth?

God could have destroyed Satan and the rebellious angels as easily as you can cast a pebble to the ground, but He did not do this. God was not going to crush a rebellion by force. Coercion is found only under Satan's government. God's principles are very different. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means He uses. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power.

If God simply crushed Satan and his followers He would have proved Satan right. God would forever appear to be a tyrant instead of a loving God. The whole universe would follow God out of fear of being destroyed and the angels would have forever wondered if Lucifer really would have been a better ruler.

Time reveals the truth

Satan came to earth and tempted Adam and Eve, and when they fell, they chose Satan over God. Now the universe would watch and see the outcome of Satan's style of leadership.

Aleister Crowley, an occultist from the early 1900s, claims that "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."

I really don't want to chase that rabbit into the occult and satanism, etc. but I mention this just to point out how his law is diametrically opposed to God's law which can be summed up in loving God above everything else and your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:34-40)

God's law is focused on others while Satan's is focused on self. God says "If you love me keep my commandments" (John 14:15) Satan says "Do whatever you want."

Another way of describing this is God has a law, and Satan is against the law.

Being an outlaw can seem harmless, even fun. Doing what you want doesn't seem like an evil way to live one's life. So you can see why Satan would have gained a following, and why many others who did not follow him might still have wondered if maybe Satan was not that bad of an angel, maybe he was on to something.

How we view God

Many seem to view God as a harsh, old-fashioned, stern, all-powerful being who can't wait to zap those who disobey His will. Satan has done a good job spreading his views of God. Sadly he seems to have used the church on many occasions to misrepresent God and turn many away from Him. Causing many to believe that they can indeed be much happier living without God, living as if God did not exist, just doing whatever makes them happy.

Enter Jesus

God revealed Who He is in the Old Testament. His grace, His mercy, His patience, it’s all there. But that was not enough. Jesus' life on earth is the greatest revelation of who God is.

Through Jesus, God's mercy was manifested to humanity. Jesus was the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14). Jesus lived a perfect life, a life of perfect obedience to the law of God, and though He was tempted like us, Jesus never sinned (Hebrews 4:15 [more verses about Jesus' sinlessness]). Since Jesus never sinned, that means He never broke God’s law (1 John 3:4). In living a perfect life Jesus was nothing like the religious leaders of His time.

In living a life that followed the will of God in every aspect with perfection Jesus was not an unpleasant person, rather the opposite, children wanted to be with Him and multitudes followed Him. Jesus brought life and healing and clarity regarding the will of God. Jesus revealed not only the true character of God, but also what a perfect life of obedience looked like, not something terrible, but rather the greatest blessing this world had ever witnessed.

Relating to the Law

Nevertheless, mercy does not set aside justice. The law reveals the attributes of God's character, and not a jot or tittle of it could be changed (Matthew 5:18) to meet humanity in its fallen condition.

God did not change His law, but He sacrificed Himself, in Christ, for the redemption of all humankind.

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19.

I believe everyone understands that the law requires righteousness,—a righteous life, a perfect character; and we humans cannot offer this to God, because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). We cannot meet the claims of God's holy law.

But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life stands for the life of men. The Desire of Ages page 762

This is how our past sins are forgiven, thanks to God's patience. More than this, Christ imbues us with the attributes of God. He builds up our human character to become more and more like His divine character, full of spiritual strength and beauty. This is how the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:26.

I find it amazing how God's love can be been expressed in His justice just like in His mercy. Justice is the foundation of God's government, it is also the fruit of His love. Satan tried to separate mercy from truth and justice. Satan sought to prove that the righteousness of God's law is an enemy to peace and happiness. But Christ shows us that in God's plan justice and mercy are inseparable, the one cannot exist without the other.

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Psalm 85:10.

Justice and Mercy

By His life and His death, Jesus proved once and for all that God's justice did not destroy His mercy. Jesus also made it clear that sin could be forgiven, and that the law is righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed. Satan's charges against God's government and character were refuted.

God had given humanity unmistakable evidence of His infinite love.

Satan, however, had one more trick up his sleeve. He would now proclaim that mercy destroyed justice, that the death of Christ did away with the Father's law.

The problem with this line of thought is that if it had been possible for the law to be changed or repealed, then Christ did not have to die. I have a whole post on how Jesus prayed to the Father asking if there was any other way, but there wasn't, so Jesus agreed to drink the cup (die on the cross for our sins). (Matthew 26:36-46)

The problem with doing away with the law is that doing so would immortalize transgression, and place the world forever under Satan's control. If the law was faulty in any way and needed to be changed somehow, it would prove Satan's claims that God's government was flawed and that he, Satan, could do a better job as God. It was exactly because the law was changeless, and because humanity could be saved only through obedience to its precepts, that Jesus was lifted up on the cross. Yet the very means by which Christ established the law Satan represented as destroying it. This is where we have the last conflict of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

The death of Jesus on the cross demonstrates that God's law is perfect and immutable.

The cross also made manifest the true nature of sin, revealing the true character of Satan.

At the cross the destruction of sin and Satan was forever made certain, the redemption of man was assured, and the universe was made eternally secure.

Christ fully comprehended the results of the sacrifice made upon Calvary. To all these, He looked forward when upon the cross He cried out, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

Finally, at the end of time, the final destruction of sin will vindicate God's love and establish His honor before a universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me,“Write, for these words are true and faithful.” - Revelation 21:1-5 NKJV

#cross #Jesus #Theology #Salvation

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