James Pyles's Blog, page 109

Figeroa’s Mirror

Patrick Figeroa knew he had to get back inside the quarantine area and shut down the experiment within the next hour or it would become unstoppable. General Conrad Buchanan and his so-called “military experts” thought that just cutting power to the transfer unit would close the rift, and although the field remained active, they believed […]

Quoting: Elevate Your Outlook at Work

When you are working at your job, focus on how you are helping other people and fulfilling the commandment of “love your neighbor.” Moreover, your job is an opportunity to work on being honest and trustworthy in every transaction. Sources: see Rabbi Yisroel Salanter in Michtav M’Eliyahu; Chochmah Umussar; Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s “Gateway to Happiness,” […]

Quoting: Duplicate Spiritual Greatness

It can take a long time until something is invented. But once one person has already broken through the creative barrier, others can easily follow suit and produce the same results. For example, it took many years until someone invented the first railroad train. But after one person invented it, many others built similar railroad […]

Quoting: View Challenges as Elevating

When you are faced with a challenge, you have many choices of how to view it. Some ways can cause more pain than necessary. For example, your spouse might push your buttons more than anyone else. But you can look at this challenge as a vote of confidence from your Creator. You can say to […]

Senegalia and the Gods

If Senegalia were human, she would look like an eleven-year-old girl, but even though she was the youngest in her family, she was over three-hundred-years old. That’s not as long as it seems, since for the first one-hundred-and-fifty years after emerging from her pupa stage, she fluttered about the nest, and later, the verdant wooded […]

Today, I Visited My Grave

Seventeen-year-old Keisha Davis had been in this world twice before. The first time was, from her frame of reference, two years ago, and the alternate reality resembled her world of about 1910, except arcane technology combined with steam power, enabled fantastic machines to be created, including improbable cyborgs, submarines, and even zeppelins which could fly […]

Quoting: Reapply Old Ideas

My father’s teacher, who was known as the Chofetz Chaim, used to say: “There is a popular expression that ‘Every fool is wise in respect to himself.’ My experience has shown that many wise people act like fools with respect to themselves.” Many important concepts for living sound quite simple and obvious. Think of an […]

Quoting: The Most Satisfying Pleasure

When it comes to matters pertaining to this world, it is never possible to be completely satisfied. If you seek only physical pleasures, regardless of how much you do have, you will always be lacking. But when you make it your main ambition to serve the Almighty, you will feel a sense of wholeness. The […]

Rest in Peace Stan “the Man” Lee

This is the final page of the main story of the Fantastic Four’s third annual issue, dated 1965. It was written by Stan Lee (1922-2018), drawn by Jack Kirby (1917-1994), inked by Vince Colletta (1923-1991), and lettered by Artie Simek (1916-1975). You can read about the plot points at marvel.wikia.com. Scroll down for more. In […]

Quoting: Re-Channel Your Enthusiasm

Develop even more enthusiasm for doing good deeds and spiritual growth – than you have for financial gain and physical pleasures. For a series of probing questions on this topic, see Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s “Gateway to Self Knowledge,” p.220