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Post by Charlotte on Aug 1, 2010 8:31:26 GMT -5
What a nightmare to watch just before the dawn, but I'm glad that Anthony, as a boy delighting in mischief to scare people, listened to reason and became responsible. One always means more than one says.
The deserted road through the desert looks almost like Interstate 10 toward Phoenix Arizona which I drove many times, living for 3 month totally forsaken in the Harquahala Valley, but I could almost reach the Milky Way. And I hope tortured Valentine was ok after he came out of the Twilight Time Flight bathroom. It is most dangerous to loose all ordination in this world, better to live in it but not of it. I find grounding necessary lest we become like Valentine.
As to my dream of Chelsea, I looked at the Wedding photographs this morning and Her dress was just as I saw it, the Band about Her waist somewhat unclear. Of course, She would look radiant at Her Nuptial. I have had dreams where I know I was dreaming, and saw myself in dreams. Strange dreams that give a dead women leave to think and see.
I like the term "subconscious security" as another buffer, and the "stealing of dreams", and then there is the stealing of thoughts, not really a "stealing", and transferring of thoughts. Best is not to think at all in certain situations but simply being Whole, nothing wanted, nothing needed, the earthly and Divine in perfect Harmony. Complex ceatures we are while 'dreaming' in this world, and the distance between the dreaming and the sober state is at times lightyears, others not at all.
Not that it matters much, I will go see Inception, which after all deals with and in this fallen state, and interpretation. The Divine Poet means a 'time' before we arrive here.
INCIPIT
Before lip touches lip, ere the eyes weep, Or hands reach out or feet run here and there, We dream not thus, not dimly are aware, But one with an all-knowing sentient deep' Where life is merged in Being, as the light Of stars in day. Then once a soft enquiring Troubles our quiet; we stir with old desiring, And lean to earth, draw in, and lose our sight; Tremble, and know not if with fear or bliss, Feeling Love's wings beat near us in the night, And closing sense and gross responsive limbs, We, yet not we; then mused we test our might, And with a terrible cry the spirit dims, Desperate too late beneath our mother's kiss.
Charlotte
PS I tried FB to no avail.
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Post by renwdimgink on Aug 1, 2010 18:11:57 GMT -5
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 2, 2010 8:16:46 GMT -5
Thank you for the link Steven, hope all is well with you and your lovely Family.
Yesterday again was celebrated a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, His Grace, Bishop Maxim serving, and graciously performing the seven step Ritual of my anointing, and it was also nice to once again hear my first name pronounced perfectly. So as not to inconvenience You, I chose the Lady V. as my Godmother for She was the first who spoke to me personally at Church.
His Grace spoke of our way to Perfection, and what it means that we should die so others may live, citing the Saints who when hearing confession took and made the sins of the People their own thus giving them Life.
The Reading from Saint Matthew was that you quote frequently, i.e., that even Faith the size of a mustard seed moves mountains.
Honored were the Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils; Venerable Macrina, Sister of Saint Basil the Great, Saint Steven The Tall of Serbia; and Venerable Eugenia-Euphrosynia (Princess Milica).
Quote of the Day
"Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It wont last forever. We must take it or leave it."
C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity.
Don, You have not answered my question as to why the 'Vision' song, perhaps you think it best not too, and I'm used not getting any "feedback" from any posters save Steven. I think I'll send you a personal message.
A good Day to All
Charlotte
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Post by Don Barone on Aug 3, 2010 8:40:13 GMT -5
An angelic voice to sing it as well. best db PS: If you wonder where your picture went I am having trouble with my computer and can no longer leave it it running as it freezes. We are working on these technical difficulties
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Post by Don Barone on Aug 3, 2010 22:12:21 GMT -5
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Post by Don Barone on Aug 3, 2010 23:24:39 GMT -5
This is video is barred all over the internet. I found this version on a Russian site and have had to make it private as it is already banned worldwide. YouTube did that before it had even finished processing. So after viewing make sure you destroy the copy Actually maybe you won't be able to view it here. Let me know and if not I will figure out another way. It is K.D. Land singing Hallelujah at The Olympics
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 4, 2010 6:55:21 GMT -5
Hi Don and All, As with the picture, I noticed our Logo disappearing and re- appearing as well, and thanks for the songs. I always also liked "In the Arms of the Angel". Long ago, I used to listen to Leonard Cohen for hours, but his songs are timeless. Can't find the studio version to this one: Hallo to your Marianna, Carol and Angelica Seems Steven maneuvered part of the Secrets to FB. Naturally, I would be thinking Francis Bacon.... Charlotte
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Post by renwdimgink on Aug 4, 2010 10:53:02 GMT -5
Who was that masked man?
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 5, 2010 8:29:36 GMT -5
Today is an important day for me and I'll be away again for a week or so, but check in when possible.
Be well
Charlotte
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 12, 2010 7:28:25 GMT -5
Greetings Don, Steven, Members and Guests, Lively Board, this A bit confusing all the videos so I have to let that go. I might begin with an experience related to the the Secrets of the Universe, the secret in this case being: how does one know something one doesn't know factually or objectively. For several weeks the thought of "you should check the lights on your car" crossed my mind several times, but I put it off till 'later'. The Experience Early in the morning I was driving down the Boulevard and spied a Police car directly behind me. No other car in sight, I thought 'fine, I'm the only one the Police can pay attention to. We drove a minute or so, and sure enough the lights then flashed. I pulled over, let down my window and while He got out I looked for my Licence, Insurance etc. I looked up and there stood a COP with the brightest smile you can imagine: P. "How are you today?" "I am good, thank you, how are you?" P. Good too, thank you. I suppose you are not one of the most wanted in this Country?" "No, not yet", and handed him my Licence and Insurance. Opening my glove compartment, I said: "I'm looking for my Registration." P. "Never mind", the bright smile never left His face. "Why did you stop me?" P. "Because you were doing 'almost' 50 in 35 mile zone and your brake light is out." Er, I thought, here goes $400, but the 50 is a bit 'iffy' for I was going pretty slow relative to my usual speed, and He did say 'almost', but I must have tapped my brakes when I saw Him behind me or He wouldn't have known my light was out. I asked: "Is it the left or right light?" P. "No, the one in the middle." "Oh, I forgot I had a middle brake light?" And both of us cracked up laughing. P. "Don't worry, I'm not going to give you a ticket, just a warning." "Ah you are so nice, you just made my day!" Had I been out of my car I would have embraced Him with a light kiss on the cheek, which He knew. "Are we finished?" P. "Yes, have a good day!" You too, Sir, and thank you!" I backed up and He got out of the car again: "Wait! Wait! Your backup light is out as well." "The left or right?" His smile as bright as before and I couldn't stop laughing either. I shall have them fixed post heste, I promised, and did the next day. This 'chance' happening early in the morning was wonderful and the moments in Time of our naturally cheerful interaction so real for both of us, delighting our day and some more time. Perhaps we'll pass each other again on the streets or at a stoplight, smiling, remembering, and re-connecting in the Realms of Good Will to Mankind. Should it so happen, I would tell the Officer of the silent voice hinting about checking the lights of my car. Smile truly, and you might get away with it. Charlotte
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 15, 2010 8:54:53 GMT -5
Repeated for continuity
Altho' good disposition (as Aristotle hath it) may be by beauty educated, and aspire to theoretic wisdom (as Plato would teach) And Ethick therewithal claim honor of the same rank that ideal philosophy ascribeth to man, yet, if for lack of faith he sink that claim, I see a thing of hap without place in Reality. On one hand is't deny'd that term of Right or Wrong are wholly pertinent to man's condition on earth; nor that, whatever his destiny might be, his origin was bestial and his first ethick a rudiment, that shifting ever and shaping in the story of man at every time is the index of his growth in grace; and, if the change of custums that the herd adopt for comfort and to insure what they most value in life, hath moral tendency upward, then thatt tendency is the animal sanction of virtue, and will take honor as such.
But Duty instill'd with order is so almighty of kind that 'twill make Law of Habit, whence all social codes outlast their turn and time, and in arrear of life hold the common folk backward from their nobler vaunt, logging and dragging, whether as a garment outgrown tatter'd and foolish, or as strong fetters and chains wherein they lie fast-bound in misery and iron. Hence cometh all the the need and fame of TEACHERS, men of inborn nobility, call'd Prophets of God, Saviours of society, Seers of the promised land,— thatt white filleted company that Aeneas found circled around Musaeus in the Elysian fields, the loved and lovable whose names liv evermore, the sainted pioneers of salvation, unto whom all wisdom won and all man's future hope is due; and with inspiration of their ampler air we see our Ethick split up shear and sharply atwain; two kinds diverse in kind ther be; the one of social need, lower, stil holding backward in the clutch of earth, from old animal bondage unredeem'd; the other higher and spiritual, that by personal affiance with beauty hath made escape, soaring away to where the Ring of Being closeth in the Vision of God.
The Divine Poet
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 17, 2010 9:09:04 GMT -5
A noteworthy reading in mystical language from the Church Bulletin
The Holy Apostle Paul to the Corinthians
"Brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed."
By falling asleep the Church denotes dying.
Quote of the Day
"He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less."
C.S. Lewis, Perelandra
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 19, 2010 9:01:50 GMT -5
Today, the Church Calendar marks The Tranfiguration of Christ "Jesus has gone with his disciples Peter, James, and John to Mount Tabor. Christ's appearance was changed while the watched into a glorious radiant figure. "This event shows forth the divinity of Christ, so that the disciples would understand after his Ascension that He was truly the radiant splendor of the Father, and that his Passion was voluntary. It also shows the possibility of our own theosis." The last sentence is what this thread is all about, becoming gods in our own right: "In the narrative, after the voice speaks, Elijah and Moses have disappeared, and Jesus and the three apostles head down the mountain, Jesus telling the his apostles to keep the event a secret until the "Son of Man" had risen from the dead. The apostles are described as questioning what Jesus meant by "risen from the dead" - The apostles are also described as questioning Jesus about Elijah, and he as responding "Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come. It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, as predicted in the Book of Malachi." Remembering also that Elijah ascending to Heaven in His chariot, dropped His Mantle to Elisha. "Maximus the Confessor said that the senses of the apostles were likewise transfigured to enable them to perceive the true glory of Christ." Necessarely so, reminds me of the Pyramid Champ saying, that the people dressed in white you see sometimes during the night on the Giza Plateau "make you like them and you can see them." Traditions "In Greece and Romania the harvest season traditionally began on the Transfiguration. Grapes, in particular, were not eaten before August 6. In some parishes, the first grapes would be brought to church for blessing and distributed to the parishioners." orthodoxwiki.org/Transfigurationen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_of_JesusRooted at the foot and growing up on the Cross is a grapevine and ripe grapes about Jesus INRI Igne Natura Renovatur Integra Have a great day Charlotte
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Post by renwdimgink on Aug 20, 2010 21:19:54 GMT -5
TRANSFIGURATION Thursday, August 19, 2010 ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 8TH DAY
"A knowledge of the beginning and end of all things is essential for us to understand the purpose of our existence here on this earth, and what lies beyond it. For a true interpretation of the first and last things, we must turn to those teachers who beheld the beginning and end in a state of divine vision. Among these great seers was St. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022): he speaks of the mysteries of the beginning and end precisely because he has seen them. St. Symeon's profound homilies on Adam and the future age give the theological foundation for the Christian life of struggle. The original state of man from which Adam fell tells of our deepest nature, of which our present fallen nature is a corruption that is to be overcome; and the future state of blessedness is the goal to which our Christian struggle is aimed, and to which we can attain, by God's grace, despite our fallen state." (From the introduction to "First Created Man")
St. Symeon The New Theologian: "God, in the beginning, before He planted Paradise and gave it over to the first-created ones, in five days set in order the earth and what is in it. And on the sixth day He created Adam and placed him as lord and king of the whole visible creation. Then there was not yet Paradise. But this world was from God a kind of Paradise, although it was material and sensuous. God gave it over to the authority of Adam and all his descendants." (Genesis 1:26-31)
Here, St. Symeon goes on to describe what life would have been like for us had we not transgressed the commandment of God and become subject to corruption and death: "If now, after we transgressed the commandment and were condemned to die, people have so multiplied, then just imagine how many there would have been if all those born from the creation of the world had not died! And what kind of life they would have lived, being immortal and incorrupt, strangers to sin, sorrows and cares, and difficult necessities! And how, prospering in the keeping of the commandments and the good ordering of the dispositions of the heart, in time they would have ascended into the most perfect glory, and being changed, would have drawn near to God; and the soul of each one would have become light-bearing by reason of the illuminations which would have been poured out upon it from the Divinity! And this sensuous and crudely material body would have become as it were immaterial and spiritual, above all senses; and the joy and rejoicing with which we would then have been filled by fellowship one with the other, in truth would have been unutterable and beyond human thought."
Do you see if how we had not disobeyed the commandment, God would have raised us up directly into the Kingdom of Heaven from Paradise without having to go through this detour of the fallen world? " But let us return again to our subject: And thus God gave over to Adam this whole world which had been created by Him in six days. (Genesis 1:31, 2:2, 2:7) After He had created everything else, and made man also, and rested on the seventh day from all the works He had begun to do-He planted Paradise in Eden in the east as a Royal dwelling, and led into it as a king the man whom He had made.
But why did not God put in order Paradise on the seventh day, but planted it in the east only after He had finished all the rest of creation? Because He, as the foreknower of everything, arranged the whole creation in order and in an orderly sequence, and He assigned seven days that they might be an image of the ages which were subsequently to pass in time. But Paradise He planted after those seven days, that it might be an image of the future age. But why did the Holy Spirit not place the eighth day together with the seven days in the count? Because it was unfitting to place within the count the eighth together with the seven, for they, moving cyclically, produce so many weeks, years and centuries, but it was proper that the eighth day be placed outside the seven, since it does not have any cyclic movement." (But lasts forever.)
Do you see why we, as Orthodox Christians no longer keep the Hebrew Sabbath on Saturday, but rather celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, as the promise of the future age of incorruption for ourselves as well, on Sunday, which is both, the first and the eighth day of the week at one and the same time?
God planted Paradise "With various fruits which never spoiled and never ceased, but were always fresh and sweet and furnished for the first-created ones great satisfaction and pleasantness. For it was fitting to furnish also an incorruptible enjoyment for these bodies of these first-created ones, which were incorrupt. Therefore their life also in Paradise was not burdened with labors and not weighted down with misfortunes. Adam was made with a body that was incorrupt, although material and not yet spiritual, and was placed by the Creator God as an immortal king over an incorrupt world, not only over Paradise, but also over the whole of creation which was under the heavens."
"God gave the first-created ones a commandment, and commanded them not to taste of the tree of knowledge (of good and evil) alone; but Adam disdained this commandment of God, not believing the words of the creator...he tasted of that tree. Therefore he was immediately stripped of that incorrupt garment of glory, and was clothed in the nakedness of corruption...And thus it was fitting in all justice for the one who had become corruptible and mortal by reason of the transgression of the commandment, to live upon the corruptible earth and be nourished by corruptible food; (Therefore, ' the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope'...) for since a life without labor and an abundant food which grew by itself had caused him to forget God and the good things which He had given him and to disdain His commandment, he was therefore justly condemned to work the earth in the sweat of labor and in this way receive food from it little by little as from some kind of steward.
Adam was banished from Paradise, ( 'lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:' thereby being confirmed in that fallen state,) lived, begat children and died. And this was the way it was with all those also who came from him."
"And behold, as you see, the sentence of God remains forever as an eternal chastisement. And all of us men became both corruptible and mortal, and there is nothing that might set aside this great and frightful sentence. And when there is no possibility to set aside this sentence, then what benefit is there in wisdom or in wealth, or in power, or in the whole world? For this reason the Almighty Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, came so as to humble Himself in place of Adam."
"But I beg you to heed my words, because they begin now to touch upon a most great mystery, the explanation of which is soul-profiting both for us and for those who will live after us. It befits us now to ascend to the contemplation of the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God, and His unutterable birth from the Ever-Virgin Mother of God Mary. We must do this by means of some kind of image, and through it draw near to the understanding of the mystery hidden from the ages of the economy of the Incarnation, for the salvation of our race. Just as then, at the creation of our ancestor Eve, God took the rib of Adam and made the woman from it, in the same way now also our Maker and Creator God took flesh from the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, as a kind of leaven and a certain beginning from the dough of our nature, and united it with His Divinity, which is unattainable and unapproachable- or, to say it better, He united His whole Divine Hypostasis essentially with our nature, and this human nature He joined without confusion to His essence and made it His own, so that the very Creator of Adam became unchangingly and unalterably perfect man. For just as from the rib of Adam He made woman, so from the daughter of Adam, the Ever-Virgin Mother of God Mary, He borrowed the virginal flesh without seed, and being clothed in it, became man like unto the first-created Adam, so as to accomplish this work, namely: just as Adam, through the transgression of the commandment of God was the cause of the fact that all men became corruptible and mortal, so also Christ, the new Adam, through the fulfillment of all justice, became the first fruit of our rebirth into incorruption and immortality.
And inasmuch as our Lord Jesus Christ became perfect man in soul and body, like us in everything except sin, so He gives of His Divinity to us also who believe in Him, and makes us like to Him in the nature and essence of His Divinity. Reflect on this most wondrous mystery: the Son of God received from us flesh, which He did not have by nature, and became man, which He was not, and to those who believe in Him He communicates of His Divinity, which no man ever had in any way,-and these believers become gods by grace."
The Feast of the Transfiguration is God's promise to us that, we too, who have lost our first-created, Divinely woven garments, will be restored to our original blessed state and clothed round about once again by the Glory of God. By His saving economy, He makes a way for us to become, 'Partakers of the Divine nature.' (2d Peter 1:4)
"Thus every saint is as we have said; but their bodies do not become immediately incorruptible and spiritual. Rather, just as iron that has been ignited by fire becomes a partaker of the brightness of fire, putting aside its natural darkness, and as soon as the fire goes out of it and it grows cold, it becomes again dark, so is it also with the bodies of the saints: when they are partakers of that Divine fire, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit which fills their souls, they are sanctified, and being penetrated with that Divine fire, they are bright, distinct from all other bodies and more honorable than they; but when the soul goes out of the body, then their bodies are given over to corruption, and some decay little by little and become dust, while others do not decay for the course of many years, and are not either completely incorrupt or again completely corrupt, but preserve in themselves traces both of corruption and incorruption, until they receive perfect incorruption and are renewed by the perfect resurrection at the time of the general resurrection of the dead.
And for what reason is this? For this reason: it is not fitting for the bodies of men to be clothed in the glory of the resurrection and to become incorrupt before the renewal of all creatures. But just as in the beginning, first the whole creation was created incorrupt, and then from it man was taken and made, so also it is fitting that again first all the creation should become incorrupt, and then the corruptible bodies of men also should be renewed and become incorrupt, so that once more the whole man might be incorrupt and spiritual and might dwell in an incorruptible, Eternal and spiritual dwelling. Thus:"The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans8:19-21)
And that this is true, listen to what the Apostle Peter says: " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." (2nd Peter 3:10-13) This does not mean that the heavens and the elements will disappear, but that they will be reordered and renewed, and will come into a better and incorruptible condition."
"But let us see how the creation is to be renewed and come again into the condition of its original beauty. I suppose that there is not a single Christian who will think to disbelieve the words of the Lord who gave the promise to make the heaven new and the earth new, that is, that just as our own bodies, which are now dissolved into the elements but still are not turned into nothingness, again are to be renewed through the resurrection,-so also the heaven and the earth with all that is in them, that is, the whole creation, is to be renewed and to be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and these elements together with us will become partakers of the brightness proceeding from the Divine fire. Just as a bronze vessel that has become old and useless, becomes new again when a metal-worker melts it in the fire and recasts it, in the same way also the creation, having become old and useless because of our sins, will be as it were melted in the fire by God the creator and recast, and will appear new, incomparably brighter than it is now."
"What is the bright condition the whole creation is again to receive? You should know likewise what is to be the glory and the brightly- shining state of the creation of the future age. For when it will be renewed, it will not again be the same as it was when it was created in the beginning. But it will be such as our body will also be. Concerning our body the Apostle says: "It is sown a natural body, but is raised," not as the body of the first-created one was before the transgression of the commandment, that is, material, sensuous, changeable, having need of sensuous food, but "it is raised a spiritual body" (1st Corinthians 15:44) And unchanging, such as was the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, after the resurrection, He being the first-born from among the dead, which body was incomparably superior to the body of the first-created Adam. In the same way also the whole creation, according to the commandment of God, is to be, after the general resurrection, not such as it was created, material and sensuous, but it is to be re-created and to become a certain immaterial and spiritual dwelling, surpassing every sense."
"Thus the whole creation, after it will be renewed and become spiritual, will become a dwelling which is immaterial, (Which is to say, no longer subject to the laws of physics we are now familiar with) incorruptible, unchanging, and eternal...Having become spiritual and Divine, it will become united with the noetic world; it will be a certain mental Paradise, a Heavenly Jerusalem, the inalienable inheritance of the sons of God. Such an earth has not been inherited as yet by a single man; we are all strangers and foreigners. But when the earthly will be united with the Heavenly, then also the righteous will inherit that already renewed earth.
Now, for the time being, some of the earthly is being united with the Heavenly, and some is yet to be united with it. The souls of the saints, as we have said, even though they are still united with the body in this world, are united with the grace of the Holy Spirit, are renewed, are changed for the better and resurrected from mental death. Later, after separation from the body, they will depart into glory and into the unsetting brightly-shinning light. Their bodies, however, are not yet vouchsafed this, but remain in the tombs in corruption. But they also are to become incorruptible during the general resurrection, when also all this visible and sensuous creation will become incorruptible, and will be united with the Heavenly and invisible." As it is written and was spoken by the Apostle Paul,concerning those who remain alive until the consummation of all things, " Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1st Corinthians 15:51-55)
"Thus, The Kingdom of Heaven will be one, will have a single king over all, who will be visible from everywhere to all the righteous, He will remain with each of the righteous, and each of the righteous will remain with Him; He will brightly shine in each one, and each one will brightly shine in Him."
Happy Feast Day!
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 23, 2010 7:47:54 GMT -5
In daily life also is a simple, but not exact parallel, ie, we discard what has become old and useless, very few people would yet have and wear apparel from even thirty years ago, think and live as we did 28 years ago. Our mental constitution and cells of our body change every 7 years, yet never abruptly, but one phase "merges" into the next, or the evening of one day and the morning of the next are the same. The 7 days of Creation and and 7 stages of cell devision are identical, comparable to God the foreknower of everything arranging the whole creation in order and orderly sequence. Fern would say the only disorder and missing link is in our dumb heads.
Part of the soul's immortal life As drops are of the sea.
Though wending on their lonely way Or in the crowded mart,
They, ne'er forget the love that set its signet on their heart.
Love! the whitest rose of heaven, The fairest charm to earth that's given; Light of the soul, celestial flame! Touched by live coal I'd speak thy name; Dwell ever in my heart as young As when creation's song was sung, And God with man at evening talked, And midst the trees of Eden walked. Thy starry chain is ever bright, Its links are bars of rosy light, The cunning work of angel hands, Nor time nor space can loose its bands.
And noble galleries of art,
Oh, Raphael inspired! Many Madonnas I have seen, But thine the most admired!
Hour after hour I've watched each grace Unfolding beauty rare, And every moment I could trace Some lurking wonder there.
I've wandered round the Parthenon, On Athens classic hills, And drank the snows of Lebanon Flowing in crystal rills.
And where the lofty Pyramids Arose with stately pride, In sacred dread I bowed my head, An infant by their side.
And I have roamed o'er Ireland green, And by the Lakes Killarney, At the old castle I have seen And kissed that stone, the 'Blarney.'
Of all that thou hast given me, We hear the Saviour say, I have lost nothing, but will raise It up at the last day.
And evermore the immortal soul, Its jewel shall enshrine, And all the sweet affinities That here our hearts entwine. There prattling tongues to us will tell The glories of Emanuel! What then, will our employment be. We may iict lift the veil to see.
To serve our God with all our might, And find in Him our chief delight, 'Tis heaven upon the earth below, And will be heaven when hence we go. Pursuits, as various as our thought, will doubless to our hand will brought, And faith which bears us on its wings, ....
A good week to All
Charlotte
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 29, 2010 8:52:56 GMT -5
The other; higher and spiritual, that by personal affiance with beauty had math made its escape, soaring away to where the Ring of Being closeth in the Vision of God.
Sticklers for equality will hear nought of this, arguing that social is but a past-personal, personal a future-social, tenses of one verb, the amatum and amabo on the stem of 'love,' virtue's pure nativ stock which hath no need of graft; —a doctrine kindly at heart, that cajoleth alike diffidence of the ruler and conceit of the crowd, who in collusion float its credit; and awhile their ship of state runneth like the yacht in the race that with full bellying sail, for lack of seamanship, seemeth to forge ahead while it loseth leeway.
No Politick admitteth nor did ever admit the teacher into confidence: nay ev'n the Church, with hierarchy in conclave compassing to install Saint Peter in Cæsar's chair, and thereby win for man the promises for which they had loved and worship'd Christ, relax'd his heave/nly code to strech her temporal rule. For social Ethick with its legalized virtue is but in true semblance, alike for praise or blame, a friendly domestication of man's old wolf-foe, the adaptable subservient gentlemanly dog, beneath groom'd coat and collar in his passion unchanged.
Thus 'tis that levelers, deeming all ethick one, and for being Socialists thinking themselves Teachers, can preach class-hatred as the enlighten'd gospel of love; but should they look to find firm scientific ground, whereon to found their creed in the true history of social virtue and of its progress hitherto, 'twill be with them in their research, as 'twas with him who yesteryear sat down in Mesopotamy to dig out Abram's birthplace in the lorn grave-yard of Asian monarchies;—and low hummocks of dust betray where legendary cities lie entomb'd Chaldæan KISH and UR; while for all life today poor nomads, with their sparse flotilla of swarthy tents and slow sand-faring camels, cruise listlessly o'erhead, warreners of the waste: Now this man duly unearth'd the walls whence Terah flitted, but beneath those walls more walls, and the elder builings of a dynasty of wider rule than Abram knew, a nation extinct ere he was born: where-thru' sinking deeper their shafts the diggers came yet never on virgin soil, but still wondering on earlier walls, arches and masonry, a city and folk undremt of in archæology, trodden-under ere any story of man began;
The Divine Poet
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Post by Charlotte on Sept 10, 2010 7:28:08 GMT -5
John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Steven posted the exalted passage on fb. I thought I bring it hither for the Reader.
Charlotte
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Post by Charlotte on Sept 12, 2010 8:37:02 GMT -5
a city and folk undreamt of in archaeology, trodden-under ere any story of man began; and there, happening on the king's tomb, they shovel'd from the dust the relics of thatt old monarch's magnificence— Drinking vessels of beaten silver or of glean gold, vases of alabaster, obsidian chalices, cylinder seals of empire and delicate gems of personal adornment, ear-rings and finger-rings, craftman's tools copper and golden, and for music a harp; withal in silver miniature his six-oar'd skiff, a model in build and trim of such as ply today Euphrates' flowery marshes: all his earthly toys gather'd to him in his grave, that he might nothing lack in the unknown life beyond, but find ready to hand his jewel'd dice and gaming board and chamber-lamp, his toilet-box of paints and unguents—Therefore 'twas the chariot of his pride whereon he still would ride was buried with him; there lay yet the enamel'd film of the inlaid perish'd wood, and all the metal gauds that had emboss'd the rail: animal masks in gold, wild bulls and lions, and twin-figured on the prow great panther-heads to glare in silver o'er the course, impatient of their spring: and one rare master-work whose grace the old warrier wist not should outliv the name and fame of all his mighty doings, when he set it up thatt little nativ donkey, his mascot on the pole.
'Twas he who dug told me of these things and how, finding himself a housebreaker in the home of men who sixty hundred years afore, when they left life, had seal'd their tombs from sacrilege and there had lain, til from their secresy of their everlasting sleep he had torn the coverlet—his spirit, dazed awhile in wonder, suddenly was strick'n with great horror; for either side the pole, where lay the harness'd bones of the yoke-mated oxen, there beside their bones lay the bones of the grooms, and slaughter'd at their post all their king's body-guard, each liegeman spear in hand, in sepulchred attention; and whereby lay the harp the arm-bones of the player, as there she had pluck'd her dirge, lay mingled with its fragments; her sisterly audience whose lavish ear-pendants and gold-filleted hair, the uniform decoration of their young service, marked them for women of the harem, sacrificed to accompany their lord, the day when he seth forth to enter into the presence of the scepter'd shades congregated with splendour in the mansions of death.
The Divine Poet
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Post by Charlotte on Sept 13, 2010 9:00:01 GMT -5
Yesterday, the Church, in a Divine Hierarchical Liturgy, meaning His Grace, Bishop Maxim served, honored the Serbian Saints, of Whom there is much writ on this thread.
Due to on and off ramp closures of Freeways leading one knows not where, this nerve-racking ordeal I described once, I ended up in Pico Rivera, but saw a Police Officer who pointed me in the right direction. I so don't like to be late for any date, and thought if I just make it in time when the Holy Book is offered for Veneration it will be ok, and Lo, I walked into the Cathedral and straightly joined the other People walking toward the Holy Book, held by Father Norman, and Blessing by His Grace. Walking back to my usual place, I calmed down.
The gentle and wise words of Saint Paul:
"Brethren, we then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says, "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the the day of salvation. We give no offence in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribukations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonment, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fasting; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown , and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
The last words remind me of George Harrison's, "All I have is yours, all you see is mine".
His Grace commented briefly on the Gospel reading of St. Matthew, "For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."
A perfect example as applicable in As above so Below: in the Gospel, the Man who had five talents traded with them and made more, the one who had only one talent buried it and made no interest. Everyone knows, that below, rich people get richer because of investments and interest, whereas poor people have to spend what they have on daily living. And so it is with Spiritual Currency, when one adds to what one has one acquires more, if not, even the little one has peters out.
Quote of the Day
"Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you get neither."
C.S. Lewis
Steven, if You read this, when receiving the Blessed Bread at the End, His Grace smiled at me and said "Steven". I leave it at thatt, to borrow the significance of 'thatt' from the Divine Poet.
Waiting for lunch, the German Lady I. and I discussed alternative routes to get us to the Church on time. She said that on the way a few days before she was so confounded by even the first off ramp closure, and knowing what would happen, She turned around and went home again, LOL we did.
A good week to All
Charlotte
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Post by Charlotte on Sept 19, 2010 8:13:55 GMT -5
Leave Tigris now and Ur.Seek out Aryan race by Gunga and Hydaspes in the teaming realm when Sakya Muni preach'd of gentleness and love, and took divinity before Christ came: see how at every Rajah's pyre, in Punjab or Kashmire, in Vijayanogar, Kalikata and Udaipur, for life-long centuries the mild Hindus hav burnt their multitudinous girl-concubines alive, and still beneath our lax imperial rule wil deem any honest outlawry of their ritual Suttee a tyrannous impiety of our western manners; which none the less withheld not of our island kings the last Henry, styled first Defender of the Faith, from slaying his wives at will; nor was he for such crimes less esteemed of the folk; altho' judged as a man by pagan ethick ir christian or by the insight of poet or historian, more despicable than we need to suppose thatt old monarch of Ur.
See how cross-eyed the pride of our world-wide crusade against Nigerian slavery, while the London poor in their Victorian slums lodged closer and filthier than the outraged alien; and under liberty's name our Industry is worse fed and shut out from the sun.— In every age and nation a like confusion is found.
IF DUTY held us long, now as in the old adage PLEASURE may follow after, taking like second rank in Plato's myth, as I twist it: wherein we traced DUTY from the selfhood of individual life growing to reach communion with the eternal; while in the younger horse was pleasur intensified by love, untill it issueth in the love of God. And yet hath pleasure truly its main stronghold in Self, because the greatest pleasure that man knoweth, is aye the pleasure of life, even as his chief displeasure is death.
The Divine Poet
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Post by Charlotte on Sept 21, 2010 10:57:46 GMT -5
Sunday last, St. Steven's was hosting the annual Parish Festival, Serbian music, dance, food and drink. The Serbs know how to celebrate!
In our Church Bulletin are a few intersting articles.
Mary in Eastern Liturgy
"If Christ is the new Adam, Mary is often referred to as the new Eve...It is Mary who, by her total obediance, restores something absolutely essential in the order of creation...Mary is not the representative of the women or women before God, she is the icon of the entire creation, the whole mankind as response to Christ and to God...Being the heart of the new creation, Mary is the icon of Christ. The Church is institution and the Church is life...The Church is an eternal "passage" - from the old into the new, from this world into the Kingdom of God. It is difficult to define this life, but those who live it, be it only imperfectly, know that its perfect expression, its very "movement," is Mary."
Did You Know?
What is Apostolic Succession?
"Apostolic succession is the means by which Christ has passed on the Church, responsibility, authority and power for the continuation of His saving work through the Apostles, their successors, the bishops, and the clergy in general. The continuation of this succession is maintained through the bishops of the Church. They do the work of the Apostles. Their commission goes back to the Apostles. Historically and sacramentally each bishop can trace back his ordination to the Apostles. They have received the Holy Spirit through which they have the spiritual power to do the Lord's work in the Church. The bishop guarantees the orthodoxy and canonicity of the local Church, and together with the other bishops in synods, he is the voice of the Church as it speaks to the faithful and to the world."
Father Ceko spoke of loving God with our Heart, to forget our reading of this and the other, moving only our lips, but to pray with our Heart to God about anything and everything, which was good for me to hear because I have been doing this for years.
Quote of the Day
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." C.S. Lewis.
Have a great week
Charlotte
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Post by Don Barone on Feb 26, 2011 19:49:06 GMT -5
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung, Would you hear my voice come thru the music, Would you hold it near as it were your own?
It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken, Perhaps they're better left unsung. I don't know, don't really care Let there be songs to fill the air.
Ripple in still water, When there is no pebble tossed, Nor wind to blow.
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty, If your cup is full may it be again, Let it be known there is a fountain, That was not made by the hands of men.
There is a road, no simple highway, Between the dawn and the dark of night, And if you go no one may follow, That path is for your steps alone.
Ripple in still water, When there is no pebble tossed, Nor wind to blow.
You who choose to lead must follow But if you fall you fall alone, If you should stand then who's to guide you? If I knew the way I would take you home.
La dee da da da, la da da da da, da da da, da da, da da da da da La da da da, la da da, da da, la da da da, la da, da da.
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Post by Charlotte on Feb 27, 2011 11:58:31 GMT -5
I played that one first for You, Don. Beautiful Song! It finally stopped raining here, brilliant sunshine and not a cloud in the sky but cold for SoCal Wishing you and everyone a great Sunday Charlotte
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Post by Charlotte on Mar 17, 2014 10:39:33 GMT -5
Happy Saint Patrick Day! Religious in content, I thought I post it here. A few quotes from Wikipedia concerning the Shamrock, thought to be "a symbol of luck", and the disputed banning of snakes by the Saint. In religious taching the three-leafed Shamrock symbolizes the Holy Trinity. Patron Saints of Ireland, Saint Patrick and St. Columbo are venerated by the Church as Wonder-workers, St. Patrick having the power to ban snakes, and St. Columbo banned the Sea Monster "swimming in the River Ness flowing from the Loch, not in the Loch itself". A link to St. Columbo is had in the wiki article. Daz and other people are continuously searching for the monster "Nessie". St. Patrick banishes all snakes from Ireland "The absence of snakes in Ireland gave rise to the legend that they had all been banished by St. Patrick chasing them into the sea after the attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill. -- However, all evidence suggests that post-glacial Ireland never had snakes, as on insular "New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica... So far, no serpent has successfully migrated across the open ocean to a new terrestrial home" such as from Scotland at one point only eight miles from Ireland, where a few native species have lived., "the venomous adder, the grass snake, and the smooth snake", as National Geographic notes, and although sea snake species seperately exist. At no times has there ever been any suggestion of snakes in Ireland, so [there was] nothing for St. Patrick to banish", says naturalist Nigel Monaghan, keeper of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, who has searched extensively through Irish fossil collections and records." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_PatrickTo my understanding, such legends cannot be taken at face value. In the link is an "Image of St. Patrick banishing snakes", depicting the Saint standing on snakes. Interesting also that they attacked him during a 40-day fast the Saint spent on top of a hill, and, the word serpent comes up as the Saint is also called "Serpent Chaser". About fasting in general it is known, and in this legend, in fasting "40 days" on a hill, awareness of the body and physical world decreases during the climb and one is attacked by many of one's own snaky and scary creatures, which have to be killed one by one, to make it to the top, standing on them or having chased them into the sea. Stated is that "no serpent has successfully migrated to a new terrestrial home such as from Scotland at one point only eight miles from Ireland." This a meaningful sentence with a blinder, noting the word snakes is changed to a serpent, and Saint Patrick becomes a "Serpent Chaser", inspired by "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves". Or, the Cosmic Serpent, Nagas of the Maya: "The first Knowledge Keepers who learned the wisdom of the serpent were called NACA MAYAS."
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Post by Charlotte on Mar 17, 2015 8:54:31 GMT -5
Another year to honor Saint Patrick, who chased the snakes out of Ireland with a three-leafed Shamrock. Notice the form of the Crosses, those of the Templar. I'm not implying St. Patrick was a Templar per se, but of the Brotherhood of Saints. www.st-patricks-day.com/about_saintpatrick/We have a colorful sunrise and birds are singing, so Happy Saint Patrick Day
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Post by Charlotte on Mar 18, 2015 9:09:42 GMT -5
Much ado about the Irish yesterday, I remembered that our President has Irish blood and 'ears' a Lady in Ireland laughed, and moreover remembered that his maternal Grandmother's name was Madelyn Lee Payne, so naturally, I made a connection to the co-founder of the Knights Templar, Hugues de Payens, since a number of Templar are said to have escaped to Scotland. The former is history, the latter does belong to the Secrets of the Universe, so I thought it was ok to post this here. Our President has quiet a few relationships with other Presidents also, Michelle Obama is neé La Vaughn Robinson, which is also an interesting name.
Ancestry
"Madelyn Payne Dunham's heritage consists mostly of English ancestors, and smaller amounts of Scottish, Welch, Irish, and German ancestors, who settled in the American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries. Her most recent native European ancestor was her great-great grandfather, Robert Perry, who was born in Anglesey, Wales, in 1786 and whose father, Henry Perry, first settled Radnor, Ohio, in 1803. Robert Perry's wife, Sarah Hoskins, was also born in Wales and immigrated to Delaware County, Ohio, as a young child."
I haven't looked further, but there could be a possibility that our President has ties to Hugues de Payens.
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Post by Charlotte on Apr 12, 2015 8:47:13 GMT -5
This Sunday, we, the Orthodox Christians, celebrate Easter
Happy Easter!
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Post by Charlotte on Apr 13, 2015 9:02:14 GMT -5
IMMORTALITY Though Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal One, yet didst destroy the power of Hades, and didst arise as victor, O Christ God, calling to the myrrh-bearing women, rejoice, and giving peace onto Thine Apostles, O Thou Who dost grant resurrection to the fallen."This song of immortality, our dear spiritual children, we sing ceaselessly during these days of celebration of Christ's Resurrection, which occurred, as the ancient seers of God's mysteries witnessed, on the same day of the week on which God created in the beginning - out of nothing - heaven and earth. "Man's deepest yearning is the yearning and cry for freedom and eternal life. However, man's true freedom is only that freedom which frees him from the tyranny of mortality and death - everything else or anything different represents a only an unfulfilled yearning for freedom, or simply an illusion of freedom." Serbian Patriarch IRINEJ
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Post by Charlotte on Sept 22, 2015 12:51:52 GMT -5
Thought the Reader might enjoy these profound lines as much as I did.
Our birth is but a sleep and forgetting: The Soulthat rises with us, our life's Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting And Commeth forth from afar.
Regards and cheers
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Post by Charlotte on Nov 20, 2015 9:31:00 GMT -5
Reading here and there and watching a rational interview on TV of Nikola Tesla, recognized by the World at large as a brilliant Scientist and Inventor, one could read between the lines and hear between the spoken word that Mr. Tesla was a Mystic. His father a Priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, as was his mother's father and brother, in such an environment Nikola "became the priest of science and light energy..." www.stankovuniversallaw.com/2015/05/nikola-tesla-everything-is-the-light/ Tesla told the interviewer that he is a defeated Man for he has not accomplished the greatest thing he could. "What is it, Mr. Tesla?" The great Man replied: "I wanted to illuminate the whole earth. There is enough electricity to become a second sun. Light would appear around the equator, as a ring around Saturn." Admiral Byrd was told by the Master that he is in the "Inner World of the Earth." Tesla: "Mankind is not ready for the great and the good. In Colorado Springs I soaked the earth by electricity. Also we can water the other energies, such as positive mental energy. They are the music of Bach or Mozart, or in the verses of great poets. In the earth's interior, there are energy of Joy, Peace and Love. Their expressions are a flower that grows from the Earth, the food we get out of her and everything that makes man's homeland. I've spent years looking for the way that this energy could influence people. The beauty and the scent of roses can be used as a medicine and the sun rays as food." Truly, inhaling the scent of Roses removes us for a few seconds from worldly concerns, we're high and whole. Tesla: "One issue is food. What a stellar or terrestrial energy to feed the hungry on Earth? With what wine watered all thirsty, so that they can cheer in their heart and understand that they are Gods? Nature abhors a Vacuum, attributed to Aristotle. Laughing at myself thinking that the unawakened matter resides in the vacu-----um. "I know that gravity is prone to everything you need to fly and my intention is not to make flying devices (aircraft or missiles), but teach individual to regain consciousness on his own wings ... Further, I am trying to awake the energy contained in the air. There are the main sources of energy. What is considered as empty space is just a manifestation of matter that is not awakened." This I love, because I think this unawakened matter is the missing dark matter, and on the consciousness of our own wings we can awaken it. "No empty space on this planet, nor in the Universe.. In black holes, what what astronomers talk about, are the most powerful sources of energy and life." Does this mean that we're forever circling the event horizon drawing on this enery rather than in danger of being sucked into a black hole as the current scientific word goes? That nothing, not even light can escape from a black hole, which I never bought because it contradicts the law of conservation of energy, Divine Economy of Philosophers, I always have to add. Journalist: "On the window of your room in hotel "Valdorf-Astoria", on the thirty-third floor, every morning, the birds arrive." Tesla: A man must be sentimental towards the birds. This is because of their wings. Humans had them once, the real and visible." Have to add this the magic of the Moody Blues
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