Thomas Moon, a retired electrical engineer, grew up in New Hope, Ala., 20 miles from Huntsville. One of six children of a sharecropper, he began working in the fields just as the Depression hit, when he was 7 or 8, earning 50 cents a day. At 17, he joined the Navy, where he served in World War II.

The house I grew up in, all we had was a fireplace for heat and a wood stove in the kitchen to cook with, and two kerosene lamps. The living room had the fireplace — we had two full-size beds in that room.

In the winter the chickens would come up under the house and sit in the basement, so if we wanted a chicken we’d raise a plank up and reach down and get the chicken. (It was warm in the wintertime. The base of that chimney would be nice and warm; I don’t blame them for going down there.)

We have got to stop giving the poor people the shaft.

There was nothing thrown away. We’d make soup out of the chicken feet that was delicious. The gizzard, oh, man, that was choice meat, everybody loved the gizzard. We used to make featherbeds out of chicken feathers and geese, but we’d pick the goose without killing him: all you do is pick him up, yank the feathers off when he was still alive. He don’t mind it. It grows back in two or three months.

In the summer, I took a washtub and put it on a little scaffold out near the chicken house and put burlap sacks around it to make it private. You’d fill that tub full of water in the morning, the sun would heat the water. I found a valve somewhere and I had a valve in the bottom of the tub, and that’s where we got the warm water. It held about 20 gallons. We might take one shower a week.

When you got hungry, you could take a walk out in the mountains. There was always something to eat — all kinds of berries — and in the winter you got pecans, hickory nuts, walnuts. We used to eat bullfrog; that’s a delicacy. And we used to eat squirrels and rabbits and possums. Ever eat a possum? Don’t try it. I’ll never forget the first possum I ate.

My grandfather and his son invited me to have a possum dinner. You know how a possum looks at you with his teeth open?

When they opened the oven door, the possum’s mouth was wide open. I took one bite out of that possum, that was the end of my possum career.

Are we destined to keep repeating the past due to evil men and their actions.  We probably are going to fall into other recessions and depressions, in the future, as a result of greed and corruption, as punishment for the sins of the wicked.  We must find a way to create a better world for ourselves and the less fortunate.  It all boils down to just and fair laws.  Fair Regulation not Unfair De-regulation.

Somehow we manage to make it through difficult times and even have good times to reflect on as well.  Some of my happiest memories were working in my father's garden.  We would pack a big family picnic and make a whole day out of working in the garden.  My favorite food from the garden:  green onions, hot pickled peppers, corn, tomatoes, cabbage ... I guess I liked just about everything we grew.

Still, my mind and spirit wanders back to the question:  What is the lesson that we are to learn from hard times being visited upon us?

Every American must rise towards caring not only for himself but also for his less fortunate neighbor.  By creating a compassionate and intelligent system, in saving our neighbor, we save ourselves.

FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE JEWS, AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT

BECAUSE I WAS NOT A JEW.

THEN THEY CAME FOR THE COMMUNISTS, AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT

BECAUSE I WAS NOT A COMMUNIST.

THEN THEY CAME FOR THE HOMOSEXUALS, AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT

BECAUSE I WAS NOT A HOMOSEXUALS.

THEN THEY CAME FOR THE TRADE UNIONISTS, AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT

BECAUSE I WAS NOT A TRADE UNIONIST.

THEN THEY CAME FOR ME AND THERE WAS NO ONE LEFT TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST INJUSTICE FOR ME

Pastor Niemoeller - victim of Hitler's Nazis

Crime and Punishment in the Bible

 

Have faith and hope, because there is something positive and new on the horizon that you can't yet see.

Crystal of Light and Love
http://www.keen.com/Crystal+of+Light+and+Love+5

  

A Christmas Miracle

While researching an inspirational Christmas story to repost in my blog, I happened across A Christmas Miracle.  It was inspiring and special in that before I could finish reading it, a wish came true.  Read it and just by reading it ... it will impart a blessing into your life as well.  He was known for saying ... his greatest works would begin ... after his death.

A Christmas Miracle -- Christmas 2000

Let me tell you about the snowy Christmas Day that we were blessed by a healing visit from a true Christmas Angel and the miracle that she blessed us with. We now know that miracles do happen and that if you are open to receiving, they can come at any time! I give you a little background, so you can understand the blessing we received that day! Dave was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 lung and bone cancer. Radiation 5 days a week and once a week Chemotherapy treatments had been leaving him quite drained.

The Doctors have not been able to tell Dave how much time he had left, so we are looking at an optimistic ten year plan, yet at the same time taking care of his affairs. Many people have been offering us their healing advice. We have gotten suggestions ranging from jumping up and down on a trampoline to this very healing Essiac Tea! Because the cancer in the spinal column has deteriorated Dave’s top three discs, we have decided not to go the trampoline route! Due to a near-death experience a number of years ago, Dave has a good connection to Spirit and has been able to sift through all the well meaning suggestions and take what works best for his healing.

Now back to the story. Because both radiation and chemotherapy treatments deplete the white blood cells that help fight infection, if Dave gets sick, he wouldn’t have the ability to fight off the infection. It would be silly to die of pneumonia while healing his cancer! We all know that not only is Christmas a time of sharing love, it is also known as a time of sharing germs (especially from the wonderfully loving children in the family). Now don’t get me wrong, I love the little ones, yet we decided that Christmas with the family was not in our best interest this year. I knew that I probably could of gone myself, but I really didn’t want to leave Dave alone for Christmas Day. As the 6 hour round trip and few hour visit would take most the day, I made plans to go down the day after Christmas. Most of the family would still be there, but all the extra visitors would not. This was the first Christmas in my 39 years that I had missed!

Now family guilt, self inflicted or not, is one of the worst types. I called a number of times through the day and with all the "We miss you!" and "We are running behind schedule, you always keep us on track!", the guilt kept piling on! About 5 pm, Christmas night, the phone rang. Now, I get a lot of clients calling for appointments, so on days I am not working, I usually screen my calls. For some unknown reason, this time I just automatically picked up the phone.

"Hi Cindy" said the unidentified voice. As she kept talking I recognized the English accent as this very sweet massage therapist that specializes in Tai Massage. "Have you ever heard of Padre Pio?" I told her that I had visited Padre Pio’s when I made a trip to Italy. I knew that Padre Pio was born in the late 1800's and was the only 20 century person that had received the stigmata, the wounds that Christ had experience on the cross. He lived until the 1960's. Padre Pio was known for his compassion and healing works. He also was known to bi-locate (be in two places at once). It is documented where during the second world war, the air force was going to accidentally bomb an area that was occupied by allies. The fighter pilots reported a monk appearing in the air, in front of the plane, motioning for them to go back. They were so scared that they did go back and the disaster was averted! She then asked me if I had heard about the healing miracles that happened around a glove of Padre Pio’s. This I was unaware of. She offered to put another woman on the phone to tell me about it.

The woman had a very sweet and calming voice. It turns out that she is a local television personality, known for her beauty inside and out. She started to tell me about Padre Pio’s glove. It seems when the priest that used to be a custodian of Padre Pio in Italy returned to his parish in Brooklyn, New York, he was given two of the gloves that Padre Pio had worn to keep the blood from the Stigmata wounds from dripping on the floor. These gloves were considered a sacred object and known to have healing properties. There were multiple stories of how the glove had healed the parishioners of this Brooklyn church. One thing that helps support this claim is the uncanny and beautiful rose scent that emanates from the glove. It grows stronger and weaker, yet is always present.

St. Padre Pio often would say that his greatest works would begin after his death.  He promised to continue to help the sick and touch the lives of others.

She continued to tell me that the Priest kept one glove for himself and gave one to his sister. The sister felt that it really should be available for all to benefit from. She figured that the parking lot attendant knew everyone from the parish, so he would be the best guardian for the glove. The glove shares a box with a sheet that came from Padre Pio’s bed, a book that people write to Padre Pio in and one of those famous double image pictures of Padre Pio that changes as you tilt the picture from side to side! The Parking attendant’s little booth used to be a shrine to Frank Sinatra, but now Frank shares his glory with Padre Pio! The Attendant gives the Box full of healing goodies to who ever needs it. There is a waiting list which the woman on the other end of the phone had some how gotten on and so now, on Christmas eve, she had received the glove for two whole days! Our English friend had told her about Dave’s cancer and she had called to see if Dave would like to touch the miraculous glove.

Well, Dave was tired from a visit earlier in the day and when I mentioned that, the woman kindly offered to come to us. Now, for those of you that don’t know where we live, it is known as Windy Hill! Our place used to be a cross country ski resort on top of a high hill that is often buffeted with lake effect snow. We were currently getting hit with a snow storm. The land lord was out of town so the drive hadn’t been plowed. She still was willing to make the trip! We gave her directions and, an hour and a half later, via cell phone, we guided her into our hard to find driveway!

The stranger arrived, covered with snow and bearing a canvas tote. We sat in our living room and she pulled out a wooden box with a little picture of Padre Pio on the top. She gently opened it and took out the picture, a little book and then gently brought out the glove. At first I was surprised. It was a little tiny brown glove with no fingers in it. It looked like a glove you would see on a homeless person. The funny thing to me was that it was so simple. You would think it would be ornate or at least a little bigger! Padre Pio was a large man. I remembered seeing his slippers when I saw his monk cell in Italy. They were so big!

The little brown glove had a simple metal cross gently sown onto the top side. Later, when I turned it over, I saw that someone had sown a tiny piece of cloth with a little" x" in the place that must of been where the hand wound from the stigmata was. The amazing thing to us was the aroma that came from it. Anyone that smelled this rose scent could tell you that it’s like no other rose smell you had ever smelled. You couldn’t recreate it even with the best of oils or perfume. The sheet from his bed also had that scent. The sheet was in a little plastic bag, but the glove was naked except for the cross sown to it.

Dave put the glove in his hand and you could just feel the calm that came over him. This is how he explained it to me. "At first, I just sensed a type of love similar to what I feel when I touch my near death. When I touched the glove I was feeling with my heart and not my mind. I could feel my heart opening up and feeling that light and love. I could feel both Spirit and human emotion because it was vast amounts of unconditional love. It is like going back into the light a little bit, not all the way. In order to experience the near death you have to accept that light back. And I have been having trouble keeping my heart open and working with my light and love because of the physical fatigue and drug induced emotions. But as I stroked the glove it felt like some of the barriers were just melting away and the light in my heart was just able to open and shine as bright as ever. Well, I could just say that my spirit was singing. Spirit gets in this joyous frame of (not mind but) Spirit. When Spirit is joyous, it feels like a song in your heart, and it interacts with your human emotions. It just brings tears to the corners of the eyes. It gets you a little choked up. You can feel it emanate through out your whole body. It isn’t just your heart that expands, it expands through out your entire body physically."

As our new friend told Dave the glove’s story and how she ended up with it, he sat and stroked the sacred glove as it lay in his right hand. Later he told me he could actually feel the glove, which is it’s own little miracle as he has permanent nerve damage in that hand and hasn’t felt any sensation with it for over six months! She had told of how Padre Pio was able to bring his compassion and insight into the confessional and would help people to know what it is that they really want to release. Later Dave told me, "A funny thing was that it was almost like I was giving a little confession, when I was talking to her, about my near death, cancer and what it all was like. She had told us about when he would give confessionals from his heart. I felt compelled to talk about the near death, to give confession of it. I didn’t realize it till later."

He handed me the glove and I could immediately feel the energy coming from the center of it. I felt calm and at peace. I knew this was real. I handed it back to Dave and then took the piece of sheet in the little bag. Again, I was taken back by the undescribably intense rose scent growing in the room as she and Dave talked about everything from how his near death experience is helping him deal with a terminal disease to the wonderful experiences she has had while the glove has been with her. She said she felt like a Christmas Angel. We told her that she is definitely our Christmas Angel! The rose scent kept growing stronger and stronger and was starting to fill the room. It was accompanied by a pervading sense of peace and love.

At one point our Christmas Angel stopped the conversation and said, "I have had this glove for two days and the rose scent has grown stronger and weaker depending on who was holding it, but I have never smelled it this strong!" She was amazed. The smell had filled the whole room by now and so had the sense of peace and love!

Together we shared stories, feelings, hot tea and ginger bread cookies as if we were old friends. An hour and half later, our Christmas Angel was calling the next person she was going to share the glove with to let them know she was on her way! We wondered if she had been able to spend any holiday time with her family, and with the number of people she had visited, we doubted she had.

The miracle continues. After she was well on her way to share the healing glove with the next blessed person, we could still smell the rose and feel the peace and love.

Dave told me that when we went to bed that he could still smell the roses. I told him that I couldn’t smell them, yet when I reached over to touch his hand, the minute I made contact, I could smell the roses too! I slept through the rest of the miracle, here is how Dave explained it to me the next day. "I could smell the roses as we went to bed. It just made me go into a really nice calm peaceful sleep. It helped my body to relax and drift off to sleep which is a lot closer to normal than in a long time. I don’t just drop off to sleep that easily lately. I used to be able to just go to sleep right away, now I have to sit. That night I went right to sleep and it reminded me of when we used to do a nice pipe ceremony. (A Native American tradition of giving thanks and offering prayer) It was very comforting. The smell of the roses and the glove just comforted me. I was able to get a restful sleep."

He continued, "At two o’clock I awoke and the smell of roses was just like it was every where. I just started to cry. I could feel my heart fully open and I could feel my light and my spirit shining as bright as in my near death. So, I got up and meditated and just enjoyed taking that energy in. It has helped me since to keep my heart more open when I am feeling the physical and drug related difficulties that are associated with the therapies that I am on. That is how it is helping me now."

As we talked about our Christmas miracle, we realized that part of the miracle was that I was even home to get the call! If I had followed my guilt (Dave was feeling a little guilty too) and went to my family’s on Christmas Day after all, we would of missed the phone call and our Christmas miracle all together! As it was, I went down the day after Christmas and had a wonderful visit with my family and two friends! The kids were downstairs for most of the visit (thank you Kay and Gigi) and Dave got to have some quiet time alone to take in all the love, peace and light offered from the previous day!

We also talked about our Christmas miracle acting as a sign to let us know we are right where we need to be. We feel that Dave’s cancer has brought about a situation that is allowing us to come back to our spiritual center. We are allowing ourselves to enjoy every day, communicate our love more frequently and sincerely and to accept all the gifts from not only God but also all of our friends and family. We are adjusting our priorities and are hopeful that Dave will receive the gift of full remission. We recognize our Christmas miracle as a sign that miracles do happen and that people like our Christmas Angel are around to bring miracles to us and everyone else on a daily basis. We are reminded that Angels don’t always have wings, sometimes they appear in a snow covered coat and scarf!

Epilogue:

The next day I was telling one of my clients about our Christmas miracle. She was instantly reminded that someone had given her a medallion of Padre Pio’s about three months ago for her daughter who has neurological impairments. She said that she had been carrying this medallion around in her purse and never thought to have her daughter hold it like Dave held the glove. She asked me to hold on while she went and got the medallion. She hadn’t taken it out of the box. I felt like I was getting to experience the blessing of last night over again! She came back to the phone and sounded like she was in shock. She had opened the case and what she smelt ran shivers up and down both our spine. Roses, she smelt roses. Her daughter was being fussy in the background and my client decided to put the medallion in her daughter’s hand. Instantly the girl calmed down and started her version of talking. My client and I sat, in two different states, in silence. I felt like the Christmas miracle was being passed on. My client said to me that she had realized, as she was getting the medallion out of her purse, that it must go back to the woman who originally gave the medallion to her. It turns out that the woman had been diagnosed with cancer. My client realized that the medallion didn’t need to be hoarded, it needed to be shared. She was going to return the medallion in the next few days. The miracle was being passed on. My client was truly demonstrating the true spirit of Christmas.

A second part two:
As of April of last year, 2001 (Dave was diagnosed November 27, 2000).  Dave is in remission. What the nurse had told us seemed to be a shrinkage of the Tumor was really full remission!! The Doctors didn’t believe it, so they waited until July to make it official!  As of January 2003, he is still in remission! We feel very blessed by God and Padre Pio and were excited to hear that in June 2002, Padre Pio was canonized by the Catholic Church as a Saint! It is now Christmas Season 2003 and Dave is still in remission!

You have permission to reprint what you have just read.  Use it in your ezine, at your website or in your newsletter.  The only requirement is including the following footer ...

Article by Cindy Griffith.  Reprint permission granted with this footer included. Copyright © 1999  [Cindy Griffith]. All rights reserved.   Revised: June 12, 2008.

Death of Padre Pio

Padre Pio’s cell in Our Lady of Grace Friary, San Giovanni Rotondo.

The deterioration of Padre Pio's health started during the 1960s in spite of which he continued his spiritual works. Due to Padre Pio's advanced age and deteriorating health, Pope Paul VI granted Padre Pio special permission to continue saying the Traditional Latin Mass following the institution of certain liturgical changes following the Second Vatican Council. On September 21, 1968, the day after the 50th anniversary of his receiving the Stigmata, Padre Pio experienced great tiredness.The next day, on September 22, 1968 Padre Pio was supposed to offer a Solemn Mass, but feeling weak and fearing that he might be too ill to complete the Mass, he asked his superior if he might say a Low Mass instead, just as he had done daily for years. Due to the large number of pilgrims present for the Mass, Padre Pio's superior decided the Solemn Mass must proceed, and so Padre Pio, in the spirit of obedience to his superior, went on to celebrate the Solemn Mass. While celebrating the Solemn Mass, Padre Pio appeared extremely weak and in a fragile state. His voice was weak when he said the Mass, and after the Mass had concluded, he was so weakened that he almost collapsed as he was descending the altar steps and needed help from a great many of his Capuchin confreres. This would be Padre Pio's last celebration of the Mass.

Early in the morning of September 23, 1968, Padre Pio made his last confession and renewed his Franciscan vows. As was customary, he had his Rosary in his hands, though he did not have the strength to say the Hail Marys aloud. Till the end, he repeated the words "Gesú, Maria" (Jesus, Mary). At around 2:30am, he said, "I see two mothers" (taken to mean his mother and Mary). At 2:30am he breathed his last in his cell in San Giovanni Rotondo with his last breath whispering, "Maria!"

His body was buried on September 26 in a crypt in the Church of Our Lady of Grace. His funeral was attended by over 100,000 people. He was often heard to say, "After my death I will do more. My real mission will begin after my death". The accounts of those who stayed with Padre Pio till the end state that the stigmata had completely disappeared without even leaving a scar. Only a red mark "as if drawn by a red pencil" remained on his side which then disappeared.

Posthumous controversies,  

The commercialization of the monastery town, San Giovanni Rotondo, has been criticized: "Alessandro Maggiolini, Bishop of Como and an eminent theologian, spoke out [the day before St. Pio's canonization] against the vast industry that has grown up around him. "Jesus Christ chased out the merchants from the temple, but I see now that they have returned," he said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica".

Alleged supernatural phenomena

Padre Pio during the celebration of Mass. His Mass would often last hours, as the mystic received visions and experienced sufferings. Note the coverings worn on his hands to cover his stigmata.

Padre Pio acquired fame as a miracle worker, and, like John Vianney, was purported to have the gift of reading souls. He is alleged to have been able to bilocate according to eyewitness accounts.

Bilocate means he has been seen in two different places at the same time.  While researching a christmas miracle story, I happened upon this story.  I began reading it and I could not stop.  Before I had finished reading this story, I had received a christmas miracle blessing.  This story will bless your life and create a christmas miracle for you as well.

In 1947, Father Karol Józef Wojtyła, a young Polish priest who would later go on to become Pope John Paul II, visited Padre Pio who heard his confession. Although not mentioned in George Weigel's biography Witness to Hope, which contains an account of the same visit, Austrian Cardinal Alfons Stickler reported that Wojtyła confided to him that during this meeting Padre Pio told him he would one day ascend to "the highest post in the Church." Cardinal Stickler further went on to say that Wojtyła believed that the prophecy was fulfilled when he became a Cardinal, not Pope, as has been reported in works of piety.

Bishop Wojtyła wrote to Padre Pio in 1962 to ask him to pray for Dr. Wanda Poltawska, a friend in Poland who was thought to be suffering from cancer. Later, Dr. Poltawska's cancer was found to have regressed; medical professionals were unable to offer an explanation for the phenomenon.

Because of the unusual abilities Padre Pio possessed, the Holy See twice instituted investigations of the stories surrounding him. However, the Church has since formally approved his veneration with his canonization by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

In the 1999 book, Padre Pio: The Wonder Worker, a segment by Irish priest Malachy Gerard Carroll describes the story of Gemma de Giorgi, a Sicilian girl whose alleged blindness some believe was corrected during a visit to the Capuchin priest. Gemma, who was brought to San Giovanni Rotondo in 1947 by her grandmother, was born without pupils. During her trip to see Padre Pio, the little girl reportedly began to see objects including a steamboat and the sea. Gemma's grandmother did not believe the child had been healed. After Gemma forgot to ask Padre Pio for Grace during her Confession, her grandmother reportedly implored the priest to ask God to restore her sight. Padre Pio, according to Carroll, told her, "The child must not weep and neither must you for the child sees and you know she sees." The section goes on to say that oculists were unable to determine how she gained vision. Padre Pio is alleged to have waged physical combat with Satan, similar to incidents described concerning St. John Vianney, from which he is said to have sustained extensive bruising. He is also said to have possessed the ability to communicate with guardian angels, often granting favors and healings prior to any written or verbal request.

Stigmata

Padre Pio showing the stigmata

 

On September 20, 1918, while hearing confessions, Padre Pio is said to have had his first occurrence of stigmata—bodily marks, pain, and bleeding in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. This phenomenon allegedly continued for fifty years, until the end of his life. The blood flowing from the stigmata is said to have smelled of perfume or flowers, a phenomenon mentioned in stories of the lives of several saints and often referred to as the odour of sanctity.

His stigmata, regarded by some as evidence of holiness, was studied by physicians whose independence from the Church is not known. The observations were reportedly unexplainable and the wounds never infected. It was reputed, however, that his condition caused him great embarrassment, and most photographs show him with red mittens or black coverings on his hands and feet where the bleedings occurred.

At Padre Pio's death in 1968, his body appeared unwounded, with no sign of scarring. There was even a report that doctors who examined his body found it empty of all blood. Photos taken of his bare feet and hands during his funeral procession created some scandal with allegations of stigmata fraud, although believers saw the disappearance of the marks as yet another miracle.

Sainthood

In 1982, the Holy See authorized the archbishop of Manfredonia to open an investigation to discover whether Padre Pio should be considered a saint. The investigation went on for seven years, and in 1990 Padre Pio was declared a Servant of God, the first step in the progression to canonization.

Beginning in 1990, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints debated how heroically Padre Pio had lived his life, and in 1997 Pope John Paul II declared him venerable. A discussion of the effects of his life on others followed, including the cure of an Italian woman, Consiglia de Martino, which had been associated with Padre Pio's intercession. In 1999, on the advice of the Congregation, John Paul II declared Padre Pio blessed.

After further consideration of Padre Pio's virtues and ability to do good even after his death, including discussion of another healing attributed to his intercession, the Pope declared Padre Pio a saint on June 16, 2002. Three hundred thousand people were estimated to have attended the canonization ceremony.

Later recognition

Detail of the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church by Renzo Piano in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.

On July 1, 2004, Pope John Paul II dedicated the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church in San Giovanni Rotondo to the memory of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. A statue of Saint Pio in Messina, Sicily attracted attention in 2002 when it allegedly wept tears of blood. Padre Pio has become one of the world's most popular saints. There are more than 3,000 "Padre Pio Prayer Groups" worldwide, with 3 million members. There are parishes dedicated to Padre Pio in Vineland, New Jersey and Sydney, Australia. A 2006 survey by the magazine Famiglia Cristiana found that many Italian Catholics pray for Padre Pio's intercession and help. This prayer, more properly understood as a request, is not to be confused with worship which the Catholic Church teaches is due only to God himself.

 

 

Have faith and hope, because there is something positive and new on the horizon that you can't yet see.

Crystal of Light and Love
http://www.keen.com/Crystal+of+Light+and+Love

 

Have faith and hope, because there is something positive and new on the horizon that you can't yet see.

Crystal of Light and Love
http://www.keen.com/Crystal+of+Light+and+Love+5

• You borrow $100,000 today...
• At current overdraft interest rates...
• To invest in stock exchange shares...
• Where 96% of investors lose all their money over 10 years...
• As well as lose their homes...
• And lose everything else they have acquired during their lifetimes...
• And will ever acquire in the future.

Experts say 50 percent of businesses fail within the first year!  Why would we take our society and build it under a economic credit system?  Seeing how many businesses fail using it.  This is why the government is trying to pass that billion dollar bail out to help businesses get credit so that they can pay their employees salary.  It's a deck of cards that will eventually fall.

HOW CAN WE know who we are if we don't know where we come from? It is clear from many fragments of evidence, traditions and lore that we have an incomplete picture of the earliest days of human civilization. It's possible that whole civilizations, some with advanced technology, have come and gone. At the very least, human culture reaches much further back in time than conventional history admits. There are many mysteries in our ancient past, but there may be clues to that past around the world in the form of sunken cities, ancient structures, cryptic hieroglyphics, artwork and more.

Here are some mysterious disappearances of civilizations.  They are shrouded in mystery and varying degrees of doubt.  What caused these civilizations to fail and disappear from the world?  Some of them were just as smart as we are.  Some of them were just as rich or richer than we are.  Some of them were just as successful as we are ... yet they disappeared!

LOST CIVILIZATIONS ARE FOUND ALL OVER THE WORLD:

AFRICA
   ANCIENT EGYPT
   DOGON - NOMMO - SIRIUS
   NUBIA

ALASKA
  ESKIMOS
  INUIT

AMAZON TRIBES

AMERICA'S
   CLOVIS PEOPLE

ANCIENT CHINA

ANCIENT INDIA

ANCIENT JAPAN

AUSTRALIA

EASTER ISLAND
   RAPA NUI - MOAI - RONGO RONGO TABLETS - CANNIBALISM

NEW ZEALAND
 THE MAORI

EUROPE
   BARBARIANS
   BYZANTINE EMPIRE
   CELTS
   FRANCE - MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY
   GREECE 147 FILES
   OTTOMAN EMPIRE - TURKEY - SULEYMAN
   ROMA PEOPLE - GYPSIES
   ROME 122 FILES
   VIKINGS

KOREA

MESOAMERICA
   AZTEC CIVILIZATION
   INCA CIVILIZATION
   MAYA CIVILIZATION
   OLMEC CIVILIZATION
   TOLTEC CIVILIZATION
   PYRAMIDS OF MESOAMERICA

MESOPOTAMIA - MIDDLE EAST
  SUMER
  PERSIA

MYTHOLOGICAL PLACES
   ATLANTIS
   LEMURIA - MU
   PHANTOM ISLANDS

NATIVE AMERICANS

WHERE DOES AMERICA STAND IN THE WORLD AND WHO ARE THE 10 RICHEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD ... DO YOU KNOW WHERE AMERICA STANDS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY?

Here is a top 10 list of worlds richest countries according to CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia measured by GDP per capita. For those in the dark - GDP or Gross Domestic Product - is the value of all the goods that a country produces. GDP per capita stands for the value an average person produces.

10. Switzerland - $39,800 (GDP per capita)

This cheese making country is considered to be one of the most neutral countries in the world. During World War 2, people from other European countries deposited their money in the banks of Switzerland, knowing that their money would be safer there than in their home countries. Some well known Swiss companies include Nestle, Logitech, Rolex and Credit Suisse.

9. Equatorial Guinea - $44,100

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a country in Central Africa. Most people have never heard of it. This country flew into stardom after 1996 when large oil reserves were found in the nation of only 0,5 million people. While being one of the largest producers of oil in Africa, little has been made to improve the living conditions of the people. Corruption is widespread and ordinary people are mostly living in poverty. The gap between rich and poor is probably the largest in the world.

8. Ireland - $45,600

This member of European Union has been often admired as one of the most modern knowledge economies in the world. Ireland is the largest maker of computer software in the world. A study done by The Economist ranked the Celtic Tiger to have the best quality of life in the world.

7. United States - $46,000

What sets the US apart from most other countries in this list is its size. While most other countries in this list are among the smallest in the world the US has a population of over 300 million and a total land area of 3,79 million square miles (9.83 million sq km). The US is also home to the largest amount of billionaires in the world. It is speculated that as many billionaires live in the US as in the rest of the world.

6. Singapore - $48,900

This tiny country consist of 63 island and some mainland with a total area of only 270 square miles (704 sq km). With Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan it is considered one of the Four Asian Tigers. Singapore has the busiest port in the world and is the 4th largest foreign exchange trading center in the world. Singapore is widely believed to be the most business-friendly economy in the world.

5. United Arab Emirates - $55,200

This oil and natural gas rich country has a highly developed economy which makes it one of the most developed in the world. Having more money than they know what to do with, they have built numerous artificial islands and are currently building the worlds highest structure - Burj Dubai. When finished it will be 818 meters tall, being about 2 times as high as the Empire State Building in New York. It is estimated that about 1/4th of the total construction going on in the world is taking place in Dubai - the largest city in United Arab Emirates.

4. Kuwait - $55,300

In Arabic Kuwait translates to “Fortress built near water”. In addition to being on the coast of the Persian Gulf this country has well known neighbors like Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Kuwait has the worlds fifth largest proven oil reserves - about 10% of the worlds total. Being a country without taxes, about 80% of the governments revenue comes from exporting oil. Having the second-most free economy in the Middle East, Kuwait has one of the fastest growing economies in the region.

3. Norway - $55,600

Norway is one of the few highly developed countries in Europe that are not part of the European Union. This oil and natural gas rich country has living costs more than 30% higher than in the United States. In 2006 only Russia and Saudi Arabia exported more oil than Norway.

2. Qatar - $75,900

This Arabic speaking country has less than a .million people and gained independence from Great Britain only in 1971. Qatar used to be a poor Islamic country but since the discovery of oil and natural gas in the 1940's, it is completely transformed. With no income tax it is one of the least taxed countries in the world, while still offering most of its services to the population for free. (Who needs tax when you have all this oil and gas money coming in).

1. Luxembourg - $80,800

This tiny country with a total population of less than 500,000 is a true European miracle. By tiny we mean the 8 smallest country in the world. From top to bottom it’s only about 50 miles and at its widest about 30 miles.

Where does the money come from? Well, there is over 250 banks crammed into the small country! It has the largest banking concentration in the European Union and probably in the world. In addition to being rich the people are smart as well. In elementary school everyone studies in German, starting from middle school they learn in French and in high school the main language is English. Their own language - Lëtzebuergesch. When picking up a local newspaper be prepared to find articles in all languages.

Luxembourg [ˈlʌksəmbɝg], officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg), is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. Luxembourg has a population of under half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (999 sq mi).

Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, ruled by a Grand Duke. It is the world's only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the second highest Gross Domestic Product per capita in the world (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency 2007 est.). Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 14th –17th centuries.

Wake up America before it's to late.
Or the judgement of God will be our fate.

The morals of this country have never been so low.
That we would let our America's leader shame us so.

Are we afraid if he falls our wallet will do the same.
Wouldn't it be better to be broke then to live in shame.

When all is said and done and the judgement has begun.
Your wallet will not save you when you realize what he has done.

He has shamed this beautiful country that once lived under God's Grace.
The country many men proudly shed their blood for, has now been disgraced.

Wake up America for the time is drawing near.
Speak up America while God is still willing to hear.

God said, if we call on Him He will heal our land.
Let's make the leader of this country a God-fearing man.

WAKE UP AMERICA!
And
PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

(Written by: Trina's Mom ?)

Businesses are being incredibly selfish now.  It was greed and selfishness that initiated the installment loan system.  I'm not giving you anything.  If America doesn't use American's citizens money to invest in the infrastructure of America ... what is it using America's money for?

GOT QUESTIONS?  GET PSYCHIC ANSWERS!

 

Crystal of Light and Love 5

Love & Relationships

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The angels have a modus operandi for your love life and happiness. Keep the faith. Call me for any concerns that you have: Love & Relationships, Mysteries, Dreams, Career or Life Questions.

Have faith and hope, because there is something positive and new on the horizon that you can't yet see.

Crystal of Light and Love
http://www.keen.com/Crystal+of+Light+and+Love+5

Michael or Micha'el is a name that comes from the Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל / מיכאל‎ (mee-KHA-el), meaning "Who is like God?"  In English, it is sometimes shortened to Mike, Mikey.  Who is like God ... Michael Phelps ... I can see God in him.

Michael will probably marry two or three times.  That's a probability not an absolute.  Several marriages doesn't have to happen.  The women will most certainly be after him now that he has fame and fortune.  Michael is most likely to marry a woman who will have the letters "HA" somewhere in her name.  This will be his best chance for happiness.  These letters can show up any where in her name ... first, middle or last name.  Blonde hair, light eyes, either blue or green.  A very attractive woman both times that the question of marriage comes up ... this is the type of woman he will most likely marry.

Phelps last name, represent success or popularity.  Noting that this individual would find himself before the general public in either, television, radio or the printed press which suggest fame.  His last name also suggest that money will follow him all of his life as well as notoriety (some level of fame ... he could end up having his own tv show or radio show).  Not bad for a boy who use to be teased for having large ears and being a bit gawky looking. 

Most of us go through some awkward years ... oh, if we could only keep the faith and see that the angels have a plan for us in our gawky lives.

Phelps also means someone who loves animals, horses, specifically.

It is my prayer that Michael Phelps will use his success wisely and not fall into any evil traps by people who want to spitefully use him.  I especially would like to see him have real love in his life and not just people who want to take advantage of his fame and fortune.

Congratulations, Michael Phelps

USA Olympic Champion

Yeah, Go Team USA!

 

The angels have a modus operandi for your love life and happiness. Keep the faith. Call me for any concerns that you have: Love & Relationships, Mysteries, Dreams, Career or Life Questions.

Have faith and hope, because there is something positive and new on the horizon that you can't yet see.

Crystal of Light and Love
http://www.keen.com/Crystal+of+Light+and+Love+5

 

 

A Tribute To ... The White Rose

 

"It is certain that today every honest German is ashamed of his government.  Who among us has any conception of the dimension of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes ... reach the light of day."  -- From the first leaflet of the White Rose.

 

 

Monument to the "Weiße Rose" in front of the Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich

The White Rose (German: die Weiße Rose) was a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of a number of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an anonymous leaflet campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943, that called for active opposition to German dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.

At the age of 21, Sophie Scholl was executed by the People's Court in Germany on Feb. 22, 1943, during the Holocaust, for her involvement in The White Rose, an organization that was secretly writing pamphlets calling for the end of the war and strongly denouncing the inhuman acts of the Nazis.

The six core members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo, convicted and executed by beheading in 1943. The text of their sixth leaflet was smuggled out of Germany through Scandinavia to England, and in July 1943 copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes, retitled "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."

Today, the members of the White Rose are honored in Germany as great heroes who opposed the Third Reich in the face of deadly danger for such resistance.  They were just college students taking a stand for freedom and who died for what they believed.  It took great courage to do what they did.  How many of us would risk our life to take a stand against the government?  Those courageous college kids lost everything.  They were barely 20 or 22 years old, they had their whole lives ahead of them.

Can you imagine dying for just having a belief?  A belief about freedom and what it should mean.

The group's members were motivated by their Christian beliefs. They had witnessed the atrocities of the war, both on the battlefield and against the civilian population in the East, and sensed that the reversal of fortune that the Wehrmacht suffered at Stalingrad would eventually lead to Germany's defeat. They rejected fascism and militarism and believed in a federated Europe that adhered to principles of tolerance and justice.

I am so moved by what these young people did, I can't help but honor them on my blog.  A tribute in honor of their memory.  Their courage and their strength was perfect.  Most people could not take such a stand.  Most people would fear for their lives and the lives of their children.

These young people stood bravely before their accusers who passed the judgement of death upon them and boldly decreed freedom and that while they may stand condemned today ... their accusers would stand accused tomorrow ... which did become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Dark shadows around the eyes is often a sign of impending death.

Freisler, who sentenced them to death,  was conducting a Saturday session of the People's Court on February 3, 1945, when air raid sirens sounded as American bombers made a raid on Berlin. On that day, almost 1000 Flying Fortresses dropped 3000 tons of bombs on Berlin, in what was to be the heaviest air raid over Berlin ever, and led by the B-17 of the highly decorated USAAF Lt. Col. Robert Rosenthal. Government and Nazi Party buildings were hit, including the Reich Chancellery, the Gestapo headquarters, the Party Chancellery, and the People's Court.

Roland Freisler, Nazi Judge
Dark shadows around his eyes also a sign of impending death.

According to one report, Freisler hastily adjourned court and had ordered that day's prisoners to be taken to a shelter, but paused to gather that day's files. Freisler was killed when an almost direct hit on the building caused him to be struck down by a beam in his own courtroom. His body was allegedly found crushed beneath a fallen masonry column, clutching the files that he had wasted time to pick up, including that of Adjutant Fabian von Schlabrendorff, who was on trial that day and was facing execution for his role in the 1944 assassination plot against Hitler.

A foreign correspondent reported, "Apparently nobody regretted his death."  Luise Jodl, the widow of General Alfred Jodl, recounted more than 25 years later that she had been working at the Luetzow Hospital when Freisler's body was brought in, and that a worker commented, "It is God's verdict." According to Mrs. Jodl, "Not one person said a word in reply."

 

Under Gestapo interrogation, Hans Scholl said that the name White Rose had been taken from a Spanish novel he had read. Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn speculate that this may have been The White Rose, a novel about peasant exploitation in Mexico published in Berlin in 1931, written by B. Traven, the German author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Dumbach and Newborn say there is a chance that Hans Scholl and Alex Schmorell had read this. They write that the symbol of the white rose was intended to represent purity and innocence in the face of evil.

"Since the conquest of Poland, 300,000 Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way ... The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals ... Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience.   But he cannot be exonerated.  He is guilty, guilty, guilty." -- From the second leaflet of the White Rose.

The leaflets caused a sensation, and the Gestapo initiated an intensive search for the publishers.

Imagine people trying to punish you for your beliefs.

The Scholls and Probst were the first to stand trial before the Volksgerichtshof—the People's Court that tried political offenses against the Nazi German state—on February 22, 1943. They were found guilty of treason and Roland Freisler, head judge of the court, sentenced them to death. The three were executed by guillotine. All three were noted for the courage with which they faced their deaths, particularly Sophie, who remained firm despite intense interrogation (however, reports that she arrived at the trial with a broken leg from torture are false), and said to Freisler during the trial, "You know as well as we do that the war is lost. Why are you so cowardly that you won't admit it?" (Hanser, "A Noble Treason").

Alexander Schmorell and Kurt Huber were beheaded on July 13, 1943, and Willi Graf on October 12, 1943. Friends and colleagues of the White Rose, who helped in the preparation and distribution of leaflets and in collecting money for the widow and young children of Probst, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to ten years.

Prior to their deaths, several members of the White Rose believed that their execution would stir university students and other anti-war citizens into a rallying activism against Hitler and the war. Accounts suggest, however, that university students continued their studies as usual, citizens mentioned nothing, many regarding the movement as anti-national. Their actions were mostly dismissed, until after the war when their efforts were eventually praised by the German consciousness.

However, events allowed The White Rose to have the last word when their last leaflet was smuggled to The Allies. The Allied forces edited it for a propaganda leaflet and airdropped millions of copies on the German populace.

When the mass deportation of Jews began in 1942, Sophie, Hans, Alexander and Jurgen realized it was time for action. They bought a typewriter and a duplicating machine and Hans and Alex wrote the first leaflet with the heading: Leaflets of The White Rose, which said:

"Nothing is so unworthy of a nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by a clique that has yielded to base instinct... Western civilization must defend itself against fascism and offer passive resistance, before the nation's last young man has given his blood on some battlefield."

 

They write that the symbol of the white rose was intended to represent purity and innocence in the face of evil.

With the fall of Nazi Germany, the White Rose came to represent opposition to tyranny in the German psyche and was lauded for acting without interest in personal power or self-aggrandizement.

Quotes

• Last words of Sophie Scholl: "…your heads will fall as well".  Other sources claim that some of Sophie's words were "God, you are my refuge into eternity." The film "Sofie Scholl, The Last Days" shows her last words also as being "The sun still shines".  I'm sure she said all of them at various points before her death.

• Last words of Hans Scholl: "Es lebe die Freiheit!" (Freedom Lives!).

• "We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!" (Leaflet 4's concluding phrase, which became the motto of the White Rose resistance).

• "We will not be silent" has been put on t-shirts in many languages (among them Arabic, Spanish, French, Hebrew, and Persian).

• "Now my death will be easy and joyful." These were the words of Christopher Probst after a Catholic priest admitted him into the church on the eve of his death.

Fascist. This is a word with sinister connotations. To mention it musters images which represent the darkest side of humanity. It brings to mind the jackboot, the goosestep and the gas chamber. Fascism is an ideology of hate which reached its peak in the 1930’s and, through a war which cost over fifty million lives, faced its destruction in 1945. At its height fascist flags flew over Hitler’s Berlin , over Franco’s Madrid and over Mussolini’s Rome . It is popularly believed that fascism was a European phenomenon, with Britain's only involvement being in its destruction.

However, on Sunday October 4, 1936 over 300,000 people of London’s East end rose up, stood fast and defeated the British Union of Fascists in what became known as the Battle of Cable street.

Simultaneously thousands of British volunteers had joined the international brigade to fight in the Spanish civil war against General Franco’s fascist forces. In solidarity to the freedom fighters battling in a war raging across Spain the anti-fascists of  Cable Street carried placards emblazoned with the slogan ¡No Pasarán!, “they shall not pass”. This was only three years before Britain stood together with other free nations to wage war against Hitler’s Nazi war machine. The British people, and indeed the British left, have a proud history of standing against fascism and now the time has come when we must all stand together, not only to remember cable street but to fight fascism and tyranny wherever they raise their evil heads.

 

The angels have a modus operandi for your love life and happiness. Keep the faith. Call me for any concerns that you have: Love & Relationships, Mysteries, Dreams, Career or Life Questions.

Have faith and hope, because there is something positive and new on the horizon that you can't yet see.

Crystal of Light and Love
http://www.keen.com/Crystal+of+Light+and+Love+5

Astronomers Baffled By Bizarre Star