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Tag: plays
For all the human handiwork it displays, the bible remains a peculiar holy book. I cannot think of any other text that has such authority over me, interpreting me faster than I can interpret it. It speaks to me not with the stuffy voice of some mummified sage but with fresh, lively tones of someone who knows what happened to me an hour ago. Familiar passages accumulate meaning as I return to them again and again. They seem to grow during my absences from them; I am always finding something new in them I never found before, something designed to meet me where I am at this particular moment in time.
And in reading God's word, he most profiteth not always that is most ready in turning of the book, or in saying of it without the book; but he that most tuned into it, that is most inspired with the Holy Ghost, most in his heart and life altered and changed into that thing which he readeth; he that is daily less and less proud, less wrathful, less covetous, and less desirous of worldly and vain pleasures; he that daily (forsaking his old vicious life) increaseth in Virtue more and more.
Thomas Cranmer
I think the drive to be as irreligious as possible is in reaction to the deep sense of calling to serve within the church. I have been baptised and confirmed in the Catholic church, Baptised in the sea by an evangelical charismatic pentecostal church, and now am about to be confirmed in the Church of England. Stone altars eh?
PS: My Journey is a funny one. At times I feel like the Isrealites with Moses in the desert, knowing where Canaan is but feeling compelled to follow the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night. My experiences in the various churches are a result of a distinct tug within the heart which my head and person knew not to dissobey. There has always been an overwhelming sense of direction which following has yielded a deep – identity forming – lesson. My father is a Catholic, my mother is an Anglican, and only recently understood my faith after spending what in hindsight seem to be malting seasons in the various churches.
So, the journey of selection for ordination training requires that I be confirmed in the Church of England by the Bishop. This meant that I will be confirmed by the Bishop of Kensington at St Paul's Cathedral. This is due to happen this saturday at a service from 7pm.
Now… I hope the thoughts that follow make sense.
At the back of my mind was the idea of confirming your baptismal vows on easter saturday, which traditionally is a day of mourning as Jesus was in the grave that day. I didn't dwell much on it though, recognising it as an other that I could ignore for the time being: life was proceeding, it was just another ceremony in another 'stone altar'.
One of the requirements was that I hand wrote a testimony (Short blurb of my Journey to faith). Being efficient at missing details I didn't see the instructions to do this until last friday: the letter was due on tuesday morning. After a weekend of procrastination and other responsibilities I found myself on monday night, having written what was neccesary, driving to St Paul's. The sun was in the west, its light still keeping the sky a dark shade of blue. I've never enjoyed going into London – if anything was a 'stone altar', the city was. I am in love with open expanses and find busy streets and traffic jams really annoying. This night however, there was no traffic. The lights seemed to give way and so did the buses and taxi's. It was as if the universe needed me to get to my destination on time.
Having left the Great Western Road, I turned onto Southampton Row, then onto Kingsway, and finally left onto Fleet street past the strand, totally oblivious of where I was and completely depending on google maps to guide me there. As I crept along something caught my attention at the road side. There was a man waiting by the zebra crossing, but none of the drivers were stopping to give him way. He distracted me enough that when I turned back to see the road ahead, there it was.
I recall reading William Wordworth's account of Crossing the Alps in The Prelude where he speaks of the actual mountains being different from the ones in his imagination: they had 'usurped upon a living thought'. Nowhere had this sentiment carried than here. Towering over the buildings infront of me was the iconic dome. I felt a deep sense of awe as I continued my approach. It was as though the breath within me had left. Slowly she skirted her way, separating herself from the buildings around her until 'there' she stood, bold and commanding: the Edifice.
After parking walking around it twice (trying to be Joshua like) I delivered the envelop and quickly left: I was due at a meeting within the next half hour.
Giles Fraiser, former canon chancellor of St Pauls, in a radio 4 program – which I listened to on my way home that night – spoke about the place of the Cathedral in today's society. He said (or the sense I got from what he said was) that it gave the church and Christianity both presence and platform to become.
We are not the religious wing of the National trust
Jesus died on the cross and was buried, and rose from the dead because we couldn't attain righteousness through religiosity. But why let history happen, why show us how to be religious. Far from just being a very effective way of understanding faith and the Divine, religion serves the same purpose: to give presence and platform for Christianity and the Church (the cloud of witnesses) to become.
Confirmation and Baptism are all about declaring faith to the world. So too are these buildings.
Yes! These 'stone altars' were for us. That doesn't negate the call of God to the heart, neither does it negate the place and purpose of the platform. The quiet space that the building provides is important. The church can thrive and survive without it,however, that these edifices exist is – in a way – a good thing (and this is the thought I'm currently grappling with.)
I'm still dissatisfied with where the statement has left me but will continue to follow the pillar of smoke and fire, when it rises or rests.
Talitha Koum!
My beautiful wife to be had a dress fitting on a day that was inconvenient for her bridesmaids (our journey to getting married was littered with moments like these where all we had was each other and the love we shared to call on, and fight for). I accompanied her to Chichester where the dress shop was but owing to the role I had in her life – bridegroom – the forcefield around the shop wouldn't let me near. I decided to spend the hour or so in Chichester Cathedral speaking to the only man I was certain – at the time – understood what I was going through.
If you've never been to Chichester Cathedral, I suggest you take the trip. In fact, I recommend a trip to any such Cathedral. The collision of art, religion, culture, power, wealth, and politics is both fascinating and awe inspiring. This however, wasn't my reason for going. It was the closest church to the dress shop and I wasn't in the mood for a coffee. That said, the magnitude of the edifice wasn't lost on me. I wondered around it toward the front door, overwhelmed by the sense that if God did come to earth, he was certain to fit in a building so big and wouldn't feel out of place (Glory and all) in a place so adorned and revered.
Quietly and slowly I walked up the small steps, forgetting the feeling of difference that had earlier occupied me as I walked through the town center (I get these bouts of insecurity whenever I feel like a minority – which happens a lot especially in the countryside). God had to be here, and he would give me reprieve from the worries of un-approving parents and friends.
Four pews in I turned, any further and I'd be within speaking distance of the priest – not what I was here for. I sat facing the altar, which seemed almost a mile away, and focused in on the silence; hoping for that 'still small voice'. After a few minutes within which I failed to concentrate, distracted by the whispers carried down the great hall, and the silent footsteps I could feel around me, my thoughts cleared. It was as though I had been running through thick forest and suddenly had come upon a treeless landscape, just green grass as far as the eye could see. In the bliss of the moment, a sentence emerged.
Then… silence again. Then the whispers. Then the footprints. Then the priest turned and began to walk towards my pew. Stereotypically, I put my hood on: it was time to leave.
Almost two years later, I haven't fully understood – and graple with – the significance and meaning of that sentence. As I left the church I felt fairly convinced that it was a clear message to rebuke the sentiment I had that God lived in buildings such as the one I had been in. It was an open rebuke and, excited as I was, I was equally disturbed. The contradiction being that I had to walk into the building to hear/ see/ sense/ think the words I believed were relevant.
The connotations carried in the 'for yourselves' made me feel as though I should never set foot in a cathedral again. It convinced me that – and this may be true – the place for a Christian isn't inside the building but outside it. Continually being a part of the Church (collective of Christians) while living and serving within the community. The building was unnecessary as love dwelt and poured out of the heart. The buildings felt unnecessary, almost tower of Babel-ish; a distraction from the deeper sense of conviction and relationship that meeting with a dynamic, living, kinetic God would bring.
For the good that that line of thought did me, I had missed one crucial lesson which I only began to gather this week.


G.K. Maenius has been County Administrator for Tarrant County, Texas, since January 1988. As the County's Chief Administrative Officer, Maenius provides staff support to the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, which oversees an organization with about 4,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $500 million. He also directly supervises the operations of the Budget and Risk Management, Community Development, Facilities Management, Human Resources, Human Services, Information Technology, Public Health and Transportation Departments. He is responsible for the supervision of the Fire Marshal's Office and Historical Commission as well as the operations of the Resource Connection and the Agricultural Extension Service of Tarrant County.
Before becoming County Administrator, he was the Group Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Fort Worth Crime Commission. From 1977 to 1981, Maenius served in the Governor's Office as program director of the Texas Organized Crime Prevention Council.
He has served on the Citizens Crime Commission of Tarrant County Board of Directors and on the Dallas/Fort Worth Law School Board of Directors. Maenius currently serves as president of the Trinity River Vision Authority board of directors and is a member of the Texas Region C Water Planning Group. He is actively involved in developing software that can be used in counties throughout Texas.
He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Southwest Texas State University. He was born in December 1951 in Fredericksburg, Texas.


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Egypt: EFG-Hermes to increase its capital
April 22, 2015 Khalid Al Mouahidi Business, Finance 0
The Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes has announced on April 20th in a statement that it would launch a capital increment of 391.83 million Egyptian pounds. The company which is listed on the Cairo and London stock exchange market also said it would issue 1.46 new shares for every ten existing shares.
The capital increase of EGP 391.8 million will be affected through the distribution of bonus shares at 1.460-for-10 and will be financed from 2014 earnings.
Head of Investors' Relations at EFG Herms Hanzada Nessim explained that the company will send a request to a committee in the EGX and if this committee approved it, it would send it to the EGX's board.
"After that EFG Hermes will call the shareholders for a meeting to approve the plan," Nessim added.
The bank, which operates particularly in segments of the brokerage stocks, business banking, asset management and private equity, has not provided details of the time of this capital increase, merely to indicate that it will convene its shareholders to approve the transaction at a Special General Meeting.
Note that the company has received approval on the 22nd April from the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) to raise its issued capital from EGP 2.867 billion to EGP 3.3 billion.
For over 30 years, EFG Hermes has provided companies with financial services, including investment banking, asset management, securities brokerage, research and private equity, operating in Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Jordan and Lebanon.
EFG has posted net profits of EGP 706.98 million in 2014, against EGP 334.98 million in 2013.
Nigeria: Wema Bank's pre-tax profit rises 4% in Q1 2015
Egypt: Morsi and Co. sentenced, a more revolutionary Brotherhood being revived

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Alberto Uria (ur. 11 lipca 1924 roku w Montevideo, zm. 4 grudnia 1988 w Montevideo) – urugwajski kierowca wyścigowy.

Starty w Formule 1

System punktacji w poszczególnych latach w F1

* – bolid współdzielony z Óscarem Gonzálezem

Bibliografia

Urodzeni w 1924
Zmarli w 1988
Urugwajscy kierowcy Formuły 1
Ludzie urodzeni w Montevideo
Kierowcy Maserati w Formule 1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia