Silence is golden “they” say. Actually silence is the absence of sound. Silence, is peaceful and serene, an yet words can be soothing and comforting. Words, spoken when needed, words that help and heal and offer hope in bleak situations, are golden too.
When it comes to the use of words, forced silence isn’t golden; forced silence is oppression, which may be seen as something of value when you are the oppressor. It's so much nicer when no one being oppressed dares to complain.
There are also situations where not speaking, not saying anything at all is often construed as consent to what is taking place, especially if what is taking place is evil and should be stopped.
Silence then, is not always so golden; is it?
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras, means “Fat Tuesday” in French. It is also called “Shrove Tuesday,” or “Shrovetide” and it is the last day before of a period of forty days that fall before Easter, called Lent. We usually think of New Orleans Louisiana, USA when we think of Mardi Gras today, but it actually goes back in time and it actually has religions connections.
In the olden days, Catholics were not supposed to eat meat on Fridays or during Lent, so after the holiday of Christmas and before the 40 day period of Lent, during a period of time known as Carnival (meaning "farewell to the flesh) they had to use up what meat they had because they would not get any for a while, and the last day ended up being a sort of celebration. hence, "carnival."
This " Carnival" traditionally begins on what is known as Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is the Twelfth Day after Christmas, known on the Catholic calendar as "Epiphany, a day is said to commemorate the adoration of the wise men visiting Jesus, as well as Jesus’ Baptism and the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at the Wedding in Cana. The date of which changes depending on the Sunday in which Easter falls, but in the Gregorian Calendar, it is always a Tuesday, a very FAT Tuesday as you use up all your excess, hence the term, "Mardi Gras."
Mardi Gras became a party, with the belief that before a long period of deprivation (Lent and thereby repentance from sin,) human nature should allow itself some exceptional license in the way of frolic and good cheer. In some ways then, what seems to be a free-forall is actually quite a serious occasion, for Shrovetide and Mardi Gras were not only a time for making the most of your eggs by making pancakes and eating the last of your meat for a while, it was also a time of the confessing of sins to receive absolution from them. Unfortunately, some people see such an occasion as a party, as a license to act wild, lewd and to get drunk, a time of “getting in as many sins as possible” before the good work of abstaining from sin during the 40 days of Lent.
Critics of such behavior liken that the festivities of Mardi Gras is more attune to the ancient fertility festivals of pagan religions called Lupercalia, moreso that upon the godliness that the Christian church is supposed to represent in the world. The may be right.
In the second century BC, Rome commonly celebrated a holiday known as Lupercalia around February 15th. It was a religuos sort of holiday too, celebrating “fertility” and “purification.” Several sources note that it was not remembered exactly to who or what the holiday was being celebrated in honor of, but for sure it was a popular, festive city-wide celebration. Historians say that men would get dressed up in costume and roam through the streets of the city, dressed in nothing but skins of animals that had been sacrificed, (goat and dog in particular.) They would then lash the roaming women with whips called februa, (which means purification.) The men of the day apparently believed that women would be more fertile after being lashed with the whips and would also have easier childbirth.
Although the actually history of why this was done is sketchy, some sources say that Lupercalia, was probably to honor the she-wolf Rumina, that suckled the Roman twins, Romulus (the founder of Rome) and Remus. Others believe it to have been Faunus, a woodland deity identified with the Greek god, Pan, who was a mischievous, half-man half-goat creature, similar to a satyr.
It may have been a combination of many things that roused the people to “worship” their deities and celebrate as such, but a look at Mardi Gras parades today with their wild costumes and traditions can leave a person with the same sense of wonderment.
As Christianity spread across the world from Jerusalem where it began 2000 years ago, people were encouraged gave up their pagan rites and druid rituals and join “the church.” But converting cultures was no easy task. In fact when the reigning pope tried to end Lupercalia in the middle ages he was met with angry mobs. People like their customs and their celebrations.
Even today Mardi Gras is big event, a traditional celebration. It was a big yearly event in New Orleans, Louisiana, a tradition since 1699 when the French-Canadian explorer Pierre le Monye, Sieur de Iberville made his way down the Mississippi River.
In the olden days, Catholics were not supposed to eat meat on Fridays or during Lent, so after the holiday of Christmas and before the 40 day period of Lent, during a period of time known as Carnival (meaning "farewell to the flesh) they had to use up what meat they had because they would not get any for a while, and the last day ended up being a sort of celebration. hence, "carnival."
This " Carnival" traditionally begins on what is known as Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is the Twelfth Day after Christmas, known on the Catholic calendar as "Epiphany, a day is said to commemorate the adoration of the wise men visiting Jesus, as well as Jesus’ Baptism and the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at the Wedding in Cana. The date of which changes depending on the Sunday in which Easter falls, but in the Gregorian Calendar, it is always a Tuesday, a very FAT Tuesday as you use up all your excess, hence the term, "Mardi Gras."
Mardi Gras became a party, with the belief that before a long period of deprivation (Lent and thereby repentance from sin,) human nature should allow itself some exceptional license in the way of frolic and good cheer. In some ways then, what seems to be a free-forall is actually quite a serious occasion, for Shrovetide and Mardi Gras were not only a time for making the most of your eggs by making pancakes and eating the last of your meat for a while, it was also a time of the confessing of sins to receive absolution from them. Unfortunately, some people see such an occasion as a party, as a license to act wild, lewd and to get drunk, a time of “getting in as many sins as possible” before the good work of abstaining from sin during the 40 days of Lent.
Critics of such behavior liken that the festivities of Mardi Gras is more attune to the ancient fertility festivals of pagan religions called Lupercalia, moreso that upon the godliness that the Christian church is supposed to represent in the world. The may be right.
In the second century BC, Rome commonly celebrated a holiday known as Lupercalia around February 15th. It was a religuos sort of holiday too, celebrating “fertility” and “purification.” Several sources note that it was not remembered exactly to who or what the holiday was being celebrated in honor of, but for sure it was a popular, festive city-wide celebration. Historians say that men would get dressed up in costume and roam through the streets of the city, dressed in nothing but skins of animals that had been sacrificed, (goat and dog in particular.) They would then lash the roaming women with whips called februa, (which means purification.) The men of the day apparently believed that women would be more fertile after being lashed with the whips and would also have easier childbirth.
Although the actually history of why this was done is sketchy, some sources say that Lupercalia, was probably to honor the she-wolf Rumina, that suckled the Roman twins, Romulus (the founder of Rome) and Remus. Others believe it to have been Faunus, a woodland deity identified with the Greek god, Pan, who was a mischievous, half-man half-goat creature, similar to a satyr.
It may have been a combination of many things that roused the people to “worship” their deities and celebrate as such, but a look at Mardi Gras parades today with their wild costumes and traditions can leave a person with the same sense of wonderment.
As Christianity spread across the world from Jerusalem where it began 2000 years ago, people were encouraged gave up their pagan rites and druid rituals and join “the church.” But converting cultures was no easy task. In fact when the reigning pope tried to end Lupercalia in the middle ages he was met with angry mobs. People like their customs and their celebrations.
Even today Mardi Gras is big event, a traditional celebration. It was a big yearly event in New Orleans, Louisiana, a tradition since 1699 when the French-Canadian explorer Pierre le Monye, Sieur de Iberville made his way down the Mississippi River.
What is the New Age?
“New Age” refers to the metaphysically flavored religious teachings of the world. It’s is not a prescribed set of specific beliefs, nor a religion but it is a movement of religious and social nature that puts man and all or any other created things in the place that should be reserved alone for God. It's humanism at it's core given an unholy spirit, void of the truth knowledge of God. It's also nothing "new."
The New Age is a spiritualized quasi-religious philosophy that occults or distorts in some way the true light of God given to the world, and particvularly as revealed in Jesus Christ. It is one that prevents a person from loving God with all his or her heart mind and soul, mostly because he is occulted from them by their practices, much the way an exclipse covers the sun with the moon. They love though, even love themselves and their neighbors, but something gets in the way that keeps them from seeing the truth of God, usually one of their six senses.
Phenomena and practices such as contact with extraterrestrial beings, harnessing crystal powers, regressing to know past lives and reincarnations, sorcery, working with chakras, reading auras, planning out-of-body travel, reading tarot cards or astrological charts, and “trance channeling,” (also known as séances, or necromancy) would all be considered “New Age.” These are the very things God said were occult. But “New Agers,” believe that doing such things will be beneficial, not only to themselves but all mankind. The New Age is so diverse, it has no book or leader that is named... just a lot of them, so you cannot really call it a 'religion;' it's a mindset.
Books and publishers are important to New Agers. They even claim to consult books out in the airy ethers. The look for wisdom in books and revelations, but not necessarily wisdom from God,and when they do, they like to change it just a bit to make it more palatable to their professions and hobbies associated with their dabbling in the occult. They are generally peaceful folk, kindd to animals and people, and are tolerant of even the most obscure and outlandish religious belief because, as they will tell you, they are definitely all about love and peace, but curiously they are most intolerant of fundamental Christianity which believes the bible is God's holy word and that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to God.
The New Age is a spiritualized quasi-religious philosophy that occults or distorts in some way the true light of God given to the world, and particvularly as revealed in Jesus Christ. It is one that prevents a person from loving God with all his or her heart mind and soul, mostly because he is occulted from them by their practices, much the way an exclipse covers the sun with the moon. They love though, even love themselves and their neighbors, but something gets in the way that keeps them from seeing the truth of God, usually one of their six senses.
Phenomena and practices such as contact with extraterrestrial beings, harnessing crystal powers, regressing to know past lives and reincarnations, sorcery, working with chakras, reading auras, planning out-of-body travel, reading tarot cards or astrological charts, and “trance channeling,” (also known as séances, or necromancy) would all be considered “New Age.” These are the very things God said were occult. But “New Agers,” believe that doing such things will be beneficial, not only to themselves but all mankind. The New Age is so diverse, it has no book or leader that is named... just a lot of them, so you cannot really call it a 'religion;' it's a mindset.
Books and publishers are important to New Agers. They even claim to consult books out in the airy ethers. The look for wisdom in books and revelations, but not necessarily wisdom from God,and when they do, they like to change it just a bit to make it more palatable to their professions and hobbies associated with their dabbling in the occult. They are generally peaceful folk, kindd to animals and people, and are tolerant of even the most obscure and outlandish religious belief because, as they will tell you, they are definitely all about love and peace, but curiously they are most intolerant of fundamental Christianity which believes the bible is God's holy word and that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to God.
"We Are The World, We Are the Children.."
"We are the world, we are the children,” are lyrics to the famous song, We are the World written jointly by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie to raise money to help victims of famine in Ethiopia in 1985. February 2005 marked the 20th Anniversary of the song, famous in the recording industry because it had been agreed that there would be no artist or agent fees and no manager percentages in the money made from the project. The whole project around the song was considered “a labor of the heart and spirit” because all royalties were to go to help alleviate hunger in Africa,.
A lot of big names in music collaborated on the project. It brought together Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick, Billy Joel, Lionel Ritchie, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper and other "greats"as “USA, for Africa,” which stood for United Support of Artists for Africa, (not "United States of America" for Africa... as some have thought or been lead to believe.)
The single, "We Are The World" with it's message of "hope," alone sold 7.5 million copies in the USA, 800,000 the first week! It is estimated that 64 million dollars was raised to help Africa's famine victims by the artistic endeavor, with a portion of the funds going to help hungry and homeless people in America as well.
If you had the song in your record collection, you could be spiritually enlightened as the singers all sing their hearts out about God. You might think these people were all Christians as you listened to Tina Turner singing the lyrics, “We are all part of God’s great big family, And the truth, you know love is all we need ” Kenny Rogers singing biblical jargon like , “As God as shown us by turning stones to bread….” and Huey Lewis singing, “If you just believe, there’s no way we can fall....well, let us realize that a change will only come
When we stand together as one.. ” At the end of the song, all your favorite singing stars would join in for the chorus, and sing, “We are the world…. We are the children...There’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives.... it’s true.....we’ll make a better day.... just you and me.”
Yep, "just you and me." (WHOA...what happened to the God part?) One minute we are singing about "God" and miracles and even about faith and "believing," and the next...we are singing about makeing a choice, a deliberate "choice;" "saving our own lives," and making the world better... just you and me.
It is a wonderful thing to give money to the poor and needy, as these famous and very wealthy singing stars did, and singing about God and about being children is beautiful sounding too, but much like the "USA for Africa" the lyrics of the song are hollow and dissonant, empty, of what a casual observer might think that they mean.
First there is the issue of "God showing" us by turning stones to bread. Ask yourself, "Which God did that?"
Is it possible Kenny Rogers is referring to Jesus? Wasn't it Jesus, God, who turned the stones to bread?
Wait a minute, there is a mistake here. Something is dissonant In the Bible Jesus was tempted by Satan to turn stones to bread, (and this to satisfy his own hunger,) but Jesus refused. (Matthew 4: 3-4) In fact, Jesus’ response to Satan was that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Could it be that no one, not the songwriter or one of the singers or musicians in the orchestra or band, or anyone in the recording studio, or even perhaps Kenny himeslf recognized this dissonance? ( That is, IF he is referring to "God" and thus subsequently, Jesus.) Is there another God he might be singing about that did something like this?
And while they are busy singing "we are the world, we are the children," let us consider that Jesus, (again, IF Jesus is the “God” the lyrics to the song makes, or tries to make reference to,) actually told his disciples that they were not of “the world.” (John 15:18-21; John 17: 14-18)
The song, We are the World, also became somewhat of an anthem for a 1986 project to raise money for hunger awareness in America called Hands Across America. On May 25th of that year, another group of stars, got together to help the needy. This time it was President Ronald Regan, Brooke Sheilds, Oprah Winfrey, Billy Graham, Mickey Mouse, the Hells Angles, (who by the way were holding hands with nuns in Pittsburgh,) Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barbara Striesand, Robin Williams, some SCUBA divers in Maryland, Prince, Jerry Seinfield, and about five million other people from California to New York, held hands for fifteen minutes in a line that stretched 4, 152 miles across the United States. Even Shamu the killer whale in Ohio’s Sea world is said to have lent "a fin" to the project. Participants paid ten dollars each to reserve a space in line, with the proceeds going to help their local homeless and hungry charities. This event participation level was not as high as expected and sections of the line were vacant of human bodies, but connected by red or blue ribbon instead of people holding hands. In the course of human history, it was a remarkable event.
Even companies like the Coca-Cola Company and Citibank were happy to help fund the project. They gave millions of dollars, 5 million and 3 million respectively. What an incredible tax break, not to mention publicity. Now the next time we find ourselves going hungry, we know we will get help from these huge corporations that have such care and concern for the world!
"... Well, Send them your heart
so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free.
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
And so we all must lend a helping hand.
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we make a better day
Just you and me.." (Lyrics by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richey)
A lot of big names in music collaborated on the project. It brought together Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick, Billy Joel, Lionel Ritchie, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper and other "greats"as “USA, for Africa,” which stood for United Support of Artists for Africa, (not "United States of America" for Africa... as some have thought or been lead to believe.)
The single, "We Are The World" with it's message of "hope," alone sold 7.5 million copies in the USA, 800,000 the first week! It is estimated that 64 million dollars was raised to help Africa's famine victims by the artistic endeavor, with a portion of the funds going to help hungry and homeless people in America as well.
If you had the song in your record collection, you could be spiritually enlightened as the singers all sing their hearts out about God. You might think these people were all Christians as you listened to Tina Turner singing the lyrics, “We are all part of God’s great big family, And the truth, you know love is all we need ” Kenny Rogers singing biblical jargon like , “As God as shown us by turning stones to bread….” and Huey Lewis singing, “If you just believe, there’s no way we can fall....well, let us realize that a change will only come
When we stand together as one.. ” At the end of the song, all your favorite singing stars would join in for the chorus, and sing, “We are the world…. We are the children...There’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives.... it’s true.....we’ll make a better day.... just you and me.”
Yep, "just you and me." (WHOA...what happened to the God part?) One minute we are singing about "God" and miracles and even about faith and "believing," and the next...we are singing about makeing a choice, a deliberate "choice;" "saving our own lives," and making the world better... just you and me.
It is a wonderful thing to give money to the poor and needy, as these famous and very wealthy singing stars did, and singing about God and about being children is beautiful sounding too, but much like the "USA for Africa" the lyrics of the song are hollow and dissonant, empty, of what a casual observer might think that they mean.
First there is the issue of "God showing" us by turning stones to bread. Ask yourself, "Which God did that?"
Is it possible Kenny Rogers is referring to Jesus? Wasn't it Jesus, God, who turned the stones to bread?
Wait a minute, there is a mistake here. Something is dissonant In the Bible Jesus was tempted by Satan to turn stones to bread, (and this to satisfy his own hunger,) but Jesus refused. (Matthew 4: 3-4) In fact, Jesus’ response to Satan was that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Could it be that no one, not the songwriter or one of the singers or musicians in the orchestra or band, or anyone in the recording studio, or even perhaps Kenny himeslf recognized this dissonance? ( That is, IF he is referring to "God" and thus subsequently, Jesus.) Is there another God he might be singing about that did something like this?
And while they are busy singing "we are the world, we are the children," let us consider that Jesus, (again, IF Jesus is the “God” the lyrics to the song makes, or tries to make reference to,) actually told his disciples that they were not of “the world.” (John 15:18-21; John 17: 14-18)
The song, We are the World, also became somewhat of an anthem for a 1986 project to raise money for hunger awareness in America called Hands Across America. On May 25th of that year, another group of stars, got together to help the needy. This time it was President Ronald Regan, Brooke Sheilds, Oprah Winfrey, Billy Graham, Mickey Mouse, the Hells Angles, (who by the way were holding hands with nuns in Pittsburgh,) Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barbara Striesand, Robin Williams, some SCUBA divers in Maryland, Prince, Jerry Seinfield, and about five million other people from California to New York, held hands for fifteen minutes in a line that stretched 4, 152 miles across the United States. Even Shamu the killer whale in Ohio’s Sea world is said to have lent "a fin" to the project. Participants paid ten dollars each to reserve a space in line, with the proceeds going to help their local homeless and hungry charities. This event participation level was not as high as expected and sections of the line were vacant of human bodies, but connected by red or blue ribbon instead of people holding hands. In the course of human history, it was a remarkable event.
Even companies like the Coca-Cola Company and Citibank were happy to help fund the project. They gave millions of dollars, 5 million and 3 million respectively. What an incredible tax break, not to mention publicity. Now the next time we find ourselves going hungry, we know we will get help from these huge corporations that have such care and concern for the world!
"... Well, Send them your heart
so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free.
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
And so we all must lend a helping hand.
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we make a better day
Just you and me.." (Lyrics by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richey)
Men are from...
Dr. John Gray, who wrote Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, stereotypes men and women as being from two distinctly different planets. He has a lot of experience in this because he and his wife, experts in the field of counseling, worked together counseling with couples for years, that is, until their own relationship fell apart over the issue of children. John desired them, his wife didn’t, and they were divorced.
Mr.Gray told Larry King in an interview for King’s book, Powerful Prayers, that the problem with his marriage was simple: He said that he and his wife just simply didn't understand, "that men and women were different.”
Promoting Gray’s book, the publisher writes: “Once upon a time Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to Earth and amnesia set in: they forgot they were from different planets.”
Mr.Gray told Larry King in an interview for King’s book, Powerful Prayers, that the problem with his marriage was simple: He said that he and his wife just simply didn't understand, "that men and women were different.”
Promoting Gray’s book, the publisher writes: “Once upon a time Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to Earth and amnesia set in: they forgot they were from different planets.”
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