Women across the world suffer from decisions that they have to make.

From moving out of an abusive relationship to hoping "It's just a stomach ache".

We are not perfect and life is hard without us.

When that child is born, it's "mom" they always trust.

Dad can run and start over if it seems to be wrong. But women have to endure it their whole life long. Yes, All lives matter. No matter their breed or color. But if a woman was raped, please have sympathy for the mother. Because what you fail to realize, and I have been told so many times...is when that baby is born, THEIR face is HIS face embedded in their minds. Having to re-live that pain through the love you have for your child, is a hell presented with roses, served on a hot plate but mild. So again I say, it's a decision that a women have to make. Is it fair for the child that started as a stomach ache?

I believe a Christian should not try to determine who is and you is not "a real" Christian. It is not our place to decide who does and does not receive salvation. It is God's alone. We can never truly know the condition of someone else's heart. It is not my place to judge the servant of another (Romans 14:4). To do so is to usurp the one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy (James 4:12)

A Christian is commanded to love God and to love their neighbor, (Matthew 22:36-40), not to judge.

My mind wandered to the past, reminding me of how peaceful the rocking water used to feel and sound, but in a blink, I'm ripped back to my current reality by the cold breeze and swelling pain in my feet coming from the hardening cement. My eyes pleaded with him, but he stared back with no remorse as I took one last gulp of air.

I saw the creature over by the roadside, hunched down in the brush, resembling what appears to be a large dog with thick black fur. Then the beast stood up on its hind legs, posturing itself like a man, a sight that still haunts me to this day.

#horror #twosentencehorror #werewolf #cryptid

How can you tell if a Christian is really a Christian? Now that's an interesting question. Obviously if you ask a person, specifically a Christian, you're always gonna get a different answer. Personally, I believe it's a person's action that defines who they are. The same is said for Christians. In fact, why don't we talk about three individuals who are seen as good Christians in the eyes of the public.

Martin Luther King Jr.

I don't believe this is someone who needs any introduction. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the great pioneers of the civil rights movement. His "I Have a Dream" speech was been taught in every history class across America. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, he fought against racism through nonviolence and civil disobedience. He inspired a national during the 60s and still inspires many generations afterwards.

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu was a South African archbishop and human rights activist. Like MLK, he was a pioneer for civil rights in his country of South Africa, fighting against similar acts of segregation. His efforts and his teachings helped earn him the Nobel Peace Prize. His efforts didn't end there. He was also a strong activist for gay rights, believing that all were equal in the eyes of God. He has even stated that if God was homophobic then we would not worship that god. This is an exact quote from him:

"I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place. I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level."

He sadly passed away a few months ago from cancer at the age of 90. I've only learned of his passing recently and it pains me greatly.

Fred Rogers

Like King Jr. I don't think this man needs further introductions. Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers, was a Presbyterian minister and television host best known for hosting the beloved preschool television series Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, which aired on television from 1968 to 2001. You know him best from his friendly smile and his fantastic sweaters. His show helped teach children important life lessons such as not to tell lies and that it was okay to be a kid. He also wasn't afraid to discuss heavy subjects such as death and divorce to children, feeling that children are capable of understanding such subjects.

Now that we've talk about the good let's talk about three Christians who are deplorable in the eyes of the public.

Jim Bakker

Jim Bakker is a Christian televangelist and con artist. Some may recognize him from The 700 Club and his own television program, The Jim and Tammy Show. His shows mainly consisted of him preaching to the audience and getting them to donate to his church. He managed to steal from his congregation through their donations and used it for his own needs. H was arrested and charge with multiple accounts of fraud and was sentenced to eight years in prison, serving only five and released on parole.

He also raped his secretary Jessica Hahn. While she never said she never called the incident rape she never called the sexual encounter consensual, so I'm gonna call it what it really is. It's rape. Bakker kept her silent by paying her $279,000, some of that money was from the donations from his followers. To this day Jessica Hahn has not received any justice for the assault.

Fred Phelps

Fred Phelps was the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which is essentially a Christian hate group. He's mainly infamous for his deplorable views on homosexuality and leading his followers to protesting at funerals for gay people, military vets, and disaster victims who he believed were killed by God as a means for tolerating homosexuality. Thankfully, the world got a little quieter when he passed away back in 2014.

Dennis Rader

Now this individual is likely going to stir up some controversy here but that's okay. For those who don't know Dennis Rader is one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. He is identified as the BTK killer. BTK are the abbreviations for "Bind", "Torture", "Kill", which was his modus operandi. Throughout the 1970s and 80s he tortured and killed ten people: seven women, one man, and two children. For the longest time he was never caught by the authorities, often sending them cryptic letters taunting them. He was finally arrested in 2005 when police traced a floppy disc that contained metadata leading back to his church. Rader is currently incarcerated, serving a life sentence without parole.

So why am I adding one of the most notorious serial killers to this list. It is important to know that he is in fact Christian. He was a fell active and devoted member of his church, Christ Lutheran Church. He was elected president of the church council and was a Cub Scout leader. Now it is important to note that he didn't commit these crimes in the name of Christianity. Yet he was still Christian while he committed these crimes.

I know someone will read this and say that I'm cherry picking the bad guys, or they'll say they aren't real Christians, but here's the reality. Whether you like it or not those people represent your religion to the world. When Fred Phelps and his members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested at soldier funerals it casts a shadow on all of Christianity. Or when a televangelist finds themselves in a major scandal, using donations to their church as a means for their benefits, it looks bad. Or when a pastor preaches horrible advice that have extreme and dire consequences, it looks bad. Or a youth pastor is arrested for things he's done to the people they were supposed to be guiding and protecting, it looks bad. To borrow a quote from Trevor of the Belief it or Not podcast, I'm not the one trying to make Christianity look bad, these people are. If there's anything you should take out of this post it this: the three I mentioned aren't not terrible Christians, they are terrible people. All they've done their entire lives is hurt people.

To me, this is how you tell if someone is really a Christian. On how whether their actions and words help people versus hurt people.

But let's say that you are right. Christianity had it right all along. Not just that but your version of Christianity was the right way. So my question for you is this, shouldn't you be way more angry that the people I listed are doing more damage to your religion and your god? If you are angry, what are you doing to change it? If not, why aren't you angry about it?

I've said this before but it's worth repeating. If you truly want to be a good Christian be like Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Fred Rogers. These three have spent their entire lives helping people, not because it was their Christian duty but they saw the world as broken and in need of fixing. And the way they went about it was through kindness, generosity, and compassion. These are the exact teachings from the Bible that every Christian should be living up to. Honestly if there was a heaven I would rather spend an eternity with those three rather than spend it with Bakker, Phelps, and Rader. Because spending an eternity with horrible people doesn't sound like heaven, does it?

Now some of you are going to point out that I chose these individuals because I either like/dislike them or agree/disagree. Honestly I can do the same in regards to any other religion like Islam or Judaism. Heck, I can even do the same for atheism. There's certainly some atheists I like like Seth Andrews of The Thinking Atheist and other atheists that are insufferable asses like Bill Maher. Again, that's not the point of this post. Regardless of one's faith or lack thereof you are ultimately defined by your words and actions. That's what either compares or separates you from so many others. Bottom line, just be kind to others, treat them with respect even if you don't completely agree, and call out those who are intentionally doing harm to others.

#atheist #atheism #religion #Christianity

Whoever is reading this, I am Jo’s guardian angel.

And yes, I know what you are thinking at this precise moment. What a weak opening! He doesn’t even acknowledge the fundamental laws of writing!

Oh, please! It is my book, and I will do whatever I please! And do you think I am bending your precious rules of writing? Oh no, darling, you have got it all wrong. I am breaking them. Every last one of them!

And tonight, that would be my least of concerns. Has anyone seen Jo? I was supposed to protect her with my life and hover over her shoulders for all of eternity. And now, I don’t even know where in the world she is! This is a nightmare. Have you seen Jo?

She is a young girl, age ten. Brown hair, brownish eyes, pale, thin. I wouldn’t call her the brightest of kids-- Who am I kidding? She is dumb. The dumbest there is! If you see her, I need to know.

Oh wait, I know what you are thinking. That’s not how you describe a person according to the golden edicts of writing. You have to scatter the descriptions throughout the story to preserve the freshness.

Honey, please don’t. I am not here to gratify your reading passions. And if there is one thing I need to know, that’s Jo’s coordinates. And if your writing persona feels so violated right now,

Sweetheart, we have barely begun.

#fiction

As we flew down the interstate, I used to lean my head on the window and stare out at the dark shapes of houses, their windows lit by the dancing bluish light of televisions and imagine the happy familes gathered there. Then one night, I saw a woman staring back, the same wistful, longing, ache, on her face and it dawned on me...perspective IS everything.

#perspective #longing

There are creatures which live on the periphery. You’ve seen them. Or, almost seen them. Just as you turn your head they’re gone.

Many have likened these elusive wisps to leprechauns or gremlins. If only. Leprechauns are wont to bless a person with good luck when the fancy takes them; and gremlins, nuisance though they are, are mindless, as likely to spend an afternoon pulling apart a broken-down jalopy as an aeroplane engine.

But these almost-seen entities have motives of much darker intent.

I’m still don’t know where these things originated from. But then, I’m not sure where the human race came from either. Some mysteries, intriguing as they are, can remain unsolved and life will carry as normal. But the identity of these insidious beasts must be learned and shared.

It was on a train journey that I first witnessed the cruel truth of this creatures. Summer was ending and I was heading back to university. Beside me, a business read his Times and, across the table, a mother fussed her young son.

An inquest later revealed that postponed maintenance works had been the main contributor to the crash. Of course, none of us knew that at the time. Our minds barely had time to register that the train was coming off the rails as hell enveloped our day.

Momentum shifted as the carriage moved forward, up and sideways all at once. My stomach lurched as it does when the rollercoaster releases from his initial long climb. Glass shattered and peppered us, scratching some, deeply wounding others. Bodies tumbled from their seats, bags and laptops flew through the air. Up became down, left became forward, back became up.

Then the screaming started.

The cries of the wounded and maimed were terrible to hear, yet – disturbingly – calming. It signified they had survived, that the worst was over and that hope remained.

As my vision dimmed, I looked down and saw the table had broken from its mounting and had been forced into myself and the businessman. Other people and debris pressed against the far side of the table, affording us no room to free ourselves. My breath was being forced from me and I was unable to breathe in. Beside me, the man loosed a low groan, barely audible yet more chilling than anything I had heard thus far. I had heard of a death rattle, the final breath being expelled from a dead or dying person, but had not thought it a real thing.

And the almost-seen things surged upon him.

Their movements were rapid an erratic. The lasting image I have of them is comprised of a dozen snippets seen here and there. They resembled jellyfish in shape and size, but seemed made of grey smoke instead of tangible substance. Though I do not remember seeing eyes, each creature had many toothless mouths dotted around its body in a nonsensical pattern. Among the multitude of tendrils I saw several tentacles, each ending in a vicious-looking tooth or claw. These tentacles thrashed at the man as the beasts writhed over his body.

By some miracle, the crowd moved, the table eased from my gut and air rushed back into my lungs. I gasped and sobbed and waited for rescue.

I do not think that the unseen things caused the accident. Rather than being the authors of our demise, I believe they hover close to us waiting intently for our end.

Perhaps they are the embodiment of death and the Grim Reaper, atop his pale horse with a scythe in his skeletal grip, is just a romantic personification. Maybe every living soul has a grey counterpart, waiting for us to enter the undiscovered country. This I do not know.

All I know is that the sound of a soul being ripped apart – the pain and terror it voiced – will haunt me until my dying day. And probably beyond.

I’d heard tales of this thing (no not that ‘thing’) living out in the Arctic since the 90′s, but had to see it for myself. Horror stories of a simple floating being. Shaped vaguely like a tall androgynous human, with reflective skin akin to blown glass. It sounded like something out of a fairytale or a failed attempt at a third Testament.

The local scientists and Yupik people said the being didn’t move more than a couple miles from a specific point but warned people that others who’ve tried to get too close collapse and are rendered speechless.

I had to learn why for myself and what this creature that could only be described as alien to our comprehension.

A few flights, an oversized orange coat and some introductions with my guides later, I was ready to witness this crystal-like creature. The guides and I trekked across the blizzardous landscape until a few hours later the snow seemed to swirl and raise like a tornado, but without the strength to lift any of us off of the ground or invoke any form of fear for our safety. The first of the two guides looked to me and said,

“We’re close. We have to go through the spinning snow. Shouldn’t be much farther now.”

As we entered the eye of the storm, the sun gleemed down and made the ice we walked upon shine like a rainbow and floating not more than a meter off the ground I saw them. The being was preoccupied, making light bellowing hums at a seal. The bellows sounded like a quieter less deadly vibration Sperm Whales are known to make.

The seal appeared to be staring in a trance at the floating 6ft creature. After what felt like an hour later, the seal slowly began to go off towards a nearby hole in the ice, still as wide-eyed as when we spotted them.

The second guide went to get the creature’s attention for me as it did not have a history of physical violence. After playing a piece of violin music through a special speaker, the mirroresque being slowly turned towards us for me to gaze upon them.

It was as people said, a floating androgynous humanoid with crystalline, reflective skin which looked more like a household piece of art than a living layer of dermal tissue. But the being approached us and its limbs moved organically, except its strong legs which dangled down, oddly unused. To my surprise this thing began bellowing a lower pitched rendition of the song my guide played for the them. As it approached the guide to inspect them, I realized it had no facial features but one reflective face. No slits, protrusions or orifices of any kind were visible, leaving me curious how this being communicated like this?

But I didn’t have time to contemplate as the hovering sentient seemed to gaze into the guide’s soul with a new hum that vibrated all of us slightly. The other guide and I watched, terrified, though awe struck as this guide went wide eyed, mouth agape face to crude face with this thing. The humming began to go up in pitch changing to a siren song of sorts. Not long after this auditory phenomenon I screamed,

“It’s aging him! My god this creature is making him greyer, we have to get him to snap out of it!”

The glistening being tilted their head to me and after a few strange clicks telecommuted to me,

“This man, like all who’ve gazed to me sought answers. So I gave him every answer he’ll ever need. But it appears you, humans don’t handle knowledge of this capacity well.”

Before I could ask it where it came from or why it gave knowledge of this magnitude, the being stopped floating and walked calmly into the same hole the seal had entered not long ago. Not long after that, the snow began falling normally and the circle of clear sky was no more.

It wasn’t easy, but the other guide and I got our all-seeing comrade to safety, if you can call it that. It’s been over a year since then and he has had doctors come in and out of the room he’s stationed in. He hasn’t blinked since the occurance, but his eyes never dry or tear up. He mutters a mile a minute about every solution to every regret he’s had. A scribe has been hired to write and record as much of what he says as possible as some of the knowledge he has rambled has given us more efficient cars, helped warring nations come to temporary peace, and those with depression find solace within themselves.

Sadly, this is all at the cost of his own life. Doctors say his vitals are in an identical state to someone having an eternal anxiety attack. His body rejects the IV’s given to him, but he hasn’t lost a pound since entering the hospital. His skin and hair however have aged rapidly.

Humanity has since referred to this mysterious being as "The Answer". I’ll never forget The Answer that gave us access to so much, but at the cost of turning my guides into something more. Most nights, I still see it’s gleaming shard-like skin staring down at me in my dreams. Yet somehow, I’ve never slept better.

When love is found,

When destiny meets another,

When a plant finds another,

Intertwine is there.

She is nature itself,

Blue river eyes,

Green grass hair,

Sand yellow skin.

When nature is harmed,

She will go out of her way,

To save the day,

Fierce and feisty,

Strong and Mighty,

Intertwine will save the day.