Showing posts with label discrimination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discrimination. Show all posts

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Walk

7.11.19

Sela Ward

Walk
with
Joy
高兴地走着 
Gāoxìng de zǒuzhe
喜びで歩く 
Yorokobi de aruku
ps1
Ambulate in gaudium

Walk with joy.
It's not a ploy.

There is an end for the one who follows a path.
Rambling without purpose is a loss as long as it lasts.

If you look for truth as an exclusion of you       
you will be removed by your search for what's true.              

I meet truthfulness everywhere I walk.       
I am in it to win it, but it speaks when I talk.

If you understand yourself in this way 
you will merge with the way that things play.

This union between the earth and sky
is grounded in love with wings from on high.

Dance and sing with the strength that you may
help us to enjoy the light of the day.

The darkness of the earth is a source for mirth and great girth.
The length of light from the sky lends grace and favor to warm worth.

The earth writes trees upon the sky.
The forest is a poem of power for the stately eye.

The daughters of dawn dance to the end of the world.
They stop to watch as the wind swirls
in the early summer breeze. The weather starts to unfurl
in their veins as wonder for the pleasure of their curls.

Wearing the tiara in the color of hair,
light is reflected for the cause of the fair.

Wisteria grows wild in the field outside the city.
The flower rises with love, sorrow and the beautiful lily.

Standing still in wonder, a brother stands outside the forest shadow
to act as a witness to nature's joy as nature nurtured and hallowed. 

The canopy of forest courses with the air
as a crown that reaches wide above the height of stairs.

Devils Millhopper, Gainesville, FL

The leaves wave as the robust virtue of trees.
The heart of the moment is happily seized.
Thousands of moments wave in the breeze.
Words fail only to describe the majesty of what was seen.

Beauty reveals herself as though she were hidden
by the ordinary form of the forbidden as bitten.

The sons of the summer sun assemble in a different way.
Their assembly is on a court with a level lay. 
A ball is at the center of their play.

The courage of creativity 
gives conscience conscious virility.

The constellation of clouds speak of star dusted constellations
steeped in an indigo gown that conceal or reveal consolation
sequestered over the sea of cultured imagination.

This is a gift from the universe.
The gift gives from his excess to reimburse
loss for the privilege of the privy purse.

The right to vote makes the state a republic. 
Democracy is something the economy must stomach.

Government can't afford to favor the rich or the poor.
Land lies in the distance between shores.

The power to declare war has been used to undermine rights.
The inception of the conception has caused many fights.

Racism is bad. Sexism is as well. 
Sectarian religion promotes strife as an earthly form of hell.

Profit from violence undermines authority more than power. 
Credibility glowers as the force of law sours by the hour. 

When war is declared or enacted without tact
rights are diminished beyond recognition in fact.

Outlaw invasion to preserve the representation of rights. 
The public will be seen as it is, made by billions of lights.

When the death penalty is used for oppression by terror, 
justice is pushed out of the legal system's stately stride for progression in error.

Reduce the death penalty to convictions of murder actually proven.
Protect justice in the legal system to make the state more human and less gruesome.

Counter-terrorism has to deter terrorist acts
to protect security in fact.

Morality has regarded racketeering as illegal.
This view sees law as regal as an eagle.

Plutocracy takes too much from everybody
and gives more to those who use it to lobby.

Rights are the fruit of power. 
Power is the product of labor by the hour. 

We pay for government with our taxes.
We have the right to free trade that waxes
as prosperity for the wealthiest relaxes. 

We have the right to liberty in the law with justice.
The charge for our security cannot bust us.

Happy are those who do not choose
the will to power over others by making them lose.

Happy are those who do not use 
death or damage for profit profuse.

We delight in moral law.
Scientific goodness as defined by needs is raw.
Science leads perception into objective perspective for all.

The crowd tried to touch the healer Jesus Christ.
Power had gone out to heal consequence from sacrifice.

Christ has been raised from the dead.
He is the first fruit for those who by faith have tread.

Personal perspective goes gonzo 
when prejudice drives action with bongos
to follow fake news into discrimination as a motto, 
but happiness rules when objectivity values virtue for the cosmos.

Abstraction with respect for kind leads to generalization.
It is not a claim to the infinite extension of sensation.

An object is not just a line, length, surface or solid. 
The perception is an extension for knowledge.

That which is common is alike in all.
The detection of reflection distinguishes big from small.

Cry out for insight to understand what's odd
to find knowledge with faith in God.

Blue is not green, red, yellow, white or black.
It is a color with a specific word attached.

If you are neither male nor female, free nor slave, one color or another
then you are defined as a kind with respect for difference in others.

A tree planted by the water is blessed.
The roots are by moisture in the soil caressed.

When heat comes, it produces fruit.
After winter has gone, green leaves still shoot.

We are like trees planted by the water.
We bear fruit in due season with our alma mater. 

Our leaves do not wither when nurtured by our kind mother. 
We prosper with achievement in performance for sister and brother.

Wisteria grows wild in the field outside the city.
The flower rises with love, sorrow and the beautiful lily.

Christ has been raised from the dead for us.
He is the first fruit for those who by faith have tread over root and ruts.

Our legacy will not be blown away.
Unlike dust in the wind, we will stay. 
Judgment will have mercy for the merciful day. 

Fortune will favor the mind 
that prepares a place for love in time.

Count the cost for your intent before you start to work
to avoid the ridicule bent to make you feel like a jerk.

Work and study produce efficient practice
for kindness in rank and restraint in the tactics of status. 

The way of the righteous is known to be shown
that wickedness may falter, fall and fail, not grow.

Walk in faith with joy for civility.
Your mobility in ability will increase your utility.      

Walk with confidence in joy.
Bad feelings will be destroyed.                                                                 

joy
喜悦  xiyue
喜び yorokobi

------------------------

1 Beatus vir qui non abiit
Happy are those who have not walked

1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of
the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and they meditate on his law day and night.

3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.

4 It is not so with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when
judgment comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.

--------------------------
Proverbs 2:3,5

If you cry out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding;
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

--------------------------

Cry out for insight to understand what's odd
to find knowledge with faith in God.

===================
Luke 14:27-29

Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Which of you with the intent to build a tower does not first sit down and
estimate the cost to see whether he has enough to complete it?

Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all
will ridicule him by saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to
finish."

--------------------------

Count the cost for your intent before you start to work
to avoid the ridicule bent to make you feel like a jerk.

===================

The Call

Benedict of Nursia
b.  c. 3.2.480  Norcia, Umbria, Kingdom of Odacer
d.  c. 3.21.547 Monte Cassino, Kingdom of Ostrogoths.

Benedict of Nursia was the founder of the Benedictine monastic system. He founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, Lazio, Italy. The location is about 40 miles (64 km) to the east of Rome. He moved to Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy later.

The Benedictines are not an "order" as commonly understood but merely a confederation of autonomous congregations.

The "Rule of Saint Benedict" was his main achievement. It contains a set of rules for his monks to follow. The rule was heavily influenced by the writings of John Cassian. It shows strong affinity with the Rule of the Master.

There is also a unique spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness (ἐπιείκεια, epieíkeia). This persuaded most Christian religious communities founded throughout the Middle Ages to adopt it. It was not restricted to Roman Catholicism after the Reformation.

His became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom as a result. Benedict has been regarded as the founder of Western Christian monasticism for this reason.

Nursia

Norcia is traditionally known by the Latin name Nursia. It is a town in northeastern Umbria. It is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini.

The monti is a subrange of the Apennines. Some of the highest peaks are near the Sordo River. The river is a small stream that eventually flows into the Nera. The town is associated with the Valnerina, the valley of that river.

The area is known for its air and scenery. People use it to mountaineer, hike and hunt. Wild boar are hunted there.  Sausage and ham are made from wild boar. Such products have been named after Norcia. They are called norcineria in Italian.

The town's known history begins with settlement by the Sabines in the 5th century BCE. The Sabines were a tribe that moved nomadically in the Apennines.  The settlement was conquered by the Romans in the 3d century BCE.

It was an ally of Rome during the Second Punic War in 205 BCE. It was known as Nursia then. The earliest extant Roman ruins date from around the 1st century.

Benedict

Benedict and his twin sister Scholastica were born in Nursia in 480. They were the children of Roman nobles.

The Roman Empire was disintegrating during his youth. The Italian peninsula was the scene of constant war between barbarian tribes.

The young Benedict moved from his birthplace to Rome for his education. He soon abandoned the "eternal city" when he became disgusted with the paganism and immorality he saw there. He abandoned his studies and left Rome in 500.

He does not seem to have left Rome for the purpose of becoming a hermit. He only wanted  to find some place away from the life of the great city. He took his old nurse with him as a servant. They settled down to live in Enfide.

The tradition of Subiaco identifies Enfide with the modern Affile. It is in the Simbruini mountains about forty miles from Rome and two from Subiaco.

A short distance from Enfide is the entrance to a narrow, gloomy valley. The valley penetrates the mountains and leads directly to Subiaco. The path continues to ascend from the entrance. The side of the ravine on which it runs becomes steeper until a cave is reached. The mountain now rises almost perpendicularly.

It strikes in a rapid descent on the right down to where 500 feet (150 m) below, lay the blue waters of the lake. The cave has a large triangular-shaped opening about ten feet deep.

Benedict met a monk on his way from Enfide. Romanus of Subiaco had a monastery on the mountain above the cliff overhanging the cave. Romanus had discussed with Benedict the purpose which had brought him there.

He had given him the monk's habit. Benedict became a hermit and for three years by his advice.  He lived in this cave above the lake unknown to men.

An ancient account of Benedict is found in the second volume of Pope Gregory I's four-book Dialogues (593). The description provides a spiritual portrait of the gentle, disciplined abbot.

Gregory did not set out to write a chronological, historically anchored story of Benedict. He based his anecdotes on direct testimony. Gregory explained that his information came from a handful of Benedict's disciples who lived with the saint and witnessed his various miracles.

Constantinus succeeded Benedict as Abbot of Monte Cassino. Valentinianus and Simplicius bore witness. Honoratus was the abbot of Subiaco when Gregory wrote his Dialogues.

History was not recognized as an independent field of study in Gregory's day. It was a branch of grammar or rhetoric. Historia was defined as 'story.' The story provided a basis for the consideration of reason in experience.

Gregory speaks of Benedict no longer as a youth (puer), but as a man (vir) of God. Romanus served the young man every way he could. The monk apparently visited him frequently. He brought him food on fixed days.

Benedict matured both in mind and character during his three years of solitude. He grew in the knowledge of himself and his fellow man. He secured the respect of those who lived near him.

When the abbot of a monastery in the neighborhood died, the community came to him and begged him to become its abbot. Benedict was acquainted with the life and discipline of the monastery. He knew that their manners were different from his. They would never be able to agree on how to live as a community.

He consented despite his prediction. The experiment failed. The monks tried to poison him. The legend goes that they first tried to poison his drink. He prayed a blessing over the cup and the cup shattered. He forgave them, but left the group. He went back to his cave at Subiaco.

Monks sought him out again. He had established 12 monasteries with 12 monks in each before long.
One of the local clergy, Florentius, was so envious of his reputation that he put poison in a loaf of bread for him. When Benedict prayed to bless the bread a raven swooped down and took it away.

He left Subiaco in about 530 to avoid further temptation. He founded the great Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. The residence lies on a hilltop between Rome and Naples.

The emperor Justinian I of the Byzantine empire attempted to reclaim land that had been taken by the Ostrogoths from the western Roman empire. This resulted in the Gothic War between 535 and 554 on the Italian penisula and in surrounding areas.

Totila was the king of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552. He reversed the tide of the Gothic war. He recovered almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540 by 543.

Totila's meeting with Benedict of Nursia at Monte Cassino occurred either before or soon after the siege of Naples in (543). Totila had ordered his sword bearer Riggio to dress in royal robes to see if the abbot could tell if he was an imposter. The impersonation was detected.

When Totila met with Benedict he was rebuked for his cruelty towards the conquered. Benedict told the king that it was time for his iniquity to cease. Totila asked Benedict to remember him in his prayers and departed. His cruelty toward conquered people was converted to clemency.

Benedict drew up a rule of life for monastics largely from the work of John Cassian and his own experience. He called it "a school of the Lord's service. " The hope was to order nothing harsh or rigorous.

The Rule gave instruction for how the community was to be organized. It  stressed communal living, physical labor, common meals and the avoidance of unnecessary conversation.

A division of time was drawn. An average day included about 4 hours to be spent in liturgical prayer in the Divine Office, 5 hours in reading and study, 6 hours in labor, 1 hour for eating and about 8 hours for sleep. The Book of Psalms was to be recited every week as a part of the Office.

A Benedictine monk took vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life. He vowed to live in accordance with the Rule, not to leave his community without grave cause and to seek to follow the teaching and example of Christ in all things.

A prospective monk would spend a week at the monastery as a visitor. He could apply to become a postulant. A postulant agreed to stay for 6 months. He could not leave without the consent of the abbot.

The postulant could leave or apply to become a novice for a year. The novice could leave or ask to become a brother for 3 years. The brother could leave, take a vow for another 3 years or take a vow for life as a monastic.

He is believed to have died of a fever at Monte Cassino not long after his sister, Scholastica. He was buried in the same place as his sister. This occurred on 21 March 547 according to tradition. He was named patron protector of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964. Pope John Paul II declared him co-patron of Europe, together with Saints Cyril and Methodius, 1980.

The chief source of power in Benedict's time was muscle, whether human or animal. Labor could always be done by oxen or slaves. Monks were both scholars and workers. A monk was likely to think, "There must be a better way of doing this" after spending a few hours doing some laborious task by hand.

The result was the systematic development of windmills and water wheels for grinding grain, sawing wood, pumping water, and so on. The rotation of crops (including legumes) and other agricultural advances were also originated or promoted by monastic farms. The monks taught the dignity of labor and the importance of order and planning by example.

An oratory was built so pilgrims could pray at St. Benedict’s birthplace in the 8th century. Monks traveled to Norcia in the 10th century. Contemporary monks care for the Monastery of St. Benedict, built over the Roman ruins of the house of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica.

The effect of the monastic movement was enormous. The preservation of the Holy Scriptures and other ancient writings was due in large measure to the patience and diligence of monastic scribes.
The life of Benedict of Nursia is celebrated on July 11 in the Anglican Communion.

Prayer

Gracious God, whose service is perfected with freedom and in whose commandments there is nothing harsh nor burdensome, grant that we with your servant Benedict may listen with attentive minds, pray with fervent hearts and serve you with willing hands so we may live at peace with one another and in obedience to thy Word, Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Benedict Nursia
S. 本尼迪克特·托尼亚
T. 本尼迪克特·托尼亞

本  Ben   source               本  hon      book             Be   べ      ベ             Be  베  the                         
尼  ni       nun                   尼  ni         nun               ne   ね      ネ              ne  네  yeah             
迪  di       enlighten          迪   teki     path              di    でぃ  ディ         dig  딕  Dick         
克  ke      restrain             克   koku   kindly           ku    く       ク           teu   트  the                 
特  te       unique               特  toku    special          to     と       ト           Nu    누  fistula       
托  Tuo    base                  托  taku     entrust         Nu    ぬ     ヌ              si     시   city           
尼   ni       nun                  尼   ni        nun               ru     る      ル            a       아   ah         
亚  ya       second             亞   a          rank             shi     し      シ                   
                                                                                 a        あ     ア             

--------------------------

Work and study produce efficient practice
for kindness in rank and restraint in the tactics of status.

===================

Lectionary Benedict of Nursia
wiki Benedict of Nursia

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Revere

6.1.19



Revere
Life
反抗生活 
Fǎnkàng shēnghuó
リヴィア生活
Rivu~ia seikatsu
ps116
revere vitae

I love that I found help when I needed it.
Salvation came and I heeded it.

I felt desperate. My mind cried for direction.
Choice was compressed to this bit. I had to select protection 
from the danger of dereliction.

I found what I needed before the moment of crisis.
The rightness in choice was decisive. 

The cords of death had entangled me.
My sight was so strangled, I had to get free.

The grip of the grave grapple grabbed
until my adam's apple gagged
while seeing the sensible source sag 
from the sense perception had.

Sorrow drove sadness to the threshold of pain.
The horror drove madness to enfold the insane.

Then I cried for help
after yapping a yelp,
“What do I have to do to find safety?
I need it now. I need it greatly.”

The success of salvation is gracious.
It was so efficacious, it was almost salacious.

Nothing else is quite so profound
as wonder in the world once it has been found.

Defense is granted to the watchful
if only because the thoughtful 
watch for the goodness of the gospel.

I felt that I fell very low, but I was helped.
I exempted contempt for what I was dealt.

It is time to rest
now that I have been blessed
with the quest to sing of salvation with zest.

Stress from the test has worn my torn soul.
I will do my best to celebrate life as a whole.

I was rescued from death.
Help was given in the test.

My eyes shed natural tears.
I was grateful for my years.

My feet did not stumble
though I felt glad and humble.

I will walk in the presence 
of the divine essence
in the land of the living
to give thanks for the giving.

I believed even when 
I had been brought to a bend.
Then I said, 
“No one can be trusted
when your trust has been busted.”

False prophets lead those who believe them astray.
Truth is the safeguard against fake news for the day. 

How will I repay my debt
without regret 
for all the good things 
carried by angel wings?

I will lift up the cup of salvation 
and hold it high as a libation.

I will fulfill my promise to live
with reverence for life as a gift
in the rule of law that we win
in transcending sin.

Precious in the sight of divine Light
is the death of those who defended rights.
They lived good lives.

The transcendence of punishment for false conviction was celebrated
when Christ as the power of God on the cross was elevated.

The reward for agreement with the commandment to love is eternal life.
The Son spoke as the Father had granted inheritance to overcome strife.

I am a defender of rights. 
I have been resurrected as a good life
by the experience that brought me past strife. 

I tasted a glimpse of the abyss.
It was black and gray with white lights in the tryst.

I have been freed from the world of discrimination
to recount deliverance by narration.

My ear has been opened.
I hear sounds that are spoken.

From the same mouth come blessing and curse.
Speech should be the garden ground for verse.

Who do you say that I am?
You are anointed to pass the exam.

I was not rebellious,
reckless or helpless.

I did not turn backwards.
I spoke in exact words.

Bravery is most bold when prepared.
Faith looks for benign design to be shared.

Traditional revival celebrates regression to the legal process.
Conservative reform pushes for manageable progress.

Time starts to grow bold.
The word shares the beauty of hope.

Hope desires goodness
to add to the fullness.

Measure the base 
to secure great restraint.

The bug pulls this stem.
You straighten the hem.

The water's edge reached up onto the sand
in resignation to the limit allowed by gravity and land.

The bridge to love leads the way
to the right thing to do or say.

We are among those who have faith with courage.
We don't shrink back to be lost or discouraged.

I will offer thanksgiving as my sacrifice.
I will give thanks to the Giver of life.

The faithful abide in love with truth.
Grace and mercy act like salve that soothes.

I will speak with reason for the reasonable acceptance
of benefit for people in the presence 
of the divine essence
in the assembly in public
in the city of peace that is love lit
by the waters near where the dove sits. 

Yea Yah!
You fill me with awe!


---------------------------

116 Dilexi, quoniam
I love, because

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of
my supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever
I called upon him.
2 The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me;
I came to grief and sorrow.
3 Then I called upon the Name of the Lord:
"O Lord, I pray you, save my life."
4 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
5 The Lord watches over the innocent;
I was brought very low, and he helped me.
6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul.
for the Lord has treated you well.
7 For you have rescued my life from death,
my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.
8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living.
9 I believed, even when I said,
"I have been brought very low."
In my distress I said, "No one can be trusted."
10 How shall I repay the Lord
for all the good things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
12 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
13 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his servants.
14 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.
15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
16 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
17 In the courts of the Lord's house,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

------------------------

1 Corinth. 1:22-24

Jews demand signs. Greeks seek wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified. The crucifixion is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Christ is the power and wisdom of God to those who are called. both Jews and Greeks.

--------------------------

The transcendence of punishment for false conviction was celebrated
when Christ as the power of God on the cross was elevated.

===============

John 12:50

I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak as the Father has told me.

----------------------------

The reward for agreement with the commandment to love is eternal life.
The Son spoke as the Father had granted inheritance to overcome strife.

================

Impartial Judgement

Justin Martyr
b. 100 Flavia Neapolis, Judea
d. 165 Rome, Roman Empire

Justin was an early Christian apologist. He is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos in the 2nd century. He was martyred alongside some of his students. He is respected as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches.

Two of his apologies and a dialogue survived. The First Apology defended the morality of the Christian life. Various ethical and philosophical arguments were expressed to convince the Roman emperor, Antoninus, to abandon the persecution of the Church.

He also indicated that the "true religion" predated Christianity. The "seeds of Christianity" actually came before Christ's incarnation. These were manifestations of the Logos acting in history.

This notion allowed him to claim that historical Greek philosophers including Socrates and Plato were pre-Christians. The philosophical expression showed respect for moral standards that anticipated the morality of the Christian religion.

Flavia Neapolis

Flavia Neapolis translates from Latin as the "new city of the emperor Flavius." It was named in 72 CE by the Roman emperor Vespasian (r. 69-79). The name took the place of an older Samaritan village, variously called Mabartha ("the passage") or Mamorpha.

The settlement was located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. The new city lay 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) west of the Biblical city of Shechem which was destroyed by the Romans that same year during the First Jewish-Roman War.

Joseph's Tomb and Jacob's Well were holy places in the city. Neapolis prospered due to the city's strategic geographic position and the abundance of water from nearby springs. Territory was accumulated including the former Judean toparchy of Acraba.

The city was built on a Roman grid plan insofar as the hilly topography of the site would allow. It was settled with veterans who fought in the victorious legions. Other foreign colonists immigrated there as well.

Trajan became the emperor of Rome in 98. Trajan is remembered as a soldier-emperor who presided over the largest military expansion in Roman history. The empire attained its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death (117).

Emperor Hadrian (r.117-138) built a grand theater in Neapolis that could seat up to 7,000 people in the 2nd century CE.

Coins found in Nablus dating to this period depict Roman military emblems and gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon such as Zeus, Artemis, Serapis, and Asklepios. Neapolis was entirely pagan at this time.

He is also known for his philanthropic rule. He had public building programs and implemented social welfare policies. He was the second of the Five Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean world.

Justin

Justin was born into a pagan family in Flavius Neapolis, Samaria (now Nables) in 100. He defined himself as a Gentile. His grandfather, Bacchius, had a Greek name, while his father, Priscus, bore a Latin name.

The names support the speculation that his ancestors settled in Neapolis soon after its establishment. They may have been descended from a Roman "diplomatic" community that had been sent there.

He sought to find life's meaning in the philosophies of his day. This brought a series of disappointments, but he established a connection between Christian and Greek apologetic.

His first teacher was a Stoic who "knew nothing of God and did not even think knowledge of him to be necessary." There followed a Peripatetic (itinerant philosopher), who seemed most interested in getting his fees.

Then came a Pythagorean, but his required course of music, astronomy and geometry seemed far too slow. Finally, Platonism, though intellectually demanding, proved unfulfilling for Justin's hungry heart.

His life was transformed at last after a conversation with an old man around 130: "A fire was suddenly kindled in my soul. I fell in love with the prophets and these men who had loved Christ; I reflected on all their words and found that this philosophy alone was true and profitable. That is how and why I became a philosopher. And I wish that everyone felt the same way that I do."

Justin continued to wear his philosopher's cloak. He sought to reconcile faith and reason. His teaching ministry took him first to Ephesus (c. 132) where he held a disputation with Trypho, a Jew, about the true interpretation of Scripture.

The Dialogue with Trypho teaches three main points. The Old Covenant is passing away to make place for the New. The Logos is the God of the Old Testament and the Gentiles are the new Israel.

These points were conceptually clear with respect for Christian reason, but they presented a problem to the status of the Jewish homeland. Jerusalem had been destroyed in 70. Jews were forbidden to live there.

The Jewish and Roman cultures began to overlap in the centuries just before the Christian Era.
Jews migrated to Rome and Roman Europe from the Land of Israel, Asia Minor, Babylon and Alexandria as part of the diaspora. The migration was stimulated by economic hardship and incessant warfare over the land of Israel between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires.

The Roman general Pompey in his eastern campaign established the Roman province of Syria in 64 BCE and conquered Jerusalem in 63. Julius Caesar conquered Alexandria c. 47 and defeated Pompey in 45. Judaism was officially recognized as a legal religion under Julius Caesar. The policy was followed by the first Roman emperor, Augustus.

Herod the Great was designated 'King of the Jews' by the Roman Senate in c. 40. The Roman province of Egypt was established in 30. Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea (biblical Edom) were converted to the Roman province of Iudaea in 6 CE.

Jewish–Roman tensions resulted in several Jewish–Roman wars from 66–135. These battles resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. The Jewish Tax was instituted in 70. Hadrian's attempted to create a new Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina c. 130.

Christianity was being developed from Second Temple Judaism by this time.

Jewish communities enjoyed privileges and thrived economically in Rome. They became a significant part of the Empire's population. The size may have grown to as much as ten percent. The Roman Twelve tables were a summary of the law. The Romans had seen that the Jews had a respect for law. They were educated enough to see that the ten commandments represented a better summary.

They also knew that they were willing to modify the code that had been established in Sumeria, Assyria, Babylon and Persia. 

It is difficult to say when the plan to convert Roman culture to monotheism was formed, but it is conceivable that Vespasian and Josephus agreed to formulate a biblical canon for a Gentile monotheism after Vespasian had adopted Josephus as his historian.

Justin moved to Rome and founded a Christian school. He engaged the Cynic philosopher Crescens in debate. He was arrested on the charge of practicing an unauthorized religion.

He wrote two bold apologies (i.e., defenses—from the Greek apologia). Justin's First Apology, addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius, was published in 155. It attempted to explain the faith.

Christianity was not a threat to the state. It should be treated as a legal religion. He wrote "on behalf of men of every nation who are unjustly hated and reviled."

Antoninus Pius was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. Hadrian (r.117-138) adopted him as his son and successor shortly before his death. His reign is notable for the peaceful state of the Empire with no major revolts or military incursions during this time. He governed the empire without ever leaving Italy.

Antoninus portrayed himself as a magistrate of the res publica. He is credited with the splitting of the imperial treasury, the Fiscus. This splitting had to do with the division of imperial properties into two parts. The patrimonium were the properties of the "Crown."

The hereditary properties of each succeeding person that sat on the throne were transmitted to his successors in office regardless of their membership in the imperial family. Secondly, the res privata were the "private" properties tied to the personal maintenance of the Emperor and his family.

The res privata lands could be sold and/or given away. The patrimonium properties were regarded as public. It was a way of declaring that the Imperial function and most properties attached to it was public. It was formally subject to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people.

Antoninus introduced the important principle that accused persons are not to be treated as guilty before trial. It was to Antonius that the Christian apologist Justin Martyr addressed his defense of the Christian faith. Justin reminded him of his father's (Emperor Hadrian's) rule that accusations against Christians required proof.

He also asserted the principle that the trial was to be held and the punishment inflicted in the place where the crime had been committed. He mitigated the use of torture in examining slaves by stipulating certain limitations.

He prohibited the application of torture to children under 14 years though this rule had exceptions. Other limitations were applied to the use of torture and slavery.

Antoninus favored the principle of favor libertatis. This principle gave the putative freedman the benefit of the doubt when the claim to freedom was not clearcut.

Justin defended Christianity as a rational creed. He included an account of the Christian ceremonies of Baptism and the Eucharist.

Justin discussed the principal criticisms of contemporary Christians. These criticisms were presented as charges. The charges were atheism, immorality and disloyalty to the Empire.

He first argued that “the name” of Christianity by itself was not reason enough to punish or persecute. He urged the Empire to only punish evil actions instead. He wrote, “For from a name neither approval nor punishment could fairly come, unless something excellent or evil in action can be shown about it.”

He then addressed the charges more directly. He argued that they were “atheists” toward Roman gods, but not to the “most true God.” He acknowledged that some Christians had performed immoral acts, but urged officials to punish the individuals as evildoers rather than Christians.

Justin demonstrated his desire to separate the Christian name from the evil acts performed by certain individuals with this claim. He lamented how criminals tarnished the name of Christianity and were not true “Christians.”

He addressed the alleged disloyalty to the Empire. Christians do seek to be members of another kingdom, but this kingdom is “of that with God” rather than a “human one.”

He remarked that Christianity provides moral teaching for its followers. Many of the Christian teachings paralleled similar stories in pagan mythology. It was irrational for contemporary pagans to persecute Christians.

One of Justin’s most important themes involved his description of the logos. The word was a philosophical concept of order in reason with knowledge expressed by Heraclitus. Justin argued that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the Logos.

This led him to the proof that any individual who had spoken with reason even those who lived before Christ are connected with the logos in the form of Christ are Christian in fact.

This theme was paramount to understanding Justin’s defense of Christianity. It was a groundbreaking statement in Christian apologetic. The use of the term “logos” indicated the use of prior philosophical teachings, but these teachings represented partial truth. They possessed and were connected with part of the overall logos.

Christianity represented the full truth (logos). Faith was not only a meaningful philosophy, it also completed and corrected prior thought to achieve the highest level of knowledge with reason.

The Second Apology was addressed to the Roman Senate. It was chiefly concerned with the rebuttal to specific charges of immorality that had been made against the Christians. He argued that good Christians make good citizens. The notion that Christianity undermined the foundations of a good society was based on slander.

Justin recounted the story of a certain woman who on hearing the teaching of Jesus and having become a Christian refused to comply with the immoral practices of her husband. The disagreements were so severe that she desired to be divorced. She was not encouraged to do so.

She continued in that relationship until it became ethically unlivable. She gave him a bill of divorce. The husband retaliated by bringing accusations against her before the Emperor. When he couldn't do anything to have her punished, he turned against the Christian leaders. The prefect Urbicus began a persecution.

It was the fallen angels and demons who incited such hatred and evil against the people of God. This view was in accord with the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch), which Justin viewed as scripture.

These demons are the spirits of those offspring born through the union of fallen angels and women before the Flood. They control humans through magic arts, libations and intimidating systems that hold people in bondage. They are exorcised by the Christians in the name of Jesus. All those in whom the Word dwells have been hated. Heraclitus and Musonius are examples.

The Christians were being accused of cannibalism and sexual immorality. Justin asked that if the Christians were pleasure-mongers, then why would they be fearless in the face of death for faithfulness to what they believe. Their faithfulness to Christ when threatened with torture or death proved that they are not pleasure seekers.

It was the accusers who had a system of religion in which humans were sacrificed to gods such as Saturn. Sexual immorality was openly practiced by them without shame.

Justin argued that if any group were to be persecuted, it should be the homosexuals that should be charged with sexual immorality. The replacement group argument for persecution was morally misdirected. It was implemented for centuries whenever the Roman government felt the people needed a group from whom to draw material wealth for the 'empire.' 

He was confident that his teaching was that of the Church at large. He knows of a division among the orthodox only on the question of the millennium and on the attitude toward the milder Jewish Christianity.

He personally was willing to tolerate the division as long as its professors in their turn did not interfere with the liberty of the Gentile converts. His millenarianism seems to have no connection with Judaism, but he believes firmly in a millennium in the Christian eschatology.

Justin saw himself as a scholar, but his skills in Hebrew were either non-existent or minimal. He published an attack on Judaism after collaborating with a Jewish convert to assist him with Hebrew. The criticism was based upon a no-longer-extant text of a Midrash.

Opposition to Judaism was typical of church leaders in his day. Justin was particularly antagonistic towards Jews and regarded them as a cursed people. His anti-Judaic polemics have been cited as an origin of Christian antisemitism. He was the first to argue that the Romans had no responsibility for the death of Jesus. He supported the idea of Jewish deicide.

Justin referred to written sources consisting of narratives of the life of Jesus and quotations of the sayings of Jesus as "memoirs of the apostles" and less frequently as gospels. He said the texts were read every Sunday in the church at Rome. The "memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are being read as long as it is allowable." (1 Apol. 67.3)

He was denounced by the cynic philosopher Crescens to the authorities after a debate with him in the reign of Marcus Aurelius according to Tatian (Address to the Greeks 19) and Eusebius (HE IV 16.7–8). Justin was tried together with six companions by Junius Rusticus the urban prefect from 163–167. His execution can reasonably be dated by the prefectoral term of Rusticus.

The prefect told the accused to approach to make a sacrifice to the gods. Justin said, "No one in his right mind gives up piety for impiety." The prefect warned them that they would be tortured without mercy if they did not obey.

Justin replied that it was their desire  to be tortured for Jesus Christ. Sacrifice for him would result in salvation. They would be given firm confidence at the more terrible universal tribunal of their Lord and Savior. All the martyrs said, "Do as you wish." They were Christians. They did not sacrifice to idols.

Rusticus read the sentence, "Those who do not wish to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the emperor will be scourged and beheaded according to the laws."

The martyrs were beheaded to consummate their confession of faith in their Savior.

Justin Martyr
S. 贾斯汀殉道者
T. 賈斯汀殉道者

贾 Jia      trade                    賈  ko      buy                            Ja   じゃ       ジャ      Jeo  저  moth     
斯 si        this                      斯  shi    this                             su   す          ス           seu  스  switch 
汀 ting   sandbank              汀   tei    water's edge               tin  てぃん  ティン   tin   틴   tin         
殉 Xun   martyr                  殉   jun   resignation                Jun  殉         殉           Sun  순  the       
道 dao    way                      道   do    road-way                   kyo  教         教           gyo  교  school 
者 zhe    he who                 者   sha   someone                  mono  者        者           ja     자  character                     
--------------------------

The water's edge reached up onto the sand
in resignation to the limit allowed by gravity and land.

===============

Lectionary Justin M
wiki Justin M
wiki Nablus Flavius Neapolis
Christianity Today Justin M

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Revere

4.18.19

Last Supper

Revere
Life
反抗生活 
Fǎnkàng shēnghuó
リヴィア生活
Rivu~ia seikatsu
ps116

I love that I found help when I needed it.
Salvation came and I heeded it.

I had fallen to the place of shades
the distress beyond bad dreams had made.

The grip of the grave grapple grabbed
until my adam's apple gagged
while seeing the sensible source sag 
from the sense perception had.

I said, "Though I have been driven from your sight,
I hope to look on your temple again with delight."

I felt desperate. My mind cried for direction.
Choice was compressed to this bit. I had to select protection 
from the danger of dereliction.

I found what I needed before the moment of crisis.
The rightness in choice was decisive. 

The cords of death had entangled me.
My sight was so strangled, I had to get free.

Sorrow drove sadness to the threshold of pain.
The horror drove madness to enfold the insane.

Human being is not made holy by work
but faith lives for grace when responsibility is not shirked.

I remembered to pray
when my life was fading away.

My prayer reached you in your holy place.
You heard my cry for help with grace.

I will sacrifice to you with thanksgiving.
I will give a portion from what I am given to make a living.

Salvation spoke to me through a whale and fish.
The sea spit me out on dry land to answer my wish.

The success of salvation is gracious.
It was so efficacious, it was almost salacious.

Nothing else is quite so profound
as wonder in the world once it has been found.

Defense is granted to the watchful
if only because the thoughtful 
watch for the goodness of the gospel.

I felt that I fell very low, but I was helped.
I exempted contempt for the hand I was dealt.

I was rescued from death.
Help was given in the test.

My eyes shed natural tears.
I was grateful for my years.

My feet did not stumble
though I felt very humble.

I will walk in the presence 
of the divine essence
in the land of the living
to give thanks for the giving.

Brooker Creek Preserve Trail

I believed even when 
I had been brought to a bend.
Then I had said, 
“No one can be trusted
when trust has been busted.”

How will I repay my debt
without regret 
for all the good things 
carried by angel wings?

I will lift up the cup of salvation 
and hold it high as a libation.

I will fulfill my promise to live
with reverence for life as a gift
in the rule of law that we win
by transcending sin.

We had been told that your lamb will be a sheep or a goat.
It will be a year old male intended to connote
a sacrifice from providence as a promissory note.

Now the sacrifice is a donation to service
to consecrate thanksgiving with purpose.

Precious in the sight of divine Light
is the death of those who defended rights.
They lived good lives.

I am a defender of rights. 
I have been resurrected as a good life
by the experience that brought me past strife. 

I tasted this glimpse of the abyss.
It was black and gray with white lights in the tryst.

I have been freed from the world of discrimination
to recount deliverance by narration.

I listen to hear.
I have not rebelled in fear.
I did not turn back the years.

My ear has been opened.
I hear sounds that are spoken.

Blessing and curse come from the same mouth.
This ought not to be so for the north or the south.

From the same tongue comes curses or worse.
Speech should be the garden ground for statement and verse.

Who do you say that I am?
You are anointed to pass the exam.

Christ stood near the water anointed by the sun.
Peter said, "You are the Messiah of the holy One."

I was not rebellious,
reckless or helpless.

I did not turn backwards.
I spoke in exact words.

Bravery is most bold when prepared.
Faith looks for benign design to be shared.

Time starts to grow bold.
The word shares the beauty of hope.

Hope desires goodness
to add to the fullness.

Measure the base of an object
to secure restraint in the prospect 
for the project.

The bug pulls this stem.
You straighten the hem.

The bridge to love leads the way
to the right thing to do or say.

I will offer thanksgiving with my sacrifice.
I will give thanks to the Giver of life.

Jesus said
after he broke the bread,
'Take eat. This is my body broken for you.

This is my blood offered for redemption in truth.
Do this in remembrance of my gift to guide your youth.'

He poured water to clean his disciples' feet.
He washed and dried each foot to make the task complete.


I will speak with reason for the reasonable acceptance
of benefit for people in the presence 
of the divine essence
in the assembly in public
in the city of peace that is love lit
by the waters near where the dove sits.

It is time to rest
now that I have been blessed
with the quest to sing of salvation with zest.

Stress from the test has worn my torn soul.
I will do my best to celebrate life as a whole. 

Yea Yah!
You fill me with awe!


---------------------------

116 Dilexi, quoniam
I love because

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of
my supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever
I called upon him.
2 The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me;
I came to grief and sorrow.
3 Then I called upon the Name of the Lord:
"O Lord, I pray you, save my life."
4 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
5 The Lord watches over the innocent;
I was brought very low, and he helped me.
6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul.
for the Lord has treated you well.
7 For you have rescued my life from death,
my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.
8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living.
9 I believed, even when I said,
"I have been brought very low."
In my distress I said, "No one can be trusted."
10 How shall I repay the Lord
for all the good things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
12 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
13 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his servants.
14 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.
15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
16 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
17 In the courts of the Lord's house,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

-----------------------

Exodus 12:5

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

--------------------------------

Your lamb will be a sheep or a goat.
It will be a year old male intended to connote
a sacrifice from providence as a promissary note.

==================

1 Corinth. 11:24

When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'

--------------------------------

Take eat. This is my body broken for you.
This is my blood offered for redemption in truth.
Do this in remembrance of my gift to guide your youth.

==================

John 13:5

He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

--------------------------------

His command was to love each other as a service.
He washed the disciples' feet to show that he heard us
as having heard his purpose.

==================

Washing Feet

Maundy Thursday

Law is a system of rules that regulates the members of a body. Enforcement by the imposition of punishment is to be limited to cases where damage was caused by a party charged with a crime.
Maundy Thursday is the name given to the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. The event is known as the Last Supper. It occurred the night before the day on which he was crucified. The Last Supper is used for the celebration of the Eucharist or Communion.

Communion and Baptism are regarded as key rites in the institution of the Christian religion. Baptism is performed once for initiation into membership in the Church. Communion is offered repeatedly to commune with the Christ of Jesus as the Son of God. Leadership in the Church is respected as sanctified for the administration of the sacraments.

The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word for command, mandatum. Jesus gave a command to his disciples at the Last Supper to love and serve one another.

Maundy Thursday is the Christian holy day that falls on the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the Last Supper and foot washing of Jesus Christ with the apostles as described in the canonical gospels. It is the fifth day of Holy Week. It is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.

The term Holy Thursday is associated with the celebration of the Ascension throughout the Anglican Communion. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the term for the day before Good Friday.
When a church observes the rite associated with Maundy Thursday, it includes the enactment of the foot washing ceremony. The act is performed in remembrance of how Christ humbled himself.

Have this mind which is yours in Christ Jesus. He did not count equality with God a thing to be taken. He emptied himself by being born in the likeness of men and took the form of a servant. (Philippians 2:5)

A new commandment was given. Love each other as you have been loved that you may serve each other. (John 13:34)

Maundy Thursday initiates the Easter Triduum. This is the period which commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The Easter celebration starts on Saturday before midnight. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the three days in the triduum.

The commemoration of the crucifixion of Christ serves as a symbolic reminder to reject or 'put to death' false beliefs. We believe in our Savior as the author of salvation, but that which is false about belief in God does not serve the Church, the world or us.

Law is absolute in the identification of murder as a capital offense. When the charge of murder is proven in a court of law, it warrants life in prison or death as the penalty. The severity of the punishment is dependent upon the certainty of proof in the evidence.

Since it is conceivable that a person who was not guilty of murder could be convicted for the charge of that crime, proof of guilt has to be beyond the shadow of a doubt for the imposition of death as the penalty.

The prohibition of things that don't necessarily, but could cause harm represents an over-extension of legislative authority.

The prohibition of alcohol serves as an example. Alcohol causes physical damage to bodily health when consumed in excess, but it can be used recreationally for the medicinal property of relaxation. Driving while drunk can be prohibited by law, but the prohibition of alcohol was an example of overreach.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Maundy-Thursday.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Thursday
https://www.christianity.com/christian-life/what-is-maundy-thursday-11628350.html

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Revere



Revere
Life
リヴィア生活
Rivu~ia seikatsu
ps116

I love that I found help when I needed it.
Salvation came and I heeded it.

I felt desperate. My mind cried for direction.
Choice was compressed to this bit. I had to select protection 
from the danger of dereliction.

I found what I needed before the moment of crisis.
The rightness in choice was decisive. 

The cords of death had entangled me.
My sight was so strangled, I had to get free.

The grip of the grave grapple grabbed
until my adam's apple gagged
while seeing the sensible source sag 
from the sense perception had.

Sorrow drove sadness to the threshold of pain.
The horror drove madness to enfold the insane.

Then I cried for help
after yapping a yelp,
“What do I have to do to find safety?
I need it now. I need it greatly.”

The success of salvation is gracious.
It was so efficacious, it was almost salacious.

Nothing else is quite so profound
as wonder in the world once it has been found.

Defense is granted to the watchful
if only because the watchful 
watch for the goodness of the gospel.

I felt that I fell very low, but I was helped.
I exempted contempt for what I was dealt.

It is time to rest
now that I have been blessed
with the quest to sing of salvation with zest.

Stress from the test has worn my torn soul.
I will do my best to celebrate life as a whole.

I was rescued from death.
Help was given in the test.

My eyes shed natural tears.
I was grateful for my years.

My feet did not stumble
though I felt glad and humble.

I will walk in the presence 
of the divine essence
in the land of the living
to give thanks for the giving.

I believed even when 
I had been brought to a bend
when I said, 
“No one can be trusted
when your trust has been busted.”

How will I repay my debt
without regret 
for all the good things 
carried by angel wings?

I will lift up the cup of salvation 
and hold it high as a libation.

I will fulfill my promise to live
with reverence for life as a gift
in the rule of law that we win
in transcending sin.

Precious in the sight of divine Light
is the death of those who defended rights.

They lived good lives.
I am a defender of rights. 

I have been resurrected as a good life
by the experience that brought me past strife. 

I tasted a glimpse of the abyss.
It was black and gray with white lights in the tryst.

I have been freed from the world of discrimination
to recount deliverance by narration.

My ear has been opened.
I hear sounds that are spoken.

From the same mouth come blessing and curse.
Speech should be the garden ground for verse.

Who do you say that I am?
You are anointed to pass the exam.

I was not rebellious,
reckless or helpless.

I did not turn backwards.
I spoke in exact words.



Bravery is most bold when prepared.
Faith looks for benign design to be shared.

Time starts to grow bold.
The word shares the beauty of hope.

Hope desires goodness
to add to the fullness.



Measure the base 
to secure great restraint
by improving drainage for rain.


The bug pulls the stem.
You straighten the hem.

The bridge to love leads the way
to the right thing to do or say.



I will offer thanksgiving as my sacrifice.
I will give thanks to the Giver of life.

I will speak with reason for the reasonable acceptance
of benefit for people in the presence 
of the divine essence
in the assembly in public
in the city of peace that is love lit
by the waters near where the dove sits. 

Yea Yah!
You fill me with awe!



116 Dilexi, quoniam

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of
my supplication, *
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever
I called upon him.
2 The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me; *
I came to grief and sorrow.
3 Then I called upon the Name of the Lord: *
"O Lord, I pray you, save my life."
4 Gracious is the Lord and righteous; *
our God is full of compassion.
5 The Lord watches over the innocent; *
I was brought very low, and he helped me.
6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul. *
for the Lord has treated you well.
7 For you have rescued my life from death, *
my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.
8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord *
in the land of the living.
9 I believed, even when I said,
"I have been brought very low." *
In my distress I said, "No one can be trusted."
10 How shall I repay the Lord *
for all the good things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of salvation *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
12 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people.
13 Precious in the sight of the Lord *
is the death of his servants.
14 O Lord, I am your servant; *
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.
15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
16 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people,
17 In the courts of the Lord's house, *
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!


Isa. 50:5
The Lord God has opened my ear,
   and I was not rebellious,
   I did not turn backwards.

James 3:10
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.

Mk. 8:29
Jesus asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’

9.16.18

Birth sign Virgo
Close approach of moon to Jupiter 9/14, Saturn 9/18 and Mars 9/20
Moon at First Quarter 9/16
Mars at perihelion (closest to sun) in Capricorn

Order to rise in sky
PM Moon, Saturn, Mars
AM Mercury, Venus, Jupiter

Birthdays

Dare to declare who you are.


Hildegard of Bingen 9.16.1098 Bermersheim vor de Horhe, Rhineland-Palatinate
希尔德加德

希  Xi   hope                mari       rare                    Hi   ひ   ヒ          Hi  힐  heel
尔  er   you                  no kanji                             ru  る   ル            de  데  place
德  de  goodness        toku       benevolence       de  で   デ            ga  가  end
加   jia  plus                  ka          increase             ga  が   ガ           leu  르  le
德  de  Germany          no kanji                             ru  る    ル           teu  트  the
                                                                              to   と     ト

Bermersheim vor der Höhe lies in Germany’s biggest winegrowing district. It is the winegrowing center in the middle of Rhine Hesse.

People settled there before the Romans came because the location favored trade with the convenience of a transportion hub.  It is located on the confluence of the Nahe and Rhine rivers. It is at the Rhine's entry into the gorge in the area. A Celtic (Gaulish) settlement by the name of Binge – meaning "rift" was established.

Roman troops were stationed in Bingen on the Rhine Valley Road in the early first century CE. They changed the location's name to Bingium. There the Romans erected a wooden bridge across the Nahe and constructed a bridgehead castrum. A castrum was a fortified military camp.

A Roman Mithraic monument which included a mutilated sculpture representing the nativity of Mithra was discovered in Bingen. One of its inscriptions is dated 236.

Mithras is sculpted as being born from a rock. He is shown as emerging already in his youth with a dagger in one hand and a torch in the other. He is nude, standing with his legs together emergent from the stone. He is wearing a Phrygian cap.

Another sculpture of Mithras shows him in an Anatolian costume. He is wearing a Phrygian cap in this depiction as well. He is kneeling on a bull which had been exhausted by being ridden. He is holding it by the nostrils with his left hand and stabbing it in the neck with his right. He looks to Sol with whom he will share the meat of the beast in a feast.

The sculpture distinguishes Mithraism from that part of the Hindi religion that will not sacrifice cows. The creatures are believed to be sacred.

The cult of Mithra represented another step in the direction of a monotheistic religion for Rome. The image of the sun represented the rise of one leader to power.

A Christian community was established in Bingen between 335 and 360 by the presbyter Aetherius of Bingen. Bearing witness to this time is Aetherius's gravestone. The stone can still be seen in Saint Martin's Basilica.

The town became a Frankish royal estate and passed in 983 by the Donation of Verona from Otto II to Archbishop Willigis of Mainz. The Binger Kammerforst (forest) came into being with Otto III. A stone bridge (Drususbrücke) was built some way up the river Nahe under Willigis.

The inhabitants of Bingen strove time and again for independence.The dispute between the Archbishop of Mainz and the Emperor led to destruction in 1165.

 Hildegard was born around the year 1098. Her parents were Mechtild of Merxheim-Nahet and Hildebert of Bermersheim. They were a family of the free lower nobility in the service of the Count Meginhard of Sponheim.

Hildegard was sickly from birth. She is traditionally considered to have been their youngest and tenth child, but there are records of seven older siblings. Hildegard states in her Vita that from a very young age she had experienced visions.

She was a German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary and polymath. She is considered to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.
Hildegard was elected magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136. She founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. One of her works as a composer, the Ordo Virtutum, is an early example of liturgical drama. It is arguably the oldest surviving morality play.

She wrote theological, botanical and medicinal texts as well as letters, liturgical songs and poems. She supervised miniature illuminations in the Rupertsberg manuscript of her first work, Scivias. She is also noted for the invention of a constructed language known as Lingua Ignota.
Pope Benedict XVI named her a Doctor of the Church in 2012.




Micky Rourke  9.16.52  Schenectady, NY
米基罗克
FB Fan

米  Mi    meter            meetoru     meter              Mi   み      ミ           Mi    미   beauty   
基  ji      base              moto          source            kki  っき-  ッキ-      ki     키   key
罗  Luo  catch            no kanji                              Ro  ろ-    ロ-           Lu    루   sack
克  ke    restrain          koku          restraint           ku    く      ク           keu   크  greater

The city is near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers in eastern New York. It is in the same metropolitan area as the state capital, Albany. The capital is about 15 miles (24 km) southeast.
The name "Schenectady" is derived from a Mohawk word, skahnéhtati. It means "beyond the pines".
The city was founded on the south side of the Mohawk River by Dutch colonists in the 17th century.

Many moved from the Albany area. They were prohibited from the fur trade by the Albany monopoly. The monopoly kept its control after the English takeover in 1664.

Residents of the new village developed farms on strip plots along the river. Trade and travel was connected to the west via the Mohawk River and Erie Canal. The city developed rapidly in the 19th century as part of the Mohawk Valley trade, manufacturing and transportation corridor.

More people worked in manufacturing than agriculture or trade by 1824. The city had a cotton mill. It processed cotton from the Deep South. Numerous mills in New York had such ties with the South.
Nationally influential companies and industries developed in Schenectady through the 19th century.

General Electric and American Locomotive Company (ALCO) were included as powers into the mid-20th century. The city became part of emerging technologies with GE collaborating in the production of nuclear-powered submarines. It has been working on developing other forms of renewable energy in the 21st century.

Micky was named Philip Andre Rourke Jr. at birth. He was born on September 9, 1952 in Schenectady, New York. He was the son of Annette (née Cameron) and Philip Andre Rourke, Sr. His father was of Irish and German descent. His mother had Scottish, French, English and German ancestry.

He was raised Roman Catholic and still practices his faith. His father was an amateur body builder. He left the family when Mickey was six years old. His mother married Eugene Addis, a Miami Beach police officer with five sons after his parents divorced. He moved Rourke, his younger brother (Joey) and their sister (Patricia) to South Florida. There, he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1971.

He had a short career as a boxer. His amateur boxing record was 27 wins and 3 losses.

Mickey Rourke is an American actor and screenwriter who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action and thriller films.

Rourke starred in the comedy-drama Diner (1982), the drama Rumble Fish (1983), the crime-black comedy film The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) and the erotic drama 9½ Weeks (1986) during the 1980's. He received critical praise for his work in the Charles Bukowski biopic Barfly and the horror mystery Angel Heart (both 1987).

Rourke teamed up with Don Johnson and Tom Sizemore in the cult classic action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man in 1991. Rourke had trained as a boxer in his early years. He left acting and became a professional boxer for a time in 1991.

Rourke returned to acting and had supporting roles in several films after retiring from boxing in 1994. He was in the drama The Rainmaker (1997), the comedy-drama Buffalo '66 (1998), the thriller-remake of Get Carter (2000), the mystery film The Pledge (2001), the crime dark comedy-drama Spun (2002), the action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) and the action thriller Man on Fire (2004). He played the role of a corrupt lawyer in the last film.

Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role in the neo-noir action thriller Sin City in 2005. He won awards for his role from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Irish Film and Television Awards and the Online Film Critics Society. He portrayed a past-his-prime wrestler in the 2008 film The Wrestler. He received a 2009 Golden Globe award, a BAFTA award and an Academy Award nomination for his work in the film.

He has appeared in several commercially successful films since then. These films included Iron Man 2 and The Expendables in 2010. He played the mortal king Hyperion in the 2011 film Immortals.




Sarah Steele 9.16.88 Philadelphia, PA
莎拉斯蒂尔
FB

莎  Sha  insect        sha        sedge              Sa    さ      サ           Sa   사    four
拉  la      pull            ramen    noodles           ra     ら      ラ              la     라    la
斯  Si     this            kou         in this way       Su    す     ス             Seu  스  switch
蒂  di     stem          no kanji                           ti      てぃ- ティ-          til     틸   till
尔  er     you            no kanji                           ru     る     ル

The Move of the Spirit was the unofficial name of a non-denominational charismatic Christian group that was started in the 1960's in Florida by Sam Fife, a former Baptist preacher.

Sam Fife used elements of charismatic ministry in his ministry in the early 1960's. He started at his church in New Orleans, then in his prayer group in Miami, Florida. His theology has been related to the Body of Christ movement. Free-spirited thinkers were craving answers. It was in the heart of the drug era. Sam Fife claimed that he would never die. His movement was presented as a non-denominational, non-profit charismatic international Christian organization.

Fife was considered an apostle by way of the five-fold ministry. A passage from Ephesians (Eph.4:11) was used to define the different ministries. It says Jesus gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

Fife established ‘farms’ in Columbia, Canada and Alaska within a few years. Thousands of members still live on communal farms all over the world. Each member handed over half of their income to the 'farm'.

Pastors collected the income and acted as investment advisors. Move members dressed conservatively. Women were required to wear long skirts and shorter hair. They needed permission to go anywhere. Advice was given to members by elders in a life or death situation. Family visits had to be approved by elders.

Sources have shared reports of the organization's involvement with the horrifying torture technique of "waterboarding." It was performed on members who “didn't listen.” Some ex-members reported suffering physical, sexual and psychological abuse by leaders and elders while involved with this group.

Non-communal congregations also exist as “city bodies.” No one knows what became of Fife. It was claimed that he died in a plane wreck in South America, but no one could ever find proof.

Fife's teachings lived on through another minister named Buddy Cobb after his death. He published his own booklets and founded the Covenant Life College in 1982 in Fitzgerald, Georgia. Cobb has developed the concept that the goal of the Christian is "sinless perfection." He cites it as a requirement to be saved. Cobb stresses that we shall be saved by his (Christ's) life. He defines his life as reaching sinless perfection in living as "Dead to Sin."

A group named MOVE was established in Philadelphia in 1972. This was a black liberation group founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by John Africa (born Vincent Leaphart) in 1972. The name is not an acronym. The group lived in a communal setting in West Philadelphia. The communal setting makes the group similar to the Move of the Spirit. This group lived by philosophies of anarcho-primitivism. The group combined revolutionary ideology similar to that of the Black Panthers with work for animal rights.

The group is particularly known for two major conflicts with the Philadelphia Police Department. A standoff resulted in the death of one police officer, injuries to several other people and life sentences for nine members. These members were convicted of killing the officer in 1978.

Another confrontation ended when a police helicopter dropped a bomb on the MOVE compound in 1985. The compound was a row house in the middle of the 6200 block of Osage Avenue. The resulting fire killed eleven MOVE members. The total included five children. Sixty five houses were destroyed in the neighborhood. No civil official was charged with an offense. The survivors later filed a civil suit against the city and the police department. They were awarded $1.5 million dollars in a 1996 settlement.

One Liberty Place was completed in 1987 in Philadelphia. It is a 61-story, 945-foot (288 m) skyscraper. It is part of a complex called Liberty Place. The complex has another 58 story skyscraper, a two-story shopping mall called the Shops at Liberty Place and the 14-story Westin Philadelphia Hotel. Building the skyscrapers ended the 'gentleman's agreement' to not build anything taller than the statue of William Penn on Philadelphia City Hall. Construction on the complex started in 1985 and ended in 1987.

Sarah Steele was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 16, 1988. Her mother, Katherine A. High, is a hematology oncology physician at the University of Pennsylvania. Her father, George Steele, is an internal medicine physician specializing in nutrition who was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Steele graduated with the class of 2006 from The Episcopal Academy, a private school in southeast Pennsylvania. She graduated from Columbia University in 2011 with a B.A. in comparative literature.

Sarah is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Marissa Gold on the CBS legal drama The Good Wife and its spinoff series The Good Fight. She has appeared in a number of successful films and TV series as well.



Takahashi Ai 9.14.86 Sakai, Fukui, Japan
高橋愛
UpFront
Black Dance

高  gao    high           Taka    quantity         Ai  あい  アイ       Ai   아이  child   
橋  qiao   bridge         hashi   bridge           Ta  た     タ         Ta   타    other
愛  ai       love            Ai         love               ka  か     カ         ka    카   car
                                                                    ha   は   ハ         ha    하   ha
                                                                    shi   し    シ         si     시   city 

Sakai is located in far northern Fukui Prefecture.  It is bordered by the city of Awara to the north, the Ishikawa Prefecture to the east and the Sea of Japan to the west, The city of Fukui borders the city to the south. The Kuzuryū River flows through the city. It is about 750 km (465 miles) to S. Korea.

The town of Maruoka was consolidated into the city of Sakai . The town’s main claim to fame is the historic treasure at its heart: Maruoka Castle. The castle was completed in 1576. It is one of just 12 across Japan that still have their original tenshu or main tower.

The wooden structure collapsed during the 1948 Fukui earthquake, but the subsequent restoration work managed to rescue about 80% of the original material.  A scale model inside the main tower shows what the castle and the surrounding town looked like during the Edo Period. Virtually nothing but the tenshu has survived to the present day.

The semi-legendary Kofun period Emperor Keitai is said to have come from the area that is now the Maruoka neighbourhood of Sakai. The area was divided between the holdings of Maruoka Domain, Fukui Domain and tenryō holdings directly under control of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period.

The area was organised into part of Sakai District in Fukui Prefecture following the Meiji restoration. The epicentre of the 1948 Fukui earthquake was in Maruoka.

Takahashi Ai was born on September 14, 1986 in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture. She practiced ballet during her childhood. She is a Japanese singer, actress and model managed by UP-FRONT CREATE. She is best known as a former leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project.

She first joined Morning Musume in 2001 through the 5th generation auditions. She replaced Mari Yaguchi in Mini Moni in 2003.

She became the leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project in 2007. Risa Niigaki and Ai Takahashi became the first members to remain in Morning Musume for eight years on August 26, 2009.They were  the longest-serving members in Morning Musume history. They had broken the four-year-old record set by Kaori Iida.

Ai-chan passed both leadership positions to fellow 5th generation member Niigaki Risa when she graduated on September 30, 2011. She was one of the longest-serving Morning Musume leaders.

Yuko. Llida and Ai served for four years each. Ai was in Morning Musume for ten years when she graduated. She added an element of playful sexiness to the joyful persona that had been displayed by the leadership. She enjoys singing and dancing with character.

Takashi has focused on acting and modeling. She has become known as a "fashion icon" since her graduation from Hello! Project. She has teamed up with Tanaka Reina, Morning Musume and Risa Niigaki for different musical performances on video.

Leaders
Morning Musume

Yuko Nakazawa      1997-2001
Kaori Llida               2001-2005
Hitomi Yoshizawa   2005-2007
Ai Takahashi            2007-2011
Risa Niigaki              2011-2012
    Tanaka Reina
Sayumi Michishige   2012-2014
Mizuki Fukumura      2014- present