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Something Wonderful for Good Friday: A Rose Among Thorns


“We do not die period. We die comma.” — Rev. Donald Sensing

In all of God’s created universe, in all of God’s given time, one, just one, rose among the thorns is the one we became and which we shall remain until. . . 

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  • ghostsniper March 30, 2018, 4:54 AM

    “We do not die period. We die comma.” — Rev. Donald Sensing
    ================
    That’s what I believe, sorta.
    The body dies but the mind lives on, it is eternal.
    It’s the spark of life, always was, always will be.
    None of that imaginary superhero nonsense.
    Electricity, you know, the stuff that illuminates your kitchen in the early morn, and the stuff that connects all of your senses to the central control panel in your brain.
    Electricity can’t die.

    But, we live in our bodies and the electricity is released into the ether so what does all of that mean?
    No one lives in the ether as all the electricity is combined and mixed, so the only “life” you will ever know is that which you are experiencing right now.
    Make the best of it.

    Do something new today.

  • ghostsniper March 30, 2018, 4:54 AM

    I did not watch the video.

  • scory March 30, 2018, 5:14 AM

    You and I – each and every one of us – can never not be. We have always been. We never end.

    Spirit plus body = wholeness. Jesus made this equation eternal.

    What we believe, say and do in this life determine consequences after mortality has ended. We choose our future.

  • John Venlet March 30, 2018, 6:31 AM

    He Is Risen. We read these words in the scriptures, of an event 2000 plus years ago, and, as Christians, we have hope, a desire to sincerely believe, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God , and we can enjoy life everlasting with Him. Those three little words, which we today can recite by rote, sometimes seem so ancient and myth like that we often may simply take those words for granted, a mere greeting for us to banter back and forth as we attend Maundy Thursday, Good Friday or Easter services. Can you imagine with what wonder and amazement those words, He Is Risen, were shared those 2000 plus years ago? He is indeed a rose among thorns, lifting us up and blanketing us in beauty, thorns though we may be. He Is Risen.

  • Richard March 30, 2018, 8:02 AM

    Thank you for the video. Truth, Beauty, and Light. We are drawn to it because we are drawn from it. The Holy Triduum is the most profound time of the year.

  • Jack March 30, 2018, 9:25 AM

    The melody accompanying the vid was given lyrics by Sarah Brightman. It’s called Nella Fantasia and my favorite version of it, apart from Brightman’s is sung by 14 year old Dutch, now S. African crossover singer Amira Willighagen. Check her live performance of the song when she sang before an audience in South Africa. 14…you just can’t make this stuff up.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_WyjEj5DW8

  • Casey Klahn March 30, 2018, 5:10 PM

    I’ll be dipped if all I can remember of The Mission was that my roommate, and lifelong buddy (I was his best man), could speak Guarani, Spanish and Portuguese and translated everything being said and sung in the movie for us. The Guarani can’t hold a tune in a bucket, so their choir part was pretty much faked. Other than that failing, they are a fine people. My buddy was in a missionary family in that very location.

    Makes me want to study the movie and history.

    Enjoy the Holy events today through Sunday. Jesus is risen!

  • Mary Ann April 3, 2021, 6:52 AM

    IMHO one of the most beautiful melodies ever written. One of my favorite movies.

  • Fluella De Vil April 3, 2021, 9:08 AM

    This post doesn’t like being in proximity to the post above it. The purple Easter bunny makes it feel dirty. I guess one could say you’re versatile, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

  • Stargazer April 3, 2021, 3:59 PM

    Without God, life is meaningless.

  • Jewel April 3, 2021, 6:05 PM

    https://forge-and-anvil.com/2021/04/01/historical-world-accounts-of-the-crucifixions-darkness/
    And here is something even more wondrous and terrible to behold.

    • julie April 15, 2022, 8:36 PM

      Jewel, how bittersweet to see your words here again and know you’re on the other side, dining at the Lord’s table even now.

      • Mike Austin April 16, 2022, 5:44 AM

        So very true. Jewel is resting in Abraham’s bosom. Her words, though ghostly, remind me of what a beautiful woman she was and is.

  • It's Been Written April 15, 2022, 6:26 PM

    “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

    Rev. 1:18

  • rabbit tobacco April 15, 2022, 7:55 PM

    Charles Manson said, ” as best he could figure,
    God is oxygen.”

    • Mike Austin April 16, 2022, 5:46 AM

      I would imagine that Manson has changed his view somewhat considering where he is.

  • Donald Sensing April 16, 2022, 7:02 AM

    Gerard, thank you for the quote. Here is my work for Holy Week this year:

    If someone were to ask you, “Why was JFK assassinated?” you certainly would not answer, “To save us from our sins.” Yet that is usually the first thing that comes to mind when we church people are asked why Jesus died or why he was crucified.

    That answer is correct, of course, but is that really all there is to it? None of Jesus’ accusers thought that. Caiaphas, the high priest who turned Jesus over to Pilate, would have thought such an answer to be idiotic. Pilate, a Roman pagan, would never have remotely thought it. None of the crowd who demanded of Pilate, “Crucify him!” thought their sins would be forgiven via Jesus’ death on a cross. And for that matter, not even Jesus’ disciples thought so, despite more than one occasion when Jesus had clearly taught it to them.

    So what was happening in the ordinary realm of human motives and actions that ended with Jesus dying on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem? “Execution Day – The Case Against Christ,” is an work-in-progress essay I wrote in 2019 to explore how to answer why Jesus was crucified in the same way we might answer why JFK was shot – who did it, why, and what did they hope to gain? To read, just click the link.

    Or watch this video I made about the same subject, “Why Crucify Jesus?

    May the Lord bless you all!

  • Foo April 16, 2022, 1:12 PM

    Thx G for the repost under “Something Wonderful”.

    Your elegaic writing and ability to pick out what matters is the reason I return, usually end of day to end on a positive note.

    Reminding myself to feed the white wolf…

    -foo

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