Ask the Beasts, and They Will Tell You

this is not life-threatening, but also who wants weeks of diarrhea and a fucking parasite in them lol. if you suspect you've already had this and it's passed, i would see a doctor. you might need an antiparasitic anyway. if you're actively sick, see a doctor and they might be able to prescribe medication to help you get over it faster.

try to avoid eating raw vegetables, scrub fruit with a produce brush and rinse thoroughly with water. again, don't bother with premade greens or bagged salads. if you buy lettuce, remove the outer 2-3 layers of leaves.

(x, x, x)

I am not uptight about privacy because I'm hiding something. I'm uptight about it because the people who dismiss my right to privacy are dangerous to you and me and our families, personally, all the time.

I've done two species so far, I'll do a third!

Sonoran Gopher Snakes (Pituophis catenifer affinis), family Colubridae, Prescott, Southwestern U.S.

the truly faithful servant and minister of Christ,

in order to do everything

faithfully and perfectly,

used to direct his efforts chiefly

to the exercise of those virtues

which by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

he knew pleased God more.

In this matter it happened

that he fell into a great struggle

over a doubt which,

after many days of prayer,

he proposed for resolution

to the friars who were close to him.

"What do you think, brothers,

what do you judge better?

That I should spend my time in prayer

or that I should go about preaching?

I am a poor little man,

simple and unskilled in speech;

I have received a greater grace of prayer than of speaking.

Also in prayer there seems to be a profit

and the accumulation of graces,

but in preaching

the distribution of gifts already received from heaven.

In prayer

our interior affections are purified

and we are united

with the one true and highest good

as well as strengthened in virtue;

in preaching,

we get dust on our spiritual feet,

distraction over many things and relaxation of discipline.

Finally, in prayer

we address God,

listen to him

and dwell among the angels

as if we were living an angelic life;

in preaching

we must think, see, say and hear

human things,

adapting ourselves to them

as if we were living on a human level,

for men and among men.

But there is one thing to the contrary,

that seems to outweigh all these considerations before God,

namely that the only begotten Son of God,

who is the highest wisdom,

came down from the bosom of the Father

for the sake of souls

in order to instruct the world with his example

and to speak the word of salvation to men,

whom he would redeem

with the price of his sacred blood,

cleanse with its washing

and nourish with its draft,

holding back for himself absolutely nothing

that he could freely give for our salvation.

And because we should do everything

according to the pattern shown to us in him

as on the heights of the mountain,

it seems more pleasing to God

that I interrupt my quiet

and go out to labor."

When he had mulled over these words

for many days with his friars,

he could not perceive with certainty

which of these he should choose

as more acceptable to Christ.

Although he understood extraordinary things

through the spirit of prophecy,

this question he could not resolve with certainty

on his own.

But God's providence had a better plan,

that the merit of preaching would be shown

by a revelation from heaven,

thus preserving the humility of Christ's servant.

He was not ashamed

to ask advice in small matters

from those under him,

true Friar Minor that he was,

though he had learned great things

from the supreme Teacher.

He was accustomed

to search out with special eagerness

how and in what way

he could serve God more perfectly

according to God's good pleasure.

As long as he lived

this was his supreme philosophy,

this his supreme desire,

to inquire from the wise and the simple,

the perfect and the imperfect,

the young and the old,

how he could more effectively reach

the summit of perfection.

Choosing, therefore, two of the friars, he sent them to Brother Silvester-who had seen the cross coming out from his mouth and in those days spent his time in continuous prayer on the mountain above Assisi-that Silvester might ask God to resolve his doubt over this matter and send him the answer in God's name. He also asked the holy virgin Clare to consult with the purest and simplest of the virgins living under her rule and to pray herself with the other sisters in order to seek the Lord's will in this matter. Through the miraculous revelation of the Holy Spirit, the venerable priest and the virgin dedicated to God came to the same conclusion: that it was God's good pleasure that Francis should preach as the herald of Christ. When the two friars returned and told him God's will as they had received it, he at once rose, girded himself and without the slightest delay took to the roads. He went with such fervor to carry out the divine command and he ran along so swiftly that the hand of God seemed to be upon him, giving him new strength from heaven.”

Black-chested Sparrow Peucaea humeralis

3/24/2024 Morelos, Mexico