Protestantism

» paper_turtle - Arbor Day

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Here in Vermont its Arbor Day. Saturday is State Green-up day. In honor of these days, do something nice for the earth today--at least go hug a tree. (big grin)
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle

» Migisi - Arbor Day

In response to Arbor Day posted by paper_turtle:

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Every year, a local nature center has a tree give away for Arbor Day. Blue Spruce rooted sprigs to plant. For three consecutive years, I babied each through its first spring and summer, and hoped they'd live through the winter. I hugged them (grin back atcha), but alas, my green thumb has gone grey. Sigh and
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However, I'm doing something good for the earth today. I'm leaving it alone. (wink)

-- posted by Migisi

» HeadZenCards - Arbor Day

In response to Arbor Day posted by Migisi:

It's Law Day as well! Let's be thankful for all of the reasonable laws made by human beings. Let's resolve to help change the ones that don't work so well. And let's thank secular man that silly rules in so-called "holy books" have become moot.

-- posted by HeadZenCards

» pink101 - May Day--May 1

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Maybe was celebrated as labor day in the United States and Canada along with the rest of the world.
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Socialist were gaining such a momentum that labor day was switched to September 6.
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Check it out.
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http://flag.blackened.net/daver/anarchis...

-- posted by pink101

» redback - flamin' frangelico

In response to what we think/believe influences what we see posted by Migisi:

"...You were complaining about the cold..."

In keeping with the tone of this thread, I'm also happy to have stopped procrastinating to instal fully ducted aircon...the great climate 'equaliser'. My bones have thanked me for a few years now even if the ozone layer hasn't.

All (user name) changes have been imposed on me, really but I tried to get each name to mean something. Not the multiple identity thing some used to play to have conversations with themselves. Aaaahhh! Reddeer, plox et al. Sad to say some of 'em I've forgotten in the absence of a memory jogger. I also miss Rainbow, the struggling Phd Polish lady who sure tested my knowledge of Polish-English. Now, there was free-range discussion for you!

-- posted by redback

» paper_turtle - May Day--May 1

In response to May Day--May 1 posted by pink101:

May Day began as a pagan festival. Below are some excerpts from the Wickipedia article on the topic. (You can find out more about how the meaning of the celebration has been transformed in modern times.)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day
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May Day is May 1, and refers to any of several holidays celebrated on this day. May 1 was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures, and many elements of these holidays are still celebrated on May 1 today, such as the Maypole. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer: hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was "midsummer."
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In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, Mary's head (in works of art, school skits, etc.) will often be adorned with flowers. Another May Day tradition (fading in popularity since the late 20th century) is the giving of May baskets, small baskets of candy and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps.
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May 1st is also the optional Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. The feast was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to Christianize the concept of labor and give to all workers a model and a protector.
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. . .
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The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian Europe, as in the Celtic celebration of Beltane, and the Walpurgis Night of the Germanic countries. Although the pagan-oriented celebrations faded as Europe became Christianised, a more secular version of the holiday continued to be observed in the schools and churches of Europe well into the 20th century. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the Maypole and crowning of the Queen of the May. Today many Neopagans, especially Wiccans, celebrate reconstructed versions of the old pagan holidays on May 1.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle
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PS--I really would prefer it if politics/political references were kept out of this thread. I want the FOCUS to be positive--not anything which might stir up negative associations OR comments.
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PT

-- posted by paper_turtle

» paper_turtle - Today

In response to Arbor Day posted by paper_turtle:

On Saturdays my daughter and I do our weekly grocery shopping and together, then just hang out for a while. Its always one of the high points of my week. Today it will probably be warm enough to sit out on her deck and chat after we've run all our errands. Her deck faces a brook, with a view to the mountains in the distance. On the banks of the brook are daffodils gone wild. Ducks often congregate on sandbars along the edge of the brook; then sun themselves and sometimes murmur to each other.
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Today I am grateful for my daughter, who is also my best friend.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle

» HeadZenCards - Responsibility

In response to May Day--May 1 posted by paper_turtle:

Today I am thankful for the realization that the negative associations I perceive are because of the way I interpret them.

It is my attitude that turns a political idea I do not agree with into an appreciation of the freedom that created the space for that idea to rise, be expressed, and fall away, with only the love and freedom behind it left in its wake.

-- posted by HeadZenCards

» paper_turtle - Responsibility

In response to Responsibility posted by HeadZenCards:

Ok--perhaps a better way to phrase my request would have been to explain that I would like this to be a neutral zone.
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I am quite capable of walking away from anything which might be perceived as inflammatory (or otherwise negative) and still stay calm and unaffected. Obviously not everyone who posts here can do that (or wants to do that).
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The truth is I'm quite weary of all the accusations and verbal jabs which have become so promonent here of late. Perhaps others are too. I don't see anything wrong with asking for a space in which people will behave themselves like reasonable, civil adults who respect one another's needs and feelings.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle

» pink101 - Pathway To Peace

In response to Responsibility posted by paper_turtle:
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The truth is I'm quite weary of all the accusations and verbal jabs which have become so promonent here of late.
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Are you mainly refering to the exchange between Brother Jones and the Pink?
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Have you read Charles Saunders Pierce's Pathway To Peace?
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The Path To Peace

"The method of authority will always govern the mass of mankind; and those who wield the various forms of organized force in the state will never be convinced that dangerous reasoning ought not be suppressed in some way. If liberty of speech is to be untrammeled from the grosser forms of constraint, then uniformity of opinion will be secured by a moral terrorism to which the respectability of society will give its thorough approval. Following the method of authority is the path of peace. Certain non-conformities are permitted; certain others, considered unsafe, are forbidden. These are different in different countries and in different ages; but, wherever you are, let it be known that you seriously hold a tabooed belief, and you may be perfectly sure of being treated with a cruelty less brutal but more refined than hunting you like a wolf. Thus, the greatest intellectual benefactors of mankind have never dared, and dare not now, to utter the whole of their thoughts; and thus a shade of prima facie doubt is cast upon every proposition which is considered essential to the security of society. Singularly enough, the persecution does not all come from without; but, a man torments himself and is oftentimes most distressed at finding himself believing propositions which he has been brought up to regard with aversion. The peaceful and sympathetic man will, therefore, find it hard to resist the temptation to submit his opinions to authority."

-------Charles Sanders Pierce

-- posted by pink101