I had every intention of getting this post out on a weekly basis, but WOW, the last month has been absolute chaos. So here we are…4 weeks late. But, like everything going awry in my life right now, I have to trust in God’s divine timing.

My house is a complete construction zone. The kitchen was gutted, and then the contractor wasted three weeks of my life. We do not have a kitchen. We barely have electricity. Yet we have to live in this house with our six dogs.

Then my manager at the cafe put in his notice, and he’s leaving next week. To say my stress level is high would be an understatement.

But I thank the Lord every day for my fiancé. He’s an incredible man and he’s really keeping me grounded and from freaking tf out.

It’s been incredibly frustrating for me to stop recording again right after I got my podcasts back up and running.

For anyone who is new here, I have two podcasts.

My smaller, personal podcast is The Podcast at The End of the Universe. It is a free form podcast that I created with the intention of being able to talk about anything and everything. I didn’t want to be stuck in a topic.

All my religious and spiritual episodes are published here as well, but in addition to more personal topics, and topics not related to religion. (I have a great episode planned about Jekyll Island.)

My main podcast is Suvatacast, a religious podcast and is the vocal ministry for my church. There I talk about all manner of religious and spiritual things. Meditation, Quakerism, the meaning of the soul, and more. This show is structured to be purely religion and spirituality. I try to keep personal chatter to a minimum. Suvatacast is not about me, but rather about how you can grow and evolve on a deeply spiritual level.

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The Links

What Quakers Can Teach Us About Pronouns

I found this to be an interesting read. Quakers have historically been one to use different second person pronouns when referring to people. While we no longer really do this, it has been part of traditional Quaker practice.

At What Temperature Does Honey Become Toxic?

Ok, this is an interesting one. I was sent this by a fellow holistic Christian woman who is helping me a lot with many things. Among them she’s been trying to keep me from getting sick with how run down I am. I love me some honey in my tea, and she knows that, so she sent me this link the other day.

This link sent me down a rabbit hole of what “toxic” means in Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine vs. Western Medicine.

What I’ve come to discover through further research is heated honey doesn’t become toxic insofar as poisonous, but it does lose the properties that make it so beneficial. When you heat raw honey, it may maintain its properties of being soothing on the throat, but it loses its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties as the heat kills off the enzymes.

Forest Witch Bookshop Ambient Music

I’ve been rather enjoying this “video.” It is a certain vibe that I rather enjoy in the evenings out in the little chaos cabin in the forest. Now if only I had internet…but that’s a different matter.

Orthodoxy Links

I have been studying Orthodoxy more and more lately, and my current obsession this week is learning about the lives of the Orthodox Saints. They’re fascinating.

It all started because I want a 2024 liturgical calendar. I was browsing the Ancient Faith store when I came across an icon for Saint Nektarios. I felt so called to this icon. I couldn’t stop staring at it. I wanted it (and will probably order it when I have somewhere to put it). I couldn’t figure out why I was so drawn to it. A quick Google Search and I learned he is considered the patron saint for people suffering from heart problems and joint problems — two ailments I have.

I found this amazing channel on YouTube that makes these mini documentaries about Orthodoxy. Their videos about the Saints are incredible and really bring them to life. Here’s the two I really enjoyed this week.