James Pyles's Blog, page 111

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

What Lies Beneath the Icy Depths of Pellucidar?

It wasn’t his fault that Eduardo Phillips suffered from that damned ictus, or whatever the doctor called it, and died. Yes, they’d been arguing by the kitchen’s coffee machine, having randomly encountered each other, but Joshua had never laid a hand on him, not that he didn’t want to at times. The paleontologist was incorrigible, […]

Veteran’s Day Commemorated

Perhaps I’m obsessed, but as I was getting ready for work this morning, I found this tiny American flag my granddaughter had in her hand when my son brought his children over for dinner last night. At age three, she doesn’t understand the symbolism and meaning yet, but her Dad served in the Marine Corps., and […]

Quoting: Visualize Without Fear

Make it a regular practice to mentally visualize yourself behaving in a fearless manner in situations where you presently experience fear. Think of something that, if you would be able to do it, would make a big difference in your life and vividly imagine yourself doing it without fear. Sources: For a series of probing […]