New Year's Coming, Ready or Not

Bishop Rabb* said that Christmas comes ready or not. The same with the New Year. "Who knows what this coming New Year will bring?" We'll, I'm getting ready to bake bread in the New Year.  

This morning I began to research which kind of machine to buy. I looked at books on the subject of baking bread. I've been reading product reviews by people who are very familiar with bread making and machines that help the process along.

I want to work my way up to hand-kneading bread dough, making gluten-free and regular bread, polishing the dough with butter (I think that's yummy-good), and baking different shapes and loaves. As much as anything before breaking a fresh loaf will be the aromas filling the house!

It's another creative way to start a New Year ready or not.

And He took the bread, and gave thanks, and broke it... (Luke 22:19).


*/St. John's 
/Breadmaking video  
2013

New Year's Relief for Citizen Newshounds

A new globe icon in the Ambox style (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

January 1, 2013

If we do not need to follow news and analysis for professional reasons we can drastically change the landscape of our thinking for the better in 2013. 
     The scope of frustration, even anger, experienced by regular people that zealously follow news makes the point. 
     Having lived under the influence of the nation's capital city for a long time, I have received most news from The Washington Post. Now it has become...well, an odd kind of challenge: the enjoyment has gone. In recent months I have realized that I find even the top section, A, to contain less news and more editorializing within news items. That's a significant drift; yet, I've continued to read the paper daily... almost religiously. 

Even a favorite WashPost book reviewer recently disappointed, barely questioning the reasoning behind a new book about the personal life of Charles Dickens that makes wild claims of exceptionally bad fathering and other personal weaknesses or differences. The question of why his children loved him and most did well in their lives, on their own, was not raised.         
     There are TV news programs to do without as well, unless one enjoys hearing what is spoken only for the benefit of those who agree.

What if we newshounds take a break from our unnecessary over-attention to reading or watching news reports for a while? We might take many deep breaths of relief. I have a deep suspicion that the life our our minds would improve under influence of increased meditative, appreciative, enjoyable, and peaceful thoughts ...rarely found in the news.
    Dear Reader, I hope you are having a good new year's beginning. Special thoughts to all who are in hospital. This includes, in our family, a loved one in Florida. Hoping for a good recovery soon. We continue to follow updates from family and friends.  


Copyright (c) 2013 Jean Purcell and Opinari Writers. If you enjoy this blog, join, tweet, facebook, like, or recommend it. 

Maundy Thursday_the Greatest Virtue

William Blake's Holy Thursday (1794). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) *clear text below

If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance.

__C.S. Lewis,"The Weight of Glory" (The Weight of Glory).

The closest anyone could come to showing a picture of Love would be to show God giving his Only Beloved Son for the world He loved so that all who believe on His Son might be saved, never perishing, but having eternal life. That picture would encompass: all of God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--present at Creation at the beginning; the Annunciation: announcement to Mary, mother of Jesus; His birth; His baptism by John; His ministry of teaching and healing; His prayers; His words from the Cross; His death on the Cross; His being raised from death by God: Resurrection; the promise that He will come again to the earth.  

The picture of Love includes Obedience (thereby, Unselfishness) portrayed. The Son obeyed the Father's plan and thereby became Incarnate in human flesh. What a comedown from heaven's glories, and leading to betrayal, scourging, and the Cross, outside the city gates, as if being crucified on the dung-heap of Jerusalem. 

To Christians, Maundy (Latin meaning commandment) refers to Jesus' words about the new commandment He gave:

 "I give a new commandment to you:

'Love one another; just as I have loved you, you should also love one another'"

(John 13:34_Aramaic Bible in Plain English (c)2010).

Maundy Thursday in the Church calendar is the new commandment day, the Passover day of The Last Supper, the new communion that Jesus told his disciples to keep "in remembrance of Me." It is the Thursday of Holy Week, the day before Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the day when believers celebrate the bodily Resurrection of the Lord. 


There remain faith, hope, and love, and "the greatest of these is love."  


This Maundy, then, is a commandment given by Love telling us to love. May every person born again of the Spirit of God obey this commandment, which is to love as God loves.

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*A Poem (Holy Thursday in London Town)
by William Blake (1794)

‘Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean,

The children walking two and two, in red and blue and green,

Grey headed beadles walk’d before, with wands as white as snow,
Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames’ waters flow.


Oh what a multitude they seem’d, these flowers of London town!
Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own.
The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.

Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song,

Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of Heaven among.
Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor;
Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.
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Original post text copyright (c)2012 Opinari Writers 4/5/2012