“quantum entanglement”

A Lifelong Bond

Scientists tell us that there is a most amazing, and thus-far inexplicable, phenomenon called “quantum entanglement.” If two particles of energy are kept in close proximity to each other for a long time, they form a relationship, a kind of bond, that defies the imagination. The connection between these two particles is so strong that if you take one particle to a laboratory in Los Angeles and remove the other one to a lab in New York City, whatever you do to the particle in L.A. will instantly happen to the one in New York, too.

Einstein called it “spooky.” It also defied his theory that nothing can travel faster than light. Somehow, however, once particles form this kind of bond, it cannot be severed no matter how great the distance between the two becomes.

A similar but opposite thing happened between Mary and Elizabeth. In this case, two separate people formed a relationship across a great distance, a relationship that finally drew them together. . . . Mary and Elizabeth also did not live terribly close by each other. But something remarkable, something filled with holy mystery, happened to both of these women and so despite their geographic and chronological distance from each other, these two formed a bond across that distance—a bond that would last the rest of their lives.

~ Scott Hoezee, comments and observations on Luke 1:39-55

"Sometimes you miss so much that you forget you are better without them."

"Sometimes you miss so much that you forget you are better without them."

~ attributed to Marilyn Monroe
http://www.quotesbycelebrities.com/marilyn-monroe-quotes/sometimes-you-miss-so-much-you-forget-you

Look like a girl, act like a lady . . .

Look like a girl,
act like a lady,
think like a man and
work like a dog.

~ traditional


Look like a girl,
act like a lady,
think like a man and
work like a boss.

~ attributed to Marilyn Monroe
http://www.quotesbycelebrities.com/marilyn-monroe-quotes/look-girl.-act-lady.-think

"What God loved about Mary was her willingness."

"What God loved about Mary was her willingness."
~ Truthful Grace
(Mary the mother of Jesus)

what God could do with one person wholly committed to his will

"I heard an evangelist say one night: This century has yet to see what God could do with one person wholly committed to his will."
Moody said in his heart of hearts, "By the grace of God, I'll be that person."
~ Baptist preacher D. L. Moody

Joy Rooted in Obedience

Hannah Whitall Smith's classic, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, contains a line that goes to the heart of the issue of joy in the life of faith. "Perfect obedience would result in perfect happiness if only we had perfect confidence in the power we were obeying."
The joy of our celebration is rooted in the obedience of Mary and Joseph and then of Jesus whose heart's desire was to honor God and obediently carry out the work God gave him to do on our behalf.
John P. Jewell, Lectionary Sermons, www.eSermons.com

Employees come first

"Clients do not come first.
Employees come first. 
If you take care of your employees,
they will take care of the clients."
~ Richard Branson

Plan A to Plan Z

"In the start of the season we have Plan A and in the middle we have Plan Z, and then we go around the alphabet like three times."

~ ESTER LEDECKA, on juggling her schedule as she tries to become the first athlete to compete in both skiing and snowboarding at the Olympics.

New York Times quote of the day, November 27, 2017 email

"Not One Expected Me!"

Surprise in Heaven

I dreamt death came the other night
And Heaven’s gate swung wide.
An angel with a halo bright
Ushered me inside.

And there! To my astonishment
Stood folks I’d judged and labeled
As “quite unfit”, “of little worth”,
And “spiritually disabled”.

Indignant words rose to my lips
But never were set free,
For every face showed stunned surprise --
Not one expected me!

~ Anonymous

"Civilized behavior, I believe, is more often measured by what a person restrains himself from doing than by what he does."

Somebody Else's Kids, by Torey L. Hayden
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York
Copyright © 1981 by Torey L. Hayden

quotes, p. 214, regarding Dr. Boom’s “expert” view of Torey’s career lovingly and effectively helping “the slowest children” as a special education resource teacher:

Dr. Boom:
“You are a gifted teacher, you know that.  Why are you wasting yourself here?” . . .
“Here with these children who’ll never amount to anything. . . .
You ought to get yourself into university teaching or some other place where you can do some real good.  You shouldn’t waste yourself here.”

Torey:
I did not answer.  Civilized behavior, I believe, is more often measured by what a person restrains himself from doing than by what he does.

Having Close Friends in Old Age Brings Well-Being

quote from Time Magazine, June 26, 2017, p. 19

IT'S HEALTHIER TO BE CLOSE WITH FRIENDS THAN FAMILY
"A report in Personal Relationships that included 270,000 people worldwide found that having close friends in old age was a stronger predictor of physical and emotional well-being than close family connections."
--J.Z.

Melania Trump tweet about Charlottesville

"Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let's communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence. #Charlottesville.”

(Snopes confirmed that the claim that Melania's tweet copied from a Michelle Obama speech was a bogus spoof, not true.  There is no record of Michelle saying these or similar words.)
http://www.snopes.com/melania-tweet-charlottesville/

Taylor Swift's "sharp, gutsy and satisfying" testimony

New York Times - "Today's Headlines" email
Friday, August 11, 2017

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"I'm being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are a product of his decisions. Not mine."

TAYLOR SWIFT, the pop superstar who is being sued by a radio host on claims that she falsely accused him of groping her.

quotes from the trial:

On Mueller's firing Swift said “I am not going to allow your my client to make me feel like it is anyway my fault because it isn’t.”

Comment:

"Just wonderfully stated. Had you kept your hand away - you'd have a job and would not be in court right now."

Swift’s attorney, Douglas Baldridge, said that the star is asking for a $1 verdict because she’s “not trying to bankrupt this man.”
“She’s trying to tell people out there that you can say no when someone puts their hand on you,” added Swift’s counsel. “Grabbing a woman’s rear end is an assault, and it’s always wrong. Any woman — rich, poor, famous or not — is entitled to not have that happen.”

quotes from BBC News:
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40885437

Taylor Swift wasn't backing down in court

By Mark Savage BBC Music reporter, 11 August 2017

Taylor Swift has been praised for her "sharp, gutsy and satisfying" testimony over allegations of sexual assault.
The pop star claims former radio DJ David Mueller groped her while posing for a photo at one of her concerts in 2013 - a charge which he denies.
"Just like her expertly crafted lyrics, Taylor Swift was precise, self-assured and direct," said Billboard magazine.

Speaking in court, Swift refused to back down or give ground to the DJ's lawyer.
Asked if she was critical of her bodyguard, Swift replied: "I'm critical of your client sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my ass".

. . .

According to the reporter, the star bristled when she was asked why she hadn't called off the meet-and-greet following the alleged incident.
"Mueller's attorney said, 'You could have taken a break,' and Taylor Swift responded: 'And your client could have taken a normal photo with me.'"

Swift's testimony was "sharp, gutsy and satisfying," said Slate magazine's Christina Cauterucci.
"For young fans of Swift's, hearing a beloved artist speak candidly about the emotional damage of sexual assault and stand up to a courtroom of men trying to prove her wrong could be a formative moment for their developing ideas of gender, sex, and accountability."

Following Swift to the witness stand on Thursday was radio station boss Robert Call, who fired Mueller two days after the alleged incident, acting on a complaint from Swift's radio publicist.
Call said Mueller had initially denied touching Swift, but when shown the photo in question, he responded: "Well, if it did happen, it was accidental."
Call said he fired the DJ because of his shifting accounts of the incident, and because the photo showed that Mueller's hand was "not where it was supposed to be".

Greg Abbott - overcame being crushed by a tree

New York Times
Monday, June 5, 2017
NYTimes.com

Your Monday Evening Briefing  (email)
By INYOUNG KANG AND SANDRA STEVENSON
Good evening. Here’s the latest.

How conservative is conservative enough in Texas?
Greg Abbott is looking for the answer as the first new governor of the state in 14 years. He’s also the first to use a wheelchair. (A tree crushed him in 1984, while he was out for a jog.)
As he navigates battling factions of fellow Republicans, he takes their criticism in context: “When you have your life broken in half and realize that you’re going to be able to piece your life back together and overcome that, everything else in life is pretty easy to deal with.”

Self-will is choosing to Not Love

"God always chooses to love.  Self-will is choosing to Not Love."

~ Truthful Grace

Avoiding Stress

"I probably missed some opportunities to make more money.  But those opportunities generally bring more stress, which I've always tried to avoid."

"I'm sort of like a rock in the ocean.  The waves are crashing against me, but I just stand there."

~ Jens Voigt, German Professional Road Racing Cyclist, author of Shut Up Legs: My Wild Ride On and Off the Bike (with James Startt, published by Rodale, 2016)

"root for the pilot of the plane you are on"

Kasich finds it hard to rule out 2020
Ben Kamisar - The Hill - Sunday, April 30, 2017
https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBAyMao?m=en-us
quotes:
Ohio Gov. John Kasich returned to the national spotlight this week with criticism for the GOP and President Trump, raising questions about the former Republican presidential candidate's political future. . . .
John Weaver, a longtime aide to the governor and an outspoken GOP critic of Trump, told The Hill that Kasich is not looking toward 2020 or having internal meetings to discuss the prospect. . . .
"The governor has said you root for the pilot of the plane you are on," Weaver said. "That doesn't mean you want the same pilot for the next leg."
"You want this pilot to land the plane safely and get the hell out of there."

Expectant Faith

(bold emphasis added by me)

The Heart of Healing, George Bennett, 1972

Chapter X   Three Healing Qualities
Looking back on interviews that brought great blessing, and trying to analyze the inner dispositions of the sufferers at the time, I can see three qualities whose presence appears to be vital to the power of the ministration. They are acceptance, expectant faith and surrender. They do not come all at once.
(p. 84)
It is clear from the Gospels that expectant faith is important if any healing work is to be done. (p. 85)
This quality, when present, provides the necessary environment for an incoming of creative energy. All life is the outward manifestation of God’s creative energies continuously flowing into and sustaining our created order. Where expectant faith is present the creative energies of God have free flow.
There is a significant phrase in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews—“faith is the substance of things hoped for.” It suggests that faith produces an energy which can be transmuted into material form. (p. 86-87)
I believe that . . . a new act of creation enters into our human life where the quality of the environment is dominated by the presence of expectant faith. If it is present in an interview then the Lord Christ is able to supply a divine energy which He makes available for the release and healing of the sick one. (p. 87)
Where faith is present, there is an outpouring of creative power that can change everything. . . .
The whole onus of faith in an interview is on the minister or helper. It is he, because of his own knowledge of what the Christ can do and because of that other unseen conversation in which he is engaged, who should unconsciously invoke this quality. Yet, when faith comes into the interview, it comes not only to the sufferer. The minister also shares in it and both are affected by it. On the human level it is the encounter between Christian helper and suffer which has brought it into being. On the level of the divine, it is a gift poured in by the Holy Spirit for the needs of that occasion.
A spiritual triangle has been created. The minister and the sufferer form the base and the Holy Spirit is the apex. When the triangle is made complete the atmosphere becomes vibrant with expectant faith. In such circumstances anything can happen. (p. 88)

~ George Bennett, The Heart of Healing. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1972.
(First edition 1971 published by Arthur James Limited of Evesham, Worcs., England.)

Rev. George Bennett, President of the Divine Healing Mission, Warden of Crowhurst Christian Healing Centre, Crowhurst, Battle, East Sussex, England  (associated with the Anglican Church)

God is all Love and wills to do all

Julian of Norwich
Two sins & Love

It is proper for us to have three kinds of knowledge: the first is that we know our Lord God; the second is that we know ourselves, what we are by Him in nature and grace; the third that we know humbly what we ourselves are as regards our sin and our weakness. And the whole showing was given for these three, as I understand it.
All this blessed teaching of our Lord God was shown in three parts: that is to say, by bodily sight, and by word formed in my understanding, and by spiritual insight....
God showed two kinds of sickness of soul that we have: the one is impatience or sloth (for we bear our labor and our pains gloomily); the other is despair or doubtful fear (as I shall say later)....And these two are those which most trouble and tempt us (according to what our Lord showed me), from which He wills that we be put right....
And the cause why we are troubled with these sins is because of our ignorance of Love, for though the three Persons of the Trinity are all equal in themselves, the soul received most understanding in Love; yes, and He wills that in everything we have our contemplation and our enjoyment in Love.
To this knowledge we are most blind; for some of us believe that God is all Power and is able to do all, and that He is all Wisdom and knows how to do all, but that He is all Love and wills to do all, there we stop.
This ignorance is that which most hinders God's lovers, as I see it, for when we begin to hate sin and amend ourselves by the command of Holy Church, still there persists a fear that hinders us....And we do not know to despise it as we do another sin which we recognize (which comes through lack of true judgement) and it is against truth, for of all the properties of the blessed Trinity, it is God's will that we have most confidence and delight in Love.

from Chapters 72 and 73, Revelations of Divine Love
https://www.orderofjulian.org/Two_sins_and_Love

Julian of Norwich (c. 8 November 1342 – c. 1416) was an English anchoress who is regarded as an important Christian mystic. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches. Written around 1395, her work, Revelations of Divine Love, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich

Use me, God, in Thy great harvest field. . .

                              Send Me

Use me, God, in Thy great harvest field,
Which stretcheth far and wide like a wide sea;
The gatherers are so few; I fear the precious yield
Will suffer loss. O, find a place for me!

A place where best the strength I have will tell:
It may be one the older toilers shun;
Be it a wide or narrow place, ‘tis well
So that the work it holds be only done.

                                ~ Christina G. Rossetti