“LOSE YOUR ILLUSIONS”
Recent Reflections — Seeing, Surrendering, and Staying in the Spirit
It has been a season of seeing things more clearly for me, and that’s a theme for my latest work. Let’s see things more clearly— in the world, in ourselves, and in how God calls us to live and respond. Across The Quiet Ember and Stoking the Embers, these three pieces share one thread: waking up to truth, aligning our will with God’s, and learning how to respond not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.
🕊️ Live in the Spirit, Not the Flesh
Stoking the Embers - We react to life constantly — to people, problems, and even temptations — but not all reactions are equal. The devil can’t force us to sin; he only nudges us to react in ways that pull us off course. In this piece, I explore what it means to “react in the flesh,” and how spiritual composure turns every provocation into an opportunity to resist the enemy. Staying in the Spirit means learning to meet every moment — even the frustrating ones — from a higher place of trust, hope, and surrender to God’s providence.
Featured Story
🙏 “TEACH ME TO DO YOUR WILL”
Stoking the Embers - This reflection begins with a single line from Psalm 143:10: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.” What starts as a simple prayer becomes a powerful recognition of God’s authority as the true Master and Teacher of the soul. I share how, through the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Anthony, I moved from saying “I’ll consider it” to “I’ll do it.” It’s about humility before divine instruction — standing before God not as negotiators, but as students ready to learn what love demands of us. CHECK IT OUT →
Podcast Episode Clip - “See Through the Illusion!”
THE QUIET EMBER
The Glasses Were Always On — Lessons from They Live
A short essay, and a podcast episode on the same topic
THE GLASSES WERE ALWAYS THERE
SHORT ARTICLE: Seeing the world as it is might ruin your peace, but I might also save your soul. This is a reflection on what we learn from the movie, They Live. It was the basis for the podcast episode, “Lessons from They Live
LESSONS FROM “THEY LIVE"
In this podcast,I tear into the eerie accuracy of John Carpenter’s They Live, showing how the film’s “glasses” reveal not aliens, but our willingness to believe lies
“ONE LAST THING!”
HITLER SAVED GERMANY? - Notesworthy #1
Building on a response to a post on Substack Notes claiming that Hitler saved Germany (in other words, ‘maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all’), I explain why facts don't always tell the truth, especially in this case
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Stay Fired up! 🔥🔥 God bless and be with you all!
TJ Haines, Catholic Firebrand