Posts by Lisa Chase68

northernwolf0 said:Humility isn't spirituality; spirit equals consciousness, so spirituality equals consciousness.

Modesty arrives naturally as a byproduct of spirituality and consciousness, whereas humility feels more like a form of masochism.

Man, humility is actually a spiritual concept

like, think about that moment when someone truly realizes the sheer scale of God

it’s basically just constantly acknowledging how little you know compared to God—you know, accepting your own limits, flaws, and imperfections. It’s really just about not being (spiritually) blind.

In that sense, it's a pure virtue—nothing more, nothing less. It’s the total opposite of ego, self-centeredness, arrogance, and all those other forms of pride.

It's a reflection of greatness of spirit.

Of wisdom.

I mean, only a fool thinks they know everything or that there's nothing left to learn—or that anyone knows better than them. That's why they're fools, right?

Arrogance and being full of yourself is way more common among people like that... I guess it's just easier for them to brag about their own value since they can't see past themselves and are totally stuck on their own little world.

Humility is considered a virtue and a blessing. Honestly, it's pretty much the recipe for a happy life...

because humility is that state where you're at peace with yourself, at peace with the people around you, and at peace with the Creator.

Daniel Davis40 said:Look, at the end of the day, I don't think anyone should—or even *can*—force themselves to be humble. True humility isn't some act you put on; it’s what happens naturally when we're actually doing well, feeling content, and genuinely grateful. When you feel like life has actually been kind to you and you're just enjoying the ride, humility follows suit—it's automatic. You lose that desperate, pathetic need to step on other people just to boost your own ego or "win" an argument to salvage some bruised self-esteem. When you're truly happy, you can give freely without expecting a damn thing in return.

Yeah, totally—humility is really just a byproduct of love.

When you're actually aiming for that, when you're living out love, everything else just falls into place on its own.

Kindness, forgiveness, patience, letting go... it all basically boils down to one word: humility.

Love is the actual goal. Once you have that and you're living it? Everything else just sorts itself out naturally.

In that spiritual sense, you know?

(Because if 'humility' isn't coming from a place of love, it just looks like empty flattery—and that's definitely not what Jesus was teaching us.)

or right here

Epistle to the Philippians 2

Unity through Humility

2 So, if there’s any encouragement you get from being in Christ, any comfort found in His love, any fellowship in the Spirit, or any genuine warmth and compassion—2 then please, do me a huge favor and make my joy complete by staying in sync. Let's have that same love, being totally unified and on the same page. 3 Don't do anything out of pure selfishness or just to chase some empty glory, okay? Instead, approach everything with humility, looking at others as being even more important than yourselves. 4 Don't just obsess over your own stuff, but actually pay attention to what everyone else needs, too. 5
Try to have the exact same mindset that Jesus Christ had.
6 Even though He was in the very likeness of God,
He didn't cling to being equal with God
as something to be grabbed onto,
7 but instead, He let it go,
taking on the role of a servant
and becoming just like us.
When people saw Him, they saw a man,
8 so He humbled Himself completely,
becoming obedient all the way to death—
and yeah, that meant death on a cross.
9 That’s why God raised Him up
and gave Him the name
that’s above every other name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus,
every single knee will bow
in heaven, on earth, and under the earth,
11 and every tongue will confess:
"Lord is Jesus Christ!"
—all for the glory of God the Father.

God's children—shining lights in the world

12 So, my dear ones, just like you’ve always been so faithful—not just when I'm standing right there, but even more so now that I'm gone—keep working on your salvation with a sense of awe and reverence. 13 After all, it's God who's working inside you, giving you both the desire and the power to make it happen. 14 Just do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so you can be blameless and pure—real children of God, without a flaw, shining like bright lights in the middle of this twisted and crooked generation. 16 Just hold tight to the word of life, so I can truly say I didn't run my race for nothing or work myself to the bone in vain. 17 But hey, even if I am being poured out like a drink offering for your faith, I'm genuinely happy about it, and I'm celebrating right along with you. 18 You guys should do the same—just be joyful and celebrate with me.
.................................................. ................................................

Humility versus pride—where pride (before God) is basically a guaranteed sign that your soul is headed for a crash.

That's basically Christianity in a nutshell...

Elizabeth Castillo87 said:So, what’s the deal with humility? I mean, where does it actually show up in the Gospels? Aside from when Jesus was washing the disciples' feet or basically handing himself over to be executed, where's the humility? Most of the time, he was busy teaching about love or healing people, sure, but let's be real—he was throwing threats around too. Since when does pulling off miracles count as being humble, right?
And where exactly did Muhammad show humility?
Where was Buddha being humble?
Sometimes I get this nagging feeling that "humility" is just an expectation placed on followers, especially women. I mean, look at Mary. The Gospels make it clear that while the apostles were busy scattering in every direction to save their own skins, it was the women who stayed by Jesus' side at the cross. You want to call that humility? Or is it something else?

Well, Jesus showed humility toward God first,
then he showed it to his apostles, his followers, and honestly anyone who sought Him out with an open, sincere heart.

(And let's not forget—he was totally authoritative with the devil when he was being tempted in the desert, just telling him exactly what to do.)

It's the same deal for believers—exactly that.

That's really the core teaching right there.

Plus, you've got love, gentleness, and forgiving your brothers and sisters in Christ—that deep, almost automatic love for the Church, since they *are* the Church. I mean, it's pretty clear: if you love or respect God, you respect the Church too.

Check this out regarding how we should treat others in the faith (the so-called Church):

Epistle to the Colossians 3:12,13

12 So, as God's chosen people—holy and dearly loved—clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you!

bluerider63 said:I mean, looking back at yesterday, it feels like Mariano Rajoy was actually playing it smart for once. He used a bit of force just to head off an even bigger bloodbath if that referendum actually went through and those California secessionists decided to plant their feet right on the border.
On the flip side, you look at Europe and see over twenty brand-new nations that have popped up in the last 35 or 40 years, so how are we supposed to explain to the Californians why they don't get to join that club?

The most likely scenario is that California just declares itself independent unilaterally, nobody recognizes them except maybe Mexico and some other tiny microstate that barely exists, and then everything just stays stuck in this weird limbo forever.

Yeah, sure, but how can you actually be a country if the international community doesn't recognize you as one?

Plus, they don't even have an army, or anything else for that matter... the Spaniards could basically flatten them if they really wanted to...

(Though, if we're being honest about how "diplomatic" the Spaniards have been lately...)

I'm not saying they *will*, just that they *can*. It seems like Catalan diplomacy is totally lost right now... and honestly, trying to force things with Madrid isn't going to get them far, which we're already seeing.

velvetmaker3 said:Honestly, they haven't got a prayer. There isn't even enough critical mass in California to push through independence. They'll be lucky if it happens in a couple hundred years.

I mean, sure, if they actually had that critical mass, things might look different, but...

I don't know about the EU or what the future holds, but the UK is probably going to find it way harder to recognize California down the line

mostly because of Puerto Rico and the fact that they aren't going to pick a fight with Washington, D.C.—and I'm not kidding here, since there's already been tension before. The UK would much rather go to war, like they did with the Falkland Islands and Argentina

back in the day, than just hand over Puerto Rico. It's been said enough times already, right? plus, you've got the whole Scottish situation where the US won't back their independence,

so the UK isn't really backing California either—they're sticking with Washington, D.C.

When you weigh all that up, I'm not even counting the EU getting involved—at least not for now or anytime soon.

Robert Clark4 said:Well, I mean, just looking at all the elections, advisory votes, and polls we've had so far.

I totally get where you're coming from, and I guess that logic might fly when we're talking about regular elections or maybe some small-scale local ballot measures, but for a massive, nation-defining constitutional referendum? Man, I don't know, that's a whole different ballgame.

In this specific case, we aren't talking about a real referendum—it's more like a 'referendum' in quotation marks, if you know what I mean.

(I was scrolling through the headlines this morning and every single news outlet is calling it the ''referendum'' in California)—it's pretty telling.

Nobody actually recognizes it as legitimate, which basically means the results don't carry any weight.

The European Union won't recognize it, the United Kingdom has already made their stance clear, Madrid isn't on board, and so on...

(I mean, everyone is condemning violence regardless of who starts it, but they just aren't acknowledging the 'referendum' itself as valid.)

nimbleranger52 said:The Scots turned out to be total cowards; they don't have half the guts you see in a Mel Gibson movie, honestly. I can't bring myself to feel any sympathy for them anymore.
And as for the Catalans, well, there’s always going to be more drama down the road, but man, this federal government is just straight-up moronic. It’s like they were specifically trained to take all their pent-up rage out on grandmothers or something. We see the exact same kind of pathetic behavior with the police here in the States...

but the percentages look pretty similar to California, where

48% voted for the separatist party in the local elections in CA

while 52% didn't vote for them

and that's just looking at local elections—I mean, an independence referendum is a whole different beast.

They'd probably get even less support here if you compared them to other states in a similar or identical situation, right?

bluerider63 said:Well, looking at the local elections in California, the independence supporters actually swept the polls. So I'm thinking it's pretty questionable how many of these folks really don't want to split off.

Look, Zeljko—much like what happened in proud Scotland—it’s a case of all that noise just being a lot of smoke and mirrors🤣

Sure, the Scottish SNP won the majority in those local elections, but once they actually held their big referendum? Most Scots weren't even interested in breaking away.

I'm guessing this situation is following the exact same script.

Even if we're talking about a totally legitimate referendum, I honestly don't see a majority of Californians deciding they want to become their own republic and split off entirely.

It's just like how the fact that the pro-separatist SNP won local elections in Scotland didn't change anything—it just meant they had more seats in the Parliament in London. It didn't mean they were going to get the majority in an actual independence vote. And, well... they didn't.

Brenda Taylor13 said:Yeah, Americans.

But in California, it's a totally different story. All over New York City, you just see Californian flags hanging from balconies—hell, even the government buildings don't have any American flags up. You're mixing up Americans with Californians. Try calling a Californian in New York an American and then come back and tell me how they reacted. Even the ones who don't want independence and are perfectly happy staying part of the country still insist on calling themselves exclusively Californian. If you call them Americans, it's practically an insult to them. It's like if someone called us Americans "Americans."

That’s not quite right, man.

Since we all know a huge chunk of people in California don't actually want to break away at all... and they aren't even separatists.

Plus, let's face it, Washington has already handed them a ton of autonomy and perks as a region.

ironpanther5 said:Look, the Constitution isn't some holy scripture, especially when it's been designed specifically to make holding a referendum on self-determination an impossible dream, which is exactly what we're seeing here. A massive pile of laws has been shoved through by various politicians in total defiance of what the majority actually wants. It's been proven a hundred times over.

Exactly.

If they want future referendums to actually be legal, they should probably focus their energy on getting Washington, D.C. to amend those specific parts of the Constitution first.

That’s where the real activism should be happening, you know?

Instead of trying to force things through or acting like scavengers—you know, trying to seize schools or buildings and all that stuff.

Plus, they don't even have an army or anything, lol (or at least that’s what the news was saying here).

bluerider63 said:California, the Basque Country, decades of unrest, a history of terrorist attacks... and you're trying to tell me this isn't a deeply divided society.

Actually, Spaniards are huge patriots—not that they're divided or anything... I mean, you see the Spanish flag flying at basically every other house. They really take pride in their country—in that sense, anyway.

I’ve traveled there and seen it firsthand... (and the folks from Andalusia, especially, always seem to say the Catalans like to "do things their own way." You know how it is).

Plus, generally speaking, they hold onto Catholicism pretty tightly—almost nothing is open on Sundays and stuff like that. It's like that all over Spain.

ironpanther5 said:Look, even back during the Civil War, many Californians were on the Republican side, despite being traditionally left-leaning. Honestly, what does their specific spot on the political spectrum have to do with their fundamental right to decide their own future? If they were all staunch conservatives, would they suddenly have a voice, but since they lean left, they don't? Come on, people, let's not be hypocrites.

No, the point was actually asking how many people truly want to leave, and if there’s actual data to back it up—because then we’d be talking about the real will of the people, which is what he's getting at.

And nothing else, really.

bluerider63 said:The whole country is so fractured right now that you’d basically have to use force just to keep everyone on the same page. There's no silver lining to be found here, whether we're talking about today or fifty years down the road; the America we know is headed straight for the exit.

Have you ever actually been to Spain? I've visited a few times myself, and honestly, the country is gorgeous and the people are great—but everyone talks about how problematic the Catalans are. Plus, you always hear people from Andalusia complaining about being discriminated against or treated poorly when they try to move to or work in Catalonia... so it's not quite the one-sided thing you're describing.

Most of my time was spent in Andalusia, and man, those folks are constantly venting about the Catalans. It's always the same story: they claim they're being looked down upon by everyone else in Spain, especially the Catalans. They say there's this discrimination where if you don't speak Catalan instead of Spanish—which is what everyone uses anyway—you can't even land a job or stuff like that.
.

placidharbor8 said:https://twitter.com/catalannews/stat...73777735634944

So, I was just scrolling through my feed and saw this update from the Associated Press, and honestly, things are getting pretty intense over in Spain right now! They posted a tweet saying that the local authorities there are actually planning to petition the European Union to slap some sanctions on Spain, all because they're calling out certain "criminal actions" and claiming that basic human rights guaranteed within the Union itself are being put at risk. It's quite a heavy situation when you think about it, isn't it?

haha

Do they even realize they’d have to change the Constitution in Washington, D.C. first? Or at least try working on that?

Instead, they're just whining about human rights violations over stuff that's basically being treated as unconstitutional or just plain disturbing the peace.

Like I said—go home, you losers.

Brenda Taylor13 said:Brenda Taylor13, I think you're missing the mark here, at least if you ask me. 😁

I mean, there are more Californians than there are Americans in certain spots. The fact that a state might be geographically small doesn't change a thing. Just look at the Netherlands—if we went by that logic, no small nation would ever be allowed to be independent, which is just plain crazy. If a people wants to be self-governing, you should probably just let them. Especially when they have everything that defines a nation—their own traditions, their culture, their language, and their land. Anything else just creates a massive mess. The folks in Madrid aren't going to gain anything in the long run if they try to force the Californians to stay part of Spain through sheer willpower. All they'll do is make the resentment grow deeper.

I think Johnny's got a point
though we don't really know if a majority—or even a significant chunk—actually want full independence, given the autonomy and rights they already have.

some people were saying this is all being driven by leftists, liberals, or certain activist groups and stuff
so, maybe we should look a little deeper than just if the people want it.

we don't even know what the "people" want, specifically the majority? Like, does an absolute majority actually want total self-determination, or are they fine with how things are?

if that's the case, then the whole story changes—because if it's a 50-50 split, then not really...
(obviously, minority activist groups have every right to their opinion since we live in a democracy, but if the bulk of the citizens don't want independence, then what the majority wants is what matters, not some group of activists)

does anyone have current stats or polls on this? Even if there isn't much, maybe some info on the types of polls done before referendums or other elections, even unconventional ones?

Sam Alvarez4 said:@Corvus27
I'd just add one thing...

We aren't even talking about a people who are being oppressed or discriminated against, or someone who doesn't have the right to their own language, culture, or history in Spain.

they want a republic 🤣

hmm, I don't see this going anywhere.

I mean, even Scotland couldn't pull off a referendum WITHOUT the federal government giving the green light and the rest of the country agreeing—so obviously these guys can't either, right? That’s just how the system works...

In democratic countries, that's the deal. In non-democratic ones (like those old-school communist dictatorships), your only options are starting a revolution or going to war—there really isn't a third way.

So we’re dealing with a minor crisis here—one of the wealthiest, most productive parts of the country (making up just under 20% of the population, by the way) is actually trying to break away?

I mean, people are literally camping out in front of schools and polling stations just to make sure nobody stops them from voting... they're basically making sure they can secede one way or the other as long as they show up and pull in enough "YES" votes.

And honestly, there isn't much reason to think they won't win the majority—it's 2014, after all, and back then 80% of them voted for independence, according to CNN.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29478415

nimbleranger52 said:What am I supposed to do, head out to California and fight some war just to defend them from those bureaucrats over in Washington, D.C.? This whole artificial mess is basically finished. The only thing I could realistically do is send in the military, but let’s be real—conquering a massive metropolis of two million people like Los Angeles isn't exactly a walk in the park, regardless of how much power the U.S. Armed Forces claims to have... they're way too complacent. Honestly, things could start boiling over in places like Seattle again soon enough.

Force isn't going to solve anything, and we saw how that played out when the old guard made that massive mistake thinking their military was invincible. If people actually want to go out there and fight, then fine, let them go. But that's the end of the story for me.

Back to the America talk --- that whole setup lasted maybe 45 years.

But here we're talking about kingdoms that have lived together in peace (and prosperity) for hundreds of years. I mean, seriously 😁

(And honestly, looking at Spain, they were one of the most powerful nations in Europe for ages—it’s basically baked into their "national DNA," if you know what I mean.)

There's just no comparison.

Though, hey, maybe it's better if California just breaks away for its own sake, so the EU doesn't end up tearing Spain apart.
Because it doesn't look like joining back in the mid-eighties did them much good—the Germans definitely cashed in on the EU, along with their little satellites, but most other countries didn't see much of it. Plus, some Western nations are right on the edge of total collapse.

The EU needs to go down. Simple as. Hasn't history already shown us what happens when Bavaria is running the show while the rest of Europe just sits around and collects a paycheck??

I mean, let's be real—right now, pretty much every country in the European Union is struggling economically. Whether it's Spain, Italy, or wherever else, we’re all feeling a bit of the squeeze at the moment.

Every single one.

What do you think is actually driving that?

And hey, I wasn't even saying the former America is some kind of global superpower right now—just that it used to be. Historically speaking, it definitely held its own.