I Welcome The Questions

But we don’t yet know whether the Universe is open or closed.  More than that, there are a few astronomers who doubt that the redshift of distant galaxies is due to the doppler effect, who are skeptical of the expanding Universe and the Big Bang.  Perhaps our descendants will regard our present ignorance with as much sympathy as we feel to the ancients for not knowing the Earth went around the Sun.  If the general picture, however, of a Big Bang followed by an expanding Universe is correct, what happened before that?  Was the Universe devoid of all matter and then the matter suddenly somehow created, how did that happen?  In many cultures, the customary answer is that a God or Gods created the Universe out of nothing.  But if we wish to pursue this question courageously, we must of course ask the next question: where did God come from?  If we decide that this is an unanswerable question, why not save a step and conclude that the origin of the Universe is an unanswerable question?  Or, if we say that God always existed, why not save a step, and conclude that the Universe always existed?  That there’s no need for a creation, it was always here.  These are not easy questions.  Cosmology brings us face to face with the deepest mysteries, questions that were once treated only in religion and myth.
—    Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2020	Increasing Importance
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2019	But Yours
2018	And Smile More Often
2017	He’s Keeping The Light On For Us
2016	The Results Of Trying Too Hard
2015	Make Me Look
2014	Fresh Drink
2013	Good Business
2012	Unsure Spirit
2011	A Lost Valuable

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Seeking Center

God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.
—  Voltaire
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On This Day In:
2020	You Mean I’m STILL In School?
2019	Finishing Work
2018	Diversity
2017	Timely Planning
2016	Just Too Easy To Know Fewer And Fewer
2015	A Fine Balance
2014	Next Rung
2013	Super Bowl Prep
	Romantics
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2012	Mutant Powers Of Obsession
2011	Federal Stars
	Mud Pie

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Gifts

Your talent is God’s gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.
—   Dr. Leo F. Buscaglia
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On This Day In:
2020	A Strength Of Science
2019	A Higher Standard
	Make Two Calls
2018	Irreplaceable Sparks
2017	Saving For April 15th
2016	First Wish
2015	Tracing Shadows
2014	One Thing
2013	More Is Less
2012	The Screw-Up Gene

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Our Fate Is Up To Us

Since this series’ maiden voyage, the impossible has come to pass:  Mighty walls that maintained insuperable ideological differences have come tumbling down; deadly enemies have embraced and begun to work together.  The imperative to cherish the Earth and protect the global environment that sustains all of us has become widely accepted, and we’ve begun, finally, the process of reducing the obscene number of weapons of mass destruction.  Perhaps we have, after all, decided to choose life.  But we still have light years to go to ensure that choice.  Even after the summits and the ceremonies and the treaties, there are still some 50,000 nuclear weapons in the world — and it would require the detonation of only a tiny fraction of them to produce a nuclear winter, the predicted global climatic catastrophe that would result from the smoke and the dust lifted into the atmosphere by burning cities and petroleum facilities.
The world scientific community has begun to sound the alarm about the grave dangers posed by depleting the protective ozone shield and by greenhouse warming, and again we’re taking some mitigating steps, but again those steps are too small and too slow.  The discovery that such a thing as nuclear winter was really possible evolved out of the studies of Martian dust storms.  The surface of Mars, fried by ultraviolet light, is also a reminder of why it’s important to keep our ozone layer intact.  The runaway greenhouse effect on Venus is a valuable reminder that we must take the increasing greenhouse effect on Earth seriously.
Important lessons about our environment have come from spacecraft missions to the planets.  By exploring other worlds we safeguard this one.  By itself, I think this fact more than justifies the money our species has spent in sending ships to other worlds.  It is our fate to live during one of the most perilous and, at the same time, one of the most hopeful chapters in human history.
Our science and our technology have posed us a profound question.  Will we learn to use these tools with wisdom and foresight before it’s too late?  Will we see our species safely through this difficult passage so that our children and grandchildren will continue the great journey of discovery still deeper into the mysteries of the Cosmos?  That same rocket and nuclear and computer technology that sends our ships past the farthest known planet can also be used to destroy our global civilization.  Exactly the same technology can be used for good and for evil.  It is as if there were a God who said to us, “I set before you two ways:  You can use your technology to destroy yourselves or to carry you to the planets and the stars.  It’s up to you.”
—    Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2020	Still Willing
2019	Another Prayer
2018	After Silence
2017	Are You Looking Forward To A Trump Presidency?
2016	Three Errors From Eureka
2015	Limiting Choices
2014	Praise The Lord And Pass The Hypocrisy
	That Sound
2013	Still Waiting For Answers
2012	Informal Leadership
2011	A Little More Progress
2010	Bec’s Gone Again…

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Each Over All

Man is more interesting than men.  God made him and not them in his image.  Each one is more precious than all.
—    Andre Gide
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On This Day In:
2019	And Integrity For Today’s Elected Republicans
2018	A Faulty Start, Too
	Honorable Resignation And Syria
2017	Beneath The Tree Of Wisdom
	The Republican Rape Of The American Middle Class
2016	Something Authentic Happened
2015	Back On The Bricks
	On, Rocinante!!
2014	Changing Frequently
2013	Trifles
2012	Simple, Ordinary And Wonderous
2011	Humane Writers

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A Word Of Assurance They Are Not Alone

So far, all our patients are responding to treatment, so people think we are not saying the truth about how bad this will be.  The same happened in the Ebola crisis.  Until people saw that others were dying, they had doubts that the disease existed.  They won’t believe if they are not seeing bodies.
That said, while caring for patients in extraordinary circumstances, you must remember it is God who saves lives.  You may provide the right medications and have the right equipment, but if someone is bound to die, no matter what you do, you will end up losing the person.  For me as a physician, this is the most painful part of my service.
…
One of the best ways to support frontline health workers is to first appreciate the sacrifices they are making to save lives in the face of limited resources.  It doesn’t have to be by providing them gold or diamonds or even money, but just a word of appreciation and encouragement.  It is an assurance that they are not alone.
The health workers are our soldiers on the front line.  We need to equip them if we want them to fight effectively.  They need a safe work environment and the tools to execute their duties.  As we would do in warfare, we have to look for all available ammunition and sophisticated weaponry so they can win that fight.
This pandemic has proven that no one nation is supreme.  It is time we forget our differences and fight this disease as a united force.  We have to understand that no matter how small or weak a country or person may be, there is something he or she has to offer to the good of the world.  If we think it is a disease belonging to the Africans alone, or the Chinese, we are getting it wrong.  As long as we continue to have COVID-19 in one country, the rest of the world is not safe.  We must work together to defeat it.
—   Dr. Jerry Brown
CEO of JFK Medical Center in Monrovia, Liberia
From his interview / article: “How To Conquer A Pandemic“
Appearing in: 27 April / 4 May 2020 issue of “Time Magazine“
A similar version appears online (with a different title) at: “I Helped Fight the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia. Here’s What It Takes to Conquer a Pandemic“
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On This Day In:
2019	It’s Obvious
2018	Passed Too Swiftly
2017	On Our Wall (Part 1)
2016	Or The Ripples From A Good Life
2015	Titles And Reputations
2014	Unfolding
2013	Again
2012	Needs
	Damned
2011	Potter & Prejudice
	Blink, Blink

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Resting

Live simply.  Love generously.  Care deeply.  Speak kindly.  And leave the rest to God…
—    President Ronald Reagan
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On This Day In:
2019	One For Two
	Why Trump Insults Pelosi and Schiff
2018	The Worst
2017	#DonTheCon In The Oval Office
2016	Are You Like #AmnestyDon And Sarah Palin?
2015	Begin Today
2014	Look Again (At Life’s Illusions)
2013	None Knows
2012	Yet
2011	No End In Sight
2010	Back At It…

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You Remind Me Of Someone

Live in such a way that those who know you but don’t know God will come to know God because they know you.
—    Anonymous
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On This Day In:
2019	Running History, But I Don’t Expect Many To Match It…
	It’s Probably Easier When You Live Alone
2018	25 Days Until The November Election
	Old And Young
2017	Universal Soul Sounds
2016	Not Rivals
2015	Dead Sure
2014	Are You Educated?
2013	For Myself
2012	And When I’m Gone…
2011	Complete Conviction

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We Are All Fish

You are a fish swimming in the ocean of God.
—    Sai Baba
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On This Day In:
2019	A Dynamic And Adaptable System
2018	Speak Your Mind
2017	And I Thought It Was Just Me Getting Old
2016	One For Whole
2015	A Good Present
2014	And Your Point Is?
2013	Our Never-Ending Task
	Furloughed
2012	More Mature Than I Thought
2011	Outlaw’s Music
	Can Do!

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A Moment To Rejoice

There is poverty and hunger and war in the world.  And we prepare for more war.  There is desperate suffering with no prospect for relief.  But we would be contributing to the misery and desperation of the world if we failed to rejoice in the sun, the moon and the stars, in the rivers which surround this island on which we live, on the cool breezes of the bay, on what food we have and on the benefactors God sends.
—   Dorothy Day
Appearing in:  “The Catholic Worker”  (newspaper)
Dtd:  July-August 1940
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On This Day In:
2019	Where And Why
	Day 12: Pause Or Plateau?
	Eating Later
2018	Here And Hope
2017	Choose
2016	All I Ever Wanted
2015	Compassionate Toward Yourself
2014	All And None
2013	Voices In The Dark
2012	Does Uncommonly Flexible = Flip-Flopping?
2011	A Modest Review Of A Modern Day Classic
	Encouragement Is The Path To Immortality

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One Ordinary Man

The priest is not an angel sent from heaven.  He is a man, a member of the Church, a Christian.  Remaining man and Christian, he begins to speak to you the word of God.  This word is not his own.  No, he comes to you because God has told him to proclaim God’s word.  Perhaps he has not entirely understood it himself.  Perhaps he adulterates it.  Perhaps he falters and stammers.  How else could he speak God’s word, ordinary man that he is?  But must not some one of us say something about God, about eternal life, about the majesty of grace in our sanctified being; must not some one of us speak of sin, the judgment and mercy of God?
—   Karl Rahner
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On This Day In:
2019	Without A Doubt
2018	Mathematically Speaking
	119 Days And Counting
2017	Both Odd And Exceptional
2016	Private Entrance
	Camping Out In Camden
2015	Quality Government
	A Handful Of Flics
2014	Just Another Brick From The Wall
2013	Artistic Demands
2012	Foundations
2011	Are We Devouring Yet?

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Learn To Forgive Yourself

If God has forgiven you your past, you have no right to continue clinging to it.
—   Alex Rebello
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On This Day In:
2019	I Walk Faster (Too)
2018	Modern Day Behaviour
2017	On Misogynist Tweets From #DumbDonald
2016	Cowboy Boots & Missing Teeth
	Or Electricity
2015	Oh, To Be Vulnerable
2014	Neglected Horror
2013	The Price Of Illusions
2012	Once Again
2011	And The “Market” Isn’t Always Right

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Know Love

The best way to know God is to love many things.
—   Vincent Van Gogh
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On This Day In:
2019	Spoiler Alert
2018	Tic-Toc
2017	Explaining Working Class Support For Donald
2016	Not In My Experience
2015	Effort
2014	Honest Wants
2013	Faith, n.
2012	Surprise Me
2011	Confused With Truth

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Neither Alone, Nor Lonely

In America, all most of us are being asked to do is stay home, sit on our butts and watch television.  Why are folks acting like this is this so difficult a request?
Happy Easter, everyone!!  Christ is Risen!!  My God counts the insects, the birds, the plants, the fish, the animals and the grains of sand.  And if you are not a Christian, then stay safe anyway.  If you are reading this, know that you and yours are in my prayers and in my positive thoughts…  Namaste!
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On This Day In:
2019	That’s Why It’s Called Faith
2018	So We Agree, #45 Is Dumb – Too
2017	The Morality Of Spying
2016	He Doesn’t Remind Me Of Me
	The First Rule
2015	Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
	The Man Without Fear
2014	I Blame Robocop
2013	Future Trustees
2012	Praise Not The Day…
2011	Educated Living

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The Burden Of Faith

Those who never rebelled against God or at some point in their lives shaken their fists in the face of heaven, have never encountered God at all.
—   Catherine Marshall
We cannot bear to regard ourselves simply as playthings of blind chance; we cannot admit to feeling ourselves abandoned.
—   Ugo Betti
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On This Day In:
2019	Are Your Dogs Barking?
	Dangerous Waistcoats
2018	And 40+ Years Later?
2017	He Is Alone
2016	Compensation
2015	Charlie Redux
2014	The Crux
2013	Erosion And Rechannelling
	Alliance, n.
2012	How Many Thought… (One I Know Of)
	Choices And Decisions
2011	Speed Spoils
	Simply Intended
2010	A Second 4 Hour Jog

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