She was the most beautiful woman in the world.
No one doubted.
With one picture ... the world took note. She was beautiful. No one questioned it.
She even came to believe it beyond question.
She had heard it so many times that she accepted she was beautiful.
The definition of the word personified. Not in an arrrogant way ... just in a way that one would expect to accept something they'd heard all their life. If you'd heard all your life you're ugly or you'd be pretty if only you had a better smile ... she never heard those criticisms ... she came to believe that she was what the world saw as beautiful.
She knew her faults.
She knew she wanted to be loved for who she was ... not for what she looked like. It is not that she knew she was not beautiful it was that she knew she was no more beautiful than any newborn child. For some reason everyone saw in her the beauty of a newborn child. It became a burden. She wasn't "beautiful" in that sense ... she knew it ... she was human ... a "human" ... a beautiful human, she understood.
She, however, knew herself as only she and God knew. No matter what praise the world might lavish upon her ... she was still her ... the girl ... the being ... the creature she'd known all her life.
She wasn't the fantasy caught in a still frame. Though, the world might have embraced that "thing" in a picture ... that wasn't her to herself ... that was just one picture ... one still frame ... and life is more than that ... and that, she had grown to learn, painfully ... moment to moment ... is not what most people knew.
In a weird way she lived her life as an infant ... a fantasy ... but her life was hers ... not theirs ... not a poster on a wall ... no matter how much her fame and fortune were entwined with that image ... she was a woman ... a life ... a being ... someone that wanted more than a stillframe could ever know ... and so her secret became a quest to share that that one image is and is not her.
One moment in time may define a life to others ... but to the one whose life is being defined it is only one moment in a long relationship ... no matter how long the life ... it is only one moment in a lifetime relationship with God ... with one's Creator ... she knew she had to share that truth with others ... no matter how unpretty ... how damaging it might be to that "one moment" image ... and she did ... and survived ... providing testimony that no one understands ... a testimony that on the last day, in the last moment is between her and her God ... Who was there in the first moment when ... and in the moments that followed ... so many marvelled at what they did not understand ... what they saw ... but did not see ...
Friday, November 14, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Religion of peace?
There is so much I want to write about the beheading in Oklahoma ... I'm prompted, though I have mixed feelings, to post this instead related to Sy Miller and Jill Jackson ...
A Brief History of “Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin with Me”
Sy Miller and Jill Jackson were a husband and wife songwriting team. In 1955 they wrote a song about their dream of peace for the world and how they believed each one of us could help create it.
They first introduced the song to a group of teenagers selected from their high schools to attend a weeklong retreat in California. The young people were purposefully from different religious, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, brought together to experiment with creating understanding and friendship through education, discussion groups, and living and working together in a camp situation. Sy Miller wrote in his own words what happened:
“One summer evening in 1955, a group of 180 teenagers of all races and religions, meeting at a workshop high in the California mountains locked arms, formed a circle and sang a song of peace. They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment – 'Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me,' helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding.
‘When they came down from the mountain, these inspired young people brought the song with them and started sharing it. And, as though on wings, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth' began an amazing journey around the globe. It traveled first, of course, with the young campers back to their homes and schools, churches and clubs. Soon the circle started by the teenagers began to grow. Before long the song was being shared in all fifty states – at school graduations and at PTA meetings, at Christmas and Easter gatherings and as part of the celebration of Brotherhood Week. It was a theme for Veteran’s Day, Human Rights Day and United Nations Day. 4H Clubs and the United Auto Workers began singing it. So did the American Legion, the B’nai B’rith, the Kiwanis Clubs and CORE. It was taped, recorded, copied, printed in songbooks, and passed by word of mouth.
‘The song spread overseas to Holland, England, Italy, France, Germany, Lebanon, Japan, India; to South America, Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The Maoris in New Zealand sang it. The Zulus in Africa sang it.”
Professional singers began singing it. Over the years many artists have performed the song. Among them are Tennessee Ernie Ford, Andy Williams, Danny Kaye, Nat King Cole, the Smothers Brothers, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Eddie Albert, Placido Domingo, Edie Adams, Gladys Knight, Mahalia Jackson, John Gary, Pearl Bailey, Roberta Shore, Champ Butler, the King Sisters, Mary Tyler Moore, John Raitt, Liberace, Bob Crosby, the International Children’s’ Choir, Gisele MacKensie, Lloyd Bridges, Patti Page, Angela Cartwright, the Young Americans, Jack Smith, Pat Boone, Crystal Gayle, Vince Gill, Harry Connick Jr., Johnny Mathis, Allison Chu, Rhonda Fleming, the Norman Luboff Choir. Television shows with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Lorne Greene, The Boston Pops, Ted Mack and Father Keller have used the song.
“Let There Be Peace on Earth” was awarded the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for “Outstanding achievement in helping to bring about a better understanding of the American Way of Life.” It also received a Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
In Sy Miller’s words again: ‘This simple thought, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin With Me' first born on a mountain top in the voices of youth, continues to travel heart to heart – gathering in people everywhere who wish to become a note in a song of understanding and peace—peace for all mankind."
http://www.jan-leemusic.com/Site/History.html
A Brief History of “Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin with Me”
Sy Miller and Jill Jackson were a husband and wife songwriting team. In 1955 they wrote a song about their dream of peace for the world and how they believed each one of us could help create it.
They first introduced the song to a group of teenagers selected from their high schools to attend a weeklong retreat in California. The young people were purposefully from different religious, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, brought together to experiment with creating understanding and friendship through education, discussion groups, and living and working together in a camp situation. Sy Miller wrote in his own words what happened:
“One summer evening in 1955, a group of 180 teenagers of all races and religions, meeting at a workshop high in the California mountains locked arms, formed a circle and sang a song of peace. They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment – 'Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me,' helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding.
‘When they came down from the mountain, these inspired young people brought the song with them and started sharing it. And, as though on wings, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth' began an amazing journey around the globe. It traveled first, of course, with the young campers back to their homes and schools, churches and clubs. Soon the circle started by the teenagers began to grow. Before long the song was being shared in all fifty states – at school graduations and at PTA meetings, at Christmas and Easter gatherings and as part of the celebration of Brotherhood Week. It was a theme for Veteran’s Day, Human Rights Day and United Nations Day. 4H Clubs and the United Auto Workers began singing it. So did the American Legion, the B’nai B’rith, the Kiwanis Clubs and CORE. It was taped, recorded, copied, printed in songbooks, and passed by word of mouth.
‘The song spread overseas to Holland, England, Italy, France, Germany, Lebanon, Japan, India; to South America, Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The Maoris in New Zealand sang it. The Zulus in Africa sang it.”
Professional singers began singing it. Over the years many artists have performed the song. Among them are Tennessee Ernie Ford, Andy Williams, Danny Kaye, Nat King Cole, the Smothers Brothers, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Eddie Albert, Placido Domingo, Edie Adams, Gladys Knight, Mahalia Jackson, John Gary, Pearl Bailey, Roberta Shore, Champ Butler, the King Sisters, Mary Tyler Moore, John Raitt, Liberace, Bob Crosby, the International Children’s’ Choir, Gisele MacKensie, Lloyd Bridges, Patti Page, Angela Cartwright, the Young Americans, Jack Smith, Pat Boone, Crystal Gayle, Vince Gill, Harry Connick Jr., Johnny Mathis, Allison Chu, Rhonda Fleming, the Norman Luboff Choir. Television shows with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Lorne Greene, The Boston Pops, Ted Mack and Father Keller have used the song.
“Let There Be Peace on Earth” was awarded the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for “Outstanding achievement in helping to bring about a better understanding of the American Way of Life.” It also received a Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
In Sy Miller’s words again: ‘This simple thought, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin With Me' first born on a mountain top in the voices of youth, continues to travel heart to heart – gathering in people everywhere who wish to become a note in a song of understanding and peace—peace for all mankind."
http://www.jan-leemusic.com/Site/History.html
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Re-Thinking The Crusades?
I wonder, in light of current events, are any anti-Catholics or anti-Christians considering taking another intellectually honest look at the Crusades? I wonder if anyone's eyes are being opened enough to recognize - maybe the stories they've heard for so long about "those awful Christians" and "those innocent Muslims who were just trying to spread their faith" - ought to be looked into more deeply. I wonder.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Seven Per Cent
According to a recent Gallup Poll - that's the number - 7% - of Americans "trust" Congress ... I find that believable ... how 'bout you? Let's re-phrase that down to an individual ... what that basically says is I almost never believe my member of congress ... for me that's true ... "my" congressman ... I don't believe him at all ... my senator one I believe over 70% of the time ... the other I believe 0% percent of the time ... what are your numbers?
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
A Hard Past ... A Difficult Life ...
Do you know anyone ... including yourself ... that given an incentive ... is unable to describe their lives as "difficult" ... do you know anyone that is unable to empathize with the hardships of others based on their own hardships?
Monday, June 30, 2014
Fake Posts By Facebook
Jokingly, about two years ago, I suggested that the technology at facebook would lead to facebook posting phony posts ... posts that, based on your profile and where you clicked and what you "liked" and key words in previous real posts ... posts that "sound like" something you'd post ... now comes this following story ... was my joke so far-fetched?
What happens when "your words" are no longer your words?
What happens when you're reduced to less than a number?
I really am curious ...
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-study-emotional-states-transfer-2014-6 (pulled on 6/30/14)
Facebook's data scientists conducted a massive experiment where it messed with people's feeds and proved that longer-lasting moods, like happiness or depression, can be transferred across the social network.
The company tweaked the Newsfeed algorithms of 689,003 unwitting Facebook users, so that people were seeing an abnormally low number of either positive or negative posts.
In a recently published study, the scientists say they found that when people saw fewer positive posts on their feeds, they produced fewer positive posts and instead wrote more negative posts. On the flip side, when scientists reduced the number of negative posts on a person's newsfeed, those individuals became more positive themselves.
"Emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness," study authors Adam Kramer, Jamie Guillory, and Jeffrey Hancock write. "We provide experimental evidence that emotional contagion occurs without direct interaction between people (exposure to a friend expressing an emotion is sufficient), and in the complete absence of nonverbal cues."
This idea is interesting in and of itself, but the AV Club's William Hughes also points out that the study highlights something that most users probably don't think about: By agreeing to the Facebook's Data Use Policy when you sign up, you're automatically giving it permission to include you in big
psychological experiments like this, without your knowledge.
Facebook says it does research like this experiment to figure out how to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant as possible. A spokesperson sent us the following comment:
"This research was conducted for a single week in 2012 and none of the data used was associated with a specific person’s Facebook account. We do research to improve our services and to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant and engaging as possible. A big part of this is understanding how people respond to different types of content, whether it’s positive or negative in tone, news from friends, or information from pages they follow. We carefully consider what research we do and have a strong internal review process. There is no unnecessary collection of people’s data in connection with these research initiatives and all data is stored securely."
(Hat-tip to Rami Ismail who tweeted the study.)
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-study-emotional-states-transfer-2014-6#ixzz369MRjz8h
What happens when "your words" are no longer your words?
What happens when you're reduced to less than a number?
I really am curious ...
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-study-emotional-states-transfer-2014-6 (pulled on 6/30/14)
Facebook's data scientists conducted a massive experiment where it messed with people's feeds and proved that longer-lasting moods, like happiness or depression, can be transferred across the social network.
The company tweaked the Newsfeed algorithms of 689,003 unwitting Facebook users, so that people were seeing an abnormally low number of either positive or negative posts.
In a recently published study, the scientists say they found that when people saw fewer positive posts on their feeds, they produced fewer positive posts and instead wrote more negative posts. On the flip side, when scientists reduced the number of negative posts on a person's newsfeed, those individuals became more positive themselves.
"Emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness," study authors Adam Kramer, Jamie Guillory, and Jeffrey Hancock write. "We provide experimental evidence that emotional contagion occurs without direct interaction between people (exposure to a friend expressing an emotion is sufficient), and in the complete absence of nonverbal cues."
This idea is interesting in and of itself, but the AV Club's William Hughes also points out that the study highlights something that most users probably don't think about: By agreeing to the Facebook's Data Use Policy when you sign up, you're automatically giving it permission to include you in big
psychological experiments like this, without your knowledge.
Facebook says it does research like this experiment to figure out how to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant as possible. A spokesperson sent us the following comment:
"This research was conducted for a single week in 2012 and none of the data used was associated with a specific person’s Facebook account. We do research to improve our services and to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant and engaging as possible. A big part of this is understanding how people respond to different types of content, whether it’s positive or negative in tone, news from friends, or information from pages they follow. We carefully consider what research we do and have a strong internal review process. There is no unnecessary collection of people’s data in connection with these research initiatives and all data is stored securely."
(Hat-tip to Rami Ismail who tweeted the study.)
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-study-emotional-states-transfer-2014-6#ixzz369MRjz8h
Saturday, June 28, 2014
I wanted to make a difference ...
I wanted to make a difference - for goodness -
So, I spoke loudly into the microphone
To everyone
... and I only made a fool of myself
.... no one said anything - good
I wanted to make a difference - for goodness -
So, I turned to my neighbors and co-workers
and spoke loudly in the public forums available
To my neighbors and co-workers
... and I only made a fool of myself
..... no one said anything - supportive
I wanted to make a difference - for goodness -
So, I turned to my closest circle and family
and spoke less loudly ... to them ... directly
... and I've heard - from my closest circle and family
..... I only made a fool of myself
......... no one said anything - supportive
I wanted to make a difference - for goodness -
I spoke loudly to myself
and I made a difference
No one saw it
... but I made a difference for good
So, I spoke loudly into the microphone
To everyone
... and I only made a fool of myself
.... no one said anything - good
I wanted to make a difference - for goodness -
So, I turned to my neighbors and co-workers
and spoke loudly in the public forums available
To my neighbors and co-workers
... and I only made a fool of myself
..... no one said anything - supportive
I wanted to make a difference - for goodness -
So, I turned to my closest circle and family
and spoke less loudly ... to them ... directly
... and I've heard - from my closest circle and family
..... I only made a fool of myself
......... no one said anything - supportive
I wanted to make a difference - for goodness -
I spoke loudly to myself
and I made a difference
No one saw it
... but I made a difference for good
Thursday, June 26, 2014
It is an odd thing, I find, the things I post on facebook that get lots of response and those that get no response ... there is a pattern ... and it is not encouraging toward individuality ... it supports homogeneity ... which, I think, is the opposite of political correctness ... weird, huh?
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