Futon Reformer

thebluthcompany:

mattzakgoldmanstacks sent a link to a reddit thread where they discussed this scene. 

In S01E10 “Pier Pressure” Buster is pulling out his Medical Marijuana binder from what we can assume are binders related to other ‘Studies’ that Buster has taken part in, and what we observe is a binder labeled:

“HEMISPHERECTOMY SURGERY”

A hemispherectomy is a very rare surgical procedure where one cerebral hemisphere (half of the brain) is removed or disabled.

Might this explain a lot about why Buster as an adult is still needing constant supervision…. among other things…

• “may suffer problems with their vision as well.”
• “Feeling tired or depressed.”
• “…you lose use of the hand opposite of the hemisphere that was removed.”
• Q: “What Risks Are Associated With a Functional Hemispherectomy?

• A: Delayed (or arrested) development.

[via]

This.Is.Brilliant.

misererelent:

It is hard to live…

For we were so utterly burdened that we despaired of life itself. Indeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death.

Difficulty is no stranger to the life of a Christian. Contrary to the soft-pedaled lies of TV preachers, your life isn’t going to be sweeter than the day before. In fact, somethings get tougher as we walk through them with Christ. Far from the serendipitous dance presented Christian kitsch, our life struggles upward.

It is no surprise that the our walk with Christ is presented as a distance race or a boxing match. These are two of the most grueling athletic events. Both require painstaking training and discipline of the muscles.

The Christian life is hard because God will not let us dally with idols. He is jealous and ruthless. He will rid us of the things that we love more than him. This is simultaneously beautiful and terrifying.

No wonder Paul gives us such a hopeful rational to why God puts these obstacles in our lives.

But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

misererelent:

We think ourselves kings

For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. - Galatians 6:3

Rouault follows up the plate “Are we not all convicts” with “We think ourselves kings”. 

In doing this, he captures the duplicity of our humanity. One day, we feel our shame, the next we try to cover it over. But this movement doesn’t take days. We go from shame to creating a false self moment by moment. 

In the last plate, the convict wore no chains, in this one the king does. We make ourselves feel acceptable with the things we wear, the things we own, and the things we project about who we are.

Is there weariness in you, Christian? Where does it come from? Does it come from your shame or from your constant efforts to appear to have it all together. Rouault reminds us that we are all convicts and yet we play the part of kings.

Christ calls us away from all of this. He calls us to stop living two lives. The fact that we are already known and accepted in Christ allows us to put aside the chains of the convict and the king. We can live a new life, free.

Free to admit our faults.

Free from the oppression of judgment.

Free to live unto our Savior, the true king.

misererelent:

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. - Isaiah 53:3

Jesus reviled

As we enter the season of Lent, we look full in the face of the ugliness of sin. Sin is not something we particularly like to talk about. It is uncomfortable. Sin wrecks relationships. Sin calls to mind all that is broken in our lives.

But sin should also call to mind all the breaking that we have done. We are not just victims. We are victimizers. While we may not be the worst person we know, each one of us must admit we have been selfish. We have used others. We have been arogant or prideful.

We hate the feeling that sin creates. When someone sins against us we bristle and whither. When we sin against others we are filled with the worst kind of shame. All of this sin, shame, guilt, and ugliness is hard to look at.

And so Rouault, in just the second plate in the series forces us to stare at the ugliness of Christ. Christ who knew no sin became sin for us. The creator of beauty, painter of sunsets, and scupltor of canyons takes on the rejection and sorrow of His creatures. It is hard to look at our sin clearly. We shrink back. We look away.

How much harder is it to look at our Lord in his passion. As He bares our ugliness so that he might recreate beauty in us.

He was reviled that we may be revived.

Angie and I got a chance to go to my favorite restaurant. It’s an absolute gem in west Michigan, called Mia & Grace. We had stuffed Dates as an appetizer, Bleu Cheese Raviolli and a Cheeseburger sausage. Tasty!