My Wings

You are a PHOENIX in your soul and your
wings make a statement. Huge and born of flame,
they burn with light and power and rebirth.
Ashes fall from your wingtips. You are an
amazingly strong person. You survive, even
flourish in adversity and hardship. A firm
believer in the phrase, 'Whatever doesn't kill
you only makes you stronger,' you rarely fear
failure. You know that any mistake you make
will teach you more about yourself and allow
you to 'rise from the ashes' as a still greater
being. Because of this, you rarely make the
same mistake twice, and are not among the most
forgiving people. You're extremely powerful and
wise, and are capable of fierce pride, passion,
and anger. Perhaps you're this way because you
were forced to survive a rough childhood. Or
maybe you just have a strong grasp on reality
and know that life is tough and the world is
cruel, and it takes strength and independence
to survive it. And independence is your
strongest point - you may care for others, and
even depend on them...but when it comes right
down to it, the only one you need is yourself.
Thus you trust your own intuition, and rely on
a mind almost as brilliant as the fire of your
wings to guide you.You are eternal and because
you have a strong sense of who and what you
are, no one can control your heart or mind, or
even really influence your thinking. A symbol
of rebirth and renewal, you tend to be a very
spiritual person with a serious mind - never
acting immature and harboring a superior
disgust of those who do. Likewise, humanity's
stupidity and tendency to want others to solve
their problems for them frustrates you
endlessly. Though you can be stubborn,
outspoken, and haughty, I admire you greatly.


*~*~*Claim Your Wings - Pics and Long Answers*~*~*
brought to you by Quizilla

High Winds and Driving Snow

The Mountain of Israeli-Palestinian Friendship, Antarctica (66° S -- 65° W)

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"We, the members of Breaking the Ice, the Israeli-Palestinian expedition to Antarctica, having reached the conclusion of a long journey by land and sea from our homes in the Middle East to the southernmost reaches of the earth, now stand atop this unnamed mountain. By reaching its summit we have proven that Palestinians and Israelis can cooperate with one another with mutual respect and trust. Despite the deep differences that exist between us, we have shown that we can carry on a sincere and meaningful dialogue. We join together in rejecting the use of violence in the solution of our problems and hereby declare that our peoples can and deserve to live together in peace and friendship. In expression of these beliefs and desires we hereby name this mountain The Mountain of Israeli-Palestinian Friendship."

Something More Personal

I ended my last more personal post with the rhetorical question, Wouldn't you rather be reading about Iraq? And one of you responded No!

Well, I will continue to post interesting things I find out there in Cyberspace, but I will also say something about my own little life.

First, some housekeeping. The pruning of my friends list continues. The criteria are the same. If you post a great many long, long entries without cuts, requiring me to scroll, scroll, scroll down to the next entry, you are history. If you are always posting images that either my family or my business associates might consider obscene or pornographic, easygoing as I am, do consider using cut tags. If course it's your right to post what you like, but it's also my right, and sometimes my preference or even my obligation, not to look at it at my office or my living room.

I finally made it to Master and Commander, though to my great frustration I missed the first five or ten minutes and don't know how the characters were established. I'm sorry guys, drop me if you like, but this was so much better than The Return of the King in every way. The use of music was particularly effective, especially the Tallis variations which provide the leitmotif for the more ultimate moments.

Yes, the Doctor was too young, and lighter and taller than I imagined him, and I don't see this conception being carried into films of the more interesting novels, in which he has a more leading role.

Sunday's Theosis class was called on account of foul weather, our discussion of The Unseen Warfare postponed until February. But at the coffee hour I was able to share my enthusiasm for a pamphlet of President Kelly of Earlham, Reality of the Spiritual World. I found the link Friday, while looking for something else -- in fact the pamphlet by Wilmer Cooper with the wonderful quotation on integrety I couldn't help sharing. Kelly's Testament of Devotion was a particular favorite of St. Michael's last web master, and this shorter work is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I can only compare it with Evelyn Underhill's retreats and practical works, but Kelly's voice is somehow clearer, more vivid and passionate, reminding me of Josiah Royce's Sources of Religious Insight.

It seems odd that Kelly says he can make nothing of the doctrine of the Trinity, and so must leave it alone. Yet he conveys such a clear sense of God Transcendent, God Immanent, and the Cosmic Christ as somehow essentially related and somehow distinct, that I wonder what he thought the Greek Fathers were going on about.

But as I read Kelly's description of the habitual life of prayer, I realized that his sort of Quaker is some sort of Benedictine, an Oblate, to be precise, who follows Chrysostom's advice to live a truly contemplative live in the world. And I recalled that Dorothy Day, very much a kindred spirit to the Society of Friends apart from prefering St. Michael's to the meetinghouse, was, precisely, a Benedictine Oblate, of St. Procopius' Abbey, which was, in her day bi-ritual, that is, celebrating according to the Byzantine as well as the Roman Rite.

Recall that Archimandrite Lev Gillet, who wrote as "A Monk of the Eastern Church," referred to himself as "a Quaker of the Eastern Rite," and would attend Friends Meeting when he couldn't serve Liturgy at an Orthodox Church. A man after my own heart. Especially in view of his day job, working for the Younghusband Foundation on interreligious relations with the Hindu and Buddhist cultural worlds.

In other news, I am a single parent for the next week, as Maya is back in Texas sorting out the things her mother left behind.