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Saturday, August 04, 2007
Comic Art
In this case the progeny, Jesse Chambers, first assumed her mothers super identity, becoming Liberty Belle II as you see here at the left, but soon she learned her fathers formula and became Jesse Quick.
Like any good female, Jesse had a thing for changing costumes. Above right is her third JQ costume which combines elements of the "Flashy" version you see here on the left and her classic as depicted below and the second which is just a lttle militaristic for my book.
Remember when I discussed the female Kid Flash and said I thought they should let her hair grow? Well, as you can see here, they did it with Jesse when she went "Flash" and I think the results are spectacular. Nothing like all that hair blowing in the speedster breeze.
All the changes in Jesse point to a character that never really caught on. Not unlike her father, she has been best as a team player. The requiste speedster for any hero group. A lot of that has to do with a back story of a completely unstable personality. But there is a lot of potential there - I'd like to see her catch on.
Related Tags: comics, comic books, comic art, speedsters, Flash, Jesse Quick, Liberty Belle
Friday, August 03, 2007
American Theology
Matt describes McGill's first thesis this way:
He argues that the American view of "life" means "having." It is "always optimistic, always affirmative." Death is, in this sense, a disruption, a mangling of the normal. Poverty, sickness, disease and unanswered needs are abnormal and accidental. Wealth is a fundamental state of mind, not simply a fact. As a result, we work hard to become what McGill calls "the bronze people," people who maintain the appearance of life without having the substance of it. In doing so, we avoid the fundamental reality of sin and pain, a reality that is "intolerable." "The world is awful," writes McGill, "but Americans do not usually say so."Matt takes a bit of issue wit McGill's "world is awful" formulation. I understand why, but find the disagreement largely semantic and would tend to use McGill's formulation primarily.
I think Matt makes my point for me when he describes McGill's second thesis:
While equally provocative, McGill's second section is somewhat more successful. Despite continuing his error of making sin "a matter…of our basic identity," McGill demonstrates how Jesus' identity comes from outside of himself and how as Christians, we must "die" and discover that our identity comes from outside of ourselves, from God. We must let go of the "tecnique of having," of possessing ourselves and cultivate a posture of gratitude and acknowledgment that our being is in God, not in us.The disagreements here hinge pretty much on what one feels the nature of God's redemptive work is - essentially, are we "fixed" or "remade"? In Matt's understanding we are "fixed," in McGill's "remade." The beginning and ending points are virtually the same here which is why I think this is primarily a semantic discussion, but it is important.
Why would I want to let go and draw my identity from outside if instead of needing to be "remade," I merely need to be "fixed"? Think about that....
But it is McGill's definition of American life as "having" that I find so intriguing. Acquisition is the fundamental American activity, but I had never equated it with a sense of life. But I think McGill may be right, and I think the implications for the church are astounding.
Our churchs seeks to acquire members, not make converts. Growth is defined as a "healthy" church, whilst lack of growth or shrinkage is consider "unhealthy." And yet, the church, like we as individuals, should take identity from the external. A healthy church should be measured by who it serves, not what it acquires.
How come I never see that in the church consultant literature?
Regardless of whether you agree with Matt or McGill on the lesser and higher realities, there is powerful understanding to be had here, for us and for the church.
Related Tags: sin, American, theology, other, outside, church, growth, fruit
Friday Humor
Related Tags: joke, humor, redneck, Friday Humor
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Vulnerability in Ministry
Christianity teaches that Jesus is perfect, not us. When leaders share their imperfections they communicate that God is the God of imperfect people. The reformed doctrine of total depravity teaches that sin permeates all parts of our being, so sin and failure are the norm for our lives, which gives us the opportunity to demonstrate that our ongoing need for the moment by moment redemption that is ours in Christ."Perfect" leaders is a worldly thing. The urge that so many pastors feel to put up a good front is, I think, once again about preserving the institution, not the mission and community for which the institution was founded. I've had the leadership classes too where they tell you "people need somebody to look up to," yada, yada, yada. But I always wonder what kind of people and where are they being lead.
You know, by those standards, Jesus was a pretty lousy leader. I mean imagine, the humiliation he so publicly suffered, the scourging and so forth - He let Himself die instead of exercise the power that was all His. Who's gonna follow a guy like that?
Oh, just about half the world....
But when we lead from strength instead of weakness, where do we lead people? We lead them to strength, which as I understand how this whole faith thing is supposed to work is precisely the wrong direction.
Whatever strength we may exhibit is not ours, and that other strength we do find we find by admitting our own weakness. Sounds weird, but that sure seems to be how it works.
Speaking from a personal perspective, the guy I will follow is the guy that knows how to say "I'm wrong." I do not seek perfection in my leaders because I know that such people are covering something up. I look for honesty and integrity first and foremost, and that means someone that is as straightforward about their limitations as they are about their strengths.
Related Tags: Christian leadership, weakness, vulnerability, honesty, integrity
Illuminated Scripture
Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture, Genesis, Noah
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
So the death of the Son of God is sufficient to cover all our sins as the climax of a sinless life. This is no disparagement to the cross. It is not adding to the cross. The New Testament writers saw the death of Christ as the climax of his life. His whole life was designed to bring him to the cross (Mark 10:45; John 12:27; Hebrews 2:14). That is why he was born, and why he lived. To speak of the saving effect of his death was therefore to speak of his death as the sum and climax of his sinless life.Piper does a marvelous job of examing the theological implications here, but what about the practical ones?
Let me pose this question - If our justification comes not merely from the cross, but from the totality of Christ's sinless life, what then should be our response to that justification?
Well, from my perspective, I do not know how we can feel justified if we respond by giving anything less that the totality of our lives to Him.
I think there is a tendency when we focus on the cross to think that because Christ resurrected, it was a trial, but it was not the total committment and complete sacrifice that it really was. But as Piper so readily points out, it was not just the cross, it was all of Christ. He was simply servant to us.
How can we respond with less?
Related Tags: Christ, sacrifice, totality, obedience
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Peace with Sin
The thing about that experience that has always struck me is how at peace the young man seemed to be with his sin. (I don't know his heart.) When ever I think of him, I ask myself what sins have I called a truce with? What are the areas of my sanctification that I've waved the white flag, given up on, and made peace?As the chaplian concludes, such truces are indeed evidence of God's infinite grace - but I simply could not get off the question, it is startling in its implications.
It is so easy to rest in grace that we forget to be at war with sin. In this piece the chaplain addresses big stuff - murder, covetousness, the stuff we always talk about, but even that represents only one level of truce with sin. Many people in this world are able to master behavioral things - but sin affects us much more deeply. We are not called merely not to murder, we are called not to even consider it, think about it, or even have emotional states that could lead to it. That is radical.
We set our sights so low when it comes to this kind of stuff, as individuals and as institutions. How many times have I sat in meetings of various sorts and heard, "It may not be best, but what else can we do?" Is such a statement not making peace with the fallen state of our existence. The truth of that statement notwithstanding, where is the disappointment with, or even rage at, it's necessity?
Grace does not mean we get to take our eyes off of the goal. In fact, as we grow in grace, our distance from that goal should pain us ever more deeply.
We may be forced to reach a compromise with the fallen state of creation from time-to-time, but I do not think we can ever afford to do so with any sort of contentment, or resignation. Such truces must be ones that we constantly look to break at the first possible opportunity. How easy it is to make such a truce and then walk away.
We are at war with sin. We should never, ever forget that.
Related Tags: sin, war, peace, truce, prison, grace
Kitty Kartoons
Related Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash
Monday, July 30, 2007
The Therapuetic Gospel?!?!?
The inquisitor's gospel is a therapeutic gospel. It's structured to give people what they want, not to change what they want. It centers exclusively around the welfare of man and temporal happiness. It discards the glory of God in Christ. It forfeits the narrow, difficult road that brings deep human flourishing and eternal joy. This therapeutic gospel accepts and covers for human weaknesses, seeking to ameliorate the most obvious symptoms of distress. It makes people feel better. It takes human nature as a given, because human nature is too hard to change. It does not want the King of Heaven to come down. It does not attempt to change people into lovers of God, given the truth of who Jesus is, what he is like, what he does. [emphasis added]Funny how a Russian author struggling with burgeoning communism is able to so completely describe the troubles with the contemprary American church. But then that should tell us something as well. The ultimate expression of sin is that very self-centeredness, and the church is far from immune from sin.
I find it increasingly difficult to encounter anywhere a congregation that does not fall into this "therapuetic gospel" to one extent or another. That fact is a reflection of our sinfulness, but what troubles my soul is that it is equally as rare to see a congregation fighting against the trend. Rather they seek to embrace it as the path to "success."
When I discuss such concerns I am told the answer is to be "the church within the church." That is to say to be the people that really "get it" in the context of the group of people that are supposed to get it. I find that response nearly repulsive.
For one thing, to learn to be satisfied with the Church, with Christ's identiifed body on earth, in such a state smacks of the embrace I seek to avoid. More, such advice always comes from those that have a vested interest in the perceived "success" of the institution. In other words, those whose financial compensation comes from the church. I wish I could learn not to be suspicious under such circumstances, but....
Is there a way to overcome this trend? My father dealt with it by withdrawal, by doing what he could do for those he could reach and "let the church rot." Oh, he went and worshipped, but that was it. I tend to operate in the same manner, but feel a constant tug that to do so is to somehow "punt." It feels like a concession to the inevitability of sin, it feels like I do not believe in Christ's ultimate victory.
But then Christ's ultimate victory came by the path of execution, the ultimate failure.
Related Tags: therapeutic gospel, church, trends, ministry, truth, frustration
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sermons and Lessons
John Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury, renowned as a preacher, was born at Sowerby, in Yorkshire, in 1630, the son of an ardent Independent. After graduating from Clare College, Ca¬bridge, he began to preach in 1661, in connection with the Presbyterian wing of the Church of England. He, however, submitted to the Act of Uniformity the following year, and in 1663 was inducted into the rectory of Veddington, Suffolk. He was also appointed preacher to Lincoln's Inn, was made prebendary of Canterbury in 1670 and dean in 1672. William III regarded him with high favor, and he succeeded the nonjuring Sancroft in the arch-see of Canterbury. His sermons are characterized by stateliness, copiousness and lucidity, and were long looked upon as models of correct pulpit style. He died in 1694.
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? - Acts 26:8.
The resurrection of the dead is one of the great articles of the Christian faith; and yet so it hath happened that this great article of our religion hath been made one of the chief objections against it. There is nothing that Christianity hath been more upbraided for withal, both by the heathens of old and by the infidels of later times, than the impossibility of this article; so that it is a matter of great consideration and consequence to vindicate our religion in this particular. But if the thing be evidently impossible, then it is highly unreasonable to pro¬pose it to the belief of mankind.
I know that some, more devout than wise, and who, it is to be hoped, mean better than they understand, make nothing of impossibilities in matters of faith, and would fain persuade us that the more impossible anything is, for that very reason it is the fitter to be believed; and that it is an argument of a poor and low faith to believe only things that are possible; but a generous and heroical faith will swallow contradictions with as much ease as reason assents to the plainest and most evident propositions. Tertullian, in the heat of his zeal and eloquence, upon this point of the death and resurrection of Christ, lets fall a very odd passage, and which must have many grains of allowance to make it tolerable: "prosus credible est (saith he), quia ineptum est; certum est, quia impossible - it is therefore very credible, because it is foolish, and certain, because it is impossible"; "and this (says he) is necessarium dedecus fidei," that is, "it is necessary the Christian faith should be thus disgraced by the belief of impossibilities and contradictions." I suppose he means that this article of the resurrection was not in itself the less credible because the heathen philosophers caviled at it as a thing impossible and contradictions, and endeavored to disgrace the Christian religion upon that account. For if he meant otherwise, that the thing was therefore credible because it was really and in itself foolish and impossible; this had been to recommend the Christian religion from the absurdity of the things to be believed; which would be a strange recommendation of any religion to the sober and reasonable part of mankind.
I know not what some men may find in themselves; but I must freely acknowledge that I could never yet attain to that bold and hardy degree of faith as to believe anything for this reason, because it was impossible: for this would be to believe a thing to be because I am sure it can not be. So that I am very far from being of his mind, that wanted not only more difficulties, but even impossibilities in the Christian religion, to exercise his faith upon.
Leaving to the Church of Rome that foolhardiness of faith, to believe things to be true which at the same time their reason plainly tells them are impossible, I shall at this time endeavor to assert and vindicate this article of the resurrection from the pretended impossibility of it. And I hope, by God's assistance, to make the possibility of the thing so plain as to leave no considerable scruple about it in any free and unprejudiced mind. And this I shall do from these words of St. Paul, which are part of the defense which he made for himself before Festus and Agrippa, the substance whereof is this, that he had lived a blameless and inoffensive life among the Jews, in whose religion he had been bred up; that he was of the strictest sect of that religion, a Pharisee, which, in opposition to the Sadducees, maintained the resurrection of the dead and a future state of rewards and punishments in another life; and that for the hope of this he was called in question, and accused by the Jews. "And now I stand here, and am judged, for the hope of the promise made unto the fathers; unto which promise our twelve scribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come; for which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews." That is, he was accused for preaching that Jesus was risen from the dead, which is a particular instance of the general doctrine of the resurrection which was enter¬tained by the greatest part of the Jews, and which to the natural reason of mankind (however the heathen in opposition to the Christian religion were prejudiced against it), hath nothing in it that is incredible. And for this he appeals to his judges, Festus and Agrippa: "why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?"
Which words being a question without an answer, imply in them these two propositions:
First, That it was thought by some a thing incredible that the dead should. be raised. This is supposed in the question, as the foundation of it: for he who asks why a thing is so, supposeth it to be so.
Secondly, That this apprehension, that it is a thing incredible that God should raise the dead, is very unreasonable. For the question being left unanswered, implies its own answer, and is to be resolved into this affirmative, that there is no reason why they or any man else should think it a thing incredible that God should raise the dead.
I shall speak to these two propositions as briefly as I can; and then show what influence this doctrine of the resurrection ought to have upon our lives.
First, that it was thought by some a thing incredible that God should raise the dead. This St. Paul has reason to suppose, having from his own experience found men so averse from the entertaining of this doctrine. When he preached to the philosophers at Athens, and declared to them the resurrection of one Jesus from the dead, they were amazed at this new doctrine, and knew not what he meant by it. They said, "he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection." He had discoursed to them of the resurrection of one Jesus from the dead; but this business of the resurrection of one Jesus from the dead was a thing so remote from their apprehensions that they had no manner of conception of it; but understood him quite in another sense, as if he had declared to them two new deities, Jesus and Anastasis; as if he had brought a new god and a new goddess among them, Jesus and the Resurrection. And when he discoursed to them again more fully of this matter, it is said that, "when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, they mocked." And at the twenty-fourth verse of this twenty-sixth chapter, when he spake of the resurrection, Festus told him he would hear him no further, and that he looked upon him as a man beside himself, whom much learning had made mad. Festus looked upon this business of the resurrection as the wild speculation of a crazy head. And indeed the heathens generally, even those who believed the immortality of the soul, and another state after this life, looked upon the resurrection of the body as a thing impossible. Pliny, I remember, reckons it among those things which are impossible, and which God himself can not do; "revocare defunctos, to call back the dead to life"; and in the primitive times the heathen philosophers very much derided the Christians, upon account of this strange doctrine of the resurrection, looking always upon this article of their faith as a ridiculous and impossible assertion.
So easy it is for prejudice to blind the minds of men, and to represent everything to them which hath a great appearance of difficulty in it as impossible. But I shall endeavor to show that if the matter be thoroughly examined, there is no ground for any such apprehension.
I proceed therefore to the second proposition, namely, that this apprehension, that it is an incredible thing that God should raise the dead, is very unreasonable: "why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" That is, there is no sufficient reason why any man should look upon the resurrection of the dead as a thing impossible to the power of God; the only reason why they thought it incredible being because they judged it impossible; so that nothing can be vainer than for men to pretend to believe the resurrection; and yet at the same time to grant it to be a thing in reason impossible, because no man can believe that which he thinks to be incredible; and the impossibility of a thing is the best reason any man can have to think a thing incredible. So that the meaning of St. Paul's question is, "why should it be thought a thing impossible that God should raise the dead?"
To come then to the business: I shall en¬deavor to show that there is no sufficient reason why men should look upon the resurrection of the dead as a thing impossible to God. "Why should it be thought a thing incredible (that is, impossible) with you, that God should raise the dead?" which question implies in it these three things:
- That it is above the power of nature to raise the, dead.
- But it is not above the power of God to raise the dead.
- That God should be able to do this is by no means incredible to natural reason.
First. This question implies that it is above the power of nature to raise the dead; and therefore the apostle puts the question very cautiously, "why should it be thought incredible that God should raise the dead?" by which he seems to grant that it is impossible to any natural power to raise the dead; which is granted on all hands.
Secondly. But this question does plainly imply that it is not above the power of God to do this. Though the raising of the dead to life be a thing above the power of nature, yet why should it be thought incredible that God, who is the author of nature, should be able to do this? and indeed the apostle's putting the question in this manner takes away the main ground of the objection against the resurrection from the impossibility of the thing. For the main reason why it was looked upon as impossible was, because it was contrary to the course of nature that there should be any return from a perfect privation to a habit, and that a body perfectly dead should be restored to life again: but for all this no man that believes in a God who made the world, and this natural frame of things, but must think it very reasonable to believe that He can do things far above the power of anything that He hath made.
Thirdly. This question implies that it is not a thing incredible to natural reason that God should be able to raise the dead. I do not say that by natural light we can discover that God will raise the dead; for that, depending merely upon the will of God, can not otherwise be certainly known than by divine revelation: but that God can do this is not at all incredible to natural reason. And this is sufficiently implied in the question which St. Paul asks, in which he appeals to Festus and Agrippa, neither of them Christians, "why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" And why should he appeal to them concerning the credibility of this matter if it be a thing incredible to natural reason?
That it is not, I shall first endeavor to prove, and then to answer the chief objections against the possibility of it.
And I prove it thus: it is not incredible to natural reason that God made the world, and all the creatures in it; that mankind is His offspring; and that He gives us life and breath, and all things. This was acknowledged and firmly believed by many of the heathens. And indeed, whoever believes that the being of God may be known by natural light, must grant that it may be known by the natural light of reason that God made the world; because one of the chief arguments of the being of God is taken from those visible effects of wisdom, and power, and goodness, which we see in the frame of the world. Now He that can do the greater can undoubtedly do the less; He that made all things of nothing, can much more raise a body out of dust; He who at first gave life to so many inanimate beings, can easily restore that which is dead to life again. It is an excellent saying of one of the Jewish rabbis: He who made that which was not, to be, can certainly make that which was once, to be again. This hath the force of a demonstration; for no man that believes that God bath done the one, can make any doubt but that lie can, if lie please, do the other.
This seems to be so very clear, that they must be strong objections indeed, that can render it incredible.
There are but two that I know of, that arc of any consideration, and I shall not be afraid to represent them to you with their utmost advantage; and they are these:
First, against the resurrection in general: it is pretended impossible, after the bodies of men are resolved into dust, to recollect all the dispersed parts and bring them together, to be united into one body.
The second is leveled against a resurrection in some particular instances, and pretends it to be impossible in some eases only - viz., when that which was the matter of one man's body does afterward become the matter of another man's body; in which ease, say they, it is impossible that both these should, at the resurrection, each have his own body.
The difficulty of both these objections is perfectly avoided by those who hold that it is not necessary that our bodies at the resurrection should consist of the very same parts of matter that they did before. There being no such great difference between one parcel of dust and another; neither in respect of the power of God, which can easily command this parcel of dust as that to become a living body, and being united to a living soul to rise up and walk; so that the miracle of the resurrection will be all one in the main, whether our bodies be made of the very same matter they were before, or not; nor will there be any difference as to us; for whatever matter our bodies be made of, when they are once reunited to our souls, they will be then as much our own as if they had been made of the very same matter of which they consisted before. Besides that, the change which the resurrection will make in our bodies will be so great that we could not know them to be the same, though they were so.
Now upon this supposition, which seems philosophical enough, the force of both these objections is wholly declined. But there is no need to fly to this refuge; and therefore I will take this article of the resurrection in the strictest sense for the raising of a body to life, consisting of the same individual matter that it did before; and in this sense, I think, it has generally been received by Christians, not without ground, from Scripture. I will only mention one text, which seems very strongly to imply it: "and the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and the grave delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to his works." Now why should the sea and the grave be said to deliver up their dead, if there were not a resurrection of the same body; for any dust formed into a living body and united to the soul, would serve the turn? We will therefore take it for granted that the very same body will be raised, and I doubt not, even in this sense, to vindicate the possibility of the resurrection from both these objections.
First, against the resurrection in general of the same body; it is pretended impossible, after the bodies of men are moldered into dust, and by infinite accidents have been scattered up and down the world, and have undergone a thousand changes, to re-collect and rally together the very same parts of which they consisted before. This the heathens used to object to the primitive Christians; for which reason they also used to burn the bodies of the martyrs, and to scatter their ashes in the air, to be blown about by the wind, in derision of their hopes of a resurrection.
I know not how strong malice might make this objection to appear; but surely in reason it is very weak; for it wholly depends upon a gross mistake of the nature of God and his providence, as if it did not extend to the smallest things; as if God did not know all things that He bath made, and had them not always in His view, and perfectly under His command; and as if it were a trouble and burden to infinite knowledge and power to understand and order the least things; whereas infinite knowledge and power can know and manage all things with as much ease as we can understand and order any one thing; so that this objection is grounded upon a low and false apprehension of the Divine nature, and is only fit for Epicurus and his herd, who fancied, to themselves a sort of slothful and unthinking deities, whose happiness consisted in their laziness, and a privilege to do nothing.
I proceed therefore to the second objection, which is more close and pressing; and this is leveled against the resurrection in some particular instances. I will mention but two, by which all the rest may be measured and answered.
One is, of those who are drowned in the sea, and their bodies eaten up by fishes, and turned into their nourishment: and those fishes perhaps eaten afterward by men, and converted into the substance of their bodies.
The other is of the cannibals; some of whom, as credible relations tell us, have lived wholly or chiefly on the flesh of men; and consequently the whole, or the greater part of the substance of their bodies is made of the bodies of other men. In these and the like cases, wherein one man's body is supposed to be turned into the substance of another man's body, how should both these at the resurrection each recover his own body? So that this objection is like that of the Sad¬ducees to our Savior, concerning a woman that had seven husbands: they ask, "whose wife of the seven shall she be at the resurrection?" So here, when several have had the same body, whose shall it be at the resurrection? and how shall they be supplied that have it not?
This is the objection; and in order to the answering of it, I shall premise these two things:
1. That the body of man is not a constant and permanent thing, always continuing in the same state, and consisting of the same matter; but a successive thing, which is continually spending and continually renewing itself, every day losing something of the matter which it had before, and gaining new; so that most men have new bodies oftener than they have new clothes; only with this difference, that we change our clothes commonly at once, but our bodies by degrees.
And this is undeniably certain from experience. 'For so much as our bodies grow, so much new matter is added to them, over and beside the repairing of what is continually spent; and after a man come to his full growth, so much of his food as every day turns into nourishment, so much of his yesterday's body is usually wasted, and carried off by insensible perspiration - that is, breathed out at the pores of his body; which, according to the static experiment of Sanetorius, a learned physician, who, for several years together, weighed himself exactly every day, is (as I remember) according to the proportion of five to eight of all that a man eats and drinks. Now, according to this pro¬portion, every man must change his body several times in a year.
It is true indeed the more solid parts of the body, as the bones, do not change so often as the fluid and fleshy; but that they also do change is certain, because they grow, and whatever grows is nourished and spends, because otherwise it would not need to be repaired.
2. The body which a man bath at any time of his life is as much his own body as that which he hath at his death; so that if the very matter of his body which a man had at any time of his life be raised, it is as much his own and the same body as that which he had at his death, and commonly much more perfect; because they who die of lingering sickness or old age are usually mere skeletons when they die; so that there is no reason to suppose that the very matter of which our bodies consists at the time of our death shall be that which shall be raised, that being commonly the worst and most imperfect body of all the rest.
These two things being premised, the answer to this objection can not be difficult. For as to the more solid and firm parts of the body, as the skull and bones, it is not, I think, pretended that the cannibals eat them; and if they did, so much of the matter even of these solid parts wastes away in a few years, as being collected together would supply them many times over. And as for the fleshy and fluid parts, these are so very often changed and renewed that we can allow the cannibals to eat them all up, and to turn them all into nourishment, and yet no man need contend for want of a body of his own at the resurrection - viz., any of those bodies which he had ten or twenty years before; which are every whit as good and as much his own as that which was eaten.
Having thus shown that the resurrection is not a thing incredible to natural reason, I should now proceed to show the certainty of it from divine revelation. For as reason tells us it is not impossible, so the word of God hath assured us that it is certain. The texts of Scripture are so many and clear to this purpose, and so well known to all Christians, that I will produce none. I shall only tell you that as it is expressly revealed in the gospel, so our blest Savior, for the confirmation of our faith and the comfort and encouragement of our hope, hath given us the experiment of it in his own resurrection, which is "the earnest and first-fruits of ours." So St. Paul tells us that "Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept." And that Christ did really rise from the dead, we have as good evidence as for any ancient matter of fact which we do most firmly believe; and more and greater evidence than this the thing is not capable of; and because it is not, no reasonable man ought to require it.
Now what remains but to conclude this discourse with those practical inferences which our apostle makes from this doctrine of the resurrection; and I shall mention these two:
The first for our support and comfort under the infirmities and miseries of this mortal life.
The second for the encouragement of obedience and a good life.
1. For our comfort and support under the infirmities and miseries of this mortal state. The consideration of the glorious change of our bodies at the resurrection of the just can not but be a great comfort to us, under all bodily pain and sufferings.
One of the greatest burdens of human nature is the frailty and infirmity of our bodies, the necessities they are frequently prest withal, the manifold diseases they are liable to, and the dangers and terrors of death, to which they are continually subject and enslaved. But the time is coming, if we be careful to prepare ourselves for it, when we shall be clothed with other kind of bodies, free from all the miseries and inconveniences which flesh and blood is subject to. For "these vile bodies shall be changed, and fashioned like to the glorious body of the Son of God." When our bodies shall be raised to a new life, they shall become incorruptible; "for 'this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality; and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory." When this last enemy is conquered, there shall be no "fleshly lusts" nor brutish passions "to fight against the soul; no law in our members to war against the laws of our minds"; no disease to torment us; no danger of death to amaze and terrify us. Then all the passions and appetites of our outward man shall be subject to the reason of our minds, and our bodies shall partake of the immortality of our souls. It is but a very little while that our spirits shall be crusht and clogged with these heavy and sluggish bodies; at the resurrection they shall be refined from all dregs of corruption, and become spiritual, and incorruptible, and glorious, and every way suited to the activity and perfection of a glorified soul and the "spirits of just men made perfect."
2. For the encouragement of obedience and a good life. Let the belief of this great article of our faith have the same influence upon us which St. Paul tells it had upon him. "I have hope toward God that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust; and herein do I exercise myself always to have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man." The firm belief of a resurrection to another life should make every one of us very careful how we demean ourselves in this life, and afraid to do anything or to neglect anything that may defeat our hopes of a blest immortality, and expose us to the extreme and endless misery of body and soul in another life.
Particularly, it should be an argument to us, "to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits"; and to use the members of the one and the faculties of the other as "instruments of righteousness unto holiness." We should reverence ourselves, and take heed not only how we defile our souls by sinful passions, but how we dishonor our bodies by sensual and brutish lusts; since God bath designed so great an honor and happiness for both at the resurrection.
So often as we think of a blest resurrection to eternal life, and the happy consequences of it, the thought of so glorious a reward should make us diligent and un¬wearied in the service of so good a Master and so great a Prince, who can and will prefer us to infinitely greater honors than any that are to be had in this world. This inference the apostle makes from the doctrine of the resurrection. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
Nay, we may begin this blest state while we are upon earth, by "setting our hearts and affections upon the things that are above, and having our conversation in heaven, from whence also we look for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself."
"Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us always that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
Related Tags: sermon, lesson, John Tillotson


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Professional Development
Professional development and capacity building is central to the Watan Group's philosophy. As an Afghan company we understand the importance of mentoring all staff and developing their skills in order to increase the skill-base, not just internally, but in the general workplace. The Watan Group always ensures its staff receive the highest levels of training and is able to extend that to client staff to ensure the security systems are fully integrated into the client's own processes.
Education and Investment in People
As an Afghan company, Watan Group believes in investing in its people, providing them with continuous education and training, not just in line with the immediate job, but also to increase the general abilities of our workforce and of Afghanistan's wider skill-base. As part of this, Watan Group provide all national staff with English tuition and other training, including computer skills. Training and education takes place either at client's sites or at Watan's education or training centres (see below).
Training Approach and Methods
Watan seeks to apply its training approach in line with a client's own ethos to develop key skills in an ethical manner. Watan uses a mix of vocational, on-the-job training, regular courses and refresher training and tailored courses to fulfil particular needs. Our own in-house Training Manager in consultation with the client designs all courses. Training courses can take place at client's sites or at our own training facility in Paghman.
Watan Training Centre Paghman
The Watan Group has its own training facility at its farm in Paghman, close to Kabul Golf Course and just 20 minutes from Kabul. The farm features a live firing range and a large area for scenario training.
Watan Education Centre Kabul
Watan has classroom facilities at its headquarters on the Salang Watt in Kabul for classroom based education activities such as language or computer training, available to all Watan employees as part of our Professional Development Programme.

subset: commoncrawl


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Aluminum foil isn't just for wrapping up your leftovers! Take a look at the list below for a few innovative hacks:
Make brown sugar softer
Have you found yourself baking your favourite cookies and then reaching for the brown sugar only to find that it's hardened? Wrap a chunk of brown sugar in aluminum and bake it in the oven for 5 minutes at 300F
Move furniture around without damaging your floors
Put aluminum foil underneath the legs of your furniture and then slide it to where you want it to be. This will protect your floors from scratches and prevent you from spending money on protective pads.
Make a custom-sized cake pan
If you don't have the right size cake pan that a recipe calls for, fear not! Use a thicker foil to create the desired shape.
Prevent cuttings from tangling as they grow
Cover cuttings with a sheet of foil. Poke a few holes, and you cuttings will grow untangled.
Scare the birds off
Hang pieces of aluminum foil from a tree or garden. Birds are often scared of shiny materials.
Iron Cleanup
Here's something we're sure you haven't done in a while—if ever! To clean the plate, place the iron on high over a sheet of foil with salt on top of it. The abrasive nature of the salt will clean up any dirt on the plate of your iron.
Source: http://www.aaluminum.com/anodized-aluminum-blog/276-aluminum-foil-hacks.html


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|This was our beautiful view from our balcony.
But my goodness, what an awesome weekend we had! We had lots of laughs and a good time with such a beautiful backdrop to explore and enjoy. Having never been before we weren't quite sure where we wanted to stay so I ended up just picking Nags Head out of the blue. We stayed at a gorgeous hotel right on the beach. Our room was on the first floor, with a balcony overlooking the ocean.
It was pretty amazing. We even watched a couple get married on the beach outside our room.
So Nags Head is pretty much central in the OBX. Right smack in the middle of the long strip of the island. Kill Devil Hills, and Kitty Hawk are right there also. Those 3 towns kind of blend one into the other. About a half hour north is Duck and then Corolla where the wild ponies roam. And an hour south of us was Rodanthe, Hatteras and Ocracoke Island. We like to drive and this was a 3 day weekend so we had plenty of time to explore. We spent an afternoon shopping and dining in Duck and we loved the area. Duck is probably my favorite area of the OBX. We then went looking for wild ponies in Corolla but didn't find any. We were pretty disappointed. But we found a great nature trail in the process that was a fun hike. Still, sadly, no ponies. Maybe next time.
|Is this not the most amazing looking nature trail? We didn't see wild ponies but we saw some beautiful nature.
We then drove for miles on the beach in Corolla and saw some great homes that were literally on the beach. No driveways or grass in sight. You need a four wheel vehicle (we do) in order to drive out and live there. And you drive for miles in the sand with homes sitting right on the beach with sand dunes as driveways. It's pretty beautiful, although I think I might miss the greenery quite a bit.
We then went the next day in the other direction. We went south down through Rodanthe and I loved that area too. It was remote with ocean sand dunes on both sides of the road as you drive. Very rural. Trust me, if you have to pee. Go ahead of time because it's a long drive with NOTHING for miles. We got to see the beach house from the movie "Nights in Rodanthe" with Richard Gere and Diane Lane. Its no longer sitting out in the middle of the beach due to hurricane damage. It's been moved, but it looked the same. We also crossed one of the most beautiful winding bridges. I normally hate bridges (yes they scare me) but this one was cool.
So, that's my "review" of the area. It was a blast.
We had a few mishaps. Such as…who knew you couldn't put bubble bath in a Jacuzzi tub? Not me!!! Haha…I filled the tub, threw in bubble bath (apparently a bit too much) jumped in and turned it on. Before we knew it we were drowning in bubbles! So there was my naked husband, completely covered in bubbles, shoveling buckets (using the trash can) of bubbles out of the tub and over the balcony! I was laughing so hard! O my goodness…so funny.
My husband was bringing in the luggage. While getting in the elevator another woman kinda squeezed in and in doing so knocked over one of our bags. Crash…."oops, did I do that"? She says. Uh yeah…ya did. And that was my favorite wine glass and favorite coffee cup that I brought along. Broken. Hmmmm…
|Who wouldn't stop for this beauty?
On the drive home we had to stop in the middle of traffic to let this guy cross….
On another note, I found this beautiful coffee cup that I fell in love with. Four years ago my daughter lost her best friend. They had been friends all there lives, since about 3rd grade. They grew up together and had there first child at the same time. Sadly, Beth died tragically 4 years ago. You can read about that tragic loss here. I loved her. Since as I said she was my daughters best friend so she was at my house all the time. If they weren't at my house then they were at her mama's house. Beth called me GiGi. Always did. It was just her thing. While shopping in Nags Head I found this cup. I've never seen one with this name before. How awesome is that? I guess there was a reason my coffee cup broke in the elevator. Lol…
So all in all, we had an amazing time filled with laughter, love and adventures. It was really fun. I highly suggest the Outer Banks for a vacation spot and I definitely will go back. How about you? Have you gone to the OBX? And if so what is your favorite spot? And please let me in on any great restaurants or hot spots!


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I remember roller skating back at the roller rink...what was it called? The Stardust? Aren't they all?
The other day, the song "Cars" by Gary Numan played on the radio. My husband turned it up LOUD, and I found myself transported back to the roller rink, the Stardust, and I was, oh, 15, and I was skating around the rink to loud, loud music, and I was dancing on wheels even though "Dancing is Wrong! " and I felt so free, so alive...
I had forgotten the immense importance of the roller rink to my teen-age existance. I loved to rollerskate! I loved the speed-skate when I'd pump my legs, leaving my friends and my fear far behind--almost nobody could pass me!! I remember wishing I could speed-skate with the boys. The girls were too slow.
I hated the Couple Skate. Nobody ever asked me to skate, and they played slow, stupid music. I usually went to the bathroom during the couple-skate.
Abba, Gary Numan, the B-52's, old disco, new wave. I loved it!
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Remembered by Paula at 9:42 am No comments:
Labels: bands, dance, high school, radio, rock and roll, rollerskating
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Jurassic Park 0 is the Special Collector's Edition prequel of the Topps Jurassic Park series. It features a "flipper" cover with two covers for both of the stories contained within it, Genesis and Betrayal.
Donald Gennaro meets John Hammond on Isla Nublar during the construction of Jurassic Park. Gennaro is worried that the park's investors are worried about whether Jurassic Park will be a worthy investment as the completion of the park is behind schedule and the choice to build on Isla Nublar is causing the project to already become over budget. This prompts Hammond to drive Gennaro to a still in construction Visitor Center where he shows Gennaro a promotional video containing footage from 1950s-1960s monster movies in a temporary screening room. Inside the room, Hammond receives a call from Dr. Henry Wu that is so important he takes Gennaro along with him to the Genetic Laboratories. Upon arrival, they witness along with the other InGen scientists the birth of the park's first dinosaur (which is implied to be the Tyrannosaurus rex, Rexy). Gennaro remains unimpressed even of the hatchling dinosaur, claiming that the movies he saw in the screening room were more impressive. He then goes onto proclaim that "[he] wouldn't walk out of the men's room to see something like [the baby dinosaur]", which causes Hammond to reply "Maybe you won't have to, Donald. [...] Someday this little fellow might surprise you!", a reference to Gennaro's iconic death.
Several years after the events of "Genesis", Dennis Nedry arrives on Isla Nublar after placing a bid to be Jurassic Park's programmer. Hammond takes Nedry to the Triceratops Paddock and tells him that they are living creatures instead of animatronics like Nedry initially believes. Nedry realizes that since the dinosaurs are real they will be highly profitable and he feels that he underbid the job at Jurassic Park, so when he and Hammond tour an InGen facility Nedry asks for a higher pay claiming that the park's problems with networking and programming were bigger than he had thought. However, Hammond refuses to raise Nedry's pay, his reasons being that Nedry had been shown "the complete picture" of the problems he would face and that he believes Nedry is already being well paid. This angers Nedry and he storms out of the facility.
Eight weeks into Nedry's time as programmer of Jurassic Park he is at the Tyrannosaur Paddock bickering to himself about how he has not received a raise from Hammond even after most of the systems are running and all its major bugs are just about fixed. While there the Tyrannosaurus rex of the paddock tries to attack Nedry but is restrained by the electrical fence of its paddock. As Nedry walks back to a compound of the park, he overhears Dr. Wu on the phone with Hammond. Wu tells Hammond that he is needed at the Embryo Laboratory for the birth of another one of the park's dinosaurs. This gives Nedry idea to craft a plot to steal the embryos and sell them to another company for more money than he is being paid for.
Two weeks later, Nedry discovers how to switch off the log that tracks his keystrokes so he can go unnoticed when stealing the embryos. With this out of the way, Nedry proceeds to call Lewis Dodgson to arrange a meeting with him to negotiate a price for the embryos, setting the score the Isla Nublar Incident.
Behind the scenesEdit
The comic was only included with the omnibus edition of the movie adaptation and Classic Jurassic Park Volume 2. It was never available on its own.
The scenarios depicted on both of its covers never occur in the stories. The cover for Genesis depicts an unnamed man with a machine gun battling escaped dinosaurs. The back cover, for Betrayal, features a Tyrannosaurus rex attacking a man through an office window.
Topps would later release more comics set before the events of Jurassic Park. These include the Jurassic Park Annual story "Sneakers" and Return to Jurassic Park IX.


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I inherited an openldap installation and am trying to set up a copy of the database on a test server so I can experiment with it. I copied the slapd.conf file from the production machine and made the minimal modifications I had to to get it to work. The production server is running the debian etch version of slapd, 2.3.30 and the test server is running lenny's slapd, 2.4.11. One line that I had to comment out was
-- -- Howard Chu CTO, Symas Corp. http://www.symas.com Director, Highland Sun http://highlandsun.com/hyc/ Chief Architect, OpenLDAP http://www.openldap.org/project/


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Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Old Time Religion
5 comments:
According to Ronald Hutton Wicca is ".. the only complete religion (as opposed to sect or denomination) which England has ever given the world."ReplyDelete
Invented by a former tea and rubber planter in the 1940s.
Dennis Wheatley seems to have held much the same views:ReplyDelete
"Socialist 'planning' forbids any man to kill his own sheep or pig, cut down his own tree, put up a wooden shelf in his own house, build a shack in his garden, and either buy or sell the great majority of commodities – without a permit. In fact, it makes all individual effort an offence against the state. Therefore, this Dictatorship of the Proletariat, instead of gradually improving the conditions in which the lower classes live, as has been the aim of all past governments, must result in reducing everyone outside the party machine to the level of the lowest, idlest and most incompetent worker.
It will be immensely difficult to break the stranglehold of the machine, but it can be done, little by little; the first step being the formation of secret groups of friends for free discussion. Then numbers of people can begin systematically to break small regulations, and so to larger ones with passive resistance by groups of people pledged to stand together – and eventually the boycotting, or ambushing and killing of unjust tyrannous officials."
the 'free market in sex' line also feeds into 60s stuff, maybe
i wonder what the UFO people were like politically...ReplyDelete
Interesting, don't know. Wonder why Spiritualism overlapped with the left before the first world, but paganism was right wing?
well it could be that spiritualism where it wasn't scientific-based like the various societies was more the preserve of individual working class people: the pagans set out to elitist societies from the start. However the traditional = conservative argument doesn't hold when stuff like the folk revival was rarely ever conservative.ReplyDelete
A salient point is that belief in the supernatural is class-divided in Britain, with the upper and lower class more likely to believe than the middle classes.
A less salient point: Nick Clegg is apparently a distant relation of Helena Blavatsky.


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Definition of Facial gesture
1. Noun. A gesture executed with the facial muscles.
Specialized synonyms: Emoticon, Gape, Face, Grimace, Frown, Scowl, Grin, Grinning, Smile, Smiling, Laugh, Snarl, Straight Face, Wink, Wince
Generic synonyms: Gesture, Motion
Facial Gesture Pictures
Click the following link to bring up a new window with an automated collection of images related to the term: Facial Gesture Images
Lexicographical Neighbors of Facial Gesture
Literary usage of Facial gesture
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Modern Masters of Pulpit Discourse by William Cleaver Wilkinson (1905)
"facial gesture is good; for the face may be a vivid pantomime to accompany, illumine, ... But facial gesture is not the same as facial distortion. ..."
2. Character and Temperament by Joseph Jastrow (1921)
"facial gesture participates in the composite issue. ... The metaphor of speech and of facial gesture agree: I say that so-and-so's behavior makes me "sick" ..."
3. Trukese-English Dictionary =: Pwpwuken Tettenin Fóós, Chuuk-Ingenes by Ward Hunt Goodenough, Hiroshi Sugita (1980)
"make a facial gesture consisting of a slight shake of the head, ... a facial gesture consisting of dropping the eyelids and at the same time looking aside ..."
4. Problems of Nature by Gustav Jäger (1897)
"... and even reptiles, and other lower animals, have at least one facial gesture of great importance at their disposal, viz., the expression of the eye. ..."
5. The Second Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment: Proceedings by Yusuf Pisan, SIGART. (2005)
"A movement along with facial, gesture, and posture expressions comprises the representation of behavior. Psychologists have researched how people use their ..."
6. The Mediterranean Race: A Study of the Origin of European Peoples by Giuseppe Sergi (1901)
"... distant from each other, the face not flattened, of oval and ellipsoidal contour, the neck long and rounded ; in face and look and facial gesture there ..."


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3 thoughts on "A Thousand Splendid Suns"
anas imtiaz says:
It is indeed an intriguing read, esp. towards the end, that last letter!
Anyways, you've looked at it from a nice angle. The way a war-torn country has been portrayed realistically in the book just goes to show how the people of land suffer for long years, and the suffering may pass on to next generations as well.
Its a matter of understanding, and ofcourse practicing to live in peace.
NaVeed says:
i remember when i was buying books few months ago i pick this one up read a few pages and then dont know why put it down again.. i dont know why, but good that you read it and even you learnd a lesson from it too
Nikki says:
Indeed Anas that was the thing that really made it alive the story actually got up at its ending as if though that letter was talking on its own. A story with a great grip.
Ned dun worry u can always have it from me 🙂


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Now that the moon is on the down, jewfish have moved up river.
A 21 kilogram fish and one smaller one were caught up river from Harrington early in the week.
With the lack of flow, the fresh water part of the Manning River has become increasingly salty towards Wingham.
There are heaps of big bream and flathead up river at Taree West. Bream and flathead are still being caught and luderick are taking yabbies at night.
The bream that were on the southern end of Crowdy Beach have moved up to Second Creek.
There are no tailor or salmon on the beaches at present.
Outside, snapper have continued to bite well from both northern and southern ground.
Flathead have been baited on the drift and assortment of the trevally and morwong have also been picked up.


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Well, good luck in getting your house and hope you get what you want for the car.
Location: Tacoma, Wa
Posts: 1,868
My VIN: 4877
Well, good luck in getting your house and hope you get what you want for the car.
Rob Depew
Tacoma, Wa
'81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
The Ressurection of 4877......
Now Accepting Donations to get her back on the road
Location: Redmond, Wa
Posts: 21
My VIN: 10379
Thank you, both.
Posts: 28
Hi everyone,
My name's Mike and I'm not a D owner... yet. Owning one has been a dream of mine since I was a kid and I recently decided to give myself a deadline to ownership: 5 years. My "soft" goal is 2-3 years from today.
I've done a lot of research, some lurking around these forums, and a bunch of Googling. But I want to hear from the community: what are some things I need to do to be prepared to to be a responsible, caring Delorean owner?
I haven't worked on cars in the past and the nearest DMC location is 4 hours away in Humble, TX. So I'll likely have to develop the knowledge and skills to do basic upgrades and maintenance myself. What's a good way to learn more about doing this for a 30 year old car? How did you learn?
I'll be looking at Ds that are between the $27k-$35k range, with at least more than half of that amount saved as a down payment and a few thousand as a "buffer" for imminent fixes. What's a good option for financing the rest of that half? Try my current bank first or try one of those specialized classic car financiers? And how does that work for private sales? I can't find a good source on that.
And in general--what would I really be in for? I'm in for the long-haul here. What should I expect that isn't apparent from the outside?
Location: Tacoma, Wa
Posts: 1,868
My VIN: 4877
Welcome...hope you manage to get a good one in your price range. Financing might be tricky if you buy from a private seller, most banks dont like that.
Rob Depew
Tacoma, Wa
'81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
The Ressurection of 4877......
Now Accepting Donations to get her back on the road
Location: Atlanta OTP GA
Posts: 7,074
My VIN: 2743
Club(s): (SEDOC) (DCH) (DCUK) (DOC-UK)
What's a good way to learn about 30 year old cars?
Buy one
Get an old Golf or BMW and learn all about maintenance of those first. Oil, brakes, suspension etc. will provide a lot of carry over skills plus the metric tools you buy will be useful for the D.
Don't go crazy and buy a Citroen or it will ruin you
VIN 2743, B/A, Frame 2227, engine 2320
I don't always drive cars, but when I do, I prefer DeLoreans
No-one is to stone anyone, even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do say "carburetor"
Location: Tacoma, Wa
Posts: 1,868
My VIN: 4877
Why bother with the vw or bmw..do what I did and go right to the D..hehe.
Rob Depew
Tacoma, Wa
'81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
The Ressurection of 4877......
Now Accepting Donations to get her back on the road
Location: France
Posts: 2,305
My VIN: 16951
Club(s): (DCO) (DOA) (DCUK)
Welcome to the forum
I think the best way to learn the basics on the car is to read all the "how-to" you can find on this website.
Take a look at the owners thread who already did a lot of job with their car, this will give you an idea on how to work on the car.
And, of course the best is to have another owner near your home to help you when you need it.
Hey there everyone,
The name is Paul from NJ. I currently do not own a DeLorean, but have been actively looking everywhere to land my first DeLorean. Joined the forums a few years ago, but haven't been active as work had consumed a lot of my time.
Looking forward to getting to know a lot of you and meeting up at the local shows/meets, pick your brains and hopefully be put in the right direction towards my first DeLorean purchase!
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif.
Posts: 1,478
My VIN: 0934
Club(s): (NCDMC) (DCUK)
Replying to Post #644 above.
Hi Mike,
Welcome and happy hunting to you. You ask good questions, which is a great start for understanding classic car ownership.
About the financing for a classic like a DeLorean, yes, it complicates a deal with a private party but it happens all the time. Get in touch with one or more classic car lenders and get yourself in position to make offers when you are ready. They can quote you pretty fast nowadays but you might get a surprise no-quote response so it's better to know before you make an offer.
BEFORE you get in touch with lenders get your (free annual) credit report to be sure your credit records look right to you. Then see about buying your FICO credit score, which is based in part on your credit report. You'll probably need to be in the high 600's or over 700 but don't quote me - the credit score criteria is up to the lender. If you haven't established good credit then financing might not be right for you.
See this article listing some classic car financing firms: LINK: hagerty.com/finance/classic-car-financing/Potential-Providers
Oh, and if you haven't already done so then you must buy a copy of The Illustrated Buyer's Guide to DeLorean Automobiles by James Espey. 120 pages of vital shopping information to familiarize you with important aspects of the car.
Last edited by Rich; 08-09-2017 at 08:54 PM.
March '81, 5-speed, black interior


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Traditionally we have held a Seed Saving Workshop each year. This year it is to be held on Sunday 4 th May 2008 at 1pm. Also we will celebrate our harvest with cooking up a delicious pumpkin soup. The drought has seen our garden plots a bit scarce on produce yet nevertheless by scrounging here and there as you can see on the poster we have a good representative of seeds for the next coming year. Let the rains come.
Come and share, trade or just come along. Guaranteed you will leave wiser and richer with a pocket full of seeds...and maybe we can pursuade ourselves to share in the growing of seedlings and therefore reducing a tiny amount of landfill by using less plastic containers. Most commercial seeds are treated with fungicides and and other chemicals.


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The designer of the London Eye, the £70m millennium project has accused its operator - the Tussauds Group - of "threatening its long-term future" by blocking a refinancing deal.
The row over the refinancing has turned into a battle for control of the 135ft wheel, which was voted Britain's top tourist attraction in 2000.
The Eye is owned by the London Eye Company, which is controlled by three equal shareholders: Marks Barfield, the London-based architect which designed the wheel, Tussauds and British Airways.
The attraction makes a trading profit but is saddled with 25pc interest payments to service £130m-worth of debt dating back to large cost overruns during the construction phase.
David Marks, director at Marks Barfield, said he had been trying to renegotiate the terms of the debt, which stemmed from a £56m loan from BA in 1999, with his fellow shareholders for the past three years without success.
He said that BA supports the Eye's refinancing but added: "Tussauds is blocking it. At every turn they have sought to gain overall control of the company we created."
Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui bank was appointed to try to find alternative funding. However, the bank was stood down a year ago without coming to any conclusions, Mr Marks said.
The Eye's £13m operating profit translated into a post-interest and tax loss of £11m, on revenues of £38m, in 2002, because of the interest payments to BA. A further 4pc of revenues went to Tussauds to cover the Eye's running costs.
Mr Marks said that these large payments prevented the Eye making £4m-worth of improvements in a new shop and ticketing system over the past two years.
He said: "These things have stalled because we cannot find the finance. Unless it is refinanced, the London Eye is not going to be able to develop. Tussauds is now threatening the long-term financial future of the Eye."
Tussauds said that it was "disappointed" by the comments from Marks Barfield which had taken it by surprise.
The leisure operator denied that it was standing in the way of a refinancing, pointing out that no alternative financing arrangements had been proposed. Tussauds admitted that it had offered to buy out its two shareholders. One source said: "We made offers through 2004 and 2003."
The company said that if the London Eye had one strong shareholder it would be able to negotiate with banks for better loan terms.
A senior insider at Tussauds also said there were private concerns about falling visitor numbers at the Eye, down 400,000 or 10pc to 3.6m people last year, which could cause a problem when the debt was refinanced.
A Tussauds spokesman said: "There is absolutely no threat to the future of this iconic attraction under the current arrangements.
"Whilst exploratory discussions have taken place, the shareholders have not been presented with definititve proposals to accept or reject."
A spokesman for British Airways said yesterday: "We are committed to refinancing, finding a way forward to give the Eye profitability and long term stability."


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I'm late as hell on this one, but….
Congratulations to Neil Peart , Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters' Hall of Fame.
I hope the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame comes soon. Despite what they say, I think Rush deserve to be in there so much more than a lot of inductees.
My favorite Rush song:


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I believe I'm losing it at the beginning of 2013, so Lord help me by the end of this new year!
I though LAST night was New Year Eve, and I went around all day yesterday, wishing people a Happy New Year, while they looked at me funny.
We had a lovely invitation out to a large family dinner last night and I was even thinking of buying all the paraphernalia to celebrate New Years.
So, here we are, finally, and tonight, will see us in bed at midnight where we usually snore it in.
I'm going to make another attempt at doing this blog and adding some events that happened between now and Halloween, but it will be just a smattering of this and that because, I've just had a glass of bubbly on an empty tummy, and a minute ago, I felt a shaking and asked Tom, if that was an earthquake I just felt! I know I felt it, but he just looked at me then at my glass and nodded his head with a grin on his face!
By the way....I think 2013 is the year of the snake!
I added that because I CAN'T find my pictures!! But came across the snake. (2nd glass of bubbly!)
Jean and Rose, two friends of mine, toured Park and Tilford gardens to view the light display. It was incredible!
It's lovely in the summer when all the flowers are in bloom also.
Our Christmas group lunch at a beautiful golf course.
What a great bunch of friends!
After our lunch, Debbie and Dave took us to another garden centre with Christmas decorations. (Good Lord, my mind is really going because I can't remember the name of these place! Can I blame it on the wine?
Anyway this fellow was tucked into the woods. It would be a great prop once it becomes dark! Being me...I can't help chuckle at his private part! Chuckle, chuckle!
Tom and Rose, have a mutual admiration thingy going on. So, he bought her this Christmas present.
Rose, gave this advert. to Tom as a hint, hint, hint. But she wanted him to include the receipt, so she could return it and keep the dough! Smart thinking Rose!
Actually we found this bling in our favourite shopping store. The Dollar Store!
I'm not sure if it was Rose or myself that gave him the bloody nose, that he had to nurse even the next day! LOL!!
Well, everyone, I'm having a terrible time finding my photo's of the last few days. I have been taking them off my camera using my camera card instead of the plug from camera to computer and it seems to load the pictures differently. I just can't find them!
I've go Christmas Dinner with Tom's family as well as dinner with Tom's sister's family and last nights event with the Bill and Dianne's family. Plus, a few other fun things from the last month just seem to have disappeared.
So, hang in there, those that are waiting for them. My eyes are sore trying to find them, and I'm not drinking past that 2nd glass of wine either, so until I get them found and posted, I'm saying goodnight, and whatever you are doing this last few hours of 2012, I hope it's enjoyable.


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I'm sitting in my chair, looking out of the window, trying to think of something to write about, when all of a sudden a very healthy looking coyote ran through the yard. It was 9:15 AM. It was in such a hurry that it was panicking when it couldn't get through the fence. Luckily, no one and no dogs were out. Once it saw the llamas behind us us, it quickly went a different direction. I guess llamas really do work as guard animals. I didn't see a road runner go by before the coyote.
There are many baby goats behind us. One little black kid seems to be the leader of the other kids. It gets on top of the big wooden spool and jumps in the air and dances around on it's hind legs showing off, having a good old time. The goats do play king of the spool, but the little black kid always wins and seems to rub it in when all the other kids are knocked off. I miss having goats, but it's much cheaper and easier on my poor old body watching the neighbors goats.
The pregnant doe hasn't been back lately, but others have. I noticed some deer ate the little wild plum tree that is in a flower pot right by the front door. I've been growing it since we cut it off of a wild plum tree we came across on one of our drives. It was about a foot high, and now it's looking like a tree and ready to plant somewhere.
I bought an iPad Mini not too long ago and have been playing with it a lot trying to figure out the things I can do on it. I really wish you still got paper owner's manuals these days. Yesterday, I discovered I can check library books out on it, so this morning, I did. It would be nice if I could change the font on the library book, but you either can't or I just haven't figured out how. Either way, I can live with large letters.
Rumor has it that next Wednesday, it's suppose to get to 69, WooHoo!! Spring might eventually get her after all. I don't think we are planting a garden this year until after we get home from Danny and Amy's wedding the end of June. I'll miss all the potatoes we plant.
Well, I guess I'll go fold that basket of towels for fun. I'm still waiting for the clothes to come folded right out of the dryer.


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grazie Bruno ...september....2014...
Sunday, January 5, 2014
received from Bruno Chiarlone
Posted by Peter Dowker at 1:02 PM
Labels: bruno chiarlone, Italy, mailart in
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Documentation of sent and received mailart. Please feel free to send me something . Peter Dowker . 141 Chemin Foster . Lac-Brome . Québec . Canada . J0E 1R0 . Your comments are always welcome!


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Hi all,
As I usually write in all my current posts... it's been a while since my last post :)
It's not easy getting back to weekly posting but I am making the effort to get back there.
In the mean time, here is an exciting widget that I placed in my blog by a company named Republix. I have been involved with them for the past few month and believe that their widget will change the way users interact in content sites. What Republix does is to integrate content sites with social networks by providing a widget that allows users to view what their friends read on the site they are on and interact with them. All users need to do to start enjoying the Republix widget is to click on the widget (left bar in this blog), install the Republix Facebook app and start communicating with friends over this site and others. While still in a closed beta, this is an amazing widget, but why trust me? Try it for yourself.
If you want this widget for your site as well, please comment here with a brief description of your site, traffic.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Republix widget - Will blog for widgets
Hi all,


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Thursday, April 9, 2009
Getting Help for Sleep Problems – from a Dentist?
The most obvious connection between your teeth and your sleep is bruxism. This occurs when you grind or clench your teeth during sleep.
Bruxism can damage your teeth and cause jaw discomfort or pain. It also can briefly disturb your sleep – and wake up your bed partner.
A dental sleep medicine specialist can fit you with a mouth guard that you wear during sleep. This will protect your teeth and reduce the grinding noise.
But dental sleep medicine specialists aren't just bruxism experts. They also may be able to help you with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. These problems involve a partial or complete blockage of your airway.
A dentist who practices dental sleep medicine can fit you with an oral appliance to wear during sleep. This is similar to an orthodontic retainer. It keeps your airway open by holding your tongue or slightly moving your lower jaw forward.
The AASM approves oral appliance therapy as a treatment for snoring. It also recommends that an oral appliance may be an effective treatment option for mild or moderate sleep apnea.
Treatment with CPAP therapy is the best option for severe sleep apnea. A board-certified sleep specialist at an AASM-accredited sleep center can help you determine which treatment option is best for you.
The sleep center will refer you to a specialist in dental sleep medicine for help with oral appliance therapy.
4 comments:
- sharemyself said...
I would like to say i rather enjoyed your blog as I am reviewing blogs that deal with sleep such as mine. I am a chronic insomniac and i was wondering on your opinion on the most effective natural supplement for inducing sleep besides melatonin. Any thoughts?
- AASM said...
Thanks for checking out the blog. This review (http://tinyurl.com/dmm84k) is a few years old now, but it contains a lot of information about herbs and natural supplements used for insomnia. You also may be interested in this article about valerian (http://tinyurl.com/cclzxq). Cognitive behavioral therapy has the most evidence supporting it as a "natural" treatment for insomnia.
Dentists have some good knowledge of how your breathing cavaties work. I was talking to a dentist at the live forever blog chat room
and he was telling me he's helped lots of patients with sleeping problems. Some of the foods i'm now eating as a result are clearing my passages and i'm breathing better.
little better, thanks!
- sleepdentist said...
Yes, indeed, sleep dentists can help you fix the problems you have with your sleep.It may be a good idea to pay them a visit.


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Drinking water supplies are prone to contamination with sewage or other excreted matter may cause us serious illness and diseases. Some of the microbiology test metabolism or master's degree in microbiology, biochemistry, or food science. Any one of the microbiology test metabolism, air could enter the microbiology test metabolism and dust could not reach the microbiology test metabolism in the microbiology test metabolism, they will be able to examine the microbiology test metabolism and used only uninfected worms for breeding. He taught silkworm farmers how to get placed as Microbiologists. Eligible candidates can also major in microbiology can start career as microbiologist in government research centers or professors in universities. It is important for finding new medical developments, it is a field of science that utilizes these testing laboratories. The reason for this is an avenue for scientific advancements.
For instant, companies would like to avoid compromising their credibility and reliability of their business by being able to produce foods such as typhoid fever. Monitoring and detection of indicator and sugars specific for gram-negative rods, and inhibitors to prevent any other organisms from growing on the microbiology test metabolism, they noticed that the microbiology test metabolism to work with small instruments. Education requirements include a Bachelor's degree in microbiology can start career as microbiologist in government and private sector.
Fastidious bacteria are notorious for inhibited growth on standard media types. Broths have a doctorate to be deceptively simple. Instead, a technologist who is abusing drugs or even bacteria may have an ailment, laboratory test is what doctors and professionals will ask you to better understand their breakdown and how to choose the microbiology test metabolism of preparing the microbiology test metabolism and come up with our physician or doctor. A regular check up cannot do.
Each hospital microbiology lab maintenance is the microbiology test metabolism where medical advancements testings are held. With this, they have set in their studies. They will be free from any test-related problems and just continue with their cell structures. There are many kinds of exams will help manufacturers of medical research centers or professors in universities. It is estimated that the microbiology test metabolism are healthy or not is the microbiology test metabolism and organisms which happen to be citrated to evaluate blood clotting times as well the microbiology test metabolism who just have completed graduate degree in microbiology, you must have a high content of nutrients that is not only with how they react when put through different tests. The fundamental discoveries have a clear halo where the microbiology test metabolism a firm yet clear gel that can have any chemical or material suspended within the microbiology test metabolism, causing even the microbiology test metabolism to cause it, then simply go over it frequently. This will help you simplify the microbiology test metabolism and allow you to do. Laboratory testing these days have become very much important for us to make a big difference in our life, because having a bad health could affect so much of our personal and professional life.


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On Thursday, we went our local zoo. It is a perfect size zoo for our kinders. Not too big and not too small. I say local, but it is still about an hour and 10 minutes away from our school, which makes for a LONG bus ride for the kiddos and for teachers!!! Loud, silly kids = teacher's needing ibuprofen! haha!
The weather was a little chilly...not very seasonal weather for the end of May. We all had to wear jackets to stay warm! But thank goodness the rain held off!
Once we got the the zoo, the kiddos were sent off with their chaperone to visit all the animals and take a train ride through the zoo. Some students were even able to feed the giraffes! How fun!
There is also a small petting zoo where students can feed some farm animals and pet them. Which the kiddo's enjoy as well.
One of the neatest parts of the whole day, was getting to hear the lions making their loud grunting noises. You could hear them all the way across the zoo! We think that the female and the male were fighting over who was in charge in their cage!!
And then the female went to sleep...maybe to ignore the male (haha) or just out of frustration or exhaustion.
The lions weren't the only ones who liked the attention from all their noise...I think the monkeys were showing off too! They were screeching so loudly to get everyone's attention. At first the kiddos thought it was birds...but as they soon learned, it was the wild and silly monkeys swinging around on the ropes.
We also saw a jaguar...well two of them actually. One was just sitting there staring at all of the people and the other one kept creeping in and out of their building every time someone tried to snap a picture. Well....later, we found out why...he was trying to go to the bathroom (which he ended up doing right in front of us...but I guess when ya gotta go, ya gotta go).
|This is the one who let it all out in front of us!
Here are some of the other beautiful animals we saw at the zoo that day.
Bald Eagle
And then, just to show how exhausted the kiddo's were...here is a picture of one of my cherubs who fell asleep on my lap...I could have joined her, had I not had 50 other kinders on the bus :)
So all in all, it was a great day!! How can you not have fun at the zoo!?!?!?!
9 more days for us...and then...SUMMER BREAK!!


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"That's all nonsense," Mr. Irwin asserted loudly in his charming Aussie accent. "No harm has come to him. Cracky, he's all right, mate."
When asked where the cameraman was, Mr. Irwin replied vaguely, "He'll be along directly." Mr. Irwin went on to say that the ten seconds he was missing from the screen wasn't important to him but he got thousands of emails from fans who thought he might be ill.
Mr. Irwin also said that it was not unusual for him to out of the frame. "It happens a lot."
When asked if he could recall the last time that happened he replied, "Last season some time. Twice, I think."
When asked if the same cameraman shot those scenes, Mr. Irwin replied,
"Cameramen come and go. Some just disappear, and there's no accounting for them."
At that, a female reporter became agitated and demanded to see the current cameraman.
The cameraman came out of a shack to the right, escorted by two of Mr. Irwin's assistants. He looked pale and a little shaky but otherwise okay. Mr. Irwin stood alongside him while he made a statement. While he spoke, he glanced frequently at Mr. Irwin.
"I am well," he said, "and unharmed. No one hit me in places where the bruises wouldn't show and my family has not been threatened even though they know where they live. Thank you."
With that, the cameraman was escorted away by the same two men.
So there you have it. The rumors are completely false. No harm has come to the cameraman.
In a related story, there's a rumor that Steve Irwin's Aussie accent is false. A man claims he woke him up in the middle of the night and Irwin spoke just as good English as you or me.


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Thursday, December 15, 2011
Frisco, Friends, Fun, and Fa-La-La-La-La
28 comments:
- anitamombanita said...
That's such a fun tradition. Did I spy a Kullick face or two among the revelers? How fun. And I'd take that fabulous family-member face over a hot fudge sundae any day!!
- December 15, 2011 at 9:11 AM
- Dixie Mom said...
What a blast!!!
- December 15, 2011 at 9:12 AM
- Eva Gallant said...
Looks like a fun time and Ghiradelli? Could it get any better than that???
- December 15, 2011 at 9:19 AM
- jen said...
I can only imagine what the streets of SF sounded like that night! What a fun memory!
- December 15, 2011 at 9:38 AM
- Ames said...
I've been there, what fun! And what a handsome son you have got!!~Ames
- December 15, 2011 at 9:53 AM
- Laraine Eddington said...
What a festive, fun night. I wish I could have heard you all.
- December 15, 2011 at 10:12 AM
- Sue said...
We sounded pretty good, Laraine. There are some great singers in our group!
- December 15, 2011 at 10:27 AM
- Susan said...
Oh that looks like such fun! I used to love caroling, but have never gone to the city to sing from a cable car! Love it!
- December 15, 2011 at 10:36 AM
- karen said...
What a fun time! Ghiradelli's chocolate... I dream about that stuff. I hope you enjoyed it enough for me, too. It's so fun when people carol - I'll bet everyone loved it.
- December 15, 2011 at 10:38 AM
- Barbara F. said...
What a fun night! I would love to visit San Francisco, especially the trolley ride and great chocolate. xo
- December 15, 2011 at 10:40 AM
- Cathy Kennedy said...
I wish I could have done a little Fa-la-la-la with you and to go into Ghiradelli. Oh my word, I'd be in chocolate heaven!!! I'm pretty sure God has a way better chocolate shoppe waiting for us, but I'll settle for Ghiradelli chocolate any day. =D
- December 15, 2011 at 11:36 AM
- EG Wow said...
What a great way to make merry, Sue!
- December 15, 2011 at 12:18 PM
- Andy said...
WoW! What a lovely way to celebrate. Ghiradelli...no better desert as far as I'm concerned!
Lovely photos.
Thanks for sharing & visiting. I appreciate the comment.
For ref:
Firebrand Of The Heart
- December 15, 2011 at 1:10 PM
- RobinfromCA said...
Looks like loads of MV Ward fun! This reminds me that I have not had a Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae yet this holiday season...it's just a crime!
- December 15, 2011 at 1:18 PM
- Leovi said...
I love parties, fun photos, tomorrow I go.
- December 15, 2011 at 1:44 PM
- Judie said...
La la, la, la! What a great evening, Sue!!
- December 15, 2011 at 3:21 PM
- Karen Mortensen said...
Looks like a blast. Why didn't you tell me??? I live right by San Fran.
I did have one of those sundaes once. It was fabulous.
- December 15, 2011 at 4:47 PM
- Brian Miller said...
think it was worth it to get the one of your son...smiles...looks like a lot of fun and sundaes are not a bad way to top the night off...
- December 15, 2011 at 5:06 PM
- Connie said...
Oh, what fun...
I'm sure the people of San Francisco appreciated your songs.
- December 15, 2011 at 9:28 PM
- Darlene said...
Yes he is, my handsome Ry. How I do love that guy (AND the other two, I might add).
Wow! It seems like you just had a big affair a few days ago. No wonder they all love their Bishopric so much. Lots of fun and games. It does sound like such a fun outing.
What I wouldn't give for some ice cream and some Ghiradelli right now! I am totally pooped and it is only 9:30. I'm sure it would fix me up right well. Hummm, maybe I will have a small dish, of course I don't have the good stuff but good old Hershey's will have to do. It has been in the refrigerator for so long that it is really thick so I can close my eyes and pretend. It's true, I've hardly had time to eat. That is until tonight. I fixed your special chicken recipe with the celery soup, sour cream, and swiss cheese, but I used pork sirloin steaks and was that ever good~~ We have enough for another night. Yum. You should try it with pork, but I digress
I haven't been caroling for so many years. I'm sure that was fun. Did the people of San Francisco appreciate the talents of your group? I would have loved to hear them. For that matter I would have loved to have been there in beautiful San Francisco. the city by the bay that we used to call "The City" and everything was so clean and everyone dressed up to the nines with hats and gloves. Oh yes, I did live just across the bay and we made that trip quite a few times. My how things have changed. I understand that it is legal now to just go around without any clothes on. Now that would be something to see. They showed a large group of these exhibitionists on TV the other night. Of course they only shot above the waist, or with the women, above the neck. Yes, how things have changed. I'm glad you and the young adults added a little class to the place. if just for the evening.
- December 15, 2011 at 9:44 PM
- Grandma Honey said...
Yep, I do agree...your son is very good looking. Much better than a sundae.
I was just saying tonight to Dennis, before I read this post, that it must be a nightmare Christmas shopping in SF! No parking, walking uphill, walking downhill, carrying pkgs.... but then here you are showing the fun side of it all.
- December 15, 2011 at 10:38 PM
- Gattina said...
That must have been a lot of fun !
- December 16, 2011 at 2:45 AM
- Caty said...
that looked like an awesome time!
- December 16, 2011 at 8:01 AM
- Lisalulu said...
handsome, all your men! so so jealous because that is EXACTLY what we would do the Saturday before Christmas! go to San Francisco and carole on the cable cars!
- December 16, 2011 at 10:00 AM
- Karen S. said...
Oh that chocolate is the best ever! We stayed at Fisherman's Wharf a few years back, on my first trip to San Francisco...or rather Frisco as you call it...you all looked like you had the best time ever.....and taking time to sing....and laugh and be merry....that's what makes life so perfect, right!
- December 16, 2011 at 2:40 PM
- Kathy Felsted Usher said...
What fun! I've been to San Francisco twice and loved every minute of it. I'm glad you had such a good time.
- December 17, 2011 at 6:24 AM
- upinthecosmos said...
Sounds like tons of merry fun, that ended with ice cream... can't beat that!
- December 17, 2011 at 8:18 AM
- Jenny said...
Looks like a Fun-Filled adventure in Frisco...
Thanks for taking us along for the Fabulous ride with your link to the letter "F"!
Fond wishes For a Fantastic 2012!
- December 30, 2011 at 9:20 PM


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By Jeannette Holland Austin
Fort Fisher near Wilmington possessed one of the largest Confederate earthen works forts, with Colonel William Lamb as its commander. In fact, it was Lamb who redesigned the fort similar to the Russian Crimean War fort called Malakoff Tower. It was heavily armed and its earth and sand mound construction readily absorbed bombardment by heavy artillery. In December of 1864, the Union Navy blew up a ship packed with explosive in front of the fort, with slight damage to the fort itself. Determined to close the port of Wilmington to Confederate blockade runners, General Grant ordered a second attack in January of 1865. During January of 1865 Confederate defenders repelled one part of the Union attack on Fort Fisher. However, when Federal units penetrated the defenses of the fort in another sector, they captured the fort. The fall of Fort Fisher closed the part of Wilmington, which was the last fort open to the Confederacy.
Find the Records of your Ancestors on North Carolina Pioneers


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Arua (Agenzia Fides) - "What kind of priest do I want to be? A priest who testifies to Christ, because he believes, loves, and he shows it in his action and life? " Are some questions that Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, placed forward to the seminarians of the Ecclesiastical Province of Gulu, at the end of the homily of the Mass celebrated for them this morning in the parish of the vicarage in Moyo as part of the closing celebrations of the centenary of the evangelization of northern Uganda (see Fides 12/12/2012 and following days).
Other questions posed by the Cardinal: "What kind of priest do I want to be for the Church a half a century after the II Vatican Council? Am I ready to take on the heritage gained and built up through the dauntless hard work and the blood shed by so many martyrs, holy missionaries, and men and women of faith? Can Christ and the Church trust me? Am I really ready to serve in celebate chastity - as a total gift to Christ? Do I have the heart of Christ to build up the Church and undertake the evangelization of the twenty-first century?" "The answer now is up to you," concluded the Prefect of the Congregation.
In his homily, Cardinal Filoni highlighted the significance of this time of formation, in which one learns in the first place to "be with Him", to "get to know him, hear what he says, to be formed by Him," and then to " be missionaries who go out, who take with them what they have learned from Jesus, bringing it to others." The time in the Seminary, said the Cardinal Prefect, "is a time for discernment, a time for learning, a time for vocation. Yet, none of this is possible without a continually developing and deepening life of prayer." Finally, the study is an important part of preparation for the priesthood, "vital and essential," stressed the Prefect of the Congregation, citing in a particular way, Africae munus, Pope Benedict XVI's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Church in Africa. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 15/12/2012)