Saturday, February 18, 2006
randomly done artsy things... that you can name too!
Friday, February 17, 2006
inbox indiscretions # 2...
Another bit of forwardable gemology 101 today - then we will pause for a while before we do it again - okay?
Today, we are urged to remember Terri Schiavo...
I want to, absolutely. However, I would urge all to drop the name Schiavo already.
Remember Terri SCHINDLER instead - that's right, her maiden name and the name of the people who truly loved her; her family.
The name Schiavo is that of her wretched husband, he who came along one dark day into her life - and that was really the beginning of the end for Terri.
Michael Schiavo came, saw, conquered her heart... and now, in his wake, Terri is simply no more.
There is not even a trace of her left any longer - since she was reduced to ashes, at the insistence of Mikey there...
He who claimed to be privy to her wishes in regards to illness, death... and funeral arrangements. Sure. Those are the topics of choice between two lovebirds. I am so sure that every set of those had a ball discussing those things this past February 14th... when love is in the air... both are healthy and subject to the rampant effects of these pheromones floating about in the air... death and sickness come to mind immediately, yeah... rrrrrright.
I am digressing again - aren't I.
Onwards with another one of them Forwards then...
Don't Let Terri Schiavo's Name Be Exploited: Click below to Help Re-elect Legislators That Tried To Save Her Life!
Donate Now!
This CONSERVATIVE ALERT is a special message for Luminous Luciano from the RightMarch.com PAC:
Dear Luciano,
This is a very difficult letter for me to write. But I'm asking you to PLEASE, read it all the way through.
I'm sure you remember last year, when judicial activists and liberal politicians worked together and starved an innocent young disabled woman to death -- Terri Schindler Schiavo.
I remember it all too well. I was there in Florida, trying to save Terri's life.
Contrary to anything you may have heard, Terri was NOT brain dead; Terri was NOT in a coma; she was NOT in a "persistent vegetative state;" nor was she on ANY life-support system.
Terri laughed, Terri cried, she moved, and she made child-like attempts at speech with her family. Sometimes she would say "Mom" or "Dad" or "yeah" when they asked her a question. When her mother or father kissed her hello or goodbye, she would look at them and "pucker up" her lips.
This may not seem like much to you, but it meant everything to Terri's family. It told them she was still there, she still knew them, and with therapy and time she could have had some level of recovery.
I know that there are some hard-hearted people who believe that due to Terri Shiavo's condition, she is better off dead. Words cannot describe the pain and anger such sentiments cause me. This was a human being -- her parents' daughter, their little girl -- and even in her disabled condition, she still had the right to life and the right to be loved and cared for by her family.
After they killed her, I vowed to do everything in my power to make sure nothing so horrible could ever happen again in America. And I thanked the statesmen and activists who did everything in their power to try and save her from starvation. I was especially thankful to the tens of thousands of RightMarch.com activists across the nation, who called, wrote, and even travelled to Florida to join us in speaking with legislators and participating in vigils and protests on behalf of Terri.
Now Michael Schiavo, Terri's estranged husband who denied her any therapy for over a decade and then collaborated with those activist judges and legislators to starve her to death, has stepped into the media spotlight once again. He's started a PAC (political action committee) to exploit Terri's name and raise money to defeat the Congressmen and Senators who tried to save her life.
He even has the nerve to call it "TerriPAC". He should be ashamed of himself, but instead he paints himself as a victim and a hero, who "loved his wife". (Never mind the he lived with his "fiancee" the whole time Terri was being starved, had two children by her, and spent the money that was supposed to be for Terri's rehabilitation on lawyers in order to have her killed.) Now, once again, Michael Schiavo is hitting the news shows and the talk show circuit to tell the world that Terri "wanted to die" -- in fact, he was just on Keith Olbermann's liberal "news" show on MSNBC spouting the same old rhetoric.
And the liberal media eats it up -- because they believe it means more conservatives will be voted out of office.
I believe we need to fight back -- NOW. Last year, countless thousands of members of RightMarch.com were there for Terri when she and her family needed them the most. Many were there beside me, in the halls and offices of the Florida legislature, trying to convince hard-hearted politicians to stop her court-ordered starvation. Many of you were there, when we went in for meetings with state senators and Governor Bush's aides, alongside others like Randall Terry, Alan Keyes, and even Jesse Jackson, trying to convince the governor to intervene and save Terri's life.
And so many were there, helping us to raise money to pay for the tens of thousands of dollars in expenses that Terri's family incurred, trying to save her life. I was so very grateful for everything that RightMarch.com members did to help the Schindler family in their time of greatest need.
Now, utilizing the RightMarch.com PAC, we have decided to FIGHT BACK against Michael Schiavo's blatant exploitation of Terri, and to counter everything he does -- dollar for dollar, ad for ad -- so we can support the legislators that supported Terri... and defeat the ones that contributed to her death.
We've started a new PAC project, called "Terri's List," which will focus on supporting the list of legislators that Michael Schiavo is targeting for defeat. This project name was chosen because anyone that Michael Schiavo decides to put on HIS list was, obviously, a FRIEND of Terri. But we need YOUR help to ensure this project's success. Please click through to contribute to the RightMarch.com PAC's special project, "Terri's List":
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/rightmarchpac/?a=7
We weren't able to stop the pro-death activists from forcibly starving Terri Schiavo to death. But we CAN stop her estranged husband from exploiting her memory, and her name, in his shameful quest for vengeance against the honorable men and women who tried to stop him from killing her against her will.
Allow me to be very direct with you: if we believe Terri should not have been killed by starvation, then we have a duty before God to do something now in her name. Please, help the RightMarch.com PAC to counter Michael Schiavo's shameful attempt to exploit Terri Schiavo's good name -- help support the legislators on "Terri's List" that tried so hard to save her life.
Friend, though we may have never met, I'm asking you for your help. I am asking you to help the RightMarch.com PAC with the best gift you can give for this battle. Virtually every person reading this can give $5 or $10 dollars. Many can give $50 or $100. Some can give $500 or $1000 or even $2000 or more. An effort like this takes extensive resources, and we need much help. Every gift matters at this time! I thank you with all my heart. (Gifts are not tax-deductible.) Please give ASAP; the need is urgent now, and time is critical as the 2006 election season now starts to heat up:
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/rightmarchpac/?a=7
Please, make your best donation now. Thank you.
Sincerely,
William Greene, President
RightMarch.com PAC
P.S. Just before the New Year, Michael Schiavo's "TerriPAC" placed ads on several popular political websites and discussion groups to drum up support for his new project of exploitation.
Now he's BRAGGING about their early success; here's an excerpt from one of his recent e-mails: "Already, our ads have been seen by more than three quarters of a million people and countless political and opinion leaders. And as a result, our website has recorded tens of thousands of individual 'hits' from people all over the world and people are signing-up every day... In just a few weeks, TerriPAC will be announcing our first endorsed candidates for public office..."
With that, Michael Schiavo announced the TerriPAC "30 Challenge" to raise $30,000 and rank the first 3 legislators he intends to target.
We need to raise MORE money than Michael Schiavo. We need to COUNTER whoever he targets and SUPPORT them, and we need to strongly OPPOSE whoever he endorses. We need to RESCUE the memory of Terri Schindler Schiavo from the clutches of this man who betrayed her.
PLEASE, make your best donation to the RightMarch.com PAC right away, and forward this e-mail to any friends or family that you have who you think might be interested in saving Terri's good name -- even though we were unsuccessful in our attempts to save her life. This is an important battle in the war for the lives of our weak, vulnerable, and disabled brothers and sisters.
CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE NOW:
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/rightmarchpac/?a=7
If you prefer to contribute by check, please send to:
RightMarch.com PAC
Dept. Code 7
PO Box 20277
Washington DC 20041-2277
You are currently subscribed
To unsubscribe: leave-1101670-4174205H@list.conservativealerts.com
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http://capwiz.com/sicminc/RSS/
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Was this message forwarded to you by a friend? You can sign up for our Action Alerts for FREE! Go here:
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4850 Golden Pkwy., Ste. B #325, Buford GA 30518-1712
Please be so kind -to yourselves as to me but mostly to Terri's memory- and copy and paste into your browser any URL address found above ~ so that you can visit the websites and act in Terri's memory.
Blessings!
Link
Today, we are urged to remember Terri Schiavo...
I want to, absolutely. However, I would urge all to drop the name Schiavo already.
Remember Terri SCHINDLER instead - that's right, her maiden name and the name of the people who truly loved her; her family.
The name Schiavo is that of her wretched husband, he who came along one dark day into her life - and that was really the beginning of the end for Terri.
Michael Schiavo came, saw, conquered her heart... and now, in his wake, Terri is simply no more.
There is not even a trace of her left any longer - since she was reduced to ashes, at the insistence of Mikey there...
He who claimed to be privy to her wishes in regards to illness, death... and funeral arrangements. Sure. Those are the topics of choice between two lovebirds. I am so sure that every set of those had a ball discussing those things this past February 14th... when love is in the air... both are healthy and subject to the rampant effects of these pheromones floating about in the air... death and sickness come to mind immediately, yeah... rrrrrright.
I am digressing again - aren't I.
Onwards with another one of them Forwards then...
Don't Let Terri Schiavo's Name Be Exploited: Click below to Help Re-elect Legislators That Tried To Save Her Life!
Donate Now!
This CONSERVATIVE ALERT is a special message for Luminous Luciano from the RightMarch.com PAC:
Dear Luciano,
This is a very difficult letter for me to write. But I'm asking you to PLEASE, read it all the way through.
I'm sure you remember last year, when judicial activists and liberal politicians worked together and starved an innocent young disabled woman to death -- Terri Schindler Schiavo.
I remember it all too well. I was there in Florida, trying to save Terri's life.
Contrary to anything you may have heard, Terri was NOT brain dead; Terri was NOT in a coma; she was NOT in a "persistent vegetative state;" nor was she on ANY life-support system.
Terri laughed, Terri cried, she moved, and she made child-like attempts at speech with her family. Sometimes she would say "Mom" or "Dad" or "yeah" when they asked her a question. When her mother or father kissed her hello or goodbye, she would look at them and "pucker up" her lips.
This may not seem like much to you, but it meant everything to Terri's family. It told them she was still there, she still knew them, and with therapy and time she could have had some level of recovery.
I know that there are some hard-hearted people who believe that due to Terri Shiavo's condition, she is better off dead. Words cannot describe the pain and anger such sentiments cause me. This was a human being -- her parents' daughter, their little girl -- and even in her disabled condition, she still had the right to life and the right to be loved and cared for by her family.
After they killed her, I vowed to do everything in my power to make sure nothing so horrible could ever happen again in America. And I thanked the statesmen and activists who did everything in their power to try and save her from starvation. I was especially thankful to the tens of thousands of RightMarch.com activists across the nation, who called, wrote, and even travelled to Florida to join us in speaking with legislators and participating in vigils and protests on behalf of Terri.
Now Michael Schiavo, Terri's estranged husband who denied her any therapy for over a decade and then collaborated with those activist judges and legislators to starve her to death, has stepped into the media spotlight once again. He's started a PAC (political action committee) to exploit Terri's name and raise money to defeat the Congressmen and Senators who tried to save her life.
He even has the nerve to call it "TerriPAC". He should be ashamed of himself, but instead he paints himself as a victim and a hero, who "loved his wife". (Never mind the he lived with his "fiancee" the whole time Terri was being starved, had two children by her, and spent the money that was supposed to be for Terri's rehabilitation on lawyers in order to have her killed.) Now, once again, Michael Schiavo is hitting the news shows and the talk show circuit to tell the world that Terri "wanted to die" -- in fact, he was just on Keith Olbermann's liberal "news" show on MSNBC spouting the same old rhetoric.
And the liberal media eats it up -- because they believe it means more conservatives will be voted out of office.
I believe we need to fight back -- NOW. Last year, countless thousands of members of RightMarch.com were there for Terri when she and her family needed them the most. Many were there beside me, in the halls and offices of the Florida legislature, trying to convince hard-hearted politicians to stop her court-ordered starvation. Many of you were there, when we went in for meetings with state senators and Governor Bush's aides, alongside others like Randall Terry, Alan Keyes, and even Jesse Jackson, trying to convince the governor to intervene and save Terri's life.
And so many were there, helping us to raise money to pay for the tens of thousands of dollars in expenses that Terri's family incurred, trying to save her life. I was so very grateful for everything that RightMarch.com members did to help the Schindler family in their time of greatest need.
Now, utilizing the RightMarch.com PAC, we have decided to FIGHT BACK against Michael Schiavo's blatant exploitation of Terri, and to counter everything he does -- dollar for dollar, ad for ad -- so we can support the legislators that supported Terri... and defeat the ones that contributed to her death.
We've started a new PAC project, called "Terri's List," which will focus on supporting the list of legislators that Michael Schiavo is targeting for defeat. This project name was chosen because anyone that Michael Schiavo decides to put on HIS list was, obviously, a FRIEND of Terri. But we need YOUR help to ensure this project's success. Please click through to contribute to the RightMarch.com PAC's special project, "Terri's List":
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/rightmarchpac/?a=7
We weren't able to stop the pro-death activists from forcibly starving Terri Schiavo to death. But we CAN stop her estranged husband from exploiting her memory, and her name, in his shameful quest for vengeance against the honorable men and women who tried to stop him from killing her against her will.
Allow me to be very direct with you: if we believe Terri should not have been killed by starvation, then we have a duty before God to do something now in her name. Please, help the RightMarch.com PAC to counter Michael Schiavo's shameful attempt to exploit Terri Schiavo's good name -- help support the legislators on "Terri's List" that tried so hard to save her life.
Friend, though we may have never met, I'm asking you for your help. I am asking you to help the RightMarch.com PAC with the best gift you can give for this battle. Virtually every person reading this can give $5 or $10 dollars. Many can give $50 or $100. Some can give $500 or $1000 or even $2000 or more. An effort like this takes extensive resources, and we need much help. Every gift matters at this time! I thank you with all my heart. (Gifts are not tax-deductible.) Please give ASAP; the need is urgent now, and time is critical as the 2006 election season now starts to heat up:
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/rightmarchpac/?a=7
Please, make your best donation now. Thank you.
Sincerely,
William Greene, President
RightMarch.com PAC
P.S. Just before the New Year, Michael Schiavo's "TerriPAC" placed ads on several popular political websites and discussion groups to drum up support for his new project of exploitation.
Now he's BRAGGING about their early success; here's an excerpt from one of his recent e-mails: "Already, our ads have been seen by more than three quarters of a million people and countless political and opinion leaders. And as a result, our website has recorded tens of thousands of individual 'hits' from people all over the world and people are signing-up every day... In just a few weeks, TerriPAC will be announcing our first endorsed candidates for public office..."
With that, Michael Schiavo announced the TerriPAC "30 Challenge" to raise $30,000 and rank the first 3 legislators he intends to target.
We need to raise MORE money than Michael Schiavo. We need to COUNTER whoever he targets and SUPPORT them, and we need to strongly OPPOSE whoever he endorses. We need to RESCUE the memory of Terri Schindler Schiavo from the clutches of this man who betrayed her.
PLEASE, make your best donation to the RightMarch.com PAC right away, and forward this e-mail to any friends or family that you have who you think might be interested in saving Terri's good name -- even though we were unsuccessful in our attempts to save her life. This is an important battle in the war for the lives of our weak, vulnerable, and disabled brothers and sisters.
CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE NOW:
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/rightmarchpac/?a=7
If you prefer to contribute by check, please send to:
RightMarch.com PAC
Dept. Code 7
PO Box 20277
Washington DC 20041-2277
You are currently subscribed
To unsubscribe: leave-1101670-4174205H@list.conservativealerts.com
FREE Issues/Action Alert RSS feed:
http://capwiz.com/sicminc/RSS/
Put a "Write-to-Congress" web sticker on YOUR website:
http://capwiz.com/sicminc/dbq/stickers/?command=fedstickers
Put an "Action Alerts" web sticker on YOUR website:
http://capwiz.com/sicminc/remotecontent/remotesticker/
If you have any questions or problems with your subscription please don't simply reply to this e-mail, since the return address is not a working e-mail address. Instead, contact us using our web form here:
http://www.conservativealerts.com/contact.htm
Was this message forwarded to you by a friend? You can sign up for our Action Alerts for FREE! Go here:
http://www.ConservativeAlerts.com/
4850 Golden Pkwy., Ste. B #325, Buford GA 30518-1712
Please be so kind -to yourselves as to me but mostly to Terri's memory- and copy and paste into your browser any URL address found above ~ so that you can visit the websites and act in Terri's memory.
Blessings!
Link
Thursday, February 16, 2006
inbox indiscretions # 1...
Today, let's start a new tradition here, on TLB Prime (while we tongue-in-cheekly promote some e-mail providing services too - *LOL*)
Let's explore the wondrous world of the forwardables! Those messages that people will forward our way, fully expecting us to keep it going in an endless chain...
In olden days, chain letters were a pain you know where (in my whole life, I only ever got but ONE of those...)
Little did we know that, in the computer age, things would REALLY PICK UP FOR CHAIN MAIL (as for many other things as well - but those are other stories best saved for later... or kept secret altogether! Just like The Ssssssssecret! Yesssssss... *sic*)
HOWEVER... once in a blue moon, we get PEARLS in these forwarded messages.
Yes - those kind of pearls too; the ones we feel like sharing with all - even with the swine (although it is discouraged to do so in the Good Book itself and in those exact words, pretty much...!)
You will find following here the pearl of pearls, in my estimation; I adored this forward! Ahh ~ if only all spam was like this!
Here are some men and women who mocked God:
JOHN LENNON:
Some years before during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
"Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about
that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, Today we
are more famous than Him" (1966)".
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ,
was shot six times.
TANCREDO NEVES:
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500 votes from his
party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes,
but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.
CAZUZA:
During a show in Canecão ( Rio de Janeiro ), whilst smoking his cigarette,
he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: God, that's for you.
I can't even explain how he died.
THE MAN WHO BUILT THE TITANIC:
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic
would be. With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can sink it"
The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.
MARILYN MONROE:
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He is a
preacher and Evangelist and the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.
After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:
"I don't need your Jesus"
A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.
BON SCOTT:
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:
"Don t stop me, I m going down all the way, wow the highway to
hell".
On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked
by his vomit.
CAMPINAS/SP IN 2005
In Campinas, a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend. The mother
accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her
friends and she said to the daughter - holding her hand, who was already
seated in the car: "MY DAUGHTER, GO WITH GOD AND MAY HE PROTECT YOU",
She responded: ONLY IF HE (GOD) TRAVELS IN THE BOOT, COZ INSIDE HERE IT'S
ALREADY FULL"
Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident,
everyone had died, the car could not be recognized what type of car it had
been, but surprisingly, the boot was intact.
The police said there was no way the boot could have remained intact. To
their surprise, inside the boot was a crate of eggs, none was broken.
Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that
was given so much authority as the name of Jesus. Many have died, but only
Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive. JESUS!!!
P.S: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone. So are you
going to have courage to send this?.
I am blogging about it - how's that for courage?
Link
Let's explore the wondrous world of the forwardables! Those messages that people will forward our way, fully expecting us to keep it going in an endless chain...
In olden days, chain letters were a pain you know where (in my whole life, I only ever got but ONE of those...)
Little did we know that, in the computer age, things would REALLY PICK UP FOR CHAIN MAIL (as for many other things as well - but those are other stories best saved for later... or kept secret altogether! Just like The Ssssssssecret! Yesssssss... *sic*)
HOWEVER... once in a blue moon, we get PEARLS in these forwarded messages.
Yes - those kind of pearls too; the ones we feel like sharing with all - even with the swine (although it is discouraged to do so in the Good Book itself and in those exact words, pretty much...!)
You will find following here the pearl of pearls, in my estimation; I adored this forward! Ahh ~ if only all spam was like this!
Here are some men and women who mocked God:
JOHN LENNON:
Some years before during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
"Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about
that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, Today we
are more famous than Him" (1966)".
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ,
was shot six times.
TANCREDO NEVES:
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500 votes from his
party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes,
but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.
CAZUZA:
During a show in Canecão ( Rio de Janeiro ), whilst smoking his cigarette,
he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: God, that's for you.
I can't even explain how he died.
THE MAN WHO BUILT THE TITANIC:
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic
would be. With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can sink it"
The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.
MARILYN MONROE:
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He is a
preacher and Evangelist and the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.
After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:
"I don't need your Jesus"
A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.
BON SCOTT:
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:
"Don t stop me, I m going down all the way, wow the highway to
hell".
On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked
by his vomit.
CAMPINAS/SP IN 2005
In Campinas, a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend. The mother
accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her
friends and she said to the daughter - holding her hand, who was already
seated in the car: "MY DAUGHTER, GO WITH GOD AND MAY HE PROTECT YOU",
She responded: ONLY IF HE (GOD) TRAVELS IN THE BOOT, COZ INSIDE HERE IT'S
ALREADY FULL"
Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident,
everyone had died, the car could not be recognized what type of car it had
been, but surprisingly, the boot was intact.
The police said there was no way the boot could have remained intact. To
their surprise, inside the boot was a crate of eggs, none was broken.
Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that
was given so much authority as the name of Jesus. Many have died, but only
Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive. JESUS!!!
P.S: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone. So are you
going to have courage to send this?.
I am blogging about it - how's that for courage?
Link
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
500th TLB Prime Post Published... uh... in History! Yeah! Yay! I guess...!
And, as the 500th bonus dispensed on these premises, the link will lead you on a quest for many other 500thsLink
today we all get to find out
Soundtrack for the Secret
(well... if I was putting it together!)
Labels: music video, Robbie Robertson with Peter Gabriel
Link
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Saints & Angels: The TLB Prime series! St- Valentine Edition!
Everybody has guessed which saint we will "discover" or re-discover in this edition - so let's get to it! Saint Valentine is in fact... three saints! Three martyrs! It could be any one of the three or more likely an amalgamation of the three martyrdoms that spawned the legend that we know today. As we will see, for some reason, Love and Death go together as a horse and carriage... Dean Martin sang for the rhymes, of course, so he had love and MARRIAGE going together as a horse and carriage. But I digress...Of the three Valentines that could be "our man" here, there was this "priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death."
More believable stories have it that this priest really only sought to "help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured" and that this was the true reason of his putting to death...
After all, even today, with ever depleting clientele, name me a priest who is putting in any extra effort to find more happy customers to get married in his parish... hmm? They are not - in fact, most priests are still turning down customers that they deem "not ready to be wed" for some reason! It is thus very hard to imagine that there was, at any point in history at all, a priest who ever risked life and limb (or... his head) in order to perform the sacred rites of marriage...
And the angel today, obviously, will be one of the myriad, ah, "speculative ones". After all, "the only Scriptural names furnished of individual angels are Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel, names which signify their respective attributes. Apocryphal Jewish books, such as the Book of Enoch, supply those of Uriel and Jeremiel, while many are found in other apocryphal sources, like those Milton names in "Paradise Lost"... and anything of the sort a thousand and one other authors have come up with over the years!
Come on now - you didn't really believe Cupid to be "for real" - did you?
Santa Claus has more credibility - in my book! The ABC show starring Jeremy Piven had Cupid likely being a mental case anyway, and not who he purported to be. "Cupid" is really but the Roman identity of another mythology character: Eros, Greek god of Love. When one thinks of Eros, one has to think of his brother - Thanatos. Eros and Thanatos are always found closely associated, somehow... for some reason. Even Woody Allen knows so much... after all Love and Death (the movie this time) was certainly one of his better movies (even if all it really is, in the end, is but a send-up of War And Peace...)
However, Cupid loved Psyche and hence we have another allegorical reference to yet another one of the mysteries of life - love and reason, and love having its reasons that reason cannot fathom sometimes! Cupid, like Hermes and many a pagan deity (not to mention fairies also) shared a lot of traits attributed usually to heavenly attendants (angels). Hence the image we have of him nowadays - that of a cherubim! Cherubs should sue...
For there is deception here - even in the original concept! At one point, it seems as though there are two Cupids!
One that spreads love indeed (the one that was recuperated for this holiday-that-isn't-one-really here, obviously) and another for unadulterated "riotous debauchery" - nothing less!
If this is angelic behaviour, it is that other kind of angels then... the tempting ones, perhaps...?
Labels: Saints And Angels
Link
Monday, February 13, 2006
On forgiving...
Guest TLB Prime authoring today... For quite a while I've saved this as a draft "for later" - what better time to share it than now, twenty-four hours before the celebration of love in all its forms?
To love is to perform a whole lot of near-superhuman feats...
Far from being the least of which, forgiving is essential to loving.
Love is not selfish nor is it rancorous.
Love is acceptance. Love, at its best and in its purest form, is unconditional.
Forgiving is an act of love - one of the purest of all acts of love that could ever be. And there can be no doubt that it is a divine gift; who forgives more than God?
When He grants us with the ability to forgive, we must not resist it.
Whatever may be the transgression that is being forgiven -if not forgotten- we owe it to none other than ourselves to forgive.
It is liberating. It really is.
Enough of my intro - onwards with the main dish...
A Single Act of Amnesty ~ By Gregg Levoy
For nearly a month, the Tibetan monks worked silently, bent over a low platform that cradled a spiritual rendering of the cosmos—a six-foot wide mandala made of colored sand and powdered gems. The monks had traveled from the monastery of the Dalai Lama to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to add this glowing sacrement to an art exhibit called "Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet." Day after day, they laid out their intricate geometry of devotion by hand, surrounded by onlookers who sometimes stood entranced for hours, as I did, uncharacteristically forgetting their busy lives.
Although the mandala didn't fit my aesthetic taste, I was nonetheless absorbed by the artistry and concentration that went into it. I was also astonished that anyone could stoop for so many hours, working without complaint. But the greatest measure of the project's drama and poignancy lay in the fact that it was temporary. In the Buddhist tradition of non-attachment, the monks intended from the very start to dismantle their creation after a few months on exhibit and to scatter its remains in the sea.
All that painstaking work wasted, I thought to myself.
The day before the mandala's scheduled completion as the monks were adding finishing touches, a woman jumped the velvet ropes, climbed onto the platform, and trampled the mandala, screaming accusations about "Buddhist death squads." It was an act of desecration, a terrible and profane misunderstanding of the monks' intentions. As I thought of the mandala's destroyer, images of revenge filled my head.
In stark contrast to my malevolent reaction, the monks' response was one of forgiveness. "We don't feel any anger," said one. "We don't know how to judge her motivations. We are praying for her with love and compassion."
I felt incredulous at their equanimity. Coming from a long line of avengers —people who have demanded eyes for eyes and teeth for teeth— I've always had a difficult time with forgiveness. I have hung on certain betrayals all my life, refusing to let go of things I had long ago lost forever.
Yet I was moved by the monks' gesture of absolution, an act that greatly defused the situation and drained much of the bitterness from the mandala's loss. I found myself taking a critical look at the almost instinctive viciousness of my reaction, comparing it to the compassion of the men who should have been most outraged but weren't.
I finally understood that I was moved precisely because I had seen the mandala and its creation with my own eyes; it had become a part of me. Perhaps I would find forgiveness more readily if I could see this destructive woman in the same way, if I bathed myself in her presence as I did in the presence of the mandala, if I took time to wonder how many grains of sand she is made of and why they are arranged the way they are.
The monks reminded me that forgiveness is divine—but also that ordinary people can do it. I admit I find revenge satisfying in some moments, but its sweetness can't compete with that of forgiveness. It may be useful to have laws that punish transgression, but they can't set your soul to rights after you've been wronged. Only the hard, very human work of forgiveness can do that. And, as the monks showed me, there is a healing contagion to even a single act of amnesty.
You might want now to take a test -short and sweet, worry not- to find out if you too don't quite measure up to those monks! *lol* The test is to be found on the link provided today - a short eight question quiz courtesy of beliefnet.com! Blessings!
Link
To love is to perform a whole lot of near-superhuman feats...
Far from being the least of which, forgiving is essential to loving.
Love is not selfish nor is it rancorous.
Love is acceptance. Love, at its best and in its purest form, is unconditional.
Forgiving is an act of love - one of the purest of all acts of love that could ever be. And there can be no doubt that it is a divine gift; who forgives more than God?
When He grants us with the ability to forgive, we must not resist it.
Whatever may be the transgression that is being forgiven -if not forgotten- we owe it to none other than ourselves to forgive.
It is liberating. It really is.
Enough of my intro - onwards with the main dish...
A Single Act of Amnesty ~ By Gregg Levoy
For nearly a month, the Tibetan monks worked silently, bent over a low platform that cradled a spiritual rendering of the cosmos—a six-foot wide mandala made of colored sand and powdered gems. The monks had traveled from the monastery of the Dalai Lama to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to add this glowing sacrement to an art exhibit called "Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet." Day after day, they laid out their intricate geometry of devotion by hand, surrounded by onlookers who sometimes stood entranced for hours, as I did, uncharacteristically forgetting their busy lives.
Although the mandala didn't fit my aesthetic taste, I was nonetheless absorbed by the artistry and concentration that went into it. I was also astonished that anyone could stoop for so many hours, working without complaint. But the greatest measure of the project's drama and poignancy lay in the fact that it was temporary. In the Buddhist tradition of non-attachment, the monks intended from the very start to dismantle their creation after a few months on exhibit and to scatter its remains in the sea.
All that painstaking work wasted, I thought to myself.
The day before the mandala's scheduled completion as the monks were adding finishing touches, a woman jumped the velvet ropes, climbed onto the platform, and trampled the mandala, screaming accusations about "Buddhist death squads." It was an act of desecration, a terrible and profane misunderstanding of the monks' intentions. As I thought of the mandala's destroyer, images of revenge filled my head.
In stark contrast to my malevolent reaction, the monks' response was one of forgiveness. "We don't feel any anger," said one. "We don't know how to judge her motivations. We are praying for her with love and compassion."
I felt incredulous at their equanimity. Coming from a long line of avengers —people who have demanded eyes for eyes and teeth for teeth— I've always had a difficult time with forgiveness. I have hung on certain betrayals all my life, refusing to let go of things I had long ago lost forever.
Yet I was moved by the monks' gesture of absolution, an act that greatly defused the situation and drained much of the bitterness from the mandala's loss. I found myself taking a critical look at the almost instinctive viciousness of my reaction, comparing it to the compassion of the men who should have been most outraged but weren't.
I finally understood that I was moved precisely because I had seen the mandala and its creation with my own eyes; it had become a part of me. Perhaps I would find forgiveness more readily if I could see this destructive woman in the same way, if I bathed myself in her presence as I did in the presence of the mandala, if I took time to wonder how many grains of sand she is made of and why they are arranged the way they are.
The monks reminded me that forgiveness is divine—but also that ordinary people can do it. I admit I find revenge satisfying in some moments, but its sweetness can't compete with that of forgiveness. It may be useful to have laws that punish transgression, but they can't set your soul to rights after you've been wronged. Only the hard, very human work of forgiveness can do that. And, as the monks showed me, there is a healing contagion to even a single act of amnesty.
You might want now to take a test -short and sweet, worry not- to find out if you too don't quite measure up to those monks! *lol* The test is to be found on the link provided today - a short eight question quiz courtesy of beliefnet.com! Blessings!
Link
Sunday, February 12, 2006
what luminous really is all about!
