The Holy Mount Athos has always been a "barrier against which the waves of heresies would break"[1]. From ancient times this sublime institution, the domain of the Mother of God, which lived in accordance with Divine principles, has been the stronghold of Orthodoxy. In guarding the faith of the Holy Fathers, Athonites (hagiorites), for centuries, have been an example of piety to all... Having renounced the world and entirely dedicated himself to serving God, "a true monk fears neither the imperial purple, nor the mitre of a patriarch, and is prepared to endure anything joyfully and happily for the love of the Orthodox faith, which is his greatest treasure . ... Monastic hood does not bow before any masters who disdain the Divine Law and the Sacred Tradition, and who subject the Faith to sinful people desirous of worldly things, to people obedient to Satan." [2]
[1] Athonite monk-zealot Theoklitis Germanos, "Confession of Faith", in the collection Protestations Orthodoxes... , p. 62.
[2] Ibid., p. 63.
And do not forget to check under your bed before you turn the lights off at night...
"Staying Alive" certainly does take a different dimension when sung by these folks than it did back when the Bee Gees sung it.
One can't help but wonder what the story of some of these people is.
Living a story is essential to what it means to be human. There are personal stories and there are grander collective narratives that powerfully influence the individual adventures, and vice-versa. Those stories, they shape or contain and transform one another. Very much like rock and water.
Sometimes, the water stops flowing... Like so many socio/religious/ideological static ponds, stagnant in-group stories do form now and then.
Sometimes the water stops flowing. Sometimes the land gets washed away.
Some plants, such as lotuses, prefer stagnant water, while other prefer flowing water. It's all good.
It doesn't matter in the end.
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
14 May 2008 @ 21:01 Just a thought... from another self-described "ego-testical blog about nothing interesting at all":
"It’s all bollocks really isn’t it? Just 6 billion lost souls
wandering around trying to rationalise existence and consciousness
through self inflicted external sources, whatever that might mean."
What do you think?
I don't know... Would that be an ecumenical matter, now?
Maybe it's all about creating meaning as we move along... learning slowly that stopping is not arriving. More >
12 May 2008 @ 23:37
FFF believes that humanity’s bad relationship to sexuality has a lot in common with the destroying of nature. Sexuality is a beautiful part of nature. FFF wants to use this gift to put focus on what is happening to this planet and try to protect it. Their goal is to connect as many open-minded people as possible to create a network of erotic eco lovers.
Support FFF with artistic creativity: Music makers, video/photo people, computer geeks, artists and models. Contact FFF.
Warning; FFF contains material that is adult in nature!More >
12 May 2008 @ 23:13
Mayday 12, 2008
7:50 PM MST
Monday
Planet Earth... or something.
Isabella Rossellini knows her green sex. The Italian model and film star wrote, directed, and starred in "Green Porno," a series of films detailing the sex lives of various bugs, arachnids, and mollusks. They originally debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year (and showed at the Berlin Film Festival, amongst others) and are now available, for your viewing pleasure, on Sundance's website.
Enjoy.
Sir Swine More >
An introduction to the science and art of perception management.
The phrase "perception management" is filtering into common use as a synonym for "persuasion." Public relations firms now offer "perception management" as one of their services. Similarly, public officials who are being accused of shading the truth are now frequently charged with engaging in "perception management" when disseminating information to media or to the general public.
Although perception management operations are typically carried out within the international arena between governments, and between governments and citizens, use of perception management techniques have become part of mainstream information management systems in many ways that do not concern military campaigns or government relations with citizenry. Businesses may even contract with other businesses to conduct perception management for them, or they may conduct it in-house with their public relations staff.
Perception management is a term originated by the U. S. military. The U. S. Department of Defense (DOD) gives this definition:
Actions to convey and/or deny selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning as well as to intelligence systems and leaders at all levels to influence official estimates, ultimately resulting in foreign behaviors and official actions favorable to the originator's objectives. In various ways, perception management combines truth projection, operations security, cover and deception, and psychological operations.
16 May 2008 @ 20:23
