text:
I think that I have settled on an approach to the menu system in the Dart version of the ICE Code Editor. I need to convert the rest of the dialogs in the
dialog-classes branch over to the strategy pattern before I am ready to merge the changes back into master, but first, I have a good problem to have™. Both the master branch and the dialog-classes branch have undergone significant work in the same area over the past few days.
The best way to fix this, I think is to git rebase the dialog-classes branch back onto master. Currently, they diverged back at commit
➜ ice-code-editor git:(dialog-classes) git lola * 2ca6894 (HEAD, origin/dialog-classes, dialog-classes) Move MenuItem class into its own file * c49f3d4 Try OpenDialog as a strategy * 5512abb Private methods to contruct menu objects * 0275d60 Rename the Projects menu as Open * b10ae98 Rename projects dialog as open dialog * 630b839 Extract sub-menus and dialogs out into classes * 1d91d06 Account for renamed in newly rebased code * bdf1554 Internal script to generate docs * 1f85bdc Extract ProjectsDialog into its own file * 0b8ecb2 Pull the project menu out into a class | * 38ab658 (origin/master, master) rename feature: the rename input filed has focus | * ba06eac get started on the rename feature | * 40ffbb9 Improve the make-a-copy naming |/ * b0ace77 Merge pull request #3 from gempesaw/makeACopy |\ | * d11c704 Add automatic focus and pre-populate makeCopy menu item | * fbf286d Fix focus for share menu item |/ * 3e4bdcc Markdown typo * da53f79 Implement the Make Copy feature ...(
git lola is an alias for
log --graph --decorate --pretty=oneline --abbrev-commit --all)
I need to take the
0b8ecb2 Pull the project menu out into a class commit and make it so that git thinks of it as having been made after
38ab658 (origin/master, master) rename feature: the rename input filed has focus, not the current
b0ace77 branch point. This is what
git rebase does.
I am going to get git conflict from this, but that will either happen now or when I merge the branch back into master. I'd rather get it out of the way now.
So, I start:
➜ ice-code-editor git:(dialog-classes) git rebase master First, rewinding head to replay your work on top of it... Applying: Pull the project menu out into a class Using index info to reconstruct a base tree... Falling back to patching base and 3-way merge... Auto-merging lib/full.dart CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in lib/full.dart Failed to merge in the changes. Patch failed at 0001 Pull the project menu out into a class When you have resolved this problem run "git rebase --continue". If you would prefer to skip this patch, instead run "git rebase --skip". To check out the original branch and stop rebasing run "git rebase --abort".Yup.
If I take a look at the conflicting
lib/full.dart, I find pretty much what I expected. The conflict is due to removing code in the branch from a section of
lib/full.dart that was under active development:
class Full { // lots of code that doesn't conflict... <<<<<<< HEAD Element get _projectsMenuItem { /* ... */ } _openProjectsMenu() { /* ... */ } _openProject(title) { /* ... */ } Element get _renameMenuItem { /* ... */ } _openRenameDialog(){ /* ... */ } _renameProjectAs(String projectName){ /* ... */ } String get _currentProjectName{ /* ... */ } ======= >>>>>>> Pull the project menu out into a class // even more code that doesn't conflict... }I don't think that I made any changes in master to the project menu code and I definitely removed it from the dialog class branch. I think the conflict probably arose because of the rename menu code, which definitely is new in master. So I remove the projects code and leave the rename code in place. I then resume normal rebase operations:
➜ ice-code-editor git:(38ab658) ✗ git add lib/full.dart ➜ ice-code-editor git:(38ab658) ✗ git rebase --continue Applying: Pull the project menu out into a class Applying: Extract ProjectsDialog into its own file Applying: Internal script to generate docs Applying: Account for renamed in newly rebased code ...Nothing is ever lost in git, so there is not much danger in removing that projects code. I also have an excellent test suite that has been driving all of my functionality so I feel even safer. In fact, I work through a few more simlilar conflicts, run my test suite and find:
Exception: Class 'Full' has no instance getter '_store@0x4729ef0'. NoSuchMethodError : method not found: '_store@0x4729ef0' Receiver: Instance of 'Full' Arguments: []I get a bunch of errors like that. Thankfully they are all fixed by converting the
store instance variable from private (indicated with a leading underscore) to a public instance variable in some of the code that came from master. With that, I have my entire test suite passing again:
All 52 tests passed. unittest-suite-successI spent the rest of the evening converting any straggler dialogs to the new class-based approach and even adding new ones. I will merge back into master tomorrow. I can sleep on it safe in the knowledge that, even if any fixes are added to master, my dialog-classes branch is close enough that a merge should be a quick affair.
Day #765


text:
Cristina Dominguez, Esq. | President
Director, Sai Ayurvedic College
A Florida native, whose parents are immigrants, Ms. Dominguez is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. An entrepreneur, she owns and operates Cristina Dominguez Homes. Previously, she had careers as an attorney and as the owner of a Marimekko store on Miami Beach. An ardent AI Justice supporter, Ms. Dominguez stepped down from the Board for a year and a half to work as an attorney with our Children's Program. She first joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2007.
I am honored to be on the Board of AI Justice. My work for a year and a half with the attorneys there and the vulnerable immigrant children they serve has deepened my commitment to AI Justice.
Sharon Kegerreis, Esq. | Vice President
Of Counsel, Berger Singerman
Sharon Kegerreis is a trial attorney with extensive experience in a wide variety of litigation matters, including white-collar criminal cases, intellectual property disputes and complex commercial matters. She has tried over 40 cases before juries and has briefed and argued numerous appeals in the federal and state appellate courts. Sharon represents individuals and corporations in federal grand jury investigations, SEC enforcement proceedings, and other regulatory matters. She has handled internal investigations involving all aspects of corporate misconduct including bank fraud, accounting fraud, mail and wire fraud, FCPA violations, tax violations and bribery. She has advised companies on the design of corporate compliance programs related to money laundering, Patriot Act issues and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
I am delighted to join the Board at AI Justice not just because of its longstanding advocacy for sensible immigration reform, but because this organization defends the people directly affected by our immigration laws and policies -- the undocumented children crossing the borders in record numbers, the victims of traffickers and the Dream Act children who lived most of their lives here and know no other country. I couldn't be prouder of the work that AI Justice does and am happy to do my part to support it.
Markenzy Lapointe, Esq. | Secretary
Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
A former Department of Justice prosecutor, Markenzy Lapointe has a varied practice that includes high-stakes commercial, products liability and professional malpractice disputes, as well as criminal investigations.
Mark has a wealth of trial, arbitration and mediation experience in state and federal courts, and works closely with clients to achieve the best and most cost-effective solution. He successfully defends corporations and individuals in commercial disputes, including class actions, business divorces, and high exposure products liability. He also defends professional malpractice actions. Because of his substantial jury trial experience, he is routinely asked to present and test case themes and strategies before mock juries to help assess viability at trial.
He has also defended corporations and individuals in criminal and quasi-criminal investigations. His investigatory experience includes leading a confidential internal factual investigation for a company.
Additionally, Mark's pro bono practice includes first-chairing one of the longest pro bono Federal Torts Claims Act trials in South Florida.
Johanna Rousseaux, Esq. | Treasurer
Of Counsel, Jones Day
Johanna Rousseaux's practice is focused on the resolution of complex disputes before U.S., foreign, and international tribunals. With over 20 years of experience working in Latin America and Europe, first in the business sector and then as a lawyer, Johanna understands the cultural contexts of disputes and brings a unique perspective on opportunities to resolve them. She works closely with clients, foreign counsel, witnesses, and experts to develop a cohesive strategy appropriate for the conflicting demands of widely different legal systems. Johanna has extensive experience with state, federal, and appellate litigation and cross-border discovery, trial before foreign tribunals, private and treaty-based arbitration, mediation, and consultation with government agencies. She represents one of the world's largest energy companies in an historic, multiforum case involving a foreign government, its state oil company, individual plaintiffs, and the international coalition of lawyers and activists who support them.
Johanna also leads a pro bono project within Jones Day's Rule of Law initiative that researches civil and human rights issues and prepares training materials for lawyers in Latin America. The partner entity, a prominent legal NGO, recognized Johanna's efforts as representative of the Firm's "singular and outstanding" commitment to pro bono work.
Before joining Jones Day, Johanna was a program officer at the Arias Foundation, founded by Nobel Peace laureate and president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias. While heading the foundation's conflict resolution and prevention program, she also worked closely with Dr. Arias on several of his personal initiatives, including a peace education program and a proposed code of conduct that recently culminated in the UN Arms Trade Treaty.
Carl E. Goldfarb, Esq. | At-Large
Partner, Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP
Carl Goldfarb's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, often involving antitrust, intellectual property, or unfair competition claims. He also specializes in class action litigation, regularly representing defendants and plaintiffs, in trial and appellate courts throughout the country.
Mr. Goldfarb is also co-lead counsel in the firm's pro bono representation of a certified class of 1.5 million children seeking to enforce federal Medicaid rights in federal court in Florida, for which the Florida Medical Association in October 2012 recognized him with its Distinguished Layman Award.
He is fluent in Spanish and has significant experience in litigation that has a nexus to Latin America. He holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Juris Doctor from Yale University. He joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2000.
I serve on the board of Americans for Immigrant Justice because I am the grandchild of immigrants and have been incredibly fortunate and blessed in my life, and find joy in lending a helping hand to others in need.
Khalid M. Mirza | At-Large
Khalid Mirza is a successful entrepreneur, and a compassionate champion of humanitarian and community causes. He is the founder and president of Palmetto Subacute Care Center, a Five-Star medical rehab care facility. He also presides over Mirza Group Inc., a Real Estate investment and management company. He holds a Masters' degree in Healthcare Administration from Long Island University, New York.
He is the President of UHI Community Care Clinic, a free preventive care facility in Miami Gardens for the uninsured and underinsured population. He is a founding member of COSMOS,(Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations),and Chairman of ICGM, (Islamic Center of Greater Miami). He is a member of Unity Production Foundation and is actively engaged in interfaith bridge-building and outreach. Additionally,he is a member of MIAMI DADE CORE-Communities Organized to response to emergencies;Service for Peace;and a former member-and later President of the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Miami.
I believe born or landed, there is an immigrant in every American; supporting AI Justice is a basic American value; we cannot ignore the plight of men, women and children in distress and uncertain future.
Paulina Holguin Askins
David Barbeito, CPA
Principal, De La Hoz, Perez, & Barbeito, PA
As the son of immigrants who were given an opportunity to create a family and raise their children in this country, I personally know the impact that organizations like AI Justice can have in people's lives.
Ana (Ani) Fernandez Buraglia
Executive Director, Fernandez Pave the Way Foundation
Tanya Dawkins
Director, Global-Local Links Project
Tanya Dawkins is the founder and executive director of the Global Local Links Project, an initiative working to put people and communities at the center of the global economy. Her work focuses on engaging the question of what it means to build citizen and community power in an age of intensifying globalization(s).
Ms. Dawkins is an independent analyst, social entrepreneur, writer and regular commentator on the interconnectedness of global and local issues including trade, globalization, foreign policy, migration, human rights, social justice, public policy, leadership and citizen action. She joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2001.
Kimberly Green, Ph.D.
President, Green Family Foundation
An accomplished philanthropist, writer and documentary-filmmaker, Kimberly Green has led the Green Family Foundation (GFF) since 1997. Under her leadership, GFF has spearheaded a variety of initiatives in Haiti and in her native Miami.
Ms. Green, who directed and produced the award-winning documentary "Once There Was a Country: Revisiting Haiti" (narrated by Dr. Maya Angelou and Guy Johnson), also oversees the Cultural Committee for the Clinton Global Initiative Haiti Action Network. She joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2005.
Connie Hicks
Asst. Professor of Communications, Barry University
Connie Hicks has taught at Barry University since 2004, as an Assistant Professor/Professional in Residence in the Communication Department's broadcast program. Prior to that, she was a television news reporter for more than twenty five years, working in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Rhode Island and Miami. She has won two Emmys, awards from the Associated Press and the American Bar Association, and been recognized for her reporting on crime and minority issues. In the course of her career she produced and anchored the news as well as covered riots, hurricanes, death row, trials, reported from Cuba and Haiti and investigated public corruption.
She received her BA degrees in Sociology and Political Science from Macalester College. She joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2006.
I want to stop the hideous trafficking of women and children. I want undocumented women who are the victims of domestic abuse to feel free to report their abuser and get help. I want to see children brought here by their parents to be able to further their education in the only country they know as "home." I want the law-abiding immigrants who have lived and worked here to continue to contribute to this society. I want to educate those who oppose immigration reforms to realize that it is in their best interest to support reform, that immigrants are people who consider living and working here to be a gift that they deeply appreciate. That is why I am on on the Board of Directors of Americans for Immigrant Justice.
David Lawrence Jr.
Chair, The Children's Movement of Florida
David Lawrence Jr. is a nationally known journalist who retired at 56, subsequently becoming a leading national advocate for children, especially in the area of early childhood learning and investment. The former publisher of The Miami Herald as well as executive editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press, he now serves as the president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation.
Mr. Lawrence also chairs The Children's Movement of Florida, a citizen-led, non-partisan movement to educate political, business and civic leaders -- and parents -- about the urgent need to make the well-being of children, especially in their earliest years, Florida's highest priority. He has 12 honorary doctorates and has chaired United Way, the New World School of Arts, the Everglades Foundation and the Foundation for Child Development. He joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2012.
I serve because AI Justice represents to me basic American decency, justice and wisdom.
Janet R. McAliley
Former Member, Miami-Dade County School Board
Janet McAliley is a former member of the Miami-Dade County School Board. She was first elected to the School Board in 1980 and was subsequently re-elected three times, serving for four terms until 1996. Among her many accomplishments during her tenure was helping an undocumented high school student secure status so that she could attend college. This experience was the basis for her interest in the plight of undocumented immigrants.
Mrs. McAliley continued to become involved with the immigration issues of undocumented students who so badly wanted to attend school in this country and came to know Cheryl Little through this work.
Mrs. McAliley grew up in South Florida and is a graduate of The University of Florida. Her three children attended Miami Dade County Public Schools. She was a founding member of the Board of Directors in 1996.
I serve on AI Justice's board because due to my experiences growing up, I have a soft spot for people who are experiencing tough times.
Ilaria Pezzatini
Senior Vice President, Northern Trust
Ms. Pezzatini, a native of Italy and a graduate of the University of Miami, is responsible for managing large and complex relationships with Wealth Advisory Services clients ($10 to $200 million), both on the domestic and the international side of the business. She is responsible for overall client satisfaction and uses her broad-based fiduciary knowledge, experience, and bank resources to identify opportunities for her clients. She joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2012.
I decided to join the Board of AI Justice because the cause is near and dear to my heart. I am an American, born and raised in Italy. I have lived in the United States for over 20 years now, and I am still experiencing "immigrant" injustice and discrimination. This is a great country, and its greatness is due in part to its diversity. No one should be treated unjustly because of his or her national origin.
Ian Ross
Partner, Stumphauzer Foslid Sloman Ross & Kolaya, PLLC
Ian Ross is a partner at Stumphauzer Foslid Sloman Ross & Kolaya PLLC. Forrmly a shareholder in the Miami office of Greenberg Traurig, P.A, he represents corporations, directors, and officers, as well as professional service and accounting firms, in commercial and securities litigation, professional liability actions, consumer class actions, and government investigations. He also served as the Pro Bono Coordinator for Greenberg Traurig's Miami office, and is active in pro bono matters, representing refugees seeking political asylum in removal proceedings in immigration court. He has represented clients from Burundi, Kenya, Mexico, Venezuela, Honduras, and Russia, among others, and has been recognized by Americans for Immigrant Justice as a Pro Bono Hero.
Jose Sepulveda, Esq.
Partner, Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson
Jose Sepulveda is a litigation partner at Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson. He volunteered with AI Justice (then FIAC) while a law student.
Mr. Sepulveda's practice focuses on complex business litigation in both state and federal courts, with an emphasis on banking, creditors' rights, and lender liability claims. Mr. Sepulveda is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. He is a member of the Belen Jesuit Preparatory School Alumni Association and the Cuban American Bar Association. He joined the Board of Directors of AI Justice in 2013.
I am excited to have been given the opportunity to serve on the board. I look forward to working with the members to further AI Justice's goals.
Peter Upton, Esq.
Principal, Law Office of Peter Upton
Peter Upton is an attorney, whose primary practice is in the area of immigration law. His practice is located in central Florida. Previously, he worked at the American Friends Service Committee's Undocumented Workers and Political Asylum Project. He first met Cheryl Little in the 1980s as they waited to see clients at Miami's Krome Detention Center.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and of Temple University School of Law, Mr. Upton was a founding Board Member of AI Justice.
I am a proud member of the AI Justice Board because it combines legal representation and advocacy more effectively than, I would argue, any similar organization in the country.
Rev. Priscilla Felisky Whitehead
United Church of Christ minister
Until January 2011, for almost twenty-two years, Rev. Whitehead served as Associate Minister at The Church by the Sea (United Church of Christ) in Bal Harbour, having moved to Florida from the Boston area. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University, where she was named a Hopkins Scholar for academic achievement, and received the Billings Prize for preaching.
She is now a Minister Emerita at The Church by the Sea, and in 2013 began to convene a separate new group meeting in Wynwood for people of varied backgrounds who are interested in exploring questions of religion, spirituality, and belief, especially those unaffiliated with a particular faith community.
Rev. Whitehead's parents were Russian immigrants, and she grew up in Michigan, in a Russian-speaking home and church. She was a founding member of AI Justice's Board of Directors in 1996.
Cesar L. Alvarez, Esq.
Executive Chairman
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Nan Bush
Film Producer
Al Cardenas
Senior Partner, Squire, Patton & Boggs
Former Chair, American Conservative Union
Edouard Duval Carrié
Internationally Acclaimed Artist
Hodding Carter III
Retired President/CEO
The Knight Foundation
Jonathan Demme (1944 - 2017)
Academy Award Winning Director
The Honorable Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham
Former U.S. Senator
Former Governor of Florida
José Pedro Greer, M.D.
Assistant Dean & Department Chair, FIU College of Medicine
2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom Honoree
Mitchell Kaplan
Books & Books
Sr. Jeanne O'Laughlin, O.P. (1929 - 2019)
Former President
Barry University
Eduardo Padrón, Ph.D.
Miami Dade College
Bruce Weber
Iconic Photographer
Most Reverend Thomas G. Wenski, D.D.
Archbishop of Miami

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"Acting is like a snowstorm or perhaps a large empty vacuum. I`m not deluded by the fact that I`m getting all these offers for work, I`m very happy about it, but I know also that there is the other side and who knows, next year, they may not offer me anything. You never know. "
- Christopher Lee


text:
Fisker Closes $115M Financing Round
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Share this article:
Anaheim-based luxury hybrid auto developer Fisker Automotive Inc. has closed a $115 million financing round after securing an additional $15 million from private investors.
The third round financing will be used to help launch Fisker's second model, the mid-range Nina sedan.
The funding comes on the heels of a delay for its highly-touted luxury sedan Karma, which was expected to be delivered to showrooms and individual customers this month.
Some 3,000 orders for the Karma are on backlog. The first cars off the assembly line were initially expected to be shipped in June to about 40 dealers in the U.S. and Europe in a simultaneous launch, officials said.
Irvine-based Shelly Automotive Group is a Fisker dealer.
Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher recently told GreenCarReports the first dealer and customer cars will be delivered in July, a slight stumble for a company hawked by industry watchers and hybrid car and alternative fuel advocates.
The Karma starts at about $96,000.
2011 is a big year for Fisker and the hybrid car industry, with several models due to hit the showroom floor and test consumers' appetites for new alternative fuel vehicles with various price ranges.
In April, Fisker moved its headquarters from Irvine to Anaheim.
The latest financing round comes two months after the automaker secured $190 million from investors and began production on its Karma sedan.
With investor financing and government money, Fisker has raised more than $1 billion to develop luxury cars that run on rechargeable batteries with backup gas engines.
The company's funding includes a $529 million Energy Department loan and $21.5 million in grants and loans from the state of Delaware.
Earlier this year, Fisker bought the 3.2 million-square-foot Wilmington Assembly plant in Delaware for $20 million in General Motors Co.'s bankruptcy.
General Motors shut down production at the plant in 2009.
Fisker plans to spend $175 million to retool the plant and start production in late 2012 on the Nina, one of two cars it plans to produce there. The initial models of the Karma are being produced on a contract basis in Finland.
Fisker cofounder and Chief Operating Officer Bernhard Koehler in March told a European automotive publication the company hopes to sell 7,000 cars in 2011 and 15,000 in 2012.
That's a revenue projection of about $670 million this year and $1.4 billion next year.
Fisker is among the county's most watched startups. Many see the company as the top local prospect for an initial public offering this year.


text:
Don Porcella (2nd from right) with Thomas Malanca (d. 24 Dec 2008) far right, Aggie Malanca (center), Mary Jo Brady (front left), and Bill Johns (behind Mary Jo) outside the chapel at St Perpetua's where he worshipped several times a week.
Wednesday night, April 21st, 2010, Don Porcella died from a long and courageous struggle with cancer. Don had been home from the hospital just a few days, knowing that there would be no further treatment; he died quietly shortly after 10:00 pm. His family had spent the evening with him, and friends/parishioners had been able to be present in the 24 - 36 hours preceding the death to say goodbye.
I had only known Don for a little more than four years (far too short a time!), but he will remain one of the most unforgettable, genuinely inspiring persons I carry in my heart. Don was a Catholic Christian, a husband and father, a scientist (an environmental engineer whose PhD was in environmental health), Fullbright Scholar, professor, and an amazing (and prolific!) potter as well. All of these dimensions of his life came together for me in the imagery of the verse from John 7:37-38: [[If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive. . .]]
In his professional life Don studied rivers and lakes and developed methods for assuring their health and vitality, as Father and husband, friend and fellow Christian he was indeed a source of living water which flowed abundantly and generously from his heart. He listened, encouraged, nurtured and loved others into greater wholeness and fruitfulness. As a potter Don molded the very clay of the rivers, lakes and world he studied into amazing pieces, creating beauty out of more primal beauty. Don was always a scientist and perhaps the best that science has to offer our world. It is so common today for scientists to compartmentalize their lives so that science rules out faith or at best allows some superficial nod to religion. But not so with Don. His faith was deep and critical (and so, unceasingly curious and questioning), and his scientific work and critical approach to reality was faithful (and so, reverent, and lovingly intelligent). He had worked at and managed to integrate what for others would have been merely disparate aspects of a less genuinely intelligent life. In Christ all this came together in a humanity symbolized in the very pottery he made --- a vessel for God's own spirit and life, an earthen vessel from which flowed living water in abundance.
I will miss Don very much, his mind, his humor and impish (or perhaps roguish) grin, his slow and thoughtful speech, his gentle, generous, and loving heart, but I am very grateful to have shared in his life, and to be able to celebrate his eternal life and continuing presence in Christ.
Services will be at St Perpetua's: Vigil 7:00 pm Monday 26.April
Mass of Christian burial, 10:30 am Tuesday, 27. April
23 April 2010
Don Porcella, In Memoriam
Posted by Sr. Laurel M. O'Neal, Er. Dio. at 4:34 PM
Labels: In memoriam
15 April 2010
Death as an Illusion?
The day before yesterday along with the pastor and pastoral associate from my parish I attended a workshop based on a relatively new book, The Hidden Power of the Gospels, by Alexander Shaia, PhD (clinical psychology). It was a good experience and the book is at once interesting and problematical. Some of the work was genuinely brilliant: historical accounts and details which contextualize the Gospels in ways which make them come alive with a fresh and compelling power, psycho-spiritual insights which illuminate the texts in new ways and lead to wonderful homiletic possibilities, the ability to address a wide audience despite a lack of theological training on their part, etc --- all of these are remarkable. However when the book had weaknesses (often rooted in these very same strengths!), they tended to be significant whether matters of flawed Scripture approaches, theological positions which were unnuanced or simply apparently unconsidered, or pastoral weaknesses stemming from these.
Several stood out, but one in particular raised questions, concerns and outright objections which were more profoundly affecting and emotional than the others. (For me this was underscored by finding out yesterday that a good friend of mine is dying!) Relatively fresh from a reportedly wonderful celebration of Easter, a celebration which included the chant: "Death is no more, Death is no more!" Dr Shaia looked at the Gospel of John (the only Gospel read during the early Church's Triduum) and reiterated several times, "Death is an illusion!" "Death is an illusion." And he continued, "How differently we would live if only we saw the real truth, that Death is no more, Death is an illusion." Shaia's unfortunately unqualified assertion did not go unchallenged, not only on the basis of the Gospel of John, but on the basis of Mark's and Paul's theologies as well as the pastoral experience of clergy and religious present. However, despite the proposal that this workshop was to allow for and be part of an ongoing discussion, it was not really the appropriate venue for someone from the audience outlining either the theological or the pastoral reasons such exaggerated claims were inappropriate --- even, or maybe especially for an Easter faith.
Of course neither is this the venue for doing that in any detailed way. A couple of weeks ago I reprised an article on Ministering to the Dying and Bereaved which was originally published in Review For Religious. That remains a good outline of the responsibility we have to be honest about both Jesus' victory over death, and the remaining victory which must still be achieved (by God) if God is to be all in all. As I wrote in that article, Godless death has been transformed through Jesus' obedient death and is now a more natural transitional event where we will meet God face to face. God has been victorious over sinful Godless death. He has actually taken that death into himself and not been destroyed in the process. However, death in this schema is not an illusion; it is both defeated and still with us. It is for this reason that Paul, who has noted the real "sting" of death is sin (that is, alienation from God), says exultantly, ". . .death where is thy sting?" --- an affirmation that in Christ Godless or sinful death is no more, but death as transition remains until God is "all in all".
Another point I made in that article was that death is not only something that overcomes us from without, but that it is also something that exists within us and has an affect on every dimension of our lives. As we ally and align ourselves with the powers of sin and death in this world we are changed, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically and even physically. In fact, sin and death gain more power, greater influence and malignancy in our world through these choices of ours. Despite Godless death being destroyed and a more natural or transitional death replacing it and still not having the last word, it remains a serious "dialogue partner" in our everyday lives. To treat death as an illusion neglects the very real dialogue which is still going on (and in fact SHOULD still be going on) in every human life.
This last is true because there is a positive dimension to this dialogue, a positive way of thinking about and treating with death which is especially important in rejecting the notion that death is an illusion. It involves the sense that death is an event in which we make a final decision for or against God, for or against our truest selves, for or against the Kingdom of God. Death involves a passive dimension and does indeed come upon us, often without warning, but even then we believe that death involves a final decision, that is, death is an event in which we are active participants in this positive sense as well. Death faces us with our finitude, as well as with our attachments to things which hold us here. It represents a liminal event, a boundary event which signals and illlumines the forms and various degrees of detachment we still must achieve.
The other side of detachment is attachment, and death serves to signal and illumine failures in attachment to the God who grounds and unifies all reality. It confronts us with our own lack of openness to complete dependence upon God and is the event in which obedience can be genuinely enlarged or deepened. In this sense death has a salutary role to play in our lives, and this is true whether we are speaking of the smaller deaths which mark each day or our final death this side of eternity. Beyond all this, death remains the event in which, meeting God face to face, we make a final decision and entrust ourselves to God --- or refuse to do so. Granted this dimension is ordinarily beyond anything people attending us actually can witness, but it remains a piece of the very definition of death as a human event.
We resist death. We think in terms of other people's death --- death is inevitable but not for me! One of the real lessons of Christianity and a life of prayer is the lesson of death's reality. We are Christians, not Christian Scientists or Platonists! In prayer we affirm life, but while we do that we also experience the process of dying to self and prepare for the final decisions of Death itself. We do not fear death in the way we might apart from what was achieved in the Christ Event, and we do not approach death as those for whom it has no meaning, but we do NOT treat it as an illusion --- precisely because we do believe in the resurrection! After all, it is bodily resurrection of the dead as well as a victory over Godless, sinful death.
Posted by Sr. Laurel M. O'Neal, Er. Dio. at 3:17 AM
10 April 2010
Surrexit Christus, Cantate Domino!
Well, this is a little late, but all good wishes to everyone for this Easter Season! I am in the midst of recovering from what is fast becoming an annual post-Holy-Week event --- a bout of bronchitis, so I have not been writing much -- or doing much (literal) singing, despite the antiphon heading this post! However, I am truly fine, and am merely sorry not to have been able to share regarding the Triduum, or to have wished you all a Good Easter sooner than this!
Posted by Sr. Laurel M. O'Neal, Er. Dio. at 3:27 AM
02 April 2010
A Theology of the Cross (Reprised)
Ministering to the Dying and Bereaved: Proclaiming a God Whose Power is Made Perfect in Weakness. Initially published in Review For Religious, January 2001
Death, and God's relation to death is an overarching theme in human life, and certainly in the life of the Church. During Lent, for instance, we spend an entire forty days preparing to celebrate Christ's victory over "sin and death." During this season and others, images of these hostile forces, references to chaos, meaninglessness, and our bondage to all of them surround us. And in light of this, if there is anything we understand, (or should understand!), it is that these things are "the enemy." During this time, for instance, we read in the Old Testament again and again that our basic choice, the really fundamental option that faces us in all of life's moments and moods, is "choose life, not death;" and we know that these alternatives are not equivalent. After all, one is "of God" and the other is not. One is a choice for being, integration, re-creation, and meaning, while the other is a choice for diminishment, disintegration, destruction, and senselessness. One is the choice to respond to and fulfill the profound vocation to authentic existence spoken by God deep within us, while the other represents the repudiation of this summons and the rejection of our truest selves. One is, ultimately, a choice for an eternity in communion with the God who authenticates and completes us, the God who is the ground and source of life and meaning, while the other is the act by which we embrace the powers and utter emptinesses of hell.
At this time of the year in particular, we examine our lives for signs that they are marked and marred by our own alliances with sin and death, and we participate in a more focused way than usual in activities which reject such alliances, and are geared towards breaking the bonds established between us and them. We make the concerted effort to acknowledge, "we are dust, and shall return to dust," that death is something that threatens us not only from without, but that it is also something that we carry around within us. And of course, we affirm and celebrate that for our sakes, and in opposition to our misguided, misbegotten alliances, God's own Son has dwelt amongst us, implicating the One he called "Abba" into the whole panorama of our fragile, flawed, finite, and mortal existences, ---- up to and including his altogether humanly contrived, and godforsaken death on a Roman cross.
We observe Holy Saturday as the day when sin and death have triumphed. On this day there is no Savior, no Church, no Sacrament, and no Gospel. There is nothing to celebrate or proclaim. There is neither hope, nor freedom, nor real future. Sin and death are the apparent victors, and the present is as empty and forlorn as the desolate plaint of the enfeebled and failed messiah, whom we heard cry out from the cross just the day before. On this day we recall the original disciples --- broken by disappointment, grief, guilt, and shame, and stunned to terrified silence when the powers of the world overcame the One they called "Christ." Their shattered hope for the definitive coming of God's reign, and the ignominious, apparently unvindicated death of the man Jesus, stands at the center of our vision as well on this day. And in the shadow of this recollection, the bleakness of a world dominated by a power that regularly opposes and subverts the work of the Author of Life is clear. On this day, our entire horizon is death and the victory it has achieved over God's Son, over us, and over our world.
In light of all this then, how is it we still hear from those engaged in pastoral ministry to the dying and bereaved for instance, that God is either the "author of death," or it's agent, or that anyone's death (with the single exception of Christ's own) is "God's will"? How is it, with all the scriptural and empirical evidence otherwise, our ministers and faithful continue to present death as something other than the implacable enemy of life and the God who authors life? How is it that death is conceived of as other than an entirely alien and antithetical element in our existence, which God works continually and indeed, suffered greatly, to defeat --- an element that remains only on sufferance until "(God) is all in all"? How is it possible to hear from faithful who have been told that "God is the Lord of life and death," that this must mean that when death intervenes, it is "God who KILLS us"? Yet, blunt and apparently absurd as this last formulation may sound to us, it is merely the clear spelling out of the implications of a flawed theology which considers death the event WITH which God punishes sin and calls us to judgement, rather than the hostile power he conquers, and the event IN which he intervenes in Christ, to raise us to eternal life.
Whether we are ministers trying to assist others with their own deaths, pastors comforting the bereaved, or simply persons who are trying to make sense of the reality of our own mortality, all too often we are burdened with vague, ill-defined, and even erroneous notions of death and the relationship between God and death. The situation is complicated by misreadings and distortions of Paul's theology of the cross, and by fundamentalist interpretations of the creation narratives of Genesis. It is likewise made more difficult by anachronistic conceptions of the human being which see him/ her in terms of a body-soul dualism, as well as by simplistic notions of the sovereignty of God. The result is quite simply an inadequate theology that makes genuinely Christian ministry to the dying and bereaved difficult or even impossible, and caricatures God as the author of tragedy and absurdity in the process.
It seems to me therefore, that we must make a serious effort to correct our misconceptions of death, its relation to sin, and especially the relation of God to death. After all, how in the world are we to adequately celebrate God's own triumph OVER sin and death, if we misunderstand these realities and posit God as their author? How can we make sense of the fact that God willed the suffering and death of his only begotten Son if we understand these realities as something God had complete control over in the first place? Are we really stuck with Anselm's satisfaction theory, for instance, and the parody of God and God's justice it is based on? And are we left only with the option of telling the dying and bereaved to whom we minister that "this is the will of God" or do we really have better answers at our disposal? Obviously, I am convinced there are far better answers available to Christians, and it is my intention to explore some of them, and their theological foundation, in this essay.
Common Misunderstandings of the Nature of Death
There are two basic misunderstandings regarding death and God's relation to death, which seem to me to burden most Christians. The first is the notion that God is in COMPLETE control of human existence, and that because death is a part of that reality, this must mean that he is in complete control of it as well. There are various versions of this notion: "(Death) is God's will;" " Death is the way God punishes us for our sin" (especially original sin); "Everything that happens has a purpose;" "God gives and God takes away;" etc. Most often we hear versions of this theology from homilists and ministers trying to encourage us that God is omnipotent, and that everything that occurs, no matter how apparently senseless, is meaningful. We also hear these interpretations from ministers who believe that by affirming death is in God's hands, by affirming it as the event WITH which he calls us home, for instance, some of the fear and sting of either dying, or bereavement is removed. Clearly, we sense that death is easier to bear if it is not simply perceived as an alien and hostile element in human existence, particularly if we can hear that it really isn't the entirely senseless event it so often seems to be. In the meantime, however, we repress the serious theological questions such affirmations raise: Is all death and dying sent by God? Is God really their author? Are we expected to attribute instances of chance and absurdity to him as well, or are we expected to simply deny the existence of these things? Are so-called 'acts of God' really the work of God? Does "sovereignty" imply total control, or is the situation more complex than this? And of course, if God IS the author and agent of death as well as of life, what kind of God would such a deity truly be?
The second misunderstanding is related to the first. It is the notion that death, and here we are speaking of human death, is something that threatens us entirely from without, and so, is something which God can overcome by mere fiat. It is sometimes combined with the secular view that death is a wholly natural and neutral reality. This notion of human death fails to understand it as a partly, and indeed profoundly personal reality which is not simply part and parcel of our temporality, but is a special aspect of sinful existence. Because of this, it often goes unrecognized, much less acknowledged that God cannot force his way into this realm, nor overcome it from without. As in all else that is personal in our lives, God must be allowed or implicated into this realm if he is to bring it under subjection to himself and transform it. The logical consequences of this misunderstanding are also generally repressed, for such a misunderstanding of the relation of God to death generally raises the question: why did the Word have to become incarnate and God's own Son suffer a torturous death by crucifixion, if God could have simply overcome sin and death by fiat?
Another Look at the Relation of Death to Sin and God
God created the world of time and space. He created it out of nothing (nihil), and it retains the ability to cease existing, to sink once again into nothingness. The created world continues to be conditioned by non-being. It is ambiguous and threatened. Non-being is an aspect of temporal-spatial existence. While created reality depends upon God for its existence, it is not simply from and of God. It is not, for instance, an emanation of God, and it does not possess its own being. It is finite and must be continually summoned and held in existence against the power of non-being also at work within and around it. Beyond this, and in part because of the presence of non-being as a conditioning element, this world also possesses potential. It has the capacity to grow and change. Non-being conditions this world as threat and as promise. It is both a condition of possibility and the condition of non-possibility.
When we consider human existence the situation becomes even more complex, because human beings are created with the capacity to reject God, and to ally themselves with that which is other than the One from whom life and meaning come, even looking to this as a source of life and meaning. Not only is human existence ambiguous in all the ways historical existence is ambiguous, but human beings can refuse to simply receive meaningful life as a gift from God. They can, as the OT puts the matter, "choose to know good and evil," (in the very intimate way the OT uses the term knowledge), or "choose to be as Gods," or again, they can "choose death." Human beings can ally themselves with life and the author of life in total dependence, or (and there is no other option), they can ally themselves with the powers of non-being, the meaningless, anti-life, anti-truth, literally godless powers that are also part of spatial-temporal existence. And of course, they do. In fact they do so inevitably in one way and another. Without exception human beings embrace the powers and principalities of this world in a mistaken bid for autonomy and completion. They "live (and die) from" these powers, and in doing so give them greater standing, status, power, menace, and malignancy in the world than they would have without human complicity.
But where does non-being and the power of non-being come from in the first place? Is God its author? Is non-being a "something," a form of matter as Manichaeism once suggested, and where else could it come from than the God who is the source of all that "is"? One of the better explanations comes from JÜrgen Moltmann in his, God in Creation. Building on a Jewish kabalistic notion , Moltmann explains:
<< God makes room for his creation by withdrawing his presence. What comes into being is a nihil which does not contain the negation of creaturely being (since creation is not yet existent), but which represents the partial negation of the divine being, inasmuch as God is not yet creator. The space which comes into being and is set free by God's self-limitation is literally God-forsaken space. The nihil in which God creates his creation is god-forsakenness, hell, absolute death; and it is against the threat of this that he maintains his creation in life. Admittedly, the nihil only acquires this menacing character through the self-isolation of created beings to which we give the name of sin and godlessness. . . . This points to a necessary correction in the interpretation of creation: God does not create merely by calling something into being, or by setting something afoot. In a more profound sense he "creates" by letting-be, by making room and by withdrawing himself. >> (Emphasis added)
And what then of sin or estrangement from God? If non-being is a "natural" part of finite existence, then isn't sin, which is primarily estrangement from God, also simply something natural, a part of historical existence? The answer is no. Sin, which begins as a natural separation or distinction from the God who dwells in eternity, occurs when human beings (who dwell instead in time and space) choose not to be entirely dependent upon God to save them from the threat of non-being. It occurs when human beings mistake actual independence from God for freedom, and when independence from God is pushed the further disastrous misstep, and mistaken for equality with God. It occurs whenever human beings decide that a humble response to God's summons alone is not to be the only determinant of their lives, and align themselves with that which is not from or of God. It occurs when we make common cause with death and non-being rather than with the One who is the source of life and meaning. It occurs whenever human beings turn away from their creator toward that which is antithetical to him in acts of rebellion and apostasy, and transform a more natural separation-yet-communion into actual estrangement, alienation, and sometimes-outright antipathy. It happens whenever the "we" of our "original" state is rejected and/or betrayed, and thus transformed into the self-conscious, self-concerned, relatively isolated "I" attested to in the Genesis narratives.
Similarly then, death has also been transformed from something natural into something entirely unnatural. The death that we recognize as an integral part of human existence is something wholly unnatural. Just as human distinction and separateness was transformed into actual estrangement and alienation from God, from self, and from others, so too has normal finitude, ordinary mortality, taken on monstrous proportions in light of human sin. Human death is not simply a natural or neutral event. It is not simply the moment when non-being overcomes being, although it is certainly that as well. Human death is menacing; it is associated with human complicity and collusion with the anti-divine powers of nothingness, meaninglessness, and chaos. And of course, for this reason human death is "the wages of sin," and implies the triumph of godlessness ---- a triumph which human beings have assisted, colluded, and become complicit in, in every possible way. Human death, apart from Christ, is a death of godforsakenness.
It is also, therefore, a death marked by the wrath of God, but wrath in the genuinely Pauline sense of the word. After all, God has created us with the capacity to choose something other than himself, or to be something other than we are created to be. And choose we do. And when we do, God leaves us to our choices. This is precisely what living under the wrath of God means. It does not mean that God is angry. It certainly does not mean that he punishes us in any way. It means simply that we are left to the choices we have made and the alliances we have forged throughout our lives. It means that, in fact, God respects (that is, he will not and cannot interfere with) these choices or alliances. It also means that those who are born into the world after us are touched by the same powers and principalities which we ourselves have elevated and magnified with our choices. Paul describes this in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans. The wrath of God implies being "given up" to the alien powers with which we have aligned and allied ourselves, and therefore, to the gradually worsening decadence and disintegration that afflict us, our society, and our world because we have made common cause with chaos and nothingness. It implies an inhuman death marked by the embrace of godforsakenness, one in which absolute godlessness triumphs. Whatever death is or would be apart from Sin, it is not this. Instead it is the enemy of sinful humankind and of God, and it is this situation which the Cross of Christ is meant to address.
The Cross of Christ and the Death of Death
There are times and situations in human life and history which demand we look again at everything we believe, every definition and presupposition we hold, every scrap of knowledge we think we possess, and every perspective which seems intelligent, or natural, or logical. The picture of reality gained from the perspective of Holy Saturday surely suggests that the cross of Christ is, at the very least, one of these events. From this perspective alone we have a picture of a failed and possibly delusional "Messiah." After all, God's Son had not climbed down from his cross. He had not saved himself as he had saved others, and in the process he died a completely degrading and entirely ignoble death. The one he called Abba with an unprecedented intimacy had not established his reign with a mighty and outstretched arm. The angel of death had not passed over, nor had the powers of Rome been routed in any way reminiscent of the Egyptians at the Exodus. Instead, sin and death were the apparent victors on this day, and a God whose power is, even today, mainly understood by believers and unbelievers alike in abstract, impersonal terms of omnipotence, had proved unable to deal with the consequences of human freedom and its abuses, much less with the destructive powers of the world. And yet, the Christian Gospel affirms that this evident failure was the ground of a far more awesome victory, the victory of a hitherto unknown God whose "foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of men."
So then, how is it the Cross of Christ "works"? This question is often posed "Why did Jesus have to die this kind of death?" And implicit in this query are a number of others: "why couldn't Jesus simply have died of old age?" or, "why would his Father allow such a thing, much less will it?" or, "what kind of God would demand that his Son suffer betrayal, torture, abandonment, and even godforsakenness or hell?" and, "if God asks that of his Son, how can I believe he will have mercy on me?" These are important questions, and they are variations on the questions raised whenever God is made the author or agent of death. They are also the questions which are at least implicitly raised by notions of the cross which make it the place where an infinitely offended God is appeased or placated. And the answer to them is as simple as it is almost incomprehensible in its wondrousness. For God's sake and the sake of a divine justice which is defined solely in terms of mercy and which seeks the reconciliation and completion of all of reality WITH God, God must overcome everything which separates him from us. For this reason, in order to implicate God into the realm from which he is by definition absent and from which he has actually been further excluded by human sin, someone sinless and therefore still entirely open and responsive to God, must die such a death.
On the one hand, this death must represent the worst death a human being may die. It must be a death marked by failure, weakness, abandonment and isolation. It must be a genuinely "inhuman" (that is, sinful) fate, the death of one whose dignity has been stripped from him, and who is left completely powerless and alone, with nothing left to recommend him to God. It, above all, must be a death where this one is given over entirely to nothingness, to the emptinesses of hell. It must be the death we each deserve --- the death that, without Christ, we each will die because of the alliances we have forged, and the choices we have inevitably made and ratified. It must be the death we each merit for ourselves, and often visit on others. And it must be that death in which the wrath of God is experienced without mitigation or diminution, precisely so that God can instead become inexhaustibly present here under the aspect of grace. At the same time, it must have been the most genuinely human death ever died. There could be nothing present in Christ which mitigated or compromised his openness to and dependence upon God, nothing which prevented the entire will of God being done in him, nothing which spoke of misguided autonomy, collusion with the powers of death and sin, disobedience, or pride. At the precise instant Jesus' death is the most inhuman (godless) imaginable, it must also be the most human (open to God) precisely so that genuinely human existence which is defined in terms of obedience to and communion with God once again becomes a real possibility in our world. And the result is not only the possibility of genuinely human existence, but also necessarily, the simultaneous "death of (godforsaken) death."
As we noted above, human death, the "wages of sin," the result of our alliances with the "powers and principalities" of this world, cannot be destroyed from without, by fiat, without God also destroying his entire creation and abrogating the freedom of those who would and do ally themselves with these powers. So God chooses to become present even here in the realm of nothingness. God empties himself completely of his divine prerogatives in order to definitively reveal and assert a novel kind of divine sovereignty, an incredibly paradoxical power defined in terms of weakness. Sinful death is the ultimate enemy, and so, God chooses to be subject to it so that he might transform it entirely. Thus, Good Friday and Holy Saturday are followed and rendered permanently valid by Easter, the definitive and wholly new "Passover." After Christ, death is no longer the godless place, and it no longer has the final word. Because of Christ, and because he chose to become subject to sin and the wages of sin out of love for his Father and us, God has become present "in the unexpected place," and the power of death, which was the power to separate us from God forever, is definitively broken. The God Jesus reveals--- the One whose Name he makes known and real among us, is the formerly unseen, infinitely paradoxical God who, from creating to redeeming his creation, "calls into being the things that are not, and raises the dead to life." Most significantly, he does so with a sovereignty which is worked out in self-emptying and self-limitation, a justice which is defined in terms of mercy, and a "power (which is) made perfect in weakness."
Paul summarizes this whole theology in one statement: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." Note well that Paul does not say, "God was in Christ being reconciled to a world that offended him infinitely." Note as well that neither is Paul concerned with a kind of justice which is either familiar or comfortable to us. This justice is neither distributive nor retributive. In no sense is this a God "who gives us what we deserve." Instead Paul's entire focus is on the fact that in the Christ Event, and most especially on the cross, God asserts his rights over creation, and defines justice with an exhaustively kenotic and sacrificial mercy which secures our freedom on the one hand, and which transforms the very things we choose when we abuse and misuse that freedom on the other. In this theology, God's justice is actually expressed as his refusal to allow anything to separate us from him. Here grace and justice, are largely synonymous. If wrath means allowing us our choices out of love for us even in full recognition of our sin, grace means allowing us our choices, but, out of an unconditional love, transforming the very nature of that which we choose so that we are no longer separated from God, or broken and estranged as human beings. If wrath means allowing us to choose the godless and godforsaken, grace means the transformation of these things, and especially the transformation of sinful death into an actual sacrament of God's presence. If sin means our separation from God and the self-assertion and ingratitude that prompts it, divine justice is God's assertion that we belong to him no matter what, and what is ordinarily called "justification" is the reconciliation that results when God acts out this judgement in the Christ Event.
All of this, of course, is the climax of the Divine self-emptying that began at creation. It contrasts precisely with the pretensions to divinity assumed by human beings in sin --- the same pretensions that crucified Christ in a riot of religious righteousness and political expediency. This is indeed the victory of a God whose "foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of men." It reminds us that ours is a God who is folly to "Greeks" and a scandal to "Jews," and as it does so, it calls into question everything we once held as conventional wisdom about God, his sovereignty, wrath, justice, power, and dignity, and it offers us alternative and paradoxical definitions of all of these, as well as our own notions of what constitutes genuinely human existence. What was true at the time Paul wrote about the scandal and foolishness of the cross is no less true now. For this reason we can be very sure that if the Cross has not challenged our notions of all we experience and know, we have not really understood it. Even more seriously, so long as we refuse to accept the redefinitions achieved on the cross, we make it, and what was achieved there, void. There is, I think, no place our success or failure in this has more serious consequences than in our theology of death, and our ministry to the dying and bereaved.
Implications for Our Ministry to the Dying and Bereaved
This brings to our ministry then, an alternative way of looking at death, tragedy, senselessness, and their relation to God. I believe this alternative perspective results in an altogether more extensively and intensively comforting pastoral approach, but there is no doubt that it is tremendously challenging as well. After all, it requires that both we and those we minister to, give up the facile answers and simplistic platitudes that have so long mistakenly passed for Christian faith and truth. This perspective demands then that we adopt a grammar of salvation built on the paradoxes embodied in a theology God worked out in creation and on the cross in terms of kenosis and asthenia. In this theology, the God who renounces his own prerogatives out of love for us is not in total control, but ultimately, he is the God who asserts his rights over all of creation and mercifully brings all things to fulfillment in himself. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once rightly reminded us, "Not everything that happens is the will of God, but inevitably nothing that happens occurs outside his will." In this theology God has willed the sinful death of only one person, his own Son, but he has done so only in order that he might defeat godless death entirely. In this theology, God gives, sin distorts, desecrates and destroys, and death takes away, but God intervenes in death and robs it of any ultimate victory. And in this grammar of salvation, not everything that happens in our world makes sense or has meaning, but at the same time it can all be the basis for celebrating a God who will bring order out of chaos, life out of death, and meaning out of absurdity if we only give him the chance, and perhaps even when we do not.
In concrete terms this means that when dying or grieving persons ask us if this human death is the will of God, we must answer no, but what God will make of it in Christ is another matter. Death is the enemy, and it is both God's and ours, but in Christ it is also the vanquished enemy whose power, for all its awfulness, is a merely a hollow shell of what it once was. If we are asked why God does not intervene to save a dying child, for instance, we must be clear that God has intervened, but he has intervened in death to transform its very nature, and make sure it does not have the final word. And when those we minister to rightly affirm that they have sinned, and are frightened of God's justice, or that they feel guilty as death approaches, we have to be able to remind them that God's justice has determined they will not be separated from him. No. God has asserted his rights over all of creation, and has promised to love us with an everlasting love. Perhaps it is the case that God's mercy assumes an awful aspect for those unprepared to be nothing but forgiven, but for those who are prepared to accept this gift, God's justice is a source of unending joy, and its promise is still ultimately comforting. So, while we cannot minimize or trivialize the sin and guilt anyone experiences, neither can we allow it to be perceived as greater or more powerful than God's own solution for it. The wages of sin is godforsaken death. But an innocent Christ has died our own deserved godless death, and the wages of this death is eternal life in communion with a God who refuses to allow sin and death to remain godless.
Many Christians are scandalized or frightened by the suggestion that God is not in complete control of his creation. They believe it offends against a God who is traditionally described in terms of omnipotence. But they have not been introduced to the paradoxical sovereignty of the God of Jesus Christ who defeats sin and death by participating in them. Here God's sovereignty is exercised precisely where he dies for us. A God who is said to limit himself in creating and redeeming a free creation, is a real stumbling block to many Christians, and more than this, many are made nervous by the notion that there are things at work in the world which God neither foresees in detail, nor immediately controls. This too seems to offend against the theology of an omniscient, omnipotent God. Many will be downright angry at a notion of divine justice where people "don't get what they deserve." After all, a God whose judgement IS his mercy certainly is a stumbling block. But, again, God asserts his rights over us as he will and for all these people, the paradox of a crucified God whose foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of men, needs to be more convincingly proclaimed and taught. While some of us find the notion of God as the author and agent of death repugnant, many others are threatened by a notion of death where God is neither the agent nor the author. At the same time however, these folks may not have been taught that through Christ's death and resurrection sinful death is miraculously transformed into a sacrament of God's presence. And yet, it is certainly part of an adequate ministry to the dying and bereaved to make these central aspects of the Gospel of Jesus Christ effectively known. We will have failed badly if we are unable to recognize and adequately affirm either side of the God-death equation that is at the heart of Christian kerygma.
Every human life has its Good Fridays and Holy Saturdays. There is failure, absurdity, betrayal, collusion, isolation, injustice, cruelty, torment, and death. There are times when we are simply left helpless and mute in the face of our own and others' inhumanity, and when we are bewildered by the tragic and inexplicable circumstances of our personal and collective histories, as well as by the silence and apparent inadequacy of God at these times. In the short term Sin often does triumph and the powers of this world are sometimes immediately victorious. After all, God is not yet "all in all," and not all that happens is either from or of him. Ministers to the dying and bereaved have to be courageous enough to admit these things without mitigation or equivocation. And yet, there is another side to all of this that must be communicated clearly and persuasively.
Death and the apparent triumph of non-being are followed by resurrection, and as a result, we really can't look at any of reality in quite the same way again. The negativities of life are real, but so is the God who chooses to enter into them and transform them with his own life and presence. After all, ours is the God of Jesus and Paul, the God who raises the dead to life, the God whose justice is defined in terms of mercy rather than wrath, and who refuses to allow anything to separate us from his love. Ours is the God who assumes a position of impotence in order that his sovereignty might be perfected and we might be saved when we are most helpless. And he is the God who does this so that even while we face squarely the greatest tragedies and senselessnesses life has to offer, we can exultantly cry with Paul, and help those to whom we minister to do the same, "Sin where is thy victory, death where is thy sting?"
Posted by Sr. Laurel M. O'Neal, Er. Dio. at 7:59 AM


text:
What happens when two people quit their jobs, sell their cars, store their stuff, find temporary placement for their 3 pets, pack a couple of backpacks, backpack around the world for 10 months and then return home- homeless, jobless, petsless, carless, and penniless (well not literally penniless)?
They get jobs, find a home, get their pets back and add another one, buy cars, and start living life again. Yes, you can leave it all behind and come home and get back to normal if that's what you're after. It can happen and it does happen and we're (along with lots of other people) living proof. Since we've been reflecting on our adventure as our 1 year anniversary has come and gone, we thought we would share "a one year later" update for anyone thinking about a great adventure of their own and curious about what happens when it's all over. Continue reading


text:
130, ch des Serres, Saint-Ren-De-Matane, QC
186 Wikwemikong Way W.U.I.R., Wikwemikong, ON
Salvage work.Commercial Divers.
Underwater inspections,photography, side scan sonar.
Underwater video inspections and construction.
Water intake installation, repair and maintanance
Marine transportation - 36' self propelled barge with ...
7659 Portage des Roches N., Laterrire, QC
403-2630 Southvale Cres., Ottawa, ON
Covering approximately 116 hectares, the field of the Company of Agricultural Development: RIADH MORANA is located at Grombalia, 34 kilometers from Tunis, in an area of ex-colonists vineyards. RIADH MORANA is a family owned ...
7902 Satchell St, Abbotsford, BC
Campbell's Pheasantry has been raising pheasants since 1976 and
now in our 26th year we continue our dedication to attain the
wildest tasting farm raised pheasant on the market. We are the
largest producer of free-range pheasant in Western ...
219 Rang St-Louis, Sherrington, QC
Entreprise en opration depuis bientt 30 ans. A su s'allier
des partenaires importants dans les producteurs de la region, en
plus de detenir une participation de 49 % dans une entreprise
mexicaine qui produit des lgumes frais pour le Qubec dans ...
920 Meyerside Dr., Mississauga, ON
Canada Garlic is the largest grower, importer, packer, shipper
and processor of garlic in Canada. The fine family of garlic
products have been known to all Canadians for years. Our garlic
is known throughout the world for its superior quality and ...
142 - 6715 - 8 St. N.E., Calgary, AB
Serves as the registry for all purebred Angus cattle and is
responsible for all registrations, transfers and imports of both
red and black Angus in Canada. Also markets and promotes
Canadian Angus through such programs as Canadian Angus ...
768, 4e rue, Shawinigan, QC
Canadian Bio Services is qualified group of entomologists (mosquito experts), biologists, forestry engineers, photo-interpreters, geomorphologists, town planners, spray pilots and technicians. One of our main concerns is to carry out biological ...
8 Redfern St, Orangeville, ON
Manufacturer/supplier of hunting game calls and accessories.


text:
Jenna Dewan Tatum knows how to rock a red carpet — that's no secret. Whether she's wearing killer heels and the most daring naked dresses, she always keeps it real. Seriously — so when she revealed that she uses a shimmering product cocktail on her legs to get them in their most gorgeous, gleaming shape possible in an Instagram story, we only loved her more.
In a video snippet she posted to her Instagram Story, the World of Dance host posed her gams with her makeup artist Alan Avendano blending shimmer and bronzer all over them with the caption, "It's all smoke and mirrors." In the background of the shot, you can see a number of shimmering products that were surely used to create a contoured and slimmed look for her legs! Much like how you[ would use shimmer on the high points of your face to highlight and a deeper contouring color to shade, the same applies for your stems.
Want to attempt the technique for yourself? We suggest an all-in-one shimmering body blur product like Charlotte Tilbury Supermodel Body to get the job done in one go.
This isn't the first time that Dewan has gotten candid about her beauty routine or the truth behind her flawless bod. In fact, she has even posed on Instagram in her Spanx proving that there is no shame in a little shapewear! The Step Up star also likes to have a killer glow on her face — and has made fun of herself by likening it to a glazed donut. The shimmering and brightening technique conceals a night of poor sleep and quickly brings the complexion alive. If you want a more subtle highlighter or illuminator, RMS Living Luminizer is a great bet.
Which brings us to our next question: what is the next beauty secret that Dewan will shed light on with her social media? Whatever it is, we know she'll come at it with a sense of humor. And bless her for it.
For access to all our exclusive celebrity videos and interviews – Subscribe on YouTube!


text:
Graduating is no simple feat. That's why every graduation is worth celebrating! Check out our tips below on how to throw a successful party that your grad—and your guests—will never forget.
- Do your homework. Your grad did their homework—now it's time to do yours. Decide on all the details, like the time and location of the party, your budget, and the guest list.
If you're throwing the party at your house, check in with your neighbors just to make sure your guests have ample space to park along the street. Or, if you're partying at your grad's favorite restaurant or a rented event space, make sure you have solidified your time slot and date with the hosts or coordinators.
Start gathering names and addresses of your guests early so you're not scrambling at the last minute. This is going to make addressing all your invitations a breeze.
If you have all your details pulled together ahead of time, it's going to be effortless to input into your graduation invitations. Which leads us into our next tip…
- Send out actual invitations. And do it early on, too, so it gives your guests time to clear their schedules. It can be tempting to rely on word of mouth or an email thread to let all your guests know about the party, but this can get messy and confusing really fast, and some people are bound to miss the memo completely.
Making invitations doesn't have to be difficult! An online custom print shop like PurpleTrail allows you to choose from an expansive selection of trendy designs and customize your cards with your grad's name and photos, and of course all your important event information.
Make sure to specify an RSVP by date and leave a phone number or email address, so you can get an accurate head count for your party. Or, opt for an easy-to-use online RSVP service that'll keep track of all your guests' responses for you. Including an RSVP will help you order the right amount of food and prep your event location for a certain number of guests.
- Choose your food wisely. Party food can often be a hit or miss. An assorted selection of finger foods is always a good choice, especially since your guests will want to walk around and mingle. Snack trays are easy to purchase and assemble, too, and there's still room for creativity. Set up several "food stations" so all your guests don't have to congregate in one area to get something to eat.
If you're looking to serve more of a hearty meal, try to steer clear of cooking everything yourself—you'll be in the kitchen all day and won't have a chance to enjoy the celebration of your son or daughter. While it might be a little pricier, investing in catering or takeout for the day of your event will definitely keep the burden off your shoulders. A catering company might help with cleanup, too!
If you really want to keep costs lower and don't mind preparing food, consider hot dogs and hamburgers so you can easily throw them onto the grill and still spend time with your guests.
Food is a great way to express your grad's individuality and throw a truly one-of-a-kind event. Include some of his or her favorite foods or snacks as a tribute. If he loves Mexican food, working with a taco truck caterer is bound to impress him and your guests. If there's a bakery she goes to every Sunday, surprise her with a tray of her favorite cookies or cupcakes. The possibilities are endless!
- Decorate with graduation décor as unique as your grad. Make sure your grad knows that this party is a celebration of his or her accomplishments. Decorate the event space with colors of their current school or future school. Consider an overall theme for the party.
Order some custom décor so your event feels personalized to your very special grad. Customize a guest book with their name and senior photos, so your guests can sign in at the event and leave their advice and well wishes. Guest books often become a treasured keepsake for years to come. Many grads graduating high school end up taking their guest book with them to college!
Personalize an indoor or outdoor banner to hang at your event, proudly displaying your grad's professional photos. Or, if you're feeling nostalgic, customize a banner with photos of your grad throughout the years of their life. It's bound to have a heartwarming impact on both your grad and your guests.
- Prepare the perfect playlist. Your party's music is the soundtrack of your grad's life. Okay, that might be a little too dramatic, but you want to make sure your party's background music is fun and inviting for everyone—especially your grad! It's their big day, after all. Consult your grad so you can add some of his or her favorite songs throughout the mix.
Think about your crowd! If you're inviting older relatives, like grandparents, or very young guests, like younger cousins, refrain from playing anything too explicit. Popular dancing songs like the Cha Cha Slide or Cupid Shuffle are great choices for family-friendly fun—it also encourages people to bust a move on the dance floor.
If your grad wants a more sophisticated or laid-back party, look for a jazz or instrumental music playlist. Music streaming platforms like Spotify or Pandora already offers pre-built playlists for different genres.
- Keep your guests busy. Your guests can only eat and drink so much before they run out of things to do. Most of your guests will be able to mingle the night away, but others might get bored and want to leave early.
Arrange some fun activities to keep people's interest peaked throughout the party. If you're having a summer party and expecting sunny weather, set up some outdoor games like bag toss or badminton. If you're partying indoors, consider activities like karaoke, dancing, group board games, or cookie decorating. Rent a "Selfie Booth" to create endless memories. These are especially good ideas for younger kids who tend to lose interest quickly.
A game that has recently been trending is JackBox Games. This is the perfect game for the modern age—it's played completely through smart phones and your TV. Each player joins and plays through his or her own cellphone, following prompts on the TV to participate in a diverse and unique selection of entertaining minigames.
Make sure your grad knows that the hassle was worth the tassel. It's time to celebrate! When it comes down to it, all you have to do is follow one simple rule: create a day that your grad will never forget. The rest will follow suit.


text:
Some Delaware news, Joseph "Beau" Biden III is a candidate for Attorney General in 2006. He is the son of Senator Biden and has my endorsement in 2006.
But Biden, a Wilmington attorney and the son of Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., refused to comment about whether he wants to be considered to fill the year remaining in the term of Attorney General M. Jane Brady, who will leave the job next month to take a Superior Court judgeship.David Hawpe, in his op-ed today, has apologized for attacking Jack Conway.
"I'm not going to comment on any of that stuff," Biden, 35, said.[...]
Beau Biden has been among several lawyers mentioned as possible attorney general candidates since Brady beat Democrat Carl Schnee and Green Party candidate Vivian Houghton in 2004. He has been courted by state Democratic leaders and party activists and has been considering a run for the past year.
"I am going to run for attorney general next year," Biden said Thursday. "I am getting a committee together and plan to make a formal announcement next spring."
Minner said Biden has the stuff to be an "outstanding" candidate and attorney general.
State Democratic Chairman John Daniello said he agrees and thinks Biden made a wise choice if, as other party veterans said, he has taken his name out of consideration for an appointment.
"It sends a powerful message that he's confident that he's got the experience and ability to handle the job," he said.
Northup is right that I was too personal in attacking Jack Conway for his decision not to run. I apologize. Conway's decision means voters probably won't have an opportunity for an up or down vote on their representative's performance. I'm sorry about that, too.Jim Parker, a former constituent of Jack Murtha, is the only declared candidate against Rep. Jean Schmidt. This is a very important race now. He needs your support.
Interesting. Kentucky will not play in Cincinnati after this season.
Congressman Patrick Kennedy will be in the Cincinnati area tonight.
Lately the Democrats have been luring some pretty big names to the Bluegrass-Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., then Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and now Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I. The youngest son of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., will be the special guest at an event hosted by Alice Sparks (who may be the only Northern Kentuckian to have hobnobbed with the Kennedys in Hyannis), Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley and Cincinnati consultant Dick Weiland.Sounds like that will be an interesting evening. I know if I had a car, I'd be there in an instant.
Sparks said Kennedy's visit to Weiland's home was spurred by Weiland's and Chesley's desire to thank him for his efforts on pro-Israel legislation. Sparks became acquainted with Kennedy through his chairmanship of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and his work with Scotty Baesler, a former congressman and mayor from Lexington.
"We've stayed pretty good friends," Sparks said.
The event takes place Nov. 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Weiland's home at 2444 Madison Ave. in Cincinnati. The event is not a fundraiser, but donations are suggested and welcome.
The day I've feared all semester long: Indianapolis vs. Cincinnati. Colts all the way! I despise the Bengals.
Former Senator Bob Graham has an editorial in the Washington Post that he should be commended for!
The president's attacks are outrageous. Yes, more than 100 Democrats voted to authorize him to take the nation to war. Most of them, though, like their Republican colleagues, did so in the legitimate belief that the president and his administration were truthful in their statements that Saddam Hussein was a gathering menace -- that if Hussein was not disarmed, the smoking gun would become a mushroom cloud.Go to the link for me but it is definitely worth the read. He was the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and even he voted against the resolution.
The president has undermined trust. No longer will the members of Congress be entitled to accept his veracity. Caveat emptor has become the word. Every member of Congress is on his or her own to determine the truth.


text:
Address: 1, Lenina Square, Myadel
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone/fax: +375-1797-55-3-72
Hotline: +375-1797-55-3-72
The regional governor Anatoly Isachenko shared these touching moments. He visited school number 14 in Molodechno. Anatoly Isachenko congratulated everyone on the new school year.
"Friends! Knowledge is the greatest wealth that a person can have. In our country, it is available to everyone. Get it and multiply. I wish you good health, hard work and success on a wide path of enlightenment! "
As a gift, school №14 received a certificate for the purchase of a computer class, books and balls. Also, the chairman of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee attended the first lesson in 1 "D" and from the President of the Republic of Belarus presented gifts to children - books "Belarus is Our Radzima". Boys and girls immediately began to examine them. Tanya, a student of 1 "D" later, in a conversation with the journalist of the "Minsk Wave", said that she came to school with pleasure, she really liked the gift from President Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko. And Tanya really liked her first teacher.
Our students have great opportunities for development. This was once again convinced by the example of secondary school No. 14 of Molodechno. The work of the students could not leave anyone indifferent: paintings from papier-mâché, works made in the steampunk style, decorative dolls.
As the director of the school, Kalina Kaputskaya, said, a chess center was opened in an educational institution this year, in which two teachers will teach children this thinking-developing game. Also, more than 200 children will be able to learn Chinese. A native speaker of Chinese, who has been teaching in schools in the Minsk region for the second year, will conduct a special elective.
647A1986 novyj-razmer-1
The governor of the region noted that in the modern conditions created in our educational institutions, everyone has the opportunity to choose their direction for studies, to choose who they will become in the future, however, we must first educate a person who will love his homeland.
As if in confirmation of the words of the governor, Kirill Ruda, a student of the 11th "B" class, a candidate for master of sports, a medalist of republican and regional swimming competitions, shared his plans for the future. The guy said that he wants to go to college, become a coach and return to his native school in order to teach the guys what he can do.


text:
Sold Vehicle Follow-Up?
This was the topic of conversation this past week; that is making sure we follow-up with the customer after their purchase. As much as we do not want to admit it, we do not call 100% of the customers. How do you keep track of this? Do you have your sales managers call the customers?
this is so important
Most advanced CRMs have post-delivery features.
If it's not an existing feature, you must learn how to work around it using the tools/calendar in your CRM to make sure you make it happen.
You should set 24-72h follow-ups, and start following up every 6 months after the sale for feedback, service appointments, etc... Frequent touch points with your clients will increase renewal & referral rates. It's old stuff!
I think aftersale is where many of us fall short. To help that I've created aftersale campaigns based on Cardone's follow up schedule. Seems to work pretty well.
#protip: if you're using DealerSocket. Make sure you use a different todo type other than phone calls for this follow up. DealerSocket will skip the todos if a person schedules their own phone call todo at anytime.
@Chris, that stinks! And I have not seen his campaign/follow-up before. I need to check that out.
@Mark, agreed! If we do not follow-up with the customer how can we expect them to come in for their service!? One of the other things I learned over the years from after sales follow-up is that the customer still might not know about all of their features on the vehicle (pertaining to new vehicles), which gives you the perfect opportunity to help the customer out. I laugh at myself, but I had my car for three years and had no clue that if you held down the unlock button all of the windows/sunroofs would open! LOL.
Suggested Discussions
• 2 days ago
• March 14th
• 2 days ago
Featured Masters
Rate a Vendor Give feedback in three quick steps
Add a Vendor or Add a Product


text:
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the perfect dessert… An Ice Cream Float. Make it just like your mom used to, just substitute a bottle of Guinness for that root beer. Fill a large glass with 2 scoops of your favorite vanilla ice cream, then slowly pour the stout over the ice cream. Enjoy!
You can also get some ideas for Irish food bites from FoodieView's Recipe Roundup.


text:
Moscow for the second year in line. Traditionally, the membership of InstaForex in ShowFx World - Moscow became a memorable for the visitors event. The attention was mostly drawn by the events organized by InstaForex in the process of participation in the expo and numerous managers of the company who did not leave a single question unanswered.
The brightest part of the exposition was certainly the handling the keys to a brand-new Hummer H3 by the company's authorities to the lucky winner of the annual draw "Hummer to a Jimmy Fellow". Hummer H3 was the first out of the three autos raffled by InstaForex Company under the framework of the contest and campaigns' series. And determining the owners of Lotus Elise (May 2011) and Lotus Evora (2012) is just around the corner.
Moreover, InstaForex named the winners of the exquisite beauty contest Miss Insta Asia. This event attracted the interest of the male guests at most. The representatives of the company awarded the gorgeous ladies with prize money and diplomas of honor.
During two days of the ShowFx World Moscow fair it was possible to visit InstaForex stand and familiarize oneself with the trading conditions, advantages, types of trading accounts, forms of client support service and also to win money prizes or bonuses. Besides, InstaForex offered opening and instant replenishment of trading accounts in the online mode by the team of the company.
The company's management expresses gratitude to all guests and partakers of the exhibition who visited the stand of the company and welcomes everybody at the next exhibition with the presence of InstaForex.
View the photoreport on the expo at InstaForex official blog.


text:
Hello everyone! Raymond and I have been super busy recently! It's like riding on a crazy roller coaster ride with no ending and no destination! We had fun taking turns to fall sick, shooting weddings for lovey dovey couples like Herman and Janet, Chye Tuan and Siang Yin, Richard and Wendy etc, meeting up with interesting couples like Ken (and his friend James) who thought Raymond was Gay cos of one of the comments in the Jack and Grace entry I wrote, catching up with our past lovely couples like Jack and Guan and Jeslin and Andrew and Clarice and and and and and!! Muwahahaha.
Okie, we have a whole mountain of pictures to share, especially Raymond's travel collection when he went over to China for a shoot. But today I'm sharing something interesting. My parents' wedding pictures! =D
This is a one and only piece of family portrait in my family before I was born. So precious because there's no negatives returned, and seriously, this is the only piece. ONLY piece. So many siblings inside the picture, but my dad gets to keep this maybe because he's the eldest son? But he's not the eldest children in the family. Hehe. I was wondering how come the bestman and my dad wears the same thing. Quite misleading! =p
6 sisters and 1 brother. Actually got few more brothers, but you know, families in the past cannot afford so many children, so had no choice but to give away. Some left Planet Earth already when they were young. =(
My mum pretty much hates her makeup that day. No choice cos they had a super tight budget, and this is the best my dad and his family could provide already.
When I was born, I grew up and started drawing things all over the house. This should be one of my masterpiece before I even went to Kindergarten. I will always remember this because I got wacked extremely badly by my dad when he saw this. It's really lucky that I didn't draw on the other side. Cos this is actually the one and only piece of family portrait!! Sigh… at that time I didn't know why did my dad canned me for drawing. Now that I realised the value of pictures, I can understand his then position.
Maybe it's a sign that I will be an artist when I grow up what. No?? =p
The photo album. One and only too!
Sorry for the bad quality cos I don't have a scanner, and I quickly snapped it using my dummy camera.
My mum and dad's tea ceremony. Dad was holding the plate of teacups while mum served to my 3rd uncle, and my grandmother watched at the side. Hmm… Interesting.
Their night banquet. No table to table shoots! Only candids. How cool!! These people are part of my mum's family.
No yum seng, so you get to yum seng individually with the different tables.
And then they made the groom drink. My dad doesnt drink alcohol at all so I wonder what happened to him after this glass. Hmm… Oh, no speeches, no gate crashing too! =\
Going back already! My mum wore a pink cheongsam, with a pink tiny hat + feathers. She still keep this cheongsam though!! Can wear for my own wedding. Muwahahahahaha!!
Now that's me looking at the photographer. Maybe it's a sign that I'll have my eyes on a wedding photographer in future when I grow up. That's why I'm happily in love together with Raymond now.
Okie! Gotta go already! Pardon the gramers, gotta go meet couple! More updates soon! 😀
Lots of ♥,
– Angeline


text:
East Campbelltown Eagles suffer first loss of 2019: Photos
The East Campbelltown Eagles have experienced their first loss in 2019.
The Eagles and Cabramatta Blues Two battled it out for top spot on the NSWRL Sydney Shield ladder at Waminda Oval on Sunday.
The teams were neck-and-neck for most of the game, with the Eagles eventually falling 32-18.
It took the Eagles just four minutes to score first, with Samuel Ioane diving over.
Sean Connor's conversion attempt bounced back and the home side led 4-0.
Cabramatta replied to level the score after 20 minutes, before Craig Moustakas crossed in the corner to give the Eagles an 8-4 lead.
The Blues again dived over to level the score at 8-all at half time.
East Campbelltown started the second half well with Amanono Tovio crossing out wide to give his side a 12-8 advantage.
However, Cabramatta charged ahead in the next 15 minutes, scoring three tries to take a 26-12 lead.
A Shannon Gallant try gave the Eagles a sniff at 26-18 with 10 minutes remaining, before Cabramatta scored to round out the 32-18 margin.
Brett Lahey received the Eagles' man of the match award while Amanono Tovio was named players' player.
Other standouts were Alex Potifara, Vince Ripepi and Tom Morrison.