Still_Small_Voice

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Also, just for the record, fountain pens are optional, but your stickman will be much happier if you draw him using a fountain pen.

This reminds me of Revelations 10:10
10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and aate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

I tried to understand. I read and reread, but I'm so lost. Can someone help me understand? Perhaps if you do as the following suggests:

I’m not a parent so my opinion on this is worthless but I completely agree with you. 

There was no Gen-Y and my wife is Gen-X. We don't joke about Gen-X. Ever!

that one of our younger sisters sent him.

A terrible thing one can do is buy their kid a smart phone.  I believe children should wait until they are sixteen about to get a smart phone.  And then they need to pay for all of it with money they work to earn.  Someone I know bought their son a phone when they were fourteen.  It has done nothing good for them from what I see.

A terrible thing one can do is buy their kid a smart phone.  I believe children should wait until they are sixteen about to get a smart phone.  And then they need to pay for all of it with money they work to earn.  Someone I know bought their son a phone when they were fourteen.  It has done nothing good for them from what I see.

A terrible thing one can do is buy their kid a smart phone.  I believe children should wait until they are sixteen about to get a smart phone.  And then they need to pay for all of it with money they work to earn.  Someone I know bought their son a phone when they were fourteen.  It has done nothing good for them from what I see.

There is a limit to the upper and lower levels that most people can hear. 
A lot of animals, however, can hear at levels that exceed what most humans are able to do. For example, your hypothetical dog whistle is meant to sound at a pitch that is beyond what the average human can hear but within what most dogs can hear. 
My high-end and low-end are past what is normal for humans and into at least the lower portion of what many animals can hear. 
Yes, I can literally hear dog whistles, as can a few other people I know.

Thanks for the input thus far.  I think John's counsel in those verses mostly applied to that era.  Gnostics were preaching false doctrines on Christ in that time.
Gnostics were divided on their beliefs about Jesus Christ. One view held that he only appeared to have human form but that he was actually spirit only. The other view contended that his divine spirit came upon his human body at baptism and departed before the crucifixion.
Both of these are obviously false doctrines.

So, my family has realized that we all suffer from screen addiction.  Whether it is gaming, youtube, forums (a- hem) or whatever is out there, we spend way too much time on our phones and computers.
My eldest son who is about to return from his mission next week told us that he does not want a smart phone.  He just wants a simple phone that makes calls and that is all.  What is interesting is that my wife has been asking us as a family to start making the same transition.
So, I tried looking up various phones to see how we could achieve this.  The thing stopping us is that there are genuinely useful utilities on a phone that are simply not available on the true dumb phones (GPS, Calendar with scheduled meetings, multiple alarms, Church apps...)
Long story short, I bought a flip phone that has a fully functional android operating system.  But the processor is so weak and the screen size and keyboard size is so small that it is really slow, and it is difficult to use.
The idea was that if we REALLY needed the functionality of a full android, we could get to it.  But the operation of the phone and the tiny screen size made the process very uncomfortable.  So, that was the deterrent.
I've now had it for less than a day.  And so far it is working.  I have used it a LOT less than my Samsung.
But you know what is funny?  I really like this phone.  So, while I don't look at the screen, I'm still admiring the phone in my hand.  Just the phone itself.
So, my son yelled at me,"Dad!  Stop looking at your phone!"  
*****************
FTR, it is a CAT S22.  It is a freaking rugged phone.  I could drop it onto a concrete floor and I wouldn't even see a scratch.

Disagree. (Putting aside that I'm not "professional" when it comes to music (I only wish I was)), I despise certain forms of art as a matter of taste. Some of those forms are art are very beloved by an awful lot of people. Me having the view that Taylor Swift is incredibly overrated, or that no one should have been interested in the Barbie movie isn't meaningful. It's just my personal opinions. And if I think your singing voice is terrible but a billion people love it and pay to hear it then what's the point being theoretically "qualified" for that view? 
Also....not really true. An awful lot of people listen to an awful lot of other people on their views about abortion, tax policy and religion. I mean all I do all day while I work is listen to people talking about that stuff. Yes, it sometimes has more to do with confirmation bias and entertainment than it does respect for the individuals or trusting them as qualified in any way. But either way, it's not accurate to say that no one cares about other people's opinions.
I think, in fact, that this very forum proves that idea wrong. If no one cared about anyone else's opinions then what are any of us doing here? At least I would hope we'd have some level of interest in what others have to say on any given matter rather than just being 100% narcissistic. I know I'm one to talk more than listen, and maybe a bigger offender in that regard than many...and yet I STILL care about other's views and want to hear what others think on various matters.
And...even more important..... I almost care MORE about their opinions if I don't agree with them. Disagreeing with others views is not the same as not caring about those views.
I mean the very idea that someone is pro abortion and the other is anti abortion means they don't care about each others opinion.... well that would just solve all the problems. But we DEEPLY care about those issues. And the more people who are into baby slaughter, high taxes, and anti-religion, the more I worry about the world, and the more I actually do care about their opinions.  Because their opinions, when they gain enough popularity and power, effect the world.

Around 2012 I took a nightshift job at a luxury 5 star hotel having spent 6 years caring for my mother who had just passed a few weeks before hand. The hotel was out in the sticks and it was split into 2 parts. 

The newer building which had all the trapping that a weary traveller would expect in the 21st century. Bar, restaurant, and a top of the line pool and spa. On top of the hill however, sat a very very old castle. 

I settled in just fine and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Well, not quite. You see every now and then I'd start a shift and do my nightly walk around the premises to do the fire alarm checks. I did those twice a night. And sometimes, I'd come across a pile of washing dumped outside the rooms. And sometimes, I'd even come across a vacuum sitting in the middle of the room, still plugged in blasting away. I now know this is because the chamber maids were asked to work in the castle by themselves and when they got spooked they'd cut and run. Nobody else during the day would go up given the state the maids were in. 

So after settling in the months of hard work and drama passed. December arrived and one night ( i believe it was around december 23rd ) if memory serves me well, I think this would have been a Sunday because it was the second last shift of my rota and it was very very quiet. Only 1 guest was with us that night although I didn't know this at the time. 

So my boss and I were hanging in the office at around 2:30 am, when she announced she was going for a cigarette break. I sat on the chair and watched the cctv with one screen focusing on her. It was then i received a phone-call from the castle. Room 4 I believe. There was nothing there. Just a little static and crackling before the line going dead. Another minute passes and another call comes in. Room 11 this time. Same thing happened. When the third call came in I figured the lines were dodgy  but there was clearly some disturbance up at the castle. Noise complaint is how I figured it. 

My boss comes back and I grab the device I use to for my fire checkpoints. Just before I left reception and went through the door I said to my boss I was also going to go up to the castle and  check on the noise complaints. When I get to the door of the castle she hits me up over the radio and asks '' what complaints? '' then after I told her about the calls she radioed back and said '' there is only one guest booked in tonight and he's down here in the main complex. ''. 

From there, I told her I was going to do a full sweep of the rooms because it sounds like maybe a homeless person had found a maids key and used it for a place to sleep over the festive period. She informed me that she'd switched the cctv to the castle and had all 3 entrances and exists covered. 

I sweep the whole building and come up empty handed after 40 minutes. My boss asks me what actually happened during her break and I gave her the full details. The reason I came to the conclusion about the homeless person is because I'm convinced I heard a snicker down the line just before the last call cut off. 

I said I'd do one more sweep which she was dead against as she wanted to call the police. But this time, I checked the basement, the hidden passageways and all the cupboards. Anything that had a blanket on it I pulled it off. I looked under every bed, checked every closet and pulled back every shower curtain. Nothing. 

I go to the main lobby in the castle after another hour of checking and my boss radios me, you see its hard to radio when in the castle as the signal gets jammed so often whatever is to be said, needs to wait until you can see the person on camera. She sounded panicked and was urging me to return to the complex and she was now definitely going to call the police but I could tell something was stopping her. Apparently, during my second sweep, she had taken 3 phone calls from the castle. I knew by her voice, that the stalwart and headstrong boss was shaken. 

I took it personally and said I was going to check a third time. Half way through the third check she radioed me and asked me where  I was. I was at room 17, just out of shot of the camera. With a cracked voice and weak radio signal I heard the words '' call '' and '' 14 '' room 14 was just round the corner. So i walked over and went straight into the room using my masterkey. 

Nothing. Nobody, nada. 

I even touched underneath the taps in the bathroom with my finger to get an indication of how recent it was used. Everything was bone dry, even dusty. The castle was only really for wedding guests and high paying customers. By now I'm beginning to think my homeless man hypothesis had some major flaws in it. 

So, I exit room 14 and look up to the camera and shrug. I told her I'd checked the phone. Last number was dialled 2 weeks previous. So I tell her I have 4 rooms to go and I'll head back. 

I turn the corner and right there at the bottom of the corridor was a tall dark figure staring right at me. No emotion, dead eyes and a gaunt look on his face. When I say tall I'm talking 6'8'' maybe. He cleared the door frame anyway. There was something of a 10 to 15 second stand off which felt like an eternity. I remember sliding my hand into my pocket and crunching my keys up into a make shift weapon. I looked this guy right in the eyes and didn't flinch. 

He moved towards me with one step then as cliche as it sounds, hung right ( my left ) and went straight through the wall. I pulled myself together and went through the nearest door to where he disappeared. Room 20 I believe. 

Nothing, nobody. All that was there was a bone biting cold that I have never experienced before or since. It was a dry cold, unusually deep setting. Like it bypassed the flesh and went straight to the bone. I nearly jumped out my skin when the radio crackled and my boss asked me where I was. I said nothing, I just headed back to the complex. 

I didn't mention a word about the tall man in the old watchman like cloak/jacket. I simply said I couldn't find the source of the calls and offered the excuse of local phone works being the cause of the disruption. 

I finished up my work and headed home early morning. I told my father all about it, we then hit the gym and I went to bed. 

Oddly enough the next night ( my last shift ) everyone was looking at me. Turns out my boss stayed behind and told everyone about the events of the night before. All the old timers who had kept their distance until that point were now talking to me freely. Even the maids apologised for all the times I entered the castle and found it abandoned and a mess. The bar staff, who were sometimes sent up alone to get extra glasses etc would ask me when I was doing my fire check so they weren't alone. 

Someone told me that they felt sorry for my boss, because it has happened twice before. 

In the end, I stayed there for another 6 months before finding something more on my level without further incidents. A few years later my dad was sitting on the sofa and he pulled my attention to his paper. There had been a 4 page spread on the countries most haunted castles. My old work was one of them. 

Way down the page, it told of account where a business man was up in the castle one night on his own. He ran down to reception wearing nothing but an open business shirt and his boxers while holding his luggage. he reported to the front desk that he went walk about in the castle looking for an ice box seeing that his phone wasn't working to call reception. Then all of a sudden he spotted a tall dark cloaked figure staring at him from the door of one of the rooms. 

My dad and I said nothing, we simply nodded at each other and moved on with the rest of our day. 

Those events, have raised more questions than provided answers. I have confided in very few people over the years because I find their responses to flicker between childish and accusatory. All I know, is that I know what I saw and I have no answers. I just know I was there and what happened happened. How it fits into the grand scheme of things I'll probably never know. But my opinions on death and life had changed drastically because of it. 

I've never been back there, although I have tried to convince people to come join me. But I know of many people who have either stayed there or worked there and all admit to feeling freaked out on a regular basis. 

I'll happily answer questions given that there is no Micky taking. This event had a profound affect on me as a person. When our prophet speaks of personages not of the flesh, I don't have to look far in my own experience to grasp the concept. 

I've read through this string. We appear to be doing scary scenes, and given my ministry assignments I thought this would be appropriate:

I took this pic a few weeks ago. This is unusual because it was mid morning, and this possom was only a meter or so away from a very busy foothpath, just watching the people go by. Its not showing up all that clearly in the pic, but another unusual thing is that this possom's coat was sandy in colour. Usually possoms here are grey and white. Possoms here are very cute but they do have an annoying habit of taking up residence in the ceiling cavity of people''s houses and it can get pretty noisy when you have one or two possums running around in your room. 
 
 
 
 

Pam once took a poll to ask who was prophet when you were born.
My response was: Adam.
I once had 18 chickens.  Now I have 12.  The attrition occurred over the course of about three weeks.  We finally figured out that some of it was due to an opossum (BTW, I've learned that the North American species is called the opossum, and the Australian species is called the possum.  And they certainly are noticieably different in real life-- forgive my mistake).  But some of it was due to a racoon.
I killed the racoon Just a week before.  But one of the remaining chickens was injured while in the coop.  We continued our vigilance.  My wife did "something" with it.  She didn't go into details.  But a few days later, either the same one or different one showed up in our garage.  That's the one I got with the sword.
Several.  But the one I used in this adventure was a cheap replica wakizashi.  I wasn't about to use an expensive sword on this filthy creature.
I did come across what appeared to be the opossum, dead in the road about 2 miles from my house.

My possum story:
My wife and I were living in married grad student housing at Penn State right in the geographic middle of Pennsylvania. (State College is actually located in Centre County; note the pretentious British spelling.) My wife is from western Pennsylvania, so this was more or less home for her, but not for me. Before moving to Penn State, I had lived exactly 2½ months in Pennsylvania, specifically in Philadelphia, as a missionary while waiting for my visa to Italy. So the eastern US was pretty much new to me.
Anyway, we were coming home one late afternoon or evening just after (perhaps just before) the birth of our oldest child. We parked in the lot and walked across the grass to our apartment, when I saw the largest rat I had ever seen. This thing was literally the size of a cat. And not a tiny cat. It was getting dark, so I couldn't see as clearly as normal, but I was no more than 20 feet from it at one point. This rat just looked at me, then turned and ambled away. I didn't know what to do. I think my wife didn't see it.
This apartment complex was infested with various pests, primarily cockroaches. I don't think I had ever seen a cockroach before moving to Penn State, and I will be a happy man if I never see another as long as I live. So the idea that rats might also live in the area didn't surprise me. After talking with my wife, I called the campus police and told the dispatcher, "I just saw the biggest rat I've ever seen." She asked me to describe it, and I did so as best I could. Then she told me, "That's not a rat, it's a possum." Oooooooooh. That explained a lot.
**One in a continuing series on the life education of Vort**

EPISODE 1:
A while back I had a possum about the size of a medium terrier come to attack our chickens.  I had to go get my rifle.
It was dark and I saw potential danger of overshoot and ricochet all over.  So, we got flashlights out.  But the possum didn't like the light, so it kept ducking into the shadows.  I wasn't about to shoot into the shadows.  So, we played cat and mouse for a while until I finally got him in a hole.  No rocks.  No ricochet.  No overshoot.  Pretty safe.
I shot three times.  It hissed at me.  It crawled back away into darkness.  I lost him.
The next day I drove down our neighborhood road and saw a dead possum about 2000 ft from my house.  SMH.
EPISODE 2:
Just yesterday we had a smaller possum barely bigger than our household cat.  Because it was in our garage near a concrete stemwall, a gun was out of the question.  I got my sword out (heh, as if you don't all have one). I probably stabbed the thing 6 or 7 times in various parts of the body.  And it was all the way through.  I felt the blade hit flesh and go into the concrete beyond.  Then it hissed at me as it opened its mouth wide and bore its teeth at me.  I stuck the sword down its gullet.
I thought it was dead.  So, I took a shovel and tried to pry it from the cramped space it was in.  As I got it out and was about to put it into a bucket, it got up and ran away so fast under the car, I couldn't see where it went off to.
It freaking survived all that!
What the heck are these things made of?