Feel free to pull up a chair and chat...

As Pastor- I would like to open up and allow those old, current and new the opportunity to have a open floor.
Please feel free - if you like- to ask me anything. Doesn't have to be specific or even spiritual or even Jedi based.
I dont have a Twitter so being in Discord is pretty much as trendy as I can get and I am enjoying the ability to chit chat and to connect in that way.
All questions welcome. Feel free to "chew the cud" or just shoot the sh*t. ( Im a Pastor not a saint so I will follow the rules as well.)
Nothing vulgar or pornographic or provoking gas lighting and all that jazz, ya know the drill. If its a uncomfortable question Ill let you know and find a way to answer any way. We have done these in the past and I may find the old one, till then the Forum floor is open here...




Got any questions????

I've been thinking about a part of the Creed I feel gets overlooked a bit. "Where there is sadness, (I bring) joy." So, are you up for sharing random interests and things that make you happy? All the little "distractions" that actually make us look forward to play time and not having to be so serious, the sillier the better.

I've been big on Nintendo Switch recently. Animal Crossing, Breath of the Wild, and Ring Fit are my main ones right now. Playing with my cat (she likes string the best). Watching Avatar The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Crikey It's the Irwins. My girlfriend and I are finding random fun ways to shake up our home life, like new Lego sets, board games, and halloween toys. She sculpts and paints, and I enjoy seeing all the things she makes appear when I was distracted by something else. We send each other memes and silly videos, so the other person has them on their phone for whenever they want to see it again. (Or so I can find the same silly video again, because I like it that much. lol) We like quoting Vines and Youtube videos. And I think I watch more silly animal videos than stuff about other humans sometimes. Also, I'm pretty big on Disney. I literally live within walking distance of Disneyland, so when there isn't a pandemic, it is a big part of my life. (Like, I could always tell what time it was by the fireworks, and the local traffic is very different without tourists.) Seriously, if you want to know about the new Star Wars area, I can talk forever. You've been warned. lol (I would spoiler tag, too.)

If you're not into this nonsense, what kind of nonsense are you into? Any similarities and I got some ideas for what to share.

Eqin Ilis wrote: I've been thinking about a part of the Creed I feel gets overlooked a bit. "Where there is sadness, (I bring) joy." So, are you up for sharing random interests and things that make you happy? All the little "distractions" that actually make us look forward to play time and not having to be so serious, the sillier the better.

I've been big on Nintendo Switch recently. Animal Crossing, Breath of the Wild, and Ring Fit are my main ones right now. Playing with my cat (she likes string the best). Watching Avatar The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Crikey It's the Irwins. My girlfriend and I are finding random fun ways to shake up our home life, like new Lego sets, board games, and halloween toys. She sculpts and paints, and I enjoy seeing all the things she makes appear when I was distracted by something else. We send each other memes and silly videos, so the other person has them on their phone for whenever they want to see it again. (Or so I can find the same silly video again, because I like it that much. lol) We like quoting Vines and Youtube videos. And I think I watch more silly animal videos than stuff about other humans sometimes. Also, I'm pretty big on Disney. I literally live within walking distance of Disneyland, so when there isn't a pandemic, it is a big part of my life. (Like, I could always tell what time it was by the fireworks, and the local traffic is very different without tourists.) Seriously, if you want to know about the new Star Wars area, I can talk forever. You've been warned. lol (I would spoiler tag, too.)

If you're not into this nonsense, what kind of nonsense are you into? Any similarities and I got some ideas for what to share.

One of my favorite things about being a Modern day Jedi is that the ability to choose creates such a myriad of possibilities that if I ever try to label and categorize them, the opposites, it would be like trying to describe what the human potential is, and where is exist IN us. Think about that for a bit.
Codes give us a way to RETURN to our choices or reminders when we need em. They are NEVER limited to just this.
I personally love our code because its action, to know peace- as you stated- I bring.... There are some days my code is in its simple form "I am," filling in the gaps of what "I am " or whats needed can flux and ebb and flow.

I'm always willing to scoot MY chair closer any day...

At our home we play hard, we work hard we play hard. One of our recurring themes in life.
We play in the water, hose or mud and some days i pull rank and we just make a mud pit for the boy and let him go nuts.
We are bubble blowers as well in real life to the point I have saved some pretty snazzy wands... junk drawer stuff to most, not to me.
We play games.
I've got this quirk...
I love games. I'll drop a board on a table or toss a pair or few of dice or cards any day, with any one willing. I collect pieces of games... but here's why, when people and friends play games at our home, (you) have a NUMBER of pieces to choose from, you can identify as anything here... especially during game play. I'll give you a example- Monopoly, I have not lost a game since I first learned to play. This is one game I intentionally haven't cheated at, ever. Can't play that card EVER in Monopoly with your Pastor, I'm letter of the law and what was agreed on, I'm an old pirate at times. Monopoly has pieces... from all types of ":themed" games. Here, i collect em so you can be...
...what ever you choose...
(and yea i got a few Star Wars pewter pieces)
We WII as well.
I am the Delfino champion - until one of either my significant other takes the crown or some one else goes worth rounds.
I am a Hero's Journey fan... being that, I also subscribe to this thing called "the All myth" every myth for every man- gender doesn't count here so ill get a better snazzy term for it soon, promise!
The idea is every story or everything shared can be a use for every body regardless of where its from, its the character that you can have and the faith and ... the experience shared, not the credits.
If your a Avatar series fan I recommend you find M Nights version of it and find the extra things, there is a interview with the two writers and they pretty much say verbatim why- how they wrote the sagas the way they did. It's worth hearing it from those two- why they did what they did, if you're a fan.
https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/sermons/2443-be-ye-leaf

I am a Trekkie, but I am many things. The Hero's journey isn't limited to just one story or side or RACE OR TIME OR ANYTHING WE LIKE IT TO, ITS IN US ALL, ITS A PART OF US AS THE FORCE. ITS THE STORY OF US AND OUR STRUGGLES AND FINDINGS, OUR FREEDOMS AND OUR LOSSES, THAT'S WHY WE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT STORIES AND MOVIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, WE WANNA KNOW IF OUR RELATABLE HEROES MADE IT AND HOW DID THEY DO IT? WHAT HAPPENS TO THE Luke OR THE Han TYPES OR THE princess OR THE BAD GUY, WHATS THEIR STORY? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY HOW nooooooooo! We can learn from almost any story really, saber or pointy ears, robe or Hobbit feet, up above or on this planet, we CAN learn and grow from almost any story.
We watch old school seasons of Trek during lunch. I'm talking the three original seasons with the bad paint and poor acting, yea the good stuff!

On the subject of family, it is a very good thing to cultivate communication with your homestead. You would be surprised at the people who can communicate things at work clearly all day and then at home, cant draw a pik of a crayon to point danger away some days. That's me at times real talk.
You will NEVER go wrong talking to your love often... You will never go wrong talking to you love , one more time. It may be frustration and even taxing, but to cultivate just a small open door for any reason to your love friend, is ADMIRABLE.Keep up the good stuff my friend. There are times I will feel like things are so heavy and so "un" ya know... just UN- things.My studies in being present help me A LOT here. During the balance of life I have this odd habit of thinking things are against me all the time, yet some times its not like that. Main characters of stories OFTEN feel like their are being centered... wonder why? I don't no mores... but that is for another day.

Ps, one of "THE BIG D" formulas -IS- the Hero's Journey. It's everywhere and they AREN'T the only ones who use it...

lol


We play games !

Yaas! Wow, Monopoly? I'm terrible at that game. No patience for it at all. lol (But growing up, my cousin was a big cheat, so I liked games with more chance that made him have a harder time sneaking things, so I might like it more with you.) Totally feel ya on the mixing of pieces, though. If I find nice tokens, I tend to use them in any game, as long as they fit the board. It's so much more fun than just using whatever colors came with the game. I love games like Aggravation, Sorry, Clue, and finding random themed games that have nature, sci-fi, and fantasy aesthetics. My favorite card games are Fluxx and Sabacc. For me, the point is less who wins than that the game actually inspires a lot of banter and poking fun at each other. (I come from a family where we all playfully insult each other, extra credit if it's punny.) Also, love playing games in character, and making it a part of a bigger game where we're pretending to be something else, like roleplaying pirates or something.

My introduction to Avatar was actually the live action. I don't think I would have even started watching it if it hadn't been for the movie, because I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to a whole show until I saw the movie. Every main character is so well-rounded though, I feel a connection to each of them. Sokka's sense of humor, Aang's playfulness, Katara's empathy, Toph's pragmatism, Zuko's inner struggle, Iroh's insight. Korra is such a different take, I connect less with the characters' strengths than their struggles. Korra's temper, Maku's sullenness, Bolin's naivety, Tenzin's and Lynn's pressure to uphold family legacies, Boomie's need for admiration, Varrik's ability to make things worse through ineptitude, Zhu Li's under appreciated work. I find it fascinating that one show inspires us to see the best in ourselves and the other show challenges us to see the worst in ourselves. And I wonder if that isn't part of the reason so many fans of the first hate the second. (Though the whole shenanigans with Nick making them rush the plot didn't help, either.) Everything else about the show is so enjoyable, from the world building, to the cute animals, the cool fights, and the lessons in treating each other well, that I just love to put it on in the background as a kind of reminder of the kind of person I want to be. It also means our household uses quotes and reaction gifs from the show a lot, because it's so much easier to explain emotional state through a shared reference than trying to find obscure words that fit the description. Like if the cat knocks over a project that took a lot of work, screaming "my cabbages!" is surprisingly cathartic. When we aren't sure if the food in the fridge is bad, "delectable tea? or deadly poison?" as the rest of the household watches to see if the brave Iroh of the house declares the food safe or not.

Yay, fellow Trekkie! I'm trying to get my household to give it a shot. I grew up on TNG, but I like a few of the originals, DS9, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, and I just started watching the new Below Decks series. I feel like Trek is just as good as Avatar and Star Wars for reactions and quotes. I even named my cat Spot, after Data's cat (she's an orange tabby, like his). I really like how the show deals with social issues in a way that makes you think about the issue itself rather than the political spin we're used to hearing. It's like, any time I'm not sure where I stand, I go look for episodes that deal with similar issues, and think about things through the lens of this other world and how I might approach it if I weren't personally invested. It makes the exercise fun and less stressful. When I come back to the real issues, I feel like I learn a lot more about the intricacies because I'm approaching it with fresher eyes than if I just looked at the real world without a break. And I get to escape to a world with food replicators and teleportation in the meantime. (In California, most of my stressors are food and transportation related.)

On a semi-related note, you might enjoy this. My optometrist made his office Star Trek themed. He went with TNG, and the moment you open the door, it feels like you walked onto a starship. He's got themed chairs and a make-shift bridge in the waiting area, complete with cutouts of some characters, an interactive PADD, and one of those nice reference books on the Federation. The exam rooms are modeled after Dr. Crusher's med rooms, and the background beeping and soft whirring sounds are very calming. It's obvious he was inspired in his medical profession from the show, and I really love visiting with him during my yearly checkups. I don't think I'll ever miss an appointment, I look forward to it so much.

And yeah, I feel you with the Hero's Journey. It's a big part of the reason I'm drawn to Disney stuff. By no means do I feel limited to it, but it is easier to find Disney stuff here than anything else, so it kinda steals the spotlight in this area. It's nice also being near Universal and everything entertainment related, because it means I can really take advantage of stuff that isn't always feasible if I lived farther away. When I was celebrating my 31st birthday, we went to Universal, and by chance they were doing a soft opening of Wizarding World. My girlfriend and I are both Gryffindors, so we were pretty stoked to be able to check it all out before the crowds really hit. At the time, all the employees were still kinda new at getting into character, so they were thrilled that we "played back" and they were able to test out some things and really get into it. It's enough of a drive away, that it was kinda lucky I got to do that, but I have a lot more experiences like that at Disneyland. Being local to the area, we get to see all the seasonal changes and catch everything while it's limited time. I will admit though, we're all pretty sick of Frozen, through no fault of its own. I'm really thankful for "Into the Unknown" because I was so sick of hearing "Let it Go" three times a day. (I live close enough the music of the parades and fireworks can reach me if there's not enough noise to drown it out.)

I was actually thinking of buying a Sabbac deck... that and a 3 d chess board.
If I ever walked into a office with a Trek theme and or a Star Wars- I think I would grin and laugh louder than Levar Burton himself.

If it wasn't for THAT guy - IDE have never picked up a book.

Me and the wifey were talking about Avatar and how when we were "10" Aang was ok for what we needed and very relatable, when we get older characters like Korra Come with similar conflicts. Its NEAT to see series grow like that. ANY SERIES that can grew with ya is ok in my book. Narnia was my thing, Harry potter was my mates, the kids have their stories they will have and the story is told in a different way...

"when I was young I swung a saber, after time, I began to create the Jedi I am Today."
Levels man, Levels!
Modern day Jedi live in the real world and at very real different levels in life.Each Level is like a Fingerprint...

" in every footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace
If we can reach
Beyond the wisdom of this age ..."
Rich Mullins

what a focus to have

First bump appears .....