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by Immanuel Verbondskind | 2019/06/12 · 10:53 am

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Timeless Insights on Humility

by Guestspeaker | 2019/04/11 · 2:30 pm

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Moment by Moment

Too many people have their eyes closed for the small things of nature and go places without really “seeing” those places and their beauty.

by jeshuaist | 2018/12/22 · 1:54 pm

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Forgiveness

One of the very difficult things in life is to forgive others. Let us not wait until it is to late to say we forgive them.

by Immanuel Verbondskind | 2018/12/19 · 5:28 pm

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Becoming Conscious

To remember

Consciousness = ability to release the old + embrace the new with awareness that all things end at the appropriate time and that all things begin at the appropriate time.

by Guestspeaker | 2018/03/26 · 2:13 pm

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Zijn Beelden een Gevaar of de Redding voor het Geloof?

De Heilige Schrift is duidelijk omtrent het maken van afbeeldingen van Dé Ene Ware God en andere goden. Luther heeft hierin geen poging gedaan om de afgodsbeelden te laten verdwijnen en anderen hun pogingen zijn vandaag vijf eeuwen later zodanig vergeten dat wij in meerdere protestantse kerken nu ook weer beelden vinden van God, Jezus, kruisen en beeltenissen van andere figuren waar gelovigen in die gemeenschappen naar opkijken en komen voor neer te buigen.

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Om te herinneren

Vijfhonderd jaar geleden spijkerde Maarten Luther 95 stellingen tegen de deur van de kerk van Wittenberg => begin van de reformatie + afscheiding van katholieke kerk => geloofsoorlogen in heel Europa + vraagtekens bij christelijke kunst > beeldenstorm.

Rond 1500 in katholieke kerk mogelijk om zonden af te kopen bij de paus = handel in zogenaamde ‘aflaten’ > enorme zelfverrijking van de kerk

Luther vond dat kunst een belangrijke rol kon hebben om de Bijbelse verhalen te illustreren en te onderrichten aan ongeletterden.

algemene tendens van protestanten > geen ruimte voor christelijke kunst in de kerk.

1566 slaat de vlam in de pan bijeenkomst in Noord-Franse Steenvoorde groep protestanten besloot lokale katholieke kerk te plunderen = Alle beelden kort en klein geslagen => in heel Nederland + België honderden kerken aangevallen.

beeldenstorm = zwarte bladzijde binnen geschiedenis van de kerk > daarom zoveel mogelijk weggewerkt.

Concilie van Trente > maatregelen genomen om corruptie tegen te gaan + verkoop van aflaten werd verboden. > andere katholieke gebruiken bevestigd, zoals Maria-verering en het herdenken van Heiligen.

Katholieke kerk rijk versierd <> Protestantse kerken vaak heel sober ingericht.

KunstVensters

Dirck van Delen – Beeldenstorm in een Kerk

Vijfhonderd jaar geleden spijkerde Maarten Luther 95 stellingen tegen de deur van de kerk van Wittenberg. Het markeert het begin van de reformatie en de afscheiding van de protestanten van de katholieke kerk. De reformatie zorgt voor geloofsoorlogen in heel Europa en ook voor het stellen van vraagtekens bij de christelijke kunst, die uitmondt in de beeldenstorm. In dit derde deel van onze zomerserie over verboden kunst: heeft het geloof beelden nodig?

Maarten Luther kaartte dit jaar precies 500 jaar geleden de wantoestanden aan in de katholieke kerk. Rond 1500 was het in de katholieke kerk voor rijken mogelijk om je zonden af te kopen bij de paus. Deze handel in zogenaamde ‘aflaten’ zorgde voor een enorme zelfverrijking van de kerk en had volgens Luther en andere kerkcritici, zoals Calvijn en Zwingli, niets te maken met het geloof. Ze ontketenden een vernieuwing…

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by Guestspeaker | 2017/11/01 · 7:44 pm

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Friday’s Quick Picks/Poem: Offerings

Today’s poem is by Cynthia Guenther Richardson, a retired addictions/mental health counsellor and also a manager of home care services for elderly folks, who has worked in the field of human services for thirty years. She believes that language can illuminate, even renew life. She lets nature guides her in enrichment of body, mind and soul.
Seeking serenity is a way of life for her, a nourishment she cannot live well without. She writes

It may have been intensified by troublesome times as a child and young adult but it has nonetheless been a natural impulse as long as I can remember. In any case, it is a powerful key to a kind of magic guidebook for living richly. Why wouldn’t I use it all the time? {A Master Key to Contentment}

In her texts she might ask us to come to see order in the messy jumble of life, and renewed creation stirring in the design of every universal interaction.

Like pebbles tossed into water, nature’s actions and reactions are a demonstration of exquisite unity and symbiosis. And in human connections–slight as a fast second on the street or ongoing as a long partnership – there are various manifestations of energy exchanged, networks of coexistence revealed. {A Master Key to Contentment}

When looking at life she recognises

It’s a numinous life we are born with and into, and its mystical ways seem to me at once ordinary and exotic. All we have to do is turn around to see evidence of a stupendous wisdom. Deep beauty. Even when there is tragedy to throw us off. Even when there is rancorous pain that wars with a need for kind relief. {A Master Key to Contentment}

That is what we ask our readers, to look around them, to see the beauty of nature and if they would not mind even come to see the Hand behind it all, coming to see the Mighty Power of the Divine Creator.

In the midst of the odd wilderness of humanness we may look at man in that huge universe, a world which can fill us with so many things are can let us feel so small.

For today’s writer

Thirst fills me
with a hunger
for small exquisites
which do not rend
the hearts of humans
nor our collective body.
Let me savor any common psalm
to goodness this world has made,
follow paths of ubiquitous light,
stay the cynic for a moment of wonder
so we may wield our will to spare its virtue. {Friday’s Passing Fancies/Poem: Goodness of this World}

Goodness of this World – Photo by Cynthia Guenther Richardson

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Preceding articles

Here and Now

The natural beauties of life

Looking at Autumn

Sensitive trees for insensitive man

Showing the beauties of nature

Winter and Spring wonders of nature showing the Master’s Hand

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Additional reading

Human beings and creation

Taking care of mother earth

Tu B’Shvat, the holiday of the trees

Time to consider how to care for our common home

The Presence of God

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Further reading

Thoughts about Gates

An Alien World #2

Magical Sun Pillar

Land of Lilliput

Night’s Innocence

I Just Know There’s One In This Group Asking ‘Are We There Yet?’

Remember When…

Heaven on earth

Perspectives in Immersion and Reality

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Related articles

Go East, Young Man:

Let’s Get Intimate: Hate is Ruining my Relationships. {Adult Q & A}

Paralyzed monkey walks again after researcher goes to China to conduct tests banned in Switzerland

Human beings and creation

Save

Tales for Life

walking-again-001 Photos by Cynthia Guenther Richardson

The tenor of life may seem
to be thin, reedy, misaligned,
a shriek, a gasp amid muted din,
sudden ruptures in connection
that will not relay joy. Yet here
we remain, humans among all others,

with myriad moments and settings
for mystery and mindfulness
to release a sweep of harmony.
I say Peace, my soul, be well moved
and please may peace follow
you and you and more than you.

From the Ramadan into the eid

by Guestspeaker | 2016/11/19 · 1:22 pm

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Enough with the Clothes Shaming of Muslim Women

Today’s guest-speaker seems to have a very wise grandfather, who refuses to call himself an expert. Instead, he calls himself a student, because he’s still learning. she considering herself as a student of all things related to sexual health, mental health, society, culture, and Muslims, looks at issues of race/racism, Islamophobia.

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To remember

Muslims living in North America who have followed the Olympics know about Ibtihaj Muhammad > wears the hijab and covers her arms and legs = first American Muslim woman ever to compete in the Olympics in a hijab > won a bronze medal.

Muhammad = inspiration for young Muslim girls => accomplishments + visibility should be celebrated.

Muslim women criticized detractors, rightly pointing out the normalcy of hijab in sports.

another Black American Muslim woman athlete who just won a gold medal – Dalilah Muhammad > does not wear the hijab and wears shorts

hardly talked about Dalilah > Ibtihaj has been celebrated all over Muslim social media for a long time > Dalilah barely been recognized.

discrepancy in celebration of these two women by Muslim community in the U.S., and Canada, has highlighted a very pervasive and disturbing problem within our community.

Clothes shaming.

misogyny + adherence to patriarchy => spiritual violence against women.

Muslim women who wear clothes that would be deemed ‘revealing’ constantly have their Muslimness doubted.

non-covering Muslim woman beginning to cover = celebrated, showered with praises, and told how beautiful she looks.

woman who covers decides to take it off = often experiences the opposite.

spiritual abuse = form of violence created by male-dominated, patriarchal discourses common within Muslim communities

live in a world in which Muslim women who wear the hijab and/or niqab = targeted by Islamophobic violence.

Muslim women need to protect each other from that form of oppression + need to fight for the right of Muslim women to dress however they wish without threat of being targeted for being Muslim.

solidarity + resistance to Islamophobia does mean promoting + celebrating representations of Muslim women in hijab and niqab.

Too many mistaken that we cannot focus our energies on resisting both gendered Islamophobia from non-Muslims + spiritual misogyny from within our communities.

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Preceding article: Enough already with the ridiculous “they used to be free” memes

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Find also to read:

Women’s Groups Say Gender Equality is a Must for Sustainable Development

Gender connections

Gender equality and women’s rights in the post-2015 agenda

Is Europe going to become a dictatorial bastion

On French beach French police forces woman to undress in public

Women in France running with naked bosom all right but with covered bosom penalised

France and the Burkini

French showing to the whole world their fear and weaknesses

Pew Research: How People in Muslim Countries Believe Women Should Dress

Allowing dress code according liberty of religion

The Dress Code for Women in the Quran

Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

Coverings Worn by Muslim Women

Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?

Islamism Rises from Europe’s Secularism

You are what you wear

Where’s the Outrage Over Nun Beachwear? – The Daily Beast

Not limiting others but sharing peace with all

Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

Silence, devotion, Salafists, quietists, weaponry, bombings, books, writers and terrorists

Secularism in France becoming dangerous for freedom of religion

Christians, secularism, morals and values

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Related articles

GB women in first Olympic hockey final

Muslim Olympian Mocks Beheading: Hijab Wearing Ibtihaj Muhammad

Ibtihaj Muhammad Wiki,Biography,Age,Boyfriend,Bio Info| American Saber Fencer

A Question for the Muslim Olympian Who “Doesn’t Feel Safe” in America ” Politichicks.com

Ibtihaj Muhammad, U.S. capture bronze in team sabre event

Ibtihaj Muhammad, first US Olympian to wear hijab, wins bronze with women’s fencing

Amid An Atmosphere Of Islamophobia, Ibtihaj Muhammad Makes History As First Hijabi On Team USA

US Muslim fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad wins bronze medal

Proof U.S. Muslim Olympian Admires Terrorists, Dislikes Israel

Rio 2016: The first American Olympian to compete in a hijab wins a bronze medal

Sobia Ali-Faisal

By now most Muslims living in North America who have followed the Olympics even tangentially know about Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American Muslim woman ever to compete in the Olympics in a hijab. The American Muslim community has been celebrating her well before she went to the Olympics and won a bronze medal. And rightly so. There is no doubt that Muhammad is an inspiration for young Muslim girls. Her accomplishments and her visibility should be celebrated. Though much has been made about her wearing the hijab in the Olympics, Muslim women have criticized detractors, rightly pointing out the normalcy of hijab in sports.

Today, on my social media, I’ve seen the (relatively subdued) celebration of another Black American Muslim woman athlete who just won a gold medal – Dalilah Muhammad. However, an interesting (I’ll just use that word for now) contrast was noted by those posting…

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by Guestspeaker | 2016/09/02 · 7:11 pm

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Celebrate Eid in Style

That being a Muslim girl does not have to mean to be a dark grey or dark brown non-saying person, can be seen at the too few websites which bring some fashion news for believers in the Islamic tradition.

From the Dutch lifestyle magazine for Muslims we do not hear much any more, so it would be good if Muslims in the Benelux and France could find some other fashion sites to bring more colour in the West European streets.

Let us hope tradition can meet the contemporary and that more designers will find their way also to bring more variation and beauty to the female faithful to God.

It is nice to read that

In the few months since its launch The Fashion Orientalist has grown into a platform for established and new designers from India and the Middle East.

Edward Wadie Said – 1 November 1935 – Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine

They are based in Amsterdam and work together with fashion designers and fashion events from all over the world. The person behind it, being of European and South Asian descent has always been a big fan of the fusion between the West and the East. She studied Communications, Media and Culture for many years and stumbled upon a journal written by Edward Said on Orientalism.

This Christian Arab who both defended the Islamic world and, by his own testimony, felt close to Jews for much of his life, was an academic who spent much of his time addressing the public, often having to cancel classes he taught at Columbia University because he was booked for television appearances.

Said’s scholarly works indicted Western cultural traditions as complicit in colonialism, but he played and wrote about European classical music extensively and enthusiastically. what seemed to have attracted the fashion girl was that

Said discussed the Western attitudes towards the East. How does the West portray the East? Very often we just use stereotypes, without any further knowledge about culture.

The book Orientalism, published by Pantheon (a mainstream, not an academic publisher) in 1978, took issue with Western depictions of the Middle East. Said’s central thesis was that Western views of Middle Eastern cultures were rife with stereotypes of irrationality, degeneracy, and violence. His demonstration of this thesis was perhaps the book’s most original component, as he showed how such stereotypes found their way into scholarly writings, literary and popular fiction, and journalistic writing in an interconnected web.

So The Fashion Orientalist her aim is to show fashion designs from the orient.

Designs made by designers from the East, for example India or the Middle East or even China. I do not want to solely focus on fashion from Eastern designers, I also want to show Western designs that are inspired by the East (or the other way around). If you combine fashion from the orient (the east) and the occident (the west) you get something I would like to call hybrid fashion.

Preceding articles

Too Young To Fight?

Additional reading

newspapers and the great war

by Marcus Ampe | 2016/07/05 · 7:49 pm

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July 4, 1916 – Battle of the Somme greeted with ‘the greatest enthusiasm’

There’s no denying the effect of the murders. Austria-Hungary and its ally Imperial Germany rallied to the cause of war and one month later Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The declaration drew Germany, Russia, France, Belgium, Montenegro and Great Britain shortly after. The worst war in human history up to that time was underway. Eventually, more than 9 million soldiers and 8 million civilians would die in the war. Millions more were maimed and wounded by killing that occurred on an industrial scale. Empires were wiped from the map, new nations emerged, and the world was reshaped by more upheaval than anything that had occurred since the fall of Rome. {The Great War changed everything}

Satirical drawing by R. Ferro [Cupidity – Greed]

– See more at: http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/the-debate-on-the-origins-of-world-war-one#sthash.uzXCjY4z.dpuf

Establishing the responsibility for the escalation of the July Crisis into a European war – and ultimately a world war – was paramount even before fighting had begun. The governments of Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary tried desperately to ensure that they did not appear to be the aggressor in July and August 1914. This was crucial because the vast armies of soldiers that would be needed to fight this war could not be summoned for a war of aggression. Socialists, of whom there were many millions by 1914, would not have supported a belligerent foreign policy, and could only be relied upon to fight in a defensive war. Populations would only rally and make sacrifices willingly if the cause was just – and that meant fighting a defensive war.The French and Belgians, Russians, Serbs and British were convinced they were indeed involved in a defensive struggle for just aims. Austrians and Hungarians were fighting to revenge the death of Franz Ferdinand. Germans were assured by their Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and their Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, that Germany’s neighbours had ‘forced the sword’ into its hands. {The debate on the origins of World War One}

War has no mercy for non of the parties involved. All going to the battlefields (or battlespace) bring misery to their families and others.

At one moment fighters are taken by excitement (uphory) at an other by dismay. Dejection belongs to all involved.

Experienced newspaper and magazine journalist who is currently the Director of the Leicester Centre for Journalism at De Montfort University, John Dilley, looks at the Great War whilst he conducts research into how local and national newspapers covered this first horrible experience which caught the whole world.

Today we should realise how people were used in the war-machine and how every time in such battles letters from loved ones are as important as bullets and shells for the the fighters serving in the battle places. At first they might have felt full of energy and ambition but from their letters we know this changed quite quickly.

Cyril Newman, a lance corporal, wrote to his fiancée Winnie on receiving two letters from her:

“I feel a different person. Ten years younger – a hundred times lighter of heart. We all feel like this. The arrival of mail is vital to our happiness. ‘No Post’ gives us a kind of malaise.” {April 25, 1916 – Words of war play a vital role in saving sanity at the Front}

Though

Most of the letters were dull and repetitive but local papers did a fantastic job in spotting the extraordinary nuggets nestling among the ordinary exchange of everyday life. {April 25, 1916 – Words of war play a vital role in saving sanity at the Front}

He notices how The Daily Telegraph was typical in its eulogies saying:

“The British Empire has just sustained one of the heaviest losses which it has been called upon to bear during the whole war. The news came upon London yesterday like a crushing and senseless blow. The sorrow was unfeigned, the distress universal.” {June 13, 1916 – Grief-stricken nation mourns for Lord Kitchener sunk by the German Navy}

but also let us know how The Advertiser story gives an insight into how eagerly the public sought as many details as they could. The account goes on:

“The evening papers were quickly bought up and at first there were hopes that Lord Kitchener might be saved. {June 13, 1916 – Grief-stricken nation mourns for Lord Kitchener sunk by the German Navy}

For those who felt they could not go to the battle there was often (not to say in most of the cases) no understanding.

This wonderful cartoon depicting a man trying to avoid First World War conscription before a Tribunal of local worthies sums up the working man’s lot in 1916. {April 18, 1916 – Laughter as men try to avoid WW1 conscription}

You may question how many listened to their inside voice or to the Words of God. And how many listened to those who experienced the hell of German artillery.

“I had a narrow escape from at least a serious wound. I had my water bottle smashed by a piece of shrapnel. The following day I got my touch of gas – not badly – bit I felt it more as the time passed on.” {March 28, 1916 – Bells toll for mankind but peal for Fred Kilborn}

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Preceding articles

Reflections on the Great War #1 100 years on

Reflections on the Great War #2

Too Young To Fight?

Remembrance isn’t only about those who fought, but also those who refused

In Flanders Fields II – a new poem in response to the original

Lessons of the Somme

The Somme (1916) Working Class Holocaust

German satirical map of Europe in 1914

– See more at: http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/the-debate-on-the-origins-of-world-war-one#sthash.uzXCjY4z.dpuf

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Read also

All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting… George Orwell

Parade’s End and Saint Flora Castle

1914 – 2014 preparations

11 November, a day to remember #1 Until Industrialisation

11 November, a day to remember #2 From the Industrialisation

Mons 2014 remembering the Great War

Liège 2014 remembering the Great War

August 4, 1914 to be remembered

Honouring hundreds of thousands of victims of the brutal Somme battle

Ulster Tower ceremony for the Irish at the Somme battle

Aftermath

Juncker warns for possible new war

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Related reading

Anatomy of a World War I Artillery Barrage

History is Personal 1916-2016

One hundred years ago

Centenary of the Battle of the Somme — July 1, 2016

The Battle of the Somme

Battle of the Somme – 100 Years

24 June 1916

25 June 1916

28 June 1916

29 June 1916

30 June 1916

June 30, 1916

1 July 1916 – Somme

Remembering Harry, a casualty of the Battle of the Somme

The Last Day Of The Somme.

The Lochnagar Mine

The Absolutist by John Boyne – book review

Review: The Great War (Sacco)

The Great War changed everything

Red Poppies

Europe, war and the imagination

Deeply moving events to commemorate one of the most infamous milestones of the First World War were held on Friday, exactly a century after the first British and French soldiers climbed out of the trenches at the Battle of the Somme.

We now know that July 1, 1916, was one of the bloodiest days in British military history. By nightfall, some 57,000 Commonwealth and 2,000 French soldiers had become casualties – more than 19,000 of whom had been killed.

The Battle of the Somme continued for another 140 days and when the offensive was halted in November, more than 1,000,000 Commonwealth, French and German soldiers had been wounded, captured, or killed.

Inevitably, the July 4, 1916, edition of the Market Harborough Advertiser did not report those terrible losses. However, despite the slowness of the technology a century ago, the editor manages to include the news sourced from an official Press…

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by Guestspeaker | 2016/07/04 · 1:17 pm

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Lessons of the Somme

Showing some photo’s from one of the display panels within the Thiepval Visitor Centre featuring photographs of some of the men who were commemorated on the memorial we should stand still by the millions of people who lost their lives, not only in World War I but also in World War II and the many battles which were fought on the battle fields in Europe. At last common sense brought the nations together working on a community of unity, the European Union, which now is back under threat.

The panel created in 2004 and consisting of 600 head and shoulders pictures which were selected to provide a fair representation of the 72,000 on the memorial are just a shade of men who had ideals, hopes and dreams, which were shattered to pieces in agony and despair by the cruelty which overtook them all.

Display panels in three languages — English, French and German — may provide an overview of the course of the Great War from 1914-1918, but it is the task to each sincere civilian and honest human being to spread the message of peace all over the world in their own mother tongue and show the world why that atrocity which took place 100 years ago may not happen again.

Today there are still millions of people dying because the greed to power and the aim to suppress others is still with the stealth of a tiger looking at the world and to malinger as a dangerous silent virus which has no mercy, bringing damage to both parties involved.

John Grant as Meticulous Mick writes from Cork in Ireland that he

was pleased to see that there were a number of school educational trips to these sites of historic importance.

all over Europe schools should have such trips in their curriculum. In Belgium is is an obligated element to make the youngsters aware of the dangers of prejudice against others, racism and undemocratic systems.

His blog was started on 13^th May 2013 in order to explore some of his more creative skills that were just waiting to leap out. From his visits he presents his photographs and today we would like to ask you to loo at those of the battlefields.

In walking around the “Y-Trench” cemetery within the grounds of the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont Hamel, the largest area of the site of the battle that has been preserved of the Battle of the Somme, he was struck by the number of graves that all bore the date of that fateful first day of fighting, 1st July 1916. Of the 780 men of the Newfoundland Regiment that went over, only 68 were able to report for roll call the next day. Like many battlefields of the Great War many bodies could not be identified any more and lots of people could not be found.

For him

As much as the memorial was impressive, it was the preserved scars of war, the unmarked graves and the statistics that had the most effect on me. I was humbled. {100 Years On}

Trench Lines – Photo John Grant, working under the name of Meticulous Mick and JRCR Grant.

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Preceding

Honouring hundreds of thousands of victims of the brutal Somme battle

Ulster Tower ceremony for the Irish at the Somme battle

Aftermath

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Relating articles

Battle Of The Somme.1

The Battle of the Somme 2

World War I History: ‘A Good Kick’ -The Story of the Ball That Led To One of The Bloodiest Battles in History

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

World War I History: Slaughter on the Somme

The Somme (1916) Working Class Holocaust

July 1, 1916, the beginning of the Battle of the Somme

2/7/1916 The Somme: counting the cost, planning the next steps

Neville, George Henry. Died 2nd Jul 1916

Monday July 3, 1916

Day 3 of 141 days of the Battle of the Somme 1916-2016 100 years

3/7/1916 The Somme: a failed night attack

White, William Samuel. Died 3rd Jul 1916

Collins, Henry Edward. Died 3rd Jul 1916

July 4, 1916 – Battle of the Somme greeted with ‘the greatest enthusiasm’

“My darling, au revoir.” – War diaries of Captain Charles May | GM 1914

Rugby and the Battle of the Somme: the International Players who Died

The Young Lost in the Somme

The Last Day Of The Somme.

The Battle of the Somme remembered at Camberley’s war memorail

19,240 Shrouds at Exeter

19240

We are here

The Battle of Fromelles : 19 July 1916

Remembering the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme

Whitgift School commemorates Battle of the Somme Centenary

In the Field – The Battle of the Somme (100 not out)

Remembrance day

A day late, but…

3 Days, 3 Quotes | Day 2

The Somme

Flodden

Recalling visits to WW1 Battle of the Somme war memorials

Change, My Dear

Letters From A Lost Generation – First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends

A Series of Unrelated Traditions

roadside

An Invasion of Lilies

And Winter Descended

A sombre day

Meticulous Mick

I myself was quite unsure about visiting the site of the Battle of the Somme. I did not know how I would feel, what emotions it might stir.

Having now been, I am unequivocal in recommending that people should go to such sites. In reality, visiting these sites did more than any book might convey and brought the message sharply home; the futility and waste that war brings.

These lessons need to be passed on, generation to generation. It was in that regard that I was pleased to see that there were a number of school educational trips to these sites of historic importance.

The Thiepval Memorial itself contains the names of 72,195 British and South African soldiers “missing” in the Battle of the Somme.

We all need to learn.

Note: Images of the soldiers were taken at the Thiepval Memorial, Flanders, France.

Credit: Statistical information taken from Wikipedia

Religieuze feesten in mei 2016

6 Comments

by Guestspeaker | 2016/07/04 · 11:46 am

Gallery

Bevrijdingsdag | Wine, Art & Jazz festival

Voor het terras van de werkkamer van prinses Juliana en prins Bernhard wordt een podium gecreëerd waar onder andere Deborah Carter, Sanna van Vliet Quartet, The Basily Gipsy Band, Bop This, Leo’s Drugstore, Saxotone Groove Mission en vele anderen, klassieke en moderne jazz live ten gehore brengen.

Voorgaande artikelen:

Geef Vrijheid Door

May, for many a month for mothers and many celebrations

Golden Gate to Rainbow Gate

by Guestspeaker | 2016/05/06 · 2:08 pm

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Golden Week Day 1: Chichibu

To remember:

埼玉県秩父市秩父三十四箇所二十三番音楽寺 Ongakuji,Chichibu,Saitama,Japan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Golden Week begins with a bang > quick pilgrimage to Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture =where Anohana takes place.

Shibazakura in Hitsujiyama park > flowers = carpet of pink

up to Miharashinooka = beautiful view of the whole city

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Preceding articles

Golden Week a cluster of holidays from late April to early May

Bugaku traditional weddings at Meiji-shrine

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Related articles

Fast and furious

Japan – Tokyo, My First Days

Tokyo Cheapo’s Tips for Avoiding the Golden Week Crowd in Tokyo

Truths and Fictions in Everyday Japan

Look what Japan is coming out with! An incredible and near-invisible Commuter Train!

Video Advisory (April 26) Suits over Japan’s security laws

‘One-Punch Man’ Season 2 Release Date Before Year Ends? Saitama OVA Ongoing

Manhole Monday: Kawagoe

And Golden Week begins with a bang! Jerry and I took a quick pilgrimage to Chichibu (only about 2 and a half hours away) in Saitama Prefecture. Those of you who like anime, it is where Anohana takes place. It was a bit cloudy but at least it was still warm out! There was a good number of tourists, but not a lot of foreign tourists; just Japanese tourists. And it’s understandable; Chichibu is a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a nice quiet day looking at beautiful scenery.

Chichibu is a much older town, I think. To make my point, our Pasmo and Suica cards (which are transit cards we use everywhere, much like Bart’s CLIPPER and Oyster cards for you Brits out there) were NOT accepted. Does that mean we have to buy tickets and put them in the…

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May, for many a month for mothers and many celebrations

by Guestspeaker | 2016/05/04 · 4:27 pm

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Bugaku & Traditional Weddings at Meiji Shrine

April 29: first day of Golden Week, a cluster of National Holidays in Japan where many workers get around a week off work.

The Meiji Emperor (1868–1912), in whose name imperial rule was restored at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Spring Festival at Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingū) > shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken.
bugaku – traditional form of dance

Preceding articles:

Golden Week a cluster of holidays from late April to early May

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by Guestspeaker | 2016/05/04 · 4:19 pm

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Het wordt wel voorjaar

Ojda

Het begint op voorjaar te lijken als de zon schijnt

by Guestspeaker | 2016/04/13 · 11:09 am

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Voorjaar

Uit de tuin en dagboek van van Judith de Vries die ook de aandacht kreeg van Sarah Raven op 5 maart in de Daily Telegraph.

tuin van judith

Twee weken geleden ben ik weer wat gaan doen aan mijn tuin op de Veluwe, snoeien, bemesten en vooral speuren naar planten die heel voorzichtig boven de grond aan het komen zijn. Met Amsterdam vergeleken komt de natuur daar minstens 2 weken later op gang dus het was even schrikken, de tuin zag er nog heel erg miezerig en kaal uit. Zoals elk jaar is het weer moeilijk om je voor te stellen dat alles weer weelderig zal gaan groeien. Om mezelf ervan te overtuigen moest ik echt even naar foto’s van vorig jaar kijken, wat een heerlijk idee dat dit feest weer gaat beginnen.

Want opeens, misschien wel het komende mooie weekend, barst het los en is het bijna niet meer bij te houden. En dat betekent ook weer lekker veel buiten werken, tuinen onderhouden en boeketten uit eigen tuin maken.

groot boeket gar 2015 Boeket uit eigen tuin zomer 2015

Natuurlijk blijf…

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Cherry-blossoms by Ihiromurata

by Guestspeaker | 2016/04/11 · 5:59 pm

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Cherry blossoms in Zürich

After having placed some Vienna Spring pictures Zurich could not be left out adding also to our other placed pictures of the cherry blossoms.

Closeup of blooming cherry blossoms (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here we may see something new, fresh, alive which calls for getting love in the soul.

These nice photo’s can take our soul where we long to be or bring us many dreams.

Preceding:

Frühlingsboten

Frühlingsgraus

Quand les cerisiers aussi ont leur calendrier

Warm April days in season calendar

Blooming marvelous

La saison des jonquilles

DIY de printemps

by Guestspeaker | 2016/04/11 · 2:41 pm

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Blooming Marvelous!

Een van de wagens van de bloemencorso van Winterswijk in 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the south of Europe they seem to have already enough high temperatures to take care more flowers can colour our world. Having the first flower Corso’s and flower parades giving people lots of beauty to enjoy.

Though we also must be careful having also lots of pagan Spring festival showing up, we always have to be careful not to stimulate the wrong sorts of shows and be on the loo out at which flower show or parade’s we want to be seen, and not taking part at processions where heathen symbols are carried or people bow down in front of graven images.

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Funchal, Madeira Portugal Spring Flower Festival = amazing parade of decorated floats, dancers and music

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Damnvan1

Good morning from Funchal, Madeira Portugal! The cruise has been in Funchal for two days to give us time to see the Spring Flower Festival. It is amazing! Yesterday there was a parade of decorated floats, dancers and music. The parade took over an hour to pass through but the decorating with fresh flowers must have taken days. They were all lovely, colourful and happy. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen so many smiley faces in one place.

The crowds were three and four deep for the whole length of the parade. Please excuse my photographs but I couldn’t get an up close space! Many people waited HOURS to secure a spot but I preferred to sit on a wall eating ice cream in the sunshine. There were people climbing up cliff sides, holding onto fences and sat on Dad’s shoulders to get a good view.

The little children…

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