Further

I'm noticing that physical tension

I've learned what it means.

I'm responding to it proactively rather than letting it continue to build up and drive my choices.

Yes, some energy goes away when I do that, energy that I might have needed following a short night of sleep, but the gain is not worth reentering the dynamic.

Today's word

ultima /UL-tuh-muh/ - the last syllable of a word

This definition makes sense, given what I already knew about the related ultimate and penultimate. I think I was more familiar with the related penult, though I think I'd heard of neither ultima nor penultima. 

I think I'll probably end up pronouncing this word as /UL-tih-muh/, even though that isn't given as an alternate pronunciation.

Also, with apologies to the reader: the ultima of syllable sounds like a bunch of bull to me. 

It has been a very long time . . .

. . . since I've done anything truly reprehensible - although I'm sure that when I see what I think of as my "smaller sins" in the clear, loving light of God's truth I'll be appalled at how inaccurate that statement is. Still, it feels good to know that I have set boundaries that I remain unwilling to cross even when the temptation to do so may grow strong. And I am grateful to God for the grace that keeps me from giving rein to my more ignoble inclinations.

Timely

I'm so grateful, this morning, for friends who share the Word. FB gave me my favorite Christmas reading just when I need to get my thoughts where they belong.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Today's word

veridical /vuh-RID-ih-kul/ - 1. truthful, veracious  2. not illusory : genuine

I find it helpful, in light of last night's dream of a practice that I am sure is not God's will, that both example sentences in today's WOTD article deal with the fact that our memories and our sensory experiences (and, by extension, so much more that takes place in our minds, including our feelings) can be misleading.

A most vivid and graphic dream . . .

. . . stokes my inappropriate feelings and desires.

I renounce that impurity in the name of Jesus.