| Interesting Fact About Sleep... |
Apr 15, 2008 11:11 am
267 Views | | Is sleeping less good for you? Scientists say that people who sleep less than average (less than 6 hours a night) are more organized and efficient than everybody else. How much sleep do you get on average per night? | |
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10 Comments | |
| Pink Elephants |
Apr 14, 2008 11:02 am
235 Views | Did you know....In regions of India where the soil is red, elephants take on a permanent pink tinge because they regularly spray dust over their bodies to protect themselves against insects? So I guess there really is such a thing!  | |
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2 Comments | |
| Right Frame of Mind |
Apr 9, 2008 1:32 pm
247 Views | Success, whether measured in business, family or love, is often determined by the "right" attitude. Unfortunately, maintaining that proper frame of mind, a positive attitude, isn't always easy. Sometimes, in spite of our best efforts, Life just seems intent on bringing us down.
Inspiration, however, is rarely far away - if we are but willing to look for it. God Bless everyone. | |
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2 Comments | |
| "GOD HATH NOT PROMISED" |
Mar 26, 2008 1:44 pm
245 Views | "GOD HATH NOT PROMISED"
God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower strewn pathways, all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing kindness, undying love.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptations, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing kindness, undying love.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing kindness, undying love.
-Annie Johnson Flint | |
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| Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow |
Mar 25, 2008 10:20 pm
308 Views | Today is yesterday's tomorrow,
Make the most of it you can.
For soon it will be a memory,
As the hourglass fills with sand.
Don't waste yet another moment,
Nursing grudges from out of the past.
Or carry guilt from days gone by,
Or walk with eyes downcast.
Forgive, forget, unlock the chains,
There wrapped around your heart.
For life's too short, days quickly pass,
Make today, a brand-new start.
Each day's a chance to right the wrongs,
To make amends, it's true.
A chance to heal old wounds and hurts,
And let love rule in you.
The time is here, the time is now,
For tomorrow may be too late.
Let love and forgiveness be your guide,
And cleanse your heart of hate.
Today is yesterday's tomorrow,
Your chance to start anew.
A chance for you to discover,
The miracle of love within you.
By Gina Mazzullo Laurin | |
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6 Comments | |
| Spreading Happiness (Quote) |
Mar 24, 2008 10:02 am
274 Views | Whatever else you do or forbear, impose upon yourself the task of happiness; and now and then abandon yourself to the joy of laughter.
And however much you condemn the evil in the world, remember that the world is not all evil;
that somewhere children are at play, as you yourself in the old days; that women still find joy in the stalwart hearts of men.
And that men, treading with restless feet their many paths, may yet find refuge from the storms of the world in the cheerful house of love.
Max Ehrmann, 1872-1945
American Lawyer, Philosopher, Poet | |
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0 Comments | |
| Spreading Happiness |
Mar 24, 2008 9:56 am
278 Views | Find a quiet place and listen. It should be very quiet. The only sound you should hear is your heart beating. Listen. Peer deep down inside your heart. Do you see someone that holds a special place in your heart? Maybe they have always been there when you needed them; maybe they offered words of encouragement; taught you a lesson; comforted you when you were sick; praised you on your accomplishments. Make this their lucky day.You have the POWER to spread happiness today. A quick note or a kind word is all it takes to bring a smile and lasting memory to someone very special.
Gary Harrington | |
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4 Comments | |
| On What Day Did Jesus Die? |
Mar 21, 2008 2:43 pm
297 Views | All four Gospels agree that Jesus died on a Friday.
This has been an unbroken tradition, and every Friday of the year has special meaning for Christians.
The Jewish day ended at sunset, at which time the next day began. The Last Supper took place on what most people would consider Thursday evening. However, by Jewish reckoning, it was already Friday. Thus, by that reckoning, all the events of the Passion took place on one day – namely, Friday: Last Supper, Agony in the Garden, Arrest, Jewish Trial, Roman Trial, Crucifixion, Death, and Burial.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may come to believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: ‘Not a bone of it will be broken.” And again another passage says: “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.” (Jn 19:35-37)
John stresses the truth of what he had just said about the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus, pointing out that there was an eyewitness.
(This eyewitness would appear to be the Beloved Disciple who just a few verses earlier was at the foot of the cross with the mother of Jesus.)
John emphasizes the truth of this “so that you also may come to believe.”
It’s not often that a Gospel writer addresses us directly: “that you also may come to believe.”
John is speaking to us. He wants us to share his own faith in who Jesus is, and the gifts that Jesus offers us.
The teachings of the Gospel are not simply data provided for our information. They are grace-filled words intended to feed our faith.
Think about all that John has been telling us about Jesus in the passages. Is it date? Or is it food for our faith – God reaching out to us?
Let your faith be fed. | |
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2 Comments | |
| Longinus the Centurion |
Mar 21, 2008 2:35 pm
247 Views | A legend or a fable is a story that doesn’t pretend to be historical, but simply teaches a lesson. The events surrounding the suffereing and death of Christ gave rise to many legends.
Longinus the Centurion
What happened to the soldier who “thrust his lance” into the side of Jesus, a story told only in the Gospel of John?
According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, the soldier was named Longinus. He had poor eyesight that was miraculously cured when drops of Jesus’ blood fell into his eyes after he lanced Jesus’ side.
Shortly after this, Longinus converted to Christianity. It is said that he resigned from the military and later died for his faith, martyred by Pontius Pilate in Cappodocia (a region in modern-day Turkey).
Charlemagne was said to have possessed Longinus’ lance, and the lance was part of the Legend of the Holy Grail.
*******
A statue of St. Longinus can be found in the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican. It is located near the tomb of Pope John XXIII.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (Jn 19:32-34)
In describing the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus, John is not giving a medical analysis. He is teaching the deaper meaning of the death of Jesus.
Earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Jewish “Feast of Tabernacles”.
On the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’ He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (Jn 7:37-39)
Now that Jesus has been lifted up on the cross and given over his life, the hour of his glorification has come. The blood is a sign of his dying – which is his glorification. The water is a sign of his Spirit which he promised to give.
“Let anyone who thirsts come to me.”
Jesus speaks those words personally to each of us. And he promises to give us the gift of his own Spirit.
His own Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus is given to us. Personally.
Let us think hard about that. | |
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| The Cause of Jesus' Death |
Mar 20, 2008 11:54 am
257 Views | Victims of crucifixion were sometimes tied to the cross with ropes. About half the time, they were affixed to the cross with nails. But even in the latter case, the nails were placed so they didn’t pierce an artery and cause a person to bleed to death.
The cause of death from crucifixion was usually asphyxiation – the inability to breathe. Normally, breathing is a reflex action. One does not have to pay attention to the fact that the diaphragm moves up and down to cause the intake of oxygen.
But when hanging on a cross by the arms, a person is in the “exhale” position and has to pull himself up to be able to take in air.
Sooner or later, with no food or water, the person becomes too exhausted and, unable to breath, suffocates.
This form of death is long and torturous, and could last three or four days. Executioners sometimes prolonged the agony by placing a wooden support at the hips and/or feet, enabling the victim to push upward…until they were too exhausted even to try.
If the scourging beforehand were especially brutal, the victim would have less strength and death would be hastened. Perhaps, because Jerusalem was crowded with Passover pilgrims (a time when disturbances often broke out), Pilate ordered a more severe scourging, and Jesus died more quickly than usual.
Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. (Jn 19:31)
The normal method of execution among the Jewish people was stoning. Afterwards, the dead body was sometimes hung from a tree as part of the disgrace. However, “if a man guilty of capital offense is put to death and his corpse hung on a tree, it shall not remain on the tree overnight.” (Deut. 21:22-23)
The Jews felt that this law applied to crucifixion as well. Whether the Romans would normally respect their concern is questionable. Perhaps in the case of Jesus, because of the feast of Passover, the Romans conceded to Jewish sensibilities.
One way of hastening death was to break the victim’s legs with wooden clubs so that it was more difficult for him to raise his body upward to draw a breath.
Pilate is concerned about civic unrest. The Jewish leaders are worried about the fine points of religious law. All this while three people are being brutally executed.
One cannot look at a cross without wondering if our concern for human life has moved beyond what it was 2,000 years ago. Executions are still done in many places. Many abortions are motivated by convenience or economics. Terrorism targets human lives as a means to an end. Weapons of mass destruction are spreading from country to country.
Where are we in all this? | |
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