Praying for someone and being critical of them are not mutually exclusive things. Neither are loving someone and calling out their wrong doing. And, I know this is hard to believe, but speaking out against evil is not the same thing as sowing fear. Right wing Christians understand all these things when they’re targeting the weak, the vulnerable and the oppressed, but seem to lose … Continue reading Let’s Get Something Straight
Empaths are people who tend to feel and absorb other people’s emotions. Narcissists are people whose only concern is for themselves. When empaths and narcissists come together, as they tend to do, the results are typically quite ugly with the narcissist acting like a parasite feeding off the empath’s emotional acuity and good intentions. The reason that empaths and narcissists seem to be attracted to … Continue reading The Empath and The Narcissist
A couple of weeks ago I ran into an acquaintance who told me that work at his job was so slow that his hours had been cut and he was afraid that by Christmas they would be closing the shop altogether. He’s a machinist, which is one of those jobs which is usually in high demand; I know just a couple of years ago local … Continue reading “Trump Says He’s Going To Bring Steel Back . . .”
Everything has a price. It’s a rule of the universe. The problem we have is that love demands payment, up front and in full at the most inconvenient times. But once the price of love is paid, everything else comes easy. Fear, anger and cruelty, on the other hand work like a massive balloon payment that start off easy and then suck us dry before … Continue reading Pay Now or Later
I’ve been seeing this meme floating around and it’s incredibly apropos for the times we live in. The Greek word for “apocalypse” is to unveil or reveal. Welcome to the apocalypse, peeps. We’re going to be alright. It just takes a bit to work all the mucky stuff out of the system. Be good to each other, k? Continue reading Welcome to the Apocalypse, Peeps
One of the things I learned back in college which has helped to keep me safe among snakes for decades now is that sociopaths will pressure you into doing something you are uncomfortable with as a prelude to abuse. It will frequently be something which seems small or which another person might do without thinking, but it will be something that you have some unease … Continue reading Staying Safe Among Snakes
There are sociopaths among us. And if we pretend that there are not, if we insist that everyone just assume the best and look for the good no matter the evidence, we leave ourselves vulnerable to being manipulated by them. Do you know how you dis-empower sociopaths? You make it impossible for them to act on their sociopathic tendencies without being detected. You don’t dismiss … Continue reading #stopempoweringsociopaths
If you really want to love people, probably the most important thing you can do is learn to recognize when someone is in pain. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Pain often sounds like anger, like a bad attitude, like defensiveness, like hostility, like self-pity or withdrawal. But if you respond to the pain underneath and offer patient grace for the anger, attitude, hostility … Continue reading If you really want to love people . . .
Very early in his career, my (African American) husband was on a temp-to-hire job doing complex data analysis – something he excels at. He had a 60 day review which was outstanding and his boss commented on how quickly he was performing as well or better than long time employees in the same position. Typically the 90 day trail period they put new employees through … Continue reading Wait – I thought Racial Discrimination Was Illegal. Silly Me
I’ve avoided nearly all hot-button cultural and political topics around here for many years now. And I don’t write screeds about how terrible other people’s theology or morality is. Yet, somehow, the overwhelming majority of people who have responded to my writing are not, shall we say, politically conservative. I used to be conservative, but reading the bible has a funny way of changing that, … Continue reading In Which I Own the Libraturd Title
The Upside Down World 