Protecting the Peatlands of Ireland as Fuel Costs Skyrocket

Cost of fuel Skyrocket. Lets use green energy that preserve the environment. Computers also save us time, and connect us with the web. These are cheap compared to the benefits. I can see the aid of God in various ways. However, we have to stop for a moment, to see God’s intervention. Who would win, in this race for progress?

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Three stars for a new East Village restaurant

Eating is my favorite activity. Wheather in North Carolina, or in East Village, people love to eat. It is also known that “you can’t have your cake and eat it too”. That would be too much. Sharing is a good idea, specially with those who cannot pay you back. A wise philosophy will consider sharing. Share when possible, any of the things received from the Creator, seem in most occasions a good idea.

Image by @letsgetlost_ai

The Title is from this article

What do God gains from our worship? πŸ™πŸ»

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Conceiving of a God who needs us to go to Mass on Sundays is a misunderstanding; making Him look vain and selfish. This could lead parishioners to reject the Church and its followers. And the truth is far from this idea. God is already glorious in himself and does not need our help for this. He gains nothing from our worship, and in any case, it is us who could benefit.

It is fair to recognize the One who deserves it. To acknowledge God, who created beauty and grace, is an act of justice. And don’t we feel good when acting right? This is one of the reasons why we feel happy and confident after worship. I want to point out that worshiping the wrong God, from different traditions, or like the golden idols spoken of in Scripture, is not good. I invite you to a regular adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, held occasionally in most Catholic churches, to see the difference and draw your conclusions. πŸ‘‹πŸ»

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Why I chose Catholicism instead of Buddhism❓

I have practiced both Catholicism, and Buddhism. I had also gone through other systems like Taoism, Yoga, Reiki and more. But at the end I preferred Catholicism. This is my opinion in this important topic:

Catholicism is a faith, which began in Jesus, who said I am the Truth. Buddhism, on the other hand, is an interesting philosophy, an intelligent system with outstanding thinking. In fact, explanations and narratives can be more stimulating in Buddhism than in Catholicism. But the Buddha is not the Lord. As you can see, this is a different conception, a different view which cannot be compared.

If we focus only on the material world without God’s acting; or to say it differently, if we think only in matter and its consequences, as buddhism claims, we end up with a temporarily world that will pass away, with no meaning and no higher purpose. Life on the contrary, our world is full of purpose, God is in everything, in every movement. Life is vast and rich, with grace all around. There is grace in the sun and in the air. God is in the creatures and also in humans. There is an immense complexity in all the ecosystems, in living entities, even in observable landscapes. Intelligent order like this doesn’t happen alone out of nothing. There has to be a Creator, there is one.

And most important is to test it for yourself. If you are from a different tradition (as the buddhist I was before) , I encourage you to test Catholicism. See what happens with the sacraments. No one can tell you that this is good or bad; look for yourself. You can always come back if it doesn’t convince you. Or it could occur what happened to me, when I went to Medjugorge within a group: I liked it, I preferred it, and I converted. Try it for a month, I think it is worth a lifetime! πŸ˜€

LINKS

Catholicism and Buddhism – Clearing Up the Confusion
ROMAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

Catholicism and Buddhism: Compatible Beliefs?
By Peter Mirus, Aug 29, 2006

CATHOLIC FAITH VERSUS BUDDHISM
romancatholicism.co.uk

Catholicism and Mindfulness: Compatible practices or contrary spiritualities?
The Catholic World Report

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Chicken tree sleeping πŸ”

Earlier this year, I went out with someone who told me that chickens slept in trees. I refused to believe him, but our banter helped during a time when I was overwhelmed with grief from my grandmother’s passing. Things didn’t take flight with Chicken Man. Several months later, I spotted a fluffy white poof high up on a tree late one night. It was a hen I often see in my Singapore neighborhood. I laughed out loud to nobody in particular and thought of my grandmother, Chicken Man and how life affords us small moments of joy unexpectedly. β€”Β Shu Wen Chye

Image from the NY Times, link at the bottom

However, impossible things are possible to God, like in the Creation. I still keep figuring out how did the hen got there, up in that tree? Did the chicken flew? Surely it was free from her brooding, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to sleep like that. What if when dreaming, it moves or fells down… Once more, God surprises us with this animal creativity.

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LINKS

Tiny Love Stories: β€˜I Laughed Out Loud to Nobody in Particular’
Modern Love in miniature, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words.
Aug. 24, 2021

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Olympic gymnastics as squirrels 🐿

Olympic gymnasts stun the world with their performances on the uneven bars. Fortunately they don’t have to compete with squirrels. Suppose instead of the uneven bars, human gymnasts had to fly through the canopies of trees, leaping gaps of varying distances, from branches of varying thicknesses, some stiff, some springy.

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Not everybody born with abilities as squirrels did. For such dexterity we will need to go to the gym. Training is not the difficult part, but to be constant on it. To return the next day, with the same enthusiasm. Thanks to God, we have a next day to do exercise or to be free. Not everybody have a next day. And for sure, one day we won’t have it, ourselves. Are we prepared?

LINKS

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Toddlers Spread Virus More Easily Than Teens πŸ‘¦πŸ»

A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatric, demonstrates that very young children also participate in the contagious chain. Actually they result more dangerous than teenagers.

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The number of communication with different people is much greater in toddlers than in babies. Toddlers can walk to places, grabbing objects that could be infected. Toddlers can talk to strangers, having too much more contact with other people.

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As I was thinking yesterday, we may babies when compared to god. It is a beautiful age when they can freely walk through the garden. We may prowl around the house of God, which will be the world; first by crawling, like babies, then walking as toddlers. God’s mansion is a titanic Eden, with immense amounts of species, each one with different colors and behaviors. Some animals can walk (in 4 paws), others swim, or even fly. Each one with different strategies for feeding, hunting, resting, and so on. These fresh variety turns our minds to the Creator.

We can find immense variety in many things. For example in transportation. We use to move in cars. There is also a public service like buses and subways. For long distances there are airplanes. To exercise we walk, or jump to a bicycle. And there are more rare options like boats. yachts , submarines, motorcycles, one wheel self balancing scooters, skateboards, paragliders, skies, kayaks, surf tables, cable cars, (not bumper cars hahaha). Disabled ones can use chair wheels or prothesis depending the case. Thanks God for a great Universe!

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LINKS

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Chewbacca’s Grizzly Skin 🐻

Grizzly bears move across landscapes as many people do: favoring flat paths and gentle speeds. According to a New York Time’s study, its animal behavior helps them to save energy and could be compared to human’s.

Once I painted a journal entry about it. In Spanish, the meaning of the word “Merodea” is similar to a bear’s walking:

“Just Prowl” in my Art Journal

I am always impressed by the hair-ly skin of this mammals. They have hair throughout the entire body with bald spots almost nonexistent. Instantly we can remember Chewbaca from Starwars. What would it feel to be clothed with hair all around the body? Would I feel cold in a hairly skin? Would mosquitos bite? like Chewbaca, or like this panda bear:

There are many things to consider when having hair in the face. Remember that we evolved from monkeys, which also have a lot of hair… ✝✝✝Concerning us, humans, if we are intending a better life, I mean: as Catholics, and it is expected for us to move as bears do, in a slow rhythm pace, from one side to the other, and interrupting our itinerary to smell the ground… Being like this –and it is perfectly okay to be slow and distracted– how could we pretend a better life? how are we aiming for higher goals? Is there a way to eventually reach heaven? For us is impossible, for God it isn’t.

We would require entire pages to talk about the many things that appear difficult, and are just unusual. For example, when I started storing not-useful stuff just for fun. Also, talking about bears, everything seems slow and heavy. Let us do predictable actions like them. And if we have the chance, why not keeping the best slice of the cake.

LINKS

What Bears Can Teach Us About Our Exercise Habits,
Scientists have found that grizzlies, like people, seem to choose the path of least resistance.
New York Times By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS. Abr 7, 2021