Humanistic
View allAll Photos Tagged AFFIRMATION
Soak up the sun
Affirm life’s magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky
Be still long enough to
hear your own leaves rustling.
["Think Like a Tree" by Karen Shrag]
a walk into a thin place for Andrew
my textures & photoshop
I believe in karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you cant appreciate real love until youve been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you dont know what youve got until you say goodbye
~Savage Garden
France, Région Rhône-Alpes, Isère, Isle Crémieu, Hières-sur-Amby, Brotel
La Maison forte de Brotel, au sommet d'un éperon rocheux dominant le Val d'Amby fut la dernière demeure d'Edouard Herriot.
La silhouette de Brotel surgit au détour des méandres du Val d'Amby, au sommet d'un escarpement rocheux.
C'est dans ce paysage admirable qu'Edouard Herriot choisit de passer la fin de sa vie.
L'histoire de cette demeure commence en 1247, lorsque la famille Laure prête hommage pour la seigneurie de Brotel. Cet édifice affirme sa vocation défensive par le choix d'un site d'éperon dominant la seule voie d'accès au château.
Remanié au XVIe siècle, il se compose d'un logis précédé à l'Est, où la protection naturelle des falaises est absente, d'une terrasse à deux niveaux. L'accès à la cour est protégé par deux portes fortifiées.
Brotel 38118 Saint-Baudille-de-la-Tour
Pour éviter des arbres en premiers plans (qui heureusement ont fini par être moins voyants en entrant dans l'ombre) cette photo a été prise à flan de falaise, au bord d'un un rocher qui a visiblement glissé selon une faille verticale de son emplacement initial, ce qui le met en quasi surplomb d'une centaine de mètres par rapport à la vallée qu'on devine plus bas.
Hum... assez impressionnant... et limite "sage" de ma part...
Je déconseille de chercher à prendre cette même photo de l'endroit précis où j'étais... surtout si on a le vertige, le pied qui tremble, ou la tête qui tourne... ou encore si on est superstitieux... peur des tremblements de terre, ou si on a une famille à charge...
Ou alors, il faudrait s'encorder...
A powerful affirmation on my birthday day! 🎈
The world has become a very harsh place.
Reconnect with your heart by noticing the sweetness in life.
Feeling gratitude and appreciation for all of life's loveliness will awaken a renewed sense of peace and happiness within you!
🍊Calamondin oranges (Citrus mitis) are believed to have originated in China and are found throughout Southeast Asia, especially in the Philippines. Their small white flowers produce a delicate and sweet citrus fragrance. While these small trees are mostly ornamental, the colorful, juicy but very tart fruits can be used in teas and marinades, to flavor drinks, and to make a delicious marmalade.
@Hershey Gardens
Nelle rocce più compatte piante germogliano per la incontrastabile forza della natura che trova in un frammento di incolta fertilità le condizioni per affermare la propria supremazia, comunque e dovunque.
Testo di Armando Dittongo.
Les plantes germent dans les roches plus compactes grâce à la force indéniable de la nature qui trouve dans un fragment de fertilité inculte les conditions pour affirmer sa suprématie, cependant et partout.
Texte d'Armando Dittongo.
Plants germinate in the more compact rocks thanks to the undeniable force of nature which finds in a fragment of uncultivated fertility the conditions to assert its supremacy, however and everywhere.
Text by Armando Dittongo.
San Pelagio. Carso Triestino.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Italia.
Hi again everyone. I've decided to take a small break from flickr because I have some things to attend to before we start our trek through central Australia in September.
I'd particularly like to say thanks for all of your support and comments. No doubt I will do the occasional upload during this break but I won't be here on flickr anywhere near as much as I have been in the past. I'll be back online properly in September and I hope you'll come along and join me on our journey to Uluru, Alice Springs and Central Australia.
Just so nobody is worried by my absence, I'd just like to say that everything is going good for me at the moment and that is a big part of why I'm so short on time. Those of you who have been around for a long time know what I'm talking about and I'd particularly like to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who have been there to support me in the past. Your love and kindness has been a HUGE part of my getting better and I'd like to dedicate this photo and this song by Savage Garden particularly to you!
Who would have thought I would find such inspiration from the friends that I've found on flickr? I'm constantly amazed at all of my contacts' and regulars' talent, ability, empathy and kindness. You guys are an affirmation of everything that is wonderful about photography and flickr!
Elle marchait d’un pas timide, presque invisible parmi la foule … un instant suspendu, un sourire échangé, et je lui ai proposé de poser pour moi !
Elle a hésité, les yeux fuyants comme si elle demandait la permission au vent. Pourtant, elle a accepté, affrontant sa pudeur comme on affronte un miroir pour la première fois.
Chaque regard, chaque geste trahissait l’effort de s’affirmer, de dire silencieusement « Me voilà ».
Elle a fait de son mieux, vraiment … et dans ce mieux, il y avait une beauté sincère, fragile, mais vraie !
Comme promis, la photo lui sera envoyée, un simple message pour lui rappeler qu’elle a su oser …
Il faut parfois un peu de chance pour croiser, au détour d’une rue, un moment aussi sincère 🤔
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
She walked with a quiet, almost invisible step through the crowd … a fleeting instant, a shared smile, and I asked her to pose for me !
She hesitated, her eyes wandering as if asking the wind for permission. Yet she accepted, facing her shyness like one faces a mirror for the first time.
Every glance, every movement betrayed her effort to assert herself, to silently say, “Here I am.”
She gave her best … and within that effort was a beauty, sincere and fragile, yet true.
As promised, the photo will reach her inbox, a gentle reminder that she dared to try …
Sometimes, it just takes a little luck to encounter such an honest moment in the street 🤔
____________________________________________PdF___
So affirmed Nagasena.
From "World Of The Buddha" edited by Lucien Stryk.
Sunflower leaf still life, in a vase by a window. No processing other than sharpness, contrast, color boost and D-light adjustment.
Edited in View NX-i
Restes de l'ancien hôtel de ville datant de 1552
L'ancien hôtel de ville était l'un des plus beaux fleurons de l'architecture Renaissance à Ammerschwihr avant sa destruction par les bombardements de décembre 1944. À l'heure actuelle, seule subsiste la façade du rez-de-chaussée conservée comme monument commémoratif du martyre de la cité. Une porte d'entrée surmontée des armoiries de la ville permettait l'accès aux étages, tandis qu'une porte cochère flanquée de deux larges fenêtres donnait sur le rez-de-chaussée du bâtiment. Le décor de la façade est très typé et associe le végétal à l'animal ou le végétal à l'humain, ou encore chacun exploité individuellement. Dans la partie supérieure de la porte cochère, des médaillons d'empereurs décorent l'ensemble de la construction. De nombreuses marques de tâcherons permettent d'affirmer que l'atelier des tailleurs de pierres était composé d'une dizaine de personnes.
Un grand merci pour vos favoris, commentaires et encouragements toujours très appréciés.
Many thanks for your much appreciated favorites and comment
Genesis 2:17 King James Version (KJV)
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Completely unlike the fleur-de-lys, the lush dark red lily in the silver field of the coat of arms is a proud emblem of beautiful Florence. The presence of such a lily in the coat of arms explains the magnificent motto: «A flower in full bloom - so flourishes the blooming Florence.»
Anatole France used the image of the "red lily" as the title of his novel. "Red Lily" is a novel about love in the world of politicians and prudent businessmen.
The play based on this novel made a huge impression on the young Marcel Proust. The red lily, which gave the title of the novel, is not just a flower, but a symbol of Florence, where the love of the social beauty Countess Marten-Bellemm and the talented sculptor Jacques Deschartre blossomed.
Зовсім не схожа на fleur-de-lys пишна темно-червона лілія у срібному полі герба — горда емблема прекрасної Флоренції. Наявність у гербі такої лілії пояснює чудовий девіз: «Квітка у повному кольорі – так процвітає квітуча Флоренція».
Анатоль Франс використав образ «червона лілія» як назву для свого роману. "Червона лілія" - роман про кохання у світі політиків та розважливих ділків.
Поставлена за цим романом п'єса справила величезне враження на юного Марселя Пруста. Червона лілія, що дала назву роману, - це не просто квітка, а символ Флоренції, де розквітла любов світської красуні графині Мартен-Беллем та талановитого скульптора Жака Дешартра.
Герб Флоренції є овальним геральдичним щитом срібного кольору, на щиті зображена червона лілія. Лілія є старовинним символом Флоренції. Зображення геральдичної лілії карбувалося на аверсі флорентійських золотих флоринів з 1252 року.
Спочатку герб прикрашала біла лілія на червоному тлі. Однак у 1251 році гвельфи, вигнавши з Флоренції гібеллінів, змінили забарвлення герба, зробивши квітку червоною, а фон білим.
I will be your Father,and you will be my sons and daughters, say the Lord Almighty..
2 Corinthians 6:18
I am very beautiful.
I am very cute.
I am very adorable.
I am very smart.
I deserve lots of love.
I deserve many more treats.
And everybody loves me.
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
–Stuart Smalley (Al Franken)
Saturday Night Live, 1991 debut
Happy Caturday!
AN AFFIRMATION OF SELFLESS LOYALTY
My fearless heart
Of diamond clarity
Where expression and thought
Are proof of your bravery, justice and swiftness
That cut through ignorance and malcontent
To reveal the pristine awareness of being
Where the freedom of the mind
Is like the sweet chorus of the birds
*****
Sometimes the reinforcement of gracious qualities and love can be a good thing.
So I decided to start an Album on Flickr doing just that.
I like to take shots of the things I have collected over the years that are sharing their presence with me in my home.
Some of my Grail shots have this quality, but often the poem ends up being longer than an affirmation, to me they end up more like a prayer. You can see the Album that contains those works in my Flickr account as well.
But in a sense this is the same principle, as the things I have collected over the years often have a sacred presence or meaning, so I thought I would start to share them here.
On rainy days or when I am not in a writing mood, it is good to still keep working, using the camera in this way, and it is not only enjoyable, it is an opportunity to appreciate these wonderful sacred items and sculptures all over again, and listen to what they have to say.
This Garuda is a modern piece, but the history, energy and protective instinct is the same as from his first incarnation.
This shot is from where he resides, in my glass cabinet, where I keep many other precious things..
"Everything comes out in blues music: joy , pain , struggle . Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance"
Wynton Marsalis
EVERY DAY
You can leave me in the light
And not worry about finding me
You must surely know
That I will always seek you out
When you feel your sanity
Might be in doubt
When your heart feels sore
And you can’t take anymore
When you hide in dark corners
Shunning the current conversation
All so trite and full of spite
Come and find me
Where you left me
Just look for the light
Because that is me calling you
Every moment of the day
From the light
Look it’s alright
From the light
I love you
From the light
Day and night
*****
Thank you to my Friends and Followers,
an Affirmation for Every Day.
Dear friends and followers, and those who have viewed and faved recently on my last batch of work. I have been thinking of you all and wanting to get back to you before now.
The past few days I have been unwell however, but recovering now.
So this was just a little offering to keep you all going until I can cast my eyes over your lovely work and thank you all for supporting me.
Grail Keepers do not forget their friends. Grail Keepers are people who do not forget and have loyalty as their middle name.
Behind the scenes I have been working, thinking. Seems to me we need beauty and decency back in this world. We need the sort of values that anybody, regardless of who or what they are, or what faith they follow, can have.
A Grail Keeper in my mind is someone who will help in this way, even if its only in small ways, it all adds up to something bigger.
Martin Luther King was a Grail Keeper. John Lennon was a Grail Keeper. Mother Teresa was a Grail Keeper. Alexei Navalny was a Grail Keeper. There are so many, the list could go on.
These are courageous well known examples. But there are also Grail Keepers who work diligently in their own communities. There are Grail Keepers who perform small acts of kindness every day.
I want to start to expand on this idea, and the work I do I hope will bring some light into this dark uncertain world of ours. It doesn’t have to be this way, and Grail Keepers even if its only in a simple, small way, need to find their courage and continue to hold up a light.
This work is from Glynde Church, in Sussex in the UK. I take my Grails out into the area I know and have lived in all my life. With them I seek to find a connection to the spiritual world that will heal and enlighten.
Short of having you there with me, the least I can do is share my work in images and words.
And as always, if you would like to see more of my work, have a look at my website at:
March 13th, 2024. Dear Friends...I am still catching up...if I haven't got to you yet, I will.
Meanwhile...The Grail is obsessing me again, when does it not you might ask. Fair point. I really think there is going to be more written as I think upon it. I mean, I have thought about it pretty much all my life, but I think it has a poignant relevance now. I can see some Blogs might get written in the future, especially on the Grail Keeper theme. Modern Grail Keepers are also our future.
Think of any? Might be somebody in your local community.
Like the Post Master in mine, who helped me sort out the right postage to get my new Driving License there and back safely. He got it in the right envelopes and everything for me.
My notes are expanding. But then so is love for the Grail.
All my love everybody, Shell x
Affirmation solennelle d'attester l'engagement et la sincérité d'une promesse.
A solemn affirmation attesting to the commitment and sincerity of a promise.
of a coldness to the touch with the fingers
of hurting and healing simultaneously
in the familiarity of a warm heart
Kaya Project ft.Randolph Matthews ~ Playful New World
I may not be the pretty skinny girl who has her picture gawked at, but I am me. I am a human being, and I am happy with myself. I have curves, and I don't wear a size 2. Call me what you want, I know I truly am.
I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye
I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality
I believe that trust is more important than monogamy
I believe your most attractive features are your heart and soul
I believe that family is worth more than money or gold
I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair
I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye
I believe forgiveness is the key to your own happiness
I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed
I believe that God does not endorse tv evangelists
I believe in love surviving death into eternity
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye
Until you say goodbye
-Savage Garden "Affirmation"
Le calvaire monumental : Le grand calvaire de Guimiliau fut réalisé par au moins deux artistes, entre les années 1581 et 1588. Une gravure pourrait indiquer le nom de l’un d’entre eux, sans que cela puisse être affirmé. Toutefois, le traitement des sculptures permet de distinguer deux styles différents. Pour les remarquer, il suffit d’observer les regards des personnages traités de manière réaliste dans un cas et de manière totalement figurée dans l’autre.
Ladli — which in Indian languages (Hindi and Urdu) means ‘beloved daughter.’
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Photo: Firoz Ahmad Firoz (Doosra Dashak's Adolescent Girls literacy camp, Rajasthan)
"Worst of all, violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence -- yet the reality is that, too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned." (UN SECRETARY-GENERAL in International Women’s Day 2007 Message.)
“Almost every country in the world still has laws that discriminate against women, and promises to remedy this have not been kept.” (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the eve of International Women's Day 2008)
According to one United Nations estimate, 113 to 200 million women are “demographically missing” from the world today. That is to say, there should be 113 to 200 million more women walking the earth, who aren’t. By that same estimate, 1.5 to 3 million women and girls lose their lives every year because of gender-based neglect or gender-based violence and Sexual Violence in Conflict.
In addition to torture, sexual violence and rape by occupation forces, a great number of women and girls are kept locked up in their homes by a very real fear of abduction and criminal abuse. In war and conflicts, girls and women have been denied their human right, including the right to health, education and employment. “Sexual violence in conflict zones is indeed a security concern. We affirm that sexual violence profoundly affects not only the health and safety of women, but the economic and social stability of their nations” –US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, 19 June 2008 (Read more about UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict www.stoprapenow.org/ ).
Millions of young women disappear in their native land every year. Many of them are found later being held against their will in other places and forced into prostitution. According to the UNICEF ( www.unicef.org/gender/index_factsandfigures.html ),Girls between 13 and 18 years of age constitute the largest group in the sex industry. It is estimated that around 500,000 girls below 18 are victims of trafficking each year. The victims of trafficking and female migrants are sometimes unfairly blamed for spreading HIV when the reality is that they are often the victims.
According to the UNAIDS around 17.3 million, women (almost half of the total number of HIV-positive) living with HIV ( www.unaids.org ). While HIV is often driven by poverty, it is also associated with inequality, gender-based abuses and economic transition. The relationship between abuses of women's rights and their vulnerability to AIDS is alarming. Violence and discrimination prevents women from freely accessing HIV/AIDS information, from negotiating condom use, and from resisting unprotected sex with an HIV-positive partner, yet most of the governments have failed to take any meaningful steps to prevent and punish such abuse.
United Nations agencies estimated that every year 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the procedure – which involves the partial or total removal of external female genital organs – that some 140 million women, mostly in Asia, the Middle East and in Africa, have already endured.
We can point a finger at poverty. But poverty alone does not result in these girls and women’s deaths and suffering; the blame also falls on the social system and attitudes of the societies.
India alone accounts for more than 50 million of the women who are “missing” due to female foeticide - the sex-selective abortion of girls, dowry death, gender-based neglect and all forms of violence against women.
Since the late 1970s when the technology for sex determination first came into being, sex selective abortion has unleashed a saga of horror in India and other Asian countries. Experts are calling it "sanitized barbarism”. Worryingly, the trend is far stronger in urban rather than rural areas, and among literate rather than illiterate women, exploding the myth that growing affluence and spread of basic education alone will result in the erosion of gender bias. The United Nations has expressed serious concern about the situation.
The decline in the sex ratio and the millions of Missing Women are indicators of the feudal patriarchal resurgence. Violence against women has gone public – whether it is dowry murders, the practice of female genital mutilation, honour killings, sex selective abortions or death sentences awarded to young lovers from different communities by caste councils, rapes and killings in communal and caste violence, it is only women’s and human rights groups who are protesting – the public and institutional response to these trends is very minimal.
Millions of women suffer from discrimination in the world of work. This not only violates a most basic human right, but has wider social and economic consequences. Most of the governments turn a blind eye to illegal practices and enact and enforce discriminatory laws. Corporations and private individuals engage in abusive and sexist practices without fear of legal system.
More women are working now than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights nor voice at work according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued for International Women’s Day 2008. Are we even half way to meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals?
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Unite To End Violence Against Women!
Say No To Sex Selection and Female Foeticide!!
Say No To Female Genital Mutilation!!!
Say No To Dowry and Discrimination Against Women!!!!
Say Yes To Women’s Resistance !!!!!
Educate & Empowered Women for a Happy Future !!!!!!
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Later afternoon sun aided by Picasa2.
LARGE enjoy with tags on right.
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Reflect on today's Scripture: March 23, 2008, Easter Sunday: His Resurrection
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-9
Easter has come suddenly, with a burst of light!
Now we know that Jesus stands by his promises! In a flash, Christ has changed darkness and death into light and life. Our journey through the struggles of Lent and the pain of Holy Week is over. With malicious sacrilege, evil has done its worst to the sacred body of God's Son. With Mary and John, we saw Him die. We wept at the tomb. Then, before dawn on Sunday, Christ broke through the rock, shattered the power of sin and, according to tradition, appeared first to His Mother, then to the women and the apostles.
As we listen to today's first reading, we hear one of Peter's very first sermons. The curious bystanders were astounded at the change in this man. He comes fresh from the fiery tongues of Pentecost, still in shock at the dream he had on the way to Cornelius' house. Nothing was to be considered unclean. So he is free to preach to Gentiles the Good News of God's forgiveness and freedom for all. Peter and the others are commanded to baptize any who believe in the Christ. So the word spreads through the whole countryside and beyond. Resurrection is the hope of every living person. No wonder the apostles preached with such courage and enthusiasm!
They preached about a God who cared first for people who were poor and powerless, a God whose love governed all His relationships. And He taught us to not only believe in justice, but to act justly.
The Scripture readings during these fifty days between Easter and Pentecost are among the most exciting in the Church year. We burst into "Alleluias" over and over, and joyfully shout "Christ has Risen" this Sunday. But more than just singing, we settle into a new time of reflection on our own program for resurrection in these very troubled times. After all, it is our mission to bring new life to a troubled world. If we don't do it, who will? So let's repack for travel!
As followers of the Risen Christ, the time has come for greater efforts on our part to influence politicians and others on all the vital life issues that are integral to the teaching of Jesus Christ—from abortion and embryonic stem-cell research to corruption in government and all institutions—to proper medical care for the sick and elderly. Jesus teaches respect for every human person, whether alien or citizen. We need to study the document of the Bishops on Faithful Citizenship. Hopefully, many of us will continue our Why Catholic groups. Faith and action begin with understanding and loving the teachings and plans for action of our Church. We have so much to do as hope-filled Easter Catholics. These are critical times, and we must not fall back into laziness or complacency now that Lent has ended.
Let's hope our spiritual blood-pressure is just a bit higher as we proclaim the Good News.
Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
- Msgr. Paul Whitmore | email: pwhitmore29@yahoo.com
_______________________-
Pope Urges Youth to Form Friendship With Christ, for this is Best Relationship Key for Responding to Modern World
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI greeted university students gathered for an annual conference sponsored by Opus Dei, and encouraged them to foster a personal relationship with Christ so as to be able to respond to the great questions of our time.
The Pope greeted in three languages the 3,000 participants of the international UNIV congress, gathered today in St. Peter's Basilica. He then gave the traditional catechesis during his weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall.
"I offer a cordial welcome to all of you who have come to Rome from various countries and universities to celebrate Holy Week together, and to take part in the International UNIV Congress," the Holy Father told the youth. "In this way, you will be able to benefit from moments of common prayer, cultural enrichment and a helpful exchange of the experiences gained from your association with the centers and activities of Christian formation sponsored by the Prelature of Opus Dei in your respective cities and nations."
The conference this year, which ends Easter Sunday, is focused on the theme "Being, Appearing, and Communicating: Entertainment and Happiness in a Multi-Medial Society."
The Pontiff reminded the youth that with a "serious personal commitment, inspired by the Gospel values, it is possible to respond adequately to the great questions of our time.'
"The Christian knows that there is an inseparable link between the truth, ethics and responsibility," he said. "Every authentic cultural expression contributes to form the conscience and encourage the person to better himself with the end of bettering society. In this way one feels responsible before the truth, at the service of which, one must put one's own personal liberty."
A commitment
Benedict XVI said this implies "a mission requiring commitment." And to fulfill this commitment, he affirmed, "the Christian is called to follow Jesus, cultivating an intense friendship with him through prayer and contemplation."
"To be friends of Christ, and to give testimony of him wherever we are, demands, furthermore, the strength to go against the grain, remembering the words of the Lord: You are in the world but not of the world," he added.
The Pope encouraged the youth: "Do not be afraid, then, to be nonconformists when it is necessary; at your university, school and in all places."
"Dear young people of UNIV, be leaven of hope in the world that desires to meet Jesus, often without knowing it," he urged. "To better the world, make an effort above all to change yourselves through an intense sacramental life, especially through approaching the sacrament of penance, and participating assiduously in the celebration of the Eucharist."
The UNIV conferences began in 1968, inspired and encouraged by Opus Dei's founder, Monsignor Josemaría Escrivá, who was canonized in 2002.
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EXPLORE # 382 on Monday, March 24, 2008
I didn’t become who I am alone.
The people I’ve let close - the rare few - have shaped my architecture. Some challenged me and forced me to grow sharper; some offered quiet stability and taught me how to rest without vanishing; some widened the inner horizon I didn’t know could hold so much light.
And others, in their own ways, taught me refinement through fracture; not because they intended harm - though sometimes they did - but because not everyone is capable of seeing someone clearly, even when standing right in front of them. Every bond - tender, volatile, brief, or breathtaking - has become part of my design.
I still believe in beauty, not as decoration, but as something constructed with intention, protected with discernment, and chosen again and again in spite of everything that may try to dismantle it.
“Both the grand and the intimate aspects of nature can be revealed in the expressive photograph. Both can stir enduring affirmations and discoveries, and can surely help the spectator in his search for identification with the vast world of natural beauty and wonder surrounding him.” - Ansel Adams
You are amazing! Yes - You :-).
I just love this video by the Duirwaigh team.
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=f4CG18FPCj0
"When inspiration knocks - open the door."
Enjoy in LARGE and smile at least one tag line on right. Have many Blessings!
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Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today, tomorrow, and Monday 3.17.2008, by blessing your family and yourself at www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en
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Pope: Augustine Is Model of Humility
Says His Conversion Lasted Until He Died
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- In his final reflection on St. Augustine, Benedict XVI spoke of the saint's interior conversion, calling it "one of the greatest" in Christian history.
The Pope affirmed this today during the general audience given in Paul VI Hall. He recalled how his trip last year to pay homage to the mortal remains of Augustine was meant to "demonstrate the admiration and reverence of the entire Catholic Church toward St. Augustine, and my own personal devotion and recognition of a figure with whom I feel I have close ties to due to the part he has played in my theological life, in my life as a priest and a pastor."
Recalling Augustine's own retelling of his conversion in the "Confessions," the Holy Father said that the process is best "described as a journey that remains a true example for each one of us." It was a journey that "continued with humility until the end of his life."
"We can state that all the stages of his life -- and we can easily distinguish three phases -- together make up a single long conversion," the Pontiff explained.
Truth seeking
Benedict XVI characterized the first phase as a "gradual approach to Christianity," since Augustine was a "passionate seeker of the truth."
He explained: "Philosophy, and especially Platonic philosophy, led him closer to Christ by revealing to him the existence of the Logos, or creative reason. The books of the philosophers showed him the existence of 'reason' from which the whole world is derived, but did not tell him how to reach this Logos, which seemed so inaccessible.
"It was only through reading the letters of St. Paul, in the faith of the Catholic Church, that he came to a fuller understanding. […] His eyes fell on the passage of the Letter to the Romans, in which the apostle urges the abandonment of the pleasures of the flesh in favor of Christ. He understood that those words were specifically meant for him. They came from God, through the Apostle, and showed him what he had to do in that moment."
Augustine thus began to seek God, the Pope explained, "the great and inaccessible."
"His faith in Christ made him understand that God, seemingly so distant, was in truth not distant at all. In fact he has come near us, becoming one of us," the Holy Father said. "In this sense his faith in Christ allowed Augustine to accomplish his long search for truth. Only a God who made himself 'touchable,' one of us, was a God to whom one could pray, for whom and with whom one could live."
Mercy
Benedict XVI said a last step, or "third conversion" in the journey, "led [Augustine] to ask God for forgiveness every day of his life."
The Pope explained: "At first he thought that once christened, in a life in communion with Christ, in the sacraments, and in the celebration of the Eucharist, he would attain a life as proposed in the Sermon on the Mount, which is one of perfection given through baptism and confirmed in the Eucharist.
"In the latter period of his life he understood that what he had said in his first homilies on the Sermon on the Mount -- that we as Christians permanently live this ideal life -- was a mistake. Only Christ himself realizes truly and completely the Sermon on the Mount. We always need to be cleansed by Christ, who washes our feet, and be renewed by him.
"We need a permanent conversion. Up to the end we need to demonstrate a humility that acknowledges that we are sinners on a journey, until the Lord gives us his hand and leads us to eternal life. It is with this attitude of humility that Augustine lived out his final days until his death."
A model
The Holy Father said that Augustine, once "converted to Christ, who is truth and love," became a model for every human being, "for all of us in search of God."
"Today, as then," the Pontiff said, "mankind needs to know and to live this fundamental reality: God is love and meeting him is the only answer to the fears of the human heart.
"In a beautiful text St. Augustine defines prayer as an expression of desire, and affirms that God answers by moving our hearts closer to him. For our part we should purify our desires and our hopes in order to receive God's gentleness."
"In fact," the Holy Father concluded, "this alone -- opening ourselves up to others -- can save us."
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2nd post on 20080315
I am emailed below from www.medjugorje.org
or Steve Shawl
Peace to All! Below please find the official English translation of Our Lady's February 25, 2008 message to the world as provided by the Information Center in Medjugorje.
“Dear children! In this time of grace, I call you anew to prayer and renunciation. May your day be interwoven with little ardent prayers for all those who have not come to know God´s love. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
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The Abandoned Valley
Can you understand being alone so long
you would go out in the middle of the night
and put a bucket into the well
so you could feel something down there
tug at the other end of the rope?
Poem by Jack Gilbert in
“Refusing Heaven” (Alfred Knopf 2007)
winner of National Book Critics
Circle Award For Poetry
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In 2006, the local electorate blessed Dallas County, Texas with a new District Attorney (DA) who has been exemplifying extremely different philosophies like: “Society wins when justice is done, even if the Government fails to convict and lengthy imprison in most cases”.
What leadership qualities resulted in Texas’ old Dallas County DA’s Office causing Dallas County to be the “Send Innocent People to Prison Capital of the USA”. Is it worth studying those procedures, goals, attitudes, techniques to encourage or discourage their continued use else where?
Question: Is the criminal justice system dysfunctional and merely about the sneaker attorney winning?
Question: How do we start drastically altering such a screwed up trophy system? Does innocents being imprisoned, embarrass no one anymore? Why? Because there is so much of it going on?
Answer below please: ______
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Reflections on Holy Scripture at the Procession of Palms:
Matthew 21:1-11
At the Mass:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Reading II:
Philippians 2:6-11
The Gospel:
Matthew 26:14—27:66 or 27:11-54
Today we begin the most sacred week of the year—Holy Week.
It all begins with the Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, seated astride a donkey, with the crowd shouting "Hosanna!" and it ends with the most astounding event in history, the God-man Jesus, rising from a borrowed tomb. He rises with the light shining from the wounds of His horrible passion and death.
As our Savior rode toward His great confrontation with the powers of evil, the words of today's first reading were very possibly in His mind:
I have set my face like flint, knowing that I will not be put to shame.
(Isaiah 50:7)
No, the shame is ours that our sins and those of the millions before us have brought Him to this hour. This is the week for us to bow our heads and hearts in sorrow and compassion as we put aside our daily distractions and focus on the events of the dying and rising of our loving Redeemer. We need to reflect prayerfully on the ancient Christian hymn that forms our second reading for this Mass:
He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave . . .
he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross. (see Philippians 2:7-8)
No wonder every knee must bow at the mention of His name! The early Church fought long and hard to establish the doctrine for all time that it was both God and man that took up that cross for our redemption.
So what is our cross?
It's the cross of responsibilities, the cross of sickness, the cross of loneliness and failure. We gain so much strength to carry those crosses when we take time this week to journey with Jesus to Calvary.
The Church is a master of drama in the liturgies of this week. Through the use of the celebrant and two readers for the Passion this week, and in the voices of the congregation, we all become part of the action. Most of us feel embarrassed to cry "Crucify Him" with the palm branches still in our hands. We feel like hypocrites. Yet it was our sins which brought Him to Calvary.
The Passion Narrative of Matthew is a reminder of the ugliness of sin—Christ's betrayal by Judas, the denial of Peter, the hearings before Caiaphas and Pilate—the awful scourging by the Roman soldiers, the thorny crown jammed upon His weary head, the whip cutting slashes into His flesh, the blood running down his shoulders and back, the cursing by the crowd, the nails tearing through His hands, the thud of the cross into the ground. As He hangs on the Cross, He cries, "I thirst!" How that cry echoes down the centuries as a reminder of His search for our love!
The shock of Palm Sunday's liturgy compresses nearly two thousand years into this present moment. We have no place to hide.
We need to suspend all other activities, quiet our busy-ness, and focus on the events of this week—the local penance services, the Stations of the Cross, the Thursday night adoration and the Good Friday veneration of the Cross.
All this will prepare us for the coming out of darkness into the new fire, the new light, the new saving water of the Easter Vigil—and the Resurrection.
- Msgr. Paul Whitmore | email: pwhitmore29@yahoo.com
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La ficaire fait le printemps
Cette affirmation rappelle un proverbe à propos d’un autre symbole du printemps, l’hirondelle (sous-entendu l’hirondelle rustique, l’espèce qui niche au plus près des hommes dans les fermes et arrive dès les premiers jours d’avril). Effectivement, il existe un lien avec cet oiseau via le nom anglais de la ficaire : lesser celandine ; lesser de nouveau pour « petite » mais celandine dérive du vieux français célidoine, la chélidoine. On recroise aussi cette dernière dans un autre nom ancien de la ficaire : Chelidonium minus, la petite chélidoine. Or, chélidoine dérive lui-même de chelidôn, l’hirondelle, que l’on retrouve dans le surnom d’herbe à l’hirondelle (swallow-wort en anglais). Cette association remonte à Dioscoride, le célèbre botaniste grec de l’Antiquité, qui déclarait que la chélidoine fleurissait à l’arrivée des hirondelles et mourrait quand elles partaient ; là-dessus est venu se greffer une légende : les hirondelles récoltaient des feuilles de chélidoine pour frotter les yeux collés de leurs oisillons et leur rendre la vue (on retombe sur les propriétés médicinales ophtalmiques !). Par déformation, ce nom a donné au Moyen-âge « coeli donum », don du ciel d’autant que l’hirondelle représente un oiseau céleste (qui reste en l’air) et est associé au soleil et au ciel. Ainsi, ficaire et chélidoine se trouvent à jamais unies pour saluer l’arrivée du printemps !
Plusieurs des surnoms de la ficaire renvoient à sa couleur jaune d’or brillante dont jauneau ou pot au beurre. Ce dernier nom, outre l’allusion directe à la couleur jaune, rappelle une pratique connue des enfants d’autrefois à la campagne (j’en fais partie !!) : on place une fleur de ficaire (ou de renoncule : voir paragraphe suivant) sous le menton d’un(e) ami(e) et on lui demande « Aimes-tu le beurre ? » et la réponse s’écrit immédiatement sur le menton sous la forme d’un halo jaune doré projeté par la fleur magique ! Cette capacité de réfléchir un faisceau de lumière jaune intrigue depuis longtemps les biologistes et le mécanisme physique commence seulement à être pleinement compris (1) : il implique la structure cellulaire de l’épiderme des pétales. La lumière traverse la couche superficielle épidermique transparente chargée de pigment tandis qu’une coloration diffuse jaunâtre provient de la dispersion de la lumière par une couche sous-jacente chargée de grains d’amidon. Une mince couche d’air qui sépare ces deux couches explique la réflexion orientée du faisceau lumineux. L’ensemble donne cette apparence si brillante, intense qui doit certainement jouer un rôle dans l’attraction des insectes pollinisateurs (voir ci-dessous). Cette illumination dégage de la chaleur et fait de ces fleurs en sous-bois des sites chauffés pour les visiteurs et donc plus attractifs.
"I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble." Augustus.
Of all the temples of the Roman Empire that have survived to this day, none has been preserved in such good conditions as the spectacular Pantheon in Rome. Although the first Pantheon was built in the year 27 b.C. in this same place by the general Agrippa, right hand of the emperor Augustus, and whose name is in the frieze of the portico, that first temple was destroyed by a fire. For what the architectural jewel that has arrived until our days is a posterior reconstruction commissioned by the emperor Hadrian, almost 150 years after the first temple was inaugurated.
The name of its architect is not totally clear, but many historians attribute its construction to the work of the great master Apollodorus of Damascus. When you enter the building, the first thing that leaves you astonished is its immense dome, which was the largest in the world until Brunelleschi raised the one in the Cathedral of Florence in 1436. In the center of it, the oculus will not go unnoticed by anyone, it lets the light pass during the day and through it the rain falls inside the temple, leaving through some strategically placed holes in the ground. And as we look down, the fascination continues with the brightly colored walls and marble floors, with the columns and their perfect capitals, with the niches that now house statues of saints as they once did with the Roman deities and with every detail of the decoration.
The Pantheon, unlike most Roman pagan temples, has reached our days almost intact due to its conversion into a church in 608. A twist of fate that allows us to marvel even today with its almost supernatural perfection, with which believers and atheists will surely agree to affirm that it honors their initial consecration as a place of worship for all the gods.
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"Encontré Roma como una ciudad de ladrillo y la dejé como una ciudad de mármol." Augusto.
De entre todos los templos del Imperio Romano que han llegado hasta nuestros días, ninguno se ha conservado en tan buenas condiciones como el espectacular Panteón de Roma. A pesar de que el primer Panteón fue construido en el año 27 a.C. en este mismo lugar por el general Agripa, mano derecha del emperador Augusto, y cuyo nombre se encuentra en el friso del pórtico, ese primer templo fue destruido por un incendio. Por lo que la joya arquitectónica que ha llegado hasta nuestros días es una reconstrucción posterior encargada por el emperador Adriano, casi 150 años después de que el primer templo se inaugurara.
No se sabe a ciencia cierta el nombre del arquitecto, pero muchos historiadores atribuyen su construcción al trabajo del gran maestro Apolodoro de Damasco. Cuando se entra en el edificio lo primero que nos deja estupefactos es su inmensa cúpula, que fue la más grande del mundo hasta que Brunelleschi levantó la de la Catedral de Florencia en 1436. En el centro de ella, para nadie pasará desapercibido el óculo, que deja pasar la luz durante el día y a través del cual la lluvia cae dentro del templo, marchándose por unos agujeros estratégicamente situados en el suelo. Y al bajar la vista, la fascinación continúa con las paredes y el suelo de mármol de vivos colores, con las columnas y sus perfectos capiteles, con los nichos que hoy albergan estatuas de santos como en su día hicieron con las deidades romanas y con cada detalle de la decoración.
El Panteón, a diferencia de la mayoría de templos paganos romanos, ha llegado a nuestros días casi intacto debido a su conversión en iglesia en el año 608. Un giro del destino que nos permite aún hoy maravillarnos con su casi sobrenatural perfección, la cual tanto creyentes como ateos seguramente estarán de acuerdo en afirmar, que hace honor a su consagración inicial como lugar de culto para todos los dioses.