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August 14 - the birthday of Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714-1789) - the leading French landscape painter of the later 18th century. He achieved great celebrity with his #marine paintings. He was also one of the century's most accomplished painters of tempests and moonlight scenes. "Others may know better", he said, with just pride, "how to paint the sky, the earth, the ocean; no one knows better than I how to paint a picture".
https://stellar-art.pixels.com/featured/2-the-shipwreck-1772-claude-joseph-vernet.html
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Location of 4.5 #earthquake today in the #SanJuanIslands of Washington State.
#OrcasIsland -
Location of 4.5 #earthquake today in the #SanJuanIslands of Washington State.
#OrcasIsland -
Location of 4.5 #earthquake today in the #SanJuanIslands of Washington State.
#OrcasIsland -
Location of 4.5 #earthquake today in the #SanJuanIslands of Washington State.
#OrcasIsland -
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #2 Wars, natural disasters, famine and false Messiahs
The first thing to understand about the Last Days is that Jesus Christ will return to Earth to establish his Father’s Kingdom. The Bible says so quite plainly.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
“The Last Days” is the term used to describe the period of time immediately before the actual re-appearance of Jesus. This is why the subject is of such great interest to Christians today.
The “Signs of the Times” are those events, which suggest to us that the return of Christ is imminent. This is a great source of encouragement for Christians and a warning sign to those who have not committed themselves to Christ that their window of opportunity is closing.
The Signs of the Times are detailed particularly in Matthew chapter 24 and the parallel account in Luke. Jesus is talking to his disciples about the destruction of the Temple and they asked him when this would happen. Jesus replied:
“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7).
Jesus then proceeded to list a series of signs.
Before we look at the signs, it is necessary to understand that in prophecy, there are often minor as well as major fulfilments. The minor fulfilment, which normally happens soon after the prophecy is given, provides proof that the greater fulfilment will also come to pass. So we need to consider what the minor and major fulfilments are. But first, let’s detail what the signs are, as listed in Luke 21.
- False Christs (Verse 8)
- Wars and Revolutions (Verse 9 & 10)
- Earthquakes (Verse 11)
- Famines (Verse 11)
- Plagues or Pestilences (Verse 11)
- Fearful Events (Verse 11)
- Signs from heaven (Verse 11)
- Persecution of Believers by Authorities(Verse 12)
- Betrayal of Believers by those close to them (Verse 16)
- Believers hated because of Christ (Verse 17)
- Jerusalem surrounded (Verse 20)
- Jews will fall by the sword, be taken prisoner and be dispersed (Verse 24)
- Jerusalem trampled by the Gentiles (non-Jews) until the end of the Gentile times (Verse 24)
- Signs in the sun, moon and stars (Verse 25)
- Nations will be in anguish and perplexity (Verse 25)
- Men will faint from terror (Verse 26)
In verse 27, is describes the return of Jesus. Then in verse 29, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, saying that when the leaves come out summer is near. For reference, we will call that sign 17.
The minor fulfilment of Christ’s words concerned the destruction of Jerusalem in ‘AD 70’ by the Roman army. This followed a rebellion by the Jews, which is mentioned in our second sign. The relevance of the signs we have numbered 11, 12, and 13 is immediately obvious, but it also introduces something called the Gentile times, which we need to deal with.
The seventeenth sign, as we have numbered it, is the parable of the fig tree. This tree is a symbol of Israel and appeared on many coins etc. Therefore the renewal of the fig tree symbolises the renewal of Israel. This happened in 1948, when the Jews returned to the land to establish an independent state.
The Times of the Gentiles were ended when Jerusalem ceased to be trampled by non-Jews. This happened in the “Six Day” War of 1967, when Israel expelled Jordan and gained total control of the city.These two events that have taken place in direct fulfilment of Bible prophecy, strongly suggest that we re in the Last Days, but what about the other signs?
It is worth noting that critics of Bible prophecy often argue that these “signs” have always happened; for instance, there have always been wars, there have always been famine, earthquakes, plagues etc. This is true, But Jesus himself says in verse 32
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
So the major fulfilment will occur when ALL these events happen within a certain timescale. The most likely timescale is 40 years, which is the Bible “definition” of a generation. So when all these things have come to pass, there is a definite time-limit. If, for instance the last sign to be fulfilled was the re-capture of Jerusalem from Gentile hands in 1967, then the latest time Jesus could return in order to fulfil prophecy would be 2007.
David Koresh in a 1987 mug shotJim or James Warren Jones, American religious cult leader at an anti-eviction protest in front of the International Hotel in 1977
This also highlights the problem or trying to guess too accurately the return of Jesus. He himself said that he return will not come with “careful observation” but rather it will come suddenly and unexpectedly as a “thief in the night”.
Lastly, Jesus stated that no-one knew when he would return. Jesus did not know himself. Only God knows.
Again, the minor fulfilment gives us encouragement, because Jesus said the words in approximately CE 33 and the destruction of Jerusalem took place in CE 70, just within the 40 year “limit”.There have been numerous False Messiahs over the centuries. One very recent and prominent one was David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian sect who perished in the flames of the Waco siege in Texas, USA, 1993. It seems important to false messiahs that they die, rather than admit the failure of their prophecies. They also prefer to take as many as possible of their followers with them. In March 1997 in San Diego, 39 Heaven’s Gate followers [ led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985)] poison themselves believing UFO would pick them up. In October 1994 in Switzerland, 48 Solar Temple members found burned in chalets. In November 1978 in Guyana, 914 drink cyanide, led by the Rev. Jim Jones.
We don’t need to think hard about the issue of wars. In the last 50 years, there has been the Korean Wars (1950–1953; 1974-1976; 2010-2013 ), the Falklands War (1982), the Vietnam war (1954–75) and the Gulf War (1990-1991), Second Persian Gulf War or Iraq War (2003–11), Afghanistan War (2001–2014) to name but a very few.
Damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince – 2010 Haiti earthquakeThe study of earthquakes is an interesting one. Obviously, communications are much better than they were 500 years ago and the world is more densely populated, so we hear a lot more about earthquakes than we used to. However, if we just look at the last 30 years, in 1970, there were 4,139 recorded earthquakes, in 1980 there were 7,348 earthquakes, an increase of 77% on ten years before. In 1990 there were 16,612 recorded earthquakes, an increase of 126% over the 1980 figure. In 2000, there were 22,256, an increase of 34% over the 1990 figure. So obviously, something is going on!
Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN saysAgain, there have always been famines. The Bible speaks of them often. But they were always either preceded or followed by prosperous years and in this way, the people could put by a little grain each good year to help them through the bad years. The Genesis story of Joseph and the seven fat and seven thin cows bears this out.
The difference now however is that countries are not recovering. Climate changes and Man’s inhumanity to Man are causing countries such as Ethiopia and Sudan to be permanently short of food, despite all the best efforts of the Western Aid agencies.
There have always been plagues and pestilences, but once more, we see a “cluster” of AIDS, BSE, CJD, Foot and Mouth and ME all been prominent in the last few years.
Signs in the heavens, or in the Sun, Moon and Stars can be taken two ways. The first way is the literal way and there have been numerous astronomical “signs” in recent years, such as comets, meteorites etc. The other possible meaning is the symbolic one, where the “heavens” (often translated the “high places”) represent government and the Sun Moon and Stars represent rulers. Taking this route, there are many situations that could have this prophecy applied to them.
We then have three prophecies concerning the persecution of Christ’s followers, namely Christians. This is one prophecy where the past really does seem to have more examples than the present, although persecution does exist, for instance in China and Islamic nations. Perhaps this is one prophecy where we will see greater fulfilment in the near future.
The persecution of the Jews has been a common pastime in western Europe for over 1,000 years. They were persecuted in England in the Middle Ages and In 1858 Lionel de Rothschild became the first Jewish MP who was permitted to take his seat without taking the oath that involved the words “by the true faith of a Christian” and in 1890 the last of the government posts became open to members of the Jewish faith. Russian pogroms, particularly between 1903 and 1906 saw many Jews killed. And of course, we can never forget the 6 million Jews killed in the Second World War.
We hope it is clear that these prophecies apply to the times we are living in now. This means that the return of Christ is imminent. As Jesus says in Luke 21:27
“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
And again,
“36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
+
Preceding
The Greatness of the eternal God
The New Testament and Judgement
To be prepared for the Day of Judgment
Living as a believer in Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Do you believe what Christ’s Apostles taught?
Bible Reading: is it worthwhile?
The importance of Reading the Scriptures
The Bible: is it contradictory?
The Development of Differences
Bible Teaching and Vital Doctrines to Discover
Avoiding friction and distraction in the body of Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Brothers and sisters in Christ for you
The Christadelphians or “Brethren in Christ”
Video: Introducing the Christadelphian Community
Who has the power of prophecy?
Prophecy concerning Babylon and Israel
Why is the nation of Israel being restored?
The Jews have fulfilled Bible Prophecy
Will There Ever be Peace on Earth?
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #1 The Son of man revealing
+
To be prepared and very well oiled
Signs of the times – “An object of scorn and ridicule”
Signs of the times – “A new order in the Middle East”
Memorizing wonderfully 59 Word of God, the Book and finished work
Next: Sign of the Times and the Last Days #3 Coming events revealed in the prophetic wrings
++
Additional reading
- Date Setting
- Jesus … will come in the same way as you saw him go
- The Rapture Wars
- May we be “ready” when Jesus returns
- Increasing turmoil and fear but a rock to look at and go for
- Afraid to see the man of the heavens opened
- Together tasting a great promise
- The corpus separatum and Mahmoud Abbas
+++
Further related articles
- Are We in Danger of Repeating History
- Is it Just Me, or Does it Seem Like Everything is Going Crazy These Days?
- Getting ready for change…
- it’s a sign of the
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, pt. 2 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 3 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 4 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- Jesus Is Coming Back!
- Great Red Dragon Series #4 – Part 196 of Riddles, Enigmas & Esoteric Imagery of Revelation
- A Rising Called For!
- “Warning To Be Heeded”
- Yemen: More than 50,000 children expected to die of starvation and disease by end of year
- Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN says
- Yemen on brink of ‘world’s worst famine in 100 years’ if war continues
Rate this:
#1858 #1890 #1948 #1967 #1978 #1994 #1997 #2007 #70 #AstronomicalSigns #BonnieNettles #BranchDavidianOffshootGroupOfTheDavidianSeventhDayAdventistChurch_ #Christians #ClimateChange #DavidKoresh #Earthquake #Ethiopia #FalseMessiah #Famine #FigTree #GentileTimes #HeavenSGateAmericanUFOReligiousMillenarianReligiousGroup_ #JimJones #LastDays #LionelDeRothschild #Luke21 #Luke211617 #Luke2120 #Luke212426 #Luke212428 #Luke212728 #Luke2129 #Luke2136 #Luke217 #Luke21812 #MarshallApplewhite #Matthew24 #OrdreDuTempleSolaireOTSOrOrderOfTheSolarTemple_ #ParableOfTheFigTree #PersecutionOfGodSPeople #PestilenceS_ #ReturnOfChrist #RussianPogromS_ #SecondComing #SecondComingOfChrist #Sign #SignsInTheHeavens #SignsOfEndtimes #SignsOfTheTimes #SixDayWar1967_ #Sudan #TimesOfTheGentiles #WacoSiege #War
-
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #2 Wars, natural disasters, famine and false Messiahs
The first thing to understand about the Last Days is that Jesus Christ will return to Earth to establish his Father’s Kingdom. The Bible says so quite plainly.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
“The Last Days” is the term used to describe the period of time immediately before the actual re-appearance of Jesus. This is why the subject is of such great interest to Christians today.
The “Signs of the Times” are those events, which suggest to us that the return of Christ is imminent. This is a great source of encouragement for Christians and a warning sign to those who have not committed themselves to Christ that their window of opportunity is closing.
The Signs of the Times are detailed particularly in Matthew chapter 24 and the parallel account in Luke. Jesus is talking to his disciples about the destruction of the Temple and they asked him when this would happen. Jesus replied:
“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7).
Jesus then proceeded to list a series of signs.
Before we look at the signs, it is necessary to understand that in prophecy, there are often minor as well as major fulfilments. The minor fulfilment, which normally happens soon after the prophecy is given, provides proof that the greater fulfilment will also come to pass. So we need to consider what the minor and major fulfilments are. But first, let’s detail what the signs are, as listed in Luke 21.
- False Christs (Verse 8)
- Wars and Revolutions (Verse 9 & 10)
- Earthquakes (Verse 11)
- Famines (Verse 11)
- Plagues or Pestilences (Verse 11)
- Fearful Events (Verse 11)
- Signs from heaven (Verse 11)
- Persecution of Believers by Authorities(Verse 12)
- Betrayal of Believers by those close to them (Verse 16)
- Believers hated because of Christ (Verse 17)
- Jerusalem surrounded (Verse 20)
- Jews will fall by the sword, be taken prisoner and be dispersed (Verse 24)
- Jerusalem trampled by the Gentiles (non-Jews) until the end of the Gentile times (Verse 24)
- Signs in the sun, moon and stars (Verse 25)
- Nations will be in anguish and perplexity (Verse 25)
- Men will faint from terror (Verse 26)
In verse 27, is describes the return of Jesus. Then in verse 29, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, saying that when the leaves come out summer is near. For reference, we will call that sign 17.
The minor fulfilment of Christ’s words concerned the destruction of Jerusalem in ‘AD 70’ by the Roman army. This followed a rebellion by the Jews, which is mentioned in our second sign. The relevance of the signs we have numbered 11, 12, and 13 is immediately obvious, but it also introduces something called the Gentile times, which we need to deal with.
The seventeenth sign, as we have numbered it, is the parable of the fig tree. This tree is a symbol of Israel and appeared on many coins etc. Therefore the renewal of the fig tree symbolises the renewal of Israel. This happened in 1948, when the Jews returned to the land to establish an independent state.
The Times of the Gentiles were ended when Jerusalem ceased to be trampled by non-Jews. This happened in the “Six Day” War of 1967, when Israel expelled Jordan and gained total control of the city.These two events that have taken place in direct fulfilment of Bible prophecy, strongly suggest that we re in the Last Days, but what about the other signs?
It is worth noting that critics of Bible prophecy often argue that these “signs” have always happened; for instance, there have always been wars, there have always been famine, earthquakes, plagues etc. This is true, But Jesus himself says in verse 32
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
So the major fulfilment will occur when ALL these events happen within a certain timescale. The most likely timescale is 40 years, which is the Bible “definition” of a generation. So when all these things have come to pass, there is a definite time-limit. If, for instance the last sign to be fulfilled was the re-capture of Jerusalem from Gentile hands in 1967, then the latest time Jesus could return in order to fulfil prophecy would be 2007.
David Koresh in a 1987 mug shotJim or James Warren Jones, American religious cult leader at an anti-eviction protest in front of the International Hotel in 1977
This also highlights the problem or trying to guess too accurately the return of Jesus. He himself said that he return will not come with “careful observation” but rather it will come suddenly and unexpectedly as a “thief in the night”.
Lastly, Jesus stated that no-one knew when he would return. Jesus did not know himself. Only God knows.
Again, the minor fulfilment gives us encouragement, because Jesus said the words in approximately CE 33 and the destruction of Jerusalem took place in CE 70, just within the 40 year “limit”.There have been numerous False Messiahs over the centuries. One very recent and prominent one was David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian sect who perished in the flames of the Waco siege in Texas, USA, 1993. It seems important to false messiahs that they die, rather than admit the failure of their prophecies. They also prefer to take as many as possible of their followers with them. In March 1997 in San Diego, 39 Heaven’s Gate followers [ led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985)] poison themselves believing UFO would pick them up. In October 1994 in Switzerland, 48 Solar Temple members found burned in chalets. In November 1978 in Guyana, 914 drink cyanide, led by the Rev. Jim Jones.
We don’t need to think hard about the issue of wars. In the last 50 years, there has been the Korean Wars (1950–1953; 1974-1976; 2010-2013 ), the Falklands War (1982), the Vietnam war (1954–75) and the Gulf War (1990-1991), Second Persian Gulf War or Iraq War (2003–11), Afghanistan War (2001–2014) to name but a very few.
Damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince – 2010 Haiti earthquakeThe study of earthquakes is an interesting one. Obviously, communications are much better than they were 500 years ago and the world is more densely populated, so we hear a lot more about earthquakes than we used to. However, if we just look at the last 30 years, in 1970, there were 4,139 recorded earthquakes, in 1980 there were 7,348 earthquakes, an increase of 77% on ten years before. In 1990 there were 16,612 recorded earthquakes, an increase of 126% over the 1980 figure. In 2000, there were 22,256, an increase of 34% over the 1990 figure. So obviously, something is going on!
Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN saysAgain, there have always been famines. The Bible speaks of them often. But they were always either preceded or followed by prosperous years and in this way, the people could put by a little grain each good year to help them through the bad years. The Genesis story of Joseph and the seven fat and seven thin cows bears this out.
The difference now however is that countries are not recovering. Climate changes and Man’s inhumanity to Man are causing countries such as Ethiopia and Sudan to be permanently short of food, despite all the best efforts of the Western Aid agencies.
There have always been plagues and pestilences, but once more, we see a “cluster” of AIDS, BSE, CJD, Foot and Mouth and ME all been prominent in the last few years.
Signs in the heavens, or in the Sun, Moon and Stars can be taken two ways. The first way is the literal way and there have been numerous astronomical “signs” in recent years, such as comets, meteorites etc. The other possible meaning is the symbolic one, where the “heavens” (often translated the “high places”) represent government and the Sun Moon and Stars represent rulers. Taking this route, there are many situations that could have this prophecy applied to them.
We then have three prophecies concerning the persecution of Christ’s followers, namely Christians. This is one prophecy where the past really does seem to have more examples than the present, although persecution does exist, for instance in China and Islamic nations. Perhaps this is one prophecy where we will see greater fulfilment in the near future.
The persecution of the Jews has been a common pastime in western Europe for over 1,000 years. They were persecuted in England in the Middle Ages and In 1858 Lionel de Rothschild became the first Jewish MP who was permitted to take his seat without taking the oath that involved the words “by the true faith of a Christian” and in 1890 the last of the government posts became open to members of the Jewish faith. Russian pogroms, particularly between 1903 and 1906 saw many Jews killed. And of course, we can never forget the 6 million Jews killed in the Second World War.
We hope it is clear that these prophecies apply to the times we are living in now. This means that the return of Christ is imminent. As Jesus says in Luke 21:27
“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
And again,
“36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
+
Preceding
The Greatness of the eternal God
The New Testament and Judgement
To be prepared for the Day of Judgment
Living as a believer in Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Do you believe what Christ’s Apostles taught?
Bible Reading: is it worthwhile?
The importance of Reading the Scriptures
The Bible: is it contradictory?
The Development of Differences
Bible Teaching and Vital Doctrines to Discover
Avoiding friction and distraction in the body of Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Brothers and sisters in Christ for you
The Christadelphians or “Brethren in Christ”
Video: Introducing the Christadelphian Community
Who has the power of prophecy?
Prophecy concerning Babylon and Israel
Why is the nation of Israel being restored?
The Jews have fulfilled Bible Prophecy
Will There Ever be Peace on Earth?
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #1 The Son of man revealing
+
To be prepared and very well oiled
Signs of the times – “An object of scorn and ridicule”
Signs of the times – “A new order in the Middle East”
Memorizing wonderfully 59 Word of God, the Book and finished work
Next: Sign of the Times and the Last Days #3 Coming events revealed in the prophetic wrings
++
Additional reading
- Date Setting
- Jesus … will come in the same way as you saw him go
- The Rapture Wars
- May we be “ready” when Jesus returns
- Increasing turmoil and fear but a rock to look at and go for
- Afraid to see the man of the heavens opened
- Together tasting a great promise
- The corpus separatum and Mahmoud Abbas
+++
Further related articles
- Are We in Danger of Repeating History
- Is it Just Me, or Does it Seem Like Everything is Going Crazy These Days?
- Getting ready for change…
- it’s a sign of the
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, pt. 2 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 3 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 4 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- Jesus Is Coming Back!
- Great Red Dragon Series #4 – Part 196 of Riddles, Enigmas & Esoteric Imagery of Revelation
- A Rising Called For!
- “Warning To Be Heeded”
- Yemen: More than 50,000 children expected to die of starvation and disease by end of year
- Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN says
- Yemen on brink of ‘world’s worst famine in 100 years’ if war continues
Rate this:
#1858 #1890 #1948 #1967 #1978 #1994 #1997 #2007 #70 #AstronomicalSigns #BonnieNettles #BranchDavidianOffshootGroupOfTheDavidianSeventhDayAdventistChurch_ #Christians #ClimateChange #DavidKoresh #Earthquake #Ethiopia #FalseMessiah #Famine #FigTree #GentileTimes #HeavenSGateAmericanUFOReligiousMillenarianReligiousGroup_ #JimJones #LastDays #LionelDeRothschild #Luke21 #Luke211617 #Luke2120 #Luke212426 #Luke212428 #Luke212728 #Luke2129 #Luke2136 #Luke217 #Luke21812 #MarshallApplewhite #Matthew24 #OrdreDuTempleSolaireOTSOrOrderOfTheSolarTemple_ #ParableOfTheFigTree #PersecutionOfGodSPeople #PestilenceS_ #ReturnOfChrist #RussianPogromS_ #SecondComing #SecondComingOfChrist #Sign #SignsInTheHeavens #SignsOfEndtimes #SignsOfTheTimes #SixDayWar1967_ #Sudan #TimesOfTheGentiles #WacoSiege #War
-
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #2 Wars, natural disasters, famine and false Messiahs
The first thing to understand about the Last Days is that Jesus Christ will return to Earth to establish his Father’s Kingdom. The Bible says so quite plainly.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
“The Last Days” is the term used to describe the period of time immediately before the actual re-appearance of Jesus. This is why the subject is of such great interest to Christians today.
The “Signs of the Times” are those events, which suggest to us that the return of Christ is imminent. This is a great source of encouragement for Christians and a warning sign to those who have not committed themselves to Christ that their window of opportunity is closing.
The Signs of the Times are detailed particularly in Matthew chapter 24 and the parallel account in Luke. Jesus is talking to his disciples about the destruction of the Temple and they asked him when this would happen. Jesus replied:
“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7).
Jesus then proceeded to list a series of signs.
Before we look at the signs, it is necessary to understand that in prophecy, there are often minor as well as major fulfilments. The minor fulfilment, which normally happens soon after the prophecy is given, provides proof that the greater fulfilment will also come to pass. So we need to consider what the minor and major fulfilments are. But first, let’s detail what the signs are, as listed in Luke 21.
- False Christs (Verse 8)
- Wars and Revolutions (Verse 9 & 10)
- Earthquakes (Verse 11)
- Famines (Verse 11)
- Plagues or Pestilences (Verse 11)
- Fearful Events (Verse 11)
- Signs from heaven (Verse 11)
- Persecution of Believers by Authorities(Verse 12)
- Betrayal of Believers by those close to them (Verse 16)
- Believers hated because of Christ (Verse 17)
- Jerusalem surrounded (Verse 20)
- Jews will fall by the sword, be taken prisoner and be dispersed (Verse 24)
- Jerusalem trampled by the Gentiles (non-Jews) until the end of the Gentile times (Verse 24)
- Signs in the sun, moon and stars (Verse 25)
- Nations will be in anguish and perplexity (Verse 25)
- Men will faint from terror (Verse 26)
In verse 27, is describes the return of Jesus. Then in verse 29, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, saying that when the leaves come out summer is near. For reference, we will call that sign 17.
The minor fulfilment of Christ’s words concerned the destruction of Jerusalem in ‘AD 70’ by the Roman army. This followed a rebellion by the Jews, which is mentioned in our second sign. The relevance of the signs we have numbered 11, 12, and 13 is immediately obvious, but it also introduces something called the Gentile times, which we need to deal with.
The seventeenth sign, as we have numbered it, is the parable of the fig tree. This tree is a symbol of Israel and appeared on many coins etc. Therefore the renewal of the fig tree symbolises the renewal of Israel. This happened in 1948, when the Jews returned to the land to establish an independent state.
The Times of the Gentiles were ended when Jerusalem ceased to be trampled by non-Jews. This happened in the “Six Day” War of 1967, when Israel expelled Jordan and gained total control of the city.These two events that have taken place in direct fulfilment of Bible prophecy, strongly suggest that we re in the Last Days, but what about the other signs?
It is worth noting that critics of Bible prophecy often argue that these “signs” have always happened; for instance, there have always been wars, there have always been famine, earthquakes, plagues etc. This is true, But Jesus himself says in verse 32
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
So the major fulfilment will occur when ALL these events happen within a certain timescale. The most likely timescale is 40 years, which is the Bible “definition” of a generation. So when all these things have come to pass, there is a definite time-limit. If, for instance the last sign to be fulfilled was the re-capture of Jerusalem from Gentile hands in 1967, then the latest time Jesus could return in order to fulfil prophecy would be 2007.
David Koresh in a 1987 mug shotJim or James Warren Jones, American religious cult leader at an anti-eviction protest in front of the International Hotel in 1977
This also highlights the problem or trying to guess too accurately the return of Jesus. He himself said that he return will not come with “careful observation” but rather it will come suddenly and unexpectedly as a “thief in the night”.
Lastly, Jesus stated that no-one knew when he would return. Jesus did not know himself. Only God knows.
Again, the minor fulfilment gives us encouragement, because Jesus said the words in approximately CE 33 and the destruction of Jerusalem took place in CE 70, just within the 40 year “limit”.There have been numerous False Messiahs over the centuries. One very recent and prominent one was David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian sect who perished in the flames of the Waco siege in Texas, USA, 1993. It seems important to false messiahs that they die, rather than admit the failure of their prophecies. They also prefer to take as many as possible of their followers with them. In March 1997 in San Diego, 39 Heaven’s Gate followers [ led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985)] poison themselves believing UFO would pick them up. In October 1994 in Switzerland, 48 Solar Temple members found burned in chalets. In November 1978 in Guyana, 914 drink cyanide, led by the Rev. Jim Jones.
We don’t need to think hard about the issue of wars. In the last 50 years, there has been the Korean Wars (1950–1953; 1974-1976; 2010-2013 ), the Falklands War (1982), the Vietnam war (1954–75) and the Gulf War (1990-1991), Second Persian Gulf War or Iraq War (2003–11), Afghanistan War (2001–2014) to name but a very few.
Damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince – 2010 Haiti earthquakeThe study of earthquakes is an interesting one. Obviously, communications are much better than they were 500 years ago and the world is more densely populated, so we hear a lot more about earthquakes than we used to. However, if we just look at the last 30 years, in 1970, there were 4,139 recorded earthquakes, in 1980 there were 7,348 earthquakes, an increase of 77% on ten years before. In 1990 there were 16,612 recorded earthquakes, an increase of 126% over the 1980 figure. In 2000, there were 22,256, an increase of 34% over the 1990 figure. So obviously, something is going on!
Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN saysAgain, there have always been famines. The Bible speaks of them often. But they were always either preceded or followed by prosperous years and in this way, the people could put by a little grain each good year to help them through the bad years. The Genesis story of Joseph and the seven fat and seven thin cows bears this out.
The difference now however is that countries are not recovering. Climate changes and Man’s inhumanity to Man are causing countries such as Ethiopia and Sudan to be permanently short of food, despite all the best efforts of the Western Aid agencies.
There have always been plagues and pestilences, but once more, we see a “cluster” of AIDS, BSE, CJD, Foot and Mouth and ME all been prominent in the last few years.
Signs in the heavens, or in the Sun, Moon and Stars can be taken two ways. The first way is the literal way and there have been numerous astronomical “signs” in recent years, such as comets, meteorites etc. The other possible meaning is the symbolic one, where the “heavens” (often translated the “high places”) represent government and the Sun Moon and Stars represent rulers. Taking this route, there are many situations that could have this prophecy applied to them.
We then have three prophecies concerning the persecution of Christ’s followers, namely Christians. This is one prophecy where the past really does seem to have more examples than the present, although persecution does exist, for instance in China and Islamic nations. Perhaps this is one prophecy where we will see greater fulfilment in the near future.
The persecution of the Jews has been a common pastime in western Europe for over 1,000 years. They were persecuted in England in the Middle Ages and In 1858 Lionel de Rothschild became the first Jewish MP who was permitted to take his seat without taking the oath that involved the words “by the true faith of a Christian” and in 1890 the last of the government posts became open to members of the Jewish faith. Russian pogroms, particularly between 1903 and 1906 saw many Jews killed. And of course, we can never forget the 6 million Jews killed in the Second World War.
We hope it is clear that these prophecies apply to the times we are living in now. This means that the return of Christ is imminent. As Jesus says in Luke 21:27
“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
And again,
“36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
+
Preceding
The Greatness of the eternal God
The New Testament and Judgement
To be prepared for the Day of Judgment
Living as a believer in Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Do you believe what Christ’s Apostles taught?
Bible Reading: is it worthwhile?
The importance of Reading the Scriptures
The Bible: is it contradictory?
The Development of Differences
Bible Teaching and Vital Doctrines to Discover
Avoiding friction and distraction in the body of Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Brothers and sisters in Christ for you
The Christadelphians or “Brethren in Christ”
Video: Introducing the Christadelphian Community
Who has the power of prophecy?
Prophecy concerning Babylon and Israel
Why is the nation of Israel being restored?
The Jews have fulfilled Bible Prophecy
Will There Ever be Peace on Earth?
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #1 The Son of man revealing
+
To be prepared and very well oiled
Signs of the times – “An object of scorn and ridicule”
Signs of the times – “A new order in the Middle East”
Memorizing wonderfully 59 Word of God, the Book and finished work
Next: Sign of the Times and the Last Days #3 Coming events revealed in the prophetic wrings
++
Additional reading
- Date Setting
- Jesus … will come in the same way as you saw him go
- The Rapture Wars
- May we be “ready” when Jesus returns
- Increasing turmoil and fear but a rock to look at and go for
- Afraid to see the man of the heavens opened
- Together tasting a great promise
- The corpus separatum and Mahmoud Abbas
+++
Further related articles
- Are We in Danger of Repeating History
- Is it Just Me, or Does it Seem Like Everything is Going Crazy These Days?
- Getting ready for change…
- it’s a sign of the
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, pt. 2 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 3 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 4 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- Jesus Is Coming Back!
- Great Red Dragon Series #4 – Part 196 of Riddles, Enigmas & Esoteric Imagery of Revelation
- A Rising Called For!
- “Warning To Be Heeded”
- Yemen: More than 50,000 children expected to die of starvation and disease by end of year
- Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN says
- Yemen on brink of ‘world’s worst famine in 100 years’ if war continues
Rate this:
#1858 #1890 #1948 #1967 #1978 #1994 #1997 #2007 #70 #AstronomicalSigns #BonnieNettles #BranchDavidianOffshootGroupOfTheDavidianSeventhDayAdventistChurch_ #Christians #ClimateChange #DavidKoresh #Earthquake #Ethiopia #FalseMessiah #Famine #FigTree #GentileTimes #HeavenSGateAmericanUFOReligiousMillenarianReligiousGroup_ #JimJones #LastDays #LionelDeRothschild #Luke21 #Luke211617 #Luke2120 #Luke212426 #Luke212428 #Luke212728 #Luke2129 #Luke2136 #Luke217 #Luke21812 #MarshallApplewhite #Matthew24 #OrdreDuTempleSolaireOTSOrOrderOfTheSolarTemple_ #ParableOfTheFigTree #PersecutionOfGodSPeople #PestilenceS_ #ReturnOfChrist #RussianPogromS_ #SecondComing #SecondComingOfChrist #Sign #SignsInTheHeavens #SignsOfEndtimes #SignsOfTheTimes #SixDayWar1967_ #Sudan #TimesOfTheGentiles #WacoSiege #War
-
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #2 Wars, natural disasters, famine and false Messiahs
The first thing to understand about the Last Days is that Jesus Christ will return to Earth to establish his Father’s Kingdom. The Bible says so quite plainly.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
“The Last Days” is the term used to describe the period of time immediately before the actual re-appearance of Jesus. This is why the subject is of such great interest to Christians today.
The “Signs of the Times” are those events, which suggest to us that the return of Christ is imminent. This is a great source of encouragement for Christians and a warning sign to those who have not committed themselves to Christ that their window of opportunity is closing.
The Signs of the Times are detailed particularly in Matthew chapter 24 and the parallel account in Luke. Jesus is talking to his disciples about the destruction of the Temple and they asked him when this would happen. Jesus replied:
“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7).
Jesus then proceeded to list a series of signs.
Before we look at the signs, it is necessary to understand that in prophecy, there are often minor as well as major fulfilments. The minor fulfilment, which normally happens soon after the prophecy is given, provides proof that the greater fulfilment will also come to pass. So we need to consider what the minor and major fulfilments are. But first, let’s detail what the signs are, as listed in Luke 21.
- False Christs (Verse 8)
- Wars and Revolutions (Verse 9 & 10)
- Earthquakes (Verse 11)
- Famines (Verse 11)
- Plagues or Pestilences (Verse 11)
- Fearful Events (Verse 11)
- Signs from heaven (Verse 11)
- Persecution of Believers by Authorities(Verse 12)
- Betrayal of Believers by those close to them (Verse 16)
- Believers hated because of Christ (Verse 17)
- Jerusalem surrounded (Verse 20)
- Jews will fall by the sword, be taken prisoner and be dispersed (Verse 24)
- Jerusalem trampled by the Gentiles (non-Jews) until the end of the Gentile times (Verse 24)
- Signs in the sun, moon and stars (Verse 25)
- Nations will be in anguish and perplexity (Verse 25)
- Men will faint from terror (Verse 26)
In verse 27, is describes the return of Jesus. Then in verse 29, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, saying that when the leaves come out summer is near. For reference, we will call that sign 17.
The minor fulfilment of Christ’s words concerned the destruction of Jerusalem in ‘AD 70’ by the Roman army. This followed a rebellion by the Jews, which is mentioned in our second sign. The relevance of the signs we have numbered 11, 12, and 13 is immediately obvious, but it also introduces something called the Gentile times, which we need to deal with.
The seventeenth sign, as we have numbered it, is the parable of the fig tree. This tree is a symbol of Israel and appeared on many coins etc. Therefore the renewal of the fig tree symbolises the renewal of Israel. This happened in 1948, when the Jews returned to the land to establish an independent state.
The Times of the Gentiles were ended when Jerusalem ceased to be trampled by non-Jews. This happened in the “Six Day” War of 1967, when Israel expelled Jordan and gained total control of the city.These two events that have taken place in direct fulfilment of Bible prophecy, strongly suggest that we re in the Last Days, but what about the other signs?
It is worth noting that critics of Bible prophecy often argue that these “signs” have always happened; for instance, there have always been wars, there have always been famine, earthquakes, plagues etc. This is true, But Jesus himself says in verse 32
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
So the major fulfilment will occur when ALL these events happen within a certain timescale. The most likely timescale is 40 years, which is the Bible “definition” of a generation. So when all these things have come to pass, there is a definite time-limit. If, for instance the last sign to be fulfilled was the re-capture of Jerusalem from Gentile hands in 1967, then the latest time Jesus could return in order to fulfil prophecy would be 2007.
David Koresh in a 1987 mug shotJim or James Warren Jones, American religious cult leader at an anti-eviction protest in front of the International Hotel in 1977
This also highlights the problem or trying to guess too accurately the return of Jesus. He himself said that he return will not come with “careful observation” but rather it will come suddenly and unexpectedly as a “thief in the night”.
Lastly, Jesus stated that no-one knew when he would return. Jesus did not know himself. Only God knows.
Again, the minor fulfilment gives us encouragement, because Jesus said the words in approximately CE 33 and the destruction of Jerusalem took place in CE 70, just within the 40 year “limit”.There have been numerous False Messiahs over the centuries. One very recent and prominent one was David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian sect who perished in the flames of the Waco siege in Texas, USA, 1993. It seems important to false messiahs that they die, rather than admit the failure of their prophecies. They also prefer to take as many as possible of their followers with them. In March 1997 in San Diego, 39 Heaven’s Gate followers [ led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985)] poison themselves believing UFO would pick them up. In October 1994 in Switzerland, 48 Solar Temple members found burned in chalets. In November 1978 in Guyana, 914 drink cyanide, led by the Rev. Jim Jones.
We don’t need to think hard about the issue of wars. In the last 50 years, there has been the Korean Wars (1950–1953; 1974-1976; 2010-2013 ), the Falklands War (1982), the Vietnam war (1954–75) and the Gulf War (1990-1991), Second Persian Gulf War or Iraq War (2003–11), Afghanistan War (2001–2014) to name but a very few.
Damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince – 2010 Haiti earthquakeThe study of earthquakes is an interesting one. Obviously, communications are much better than they were 500 years ago and the world is more densely populated, so we hear a lot more about earthquakes than we used to. However, if we just look at the last 30 years, in 1970, there were 4,139 recorded earthquakes, in 1980 there were 7,348 earthquakes, an increase of 77% on ten years before. In 1990 there were 16,612 recorded earthquakes, an increase of 126% over the 1980 figure. In 2000, there were 22,256, an increase of 34% over the 1990 figure. So obviously, something is going on!
Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN saysAgain, there have always been famines. The Bible speaks of them often. But they were always either preceded or followed by prosperous years and in this way, the people could put by a little grain each good year to help them through the bad years. The Genesis story of Joseph and the seven fat and seven thin cows bears this out.
The difference now however is that countries are not recovering. Climate changes and Man’s inhumanity to Man are causing countries such as Ethiopia and Sudan to be permanently short of food, despite all the best efforts of the Western Aid agencies.
There have always been plagues and pestilences, but once more, we see a “cluster” of AIDS, BSE, CJD, Foot and Mouth and ME all been prominent in the last few years.
Signs in the heavens, or in the Sun, Moon and Stars can be taken two ways. The first way is the literal way and there have been numerous astronomical “signs” in recent years, such as comets, meteorites etc. The other possible meaning is the symbolic one, where the “heavens” (often translated the “high places”) represent government and the Sun Moon and Stars represent rulers. Taking this route, there are many situations that could have this prophecy applied to them.
We then have three prophecies concerning the persecution of Christ’s followers, namely Christians. This is one prophecy where the past really does seem to have more examples than the present, although persecution does exist, for instance in China and Islamic nations. Perhaps this is one prophecy where we will see greater fulfilment in the near future.
The persecution of the Jews has been a common pastime in western Europe for over 1,000 years. They were persecuted in England in the Middle Ages and In 1858 Lionel de Rothschild became the first Jewish MP who was permitted to take his seat without taking the oath that involved the words “by the true faith of a Christian” and in 1890 the last of the government posts became open to members of the Jewish faith. Russian pogroms, particularly between 1903 and 1906 saw many Jews killed. And of course, we can never forget the 6 million Jews killed in the Second World War.
We hope it is clear that these prophecies apply to the times we are living in now. This means that the return of Christ is imminent. As Jesus says in Luke 21:27
“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
And again,
“36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
+
Preceding
The Greatness of the eternal God
The New Testament and Judgement
To be prepared for the Day of Judgment
Living as a believer in Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Do you believe what Christ’s Apostles taught?
Bible Reading: is it worthwhile?
The importance of Reading the Scriptures
The Bible: is it contradictory?
The Development of Differences
Bible Teaching and Vital Doctrines to Discover
Avoiding friction and distraction in the body of Christ
A participation in the body of Christ
Brothers and sisters in Christ for you
The Christadelphians or “Brethren in Christ”
Video: Introducing the Christadelphian Community
Who has the power of prophecy?
Prophecy concerning Babylon and Israel
Why is the nation of Israel being restored?
The Jews have fulfilled Bible Prophecy
Will There Ever be Peace on Earth?
Sign of the Times and the Last Days #1 The Son of man revealing
+
To be prepared and very well oiled
Signs of the times – “An object of scorn and ridicule”
Signs of the times – “A new order in the Middle East”
Memorizing wonderfully 59 Word of God, the Book and finished work
Next: Sign of the Times and the Last Days #3 Coming events revealed in the prophetic wrings
++
Additional reading
- Date Setting
- Jesus … will come in the same way as you saw him go
- The Rapture Wars
- May we be “ready” when Jesus returns
- Increasing turmoil and fear but a rock to look at and go for
- Afraid to see the man of the heavens opened
- Together tasting a great promise
- The corpus separatum and Mahmoud Abbas
+++
Further related articles
- Are We in Danger of Repeating History
- Is it Just Me, or Does it Seem Like Everything is Going Crazy These Days?
- Getting ready for change…
- it’s a sign of the
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, pt. 2 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 3 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- The Last Days Acceleration of Time, Pt. 4 by Pastor Kevin E. Johnson
- Jesus Is Coming Back!
- Great Red Dragon Series #4 – Part 196 of Riddles, Enigmas & Esoteric Imagery of Revelation
- A Rising Called For!
- “Warning To Be Heeded”
- Yemen: More than 50,000 children expected to die of starvation and disease by end of year
- Famine in Yemen could become one of worst in living memory, UN says
- Yemen on brink of ‘world’s worst famine in 100 years’ if war continues
Rate this:
#1858 #1890 #1948 #1967 #1978 #1994 #1997 #2007 #70 #AstronomicalSigns #BonnieNettles #BranchDavidianOffshootGroupOfTheDavidianSeventhDayAdventistChurch_ #Christians #ClimateChange #DavidKoresh #Earthquake #Ethiopia #FalseMessiah #Famine #FigTree #GentileTimes #HeavenSGateAmericanUFOReligiousMillenarianReligiousGroup_ #JimJones #LastDays #LionelDeRothschild #Luke21 #Luke211617 #Luke2120 #Luke212426 #Luke212428 #Luke212728 #Luke2129 #Luke2136 #Luke217 #Luke21812 #MarshallApplewhite #Matthew24 #OrdreDuTempleSolaireOTSOrOrderOfTheSolarTemple_ #ParableOfTheFigTree #PersecutionOfGodSPeople #PestilenceS_ #ReturnOfChrist #RussianPogromS_ #SecondComing #SecondComingOfChrist #Sign #SignsInTheHeavens #SignsOfEndtimes #SignsOfTheTimes #SixDayWar1967_ #Sudan #TimesOfTheGentiles #WacoSiege #War
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Mostly Monday Reads: It’s the Policies Stupid!
“Arresting development,” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
I don’t know about you, but these first 100 days of #FARTUS have taken a toll on me. So many bad policies in such a short time have me spinning and anxious. I can’t even plan my one-person, small-house, semi-retired life. I can’t even figure out what state and local governments, big and small businesses, and the courts have on their hands right now.
The assessment of these first 100 days, coming from polls and pundits, is stunningly bad. Bad to the point that any polling firm is considered to be a criminal organization by yam tits. I will start with this analysis in The Guardian by Steven Greenhouse. “Trump’s second term will be the worst presidential term ever. Tragically, the president’s second term is already more lawless and more authoritarian than any in US history.”
In his first 100 days back in office, Donald Trump has made a strong case that his second term will be by far the worst presidential term in US history. So many of his flood-the-zone actions have been head-spinning and stomach-turning. His administration seems to be powered by ignorance and incoherence, spleen and sycophancy. Both he and his right-hand man, Elon Musk, with their resentment-fueled desire to disrupt everything, seem intent on pulverizing the foundations of our government, our democracy, our alliances as well as any notions of truth. Tragically, Trump’s second term is already more lawless and more authoritarian than any in US history.
The worst and most dangerous part of Trump’s agenda is his war against our democracy and constitution – defying judges’ orders, deporting people without due process, suggesting he will run for a third term, calling to impeach judges who rule against him, pardoning hundreds of January 6 criminals, gutting federal agencies and firing thousands of federal employees in flagrant violation of the law, and banning books from military libraries. (One wonders: will book burning be next?) Underlining just how dangerous and lawless Trump is, he is talking publicly about disappearing US citizens to foreign countries where they could be locked in prison forever. For those who care about democracy and basic freedoms, this is Defcon 1 stuff.
From Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden, every president since the second world war has worked hard to build alliances to promote peace and prosperity and deter aggression. But right out of the box, Trump 2.0 has rushed to blow up our alliances and cavalierly alienate our allies. Trump quickly rejected the US’s traditional foreign policy and ideals by warmly embracing Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator, and turning against Ukraine and its noble fight against Putin’s aggression. Trump sounded like a rapacious 19th-century imperialist when he threatened to take over the Panama canal and, ditto, when he talked of using force to seize control of Greenland, which belongs to our longtime Nato ally, Denmark. Then there’s Trump’s astoundingly idiotic talk – and taunt – that Canada should be our 51st state. What a way to anger and alienate a nation that has long been the US’s best friend.
Then there is the disaster – or should we say clown show – of Trump’s on-again, off-again, on-again, who-knows-what’s-going-to-happen-tomorrow tariffs. His “liberation day” tariffs were put together by a clown-car crew, just three hours before he announced it, and Trump and company seemed to have zero idea that his hodgepodge of tariffs would send the world’s stock markets into a nervous breakdown. Trump’s team was stupid enough to think that China was too feeble to respond effectively to Trump’s trade war – treasury secretary Scott Bessent said China had “a losing hand” with just “a pair of twos”. Trump and his clown car failed to realize that China had the ability to retaliate in devastating ways – by clamping down on rare earth exports that American manufacturers and tech companies desperately need, and perhaps by selling off hundreds of billions of dollars in US bonds. Former treasury secretary Janet Yellen was appalled, saying: “This is the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy.”
What really gets to me is his “bombastic rhetoric.” It’s like you’re either with the bully or being bullied. But what appalls me is his stewardship of the US and global Economy. He is completely detached from all we have learned about policy impacts from the 1930s. It was clear that as industrialization increased, the old mercantilism of the colonial days was fading fast. Industrialization created a different trade paradigm.
The switch from the Gold Standard created a different-looking financial economic system. The Information Age and the rise of advanced technology like robotics have changed us even more. We have complex, intertwined, mixed market economies. While the basics of market structure remain similar, the frictions within them have become much more complicated. You may check the academic research of Nobel Prize-winning Joseph E. Stiglitz for his legendary study on how the various quirks in producing specific goods and services can lead to fairly serious economic issues.
I don’t think anyone in the West Wing or the Agencies knows how economic policy works. For that matter, Trump doesn’t even know how many countries there are in the world since he keeps mentioning 200 trade deals when there are only 195. Maybe the Penguin islands are more autonomous than we know?
In fact, the communication style of the entire MAGA movement makes it an impossible environment for governing. This is how Amanda Marcotte–writing for Salon— puts it. “MAGA loves a tantrum: How public meltdowns became the preferred method of GOP communication. Why Nancy Mace, Pete Hegseth, and Stephen Miller keep throwing fits on camera.”
If there were an Oscar for the category “hard to watch,” I’d have to nominate the video of Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., barking expletives at a constituent after he asked her if she would have a town hall soon. It’s produced in a beauty supply store instead of a movie studio, but in a brief minute and 42 seconds, the video finds its place in the canon of horror films shot from the villain’s perspective. The camera focuses entirely on the story’s hero, a man in a polo and shorts holding a bottle of what appears to be face cleanser, as he holds his own against his congressional representative getting increasingly shrill as she yells invective at him. Even though he said nothing about gay marriage, she demands his gratitude for voting “for gay marriage twice.” When he gets annoyed at her reductive assumption, she calls him “crazy” and “absolutely f—king crazy,” and repeatedly says “f—k you” to him.
In the eyes of normal people, Mace, as her interlocutor said when he fled from this encounter, is a “disgrace.” Most adults who act like Mace in public immediately wish to disappear off the face of the earth in shame. But not our Nancy! No, she’s the one who posted this video online, proud of her emotional incontinence. She even offered a homophobic “gay panic” defense, by describing the man as “wearing daisy dukes, at a makeup store.” (Sorry, Miss Nancy, they aren’t daisy dukes until we see cheeks.) To people outside the MAGA bubble, it’s a baffling choice. She’s not even a fun villain. There’s none of the sleek appeal of Loki from the “Avengers” franchise or camp glee of Ursula from “The Little Mermaid.” Mace is serving pure toddler here. She likely wished to throw herself to the floor and start pounding it, but doing so would have meant dropping her iPhone.
Mace isn’t wrong, however, to think that what most adults find embarrassing, the MAGA base will eat right up. The public meltdown, in which you declare yourself the world’s greatest victim, is the preferred GOP method of political communication these days. Despite this effort, Mace didn’t even come close to nabbing last week’s gold star for the most histronic MAGA performance. She was outdone by Stephen Miller, whose usual register on TV is “verge of a nervous breakdown,” but got so shrill on Fox News Tuesday that Lauren Tousignant at Jezebel worried she’d soon have to “look at Stephen Miller’s face as he pops a dozen blood vessels as his brain explodes.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth turned in two performances that would cause Al Pacino to tell him to settle down. While carping about “the fake news media” during the White House Easter egg roll, Hegseth’s whining got so pitched his voice started to crack, while his children stood behind him, embarrassed at the spectacle.
Despite his own family’s discomfort with his antics, Hegseth kept up the scenery-chewing, bellowing about the all-powerful, forever-mysterious “they” have “come after me from day one.” (“They,” in this case, means close friends and advisors who got pushed out after beginning to question Hegseth’s fitness for the job.)
All this yelling and bellyaching serves a pragmatic purpose: to distract from how what they’re saying makes no sense. Miller’s claim that the six Republican judges on the Supreme Court — three appointed by Trump — are “communist” wouldn’t withstand even a moment’s thought at a normal volume. Because he’s delivering his commentary at “front row at Led Zepplin” levels, the brain can’t even process how preposterous the lie is. Mace’s routine showed this working in a literal way. Her target runs away, because trying to talk to someone behaving like her is like trying to converse with a wildfire.
It’s part of the overall too-muchness that is the signature of the MAGA aesthetic, which goes right back to Trump’s gold-plated tastelessness. We see it in the infamous “Mar-a-Lago” face, which uses plastic surgery and spackled-on make-up to turn women into terrifyingly exaggerated caricatures of femininity. Or the love of roided-out male bodies, which try to recreate the impossibly huge muscles of comic books on human bodies. It’s a maximalist aesthetic, minus all the playfulness of Las Vegas casinos or “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” There’s a grim vibe to the undertaking, as if they’re trying to pound your head into the ground with the excess.
“Fake Melania mystery solved. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.” John Buss, @repeat1968
Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer–writing for The Atlantic—dialed up Trump on his private phone one day in late March. He spoke to them even though he had described them both heinously.
The week our interview was supposed to occur, Trump posted a vituperative message on Truth Social, attacking us by name. “Ashley Parker is not capable of doing a fair and unbiased interview. She is a Radical Left Lunatic, and has been as terrible as is possible for as long as I have known her,” he wrote. “To this date, she doesn’t even know that I won the Presidency THREE times.” (That last sentence is true—Ashley Parker does not know that Trump won the presidency three times.) “Likewise, Michael Scherer has never written a fair story about me, only negative, and virtually always LIES.”
Yes, it was full-on #FARTUS Bully Verbal Bombing them publicly. They actually just called him later. He picked up. This article is the result
Despite his attacks on us a few days earlier, the president, evidently feeling buoyed by a week of successes, was eager to talk about his accomplishments. As we spoke, the sounds of another conversation, perhaps from a television, hummed in the background.
The president seemed exhilarated by everything he had managed to do in the first two months of his second term: He had begun a purge of diversity efforts from the federal government; granted clemency to nearly 1,600 supporters who had participated in the invasion of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those caught beating police officers on camera; and signed 98 executive orders and counting (26 of them on his first day in office). He had fired independent regulators; gutted entire agencies; laid off great swaths of the federal workforce; and invoked 18th-century wartime powers to use against a criminal gang from Venezuela. He had adjusted tariffs like a DJ spinning knobs in the booth, upsetting the rhythms of global trade and inducing vertigo in the financial markets. He had raged at the leader of Ukraine, a democratic ally repelling an imperialist invasion, for not being “thankful”—and praised the leader of the invading country, Russia, as “very smart,” reversing in an instant 80 years of U.S. foreign-policy doctrine, and prompting the countries of NATO to prepare for their own defense, without the protective umbrella of American power, for the first time since 1945.
…
We asked Trump why he thought the billionaire class was prostrating itself before him.
“It’s just a higher level of respect. I don’t know,” Trump said. “Maybe they didn’t know me at the beginning, and they know me now.”
“I mean, you saw yesterday with the law firm,” he said. He was referring to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, one of the nation’s most prestigious firms, whose leader had come to the Oval Office days earlier to beg for relief from an executive order that could have crippled its business. Trump had issued the order at least partially because a former partner at the firm had in 2021 gone to work for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he was part of an investigation of the Trump Organization’s business practices. Also that week, an Ivy League institution, threatened with the cancellation of $400 million in federal funding, had agreed to overhaul its Middle Eastern–studies programs at the Trump administration’s request, while also acceding to other significant demands. “You saw yesterday with Columbia University. What do you think of the law firm? Were you shocked at that?” Trump asked us.
Yes—all of it was shocking, much of it without precedent. Legal scholars were drawing comparisons to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the early stages of the New Deal, when Congress had allowed FDR to demolish norms and greatly expand the powers of the presidency.
As ever, Trump was on the hunt for a deal. If he liked the story we wrote, he said, he might even speak with us again.
“Tell the people at The Atlantic, if they’d write good stories and truthful stories, the magazine would be hot,” he said. Perhaps the magazine can risk forgoing hotness, he suggested, because it is owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, which buffers it, he implied, from commercial imperatives. But that doesn’t guarantee anything, he warned. “You know at some point, they give up,” he said, referring to media owners generally and—we suspected—Bezos specifically. “At some point they say, No más, no más.” He laughed quietly.
Media owners weren’t the only ones on his mind. He also seemed to be referring to law firms, universities, broadcast networks, tech titans, artists, research scientists, military commanders, civil servants, moderate Republicans—all the people and institutions he expected to eventually, inevitably, submit to his will.
We asked the president if his second term felt different from his first. He said it did. “The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” he said. “And the second time, I run the country and the world.”
More like the country and the world run from him. I have to admit. I admire the Chinese method of trolling him. It’s funny and effective. Philip Bump at the Washington Post analyzes this self-defeating policy of the second term. “The bubble that created Trump is the reason he’s stumbling. The White House is now a bubble where loyalty, not ability, defines success.”
Consider Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
No one should be surprised that Hegseth is flailing in his new role, one of the most arduous and complicated in the U.S. government, if not the world. When Donald Trump proposed that Hegseth run the agency, the response was broadly unified: Hegseth lacked the experience needed to do the job effectively. You could debate the other controversies surrounding his bid for the role ad nauseam, but there was no way to reasonably argue that the Fox News talk-show host was prepared to run the Pentagon.
Hegseth was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate anyway because Trump and a universe of voices who support him insisted Hegseth was the best choice for the job — because he was Trump’s choice for the job. Republican senators who undoubtedly knew better went along, betting that things wouldn’t get so bad under Hegseth that it was worth stirring up the fury of that pro-Trump bubble.
It’s the same bet that prominent Republicans have been making on Trump himself since 2015. Now, as Trump too is flailing — polling and the data make clear that he is — it’s trivial to identify that insular chorus of cheerleaders and cynics as a root cause.
The president owes his political career to that same bubble. Over the past few decades, the fringe right and then Republicans more broadly embraced discussions of the world that were mostly devoid of nuance: left bad, right good. The internet allowed for the emergence of bespoke “news” organizations (and, later, social media accounts) catering to conspiratorial partisan rhetoric — an alternative to traditional reporting unhampered by criticism or unpopular truths.
Trump secured the 2016 Republican nomination not because he was the best spokesperson for the Republican Party but because he echoed the refrains of that surreal universe of information. When you hear his supporters praise his straightforwardness, this is what they are referring to: He says the false things with which they agree.
We’re about to say goodbye to Musk. Hopefully, Hegseth will be a quick second out. But what comes next? Certainly, nothing better. Even Rubio seems to have caught the munificently Kiss Ass Fever. The speed of light is the rate at which he contradicts the old Little Marco makes me wonder if he a Musk AI robot and the ex-Senator is up in space some where. Here’s the latest example from The Independent. “Marco Rubio claims Canada should be 51st state as PM told Trump they ‘couldn’t survive’ without U.S. Rubio says State Department has not taken action on the president’s push to annex Canada and Greenland.”
America’s top diplomat was questioned on Sunday about Donald Trump’s reasoning for repeatedly calling for Canada to join the United States as the 51st state.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared on NBC’s Meet the Presson Sunday where moderator Kristen Welker asked him if the administration was actually taking any steps to make Trump’s vision a reality.
The president has made his opinion clear: he wants Canada to join the United States and suggested his administration would also acquire the Danish-held territory Greenland by any means.
The secretary of state gave his own translation of the president’s remarks on the matter:
“What the president has said, and he has said this repeatedly, is he was told by the previous prime minister that Canada could not survive without unfair trade with the United States, at which point he asked, ‘Well, if you can’t survive as a nation without treating us unfairly in trade, then you should become a state.’ That’s what he said.”
Rubio told Welker that the administration had taken no action to realize this particular strain of Trump’s bluster, which has alarmed U.S. allies.
There’s a U.S. military base on Greenland, and the president has cited the self-governing nation’s geographical importance as a reasoning for his expansionist goal. Trump has made the comments on numerous occasions, including in conversations with his Canadian counterparts.
Trump himself made his goals of northward expansion apparent during his address to Congress in February.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump said at the time. “And I think we’re going to get it one way or the other. We’re going to get it.”
But he was making similar remarks publicly as early as December 2024.
“No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State.”
“They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea,” added Trump.
So tell me if you ever thought you’d see the day that an American Secretary of State believes annexing your best allies, the ones you’ve fought beside in Wars, and stood by you when you were attacked, would say that sort of thing? Meanwhile, the entire Deportation debacle continues on its cruel and ugly path. This is from Politico. “Homan presses undocumented immigrants to self-deport, threatening prosecution. The push comes as the monthly deportation numbers have lagged behind the Biden administration’s.” Homan is now the antonym for Human. Deportation in this country does not just fall on the undocumented. It impacts everyone.
White House border czar Tom Homan on Monday warned undocumented immigrants that they “cannot hide” and will be prosecuted in they remain in the U.S. illegally — the latest effort from the Trump administration to push self-deportation.
“Get your affairs in order. If you’re in the country illegally, work with ICE, go to CBP One Home app, and leave on your own,” Homan said from the White House press briefing room.
Homan said every immigrant in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government and carry documentation. And those who fail to register with the Department of Homeland Security or neglect to update any new address will have those actions treated as criminal offenses “starting today.” He also warned other undocumented immigrants that if they have a final order to leave the country but remain anyway, the Trump administration will “aggressively prosecute” and issue daily monetary fines of up to $998.
The border czar’s briefing room appearance comes as the Trump administration marks its 100th day in office this week, with Homan touting the administration’s progress on border security. He pointed to a significant drop in illegal border crossings, which have plunged since Trump took office to the lowest level in decades.
Homan said Monday that the administration has deported 139,000 migrants since Jan. 20 as Trump officials have struggled to ramp up removal numbers. This figure includes people deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard, who would have been encountered at or before they reached the border, according to a DHS official. The Trump administration’s monthly deportation numbers have lagged behind the Biden administration’s, according to data obtained by NBC News.
The bluster is abusive, but the actions are unconstitutional, illegal, and inhumane. The New York Times reports on the weekend’s 60 Minutes sign-off. Every voice raised against the dismantling of US democracy is a voice that counts! “‘60 Minutes’ Chastises Its Corporate Parent in Unusual On-Air Rebuke. The show’s top producer abruptly said last week he was quitting. “Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” the correspondent Scott Pelley told viewers.”
In an extraordinary on-air rebuke, one of the top journalists at “60 Minutes” directly criticized the program’s parent company in the final moments of its Sunday night CBS telecast, its first episode since the program’s executive producer, Bill Owens, announced his intention to resign.
“Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” the correspondent, Scott Pelley, told viewers. “None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”
A spokesman for Paramount had no immediate comment, and has previously declined to comment on Mr. Owens’s departure.
Mr. Owens stunned the show’s staff on Tuesday when he said he would leave the highest-rated program in television news over disagreements with Paramount, CBS’s corporate parent, saying, “It’s clear the company is done with me.”
Mr. Owens’s comments were widely reported in the press last week. The show’s decision to repeat those grievances on-air may have exposed viewers to the serious tensions between “60 Minutes” and its corporate overseers for the first time.
Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, has been intent on securing approval from the Trump administration for a multibillion-dollar sale of her media company to a studio run by the son of Larry Ellison, the tech billionaire.
President Trump sued CBS last year, claiming $10 billion in damages, in a case stemming from a “60 Minutes” interview with the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, that Mr. Trump said was deceptively edited. Ms. Redstone has expressed her desire to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, although legal experts have called the case far-fetched.
So that’s it for me today. I’m just trying to keep my head above water and my thoughts on calm, clear awareness. I hope you’re finding a way to cope with this mess. I try to tune out as much as possible, but my job is to teach folks about financial and economic policies, so I can only shut out so much. A friend of mine posted a picture of American NAZIs partying in the French Quarter and getting drinks from the Dungeon. The tattoos and the t-shirts said it all. What’s most disturbing about all of this is these folks are out of their hidey holes, and they don’t care who sees them and what they say. I’ll be out on Wednesday at a protest in front of the ICE offices here in the Central Business District. I need to do something, even just being with like-minded people.
Also, we’re finding some older Dem Pols stepping down to make way for new blood. “Rep. Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will step down from his leadership post on the panel and not run for reelection.” Let’s try to hope.
What’s on your Reading and Blogging list today?
#FartusDeportUs #JohnbussBskySocialJohnBuss #AllApologies #BombasticRhetoric #FARTUS #KashPatel #PamBondiWeirdo #PeteHegsethWeirdoSexualAssaulter #VerbalBullyBombs #YamTits100DaysOfOops
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Mostly Monday Reads: It’s the Policies Stupid!
“Arresting development,” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
I don’t know about you, but these first 100 days of #FARTUS have taken a toll on me. So many bad policies in such a short time have me spinning and anxious. I can’t even plan my one-person, small-house, semi-retired life. I can’t even figure out what state and local governments, big and small businesses, and the courts have on their hands right now.
The assessment of these first 100 days, coming from polls and pundits, is stunningly bad. Bad to the point that any polling firm is considered to be a criminal organization by yam tits. I will start with this analysis in The Guardian by Steven Greenhouse. “Trump’s second term will be the worst presidential term ever. Tragically, the president’s second term is already more lawless and more authoritarian than any in US history.”
In his first 100 days back in office, Donald Trump has made a strong case that his second term will be by far the worst presidential term in US history. So many of his flood-the-zone actions have been head-spinning and stomach-turning. His administration seems to be powered by ignorance and incoherence, spleen and sycophancy. Both he and his right-hand man, Elon Musk, with their resentment-fueled desire to disrupt everything, seem intent on pulverizing the foundations of our government, our democracy, our alliances as well as any notions of truth. Tragically, Trump’s second term is already more lawless and more authoritarian than any in US history.
The worst and most dangerous part of Trump’s agenda is his war against our democracy and constitution – defying judges’ orders, deporting people without due process, suggesting he will run for a third term, calling to impeach judges who rule against him, pardoning hundreds of January 6 criminals, gutting federal agencies and firing thousands of federal employees in flagrant violation of the law, and banning books from military libraries. (One wonders: will book burning be next?) Underlining just how dangerous and lawless Trump is, he is talking publicly about disappearing US citizens to foreign countries where they could be locked in prison forever. For those who care about democracy and basic freedoms, this is Defcon 1 stuff.
From Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden, every president since the second world war has worked hard to build alliances to promote peace and prosperity and deter aggression. But right out of the box, Trump 2.0 has rushed to blow up our alliances and cavalierly alienate our allies. Trump quickly rejected the US’s traditional foreign policy and ideals by warmly embracing Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator, and turning against Ukraine and its noble fight against Putin’s aggression. Trump sounded like a rapacious 19th-century imperialist when he threatened to take over the Panama canal and, ditto, when he talked of using force to seize control of Greenland, which belongs to our longtime Nato ally, Denmark. Then there’s Trump’s astoundingly idiotic talk – and taunt – that Canada should be our 51st state. What a way to anger and alienate a nation that has long been the US’s best friend.
Then there is the disaster – or should we say clown show – of Trump’s on-again, off-again, on-again, who-knows-what’s-going-to-happen-tomorrow tariffs. His “liberation day” tariffs were put together by a clown-car crew, just three hours before he announced it, and Trump and company seemed to have zero idea that his hodgepodge of tariffs would send the world’s stock markets into a nervous breakdown. Trump’s team was stupid enough to think that China was too feeble to respond effectively to Trump’s trade war – treasury secretary Scott Bessent said China had “a losing hand” with just “a pair of twos”. Trump and his clown car failed to realize that China had the ability to retaliate in devastating ways – by clamping down on rare earth exports that American manufacturers and tech companies desperately need, and perhaps by selling off hundreds of billions of dollars in US bonds. Former treasury secretary Janet Yellen was appalled, saying: “This is the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy.”
What really gets to me is his “bombastic rhetoric.” It’s like you’re either with the bully or being bullied. But what appalls me is his stewardship of the US and global Economy. He is completely detached from all we have learned about policy impacts from the 1930s. It was clear that as industrialization increased, the old mercantilism of the colonial days was fading fast. Industrialization created a different trade paradigm.
The switch from the Gold Standard created a different-looking financial economic system. The Information Age and the rise of advanced technology like robotics have changed us even more. We have complex, intertwined, mixed market economies. While the basics of market structure remain similar, the frictions within them have become much more complicated. You may check the academic research of Nobel Prize-winning Joseph E. Stiglitz for his legendary study on how the various quirks in producing specific goods and services can lead to fairly serious economic issues.
I don’t think anyone in the West Wing or the Agencies knows how economic policy works. For that matter, Trump doesn’t even know how many countries there are in the world since he keeps mentioning 200 trade deals when there are only 195. Maybe the Penguin islands are more autonomous than we know?
In fact, the communication style of the entire MAGA movement makes it an impossible environment for governing. This is how Amanda Marcotte–writing for Salon— puts it. “MAGA loves a tantrum: How public meltdowns became the preferred method of GOP communication. Why Nancy Mace, Pete Hegseth, and Stephen Miller keep throwing fits on camera.”
If there were an Oscar for the category “hard to watch,” I’d have to nominate the video of Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., barking expletives at a constituent after he asked her if she would have a town hall soon. It’s produced in a beauty supply store instead of a movie studio, but in a brief minute and 42 seconds, the video finds its place in the canon of horror films shot from the villain’s perspective. The camera focuses entirely on the story’s hero, a man in a polo and shorts holding a bottle of what appears to be face cleanser, as he holds his own against his congressional representative getting increasingly shrill as she yells invective at him. Even though he said nothing about gay marriage, she demands his gratitude for voting “for gay marriage twice.” When he gets annoyed at her reductive assumption, she calls him “crazy” and “absolutely f—king crazy,” and repeatedly says “f—k you” to him.
In the eyes of normal people, Mace, as her interlocutor said when he fled from this encounter, is a “disgrace.” Most adults who act like Mace in public immediately wish to disappear off the face of the earth in shame. But not our Nancy! No, she’s the one who posted this video online, proud of her emotional incontinence. She even offered a homophobic “gay panic” defense, by describing the man as “wearing daisy dukes, at a makeup store.” (Sorry, Miss Nancy, they aren’t daisy dukes until we see cheeks.) To people outside the MAGA bubble, it’s a baffling choice. She’s not even a fun villain. There’s none of the sleek appeal of Loki from the “Avengers” franchise or camp glee of Ursula from “The Little Mermaid.” Mace is serving pure toddler here. She likely wished to throw herself to the floor and start pounding it, but doing so would have meant dropping her iPhone.
Mace isn’t wrong, however, to think that what most adults find embarrassing, the MAGA base will eat right up. The public meltdown, in which you declare yourself the world’s greatest victim, is the preferred GOP method of political communication these days. Despite this effort, Mace didn’t even come close to nabbing last week’s gold star for the most histronic MAGA performance. She was outdone by Stephen Miller, whose usual register on TV is “verge of a nervous breakdown,” but got so shrill on Fox News Tuesday that Lauren Tousignant at Jezebel worried she’d soon have to “look at Stephen Miller’s face as he pops a dozen blood vessels as his brain explodes.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth turned in two performances that would cause Al Pacino to tell him to settle down. While carping about “the fake news media” during the White House Easter egg roll, Hegseth’s whining got so pitched his voice started to crack, while his children stood behind him, embarrassed at the spectacle.
Despite his own family’s discomfort with his antics, Hegseth kept up the scenery-chewing, bellowing about the all-powerful, forever-mysterious “they” have “come after me from day one.” (“They,” in this case, means close friends and advisors who got pushed out after beginning to question Hegseth’s fitness for the job.)
All this yelling and bellyaching serves a pragmatic purpose: to distract from how what they’re saying makes no sense. Miller’s claim that the six Republican judges on the Supreme Court — three appointed by Trump — are “communist” wouldn’t withstand even a moment’s thought at a normal volume. Because he’s delivering his commentary at “front row at Led Zepplin” levels, the brain can’t even process how preposterous the lie is. Mace’s routine showed this working in a literal way. Her target runs away, because trying to talk to someone behaving like her is like trying to converse with a wildfire.
It’s part of the overall too-muchness that is the signature of the MAGA aesthetic, which goes right back to Trump’s gold-plated tastelessness. We see it in the infamous “Mar-a-Lago” face, which uses plastic surgery and spackled-on make-up to turn women into terrifyingly exaggerated caricatures of femininity. Or the love of roided-out male bodies, which try to recreate the impossibly huge muscles of comic books on human bodies. It’s a maximalist aesthetic, minus all the playfulness of Las Vegas casinos or “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” There’s a grim vibe to the undertaking, as if they’re trying to pound your head into the ground with the excess.
“Fake Melania mystery solved. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.” John Buss, @repeat1968
Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer–writing for The Atlantic—dialed up Trump on his private phone one day in late March. He spoke to them even though he had described them both heinously.
The week our interview was supposed to occur, Trump posted a vituperative message on Truth Social, attacking us by name. “Ashley Parker is not capable of doing a fair and unbiased interview. She is a Radical Left Lunatic, and has been as terrible as is possible for as long as I have known her,” he wrote. “To this date, she doesn’t even know that I won the Presidency THREE times.” (That last sentence is true—Ashley Parker does not know that Trump won the presidency three times.) “Likewise, Michael Scherer has never written a fair story about me, only negative, and virtually always LIES.”
Yes, it was full-on #FARTUS Bully Verbal Bombing them publicly. They actually just called him later. He picked up. This article is the result
Despite his attacks on us a few days earlier, the president, evidently feeling buoyed by a week of successes, was eager to talk about his accomplishments. As we spoke, the sounds of another conversation, perhaps from a television, hummed in the background.
The president seemed exhilarated by everything he had managed to do in the first two months of his second term: He had begun a purge of diversity efforts from the federal government; granted clemency to nearly 1,600 supporters who had participated in the invasion of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those caught beating police officers on camera; and signed 98 executive orders and counting (26 of them on his first day in office). He had fired independent regulators; gutted entire agencies; laid off great swaths of the federal workforce; and invoked 18th-century wartime powers to use against a criminal gang from Venezuela. He had adjusted tariffs like a DJ spinning knobs in the booth, upsetting the rhythms of global trade and inducing vertigo in the financial markets. He had raged at the leader of Ukraine, a democratic ally repelling an imperialist invasion, for not being “thankful”—and praised the leader of the invading country, Russia, as “very smart,” reversing in an instant 80 years of U.S. foreign-policy doctrine, and prompting the countries of NATO to prepare for their own defense, without the protective umbrella of American power, for the first time since 1945.
…
We asked Trump why he thought the billionaire class was prostrating itself before him.
“It’s just a higher level of respect. I don’t know,” Trump said. “Maybe they didn’t know me at the beginning, and they know me now.”
“I mean, you saw yesterday with the law firm,” he said. He was referring to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, one of the nation’s most prestigious firms, whose leader had come to the Oval Office days earlier to beg for relief from an executive order that could have crippled its business. Trump had issued the order at least partially because a former partner at the firm had in 2021 gone to work for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he was part of an investigation of the Trump Organization’s business practices. Also that week, an Ivy League institution, threatened with the cancellation of $400 million in federal funding, had agreed to overhaul its Middle Eastern–studies programs at the Trump administration’s request, while also acceding to other significant demands. “You saw yesterday with Columbia University. What do you think of the law firm? Were you shocked at that?” Trump asked us.
Yes—all of it was shocking, much of it without precedent. Legal scholars were drawing comparisons to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the early stages of the New Deal, when Congress had allowed FDR to demolish norms and greatly expand the powers of the presidency.
As ever, Trump was on the hunt for a deal. If he liked the story we wrote, he said, he might even speak with us again.
“Tell the people at The Atlantic, if they’d write good stories and truthful stories, the magazine would be hot,” he said. Perhaps the magazine can risk forgoing hotness, he suggested, because it is owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, which buffers it, he implied, from commercial imperatives. But that doesn’t guarantee anything, he warned. “You know at some point, they give up,” he said, referring to media owners generally and—we suspected—Bezos specifically. “At some point they say, No más, no más.” He laughed quietly.
Media owners weren’t the only ones on his mind. He also seemed to be referring to law firms, universities, broadcast networks, tech titans, artists, research scientists, military commanders, civil servants, moderate Republicans—all the people and institutions he expected to eventually, inevitably, submit to his will.
We asked the president if his second term felt different from his first. He said it did. “The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” he said. “And the second time, I run the country and the world.”
More like the country and the world run from him. I have to admit. I admire the Chinese method of trolling him. It’s funny and effective. Philip Bump at the Washington Post analyzes this self-defeating policy of the second term. “The bubble that created Trump is the reason he’s stumbling. The White House is now a bubble where loyalty, not ability, defines success.”
Consider Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
No one should be surprised that Hegseth is flailing in his new role, one of the most arduous and complicated in the U.S. government, if not the world. When Donald Trump proposed that Hegseth run the agency, the response was broadly unified: Hegseth lacked the experience needed to do the job effectively. You could debate the other controversies surrounding his bid for the role ad nauseam, but there was no way to reasonably argue that the Fox News talk-show host was prepared to run the Pentagon.
Hegseth was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate anyway because Trump and a universe of voices who support him insisted Hegseth was the best choice for the job — because he was Trump’s choice for the job. Republican senators who undoubtedly knew better went along, betting that things wouldn’t get so bad under Hegseth that it was worth stirring up the fury of that pro-Trump bubble.
It’s the same bet that prominent Republicans have been making on Trump himself since 2015. Now, as Trump too is flailing — polling and the data make clear that he is — it’s trivial to identify that insular chorus of cheerleaders and cynics as a root cause.
The president owes his political career to that same bubble. Over the past few decades, the fringe right and then Republicans more broadly embraced discussions of the world that were mostly devoid of nuance: left bad, right good. The internet allowed for the emergence of bespoke “news” organizations (and, later, social media accounts) catering to conspiratorial partisan rhetoric — an alternative to traditional reporting unhampered by criticism or unpopular truths.
Trump secured the 2016 Republican nomination not because he was the best spokesperson for the Republican Party but because he echoed the refrains of that surreal universe of information. When you hear his supporters praise his straightforwardness, this is what they are referring to: He says the false things with which they agree.
We’re about to say goodbye to Musk. Hopefully, Hegseth will be a quick second out. But what comes next? Certainly, nothing better. Even Rubio seems to have caught the munificently Kiss Ass Fever. The speed of light is the rate at which he contradicts the old Little Marco makes me wonder if he a Musk AI robot and the ex-Senator is up in space some where. Here’s the latest example from The Independent. “Marco Rubio claims Canada should be 51st state as PM told Trump they ‘couldn’t survive’ without U.S. Rubio says State Department has not taken action on the president’s push to annex Canada and Greenland.”
America’s top diplomat was questioned on Sunday about Donald Trump’s reasoning for repeatedly calling for Canada to join the United States as the 51st state.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared on NBC’s Meet the Presson Sunday where moderator Kristen Welker asked him if the administration was actually taking any steps to make Trump’s vision a reality.
The president has made his opinion clear: he wants Canada to join the United States and suggested his administration would also acquire the Danish-held territory Greenland by any means.
The secretary of state gave his own translation of the president’s remarks on the matter:
“What the president has said, and he has said this repeatedly, is he was told by the previous prime minister that Canada could not survive without unfair trade with the United States, at which point he asked, ‘Well, if you can’t survive as a nation without treating us unfairly in trade, then you should become a state.’ That’s what he said.”
Rubio told Welker that the administration had taken no action to realize this particular strain of Trump’s bluster, which has alarmed U.S. allies.
There’s a U.S. military base on Greenland, and the president has cited the self-governing nation’s geographical importance as a reasoning for his expansionist goal. Trump has made the comments on numerous occasions, including in conversations with his Canadian counterparts.
Trump himself made his goals of northward expansion apparent during his address to Congress in February.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump said at the time. “And I think we’re going to get it one way or the other. We’re going to get it.”
But he was making similar remarks publicly as early as December 2024.
“No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State.”
“They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea,” added Trump.
So tell me if you ever thought you’d see the day that an American Secretary of State believes annexing your best allies, the ones you’ve fought beside in Wars, and stood by you when you were attacked, would say that sort of thing? Meanwhile, the entire Deportation debacle continues on its cruel and ugly path. This is from Politico. “Homan presses undocumented immigrants to self-deport, threatening prosecution. The push comes as the monthly deportation numbers have lagged behind the Biden administration’s.” Homan is now the antonym for Human. Deportation in this country does not just fall on the undocumented. It impacts everyone.
White House border czar Tom Homan on Monday warned undocumented immigrants that they “cannot hide” and will be prosecuted in they remain in the U.S. illegally — the latest effort from the Trump administration to push self-deportation.
“Get your affairs in order. If you’re in the country illegally, work with ICE, go to CBP One Home app, and leave on your own,” Homan said from the White House press briefing room.
Homan said every immigrant in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government and carry documentation. And those who fail to register with the Department of Homeland Security or neglect to update any new address will have those actions treated as criminal offenses “starting today.” He also warned other undocumented immigrants that if they have a final order to leave the country but remain anyway, the Trump administration will “aggressively prosecute” and issue daily monetary fines of up to $998.
The border czar’s briefing room appearance comes as the Trump administration marks its 100th day in office this week, with Homan touting the administration’s progress on border security. He pointed to a significant drop in illegal border crossings, which have plunged since Trump took office to the lowest level in decades.
Homan said Monday that the administration has deported 139,000 migrants since Jan. 20 as Trump officials have struggled to ramp up removal numbers. This figure includes people deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard, who would have been encountered at or before they reached the border, according to a DHS official. The Trump administration’s monthly deportation numbers have lagged behind the Biden administration’s, according to data obtained by NBC News.
The bluster is abusive, but the actions are unconstitutional, illegal, and inhumane. The New York Times reports on the weekend’s 60 Minutes sign-off. Every voice raised against the dismantling of US democracy is a voice that counts! “‘60 Minutes’ Chastises Its Corporate Parent in Unusual On-Air Rebuke. The show’s top producer abruptly said last week he was quitting. “Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” the correspondent Scott Pelley told viewers.”
In an extraordinary on-air rebuke, one of the top journalists at “60 Minutes” directly criticized the program’s parent company in the final moments of its Sunday night CBS telecast, its first episode since the program’s executive producer, Bill Owens, announced his intention to resign.
“Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” the correspondent, Scott Pelley, told viewers. “None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”
A spokesman for Paramount had no immediate comment, and has previously declined to comment on Mr. Owens’s departure.
Mr. Owens stunned the show’s staff on Tuesday when he said he would leave the highest-rated program in television news over disagreements with Paramount, CBS’s corporate parent, saying, “It’s clear the company is done with me.”
Mr. Owens’s comments were widely reported in the press last week. The show’s decision to repeat those grievances on-air may have exposed viewers to the serious tensions between “60 Minutes” and its corporate overseers for the first time.
Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, has been intent on securing approval from the Trump administration for a multibillion-dollar sale of her media company to a studio run by the son of Larry Ellison, the tech billionaire.
President Trump sued CBS last year, claiming $10 billion in damages, in a case stemming from a “60 Minutes” interview with the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, that Mr. Trump said was deceptively edited. Ms. Redstone has expressed her desire to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, although legal experts have called the case far-fetched.
So that’s it for me today. I’m just trying to keep my head above water and my thoughts on calm, clear awareness. I hope you’re finding a way to cope with this mess. I try to tune out as much as possible, but my job is to teach folks about financial and economic policies, so I can only shut out so much. A friend of mine posted a picture of American NAZIs partying in the French Quarter and getting drinks from the Dungeon. The tattoos and the t-shirts said it all. What’s most disturbing about all of this is these folks are out of their hidey holes, and they don’t care who sees them and what they say. I’ll be out on Wednesday at a protest in front of the ICE offices here in the Central Business District. I need to do something, even just being with like-minded people.
Also, we’re finding some older Dem Pols stepping down to make way for new blood. “Rep. Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will step down from his leadership post on the panel and not run for reelection.” Let’s try to hope.
What’s on your Reading and Blogging list today?
#FartusDeportUs #JohnbussBskySocialJohnBuss #AllApologies #BombasticRhetoric #FARTUS #KashPatel #PamBondiWeirdo #PeteHegsethWeirdoSexualAssaulter #VerbalBullyBombs #YamTits100DaysOfOops
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Quote of the day, 2 December: St. Teresa of Avila
To the King Don Philip II
The grace of the Holy Spirit be with your majesty, amen. I strongly believe that our Lady has chosen you to protect and help her order. So, I cannot fail to have recourse to you regarding her affairs. For the love of our Lord, I beg you to pardon me for so much boldness.
I am sure your majesty has received news of how the nuns at the Incarnation tried to have me go there, thinking they would have some means to free themselves from the friars, who are certainly a great hindrance to the recollection and religious observance of the nuns. And the friars are entirely at fault for the lack of observance previously present in that house. The nuns are very much mistaken in their desire that I go there, for as long as they are subject to the friars as confessors and visitators, I would be of no help—at least not of any lasting help. I always said this to the Dominican visitator, and he understood it well.
Since God allowed that situation to exist, I tried to provide a remedy and placed a discalced friar in a house next to them, along with a companion friar. He is so great a servant of our Lord that the nuns are truly edified, and this city is amazed by the remarkable amount of good he has done there, and so they consider him a saint, and in my opinion, he is one and has been one all his life.
When the previous nuncio through a long report sent him by the inhabitants of the city was informed of the things that were happening and of the harm that the friars of the cloth were doing, he gave orders under pain of ex-communication that the confessors be restored to their house (for the calced friars had driven them from the city heaping abuse on them and giving much scandal to everyone). And he also ordered that no friar of the cloth under pain of ex-communication go to the Incarnation for business purposes, to say Mass, or hear confessions, but only the discalced friars and secular clergy. As a result, the house was in a good state until the nuncio died. Then the calced friars returned—and so too the disturbance—without demonstrating the grounds on which they could do so.
And now a friar who came to absolve the nuns caused such a disturbance without any concern for what is reasonable and just that the nuns are deeply afflicted and still bound by the same penalties as before, according to what I have been told. And worst of all he has taken from them their confessors. They say that he has been made vicar provincial, and this must be true because he is more capable than the others of making martyrs. And he is holding these confessors captive in his monastery after having forced his way into their cells and confiscating their papers.
The whole city is truly scandalized. He is not a prelate nor did he show any evidence of the authority on which these things were done, for these confessors are subject to the apostolic commissary. Those friars dared so much, even though this city is so close to where your majesty resides, that it doesn’t seem they fear either justice or God. I feel very sad to see these confessors in the hands of those friars who for some days have been desiring to seize hold of them. I would consider the confessors better off if they were held by the Moors, who perhaps would show more compassion. And this one friar who is so great a servant of God is so weak from all that he has suffered that I fear for his life.
I beg your majesty for the love of our Lord to issue orders for them to set him free at once and that these poor discalced friars not be subjected to so much suffering by the friars of the cloth. The former do no more than suffer and keep silent and gain a great deal. But the people are scandalized by what is being done to them. This past summer in Toledo, without any reason, the same superior took as prisoner Fray Antonio de Jesús—a holy and blessed man, who was the first discalced friar. They go about saying that with orders from Tostado they will destroy them all. May God be blessed! Those who were to be the means of removing offenses against God have become the cause of so many sins. And each day matters will get worse if your majesty does not provide us with some help. Otherwise, I don’t know where things will end up, because we have no other help on earth.
May it please our Lord that for our sakes you live many years. I hope in him that he will grant us this favor. He is so alone, for there are few who look after his honor. All these servants of your majesty’s, and I ask this of him continually.
Dated in St. Joseph’s in Avila, 4 December 1577.
Your majesty’s unworthy servant and subject,
Teresa of Jesus, Carmelite
Saint Teresa of Avila
Letter 218 to King Philip II
We recall two important events on this date:
In early December 1577—some scholars say the exact date was 2 December—St. John of the Cross and fellow chaplain-confessor Fray Germán de San Matías were abducted from their chaplain’s residence at the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila. In the general introduction to The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross, Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. describes the scene:
On the night of December 2, 1577, a group of Carmelites, lay people, and men-at-arms broke into the chaplain’s quarters, seized Fray John, and took him away. By a secret journey, with orders from Tostado, they carted him off, handcuffed and often blindfolded, to the monastery in Toledo, the order’s finest in Castile, where nearly 85 friars lived.
In her introduction to Science of the Cross, St. Edith Stein continues the story of John’s abduction:
He was interrogated, and because he refused to abandon the Reform he was treated as a rebel. His prison was a narrow room, about 10 feet long and 6 feet wide. Teresa later wrote: “small though he was in stature, he could hardly stand erect in it.” This cell had neither window nor air vent other than a slit high up on the wall. The prisoner had to “stand on the poor-sinner-stool and wait until the sun’s rays were reflected on the wall in order to be able to pray the breviary” [a very plain stool typically found in a monastic cell]. The door was secured by a bolt.
We also recall that on 2 December 1894, Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (Henri Grialou) was born in Aubin (Aveyron) France. After his priestly ordination on February 4, 1922, he was captivated by the doctrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. John of the Cross and decided to join the Discalced Carmelites.
John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Stein, E 2002, The Science of the Cross, The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Book 6, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington D.C.
Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: The walls of Avila are featured in this nighttime winter scene. (Stock photo)
#abduction #BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #CarmeliteFriars #history #imprisonment #KingPhilipII #MonasteryOfTheIncarnation #Spain #StEdithStein #StJohnOfTheCross #StTeresaOfAvila
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St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 8: Eternal Silence
Reading
The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word he speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul.
Sayings of Light and Love, 100
Scripture
I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Meditation
“What is truth?” (Jn 18:38)
Pontius Pilate’s rhetorical question echoes through the centuries.
St. Edith Stein reminds us that Pilate could have asked a more essential question: Who is truth?
In her meditation, The Hidden Life and Epiphany, Edith touches on this question as she makes use of the Epiphany manger scene to make an analogy for the Church and its development.
The kings at the manger represent seekers from all lands and peoples. Grace led them before they ever belonged to the external church. There lived in them a pure longing for truth that did not stop at the boundaries of native doctrines and traditions. Because God is truth and because he wants to be found by those who seek him with their whole hearts, sooner or later that star had to appear to show these wise men the way to truth. And so they now stand before the Incarnate Truth, bow down and worship it, and place their crowns at its feet, because all the treasures of the world are but a little dust compared to it.
“God is truth… he wants to be found… that star had to appear.” Edith, in her matter-of-fact, German way, minces no words. God isn’t hiding after all, he’s in our midst, standing before our eyes, just as Jesus stood before Pilate. Jesus, Incarnate Truth, was standing before the governor who asked him, “what is truth?”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity seems to be speaking to us when she writes:
I understand that you need an ideal, something that will draw you out of yourself and raise you to greater heights. But, you see, there is only One; it is He, the Only Truth! Ah, if you only knew Him a little as your Sabeth does! He fascinates, He sweeps you away; under His gaze, the horizon becomes so beautiful, so vast, so luminous…. My dear one, do you want to turn with me toward this sublime Ideal? It is no fiction but a reality. (Letter 128)
Are you serious? Where is this horizon? Because in the darkness where we’re hiding, it’s difficult to see. And once again, it is St. John himself who responds:
Mine are the heavens and mine is the earth. Mine are the nations, the just are mine, and mine the sinners. The angels are mine, and the Mother of God, and all things are mine; and God himself is mine and for me, because Christ is mine and all for me. What do you ask, then, and seek, my soul? Yours is all of this, and all is for you. Do not engage yourself in something less or pay heed to the crumbs that fall from your Father’s table. Go forth and exult in your Glory! Hide yourself in it and rejoice, and you will obtain the supplications of your heart. (Sayings 27)
Hiding in glory… there’s a concept that we don’t see or hear every day. Sometimes, maybe most of the time, it seems that God is the one who is doing all the hiding while we’re waiting around for him to show up. Is there anyone who understands what St. John of the Cross means?
St. Thérèse does! The language of “hiding” was one of her favorite concepts, especially in her poetry, and it’s a transferable concept, meaning that it’s not strictly applicable to the cloistered life. For example:
My Sweet Jesus, on your Mother’s breast
You appear to me, glowing with Love.
Love—this is the indescribable mystery
That exiled you from the Heavenly Abode…
Ah! Let me hide under the veil
That hides you from all mortal eyes
And close to you, O Morning Star!
I’ll find a foretaste of Heaven.
(Pn 1)Here, Thérèse is talking about hiding under the Blessed Virgin’s veil, not necessarily hiding under the veil of a Carmelite nun. Hiding under the veil of the Virgin Mary is an image that is more approachable for us, perhaps. But the Infant is glowing on Mary’s breast, glowing with Love, and is there a hint of glory in that image, too?
Here’s another example from the poetry of St. Thérèse:
The unspeakable gaze of your Son—
Upon my poor soul he deigned to look down;
I looked for his adorable face
And in Him, I want to be hidden.
I’ll have to stay little forever
To deserve the glances from his eyes;
But by virtue of that, I will soon grow up
Under the heat of this heavenly star.
(Pn 11)Now, we are getting more of a sense of how Thérèse has captured St. John’s profound concept of hiding in glory, yet she has expressed it in the language of littleness, that loving gaze of Jesus, and yet at the same time—while remaining hidden—there is light and heat generated by the Lord, having a direct effect on her spiritual life.
This is all very heady stuff. But it seems that for Thérèse, the key to hiding in glory is to be found in the face of Jesus. The Gospel of John and St. Paul testify to this:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (…) And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:1-5,14)
All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)
Well if that’s the case, gazing on the face of Christ and hiding in the face of Christ, must be a key to “growing up” as Thérèse said; growing in prayer, growing in faith, growing in hope, and our goal… growing in love. After all, that’s our aim.
We’ll let St. Thérèse have the last word, then, about hiding in the face of Jesus:
Ah! Let me, Lord, hide in your Face.
There I will no longer hear the trivial noise from the world.
Give me your love, preserve me in your grace
Just for today.
(Pn 5)Ah…. silence.
Prayer
O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.Mention your request
Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.Let’s continue in prayer
Day 1 — Self-trust
St. John of the Cross in prayer
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love
French, late 16th-17th c.
Oil on canvas, no date
Carmel of Pontoise
© Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Diffusion RMN-GP. Used by permission.The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Stein, E 2014, The Hidden Life: hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts, Stein, W (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
We always refer to the website of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux for the vast majority of our quotes concerning Saint Thérèse, Saint Zélie, and Saint Louis Martin. If you would like to purchase English translations for the collected works of St. Thérèse, please visit the website of our Discalced Carmelite friars at ICS Publications.
All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
#archives #edithStein #elizabethCatez #glory #hiding #icsPublications #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #love #loveOfGod #novena #poetry #sabeth #sanJuanDeLaCruz #sayingsOfLightAndLove #silence #stEdithStein #stElizabethOfTheTrinity #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresaBenedictaOfTheCross #stTherese #stThereseOfLisieux #stThereseOfTheChildJesus #theHiddenLife #truth
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Egyptian-Australian oud virtuoso to play 24-hour vigil for Gaza
"Every life lost is equal, no matter what background, race, religion or creed and we must come together, show our compassion and send love to those that are suffering. We must not underestimate the power of prayer and togetherness, and even though many of us may feel helpless, we just cannot give up..."
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/joseph-tawadros-24hr-prayer-for-humanity
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Egyptian-Australian oud virtuoso to play 24-hour vigil for Gaza
"Every life lost is equal, no matter what background, race, religion or creed and we must come together, show our compassion and send love to those that are suffering. We must not underestimate the power of prayer and togetherness, and even though many of us may feel helpless, we just cannot give up..."
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/joseph-tawadros-24hr-prayer-for-humanity
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Egyptian-Australian oud virtuoso to play 24-hour vigil for Gaza
"Every life lost is equal, no matter what background, race, religion or creed and we must come together, show our compassion and send love to those that are suffering. We must not underestimate the power of prayer and togetherness, and even though many of us may feel helpless, we just cannot give up..."
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/joseph-tawadros-24hr-prayer-for-humanity
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Egyptian-Australian oud virtuoso to play 24-hour vigil for Gaza
"Every life lost is equal, no matter what background, race, religion or creed and we must come together, show our compassion and send love to those that are suffering. We must not underestimate the power of prayer and togetherness, and even though many of us may feel helpless, we just cannot give up..."
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/joseph-tawadros-24hr-prayer-for-humanity
-
Egyptian-Australian oud virtuoso to play 24-hour vigil for Gaza
"Every life lost is equal, no matter what background, race, religion or creed and we must come together, show our compassion and send love to those that are suffering. We must not underestimate the power of prayer and togetherness, and even though many of us may feel helpless, we just cannot give up..."
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/joseph-tawadros-24hr-prayer-for-humanity
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I created Earth Tones Coastal Abstract to portray a coastline that’s playfully out of focus—warm browns and soft blues sliding horizontally into a calm horizon. The motion-like bands convey a relaxed energy that works well in living rooms, bedrooms, or office spaces needing a gentle, modern touch.
Art/Website: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/earth-tones-coastal-abstract-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#seascape #abstract #coastaldecor #fineart #wallart #minimalart #interiordecor #officeart #modernart #mentalhealthspace #meditativeart #healingart #homedecor
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I created Earth Tones Coastal Abstract to portray a coastline that’s playfully out of focus—warm browns and soft blues sliding horizontally into a calm horizon. The motion-like bands convey a relaxed energy that works well in living rooms, bedrooms, or office spaces needing a gentle, modern touch.
Art/Website: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/earth-tones-coastal-abstract-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#seascape #abstract #coastaldecor #fineart #wallart #minimalart #interiordecor #officeart #modernart #mentalhealthspace #meditativeart #healingart #homedecor
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I created Earth Tones Coastal Abstract to portray a coastline that’s playfully out of focus—warm browns and soft blues sliding horizontally into a calm horizon. The motion-like bands convey a relaxed energy that works well in living rooms, bedrooms, or office spaces needing a gentle, modern touch.
Art/Website: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/earth-tones-coastal-abstract-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#seascape #abstract #coastaldecor #fineart #wallart #minimalart #interiordecor #officeart #modernart #mentalhealthspace #meditativeart #healingart #homedecor
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I created Earth Tones Coastal Abstract to portray a coastline that’s playfully out of focus—warm browns and soft blues sliding horizontally into a calm horizon. The motion-like bands convey a relaxed energy that works well in living rooms, bedrooms, or office spaces needing a gentle, modern touch.
Art/Website: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/earth-tones-coastal-abstract-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#seascape #abstract #coastaldecor #fineart #wallart #minimalart #interiordecor #officeart #modernart #mentalhealthspace #meditativeart #healingart #homedecor
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Phono Lake's First Night At The Lake
Phono Lake, Saturday, June 20 at 11:00 PM GMT+2
We're re-opening Phono Lake this summer for two clubnights. After a winter away and two amazing sold-out Phono Clubs keeping us going, we're finally heading back to our intimate lakeside cabin. This year we're keeping it cosy - two nights, two carefully selected lineups on June 20th and July 18th. And before summer closes, we’ll return to the island for our end-of-summer festival on September 12th. To celebrate the occasion, we're providing an upgraded soundsystem and extended opening times for some serious dancing pleasure.
On our first night, we're keeping it all things house from New York to Amsterdam with Pal Joey joining us for a groovist masterclass and a special house set by Amsterdam's Sandrien. Cape St. Francis' Lil Lawaw brings his signature blend of house and R&B to conclude the line-up for our first night at the Lake.
With a capacity of just 200, these nights will be intimate and tickets limited - grab a ticket while you can.
Pal Joey (Joseph Longo) is a Queens-born DJ, producer, remixer and label owner whose raw, sample-heavy sound helped define the underground house music of late '80s and early '90s New York. Rooted in the city's club culture - orbiting the same world as Larry Levan and the legendary Vinylmania record shop - his music fused jazz-funk samples, chopped breaks and deep house energy in a way that was more hip-hop informed and rougher-edged than almost anything coming out of Chicago or Detroit at the time. Through labels including Loop d'Loop, Cabaret and Foot Stompin', and aliases such as Soho and Earth People, he built a catalogue that sits in the space between Larry Heard, Masters at Work and Todd Terry - but with a distinctly New York street sensibility all his own.
His 1989 track Hot Music (as Soho) remains one of the defining records of the era, its loose swing and unfinished rawness influencing everything from UK acid jazz to lo-fi house decades later. Beyond the underground, Longo's reach extended to production and remix work for Deee-Lite, KRS-One and Sade - a testament to a versatility rarely matched by producers so deeply rooted in the underground. He remains a producer's producer: a cult figure whose influence quietly runs through generations of artists who value feel over polish.Lineup:
Pal Joey
Sandrien
Lil Lawawhttps://offbeat.amsterdam/event/phono-lakes-first-night-of-summer
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Quote of the day, 16 December: Blessed Mary of the Angels
Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
most blessed earthly trinity,
I worship and adore you with the deepest affection.
When shall my soul
live all by Jesus,
all for Jesus,
all with Jesus!
You, O Mary, true mother of Jesus,
you, O Joseph, beloved father of Jesus,
obtain for me [the grace] that I
may have a heart only for Jesus.
May it be harder for me
to live without Jesus than to die.
May it be sweeter for me
to die with Jesus than any life.
My most holy father Joseph,
true husband of Mary, worthy father of Jesus,
obtain for me [the grace] that I may always live
as a true servant of Jesus, a true child of Mary.
Into your hands
I commend my poor spirit
and my desolate soul,
In the hour that it will leave this body,
may you receive it in your most holy arms
and place it eternally
in those of Jesus and Mary.
Amen.Blessed Mary of the Angels (Marianna Fontanella)
Translation from the Italian text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: This is a detail from an etching of the Holy Family by Simon Vouet (French, 1590–1649) created in 1633. It comes from the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Image credit: Cleveland Museum of Art (Public domain)
#BlessedMaryOfTheAngels #HolyFamily #Jesus #prayer #surrender
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After this life’s exile,
We have the sweet hope
That we shall go to see you, Saint Joseph
With our dear Mother.Bless, tender Father,
Our little Carmel.
After this earthly exile,
Reunite us all in Heaven!
After this earthly exile,
Reunite us all in Heaven!Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
PN 14 (excerpt)The ancient greyness shifted
Suddenly and thinned
Like mist upon the moors
Before a wind.
An old, old prophet lifted
A shining face and said:
“He will be coming soon.
The Son of God is dead;
He died this afternoon.”A murmurous excitement stirred
All souls.
They wondered if they dreamed —
Save one old man who seemed
Not even to have heard.And Moses standing,
Hushed them all to ask
If any had a welcome song prepared.
If not, would David take the task?
And, if they cared,
Could not the three young children sing
The Benedicite, the canticle of praise
They made when God kept them from perishing
In the fiery blaze?A breath of spring surprised them,
Stilling Moses’ words.
No one could speak, remembering
The first fresh flower,
The little singing birds.Still others thought of fields new ploughed,
Or apple trees,
All blossom boughed.
Or some, the way a dried bed fills
With water
Laughing down green hills.
The fisherfolk dreamed of the foam
On bright blue seas.
The one old man who had not stirred
Remembered home.And there He was,
Splendid as the morning sun, and fair
As only God is fair.
And they, confused with joy,
Knelt to adore —
Seeing that He wore
Five crimson stars
He never had before.No canticle at all was sung.
None toned a psalm, or raised
A greeting song.
A silent man alone
Of all that throng
Found tongue —
Not any other.Close to His heart,
When the embrace was done,
Old Joseph said,
“How is your Mother,
How is your Mother, Son?”Eileen Lomasney, C.S.J.
Light From Another Room: Limbo (1947)
Note: The poet, Sister Eileen Lomasney, C.S.J., offered the following clarification concerning this poem in her anthology, Light From Another Room: “Poetry written between 1940–1964 was published under my religious name of Sister Mary Ada…. One poem found here, “Limbo,” originally published in America Magazine in 1947 and anthologized several times, continues to be reprinted with its original designation. I hope this clears up the matter.” Sister Eileen (1918–2002), a professed Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, was both a poet and an artist. A native of Schenectady, New York, she studied painting in Austria and Italy and taught at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, as well as in Albany and Syracuse schools. As an artist, Sister Eileen knew Sister Mary Corita, I.H.M., better known as Corita Kent. At the end of Sister Eileen’s life, she lived at the provincial house of the Albany province, where she died in 2002. Her headstone in Mary, Queen of Virgins Cemetery, Latham, New York, states that she died in the 66th year of her religious life. Our thanks to the Internet Archive for providing free access online to the anthology Light From Another Room.
Lomasney E 1994, Light from Another Room : New and Selected Poems 1940-1994, 1st ed., Canticle Press, Latham NY.
Thérèse of Lisieux, S 1995, The Poetry of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, translated from the French by Kinney, D, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: Christ Appearing to Saint Joseph in Limbo (detail), artist and date unknown. Image credit: Julia Darrenkamp, FSP / Instagram
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/03/30/easter2024/
#Easter #limbo #poetry #risenChrist #StJoseph #StThérèseOfLisieux
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Erse Houses: the thread about Edinburgh’s Gaelic churches and the spiritual wanderings of the city’s Gaels
It’s been a while since I made a “Now And Then” animated image transition, so have yourselves one showing the “new” (then) Gaelic chapel at the top of what was Horse Wynd, now slap bang in the middle of Chambers Street.
Animated transition of the old “New Gaelic Chapel” relative to its position on modern day Chambers Street. Original image CC by NC from National Galleries ScotlandThis is one of a pair of images in the National Galleries of Scotland collection made by the photographer Archibald Burns about 1868 or 9. The image used in the transition animation is the first below. The second, below it, is taken looking the other way along what is now Chambers Street, but which at that time was a narrow street giving access bettwen North College Street and Argyle Square. Horse Wynd is running downhill to the right of the horse and cart. It ran steeply downhill downhill to the Cowgate from the Potter Row and was one of the principal routes into old Edinburgh from the south, and about the only one really suitable for horse traffic, hence its name.
Gaelic Church from Minto House Grounds, Archibald Burns, c. 1869. CC-by-NC National Galleries ScotlandGaelic Church, Archibald Burns, c. 1869. CC-by-NC National Galleries ScotlandWe can see from these pictures that the chapel was relatively plain and roughly finished, a 2-storey, 5-bay building with its better face onto the street. An Edinburgh Improvement Act 1867 bill, defaced by a Temperance movement fly poster, gives the clue about what is going on here. This act saw the creation of Chambers Street from the series of narrow lanes and squares that existed at this time.
At the centre of these improvements, Chambers Street was a broad new boulevard to link the South Bridge with George IV bridge. In doing so ploughed its way through Argyll’s Square, Brown’s Square (he who gave his name to George Square), the Society, Minto House, the Trades Maiden Hospital,
Edgar’s Town Plan of Edinburgh, 1765. The building marked “I” is Minto House, in whose garden Archibald Burns was standing to photograph the chapel. Horse Wynd is just to its right. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandThis was not the first Gaelic chapel or meeting house in the city however, the first was at the top of Castle Wynd, off the Grassmarket. It’s shown in 1784 (Galick, sic), 1804 (Earse, or Erse, a lowland Scots phrase for Gaelic), 1817 and up to 1849, when only its former site is recorded.
Kincaid, 1784. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAinslie, 1804. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandKirkwood, 1817. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandOrdnance Survey, 1849. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandDuring the 17th century, the population of Gaelic speakers in the city had increased to such an extent that in 1704 the General Assembly of the Kirk agreed to provide a place of worship for them “to hear service in their own tongue“. Highlanders were drawn to the city by socio-economic factors. They long supplied the city with “certain classes of its population; the town Guard, the caddies, the linkmen, the hewers of wood and drawers of water generally were from the glens“. There was no progress on the Gaelic chapel (at this time it was a Chapel of Ease, somewhere handier to reach your place of worship in what could be enormous parishes and not a distinct parish Church) until 1766-67, when the building on Castle Wynd began to be erected.
The new chapel opened in 1769, oddly with financial assistance from the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, a lowland organisation to “civilise” the Highlands and keep out Catholicism through religious education. Civilising of course meant protestant, although the SSPCK leaned towards Anglicanism, rather than the Presbyterianism of lowland Scotland. (I say oddly because the SSPCK is better known for being virulently against “that barbarity and the Irish language” and made concerted efforts to stamp it out in the Highlands. So it was somewhat odd that it was actively spreading it in Edinburgh.) The minister of the new church on opening was by the name of Macgregor and he was something of a not-too-closeted Jacobite.
Mr Macgregor, “The Highland Minister”. By J. Jenkins in the style of John Kay, late 18th century. CC-BY-4.0 National Library ScotlandThis was in direct contrast to the previous Gaelic-speaking minister in Edinburgh, Neil McVicar of the West Kirk (now St. Cuthberts). The appropriately named McVicar was trusted with the “charge of the Highlanders of the City” and preached strenuously against the 1715 and 1745 uprisings. Indeed, when Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) entered the city after his victory at the Battle of Prestonpans, McVicar preached openly “In regard to the young man who has recently come among us in search of an earthly crown, may he soon obtain what is far better, a heavenly one.” McVicar, they said, “never knew fear“. One day, out on a promenade in Comely Bank, he was challenged by the Laird of Inverleith (Sir Francis Kinloch of Gilmerton, 3rd Baronet) who was aggrieved at the public humiliation of being put under Kirk discipline by McVicar. The laird arrogantly threatened the Minister “But for the coat you wear, I should have taught you a lesson today!” In an instant, McVicar whipped off his long and solemn black Minister’s coat, threw it to the ground and with the thunderous delivery honed by preachering retorted “There lies the minister of St. Cuthbert’s, and here stands Neil McVicar, and by yea, and by nay, sir, come on!” Prudence got the better of the laird, who beat a hasty retreat with his tail between his legs less he found himself fighting the fearless man of the Kirk.
A Victorian illustration of Charles Edward Stuart “reading a dispatch” in full Highland garb. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, The Trustees of the British MuseumBack to the Gaelic chapel, it issued its own communion tokens with a verse from Corinthians on the back. The New International Bible gives this verse as “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” The date of 1775 most likely refers to the appointment of the minister.
1775 Edinburgh Gaelic Chapel communion tokenIn 1807, a new minister, John MacDonald, was appointed. John Kay helpfully made a caricature and biography of him in his book of Edinburgh notables. McDonald was very highly thought of in the city and was quite the megapreacher. He kept getting himself into trouble by wandering uninvited into other minister’s parishes and preaching to anyone who would listen. He went uninvited into their kirks, or preached outside them or even in dissenting churches. He later devoted himself to bettering “the religious and moral conditions of St. Kilda.” He made numerous visits to that distant archipelago, ingratiated himself with the locals and helped arrange for a permanent Church and minister. His are some of the first detailed accounts of the place.
The Reverend McDonald, by John Kay, 1813Before all that though, in Edinburgh, a combination of the rising Gaelic-speaking population and his popularity as a preacher saw his flock out-grow the meeting house on Castle Wynd and he sought to obtain adjoining ground to have it extended. There is no known image of the first meeting house, but there’s an outside chance this is it below, in this Joseph Farington sketch of 1788, before the north side of the Grassmarket was really built up at its eastern end.
Green arrow highlighting the possible building that is the Gaelic meeting house on Castle Wynd. From a picture by Joseph Farringdon, 1788. CC-BY-NC National Galleries ScotlandThe SSPCK was again approached for assistance, but at the same time there were other plans afoot to provide a second chapel. However this was to be a Gaelic and English Chapel of Ease, with services in Gaelic but other instruction given in English for the “benefit” of children. With the financial assistance of the Edinburgh Corporation and the Writers to the Signet, the site at the head of Horse Wynd was acquired and the new chapel with seats for 1,100 was built at a cost of £3,000. It is one of my favourite features of the 1849 Town Plan that the surveyors and draughtsmen troubled to record in the basic internal layouts of public buildings and recorded the capacity of churches. I think in this instance “Free” means seats not reserved to a particular member of the congregation, rather than the Free Church.
OS Town Plan showing the Gaelic “Quoad Sacra” Chapel, 1849. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandThe new chapel opened in 1813 but that it was both Gaelic and English I think caused a bit of a schism in the congregation, thus the old chapel briefly remained in the Gaelic language alone until the departure of Reverend Macdonald. This schism seems to have been resolved largely by the practicalities of financial matters; the congregation could not support both the old chapel and the debts of constructing the new one. Both chapels were without minister and common sense prevailed to close and sell the old one, transfer its financial trust to the new chapel and recruit a single new minister. The congregations agreed to merge and this did so in 1815 under the Rev. John Munro. The Kirk issued regulations that “Service ought to be performed in the Gaelic language at the ordinary meetings for public worship… of every lord’s Day, but with leave to the Minister to have an additional service in English in the evening or at any other time during the week.” In 1832 the then Minister, Duncan McCaig, was found guilty of stealing books from the library of the Faculty of Advocates and was sentenced to transportation to the prison colony of Port Arthur in Tasmania.
In 1834 the Kirk passed the Chapels Act which converted the Chapel of Ease into a Parish Church Quoad Sacra, that is an ecclesiastical parish but not an administrative one. The Gaelic Chapel thus became a Church, but with no specific parish boundary. This meant that it now had its own Session (governing committee) and the office bearers were thus recorded – the Gaelic church elders included a writer (lawyer), excise officer, grocer, stonemason, cow-feeders, marble cutter, tavern keeper and coach hirer. Church life was impacted by The Disruption of 1843 when a significant part of the etablished Church of Scotland walked out and set up its own Church, the Free Church in protest. The Gaelic Church was no exception to this, however the building on Horse Wynd and its contents was legally the property of the established Kirk. The majority of the Gaelic congregation and the Minister had joined the Free Church but stayed on in the building and so the Kirk moved them on. The Gaelic Free Church settled in another temporary Free Church on Cambridge Street before building its own home; Free St. Columbas. Here it stayed as a Gaelic church until 1948. The Traverse Theatre later moved in, before clearing it for their modern building .
The former St. Columba’s Free Church on Cambridge Street being used as the Traverse Theatre. The Usher Hall peeks out on the right.The small remnant of the Gaelic Church that stayed behind in the Church of Scotland took a long time to rebuild itself, having lost its minister and all its elders. This rebuilding was rudely disrupted in 1867 by the compulsory purchase order for its home by the Improvement Scheme. The Church got £6,000 and leave to remain until the bulldozers moved in. They spent some time after this moving around until the Catholic Apostolic Church on Broughton Street came on the market when the latter moved down the road to what is now the Mansfield Tracquair Centre.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davids_leicas/14752650390
The new Church was much smaller, but the Gaelic-speaking population of the city was declining overall and much of it was in the Free Church, so this probably wasn’t an issue. The congregation moved in during 1815 with the first service on October 15th 1876 under the minister Donald Masson. The 5-bay classical building was officially given the name St. Oran’s in 1900. The congregation stayed here until 1948 when declining membership and the death of the minister, MacDonald, saw both it and St. Columbas (by now back in the Church of Scotland via the United Free Church of Scotland) closed, despite merger plans. A continuing St. Columbas congregation remained in the Free Church, where some Gaelic services are still held – in a building originally built as St. John’s Free Church at the top of Johnston Terrace. Remember what I have said before about Victorian Scotland building a mindboggling number of churches?
This thread was only made possibly by some (lots) help from Neil Macleod who patiently answered my questions and kindly sent some scans of the relevant books! Thanks Neil! Thanks also to Fraser MacDonald for assistance in accessing relevant academic papers.
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#Lochend #Logan #Restalrig #StMargaret -
[L]et’s be Carmelites; but in the full sense of the word. It’s the greatest vocation, since Our Divine Master told Mary Magdalene: “you have chosen the better part.” The most Holy Virgin was a perfect Carmelite.
Our Lord spent 30 years of His life in retirement and prayer, and only dedicated but three years to evangelizing. In the Most Holy Sacrament, He continues that uninterrupted prayer. In heaven, the occupation of souls will be to adore and to love. Let us begin, then, on earth what we’ll be doing for all eternity!
A Carmelite, as I think of her, is nothing but an adoring victim. Let us be victims, dear Isabel, hosts, but very pure ones. Let us live completely immersed in God.
I’ll tell you what I do: I consider my soul as a heaven where the Most Holy Trinity resides, whom I cannot penetrate nor see, because I consider it as an immense fire, infinite in light. Very close to that fire, I imagine the Most Holy Virgin inundated with light and love. Near the Most Holy Virgin is my Father, Saint Joseph and all the angels and saints, each one with his corresponding place.
And much lower, in the last one, I see myself as a dark point in that halo of light, and there I live, contemplating and adoring that most Perfect One. The task is not to interrupt that praise of glory interiorly.
Although on the outside we are busy, let’s keep silence interiorly; that is to say, let’s permit no thought foreign to that adoration, rejecting even thoughts about our own person, because we might have thoughts about vanity or whatever disturbs us.
Let’s live always in God’s presence, rejecting any thought of creatures. When we must deal with them, let’s see God in them and treat them with deference, considering ourselves as their slaves. Let’s give them first place, sacrificing ourselves for them and sanctifying ourselves through them.
Let us not have, Isabel, any desire but to glorify God by fulfilling His Will at every moment. Let’s think joyfully that at every moment we are fulfilling and adoring that Divine Will. May our deeds be done with the awareness that God will judge them. And so we will do them perfectly.
And we’ll do everything as you reminded me: for love. And ever with the intention of fulfilling God’s will rather than pleasing people. We’ll need mortification of the flesh in order to live in continuous prayer, otherwise, if we are taken up with our comfort, we’ll fail to take care of our soul.
But since we’re not permitted much penance, let’s try to mortify our senses, so that, when we want to look at something to satisfy our curiosity, let’s try not to do it. The same with the other senses, particularly taste: not eating anything impulsively. Whenever we eat, we mustn’t do it for pleasure and to indulge in what pleases us. Let’s eat our food quickly, without savoring or lingering over it so that we can temper our appetite. As for bodily functions let us do everything simply, since it is necessary for life.
Let’s humble ourselves, seeing our lowliness, and let’s raise our spirit to God. May we always live joyfully. God is infinite joy.
Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
Letter 101 to Elisa Valdes Ossa
14 May 1919Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: Detail from the last photo taken of St. Teresa of the Andes, where she is embroidering a purificator. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/13/andes-infinitejoy/
#adoration #Carmelite #contemplation #DivineWill #HolyTrinity #love #mortification #prayer #presenceOfGod #selfDenial #silence #StJoseph #StTeresaOfTheAndes #vocation
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Waves on Other Planets
On Earth, most waves form when wind blows across the water. The shear and added energy from the wind ripples the surface, eventually building up waves (through the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability). The same process should happen anywhere else where wind and open liquid surfaces meet–even on other planets. To explore this, researchers built a new model, PlanetWaves, that predicts the waves based on a planet’s gravity, atmospheric conditions, and the density, viscosity, and surface tension of its surface liquid.
After validating the model with conditions on Earth, the team explored wave conditions for Titan, ancient Mars, and several exoplanets. They found that Titan’s lighter gravity and liquid ethane (which is less dense than water) combined to make waves on Titan much taller than those generated at the same wind speed on Earth (top image). You can watch them in action in the video below. Standing in a light breeze on Titan, you’d watch giant 3-meter waves rolling in.
The team also found that waves on Mars would have gotten shorter as Mars lost its atmosphere and the air pressure dropped. Over time, the same wind speed would have elicited smaller and smaller waves. Wave action has a big effect on a landscape’s erosion, so understanding how waves look on other planets will help us parse their geography. (Video, image, and research credit: U. Schneck et al.; via MIT News; submitted by Joseph S.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kECVsTTetM
#exoplanets #fluidDynamics #KelvinHelmholtzInstability #oceanWaves #physics #planetaryScience #science #Titan #waves -
Fans may fault me, but I have to ask: what is the climate impact of this globe-trotting #F1 circus to our earth's #globalwarming and #pollution - year in year out? #sustainablesports
Jet-lagged #F1circus ready for final showdown
"Like the rest of a weary #FormulaOne #circus, the three-time world champion will be fatigued and probably struggling with #jetlag following a 12-hour time difference switch after four consecutive #races in the Americas"
https://www.bangkokpost.com/sports/2690814/jet-lagged-f1-circus-ready-for-final-showdown