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This page continues from an entry titled » The Heart of the White Evangelical has Become Calloused and Hardened and Morally Unfeeling (21 Dec 2021).

Normally I would begin today's entry ..

.. with the standard greeting used to wish you-n-yours a happy New Year. After a while, you do it without really thinking.

But this year, this New Year's greeting does not feel right. The thought of saying, "Happy New Year," rings false to me.

And let's be honest, folks. Let's all make like good existentialists for a moment, and not hide our heads in the sand from the ugliness that life can sometimes be.

Because this happens to be one of those times.

Because there are many reasons that would lead any sane, rational person to feel less-than-thrilled about the prospects for the future.

Who does not know exactly what I am talking about?

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It is written, doncha know, in the book of Isaiah, that Yahweh, the living God Himself, sent the prophet to tell the people that their hearts had become calloused. 

See for yourself.

Better yet, let me go grab those verses for you. Here you go.

That is the New International Version (NIV, rev. 2011) on the left, and the New American Standard (NAS, rev. 2020) on the right.

» What Does It Mean when the Heart becomes Calloused?

The term calloused is defined as » 

1. Emotionally hardened; unfeeling
2. Hardened in mind or feelings
3. Deadened feelings or morals
4. Toughened
5. Unfeeling or indifferent to the sufferings of others

Callouses, I am sure you know, are patches of skin that have become tough and thick and leathery and hard and deadened to feelings over time, usually due to much heavy use.

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It is still only Saturday the 18th, but I am posting this entry with tomorrow's date » 19 Sept 2021.

I want to get a headstart. I want to hit the ground running.

The term zeitgeist is defined as » The spirit of the age; the spirit characteristic of an age, or a period, or a generation.

Some synonyms offered are » The feel, the feeling, the flavor, the spirit, the tone.

Looks like autumn arrives Wednesday, 22 Sept 2021 at 12:21 pm local time. Look at all the 1's and 2's there.

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This page was lifted from a section in an entry titled » How Can QAnon Still be Such a Powerful Delusion? (19 Aug 2021).

» Who Will Deny that the Decision to Invade Afghanistan Twenty Fucking Years Ago was a Mind-Blowing Blunder of Unfathomable Proportions Based on One Fabricated Lie After Another?

Speaking of the time when all becomes clear to even the most willingly self-deluded of souls .. (pause for effect) ..

.. I wonder what fmr Joint Chiefs chair adm Mike Mullen thinks about the painfully-obvious reality of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan .. you know, the Graveyard of Empires.

It is just one self-inflicted catastrophe after another with the decisions that our government makes.

What is it about Washington that seems to suck the brains out of people .. so that they cannot see the obvious reality staring them so plainly in the face?

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This page continues from » Page One (19 Aug 2021).

» Paying Attention to Deceitful Spirits and to the Doctrines of Demons

Doesnt what Dostoevsky says about how people can become possessed by the bizarre ideas of a bizarre ideology to the point that they actually appear to embody some sort of dark, demonic energy ..

.. doesnt the theme of Dostoevsky's novel seem to jibe with what Paul writes here?

Sure does seem like it to me.

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This page continues from a section lifted out of an entry titled » The Darkness Didnt Get It (19 June 2021).

It is a sad, depressing topic to address. Time and again scripture talks about evil forces who deceive the unwitting, who also deceive themselves.

It says a lot of things that would make me very uncomfortable if I were them. And I told them as much.

Scripture says, you know, that God sends a powerful delusion on those who reject the truth.

They repeatedly dismissed my concerns, so I feel as though I genuinely tried to help. I feel like I tried to warn them about perils spelled out so plainly in the scriptures for those on that path.

You know what they say about leading a horse to water.

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This page continues from an entry titled » How Can this Impossible Thing Feel Like the Thing I've been Looking for My Whole Life? (21 June 2021).

Today is Friday-the-13th.

Well, it is actually Saturday-the-14th when I am posting this HTML page live.

But Friday-the-13th seems like so much more an appropriate date for a page with a title like this one. No? (It doesnt really matter in the end.)

[ Remind me to talk about what is appropriate vs what is not appropriate .. because it ties in nicely with today's topic.

The term appropriate is defined as » Suitable for a particular person, condition, occasion, or place; fitting.

The reason why I mention this particular word right here is because .. what might be fitting or suitable to one person does not necessarily mean that such-a-thing is suitable or fitting for another.

To another. With another. You feel me.

Because values and priorities comes into play here when you start to define what is or is not appropriate.

Nietzsche was very much about » values, you know.

Values are funny thing, my friend. But not the kind of funny that makes you laugh out loud. No, sir. 'Fraid not. ]

» I Hope My Friend Elena and Her Team Girlfriends are Okay

I hope that my friend Elena ..

.. and her team girlfriends ..

are okay. I saw this thing where Siberia is on fire more than all the fires in the world combined.

The frozen tundra of Siberia is on fire. That's how you know that the apocalypse has arrived.

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You didnt think I would let our anniversary pass without notice .. did you, girly?

Especially seeing how it was such a cool date » 19 Mar 2021, with the sequential » 19 » 20 » 21.

I didnt forget .. even though I might have "a lot on my plate" right now .. as both cousin Patti and my therapist have said.

I guess I do have a lot on my plate. But I tend to respond well to plates piled with these kinds of things.

I am actually feeling happy of late .. for a number of reasons. (More on that later.)

I even had the thought a few days ago that I might be feeling "too happy" and maybe I should cut back, or even quit taking the antidepressants altogether. All the meds. I mean, why pussy around?

Now there is a thought that I have never had before. It's a foolish thought, to be sure .. because you never want to change anything with your meds without first consulting a trained mental health professional.

And I have already begun tapering down my dose of Zoloft .. for a few months now .. from 200 to 150.

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I normally use the 11th of January (1-11, or 'one-one-one') as a place, or as a convenient time, where I will challenge myself. Where I will attempt something I have never attempted before.

Speaking of the date, I wonder what time it is. Hold on a sec. I'm going to go check. Dont go anywhere. I'll be back in a jiffy.

Okay, I'm back. Looks like it's 1:11 pm. Here on the Left coast.

It's later than I thought.

Now I will be the first to admit that sometimes I bite off more than I can chew, particularly when I might be trying to impress a super-hottie.

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Girly, what am I going doing with you? (I mean, that I havent done already.)

You are in so much trouble, young lady. You cannot possibly imagine how much trouble you are in right now.

You girls with tattoos .. I shouldve known better. You seem to actually enjoy getting in trouble.

Einstein was always getting in trouble, too, you know. So at least you're in good company.

After I finished viewing the trailer for your Netflix special (releasing tomorrow) I thought, "Now you've really done it."

Girly, you know that you cannot be doing shit like this ..

.. and think you will get no response. No retaliation. Certainly not with something this provocative.

You know this better than anybody.

When I saw this clip above, where you do that lay-back thing that you do .. when I saw that clip, I started thinking about things.

About this thing, and that thing, and, of course, the other thing.

Before I knew it, I was a million miles away. Maybe more. I wouldnt be surprised. I mean that is certainly the way it felt.

And I would be lying if I said that I was in any kind of hurry to get back, either. No. I was definitely diggin' it out there.

Would you like to know, Ariana, what kinds of things I was thinking about out there? Out there in La La Land.

I feel confident that you would indeed like to know.

I very much feel provoked when I see you doing this. This kind of thing, where I feel provoked, this makes me feel aggressive. And aggressive can easily become predatory under the right circumstances.

What do you know about evoking these things?

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