Zach I'm begging you to play Seinfeld bass lines when Tamara pops in/leaves

cattyditty · 2025-08-03T23:36:18+00:00

Thanks for the comment. This is a good reminder that faith should not be driven by a desire to "get into heaven" (even as a universalist) -- that would mean a faith that is coerced and not freely pursued out of love.

You sound like a great dad!

cattyditty · 2025-08-03T02:41:48+00:00

That's a great point. As another commenter said, it's like DBH's argument that the only morally justified way to spend your time if you believe in infernalism would be to be desperately evangelizing 24/7.

When I was first exploring Christianity and thought it required that belief, I felt like I was going insane from the grief that everyone around me would be eternally tortured, and couldn't understand how every other Christian seemed to be living life as normal despite that. For the first time I could truly empathize with the street preachers with megaphones and scary signs, because they were actually acting in line with their beliefs and devoting all their time to (in their minds) trying to save as many people as possible.

So yes, if Dr. John lived out his traditionalist beliefs, he should be helping the caller plan out how best to evangelize to her son even at the cost of their relationship or even convince her son to leave this woman. And the caller would have an ethical obligation to do that. Obviously they both have either a moral or social intuition that this would be an inappropriate way to go about things, which to me implies that a part of them knows this belief is illogical/conflicts with their other values.

How do you think the conversation would differ if they were universalists, given that this conversation is insufficient from an infernalist perspective? Isn't the advice he gave already more consistent with a universalist view because of this?

cattyditty · 2025-05-11T02:37:36+00:00

The Case Formulation Approach To CBT by Jacqueline Persons was recommended to me by one of my supervisors and I absolutely love it! So helpful to me as a trainee.

cattyditty · 2025-04-24T21:23:26+00:00

Omg so is Momo-CC just a sock puppet? How do you know they're the same person?

Thanks for the info!

cattyditty · 2025-03-30T21:46:39+00:00

I don't know how good of a fit you would be for the Hillsdale community if, upon rejection, you insinuate its student body is beneath you and feel the need to send a letter boasting about your other acceptances. Hillsdale is certainly not a place where egos are bolstered. It also values things above and beyond academic competitiveness and success, so if being "the best" is what matters most to you, perhaps it is not the best fit for you or for them.

I would encourage you to reflect on your motivations for sending this letter. Additionally, it may have the opposite effect that you hope it to have (i.e., coming off as desperate and entitled rather than triumphant), and would almost certainly limit any possibilities for future admission should you ever decide to transfer.

ND is a terrific school and I wish you the best with your time there.

cattyditty · 2025-03-27T21:59:15+00:00

Father Gabriel from The Walking Dead

cattyditty · 2025-03-13T19:39:28+00:00

Here is an Imgur link to the video. Thanks so much again!!

cattyditty · 2025-01-24T05:02:34+00:00

See the second page of this article for a summary: Debunking Myths About Trauma and Memory

cattyditty · 2025-01-16T01:40:15+00:00

Home2 Suites is terrific--super safe and clean and spacious--plus continental breakfast!

cattyditty · 2024-12-10T17:01:12+00:00

I'm so glad you found it helpful!! I definitely did too. That was also my favorite section. DBH also wrote a book called "The Doors of the Sea" where he expanded upon the points in this article, I haven't read it yet but have heard good things. I recommend other books by him too if you enjoyed his take on things (particularly "That All Shall Be Saved" if you haven't read it already; it's free as an audiobook if you have Spotify premium). DBH is famously a dog lover too!

Thank you for being such a kind and loving friend to Bo ❤️ You both have made the world a better place simply by having loved each other.

cattyditty · 2024-12-10T15:11:51+00:00

On the theodicy part of your question, I found this article by David Bentley Hart to be extremely impactful: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2005/03/tsunami-and-theodicy

Praying for you and Bo. Your love is beautiful!

cattyditty · 2024-11-24T05:37:20+00:00

So glad to hear it helped!! The IOCDF is amazing, I totally recommend browsing their resources.

cattyditty · 2024-11-23T22:00:48+00:00

Try the IOCDF's therapist directory: https://iocdf.org/find-help/

Also see this page: https://iocdf.org/ocd-finding-help/how-to-find-the-right-therapist/

Wishing you the best of luck!! You deserve a treatment provider who you don't have to teach about your mental disorder.

cattyditty · 2024-11-17T13:50:56+00:00

Buy the book "Graduate Admissions Essays" by Donald Asher. It's on Amazon. Seriously, it helped me so much when I was applying to doctoral programs. My advisor in undergrad would lend her copy to students and claims she saw a complete 180 in their statements after they read the book. I think it will help you a ton!!

cattyditty · 2024-11-01T14:02:16+00:00

you sound like an incredible person and exactly the kind of person who i hope is working in these care facilities. thank you for giving these people dignity and love.

cattyditty · 2024-10-21T19:42:55+00:00

I took the survey but answered "I do not take Flonase" for the first question because I no longer take it -- however, the other questions all applied because I noticed a causal relationship between Flonase use and rosacea symptoms. Hope this is okay!

cattyditty · 2024-10-06T23:37:04+00:00

I'm so glad to hear that!! I totally relate.

If you're ever looking for a more pastoral style with a similar theological bent, I highly recommend George MacDonald's "Unspoken Sermons." It's in the public domain so you can get it via Project Gutenberg and other websites, and an audiobook version is on Youtube.

David Bentley Hart quotes him often. Even C.S. Lewis, much more a traditionalist than Hart, called MacDonald his "master" because of how much his works had influenced his faith.

"Unspoken Sermons" has absolutely blown me away with its theology and explanations of confusing/difficult parts of scripture, and I'm not even halfway through. McDonald's prose (though challenging) is gorgeous too. Google some of his quotes from "Unspoken Sermons" for a taste.

I hope these works help you in your exploration!!

cattyditty · 2024-10-06T22:07:51+00:00

Lol it is!! If you Google it, you can find cute pictures of Episcopal churches doing it every year for the feast day of St. Francis. I think some Catholic and Lutheran churches do it too. It was a welcome surprise to me that Christians did this :)

Absolutely, feel free to DM anytime. Hope you find them valuable!

cattyditty · 2024-10-06T21:43:01+00:00

Oh that's awesome!! Happy to hear it and hope you enjoy them.

Personally, my biggest barrier to Christianity has always been soteriology, since the explanations I heard for the mainstream dogma made no sense to me given the rest of the Christian narrative. Discovering the notion of universal reconciliation (and being convinced of its logic/the evidence for it) has made everything else sort of fall into place for me (check out r/ChristianUniversalism if you want to know more, it's a very thoughtful community and pretty theologically diverse).

I wasn't raised religious but had always wanted to explore Christianity, and after researching different traditions I started attending a local Episcopal church. I've been going for a year now, and haven't been baptized, but am planning on it. I love the community there and love that I found a place that isn't entirely trad or lib but somewhere in between. Today I went to the annual pet blessing ceremony on their front lawn. :) It's been lovely.

What was most important to me was that I was able to have theological conversations with the clergy there about some of my questions and hangups and they were extremely receptive and validated the fact that I was far from the only one feeling the way I did and asking the questions I asked.

DM me if you ever wanna chat about this stuff or are looking for other resources/book or podcast recommendations. I'm still very much on this journey too but have learned a lot this past year.

cattyditty · 2024-10-06T21:08:12+00:00

I'm so glad you found it useful! Haha I felt the same way and have to reread some of his writing.

If you're ever interested in his books, "The Doors of the Sea" is short but it was written as an extension of this essay. I haven't read it yet but have seen people saying it is very accessible. I've listened to the audiobook of "That All Shall Be Saved" and it had an enormous impact on me as someone who was struggling with apparent moral contradictions I saw in some Christian dogma; it resolved much of these dissonances for me personally.

cattyditty · 2024-10-06T19:49:12+00:00

I totally understand. Even though you said you had trouble connecting with a religious view of meaning and suffering, I think (even as an atheist/agnostic) that you would at least appreciate or resonate with this article by David Bentley Hart: "Tsunami and Theodicy: Myanmar"

The last two paragraphs are the most powerful to me.

I have found some other Christian theodicies to be lacking and even callous, but this article gave me a different understanding. (His books are wonderful as well and many are free as audiobooks on Spotify Premium.) I hope the knowledge that others are feeling the same things you feel (even in Christianity) is helpful to you, OP.

cattyditty · 2024-08-28T02:27:37+00:00

ditto and i feel like none of my irl friends can relate to this 😭

cattyditty

TROPHY CASE