Gratia Léger
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gratialeger.bsky.social
Gratia Léger
@gratialeger.bsky.social
Reader. Writer. Dog lover. Historian. Tea lover. Walker. Knitter. Vegetable whisperer. Lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan.
Reposted by Gratia Léger
Worth remembering that the Christian nationalism that fueled the empires in The Great War seeded Europe's turn away from Christianity for the next century.

Historically, Christian nationalism is the enemy of true faith. It is a false gospel whose fruits are known mostly in war.
November 11, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Yesterday Argyll & I used a trail converted from a RR line.

I call these “The Watchers by the Way”, and have observed them over many years. Currently bearded by vines & sometimes defaced by graffiti, they stand and watch no matter what.

#beautyisresistance
#beautyasresistance
November 11, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I signed.
November 10, 2025 at 4:44 PM
It’s that time again: savoy cabbage sautéed with apple, cranberries, parsley, & a hint of garlic then seasoned with cardamom.
Make it while the cranberry harvest lasts.
November 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Exactly
What the Senate Democratic defectors did is like the Montgomery bus boycotters calling it quits after 40 days because city leaders promised to “review” bus seating policies.

History teaches us the status quo doesn’t change because of vague promises, it changes because people persist in resisting.
November 10, 2025 at 12:18 PM
November 9 is a big date in Germany's relationship to democracy.

www.dw.com/en/november-...
November 9: A fateful day in the history of Germany – DW – 11/09/2025
From the end of the monarchy to the 1938 pogroms to the fall of the Berlin Wall, November 9 is a significant date on the German calendar.
www.dw.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The moon just came up, pale apricot and leaning forward & a little to his right to whisper something into our ears.
November 9, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Elections are a challenge to power. That’s their point. And if you think you should be in power for ever, you will not be a friend to free and fair elections.”

—Joanne Freeman, with Heather Cox Richardson,
“What the Heck Just Happened” 11/8/2025.
November 8, 2025 at 5:42 PM
No walk today because a dear friend I've not seen in a dozen years was in town. Here's a photo from 2021 of acorns from a chestnut oak. I adore chestnut oaks for their alligator-like bark and these dark, dark acorns.

#beautyasresistance
#beautyisresistance
November 7, 2025 at 11:47 PM
I saw no photos of Biden falling asleep on the job. And yet there was a constant outcry that he was too old to do his job.
Who's Sleepy POTUS now?

Looks like low energy to me.
photos of Trump sleeping through yesterday's Oval Office event via Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 7, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Are we all having sandwiches for supper?
November 6, 2025 at 8:13 PM
He bulldozed the East Wing after No Kings II.

I hope someone is keeping an eye on the original part of the White House after the election. (I guess the West Wing is safe, since he labeled the Oval Office in big fake gold.)
November 6, 2025 at 12:32 AM
I had an early morning thing, so Argyll & I walked at noon, on this trail, converted from an old RR line.
These are the kinds of things gvts do that build community.

Community= beauty, and
#beautyisresistance
#beautyasrestance
#communityislife
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I am a descendant of many generations of Mississippi voters (one of whom helped create the state’s constitution early in the 19th C).
This makes me VERY happy. Democracy is precious.
Mississippi Democrats made significant gains in the legislative special elections on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, flipping two Mississippi Senate seats, one Mississippi House seat and breaking the Republican super majority in the Mississippi Senate.

Here's a look at the results in each district.
Mississippi Special Election Results: Democrats Flip 3 Seats
Mississippi Democrats made significant gains in the legislative special elections on Tuesday, Nov. 4, flipping two Senate seats and one House seat.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Gratia Léger
Turns out most people do, in fact, prefer democracy to autocracy.
November 5, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote!

Vote like your life depends on it.

Because it does.
November 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
November 3, 2025 at 10:47 PM
I love this oak tree root from my church's grounds. Like a growing gargoyle, eying the labyrinth. Photo is from last Thursday, after the deluge but before the wind.

#beautyisresistance
#beautyasresistance
November 3, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I just called my congresswoman and urged her to do whatever she can in the House to investigate and push back against the numerous examples of this regime’s flagrant violations of the Hatch Act.
November 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Best sermon I’ve heard in a while.
A sitting congressman told SNAP recipients to “stop smoking crack.” So today’s Sunday sermon is a rebuke of his cruelty.

open.substack.com/pub/drstacey...
Lord, Deliver Us from These 'Crackheads' in Congress
This Substack is reader-supported.
open.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:09 PM
A Heinrich Schütz motet for All Saints: Seelig sind die Toten.
Published in 1648--the year the 30 Years' War, which killed millions and led to a population decline of 50% in parts of Germany. The war was an utter catastrophe for the German people.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsC8...
Schütz | Selig sind die Toten [SWV 391, á 6; Westminster Kantorei]
YouTube video by Andrea Scalia - Early Music
www.youtube.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:58 PM
I see that Trump held a Gatsby party.

Seriously, I think a major contributor to this regime is that not one of these people has ever been exposed to the humanities.

Learning to read lit & history matters.

Humanities is about being human.
November 1, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Gratia Léger
A horrific mass murder is unfolding in Sudan, where no one can see it. The RSF are murdering civilians in El Fasher, having finally defeated the Sudanese army forces holding out in the city. The BBC has managed to speak to some who escaped

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7fC...
Sudanese survivors of el-Fasher siege tell the BBC about RSF brutality | BBC News
YouTube video by BBC News
www.youtube.com
November 1, 2025 at 7:14 AM
First the deluge, then the wind.

I just watched a long line of new-colored leaves race like children toward me. Then while each end scattered, those in the center joined hands and danced in a circle till they disappeared.
Joy
Maybe this wind is spirit demonstrating God’s joy in God’s world.
October 31, 2025 at 1:33 PM
No walk this morning owing to a coastal low bringing sideways rain. When it began to clear, we happened to be at my church, so wandered the grounds.

The trees have dressed up to match the building.

#beautyisresistance
#beautyasresistance
October 30, 2025 at 10:00 PM