An interpretive visualization of the popular Chinese pop tune [不了情].
By request, this YouTube is now captioned in traditional Chinese.
Palm Sunday
Title: "He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God"
- Christina Rossetti
I lift mine eyes, and see
Thee, tender Lord, in pain upon the tree,
Athirst for my sake and athirst for me.
"Yea, look upon Me there,
Compassed with thorns and bleeding everywhere,
For thy sake bearing all, and glad to bear."
I lift my heart to pray:
Thou Who didst love me all that darkened day,
Wilt Thou not love me to the end alway?
"Yea, thee My wandering sheep,
Yea, thee My scarlet sinner slow to weep,
Come to Me, I will love thee and will keep."
Yet am I racked with fear:
Behold the unending outer darkness drear,
Behold the gulf unbridgeable and near!
"Nay, fix thy heart, thine eyes,
Thy hope upon My boundless sacrifice:
Will I lose lightly one so dear-bought prize?"
Ah, Lord; it is not Thou,
Thou that wilt fail; yet woe is me, for how
Shall I endure who half am failing now?
"Nay, weld thy resolute will
To Mine: glance not aside for good or ill:
I love thee; trust Me still and love Me still."
Yet Thou Thyself hast said,
When Thou shalt sift the living from the dead
Some must depart shamed and uncomforted.
"Judge not before that day:
Trust Me with all thy heart, even tho' I slay:
Trust Me in love, trust on, love on, and pray.
"For well forewarned, and not suddenly or secretly shall you be entangled in the inextricable net of calamity by reason of your folly."
Sighs were meant for an hour like this
When joy is keen as a thrust of pain.
Do you wonder the poet’s heart should miss
This touch of rapture in Nature’s kiss
And dream of Asolo ever again?
--excerpt from "Browning at Asolo"
Robert Underwood Johnson (1853-1937)
I surprised myself to have written two book reviews in as many months.
The review is titled: "A Single Combat Fame Speaks Clear"
My nom de plume is: Gussie Fink-Nottle.
You may also read the review on the Amazon link:
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said on 12 March, 2010, if Obama Care is passed, artists can quit their day jobs and not have to worry about health insurance. "Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or, eh, a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance..."
I have a better idea, Mrs. Pelosi. Why don't the Democrats add a rider to the yet-to-seen health care bill, say, a minimum of $120,000 with COLA per year for all citizens and illegals. What's a few more trillions added here and there to the national debt? Think of the benefits.
No one is going to be on welfare, and everyone will have guaranteed income with health insurance from cradle to grave. Best of all, no one will have to work to earn a living anymore. Okay, the Treasury has to work 24/7. We need them to print more money. And of course, all state and federal agenices must continue to operate in a work-free society for the good of the people and the country.
Most important, the Democrats could well be running the three branches of the government as the Fourth Reich, for a thousand-year at least. Don't you think this is a better plan than just Obama care, Mrs. Pelosi?
I've always wanted to paint like Monet and take pictures throught the viewfinder of Ansel Adams. Obama Care and a life stipend would help me realize my dream as Claude Adams. I could hardly wait.
Have you ever noticed in TV commercials, if there are black and white male actors involved in the script, it is invariably the white guy who asks the unintelligent question, or acts like a dolt. Conversely, it is the black boss, physician, or sport celeb who has his act (pun) together. He imparts the sound advice to the less informed, self-doubting, or klutzy white counterpart.
The Michael Jordans in TV ads are always the superior decision makers than the bumbling and fumbling Charlie Sheens.
When I typed the title word for this post on the Blogger application, the spelling checker immediately flagged me. I did not correct it, or add it to my on-line dictionary. Accordingly, this word "unfriend" was named as the New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD) word of the year in 2009. An associated word also registered acceptance in the dictionary was "defriend".
These words have lex-appeal in this intensely charged techno-social networking age. It is now understood, though grammatically incorrect, for someone to say, "I have unfriended President Obama" from the Facebook. You say President Obama only does Twitter? No problem. You could just "tweetup" the prez in you Blackberry or iPhone. If you don't agree with his health care plan or tax and spend socialist policies, you can't "untweep" or "unfollow" him just yet in Twitter. These words, you see, are not sanctioned by NOAD. I should think they will be by the end of the year. (Surely, you may say these words or make up you own. I am just being sarcastic.)
For the New Oxford American Dictonary to bestow its blessings on the life-style words, as though it owns them, is a shrew business ploy. Notwithstanding the detractors and supporter of this tactic, Oxford University is latching on to its brand name recognition and holding an edge over the competitors. It is much like what Forbes does each year by scoring America's Most Livable Cities. What sells matters.
Thus the butchering of the English tongue continues in the twenty-first century.
I made this video for the birthday anniversaries of G.F. Handel and Richard Lewis. The former's birthday was on 23 February, and the latter is on 10 May. It's a case of either a too late or too early tribute for the artists.
Follow the libretto on the screen and sing along in English. The music and words are very beautiful. Enjoy.
Click on the following YouTube link to view the video:
In two of her novels, "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility", Jane Austen writes about the angst of women who were not permitted to inherit, and therefore, not to continue to live in the same home, upon the death of either husbands or fathers. If there were no brothers or sons in the families, the properties must be entailed to some close or distant male kin.
Entailing property was a historical fact in Austen's time, during the Regency Era between 1811 and 1820.
A similar fate almost happened to five women in the Old Testament. In the tribe of Manasseh, the great-grandson of Joseph (that Joseph who was sold into slavery in Egypt), Zelophehad, died in the wilderness and survived by five daughters. Accordingly, there being no males in the family, there could be no land alloted to these women once the trans-Jordan crossing into and possession of Canaan occurred.
This incident was not so minor, however, for the five daughters of Zelophehad were mentioned nine times in the Old Testament (Numbers 26:33; Numbers 27:1; Numbers 27:7; Numbers 36:2; Numbers 36:6; Numbers 36:10; Numbers 36:11, Joshua 17:6; and 1 Chronicles 7:15). God instructed that these woman were to be given their portion of the land in Canaan, with the proviso they marry men from the same tribe. Thus the inheritance was complete for all rightful heirs of the tribe of Manasseh.
Surely, a modern scholar or two might pontificate on the Jewish state, history, land, intrigues, wars, and so forth. In some circles, the five daughters of Zelophehad would be fodder for gender politics. Lest we forget, Canaan was a land promised and gift of God from the time He called Abraham in Ur of Chaldees (Genesis 12:1).
All biblical statements (i.e. the Bible) are of God. There is a spiritual and theological thread binding the Old and the New Testaments. When God made provisions for the daughters to inherit land in Canaan, He was and is saying, His own children, male and female alike, are all recipients of the promise - in Canaan, and in Christ kingdom to come. As we read in Ephesians 1:13-14 of the New Testament:
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (NASB)
There is no entailing of God's inheritance. He has prepared a place for us (John 14:2). The deed is guaranteed for eternity.
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