You don't know..

Guarding the Tomb...

of the Unknown Soldier. Even during a hurricane.

 The tomb was erected following WWI and honors the memory of unidentified soldiers killed in any war. The 3rd US Infantry Regiment consider it a duty of honor to continuously guarded the tomb and have done so since the beginning.

The picture above was taken today while Hurricane Sandy blew in, it needs to be noted that they don't necessarily walk the guard during extreme weather. They do, however, stay on site in a more protected area.

Bravo to those who refuse to allow even the weather to keep them from their sacred duty. 

It is sad that there are more than a few that feel this is fruitless and a waste of time and money. To me it sends a message from a grateful nation..."To those who have served, and those who still do, we will never leave or forsake you. We will never forget that you have paid the ultimate sacrifice, for us." 

Ancient Halloween

Ancient Origins of Halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III (731–741) later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It is widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

Passion

Loving the church...

Loving the Church does not require romantic emotions.  It requires the will to see the living Christ among his people and to love them as we want to love Christ himself.   This is true not only for the "little" people - the poor, the oppressed, the forgotten - but also for the "big" people who exercise authority in the Church.

To love the Church means to be willing to meet Jesus wherever we go in the Church.  This love doesn't mean agreeing with or approving of everyone's ideas or behavior.  On the contrary, it can call us to confront those who hide Christ from us.  But whether we confront or affirm, criticize or praise, we can only become fruitful when our words and actions come from hearts that love the Church.                             Henri Nouwen

Never...

by Richard Yates

Passwords

Time to check your password.

Password management company SplashData has analyzed millions of passwords released online by hackers to compile its list of the most used passwords of 2012. 
Once again, "password," "123456" and "12345678" were the top three most common passwords. 

But there were some interesting new additions to the list. "Jesus" and "Welcome" were new. So were "ninja," "mustang" and, intriguingly, "password1."

Our favorite password on the list, "trustno1," fell three spots from last year, making it only the 12th most common password. "Shadow" moved up one spot to No. 18 from No. 19. And "monkey" remained unchanged at No. 6.

SplashData recommends that if you use one of the passwords on this list, you change it immediately.

"Even though each year hacking tools get more sophisticated, thieves still tend to prefer easy targets," said Morgan Slain, SplashData's chief executive, said in a statement. "Just a little bit more effort in choosing better passwords will go a long way toward making you more secure online."  LA Times


To see the entire list, check the link above. If your password is listed, you might think of changing it, or modifying it at least. I'm glad to say mine (I use more than one) are not
listed...but that doesn't mean I'm safe from hacking...just a little harder to get to.