So simple, and yet so profound.
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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul
29
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Jul
29
QUSTED EVANGELICAL REFLECTS ON HIS FAITH, FUTURE……
(source cited below)
For 10 years, the Rev. Richard Cizik was the chief lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents roughly 30 million constituents across the United States.
But he was forced out of that position in December 2008, after remarks he made on Fresh Air about his support of gay civil unions, among other things.
On Wednesday, Cizik returned to Fresh Air to discuss how his life has changed since he left the association and why he started a new group called the Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, which he hopes will be an alternative to Christian groups that focus on the culture wars.
Cizik says he has no regrets about what happened to him after appearing on the show.
“In so many ways, this has been good for me,” he tells Terry Gross, adding that his support of same-sex civil unions wasn’t the only reason he was asked to leave the NAE.
Richard Cizik launched The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good in January 2010.
“It was a sum total of everything [I said on Fresh Air],” Cizik explains. “It was speaking out on behalf of creation care, climate change, a broader agenda — speaking out on a host of levels that just offended the old guard. Civil unions, well that was just one part of it.”
To read or listen to the story click on:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128776382
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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul
28
WE AMERICANS LIVE LONGER THAN OTHERS? SORRY: WE ARE 37TH.
Why live a longer and healthier life? Many reasons: taking care of ourselves so that:
we can take care of those we love?
reduce our health insurance costs so that others will be helped?
be less of a burden on those who will take care of us?
die an easy, simple and peaceful life?
It’s never too late to start! -mackie
(source below cited)
It’s true that life expectancy in the United States rose dramatically during the last century—from 51.1 years to 78.2 years, according to the United Nations Population Division.
But that doesn’t even crack the world’s top 35. Japan, with a life expectancy of 82.6 years, is number one, while such diverse countries as Malta (19), Guadeloupe (26), Cyprus (27) and Chile (34) outrank the United States (37).
Blame it on obesity, many experts say. A full third of Americans are now obese, and another third overweight, with the steepest increases in average weight occurring among children and minorities. Some experts say American life expectancy will soon decline.
“It now appears certain,” says public health expert Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois at Chicago, “that unless we find a way to intervene, today’s younger generation could live a shorter and less healthy life than their parents’ generation for the first time in the modern era.”
For much more click on:
http://www.aarp.org/health/longevity/info-04-2009/myth_buster__longevity.html
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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul
18
LEARNING FROM THE HOLY DAYS…………..
There are many roads that lead to the “ETERNAL I AM,” who has been given many names (God, Jehova, Allah, etc). Many have travelled different faiths, but the committed seeker for this ETERNAL I AM begins to sense through thought, meditation, and prayer THAT THERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS LARGER, BROADER. AND DEEPER THAN ANY SECT, DENOMINATION, RELIGION, BELIEF, OR FAITH. ”THE ETERNAL I AM” IS BEYOND WORDS. WE SENSE THIS “BEING” AT TIMES WHEN WE ARE THINKING OF NOTHING, IN A DAZE, A STILLNESS THAT WE ARE HERE, WE ARE ALIVE RIGHT NOW AND ALL IS WELL. FOR A FEW MOMENTS THE GUILT OF OUR PAST AND FEAR OF OUR FUTURE ARE BLOCKED OUT AS WE SENSE THE ETERNAL I AM.
Through learning from the HOLY DAYS we can begin to see the vastness of this Being.-mackie
7/11 Saint Benedict Day: Catholic Christian recognition of the father of the The Benedictine Order. It was the first Order of the Western Church Monastic tradition and lived by the Benedictine Rule. St. Benedict spent the rest of his life realizing the ideal of monasticism which he had drawn out in his rule. He died at Monte Cassino, Italy,while standing in praying to God. according to tradition, on March 21 547.
Rule of St Benedict
Seventy-three short chapters comprise the Rule. Its wisdom is of two kinds: spiritual (how to live a Christocentric life on earth) and administrative (how to run a monastery efficiently). More than half the chapters describe how to be obedient and humble, and what to do when a member of the community is not. About one-fourth regulate the work of God (the Opus Dei). One-tenth outline how, and by whom, the monastery should be managed. And two chapters specifically describe the abbot’s pastoral duties.
For much more click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Nursia#Biography
7/13-15: Ullambana: Buddhist celebration of the ritual of saving the deceased from torments after death. In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (??), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in Spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in Autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living. On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship. Click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival
7/15 Jovan Vladimir: Christian. He tried to protect Duklja from the expansionist Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria by an alliance with Byzantium; Samuil, however, conquered Duklja in 997 and took Jovan Vladimir prisoner. According to a 12th-century chronicle, Samuil’s daughter Theodora Kosara fell in love with the captive, and begged her father for Jovan Vladimir’s hand. He obliged, returning Duklja to his new son-in-law and giving him the adjoining territory of Dyrrhachium to rule as his vassal. Vladimir was acknowledged as a godly, just, and compassionate ruler. He ruled in peace, evading involvement in the major conflict. The war culminated with Samuil’s defeat by the Byzantines in 1014, shortly after which the Tsar died. Jovan Vladimir fell victim in 1016 to a plot by Ivan Vladislav, the last ruler of the First Bulgarian empire. He was beheaded in front of a church in Prespa.
Before his death, while he languished in the prison praying day and night, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and foretold that he would shortly be freed, but that he would die a martyr’s death.[4] His fate in captivity is the subject of one of the most romantic tales of early Serbian literature – the story of Vladimir and Theodora Kosara (spelled also as ‘Cossara’), Samuil’s daughter.[2] An oral tradition of the story was recorded in the 12th century in the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja; this is the Chronicle’s description of how Vladimir and Kosara met:[4]
“It came to pass that Samuel’s daughter, Cossara, was animated and inspired by a beatific soul. She approached her father and begged that she might go down with her maids and wash the head and feet of the chained captives. Her father granted her wish, so she descended and carried out her good work. Noticing Vladimir among the prisoners, she was struck by his handsome appearance, his humility, gentleness and modesty, and the fact that he was full of wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. She stopped to talk to him, and to her his speech seemed sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.”
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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul
17
A GREAT WAY TO SHARE WITH THE ETERNAL SPIRIT….
5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.a’
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
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storing our treasures in Heaven, and not to worry.
Check out: http://hubpages.com/hub/Praying-In-Public
We pray for all the leaders of the world that they may make wise choices for everyone
and that they may lead us to honor one another and serve the common good.
Guide them, O Lord, and hear our prayer.
We pray for your wonderful creation, the Earth, and its streams, trees, mountains and plants.
We pray that the animals of the Earth may freely enjoy these resources.
Guide those who manage the world, O Lord, and hear our prayer.
We pray for those who have died and for the people who miss them.
May all find peace and strength in You.
Bless all of us, O Lord, and hear our prayer.
We pray for those who do not understand or have not found Your love,
that they may seek a deeper knowledge of You.
May Your love find those who need You most.
Guide and bless them, O Lord, and hear our prayer.
Please add your thanksgivings and requests. -mackie
Click on: http://www.stjohnwilderness.org/prayersp.htm
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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul
16
GREENSPAN: LET BUSH TAXCUTS DIE.
What is the opposition singing now? -editor
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan is calling for Congress to let the Bush tax cuts die. As stated in Bloomberg News, he speaks not as a liberal but as a deficit hawk.
Greenspan, who originally pushed for the Bush tax cuts, now says that was a mistake. He made the statement during the recording of a Bloomberg TV show that will run over the weekend.
My friend, Bloomberg reporter Mike Dorning, writes:
For more click on:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/07/16/128564378/alan-greenspan-let-bush-tax-cuts-die
Jul
16
WHY WE NEED A LEANER AND MORE AGGRESSIVE GOV……..
Massey Miners: Disabling Monitors Was Common
(quoted & cited) July 16, 2010
Miners who’ve worked in Massey Energy‘s Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia say disabling methane monitors was relatively common and was justified by mine managers with false descriptions of mining regulations.
Methane monitors are mounted on 30-foot-long continuous miners like this one, and other mining machines, to warn coal miners about dangerous levels of explosive methane gas.
An NPR News investigation has documented an incident in February 2010 in which an Upper Big Branch electrician was ordered to circumvent the automatic shutoff mechanism on a methane detector installed on a continuous mining machine. The machine then continued to cut rock without a working methane monitor, a dangerous and possibly illegal act.
The incident occurred two months before the explosion that killed 29 mine workers. Running mining machines without methane monitors risks similar explosions.
Four former Upper Big Branch miners indicate that the February incident was not isolated. And they describe a Massey Energy practice that characterized mining coal without working monitors as accepted and even legal.
Clay Mullins was a maintenance foreman at Upper Big Branch for eight years and left four years ago. He describes a widespread belief about mining machines that are left inoperable by malfunctioning methane monitors.
To see, hear, or read more click on:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3
Jul
11
WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE, PART I.
A RELIGIOUS FAITH HISTORY OF A JEWISH GOD, A JEWISH PEOPLE AND THEIR ENEMIES, AN ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE OTHER GODS AND THEIR BELIEVERS, AN ATTEMPT AT TRYING TO DESTROY THE ETERNAL LIGHT OF THE WORLD (except for a few), etc. (see link #1).
Notice the sequence in the story (Genesis):
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth wasa formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (There is no time period mentioned here. In our view of time it could have been for thousands to millions of yrs. Also notice that all creation came out of the deep.)
3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Do you see the big bang theory in the sequence? The story tellers of that day had no concept of cells, atoms, the Spirit of Truth, the vastness of the Universe and the spiritual eternal world that exists forever. They didn’t know how to write. The story was handed down orally thousands of years before a writen language first appeared (link #2).
Even some today when they don’t understand an event call it, “AN ACT OF GOD”(link #3).
The word “day” has several meanings:
“For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” (Psalms 90:4)
GOD IS CALLED BY MANY NAMES. THE GOD OF MOSES SAID, “I AM” HAS SENT YOU (Exds 3:14). EVERYONE THAT USES THE NAME OF “GOD” HAS THEIR OWN CONCEPT OF HIM. “God did this,” “God told me,” “God is going to send you to Hell,” etc. “I AM,” “THE SPIRIT OF THE UNIVERSE,” “THE ULTIMATE CAUSE,” “THE TRUTH,” etc., may be better ways to describe
who we are talking about.
WHETHER ONE BELIEVES THE CREATION STORY FOUND IN GENESIS OR NOT, ISN’T IT OBVIOUS THAT HUMAN BEINGS DOMINATE THE PHYSICAL EARTH? IF THE EARTH IS TO CHANGE FOR BETTER OR WORSE, WE (you and me) HAVE TO DO IT.
Gns1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,b and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
1:31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
2:1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he resteda from all his work. 3And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Mt. 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”
Click on Links:
1 http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/tp/biblestorysummaries.htm
3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_God
more later.
Jul
09
WHO BROUGHT US HERE? FOR WHAT?
It is amazing how with each generation there is a broader and deeper understanding about the Creator and the Universe and what our obligation is to every human being and everything else in His Creation. No wonder Jesus said, “You can’t pour new wine into old wine skins…”
He’s not referring to age, but to people who are not willing to change. They are afraid of it. They hang with only those who look like, talk, and believe as they do and condemn the rest. They must have missed out on “the kingdom of Heaven is within,” and “our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.” They are not aware the Spirit of the Universe reveals himself to us, if only we be open to him through His Creation and “Be still and know that I am God (or whatever you call this Being). It has been said in so many ways over the ages by those who have experienced this Spirit of the Universe: empty ourselves and be open to this Spirit, die to all the thoughts that plague us and live in the present moment (that’s all we have), etc. -mackie
(following source cited)
The Southern Baptist Declaration on Environment and Climate Change is introduced with words like this:
“We believe our current denominational engagement with these issues have often been too timid, failing to produce a unified moral voice. Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed. We can do better. To abandon these issues to the secular world is to shirk from our responsibility to be salt and light. The time for timidity regarding God’s creation is no more.”
I can’t help but hear echoes of Ellen Davis here, and be confirmed in my sense that her kind of theological reasoning has spread much farther and deeper than has heretofore been visible on the surface of our public life. It is also a reminder of the effect of up-and-coming generations in and around Evangelical Christianity, like Shane Claiborne, who has continued to grow in visibility and influence since I interviewed him in 2006. We’re putting him back on the air this week.
For more click on:
http://blog.speakingoffaith.org/post/757834402/evangelical-environmental-evolution
Jul
09
AT LAST, SOMETHING IS BEING DONE TO PROTECT OUR MONEY.
The finance-reform bill Congress is likely to pass this summer won’t eliminate the risk of failure for financial firms, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says in an interview on Friday‘s Morning Edition.
But the bill means that, when firms get into trouble in the future, “we won’t give them a second chance,” he tells NPR‘s Renee Montagne. “We will dismember them, put them out of existence.”
The bill does create new powers for the government to wind down failing financial firms.
But many economists have questioned whether large firms will be allowed to fail in the future, suggesting that the largest firms may still be bailed out.
What’s more, some key details about how failing firms will be shut down remain unclear.
Nor does the bill specify how much money banks have to hold in reserve, as a cushion to protect against losses — a key measure of the safety of the financial system.
To hear or read more click on:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/07/08/128388443/geithner-on-failing-firms-we-will-dismember-them
