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Letter to Religious, towards the special Year for the Consecrated Life
Circular Letter from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
"I want to share a message, and the message is joy.
Wherever consecrated persons are, there must always be joy ". – Pope Francis
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
"The joy of the Gospel fills the heart and the whole life of those who encounter Jesus. With Jesus Christ joy is always born and reborn. "
The opening of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium resonates, like the rest of Pope Francis' teaching, with notable vitality: it recalls the wondrous mystery of the Good News which transforms life when it is welcomed in the heart. It tells a parable of joy: how the encounter with Jesus revives in us our original beauty, a beauty that radiates the glory of God (cf. 2 Cor 4:6), whose fruit is joy.
This Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life invites religious to reflect in this time of grace on the special invitation extended by the Pope to those in consecrated life.
To accept this teaching will mean renewing our life according to the Gospel, not using a model of perfection focussed on radical separation, but as reaching out with all our hearts to encounter salvation as a life-transforming event. "It is about leaving everything to follow the Lord. But the term radical does not apply to religious only. The call to evangelical radicalism is made to everyone. But religious follow the Lord in a special way, in a prophetic way. I look to you for this testimony. Religious need to be men and women capable of awakening the world."
Within the limits of our human condition and amid everyday concerns, when consecrated persons live with fidelity and express their joy, they offer luminous testimony, an effective message of accompaniment and closeness for women and men of our time looking to the Church as their proper home. Taking the gospel as his way of life, Francis of Assisi "made the faith grow and renewed the Church; and at the same time renewed society, made it more fraternal, but always through witnessing the Gospel. Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary also with words."
As we listen to Pope Francis' words we are challenged, among other things, by the simplicity with which he proposes his teaching, following the simple style of the Gospel: words without gloss, sown with the generous gesture of a confident seed-sower who does not leave any part of the field unsown. He issues a strong invitation that inspires confidence, an invitation to renounce institutional arguments and self-justifications. He poses provocative questions about our way of living, which can be drowsy and uncommitted. Often he repeats the challenge If you have faith like a mustard seed (Luke 17: 5). His invitation encourages us to raise our spirits so as to give reason to the Word dwelling among us, and to the Spirit who constantly creates and renews the Church.
This Circular Letter responds to that invitation and wants to start a shared reflection and promote sincere interaction between the Gospel and Life. The Congregation hopes to open up a journey of sharing and reflection, personal, fraternal, and at the level of institutes, towards 2015 – the year dedicated by the Church to the consecrated life – with the aim of prompting daring evangelical decisions that will bear fruits of renewal and joy. "God's primary desire is to give fullness of joy and meaning to human existence, since we were made for God and our hearts are restless until they rest in him."
Rejoice, rejoice, be full of joy…
Rejoice, Jerusalem, Rejoice with her, all who love her, rejoice in their joy, who mourned for her;
For thus says the Lord: "I will send peace to her like a river, the wealth of nations like a mighty flood.
They shall be carried in his arms and cherished on his knees. Like a child whom his mother comforts, so will I will comfort ye, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Seeing this your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like a meadow. The hand of the Lord shall be revealed to his servants."
Isaiah 66.10-14
The term joy (Hebrew: śimḥâ/śamḥ) Holy Scripture expresses a multiplicity of experiences, both shared and private, relating in particular to religious worship and festivals, recognizing the sense of God's presence in the history of Israel. In the Bible there are thirteen different verbs and nouns to describe the joy of God, the joy of the person and also the joy of creation, in the dialogue of salvation.
In the Old Testament we find many of these terms, especially in the Psalms and in the prophet Isaiah. With a creative and original linguistic richness it often invites us to joy, and this joy is linked to the nearness of God, so that we rejoice at the work of his hands. In the Psalms so many expressions point to joy either as a result of the gracious presence of God and his glory, which resonates with the great promise for the future of his people. In the second and third part of the book of Isaiah we often find this reference to joy oriented towards the future: it will be overflowing (Is 9:2), the sky, the desert and the earth will exult with joy (Is 35.1; 44.23, 49.13); released prisoners will enter Jerusalem with shouts of joy (Is 35,9 f, 51,11)
Within the New Testament this special word occurs in various forms of the root char (chàirein, chara), along with other terms such as agalliáomai, euphrosyne, and usually implies fullness of joy, embracing both the past and the future. Joy is the messianic gift par excellence, just as Jesus himself prays that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete (Jn 15,11; 16.24, 17.13). From the events preceding the birth of the Savior, Luke underlines the spreading of exultant joy (cf. Lk 1,14.44.47, 2.10; Cf. Mt 2:10), and shows how it accompanied the spread of the Good News (cf. Lk 10:17; 24,41.52) Joy is the typical sign of the presence and spread of the Kingdom (cf. Lk 15,7.10.32, Acts 8.39, 11.23, 15, 3; 16.34 cf Rm 15,10,13, etc).
In Paul, joy is the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22), a typical and clear note of the Kingdom (cf. Rom 14:17), which is reinforced even amid trials and tribulation (cf. 1 Th 1:6). In prayer, in charity, in ceaseless thanksgiving (cf. 1 Th 5:16; Phil 3:1, Col 1.11) we see the source of joy despite tribulation. The Apostle of the Gentiles feels full of joy and a partaker in the glory that await all (cf. 2 Cor 6.10, 7.4, Col 1.24). The final triumph of God and the Lamb will bring all joy and rejoicing to completion (cf. Rev 19:7), with a cosmic Hallelujah (Rev 19:6)
To grasp the full meaning of that text, we now offer a brief explanation of the words of Isaiah 66.10: Rejoice Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all who love her. Be filled with joy for her. This is the end of the third part of Isaiah. It should be borne in mind that chapters 65-66 are closely linked and complement each other, as noted in the conclusion of the second part (chapters 54-55).
Both these chapters evoke the theme of the past, sometimes with simplistic imagery, but with the invitation to forget it because God wants to make a new light shine, prompting a trust that will heal all infidelity and cruelty. The previous curse, arising from their breach of the covenant, will disappear because God wants to set Jerusalem a rejoicing and make her people a joy (cf. Is 65,18). Proof of this is that God answers even before they appeal to Him (cf. Is 65,24). This theme continues into the opening verses of Isaiah 66, and later still also in symbols denoting their closing of heart and ears to the goodness of the Lord and His Word of hope.
We find the evocative comparison of Jerusalem to a mother, arising from the promises of Isaiah 49.18-29 and 54.1-3. Suddenly the land of Judah was full of the exiles returning from the humiliation of the Babylonian captivity. The word of liberation has so to speak "fertilized"Zion with new life and hope, and God, the Lord of life, will bring this pregnancy to term, easily giving birth to new children. Thus Zion-mother is surrounded by children, showing herself a tender and generous mother to them. This sweet image fascinated Saint Teresa of Lisieux, and is a crucial key to her spirituality.
These texts are rich in meaningful terms: rejoice, exult, solace and delight, abundance, prosperity, fondling, etc. The people, lacking a relationship of loyalty and love, had fallen into sadness and sterility, but now the power and holiness of God reestablish meaning, full of life and happiness, expressed in terms close to the emotional roots of every human being and prompting emotions of special tenderness and security.
This is a finely-drawn and true profile of a God who vibrates with maternal feeling and intense emotions. It conveys joy of heart (cf. Is 66,14) which God – who shows a mother's face and whose arm uplifts – spreads it among the people who have suffered a thousand humiliations and whose bones are still brittle. It is the freely granted transformation that conveys a new heaven and a new earth (cf. Is 66,27) so that all people may know the glory of the Lord, the faithful One who redeems.
This is the beauty…
"This is the beauty of consecration: it is joy, joy!" The joy of bringing God's consolation to all. This is what Pope Francis said during his meeting with seminarians and novices. He went on, "There is no holiness in sorrow! For as St. Paul said "Do not grieve like those who have no hope" (1 Thess 4:13).
Joy is not a superfluous ornament; it is a needed foundation for human life. Amid the cares of every day, every man and woman seeks to achieve and live joy with all our being.
This joy is often absent in our world. We are not called to make great gestures or to proclaim high-sounding words, but to witness the joy that comes from our certainty of being loved, our confidence that we are saved.
Our short memory and our experience of fragility often prevent us from achieving the "land of happiness" where one can taste God's reflection. We have a thousand reasons for joy, which is nourished in the believer by persevering in listening to God's Word. In the school of our Teacher we hear his desire "that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full" (Jn 15, 11-20) and are drawn to the practice of perfect joy.
"Sadness and fear must give way to joy: Exult, Rejoice, Celebrate.., says the Prophet (66,10) It is a great invitation to joy. Every Christian, especially ourselves, is called to be a bearer of this message of hope that gives serenity and joy, the consolation of God, his tenderness towards all.
But we can only be carriers if we first experience the joy of being comforted by Him, being loved by Him. I have sometimes found consecrated persons who are afraid of God's comfort, and these poor, poor souls are tormented because they don't trust in God's tenderness. But do not be afraid. Fear not, our God is the Lord of consolation, the Lord of tenderness. The Lord is our Father and He says He will treat us as a mother does her child, with tenderness. Do not be afraid of the consolation of the Lord."
To call you…
"When He calls God says: You are important to me, I love you, I count on you! Jesus tells this to each of us, and from this comes joy! The joy of the moment when Jesus looked at me with love. To understand and feel this is the secret of our happiness. Feeling loved by God, that we are for him not numbers, but persons, and know that it is He who calls us."
Pope Francis directs our attention to the spiritual foundation of our humanity, to recognize what we have received by the grace of God and our free human response: Hearing this, Jesus said to him. "You still lack one thing Sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me"(Lk 18, 22).
The Pope recalls how "Jesus at the Last Supper told the Apostles, It was not you who chose me, but I who have chosen you (Jn 15, 16). This reminds us all, and not just priests, that vocation is always God's initiative. It is Christ who has called you to follow him in the consecrated life and this means continually making an "exodus" from yourself to focus your life on Christ and his Gospel, on the will of God, setting aside your projects, so as to be able to say with St. Paul, It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2: 20).
He invites us to a pilgrimage into the past, a camino of wisdom to find ourselves in the streets of Palestine or in the boat of the humble fisherman of Galilee. He asks us to contemplate the beginnings of a better way or better into an encounter, inaugurated by Christ, leading us to leave the nets on the shore, the tax-collector's bench at the side of the road, the vagaries of the Zealot seeking the glories of the past, for all such ways do not allow us to be with Him.
He invites us to dwell in peace, as in an interior pilgrimage, like in those early days, warmed by a friendly relationship, with our minds open to the mystery, when we made the decision to give ourselve to the Master who alone has the words of eternal life (cf. Jn 6:68). He calls us to make our "whole existence a pilgrimage of transformation, in love."
Our Pope calls us to dwell on that starting-point: "The joy of the moment when Jesus looked at me," and recall the meaning and essence of our vocation: "It is the answer to a call, a call of love." Being with Christ means sharing our life and our choices and requires the obedience of faith, the blessedness of the poor, the radicality of love. It is letting our vocation be reborn. "I invite all Christians to renew their personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least to make the decision to let ourselves be found by Him, to seek Him every day without fail."
Saint Paul shares with us to this fundamental vision: No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 3, 11). The term vocation indicates this free fact as a fount of life that continues renewing the Church and humanity in the depths of our being.
In the vocation experience, God is the mysterious subject of the call. We hear the voice that calls us to a life of discipleship for the Kingdom. Pope Francis uses the phrase, "You are important to me," a direct dialogue used in the first person, to raise awareness. Being conscious that my ideas and thoughts and behavior should be consistent with the call I feel directed at me, my personal call, "I would say to whoever feels indifferent toward God and faith, who has strayed from God or perhaps in small ways moved away from Him: Look deep into your heart, look into the depths of yourself and ask yourself: Have you a heart that desires great things like a heart merely careless of things? Has your heart retained the desire to seek, or have things stifled and paralysed it?"
Our relationship with Jesus Christ needs to be fueled by a spirit of searching. It makes us aware of the gratuitous gift of vocation and helps explain the reasons that led to our initial choice and to persevere: "To be conquered by Christ means always reaching out what lies ahead, toward the goal of Christ" (cf. Phil 3:14). Constantly listening to God requires that these questions are daily in our thoughts.
This deep mystery within us which is part of the ineffable mystery of God, can be read only in the light of faith: "Faith is the answer to a Word that summons us personally, to a Thou who called us by name" and "as a response to a word that precedes it, it will always be an act of memory. However, it does not remain in the past, but being the memory of a promise, is open to the future and illuminates the steps along the way." "Faith contains precisely the memory of the history of God with us, the memory of the encounter with God, who makes the first move, which creates and saves whoever carries the memory of God, guided by it in our own life, so that we can awaken it in the hearts of others." This faith-memory makes us aware of being called here and now.
Found, achieved, transformed
The Pope asks that we reread our personal history and verify it in light of the loving gaze of God, because while vocation is always his initiative, it depends on us to freely opt to belong to this economy of human-divine relationship and to live the life of agape, the way of discipleship, "in the light of the Church's pilgrimage." Life in the Spirit is not fixed to set times but is constantly open to mystery while discerning to know the Lord and perceive reality in the light of God. When calling us, God makes us enter into His rest, and calls us to rest in Him, in a continuing knowledge of His love. Within us resonates the word "You are anxious and troubled about many things" (Luke 10.41). The way we walk is a camino of new life, for the old creation is reborn to a new life. Whoever is in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).
Pope Francis gives a name to this revival, "This path has a name and a face: the face of Jesus Christ. It is He who teaches us to be holy. The Gospel shows us the way: the way of the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5, 1-12). This is the life of the saints, people who loved God and put no limits to His place in their life."
Consecrated life is called to embody the Good News, in following Christ, dead and risen, making its own the "mode of living and acting as the Incarnate Word of Jesus to the Father and to the brethren." It takes on our Lord's lifestyle, sharing His interior attitudes, lets itself be flooded by His Spirit, assimilates His amazing logic and his values , share in his risks and hopes, "guided by the humble and happy certainty of one who has been found, reached and transformed by the Truth that is Christ, and cannot fail to proclaim it."
Abiding in Christ allows us to welcome the presence of the Mysterious God within us and expands the heart to the measure of God's Son. Whoever abides in love, as the branch is united to the vine (cf. Jn 15:1-8) enters familiarity with Christ and bears fruit: "Abiding in Jesus! We remain attached to Him, in Him, with Him, talking with Him."
"The sign of Christ is in our face and in our hearts… in our face to proclaim Him always, in our hearts to love… and in our arms, to do good." The consecrated life is indeed a continuous call to follow Christ and be conformed to him. "The whole life of Jesus, his way of treating the poor, his actions, his consistency, his daily and simple generosity, and finally his total dedication, is all beautiful and speaks to one's life."
The encounter with the Lord sets us in motion, drawing us out of a self-referential lifestyle. The relationship with the Lord is not static, nor private, "Whoever puts Christ at the center of his life, moves aside. The more you join with Jesus and he becomes the centre of your life, the more he takes you out of yourself, decentralizes you and opens you to others." "We are not in the centre, we are, so to speak, displaced, we are serving Christ and the Church."
The Christian life is determined by verbs of motion, is a continuous search, even when living in the monastic and contemplative, monastic dimension.
"You cannot persevere in fervent evangelization if you are not convinced, from experience, that knowing Jesus is not the same as not knowing Him; that walking with Him is not the same as walking in darkness; that hearing his Word is not the same as ignoring it; that contemplating, worshipping and resting in Him, is not the same as failing to do so. Nor is the effort at building up the world with his Gospel the same as trying to achieve it by reason only. We know that life with Him is much more fulfilled and that with Him it is easier to make sense of everything."
Pope Francis urges a restless search, like that of Augustine of Hippo, a "restlessness of heart that led him to a personal encounter with Christ, leads us to understand that the God he was looking for outside of himself is the very God who is near to everybody, the God close to our heart, nearer to us than our own selves." It is an ongoing search: "Augustine does not pause of dawdle or centre on himself like one who has reached his goal, but continues on the journey. His tireless search for the truth, his seeking of God, became transformed into a desire to know Him more and more, and then a going out from himself to make God known to others. This is what I mean by the restlessness of love."
In the joy of a faithful Yes
Whoever has found the Lord and faithfully follows Him is a messenger of joy of the Spirit.
"Only through this meeting or encounter with the love of God that leads to a sense of friendship, are we rescued from our self-referential individualism." A called person is called to be herself or himself, to become all that he or she can be. We can say that the crisis of consecrated life results from a failure to deeply recognize this deeper call, even by those who already live their vocation.
We are experiencing a crisis of fidelity, understood as a call to conscious pursuit of an ongoing call, a journey (camino) from its mysterious beginning to its mysterious end. Perhaps it is a crisis of humanization. We do not always live a genuine consistency, being wounded by the inability to live our life time as a unique vocation and journey of fidelity.
A daily round, whether of the individual or the community, that is marked by dissatisfaction or bitterness that keeps us complaining, permanently nostalgic for paths unexplored and dreams unrealized, becomes a lonely road. And so our life, though called to the fulfilling relationship of love, can turn into barren land. We are invited at every age to return to the deep centre of personal life, where the wellsprings of our living as disciples of the Master find their true meaning.
Fidelity is an awareness of the love that guides us towards the Thou of God and to each person in a constant and dynamic way, as we experience in ourselves the life of the Risen Christ: "Those who let themselves be saved by Him are freed from sin, inner emptiness and isolation."
Faithful discipleship is a grace and an exercise of love, of self-sacrificing charity. "When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we profess a Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, but worldly – even though we be bishops, priests, cardinals or pope. Such people are not disciples of the Lord."
Persevering to Golgotha, experiencing the laceration of doubt and denial, and eventually enjoying the wonder and amazement of Easter the Pentecost event and the evangelization of the nations – all these are stages of a joyous faith in the logic of kenosis, experienced throughout life even with the sign of martyrdom. This person also shares in the life of the risen Christ, since "from the Cross, the supreme act of mercy and love, we are reborn as a new creature (Gal 6.15)."
In the theological place where God's self-revelation reveals us to our own selves, the Lord asks us to look again, quaerens fides – with searching faith: Search for justice, faith, charity, peace, along with all those who call on the Lord with a pure heart (2 Tim 2, 22).
The interior pilgrimage begins in prayer: "For a disciple, the first thing is to be with the Master, to hear and learn from him. And it always goes on, for the journey lasts a lifetime. If the warmth of God is not in our hearts, God's own love and tenderness, how can we poor sinners, inflame the hearts of others?" This is the journey of a lifetime and the Holy Spirit, in the humility of prayer lets us understand the Lordship of Christ in us, "The Lord calls us to follow each day with courage and fidelity. He has given us the great gift of choosing us as his disciples, inviting us to proclaim with joy as the Risen One, but it requires us to do so by our words and the witness of our everyday lives. The Lord is the only God of our life, and He invites us to rid ourselves of many idols and worship Him alone."
The Pope suggests prayer as the source of fruitfulness of the mission, "Let us promote the contemplative dimension, even amid the maelstrom of the pressing and difficult commitments. The more you are called by mission to go to the marginalised, the more united your heart must be to Christ, who is full of mercy and love."
Being with Jesus forms in us a contemplative view of history, enabling us to see and hear in everything the presence of the Spirit, and His special guidance so as to live in time as God's time. When the eyes of faith are lacking, "life itself gradually loses meaning, the face of our companions becomes opaque and we cannot find in them the face of Christ. Even the historical events become ambiguous when we are lacking in hope."
Contemplation opens us to our prophetic capacity. The prophet is one "who has piercing eyes and listens and speaks the words of God, aware of three aspects of time: the promise from the past, the present being contemplated, and the courage to point the way into the future."
Finally, faithfulness in discipleship occurs and is tested by the experience of fraternity, the real theological place where we are called to cultivate a joyful Yes to the Gospel. "It is the Word of God that gives rise to faith, nourishes and regenerates it. It is the Word of God that touches the heart and turns it to God and His logic, which is very different from ours. It is the Word of God that continually renews our communities."
The Pope invites us to renew our vocation and let ourselves be marked with joy and passion, since the culmination of love "is a journey, which grows, grows, and grows." It is a constant development in uniting our will to His. In this sense "love never sees itself as fully achieved or complete; for it develops across the whole of one's lifetime, and by so maturing it remains faithful to itself."
Comfort, comfort my people
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Isaiah 40: 1-2
With a stylistic peculiarity which we have already mentioned (cf. the Awake, Awake! of Is 51,17; 52.1), the oracles of Second Isaiah (Is 40-55) make an enthusiastic call about help to the exiles of Israel, who were tempted to remain trapped in the memory of failure. The historical context is that of the people's long exile in Babylon (587-538 BC), and their humiliating sense of inability to leave. But the disintegration of the Babylonian empire under pressure from the new emerging power, the Persians, led by Cyrus their rising star, enables the prophet to sense that an unexpected release was at hand. And so it was. The inspired prophet gives public voice to this possibility, interpreting political and military upheavals as actions mysteriously guided by God through Cyrus; and so he proclaims that release is close and return to their ancestral land is about to happen.
Isaiah's phrases: Comfort ye… speak to the heart, are often found in the Old Testament and have resonance in dialogues of tenderness and affection, like when Boaz recognizes Ruth and comforts her and talks to her heart (cf. Rt 2.12) or in the famous page in Hosea, telling his wife (Gomer) that he will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart (Hosea 2,16-17). We find the same in the Shechem's declaration of love for Dinah (cf. Gn 34.1-5) or in the appeal by Levite of Ephraim begging his concubine to return (cf. Jg 19.3).
This is a language which touches on the horizon of love, not just as a word of encouragement but as action joined to words, in a delicate and uplifting way, evoking the deep affection of God as "husband" of Israel. And consolation must be the upshot of such mutual belonging, an interplay of intense empathy, emotion and vital union. It is not a matter of superficial and sugary words but of heartfelt compassion, an embrace that gives strength and patient closeness in order to find the ways of trust.
Bring the embrace of God
"People today certainly need words, but above all they need a witness to the mercy and tenderness of the Lord, which inflames the heart, awakens hope, appeals to the good. The joy of bringing the consolation of God."
Pope Francis entrusts this mission to us in the consecrated life: Find the Lord, who comforts us like a mother, and comfort the people God. From the joy of meeting the Lord and His call flows the service in the Church's mission: to bring men and women of our time the consolation of God, to bear witness to his mercy.
In the vision of Jesus, consolation is the gift of the Spirit, the Paraclete, the Comforter who comforts us in our difficulties and enkindles a hope that does not disappoint. Christian consolation thus becomes comfort, encouragement and hope. It is an active presence of the Spirit (cf. Jn 14, 16-17), a fruit of the Spirit. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5, 22).
In a mistrustful world, discouraged and depressed, in a culture where men and women let themselves be overcome by fragility and weakness, by individualism and self-interest, we are asked to introduce trust in the possibility of true happiness and a hope not based only on one's talents, qualities and knowledge, but on God. All have the opportunity to find this, if we just seek it with a sincere heart. Men and women of our time are waiting for a word of comfort, closeness, forgiveness and true joy. We are called to bring to all the embrace of God, who tenderly leans toward us like a mother. Religious should be a sign of full humanity, facilitators and not drivers of grace, under the sign of consolation.
Tenderness is good for us
As witnesses of communion, however our view and our limitations, we are called to bring God's smile and fraternity is the first and most credible gospel we can share. We are asked to humanize our communities, "Cultivate friendship among you, a familial life of mutual love. The monastery should not be a purgatory but a family. Problems there will be, but, as in a family, seek a solution with love; don't destroy one thing so as to resolve another; let them not be in competition. Care for the community life, because when community life is familial as it should be, it is the Holy Spirit who is at the centre of the community. These two things I want to say: contemplation always, always with Jesus— Jesus, God and Man—; and community life, always with a big heart. Letting others be, not bragging, enduring all, smiling from the heart. The sign of this is joy."
Joy is strengthened by the experience of fraternity, as a theological space where everyone shares the responsibility for the others' fidelity to the Gospel and their growth. When fraternity is fed by the same Body and Blood of Jesus and is gathered around the Son of God, to share the journey of faith led by the Word, uniting with him, it is a fraternity in communion that knows the freedom of love and lives in festive mode, free, cheerful and full of daring.
"A joyless fraternity is a fraternity that will die out. But a joyous fraternity is a true gift from above to the sisters and brothers who know how to accept each other and commit themselves to community life, trusting in the Spirit."
In a time when fragmentation feeds a sterile individualism and the weakening of relationships is undermining care for other human beings, we are invited to humanize our relations of fraternity, to foster communion of heart and soul in light of the Gospel. "There is a communion of life between those who belong to Christ, a communion that is born of faith." This "makes the Church, in its deepest truth, a communion with God, familiarity with God, loving communion with Christ and with the Father in the Holy Spirit, which reaches out into a fraternal communion."
For Pope Francis tenderness is a hallmark of fraternity, a "Eucharistic tenderness," because "the tenderness makes us good." Community will have "a huge drawing force, for such brotherliness, despite all differences, is a form of love that goes beyond conflict."
Proximity as accompaniment
We are called to make an exodus from ourselves to go on a journey of worship and of service. "Walk out the door to search and find! Have the courage to go against this culture of efficiency, this culture of discarding. A meeting and welcoming of all, solidarity is a word that is hiding in this culture, almost a dirty word, solidarity and fraternity, are elements that make our truly human civilization. Being communion servers and living a culture of the game. The world is almost obsessed in this regard. And do it without being pretentious."
"The ghost to be tackled is the image of religious life understood as a refuge and place of comfort in a difficult and complicated world outside." The Pope asks us to "leave the nest" to be sent to men and women of our time, giving ourselves to God and our neighbour.
"Joy is born of the freedom of an encounter. The joy of meeting with him and hearing his call not to be closed in on ourselves, but open – this leads to service in the Church. Saint Thomas said bonum est diffusivum sui – a simple Latin phrase that means good spreads itself outward. And joy also spreads. Do not be afraid to show the joy of having answered the call of the Lord to his choice of love, and witness the Gospel in service to the Church. And the joy, the truth is contagious, spread… makes going forward."
Meeting with the contagious witness of joy, serenity, fruitfulness, such a witness of tenderness and love, humility and unaffected charity, many feel the desire to come and see. Pope Francis has several times pointed to the path of attraction, contagion, as a way to grow the church, through the new evangelization. "The Church must be attractive. Wake up the World! Be witness to a different way of doing, acting, living! It is possible to live differently in this world. At least this is what I hope your witness will be."
When entrusting us with the task of awakening the world, the Pope urges us to meet the men and women of today in the light of two pastoral elements that are rooted in the newness of the Gospel: the closeness of God and the ways by which God Himself has been revealed in the story until the Incarnation.
On the road to Emmaus, we make our own, as Jesus with the disciples, the joys and sufferings of the people, "warming hearts" and caring tenderly for those who are tired and weak, so that our shared journey finds light and meaning in Christ.
Our way tends towards pastoral fathering, pastoral mothering, and when a priest is not a father to his community, when a sister is not motherly to those she works with, they become sad. So I say that the root of sadness in the pastoral life is precisely the lack of a parental spirit that comes from poorly living our consecration, which instead should lead us to fruitfulness."
The restlessness of love
Let us become living icons of motherhood and the closeness of the Church, going out to those who wait for the word of consolation and leaning down with motherly love and fatherly spirit to the poor and the weak. The Pope invites us not to privatize love but to be "forever seeking the good of others, of the other, the beloved person."
The crisis of meaning of modern man and the economic and moral crisis of Western society and its institutions are not a passing event of our time, but a moment of exceptional historic importance. We are called as a church to head out to the margins, geographic, urban and existential – amid the mystery of sin, pain, injustice, poverty, towards the hiding places of the soul, where the individual experiences life's joy and suffering.
"We live in a culture clash, a culture of fragmentation, a culture where I discard whatever is not immediately useful, the throwaway culture of today, where finding a homeless person freezing to death is not news." But for Pope Francis, "poverty has a theological meaning, since the Son of God humbled himself, becoming poor in order to walk life's journey with us. A Church that is poor for the sake of the poor is approaching the very flesh of Christ. If we stay close to the flesh of Christ, we begin to understand something new, what is this poverty of the Lord."
If one lives the blessedness of the poor, the anguish of loneliness and limitation is overcome by the joy of one who is truly free in Christ and has learned to love.
During his pastoral visit to Assisi, Pope Francis raised the question of what the Church must discard, and gave this answer: "It must set aside all activity that is not for God, discard the fear of opening doors, and reach out without delay to all, especially those who are poorest, most needy and far off. This is not, certainly, to be lost in this world's shipwreck, but in order to bravely raise the light of Christ, the light of the Gospel, into the darkness, where one could lose their way and where offense can occur. It must set aside the apparent tranquility given by structures, which are certainly necessary and important, but which should not obscure the only real power it has: that of God. He is our strength."
This outlook is an invitation for us "not to be afraid to discard outdated structures. The Church is free, and is led forward by the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself teaches it to us: the necessary freedom to always discover the Gospel's newness in our lives and structures, freedom to choose new skins for a new time."
We are called to be bold frontiers-men and -women: "Ours is not a theoretical laboratory-faith but a journeying-faith, an historical faith. God has revealed Himself as history, not as a collection of abstract truths. We are not called to take the borders home with us, but to live on the borders and be bold."
Along with his challenge about the blessedness of the poor, the Pope invites us to visit the frontiers of thought and culture, promoting dialogue also at the intellectual level, giving reason for our hope, based on ethical and spiritual criteria, asking questions about what is truly good. Faith never reduces the range of reasoning, but rather opens it to an integral vision of humanity and of reality and prevents us from reducing people to "human resources."
Genuine culture, which should constantly be of service to humanity in all conditions, opens up hitherto unexplored routes, avenues of hope that promote the meaning of life and protect the common good. A real cultural process "promotes integral humanization and a culture of encounter and relationship. This is the Christian way of promoting the common good and the joy of living. And here converge faith and reason, the religious dimension to the different aspects of human culture. Art, science, work and literature." Such a valid cultural search grapples with history and opens pathways to the vision of God.
The places where knowledge is produced and communicated are also places in which to create a culture of closeness, of encounter and dialogue, overcoming defenses, opening doors and building bridges.
For reflection
The world as a global network where we are all connected, where no local tradition holds the monopoly of truth and where technologies have effects that reach us all, is an ongoing challenge for those who live life according to the Gospel.
In this historical situation, Pope Francis is pointing out, through options and lifestyle, a living hermeneutics of dialogue between God and our world. He is introducing us to a way of wisdom, rooted in the Gospel and in human eschatology, and which promotes pluralism and seeks balance, invites us to use our ability to responsibly make changes in order to better communicate the truth of the Gospel, while we move "within limits and circumstances," aware of these limits but seeking to be weak with the weak… all things to everyone (1 Cor 9: 22)
We are invited to seek a generative dynamic, not just be administrators, to engage with the spiritual tides present in our communities and in the world, as a movement and grace of the Spirit in each person, seen as a person. We are invited to deconstruct lifeless models in order to announce humanity as touched by Christ, never fully revealed in our languages and customs.
Pope Francis invites us to a wisdom that offers to be an effective and consistent sign, the special ability of consecrated people to live according to the Gospel, to act and to choose according to the Gospel, without losing ourselves in life's various spheres, languages and relationships, but keeping a sense of responsibility to the ties that bind us, our own limits, and life's many expressions. A missionary heart is one that has known the joy of Christ's salvation and shares it as consolation in response to human need. "He knows that he himself needs to grow in understanding the Gospel and in discerning the paths of the Spirit, yet does not neglect the good he may be able to do, and takes the risk of being stained with the mud of the journey."
We let ourselves be challenged by the Pope's invitations to look at ourselves and the world with the eyes of Christ and to remain restless.
Questions posed by Pope Francis
– I wanted to give a message, and the message was joy. Always, amid consecrated people, seminarians, men and women religious, youth, let there be joy, always joy. It is the joy of freshness, the joy of following Christ, the joy given by the Holy Spirit, not the joy of this world. Joy, yes – but where does the joy come from?
– Look deep in your heart, look into your own depths and ask yourself, do you have a heart that desires something great or a heart that is indifferent? Has your heart remained in a ceaseless search or have you let it be stifled by things, so that it is deadened? God waits for you, is searching for you, and how do you respond? Have you noticed the state of your soul, or are you asleep? Do you believe that God waits for you, or do you think this is merely "words"?
– We are victims of this culture of provisionality. I would like you to think about this: how I can break free from this provisional culture?
– This is a responsibility primarily of leaders and formators. It's yours, formators who are here present, to give an example of consistency to the younger people. Do we want the young to be consistent? Let us be consistent ourselves! Otherwise, the Lord will say of us what he said to the people about the Pharisees: "Do whatever they say, but not what they do". Consistency and authenticity.
– We can ask: am I restless for God, to announce Him, to make Him known? Or do I let myself be fascinated by a worldly spirit, always motivated by self -love? Are we consecrated persons caught up in self-interest, the functionalism of works or careerism. Bah! There are so many things we can think of… Have I become so to speak "settled "in my Christian life, in my priestly life, my religious life, my community life? Or do I retain some restlessness for God, for his word, which makes me "go out" to others?
– How are we doing with this restlessness of love? Do we believe in the love of God and others? Or are we nominalist in this? Not just an abstract love, merely in words, but in concrete ways, for the sister or brother next to us! Do we let their needs trouble us, or are we locked up in ourselves and our communities, often for us a "community of comfort"?
– This is a lovely, beautiful way to holiness: Do not speak ill of others. But father, there are problems…. Tell them to the superior, tell them to the bishop, who can provide a remedy. Do not tell people who cannot help. Family spirit is important! But tell me, do you talk bad about your mom, your dad, your brothers? Never. Then why do it in the consecrated life, in the seminary, in the priesthood? Only this: think, think about fraternity and brotherly love.
– At the foot of the cross stood a woman in sorrow and at the same time, one who awaits a mystery soon to be realized, that is greater than the pain. Everything seems truly finished; it seems there is no hope. At that moment she too, remembering the promises of the Annunciation, might have said They were not kept, I have been deceived. But she did not say this. Instead, she was blessed because she believed. By faith she sees the birth of the new future and waits with hope for God's tomorrow. Sometimes I wonder: do we expect God's tomorrow? Or do we want only today? The tomorrow of God for her is the dawn of Easter morning, of the first day of the week. We do well to meditate about the embrace of the child with the mother. The only lamp lit in the tomb of Jesus is the hope of his mother, who at that time held the hope of all mankind. I ask myself and you: in our monasteries, is this lamp still alight? In our monasteries, is the tomorrow of God still expected?
– The restlessness of love always pushes to go and encounter the other, without waiting for the other to express his or her need. The restlessness of love gives us the gift of pastoral fecundity, and we must ask ourselves, each of us: what about my spiritual fruitfulness, my pastoral fertility?
– A true faith always involves a deep desire to change the world. Here's a question to ask ourselves: How large are our views and impulses? Are we audacious enough? Have we a high dream? Are we consumed with zeal? (Ps 69, 10) or, instead, are we mediocre, contenting ourselves with merely theoretical apostolic programmes?
Ave, Mother of Joy
Hail, full of grace (Luke 1: 28), "The angel's greeting to Mary is an invitation to joy, deep joy, heralding the end of sorrow. It is a greeting that marks the beginning of the Gospel, the Good News."
In the company of Mary, joy is spread: the Son she carries in her womb is the God of joy, of contagious rejoicing. Mary opens the doors of the heart and hurries to Elizabeth.
"Glad in fulfilling her desire, considerate in doing her duty, diligent in her joy, she hastened towards the hill-country. Where else but to the summits, should she hasten, who was already full of God? "
She went with haste (Lk 1: 39) to bring the world the good news, to share the irrepressible joy she carried in her womb: Jesus the Lord. With haste: but Mary moved not only with speed; the word also expresses her diligence, loving intent of her journey, her enthusiasm.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38). The handmaid of the Lord hurries in order to be the handmaid of us all, wherever the love of God is shown and demonstrated in love towards every brother and every sister.
In Mary it is the whole Church journeying together: in the charity of one who goes out to the more fragile, in the hope of one who knows herself accompanied on her journey by one who has a special gift to share. In Mary, each of us, driven by the breath of the Spirit, can live our vocation as a journey!
Star of the new evangelization, help us to shine in witnessing to communion, to service, to a generous and ardent faith, justice and love for the poor, so that the joy of the Gospel can reach to the ends of the earth and none of its margins are deprived of light.
Mother of the living Gospel, source of joy for the little ones, pray for us. Amen. Hallelujah.
Rome, February 2, 2014, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
João Braz Card. Aviz
José Rodríguez Carballo, O.F.M.
(Archbishop Secretary)


text:
workshops, education,
December 2016
Sound & Music sessions for children
All music classes, including guitar, percussions (hand drumming), and electronic music are individual lessons 45min long. Days and times to be arranged with the teacher. Classes […]
Dance Science Net educational activities
Educational activities are aimed at Dance students of all levels from beginners to university students. The aim of this pedagogical program is to raise students awareness of their own body and mind systems and […]
March 2017
October 2016
Interdisciplinary Art workshops for children
Multiple artistic disciplines integrate to explore with the children fantastic journeys into their creativity and skill learning!
Supervised by working artists the workshops are designed as a series of exciting multi-media sessions […]
Sophrologie: L'atelier Bulle pour les enfants
L'atelier Bulle est une invitation à un voyage ludique, à la découverte de soi et du monde qui nous entoure.
Virevoltant entre jeux, créativité artistique, musique, éveil corporel, relaxation, contes, l'enfant apprendra à percevoir la vie qui […]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
May 2013 - Comments Off on Family of Four
Family of Four
Esme Franklin '13
Auntie Zee
Robert the Haitian Voodoo Secretary
Bad Baby
As a pill is pinched from its pocket
one or the other of them climbs into her
bag each morning, prepared
with adequate humor and crazy
to face the bureaucracy of poverty,
free clinics, and men who like that,
woman. I stop noticing the difference
between plastic and skin when I am young,
before baby can be parsed from mother or doll.
Crack Baby
Crack Baby's Nurse
The Spy
Bad Little Myrtle
When a day is good I hear the clucking
of polyethylene bodies and cotton minds
come from within her cave down the hall.
On bad days they are quiet and she is loud.
On bad days we require many more purses,
satchels and miniature accoutrements of power
to leave the apartment; we travel
in swaths of meldola blue and cigarettes
scotch-taped to immutable, yellowing hands.
Vladimir Anasthasious Schwartz / Volo / Vo
In January Mo, Vo and I pass Willem Dafoe
on Canal Street. He looks from the nappy head
and placid smile of Mo's purse to her face.
His wink, woman, is not-unpleasant dejà-vu.
I try to mimic him later on the L when Vo wants
to pose for a photo. If I can capture the genus of celebrity
will I belong in this family portrait? The plastic
of Mo's skin when she sleeps sweats the American
Cheese of real doll. Steady us, long train.
Notes to "Family of Four":
The Italian word for doll is bambola. Bambola was adopted from an outdoor market in Naples.
Bad Baby is approximately 3 inches in height. He wears a crown of golden laurel as a sign of his affinity with the authoritarian grandeur of the Roman Empire.
The inspiration for Crack Baby's personality was taken, in part, from Diane Arbus' "Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park," NYC 1962.
The Spy is a Barbie jointed at the knees and elbow, with a video camera installed in her forehead that projects footage out through her stomach.
For further information on Volo: https://www.facebook.com/volo.theking?ref=ts&fref=ts
Published by: in Poetry, Volume 69, Volume 69: Issue 2


text:
Launching musicians from a Concord porch
When the Concord-based band the Avett Brothers took the stage Oct. 13 for their first performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Dolph Ramseur was right there with them.
He's been there from the beginning.
He's been there since he first saw Scott and Seth Avett perform in 2002 outside Wine Vault, a popular late-night hangout in the University area.
When they met, half of what the Avetts played were covers of other artists' songs. But it was the songs they'd written themselves that drew in Ramseur.
"I knew they had something special I couldn't put my finger on," he said.
Years later, Ramseur, the Avett Brothers' manager, is watching as the band sells out arenas and appears on late-night television shows.
Ramseur, 41, launched Ramseur Records in 2000. To date, the label has released nearly 40 albums.
"I don't look at it as work in a lot of ways," he said. "I'm having fun."
Ramseur described his label's collection of bands as alternative indie folk rock with "Americana flavor here and there."
He's just a fan of songwriters and good performers, he said.
"I look at my label as a mixed tape I make," he said. "I hope people like it."
Ramseur grew up in the Odell area of Concord. A tennis player, he graduated from Ferris State University in Michigan in 1991 with a degree in professional tennis management.
He taught tennis across the country and landed a job at the Cabarrus Country Club in the late 1990s. Later, he worked for his father-in-law at a venture capital business.
Music was always his passion, Ramseur admitted. He had never been a performer, but he had read about music and studied music since he was young.
After his father-in-law's death, he threw himself into the music business.
Running his business from his Concord home - where stacks of CDs fill his sunroom - he oversees the musical careers of several artists, booking shows and tour dates, planning albums and recordings, organizing publicity and using social media such as Facebook to promote his bands.
His most successful act so far, the Avett Brothers, began small, performing at festivals across the Southeast.
But the band had a knack for winning over crowds. It never failed, said Ramseur, and that's a rare thing.
"To see people right on the spot converted to fans...It was amazing," he said.
He doesn't do contracts, and he's a fan first
Considered one of the most successful independent labels in the business, Ramseur Records has expanded in the last decade.
Ramseur manages most of the bands on his label, which is somewhat unusual in the business. That's how he did it when he started because he didn't have any rules to play by, he said. Now he thinks it might have contributed to his success.
And he doesn't do contracts. He makes deals signed by a simple handshake. It's unusual, he admitted, but it works.
Ramseur has been working for nearly four years with the critically acclaimed Carolina Chocolate Drops, a three-piece, old-time string band from Durham.
Some of his up-and-coming artists include Frontier Ruckus, Paleface and Samantha Crain.
Crain, a folk rock artist from Oklahoma, has received coverage in Spin magazine, Rolling Stone and the New York Times.
Crain has been working with Ramseur for almost three years. She said he's the type of manager more interested in music than money.
"Above anything, he's really just a fan of music," she said. "I don't know anybody else in the music business right now that is truly just trying to put good music into the system."
Letting go
Ramseur Records' first big album came in 2003 with the Avett Brothers' "A Carolina Jubilee," their album released on Ramseur's label.
The Avett Brothers' 2007 album, "Emotionalism," was Ramseur Records' first to make the Billboard 200 chart, reaching 134th.
But in 2008, the band left Ramseur's label, signing instead with music mogul Rick Rubin's American Recordings.
The Avett Brothers' 2009 "I and Love and You," their first album produced by Rubin, reached No. 16 on the Billboard 200.
Letting the Avetts go was the smart thing to do, said Ramseur, who remained as the band's manager.
"You have to know your limitations," he said. "We could have kept putting out albums, but this would have give the band the best chance at success. Why hinder that?"
The Avett Brothers released a new album, "Live, Volume 3," on Oct. 5, and they've had some major performances recently, including their show at Radio City Music Hall and a September appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!."
They're also planning material for their next record, said Ramseur.
As for the future of the Avett Brothers, Ramseur said it's up to them.
"I'm willing to trust their artistic direction," he said.
Ramseur said he hopes he can help leave behind a musical legacy. He pointed to the work of the Avett Brothers, saying he believes they're the greatest songwriters to ever come from North Carolina.
"What they're leaving behind could be in any museum in the world," he said. "It's art."


text:
Preston Redd - album review
- Kenny Mathieson
- 13 February 2007
(Outer Bridge Records)
Guitarist Preston Reed continues to elude precise genre classification in his his distinctive style of solo guitar music, but this ballad-oriented set is the closest he has come to a straight jazz outing. In his insert note he argues that this is his most spontaneous and improvised recording project, but the music comes across as carefully considered as well as fresh.
He takes a relaxed and very melodic approach to a set of original compositions (and a short version of 'All The Things You Are'), performed on a classic jazz-style hollow-body electric guitar. His beautifully articulated melodic explorations are beguiling, and the recorded sound is crystal clear. Established fans may miss a bit of up-tempo variation, but the laid-back mood makes for a nicely integrated set.


text:
Well that time is upon us once again, where thousands of networking geeks will flock to one location and partake of endless libations, a steady flow of geek speak, and countless conversations with industry peers. That's right, it's time for Cisco Live.
I've written about Cisco Live many times on this blog before. In fact, Celeste has also written about Cisco Live from a wife's perspective. I can't even recall how many of these events I've been to over the years, all U.S. based because I'm not cool enough to travel abroad much. I've learned much in my years attending, and the aim of this article is not to convince you to go to Cisco Live. If you or your employer don't see the benefit already then I'm not going to convince you or them. This article is intended for the employer as well as the employee that have already committed to Cisco Live, perhaps for the first time. In this article I'll provide you with the tips that I base my entire event on. Tips that have helped me to complete certifications, implement new solutions back at the office, and build a network of peers that are a $social_post away.
The Landscape
I think you absolutely have to step back and consider the entire landscape of the show. What are you trying to get out of it? What are your expectations? Each year the show has a focus on popular industry topics. One of those categories might be a fit for you. Are you in the midst of an IoT deployment? Perhaps you're attempting to automate your network and make use of the new Software Defined and Programable network devices? If so, we've been talking about these things at Cisco Live for a number of years now and you're probably going to fit right in. Or, maybe you're a developer. That's cool too. The Cisco DevNet Zone is probably going to appeal to you. But once again, you have to sit back and decide what it is you expect to take away from the show.
There are 10 areas that I always consider before attending. The way I see it is that time is short and I want to make the most of it.
The areas I consider are:
- The sessions
- The Keynotes
- The World of Solutions
- The DevNet Zone
- Networking with Peers in the Social Media Lounge
- The Certification and NetVet Lounge
- The CCIE Netvet reception
- The CCIE party
- The CAE
- The Cisco Press Store
While this is my shortlist, there are of course, other things to do at Cisco live. If it's outside this list then I probably don't have a lot of experience with it and I wouldn't want to steer you wrong. I'll leave that info to someone who's more familiar.
Most of that list above fall into the following areas:
- The Education
- The Community
- The Experience
Let's begin with the education aspects of Cisco Live.
The Education
I've been a trainer since January of 2001. I've always had an opinion on what "training" should be. When I began attending Cisco Live it was called Networkers. Back the the training was sub-par in my opinion. That was then, and this is now. The level of education you receive at a Cisco Live is now top notch. Granted you will still run into a session here and there that disappoints, but overall the Cisco Live presenters are very knowledgable and the material is extremely relevant. That is, if you choose your sessions wisely. You can schedule your sessions by visiting the Session Catalog. I'd advise you to schedule early. If you haven't scheduled sessions yet you're probably going to find most of the good ones are now full. Next year schedule early.
This year I plan on attending the following sessions:
- 13 Smart Ways to Program Your Cisco Network [BRKCRS-3114]
- Opening Keynote – Accelerating Digital Transformation, Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco Systems, Inc [GENKEY-1002D]
- Coding class – Introduction to Git [DEVNET-1080]
- A Deep Dive into using the Firepower Manager [BRKSEC-2058]
- CCIE NetVet Reception [RSVP-11127]
- Advanced Security Group Tags: The Detailed Walk Through [BRKSEC-3690]
- Advanced Malware Protection [BRKSEC-2139]
- Kevin Spacey: Storytelling in the Age of Disruption [GENKEY-1004]
As always, something comes along and I'll miss some of these. However I'll be making a concerted effort to get the most out of the sessions.
Four Hour and Eight Hour Paid Sessions
You can also pay extra for some of the sessions at Cisco Live. If you're on the CCIE track Id recommend the 8 hour Techtorials for your given track. It will give you some insider knowledge on the program that can help you in your preparation. Also, if you want to get some hands on, you can sign up for some guided lab sessions as well.
Keynote Sessions
In my list of sessions I've added the keynotes. In years past I would have glossed over these sessions but I think my view has changed. One of the benefits of the Keynote session with Chuck Robbins is that you will get a sense for what the industry feels is important. This is valuable because if the overall industry has eyes on a certain technology areas but your organization doesn't, you might want to find out why. Keeping up with industry trends may also help with career advancement.
The World of Solutions
While the primary purpose of the World of Solutions is for vendors to collect leads, you can actually use it as a way to learn about vendor technology. Each vendor puts on a dog and pony show to tout their latest initiatives. If you're interested in vendor x, find out who their competitors are and visit their booths as well. Have them get you a technical person to explain their solution and put it in the context of your network. You'll walk away better informed than if you just browse their web sites.
The DevNet Zone
This year I'll also spend a bit more time in the DevNet Zone. If you are developing with Cisco technology you can get hands on experience here. The DevNet Zone addresses multiple areas of development including Network Programmability and Security, two areas I'm keen on keeping up with.
The Community
The community at Cisco Live is without a doubt, one of the best aspects of the show. I remember back when things started with "Toms Corner" at Cisco Live Las Vegas. That was a small group of social people who blogged, communicated on twitter and shared opinions and experiences. Today that community is so large I can hardly keep up with it, but you can connect with that community in person by visiting Social Media Central.
The Certification and NetVet Lounges
Another area of community are the Certification and NetVet Lounges. These lounges are a bit more filtered than Social Media Central area. You can usually find a refreshment and a snack in these lounges. Take a minute to visit them if you're able to and join in the great conversations that take place there.
The Contests
You might as well have some fun while at Cisco Live. participate in one of the contests and win cool prizes! Who doesn't want to win backstage passes for Maroon 5? Check out the contests and get involved. If you're not part of the twitter community already, participating in the contests are a good way to meet fellow attendees and get to know some of the folks at the show. I honestly believe you'll find it beneficial to keep in touch after the show on twitter.
The Experience
Cisco Live is an experience that I look forward to every year. The CCIE Netvet reception, The CCIE party, The CAE, visiting the Cisco Press Store to see if anything I wrote in the past is still on the shelf, and the FaceTime with many friends I've made over the years makes Cisco Live the absolute best conference of the year. It would be difficult to sum up the many great experiences I've had over the years at Cisco Live. If this is your first year I urge you to make the most of it by getting involved in the community and taking advantage of the various aspects of Cisco Live, both the ones I've discussed in this article as well as the the ones I simply didn't have time to mention.
Call to Action..
If you're going to be at Cisco Live and we have yet to meet in person, leave me a comment and lets try to meet up at the show. I look forward to meeting new people and catching up with long-time friends this year at Cisco Live 2016.


text:
Raja pervaiz ashraf, new prime minister of pakistan, raja rental, prime minister of pakistan
June 23, 2012 11 Comments
Pakistan's parliament elected former water and power minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as the new prime minister on Friday after the incumbent was disqualified by the Supreme Court.
Yusuf Raza Gilani was ruled ineligible for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the president, plunging the country into a new political crisis.
Whoever holds the office, now and after an election due early next year, is likely to come under similar pressure from Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who has gained notoriety by taking on Pakistan's top politicians.
Pakistan's three power centres – the military, civilian leadership and Supreme Court – have been manoeuvring to gain a political edge, frustrating Pakistanis who want their leaders to focus on improving the economy and infuriating those who blame ministers such as Ashraf for failings in their infrastructure.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party had previously nominated the textiles minister to replace Gilani. B ut an anti-narcotics court issued an arrest warrant for him, undermining his bid, in a move analysts said may have been orchestrated by the military.
At stake is stability in Pakistan, a regional power seen as critical to efforts to end the Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Pakistan also faces tensions on the diplomatic front. The country's longstanding alliance with the United States has frequently been subject to turbulence, but relations are at their lowest point in years.
Relations deteriorated after the unilateral U.S. special forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year.
Washington and Islamabad are also mired in negotiations to re-open supply lines that run through Pakistan to NATO troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan closed them after 24 of its soldiers were killed in a cross-border NATO air attack in November.
But for ordinary Pakistanis, the latest power play has only deepened frustrations with daily hardships and what has been described as a failed state by some.
As water and power minister, Ashraf was seen by many Pakistanis as someone who had failed to ease a crippling energy crisis, which sporadically triggers violent protests.
"Ashraf would be the wrath of God on the nation," said Muhammad Rizwan, an unemployed middle-aged man standing in the heat outside his home in the eastern city of Lahore.
Power cuts had again disabled his electric fans.
"There will be a serious crisis in every sector after he becomes prime minister," Rizwan added.
Ashraf, who was the minister from 2008 until early this year, will likely face the same pressures as did Gilani from Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to reopen old corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Thousands of corruption cases were thrown out in 2007 by an amnesty law passed under former military president Pervez Musharraf, paving the way for a return to civilian rule.
Two years later, the Supreme Court ruled that agreement illegal, and ordered the re-opening of money laundering cases against Zardari that involved Swiss bank accounts.
Gilani and his government refused to obey the court's order to write to Swiss authorities asking them to look again at those cases, arguing that Zardari had immunity as the head of state.
Chief Justice Chaudhry came under scrutiny himself during the latest political crisis.
Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz accused Chaudhry's son of accepting almost $3.6 million in bribes from him in exchange for favourable verdicts in cases involving his businesses. He also accused Chaudhry of knowing about the bribes and not doing anything about them until the case sparked a media frenzy.
Riaz has not presented any examples of such verdicts and Arsalan Iftikhar, the chief justice's son, denies any wrongdoing.
Ashraf, who faced allegations of corruption during his term as water and power minister, is unlikely to boost the confidence of Pakistanis in their government. He denies any wrongdoing.
"Things will change but for the worse," said Shoaib Ahmed, 30, a scientist at an Islamabad oil company. "That's what happens when you replace a moderately corrupt person with a very corrupt person."
Read more here


text:
I couldn't wait to purchase these new palettes by Make up Acadamy ❤ both £5 each from Superdrug. Very pigmented and barely any fall out at all which I loved!! Some of the shades were creamy textured. For this look I used few of the colours (Browns purples) from both these palettes and blended them using contour eyeshadow brush from their brush range.
Buy them and their brushes now!


text:
Personal Training
Personal Training at Cornerstone
The personal training at Cornerstone is a cutting edge exercise program that works to facilitate optimum fitness in minimal time. The best method for intake, usage and storage of oxygen is through movement and the best method for movement is exercise.
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Including a warning from the Better Business Bureau on so-called charitable solicitations from firefighter and police groups
You might be inclined to open your wallet or purse if you get a phone call or letter asking you to donate to a firefighter or police group. Their jobs, of course, are dangerous.
It's very gratifying to help a worthy nonprofit in the latter half of the year in the stewardship season.
But there's often a catch, especially in the third and fourth quarters. If you want to help someone but your budget is tight, you want to be very careful in how you give your money.
More on the caveat to charitable giving to firefighter and police groups later. But firstly, as a prelude, consider Googling the keywords, "city county budget deficits."
Val Lawless → in Human closeups
You'll see millions of search results. For example, a New York Times article, "Deficits Push N.Y. Cities and Counties to Desperation."
The culprit: Skyrocketing public-employee pension and salary costs. Danny Hakim wrote in The New York Times article: "New York City's annual pension contributions have increased to $8 billion from $1.5 billion over the past decade."
Such fiscal problems aren't limited to New York. They're everywhere. Three thousand miles away, the city of Stockton, Calif. declared bankruptcy. San Jose has similar fiscal challenges.
Published reports quoted the mayors of Stockton and San Jose who lamented their sky-high firefighter and police salaries and pensions. To thwart rollbacks, their public-employee unions have done everything from taking legal action to advertising threats on billboards.
So, if you're limited in how you can make charitable donations, there might be better options for your budget.
Better Business Bureau warning
All of this brings us to another tactic — telemarketing calls purportedly representing firefighters and police – letters and telephone calls seeking donations.
However, unless you're careful, you might be donating money without all information you need to make an informed decision, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
In many cases, the BBB says such donations don't help hardworking firefighters and police, and you won't get a tax deduction. The majority of phone calls are designed for non-charitable purposes.
Additionally in some cases, in my experience in working with firefighters and police, first responders are able to game the system for themselves – campaigning and supporting public officials who grant exorbitant salaries and pensions – the major reason why countless city and county governments have budget deficits.
If you want to help first-responders with a charitable donation, take precautions before you write a check.
Consider these red flags:
1. Because most callers don't represent a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity, due diligence is necessary. If you get a letter or telephone call, ask for a copy of the group's tax identification letter; plus, a copy of the group's IRS 990 from.
In most cases, you won't get a response because you're getting a call from a benevolent association, fraternal group or labor union.
2. Request written documentation about the group's finances. Ask how much of your donation will benefit firefighters or police.
For example, in Tacoma, Wash., such phone calls once generated huge sums of money – but 90 percent of the money went to the telemarketing firm, not to firefighters.
In another instance, Tacoma police played football with Seattle police officers in the "Pig Bowl." But the event was cancelled when it was revealed the telemarketing firm got the vast majority of the funds.
3. If you're asked to buy tickets for impoverished children to attend an event, ask several questions – how many kids will benefit, how are they selected, how many tickets will be handed out, and how will the children be transported to the event?
4. Because many calls don't represent local firefighters and police, call your local fire department or police. Ask what you can do for them as a concerned citizen.
5. In some cases, callers have promised special benefits or have made threats. In such cases, contact the Federal Trade Commission and your local police department.
From the Coach's Corner, if your company is asked to buy ads in a firefighter or police publication, it's recommended that you ask the appropriate questions:
What is the cover price, how many copies will be printed, where will they be distributed, when is the publication date, and who will read it?
Partnering with charities is a great idea, for example: Cause-Related Marketing Can Increase Sales by Double Digits
Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, "What's in it for me?"
-Brian Tracy
Author Terry Corbell has written innumerable online business-enhancement articles, and is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services. For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule him as a speaker, consultant or author, please contact Terry.


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New Movies Out This Week. The Other Woman and Brick Mansions
Here are your movies for this week...."The Other Woman" - Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton team up to get revenge on the man who has been triple timing them or maybe even quadruple timing them.
Brick Mansions -One of Paul Walker's final movies after his tragic death. He is an undercover cop trying to get revenge for his father's murder.
Willie Waffle is a nationally known Movie Critic, appearing on TV and Radio stations across the country.....you can listen to Mike and Kate every Friday at 9:20 to hear the latest movie reviews or just listen below.


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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Theresa May said on Thursday Chancellor Philip Hammond did a very good job of delivering the annual budget when she was asked if his job was safe.
"Yes, the chancellor did a very good job yesterday," the prime minister told broadcasters on Thursday a day after Hammond won plaudits for his annual budget from his own Conservative Party, which has been very divided in recent months.
Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by Estelle Shirbon


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Ashton Carter, President Obama's nominee to head the Department of Defense, will tell the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing Wednesday morning that he is open to committing more US. troops to Afghanistan if conditions "degrade" in 2016.
Carter gave his shortest answer to over 300 prepared questions from the committee when asked about more troops in Afghanistan:
Q: If security conditions on the ground in Afghanistan degrade in 2016, would you consider recommending to the President revisions to the size and pace of the drawdown plan announced by the President in order to adequately address those security conditions?
A: Yes.
The ultimate decision on recommitting troops will be made by President Obama, but it's notable Carter is open, without qualification, to pushing for a broader war in Afghanistan.
The critical context here is the slow re-engagement in Afghanistan being undertaken by the Obama administration, without much public or congressional scrutiny. There is a pleasant fiction in Washington that "our combat mission in Afghanistan is over," as Obama claimed in his recent State of the Union address, but that ignores several important facts:
The administration signed a bilateral security agreement with the Afghan government that permits US troops until at least 2024, and does not prohibit them from combat operations.
In November, The New York Times reported that "President Obama decided in recent weeks to authorize a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year." This attracted very little media attention, and likewise from Congress.
In his final weeks as Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel committed an additional 1,000 US troops to Afghanistan for the coming year.
When details of the security agreement were leaked last year, a small bipartisan group of senators repeatedly pushed measures to have Congress vote on extending the war before Obama acted. ("Automatic renewal is fine for Netflix and gym memberships. But it isn't the right approach when it comes to war," Senator Jeff Merkley said at the time.) But then-Majority Leader Harry Reid never scheduled a vote.
The Carter hearings are another chance for Congress to weigh in, however, and find out why the administration is extending the nation's longest war, for how long and with what specific goals in mind.


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About the Book:
About Emerald:
Entertaining Angels Excerpt:
I'm the girl that my friends would throw into a pack of zombies if it meant they could stay alive longer. Well, they really wouldn't have to throw me to the zombies; I'd probably lag so far behind I'd become zombie food. See, I'm not too thin, and I'm not too pretty. I'm just me, Madison Andrews, a fat sixteen-year-old girl from Nowheresville, Mississippi.
I sifted through my clothes, looking for something to wear for the first day of my junior year of high school. Standing in front of the mirror, looking at myself, I pinched the fat on my belly, disgusted that I had let myself gain so much weight over the summer.
I hated that mirror. I hated that it showed me for what I really was. A fat nobody. I could see the lumps, rolls, and fat. The fat did nothing but damage my soul. My blue eyes stared back at me, but they were empty, void of happiness. I wanted to feel beautiful, but I couldn't. The mirror wouldn't let me be beautiful.
I had really wanted to lose weight, but my best friend, Chase Sanders, and I decided to veg out on the couch and watch marathons of our favorite science fiction shows instead of going to the gym. Yeah, that was my best friend for you. A big ole nerd, and he was certainly proud of it.
I, on the other hand, wanted to fit in this year. I was tired of being a nobody, but since I was still fat and ugly, fitting in wasn't gonna happen. I'd have to settle for my old life, being someone that everyone was nice to but didn't bother getting to know. Even my so-called-friends didn't bother. I continued looking through my clothes, sure that I had something my mom insisted on buying me that would cover this hideous belly. I was wrong.
Interview with Emerald:
Leave a Reply.


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Editor's ChoiceParting Ways With Our NPCsEditor's Choice - RSS 2.0
I miss Rodan Lewarx and Drazic.
I abandoned them in Wizardry 8, and it's probably safe to say they're never coming back. At the end of the game, I blew up the universe, and before I could put a new one together, the series itself and the company that created it blew up, too. The Wizardry games, a magnificent series that defined and shaped my youth, and Sir-Tech Software, the company that published it, were no more. No matter which ending you take, in the game or in the real world, neither Rodan nor Drazic survived.
I miss them.
Though I've created hundreds of NPCs, these two were special to me. Rodan was an Umpani and Drazic a T'Rang. The Umpani and T'Rang were sworn enemies dating back a full decade in the Wizardry series and their rivalry, expressed in part through their distinct strategies and personalities, led to seemingly endless ideas for sabotage, aggression and alliance. Players weaved between the two, deciding whom to work for based on their own tendencies. The Umpani were militaristic but fun-loving. The T'Rang were more domineering and dangerous and took orders from Z'Ant. I recall how much I enjoyed seeing a player as he reacted to Z'Ant's genuine (A.I.) hurt when the player was busted working for both sides.
At some point unknown to the player, Rodan and Drazic were captured by a roving group of Rapax, and as they whittled away their days in captivity, they came to realize that the greater danger was not in each other, but in the Dark Savant; so long as their races continued to fight one another, the Savant would continue to destroy both. The player didn't need to accept their assigned mission in order to win the game, nor did she need to fight an exceptionally uphill battle to get the sworn enemies to agree to a truce, but the rewards were worth it if she did.
And after all of that, after all the player and NPCs' effort, I rewarded them with ... silence. There could have been more, but we'll never know now. So, I miss them.
For Tom Hall, Creative Director at KingsIsle Entertainment, the attachment is much more personal. "I deeply miss Commander Keen," he laments. "He was based on me at 8 years old. Plus, I'd love to complete that original story."
Whether the NPC is a mirror of the designer or merely a construction of his or her imagination, the longer we stay with an NPC, the more he or she seems to grow on us. We deeply internalize them so that, as their puppet masters, we can craft the perfect response to any given game situation. And when the game goes away, sometimes the puppet does not. Designers feel a need to complete their stories, a need that has no outlet when the series stalls.


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Focus on what you do best. We'll do the rest.
We help a wide range of businesses manage their cash flow:
- Accounting firms with retainer clients
- Gyms with membership fees
- Security companies
- Internet service providers
- Ecommerce businesses
Three Peaks Payment House was established in 1989, filling a need that the major banks were unable to fill: offering debit order payment systems to small to mid-sized companies. For the first time, even small businesses could take advantage of all of the benefits of debit order payments.
Over the last 25 years, Three Peaks has continually innovated technology to simplify cash flow management, and built long-term relationships with clients.


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Las Vegas, NV (August 29) – Affliction Entertainment and Michael Waltrip Racing today unveiled Affliction Entertainment's "Day of Reckoning" #00 Toyota (images attached). The racecar will be operated by veteran driver Mike Skinner as he competes in this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway. Affliction Entertainment is the first mixed martial arts organization to sponsor a car in NASCAR. Fully wrapped in Affliction Entertainment's "Day of Reckoning" graphics promoting the upcoming October 11 MMA Pay-Per-View event from Las Vegas, the car driven by Skinner will compete in Sunday's 250-lap event set to start at 5 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, Aug. 31 from Auto Club Speedway in San Bernardino County, Calif. and will be shown on ABC TV via ESPN-ABC Sports.
"Affliction is proud to make racing history as the first MMA organization to sponsor a car in NASCAR," said Tom Atencio, vice president of Affliction Entertainment. "NASCAR fans are huge supporters of MMA and this is a great collaboration for both sports."
"It's great to have Affliction Entertainment as a Michael Waltrip Racing partner," said Michael Waltrip, driver of the #55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota and founder of Michael Waltrip Racing. "Our partnership with Affliction and MMA allows us to connect with millions of fans in a unique way."
In addition to Affliction's sponsorship of the Michael Waltrip Racing #00 entry, the company will work with Auto Club Speedway to promote "Day of Reckoning" to the multitude of fans who attend the events planned at the world-famous speedway this Labor Day weekend. Utilizing the venue's multiple promotional opportunities, Affliction and Auto Club Speedway have packaged an entertaining mixture of promotional opportunities to make the fans aware of Affliction's upcoming event.
"We're bringing together the excitement of NASCAR racing at Auto Club Speedway and the full contact action of Affliction Entertainment MMA Events," said Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway. "We're thrilled to host the debut of Affliction in motorsports."


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Because it's election season and we're all beholden to polls, we should recall Harry S. Truman's great counterfactual put-down of polls (which I came across today):
"I wonder how far Moses would have
gone if he'd taken a poll in Egypt? What would Jesus Christ have
preached if he'd taken a poll in Israel? Where would the Reformation
have gone if Martin Luther had taken a poll? It isn't polls or public
opinion of the moment that counts. It is right and wrong and
leadership--men with fortitude, honesty and a belief in the right that
makes epochs in the history of the world."
(From Truman's diary, 1954, Post-Presidential Papers).


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Editor's Note: This is the third installment in our year-end series counting down the top 10 local business stories of 2007. The stories will be featured in Exchange each day through Jan. 1:
10. Savannah's Herty Center bringing biofuel development to state (Sunday, Dec. 23)
9. JCB has best year ever (Monday, Dec. 24)
F or the better part of 2007, the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport looked as much like a construction zone as an airport, with no fewer than three major expansion projects under way at the same time.
All that controlled chaos has finally come to fruition.
The expanded terminal opened in July, the new operations center came online in September and the last of the projects - a much-anticipated parking garage - opened in October.
"It's been a busy year with so much going on at once, but we set up a construction management team to help address all the issues and that helped tremendously," said Patrick Graham, airport executive director.
"We're very pleased with the way everything turned out."
The $14.2 million terminal expansion, which added five new gates and 10,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space to the 10-gate terminal built in 1994, is designed to accommodate area growth as well as the larger regional jets that are beginning to fly into Savannah.
About 84 flights - carrying approximately 5,800 passengers - take off or arrive every day at Savannah/Hilton Head.
The airport passed the 1 million mark in both boardings and arrivals for the first time in 2005, then missed it by a fraction of a percent last year as financially strapped airlines cut flights and downsized planes nationwide.
But the passenger demand has always been there, Graham said.
Now, as airlines have begun to add new services and equipment - and the airport is solidly on track to surpass the 1 million mark again in 2007 - the new gates allow Savannah to cater to that demand, said Robert Uhrich, director of air services development for the airport.
"It couldn't have come at a better time," Uhrich said. "We were running out of available gate space and it's tough to woo new airlines when you can't promise to accommodate their needs."
Barely six weeks after completing the terminal expansion, the airport opened a new operations center designed to consolidate departments previously spread out across airport property.
The 24,000-square-foot, $5 million Airport Operations Center, built with airport general fund money, now houses the purchasing, grounds and building maintenance departments as well as a vehicle maintenance facility.
In addition to streamlining repairs and other operations, the new center also serves as a hurricane shelter for airport staff. Designed to withstand sustained winds of up to 130 miles per hour and operate for up to 10 days without commercial power, it will allow the airport to continue operating during a hurricane or other emergency.
Perhaps the most anticipated improvement of the year was the new parking garage, which opened to the public in mid-October.
The $35 million garage added 1,690 spaces, taking the airport's total parking inventory to 3,690.
Located directly across from the terminal, the covered garage features a unique Signal Park system that informs drivers of the number of available spaces on each of its four levels and the number of empty spaces in each row.
"It's easy in and easy out and no one has to ride around looking for a parking space," Graham said.
That's especially appreciated this time of year, said airport commissioner Steve Green.
"The covered parking is a huge convenience and Signal Park will make it safer as rushed passengers hurry to find a parking space," he said.
The completion of all three expansion projects is a boon to travelers in the two-state area, said Bill Miles, president of the Hilton Head/Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.
"The entire region benefits when you have an airport that has the vision to expand and produce the level of service today's flying consumer has come to expect," he said.
"The added gates and additional covered parking are great improvements."


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The Kawasaki Ninja H2R hypersport motorcycle is an engineering marvel, made possible only through the sourcing of technological expertise from multiple divisions of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI). The result of this unprecedented collaboration is a system of carefully crafted premium components and World Superbike racing inspired next-level electronics that work in concert to create an unbelievably powerful machine—one that's more than worthy of the legendary H2 name.This item may not be available immediately in dealer stock. Some items may need to be ordered. See terms for details. 9923
*Price: $55,000.00 *Does not include dealer fees. See TERMS for details. MAP/Sale Price available only on certain units. Does not necessarily include special financing.


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Hello there!
How was your day?
I`m here with two decorations now- one summer- themed and one not based on summer.
Starting with one of them ->
It`s very stylish and elegant- black french with hand- painted lace around the smile line. The red bows just make the design pops.
As I said, the lace is hand- painted with acrylic paints.
The bows are, too. There are bows on three nails by hand ->
Finished with Seche Vite top coat.
And here are the nails before the UV gel refill, one month older ->
You can see this decoration in this post ->
Here it is made with gel polish on natural nails ->
I used Bluesky gel polish 504 for the base and Bluesky gel polish 518 for the black french.
*And another edit of this post, this time I added a red flower to the bow :)


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"The most violent element in society is ignorance." Emma Goldman
By Kelly Loughery
Images of mutilated bodies, slaughtered livestock, desecrated villages and grieving mothers[1] have haunted me since I first read about the conflict in South Sudan. While I've never been to South Sudan, nor am I an expert on the conflict that has plagued that region for over fifty years, in my heart I know these images should not be rationalized, trivialized or ignored. Yet they are – everyday – by you and me both as we drift through our days, oblivious to the atrocities taking place 7,000 miles away in that war-torn nation.
South Sudan became a country in its own right in 2011 by referendum, becoming the first new African country since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Yet the euphoria from the secession quickly dissipated as the country fell into civil war when President Salva Kiir Mayardit (a member of the Dinka tribe) accused his former deputy (a Nuer tribesman) of an attempted coup. Violence between the warring tribes is escalating, leaving thousands dead and nearly 1.5 million displaced. Civilian attacks, sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers are well-documented and apparently increasing. Yet the conflict has failed to garner mainstream media attention; overshadowed by civil war in Syria, the rise (and sheer brutality) of ISIS and the Ebola outbreak. So the war continues, away from the spotlight, as the images of violence and death only replicate and intensify.
Consider that a child born in South Sudan, assuming he survives childbirth (which with an infant mortality rate of 105[2] is far from certain), has a life expectancy of 55.[3] Likewise, only 27% of the population aged 15 years and above is literate, with the rate of male literacy nearly tripling the rate of female literacy.[4] Compare that with the United States where the infant mortality rate is 6[5], life expectancy is 79[6], adult literacy is approximately 99%[7] and over 41%[8] of 18 to 24 year olds attend university. Success in South Sudan is survival; hope and ambition are therefore difficult – if not impossible – sentiments to cultivate.
Many Americans believe our collective ability to rationalize, trivialize and outright ignore conflict in Africa somehow boils down to race. Yet race is merely one of many ways we seek to distinguish ourselves from them to avoid facing the harsh reality of our shared humanity. We discriminate, we erect boundaries, adopt an "us" vs. "them" mentality to justify the immense disparity in opportunity that exists merely because of the geography of where we are born. The South Sudanese ARE different from us: not less human, simply less privileged, significantly less privileged. And we can't justify the luxury in our lives without somehow making them less deserving than us.
Many also will argue that Africa has done little to save itself or protect its own people. Perhaps this is true, yet also represents another veiled attempt to erect illusory boundaries between us and them. Like our parents before us, we perpetuate a cycle of ignorance, indifference and occasional justification. We sit with our lattes and read about horrific, unthinkable violence in Africa every Sunday. Yet we quickly and quietly dismiss the latest atrocity as a "third world problem", resign to our helplessness, and continue our day.
South Sudan's problems are not "African"; civil strife is not a new phenomenon, nor is it unique to Africa or this region. Likewise, we know the human toll civil war exacts on its people, the death, destruction and grief war leaves in its wake.
Until we change our perception of Africa, embrace the humanity of the South Sudanese and make an uncompromising promise to do something for these long suffering people we are part of the problem. While we may not be able to directly bring peace to South Sudan, nor ease a grieving mother's pain, or create economic prosperity for the region, we can change our attitudes. We can choose to care, choose to pray and choose to do something good – however small – for a people….a continent…. that desperately needs our attention.
Kelly Loughery is an attorney for a Fortune 500 company and resides in Edgewater, Maryland with her twin boys and Italian greyhound.
There are a host of charitable organizations operating in South Sudan including Save the Children www.savethechildren.com and the International Rescue Committee www.rescue.org – consider donating today.
[1] Fabio Bucciarelli's incredibly powerful photographs of South Sudan are available on his website: http://www.fabiobucciarelli.com/. [2] Source, World Bank – infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year. See http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southsudan/overview [3] Ibid. [4] World Bank, http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southsudan/overview [5] Source, World Bank 2013. Data available at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southsudan/overview [6] Source, World Bank 2012. Data available at: http://data.worldbank.org/country/united-states. [7] Source, CIA World Fact Book available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html. [8] National Center for Education Statistics, 2012


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Typhoid Fever
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi. Anyone can get typhoid fever if they drink water or eat food contaminated with the bacteria. Travelers visiting developing countries are at greatest risk for getting typhoid fever. Symptoms include: constant fever up to 104°F; diarrhea; constipation; stomach pain; slow heart rate; exhaustion. Typhoid fever is treated with antibiotics. A person will usually recover in 2-3 days with prompt antibiotic treatment.