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Exercise Demonstration Videos
- arms
- back
- cardio
- abs/core
- chest
- legs
- shoulders
- full body
Orange: Arm Exercises
Pink: Back Exercises
Blue: Cardio Exercises
Red: Abs/Core
Green: Chest Exercises
Yellow: Leg Exercises
Purple: Shoulder Exercises
Brown: Full Body Exercises
Card Games
- 1+ Players
- 2+ PLayers
Interval War
Players: 1+
Goal: To win as many cards (battles) as possible.
Shuffle the deck and agree on the number of cards (battles) that will be in the war. Beginners may want to do 4-6 cards, intermediate might choose 8-12, and advanced may choose 15+.
Download an interval timer for your smartphone. We recommend the free HIIT Interval Training Timer app for Android and the free Interval Timer on iTunes for the iPhone or iPad. Intervals will be a period of exercise followed by a period of rest. For example, 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest is a very common interval made famous by Dr. Tabata, but you may choose different variations (30:15, 40:20, 60:30, etc).
Lay the cards out and set the interval timer. For example, if you choose to do 10 cards at the Tabata Interval, you would set the work at 20 seconds, the rest at 10 seconds, and the number of rounds to 10.
During each interval, the players attempt to perform as many repetitions for the exercise on the card as possible. At the end of the interval, the player with the most repetitions wins that card (battle). After all the intervals, the player who has won the most cards (battles) wins the war and the game.
Variations: Players of different fitness levels can compete by applying a multiple to the weaker player's repetition count. For example, the weaker player could multiply their repetitions by 1.5x or 2x for each battle.
5 Card Monte
Players: 1-6
Goal: To complete 4 rounds with 5 cards each.
Instructions: Deal 5 cards and perform exercises described on each card. Complete 4 rounds with 5 cards each for a complete workout.
Fit Poker
Players: 2-6
Goal: Reach a predetermined number of points (chips) or play until your opponents admit defeat.
Instructions: Use the regular rules of poker. You may play Texas Hold'Em, 7 Card Stud, Omaha, whichever poker game you prefer. You will need chips, tokens, or something to tally points.
The game is played according to the rules of your chosen poker game, but players earn chips by doing exercises. For example, performing one exercise card could buy you 10 chips. All players start buy "buying" the required number of chips. For example: If the buy in is 50 chips, the deck is shuffled and each player is dealt 5 cards. The players perform the exercises on their cards to earn their chips. The players then begin playing poker. However, a player is not limited to betting only the chips he/she has. A player can bet more than they have. If they lose the hand, they lose the chips they have, and the deck is shuffled, and they are dealt exercise cards which they must perform to "earn" the extra chips they bet but didn't have.
Play continues until one player's stack of chips reaches a predetermined goal (example 100) or until only one man/woman is left standing.
Players: 2-6 players
Goal: To deal the highest card.
Instruction: Deal entire deck evenly among all players. Each player throws their top card in the center of all players. The player who threw the highest card wins, all losing players must perform the exercises on the cards that were thrown.
Wild card: Trumps all cards
Players: 2-6 players
Goal: To get rid of all the cards in your hand
The game is played according to the standard rules of bullshit. There are several variations, but this is our favorite:
The deck is shuffled, and all the cards are dealt to the players. If there are only 2 players, removed a few cards first so that each player cannot figure out what their opponent has by simply looking at what cards are missing from their own hand. The wild card can become any card desired by the person holding it. A player is chosen to go first.
Cards are played in order: Ace, two, three, four...Jack, Queen, King. So the first player must play at least one card and claim that it is an ace by removing the card from their hand, placing it face down on the table, and declaring "one ace." Players can play one card or as many cards as they want, but they must declare the number of cards they are playing, and they must claim that the cards are the card being played (so aces for the first player, twos for the 2nd player, threes for the 3rd player, and so on).
Bullshit is all about lying and trying to get away with it. So a player could play 2 cards claiming they are both aces, but in fact they are not. Or a player could play 3 cards, but claim they played only 2 cards. The goal is to get rid of your cards, and lying helps you do it faster.
If any player suspects another player lied after they played their cards, they call "Bullshit" (or "I doubt it for a G rated game). The played cards are then turned over. If the cards are in fact what they were declared, the player who called bullshit must pick up all the cards that have been played. If the cards were not what they were declared, the player who played them must pick up all the cards on the table.
If no one calls bullshit, the cards stay face down on the table, and the next player must play at least one card of the next sequence (so if aces were just played, he/she must now play twos).
Where Stack 52 Bullshit differs from standard Bullshit, is that in addition to picking up the cards when a player gets caught lying (or wrongly accuses their opponent of lying), they must perform the exercises on the cards. Depending on the fitness level of the players, you may choose:
Advanced: The player does a maximum of 8 of the cards he/she picks up.
Intermediate: The player does a maximum of 5 of the cards he/she picks up.
Beginner: The player does a maximum of 3 of the cards he/she picks up.
Team Work: The players divide up the exercises on the picked up cards and do them as a team effort. The player that correctly called bullshit or was wrongly accused can elect to give his/her cards to the offending player who must do both.


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The over 250 km long Green Route – Route Verte running either side of the Rhine river was and remains a milestone in the union of Europe. It is a true "ribbon of friendship" that runs from Contrexéville in the Vosges mountains, across the regions of Alsace and Lorraine to the peaks of the Black Forest and on to Titisee-Neustadt and Donaueschingen.
On this route between Donaueschingen and Contrexéville, nature's palette ranges through every shade of green – from the forests of the Vosges and the Black Forest mountains, through the foothill areas and down to the Rhine valley. There is no word too grand for this route which, like Ariadne's thread, connects the regions' best hidden treasures.
A veritable smorgasbord of possibilities
Geology, botany, prehistory and early history: the opportunities for exploration and discovery are almost boundless, and the joy to be had in the beauty and majesty of the landscape almost endless. The "ribbon of friendship" route is perfect for cyclists and hikers, but can also be discovered by car if preferred.
Following the "ribbon of friendship"
The route runs through the regions of Baden, Alsace and Lothringen, which are unparalleled in their beauty and cultural richness. The exceptional cultural and historical sites you will encounter go hand-in-hand with the region's unspoiled countryside and the cultural and sporting events that take place along the route. Large and small towns filled with historic buildings, picturesque wine-growing villages and their starred restaurants and quaint seasonal wine taverns make a stop or two impossible to resist.
High cuisine and home-style cooking
The route links Germany and France in both geography and food and there are many opportunities to familiarise yourself with regional delicacies along the way. Besides wines from the sun-drenched vineyards of the Rhine, typical Black Forest Kirsch schnapps and the sublime Mirabelle plum schnapps from Lothringen, flammkuchen (made from a dough base, cream, onions and bacon) and handmade spätzle (noodles) are also there to be enjoyed. Even lovers of fine cuisine will get their money's worth by making a stop at a chocolatiers, snail farm or winemakers.
Length: approximately 250 km
Theme: culture, nature, gastronomy
Breisach: awarded the Europe prize by the Council of Europe for promoting international understanding, minster, Kaiserstuhl hills (Burgunderoase Kaiserstuhl)
Donaueschingen: castle, source of the Danube, museums
Freiburg: old quarter, minster, runnels (Bächle)
Hinterzarten: health and winter sports resort
Kirchzarten: climatic health resort, typical Black Forest inns
Munster: paragliding, ballooning, mountain biking
Titisee-Neustadt: health resort on Lake Titisee
To nyttige hurtigtaster for å zoome i nettleseren:
Forstørre: +
Forminske: +
Mer hjelp får du fra nettleserleverandøren ved å klikke på ikonet:

subset: commoncrawl


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Last call for British pubs? Ailing alehouses closing
- Pubs are %22a focal part of the community%2C%22 one pubgoer says
- Supermarket booze often sold at prices six times lower than in pubs
- Pubs are closing at a rate of 18 per week
LONDON -- With its comfy sofas, open fires, choice of beers on tap and clutch of regulars propping up the bar catching up on the local gossip, the Eagle pub in Battersea is as traditional an alehouse as they come.
"It's a focal part of the community," said Graham Hill, 65, a regular of the Victorian pub. "People of all ages can meet here, and you're a friend, not just a customer. It would be a great loss if it were to close."
But regular pubgoers the length and breadth of the country are facing just that, as the Great British pub is forced out by modern life and financial troubles. As a result, names like the King's Head, the White Hart and the Old Red Lion could be names soon consigned to history books rather than British high streets and village greens.
"What has always fascinated me is that when a shop closes there is sadness, but when a pub closes there is such an emotional reaction, people are outraged, even those who don't use the pub, because it is vital to a community's well-being," said John Longden, chief executive of Pub is the Hub, a scheme spearheaded by Prince Charles that helps landlords and local communities to revive ailing pubs.
Despite their storied history at the very heart of British society dating back to the Roman empire, many pubs haven't been able to withstand the effects of the economic crisis and the very modern phenomenon of cheap supermarket booze, often sold at prices six times lower than in the pub.
"Some supermarkets are selling beer for cheaper than water," explained Tony Jerome, a spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) which promotes community pubs, and traditional, unfiltered, unpasteurized beer. "You can pick up a 5% beer for 80 cents a can, the equivalent in a pub could be $5.50."
The locals, as pubs are known colloquially, are closing at a rate of 18 per week, according to the latest figures. Nearly 6,000 landlords having gone out of business in the past four years.
There appear to be several reasons for the vanishing pubs. Since 2008, the number of regular pubgoers in the U.K. has declined by 3 million. Costs have gone up, too. The tax on beer, known as the beer escalator, increases every year.
That has led to hard times for some pub owners, who to survive have sold out to large pub chains that rent the pubs back at supposed below-market rates, but require the pubs to buy all their products – from beer down to ketchup and potato chips – from that company.
The chains own thousands of pubs; more than half of all Britain's pubs are now owned by these pub companies or "pubcos."
The "tied" pubs as they are known say the pubcos have been raising costs for products and rents beyond what they can afford and above what untied pubs pay. And because they can't switch to cheaper suppliers to keep pace, they lose their customers.
The pubs claim that the pubcos are squeezing them to pay off enormous debts accrued to build their chains and survive the recession. Now it threatens to destroy a way of life going back centuries.
According to Paul Jennings, historian and author of The Local: A History of the British Pub, pub numbers reached a peak in 1869 and then began to decline.
"Until the late 19th century 'going to the pub' was the only evening leisure activity people had," he said. "But from the 1870s the popularity of organized sports, day trips and holidays, the music hall and then from around 1900 the cinema, all attracted working class spending.
"Also, living standards began to rise in the 1860s with higher wages and falling prices of food and clothing so their spending shifted from the traditional – drink – to more material goods."
The decline of tight-knit working class communities and male-dominated industries like mining, particularly from the 1970s, dealt pubs another blow. As pubs now vie for business with cafes, bars and restaurants serving food from around the world, there are signs of hope.
"Adapt or die" has long been the motto for business success and it holds as true for pubs as for any other industry. Realizing that the old model no longer works in many places, some publicans have diversified to offer the modern incarnation of the local pub, responding to what the surrounding community wants.
At the Gorringe Park pub on an otherwise unglamorous high street in Tooting in south London, new owners have completely refurbished a former dingy local to include a "boutique movie room" where they show feature films in the evenings and in the daytime for parents and children. There is also an upstairs restaurant and a private dining room, while the ground floor remains a pub in the more traditional sense.
"This is the modern incarnation of the local pub," explained Ed Harper, manager at the Gorringe Park. "It's what a local pub should be, relaxed and friendly, like a home away from home but able to respond to the ever changing needs of the market."
Others London publicans riding this wave now sell clothes, secondhand books, fruit and vegetables, run fish and chip shops, or host week-day activities for children, using social media to spread the word.
"There is a tidal wave of change in rural and urban communities with the closure of hundreds of services – bookshops, garages, grocery shops, post offices," Longden said.
The key to success is providing services the community wants, he said.
Pub landlords in the countryside have been opening post offices, village shops, libraries and theaters on their premises. Some run fitness classes, one has turned some land into allotments for the community to use. Some villages have even banded together to take over village pubs as a collective, perhaps spurred on by reports that having a well-run pub in the village can increase housing prices by 10 percent.
The figures for pub closures may look grim, but there might be life in the Old Red Lion yet, as many hope.
"The Great British pub is part of our history and heritage and also part to our way of life," said Greg Mulholland, a parliamentarian campaigning to save local pubs.
"The pub is unique in being an informal place where people can come together – locals and strangers – to chat and have a drink. It is a very important part of British society."


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Freshman attacker Kallie Britton was named the VaSID University Division all-state women's lacrosse rookie of the year.
Liberty lacrosse freshman standout Kallie Britton was named the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) University Division all-state women's lacrosse rookie of the year. Additionally, seniors Jen Freymond and Chloe McIntosh garnered first and second team honors, respectively.
Britton, Liberty's first ever all-state rookie of the year honoree, finished her freshman season tied for second on the team with 36 points (20 goals, 16 assists), while also contributing 15 ground balls, five draw controls and five caused turnovers.
The Overland Park, Kan., native tallied a goal in her first six collegiate contests. Britton registered a pair of six-point games during the year. On March 10 versus Wagner, the attacker tallied a career-high four assists, while also contributing a pair of goals in Liberty's 12-11 victory. Thanks in part to her performance against Wagner, Britton was named the Big South Crons Brand Freshman of the Week on March 12. Britton's second six-point contest came on April 5 against Presbyterian College when she notched a career-high four goals to help the Lady Flames collect a 16-10 win on senior day at Liberty Lacrosse Field.
Freymond capped off her career with an outstanding senior season en route to her first all-state honor. Freymond was named to the Big South All-Conference first team after posting a career-high 24 goals, while also leading the team in ground balls (51), draw controls (51) and caused turnovers (29). The Lakefield, Ontario native finished the year ranked first in the conference in ground balls per game (2.83), tied for third in draw controls per contest (2.83) and second in caused turnovers per game (1.61).
McIntosh earns second team all-state recognition after starting every game at defense for Liberty and posting 45 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers. The redshirt senior's all-state honor marks the fourth postseason award for McIntosh. She was also named to the Big South All-Conference second team, All-Academic team and All-Tournament team. McIntosh ranked fourth in the Big South in ground balls per game (2.50) and tied for eighth in caused turnovers per game (1.06).
Casey Bocklet, an attacker from the University of Virginia, was voted the Player of the Year, while her coach, Julie Myers, was named the All-State Coach of the Year.
2013 VaSID All-State University Division Women's Lacrosse Team VaSID Player of the Year – Casey Bocklet, Virginia VaSID Coach of the Year – Julie Myers, Virginia VaSID Rookie of the Year – Kallie Britton, Liberty 1st Team G – Schylar Healy, So., James Madison D – Kathleen Battle, Jr., Longwood D – Taylor Blazer, Jr., Richmond D – Megan Dunleavy, Sr., Virginia M – Jamie Brentlinger, Sr., Longwood M – Jen Freymond, Sr., Liberty M – Morgan Stephens, So., Virginia M – Courtney Swan, So., Virginia A – Casey Ancarrow, Sr., James Madison A – Casey Bocklet, So., Virginia A – Sam Stevenson, Sr., Richmond 2nd Team G – Kim Kolarik, Sr., Virginia D – Lexi Cross, So., James Madison D – Maddy Keeshan, Jr., Virginia D – Chloe McIntosh, Sr., Liberty D – Christina Patten, Sr., Virginia Tech M – Ali Curwin, So., James Madison M – Jenna Dougherty, Jr., William & Mary M – Rachel Obregon, Jr., George Mason A – Caitlin Fifield, Sr., Richmond A – Lauren Prasnicki, Jr., Longwood A – Amy Roguski, Jr., James Madison.
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Looking through my home library is hours of fun no matter what I'm researching, but there's no doubt I'm partial to the 80's and "winged" eyeshadow. Extending color past the natural lid is a great way to add drama to your eyes so why not try it for your next party? Shown here are photos from "The Complete Beauty Book" published in 1985, which means there's no shortage of over-the-top makeup ideas inside.
By the way, I also must confess my undying love for "press-on nails" because to me, they are just the same as putting on a pair of heels or lashes. My heart broke when Revlon discontinued theirs because they had the best, and although they still make "glue-on's", I just can't be bothered dealing with nail glue and I also haven't found any others I like as much. So, instead, I'm waiting patiently for someone to introduce new and improved versions which will hopefully include stylish oval tips and, if my inside sources are correct, it won't be long!


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This song has been stuck in my head a lot recently. I got to say, that the really simple juxtaposition of college kids at spring break and committing yourself to the love of your life (albeit of the same sex) makes a great case for marriage equality.
Who knew it could be this simple. Stop all the hate guys, love is love and gay marriage is happening slowly but surely.
Love it boys.


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Acta Theologica
On-line version ISSN 2309-9089
Print version ISSN 1015-8758
Acta theol. vol.33 suppl.17 Bloemfontein Nov. 2013
Pavel Aleksadrovič Florenskij's method of discerning spiritual truth
C. Camilleri
Rev. Dr Charlò Camilleri, O.Carm. Executive Director of the Carmelite Institute Malta, Lecturer at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Malta, Member of the Centro Internazionale Studi Sta Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi Firenze, and Research Fellow of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. E-mail: email@example.com
This article explores Pavel Florenskij's dialectical method as the preferred way to discern spiritual truth. It presents the Russian polymath's method within his sociopolitical and ecclesiastical contexts and two of his works, namely his magnum opus entitled The pillar and ground of truth, and his lecture Reason and dialectics, both of which are significant for interpreting Florenskij's thought. The article also provides an intertextual reading of Florenskij's Pillar to argue that its context is 1 Timothy 3:14-16. It then analyses the similarities between the context of 1 Timothy and that of The Pillar. As they fall within a period during which particular churches faced certain challenges, both texts call for discernment of the true identity of the church.
Keywords: Pavel A. Florenskij, Discernment, Spiritual truth, Dialectic
Trefwoorde: Pavel A. Florenskij Onderskeiding Geestelike waarheid Dialektiek
It is fitting to start this reflection on Pavel Aleksandrovič Florenskij's method in discerning spiritual truth with a quote from Tertullian:
When the apostle would restrain us, he expressly names philosophy as that which he would have us be on our guard against. Writing to the Colossians, he says, 'See that no one beguile you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and contrary to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.' He had been at Athens, and had in his interviews (with its philosophers) become acquainted with that human wisdom which pretends to know the truth, while it only corrupts it, and is itself divided into its own manifold heresies, by the variety of its mutually repugnant sects. What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the church? What between heretics and Christians? Our instruction comes from the porch of Solomon, who had himself taught that the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart (Wisdom 1:1). Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus, no inquisition after enjoying the Gospel! With our faith, we desire no further belief. For this is our palmary faith, that there is nothing which we ought to believe besides (Tertullian 1844:7).
The inspiration for the choice of this citation, which, from my viewpoint, mirrors the Russian polymath's persona, is Florenskij's personality and writings. A detailed investigation of Florenskij's Weltanshauung, expressed in his erudite writings, is sufficient to understand the reason for such an approximation. Besides, this is not new to the study of Florenskij. In an appreciation of his friend Pavel, Sergej Bulgakov (1971:128) stated that in him "met and were united in a particular way culture and the church, Athens and Jerusalem". In a recent elaboration on Bulgakov's indirect reference to Tertullian's rhetorical question on the relationship between Athens and Rome, the Academy and the church, Natalino Valentini (2004:10) states that Florenskij's integrative and interdisciplinary method
concretizes itself in the definitive choice of his faithful belonging to the church, a belonging which, although faced with actual persecution, is nonetheless alien to any hesitation.
To some extent, Florenskij's own metaphysical and physical preoccupations echo Tertullian's commentary on the Apostle's warning in his letter to the Colossians. Paul the Apostle, Tertullian and Florenskij alert us to "that human wisdom which pretends to know the truth". They claim that philosophy - to be understood, in this instance, as "human wisdom" (Tertullian 1844:7), "logical terms" (Florensky 1997:5, 7, 24), the musings of the "rational mind"1 and human understanding which is contrary to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit (Florensky 1997:80-105) - corrupts truth while thrusting us into an impasse in our search for truth.
It would not be far-fetched to state that the church still has the same preoccupations, especially those who reflect upon the complex relationship of the ecclesiastical experience of a community of believers immersed in the world. On the basis of the belief in the incarnation, this preoccupation presses for renewed and valid answers to the challenges posited by such a complex relationship. The Johannine Jesus himself, in the priestly discourse given during the Last Supper, touches upon this issue while praying for the disciples who are called to be immersed in the world without being of the world.
It should be made clear from the outset that the polymath's plan of action and solution are different, at least in part, from those of his predecessor. While Tertullian rules out the dialectical method, Florenskij promotes it, alongside reason, as the key to discerning spiritual truth (Иctиha). It is assumed that reason and dialectic are Florenskij's way of critically reflecting on the lived experience of spiritual truth in the church. Discernment is in itself a "critical reflection on lived spirituality" (Waaijman 2001:483). It observes differences, perceives tension, gathers and sorts out knowledge with respect to the way toward God:
It tests the end and the means and creates a critical centre. With a contemplative eye it looks at a person's life journey and envisions its perfection (Waaijman 2001:483).
This study attempts to explain Florenskij's personal experience of the act of discernment. Although, as far as one can tell, Florenskij does not use the terms discernment or discretio in the conventional sense of the word, he makes, through his own experience, a useful and more focused contribution to the theme of discernment. His reflection on discerning spiritual truth through dialectics is not theoretical inasmuch as it reflects his own way of going through a discerning process.
In the Western tradition, discernment is often conventionally regarded as acts performed by an individual within the context of spiritual direction, conscience, personal experience, choice and feelings and as relating to the human subject that is challenged to examine deeper motivations and to test them (Waaijman 2001:492-500). Taking, as an example, Florenskij's experience from the Russian Orthodox tradition, this search for, and testing of deeper motivations would include reflection on spiritual truths that may be helpful for discernment in the wider context on a critical moment in the life of the church. Testing one's motivations with an eye on the spiritual way could also imply a testing in terms of the wisdom of the past and of spiritual truths. This article purports that Florenskij's insights can be helpful in this instance: How does one, through dialectics, discover those spiritual truths that are also relevant for the spiritual way.
Pa3yM и диaЛektиka is the title of the oration delivered by Florenskij to defend his thesis in 1914. It marks his proposal for an adequate and unified theory of reality. One cannot, to some extent, understand his method in The pillar and ground of truth without reading the oration. Similarly, one will not comprehend what is implied in the oration without knowing the context.
Soon after graduating in mathematics and physics, Florenskij enrols in the Moscow Theological Academy. During his years at the Academy, he publishes various erudite works in search of his own personal approach to the discovery of truth. In a letter dated 31 January 1906 and addressed to Andrej Belyj,2 Florenskij laments that he is finding it difficult, nearly impossible, to get his works published:
to a particular journal [my work] is too scientific, to another one, written too much 'in a new style'; to another one, it's too mathematical, etc., another one doesn't like the mystical and theological elements. In short, I am incapable of meeting everybody's expectations and in conscience I cannot change that method, which - as it appears to me - seems to be my authentic journey (the researching of concepts and the synthesis of heterogenic material (Belyj-Florenskij 2004:72-73).
In a nutshell, Florenskij describes his "new style" of putting together and integrating various areas of human knowledge. Florenskij's new style, especially with regard to his reflections on the identity and mission of the church as "bulwark of truth" (1Tim 3:15) should be read in the light of the historical turning point for the Orthodox Church in Russia in the wake of the 1905 revolution and, at a later stage, in the 1917 Bolshevik revolt. As a detailed analysis of the historical, social, political and religious background is beyond the scope of this article, only brief remarks will be made on the context. The twelve-year period between the revolution and the revolt (1905-1917) was marked by a certain profound awareness, especially among the non-religious intelligentsia, that first the Tsarist authocracy had to be overthrown and that, secondly, the Russian Orthodox Church had become "a slave of conscience". The roots of this new awareness originated in the suppression of the Moscow Patriarchate by Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725) and its being supplanted by the Holy Synod to keep the Russian Orthodox Church under control and to neuter its opposition to the Westernisation of Russia (Feralto 2012:297). In fact, this change in conscience had already started with the reforms imposed by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (1605-1681) and Tsar Aleksej, leaving a divided church in Russia. Subsequent to these reforms, the politics of Peter the Great paved the way for the Russian conscience to move from an ecclesiastically trained world view to the Russian secular technical and scientist utopia visualised as real enlightenment (Stammler 1960:225; Tagliagambe 2006:20). In this context, there developed a paradoxical mixture of spiritual vigour -flourishing among the Russian Christian intelligentsia - and the rise of utopic nihilism - culminating in the Bolschevic Revolution: the church was demanding the proclamation of a Council and the re-establishment of the Moscow Patriarchate amidst high expectations and disillusionment in various movements. There were calls for a reformed, restructured and spiritual church by, for instance, the Merezkovskij's3 who, inspired by "Nietzsche's challenge to rationalism, positivism, and Christianity" (Rosenthal 2007:330), argued that there was no hope for the "historical church" and preferred to practise their religion at home (Pyman 2010:96).
This profound change or shift also had negative, violent and divisive consequences on both the ecclesiastical and the political level, as is well known from the still influential history (Bianchi 2008:15-24; Freeze 1996:308-350; Camilleri 2012:24-43; Attard 2012:33). Within the context of the church, faith and religion, one is faced with the question as to how to discern truth and remain faithful to it amidst changing times. Challenged by this question that arose from a conflict between culture and religion, Florenskij found that discernment increasingly made him "speak from within the church" (Pyman 2010:96), respecting its two dimensions of the spiritual and the historical, rather than from without or in opposition to the church. In so doing, he was distancing himself from the so-called "God-seeking" intelligentsia (бoГoиckateЛM) who abandoned Orthodoxy (Pyman 2010:96). Florenskij's understanding of the church is that she is at one time
indissolubly united to her Creator and divine Founder and inseparable from her own human condition. Consequently, because of her particular constitution, the church has a double character, and her substantial duality - dualité constitutive - or dual character is revealed in every movement of the ecclesiastical body (understood in its biblical sense) (Florenskij 2008:112).
This duality reflects, or is an extension of the bi-unity of Jesus Christ, her founder (Florenskij 2008:112). Duality is also typical of the divine-human act of discernment, understood as a spiritual-moral act involving God's truth approaching us and our freely choosing to behold his revelation (Costa 2002:159).
Florenskij's upbringing was marked by the utopic rise of a new scientific conscience, in which religion was taboo and regarded as obscure (Florenskij 2011:181; Pyman 2010:2-3; Attard 2012:33). Faced with a deep spiritual crisis on an existential and relational level, Florenskij moved from science, mathematics and physics to theology. He went as far as to reject the chair offered to him at the Department of Mathematics and Physics at the Moscow University in order to further his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy in Sergiev Posad. Nonetheless, this shift did not mean that he abandoned his scientific endeavours. It was rather an integrative process that combined the lived experience of the church with an immersion in the challenges of the emerging secular society to the imperial church.
This shift also included his response to his family's criticism. Florenskij (1999:45-130) defends his radical decision to study theology in the 1904 dialogue Эмпирея и эмпирия.. In 1912, he presented in part the thesis entitled On spiritual truth. Two years later, he defended it and published it in its entirety after many revisions and second thoughts as The pillar and ground of truth (1914). This magisterial work had to be evaluated by the Academic Council and the Holy Synod. His mentors S.S. Glagolev and Bishop Theodor Pozdeevskij, fearing the restrictive censorship of the Synod, reluctantly urged Florenskij to make major changes, among which, the elimination of the fundamental chapters - from the perspective of the polymath's vision - on Gehenna, Wisdom, Friendship and Jealousy (Valentini 2004:85-87). These chapters were, in Florenskij's opinion, "the philosophical and theological telos" of the entire opus (Florenskij 1996:742-743).4
The Essay on orthodox theodicy is considered to be one of the major theological works of the twentieth century. It had an impact on both the Russian culture prior to World War I and the Russian Orthodox church's "frozen period" during the Soviet Regime after the downfall of the Tsarist regime. Florenskij's personality and work are prophetic witnesses in a period marked by deep transitions in culture, faith and spirituality. Florenskij describes this experience vividly:
A fracture in world history was verified in what I experienced. All of a sudden it became clear to me that 'time was being dislodged from its hinges' and that because of this, something very important was coming to an end, not only for me, but also for history. This instilled in me a sense of mortal anxiety and burning pain. It was the unbearable consciousness of perceiving the demolition of that which was constructed with enormous effort, not only mine, but the common effort of the whole of Europe. Nonetheless, in this intense suffering, it was possible to perceive the onset of freedom and resurrection, again, not only mine, but that of all people (Florenskij 1988:138).
Florenskij was aware that the empiricism of a technical and scientific world view, in which he was formed, was yielding to a spiritual world view. In his understanding, the Renaissance was submitting to the Middle Ages, obviously not in a chronological order, but in the search for existential meaning and, thus, for truth (Florenskij 1988:147).
Epochal changes, with their many voices and sounds, with their instability and chaotic noise, are privileged loci for discernment. In 1905, Florenskij expressed this when, in an analytical study entitled raMiieT and dedicated to his friend Sergej Troickij, he reads the tragedy as the Danish prince "being so torn between two incompatible consciences that a deep-seated fracture splits his personality" (Florenskij 2004:41). This situation of life and death requires wisdom that is able to integrate the two (Florenskij 2004:37-41), so that one may move forward with one, good conscience. Hamlet is finally crushed between two consciences or world views.
In Gamlet, Florenskij purports to experience (oΠbiT) in a dialectical manner. Quoting Schelling, he states that dialectic consiste in una serie di prove del pensiero che si succedono coerentemente, consiste in una serie di esperienze del pensiero su se stesso, correttamente concatenate; il pensiero sperimenta se stesso, organizzando singoli momenti del processo dialettico, e attenendosi nel far questo alle proprie leggi, alla propria natura. Tuttavia, man mano che organizza i singoli momenti - o sistemi - la ragione scopre un limite nell'anello della catena che ha creato, la sua incompatibilità con le condizioni necessarie della veridicità, con i criteri di verità; scopre la falsità del singolo anello in quanto tale quando viene preso nella sua esclusività (Florenskij 2004:9-10).5
It is through the dialectical movement that the microcosmic individual reason connects with the macrocosmic universal reason (Florenskij 2004:11). In line with the medieval world view, Florenskij (1983; 2007:208) is convinced that
there is an ideal affinity and correspondence between the structure of the individual and the world; there is a reciprocal conditioning of each other, an interpenetration of one into the other, a substantial bond between them.
Dialectic is, therefore, fundamental in order to discern reality. In an incomplete work У водоразделов мысли. Чёрты конкретной метафизики, Florenskij develops his understanding of the dialectical process (Florenskij 1990).6 In this instance, reason and objective reality enter into a reciprocal, eternal and rhythmic dialogue, in which the former is attracted to objectivity through an experience of awe.
In this integrative procedure, dialectic is neither the beginning nor the end; it is essentially the intermediary between thought and the relationship with the other. It is a process, a mystical one, we can say, which enables us to connect with other worlds (Florenskij 2004:12-13). Taking into consideration all of the above, it becomes understandable why, in this particular ecclesiastical context within which he was moving, Florenskij proposes dialectic as the way to discern spiritual truth:
Dialectic has to do with the concrete, the dynamic, the contradictory, and so it finds abundant materials in the history of Christian movements. For all movements are at once concrete and dynamic, while Christian movements have been marked with external and internal conflict, whether one considers Christianity as a whole, or even this or that larger church or communion. The materials of dialectic, then, are primarily the conflicts in Christian movements. But to these must be added the secondary conflicts in historical accounts and theological interpretations of the movements. Besides the materials of dialectic, there is its aim. This is high and distant. As empirical science aims at a complete explanation of all phenomena, so dialectic aims at a comprehensive viewpoint. It seeks some single base or some single set of related bases from which it can proceed to an understanding of the character, the oppositions, and the relations of the many viewpoints exhibited in conflicting Christian movements, their conflicting histories, and their conflicting interpretations (Lonergan 1999:129).
In line with reason (pa3yM), dialectic compares, criticises and purifies categories and perspectives aiming at truth. In The pillar and ground of truth, Florenskij reflects critically on "the problem of the certitude of truth" (Florensky 1997:20), by analytically examining the manner in which truth comes to us and by distinguishing between reality or veracity and deception or illusion. The text itself takes the form of seemingly unconnected letters which, when combined, enlighten us with knowledge of the spiritual truth emerging from it.
3.1 A text within the text
The title of the work is a quote from 1 Timothy 3:15, where Paul writes about the church (especially verses 14-16):
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
The meaning of The pillar and its method can be better understood in this biblical context which inspired it. Paul penned his letter so that the addressee "may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark [ground] of truth". The context of the letter is about the transition of the Ephesian church from ascetic Judaism to Gnosticism. The church was in danger of passing from exposure to scrupulous legalism to superstition and godlessness.7 There was also the challenge of false masters or teachers who presented themselves as enlightened (gnostic), true interpreters of the Christian way. Paul directs the overseers to guide the church in truth.
Centuries later, by analogy, Florenskij's text originated in similar transitional phases in the social, political, theological and ecclesiastical spheres. These phases threatened to alter the church's understanding of herself, her identity and her mission. Kenworthy comments that, in an age where
secularising rulers of the eighteenth century sought to restrict the church's activities to the 'spiritual' realm, a trend that was dramatically reinforced by Soviet rule (Pereira 2010:163),8
such a change neutralised the charismatic energy of the church as a catalyst of transformation in the ecclesiastical and socio-political spheres.9 In an early text, intimately linked with The pillar, Florenskij laments that the "concept" of the church was in "a blurred state of confusion". Quoting Paul Jalaguier, a Waldesian theologian, he thus calls for "prudence" in rationally analysing this concept in the light of Sacred Scripture as interpreted by the church. This process of knowing on the basis of, to use Cassian's words, "true judgement and knowledge" (Conférences 2, 2-7; 9.9; 14, 1-8, 21, 34) is necessary in order to maintain, in Florenskij's words, the integrity or purity (целомудрие) of the "mystery of the church" (Eph 5:32):
With sacred zest, it is necessary, on the one hand, to pay attention and not to limit ourselves only to biblical data. On the other hand, we should be cautious not to cross the boundaries and ultimately to add or detract anything [...]. Beneath every text of the Word of God there resides the hidden light; in every sound, wisdom. The competence of science is, therefore, in this case, to gather the particular texts disseminated in the Sacred Scriptures and to band them together into a systematic structured whole, without altering that which is gathered (Florenskij 2006:101-102).
The vague ecclesiastical concept is the result of the lack of an ecclesiastical experience (Florenskij 1997:8-9). Florenskij purports that discernment through this dialectical method maintains harmony in the church's life within the framework of rational analysis (Florenskij 2006:115; Waaijman 2001:484).
In 1 Timothy 3, Paul describes the church with the biblical phrase "the household of God" which generally refers to Israel and "more often to the Temple in Jerusalem" (Wild 1993:898). Worth noting in this context is that before the Temple's entrance were two free-standing bronze pillars, signifying perhaps the Exodus pillars of smoke and fire through which God's presence accompanied and led Israel in the wilderness. These pillars were given the names Yakin, meaning "he will establish", and Boaz, meaning "in strength". These "fire-pillars of cosmic significance" (McKenzie 1992:874) recalled the Presence amidst God's household established in strength.
The church is the pillar of truth inasmuch as it continuously preserves and makes present in history the divine truth revealed in Jesus Christ. As household of God, she is also the pillar of truth inasmuch as those who are of truth belong to Christ and, therefore, to the church as his body in time. The apostles themselves are also called the twelve foundations of the church (see Rev 21:14) inasmuch as they guarantee tradition, namely apostolic succession, from Christ himself (see 1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:20; Rev 21:14). Thus, the church rests on Christ as the foundational truth in itself, distinct from the truth acknowledged by the world. She is established in strength upon this foundational truth which supports itself and the church. In 1 Timothy 3, the truth preserved and upheld by the church "is the great mystery of our religion or godliness", namely Christ who "was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory" (cf. also Jn 1:14; Ph 2:7). The entire mystery of Christ himself, including the incarnation, is "the mystery of godliness" who was hidden "with God" and was made manifest (see Jn 1:1, 14; Rom 16:25-26; Col 1:26-27; 2 Tm 1:10; Tit 2:11; 3:41) to the church who, in turn, professes and confesses it (in the faith of believers) as upholder of the truth.10
The structure of Florenskij's book is not systematic. As indicated earlier, it is composed of twelve letters written to a brother or friend who was for Florenskij the sacrament of Christ the Friend.11 The genre itself not only reveals the eruditeness of the author who draws from liturgical, patristic and philosophical (classical and modern) sources in his quest for gaining knowledge of truth, but is also a persuasive model of Florenskij's method in discerning spiritual truth. The fundamental methodology and thrust of the work reveal the following approaches (Gustafson 1997:ix-xxiii):
- Epistemological: Florenskij uses symbolic logic and arithmology with detailed precision.
- Moral: Florenskij analyses the phenomenon of the human capacity for relationships, for example Friendship and Jealousy.
- Ontological: Florenskij analyses being (existence, reality) and the metaphysical relationship between different categories of being. Such an approach is visible in his letter on Triunity and Wisdom.
Florenskij uses these approaches to investigate how, from a Christian (Orthodox) perspective, one can arrive at spiritual truth and live according to it. Florenskij's perspective is unitarian. He proposes a Christian world view (Weltanschauung) which, in line with the Trinitarian model, through faith dialectically brings together all ideas, objects, experiences, contradictions and persons into mutual relationship and interpenetration. According to Florenskij, disunity reveals the sinful state of a humanity that is alienated from truth, living in an illusory (not real) state (false self), which is quintessentially the experience of Gehenna (Hell). Disunity leads to εποχή (suspension) and to nihilism. The former takes the form of, first, Cartesian methodological doubt (scepticism) in which, rationally, one doubts the truth of one's beliefs and of, secondly, philosophical scepticism which denies all possibility of knowledge, leading to a nihilistic vicious circle of philosophical despair over the loss of God, the loss of objective and absolute values, and over the postmodern condition of alienation and dehumanisation. In this instance, reason degenerates into unhinged ratiocination (Florenskij 2004:100).
Instead of approaching reality with a scrutinising mind, Florenskij proposes to behold the truth in contemplation (BmagbBaeT'ca) (Florenskij 1914:95) which approaches us directly through phenomena, namely through appearances or forms which constitute our experience. In other words, spiritual truth - God - approaches us (anthropodicy - όδόσ káxco - way downwards - kenosis) while we move towards it (theodicy - όδόσ άνω - way upwards - ascesis) (Florenskij 1914:96). This contemplative stance together with the horizontal paradigm of descent-ascent echoes the Johannine tradition, so influential in the development of the Christian ascetical-mystical tradition. Complementary to the way upwards and the way downwards is the other Johannine paradigm of moving from the centre to the periphery, as rendered in the Johannine account of Jesus' journey to Galilee (Beutler 2012). This paradigm is also found in Florenskij's experience of a horizontal (person to person) and vertical (God to humanity) movement towards beholding truth.
In fact, Florenskij understands truth in its fundamental connection with lived experience (oΠbit). Istina, moreover, contains in itself the ordinary and shared drama of life. In his reflection on istina (genuine fundamental truth which differs from npaBga - pravda, namely just/justice, correct, true, right), Florenskij brings together phenomena and noumena (things in themselves, which constitute reality and are independent of our own experience of them). While, according to Kant, we remain ignorant of the noumenal realm and impose the structure of our concepts onto the objects of our knowledge, Florenskij holds that one can reach truth through contemplation. Thus, for Florenskij, the rational search for truth will inevitably lead to the stability of faith in the Trinity experienced as the fullness of Being and Knowledge. For Florenskij, reason, longing for and being drawn towards certainty and stability (Florenskij 1914:100) cannot, on their own accord, behold knowledge of ultimate truth. The journey towards this knowledge is an ascetical one of detachment from all phenomena in order to contemplate the noumena behind them. Ultimately, truth is the Trinity itself wherein the Divine Persons distinctively coexist in the same essence. By participating in divine life, all things coexist in unity through Sophia (Wisdom) which is God's readiness to allow the entire creation into the Trinitarian life. The journey towards divinisation takes place in and through divine love which then overflows into loving relationships of philia (friendship) and agape (brotherhood), the basic conditions for ecclesiality (coбophoctb).
Florenskij was convinced that one arrives at truth only in and by experiencing the church. It is in experiencing ecclesiality that one arrives at truth inasmuch as it is religion - understood as the binding force between those who profess the same faith - which "saves us from ourselves, saving our interior world from the latent chaos present therein" (Florenskij 1914:93). Following Solov'ëv, Florenskij purports that "the church is in fact at the basis of society" (Florenskij 2006:113). She
is not only the aggregation of people (the faithful), but also that which binds them together, namely, that essential form of unity given to them from on high and through which they can participate in the divine life (Florenskij 2006:113).12
It is worth noting how Florenskij defines salvation. For him, salvation is merely "the equilibrium in the spiritual life", namely the equilibrium between the vertical and the horizontal, the human and the divine principles and their reasonable bi-unity. Equilibrium is only possible through direct religious experience (Florenskij 2006:112).
The vertical-horizontal movement finds its noblest expression and stability in the person of Jesus Christ, God and man, and in the community he founded in response to Peter's solemn profession of faith in Matthew 16:16-18 (Florenskij 2006:111). The very notions or images of pillar and ground or bulwark transmit this sense of stability in the face of the restless passions, of sceptic instability and of the flux of time. By befriending and holding on to this "unshakable" spiritual truth, "solid as a cliff", one receives the gift of "sovereign freedom", salvation from the wild, hellish fire of the Gehenna, "purity of heart" or integrity, and peaceful stillness in God's Reign (Florenskij 1997:187-189; Waaijman 2001:510; Un Chartreux 2003:40-41).
3.2 Navigating between Scylla and Charybdis
Facing the danger of being enslaved by or caught up between two ideological movements made up, on the one hand, of the Holy Synod controlling the Russian Orthodox Church leading her to a deadlock and, on the other, of the reactionary "God-seeking" intelligentsia advocating a spiritual ecclesiality (Florenskij 1997:187; Valentini 2004:86-89), Florenskij reverts to God's household to find, through wise discernment, spiritual truth within "the spiritual treasures of the church" and so, to gradually come "to see their value" (Valentini 2004:5). His thought emerges from the experience of a life enlightened by an intellect moved by the Holy Spirit which, for him, is the essence of ecclesiality (Florenskij 1997:8; Bulkagov 1980:17-41; Rupnik 2001:28-29). In so doing, he indicates the way forward for the church to remain faithful to herself and to the truth upon which she is built and which she has the mission to preserve. Herein lies perhaps the validity of Florenskij's method of discernment, even for the present, when
spiritual discernment tends to stem forth from the solicitude, open to all of the faithful, to embark in the task of renewal in all spheres of the church's life, paying particular attention to the challenges pertaining to the church's unity, the spiritual-pastoral leadership, apostolic choices, the synchronization between charism and establishment, the individual and the community, freedom and authority, and finally between the different charisma and ministries existent and operative in it (Costa 2002:155).
In describing his method, Florenskij explains that he never for a moment attempted to please his opponents:
I will not permit anyone to put limits to my conscience and to my thought, but at the same time I do not intend to violate the conscience or understanding of others, no matter how much these appear to me to be ridiculous (Florenskij 1914:97; Valentini 2004:86).
In making necessary changes to the text On spiritual truth, he was not motivated by fear of the Holy Synod, but by the fact that, in submitting a dissertation for a defence, one expects such changes - even though they did not affect the essence of his method (Valentini 2004:86-87).
The judgement which does most justice to Florenskij's method of discernment and acquiring knowledge of spiritual truth (as presented mainly in The pillar and ground of truth) is that of Bishop Theodor, who remarks:
upon reading this work, the feeling is that one does not only become knowledgeable in particular areas, but that one grows spiritually with it; to really comprehend this work, it is necessary to grow first (Pozdeevskij 1914:140-181).
Indeed, Florenskij's way of experiencing this method was that of a spiritual exercise. Examiners and judges could fail him and deprive him of his work, but they could not take from the depths of his heart that which he came to possess during the process itself: "It is good for me to adhere to God: in him I have put my hope." (Florenskij 1914:98; Valentini 2004:111).13
What is this if not spiritual wisdom and discernment?
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1 PaccyДoK (German: Verstand) differs from Pa3yM (German: Vernuft) inasmuch as the former comes from man (understanding) and, in Florenskij, it tends to oppose God's wisdom, while the latter, "Reason", originates in God and enables us to have a unified vision of reality.
2 Polymath. His real name is Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, son of Nikolai Vasilievich Bugaev, founder of the Moscow School of Mathematics.
3 Followers of the "new religious consciousness" movement led by Dmitrij Merežkovskij (1865-1940) and Nikolai Berdiaev (1874-1948). As with the Symbolist movement, it was influenced by Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900). Florenskij, himself at one time part of the bogoiskateli movement, was influenced by Solov'ëv's unitarian world view as expressed in his Sophiology and Godmanhood, but he did not fall into the excesses of these movements. Florenskij criticises "the people of the 'new consciousness'" in Letter Five of The pillar, while delving into an analysis of the Holy Spirit's role in the life of the church as The comforter (Florenskij 1997:91). For a detailed study, see Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal's essay, A new spirituality: The confluence of Nietzsche and orthodoxy in Russian religious thought (Steinberg & Coleman 2007:330-357).
4 It would be interesting to analyse these chapters in order to illuminate the theological (and perhaps political) motivation behind censorship. Such a hermeneutical exercise would take into consideration that Florenskij's Pillar calls "for an experiential dogmatics" (Valliere 2007:391), while challenging the church's dogmatism as a response to the cultural and religious crisis of the time. In his IMGEMAQUI, Florenskij (1994:561) uses the metaphor of a beautiful but gloomy Gothic cathedral to lament that "the body and the soul of the religious worldview have separated themselves from each other". People outside the church cannot find their way in, while insiders are imprisoned in lifeless traditionalism hurling ineffective anathemas to outsiders, who, ironically, may wish to enter.
5 In Razum i dialektika, Florenskij mentions: "Questo è il contenuto del libro. Passiamo ora la metodo. Ebbene, per colui che lo ha sfogliato credo che non vi sia dubbio che tale metodo sia la dialettica, intendendo il termine nella sua accezione piu vasta di pensiero immediato, vivo e vitale in contrapposizione al pensiero scolastico, e cioè raziocinante, che analizza e classifica. Non è un discorso sul processo del pensiero, ma il processo stesso del pensiero nella sua immediatezza, è il pensiero palpitante dimostrabile ad oculos. E l'esempio piu semplice della dialettica, cioè del pensiero in movimento, è in fondo ogni autentica conversazione. Dialettica sarà anche ciò che a questo mio discorso seguirà, e cioè il dibattimento. L'esempio piu sommo di dialettica applicata alla fede lo ha offerto l'apostolo Paolo nelle sue Lettere: non è della vita dello spirito che ci parla l'Apostolo, ma è la vita stessa che si riversa nelle sue parole e scorre come un flusso vivo. Tra la realtà e il discorso su di essa non c'è sdoppiamento, è la realtà stessa che si presenta al nostro spirito nelle parole dell'Apostolo." (Valentini 2004:102-103).
6 On the threshold of thought. Sections of this incomplete study are available in Italian translations, among which Florenskij (2007:121-229; 2003:75-135; 2003).
7 See, for example, 1Tim 1-3; 1 Tim 4:3; 1 Tim 6:20.
8 See also Kenworthy (2010) and Kenworthy's study in Steinberg & Wanter (2008:21-54).
9 Contemporary upheavals in the social, religious and political spheres reveal this as a recurrent challenge worth reflecting upon via a sound theology of culture. As a particular example, I would like to refer to the closing statements of Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova delivered on 8 August 2012 at the Moskow Khamovniki District Court during the Pussy Riot trial, wherein the three feminist political protestors where charged with inciting religious hatred against the Orthodox church on 21 February 2012 in a performance in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. For their closing statements, cf. Shayevich (2012). For the socio-political and religious dynamics, cf. Kasparov (2012); Bohm (2012).
10 This paragraph is partly indebted to Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (2000) and to discussions with Rev. Dr. Paul Sciberras.
11 Recent scholarly works have shown that the friend in question is Sergej Troickij.
12 This is a direct quote from Solov'ëv (Sobranie sočinenji III/ii, 2:351).
13 See also Psalm 73 (72): 28.


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The other death reported from the storms occurred in Tennessee, where an uprooted tree fell Tuesday onto a storage shed where a man had taken shelter.
just picking up pictures, said Cash, 28. found the most important ones, like when my cousin was born and her late daddy, the ones that matter most. who lives in nearby Cartersville, rode out the violent weather in a neighbour basement. Once the worst had passed, she called her family in Adairsville and was relieved to hear they all made it to a cinderblock storm shelter under her grandparents home.
Power said some 9,600 customers were still without power Thursday morning, down from about 14,000 a day earlier.
just told them that the Lord was watching after them, she said. houses can be rebuilt. The most important thing was that they were safe. Raines, 51, was killed when a tree crashed down on his mobile home, crushing him on his bed, Bartow County Coroner Joel Guyton said.
her grandparents destroyed home. On the same lot was a mobile home where her aunt lived and another small house her cousin was fixing up to move Nike Dri Fit Shorts Mens into after a planned May wedding. All three homes were demolished: Christmas ornaments, children toys, clothing, household items and just about everything else that makes up a home were strewn about.
Some of the fiercest damage occurred in Adairsville, a town some 60 miles northwest of Atlanta. WSB TV in Atlanta aired footage of an enormous funnel cloud bearing down on Adairsville. Winds flattened homes and wiped out parts of a big manufacturing plant. Insulation dangled from trees and power poles. A bank lost a chunk of its roof.
sky was swirling, said Theresa Chitwood, who owns the Adairsville Travel Plaza.
a flooded homeless camp.
The vast storm front shattered homes and businesses around the Midwest and South with tornadoes and high winds. By Thursday, it had spread tens of thousands of power outages from Georgia to Connecticut, triggered flash floods and forced water rescues in areas outside Washington. Evacuations were ordered in parts of Virginia and Maryland with river levels on the rise. In Laurel, Md., outside Washington, officials were opening some dams to ease pressure after the heavy rains. A wind gust of 63 mph was recorded in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York as temperatures plunged with the cold air mass creeping up behind the front. Forecasters said snowfall was possible from the Great Lakes to the Northeast some of it lake effect snow.
In Adairsville, Kandi Cash tried to salvage photos and other keepsakes from the debris of Nike Down Coat
Two people were killed by tornadoes Tuesday and Wednesday, while a third was found dead Thursday in Nike Black Leggings
Near the nation capital, emergency responders in Virginia Loudoun County said they conducted water rescues early Thursday after some flash floods. One Virginia motorist was plucked from a van rooftop after veering into a water filled ravine, WTOP radio reported. Water rescues also were reported in the Washington suburb of Montgomery County, Md.
Anne Arundel County Police Lt. Smith said a person was found dead Thursday morning in a flooded homeless camp near the Patuxent River. Officials have opened flood gates to ease pressure on dams.
Deaths from the latest storm ended the nation longest break between tornado fatalities since detailed records began being kept in 1950, according to the Storm Prediction Center and National Climatic Data Center. The last one was June 24 in Florida. That was 220 days ago as of Tuesday.
ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. A violent storm system that spawned deadly tornadoes in the South delivered torrential rain and dangerous winds to the Mid Atlantic and Northeast, leaving at least three people dead and tens of thousands without electricity as swollen rivers threatened flooding.
Near Adairsville, the storm was powerful enough to flip cars, including one turned upside down onto its roof.
3 dead after huge storm system rakes South with tornadoes
In Tennessee, officials confirmed that a tornado with peak winds of 115 mph touched down in Mount Juliet. No serious injuries were reported even though the path of damage was about 150 yards wide. At least six other tornadoes were reported statewide. At a shopping centre in Mount Juliet, large sheets of metal littered the parking lot and light poles were knocked down. One wall of a Dollar General store collapsed, and the roof was torn off.
A shelter was set up at a recreation centre as temperatures plummeted to the 30s and 40s overnight and people had no heat or power. Georgia Nike Dri Fit Tank Top Mens
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What we're about
It is a community of interesting and curious people who would like to explore London, England, and well, let's think big - the world in general. :) If you would like to live your life to the fullest, have fun, make new friends and meet like minded people this is the place for you.
I would love to build up a community through which we can not only share our ideas and put them in practice but through which we can also develop our full potential, network and achieve our goals and dreams. :)
How will we do it? Step by step. We will get to know each other on various adventures. Whether it's the great outdoors (hiking, walking, cycling, sightseeing, visiting places, camping, day trips, trips abroad, holidays) or unusual indoors where we can do a bit of social networking (ice bar, jazz venues, hidden gems that only few know about), dining (whether it's fine dining or just off beaten track restaurant adventure) or something from the cultural menu which is so rich in London (theatres, galleries, cinemas) - all the ideas are welcome. I'm up for adventure and will try everything once. And I would most welcome your suggestions – if you come across something in line with the spirit of this group, please email me!
The best thing about the community is that there is space for everyone as each one of you has unique ideas and all the ideas are welcome. I truly believe that everyone has something valuable they can bring to the table and everyone has some hidden talents that might need to be unlocked.
What sort of events can you expect to find here? We have some hiking trips coming up – I love travelling, hiking and exploring countryside, whether it is around London or further afield. There are some weekend breaks on the horizon, travel UK and abroad, once again they will be filled with adventure – hiking, walking, kayaking… I will look into organizing some city breaks as well – Europe is just one hour away! And finally the World – we will go on longer holidays as well. I will look into community projects in Africa or India or other active ways of exploring other continents.
How else will we help each other? We have a message board through which we can share ideas, unusual finds, jobs, freebies, skills and anything that others can find useful. I would love to create a support network through which we can not only make new friends but also exchange skills and services. If you don't wish to receive emails about this however, you can update your settings and opt out from the message board emails. I know that once you are getting too many of them they just end up annoying you! ;p
If you like the idea, please join and please tell your friends: www.adventureclub.biz (http://www.adventureclub.biz/)
Please note, due to UK legislation all the events are for adults only as we don't have the necessary checks and qualifications and all the other paperwork (and there is a multitude of them) needed to work with children.
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What's not to love with this spectacular rhinestone tiara with heart center? Silver plated and individually wrapped in cellophane.
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Jakarta Textile Museum
The Indonesian islands are famous for their magnificent hand-woven cloths, colors and designs in material and creations, some intricate, others stunning in their pure simplicity. Each of the thousands of Indonesian islands produces its specific textile, most often based on philosophical and religious values that have been handed down through the generations.
To get a glimpse of the wide variety of these textiles, a visit to the Jakarta Textile Museum is simply a must.
Housed in an elegant colonial mansion, the Textile Museum is located, not incongruously, near the bustling textile wholesale market of Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. But since it is set quite deep inside protected by shady trees, the museum itself is a haven of cool and quiet, where one can walk at leisure and admire its many attractive displays.
Set up with the purpose of conserving and furthering the precious art and culture of Indonesian craft in textiles, the Textile Museum was the brainchild of Jakarta's much loved Governor Ali Sadikin, and was officially opened by then First Lady Mrs. Tien Soeharto on 28 June 1976.
Starting the collection, the Foundation for Indonesian Textiles under Ir Safioen, Director General for Textiles in the Ministry of Industry of the time, received donations of some 500 quality and rare cloths from around Indonesia. Today, the Museum has a collection of nearly 2,000 pieces dating from the 18th century to contemporary creations.
The Museum displays a wide spectrum of different cloths: batiks from Yogya and Solo, songkets from West Sumatra, many interwoven with silver and gold thread, hand-woven ikat cloths from Flores and Sumba, Bugis silk sarongs from Makassar in Sulawesi, to non-woven cloths from bark and animal fur. In the museum one can also see implements for thread preparations, weaving looms from the different regions, to textile ornamentations. The Museum also has a 2,000 sq, meters garden for natural dyes. There is a Batik gallery and a workshop where visitors may learn how to batik, weave or prepare dyes. Here visitors can observe the development of Indonesian textiles through the ages.
The mansion in which the Museum is housed was originally built in the 19th century by a Frenchman. Through the decades it changed hands a number of times, until the building was handed to the Jakarta local government, who then earmarked it to house the JakartaTextile Museum.
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The FAA's oversight duties are coming under greater scrutiny after deadly crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets operated by airlines in Ethiopia and Indonesia, killing a total of 346 people.
The dilemma of separating the sides of R. Kelly, who faces 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, now confronts millions who listen to or perform the singer's music.
The Tamara O'Neal MD Scholarship Fund will help support University of Illinois medical students while honoring the life of O'Neal, who was killed in a November shooting at Mercy Hospital.
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey suggests the union's rank-and-file members save at least 10 percent of each paycheck "to make sure we can stand strong on the picket line."
Following a three-way battle to replace outgoing Treasurer Kurt Summers in the Feb. 26 election, Chicago voters will have to choose between two candidates in the April 2 runoff.
The latest U.S. research on eggs won't go over easy for those who can't eat breakfast without them. Adults who ate about 1.5 eggs daily had a slightly higher risk of heart disease than those who ate no eggs, a study shows.
Illinois' marijuana industry is growing like a weed, but could banking regulations lead to its collapse? State Treasurer Michael Frerichs says the cash-based business is "now ripe for theft, fraud and tax evasion."
Watch the March 18, 2019 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."
Qualifications and public banks. Those were the repeated subjects that came up during the treasurer's forum Monday with candidates Melissa Conyears-Ervin and Ameya Pawar. Watch the full discussion.


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As usual, this is how I understand it -- which may be wrong.
The NEB method is described here.
There are a number of ways of modelling reaction pathways computationally.
Brute force PES scan (g09 or nwchem)
The fastest, cheapest, least accurate one would be to make a simple Potential Energy Surface (PES) scan by keeping all coordinates frozen with the exception of the ones directly involved in a reaction
e.g. for Me-OH -> Me + OH you'd simply vary the C-O distance.
If you don't let the structures relax for each change in bond length you will overestimate the activation energy. If you do let the structures relax you run the risk of every single snapshot relaxing back to either pure methanol or pure Me and OH, rather than giving you a series of transitional energies.
Transition state search e.g. QST2 (g09)
A somewhat more sophisticated method is to try to identify a proper transition state (TS). You can do this by making a lucky guess and try to do a transition state optimisation. You can improve your chances by using e.g. QST2 (or QST3, which also uses a specific TS guess), which takes the product and the starting material and interpolates the coordinates to generate a transition state guess. This has worked pretty well for me for cases where a simple transition state is expected (i.e. a hydride transfer). You can then model the reaction path by doing an IRC calc.
Minimum energy pathway methods (chain-of-states) e.g. Nudge Elastic Band (nwchem)
A more sophisticated method is to use a chain-of-state method such as Nudge Elastic Band (NEB). There's a nice page about it here: http://theory.cm.utexas.edu/henkelman/research/saddle/
NEB generates a series of structures based on the starting point and the product. These are initially generated a simple interpolations between the coordinates of the starting point and the end point -- this is very similar to a brute for PES scan and gives an unnaturally high transition energy. However, the individual structures are then optimised in passes.
|10 passes. Structural convergence is not achieved.
Not clear? Well, here's a rough algorithm:
1. Generate a series of linearly interpolated structures (beads) based on the Starting Point (SP) and End Point (EP) structures. In the simplest case, for N structures, each structure n is SP+(n/N)*(EP-SP).
Now, typically you're more interested in structures in the middle than at the ends (i.e. to get better resolution for the transition) and that is manipulated using the spring constant, kbeads. See figure 3 in http://theory.cm.utexas.edu/henkelman/pubs/jonsson98_385.pdf for an example of varying the spring constant. 1.0 seems to be reasonably safe.
The number of structures is set by nbeads. Make sure to use a reasonable number so that you get enough resolution.
2. Each structure thus generated is submitted to a single geometry optimisation step i.e. it's not optimised until convergence, but only takes a single step along the energy gradient. The speed at which it is decending along the energy gradient is set using the stepsize.
The largest possible stepsize will give the fastest descent (which is good), but too large a stepsize may cause issues due to the atoms being moved too far (which is bad) and in turn cause SCF convergence failures due to the structures becoming unreasonable. So try 1.0 and hope for the best.
Rule of thumb: if you decrease the stepsize by a factor of 10 from 1.0 to 0.1, you should increase maxiter by a factor of 10.
3. The energies of the new structures are calculated and a reaction profile is generated.
4. Repeat step 2 and 3 until structural convergence or maxiter steps.
5. If you're lucky your calculation will end due to structural convergence. If not, and if you want to restart your calculation you can read in the last set of structures using xyz_path.
But make sure that you do print the intermediate structures in the first place by using print_shift 1.


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by Pete Mazzaccaro
Solaris Grille, the popular outdoor dining spot at 8201 Germantown Ave., closed its doors for good on Thursday night, ending a 15-year run.
"This is a sad day for me and my family," said chef/owner John Anderson in an e-mail Friday evening. "We have worked very hard and put a lot of our heart and soul into the restaurant."
Anderson said that he tried to keep the restaurant going during a very difficult year, but just didn't get a break. As bills piled up and he had to let help go, service suffered and business declined.
"We were unable to recover from the economic climate," he said in an e-mail Friday. "We were optimistic that things were going to improve and they didn't. I began laying off employees (some who had worked for me for 8 years) to try to keep going."
Asked about what factors played a part in the restaurant's troubles, Anderson said the cost of business was just too high.
"Exorbitant rent, high utilities," he said. "The sales just couldn't sustain the overhead."
Anderson said he still owns one small operation in Oreland, but it's not enough to support his family an he's currently looking for work.
"I loved my time in Chestnut Hill," he said. "I spent 12 years of my life in Solaris. Mostly good times with interesting fun people. I will truly miss it and the ability to be of service to so many friends and organizations."