In previous postings having looked at the different month of May celebration we continue with this guest-article.
Painting of a hobby horse with morris dancers beside the Thames at Richmond, Surrey, c.1620
Guestwriter Chris Pearce also looks at the origins in ancient pagan festivals and in crop and pastoral cycles in many societies across Europe. going from Walpurgis Night, Bealtaine or Beltane, also spelled Beltine, Irish Beltaine or Belltaine, also known as Cétamain, festival held on the first day of May in Ireland and Scotland, celebrating the beginning of summer and open pasturing, up to the Floralia festival, Obby-Oss or Hobby horse, going into the days for Mary.
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To remember
Druids celebrated May = day of their Bealtaine, or Beltane, festival or feast = similar ceremony = Walpurgis Night in Germany + surrounding areas
religious aspect of May Day > worshipped goddess of flowers, Flora => Bealtaine became part of Floralia festival
During the Puritan era 16th /17th centuries, May Day became more of a secular celebration
The Chickens, Jack in the Green Festival Every May Bank holiday Monday this parade is held as part of the Jack in the Green Festival. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
United Kingdom, as in many countries, May Day or the first Monday in May = public holiday. Originally feast = celebrated new crops + springtime fertility > many of these gatherings, popular tradition dancing around the maypole = wooden pole driven into the ground + adorned with ribbons, flowers + other decorations which vary between regions >Dancers hang on to the ribbons + weave around each other as they circle the pole, men or boys in one direction and women or girls in the other => pole entwined with ribbon + participants finish up at its base
Morris dancing = another favourite traditional activity on May Day = choreographed dance by groups of dancers with sticks or pieces of cloth, sometimes performed around a maypole or as part of a parade.
(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)
May 1 is known as May Day. It has its origins in ancient pagan festivals and in crop and pastoral cycles in many societies across Europe. May 1 is the start of the warmer six months of the year in the northern hemisphere after often bitterly cold winters and this was cause for celebration with bonfires and dancing. The Druids celebrated May 1 as the day of their Bealtaine, or Beltane, festival or feast. At the same time, Germany and surrounding areas celebrated Walpurgis Night, a similar ceremony.
The religious aspect of May Day continued after the Romans arrived in Britain. They worshipped their goddess of flowers, Flora, on this day. This ceremony had been conducted in romanized Europe for some time. In Britain, the old customs of Bealtaine became part of the Floralia festival. During the Puritan era in the 16th…
In the 60s of last century, the fertility rite with the maypole tradition was popular, but half a century later it became very quiet around this tradition. May 1 has been overcome by the party of the socialist movement. On that first day of the month of Spring everywhere you can find the call for social movement in which the ordinary man, the worker is put in the spotlight. After Labor Day, celebrated by the atheists, socialists and communists as well as many workers, the Catholic community can not fail to show that it cares about the working man. In 2008, May 1 was falling in the same weekend of Ascension so that when all the workers movements gathered together on the same day.
On the evening of the “national memorial” for all the victims killed by war, the day before the “Liberation Day” on May 5, one thinks in Belgium on the eve of Rerum Novarum how the Belgian government tries to bring in cuts on spending by taxing the ordinary man but leaving those with lots of money and the multinationals untouched.
The feast of Rerum Novarum (literally ‘about new things, or “acting on the Condition of Labor”) is named after a key text in the history of Catholic social thought, established by Pope Leo XIII, in which the position of the church on issues relating to the proper relationship between capital and labor is established. Traditionally the Christian labor movement gathers on the eve of Ascension Day to commemorate Rerum Novarum and send out a powerful symbol of the Catholic tradition of social concern.
The vision set by the encyclical emphasizes the rights and obligations that bind together the owners of capital and workers. Throughout the encyclical, Pope Leo XIII articulates the inherent dignity of labor and worker issues that were taken up by successive popes in later encyclicals, especially Pacem in Terris and Centesimus Annus. Even rejects Rerum Novarum both radical socialism and unbridled capitalism, offered a vigorous defense of both private property and the right of workers to unions, among other forms. The document published on May 15, 1891 is considered the first modern social canon of the Church, because it meant a renewed understanding of the need for the Church to offer its critical reflection on the social issues of the day.
Last night Beweging.net in response to Rerum Novarum asked for a
in the speech by Chairman Patrick Develtere. According to him, all social groups are being targeted, except the wealthy.
“Today all groups in society seem endorsed, in a rotation. One group some more than others. There is only one group that seems to get away with it, not feeling the pinch -.. And those are the wealthy”
he said in Kortenberg.
The major problem in Belgium is that we are stuck with a very greedy government, that constantly has increased taxes on incomes and managed to acquire more and more taxes to purchase goods. In Belgium we find people with multiple homes who are almost not taxed while these without dwelling are very highly taxed. That income taxes are very high and low on power, denounced the president of the former ACW. He sees no reason to tax from rental or capital earned one euro less than one euro salary.
While the Christian labour movement has called, more than once, for a tax on capital, warned ACV chairman Marc Leemans also for new cuts.
Processions
Of the many processions the Procession of the Holy Blood (Heilig Bloedprocessie) in Brugge (Bruges) is the largest religious catholic procession for that day and dates back to the Middle Ages. It emerged as a civic ceremony by the late thirteenth century and has as centrepiece the Relic with the Precious Blood of Jesus, a cloth with coagulated blood of Christ Jesus, brought to the city by Thierry of Alsace after the 12th century Second Crusade. This year 60 000 visitors saw more than 2000 participants in a style dating back to Bruges’ golden age (15th century), when Bruges was one of the most important harbours north of the Alps, and also a bustling commercial market and residence of the Burgundian dukes.
Ascension, Pentecost and communions
Normally one sees in May many groups plan their annual meetings. According to the fall of 14 Nisan there are Jews and true Christians who gather to celebrate the liberation from Egypt and keep a reading marathon around the spoken words of God and the provision of a solution against human slavery. (This year 14 Nisan was on April 22, but as usual the three days around the Catholic Pentecost are also used to hold a three-day conference and to achieve such talks because people should not have to go to work.)
Last year the Catholic Church intended already to give more time to young children and families to get to know what to believe means and to give them more Catechetical preparation as a process, a specific process that one goes through and that gets everyone involved: parents, siblings, and the whole community. In the expectation that believers would get more familiar with who Jesus is and what it can mean for their faith life.
This takes time and can not be handled in a few months.
said Monsignor Jean Kockerols, auxiliary bishop for Brussels.
In 2015, they tried with a two-year preparatory catechesis, with confirmation and first communion to coincide and to be celebrated around the age of ten years, to implement the third or fourth grade. But this did not go down well with the majority of Belgians who actually do not have much faith but want to celebrate a first and solemn communion tradition. Three years older than what might be common for a first communion might still go, but two years younger than hitherto the case for the solemn or second communion with then at the age of eighteen again a confirmation (Chrismation) seems to them too late and unnecessary for that ” forming “while the performance at ten is too young to be a rite of passage from innocent child to a child that should have enough understanding, a good sense of good and evil, and should provide an introduction to adult life.
A 1949 group photo of children at their first communion
Today, May 5 is for Catholics Ascension, which traditionally, is also a communionday. Supposedly Catholic families want their children between 6 and 8 years celebrating their First Communion, and have them accepted by the community as a full member of the Catholic Church. A large proportion of young people between 11 and 16 years repeat their choice for the Catholic faith in a solemn communion. Usually they do it together with the confirmation.
Just as Baptism and First Communion Confirmation is a sacrament. But the number of young people to be confirmed is dropping spectacularly, by 30 percent in ten years. The decline is greatest in the diocese of Antwerp, and the smallest in the dioceses of Bruges and Hasselt.
Until the early 20th century children went for the first time to communion after their confirmation. But for the children of practising parents it was was sad to have to wait so long. Therefore, the First Communion has moved forward. And therefore the solemn communion arised: as a rite by which admission to the church, established previously in infant baptism, is said to be confirmed (or strengthened and established in faith).
Stijn Van den Bossche, as theologian linked to Inter Diocesan Commission for Catechesis says
“The confirmation is a rite of passage. People ask for it. Just like baptismtraditionally belongs to the birth of a child. Now still 60 percent of parents have their children baptized with us. It is a natural historic development that the Catholic Church rituals are organized here. There is little else on offer. “
But it is the tradition that it has on the faith and the people are not so much interested in another, or any belief in a god. But they want to allow the children a party with gifts, to make their children feel they belong there and are part of the same community. “To belong to the community” is the main argument.
Van den Bossche continues to hope that in the longer term the Brussels example will be followed anyway.
The 5th of may, when it is no Ascension day is taken as prayer day.
Catholic Schools and Islamisation
The day before Ascension (the feast of the Ascension of Jesus) “a balloon with lots of wind” said the Catholic Education Board wanted to give Muslims and other faiths a prominent place in schools with provision of their own places of worship. As we could hear and read about the plans it looked like the Catholic Comprehensive School will actually create something that already “exist in the system and where community education should stand for. That then means that it makes itself superfluous throughout the education system if the state already attained a general education for all species in our society.
Ook Open VLD kan zich niet vinden in het voorstel van de Guimardstraat. Onderwijsspecialiste Ann Brusseel vindt,
“Men maakt handig gebruik van de moslimgemeenschap om de secularisering van de maatschappij tegen te gaan” .
That the Guimardstraat (Guimardstreet) knocked off one’s feet, through Director General Lieven Boeve the day before Ascension Day presented one of the foundations of his project – and thus by extension of the Flemish community – for Bart De Wever has been a mistake proposal and proof that Catholic education has ruled itself out by showing
“That a distinctive educational project for them is not needed.”
Open VLD also can not agree with the proposal of the Guimardstreet. Education Specialist Ann Brusseel says,
“It makes good use of the Muslim community to counteract the secularization of society”.
Vlaams Belang Chris Janssens points out the threat of the high influx of refugees and the determination of the growth of the Islamic faith. He says
“The plans are, given the rapid increase in the proportion of Muslim pupils in our education, de facto comes down on a voluntary Islamisation.”
One month before the start of Ramadan (June 6) and two months before the Sugar Festival (July 6) Islamic smoke has come above the Catholic celebrations this year and there is embezzlement by the current poor economic situation. When one walks around in the municipalities it is seen that the tents of previous years have adopted smaller forms and the decorations for the ceremony of the communicants declined dramatically.
May 15
On Sunday, May 15th, many Christians will celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost 10 days after Ascension Day is “50 days” and seven Sundays after Easter, but looking at it today the spirit is out of the bottle.
May 31 Mary-Visitation
The visitation by Jacopo Pontormo (ca. 1528)
The festive season will conclude on May 31 with the celebration of Mary‘s visit to her cousin (Elizabeth) Elisabeth, which is described in the Gospel of Luke (1, 39-56). This Feast of visitation of Mary or Mary Visitation, remembers at the time of the visit, Mary is pregnant with Jesus and Elisabeth of John the Baptist. Elisabeth sees Mary, when the child jumps on her lap filled with the Holy Spirit, she says to Mary:
“The most blessed of all women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
Mary responds with a hymn of praise to God, the Magnificat. Elisabeth’s words are contained in the Hail Mary, a prayer loved by Catholics.
At least the sun is showing it warmer rays and embraces us like mothers do. In several countries the month of May is the month where mothers are honoured. In several Catholic countries or regions the 15th of August is mothers day. (In our family the 15th of August was always that special day for coming together with the whole family honouring the mother who spent so much energy of her life in taking care of the next generation.)
In Dutch there is the saying: “In mei leggen alle vogels een ei”, “in May all birds lay an egg” pointing out to the season where good thoughts and many new adventures get their start.
Brocken Spectre from the summit of Meall an Fhudair (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
After Walpurgisnacht or Heksennacht or Hexennacht (literally “Witches’ Night“) the night of 30 April,when the people in Northern Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Estonia) remember how the witches came together at the Brocken spectre the highest peak in the Harz Mountains (3,747 ft or 1,142 m high), a range of wooded hills in north central Germany between the rivers Weser and Elbe. The Brocken spectre is a magnified shadow of an observer, typically surrounded by rainbow-like bands, thrown on to a bank of cloud in high mountain areas when the sun is low. The phenomenon was first reported on the Brocken.
In Germany the holiday is celebrated by dressing in costumes, playing pranks on people, and creating loud noises meant to keep evil at bay (You can compare it with Halloween). Many people also hang blessed sprigs of foliage from houses and barns to ward off evil spirits, or they leave pieces of bread spread with butter and honey, called ankenschnitt, as offerings for phantom hounds.
In Catholic countries many of those traditions are taken into the church rituals and people put ‘palm’ (buxus cuttings) around the house to protect their belongings.
People at a Vappu picnic in Kaivopuisto in 2008
In FinlandWalpurgis Night and May Day are effectively merged into a single celebration that is usually referred to as Vappu and that is among the country’s four biggest holidays along with Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and Midsummer (Juhannus). It is the biggest carnival-style festival held in the streets of Finland’s towns and cities. Initially, Walpurgis Night was celebrated by the Finnish upper class. Then, in the late 19th century, students (particularly engineering students) took up its celebration. Many lukio (university-preparatory high school) alumni (who are thus traditionally assumed to be university bound), wear a cap. One tradition is to drink alcoholic beverages, particularly sparkling wine or sima, a home-made low-alcohol mead, along with freshly cooked funnel cakes.
Children dancing around a maypole as part of a May Day celebration in Welwyn, England
Walpurgis Night bonfire in Sweden
In many regions it is a special month to celebrate the gods and to invoke their goodness.
May Day on May 1 is such an ancient northern hemispherespringfestival and usually a public holiday. After having looked at the witches and having hold ‘revels with the devil’, people now turn to their masters and gods of nature. In some parts of northern coastal regions of Germany, the custom of lighting huge fires is still kept alive to celebrate the coming of May, while most parts of Germany have a derived Christianized custom around Easter called “Easter fires” (Osterfeuer).
In several villages the goddess of the flowers and of the renewal of nature is celebrated and Maypole dancing is part of the “Þrimilci-mōnaþ” or “Month of Three Milkings“. Also known as Ashtoria Day in northern parts of rural Cumbria people hope for nice weather to have a celebration of unity and female bonding.
In several places where there is water a Flower Boat Ritual is hold, like in Kingsand, Cawsand and Millbrook in Cornwall.
In Edinburgh, the Beltane Fire Festival is held on the evening of May eve and into the early hours of May Day on the city’s Calton Hill. An older Edinburgh tradition has it that young women who climb Arthur’s Seat and wash their faces in the morning dew will have lifelong beauty.
This year the Floralia Gent show or the 35th edition of Floralies took place from 22 April to 1 May 2016, in the Arts Quarter of Ghent (Citadelpark, Sint-Pietersplein, Leopoldskazerne and Bijlokesite) where flowers and plants intertwined with prestigious landmarks in the city.
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In the capital of Belgium it will be in the Summer that a carpet of 75m x 24 m brings 1,800 m2 of begonias, or around 300 cut flowers per m2! Every other summer, on the weekend of August 15th, the Flower Carpet offers a chance to stroll across the Grand-Place, a jewel of Gothic architecture, to inhale the fragrant scent of the begonias and admire its details. This extraordinary spectacle is made complete by a visit to the balcony of the Town Hall, which offers a wide-angle view of the work. A musical theme is especially composed for each edition. A concert is given on the Grand-Place every evening and accompanies a magnificent sound-and-light show. A hundred volunteers assemble the carpet in 4 hours. The first Flower Carpet of Brussels was created in 1971 and has been a showstopper every two years on the Grand-Place since 1986.
For atheists or those who did not believe in gods the day, being a holiday was taken to come together to talk about our society and how work and family-time had to go together. Labourers and the working classes are put in the picture that day. The date was chosen for International Workers’ Day by the Second International, a pan-national organization of socialist and communist political parties, to commemorate the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago on 4 May 1886. { Foner, Philip S. (1986). May Day: A Short History of the International Workers’ Holiday, 1886–1986. New York: International Publishers. pp. 41–43. ISBN0-7178-0624-3.}
Various socialist and communist organisations hold parades in different cities on that day to react to what is going wrong in the country and for telling the politicians what is really needed for the people.
After the 1st of May, labour day, when no labour is done for most of the people, they soon could find themselves either in a full week free (half term holiday or bank holiday) or could face a long free weekend starting with the 4th or Vetran Day or with the 5th of May (for Catholics the feast of Jesus bing taken up in the skies), in several countries the special “Cinco de Mayo“, the Mexican army‘s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín, followed by the May 8 “Mother’s Day” and on the 15th of May for many “Pentecost” followed by Pentecost Monday. In several countries one or the other day of the month is also taken to remember the war days and as such we had yesterday and today Remembrance and Veteran days plus on May 21 “Armed Forces Day” followed by May 30 for many countries another “Memorial Day”
In the Chinese Zodiac, 2016 is the year of the Monkey (Yang Water) whilst for the Native American Zodiac the 5th and 8th of May, 2016 shall fall under the Beaver.
Moms to look at! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On that mother’s day, people can remember the birth of Harry S. Truman (US President), David Attenborough (British broadcaster), Sonny Liston (Boxer) and Enrique Iglesias (Singer). By that day of mothers, from the writing of this article, 345,600 seconds will have passed between now and the 8th of May, the earth having travelled approximately 178,329,600 miles through space whilst perhaps 4,147 meteors shall have entered the earth’s atmosphere.
We all have a special connection with our mother, she being the one who brought us unto this life. We can never never outgrow her and no one shall ever be able to deny the roots of that special person who is responsible that we are. It is to that person we should be grateful for what we are today. Your mother made you. Thanks to her you got an education, got to know things about yourself and those around you.
Often it are also those mothers who take care that there is plenty of food on such festivals as mentioned above. Mostly it are they who make the best of a special day by providing the best of food.
In a way every day of the year should be a mother’s day.
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Lifestyle and Readers Digest Magazine founded by Marcus Ampe on the 26th of March 2014
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Bible prophecies do not deal only with the ancient past. They also accurately foretell events that are taking place in our day. But at the moment we focus at numerous prophecies preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures (commonly called the Old Testament) which long before the man was born told about events which would happen in his time and around him, his betrayal, humiliation, torture, execution, death, and burial. From those writings of the Old and New Testament nobody should have doubts who that man is who is called Immanuel, the son of man and Messiah, born out of the root of Jess in the tribe of king David.
In Scripture, all things are directed towards a man who was a servant of servants, in whom people should come to have faith. First we saw the connection with Eve and her seed, and in this article you may see the connection with Abraham.
Already in the Old Testament we find the focus on a son of man who is called the son of God, who shall be the most pure set apart (holy) servant of God who was been told about in the Garden of Eden, to be the one bruised.
Many Old Testament writers wrote about the prophet to come, about whom is spoke in the book of Moses and who shall be the special “Seed of a woman” given by God and who will bruise Satan’s head whilst his heel would be bruised with nails on the wooden stake.
Jewish and Christian literature since the time of Yeshua or Jeshua have pointed to Genesis 3:15 as the first reference to the Messiah in the Torah. Genesis 3:15 NHEBJE I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his […]
Recent Posts: Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Review Questions on Chapter One How does Luke introduce his Gospel? Who received an angelic visitation in the Temple? Why was Zechariah struck dumb? Why was Elizabeth’s pregnancy unusual? What did the angel say to Mary? What happened when Mary visited Elizabeth? How does Mary magnify God? What is the name of Elizabeth’s child? What […]
Luke 1:67-80 – Zechariah’s Prophecy LK1:67 Then the baby’s father Zechariah was filled with holy Pneuma and prophesied:[1] “Blessed [be] YHWH, The God of Israel,[2] [Psalm 41:13] LK1:68 for He visited and redeemed His People.[3] [Psalm 111:9] LK1:69 He raised up for us a horn[4] of salvation in His servant David’s House. [Psalm 132:17] LK1:70 […]
Luke 1:57-66 – Elizabeth Gives Birth To John LK1:57 Now Elizabeth’s time came to fulfillment for her to give birth, and so she bore a son. LK1:58 Now her neighbors and relatives heard that YHWH[1] had shown His mercy to her and they rejoiced together with her. LK1:59 Then the time arrived on the eighth […]
Luke 1:46-56 – Mary Magnifies God LK1:46 Now Mary responded: LK1:47 “My soul magnifies the LORD![1] [1 Samuel 2:1] My inner being rejoices in my God, the Savior! [1 Samuel 2:1] LK1:48 For He has seen the humble condition of his servant-girl. Behold, from now on all generations will consider me most blessed. LK1:49 Because […]
Luke 1:39-45 – Mary Visits Elizabeth LK1:39 Now in those days Mary rose and traveled hastily into the hill country to a village of Judah. LK1:40 She entered into the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. LK1:41 Now the moment Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting her baby suddenly moved in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled […]
Recent Posts by bible Scholars: Bijbelvorser = Bible Researcher
As you could notice in the previous postings, can we say that literature has been the home of Jewish artistic activity throughout the ages. We must also remember that Hebrew literature is not synonymous with Jewish literature. For those who study the Bible, the Hebrew language is an important semitic language of the Northern Central […]
Modernizing tendencies The characteristic of the 18th and 19th centuries is the endeavour, connected with the name of Moses Mendelssohn, to bring Judaism more into relation with external learning, and in using the Hebrew language to purify and develop it in accordance with the biblical standard. The result, while linguistically more uniform and pleasing, often […]
The introduction of printing (first dated Hebrew printed book, Rashi, Reggio, 1475) gave occasion for a number of scholarly compositors and proof-readers, some of whom were also authors, such as Jacob ben Ḥayyīm of Tunis (d. about 1530), proof-reader to Bomberg, chiefly known for his masoretic work in connexion with the Rabbinic Bible and his […]
First of all to come to a good relationship with some one, one has to talk with that person and has to listen to what that person has to tell. God talks to the people by the way of His Word, presented to mankind by the many Bible translations, so that most people can read […]
The One Who created everything and Who gave His Word, did all He did with a purpose and out of love. The Bible teaches us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Everything God does is motivated by love. Out of love created man in His image also with the intention to have a good relationship […]
In the previous writings we saw that the Divine Creator gave His Word to the world so that people could come to know Him. The Bible is a gift from God. It gives us information that we can’t find anywhere else. For example, it tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and the […]
We look at the observance of Three Weeks,(Hebrew Bein Hametzarim,- Between the Straits) which commemorates the days between the first breaching of the walls of Jerusalem in 586 bce by Babylonian troops under Nebuchadrezzar to the subsequent destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem.
You don’t need a religion to do soul management, but having a sacred calendar certainly helps. Far from being an endless list of tasks, the Torah itself is a blueprint for management.Judaism, and especially Leviticus, wants us to build a civilization that prioritizes the parts of us that make us most human – our fragility, […]
The British four-part television drama Ridley Road which premiered on BBC One on 3 October 2021 can now also be seen on PBS. The mini-series Ridley Road is set in the East End of London in the early 1960s and follows the story of a Jewish woman who infiltrates the ranks of the neo-Nazis, posing […]
Originally posted on Jewish Young Professional: If you don’t blog about Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), are you even a Jewish blogger? And yet, the Rosh Hashanah post I want to post is taking too long to write (timely blog content has never been my strong suit), so I’m doing a News Update post…
Wij hebben een prachtige zomer, met enkele hitte golven, gehad en hebben deze nu afgesloten om zo weer over te gaan naar het begin van een cyclus. De oogst is binnen gehaald en wij hebben de Hashem bedankt voor al de goede dingen die Hij voor ons heeft voorzien. De vorige jaren zijn wij met […]
Tot op de dag van vandaag zien wij dat het postkolonialisme en het neokolonialisme de verhoudingen en ideologieën van het kolonialisme voortgezet of verlegd hebben, waarbij zij de voortzetting ervan rechtvaardigen met concepten als ontwikkeling en nieuwe grenzen, zoals bij de verkenning van de kosmische ruimte met het oog op kolonisatie.
Originally posted on Jewish Young Professional: I thought I’d offer a somewhat different take on Fandango’s Provocative Question, as it got me thinking about my preferences and priorities for the Jewish community I want to be a part of, and how they have changed. I’ve written before about my love for the singing, dancing, energy…
Originally posted on Walking the Bridge Books: Isaac said, Let’s speak about the water of life. Water comes in several forms. But it is still and always Water, just as the One is always One. Water can be ice, liquid or steam. Consider that ice is form; water could represent consciousness; steam represents awareness. We…
Dit jaar zijn er nog 2 sjabbatot tot Soekot en is er voor elke sjabbat een parasja en de sjabbat voorafgaande aan Rosj Hasjana lezen wij nu de de parasja Nitsawiem.
Verwonderlijk kreeg ik vandaag het bericht van WordPress dat ik tegen een jubileum mag aankijken. Gefeliciteerd met je jubileum bij WordPress.com! Je hebt je 5 jaar geleden geregistreerd op WordPress.com.Bedankt voor het gebruiken van onze service! Ga zo door met bloggen. Wat zijn die vijf jaren voorbij gevlogen. Voordat mijn pen al mijn gedachten kon […]
Met Rosj Hasjana denken wij aan de wondere scheppingsdaad van de Allerhoogste. Spijtig genoeg moeten wij toegeven dat de mensheid van die schepping een janboel heeft gemaakt.
When having many questions an interesting blog to look at: their old and more recent Posts: Questiontime - Vragenuurtje
God heeft de wereld van Zijn woord en Zijn profeten voorzien, maar niet altijd wensten de mensen van die leiders of profeten weten, waardoor er verscheidene groeperingen ontstonden die elk dachten of denken de juiste aanbiddingswijze te hebben.
Does one need proof to come to a certain belief? We can look at the signs in nature and find out what happened to certain people in the past, such as Noah and Paul. With the Book of Books, Allah has provided the world with His Interpretative Word.
Heeft men bewijzen nodig om tot een bepaald geloof te komen? Wij kunnen naar de tekenen in de natuur kijken en nagaan wat er in het verleden met bepaalde mensen, zoals Noach en Paulus is gebeurd. Met het Boek der boeken heeft Allah de wereld van Zijn Alzeggend Woord voorzien.
When we speak about “Faith” (iman) we look at acceptance of the Belief in the existence and oneness of God (Allah).and the existence of the Book of books of which God is the author, existing of five main parts, the Torah (revealed to Moses),,the Psalms (revealed to David).and the Writings of Kings and prophets as well as the Gospel (revealed to Jesus) with the writings of his apostles,
Wanneer wij over “Geloof” (iman) spreken, zien wij op de aanvaarding van het Geloof in het bestaan en de eenheid van God (Allah) en het bestaan van het Boek der boeken waarvan God de auteur is, bestaande uit vijf hoofdstukken, de Torah (geopenbaard aan Mozes), de Psalmen (geopenbaard aan David) en de Geschriften van Koningen en Profeten, alsmede het Evangelie (geopenbaard aan Jezus) met de geschriften van zijn apostelen,
Recent Posts: Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
The apostle Paul wrote about the dispersion, the dispersed House of Israel. They had been “without covenant“, but Paul was sent out to recover them. So they were “grafted in again“ (Romans 11/23). Or, Grafted back in“. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been […]
Rob Mac wonders when the door to door will return? He wrote this a while back, and went sharing it again. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses hate the door to door ministry, although they won’t readily admit it. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have developed ‘creative’ ways of counting their time doing this work, and many strategies for avoiding actually […]
Constantine wanted unity in his realm, and his call in 325 C.E. for a council of his bishops at Nicaea, located in the Eastern, Greek-speaking domain of his empire, across the Bosporus from the new city of Constantinople was in a certain way his goal to achieve some agreement by which many could live. Constantine […]
Superstition, misunderstanding and hatred caused the Christians trouble for many generations, and governmental repression they had to suffer occasionally, as a result of popular disturbances. No systematic effort was made by the imperial authorities to put an end to the movement until the reign of the Roman emperor (249–251) who fought the Gothic invasion of […]
Self-enhancing When the apostles had died there came a time when those in charge of teaching and going around telling about the gospel, started coming to see themselves as special people. Some even started to consider themselves as ‘clergy of the highest order’. After a time the organisation of the church was given only to […]
die leopard trail [deel 3] “a sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.” ons kom ‘n lang pad, met baie draaie en soms skerp afgronde maar jy is my sussie. toe ons op die leopard trail die derde dag 22 km loop moes ons drie pieke klim. dit was half […]
ek wonder hoekom mens so bang is om ouer te word dis bevrydend om eerlik te wees dis makliker só sonder pretensies sonder skanse sonder die wêreld se warboel wat weerkaats in ons oë ons kinders was saam in die skool, tinktinkie, laerskool theresa park en affies. die mooi vrou met die mooi kinders en […]
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Biblestudents – Bijbelstudenten
A Google Site presenting the Biblestudents with articles in English and Dutch – Voorstelling van de Bijbelstudenten met artikelen in het Nederlands en Engels
Christen Focus
Vanuit de Bijbelonderzoekers oogpunt kijkend waarop de mens hoorrt te focussen
Getuigen voor Christus
Tegenover de Getuigen van Jehovah zijn er ook de Getuigen voor Christus die Getuigenis afleggen voor Christus en zijn God Jehovah.
Relating to God wordPress Blog
Proving there is Only One True God which should be honoured and followed and how we can come in a better relationship with Him by following His only begotten son Jesus Christ as the Way to God.
Unmasking anti-Jehovah people
Debunking all the false sayings of those who fight against non-trinitarian groups and people
Blogroll
Hoop tot leven
Platform van Marcus Ampe voor hulpverlening en hoop geving
Christadelphian
Belgian Christadelphians
Google site with articles in English from the Belgian Brothers in Christ or Christadelphians
C4All
Christ For All – Presenting ways to find Christ in your life
C4U – Christ for you & Christadelphians for you
Site of Brothers and Sisters in Christ, who love the Creator and His creations and want people to show who is the way to Him and to His Kingdom where there shall be peace for ever.
Our World
News and thoughts about what is happening in the world, brought by the Free Christian Marcus Ampe. – Een kijk op het wereldgebeuren vanuit het standpunt van de Vrije Christen Marcus Ampe
Relating to God wordPress Blog
Proving there is Only One True God which should be honoured and followed and how we can come in a better relationship with Him by following His only begotten son Jesus Christ as the Way to God.
Immanuel Verbondskind
A site where issues of Judaism, Christianity, Islamism, their search for continued authenticity and relevance for today are discussed and looked at the position of the Jeshuaist community wrestling with the non- or anti-religious world
Jeshuaisme
Het Jeshuaisme brengt volgers van de Nazareense rebbe Jeshua (door velen beter gekend als Jezus Christus) te samen en verenigd Jehudiem (Jehoediem) of Joden zowel als goyim of niet-Joden en doet een oproep naar alle soort gelovigen en niet-gelovigen om Je
Jeshuaist
Personal pages of a Flemish Jeshua-ist – Persoonlijke paginas van een Vlaamse Jeshuaist
Jeshuaist communities
A community of real followers of Christ, assembling for sharing the Good News of the works of the Moshiach Jeshua and his heavenly Father the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.
Jeshuaist Focus
Uiteenzetting hoe eenieder tot het Volk kan behoren dat het Koninkrijk van god zal mogen binnentreden
Jeshuaisten – Jeshuaists
Een plaats van en voor liefhebbers van de Joodse Nazarener rabbi Jeshua om het bijbelkennis te versterken. – A site of and for lovers of the Nazarene Jewish rabbi Jeshua to strengthen their knowledge of the Scriptures.
Jeshuaists (or Yeshuaists)
Jeshuaists (or Yeshuaists) are followers of the Nazarene rebbe Jeshua who presented himself as a sent one from the Adonai Most High Elohim, Hashem Jehovah.
Jeshuaists for Jehovah
Followers of the Nazarene rebbe Jeshua witnessing for him and his God, the Only True God of Isrrael, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.
Our World
News and thoughts about what is happening in the world, brought by the Free Christian Marcus Ampe. – Een kijk op het wereldgebeuren vanuit het standpunt van de Vrije Christen Marcus Ampe
Some View on the world
Marcus Ampe presenting general and religious newsitems. – Wereldse en religieuze nieuwsfeiten bekeken onder de loep van Marcus Ampe.
Stepping Toes
A Lifestyle magazine which can be for some a provocative site created by Marcus Ampe
Of the many processions the 
Today, May 5 is for Catholics 
This year the Floralia Gent show or the 35th edition of Floralies took place from 22 April to 1 May 2016, in the Arts Quarter of Ghent (Citadelpark, Sint-Pietersplein, Leopoldskazerne and Bijlokesite) where flowers and plants intertwined with prestigious landmarks in the city.
For atheists or those who did not believe in gods the day, being a holiday was taken to come together to talk about our society and how work and family-time had to go together. 
After the 1st of May, labour day, when no labour is done for most of the people, they soon could find themselves either in a full week free (half term holiday or bank holiday) or could face a long free weekend starting with the 4th or Vetran Day or with the 5th of May (for Catholics the feast of Jesus bing taken up in the skies), in several countries the special “
alsowritten
Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
belgischebroedersinchristus
Bijbelvorsers
Christadelphians
Guestspeaker
Immanuel Verbondskind
jeshuaist
Vragensteller - Inquirer
lizaborstlap
Marcus Ampe
Success Inspirers' World
Fan of Pequeña Sudamérica
Relating to God
From guestwriters 