The Whole Point Of The Christian Life Is Not To Say, “I Am So Good Because I Have God.” Rather,

Why Did God Create Atheists?

There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson. 

One clever student asks “What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?”

The Master responds “God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all — the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs and act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that god commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.”

“This means,” the Master continued “that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that God will help you.’ Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’”

ETA source: Tales of Hasidim Vol. 2 by Mar

Mum goals

I want to be the house that my children’s friends want to come to, because despite whatever they’re facing at home, they’ll know they’ll find a second family with me and mine.

Other people’s successes are not a benchmark to which you should measure your own self worth and productivity. Your life should not be a place for comparison, self doubt and destruction. Your life is yours. It expands with every act of self love. Every surge of courage and kindness and every breath of pure self belief. Breathe in. Remind yourself of your own phenomenal light and continue peacefully into all that lies ahead of you.

— Jess Sharp

There were no simple answers. There were never just two sides to a war.

veins of fire by elizabeth tammi (via annabethisterrified)

What I learned from Fullmetal Alchemist

Good people do bad things:

Good and evil are subjective:

Sometimes those you trust the most will hurt you the worst:

Bad things happen to good people:

Even those you love can die:

 Life isn’t fair:

You can’t get something for nothing:

Don’t judge people by their outward appearance:

Don’t give up. Even when things are hard:

Don’t forget the people who helped you get where you are:

Hatred will destroy you:

People can change:

There are two sides to every story:

Even your enemies have feelings:

When the world is crashing down around you, it is okay to laugh:

… or cry:

Family comes in all shapes and sizes:

Big things come in small packages:

The truth is sometimes more frightening than you hoped:

Beauty can hide great strength:

Crying is not a weakness:

Expect the unexpected:

Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice in order to move forward:

Learn from your past. Don’t forget your mistakes:

It’s strange how your childhood sort of feels like forever. Then suddenly you’re sixteen and the world becomes an hourglass and you’re watching the sand pile up at the wrong end. And you’re thinking of how when you were just a kid, your heartbeat was like a kick drum at a rock show, and now it’s just a time bomb ticking out. And it’s sad. And you want to forget about dying. But mostly you just want to forget about saying goodbye.

Beau Taplin  (via odaro)

Snezhana Soosh is a 37-year-old artist from the Ukraine. She recently began posting some heartwarming illustrations of a father and his daughter on instagram. The images are sadly not from experience as her own father was not part of her life. She hopes they’ll inspire young men, like her own son, to be present in their daughter’s lives when they have a family of their own. There are currently 14 paintings in the series, but hopefully she will add more. I absolutely love this! (Source)

Aww

Can you draw a tiny lizard dragon that secretly hoards pennies?

Its things like this that keep us going

hey

hey friend

dont kill yourself tonight ok

you have a really pretty smile and i know its not always easy to manage one but itd be a bummer if we never had the chance to see it ever again

youre really important and you matter a lot so stay safe and try and have a nice sleep

PLEASE stop telling me to release my inhibitions! mine were raised in captivity and would not survive in the wild :^(