The following article is intended for ‘good eggs’, pardon the pun. If it offends, I’m sorry sometimes the truth hurts, but it is still ‘truth’ that should be acknowledged.
Even a rudimentary research effort will help to answer the question, ‘is the celebration of Easter an insult to our Father in heaven? Even superficial research reveals the truth; ergo Encyclopedia Britanica states:
“The English name Easter is of uncertain origin; the Ang-Saxon priest Venerable Bede in the 8th century derived it from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre.” Others link it to Astarte, the Phoenician fertility goddess who had the Babylonian counterpart Ishtar.
Hares, rabbits: These are symbols of fertility “handed down from the ancient ceremonial and symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals.
The American Book of Days well describes the origin of Easter: “There is no doubt that the Church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them.”
My comments: The ‘adoption’ of a purely pagan custom by Churches of Christendom had the obvious political purpose of appealing to a far wider non-christian audience than the minority of purely bible-based Christians. To this day that fact holds true. So to answer the question; “Could Church ‘adoption’ have God’s blessing,” consider just one, of many, scriptural principles;
“a little leaven ferments the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9)In scripture, leaven being often used as a symbol of corruption! So you be the judge; Could the ‘adoption of pagan practices’, such as Easter, possibly have God’s approval, or is it more likely an insult to Him..?
It won’t please recruiters, but I cannot recommend joining the Royal Canadian Navy. As a 5 year recruit from Vancouver it had seemed like a good escape from teenage reality. Although I had held down a couple of jobs in Vancouver, the future just wasn’t bright. So at 17 I joined the RCN and travelled to their Cornwallis Nova Scotia boot camp
Boot camp did challenge my youthful spirit, and a subsequent posting to the navy frigate Lauzon was exciting. However my ‘Oiler’ designation was not.
So going through the necessary command structure I requested a change to ‘Radar Plotter’. It required a several week course ashore, which I topped. Then followed a 20 month draft assignment to HMCS Athabascan, a so-called ‘greyhound of the fleet’ veteran of the Korean war, followed by a similar period on the Quinte, a coastal Mine Sweeper.
Although there were some highlights, viewing amazing stars at sea is beyond imagination, a sea full of porpoises from horizon to horizon, and sweeping instant storms. For me there were some personal benefits, such as learning and accepting discipline, and visiting a few ports in Europe and the East Coast of the US. And of course I was singularly fortunate not to have been involved in wartime conditions during all 5 years.
However negatives included fending off homosexual predators, and vicious street gangs, at many, if not all, ports I visited, and that was in the 70’s. So I can only imagine today’s conditions.
Based on my own experience, all I can say is I believe there are much better paths for a youth to take than joining the RCN, please choose wisely!
Can blessings of life truly be free? Sunshine, flowers, the shade of a tree. Finding true love, is one of the keys. Listening to ads, they’re only a tease, tempting your flesh falsely to please a portrait of life, seek only of ease.
Joy can begin, learning to care, lessor of things like clothing to wear, nor of concerns for soon thinning hair. Overt self love just leads to despair, kindly forgiveness, is golden and rare.
Filling your cup, now with real joy, godly good works will need to employ Memories of pain its time to destroy. Myths and desires, rejection of toys. Wisdom and truth, soon you’ll enjoy.
Imagine a stealthy entity able to enter your cerebral cortex through your eyes, ears, even your mouth. Subtly it both stimulates and damages your brain cells.
Indeed there is such a worldwide plague even now equally infecting humans from infancy to adulthood!
This destructive entity goes undetected at first, but as time goes on it is transforming. Soon it begins to shape your very personality by altering, influencing, possibly even subtly directing your thoughts and conduct.
Breaking free from it and reversing the negative damage is extremely difficult, similar to addictions like smoking and drugs. And like those addictions its unhealthy effects can be long lasting. In many cases it may have caused loss of objectivity; individuality; balanced perspective; even morality, and reasoning ability!
I submit this is a very real existing global epidemic throughout society today. It could well be described as ‘smart phone neurosis’!
A picture is worth a thousand words (note: a great many originate in scripture)
HEALTH: Laughter is the best medicine Count your blessings Keep a stiff upper lip Pull up your socks Life is short, then you die Jumping for joy Laugh and the world laughs with you Don’t cry over spilled milk Monday blues Walk in anothers’ shoes Better safe than sorry Bounce back It makes my blood boil
ADVISORY;
Keep your shirt on! Look before you leap Seek and you will find Go the extra mile Drink from your own well Don’t take any wooden nickels Mark my words Leave your comfort zone Dance like no one is watching What goes around, comes around Don’t judge a book by its cover Scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours Don’t rain on my parade The truth will make you free Charge it to my account
Don’t get your nickers twisted Don’t count on it Look at the bright side
Never look a gift horse in the mouth Choose wisely Keep it simple stupid (kiss) Don’t count your chickens before their hatched Put that in your pipe and smoke it Get behind me Call a spade; a spade Choose your poison Give it your all Search your heart Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill
COLLOQUIAL;
a one trick pony
Necesity is the mother of invention can’t change stripes, or spots Rich get richer, poor get poorer When the going gets tough, the tough get going He wears many hats Time is money Hope springs eternal Food for thought Your loss is my gain Its in the mail The writing on the wall Time well spent It never rains, but it pours Into every life a little rain must fall The first step is a lulu Ignorance is bliss Every cloud has a silver lining Light at the end of the tunnel We all make mistakes Better late than never A horse of a different color That’s you all over again Swimming in debt Hit it out of the park A ton of bricks From here to eternity One step at a time Call it a day Experience is the best teacher A fool for a client There are liars, damn liars, then statistics If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you Reaching out Going astray Barking up the wrong tree Harping on it Core values Butting heads A bastion of truth (or love etc) Opposite poles Intestinal fortitude Up and coming Won the battle, but lost the war Head knowledge Casting a shadow A house of cards A stacked deck Age is beauty Bargain basement price A fool and his money will soon part company Why did the chicken cross the road? Life is a bowl of cherries Life in the fast lane Sealed with a kiss Marching to a different drummer heart to heart
After watching a repeat W5 TV show about SETA (searching for extraterrestrial life etc) I have to make a comment;
It seems to me that ‘extraterrestrial life’ is already here but not recognized as such!
No, I’m not referring to unique aquatic creatures, such as the amazing octopus as was suggested in that program, nor any other mysterious deep sea creature.
So what do I believe may be the unrecognized alien creature on earth;
wait for it…..
Indeed its us ‘humans’!
Ridiculous you say.? Well let’s objectively consider the evidence;
First; given a very long history of environmental damage to the earth humans may well be described as the ‘least compatible creature’ on earth.
Next; consider how very few of mankind actually commit to the support of all the other life-forms on earth. To the contrary, human record proves humans actually; exploit; abuse; and outright destroy; everything from flora to fauna, to animals and vegetables. A far cry from benefiting most other life forms on earth.
Finally; many humans are very discontent with their lives on earth and instead are seeking to occupy other places, such as on the planet Mars, or even much further away from earth if the opportunity presented itself.
So for those (alienated humans) so inclined, I must say; maybe that’s where you actually belong…!?
The dog adoption program for veterans is very touching. Clearly it mediates some of the emotional turmoil men who have been exposed to wartime conditions. Emotions of extreme fear, horror, or pure anxiety; feelings non-veterans cannot even imagine. Its a great program because of the non-judgmental and supportive nature of canines for sure.
My only comment as a non-combatant RCN Sailor of years gone by is that this program reveals our basic human need for love and understanding.
With utmost respect to the reader of this post: If genuine hope for a loving future is your desire, it can be found in the prophecies of the holy Bible. Therefore please, please, visit JW.org where I promise you will find that support!!
It may be a bit over the top for me to express this opinion, but here goes;
Capital punishment was instituted by God in His sacred word as the life giver, pure and simple. So why is it so difficult for us, as grateful products of His creation, to deny His judgement for those having willfully caused the death of another human.?
Compassion, sentiment, all have there place as God has well shown. Still the principle of ‘a life for a life’, even when in the womb, is inviolate and balanced if and when guilt is clearly determined – as difficult to prove as that may be, thanks to various dubious or even spurious legal arguments raised today!
However, once guilt has been clearly established, or admitted to, and was not in any way accidental, there should be no other outcome than a death sentence in my humble opinion. The means by which this is done is a much less important consideration.
There is much debate about the death penalty, but, in fact, many of those who have been given a ‘life sentence’; have expressed a preference for a death sentence over life-long incarceration! Therefore what is ‘true compassion’, yes for both victim and perpetrator; relegating a fellow human to a soul-destroying life in prison, or a just and equitable summary death? You be the judge.
We had been visiting my parents with my daughter Yvette in White Rock B.C., and were about to fly home to Victoria from the Blaine Washington airstrip, (now permanently taken out of service unfortunately).
It was dusk and visibility was restricted as we boarded my Mooney 20A airplane. My parents were on hand to bid us good bye.
Taxing from an off runway parking area the front wheel went into a mud-hole, no doubt caused by a lot of rain in recent days. The Mooney prop only had 8.5″ from tip to ground clearance.
There was no one else present at the airstrip at that time, but my dad had seen the problem and tried to get me to shut down the engine by waving his arms quite dramatically a few yards away in the landing light of the airplane.
However my youthful boldness prevailed. I gunned the engine to near full throttle to force the front wheel out of the mud-hole. It succeeded in doing so, but not before the tip of the prop made contact with the ground!
I realized what had occurred but only observed some mud churned up in the air so concluded it wasn’t a serious issue. Continuing to the paved runway we took off for the fairly short return trip home.
Everything seemed normal as we flew over Georgia Strait waters and Gulf Islands., although I did have some reservations, so reduced the (variable) prop speed and rpm slightly as we flew in a very dark night sky.
I don’t recall if it was when clearing customs, or after taxiing to a parking spot on Victoria airport that I made a shocking discovery; one prop tip was ‘markedly’ twisted! Thankfully the flight home had not been noticeably affected at all!
Not much more can be said about this incident. The danger had been real. No prop damage should be ignored since prop failure or even engine damage is a possibility. Thankfully the durability of my (Hartzell) propeller prevailed. Another good lesson for a very fortunate private pilot.
We are supposed to elevate and appreciate actors or actresses that made movies and received recognition for their portrayal by some kind of award etc, but consider this….
Although there are exceptions, the simple truth is that ‘most’ movies are not beneficial, encouraging, or up-building, especially spiritually. In fact they very often strive for shock value, in other words they arguably tend to ‘undermine’ the natural human desire for peace and security.
Most newer movies may actually be emotionally depressing after the shock value wears off, much like the after effect of drugs or alcohol. True there may have been an initial elevation of emotions, some even of some benefit, but the aftermath of violence in films can be quite negative, so is it really worth that roller coaster effect? Please think about it when making entertainment choices.
