Map

Thought you might find this interesting...

The Best Map Ever Made of America’s Racial Segregation

 

 White people are shown with blue dots; African-Americans with green; Asians with red; and Latinos with orange, with all other race categories from the Census represented by brown. Since the dots are smaller than pixels at most zoom levels, Cable assigned shades of color based on the multiple dots therein. From a distance, for example, certain neighborhoods will look purple, but zooming-in reveals a finer-grained breakdown of red and blue–or, really, black and white.

Check out the entire article and all the maps here....

 

Peace Cranes

 “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.” – Sadako Sasaki

 The origami crane became a global symbol of peace because of a little Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and later developed leukemia, also known as “the atom bomb disease,” in the 6th grade.
While in the hospital, she was told the Japanese legend of origami cranes, which said that anyone who folds 1,000 cranes would be granted a wish. Hoping to get well, Sadako folded more than 1,000 before she died at the age 12.


Check out the The Peace Crane Project  from the Sisters of Loretto website...

The Bible

Today's young people are the most savvy in technology that have been raised to date. If we want to put a Bible in their hands, this is one of the ways to get them reading:

"In the Beginning was the Word; now the Word is on an app"

Although there are times when nothing will do but for me to have a traditional Bible in my hands, the one on my Kindle is terribly handy in certain situations!

Who knew?

Here are the 23 signs you may secretly be an introvert....there are more of us than you realize!

What is the meaning?

Excellent story from a book called: "It was on Fire When I Laid Down on it "

A story is told by Robert Fulghum, a Unitarian minister, about a seminar he once attended in Greece.

On the last day of the conference, the discussion leader walked over to the bright light of an open window and looked out. Then he asked if there were any questions.

Fulghum laughingly asked him what was the meaning of life. Everyone in attendance laughed and stirred to leave. However, the leader held up his hand to ask for silence and then responded “I will answer your question.”

He took his wallet out of his pocket and removed a small round mirror about the size of a quarter. Then he explained:

When I was a small child during World War II, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place. I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round.

I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun could never shine. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places that I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I grew up, I would take it out at idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.

As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game, but a metaphor of what I could do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light – be it truth or understanding or knowledge – is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world – into the dark places of human hearts – and change some things in some people. Perhaps others seeing it happen will do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.

Maps and Photos....

Ok, some of them look a little "too perfect"...I won't guarantee that some haven't been photo-shopped but hey, they're still pretty cool...

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/03/most-perfectly-timed-photos-ever/

If you're into maps as a way to provide information, these are worth a gander...

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/

IHS

Wednesday

Wednesday has always been a busy day in our house...something about middle of the week, and all that entails established a long held tradition...Spaghetti Wednesday.! Or as everyone would mention as they walked in the door, "I smell spaghetti, it must be Wednesday".

It's funny how traditions get started. This came about because it could be made quickly and easily...and kept warm if needs be. With Dad preparing it more often than not. But it also means something else...home. Although some might tire of eating the same food on the same day of the week most weeks of the year, there is something comforting about it.

No matter what type of day each of us has had, no matter what problems we carry back to our door, no matter what is happening in our community or the world at large, Spaghetti on Wednesday tells us that all is right with our world. We're safe, we're together, we're a family (no matter who happens to sit down with us).

I'm rather looking forward to getting home this evening!

Amen!

Sunday....

Shabbat Shaolm!

Families

Due to circumstances that have been described at other times our household is currently comprised of my husband, my grandson (daughter's child) and my grown son...oh, and me! Although I'm outnumbered 3 to 1, I can joyfully say that the men (all 3 of them) in my family lovingly defer to "the mama"!

Because of her circumstances and career at the time, grandson came to live with us when he was (2)...he's now "going on 10. Because of the current economic situation, son figured out that home was the best place to get back to his foundation and choose another path. Daughter & son-in-law (with a new grandson on the way) live about 900 miles away but visit as often as possible. We are an unusual group in terms of a traditional family.We don't necessarily fit the mold, but that's okay. We love to talk, debate, read books (debate books), challenge one another on opinions, try new experiences. But we are also a family who
love each other, support each other and commit ourselves to each other. It's complicated...but to us, family is essential and needs to be celebrated. 

No one deserves to be publically humiliated because their family doesn’t fit into somebody else’s domestic ideal. No child should ever be made to feel like the people who love them, cherish them, and support them are less than a family. If a certain domestic situation doesn’t fit your religious, political, or socio-economic model of what a family ought to look like … fine. Fair enough. The thing is that none of us have the right to denigrate people who love, respect, and care for each other. Loving homes — whatever their make up — make this world a better, safer place. 

Take a few moments today to pray for your family and while you do, think about the Holy Family (made up of a virgin, a celibate, and, well, God Incarnate). Make it a point to remember the dignity of each family you meet. Remember, you are absolutely and unequivocally unqualified to judge another family. Jesus said so. It’s your job to love. Love big. And have the humility to see God’s love reflected in a family that doesn’t look like your own.

Road trip with the parents....

An lovely piece about those who love us unconditionally...

...Back in the backseat — my dad still steady in the driver’s seat, my mom still at his side — I’m in the unique position of being able to see them from the perspectives of both adult and child. The only people, who, to this day, are interested in everything about me, for the simple fact that I am me. The people who showed me perfect goodness and unconditional love before I ever knew anything about pain and suffering. The people whose own love has been the entryway by which I’ve come to understand God’s love for me.

In the space between that teenage trip to the Magic Kingdom and this drive to northern Michigan I have spent a lot of time and energy trying to garner approval, esteem and love from a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons. I’ve run very fast, and oftentimes pushed very hard, always chasing words that began with “some”: I wanted to be “somebody,” make “something” of myself, and go “somewhere.” In the midst of all this, I’ve frequently forgotten that while the “cash and prizes” that life offers are nice and my parents are very proud of what I have done, there are no asterisks next to their love for me, no clauses, and no caveats. It’s pure and unconditional love, and it is the only place where I can begin to comprehend that mammoth crazy love that God has for me.

Read the whole story...

Cell Phone laws....