I don't know for sure but I think I just lost a #friend over being too #forgiving in the moment.

Sorry not sorry. I don't stand for what I can't #become as such.

I do what I can to #embrace all #people who #appreciate who I am. It's all I can do, and if that #means my #contribution towards #friendships isn't meant to #last then so #be it. But if it does, they're really #rare and I #cherish them because they're very easy to #lose over #something you thought you could #understand at the time.

I'll #say this.

All #echo #chambers are the #primary #reason as to why a #friendship falls apart. Because I've seen this #effect everyone to the point of no #return possible, and honestly...you can't get along with people who spend more of their #time invested into something other than what you are doing with that person together. And I don't think I'm alone in wishing that at times, such an #investment cultivates #familiarity over #routine on a continuous basis.

But you know what? I still appreciate the chance to #care for all it is #worth as such. I do my best to live #life with no #regrets to count on #growing without me there to #manage them.

It's my own #fault for putting a bit of my #soul into everything I do alongside my #heart and #mind accordingly. And as afar as I #know there's no #changing that, at least in a very easy way.

If you ever truly #need #friends by your side, you'll know whether they're people you can #count on or not, by the way they #treat your #ambitions as an #individual person.

You can still #respect someone if they do not #acknowledge that you have any. But the chances of you becoming #close, are not as great.

With that being said, you do not need to #support the same #ambition someone else does, in order to be friends. You just need to set your #ego aside so that such a person can fulfill their #desire the best way they know how to.

That's what I do, and I carry a lot of #weight because of it. All of the #memories set aside because the soul wasn't ready to let go of the ones #entrapping their #conscious #focus throughout seemingly more #important issues outside of my #control in all of the #moments they last.

Putting my best #self forward, means respecting that and not forcing the #matter at hand. It doesn't make that #feeling go away, born of lost #opportunity at the #core of #potential #reciprocity as such.

But yes #indeed I know #hope is not so easily broken by #fragile #futility alone. Which is why I continue to #forgive but not #forget all of the ways life makes a different #path #unfold into #being by the #presence of #purpose for everyone.

"This is a **list of rice dishes** from all over the world".

See also: "Fool's errand". 🙄

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rice_dishes

#sarcasm #Wikipedia #futility

“The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.”
― Confucius

#Bot #Quote #Futility #Knowledge #Religion

The Chosen One [Sermon]

I was thinking about warning labels.

There are a lot of jokes about them:

“Caution: The contents of this bottle should not be fed to fish.” — On a bottle of shampoo for dogs.

“Do not use while sleeping.” — On a hair dryer.

“Do not drive with sunshield in place.” — On a cardboard sunshield that keeps the sun off the dashboard.

“Not dishwasher safe.” — On a remote control for a TV.

It’s said that most of these warnings exist because someone did the thing the label warns against.

English novelist Catherine Aird said

“If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.”

Let’s go to God in prayer.

God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, to help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.

Amen.

This morning we have stories about two people who were called by God: Isaiah and Jesus.

There are call narratives in the Bible. Most of them are in the format:

God says “I am calling you.”

The person called says “um, you have the wrong person” or – in the case of Job – just runs away.

And, in the end, the person answers the calling.

These stories are not call narratives.

The first is from Isaiah. If you follow the Deutero-Isaiah theory, where there are two authors, this is the second of those Isaiahs, in verses 40-66. If you follow the Trito-Isaiah theory, where there are three authors, this is the second of those Isaiahs, in verses 40-55, with the third Isaiah being verses 56-66.

But Isaiah isn’t being called here. He has already been called here.

And he’s not feeling triumphant..

He says

“I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;”

Isaiah 49:4, NRSVue

God doesn’t say

“You have failed me.”

God doesn’t tell him

“At least you tried.”

God says

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6, NRSVue

and

“Kings shall see and stand up; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Isaiah 49:7, NRSVue

Isaiah feels like a failure.

God elevates him even higher.

In our Gospel reading, John the Baptist is testifying about Jesus.

“I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”

John 1:34, NRSVue

And the next day two of John the Baptist’s disciples hear John say

“Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

John 1:36, NRSVue

and they follow Jesus.

One of them, Andrew, finds his brother Simon, brings him to Jesus, and Jesus says

“You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas”

John 1:42, NRSVue

So this isn’t Jesus’ call narrative. He’s already called and baptized.

It is the calling of Andrew and Simon called Peter, although it is a different call narrative than that in the synoptic – or similar-looking – gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

But we’re looking at Isaiah, and how he felt he failed to save Israel, and God lifted him to be a light to all of the nations. And we’re looking at Jesus, whom John the Baptist called “The Chosen One,” who was expected to drive Rome out of Judea, but became a light for the world.

Now I’m not saying anyone in this room is Jesus, or even Isaiah.

But I want us to know that even if we think we’re not succeeding at what God calls us to, we can be succeeding in being a light that will accomplish more than we set out to do.

I’m not saying we will have to be a horrible warning.

I am saying that those of us who strive for a better world can be a light for others who will do the same.

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Complacency doesn’t serve us well.

Nor does a sense of futility.

We are called to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth.

As Christians, we are not called to just say “we are Christians.”

We are called to follow Jesus – his teachings and his example.

To let Christ’s love be shown, to care for cruel and kind.

To risk hostile stares.

To love the parts of ourselves we hide.

To reshape the world around us.

So my challenge to us all is to hear how we are summoned, and to live out our callings,

not because we will cause immediate change,

but because the small influences we have, the small lights we shine,

can influence others to join in the work.

None of us is the chosen one.

We are all the chosen ones.

Let us turn and follow Jesus and never be the same.

Amen.

Let’s sing The Summons (insert)

* Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue

* Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.

All the Way Down

https://www.futilitycloset.com/2025/11/17/all-the-way-down-2/

#HackerNews #All #the #Way #Down #Futility #Closet #Hacker #News #Story #Interesting #Reads #Curiosities

Today's poem:

Lament of a Man for His Son
- anonymous

https://www.tumblr.com/ukdamo/800005157968576512/lament-of-a-man-for-his-son?source=share

#poetry #love #lament #death #life #futility #parenthood

"Futility is a novella written by Morgan Robertson, first published in 1898. It was revised as The Wreck of the #Titan in 1912. It features a fictional American ocean liner named Titan that sinks in the North Atlantic Ocean after striking an #iceberg. The Titan and its sinking are famous for their similarities to the real-life passenger #ship RMS #Titanic and its sinking 14 years later."

The Wreck of the Titan: Or, #Futility
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Titan:_Or,_Futility