O God, my Lord, in You I seek refuge

Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers; protect me from those who are violent, who plan evil things in their minds and stir up wars continually. They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers. 

 Selah 

 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent who have planned my downfall. The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net;* along the road they have set snares for me. 

 Selah

I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God; give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.’ O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer, you have covered my head in the day of battle. Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; do not further their evil plot. 

Selah

 Those who surround me lift up their heads; let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! Let burning coals fall on them! Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise! Do not let the slanderer be established in the land; let evil speedily hunt down the violent! 

 I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall live in your presence. 

Psalm 140

I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me; give ear to my voice when I call to you. 

 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, 
 and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. 
 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. 

 Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies. 

 Let the righteous strike me; let the faithful correct me. Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head, for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.

When they are given over to those who shall condemn them, then they shall learn that my words were pleasant. Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land, so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol. 

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenseless. Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me, and from the snares of evildoers. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I alone escape. 

Psalm 141

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

Relevant Reading
Vespers - The Dynamic Horologion

How I Live My Life

"You see, the fly only knows where the unclean things are, while the honeybee knows where the beautiful iris or hyacinth is. As I have come to understand, some people resemble the honeybee and some resemble the fly. Those who resemble the fly seek to find evil in every circumstance and are preoccupied with it; they see no good anywhere. But those who resemble the honeybee only see the good in everything they see. The stupid person thinks stupidly and takes everything in the wrong way, whereas the person who has good thoughts, no matter what he sees, no matter what you tell him, maintains a positive and good thought." 

~ + St. Paisios of Mt. Athos, “Good and Evil Thoughts,” Spiritual Counsels III: Spiritual Struggle

I try to be the bee. That is what I strive for. It's not that hard to seek that which is good. I am always Looking for Something Good. I tend to find whatever it is that is good whan I look for it. I also tend to find whatever is icky when I look for it. I decided a few years ago to seek joy.  

Joy smells better.

By no means does this mean everything is hunky dorey, sunshine and puppy dogs. What it means is that I seek the sun. I seek the blessing of God; His Holy Face and not just His Hand. I expect to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I am always Looking for Something Good! He has said that He delights in me and I have been given a calling and a new name to live up to.

Alleluia! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Relevant Reading

St Paisios of Mt Athos
Looking For Something Good
Isaiah 62 (Isaiah 62:2)

Give Rest Also to the Soul of Your Servant

For my father 

20 May 1932 - 16 September 2015 

 May God make his memory eternal. 

Lord have mercy upon me, a sinner.

Wisdom...Let Us Attend

Some fiction books that have affected me (I've read a lot more than 10 fiction books in my lifetime, and during this last year, but these came to mind and the quotes are some of the wisdom I drew from that book):

1. Kushiel's Dart "That which yields is not always weak."
2. The Destroyer Goddess "Impetuous acts and ungoverned passions always cost too much and should never be indulged."
3. Eon Incompetence is inexcusable because it can be remedied.
4. The Sharing Knife: Horizon Don't let fear swallow all your happiness. Don't forget to take joy.
5. Fool's Errand "You should leave off sniffing the carcass of your old life...There is no shame in walking away from bones...nor is there any special wisdom in injuring yourself over and over."
6. Lover Revealed She might not have any clue who she was, but better to be lost and searching than shoved into a social box by someone else.
7. Shalador's Lady Don't fail until you fail.
8. The Broken Kingdoms It's all right to need help. All of us have things we can't do alone.
9. Raven Calls There isn't a day in the year that someone doesn't hold high...There is always a reason to give thanks to God, always a good reason to worship.
10. Aristoi "You are insuffiently serious." "On the contrary. I am quite serious. I am, however, never solemn."
11. Parable of the Sower "Respect God: Pray working. Pray learning, planning, doing. Pray creating, teaching, reaching. Pray working. Pray to focus your thoughts, still your fears, strengthen your purpose. Respect God. Shape God. Pray working."
12. Sourcery “It's vital to remember who you really are. It's very important. It isn't a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for you, you see. They always get it wrong.”

There are so many more. I could spend the next several hours simply writing down all the wisdom I have gained from fiction books, specifically science fiction and fantasy.

Respect God. Pray working.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Political Correctness and Hypocrisy

I recently had to rant about a few things. A person I am acquainted with on a message board was accused of cultural appropriation because she (a non-Jew) was wearing her head-covering in a Jewish style.

Really? REALLY???

Frankly I am tired of folks assigning negative intent to every single blinking thing other people do. Sometimes a scarf is just a scarf and a hairstyle is just a hairstyle. I am SO very tired of the words "microagression", "cultural appropriation", and "sensitivity". I could just spit. Some of these sensitive folks need to take a long walk off a short dock and quit masturbating their purposeless lives by protecting folks who don't need or want their freaking protection. Sometimes people just need to mind their own business.

And on top of that people need to just be kind.

Leveling accusations at people you don't know is not kind. Get over yourself. You aren't a freakin' mind reader.

The really ironic thing is that the main culprits of these sorts of accusations tend to be appropriators of the worst kind.

If you are eating food from another culture than your own--I think you're appropriating. So next time your friends ask you what you want for supper, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Mexican, Cuban are all out. Because...appropriation.

If you are wearing a kilt or any plaid, stop now. Appropriation.

Do you have a poncho? I suggest you take it back because, well, you know.

Taking a yoga class? Tai chi? Any non-American martial art? Shame on you!

Do you see where this goes? I mean how about we think someone is just admiring something enough to actually want to do it themselves instead of assuming someone is being evil?

Sometimes people need to grow some skin instead of being so damned sensitive for other people who honestly don't care that much about what folks do with themselves.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled blog drifting.

Lord have mercy on me a sinner.