Happy New Year, Planet Earth!

túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.

Earthrise: Credit Apollo 8, NASA
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...and to all, a good night!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a "Good night." God bless us, every one!

* I meant only to post the lovely video, but after you've seen that, take a minute to look around Anne's place for her other great posts!
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Melvin Clarence Davis (June 8, 1939-December 21, 2008)

My husband's brother Mel died early this morning of ALS. May flights of angels sing him to his rest. We love Mel and we shall miss him. Our condolences to his children Rhonda, Chris, Scott, Jeff, Kerri, Cindy, Jodi and their families, and to his brothers and sisters, Donna, Alyce, Jean, Richard, and Marv and their families. Mel leaves behind 20 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren.

As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:22)

To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. (John 18:37)

Blessed be.

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Bearing Witness

Emily Dickinson had much to share with the world about life, and love, death and hope, and being human on a planet that has much to learn about compassion and forgiveness. Maybe most about hope. "Hope," she wrote, "is a thing with feathers That perches in the soul."

Here is one she wrote called: This Is My Letter To The World

This is my letter to the world
That never wrote to me
The simple news that Nature told
With tender Majesty

Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see
For love of her,
Sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me.

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And so, Christmastime is when hope perches in the soul of mankind perhaps more than at any other time of year, with its message of peace and goodwill. Here then is my Christmas message to all of you, my friends whose hands I cannot see, in the form of a question, many questions:

BETHLEHEM IN PLEIADES

Is there a Bethlehem
in Pleiades? --
A manger
made of stranger stuff
than hay
where a virgin,
silver-eyed and young
and far from home
laid another Babe
called Christ? --
Or is he called by different names
in Pleiades?
Was it a thousand
thousand years ago
or yesterday
he ran across the four-starred
square of Pegasus
and Lyrae
and Persei?
Is it, in all
the deep Manvantaras of space,
Christmas?
Is it winter on Arcturas?
Do angels carol and rejoice
in Andromeda
to an infant
born only NOW --
light years across the universe
among strange six-hoofed beasts
that stand and low and bray,
thunderstruck?
Do they see
just NOW
the star?


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Gloria (again)....

In case you missed her the first time around, I love this little Christmas angel that tops our tree every year....

ElfYourself!

(Click it!)
Recognize any of these elves? Sent by my sister-in-law: she and her husband, me and mine, and my mother-in-law.... O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Confessions

I am Confessions!
by Saint Augustine

You're a sinner, you're a saint, you do not feel ashamed of your past, but it did such a great job of teaching you what not to do. Now you've become a devout Christian and have spent more time ruminating on the world to come rather than worldly pleasures. Your realizations and ability to change will bring reverence upon you despite your hedonistic transgressions. Florida will honor you most in the end.

Thanks to my friend Nienke at The Writing Life for the Book Quiz. Try it! Find out what book you are! I still ruminate upon worldly pleasures a lot though...not to mention all my hedonistic transgressions. Nienke was The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. (Let me know what book you are.)

But what is that stuff about Florida, anyway?
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