Personal Blogs

It is all about "Trust" to trust someone is to have confidence in someone, to believe in them.
We know we can trust in God because he keeps his promises.

 "Those who know your name trust in you" psalm 9 v10

Even when difficulties come, he is always there with us, he draws us closer to him. We must just have patience and rely on him. He will guide us and show us the way. His son Jesus is like him he is  our rock and salvation. He was rejected by men but chosen by God. Jesus trusted in God. So it is all about 'Trust'  Can we also be trusted as a Christian to keep our word to others?

Photos taken on autumn country walk.

Book review - The Bible "Genesis 12:1-7 is the beginning of Abraham's story.
From Abraham-  to recent times.

What we are witnessing today with the war between the Jews and the Palestinians, can be traced a long way back !  through to Biblical times and Abraham.

Abraham had two sons named Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was born from the women Hagar and Isaac from the women Sarah.

Sarah had been barren for many years and was unable to conceive a child for Abraham, so being impatient, she persuaded her husband to sleep with Hagar her servant girl,  in order for them to have a child that they could bring up as their own child,  so that is how Ishmael was born.

Between Sarah and Hagar some rivalry broke out so she begged Abraham to drive Hagar out into the desert.

He did so but God soon saw Hagars distress and sent the angel Gabriel to protect her and help her.  God spoke to her through the angel, he said not to be afraid and that  he would also make Ishmael a great nation too one day with many descendants.

In the meantime God had finally allowed Sarah to bear Abraham a child, a son who they named Isaac.
Isaac was of Jewish descent (from Sarah) and Ishmael was Arabic descent (from Hagar) They became 2 seperate nations of peoples.

This then was how it all began, and from then thats when the sibling rivalry started between these two brothers(or tribes)

It was also about land and establishing a state of Israel for Jewish people and for Palestinian people.

In more recent times after World War 2 for example, the land
since 1948 has been divided into Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

The land of Israel is also the birth place of  the three great world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It has been ruled over by many kingdoms and powers throighout history,including Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel and Judah, the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great and his successors, the Hasmoneans, the Roman Empire, several Muslim caliphates, and the crusaders. 

"The area was ruled over by the Ottoman Empire, then the British Empire.
Going back even further the land was annexed and the area in 63 BCE. Roman Judea was troubled by large-scale Jewish revolts, which Rome answered by destroying Jerusalem and the Second Jewish Temple."
*
"In the 4th century, Palestine became a center of Christianity, attracting pilgrims, monks and scholars. Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 636–641, several Muslim ruling dynasties succeeded each other as they wrestled control of Palestine."
* 

"In more recent history, relations between Israel and Palestinians have been marked by many conflicts, especially with the Islamist group Hamas, which also rejects the PA. In 2007, Hamas won control of Gaza from the PA, now limited to the West Bank.
In November 2012, the State of Palestine (the name used by the PA) became a non-member observer state in the UN."
* 

These clashes of ideology has remained critical ever since and pose very difficult theological issues and unsurmountable debate. Pray for peace for all tne people of Israel and Palestine.🙏

References-
The Bible(Old Testament Genesis)
*Wikipedia*

I am reading about different faiths and cultures at the moment and was interested to read that Muslims believe that Jesus (called “Isa” in Arabic) was a prophet of God and was born to a virgin (Mary). They also believe he will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment to restore justice and defeat al-Masih ad-Dajjal, or “the false messiah” —  known as the Antichrist. This is also similar to what christians believe as found in the New Testament.

  ☪️✝️✡

Have you ever opened a packet of food lately and noticed that the portions are much smaller?

The other day I opened my usual brand of kitchen roll and it has become much thinner, so much thinner,  that when I tried to mop up a small spill the paper completely fell into pieces!

My deodrant is now in a narrower can, there's less biscuits in the biscuit packet,  less in the cereals, smaller portions, it is getting ridiculous, what's going on?

There is shrinkflation everywhere! but apparently it is also happening abroad too. In France 'Carrefour'  have been the first supermarket to shout it out. They are now informing the public about this issue and naming and shaming the offenders!

The food manufacturers that are cutting corners, that are chopping bits off soaps, taking crisps out of packets, scrimping on sizes of cans etc. They should be ashamed of themselves treating their loyal customers like this.

The quality and the quantity is falling and the sizes are shrinking!
They do all that but the prices still seem to be going up and not to be coming down!!!

So how is it then that we are getting less from a product and yet we are still having to pay more?

That's the injustice of the capitalist system!

'I see satan fall like lightning' by René Girard

Rene Girard (1923-2015)   A french writer and historian, literary critic, and social philosopher. The author of more than 30 books, he taught for many years at Stanford University, and was inducted into the Academie francaise in 2005.

Girard's pioneering work especially in mimetic theory has influenced many academic disciplines from anthropology and psychology to literary theory and theology.

The title "I Saw Satan Fall Like Lightning " was Jesus' reply to his 70 disciples on their return from preparing towns to receive him, reporting that "even the demons obey us when we use your name" (Luke 10:17-18) Girard persuades the reader that even as our world grows increasingly violent the power of the Christ is so great that the evils of scapegoating and sacrifice are gradually being defeated, and a new community, God's spirtual.
visible and invisible, nonviolent kingdom, is coming about even now.

I recently read "violence and the sacred" and I think this book is similar but has a more contemporary feel.

The first chapter concentrates on the Biblical knowledge then the mimetic cycle  The character of satan as the embodiment of evil what his purpose is, his character and how he tries to influence us.

Themes Explored

• Part Two - The enigma of Myth resolved.  

•  Mythology.     

 •   Sacrifice  

  • The Founding Murder.

Part three

• The victory of the cross. 

•The uniqueness of the Bible.  

• The scapegoat             

• The Modern concern for victims.  

• Conclusion.

"René Girard brings our attention to three facts without which we will never make sense of our lives, our world or our faith............" Gil Bailie author of violence unveiled.

English publication 2001.

Well worth a read if you are interested in Philosophy, History, Human behaviour or Theology.

Our kind neighbours had a bumper harvest of tomatoes on their allotment this year, (see above photo!) as they had too many, they gave us a large tray. We decided to make a spicy tomato  chutney. Chutney goes well with cheeses or cold meats, burgers, pies, chips, veggie burgers and so on. It is very easy to make a chutney!

Ingredients

• 1kg tomatoes, chopped

• 750g  Braeburn Apples, cored and chopped but keep skin on.

• 375g light muscovado sugar

• 250g onion, chopped

• 250g raisins/ or Sultanas

• 1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 1 garlic

• ½ tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1/2 tsp Ground cloves
• 350ml cider vinegar
•  1/2 tsp salt if liked

Put all the ingredients together into a very large pan. Bring to the boil stirring occasionally then simmer for about - 1hr 1/2 - 2 hours until it sets. 
When cooled spoon into clean glass jars,, place wax cover on top of filled jar and seal with lid. Label them with date.

Enjoy your chutney!

As the planet gets warmer and the polar ice caps melt, scientists say that the Mediterranean coast, is also at risk from the rising sea levels.

Finished studying french for my last module french L332, Now whenever I come across an unfamiliar word in french I look it up immediately in my french/english dictionary or on google translate.
•  Watched the News in french I have watched France24 a news channel you can access it online for free.
I also read le monde and le figaro newspapers online. Now I have finished all my french modules but I am still regularly reading, watching the news in french online which I find very interesting.

• Read books in french. I have collected quite a few books from the book shop in the nearest city to where I live. The prices are quite reasonable (2nd hand) If I am really lucky I can even obtain a nearly new copy which is in excellent condition. I also return books that I have finished reading.
I have read the following in french ;

• Jules Verne- Voyage au centre de la terre( voyage to the centre of the earth)

• Victor Hugo - " les miserables,"                  

• "le Bossu de Notre Dame"(the hunchback of Notredam.
• The Poems of Victor Hugo.                 "Madame Bovary"by Flaubert.            •"Germinal" and "Nana"  by Emile Zola.              •"Le petit prince" Novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

• Honoré de Balzac- "Comedie Humaine"  •Marcel Proust- "Swanns way"                 

•"L'étranger" by Albert Camus

•Poems de Baudlaire.

Also read books by these authors;

• Simone de Beauvoire
Collette.                •Philipe Sollers,  •Salinger 

• And many of the books from the "Maigret" french detective series by George Simenon of which I am totally addicted to!!

• Now Watching films in french Some fims I have liked to watch are; Les miserables, Germinal "Manon des Sources" and others like  "Amelie"  "Cafe de Flore"  "Paris Je T' Aime"

"Le regle du jeu"  "Jean de Florette"  " Three colours blue"
"La Vie en Rose", "La Haine," "An Andalusian Dog," The 400 Blows" and "The untouchables"     "Portrait of a lady on fire " (2019)I intend to watch all these films just again to make sure I can understand them.

The TV seies "Paris Police 1905"

The detective films like "Maigret" and "Spiral"
And many of the books by french authors that have been adapted for film.
I have also being watching some of the latest modern french films that have been shown on TV. Using the subtitles in english until I become more proficient in understanding french.

Each day I try to keep to studying one or more of these three mediums including online websites each day to try to  keep my french skills polished and up to scratch!

The book I am currently reading is called

 'Violence and the sacred.' by René Girard

I have had this book on the shelf for a while. In light of what is happening in the news lately about these serial killers, I decided to make a start on reading it!

 René Girard explores violence and the way it is reported through history, using Biblical as well as Greek tragedy, myth, rituals, philosophy and psychology. Why do human beings do evil things to others is investigated.
Violence belongs to everyone, not just some  people. It just takes certain conditions to bring it out. Everyone is capable of violence and wrong doing, even those most seemingly sacred can have evil in their heart!

The Bible says  "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked"

If we are Christians we are guided by the law and the 10 commandments.

'Violence and the Sacred'  by René Girard

Bloomsbury.

Today we went for a picnic. These are some of the lovely views we saw as we walked. The bottom photo is the last place where we sat in the shade and had our picnic in a picnic area.