also while we’re here i’m still entirely insulted by dean getting a dog called ‘miracle’ that was effectively a replacement for cas, like he was entitled to one (1) miracle after saving the goddamn universe and restoring his own free will for the first time in his entire life, and he doesn’t get cas, he gets a fucking DOG like no… no thank you…
cas who has canonically been labeled “the dog who thinks he’s people” and “cas is like a talking dog” and “attack dog” and “purse dog” and more than I can even count, but in the end dean is not allowed to return his love confession and is given instead a dog they had the audacity to name “miracle” because after years of dean being canonically terrified of dogs, having a lot of weird trauma surrounding dogs, and being told point-blank that he does not like dogs… and after years of showing us that it was Sam who always wanted a dog, whose stories about what he did when he “ran away rom the life” frequently surrounded dogs and him living happily with dogs going back to his childhood and one of his own heaven memories… they literally chose to effectively swap out castiel, the confessed love of dean’s life… for a damn dog…
I don’t find it cute, or sweet, or “the one bright spot in 15.20.” I’m repulsed by it all.
(I mean, I love the doggo, she’s a good girl and deserves love and pets, but I can’t find it cute or sweet or want the dog anywhere near anything having to do with this either…)
I mean it’s another piece of subtext in the episode that just feels weird, like it’s supposedto make you go WTF?!?!
Because it’s not even like Dean gets to enjoy life with Miracle, because he’s dead in a hot minute.
And that feels, yet again, as if the episode’s subtext is making a snarky comment about the episode’s supra-text.
God is good…even in the darkest of places and times..He is there..in hospital now..critical until a short time ago…my recovery is being called a miracle…yep..our God is an AWESOME God!
Amazing story: The Great Synagogue of Lyon, France was built in 1864 to accommodate a rapidly growing Jewish community. The beautiful neo-Byzantine building was designed by noted architect Abraham Hirsch. The Germans marched into Paris in 1940, but Lyon was in the Free France zone and the Great Synagogue stayed open. Even after Lyon was occupied in 1942, a small but brave group of Jews kept the shul open. But on December 10, 1943, the iconic house of worship was targeted for destruction by the Milice, the fascist French police force modeled after the notorious German Gestapo. The shul’s rabbi was witness to what happened that Friday night. A member of the Milice entered the sanctuary right after the start of Shabbat, armed with three powerful hand grenades. His plan was to toss them into the crowd of standing worshippers from behind and escape through the back of the sanctuary. Seen only by the rabbi, the Nazi pulled out the pins and then suddenly froze. At the moment he prepared to throw the grenades, the entire congregation turned to face him. Eye-to-eye with his intended victims, the would-be assailant was so rattled that he tossed the grenades just a few feet then ran out of the building. A few people were wounded by shrapnel but nobody was killed.What happened at that pivotal moment? The Nazi had entered the synagogue at exactly the section of the Friday night service known as “bo’i l’shalom” - when worshippers turn toward the back of the sanctuary to welcome the Sabbath bride. He didn’t go through with the massacre because seeing the faces of his victims meant seeing their humanity. Genocide starts with dehumanization and ends when we look at other humans and see the face of God.
Last night, I messaged my friend Dakota about something I had read in my Bible to get his opinion on it. He responded by asking me to pray for a friend of his who was in the hospital getting worse by the minute. So we began to pray, and Dakota sent me regular updates on the condition of his friend.
After a while, I received a message in which I was told that his friend’s heart had stopped beating. I responded by telling him that at one point, Lazarus’ heart had stopped beating as well. So we kept praying. In the next update, Dakota told me that his friend’s body had completely shut down.
We still kept praying anyway. Dakota’s friend had indeed died. Lazarus had died too, you know. Dakota then messaged me and told me that they had decided to play something for his friend, just to see if it would work. The next message I received completely blew me away.
“He’s coming back!”
I didn’t know how to reply to this. I was stunned. I was amazed. I mean, you go to church, and you hear stories of miracles that God performs, but up to this point, it had just been a fact that I had memorized. So I guess you could say that I was in disbelief. But with the next message, it became real.
“HE’S ALIVE!!!!!!!”
God worked a miracle last night, and I am here to tell you about it, and so is Dakota. Today I was sitting in English class, and Dakota was behind me in class with his phone out. He was on Facebook messaging this friend. Not only is he alive, but he’s messaging Dakota.
Guys, I still don’t know what to say. I am still in awe. I am still amazed. A little faith can go a long way friends. God’s power is endless, and He showed me that last night. God brought the dead to life last night. But you know what? He performs miracles every day. They are all around us. This shows you that He is still in business, and business is good.
“Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done.”
“You are a Divine creation—a being of light who showed up here as a human being at the exact moment you were supposed to. You are the beloved, a miracle, a part of the eternal perfection.”
And don’t ever let yourself or anyone tell you different.
From poaching victim to survivor, Thandi has defied the odds and even miraculously become a mom, not just once, but twice! Top: with baby Thembi, Bottom: with baby Colin (photo: Daniel Haesslich)
12 March: the Feast of St Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death.
The Mass of St Gregory is a favourite depiction in Christian art.
Tradition has it that, once when celebrating Mass, a woman smiled when receiving Communion. Questioned, she laughed at Gregory’s reverence for the host, insisting that it was nothing more than bread she had baked that day. Legend holds the host then appeared as a finger. Subsequently, tradition asserted that the image of Jesus as the “Man of Sorrows” appeared on the altar during the Mass.
