Needlefelt Class

I finished up another felting class last night. Everyone always loves the class. Each class has such different dynamics - from artistic talent to the talking or lack of talking. There's usually four to six people. I don't think I could do it with more, unless they already had some needlefelting exposure.

I've been taking my camera, though most don't think their things good enough for a picture. I think everyone of the pieces has wonderful character. I think everything 'turns out', though most wish they did better.



I always suggest they jump in and do more at home after the class is done so they can try again with more skill. Many people do more at home during class and bring things in for 'show and tell'.

We start with a two-dimensional work the first class and some people say they prefer that. Though they're glad for the three-dimensional techniques they learn and think they might add some of that to a flat background.

Others love the three-dimensional and want to do more and try animals, etc ...

Fruits and Vegetables

A Coincidence????

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and science shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.



A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters fo r brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .... It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

"The news isn't that fruits and vegetables are good for you, it's that they are so good for you, they can save your life."

-David Bjerklie, TIME Magazine, Oct. 2003

Applied Mathematics

A good friend from church passed this along to Monte and me. It's pretty cool!

The Beauty of Math!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?

And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this...

101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%.
How about ACHIEVING 101%?

What equals 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these Questions:
If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 3 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And:
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:
L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there,
It's the Love of God that will put you over the Top!

Lent Quote

Hold a true lent in your souls, while you sorrow over your hardness of heart. Do not stop at sorrow! Remember where you first received salvation. Go at once to the cross ... this will bring back to us our first love; this will restore the simplicity of our faith, and the tenderness of our heart.

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Quote to contemplate

I just read this quote and want to post it here so I don't lose it. I want to ponder it.

And it's funny, her book title, cuz she's sure not 'modern' and been dead for a long time (1941), but her thoughts are beyond 'modern', in the sense of what modern means today in what's being called 'post-modern'.

"The Eucharist is the very heart of Christian worship because it is so rich and far-reaching in its significance; because it eludes thought, eludes emotion, relies on simple contact, humble and childlike receptiveness, sense quenching soul. It mixes together the extremes of mystery and homeliness; takes our common earthly experience of suffering, love abandonment, death, and makes them inexpressibly holy and fruitful; takes the food of our natural life and transforms that into a channel of Divine Life."

- Evelyn Underhill
Daily Readings with a Modern Mystic

Fat Tuesday-Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras

Lent begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. I didn't grow up with Lent, but I like these 40 day periods, like Advent too, to have a spiritual focus that can bring more meaning with anticipation to ordinary days. The word Lent comes from 'Lenten' meaning a 'lengthen'ing of days into Spring (yeah!).

Baptisms used to be done on Resurrection day in the early church and they'd have a 40 hour fast in readiness for the event. In 330 AD it was stretched from new converts to all Christians and for 40 days - believing it commemorated Jesus' 40 day desert fast. So the Tuesday before became a time for confession and repentance, and called Shrove Tuesday ('shiriving' means confession).

Prohibitions seem a thing for Lent, with giving up rich foods as the focus, which has turned Shrove Tuesday into Fat Tuesday. Since people were wanting to rid their homes of some ingredients, they started having meals of pancakes, becoming tradition. Meat is sometimes given up too. Mardi Gras has become a revelry, a 'carnival', which means 'farewell to meat (flesh)'. It seems the given up items are being worshiped, and the time of self-reflection has turned into a self-indulgence!

In the movie "Chocolate" we see what some people do in giving up things for Lent. In the book Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner (a good book), she gives up reading for Lent. Ugh, that would be a hard one. A couple years ago friends of mine wanted to wear a tasseled bracelet (Numbers 15)(which I made for everyone) for a reminder of something - for me it was to exercise everyday, Sunday's excluded (which I think I'll do again this year - without the bracelet).

Some people will use tonight as a carnival celebration of looking inside ones self. People need to haul up aspects of personality they choose to bury and tend to remask a persona. I have friends who one year came to such a party with masks representing their hidden self, and maybe ridiculing egos. When Adam and Eve lost innocence what did they do? they sought to cover themselves. Paul asked us to "put on the new self" to "put on Christ".

Because meat, cheese, cream, butter, milk and eggs were typically avoided, small breads began to be made. Germans named theirs "pretzels" - "little arms". They were visual reminders for the heart, since formed in the shape of arms crossed over the chest - like praying.

God looks at the intentions of the heart, the spirit in which we do things. It's not just a matter of ritual but a matter of the heart!

Calendar

I just got my calendars set up last week for this year. Rather late for me since I usually do it the week between Christmas and New Year, and I'm known as The Calendar Girl. First, buying a certain calendar is an event, since we're all going to be seeing it over the year in a prominent spot. And then setting up the calendar is a very special yearly ritual.

In fact I suggest everyone has one main calendar that everything gets written onto, especially if there's several people in the household. But organizations and churches need one main calendar too, so everyone's not only aware of facility uses, but just knowing what others are doing! (I say this because we used to schedule a yearly event at a local college campus and found facility conflicts on the day of our event.)(But too, aren't community, the body, and family members important - knowing what's going on in other's lives?!)

My ritual starts with a nice atmosphere and beverage. Since I work from last year's calendar, I remember happenings, and reminisce. I write people's birthdays, anniversaries, and spiritual birthdays I want to remember. I often at the time will wonder what's going on in their lives and ask God to hug them or give them a wink. Some dates are in parenthesis because they're divorced or dead or just a memory I still want to remember something in connection with it/them. I write saint and holiday notes not already on the calendar.

This year is a bit weird. It's our leap year, but that's no big deal since it's just one day addition and we've no birthdays on that day. It's also the Jewish leap year, which happens every 19th year. Maybe I already said this earlier but, because they add in an extra whole month, Passover happens 27 days after our Easter. I hate when that happens, because I have to figure out when Pentecost Day is (though now you can just google and find it easy, but I used to do the counting thing).

Why is this so important to me?! Most churches may not celebrate Pentecost, but I want to. We celebrate Christmas and Easter - why not Pentecost? Are we afraid of the Holy Spirit? What would Christianity be without Pentecost? Why don't we yearly make a big deal of remembering what the Holy Spirit means to us?! Well ... if we count 50 days after our Easter, Pentecost ends up on Mother's Day. Pentecost, for its deeper significances has to end up on the Jewish Shavuot Festival. So 50 days, seven sevens, has to count from the Sunday following Passover - Pentecost is June 7-8.

If you really want to think about this ... 2008 has us crucifying Jesus after he's Resurrected!

The English Bible

On this day, February 4, in 1555, John Rogers was burned at the stake in the center of London for translating the whole Bible which was called Matthew's Bible (his pseudonym) and later, The Bishop's Bible. "One of the sheriffs, first came to Mr. Rogers, and asked him if he would revoke his abominable doctrine, and the evil opinion of the Sacrament of the altar. Mr. Rogers answered, “That which I have preached I will seal with my blood.” - Foxes Book of Martyrs. He was the first martyr during the violent reign of Bloody Mary. Oh such a bloody history of the rise of Protestantism and that of the Bible to be written in the common language of the people.

Rogers was a friend of William Tyndale who had already been martyred for translating the New Testament published at Worms in 1525. Copies were smuggled from Germany into England.

February 1 is also a day in history of note to remember. Luther may have 'hatched the egg that was laid' when it came to asking for church reform, but his contemporary Erasmus is a part of the story. I wrote a bit about it on Reformation Day, October 31. With the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, many Greek scholars fled into Europe with their original manuscripts.

Jerome's Latin Vulgate for centuries had been the only Bible. With these new manuscripts Erasmus made a new translation, constructing the original as best he could. He also annotated the text with notes pointing out the church's flagrant departures and errors.

On February 1, 1516, Erasmus dedicated it to Pope Leo X saying, "We do not intend to tear up the old and commonly accepted edition, but amend it where it is corrupt, and make it clear where it is obscure." He was recalling the church to its roots. Though not his intention, he made reforms to come possible.

William Tyndale worked from original Hebrew and Erasmus's Greek. Originally, a handwritten copy took about ten months and cost a lot to produce, then came the printing press. Some people were burned at the stake with their Bibles around their necks. While burning at the stake Tyndale prayed, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."

Until the Authorized or King James Version in 1611, translators had to be careful and many remained in exile on the continent. But neither book burning nor killing the translators could stop the movement that brought the Bible to ordinary people in their own language.

The first few lines of Psalm 23 in the Bishop's Bible -
"God is my sheephearde, therfore I can lacke nothyng: he wyll cause me to repose my selfe in pasture full of grasse, and he wyll leade me unto calme waters. He wyll conuert my soule ..."

Happenings

I'm sick. I have a fever and my body is achy. I've not been sick for ages! It's good to get sick once in awhile - it strengthens your immune system according to Dr Monte. I wasn't sure what I was feeling this morning, so I did go to church.

Philip Yancey is preaching all February and I didn't want to miss him. I love his books and am glad he's a part of our body.

We just had a bunch of geologists at our house. They left this morning. So I've been preparing some nice meals for them. I love listening to them talk about the origin of oil, peak oil, global warming, the origin of life, lakes of oil on Titan, platinum in gold (or was it a silver mine?), and subjects I can't pronounce. I can picture what they're talking about, but couldn't very easily explain it to you, though I am understanding it more after years of listening and seeing their maps. It's another world, a world of stories written in the Earth.

Several days ago I posted about a movie trailer. It's pretty powerful - the scientist writing on a chalkboard like a reprimanded kid having to write something 100 times.

Those of you who are Christians would experience sad and mad emotions over the movie coming out this spring.

I have to tell you that over the years we've had some pretty brutal experiences with Christians. You see, Monte's being a geologist who is a Christian, is viewed by some Christians as a walking oxymoron. Apparently you can't be a geologist and a Christian at the same time.

So it's as if we're in the middle of a war and being crucified from both ends.

Groundhog Day?

So what day is February 2? Groundhog Day!
Yes and No.

On the Christian calendar February 2 is Candlemas Day. This was the day Jesus was brought as a baby to the temple. Old Simeon and Anna were there waiting for years! for the Messiah, and proclaimed Jesus the Light to lighten all peoples.

A meeting of the old and new.

In some places candles may still be brought to the church to be blessed.

Folklore: "If Candlemas day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight;
But if it be dark with clouds and rain,
Winter is gone, and will not come again."

Groundhog Lore: If he sees the sun ...
and is frightened by his shadow he'll crawl back to sleep for 40 days.
If it's cloudy ...
and stays above ground; it's a harbinger of early spring.

Did dislike of religion bring the change from Candlemas to Groundhog Day?

Watch the movie "Groundhog Day".
Bill Murray, a TV weatherman seems condemned to live the day over and over again. He tries every role or small story he can think of. When all fail him, does he discover the real meaning of life?

It's Ecclesiastes in modern film--all is vanity. I love the fact that you can find a part of the Gospel in most every film.