J.R. Houck
@hopefulmystic.com
Queer Episcopalian trying to find someway of making sense of faith in a world that seems more intent on weaponizing it then practicing it.
Come find me on my website as I start journeying through the Lectionary Readings. https://hopefulmystic.com
Come find me on my website as I start journeying through the Lectionary Readings. https://hopefulmystic.com
Pinned
J.R. Houck
@hopefulmystic.com
· 25d
βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι’ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον· ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην.
A culmination of all my thoughts on Advent and Christmas.
First Sunday After Christmas | December 28, 2025
In the beginning, before anything that was made was made, the Son of God’s mission to earth was crystallized. To be born of a virgin, to be crucified on a cross, to rise from the dead, to defeat death...
hopefulmystic.com
December 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM
A culmination of all my thoughts on Advent and Christmas.
Christmas dinner. Pheasant Normandy with buttery roasted garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.
December 25, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Christmas dinner. Pheasant Normandy with buttery roasted garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.
Hardest part of writing is when you use a turn of phrase and you know you’re quoting someone but can’t remember who. I have too many books.
December 23, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Hardest part of writing is when you use a turn of phrase and you know you’re quoting someone but can’t remember who. I have too many books.
Reposted by J.R. Houck
Becoming an Episcopalian has meant learning the joys of the liturgical calendar, the various seasons of the church, and the lectionary, and how all of these play together in order to balance out your year.
We’ve reached the tail end of Advent. Four of our five candles are lit. The angels are being dispatched to sing songs of the coming King. But, first, we wait in anxious anticipation.
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT | DECEMBER 21, 2025
We’ve reached the tail end of Advent. Four of our five candles are lit. The angels are being dispatched to sing songs of the coming King. But, first, we wait in anxious anticipation.
hopefulmystic.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Becoming an Episcopalian has meant learning the joys of the liturgical calendar, the various seasons of the church, and the lectionary, and how all of these play together in order to balance out your year.
Becoming an Episcopalian has meant learning the joys of the liturgical calendar, the various seasons of the church, and the lectionary, and how all of these play together in order to balance out your year.
We’ve reached the tail end of Advent. Four of our five candles are lit. The angels are being dispatched to sing songs of the coming King. But, first, we wait in anxious anticipation.
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT | DECEMBER 21, 2025
We’ve reached the tail end of Advent. Four of our five candles are lit. The angels are being dispatched to sing songs of the coming King. But, first, we wait in anxious anticipation.
hopefulmystic.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Becoming an Episcopalian has meant learning the joys of the liturgical calendar, the various seasons of the church, and the lectionary, and how all of these play together in order to balance out your year.
We’ve reached the tail end of Advent. Four of our five candles are lit. The angels are being dispatched to sing songs of the coming King. But, first, we wait in anxious anticipation.
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT | DECEMBER 21, 2025
We’ve reached the tail end of Advent. Four of our five candles are lit. The angels are being dispatched to sing songs of the coming King. But, first, we wait in anxious anticipation.
hopefulmystic.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
We’ve reached the tail end of Advent. Four of our five candles are lit. The angels are being dispatched to sing songs of the coming King. But, first, we wait in anxious anticipation.
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
hopefulmystic.com/anxious-anti...
A little fire for this almost winter night.
December 21, 2025 at 3:48 AM
A little fire for this almost winter night.
Reposted by J.R. Houck
A new federal rule would ban gender affirming care at virtually every hospital system in the country.
Now, an organization says they've prepared, have private clinics and financial aid ready for families that need them.
Meet one group fighting back, the TYEP.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Now, an organization says they've prepared, have private clinics and financial aid ready for families that need them.
Meet one group fighting back, the TYEP.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Trans Youth Emergency Project Offers Families Guidance To Help Keep Getting Care After New Trump Anti-Trans Rule
The organization tells EITM that they are prepared to scale up for further shutdown of care, and can offer most families places to continue getting care.
www.erininthemorning.com
December 20, 2025 at 6:16 PM
A new federal rule would ban gender affirming care at virtually every hospital system in the country.
Now, an organization says they've prepared, have private clinics and financial aid ready for families that need them.
Meet one group fighting back, the TYEP.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Now, an organization says they've prepared, have private clinics and financial aid ready for families that need them.
Meet one group fighting back, the TYEP.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Chose life reject the cult of death.
Chose life reject the cult of death.
Christian Nationalism Is a Death Cult—And Trans Kids Are the Target
They worship a transphobic god who would rather see them dead than develop into who they were created to be.
substack.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:22 AM
"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Chose life reject the cult of death.
Chose life reject the cult of death.
Look, I don't want to judge, but who actually enjoys something like this? Bad off-Broadway spectacle with lots of noise and incoherence.
Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas...$70 per ticket.
December 20, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Look, I don't want to judge, but who actually enjoys something like this? Bad off-Broadway spectacle with lots of noise and incoherence.
This is a favorite of mine.
Hania Rani – Live from Studio S2
YouTube video by Gondwana Records
youtu.be
December 20, 2025 at 3:11 AM
This is a favorite of mine.
My Instagram is foodie shit and mom comedians. I’m beginning to think the algorithm thinks I’m a domesticated house wife.
December 20, 2025 at 2:22 AM
My Instagram is foodie shit and mom comedians. I’m beginning to think the algorithm thinks I’m a domesticated house wife.
This "win" is pretty short lived. Doesn't even matter now.
December 18, 2025 at 6:50 PM
This "win" is pretty short lived. Doesn't even matter now.
Once again, we need to call this what it is: evil. Denying anyone care is evil; telling children receiving care that they can no longer receive medically necessary care is evil.
4.The new rule contains no exceptions for patients already receiving care, meaning transgender youth who have remained in treatment even under some red-state bans would immediately see that care cut off. For many, this would amount to forced medical detransition.
The government acknowledges this.
The government acknowledges this.
December 18, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Once again, we need to call this what it is: evil. Denying anyone care is evil; telling children receiving care that they can no longer receive medically necessary care is evil.
If there is one minor good to come out of this period, it is a renaissance of the Patristics and Patristics not grounded in Augustinian tradition. People re-discovering Gregory of Nyssa is a fundamental good. Also, I will ironically thank Kirk Cameron for kicking off the recent freakout about Hell.
This Book Made Me Rethink Hell
YouTube video by Gospel Simplicity
youtu.be
December 18, 2025 at 4:56 PM
If there is one minor good to come out of this period, it is a renaissance of the Patristics and Patristics not grounded in Augustinian tradition. People re-discovering Gregory of Nyssa is a fundamental good. Also, I will ironically thank Kirk Cameron for kicking off the recent freakout about Hell.
There is something comically annoying about how some people will put on the pretense of being anti-AI, then use AI in their newsletters and fliers for events. I am seeing this a lot in Christian spaces, which should not surprise me, but the cheapness some people have for art is troublesome.
December 17, 2025 at 2:17 PM
There is something comically annoying about how some people will put on the pretense of being anti-AI, then use AI in their newsletters and fliers for events. I am seeing this a lot in Christian spaces, which should not surprise me, but the cheapness some people have for art is troublesome.
If you are using macOS 26 I highly recommend upgrading to 26.2. Besides the usual security fixes I swear they have fixed some of the worst bugs I have encountered since Tahoe released. Genuinely a usable upgrade now.
December 16, 2025 at 7:06 PM
If you are using macOS 26 I highly recommend upgrading to 26.2. Besides the usual security fixes I swear they have fixed some of the worst bugs I have encountered since Tahoe released. Genuinely a usable upgrade now.
This genuinely surprised me to learn as well. It’s sort of like the apocrypha, how every Bible had it till the British Bible Society donors forced them to take it out in the early 19th century, and now it's hard to find one with it. So much historical revisionism from the 18th on.
what I am learning from the comments is that both Luther and Calvin affirmed Mary’s perpetual virginity! *fascinating^
huh: I was not expecting “the ever Virgin Mary” to be a term used in a Protestant confession? (this is the Second Helvetic) — I was under the impression that Luther taught Mary and Joseph later had children? (or is that an unfounded assumption?)
December 16, 2025 at 6:32 PM
This genuinely surprised me to learn as well. It’s sort of like the apocrypha, how every Bible had it till the British Bible Society donors forced them to take it out in the early 19th century, and now it's hard to find one with it. So much historical revisionism from the 18th on.
Reposted by J.R. Houck
on the one hand, I appreciate the willingness of this particular church to lean into even violence against their property and maintain a clear proclamation
on the other hand,… … y’all we’re fighting against demons out here — it’s so obvious
on the other hand,… … y’all we’re fighting against demons out here — it’s so obvious
I…did not see the closing sentence of this photo caption coming: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/n...
December 16, 2025 at 3:22 AM
on the one hand, I appreciate the willingness of this particular church to lean into even violence against their property and maintain a clear proclamation
on the other hand,… … y’all we’re fighting against demons out here — it’s so obvious
on the other hand,… … y’all we’re fighting against demons out here — it’s so obvious
Reposted by J.R. Houck
Good lord. A heartbreaking thread.
Last week, I quit girlguiding.
I'm not currently living in the UK but I was still on the books so I could help at events, help with admin.
I cried for several hours.
I'm trans, and I'm not going to volunteer for an organisation that won't accept kids like me.
I'm not currently living in the UK but I was still on the books so I could help at events, help with admin.
I cried for several hours.
I'm trans, and I'm not going to volunteer for an organisation that won't accept kids like me.
December 15, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Good lord. A heartbreaking thread.
Reposted by J.R. Houck
*sitting up to pound my fist dramatically on the table and point at this paragraph with fury and emphasis*
(please read the whole thing though, that last line is chef's kiss)
(please read the whole thing though, that last line is chef's kiss)
December 14, 2025 at 3:16 PM
*sitting up to pound my fist dramatically on the table and point at this paragraph with fury and emphasis*
(please read the whole thing though, that last line is chef's kiss)
(please read the whole thing though, that last line is chef's kiss)
“Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs,
they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.”
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs,
they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.”
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT | DECEMBER 14, 2025
We find ourselves now in the third Sunday of Advent, our readings once again proclaiming the immanent and the imminent. We are surrounded by eternity bursting at the boundaries of the present, and lik...
hopefulmystic.com
December 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
“Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs,
they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.”
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs,
they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.”
Reposted by J.R. Houck
It' is now the third Sunday of Advent and like John the Baptist we ask "Are you the one who is to come?".
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT | DECEMBER 14, 2025
We find ourselves now in the third Sunday of Advent, our readings once again proclaiming the immanent and the imminent. We are surrounded by eternity bursting at the boundaries of the present, and lik...
hopefulmystic.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:50 PM
It' is now the third Sunday of Advent and like John the Baptist we ask "Are you the one who is to come?".
It' is now the third Sunday of Advent and like John the Baptist we ask "Are you the one who is to come?".
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT | DECEMBER 14, 2025
We find ourselves now in the third Sunday of Advent, our readings once again proclaiming the immanent and the imminent. We are surrounded by eternity bursting at the boundaries of the present, and lik...
hopefulmystic.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:50 PM
It' is now the third Sunday of Advent and like John the Baptist we ask "Are you the one who is to come?".