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Sunday, February 28, 2010
Essential tips to prevent spinal cord injuries.
Another unfortunate day I had to spend in a hospital where a friend of mine is admitted due to spinal cord injury. She was writhing in pine in spite of sedatives. My heart cried seeing her discomfort.
Very poor information coming from a leading hospital!
Wonderful Ways to Display Your Artwork
Thy Kingdom Come
So, Psalm 5:
Hearken to my speech, O Lord,Usually, though, the repetition either intensifies the previous line, or offers the next little step. So in line 12 we rejoice, then we get more specific -- we sing. And then we get a more intensive version -- we exult!
attend to my utterance. [1]
You destroy the pronouncer of lies,
a man of blood and deceit the Lord loathes. [7]
Let all who shelter in You rejoice,
let them sing gladly forever -- protect them!
and those who love Your name exult in You. [12]
Or in line 7, it looks a bit backwards -- God destroys, then he loathes? But what changes is the group; it's not just the liars, but the violent that are in trouble.
This all fits a little better when you've got the whole poem in front of you. But you have to go slow. As you can tell, it's really, really subtle at times.
That's how I'm taking the next couple lines of the Our Father. What has come before -- the calling of God Father and the desire that all would praise him -- implies that we're talking about the kingdom. But it's only in this line that that kingdom sensibility that lies behind everything Jesus hopes for and wants us to seek becomes clear and evident. If you had to summarize what the Our Father is about, this is it: thy kingdom come.
And beyond specifying the earlier lines, this line adds a new texture from the previous or the next -- that of an activity, an event. We are anticipating, asking for something to happen, something to finally and fully come into being, here, in our world. We're in the story of salvation, and we're praying for the happy ending that got promised back in chapter one. Or at least, a good ending for a chapter or volume. It's that Pauline notion of all creation groaning as something is being born. That's where this line puts us.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
But I did a little reading around and it turns out, no, this is actually a petition. We're saying "God, let your name be hallowed. Let everyone worship you."
And why do we ask for that? Well, because we believe that if they did, if the whole world worshipped God, then that would mean we were all trying to be like God, that is loving and generous and self-sacrificing. And what a wonderful world we could have if that were the case.
Statue of Reconciliation, Northern Ireland
The Twist: One could take what I just wrote and say this is a prayer for the conversion of the world to Christianity. But remember, this was Jesus' own prayer. This was what he said to God. So, it would be more precise to say that the Our Father is a prayer about the conversion of all people's hearts to the child-like openness, trust and generosity that Jesus had. A very different thing.
And frankly, much more challenging for Christians. Because hallowing God's name becomes not a matter simply of whether we go to Church or pray at night, but how we live our lives. It puts me in mind of a quote from G.K. Chesterton: "Christianity has not failed; it has never been tried."
(Can I Ask For Just a Little Bit More?)
That is not the right tenor (no pun intended) for the Our Father. It's a prayer of petition, yes, but it should express our desire to be open and our hopefulness for the kingdom. It needs a good amount of joy.
As I wander around I see a lot of parishes where they sing the Our Father. Cearly there's a desire to express that prayer in song. So, if you write liturgical music or you know someone that does, please, write us some good Our Fathers. It would be a great service to the Church. We really need them!
We Don't Need Personality
Have you ever had a presider lead the Our Father in a different rhythm than the group, or unwieldly slow? It's never a good idea, is it? It really throws the congregation. And then, they are paying attention to the priest, rather than the prayer. It becomes his prayer, that they're following. Not good, not right and not helpful.
Father Skeletor demands everyone FOLLOW! HIS! RHYTHM!
Still, I can appreciate why a presider would sometimes want to slow the group down. Some congregations whip through that thing like there's a storm 'acomin and they need to get to shelter. I always find those occasions terribly bittersweet. It's a lost opportunity -- there really is something uniquely special about the Our Father. It's a different kind of prayer than any of the others we say together, a prayer with real intimacy. When we rush through it, well, we might as well not even bother.
But presiders, the actual moment of saying the Our Father is not the time to "learn 'em". If you want us to go slower, say something about it at the beginning of Mass. Shoot, if theres' real trouble we could even practice! We don't have any trouble running through a song; why not run through the prayer? But a word (with perhaps a gentle reminder immediately before the prayer, i.e. "And now let us slowly/thoughtfully/prayerfully/did I already say slowly? pray the prayer Jesus taught us") will probably suffice.
One more note on this that I wish every presider would remember: During the big group prayer moments and songs, Turn. Off. Your. Mike. From the presider's chair, you might not be able to hear the difference, but in many churches when that mike is on, it's like the voice of God. It totally overwhelms the congregation. Even when you think you're being very clever and considerate and whispering, they still hear you -- and it sounds like for some strange reason you're whispering. Well-intentioned, but still not good or helpful.
Fr. Hardcharger is beginning mass. As he begins, "In the name of the father and the Son..." he notices, the mike isn't working. So he says, with volume, "There's something wrong with this mike."
And the congregation responds, "And also with you."
We Got Rhythm
Our Father (pause),
who art in Heaven (pause),
hallowed be thy name (longer pause).
Thy kingdom come (pause);
thy will be done (pause)
on earth as it is in heaven (longer pause).
Give us this day (slight pause)
our daily bread (pause);
and forgive us our trespasses (pause)
as we forgive those (slight pause)
who trespass against us (longer pause).
And lead us not into temptation (pause),
but deliver us from evil (longer pause).
Now, those pauses have a lot to do with punctuation. Commas and semicolons get a pause, periods get a longer pause.
But you'll also note, there are places without punctuation where we still pause. For instance, "Give us this day (slight pause) our daily bread" presents one petition, yet we split it into two parts. Why? On some level, it's like my 6-year-old nephew said to me the other day: "That's just the way I roll."
Its origins probably also have something to do with our intuitive sense of poetry and rhythm. "Give us this day" and "our daily bread" each has two beats, as do a number of the other lines, so saying them as though they're separate ideas "sounds" right. "Thy kingdom come" and "thy will be done " likewise have the same meter, and so we say them in rhythm, even though the latter line actually belongs with "on earth as it is in heaven."
The danger, of course, of saying these lines this way is that the rhythm could obscure the meaning of what we're trying to say. It becomes sing-song, baby talk.
(OK, so actually, that's not baby talk, it's a different language sung by a cute toddler. But you get the idea.)
But is that the way we experience it? Clearly, each of us has to answer that for ourselves. Personally, I look around the church at that moment and see most people with their hands out in supplication or holding those of their family members around them, their eyes closed or turned up. And as we say the prayer, even with their silly nursery rhyme rhythm, it sure seems like we're all really speaking together directly to God. It might be the only time like that in the whole Mass, in fact.
I know for me it's always sort of a moment of clarity -- like, Lord, if we could boil all my desires down to their essence everything I've been thinking or worrying about during this Mass, and leave out all the unnecessary stuff, these words would be it. And if I could be exactly the person I want to be, no more trappings or ego or fear, just me, well the me at that moment, arms out and praying for openness to the kingdom, that's him.
Pyrmont (Theme Day: Passageway)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
VESTIDO AZUL DE CROCHÊ com gráfico e molde
Subject: {Amigas_do_Crochê} VESTIDO AZUL DE CROCHÊ
Vestido azul de crochê
--
Bjs,
Ana Maria
Meus blogs:
http://pontosdaana.blogspot.com/
http://artesanaarthuso.blogspot.com/
http://mimospontosdaana.blogspot.com/
Pyrmont, boardwalk
Click here to view all participants of Scenic Sunday
Friday, February 26, 2010
Powerful earthquake strikes off Japan island of Okinawa
A tsunami warning was initially issued, but later lifted. There are no reports of major damage or casualties.
The Japan Meteorological Agency gave the strength as 6.9 while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.3.
Japan is often hit by earthquakes. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.
The latest tremor occurred at 0531 on Saturday (2031 GMT on Friday).
BBC News website reader Ivan Brackin, who lives on Yoron Island, said it was the biggest quake he had felt in his 40 years in Japan but there had been no visible effects in his area.
"We're 30 yards [metres] from the sea and no sign of a tsunami," he said.
"I woke up to violent shudders that lasted about six seconds then a pause followed by a couple of sharp jumps. Jumpers are the most dangerous so that sent me under the desk."
Blogging Funk
I'm really anxious for spring to be here and just want to lay out by the pool. The most interesting thing that has happened is that I got this pretty new watch:
I am channeling my inner Rachel Zoe! I've been looking for a watch that is gold AND silver. I feel like I need to tie my jewelry together... My ring is white gold and I really love wearing gold jewelry. So this watch solves that problemo....
We are being lazy bones tonight. We had planned to go out to dinner at a new place we have been wanting to try. But instead we got steaks, twice baked potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, spinach salad, and garlic bread from Weldon's in Hot Springs. Everything is pre-made so all we have to do is pop it in the oven! (Not the steaks though - we will grill them ourselves.)
Hope you have a good weekend!
Location:Southwind Cove,Haskell,United States
40% Off Never Tasted So Good!
Revista Russa de Crochê Filet
Revista Moda pet em crochet
REVISTA DE ARTESANATO - LAVORI ARTISTICI ALL'UNCINETTO
Revista japonesa de pedraria
--
http://www.giftjap.info/detailed.php?n=354&page=9&ni=528
Cynthia Augusto
www.cynthiabe.blogspot.com
Pyrmont, old wharf
Click here to view all participants of Weekend Reflections
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Eggs Anyone?
Suicide bombings strike Afghan capital Kabul
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives and two other attackers were shot dead, a government official said.
A spokesman for the Taliban said the Islamist rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, carried out close to a shopping centre and a hotel.
Kabul has been the target of sometimes deadly insurgent attacks, but has been relatively quiet for the past month.
On 18 January, Taliban bombers and gunmen attacked government targets and shopping malls in Kabul, killing 12 people.
Crying and shouting
The BBC's Martin Patience, in Kabul, says the first blast happened at 0630 local time (0200 GMT) on Friday, close to a large shopping centre.
Kabul police official Abdul Ghafor Sayedzada said two explosions happened near the nine-storey Kabul City Center shopping area, close to the Safi Landmark Hotel, the Associated Press reported.
A building in front of the hotel had caught fire, he said.
At least two smaller explosions were heard later along with gunfire.
Officials said two policemen had been killed in the attack, and there were reports of others injured. It was not clear whether any foreigners had been killed.
One eyewitness said that he saw one suicide bomber blowing himself up on the first floor of the hotel.
"I saw foreigners were crying and shouting. It was a very bad situation inside. God help me, otherwise I would be dead," one hotel worker, called Najibullah, said.
Sirens blared across the city and announcement from loudspeakers warned people to stay indoors.
It is not clear what exactly was the target of the attack or who carried it out, our correspondent says.
Although the shopping centre is in the heart of Kabul, our correspondent says the timing of the explosion - in the morning at the start of what is effectively the Afghan weekend - meant few people were likely to be in the area.
The violence comes as Nato and Afghan forces continue Operation Moshtarak, driving Taliban fighters from their strongholds in Helmand province, in the south of Afghanistan.
SOS Cuisine
I came across the neatest website yesterday. It is not new by any means just new to me. I thought I would share it with fellow Canadians as this is the only one I know of like this here in Canada.
The site originates in Quebec and some of the reviews on the recipes are only in French there are some English but I think with more people using it then more English reviews will pop up so it will be easier for the french challenged to read the reviews.
I used to take hours cruising through all the websites of all the local grocery stores for their sales every week but not any more. SOS Cuisine does more than have the pricing all together in one spot it plans a menu complete with prep time and nutrition information and calculating the cost for the number of people for whom you cook. You can choose menu preferences such as budget, low calorie, and exclude certain foods. The site tracks what is on special at local supermarkets and chooses what recipes would be most economical to make each week. I also love the $1 max/serving recipes and often they are much cheaper than $1/serving.
Say you are out of just potatoes... you click on the SAVE MONEY Tab... and look down to potatoes and it will tell you who has the best deal on right now. Seriously isn't this cool!!!!
I will now share the website link: SOS Cuisine
REVISTAS DIVERSAS - Mamenez Manualidades
Mamenez Manualidades |
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Muñecos con Calcetines y Guantes No. 2 Posted: 24 Feb 2010 02:25 PM PST |
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