Gift

I will never understand why people want to double up on “special days.” If you could have a 4th of July party and a birthday party on two different days, why combine them into one day? I get that it’s difficult to get people to show up for one special event, let alone two, but as long as they’re spaced apart in a reasonable way, there’s no reason you should have to do a halfhearted birthday celebration because of an unrelated event. I don’t care how old you are; if your birthday is consistently eclipsed by some other holiday or by uncaring family members, it can get you down. 

The teenager in this story got his birthday overshadowed by the gender reveal of his baby sibling. That’s bad on its own, but the fact that his mom gave him the gender reveal in place of an actual gift is wild. 

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Saints Simon and Jude #Saints

Legend has it that Saints Simon and Jude traveled to Persia together where they were both martyred. This may explain why they share the same feast day. Saint Simon is usually referred to as “the Zealot,” and Saint Jude, also known as Thaddeus, is often considered the brother of Saint James the Lesser.

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Peace of Heart: Prayer of the Day for Monday, October 28, 2024 #Pray

Almighty and Eternal God,
Give me, I beseech You,
the great gift of inward peace.
Command the winds and storms
of my unruly passions.
Subdue, by Your grace,
my proneness to love
created things too much.
Give me a love of suffering for Your sake.
make me forbearing and kind to others,
that I may avoid quarrels and contentions.
And teach me constantly to seek after
and to acquire that perfect resignation
to Your Holy Will
which alone brings interior peace.

Amen.

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The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Story of the Stolen Amber Room #Paranormal

On a cold winter night in 1941, Nazi soldiers entered the grand halls of the Catherine Palace near Leningrad, Russia, and laid their hands on a treasure that had once been described as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Within just a few days, they dismantled one of the most extraordinary creations of Baroque art: the Amber Room, a dazzling space lined with panels made entirely of amber, embellished with gold leaf, and inlaid with mirrors and semi-precious stones. As they packed the precious panels into crates and shipped them off to Königsberg, no one could have imagined that the…

The post The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Story of the Stolen Amber Room appeared first on Anomalien.com.

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To Protect Life: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, October 17, 2024 #Pray

Loving God, I thank you for the gift of life you gave and continue to give to me and to all of us.
Merciful God, I ask your pardon and forgiveness for my own failure and the failure of all people to respect and foster all forms of life in our universe.

Gracious God, I pray that with your grace, I and all people will reverence, protect, and promote all life and that we will be especially sensitive to the life of the unborn, the abused, neglected, disabled, and the elderly. I pray, too, …

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Peace of Heart: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, October 10, 2024 #Pray

Almighty and Eternal God,
Give me, I beseech You,
the great gift of inward peace.
Command the winds and storms
of my unruly passions.
Subdue, by Your grace,
my proneness to love
created things too much.
Give me a love of suffering for Your sake.
make me forbearing and kind to others,
that I may avoid quarrels and contentions.
And teach me constantly to seek after
and to acquire that perfect resignation
to Your Holy Will
which alone brings interior peace.
Amen.

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Fermi’s Paradox Suggests that We Are Not Attractive on the Interstellar Dating Scene #Paranormal

The human body is biodegradable. In a billion years, the leftovers from our burial sites might offer interstellar archaeologists some Neuralink chips which outlasted the human flesh in which they were embedded. The carbon footprint of all humans vanishes at death, irrespective of whether prior to that moment thousands of billionaires traveled on private jets and fancy yachts or billions of other humans just travelled on foot. The blow to the human ego delivered by the beginning and end of this non-negotiable contract for life-as-we-know-it, makes everything in between a temporary gift with an expiration date. Given this underlying setup,…

The post Fermi’s Paradox Suggests that We Are Not Attractive on the Interstellar Dating Scene appeared first on Anomalien.com.

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Prayer for the Unborn Child: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, October 02, 2024 #Pray

Almighty God, our Father,
you who have given us life
and intended us to have it forever,
grant us your blessings.
Enlighten our minds to an awareness
and to a renewed conviction
that all human life is sacred
because it is created
in your image and likeness.
Help us to teach by word
and the example of our lives
that life occupies the first place,
that human life is precious
because it is the gift of God
whose love is infinite.
Give us the strength to …

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Act of Confidence: Prayer of the Day for Saturday, September 28, 2024 #Pray

My soul,
dilate thy heart;
thy Jesus can give thee every good gift;
He loves thee ardently.
Hope, then,
for great favours from this Lord,
Who, through an impulse of love,
comes to thee all love.
Yes, my Jesus, my hope,
I trust in Thy goodness,
that in giving Thyself to me this morning,
Thou wilt kindle in my poor soul
the flames of Thy pure love,
and of an ardent desire to please Thee,
that, from this day forward,
I may wish only what Thou wishest.
Amen.

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Saint Albert Chmielowski

Saint Albert Chmielowski was a talented painter and a Secular Franciscan. In mid-life, he founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants to the Poor, who worked with the poor and homeless. Known also as the Albertine Brothers, this community was renowned for depending completely on alms.

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Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi

Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi is known as the “ecstatic saint” because of her unusual gifts from God. To safeguard the authenticity of her visions, her confessor had her dictate them to fellow sisters. The result was five volumes encompassing ecstasies, letters, and inspirational sayings. But her life was not all sweetness; she also battled with temptations.

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