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If you don’t believe you’re worthy of your dreams,
you’re definitely not honoring your light.
If you’re telling yourself
you’re not attractive or worthy of love,
you are smashing out that light like a limp candle.
The light within you
has a very important job to do on this earth,
and the only way to complete that job
is to let that light shine
and use it to do you work.
~ How to Accept Compliments & Be Who You Truly Are by Her After
I set out to
explore the home
of light,
I wander
in the darkest of caves
and the densest of forests,
dark depths of the
relentless ocean
and the farthest end
of the pitch-black space.
Is it not where the
light dwells?
In bioluminescence
at the ocean floor,
fire of the stars
up above, shooting
in the night sky?
I am so small,
a speck,
barely visible in the
endless cosmos.
I am an assemble
of the fragments
of the same universe.
Fluid in my veins
keeps pulsating a
primeval song,
instinctively
bending
toward light.
The citadel of darkness
is invincible
and intimidating.
Some say to find light
one must
embrace darkness,
for it is the womb
which cracks open
to give birth
to light.
As I do that,
a torch
ignites
within me
to cut through
the dark bastion.
© Shalini Garg 2022
When wondering about the existence, the why and how, there is the darkness around us in which we look for the light. There we find ourselves in a world that has shifted from the here and now. We, looking at the age that has shifted all emphasis to the here, there, yesterday, today and tomorrow, and thus brought about a demonisation of man and his world.
The many things that bind us to each other and to this world we want to curse, but they keep us under their spell. Who plays the game? Who has the strings of our body and soul?
Who is the player of this puppet cabinet, where we are the puppets of who in what world? It was not that we ourselves presented ourselves to be a glove puppet. And who is that One Who plays with the hand puppets of this world?
In this world, we see many who want to seize power and even manage to make money out of their dictatorial traits. Then they take pleasure in having flocks of dictators around them, until the people wake up, when it is too late and the phenomenon of dictators has already caused great misery. Then people will have to admit with shame that they have allowed such foolishness to take place and to cause so much damage. Then they will have the nerve to admit that mankind has been robbed of his transcendence by the short-sightedness of the super-intellectuals, but also of the foolish followers who turned a blind eye while the others warned.
Many have fallen a victim to unconsciousness.
But then, at last, they come to see, man’s task is the exact opposite: to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious.
Neither should he persist in his unconsciousness, nor remain identical with the unconscious elements of his being, thus evading his destiny, which is to create more and more consciousness.
What is the sole purpose of human existence? Is it to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being?
What affects us? What affects him or her who is standing next to us?
For sure
the increase in our consciousness affects the unconscious. {Carl Jung}
Remember the clear light,
The pure clear white light
From which everything in the universe comes,
To which everything in the universe returns;
The original nature of your own mind.
The natural state of the universe unmanifest.
Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it.
It is your own true nature, it is home.
– The Tibetan Book Of The Dead
Text & image source: Mystic Path to Cosmic Consciousness https://web.facebook.com/Mystic-Path-to-Cosmic-Consciousness-143005819116554/
Filed under Poetry - Poems, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Welfare matters
Open your eyes, where are the eyes fixed, what do you think, do you become all self conscious, do you suddenly look inside when you are supposed to be looking out, why are tyrants so bad, it’s the light they extinguish. They leave everyone in the dark.
I run down the stairs, imagine, you are of one purpose, friends. When you see the light return to the impish eyes, you know something good is going on, you can sense it. On the street, children are naturally brash when they have no one to fear. Brazen some call it, they don’t distinguish between boys and girls, and when they blush, it’s over something simple, yet beautiful.
Then gripped by fear, they become pensive, young worriers, they protest, I’m not putting up with this, their attitude.
Why worry about dimming the Heart, that’s life. So was paradise once, and the signs above…
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Let 2020 be carried away by strong winds bringing it out of our stratosphere.
New Year’s Eve…a blessing for all of us who await the light this night..whether that be the bright light of fireworks (televised only!), the still light of prayer, the inner light of hope, the new light of dawn… {Text https://www.facebook.com/1567391160191012/posts/2925267964403318/}
Text and image source: Moonflower Dew https://www.facebook.com/860301350670949/posts/3951605491540504/
The birds, they sang
At the break of day
Start again, I heard them say
Don’t dwell on what has passed away
Or what is yet to be.
Yeah, the wars
They will be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
Bought and sold and bought again
The dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
We asked for signs
The signs were sent:
The birth betrayed
The marriage spent
Yeah, the widowhood of every government
Signs for all to see.
I can’t run no more
With that lawless crowd
While the killers in high places say their prayers out loud
But they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up a thundercloud
They’re gonna hear from me.
Ring the bells that still can ring …
You can add up the parts
You won’t have the sum
You can strike up the march
There is no drum
Every heart, every heart
To love, will come
But like a refugee.
Ring the bells that still can ring…
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in.
~ Leonard Cohen
Filed under Audio, Being and Feeling, Lifestyle, Poetry - Poems, Video, Welfare matters
Even when clothed in the bright
colours of a peacock’s feathers….
the light plays games when it peaks
through dry dead branches as it chases
the darkness into the shadows
And time passes so differently here
….it beckons to the future
….and veils the past
……a future … a hope
……. a kismet to last
© Vivian Zems
The first week of the Summer holiday is already nearly gone. It goes so fast, perhaps before we know the three weeks shall be over and the roads in Flanders shall again pile up with pepole going to do their daily business, their worldly duties.
You would think they could have now some more time to take rest but also to spend more time reading in the Set Apart Scriptures.
These weeks people love it to find their work-life coming to a stand still. I wonder if they would remember how perhaps a whole world was like coming to a complete silent standstill. In the words of the Midrash about the Matan Torah:
When God revealed Torah at Mount Sinai, no bird sang, no cow mooed, no bad of grass rustled in the wind. (Shemot Rabbah29:9)
God giving the Torah on Mount Sinai
What God had to say was so important everything was like coming to a standstill. (Figuratively.)
There at Mount Sinai the Torah was given to the Am kadosh God’s People. though in fact it was not only for the Hebrews, but to all the nations of the world that God provided His Word. All should have to come to hear His Voice. God’s People should know the importance of it for them but also for the others around them. Though for those who call themselves People of God it can be a Hard Word.
God lifts Mount Sinai and holds it over the heads of the assembled Children of Israel. Then God says,
either you accept and pledge to observe my Torah or I shall drop the mountain on top of you. (B. Shabbat 88A and B. Avodah Zarah 2B)
Would we like the world falling on our head? Are we getting God’s messages He gives throughout the many ages? Not many do!
It is all about bringing the Message of God further into the world. We may not forget the purpose of our people, to be teachers and examples of the ideals of Torah to the world. Indeed by adherence to these ideals we become in the words of the Prophet Isaiah;
“A light to the nations’ (Isaiah 49:6)
a worthy example for all. If we are not willing to accept the responsibility of adhering to the Torah’s ideals, there is no good reason for us to continue to exist.
Israel’s willingness to accept Torah was so important to God that the Almighty threatened to break the promise made after the flood never to destroy the world again unless Israel agrees to embrace the Torah and its ideals (B. Shabbat 88A).
So we should not fear to find the world coming to an end that way, but we may not forget that the Elohim warned us also for a terrible war going to come. Our eyes should be directed to those incredible difficult times, when there would be more natural disasters, children getting cross with their parents, people having no respect any more for each other nor keeping to ethic values, religion fighting against religion, nations against nations. It all shall end by a disastrous World War.
But before that time shall be so near that it would be to late to warn others, the people of God should spread the Good News and warn people to be ready.
We should show others how we as People of God want to be an example and demonstrate to God that we are worthy to receive His Torah.
When God asks us to offer guarantors of our worthiness, we offer the deeds of our patriarchs and our prophets but God finds neither of these acceptable. Only when we pledge the loyalty of our children to God’s teachings does God reveal the Torah to our people. (Shir Ha ShirimRabbah, Chapter 1, Section 4, Midrash 1)
When we are free from daily work, having our Summer-holiday we should take time to tell others about that Word of God which might bring light and life for so many. Living in the hope (tikvah) that one day more people shall come to see and understand the Voice of God and be willing to go with us to the corners of the world.
“Thus says ADONAI-Tzva’ot, “In those days it will come to pass that ten men from every language of the nations will grasp the corner of the garment of a Jew saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ””
(Zechariah 8:23 TLV)
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Preceding articles
Allow yourself a chill-out day
Shabbat Mevarchim opening to the Summer-holiday period
Summer holiday time to knock and ask, and time to share
Christians remaining hidden not sharing the gospel
Witnesses of Christ and of his gospel
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Dutch translation / Nederlandse vertaling: Een stil Licht dat in elk hart schijnt
There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. . . . It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to seek possibility, and our hearts to love life. Without this subtle quickening our days would be empty and wearisome, and no horizon would ever awaken our longing. Our passion for life is quietly sustained from somewhere in us that is wedded to the energy and excitement of life……
.
~ from TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEEN US by John O’Donohue
.
Text & image source: Satish Sawhney/The Celestial Sanctum https://www.facebook.com/groups/celestialsanctum/
Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Vriendelijkheid is belangrijk, geef het door.
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Preceding
Looking forward to a year full of Kindness
The smallest act of kindness…..
Constant kindness can accomplish much.
. . . he who plants kindness gathers love.
The world needs a bit more Kindness and Compassion
High Recognitions . . . We must enrich the Earth with love and kindness.
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Related articles
- No Good Deed . . .
- Your Righteous Deeds Are Not Filthy Rags
- Good Deeds
- Matthew 5:16
- Just One Good Thing
- The goodness of being good!!
- Character or Reputation?
- A Hollow heart
- Good Deeds that have Unknown and Unlimited Rewards
- Small actions = Big impact
- Concluding Words to Titus
- I Will Sustain You
- Prompt 225-Good Deeds
- Relentlessly
“Every time you do a good deed
you shine the light a little farther into the dark.
And the thing is, when you’re gone
that light is going to keep shining on,
pushing the shadows back.”
~ Charles de Lint
Artist~Lisi Martin
Text & image source: Rest in the Arms of Angels https://web.facebook.com/Rest-in-the-Arms-of-Angels-164081253667227/
When we start our life we do not have any specific dreams or aspirations; When we start seeing all those attracting things around us we want to get up from our four pats to stand up on two limbs and to come to conquer the world around us. We start having lots of dreams and lots of aspirations, but when we get older we encounter also lots of defeats and disillusions.
Somehow deep in our heart we may feel a certain call, a cry that there could be an Al Khaleeq (The Creator), but most people do not want to know about some One Who is Greater than they and has their life in His Hands. But without this Divine Creator man shall have to find that life is empty and time is restricted, coming to see that in this life we shall never get to that high point of total fulfilment.
When finding Allah the Exalted, or the God above all gods, we shall be able to grow and find peace in our heart, how much other people may try to destroy the good name of Allah and want to bring fear over the world, blaspheming Allah and besmearing the Muslim community.
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To remember
dreams sketched in your duas (= your very essence of worship) > visuals you created in your mind > voice out to Allah = like statues made of clay.
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Preceding article
Reflections on Existence and Teaching
Engagement in an actual two-way conversation with your deities
Getting out of the dark corners of this world
Why “Selfishness” Doesn’t Properly Mean Being Shortsighted and Harmful to Others
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Additional reading
- It is Today
- A time for everything
- A tongue to speak slowly and well-considered
- To whom do we want to be enslaved
- Old Man of Prayer
- Death
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Further reading
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Related articles
The dreams that you have sketched in your duas, the visuals that you have created in your mind about how that “moment” would look like, the imaginary rehearsal sessions in your washroom where you prepare for the “feeling” lest you dont feel silly- we all have these dreams. Getting that degree or that job, that dream marriage, that dream family, driving your dream car or unpacking at your dream home; all of us have so many things we want, wish for, ask for.
The wishes and duas we voice out to Allah are like the statues made of clay. In our limited capacities, thats the closest we can be to the reality we want to have. So we need Al Muhyi to give life to those statue like dreams, by making them real in flesh and blood. So ask Al Muhyi to give life to your duas by manifesting them…
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Jesus has given his followers the task to go out into the word to preach the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God.
2020 years after the master teacher his birth the Church has gone fare away from his teachings. In many church-groups or denominations we can find that human doctrines have won and that the people in the congregation or church community prefer to keep to human tradition instead of holding to the biblical teachings and Godly holy days.
“I want to preach a sermon. . .” – NARA – 514567 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Disappointed by the many contradicting teachings, ideas and having seen so many pastors, ministers and priests not living according to the Law of God and the law of human decency, lots of people got enough of the hypocrisy of those churches. Today we can only see (nearly) empty churches all over West Europe.
For sure the Body of Christ needs some fresh blood and some good ‘Punch’. Anno 2017 it looks like the church is gone ‘pubering’ again and in need of some acné products, trying to get rid of the puperal pimples or the sickness of the capitalist world where man has increased his position to godly status, so many thinking they are god themselves and play for god.
This world need preachers or speakers who are not afraid to give those immature consumers a tick on their bum. some even can use some figurative slap in the face to wake them up.
Most important to come over as some one sincere and credible is that the one who wants to speak for God he or she, himself or herself beliefs in the Most High and in His only begotten son. In the preacher has to burn the light of faith before he can go to others for trying to convince them to see that light in the darkness.
First there has to be conviction and persuasion in the preacher’s heart, glowing very strongly, to have the fire in the eyes, with such a kind and sweet heart that people would become eager to taste that sweetness and listen to what that person has to tell.With the hate and vile language we can find lots of Christians spreading today on the internet and in common speech on the streets, they shall not be able to attract others to love them or to love what they tell.
Today we also find lots of Christians who preach there has a war started by the Muslims against the Christians. They forget that lots of Christians are setting themselves against the Islam. They do not see they have fallen in the trap of the false Muslims who not only have done a lot of damage to Islam but also want to destabilise the whole world.
It is up to the preachers who call themselves Christian to show the love of Christ and to share that agape love with all people around them, atheists, other believers (be them Muslims or from an other faith).
Without the love of Christ and without the burning fire of faith in the own heart, the preacher his gained ‘technique’ shall be quickly uncovered by the truth, so let him first get to the core of the Bible and teach that biblical Truth instead of human doctrines, and let he or she be unbiased, open to all people and not to just a few of a certain race or group.
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To remember
- preaching = divine task + form of public speaking
- preaching involves spiritual dynamics + oratory skills = technical aspect of preaching < form of public speaking => skills revolving around use + proper utilization + creative use of voice, eye contact, facial expressions, gestures + movements.
- no methodology holy
- Only written words of God in Bible are holy
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Preceding articles
To proclaim the day of vengeance
What makes you following Christ and Facebook Groups
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Additional reading
- The business of this life
- The task given to us to love each other
- Parish, local church community – Parochie, plaatselijke kerkgemeenschap
- People who know how to pray to move God to take hold of our affairs in a mighty way
- Pulpit reserved for the pastor
- Notification and news feed for Facebook users
- Bring praise to the Creator
- The essence of church
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Further reading
- Why are Christians so nosey about other peoples affairs
- What, we agree? Compatible issues in a disagreeable world
- Is a Religious War in Europe Imminent?
- Bias, and Disagreeing with Something
- Can we not be civil and simply disagree?
- “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give”
- Are you ready for this?
- On the Power of Hospitality…
- “When I Could Stand it No Longer….”
- Proclaim
- Politics and Preaching
- Good enough for ministry?
- What builds the Church?
- Back to Baby Steps
- Book Blurb: Biblical Preaching
- 3 Steps to Make the Message Stick
- 5 Lessons from the Mission Field
- Owen on Preaching, Sinclair on Children and Christ
- Jonah — Belief Contradicted by Behavior! (Part 3)
- Calvin: Ministers Ought Not to Steal
- Preparing to Preach
- Preaching and Faithfulness
- The Courage to Preach
- Pastoral Theology
- Reflections
- Charles Spurgeon on Spiritual Gleaning
- The Dispensation of Grace
- Stirring the Pot with Grace…
- Psalm 64:9 Pondering God’s Work
- How to Have a Successful Ministry
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Related articles
True, preaching is a divine task, yet basically it is also a form of public speaking. A true preacher will eventually realise that as much as preaching involves spiritual dynamics, it also certainly includes oratory skills. These oratory skills constitute the technical aspect of preaching.
Before I tell about this technical aspect of preaching, or the oratory skills, which make us realise that preaching is a form of public speaking, let me tell first some important points to consider.
The first point is that though the technical side of preaching is important, still the spiritual side is more important. Preaching is firstly divine, then secondly it is public speaking. Preaching achieves eternal spiritual fruits, something that ordinary public speaking can never produce.
The second point to consider is that no methodology is holy, no matter how helpful it is in preaching. The techniques of delivering a sermon are never holy…
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light and darkness in constant conflict
fighting for a finite force inside a man
that weights who we are counting as human
animals have a heart too, can’t we have a better one?
building fences, digging trenches, owning ocean, lands, and potable water
where once it was free, delightfully refreshing putting in a bottle causing cancer.
someone owns everything taking even from those who have nothing, such the way of life.
other’s gloat over their big enterprise while half of the planet eats mud to suffice hunger
such a way of life, bullying those who do differently, laughing at other’s mistakes forgotten they too have foul fart. Words leave a wound that scars for life, a soul will strive to rise, but eaten by his hatred inside. Societies can be so demeaning that causes a life to end.
Others think differently, we do our own battles with different tactics some are born weak…
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world turning into a darker and stranger place than any of us could want.
Somewhere = always war + threat of an act of terrorism + woman or child in peril.
devastating tsunamis, hurricanes + earthquakes.is it naïve to try to shine a little light into the darkness?
a little candle held up to the dark of night, trying to illuminate the hope for a better world where we all respect and care for each other.
Some people I love live in Bruxelles.
As some live in Paris, in Ankara, in New York.
In London, in Rome.
I have friends and loved ones in a number of places, all over the globe – I am lucky like that. And as the situation grows more confused, I sometimes wonder if I am doing anything to help. Then, about fifteen minutes ago, I read this…
Year by year, the world is turning into a darker and stranger place than any of us could want.
Somewhere, there is always a war.
Somewhere, there is always the threat of an act of terrorism.
Somewhere, there is always a woman or a child in peril.
Nature itself delivers devastating tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes.
In the light of this onslaught of shadows, is it naïve to try to shine a little light into the darkness? After all, these stories are only…
View original post 131 more words
Filed under Crimes & Atrocities, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, World affairs
Man worships many things and often uses their religion to do what they want for themselves, having more power and control.
Temple of Hephaestus, a Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bombs bringing fire and giving the attackers the mythological divinity of fire. They might think to become reborn and having their virgins around them but like Hephaestus, protector of blacksmiths, the Japanese Kojin, which protects the hearths and symbolizes the violence of the elements placed at the service of humanity they will not remembered for long but disappear in oblivion having become dust like their victims who died at this cowardly attack.
But for the living there is light and hands which reach to each other, showing unity which overcomes all sorrow and shows those who try to kill our values that humanity goes on looking forward aiming for a democratic place where many people of all sorts of races, cultures and religions can live together in peace.
Light up a little flame, and make others think, is what many love to do and which gives a sign to those outside who think they can hurt us. > just think + wonder + ask questions, and maybe read up some author or historical character, or read a new book, or argue, or get angry, and light another flame… One hopes to make think – and to keep thinking, even in the midst of all the terrible things.
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I significati simbolici associati al fuoco sono numerosi, positivi e negativi: rinnovamento, purificazione, immortalità, iniziazione, sacrificio, forgiatura, distruzione… basta pensare al mito della Fenice che brucia e rinasce dalle proprie ceneri, a Prometeo che ruba il fuoco agli dei per emancipare almeno un po’ l’umanità, alle fiamme che custodiscono il sonno della valkiria disobbediente, alla colonna di fuoco che guida Mosè e i suoi nell’Esodo, al fuoco inestinguibile di Vesta, alle fiamme della dannazione eterna. {Fuoco!}
Bandiera rosso e nera con tre fiammelle gialle al centro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Read also
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Related articles
I’ve posted something very similar on my Italian blog, yesterday, but I want to do it again here, because…
Well, because terrible things keep happening, and everything seems to indicate that they will keep happening for Heaven knows how long. I was musing about it yesterday, and thinking how small, how inadequate it feels in such moments to sit down and write of history, and theatre, and books…
Then I found on Karavansara a quote of Charles De Lint’s, saying how writers keep shining little lights in the gathering darkness.
And I thought: yes, this is it. This is what I want to do too. Light up a little flame, and hope it will make readers think. Not to make them think something in particular – that readers can agree or disagree with what they read is a given… just think. And wonder, and ask questions, and maybe…
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Today lots of people tend to treat things such as Christmas trees and holiday gift giving as if they’ve been with us forever. While these are old traditions, they were once far more localized. In this world of media everywhere, we tend to forget that customs were once far more specific to the area. Lots of people also have lost the connection of those festivals and have transposed it to their group of people, believers or non-believers in Jesus Christ or in God.
From the Saxon days there was Yule for mid-winter and in the regions of West Europe the autumn storm brought many ideas alive to think about gods who controlled everything in nature. The days becoming darker demanded for and still demand for some more light bringing into it. In the old times to honour the gods it was custom to put all sorts of things in the trees as an offering to the gods. On December the 25th it was the day of the goddess of light. Time was taken to celebrate her.
Traditional Christmas card with holly and mistletoe. Circa 1880s
Druids, Celts, and even the Romans used evergreen branches made into wreaths in winter solstice celebrations. Because so many things lost colour and seemed to have died people looked up for those elements in nature which could be so strong that they stayed green. Pagan symbols as holly and ivy remained green and were taken as a promise of life to return in dead of winter. Holly – prized for its ability to bear fruit in winter and its healing uses – were the blessings people hoped they could have in the house and share with each other. Healing elements were very important to get through Winter.
While the Romans were holding the feast for the god Saturn — which occurred about the time of the winter solstice — they decked the outsides of their houses with holly. At the same time the Christians were quietly celebrating the birth of Christ, and to avoid detection they outwardly followed the custom of their heathen neighbours and decked their houses with holly as well. In this way holly came to be connected with Christmas customs. The plant was also regarded as a symbol of the Resurrection.
The missionaries coming in these regions quickly understood how the pagan traditions were so strong and how people would not like to give them up. This we still see today happening. As Christians should come to know more about traditions and about usages all over the world, plus having the Holy Scriptures to find what they could or could not do, we see that those who call themselves Christian still do not like to give up those pagan traditions and pagan festivals.
The Roman Catholic Church had already given in to Constantine the Great allowing the false teaching of the trinity be part of the Catholic Faith, so it was a further small step to adapt the Western Celtic and Saxon traditions to the Roman Faith. In 336 CE, during the time of this so called first Christian Roman Emperor for the first time on December 25th “Christmas” was being celebrated.
A very early Christian tradition said that March 25th was the day when Mary was told she’d give birth to Jesus (called the Annunciation). And nine months later, of course, would be December 25th. But the Bible doesn’t mention the exact days of that annunciation, nor of the birth of Jesus, though from all the secular writings we do know when the cencus took place, when the falling star appeared and that it was in October that Mary and Joseph went to fulfil their duties. We can take it was in 4BCE on October the 17th that rabbi Jeshua from the tribe of King David was born. For those who would love to celebrate his birthday it is strange that they than not do this around the period Jesus was rally born.
An image from the necropolis under the Vatican in which Jesus = Mithras (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is true that in many cultures we can find a festival of lights, also the Jews have such a festival of lights. Germans and Scandinavians had their yule festival. Celtic legends connected the solstice with Balder, the Scandinavian sun god or Norse god of light, son of the chief god Odin and his wife Frigg, who was struck down by a mistletoe arrow from the blind god Hödur (or Höd). At the pagan festival of Saturnalia, Romans feasted and gave gifts to the poor. Drinking was closely connected with these pagan feasts.
The Babylonian sun-god and god of agriculture and flocks, Tammuz, lover of Ishtar, born on the winter solstice according to legend was also celebrated on December the 25th and by the Roman Catholic Church his symbol was taken as the symbol for Jesus (the sign of Tammuz or the cross), placing Jesus as the bringer of light and god of light.
The leaders of the instituted organisation of clergy who accepted the trinity, agreed to adopted the saturnalia day of the ‘day of birth’ or ‘day of new life’ as a remembrance day of the new life Jesus has given to all mankind. For them it was easier to get more converts by keeping the folks from indulging in the old pagan festivals as part of the pagan culture, now transformed or redressed in a Roman Catholic dressing.
Branches that had thorns became to be the thorns Christ wore on the crucifix (sign of Tammuz) and the berries were stained red by his drops of blood. From the Norse and the Druids, the Mistletoe you may find growing here everywhere and at that time was considered special because of it found growing on the sacred oaks, was featured in several old myths and held to be sacred and associated with fertility, which led to kissing boughs.
Also today at the Christmas markets we can find the gangway where there is the kissing bough custom one holds that a woman who refuses the kiss shall have bad luck, and that those who kiss underneath it shall be having a blessed and fruitful year.
Not all the following years Christmas was part of Christian life. During Cromwell’s rule, Christmas was even banned. Charles II restored the holiday in England. However, the Parliament of Scotland officially abolished the observance of Christmas in 1640, to purge the church “of all superstitious observation of days”, and it was not restored as a public holiday in Scotland until 1958.
Julbocken, by John Bauer (1912)
From the 4th to the 19th century the tradition of the Northern people their celebration for their chief god and the father of Thor, (Thunor, or Thonar), Balder, and Tiw, Woden or Wotan became more and more also liked by the people from Holland and Belgium and the man with a long white beard who rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn became their Sint Niklaas (Sinterklaas) or Sint Nicholas (saint Nicholas) and in the Anglo Saxon countries Father Christmas or Santa Claus/Sancta Claus.
1881 illustration by Thomas Nast who, along with Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, helped to create the modern image of Santa Claus
From the 20th century onward that Father Christmas started gaining more popularity and the presents became more and more the focus of the people for that season were the darkness seemed to have darkened their Christian sight. Lots of Christians enjoyed decorating the ‘Christmas tree‘ and telling their children the Saint from Spain had brought presents for all those who had behaved well the previous year. Later in the month it was the Santa who once more brought presents in the house.
History illustrates the awesome outworking of initial events from when the Divine Creator has declared
Zephaniah 1:17-18 The Scriptures 1998+ (17) “And I shall bring distress on men, and they shall walk like blind men – because they have sinned against יהוה {Jehovah}, and their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.” (18) Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of יהוה {Jehovah}. And by the fire of His jealousy all the earth shall be consumed, for He makes a sudden end of all those who dwell in the earth.
This comes from the Christadelphian bible reading for December 15 when we started reading this short and somewhat overlooked prophecy of Zephaniah. He would have been one of the prophets Peter referred to, as we read the final chapter of his second letter of the same day-reading, he told them they should remember
2 Peter 3:2 The Scriptures 1998+ (2) the words previously spoken by the set-apart prophets, and of the command of the Master and Saviour, spoken by your emissaries,
Today we may find lots of people who have stress about the coming days when they have to present nice meals and many presents and have to fulfil many family visits and social obligations. Their eyes are closed for the real issue in life. Not a Santa shall bring salvation and he from the North has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. When we look at the many Christmas markets we even do not see much what reminds us of the Saviour who was sent by God to this earth.
Ages ago holy prophets told about the eyes of people which would become blinded. Today we
“should remember their predictions”
Folk tale depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat. Perhaps an evolved version of the Swedish Tomte. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We also should remember that they also warned for the time that scoffers were going to come and would lead people following their own sinful desires. About the promised one who was born, lived for a very short time here on earth, died, was resurrected from the dead and showed that he was not a spirit, but the one brought back alive by his heavenly Father, that master teacher is not remembered much these days and many do not think about his return or even do not believe in it.
Yes many laugh at us and say,
“Where is the promise of his coming?”
Many children have to promise their parents that they will be good next year. Then they also will get some present. But not many children learn about that man who died for our sins. Not many take time in this ‘Time of the year’ to read the Bible and to meditate on what God and his son Jesus had to say.
Today lots of people are concentrating on their self and do see all those refugees coming in our regions as a possible threat to what they can enjoy. Many are afraid they shall have to share with those poor people who travelled thousands of miles to find their luck in our Western world where money seems to flow like moulted butter.
Many people do not see what is really going on and how those set apart men of God had warned for certain situations we can see today. Also Jesus told about the signs of those days we have today. That time Jesus spoke about, may be much closer than many think. Many are blinded by the money this world is offering. Lots of people think everything can be said with presents and with the value of money. The real value for life they often do not see. Capitalism has put sand in their eyes.
The ways of godless thinking and living will be seen for all the foolishness they are; and we must never forget, there are only 2 ways: the broad way and the narrow way. Those on the narrow way are
2 Peter 3:12-15 The Scriptures 1998+ (12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of Elohim, through which the heavens shall be destroyed, being set on fire, and the elements melt with intense heat! (13) But according to His promise we wait for a renewed heavens and a renewed earth in which righteousness dwells. (14) So then, beloved ones, looking forward to this, do your utmost to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, (15) and reckon the patience of our Master as deliverance, as also our beloved brother Sha’ul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him,
“waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (verses 13,14).
Included in what they (we) are waiting for, is what Job perceived and that we read today. He declared,
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (19:25-27).
He believed in resurrection!
That final comment is most thought provoking. Our hearts will be in danger of fainting within us for multiple reasons, when God “bring(s) distress” – the experience will be awesome for believers! But how imminent then will be the time when they will “see God” through seeing his Son, marvelling in anticipation of the ultimate time when
“God himself will be with them as their God … for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3,4).
Let us anticipate in faith the things that “our eyes shall behold” to carry us through the coming time of “distress”.
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Additional reading
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Filed under Being and Feeling, History, Lifestyle, Religious affairs, Spiritual affairs
A powerful light shines in the dark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Lots of people reside in the darkness thought hey may not notice it. Others feel lost and do not find a way to find some ray of hope giving light.
Out of the void sounded a Voice and everything came into being. Out of chaos came order. Nothing has changed. Today out of the chaos still can come order and light.
Let us find that light ourselves and show it to others as well.+
Preceding articles:
- So Lonely
- Alone in the cold and dark
- Don’t be afraid to fall
- Quicksand
- sinking world….
- Path/Walk/Sink
- Swim/Sink
- You Need Light for Your Path
- He who beams never walks in the dark
- Getting out of the dark corners of this world
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Under many sudanims
In many forms
Grabbing the core
Strangling and suffocating
Dragging souls to depths beyond
Fear and desolation encapsulated
Darkness and depresive
Dread of unescapable
Physical,mental and phycologocal barriers
Where,why and what for
Distant shimmer glints
Is this freedoms glow
No ladder or stairway
Clawing and scrapeing
Hauling self and sole
Blooded fingers
Body scared and bruised
Live determined and inner strength
Power of self ingnorance of other
Deafness and selfishness rule
Start the accent,form escape
Struggle every day
Push and pull
Enemies launch time and again
Friends pick up shrapnel
Climb again and again
Asking for assistance
Seeking advice
Time the healer of all
Wraps us in deliverance
Pushes us clear
Acceptance of self and deliberate refusal
Day light reached
Sobriatry defunctional cource
Always in recovery improvement
Developemental strength and support
Life continues choice has to be yours
Ability builds focus strong
Self can survive and thrive
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In life many may feel the pulling down of the quicksand and do not know where to stretch-out their hand. Though in the desert or in the dark, in the nothingness there is always The It, The I Am Who Is, The I Am that I am, and The I Am Who Makes. Without This Spirit we may be lost in desert storms. But seeing His hand stretching out to us in the darkness we may find the right persons around us and see the right direction indicators on the many roads laid out in front of us.
When we believe in our greatness our legs will be long enough to stay out of the mud, our body long enough to peek out over all the debris, our arms long enough to reach out through the masses and to give a hand to that person who is worth it to be given a hand. floating in the grains of sand, seeing thousands of stars, we shall see the other light, breaking darkness. In the skies, in the by darkness hidden colours we shall find inspiration and be able to follow our dreams.
There can only be hope when there is a will to be and say “I am”
Though the ways we do have to face, the paths we do have to walk and cross may look like a hollow, burden us down with weight, we are able to find the lightness of the incredible … the unbelievable … and that is why so many refuse to see the Light Which is shining in front of us.
With the right partner we can do a lot. With the focus on the right I Am, we can do even more.
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Additional reading:
- Wishy-Washy…
- The I Am to explore
- Comic: The Last Time I Felt Accepted For Who I Am
- little i
- The world starts with yourself
- Be realistic, do not pretend
- Be Kinder to Yourself
- Believe in yourself!
- Believe in your greatness
- Find Inspiration and Follow Your Dreams
- There can only be hope when there is a will to be and say “I am”
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Related articles
- I Am (bashabifraser.com)
I killed myself with a bottle of barbiturates. In the glowering half-light of a late autumn evening I departed this world, taking my crushed soul with me, leaving that shell behind, that ‘perfect’, flawlessly made up shell. Into the moonlight I dissolved, taking my bedroom secrets of Mr President and Sinatra with me. The wind whipping my baby doll like something from the Seven Year Itch, stinging my cheeks, causing my heavily mascara-burdened eyes to water. Hey, the world was a great place with me in it, but I couldn’t handle it anymore. Somewhere between Niagara and Some Like It Hot I discovered I was the wrong person; morphed into the ‘dumb-blonde’, ‘the shape’ that was on-screen. And I didn’t like it, any of it. Not one little bit. The pressure of the façade, the strain, the feeling of being in the passenger-seat watching my life unfold before me. It was too fast — spiralling out of control, out of my control. So I stopped it, slowed things down and took control. On that night my stardom grew, my legacy became esteemed, honoured; my name was on everyone’s lips. On that night I became a legend. No more was I Norma Jean Baker with the hand me down clothes and copper curls; that halo of innocence, mediocrity and anonymity – the good days. My name would mean something now. I would be remembered, revered. I was sacrosanct.- acceptare (magdalenawolak.wordpress.com)
don’t tell me your hopes or dreams
don’t show me the colour of your eyes,
expecting and wanting this drowning
because I can’t swim and don’t want to learn it now.- Patient Waiting (franciscanflowers.wordpress.com)
Be in the moment, the future is not yours yet.
Keep heart open, ears alert.
Be positive in waiting, joyful in spirit.
Love your life as is, don’t wish for what is not.
Be ready and willing, whatever I send.
Reach out and upward, slow to judge, rich in kindness.- Fragility Part II: The Truth (fillefrancofun.wordpress.com)
The truth is that while I can at times separate my body and mind and heart, I can’t do it forever. My heart wants to love and be loved, and my body would prefer that too.My mind is just, well, afraid.
I can’t do this anymore
Living this way
This path, this walk, this hollow
Burden me down with weight
I’m sinking already
Drowned in quicksand
Built from your decisions
Struggling for release
Having been told time will help
Finding that time is only pulling me further below
Grab my hand, run
Pull me out, fast
Without you I might just, fall
Grab my hand, run
Pull me out, fast
With you, there might be something more
Filed under Being and Feeling, Poetry - Poems, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs
We should know that it has no use to let negativity overshadow our life. Though we do have to grow up with falling and standing up again, we always better try to stand up each time and to go on with the experience we got, using it not to weaken us but to sharpen us and to strengthen us in our life.
Every time we are confronted with something negative, we should take a deep breath and try to remember the better happenings, the events we enjoyed, the people who could give us some warmth and the friendships which are dear to us.
The best reliance is the the deeper inner self, the trust in what is perhaps hidden deep in ourselves. Never shall alcohol, overeating, or drugs be of any real help. Sometimes it may look it can give some solace, but it shall not really bring alleviation.
All being created in the image of God we should know we do have Somebody to count on. Wherever we are in whatever situation we might be, we should not feel lonely or on our own. If we really want to allow the Supreme Divine Creator enter in our life, He shall be willing to take our stretched out hand and to help us over the ridge, the dessert or the dangerous river.
In Him we can find our Helper, our Sword, our Light and The One Who brings us further in this life.
In and with Him, the God of gods, we shall be able to feel the love and to give love to others so that they shall come closer to us wanting to share the same feelings of unity and close friendship in this universe which has so much to offer.Always keep looking for the positive and believe in yourself, because you are here created and placed on this earth with reason. You will not always see it directly what your purpose in life will be, but when you continue your way you shall find out and find it worthwhile living.
Open yourself to see opportunities and to love your life. Be wise enough to be grateful. Be courageous enough to be happy.
Success.
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Please do find also to read:
- Depression Is and When
- Searching for fulfilment and meaning through own efforts, facing unsatisfaction and depression
- Running away from the past
- Remember there’s a light in the next day
- What If you’re only driven by stress?
- Getting fate in your change to positiveness
- Without God no purpose, no goal, no hope
- Materialism, would be life, and aspirations
- Depression, Anxiety, Pressure and megachurches
- Thanksgiving wisdom: Why gratitude is good for your health
- Aligned
- Importance of parents 1
- Always a choice
- Change should not be stressful
- Happiness is like manna
- We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace
- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
- Everything that is done in the world is done by hope
- Commit your self to the trustworthy creator
- Be an Encourager
- Joy: Foundation for a Positive Life
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Other articles of interest:
- Who do you think you are?
- Love your life.
- You’re worth it.
- God – Made
- In All Honesty
- April Showers: A Celebration of Life in Loss
- A new routine
- Your New Identity: An Interview with Jeff Crouse
- Rick Warren’s Horrific Tragedy & The Sickening Response of Some “Christians”
- Beyond Kindness
- Happy international women’s Day 2014
- Leave the Apathy
- Revital of life
- Burn my ego
- How to Feel Good About Yourself
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Related articles
- A Ray of Sunshine (authenticlove789.wordpress.com)
I live in probably the rainiest city in the South, Greenville-South Carolina (yes the home of Delvin Choice from The Voice lol.) In Greenville, it rains (monsoons) for at least four days d a week and then the rest of the week is filled with beautiful rays of sunshine.
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We have to maintain a positive attitude and remember that each time God shines a little sunshine in our lives, it is an opportunity for us to show our gratitude and to bring positivity to others. Be a ray of sunshine! Don’t allow your complaints to turn your life into a continual rainy day. Recognize the good that you are experiencing and rest in God’s goodness towards you. Just rest in His eternal light!- Sunshine (lifeasagarden.wordpress.com)
Sunshine doesn’t have to be something that is external from you, but instead, it can be internal and live deep down inside of you. It can be raining and gloomy, or snowing and cold, but because of the glow from your sunshine, you will be toasty and warm.That little ray of sunshine chases away the blues when the ego tries to bring trouble into view. Sometimes you do have to dig very deep to grab your sunshine up from the heap, but it’s worth it when the road gets rough and tough up ahead.
- Sparkling with Sunshine (justinewinter.wordpress.com)
I was absorbing an abundance of positivity, reading the signs the world threw my way and interpreting them to mean something good, something worthwhile, something that made me chipper.- Sunshine and gratitude (grandmasbriefs.com)
As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful.- Hello Sunshine! (frenchadventure.net)
The sun has returned with a vengeance today, 30 degrees in the shade and I’m loving it, as i type this I’m sat at my office desk in the garden with the view of the last rays of the day on the distance sunflowers and vines, how lucky am i?- Sunshine (astewaygattew.wordpress.com)
Sunshine light sunshine bright
Not a dark cloud close in sight
Sunshine thrive sunshine imbibe
Sweet healing rays on all your tribe
Sunshine healing sunshine feeling
Its the essensce of our beeing- Summer Sun (whenwordsescape.wordpress.com)
- You Are My Sunshine by Kasey Carney (countrymarketplace.wordpress.com)
You Are My Sunshine, first recorded during the Great Depression in 1939 by the Pine Ridge Boys, is an American classic.
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Recently, a young woman dropped by the store to choose her Sunshine sign. She explained that she was alittle girl when her mother passed away. Her grandmother used to sing the Sunshine song to her and tell her stories about her mom. She said being at Country Marketplace and seeing the sign reminded her of the two important women in her life. I was so touched she shared her story with me.
- Cold Sun (thelovesprockets.wordpress.com)
In my state of melancholy, all I really wanted was to lay in the sunshine and be warmed by His loving rays.But I felt no warmth from this particular sunshine.
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I felt resigned to the possibility that maybe I was going to die and I didn’t much care anymore. I scribbled down some words in a notebook, picked up my guitar, and in less than 10 minutes had a song floating in the air around me.
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.’ – Helen Keller
Do you believe that every day brings the possibility for a little ray of sunshine? Or does negativity overshadow your life? Is your glass half-empty and running out fast? Or is it half-full and waiting for a sparkling refill? The choice is yours.
An upbeat attitude can bring brighten up the gloomiest of circumstances. Choosing to think positively can revive you when you feel weary, provide clarity in chaos and keep you encouraged during uncertainty And when you make a conscious decision to refuse to allow the darkness to engulf you, you keep the way clear for your optimistic thoughts to shine.
Admittedly there are some days when tragedy strikes or a huge disappointment has to be dealt with and it is impossible to feel anything but despair. That’s a natural and expected way to…
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Filed under Being and Feeling, Health affairs, Lifestyle, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs
Lifestyle and Readers Digest Magazine founded by Marcus Ampe on the 26th of March 2014
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We belong to the Bloggers for Peace and you can join them too. (Click on the picture to know more and to connect.)
I first started to write about “Why certain people don’t understand some things” but this night wrote first more about the lack of empathy we encounter in this world. Being 4 am, I got lost in writing, forgetting the initial title. So today I changed the title of my first writing on the question What’s […]
What’s something most people don’t understand? Throughout history, one can find some people who have acted weird, according to the majority of people. It was men and women who preferred to be themselves and not go with the mainstream. At their time they have strange things and did not mind following their dreams or thoughts. […]
The further attack by publishers of novellas and literary masterpieces by simply deleting words and descriptions to be supposedly acceptable in our contemporary culture.
What do you wish you could do more every day? The present days seem to have exchanged their hours for minutes or seconds. At times, it is impossible to stop those hands of the clock or call the days to silence. Even if I leave the days of the tear-off calendar untouched, they are gone […]
De Belgische regering is in haar eigen bedje ziek maar lijkt de betonrot in eigen gelederen niet op te merken.
While I may be uncertain about my own abilities, I am very confident about the things that have become prophesied in the Bible, which makes me joyful on that front of confidence every day.
What makes you most anxious? There may be lots of things that may get me worried, but also lots of things I am anxious to do. I might be anxious that something should happen, me very much wanting to do it, or very much wanting it to happen. Not meeting requirements or expectations worries me […]
Originally posted on Levant's Agora:
The National Editorial. Sunday’s news that Lebanon’s residents woke up in two different time zones led to jokes about “Muslim time” and “Christian time” but it also exemplified some of the problems facing the state. The government announced that the usual start of Daylight Saving Time would be delayed…
Originally posted on Levant's Agora:
By Ghassan Charbel. The world is living on Kremlin time. The decisions of its master leave their mark on the security of the planet and the prices of energy and grain. Experts agree that another year of the Russian war on Ukraine will be catastrophic to the world. Vladimir…
Putin suggested a nuclear announcement was on the way earlier in the week, saying Russia would respond to Britain’s decision to supply armour-piercing shells to Ukraine made of depleted uranium.
Long Covid Two-thirds of affected UK workers face unfair treatment, says report TUC and charity call for better support and legal right to reasonable adjustments at work for sufferers UK ministers should act to ensure long Covid sufferers receive the support they need from employers, with as many as two-thirds claiming they have been unfairly […]
The weather has finally started to brighten up in the UK. If you’ve been neglecting your gardens, or the little patch of green you have been nurturing, what better time is there to turn back to it than spring? Matt Collins has set out an easy-to-follow guide of affordable gardening tips that you can implement […]
Christians in politics have been accommodated through a policy of don’t-ask, don’t-tell, but some argue endlessly about which bathrooms trans people should be allowed to use. Cisgender psychologists and sexologists pathologise the transgender experience according to their own biases, cisgender insurance executives arbitrarily what is and isn’t “necessary care” for transgender policyholders, and so on.
Het kan niet genoeg herhaald worden: antizionisme is geen antisemitisme.
Originally posted on Quo Vadis:
Zionisme is het (blijven) streven naar en behoud van een Joodse staat. Anti-zionisme is dus het verzet tegen de enige joodse staat. Behalve de genoemde landen met een islamitische meerderheid, zijn praktische alle andere landen, incl Israel, seculier, geen enkele religie is dominant en er is godsdienstvrijheid. Godsdienstvrijheid is één…
Een kijk (door Willem Frederik Veltman) op wat de beste remedie is tegen nationalisme.
Introducing a news website that may well deserve your attention as it also debunks fake news and brings out the true facts.
Voorstelling van een nieuwswebsite die gerust uw aandacht mag verdienen omdat deze ook fake news ontkracht en de ware feiten nar boven brengt.
Event Turkey has broken Nato unity on Finland and Sweden’s push to join the alliance, blocking an initial vote on accession after President Erdogan demanded that the two countries hand over dozens of Turkish exiles he accused of “terrorism”. The veto came hours after Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary-general, hailed a historic moment for western […]
The Times, May 2, 2022 Event Ukraine, one of the most fertile and productive countries in the world, has been known historically as the “bread basket of Europe”. Now it is facing a complex and unprecedented agricultural crisis, in which landmines are only one of numerous interlinked problems. The United Nations estimates this year’s harvest […]
BBC, April 22 + Audit of antisemitic incidents Event The number of anti-Semitic incidents around the world dramatically increased last year, a study by Tel Aviv University has found. The report identifies the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia as among countries where there was a sharp rise. This was fueled by radical left- […]
The Times, April 16 Russia’s setbacks could prompt President Putin to use tactical nuclear weapons, William Burns, the CIA director, has said. Moscow has a stockpile of about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, also known as low-yield or battlefield munitions, that can be deployed by air, sea or artillery. These are generally less potent than the […]
We continue reading and meditating on Solomon’s Proverbs; if all the people in Israel had put his precepts into practice surely his kingdom would have continued to be a great and righteous kingdom for “a great while” (2 Samuel 18:9) after his death. Sadly the history of the generations that followed shows that was not […]
“Die Tage unserer Jahre, ihrer sind siebzig Jahre, und, wenn in Kraft, achtzig Jahre, und ihr Stolz ist Mühsal und Nichtigkeit, denn schnell eilt es vorüber, und wir fliegen dahin.” (Ps 90:10 ELB)“Stimme eines Sprechenden: Rufe! Und er spricht: Was soll ich rufen? “Alles Fleisch ist Gras, und alle seine Anmut wie die Blume des […]
“Les jours de nos années s’élèvent à soixante-dix ans, Et, pour les plus robustes, à quatre-vingts ans ; Et l’orgueil qu’ils en tirent n’est que peine et misère, Car il passe vite, et nous nous envolons.” (Ps 90:10 LSG)“Une voix dit : Crie ! — Et il répond : Que crierai-je ? Toute chair est comme l’herbe, Et tout son éclat […]
Dans nos vies, il y a un temps pour tout. Lorsque nous venons au monde, nous ne sommes conscients de rien et vivons simplement des choses alors que ce sont nos parents qui sont autorisés à vivre leur temps joyeusement lorsqu’ils ont un enfant. Cet enfant doit être élevé par eux là où il y […]
“The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.” (Ps 90:10 NHEB)“The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory […]
De uit de wereld gekozenen hebben geen angst om tot de Onzichtbare God te bidden, in Wie zij alle vertrouwen hebben en geloven dat zij Hem als schild kunnen gebruiken.
Wij moeten beseffen dat er in de hemel een Geest is Die naar ons wil luisteren als wij bereid zijn om naar Hem toe te komen.
Het koninkrijk der wereld is het koninkrijk van onze Allerhoogste Heer en van zijn Christus geworden, die autoriteit, heerschappij en macht heeft gekregen en als koning zal regeren tot in alle eeuwigheid.
Meerderen van ons worden getroffen door het leed dat aangedaan wordt door oorlogsgeweld, aards geweld (zoals aardebevingen en modderstromen) maar wij willen niet gebukt gaan onder een slachtoffersrol. Wij beseffen dat al dat lijden mar een tijdelijk gebeuren is.
Wij bidden regelmatig, in alle nederigheid, dat Gods Naam geheiligd zal worden en Zijn Rijk zal komen.
Er moeten geen voorgeschreven woorden volgens bepaalde regels opgezegd worden. Met onze eigen woorden kunnen wij aan God kenbaar maken dat wij Hem liefhebben en nog beter willen leren kennen.
In je dagelijkse communicatie met God is het niet onbelangrijk Hem te laten weten dat jij Hem lief hebt en dat jij graag zou willen leven volgens Zijn Wil.
Er zijn heel wat dingen die er ons zouden toe moeten brengen om ons tot onze hemelse Vader te richten.
Ook al wil de wereld de mensen het anders doen geloven, is er volop reden om tot de Onzichtbare God te bidden.
Het modelgebed “Onze Vader” wordt meestal afgesloten met onze erkenning dat het Koninkrijk toebehoort aan Jehovah God , Die de Allermachtigste is en alle Kracht en Heerlijkheid bevat.
Originally posted on Living Life in a Fish Bowl!:
How’s your prayer life? What is prayer? Communicating with God – the One who rules the universe and all the galaxies beyond, who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere Asking Him to intervene on a particular situation or person Asking for His peace, joy, love, hope…
Remembering Jesus’s two purposes for teaching in parables will help us to overcome four common mistakes.
Jesus once gave a series of seven Kingdom illustrations in close connection with one another. We should remember that the most important reason for his telling such short stories is to persuade people to enter the kingdom of which he speaks.
Klinken onze gebeden als het gebed van Jezus Christus? Hierboven wordt niet gevraagd of u het modelgebed dat Jezus de wereld gaf, bidt. Vermoedelijk bidden heel wat christenen regelmatig het “Onze Vader“. Hierbij kan de vraag gesteld worden of zij wel degelijk de inhoud er van beseffen. Velen denken namelijk dat zij na hun dood […]
Als afsluiting van het modelgebed Het Onze Vader kunnen wij nog eens benadrukken hoe wij Gods Naam, Heerlijkheid of Glorie, Macht en Kracht hoogschatten.
Menahem Schmelzer, a Hungarian refugee who for more than two decades was the doting custodian of one of the world’s greatest collections of ancient Hebrew and other Jewish manuscripts and books as the librarian of the Jewish Theological Seminary, died on Dec. 10 at his home in Manhattan. He was 88. During Professor Schmelzer’s tenure […]
A fun medley about a small but nice get-together
Right now, we are in a time of seeking, and there is good reason to yearn for the Qadosh Barukh Hu, El ʿElyon, thirsting for Jehovah the living God, to find our way through the darkness. Those who have tasted the Bore and got that personal relationship with Him, have found that nothing else can satisfy their souls but Him.
In the north of Europe shelling brings a lot of darkness, but these days our brethren and sisters from Ukraine, with us are all united in the commemoration of another war won by the grace of the El’ Elyon.
As we gain new experiences and learn every day so does the confrontation of reading the Torah every year again from beginning to end, which makes us discover each time some new things, making us grow in our Bible knowledge.
Originally posted on Jewish Young Professional:
I put “Assimilated Jew” in the title of this series because “Authentic Self and the Assimilated Jew” had a nice aesthetically-pleasing alliteration to it. But honestly, I don’t self-identify as a secular Jew or as an assimilated Jew. Secular? I don’t consider myself secular because in spite of my…
Adolfo Kaminsky (or Adolphe; 1 October 1925 – 9 January 2023) was an Argentine-born member of the French Resistance, specializing in the forgery of identity documents, and photographer.
The Pesach teaches that God will ‘skip over’.
We always should remember that Shabbat is not just about not doing certain things, or the other way round, just doing special things, or having special food or bringing sacrifices.
Before planning to live together in union, one should carefully consider the cultural and religious differences and how one will deal with them after the marriage commitment.
Bij de Parasja Nitsawiem 5782 kijken wij uit naar een sjana tova oemetoeka voor ons allen.
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 […]
Kijkend naar de geschiedenis van het Joodse Volk in Oekraïne staan zij nu weer op het punt dat er vele doden onder hen kunnen vallen.
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.
From guestwriters 