A favorite of Lizzie McElwain

The Gipsy Girl's Dream

I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls,
With vassals and serfs at my side,
And of all who assembled within those walls,
That I was the hope and the pride.

I had riches too great to count, could boast
Of a high ancestral name;
But I also dreamt, which pleased me most,
That you lov'd me still the same...

I dreamt that suitors sought my hand;
That knights upon bended knee,
And with vows no maiden heart could withstand,
They pledg'd their faith to me;

And I dreamt that one of that noble host
Came forth my hand to claim.
But I also dreamt, which charmed me most,
That you lov'd me still the same...

-- Michael Balfe

The Renowned Philosopher Speaks About Beer

• 
  

  All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me - so let's just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer. 

  Alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life's problems.

• Bart, a woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one.

• I've figured out an alternative to giving up my beer. Basically, we become a family of traveling acrobats.

• Now son, you don't want to drink beer. That's for Daddies, and kids with fake IDs.

• Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.

• Beer... Now there's a temporary solution.

• Apu I need a keg and a six pack to hold me until I tap the keg.

• Homer no function beer well without.

  -Homer Simpsons

Synod on the Family

This Sunday will see the start of a Synod of Bishops in Rome that could become one of the defining moments for the Papacy of Pope Francis. An interim document during last year's Synod had led some to believe that the Vatican might ultimately agree a more liberal approach towards homosexuality and perhaps the taking of Holy Communion by remarried divorcees who had not first been granted an annulment.  Other issues include clerical sexual abuse and the ordination of women. However, Synod is not a democracy. All it can do is discuss and put forward recommendations and a summary of its findings.  After that, it will be up to Pope Francis to weigh up the opinions expressed, and to write an "Apostolic Exhortation" to the entire Roman Catholic Church. The Pope faces strong opposition. Good luck, as we need some changes.

First church in wildwoods

Capon Chapel is a mid-19th-century church near the town of Capon Bridge in the US state of West Virginia. A Baptist congregation began gathering at the site of the present-day church as early as 1756 and has served has a place of worship ever since.  It was used as a place of worship by Baptists until the late 19th or early 20th century, by the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church for most of the 20th century, and in this century by the United Methodist Church. The church cemetery contains the remains of American Civil War veterans from the Union and the Confederacy, and free and enslaved African Americans. Capon Chapel, along with its cemetery, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 in recognition of its rural religious architecture representative of the Potomac Highlands region, and for its service as a rural church in Hampshire County.

Jewish superstitions

Many Jewish superstitions are connected to the evil eye. Spiting onto his finger tips and waves the hand in the air to keep off the bad luck is one example.

If a living relative and an infant share the same name, the angel of death might take the baby instead of the adult. So changing the name of a very sick person hides them from the angel of death.

The practice of covering the mirrors when the mourners visit the deceased home Some fear that the soul of a person might be "caught" in the mirror at this time.

Wisdom

"In Wisdom is a spirit
intelligent, holy, unique,
Manifold, subtle, agile,
clear, unstained, certain,
Not baneful, loving the good, keen,
unhampered, beneficent, kindly,
Firm, secure, tranquil,
all-powerful, all-seeing,
And pervading all spirits,
though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle.
For Wisdom is mobile beyond all motion,
and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity.
For she is an aura of the might of God
and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nought that is sullied enters into her.
For she is the refulgence of eternal light,
the spotless mirror of the power of God,
the image of his goodness.
And she, who is one, can do all things,
and renews everything while herself perduring;
And passing into holy souls from age to age,
she produces friends of God and prophets.
For there is nought God loves, be it not one who dwells with Wisdom.
For she is fairer than the sun
and surpasses every constellation of the stars.
Compared to light, she takes precedence;
for that, indeed, night supplants,
but wickedness prevails not over Wisdom."
-- Scrpiture

Passing by a New England grave yard

A grave marker caught my eye. Daniel Hine was born before the war of Independence and died during the Civil War. His two wives; Dorcas, and Lucy rest in adjoinment.