Do you believe your needs are important?
- I believe my needs and want are important. I need too consistently, relearn and remember to make my needs important to me, if others are going to make treat them as important.
Do you believe other people want to help you meet your needs?
- I believe other people want to help me meet my needs, I need to learn how to ask and to let them help me.
On a sheet of paper, make a list of helpers you have in your life right now. These can be friends and family members. After making the list, answer the following questions:
• What kind of helpers do you still need?
- Definitely having mates, and learning what healthy social relationship are, with boundaries and expectations. Having mentors and men I can learn from and allow them to guide me in areas that I can grow and develop. And someone I can mentor and help guide and develop.
• How can you use these helpers more effectively?
- By allowing and creating the space and opportunities to let people in. Being accepting and okay with the vulnerability of opening up to another person, and the possibility of that, for whatever reason, not working out.
• How do you prevent these people from helping you?
By staying in the same patterns and behaviours and never allowing anyone to get to close, enough to actually be able to help, and then by extension hurt/reject me. I keep people at an arms difference and not provide any options and avenues for people to get close, and am then hurt when nothing ever comes of it.
Start looking for opportunities to ask these people for help. Build networks. Before asking for help, repeat the affirmation: This person wants to help me get my needs met.

I am reposting here as I have some troubles with TheeHive's spam filter. Hope it works best!
As announced in a previous comment, here is how I isolated mycelium from ergot/Claviceps purpurea.
So! Onto the process.
First of all, I want to say that this was realised thanks to my access to a commercial laboratoray, with a laminar flowhood and antibiotic containing agar plates. However, I do not believe it to be impossible to do it in a more amateur setting. I had begun to do that, but got access to this marvel of microbiology, so I figured I might as well spare myself the hassle.
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The sclerotia were harvested in 2021 and 2022 on 6 different locations. I ended up using only 2 strains collected in 2022, but whatever. They were stored in the refrigerator for later use.
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The outside of the sclerotia was cleaned with 5% bleach and a few drops of tween20 (any detergent will do) for 5 minutes in order to limit the amount of contamination brought onto agar, the detergent helping to reach small crevices. The sclerotia where then soaked in distilled water for 3 hours and then cut in disks with a sterile scalpel blade.
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At first, I placed this disks on YEB medium, but that didn't prove very effective, ergot doesn't like this medium that much (as can be seen on first photo) so I then switched to PDA, which yielded the beautiful fluffy mycelium that you can see on the 2 last photos. The plates you can see on these photos are the result of the third transfer of clean mycelium onto fresh plate, in order to get any bacteria/spores out of the culture.
All medium contained Rifampicin and Streptomycin at a concentration of 100 µM both. I still got a few contamination by molds, strangely mostly penicillium.
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So there it is, this was my personal experiment. Both plates were identified by 18S rRNA sequencing and were confirmed as C. purpurea.
Any questions, remarks? Feel free to interact!

In many areas of the game, it can be extremely difficult to obtain location/map-context information while not actively staring at the full-screen world map. The map is mostly monochrome blobs with binary information; traversable or not. The mini-map also often feels claustrophobic.
I do appreciate the desire to create a desperate/personal/survival experience by limiting this type of information to a point/distance from the player but we're starved for info here. I haven't directly compared the amount of information conveyed by the mini-map in D3 but I hardly ever struggled there - it wasn't great but it was enough to not drive me mad.
Nearly all the directional information we get from the map is based entirely on PoI icons. While we're away from any icons on the map, the mini-map becomes practically useless.
The only compensation Blizz added for the reduction in information compared to D3 (dimming the environment/vignette/color-palette etc.) is the auto-pathing waypoint. It works for medium-long journeys but isn't useful for momentary decisions and is still hampered by having to set it in the full-screen map.
There's excellent contextual information in the portions of map that transition from one color to the next, based on ground color (snow/dirt/red sand etc.). Sadly that information only exists at the transition and there aren't that many in the world.
However it's accomplished, the solution should provide the player with quickly recognizable awareness of their location in the world, simultaneously on large (zone) and small (path/route) scales.

Solutions

I believe it would go far enough, without upsetting any players, to negate the problem by "simply" (expertly) improving the map texture. If the colotexture/appearance of the map could provide more contextual information it would improve every situation. The mini-map would be far more useful relative to the full-screen map.
The first idea that comes to mind is utilizing the negative space on the map to provide more context without affecting the area we travel through. There are dozens of simple ways to do this and perhaps combining multiple techniques would provide substantial awareness. I'll go over some methods now.
The negative space must never be confused with the positive, so it can't simply be the texture of the environment or it would all blend together. Perhaps simply using additional colors/gradients to convey relative zone coordinates/portions, similar to the snow/dirt transition.
You could also try conveying general x/y coordinates using colors/icons to recognize at a glance along the bordeperimeter of the mini-map. It's hard to imagine how accurate/useful this would be overall.
I also hold the opinion overlay maps detract from the overall game by redirecting focus from the game world to the map for easy recognition/efficiency. This behavior effectively turns it into a 2-dimensional game with a dot (you) running between the lines. I'd much rather be navigating and appreciating the artful environment/enemies, while tracking threats more carefully. Despite that, I'd prefer overlay maps to the emergent behavior of spamming the map button between actions, sometimes 3-6 times in a few seconds. Hopefully, overlays aren't necessary.

Anecdotes and additional considerations

With enough movement speed in D3, (combined with the lack of fear of dying on the given difficulty) I always resorted to staring directly at the mini-map which provides less information than the game world but at a much greater distance from the character (?double?). This turned D3 into a monochrome 2-D game of avoiding walls and finding doors, at a fraction of the screen space. I rarely played this way, relative to my total play time, but It was certainly faster and more efficient. This should be avoided but it's not necessarily bad if it happens at the extremes - preferentially less often than D3 and others. The world map flickering meta is a horrible experience. Players didn't need to check so frequently in D3 because the cartoonish lighting and tile-sets were easier to navigate. Fans cried for darkness and now we can't read where to go on the fly. It's all the more irritating that opening the map prevents character movements/actions, sometimes resulting in truly jarring stutter-step behavior, especially while approaching forks in paths. It's harmful to the experience but also intentional behavior compensating for rudimentary navigational tools.
I was disgusted by this experience when I played during the server slam but didn't spend the time evaluating why it was so offensive to me until today. All the early-access players I've seen, behave the same way and I've heard the same complaint repeatedly. Perhaps the first time I heard it vaguely referenced by someone other than myself, was in Rhykker's review. He acknowledged that he relied on opening the world map considerably more than in D3 and he speculated it could be a result of the mini-map being smaller.
Without giving my opinion on the level of effort that went in to the current map texture, *cough*, I do wager Blizzard created dozens of iterations of map textures. They might even already have one that accomplishes everything I described but instead they implemented the most minimal one they could agree upon to avoid overstimulating/confusing new players, particularly because almost everyone is currently a new player. It's generally the Blizzard way, to start low and offer more in reaction.
3rd-party modders are probably trying everything they can to replace/add maps/navigation functions and Blizzard might just unofficially let them handle it. However, anyone who's familiar with D3 modding already knows where that leads... It's not very competition-friendly to say the least.
I still haven't heard anyone discuss why this behavioexperience is emerging through play so I figured I'd suggest myself. There are many more important aspects of the game to improve in my opinion but there's a disturbing lack of awareness about this issue everywhere I look. Even if nothing I've typed accomplishes change, at least someone in the community will have gained an understanding.

I love summer. when it's warm outside, you can dress easily, when there are always green trees, you want to go fishing, swim.

(Pun intended)
*** Effort Post ***
Whenever the topic of socialism or welfare comes up in Christian circles, the notion of Christian voluntarism is quick to follow. What is this Christian voluntarism? It is the idea that national welfare should be based on voluntary charity by the church, not the state. This idea seems to have influence in George Bush’s Compassionate Conservatism, and also to a lesser degree in David Cameron’s Big Society.
Two defenses of the concept are in “The Tragedy of American Compassion” by Marvin Olasky, and “Christian Charity vs Government Welfare” by Thomas Johnson[1]. In truth, elements of the idea itself has subtlety become accepted by a very many Christians, and is present in general Christian apologetics on economics (see bibliography). It must be noted that the proponents of the idea rarely embrace the term Christian Voluntarism[2], which seems to be rather a function of how generally accepted and non-sequitur the idea seems to be.
The theology behind Christian Voluntarism
Sadly, many of the texts linked do not have a strong theological basis; they are largely historical defenses for the idea (See Olasky 2008 and Johnson 1970). Thus, a strongman of their theology must rely on those aforementioned Christian apologetic sources rather substantially (see bibliography). Also, thanks to u/Laojac who provided a strongman here.
Christian voluntarism is fundamentally reliant on the charity practiced by the early Christian Church. We know that people in the church shared their property with each other and cared for each other; Acts 2:44-45, Acts 4:32-37. We know they were commanded to care for their families, alongside the poor, and that there were fundraising efforts to send money over to people in need in the church (1 Tim 5:3,8, Galatians 2:10, Hebrews 13:2-3, 2 Corinthians 8-9). Christian Voluntarism takes this model for charity and attempts to nationalize it is a welfare system, for charity. It uses a few methods to support this.
First, it argues that bible tells us that giving should be voluntary. 2 Corinthians 8-9, and especially 2 Corinthians 9:7, exhort voluntary charity, not done under compulsion. Ergo, the state should not require taxation to fund welfare. Whilst the online tracts do not go much further than this, there is an interesting way that this can be extrapolated further. The particular significance of this verse, interestingly enough, is it is one of the key verses to refute the requirement of tithing. Tithing existed under the wholistic economic system of the old testament that did have many rather radical economic policies; the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee, etc. So to call in this verse against the requirement of taxation does provide a rather big challenge; this new idea of caring in the new testament is not a system of governance, like in the old testament, with taxes and regulations. It is a system guided by the holy spirit, whereby people voluntarily care for those around them. The requirement for people to care for families in 1 timothy 5 would definitely fall into this.
Second, it fundamentally ties welfare to work. To quote 2 Thessalonians 3:10 - “those who do not work shall not eat”. This can be taken in the more obvious sense of “there is no such thing as a free lunch” – people need to work to provide for a living, but for the Christian voluntarists, it is taken as a command of a mutual obligation – those who do not try to work shall not get welfare. (Olasky 2008, p 9-10). Unsurprisingly, this is where ideas of “deserving” and “undeserving poor” come from worthy (Olasky 2008, p 11-12). This also forms what welfare should look like – Welfare has a purpose to help people make a living for themselves (Olasky 2008, p 25, 29). But specifically, in practice it also means that those who don’t want to work should be excluded from welfare (Olasky 2008, p 12, 29, 228). Christian voluntarist tracts argue further that welfare itself is corrupting in that it enables backwardness and degeneracy to exist, encouraging laziness and the breakdown of families (for example, Olasky 2008, p xi -xvii, 222).
Third, supporting this is the argument that Biblical notions of property are explicitly in favor of Liberal private property. This is the belief that the owner of property, can do whatever they want with their property. This starts with an appeal to Exodus 20:15,17 as examples of OT Justifications for private property. It points to the various points in the bible that recognize private ownership. To reference a few; Genesis 4:4, Micah 4:4, Acts 5:4. A very notable verse is Mathew 20:15; “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?” – taking this statement at face value would suggest Jesus is very much in favour of liberal private property rights. The whole conclusion of this that people have the right to do with their property what they want. The most immediate implication is the government cannot seize property - This is used against the threat of state socialism.
The Problems with this theology
Of course, we need to recognize that the Bible doesn’t tell Christians to take over the state and implement a welfare state. The fact is that the bible doesn’t prescribe a structure for economic justice in the broader national community. But similarly, this means the bible doesn’t prescribe the Church as being the welfare system of the broader national community. There is a legitimate question about how to pursuing economic justice in light of biblical commands and examples, and the description of the New Testament church (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:34-35) exists to show us what economic justice should look like in Christian communities specifically. However, it is a significant stretch to argue that this decentralised system of churches providing welfare is what the bible prescribes as the only legitimate national welfare system.
NT Christian communities were not set up to be a welfare system for the Roman state. They were examples of model Christian communities that we can look to guide us in holy living. They did exist as an alternate perception of economic justice to Old Testament Israel’s state-embedded system, certainly. However, this alternative state was for a few reasons; First Old Testament Israel was a sacrificial system, one that was no longer needed after Christ’s death and resurrection (Heb 10:1-18). Second, Old Testament Israel was a theocratic state, that would make a people for God who would be outwardly different from all around them (Deut 28:9-10). However, Christ did not come to establish a kingdom of this world (John 18:36), instead a people who would follow him due to their changed heart (John 18:36, John 3:5-8). The nullification of the theocratic state of Israel was not a rejection of the state’s interference in economic policy. Rather, it was a recognition that the theocratic state had fulfilled its soteriological and eschatological purpose.
With this context out of the way, we can refute the specific justifications of the voluntarists; The first, 2 Corinthians 9:7, which tells us that giving should be voluntary, not under compulsion, was in a specific letter given to a specific community responding to a crisis at the time. To transform it into a condemnation of state taxation for welfare is a substantial stretch. Paul made clear that it was also a test; he would not command this church to give charity but wanted to know the sincerity of their love, by comparing how much they gave compared to other churches (2 Corinthians 8:8-9).
He was not laying down a law about the state. Nothing in the passage suggests that the state cannot provide welfare. Nothing in the passage suggests that the state cannot demand taxation. Indeed, bible does not reject compulsion in terms of taxation as Christians are exhorted to pay their taxes (Mark 12:13-17; Rom 13:6-7). Contextually, the Christian Voluntarist must also grapple with the absence of a condemnation of the grain dole of Rome, both within this passage and within the broader New Testament. Now, one could argue that if the state gets involved in welfare then the sincerity of Christian love has failed – but that is a very different argument, an argument that needs to grapple with both the fallen nature of humanity, and the social implications of democracy. Nevertheless, the passage at hand does not refute state taxation or state provision of welfare.
Moving to the second justification – that, welfare should be tied to work. This specific passage, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, occurs within a context where there are believers who are “idle and disruptive” (v 6, 11) and who are “not busy; they are busybodies”. They are commanded to settle down and eat (v 12). To use this passage to encourage Christians to work is good. It is not the purpose of the passage to be used for a model of how a welfare state works. Unlike 2 Cor 9:7, which is deliberately misused by Christians to deny welfare to others – this passage can be used to form a welfare state system. Like Acts 4:32 for the Socialists, and 1 Corinthians 14:12-26 for the Corporatists, 2 Thessalonians 3:10 seems quite able to be derived to justify a political policy. However, to declare that 2 Thessalonians 3:10 necessitates a policy program on welfare is misguided – it was a teaching for a particular church at a particular time. The practical considerations of this particular section will get further treatment further on.
The final argument that the bible prescribes liberal private property. This argument has lies that it conceals in truths. Fundamentally, the bible does recognize property rights. It recognizes that we can own property and have liberty in using that property. However, the bible also recognizes two other things; First, that we are not the absolute owners of that property. God is the absolute owner of everything, not humanity (1 Cor 10:26; Psalm 24:1; Deut 10:14). The second is that any property we have, we steward for God; we are not allowed to use property for whatever purpose we deem fit. The OT system has a variety of restrictions on how we can use property, much of which existed for economic justice. There were prohibitions on taking interest (Leviticus 26:36-37); Gleaning laws that mean restricted the amount of produce farmers could get from their own harvest, requiring they leave some to the poor (Lev 19:9-10; Deut 24:19-21). Furthermore, there are the radical redistribution policies with the Sabbatical year and year of jubilee (Leviticus 25:1-7, 8-55). The commandment to not steal was situated within these verses about responsibilities, something noted by Both Catholics and Reformed Christians (See the Catholic Catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism and Heidelberg Catechism). The New Testament similar has a variety of commands about how to use property; (Luke 6:30, 1 John 3:17, 1 Tim 5:8, 6:17-18).
There is one verse that falls outside of the above explanation; Mathew 20:15 – “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?”. The context of the verse is that Jesus is teaching a parable. In the parable, the vineyard owner pays all his workers the same amount, no matter what they work. Parables have single purposes – the purpose of this parable is that it doesn’t matter however late you sign up to the gospel, you will still be saved. It is not a parable with prescriptions on wage payments. It is not a parable with prescriptions on private property.
Fundamentally, there is no biblical prescription against the state establishment of a welfare state. This, in itself, does not disqualify Christian voluntarism as an idea; rather it means that advocating Christian voluntarism requires making a different argument – that the Christian voluntarist form of welfare is the best form of welfare.
The Economics of a Christian Voluntarist welfare state
Gøsta Esping-Andersen’s seminal work “The Three Worlds of welfare Capitalism”, divides welfare states into three ideal types; “Liberal”, “Conservative” and “Social Democratic”. Of these, Christian Voluntarism is closest to the “Liberal” ideal type which is found in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. A liberal welfare state is one that aims to encourage the pursuit of employment, and so the state will provide as little as possible (Esping-Andersen 1990, p. 42). Means testing and mutual obligation is often used to minimize the states ways to welfare provision. Those who cannot rely on government support must rely on charity (Esping-Andersen 1990, p. 26-27).
Christian Voluntarism is essentially a Christian defense for the “Liberal” welfare state. However it does far more, because in practice it would mean the undermining of the liberal welfare state. The Christian voluntarist would tear down the last vestiges of a state led system so that people instead rely on Charity. They would attempt to further liberalize an already liberal system. The practical implications of this are that even a state led system that incorporates the principles of the “deserving and undeserving” poor, alongside the mutual obligations of “those who don’t work don’t eat”, are too much for the Christian Voluntarist.
This system fails both quantitatively and qualitatively. It fails quantitatively because a welfare state based on charity cannot support the entire population. Welfare encompasses old age, unemployment, workplace injuries, permanent disabilities and more. The amount of money needed to organise such a welfare system is unachievable by charities (Green 2017). Reviews of “The Tragedy of American compassion” point out that the historical charitable system championed did not provide welfare for all – it was very geographically dependent (Hammack, 1996, p 261-262).
This system also fails qualitatively. One would think that a Christian voluntarist would see that charity and welfare are symptoms of economic greater problems, and addressing those greater problems would reduce the burdens on charity.[3] But Christian Voluntarists don’t address the issues which lead people to need charity. Unaffordable healthcare and involuntary unemployment are two clear examples of structural economic problems; the former due to the various oligopolies that exist throughout the healthcare system, which is unsurprising given it is a market with high start-up costs, and the latter often due a deficiency in demand. The solutions to these factors require substantial economic reform by means of regulation and government spending, which is antithetical to the Christian Voluntarist ideal. Christian voluntarists are not advocating for these solutions to reduce the burden on charities.
Two further addendums need to be added to this analysis. The first is that there are flaws with regards to the policy derivatives of 2 Thessalonians 3:10. The idea of an undeserving poor has lead to many problems – for example this group has historically included beggars and criminals (Schmalz 2017). The definition of who is undeserving will inevitably both include and exclude people who may need help. Olasky, for example, includes Alcoholics and Drug Addicts as part of his ‘undeserving poor’ (p. 227-228), when, in truth, these groups could quite easily be seen as the most needing of support – albeit in a more compressive form then mere cash handout. The principle of mutual obligations behind this need to be thought through. Interestingly enough, the gleaning system in the OT seems to be a system that follows this idea; welfare is there, but people have to work to get it. This principles behind this are also evident in a full employment policy in the modern era. However, today’s governments generally prefer of “mutual obligations” for welfare, or forms of workfare instead. In the context where workers outnumber jobs these programs essentially act as punitive “full employment policy”.
The second is the Christian voluntarist claim that any welfare system should be orientated towards public morality alongside economic justice. This is a fair claim, and frankly welfare systems must be cautiously constructed with consideration of economic justice, and also the moral fabric of society. Here the example of the ideal type of the Conservative welfare state (historically found in found in Germany, Belgium and Austria), can be drawn upon. This welfare state, for example, is constructed with the family in mind (Esping-Andersen 1990, p. 27). It also relies largely on decentralised system of welfare provision that incorporate religious providers (Esping-Andersen 1990, p. 27). Even with the focus on the moral fabric of society, other factors must also come into play; The conservative welfare state benefits married couples over singles; what does this mean for the economic situation of single mothers? Such a welfare system needs to counterbalance the social fabric of society with it’s economic needs.
To Conclude
Theologically, the claims of Christian Voluntarism do not stand up; there is not set biblical principle about the state’s involvement in welfare provision. Economically, the Christian Voluntarists fail to appreciate the quantitative size of charitable provision needed to match the welfare state, nor do they deal with the structural issues facing the economy.
Fundamentally, I am not a Christian Socialist. I do not believe that the descriptions of Christian communities in Acts can be described as socialist – I may write another piece like this later on. I’m not coming from a liberal, modernist or progressive Christian perspective. Rather I’m annoyed that Conservative Christians have accepted the claims of liberal economies and tried to make a more liberalized welfare system based on a misguided claim about following the Bible.
[1] The specific defense provided by Johnson is explicitly voluntarist, in that it draws on voluntarism as a philosophy. It is also Pelagian and so should be rejected; “Any Christian who does not openly and vehemently denounce all forms of government welfare, cannot, in truth, call himself a Christian, for government welfare is the antithesis of Christian charity.” - this is clearly heresy.
[2] Indeed, the term only seems to appear in online Christian Forums. However, Academics do describe this idea as voluntarist, and it is a Christian defense of Voluntarism, so terming the idea “Christian Voluntarism” is apt.
[3] This was the approach of the founder of the St Vincent De Paul society, Frederic Ozanam. He was an economics lecturer and argued that charity was insufficient to change the situation – what was needed was a change to the relationship between workers and capital (Moody 1953, p 129).
Bibliography
General:
Green, E., 2017. The Voluntarism Fantasy, Democracy A Journal of Ideas, viewed 22 October 2022, https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/32/the-voluntarism-fantasy/
Konczal, M., 2014. Can Religious Charities Take the Place of the Welfare State?, The Atlantic, viewed 22 October 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/budget-religion/520605/
Schmalz, M., 2017. Taxing the rich to help the poor? Here’s what the Bible says, The conversation, viewed 3 June 3, 2023 https://theconversation.com/taxing-the-rich-to-help-the-poor-heres-what-the-bible-says-88627
Zeiger, H., 2014. The voluntarism fantasy?, Philanthropy Daily, viewed 22 October 2022, https://www.philanthropydaily.com/the-voluntarism-fantasy/
Christian Voluntarism & Compassionate Conservatism:
Olasky, M N, 2008, The Tragedy of American Compassion, Crossway Books, https://archive.org/details/tragedyofamerica0000olas/mode/2up - Olasky provides a specifically Christian Argument.
Johnson, T L, 1970 May 9, “Christian Charity vs Government Welfare”, Human Events,
Accessible: https://fee.org/articles/christian-charity-vs-government-welfare/, https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/christian-charity-government-welfare/ - Johnson also provides a specifically Christian Argument.
Weed D, 1977, The Compassionate Touch, Carol Stream, https://archive.org/details/compassionatetou00wead/mode/2up - Weed provides a secular argument.
Argumentative Sources
Esping-Andersen, GJ, 1990, The Three Worlds of welfare Capitalism, Princeton University Press.
Hammack, DC, 1996, ‘The Tragedy of American Compassion’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.
Kuyper, A, 2021, On Business and Economics, Lexham Press.
Lee, F.N 1988, Biblical Private Property Versus Socialistic Common Property, EN Tech.J. 3, pp. 16-22, https://creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j03_1/j03_1_016-022.pdf
Moody, J, 1953, Church and society : Catholic social and political thought and movements, Arts Inc
Christian Apologetics on Economics
Got Questions, 2022, What is Christian Socialism?, Got Questions, viewed 22 October 2022,
https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-socialism.html
Groothuis D, 2021, CHRISTIANITY AND SOCIALISM: WHAT SHOULD A CHRISTIAN BELIEVE?, Focus on the Family, viewed 22 October 2022, https://www.focusonthefamily.com/church/christianity-and-socialism/
Jeremiah D, 2022, What does the Bible say About Socialism, DavidJeremiah.Blog, viewed 22 October 2022, https://davidjeremiah.blog/what-does-the-bible-say-about-socialism/#:~:text=While%20the%20Bible%20encourages%20generosity,according%20to%20His%20sovereign%20will.
Miller C, 2013a, 2 corinthians 8, communism as an economic system, A little Perspective, viewed 22 October 2022, https://www.alittleperspective.com/2-corinthians-8-communism-as-an-economic-system-2/
Miller C, 2013b, 2 2 corinthians 9, giving cheerfully (communism, part two), A little Perspective, viewed 22 October 2022, https://www.alittleperspective.com/2-corinthians-9-giving-cheerfully-communism-part-two/
Piper, J., 2015. How Should Christians Think About Socialism, Desiring God, viewed 22 October 2022, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-should-christians-think-about-socialism
Understanding 2012, 2nd Corinthians 8: Charity or Socialism? (Love or Compulsion?), Understanding, viewed 22 October 2022, https://cutpaste.typepad.com/understanding/2012/08/2nd-corinthians-8-charity-or-socialism-love-or-compulsion.html
Hughes G, 2018, Was Jesus a Socialist, When we Understand the Text, viewed 22 October 2022, https://wwutt.com/was-jesus-a-socialist/
TOW Project, 2011, Sharing the Wealth (2 Corinthians 8:13-15), viewed 22 October 2022, https://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/2-corinthians/sharing-the-wealth-2-corinthians-813-15

Title. I’ve been magnetizing the bottoms of bases and can’t figure out the flying ones.

I have been feeling a lump for a while, and despite visiting several doctors and undergoing radioimaging and scanning, the results consistently show nothing abnormal. However, both the doctors and I can physically feel the lump, and they agree that there is a mass present. After reviewing the images, they have suggested that I should just live with it since the results do not indicate any cause for concern.
My aunt, who is a doctor, believes that the lump might be an inflammation triggered by my weightlifting at the gym . However, I haven't been working out for a year now, and the lump is still there. She is adamant that I should not return to the gym. I'm unsure whether weightlifting can actually cause this condition.
I've had a cystic lymphangioma in the same place when i was 6 years old and treated it and now i'm 22 my aunt says that probably its not fully treated and the strength training triggered it.
i really love the gym and wanna workout again i only like weightlifting, is the gym really can be a cause of this? can i never go back? and its hard not knowing what might be the cause considering ive done everything and seeked every doctor there is and still no one figured it out
please if anyone have any insights on this tell me

Myself and my partner are pretty new to the whole THS thing and are planning to attempt to use it for some nice places to stay when we spend a few months in other countries. (Notably the US since we're in the UK) We live in an area of the UK where there are a lot of older, wealthy people with large country houses so we've applied for a few and are currently on our 3rd sit.
We've learned a few things in that time and wondered if others had any lessons they've learned after they actually started doing sits.
For one, it seems you really have to pay attention to photos and can't really trust them, the house can look really clean and tidy and they can list a weekly cleaner, etc, but, you still turn up to find a filthy house that has been cleaned with a wet rag. Look at the levels of clutter, it seems like people with a lot of clutter also don't really look after their living spaces.
People with large country houses seem to have terrible guest room setups. 2 out of 3 sits have had the worst mattresses I've ever seen, practically bare springs.
Don't take on more than you can chew... We just completed a sit with 4 dogs, 2 cats, chickens, and exotics. The pets were wonderful and we actually miss them, but looking after them properly was a full-time job. Owners seem to believe their pets are easy to look after, because they do it every day, discounting the work that goes into someone new jumping in to do it, and the pet's behavior changes due to them not being there. (One of the unneutered cats just loved spraying around the house!) - The homeowner was thrilled with how well we'd done but then acted totally offended when we said we wouldn't be able to sit for her again due to the sheer amount of work it was.
Really ask questions before you start and get a feel for the homeowner and their level of respect or gratitude for you. This 3rd sit is for a single elderly dog, but the homeowner is just incredibly rude, to the point that she seems to act like she's doing us a favor by letting us live here and look after her dog... The house is a mess to the point she left half-eaten cake and half-drunk wine on the side of her literally filthy kitchen, then texted us asking us to bring the washing in. It's also one of those with those bare spring mattresses. (She's also locked the door to half the house, including the downstairs bathroom in an obvious sign of mistrust... You'll trust us with your baby, but not half your house?) If it weren't for our love of animals and need for a good review we'd have just left. Lady, we own our own home an hour's drive away with a lovely bed and no filth where we prepare food.
What other people consider usable working space may not be what you do. I have a sweet WFH job so travel with a large laptop, external screen, peripherals, etc. None of the sits has had a good enough chair... I've had to buy lumbar support pillows, seat cushions, wrist rests, etc, and strap them to dining chairs.
Take enough non-perishable food for a couple of days, you might be busy getting settled in before you get a chance to go shopping, and homeowners all have differing ideas about what they're happy for you to eat/drink or if they'll even have space in the fridge for you to store food. Also, bring your own tea/coffee maybe even sugar. I also bring my own travel mug.

I've always seen so much support and advice and unfortunately I am here now asking for a little bit of both.
My mother is terminal. She's gotten worse in the last week and my sister and I made the extremely hard decision yesterday to end her treatment and focus on making her as comfortable as we can right now. Her mental state is off and on I'm told, so I'm flying out today to say my goodbyes and wait.
I'm dealing with it as good as I can, tears and lots of reflection. But one thing I haven't come to grips with is explaining what's going on to my kids. The oldest, 12, I've talked with, he knows what's going on and understands. My youngest, 4, that's where I'm struggling the most. He loves calling and talking his grandma and in the last few days we had to avoid that with her being hospitalized.
We told him she's sick, and that her body "isn't working" but when it finally happens I'm not really sure what I need to say. I know to be direct and don't use euphemisms but I really don't know where to even start here.
Any advice on this is much appreciated.

9 fights
Blackshear Vs Lacerda
Lacerda has power and his leg kicks are made out of concrete for sure! But he fights extremely flat footed and doesn’t have much activity. If he wins I believe it would be by knock out or if he catches blackshear in a submission during a grappling exchange. I think Blackshear wins this fight by unanimous decision! He has come out and fought with high volume in the past and Can do it again.He’s good enough on the ground to mitigate Lacerdas grappling.
My pick: Blackshear wins, I think he wins by decision
Grishin Vs Lins
Lins could potentially win if he takes things to the ground. But Grishin should be a certified hit man! He picks his shots really well and uses his leg kicks well. Lins keeps his hands really low when he’s in exchanges. going against someone who picks so well, I think Linz will find himself in trouble.
Pick: Grishin by TKO
Elliot Vs altamarino
This is one is a lot closer than people are making it to be. Could easily go either way. I just feel like the experience will come into play here. Altamarino seems to be a good fighter, however I don’t know if he’s good enough to handle the unorthodox style of Elliot. Altamarino has huge heart and I don’t see a finish! If altamarino wins its by submission.
Pick: Elliot by decision (30% chance altamarino by sub)
Santos Vs Johnny
This is one of my sure bets of the week. Santos is a very good fighter. Johnny just seems to be a bit out matched here. Submission is probably Johnny’s only path to victory.
Pick: Santos decision
Pineda Vs caceras
Caceras has above average striking and he’s long. However he doesn’t us the height. He’s doesn’t control distance well. Pineda has the power! If he gets close enough he can definitely knock Caceras’s head out of the octagon. But I believe it’s the grappling that takes over. Pineda will get control time and take this to decision.
Pick: Pineda (ML)
Castaneda Vs gafurov
Castaneda all the way!! Ton of hate coming his way. gafurov has not fought anyone as good as Castaneda. Castaneda has very good striking and does a good job mixing up his striking.
Pick: Castaneda (ML)
Reed Vs Frey
Reed has a lot more volume. Frey picks her shots we’ll but doesn’t have a hammer fist at this point in her career.
Pick: Reed by decision
Silva Vs Souza
Souza has a small chance in this one. I like Silva a lot I think she could definitely finish the fight in the distance. Very confident pick this week.
Pick: Silva in the distance

Hi I’m a 30F and I need help. Because lately, I’m losing myself loving my partner 45M which I believe no other man would take care or love me the way he is. Don’t get me wrong, every bit of me is crazy about him. We’ve been together few years and on and off quite a few times due to 1 problem.
I. Can’t. Stop. Crying.
And it hurts him. It makes him mad, saying hurtful things so I would stop crying which my heart sometimes can’t take it. There are times I just exploded and burst out crying while we argue or having heated conversation or I end up in the toilet crying it out because I know how much he hate me crying. So this is the tough part for me, when I feel pressured, or confuse or even the slightest feeling I might have hurt someone I love; I’ll straight away bawling my eyes out. I honestly didn’t mean to hurt anyone with my tears. But thats the only comfort I knew. It helps me to process my emotions and calm me down more. I want to believe I have tried to change (did exercise and distract myself). I have tried to stop crying and be more mature so I can have a conversation with my partner and resolved the issue we had because I do want to be with him. But I just cant stop crying and it make him mad and hurts him more. Is there any tips? Is having a psychiatrist will help? Any advice would be much appreciated. xx

Good morning everyone! Welcome to the writing prompt thread for the Dragon Age series. I hope everyone has fun and lets their muses fly free and they have an excellent weekend!
New Doc for Writing Prompts- a brand new fresh start- Please put all prompt suggestions here: Submit Writing Prompts Here
GUIDELINES FOR THE WRITING THREAD
Hi! Welcome to another new year of the writing thread. It turned 6 years old a couple months back. Below are some general guidelines for the thread. Also please don’t hesitate to add prompts to the linked doc just above. This helps me out greatly when choosing prompts. Whether it’s a specific pov, or a line of a dialogue, or a theme choice, or whatever strikes your interest. Label the type of prompt you want it to be (Examples: bard style, villain pov, Modern Day AU, What If?, 100 Word Drabble Dialogue Only, etc) and then whatever phrase or idea for the prompt itself. Anyways, guidelines below, and also the prompts!

1. Constructive Criticism and interaction is always welcomed and encouraged on the thread. What is not welcomed nor encouraged: Making people feel unwelcomed, whether through unneeded negative comments or downvoting, copying others work and trying to pass it off as your own, or trying to bring in unnecessary fandom feuds/wanks. Please keep any and all negativity off this thread, and continue making it a welcoming place for sharing stories, writing and ideas. This is a place to share our works and encourage creativity in the community.
   
2. Word limit is between 1500-1800. You are welcome to respond to multiple prompts, but do not put your writing in multiple posts. It makes the thread hard to read. Instead, link to AO3, google docs, etc if you go past the reddit post limit. Please keep all visible content SFW. ANY CONTENT THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED NSFW MUST BE PLACED IN GDOC OR ON A WEBSITE AND LINKED-This Thread is To Be SFW If you are unsure about something, then put it in a doc and link it, just to be on the safe side.
   
3. The writing thread usually has 6 prompts of varying styles, some with restrictions, of bonus difficulties add to them. There is also a bonus prompt of free form. Every now and then there will be Challenges, or Themes. Every 5 to 6 weeks will be Catch Up Weeks. If you are interested in a specific prompt, challenge, or theme to appear, please don't hesitate to PM me on Reddit or Discord. Also, the prompts are for any character set in the Dragon Age Universe, in any form of media. Ranging from Original Characters, to an NPC in the game or comic, or anything that happened in the books.
   
4. MOST IMPORTANT: PLEASE HAVE FUN! Make us cry, laugh, growl in frustration, cover our faces in secondhand embarrassment, snicker, or awwww at the disgustingly cute fluff. And I want to continue to thank everyone for their part in making this an awesome place to indulge our creativity.
   

Addition: If you are indeed posting, but the post is not showing up, please message the moderators of the subreddit to let them know that there is a glitch.
It's Week 2 of The Emotion Theme! And the last week (unless all of you lovelies want another, please let me know). So once more each prompt is tied to an emotion. Let the emotion be the star of your writing and shine.
THE PROMPTS
Prompt 1: Happy An overheard conversation about your OC
Prompt 2: Scared "Forget about me… it's for the best."
Prompt 3: Determined A dangerous storm, creaking trees, a wail of a child
Prompt 4: Reluctant “This isn’t giving up. It’s just… facing facts.”
Prompt 5: Angry An honor duel between supposed allies
Prompt 6: Love Three moments where your OCs LI observes the OC (by themselves, with family, with friends, helping others, etc) and embracing how the feel as they do.
Bonus Prompt: Freeform

I felt something sting my forearm and when I grabbed it I felt something like a scale which in pinched in between my thumb and forefinger. It stopped feeling like a scale and felt like a piece of fishing line emitting a negative energy against my thumb and forefinger. It also felt like something was tugging on it so without letting go I pulled out my iphone and filmed in slow motion. Orbs were not visible to the naked eye. This occurred within the last 24 hours. Can anybody give me an explanation on what this could be?

My daughter’s name is Lydia (I believe this is pronounced Lɪdiʌ phonetically but I am by no means an expert).
I know you can do direct letter to letter English to Tengwar, but I was hoping for the Tengwar to be utilizing proper Sindarin letters for these sounds if possible. Can anyone give me some help with this?
I believe this is a direct English to Tengwar transliteration. https://i.imgur.com/Z9cxcpZ.jpg

Now, first of all, being a princess, Peach is, of course, a public figure, meaning that, if she were to be trans, it would have to be public knowledge, meaning that the Toads who serve her would have to be OK with her being trans. And, indeed, the Toads have been confirmed to be a genderless race with gendered characteristics. However, given that the Toads have clearly gendered names, appearances, pronouns, expressions, and labels, Koichi Hayashida clearly meant to say that Toads do have genders, just no biological sexes. Toadsworth has facial hair and a deep, masculine voice, but we all know that facial hair can be shaved off and voices can be feminized via training and that this does not require any transgender hormones. In other words, Toads likely choose their own genders, instead of having them assigned at birth, making every Toad neither cisgender nor transgender. Such a people would definitely have no reason to have anything against serving a transgender princess.
Also, Peach might be a Toad herself. After all, she is called Princess Toadstool. Nintendo.com's page for Super Mario Sunshine says that she is Toadsworth's daughter. And Super Mario RPG says that she has a grandma who is also a Toad. But there is the possibility that she was adopted. Which is actually common for transgender people.
Now, being a publicly known trans person, all of her friends would have to be okay with her being trans, as well, so let's look at some of her friends, shall we?

• Birdo is the most obvious example that comes to mind, given that she is pretty much a trans icon at this point. Now, Birdo originally started out as a villain, true, but savvy Mario fans will tell you that this game is actually non-canon because it was all just a dream. In reality, Peach and Birdo are seen playing board games and kart games and various sports together most of the time. Now, some people might be offended that I called her Birdo and not Birdetta, but that is actually correct. The North American instruction booklet of Super Mario Bros. 2 clearly states that Birdo only thinks he is a girl, when in reality, he is a pronounfuild genderfluid person. Yeah. That is the only logical explanation for all sources to be true. Birdo also has an affair and good chemistry with:
• Yoshi lays eggs, yet uses he/him pronouns. Yoshi's Island DS revealed that Peach was actually raised by yoshis. The game also reveals that Peach already looked like a little girl upon her birth. Just like me. I also used to look like a little girl before my mother cut my hair for the first time at the age of 1. There are still old baby photos of me where I wear pink shirts and long hair and I have been mistaken for a girl on those photos.
• Luigi really likes to dress up in feminine clothes, making some people suggest that he is trans-female. Critics of this theory have pointed out that he could also just be a crossdresser. Well, first of all, Luigi lives in a universe where clothes give you special powers: The Tanooki Suit lets you fly, The Raccoon suit lets you fly and turn into a statue, the Hammer Suit lets you throw hammers, and so on and so forth. And we all know that Peach's floating ability comes from her dress. So if a person wants to dress differently in the Super Mario Universe, they undoubtedly also want to change their lifestyle, as well. Secondly, Super Mario 64 DS revealed that clothes can transform your look: Whoever wears Mario's cap turns into Mario, whoever wears Luigi's cap turns into Luigi, and whoever wears Wario's cap turns into Wario. All while also gaining their abilities and everything. And, finally, the New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Website clearly implies that Luigi would have been interested in wearing the Super Crown. If Luigi is cis then he is at least what we would call an HRT femboy.
• Mario is not only friends with all of the above but also with the tadpolekin Mallow, the celestial-spirit-in-the-body-of-a-doll ♡♪!?, and the trans-female Vivian, who has been bullied by her sisters for being trans. Also, in the officially licensed Mario game Lily Franky Theater from 1995, Bowser becomes Mario's girlfriend, which is only possible if Bowser is transgender. And, finally, Mario occasionally crossdresses himself and his brother Luigi has no problem with that.

Furthermore, the Super Mario Universe is full of transformations: The Super Crown turns Toadette into a Peach lookalike, the Boo Mushroom turns Mario into a Boo (which makes all Boos attracted to him, which says a lot about their attraction), the kings of the Mushroom World have been turned into various Mario enemies in Super Mario Bros. 3, some Mario games feature lots of fake Bowsers who are actually some of his minions in disguises, magikoopas can magically transform practically everything into everything else, Cappy gives Mario the ability to possess his enemies' bodies, and so on and so forth, meaning that transgender people in the Super Mario Universe would be very likely to have a way to turn into their cisgender counterparts somehow.
But that only proves that Peach would have the possibility of being trans. Why do I think she actually is trans? Well, take a look at the only game focusing on what Peach does when she is on her own: The game Super Princess Peach is all about emotions. Why is this mechanic not in any other game? Well, this undoubtedly has to do with her being female, because women tend to be more emotional than men. This is not a stereotype. Men tend to have more testosterone than women and women tend to have more estrogen than men, making women more emotional. That's why taking estrogen makes trans women more emotional. Anyway, in order to have emotions in this game, you need to have energy in your Vibe Gauge. Otherwise, all you can do is be completely emotionally numb. Kinda like trans women before they start taking hormones. You can fill the Vibe Gauge a lot by collecting blue gems, kinda like how trans women take blue pills, or a little by consuming enemies. Trans people are also known to research specific foods to see which foods contain masculine or feminine hormones. All enemies fill up the Vibe Gauge a little, meaning that all enemies would have to contain feminine hormones, which would make perfect sense, considering all the enemies in the game are so overemotional to have gained special abilities due to the effects of the Vibe Scepter, which I would assume to magically fill people with estrogen. According to the game's end credits, no one knows who created the Vibe Scepter or why. Which would make perfect sense if it was created for transgender purposes in a society where trans people need to hide.
Anyway, you need to do all this in order to have emotions, something cis people get for free. And emotions also make you super powerful: Joy makes you fly and your skirt go spinny, rage makes you stomp so hard it can break rocks and produce actual fire, gloom makes you run really fast and also produce tears with no end, and calmness heals your injuries. Mario and Luigi can't do any of this. Also, Peach really needs all those emotions to progress. Even gloom, which is usually seen as a negative emotion by cis people, is really helpful for her, kinda like how trans women are happy when they are able to cry and sad when they are not.
Peach also spends the game collecting coins. But she is a princess. Shouldn't she be wealthy? Shouldn't she have insurance covering all kinds of things for her? What does she even do with all this money? Does she buy cheap foods like Mario and Luigi do? No. Does she buy expensive weapons like Mario and Luigi do? No. She buys:

• Self-defense tutorials that teach her how to use the new umbrella that Toadsworth gave her. Similar to how trans people get a lot of the information they need by watching tutorials from the internet.
• Several drinks that help her control her own emotions better. Say whatever you want but I classify those as medicine, especially given their unusually high prices. She also drinks a lot of "Tough Coffee", which is typical for people under a lot of stress, which is typical for trans people.
• Music. A necessity for some emotional people.
• Puzzle pieces to create pictures of herself on them. Pictures of oneself is something trans people take a lot when they are happy with their body.
• Minigames. Trans people tend to play lots of videogames, as those help them dissociate from their own body. Which would make perfect sense, given how tall she is.

All of those seem to be things that are necessary for trans people to live their lives while also being things that would not be covered by insurance.
So, um, yeah. That is basically my entire argument as to I think Peach might be trans.
Gosh, it's really hard to come up with a new trans headcanon for a universe that already has so many trans characters in it..........
---
/uj In case you don't get the joke, I was pretending to try to prove Peach to be trans while inadvertently proving many other characters in the Super Mario universe to be trans (or trans allegories) instead.

The reason people keep going on about this, is because it appeals so heavily to the fear based human body, the soul is hosting. People will give you many arguments for it, and this and that and blah blah. Mainly because their lives right now is boring and or unpleasant, and so believe being a free soul separate from a physical body means they are free. When in reality, the soul is not worried one bit, you chose to be here and stay recycling through life sims. Each reincarnation isn’t how you think, when you die, your soul is simply a free moving flying invisible object with its own personality. It can travel the world, not teleport but at high speeds.
This is not your home planet, instead, it’s the only way an immortal soul can be “tricked” into believing it’s mortal and therefore can express fear, all for the motive of experience and growth of an immortal personality. It’s the only thing which I can AFFIRMLY ATTEST.
Just listen.
Humans don’t need these souls. But some (maybe many) humans will have a soul hosting it. Think of it as a booster personality, with thousands of years of wisdom, intuition and empathy. The soul beings and humans are compatible.
The earth is a construct, not a trap. The being running earth, is also in soul form but way more powerful with its own personality. I’m serious, the only way a soul can speak to this “over soul” or whatever you want to call it, is if you are not allowed to stay with a human body for whatever reason and it has a chat with your soul self, pretty similar to how humans communicate.
The easiest way to know if you have a soul which btw, a soul can leave and the human wouldn’t know, is through extreme trauma. End of. Trauma is the easiest way, especially as a child, the soul will in / move out the body way more frequently. Being drowned unconscious a few times will do the trick.
Why?
The human body and brain will give up on itself way before the soul hosting it would even consider, so a split is created between the two. A rift, a breaking point between soul and body. The soul can choose to fight or just leave.
Your soul can have soul siblings it came to earth with (if you have human siblings, most likely they’re your immortal soul siblings). You guys before each incarnation will spend time travelling earth, studying humans, finding a nice location to incarnate in and finding a lovely couple you want to be your human parents. You can even ask other immortal souls for help or advice whilst on earth. Just look around will find some. Souls do communicate with language.
This is first hand experience.
OBE is very real. Just that’s the bigger picture ^. However, it’s not a trap, I do believe this earth construct is a closed off system. Souls have to stay until the end date/collapse : 2138 AD - Archaix YT.

Hello everyone!
I'm a 26-year-old male, measuring 1.77m and weighing 78kg. I only drink occasionally on weekends and occasionally smoke, while not taking any prescribed medications.
I hope you're all doing well! It's been approximately two months since I had my first major panic attack while driving on a motorway. Fortunately, it was late at night with less traffic, so I pulled over to get some fresh air. I felt like I was about to faint and couldn't detect my pulse, which I think triggered the attack. After a few minutes, I resumed my journey and made it home safely. However, since then, I've been experiencing ongoing dizziness and persistent head pressure. I've undergone several blood tests and EKGs, all of which came back normal, except for slightly elevated cholesterol levels. My doctor assured me that this shouldn't be the cause and it's simply anxiety.
I really dislike this diagnosis because I really don’t believe in this and I feel like something is truly wrong. I'm an active individual, almost a "workaholic," hitting the gym 5-6 days a week, and I've never encountered such episodes before. Currently, I can barely go to the gym or perform at my full capacity at my work due to this strange sensation. Any suggestions?
I appreciate any help or advice you can provide!