THE POPE SAYS GOD WEEPS FOR A WORLD AT WAR

Speaking at Mass at the Casa Santa Maria, the Pope said:

“We are close to Christmas. There will be lights, there will be parties, bright trees, even Nativity scenes – all decked out – while the world continues to wage war. “

“It’s all a charade. The world has not understood the way of peace. The whole world is at war,”

“A war can be justified, so to speak, with many, many reasons, but when all the world as it is today, at war, piecemeal though that war may be – a little here, a little there – there is no justification.”

“What shall remain in the wake of this war, in the midst of which we are living now?” he asked. What shall remain? Ruins, thousands of children without education, so many innocent victims, and lots of money in the pockets of arms dealers.

“We should ask for the grace to weep for this world, which does not recognize the path to peace,” he said. To weep for those who live for war and have the cynicism to deny it,” he added. “God weeps, Jesus weeps”.

TARA SMITH-ATKINS AND HER ANGELS

What a brilliant idea!

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/1415/These-Eight-Girls-Are-On-A-Mission-To-Help-The-Homeless-Stay-Warm-This-Winter

PRISONS DON'T WORK

Time for change...

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/artists-spark-reform-in-teens-rally-for-prison-changes-in-virginia/

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

The health benefits of gratitude...

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=6535

ANTOINE LEIRIS

“Friday night, you took an exceptional life - the love of my life, the mother of my son - but you will not have my hatred. I don't know who you are and I don't want to know, you are dead souls. If this God, for whom you kill blindly, made us in his image, every bullet in the body of my wife would have been one more wound in his heart.

So, no, I will not grant you the gift of my hatred. You're asking for it, but responding to hatred with anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are. You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security. You lost.

I saw her this morning. Finally, after nights and days of waiting. She was just as beautiful as when she left on Friday night, just as beautiful as when I fell hopelessly in love over 12 years ago. Of course I am devastated by this pain, I give you this little victory, but the pain will be short-lived. I know that she will be with us every day and that we will find ourselves again in this paradise of free love to which you have no access.

We are just two, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world. I don't have any more time to devote to you, I have to join Melvil who is waking up from his nap. He is barely 17-months-old. He will eat his meals as usual, and then we are going to play as usual, and for his whole life this little boy will threaten you by being happy and free. Because no, you will not have his hatred either.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/paris-terror-husband-pays-touching-tribute-to-love-of-his-life-in-defiant-message-to-attackers-a6737231.html

ALEX ASALLI

Amid the fear inducing news that can constrict our hopes and constrain our love, remember the many who are grateful, whose lives bear the fruit of having been loved.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/syrian-refugee-feeds-berlin-homeless_5654b766e4b0879a5b0cb708?utm_hp_ref=good-news

HAFSAT MOHAMMED

A Muslim heart redolent with love, a mind crafted by courage and a soul committed to the good paths and a person in fear now for her life and in need of all available support.

http://positivenews.org.uk/2015/community/positive_people/18794/how-one-nigerian-woman-survived-boko-haram-fight-interfaith-reconciliation/

JACK SWANSON AT 7 OFFERS HOPE

A young boy, a good heart, a wise Mum, a changed world....

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/boy-who-used-piggy-bank-cash-to-help-vandalized-mosque-gets-big-surprise/

THE GOSPEL OF DIGITAL CINEMA MEDIA

Thank goodness DCM has protected cinema lovers from falling pray to religious and political zealots.

Imagine the Spectre of sinking sweet into those heavenly chairs only to be evangelized first by an Anglican ad, then a Muslim preacher and rounded off with a Jeremy Corbyn plug.

Further, while even Bond has undergone a makeover, becoming increasingly P.C., the Church of England wants to cause offence with reactionary sentiments that seek to drag us back to the dark ages.

Just in 60 seconds, We'll by urged to identify the divine as a man, to live under the maverick tyranny of a single king, to be subjects in his kingdom, to be obedient to his will and whims, to beg for a daily food ration, to live in perpetual guilt dependent on his royal pardon, to regard ourselves as incapable against the forces arrayed against us, in need of rescue and to adopt a servile demeanour, doing everything to boost the ego, power and adulation of our single celebrity Royal.

By gazing at the STARs....too many WARS have come.

At a time when the world is realising how dangerous, damaging and demonic religion has become in the minds and hearts of humanity, the Church of England has shown how totally out of touch it really is.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/faith/article4621112.ece

ITS KNOT HARD TO LOVE

The truth is, we are all tied to each other, black or white, young or old, Christian or Muslim, Syrian or French or English. One world, one heart, one life to be lived, kindly and lovingly.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/story-behind-picture-warming-hearts-6845418

HOMES FROM PLASTIC BOTTLES

Everything can be useful.....its just discovering how....

http://www.trueactivist.com/nigerians-are-building-fireproof-bulletproof-and-eco-friendly-homes-with-plastic-bottles-and-mud/

PAUL DOYLE

It just takes us all to do our part to change the world....

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/meet-bus-driver-whose-selfless-6811252

SUCH BEAUTY

What a wonderful world...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3312580/The-world-stunning-color-Seamstresses-sew-aquamarine-fishing-nets-snow-white-owl-sits-icy-tree-best-pictures-National-Geographic-s-2015-Photo-Contest.html

THE MCCAUGHEY SEPTUPLET MIRACLES 18 YEARS ON

Joy, tears and wonder...

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-videos/3359/She-Gave-Birth-To-The-World-s-First-Surviving-Septuplets-Here-s-What-They-Look-Like-18-Years-Later

HOLLY CHRISTENSEN AND THE MAGIC YARN PROJECT

Transforming the shadows into fairy tales......

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/heartwarming-project-brings-magic-lives-6803975

RA PAULETTE

The tree of human kindness springing from the caves....

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/ra-paulettes-caves/

IMAM ASIF HAFIZ

The path to peace....

http://www.buzzfeed.com/sirajdatoo/muslims-to-have-first-islamic-led-remembrance-ceremony#.tq49W5Y0w

PANMELA CASTRO

Giving walls, buildings and our thoughts a face lift........

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/panmela-castro-graffiti-artist-brazil_563cf31be4b0307f2cad508f?utm_hp_ref=good-news&ir=Good%2BNews&section=good-news

POLLY CHESTER

Skydiving at 72! Never too late.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/grandma-loses-dentures-during-epic-skydive-has-no-regrets_5640c5f9e4b0b24aee4af644?utm_hp_ref=good-news&ir=Good%2BNews&section=good-news

THE MAYOR AND MAYORESS OF BOURNEMOUTH ATTEND

The ordination was held at the T.S. Phoebe Sea Cadets Hall in Bournemouth

ZOEY, GRACE, BRITTANY AND MARK SHERMAN TO THE WORLD WITH LOVE

Thank you for tears of joy at life, love and art......

http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/africa-amsterdam-couples-international-pregnancy-6786853

JONATHAN - A POT OF MARMITE

Revd Christopher Morgan writes: "Mentioning my Archbishop to those who have heard of him is a bit like opening a pot of marmite. The difference is that it's only those who haven't met him that hold negative opinions. An inspiration, Jonathan Blake is nothing more than an ordinary bloke, but a bloke who inspires and who gets it when the rest of the religious leadership have lost it. It is Jonathan's vision, that has given my Priestly Ministry life."

Jade Goody had a picture of a pot of Marmite on the hearse that bore her from the funeral. Having a Marmite effect on others is not an easy lot at times and one can sympathise with both sides. At times I can't stand myself either, but I do have Marmite for breakfast most days! Sometimes it seems it would be much easier to be a pot of honey....but we are what we are, and each must try to bear their destiny as well as they can and do their utmost to help make the world a better place.

OUR AWESOME UNIVERSE

The path to awe and humility....

http://www.dailygood.org/story/256/20-amazing-pictures-from-outer-space-james-adams/

JUSTIN TRUDEAU

The different approach the world needs...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/11976810/Canadian-Liberal-prime-minister-Justin-Trudeau-names-equal-cabinet.html

BLESSING WILLIE THE PAPER MAN

Alysun Ogilby and the crowdfunders adopt the different approach the world needs....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ohio-paper-man-church-offering_563bbb6ae4b0307f2cac9869?1oo5hfr&utm_hp_ref=good-news

JAMES WILLIAMS

The different approach the world needs...

I'm reminded of having to follow concerned children into their bedrooms with their parents at home baptisms and sitting on the floor playing with their toys, dipping some of their plastic animals into the water of the font, making splashing a game, asking them to splash me and splash their parents and then finally being able to baptise them in a happy and consensual manner.

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/1383/Barber-Goes-The-Extra-Mile-To-Conquer-A-Little-Boy-s-Fear-Of-Haircuts

REED HASTINGS

The different approach the world needs....

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/this-ceo-urges-his-workers-to-take-6-weeks-paid-vacation/

IMPORTANT MILESTONES

 More will be added:

The Velvet Revolution dawned in Czechoslovakia when a peaceful student demonstration in Prague was brutally beaten back, sparking the biggest wave of public protests in 20 years and, on December 29, the successful overthrow, without weapons, of the oppressive communist regime (1989)

200 years ago, the women’s suffrage activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was bornin Johnstown, New York, where her lawyer father treated her as he would any son, and encouraged her to enter traditionally male dominated spheres. (1815)

• 25 years ago, Tim Berners-Lee published his formal proposal for the World Wide Web (1990)
• Marriage for same-sex couples in Connecticut commenced after the state’s Supreme Court affirmed their right to wed, rather than accept a 2005 civil union decree (2008)
• Lech Wałęsa, the Polish Solidarity leader, was released from prison after eleven months (1982)

Communist-controlled East Germany opened the gates of the Berlin Wall allowing its citizens to freely travel into West Germany. After 28 years of separation, cheering East Germans surged through at midnight, met by jubilant West Berliners on the other side. Ecstatic crowds clambered up the Wall, danced on the top and hacked off chunks with hand tools. (1989)

in 1933, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled the Civil Works Administration to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed workers during the Great Depression. The CWA’s workers laid 12 million feet of sewer pipe and built or improved 255,000 miles of roads, 40,000 schools, 3,700 playgrounds, and nearly 1,000 airports (not to mention building 250,000 outhouses still badly needed in rural America.

• The UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning South Africa’s racist apartheid policies and calling for UN members to cease military and economic relations (1962)

GO WILD

Go wild, go wild, go wild in the country...........

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/s-time-iPad-wild-country-children-told/story-28112784-detail/story.html

INSPIRING LIVES

New lives will be added:

In 1960 Jane Goodall, who had been a secretary when she was hired to study primates, first observed chimpanzees creating tools. At Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, she observed two chimps pick up small twigs, strip off the leaves, and use them as tools to fish for termites in the ground to eat for a snack. This was the first time that an animal was observed to modify an object to create a tool to use for a specific purpose. 

In 1924 Nellie T. Ross became the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state, and the only woman ever to have served as governor of Wyoming

UPLIFTING QUOTES

New quotes will be added:

“If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“It is not death that people should fear, but they should fear never beginning to live.” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.

William Arthur Ward

“The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
The seed never sees the flower.

Zen saying

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“The best revenge is to be unlike the one who performed the injury.” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
– Henry David Thoreau

We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.
Native American Proverb

“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.” – Jonathan Winters

Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.
Jack Brown

“Not all those who wander are lost.”  – J. R. R. Tolkien

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” -Mahatma Ghandi

“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It is lethal.” – Paulo Coelho

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus (French existentialist)

"I am not Christian or Catholic.....I am life" - Gabriel Blake (9yrs old)

"A new way of thinking for all. As of today, when someone asks you your religious beliefs and faith, answer with this: Firstly, I am a human being, the same as 7 billion others in every way, and like them I wish to look after my family, to love and feed them and be there for them and be happy. Secondly, my religious faith is mine, whatever your faith is, is irrelevant. This irrelevance is not disrespectful towards you - it's just that your faith and my faith may be different, but this matters not, as firstly we are human, we are the same. Human first, baggage second." Carson Bilsland, killed in Algeria in 2012, wrote on Christmas Day

PRADEEP TANNA AND DAMYANTI TANNA

The couple who have turned heartbreak to hope.....

http://www.dailygood.org/story/1159/the-couple-who-feeds-hundreds-each-day-shreya-pareek/

SPOKEN BY AN UNLIKELY ANGEL

Profound quote from my 9 year old son, Gabriel.

When asked whether he was a Christian or a Catholic, he replied,

" I am not any of these things.... I am life."

MIRACLE MESSAGES

Kevin Adler joins the many who choose to transform other's lives for the better...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/homeless-people-miracle-message_5637a991e4b00aa54a4ef1af?pw8c9pb9&utm_hp_ref=good-news

REFUGEES WELCOME

Opening hearts and homes....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugees-welcome-airbnb-for-asylum-seekers-started-by-german-couple-spreads-around-the-world-and-the-a6718321.html

OU YANGLIN

The seven year old angel

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3301168/The-boy-7-sole-caretaker-paralysed-father.html

MOSAICS COMMUNITY CAFE

Turning the way we do things upside down and creating a caring and responsible society.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-restaurant-mosaics-hunger-price-free-menu_563382c8e4b06317991204b1?uo3l3di&utm_hp_ref=good-news

KING NICK MCGEE

When the right person is crowned....

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/1377/Student-With-Down-Syndrome-Has-The-Most-Epic-Reaction-To-Winning-Homecoming-King

KHANITTHA "MINT" PHASAENG

Realising the true beauty in life - the love that cradles a child and works hard and transforms the menial and mundane into opportunity

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/1376/After-Winning-Miss-Thailand-She-Returned-Home-To-Thank-The-Woman-Who-Collected-Trash-To-Raise-Her

FRANCINE CHRISTOPHE

Two small pieces of chocolate

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=6829

THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION'S CAMBRIDGE BRANCH

I preached at the service and celebrated Holy Communion.

In the presence of the Mayor, the Mayoress and the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire.

At the Bishop Woodford Centre in Ely

The High Sheriff wrote afterwards:

"It was a joy to meet your wonderful Bishop whom I thought spoke very poignantly and powerfully about the issues in society today." Captain Victor Lucas, Royal Navy DL

A HAPPY ORDINATION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NunJt-B_AKw&feature=youtu.be