A looming danger for youngsters

It looks like CoViD-19 is going to be here around for many more months and companies are feeling the pressure of more difficult months to come. (Worldwide at the moment 16.341.179 infected, 650.792 deaths)

Some companies already make misuse to re-organise or restructure their business. Several layoffs are in the air.

Shannon Allen, a Second Year Undergraduate student studying Sociology at the University of Portsmouth, gives some advice to her peers at her blog Bloggit. she gives some key tips for gaining experience, especially in digital marketing, and seems herself also on the lookout for groups or media posters, perhaps to find like-minded young women who will literally chat about anything and everything!

She also started volunteering with a local volunteering centre, and with good reason brings this under attention, because many more people should find such a way to use the free time they have now in lockdown. Also, for those who work now from home, a lot of time has come free because they do not have to lose so many hours in traffic for going to work.

For the other free time and for meeting others, at night, she writes

Often, when I see my friends there is alcohol involved, often leading up to a night out. As the clubs have remained shut in England, this has been off the cards so we have had much more trips to the park or the beach, and nights in watching Disney+ and playing on the Nintendo Switch. It is so important to spend quality time with people, especially as after next year we probably won’t see each other very often as we start the next chapter of our lives. {Boost the positive vibes!}

We only hope she does not come together any more with more than 5 people, who would always be the same people from the same circle or bubble. In Belgium and France we have seen too many youngsters gathering in all sorts of venues like nothing is at hand and corona would not exist. Such irresponsible attitude is totally disrespectful to all health care providers.

Instead of clutching or to stick together those youngsters could meet more via social media and use more time to take some extra schooling.

Miss Allen writes

Over lockdown, I have been trying to complete as many online courses as I can. {Experience Unlocks Doors!}

which is a very good idea which we would promote very much.

A good place to look for these, if you’re looking at digital marking related ones, is the google digital garage and futurelearn*. I have also started an 3 day internship with ‘Brightside’, in ‘Business, Operations and Marketing’, which was free to join and you also gain a certificate from! It involves networking with business professionals and learning key skills within this business realm. {Experience Unlocks Doors!}

For sure what is going to be very important in the coming months is to make sure there are job securities to look at. As such it is not bad to make yourself already be known on the business and employment-oriented online service LinkedIn and to search for job/ voluntary roles and groups

LinkedIn is a great way to start, it tailors role ads to your cv, depending on your experience and where you live. It is also a great place to find groups to join that post related content. Following tags is the simplest way to start, for example I follow #digitalmarketing which is regularly updated with interesting posts. {Experience Unlocks Doors!}

*

Ed.note:

Massive open online course (MOOC) aimes at unlimited participation and open access via the web

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Related

1. EU Symbols
2. Getting Through
3. Every child must believe in himself!
4. The Right to Education
5. 18 Reasons to Volunteer Your Time
6. The Best Idea I’ve Ever Had
7. Get involved
8. Virtual Volunteering – 10 ways you can make a difference even while social distancing!
9. Renew the contract
10. My Animal Sanctuary Volunteeting Experience
11. My Experience as a Peace Corps Health Extension Worker – Part 2
12. Volunteering Makes Our Lives Better!
13. Listening Across Generations
14. Has being in lockdown made you think about how to live more simply?
15. Volunteer to help at Croydon Animal Samaritan’s shop, 136 Cherry Orchard Road @scrumblesuk
16. NCS Programme 2020
17. Elaine Brown gives her time to uplift Cobb County children in need
18. It’s time to rest and I find that hard to do when there is so much to do and people – my people, my peers – are being abandoned by this government.
19. Work Readiness Opportunities
20. Creating Community and Togetherness

May we have doubts

Not all of us are sure about all things. Lots of matters may bring questions onto our mind.

Some may say doubt originates in a double minded person. Others say it is because a person is not enough believing in God. Others say he is not believing in Christ. Several Christians look at a doubter as a person not trusting Jesus.

Is this really so. Are we less better than other Christians when we have questions about certain matters? No, not at all.
Is doubt a sign of lacking faith? Perhaps. But it can be that you really do your best to walk in faith.
Is it because you do not believe in Jesus his victory over circumstances and trials? Perhaps, but not necessary so.

Is it because you cannot see the victory in your life you are seeking? Did you try already to check if you are really looking for the right victory?

Have you ever tried to think that what you would love to have and to see for yourself might not be in God His Will?

We are all human beings with our limitations and ‘malfunctions’.  We all have our little problems and as such we should know that every house carries its own cross.

Having all those difficulties coming over us, no wonder that we sometimes worry and question of we are doing it right or if we are following the right coarse.

In the Holy Scriptures we are advised to question everything. This means that God does understand that we more than once shall have questions with what we hear or read, and that is good, because we should question all those sayings.

For many life is an ongoing cycle of wandering and restoration. And though many would wish it were otherwise, this makes many sometimes going to and fro, coming close to God and at other moments being far away from God. Though some may desire to never depart from God, they keep losing track. Also for Jesus it seems for many Christians often difficult to keep feeling him nearby. On many occasions confronted with the realities of life we may have lots of doubts about many things.

The reality of our sinful human condition makes it so that we also have periods where our relationship with other human beings, with Christ and/or with God is disturbed a lot.

In our technological age of communication it looks like many have lost the good communication with the Most High Divine Creator.

James Paulgaard, a fellow traveller on the journey of life, also sees some problems of this time and age. He writes:

For centuries, up until the Sixties, the Church was perfectly designed for our culture. When a group of immigrants settled in a new area, one of the first things that they did was to build a church in the centre of the community. People valued going to church as a good thing. It made people into good citizens. Encouraging the Christian faith was seen as a valuable in our society at the time. There were benefits to going to church. You could build your network of social and business contacts and perhaps even meet your future spouse there. The church was perfectly designed to develop people in that environment into followers of Jesus. {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things}

Today people have found other networks which they do find more important.

This bridge was a well-designed and fully functional bridge, but in 1998 Hurricane Mitch dumped 36 inches of rain on the area in just a few days and amidst all the other damage caused by the hurricane, the deluge of water carved a new channel for the river around the bridge and the bridge now spans dry ground. It is a perfectly designed bridge that doesn’t work anymore because the river moved. (Photo from the article: Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things)

Now, being part of a Christian Church is no longer seen as a desirable by our culture. Encouraging the Christian faith is no longer valued by our society. People do not need the church for social or business contacts or to find a spouse. We have websites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Plenty of Fish for all those things. A church that was perfectly designed to make disciples in the world of sixty years ago and older struggles to engage with the mission of Jesus Christ in the world of today because the river has moved. {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things}

When you follow the articles on Our World and perhaps form your newspapers or journals on television, you are probably aware how bad the state of church attendance is. All over the industrialised countries we do find a secularized community. In some countries there may still be a solid core of people continue to value faith; but a growing core do not. { find a.o. Reginald Bibby, A New Day: The Resilience and Restructuring of Religion in Canada (Lethbridge: Project Canada Books, 2012), 5, 10, 34.}

Lots of people got to hear from their preachers that Jesus is God because no human being is ever able to follow God’s Will. Because of that lie, people have no trust in that Jesus any more and do find it rubbish that at other moments priests or pastors say they have to take the armour of Christ and become like Christ. That then would mean they  had to become like God, which is something impossible.

And in case it is impossible fro any human being to follow the Will of God, what use would it than be to even try, if no man ever could succeed.

Lots of people do forget that Jesus was a man who lived some two thousand years ago. He was a real person, others could see and not fall death (In the Bible is written that people cannot see God and live). That man, born in an Essene family from the tribe of king David, had to learn everything. People should know that God knows everything but this Jesus did not. He also had to disappoint those who wanted to know where they would be seated with him in God’s Kingdom. In case Jesus was God he could have told them because he would have known, but Jesus did not know it and had also to disappoint those who wanted to know when he would come back. Jesus always wanted to do the will of his heavenly Father and did not want to lie, like his heavenly Father does not tell lies. Not knowing when the end times or Last Days of this time system would fall, Jesus could not tell them, nor us, when he would be coming back.

In the Gospels we also can see that Jesus at moments had doubts and even wondered why God had abandoned him. So, in case Jesus dares already to ask God why He had left him, why should not such thoughts may or could come up in our minds.
What is important is how we cope with such thoughts. How we cope with our questioning God? And how we dare to question God.

We may ask God lots of things, but we have to do it in a proper manner. We also may request Him things, but we should know that God knows best for us.

Jesus has already done the hard work of living a perfect human life, dying on the cross and rising from the dead to reconcile all of creation to God. Jesus is the one doing the supernatural work of drawing people close to him and planting faith in their hearts.

as Greg Finke, {Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary (Tyler TX: Tenth Power Publishing, 2014), 42-43} and James Paulgaard  {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things} puts it.

A statue of Jesus Christ at a church in India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jesus paved the path to God; He restored the relation between God and man and has become our mediator, now sitting at the right hand of God (notice: not on God’s throne).

The problem of today is that most people do not know the real Jesus.

To help to find Jesus and to get to see better the importance of what he really did, dying for us all, whitewashing our sins, there has been started a new website. “Messiah for all” wants to show the world that Christ Jesus was and is there for the whole world. He does not want to miss any body. He gives everybody the opportunity to get to know him and to get to know the way to the Kingdom of God.

“Messiah for all” is there for you to help you find Jesus and to find he is worth all your trust and all your faith.

Please do find that site for you and me, and start reading: Are people allowed to have doubts

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Find additional reading:

1. What’s church for, anyway?
2. Obstacles to effective evangelism
3. To be prepared and very well oiled
4. Impediments in our way
5. Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism
6. Looking for Free Blogs and blogging
7. Those who love Jesus
8. Humbleness
9. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God
10. Humility and the Fear of the Lord
11. No time for immorality

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• Augustine on the Difference between Christianity and Platonism (booksontrial.wordpress.com)
  The difference between Platonism and Christianity is not merely a difference of interpretation, but the difference between perception/speculation on one side, and reality/true knowledge on the other. To use a Biblical imagery, there is a great gulf fixed between them. It is the difference between death and Life, between an inanimate object and a living being. Though philosophy may delight man with a magnificent picture of truth and beauty, it is nevertheless dead, and so the greatest philosophical ideas cannot be compared with the smallest life-giving word of God.
• Most Blessed State of Being for Now (relijournal.com)
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• Evangelists Want to Convert Heathen Computers To Christianity, Create Army Of ‘Robot Pastors’ (addictinginfo.org)
  On Wednesday, Gizmodo’s Zoltan Istvan reminded us that, soon, the world will be full of “autonomous, self-aware super intelligences” created by humans. Obviously, some Christians see this as an opportunity to convert something to their religion.

  Evangelists told Gizmodo that these sciencey, autonomous computer brains probably can, and definitely should, be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

• Equal to Christ. Septuagesima 2015 (deprofundisclamaviadtedomine.wordpress.com)
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• Excuse My Scepticism (pastorcharleschipere.wordpress.com)
  In our Christian Faith, we are taught to believe rather than to be a doubting Thomas. We are taught to trust rather than mistrust. We are taught to give a person the benefit of the doubt before we dismiss them. But my journey of faith has had some encounters with reality leading me to embrace some sceptical attitude towards some things I have observed in the land of the living. Before I delve into my observations, please excuse my scepticism. But this scepticism does not take away my faith in God.
• An Unfathomable Gift (connywithay.wordpress.com)
  “All other religions and sects teach that man has to perform many good works in order to gain bliss – salvation is dependent on man. The Christian faith is completely the opposite. It is God working salvation on behalf of man – salvation is dependent on God,” Jan Blonk writes in his book, The Unfathomable Gift: God’s Astonishing Grace.
• The Other Side (culturalatheist.wordpress.com)
  Do you have a people or place that you have determined God is not present and the places and people are demonic and unclean?
• The Call of God (mississippipep.wordpress.com)
  If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.

Putting your feelings into words and sharing them

Beings with feelings

Let’s Talk About Feelings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All human beings have feelings. We have to cope with them. There are many ways to cope with them.
We also see lots of things happening around us. We are touched with what we notice, and we also want to give a voice to our feelings. We all want to be heard as well.

You too may find that putting your feelings into words and sharing them with a sympathetic listener will make it easier to deal with them.

Writing can also be a helpful release. Some who find it difficult to talk about their feelings may find it easier to express themselves in writing.

Looking at old writings

Most of the things today are not written for education, but we still should find time to look for writings that can edify us. We can take time to look at the old writings which were written for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope. In the very old books we can find people who wrote down their thoughts so that others also could hear about them. But they also put their feelings in their writings to get freedom in their inner soul.

Following the death of Saul and Jonathan, the faithful man David wrote a deeply mournful song in which he poured out his sorrow. This emotional dirge eventually became part of the Bible book of Second Samuel.—2 Samuel 1:17–27.

Crying may also serve as an emotional release. “For everything there is an appointed time, even . . . a time to weep,” says the Bible. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4) To be sure, the death of someone we love is “a time to weep.” Tears of grief are nothing to be embarrassed about. The Bible contains many examples of faithful men and women who openly expressed their grief by weeping. (Genesis 23:2; 2 Samuel 1:11, 12) Jesus Christ “gave way to tears” when he neared the tomb of his dear friend Lazarus, who had recently died.—John 11:33, 35.

Working through grief takes patience, for you may feel that you are on an emotional roller coaster. Remember that you do not have to be ashamed of your tears. Many faithful individuals have found that shedding tears of grief is a normal and necessary part of the healing process.

Sharing is helping

Putting down words of feeling can help you but also can help others.

It is a matter of sharing love for each-other that we should share thoughts with each other. We, by bringing matters to attention, can bring others to think about that matter. By publishing our own story we might show others they are not alone having those feelings or having to go through the same struggle.

Social networking Web sites

Image via CrunchBase

The last few years several placed their little pieces   and their little stories on Facebook. Recently they added Twitter to give some shouts into the internet world, or they threw in a nod to Google+ or Circles. We may even find pets with Facebook pages and politicians’ Internet campaigns and etiquette for R.S.V.P.’ing to events and the best way to wish someone happy birthday without feeling like an exclamatory fool! Social networking Web sites are the latest and greatest way to interact with other users on the Internet. Thirty-five percent of adults on the Internet now have a profile on at least one social networking site, and 51 percent have more than one. Three-quarters of users between the ages of 18 and 24 have an online profile.

CrazyFriendz is the free online social networking service. The service allows users to make new friends and manage existing relationships. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Pew Research Center found that 89 percent of these people use the sites to keep up with friends, 57 percent to make plans with friends and 49 percent to make new friends.

There are articles that tell us that sharing is the most popular form of internet use today. But what is being shared and how? As the world of P2P file sharing grows and evolves, various torrent search sites distinguish themselves. Some bands don’t mind if you share their music, and they even encourage it. But what about reading material? Who wants to share interesting reading material? Who wants to let others know he  or she did find something interesting to read?

This UML diagram describes the domain of LinkedIn social networking system. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Friendster, Urban Chat and Black Planet are just a few of more than 100 Web sites connecting folks around the world who are eager to share their thoughts and feelings. But just like in real life, there’s such a thing as sharing too much information (TMI). It’s easy to get caught up in the social aspects of sites like Facebook, but what you choose to share is there for all to see if you don’t limit who can view your information. The same study by Pew Research found that 40 percent of users have open access to their profiles, allowing anyone to view their information. The other 60 percent restrict access to friends, family and colleagues. Sharing personal information with strangers can be dangerous business, and there are some things you should definitely put on your “do not share” list.

Crossover, public and genres

With 51 percent of social network users taking advantage of more than one site, there’s bound to be some crossover from one to the other, especially if you have the sites linked. Sometimes we may find interesting bits or would like to talk or discuss matters not on our own private blog, because it could bring an other site of us in the forefront we do not want to be known directly, before our friends and bosses, or want to make sure no connection is made endangering our work.

Many do not mind sharing lots of things on Facebook, but are afraid to share real serious material on their blogs or on other blogs which reserve a place to contribute stories, like this site does.

Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace cater to a smorgasbord of users while people using sites such as Subeta and Neopets are mostly teens. Social networking sites can be very specific, too. For instance, you’ll find sites for just about every type of car, sport and sports team or music genre. And one of the largest groups of specialized social media sites is dedicated to parenting.

Many men and women will be, are or hope to be parents. That’s why social networking sites for parents are growing all over the Internet.

Communities and chit chat

Friendster (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How many sites will you be able to find about the way of life, or how to help each other, working to get a better living together? You may find lots of “Communities” where is being chit-chatted about little things of the world or materials things, like puppets, cars, games, etc.. but who wants to take time to share something about the beauties of nature. Sharing about the beautiful ladies, we may find enough, but about the plants and animals we shall find less. Mothers, fathers, gamers, fun or entertainment-park users, all have some sites where they can meet each other. They all have their own social networking sites aiming toward connecting, like minded of from the same sort, online. Users on those sites can choose to navigate in different easy to use areas including Discussions, Groups, Things to Do, Photo, Video, Coupons, Marketplace and My Stuff.

Some do not mind to pay to have a “Family’s home” on the internet. Other sites, like Minti, ask to join discussions and offer advice to others in search of the answers to the perpetual questions that come with raising children, providing a forum for parents to share advice and network with parents with similar interests, problems or questions regarding parenting.

Focus of the writers

At those social network-sites the focus of the writers is mostly on themselves. From Guestwriters has no pretension to become also a social network site. It does not aim to bring the focus to particular writers. Instead of aiming themselves in the picture, the writers on this site do want to bring subjects and things they find interesting into the picture. The focus is on the material and not on persons or individuals. The material presented here wants to be undone from the writer, bringing thoughts which could be for everybody and should move many.

Here we want to confront issues and not so much persons. the aim is to give place to matters which should interest many and which should be of importance for human beings. The people joined here, do not want to put themselves on the first row. They want to approach others with sympathy and respect. They might approach the sharing of their or your thoughts and feelings with others. This they want to do with an attitude of respect for them-self with respect for yourself and for the other persons.

We are aware that not many people are interested to take time to read deeper going articles or poetry today. But we can only hope enough interested people would come along and would not mind giving their ‘contribution’. We would love to find a place where there may be created a healthy discussion atmosphere. But this site is not in the first place a discussion forum. No, it wants only to be a place where different thoughts may be uttered next to each other, without anybody taking a grudge or being disturbed or scandalized. We do not want feelings over the presented material to run high. We do not want to find polluting or poisonous words, but spiritual feeding words. We do not want to present destructive powers on this site. Contrary we would love to see building up material, presenting positive material.

Peace loving agreement to disagree

We would like to find all peace loving people over here. We may all want to have change, but we do not want to get change by violent actions. The general idea is to come to a place of peace with each other. We do know that peace at any cost is not peace and that we should work for it. We shall have to dare to put wounds open to be able to let them heal. We shall have to point the finger to the ulcers in our community. We shall have to face the illnesses in our community. Yes, to get on our way together, to find peace and a nicer world to live, we shall have to see the good and the bad things in the world, and be able to talk about them. It is over those good and bad things we would like to see writings on this site, by different people, who might have very diverse opinions. We want not restrict such divergent ideas nor a diversity of interests. Varied opinions may be sharply, but over here we do not want them to hurt any body. We all want to accept that each writer may present things from a different viewpoint. though we may differ from opinion we do not mind sharing together those different viewpoints and enjoying such a variety of ideas. (Imaging all wearing the same grey uniforms, all using the same words in the same order.)

We do not want to be blind for the different views there are in the world, but also do not want to ignore the different solutions which could be possible. In case a conflict would be shown it does not mean that such conflicting views would not allow a good relationship. It is not because we may have different opinions we do not like each other. We do not mind to admit there is conflict and consider the way we handle it more important and part of enjoying the peace in our relationship. Looking and discussion about the differences always keeping an open mind and having a willingness to work it out to come to a place of peace, shall give both parties fulfilment.

It may surprise you, but it should not, that we allow different opinions to exist next to each other. Presenting such different ideas also does not mean we would like to provoke argument nor agreement. We want to show that people can live together in peace even with different ideas and believing in agreement to disagree.

Willing to come together

Our hopes are that we may find enough people willing to share ideas and to taste the different flavours others might present here. It would be lovely if we can bring a pallet of different writers from all over the world. Perhaps it might be the nostalgic feeling of what we had in our children time, which was called in Dutch “poëzie”, an album of verses, little stories, uplifting texts and pictures.
The big differnce now being that in that album everything might have been centred to ourselves, now the focus goes to the others around us.

As adults we have come to see that the world doesn’t revolve around us and the world doesn’t revolve around the person. One of the keys to success in relationships is learning to yield to each other. Over here we would like to offer a place where everybody can come along and find material that can feed him or her to go on. In case many persons do not mind sharing positive ideas and inspirational thoughts, those who want to write on this site would be pleased to offer a source of inspiration and spiritual guidance.

Providing a warm, supportive environment

We all get some nice but also very unpleasant moments in our life. at the darker moments in life either we can get in our own little corner or look for a place where we can enjoy some light. We do hope this site might become such a place where many people shall be able to find some comfort, peace, tranquillity and find some inspiring notes, which can help them to get above the garbage they are feeling in.

We do not want to be pretentious squirts. We make no pretensions to expert knowledge. We have not the presumption we can solve all problems. But we do think we can help each other in different ways. The writers as well as the readers can find support in each other and build up a relationship of good feeling.

We want to offer stories of many people by showing an interest in their journey. We love it to share those voyages throughout the world. Not to walk alone is much nicer than staying in our recluse. We prefer not to be lone wolfs, but to find many people willing to live together in peace on this beautiful earth.

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Join us today by becoming a reader or, why not a contributor as well?

Step in the van or in the bus and go on a nice voyage with us. (By Clicking on the picture you may find out more about the Bloggers for peace.

In case you have already your own blog, why not contribute now and then to this one and presenting some of your writings?
In case you also write regularly about love and peace, you might consider also to become a Blogger for peace.

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Additional reading:

1. Words in the world
2. Helpful words
3. Words to inspire and to give wisdom
4. Spring in sight
5. Hope
6. Working of the hope
7. Hope does not disappoint us
8. The true hope of eternal life!
9. Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark
10. Hope as long as you live

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1. Living With(out) Regret and Negative Feelings
2. Words are important
3. Liberty-human-rights – article 10 – freedom of expression
4. Twitter, Outrage, and Jesus
5. 10 Powerful Tips For Sharing Thoughts and Feelings
6. Did You Ever Wish for a Fast Way to End an Argument?
7. Relationship Help–Allow Someone to Struggle to Get Strong

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Related articles

• Make your readers do the weeping. (scribbledrevisions.com)
  Grief and pain are universal human emotions from which none of us are immune. You’re familiar with it. So am I. We all are.
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  Humans are emotional creatures. It’s one of the things that God gave mankind that He did not give to animals (or at least not on the same level we experience them). It’s what makes life beautiful, painful, joyful, sorrowful and meaningful. It’s a gift and a curse, a crutch and a burden.
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  I feel an anger when I hear about violent or hateful acts. When I hear of murders, rapes, kidnappings, torture or even hateful speech I am disturbed. I cannot fathom the evil that is in this world.
• Into The Blue (anupturnedsoul.wordpress.com)
  “Even as you suffer apparent defeats, you may discover that what you are losing is not really anything significant. You may learn that the needs of your ego are not your real needs at all.” – Robert Hand.

  It is sometimes said that our own suffering makes us more empathic towards others and their suffering. Because we know what suffering is, we see it, recognise it, understand it in others. We understand what they are going through, because we too go through it.

  Pain, sadness, grief, connects us. We all feel it, experience it, get to know it more than we would ever like to.

  Yet our own pain, sadness, grief, and suffering can disconnect us too. Especially when our mind and ego get involved in how we process our emotions.
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  I feel blue and discouraged as things repeat themselves relentlessly and my efforts never materialize, never lead me to progress. My empathy is an obstacle as I keep thinking if I say how I feel it will hurt him and it makes me shiver; I have another pending situation with someone to whom I really need to make things clear and although she is the one who had pricking words for me, I feel guilty if I choose stand for myself.
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  Do not fear the deep, dark, often seemingly bleak abyss of blue, breathe it in, breathe it out, let it flow and flow with it, see where it leads. We become stronger as we allow ourselves to embrace all of ourselves, all of life as it is. As we become stronger, how we experience life changes.

• Journeys to Resurrection (improbableoptimisms.blogspot.com)
  “How could God let this happen?”
  We hear this question all the time: after shootings, after tragic car accidents and plane crashes, after typhoons and mudslides and earthquakes. During the seven years I volunteered as a lay hospital chaplain, I heard it often.
• He Is Our Comfort In Times of Grief (csahm.com)
  grief is inevitable because death is inevitable. All of us must pass from this earth one day and leave loved ones behind.
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  Everyone grieves differently, and at a different rate. We must learn that tears are okay; the feelings of isolation or emptiness are normal and will pass
• The Knit Soul (1031lifeministries.com)
  There are hundreds of friendships and companionships in the Bible, but few compare to the perfect example of David and Jonathan. David was the captain of Saul’s bodyguard and a high ranking member of his army. He had slain Goliath and helped tear the Philistines to shreds; he had killed his ‘tens of thousands’ (1 Samuel 18:7). Saul attempted twice to kill David, and despite this Jonathan stayed by his side because “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David,” (1 Samuel 18:1) and the two became as brothers, as well as brothers-in-law.
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  stop spending any effort on unhealthy relationships because the ones that matter will be much more fulfilling. If there is somebody that you would weep and fast for then cherish that person and let them know how important they are to you.
• Tender Love (essentialthingdevotions.com)
  What is the most moving film you’ve ever watched? I went to see Les Misérables last week and my husband was outraged that I didn’t cry! Needless to say he shed more than one tear himself. It wasn’t that I wasn’t moved, I was deeply. But I didn’t cry.
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  For the record, there have been many films I have been moved to tears by – Message in a Bottle, Titanic, It’s a Wonderful Life, Pay it Forward to name but a few. And of course, the hopeless romantic in me cannot help herself from blubbing at films like PS, I Love You, Sleepless in Seattle, 50 First Dates and Love Actually! Cold-hearted? I think not :-).
• It Stinks. (gillianbarr.wordpress.com)
  The Bible doesn’t shy away from death. In our culture, we do. We use euphemisms. Bodies are whisked away on gurneys to be cleansed by undertakers   We avoid the word “death”–we don’t say someone died. “He passed,” “she transitioned,” “he crossed over,” “she has gone to a better place.” We “celebrate their life” but go to great lengths to avoid the cold hard word “death.” We prolong life in hospitals, we avoid making wills or estate plans or advanced directives. We don’t tell our pastors when we are sick or in trouble because we “don’t want anybody to see us like that.” We may show death and gore in action and fantasy film plots, but we avoid talking about how it happens in real day to day life.
• 10 More Hollwood Actors and Performers Who Are Bible-Believing Christians (theblaze.com)

  Last year, TheBlaze brought you a list of 10 notable celebrities who are openly Christian. While critics generally charge that there aren’t many “believers” or genuine religious adherents in Hollywood, some would argue against this claim, noting that there are certainly some in the entertainment industry who embrace Christ’s teachings.

  Regardless of the exact numbers, there are surely more than 10 celebrities who live by Christian doctrine, so we thought we’d bring you yet another round of Jesus-friendly singers and actors.

• Pro-Faith Hollywood Power Couple Discuss Upcoming Mini-Series ‘The Bible’ on TheBlaze TV (theblaze.com)
  As society currently rewards reality television, violent YouTube videos and tends to portray people of faith as “cheesy” or “corny,” Beck pointed to the Emmy Award-winning actress, most famous for having starred in the the popular series “Touched by an Angel,” to showcase the best sides of faith and faith-centered entertainment.

  Downey, who has produced and starred in a myriad movies and television productions including “Monday After the Miracle” and “Borrowed Hearts,” and was honored as People Magazine’s “100 Most Beautiful People,” shared what faith means to her in an increasingly-secular world.