Renee Rea

Wife, Mom, Daughter, sister and Gigi to 8 beautiful grandchildren. Patriot, Christian, proud Texan and Trump supporter!!

[Shahriq Khan @RealShahriqKhan]

I always knew Joseph’s brothers threw him in a well. What I never noticed was HOW he gets out of it.

In the Quran, a caravan comes by, a man lowers his bucket for water, and he accidentally finds Joseph down there. They take him and sell him as goods. Surah 12:19.

So in the Quran, Joseph is basically FOUND. Discovered by strangers.

Then I read Genesis, and the brothers are far guiltier.

Reuben throws him in an empty pit, planning to rescue him later. But while Reuben’s away, Judah looks at a passing caravan of Ishmaelite traders and says: why kill him? Let’s SELL him. And they do. For twenty pieces of silver. Genesis 37:26-28.

The brothers don’t lose Joseph to a passing stranger. They traffic him. They pocket the silver. It’s cold, deliberate, and damning.
Here’s what I kept circling back to.

The Bible makes the brothers MORE guilty, not less. It names Reuben. Names Judah. Names the price. Names the buyers. It refuses to soften what they did.

That’s not a book protecting its heroes.

That’s a book telling the brutal truth.

And here’s the detail that wrecked me.

Twenty pieces of silver. A brother, sold for silver, by Judah.

Fast forward 1,700 years. Another descendant of Judah is betrayed and sold. For thirty pieces of silver. By a man named Judas, which is just the Greek form of Judah. Matthew 26:15.

The “sold for silver” detail… It’s a thread.

And the Quran’s version, where Joseph is just accidentally found, snaps that thread.

I used to say the Bible was the corrupted book.

But the Bible kept the silver, kept the betrayal, kept the guilt, because it was all pointing forward.

Joseph sold for silver, betrayed by his brothers, descending into a pit, rising to save the very ones who betrayed him.

That was always a portrait of Jesus.

The Bible kept every ugly detail because every detail was a signpost.

And they all pointed to the cross and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

I’ve just finished reading Gad Saad’s book Suicidal Empathy.

It ranks, along with Chris Rufo’s America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything and Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay’s Cynical Theories, as the best take-down of the lunacy at the heart of the wokeist philosophy.

For Saad, empathy—in itself a perfectly decent trait—has become so grossly exaggerated that it threatens truth, reality, and justice.

Cases in point abound: so they won’t feel bad about themselves, we’ll allow biological men to compete in women’s sports and crush the dreams of thousands of young women; so as not to undermine the self-esteem of minorities, we will permit unqualified candidates to have positions in universities and the corporate world; so that everyone might feel included, we will characterize the meritocracy as “white privilege,” etc.

As I was making my way through Saad’s book, I kept remarking the sharp distinction between empathy and love.

To empathize is to enter profoundly into the experience of another and to endeavor not to hurt that person’s feelings. But to love is, as Thomas Aquinas taught, “to will the good of the other.”

As I said, in itself and all things being equal, empathy is a good thing. But it is not the same as love, which, depending on circumstances, can very much involve hurting someone’s feelings.

When a professor gives a student a “C” as an honest reflection of his work, he might well be insulting him, but he’s also telling him the truth and perhaps even urging him to try harder.

When, in the Confessional, a priest tells a murderer to turn himself in to the police, he’s undoubtedly making that person’s life more uncomfortable, but he’s also willing the man’s good.

Any decent parent knows that showing real love for her children means engendering all kinds of bad feelings in them.

In light of this distinction, we can understand why Jesus didn’t say, “have empathy for one another,” but rather “love one another.” And why St. John the Evangelist didn’t say, “God is empathy,” but rather “God is love.”

It occurred to me as I was reading Saad’s book that one reason Wokeism has seized the consciousness of so many in the West is that Christianity has faded as a cultural force and Christians themselves have forgotten what stands at the heart of their faith.

[Dr. Sheila Nazarian @sheilanazarian]

I want to ask the students screaming “Death to America”, do you have any idea what happens when American values die?

Because I do.

My family fled Iran, a country where freedom died. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

You think America is oppressive because you have never experienced real oppression.

You think silence is violence because you’ve never been silenced.

You think words are dangerous because you have never watched a government drag someone away for speaking them.

You think capitalism is evil because you have never stood in a bread line.

You think borders are immoral because you have never had to flee across one.

You think revolution is romantic because you have never had a revolution take everything from you.

I have.

And that’s why I refuse to be quiet.

[Justine Bateman @JustineBateman]

I am not aligned with any particular political party. But I am aligned with being an American and defending the kind of government we have here that has made this country possible.
The DSA platform is treason.

[Megan Basham @megbasham]

Seems worth emphasizing to the Amy Coney Barrett defenders that while yes she has had some good decisions that I’m grateful for, she has twice this week ensured that American elections will not be secure for Americans.

First, she ruled that ballots that arrive days after election day can be counted (ensuring that malfeasance can occur) and she has now also ensured that any illegal or Chinese national who can get on American soil can then leave this country, raise the child in an atmosphere of communist propaganda, and send them back here to vote in American elections when they are adults.

Both are extremely bad and your Amy Coney Barrett appreciation posts aren’t going to stop me from saying it.

[Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 @JasonJournoDC]

💥NEW: Jillian Michaels: "The reality is that when you give gay people a MONTH and veterans a DAY, I think you have WILDLY lost sight of your values and your priorities."

[Glockford Files @GlockfordFiles]

Attention Jill Biden:

It wasn’t just your husband’s performance in one debate, it was 4 years of steep mental decline.

While your husband spent most of each day in a hospital bed, Obama’s commie pals worked hard at destroying our country via the autopen.

[Visegrád 24 @visegrad24]

Congolese children stuffed in bags are up for sale as “child labour” to the highest bidder.

An estimated 40,000 children work in the cobalt mines of the DRC.

Where is the outrage from Black Lives Matter and other organisations?

[Renee Rea @Raad4Rea]

@Jordan_S90 I agree! MK how are you NOT defending Erika Kirk? You just dismiss CO on this and then you double down on Israel. The Israel thing is so multi layered that is NOT why we are scrstching our heads about you. It is that you will not expose CO for what she is doing to Erika.

[Liz Churchill @liz_churchill10]

MULLAHS HANG Iranian Women for refusing the hijab…while their OWN DAUGHTERS party half-naked…dancing in luxury Western Clubs on the blood of the executed.

Rules for the Slaves…but not for the tyrants’ princesses.

DEPORT them back to their Shitholes.

[Melissa the Hopeful🏠Homemaker @BiblicalBeauty]

If you expressed no outrage over Joe Biden and Kamala Harris professing to be Christians while rabidly pushing the murder of unborn babies and the mutilation and sterilization of gender-confused children for four straight years, I have zero interest in hearing your disdain over President Trump’s use of foul language.

Zero.

Get your priorities in order.

[Brandon Gill @realBrandonGill]

I am officially endorsing @KenPaxtonTX to be our next Senator from Texas.

The Senate needs serious change— people who understand what time it is and what is at stake for our country.

And that starts by electing conservative warriors like Ken.
https://t.co/aTWmA7pm9G

[Rep. Anna Paulina Luna @RepLuna]

At this rate, it’s not even about being a Democrat or Republican anymore. It’s literally the American people versus a uniparty establishment that is corrupt to the core. It’s time for voters to wake up when they go to vote on Election Day. Stop sending the same garbage to the Senate.

[Josh Howerton @howertonjosh]

Many well-meaning (but I believe, naive) pastors have an “ick” about engaging in culture war issues.

REMINDER: Pastors are literally the only people in America who can avoid these issues, bc they get to live in a tithe-dollar-created bubble.

Every one of your people faces these issues everyday at work, with their families, in their schools… and many of them risk their jobs over them.

They need clear teaching and consistent encouragement that no, they aren’t crazy.

[Chad Prather @WatchChad]

Someone asked me how I can be a Christian and support Trump.

Well first of all, I DON’T support everything Trump does, or has done. I don’t know anyone that does. But that’s beside the point.

Trump is a counterweight and not a savior. As a Christian I’m constrained to ask “which outcome restrains what I believe is more harmful?”

So, the real question is NOT “Can a Christian support Trump?” The real question is: What is the Christian ultimately placing their hope in?

My faith doesn’t find a determining factor based on who’s in the Oval Office, but rather Who is on the throne of Heaven. Contrary to today’s postmodern thought I can support certain things, dislike others, and find my identity in none of it.

The moment you start acting like your political position is the litmus test for Christianity, you have already stepped outside the heart of the Gospel. Arrogant pseudo-spirituality that judges and criticizes based on political decisions in 21st century America is lazy at best.

You can support Trump. You can oppose Trump. But if you can’t love your brother while doing it, then don’t pretend this is about Jesus.

[Allie Beth Stuckey @conservmillen]

Pope Leo: “[Jesus] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” There is absolutely no biblical basis for this whatsoever.

Christians should strive for peace, yes. We don’t revel in death and destruction. And a Christian could make a sound argument against the particulars of many wars throughout history, including the war with Iran today. A Christian could also agree that God shouldn’t be used to justify unjust wars.

But to say that God is against war per se is flat out false.

All throughout the Old Testament God calls for war in defense of His people. Exodus 15:3 declares, “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name.”

David constantly prayed to the Lord while battling his enemies. He says his cries to the Lord “reached His ears” and God answered him. God didn’t just answer David by hiding him away but by giving him lethal strength: “He trains my hands for war” (Psalm 18:6, 34).

If you discount these examples because they’re in the Old Testament, you don’t understand Scripture or God. Jesus is God; therefore everything God has ever done Jesus has fully agreed with and participated in, and He does not change (Hebrews 13:8). Mind you also that Jesus Himself promises to come back as a warrior to wage war against evildoers.

There are categories of people whose prayers God does not answer: the self-righteous, those who pray with selfish motives. People who wage war are not automatically in one of these categories.

I’m so glad our founders did not believe this way. I love this retelling of the story of the pacifist Quaker who allegedly heard Washington praying in the woods at Valley Forge: “He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was His crisis, and the cause of the country, of humanity, and of the world.”

Sometimes force is necessary to defeat evil and advance good. When it comes to these matters, Pope Leo has repeatedly proven that he is not wise.

[toddstarnes @toddstarnes]

The midterms will be disastrous unless Senate Republicans take the following action:

⏺️ Republicans must immediately return to DC
⏺️ Remove Majority Leader Thune
⏺️ Install an America First majority leader
⏺️ Immediately vote to nuke the filibuster
⏺️ Pass the Save America Act
⏺️ Confirm the president's nominees
⏺️ Publicly apologize to the American people
⏺️ Publicly apologize to President Trump

[Josh Howerton @howertonjosh]

This is the EXACT false teaching the Apostle Paul warned would "spread like gangrene" in 2 Timothy.

When you read your Bible, you know how to spot these lies.

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

My partner thinks I’m wasting my mornings.

Every Thursday at 9:00 AM, I park in the gravel lot outside Maple Grove Assisted Living. I don’t have family there. I don’t have an appointment. I just walk into the common room, settle into a comfortable chair, and begin to crochet. I’m 65, a retired librarian, and these days I have more time than I know what to do with.

At first, the staff were unsure about me.
“Are you here to see someone, ma’am?” they’d ask.
“No,” I’d reply. “Just working on my yarn.”

Eventually, they stopped questioning it. I think they decided I was harmless—just a slightly odd visitor passing the time.

But I wasn’t just sitting there. I was observing. I noticed how the residents moved quietly through the halls, often alone, eyes lowered, as if trying not to take up too much space. Then one day, they began to notice me. Some would pause mid-step, watching my hands move the hook through the yarn.

A woman named Agnes was the first to speak.
“That stitch is all wrong,” she said one morning.

“You’re absolutely right,” I smiled. “I’m terrible at this. Want to show me how to do it properly?”

She hesitated. “Oh, my hands aren’t what they used to be. It’s been years.”

“Perfect,” I said, sliding another hook toward her. “Then we can be bad at it together.”

She sat down. Within minutes, her hands found a rhythm again—one her memory had claimed was long gone.

**The Circle Grows**

The next Thursday, Agnes returned with two friends. Soon, it became a small group. Then a larger one. Eventually, the staff cleared a corner of the library just for us. They called it the “Yarn Circle,” but crochet wasn’t really the point.

We talked—about old films, how the town looked decades ago, and how nobody liked the Thursday mystery casserole. Slowly, something shifted. Women who once spent their days in silence began dressing up again—adding jewelry, fixing their hair—just to come to our gatherings.

One resident, Lillian, whom the nurses described as “non-verbal,” surprised everyone. One afternoon, she started describing, in detail, a sweater she had made for her son back in 1954—every stitch, every pattern.

Meanwhile, we accumulated a growing pile of uneven, brightly colored hats.

“What are we going to do with all of these?” Lillian asked one day.

“Someone out there needs them,” I replied.

So we sent them to a nearby outreach center for foster children. Month after month, boxes went out—filled with handmade hats created by women the world had mostly forgotten, for children the world hadn’t fully embraced.

**The Gift of Purpose**

Last fall, a young social worker visited us. She brought a photo of teenagers at a cold-weather camp, all wearing our colorful, mismatched hats.

She pointed to a boy in the back.
“He told me he’s never owned anything brand new before,” she said. “He found a tag inside his hat that read: ‘Handmade by Lillian, age 87. You matter.’ He hasn’t taken it off in weeks. He said it feels like someone out there cares about him.”

Lillian’s eyes filled with tears. The room fell quiet.

**The True Meaning**

My partner still shakes his head when I pick up my yarn bag. To him, it’s a long drive just to sit with strangers and make things nobody asked for.

Agnes passed away peacefully last Tuesday. At her service, her son held my hand tightly.

“My mother lived for those Thursdays,” he said softly. “For a few hours every week, she wasn’t just a patient. She was a creator again. You gave her something she thought she’d lost.”

The group still meets. Ten women now, ages ranging from 71 to 95, making imperfect hats for children who need to feel seen.

I’m not doing anything extraordinary. I’m just sitting in a sunlit room, crocheting alongside people who were once lonely.

But I’ve come to understand something important: sometimes, the smallest acts of connection can mean everything.

Credit:Chris Squire

[ThePersistence @ScottPresler]

Sometimes, I wonder why I do this work.

I wonder why I work so hard to elect Republican majorities into office

& — when we are in power — our very elected officials don’t wield or harness that power.

I wonder why I lose sleep, miss family vacations, & put my personal life on hold, so wealthy Senators can go on paid vacations

after not achieving the very promises they campaigned on.

Sometimes, I wonder if they truly care about us & if they actually want to represent the will of the very people that elected them into positions of authority.

I will tell you this: if the Senate ultimately does not pass the SAVE America Act, I will use all of the energy, hustle, & organizing efforts we used to elect these Senators into office

as tools to peacefully & respectfully defeat them in their upcoming elections.