Messages from a distance not belonging to the past

Slowly we can see that the world is returning back to “normal”, though some Corona restrictions are still going, but gradually we can come together again with more people. Last Memorial Service it was still limited to baptised members only, but in the coming weeks our ecclesiae shall open their doors again to non-baptised and people from other denominations as well.

Having people again meeting us in our prayer and Biblestudy places, does not have to mean we shall reduce our writings on the net. We are convinced the internet is a very important medium to reach people.

It is important to us that we attract and retain exceptional teaching, support and operational staff and are keen to employ team members who hold the same faith and values we hold.

We always welcome writers for several of our website, in particular “From Guestwriters” and “Some View on the World“, but also for the Ecclesia site and the Brethren site “Broeders in Christus – Brethren in Christ“.

We always welcome applications from enthusiastic, innovative, expert Christadelphians who are committed to the values and ethos of our community and who understand the importance of making the Name of God to be known as well as the importance of telling the people about the Good News of the Coming Kingdom of God.

Knowledge That Matters

We live in a world of knowledge.
This knowledge is so varied and our understanding so limited that we can never grasp more than a very small part of it all. So how do we choose the knowledge that matters? What is the knowledge that grows my usefulness, my hope and peace, my love and care for others and that is always available?
I believe the core knowledge is the fact that we are loved.
Loved freely, deeply, unreservedly and eternally.
Knowing this I am able to live, share and find peace in all situations.
We can also return the love.

Thank you Lord. I love you too.

 ~ Alan Hermann

Thought on the birthday of an encyclopaedia

I have always been interested in the “what, how and why” of things and wanted to find out more about certain things or events.

Stimulated by the subjects we had in our formation as dancers, we had a class for each subject: history of ballet (or theatrical dance), history of music, history of culture and history of costumes. Though the practical classes were the most important, I loved those courses and later in life I also went studying anthropology.

Whilst I was a dancer I was interested in what went on all over the world and about ballet or theatrical dance (musical, classical and contemporary ballet or dance) I collected dance magazines and newspaper cuttings which after some years became the basics for my Dance Archive, which I gave out of my hand after my serious car accident in 1987, to the Flemish Theatre Institute.

When I was made redundant and I had to go into retirement, I was forced to find another job to provide for my family. In addition to this paid work, I continued to work (unpaid) for my church community and focused on tackling different topics on several blogs.

But by getting older, I noticed that my brain was failing me and that I had to resort to encyclopaedias even more than before to verify facts and dates.

Encyclopaedia means a system or classification of the various branches of knowledge, and whether under the name of “dictionary” or “encyclopaedia” large numbers of reference works have been published and are luckily at my disposal.

A lot has changed since the first alphabetical encyclopaedia was written in English in a work of a London clergyman, John Harris (born about 1667, elected first secretary of the Royal Society on the 30th of November 1709, died on the 7th of September 1719), Lexicon technicum, or an universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, London, 1704, fol., 1220 pages, 4 plates, with many diagrams and figures printed in the text. Such alphabetical order makes it so handy to search for things.

Hannah Ashlyn (or Hanashlyn) Krynicki also looks at such works that function as a second brain for us. She writes:

The Encyclopaedia is basically like the internet. It is a slave that reminds me of random useless things and keeps track of all the details that I would otherwise forget.

What should I do with this epic battle scene that didn’t make the cut? Encyclopaedia. Where did I record the laws of succession for Agran? Encyclopaedia. How much older was Sardar than Elkay? Encyclopaedia. {Why I Wrote an Encyclopaedia (and Maybe You Should, Too)}

This 1921 advertisement for the Encyclopedia Americana suggests that other encyclopedias are as out-of-date as the locomotives of 90 years earlier.

Regarding the dance, I had a huge deck of cards with thousands of cards arranged alphabetically. Everything was easy to find in there. But now that all those files have been removed from the house and are accessible to the general public in a specialised library, I have to start my search again at home.

Because everything changes so quickly, some dictionaries and encyclopaedia had to be replaced (or better: supplemented) by more recent contemporary editions. Otherwise, we will very quickly become out of date and unable to keep up with all the new inventions and events.

For lots of writers it is a blessing that we now have the internet to do searches, but to save time we need still those dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

Krynicki her encyclopaedia saves her from having to re-do the same research over and over or scramble through a heap of sticky notes to find where she wrote my main character’s birth year.

Having all the information written down and organized in a place where I can easily find it allows me to focus on writing the actual novel. {How to Stay Organized as a Writer}

This way we, who want to write, need to have our own system next to the provision of printed reference works, dictionaries and encyclopaedia.

Please find out how I find my way in this world of so much printed and published material on the net. > 253 years ago the first edition of my favourite encyclopaedia was published

The Age of Disinformation

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Preceding

Do Governments and Nations Lie?

Facts: Why they matter and how to check them

Consequences of our digital environment

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Additional reading

1. A busy 2017 #3 Fake, gossip and real news
2. To protect our democratic system #1 Danger of fake and malicious social media accounts
3. Here is the truth or the lie
4. Defeating populism in the EU by education of the young people
5. 2019 was #3 a Year of much deceit in the News World
6. Manipulated content on social media
7. Hollowness of democracy
8. Undermining security and democracy via the Internet
9. Safeguarding freedom of expression
10. Gossip and fake news, opposite fact checking and facts presenting
11. Conspiracy theories in plenty-fold
12. Media Literacy

Ava Henseler's blog

In our day and age, information can be accessed from any place or any time. The ability to look up the answers to our greatest questions, see news from around the world, and connect with friends and family from wherever has bestowed on our lives with the gift of connectedness and knowledge. But, it is not always a blessing. The internet can be filled with hate and misinformation. In a jaunting post from The Atlantic, “The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News”, it was found that in the last 10 years, fake news stories reached and impacted more users on Twitter than true ones. As alarming as this study is, I am not very surprised by the result. From a young age, I have always been taught to question everything I may see online. From fake news stories on instagram to major news sources with…

View original post 301 more words

Your Life: Habit or Freedom?

 

VeritasCurat.net

For audio/video of this article, please visit the Veritas Curat YouTube Channel, or scroll to the bottom of this page.

A friend once asked me, “With all the years you’ve studied the mind and its functions, why have you not written a book? Especially since you love to write?”

I could have given him a dozen different answers, but what instantly issued from my mouth was, “You’re supposed to write what you know. All I’ve focused on has been stuff like truth and wisdom. I see no point in writing about it, since greater minds than mine have already said it before.”

Without missing a beat, my friend quipped, “That’s okay. People weren’t reading about truth and wisdom before either.”

Whether considering the Stoics, Buddhists, or any other countless philosophies or religions over the centuries, I’ve discovered two common themes.

First, have unconditional love for all of humanity.

And…

View original post 864 more words

Running out of time

 

Kone, Krusos, Kronos

“Time brings all things to pass.”

Aeschylus

Existence it’s necessary for time to be, otherwise time has no thing to attach itself to it, or run after, or keep time for, no existence, no time, existence of something, the beginning of time.

However today Scientist are not so sure, developments in theoretical physics, especially the rise of string theory, have changed their perspective. The pre-bang universe has become the latest frontier of cosmology.

But do not take my word for it, could be old news Scientifically speaking, I am not a Cosmologist with the latest paper on it, what I am saying had a date around 2006, who knows what is the latest word on it.

However like all of you, even a newborn, we are all running out of time, as we read this.

But if one thing we can be sure of it, is that time is running…

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Should all medical research be regarded as ‘untrustworthy’?

The middle of the Covid-19 pandemic is not an auspicious moment to cast doubt upon the reliability of scientific research. However, writing in a BMJ blog, Richard Smith, editor of The BMJ until 2004, launched a withering attack, saying that the system is riddled with fraudulent studies.

“ It may be time to move from assuming that research has been honestly conducted and reported to assuming it to be untrustworthy until there is some evidence to the contrary,”

he says. Dr Smith does not mention the pandemic but others are sure to raise questions about research into Covid-19.

Michael Cook

> Covid-19: we’re in the thick of it now. But who decides when it ends?

> Should all medical research be regarded as ‘untrustworthy’?

> Is there a vaccine against fake news and misinformation?

by Michael Cook

Thinking about thinking

We do not think enough about thinking,
and much of our confusion is the result of current illusions in regard to it.
Let us forget for the moment any impressions we may have derived from the philosophers,
and see what seems to happen in ourselves…
~ James Harvey Robinson

> Nederlandse versie: Nadenken over denken

A magazine with Each month a true story

Reading is part of cultivating and educating yourself. We would love to have more people who would not mind presenting some stories on this site. Though we do not get much reaction of people willing to write or to publish some poetry, short stories or novels on this site. Also for articles on psychology, history, environment and ecological matters we still look forward for willing writers to share their ideas with others all over the world.

Part of our mission is to support and empower storytellers and publishers of all sizes. We also want people to think about several matters and not just to agree with everything they come to read. We are convinced one has to be able to have different opinions living together in peace and being part of building up a balanced surrounding. For that reason, we also mention additional readings as well as further related articles when we publish some article. The further related articles often are not in accordance of our way of thinking, but we dare to present their articles to our public so that people can make up their mind themselves. We hate one-sided information. We are convinced that different opinions do not undermine society, but enrich it. Regularly we get some complaints from some blogger that we dared to mention their blogs. They do not see that we are willing to give free advertisement for them. But because we are unitarians and not Trinitarians they probably feel offended or often do not want to be associated with us. As if a mentioning of an article would mean that there would be an association with us. (!?!)

When requested to take the reference away we shall always prepared do that, even when it would have meant to take away a full article presenting a new publication. (A few months ago we introduced a new book, but the trinitarian writer of the book was not pleased with it. That was not the first time we were told we were not given the right to discuss a book or article. Some people who complained we discussed their article we wrote that if they have an article open on the web, should know that everybody shall be able to read it but also should have the possibility to react on it.) Though remarkable, lots of trinitarian writers write a lot of ‘rubbish’ about unitarians or give a lot of disinformation about Biblical matters, but do not allow anybody to react on the article on their own site. As such they only leave it to make reactions about the article on other sites (like here).

Today we once again shall present some site which could be interesting for some of our readers. Please do know that we are not paid for representing some other websites or blogs.

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For more than a decade, The Atavist Magazine has been a pioneer in digital storytelling, publishing one blockbuster story every month. The Atavist Magazine, one of Automattic’s flagship longform publications, in April 2021, the magazine moved to WordPress.com, joining the Newspack community of publishers.

Supported by Newspack, a publishing and revenue-generating solution for small- to medium-sized newsrooms built on WordPress, Atavist joins a network of 100 news publishers and counting, including Reveal, Sahan Journal, Hong Kong Free Press, The Oaklandside, Transitions Online, and other local and regional news outlets worldwide.

According Cheri Lucas Rowlands from WordPress each story on The Atavist Magazine showcases a unique, sophisticated, immersive design.

Perhaps you would also be interested to have a look at that nine-time National Magazine Award nominee and one-time winner — and the recipient of many other accolades — Atavist.

Feeling that young or starting writers need to have enough opportunities to reach a readers platform we only can hope that the atavist Magazine shall be able to give them a space on the web for offering thoughtful, deeply reported stories, and as an outlet eager to publish up-and-coming writers at a time when journalism opportunities are narrowing.

Please find the Atavist Magazine, and enjoy reading the many stories.

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For readers and travellers MU Library Treasures

The last few months, lots of people got more time to read. They were restricted to travel but by searching on the net they could go around the world in their head whilst staying in their own living room.

With vaccines rolling out across the world, international travel may soon be on the cards again. This does not mean we all have to rush to other countries without respecting social distancing and forgetting the restricting health measures.

In the main libraries of the industrial countries, there are treasures to be found. This way you might find the Special Collections & Archives at Maynooth University Library comprise the historic mid-nineteenth century Russell Library and the new state-of-the-art Special Collections Reading Room in the recently extended John Paul II Library one of those treasures you may not miss. It would be a loss to your cultural expedition if your imaginary travel guide would leave it alone.

The Russell Library houses the historical collections of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. The reading room was designed by renowned British architect and designer Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) and completed in the year 1861. The Library contains approximately 34,000 printed works with imprints from the 15th to the mid-19th century.

Special Collections & Archives in the JPII Library features a modern reading room and environmentally controlled storage area which houses over 3,600 printed works with imprints from the late 15th century onwards. Noteworthy archival collections include: The Ken Saro-Wiwa Archive, The Teresa Deevy Archive and The Pearse Hutchinson Archive. {About MU Library Treasures}

Good thing in the present time is that you do not have to leave the house to go to RUSSELL LIBRARY , St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare to search their treasure cabinet.

They offer licensed, digital collections, typically consisting of text, image and audio-visual content. Typically, they represent a digital version of an original analogue primary source, such as an archival collection. Thus, although the original resource may well have been unique, the digital version is not – it can be subscribed to by any library.

The library has longstanding traditions in the humanities, and has worked to complement its print collections with access to as broad an array of digital sources as possible.  They offer access to a wealth of these resources such as State Papers Online, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Early English Books Online, the Irish Newspaper Archive and much more.

Noo Saro-Wiwa with archivist Ciara Joyce in MU Library

Find to read:

Clericus: A View of 225 Years of Students

A 550-year-old book comes to Maynooth!

Developing Archival Literacy among Undergraduates at Maynooth University

Library Staycation Recommendations: Spanish Galway, Overrated Causeway and Volcanos

Digital, not dusty – the role of digitised primary sources in our special collections

Literacy among Undergraduates at Maynooth UniversityJanuary 20, 2016In “Archives”

Studying with Electronic Resources; A Mature Student Experience in Literature Online