Crucifixion

The Crucifixion of Jesus

 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.  They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”).  There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.  When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
³⁸ Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.  Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads  and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”  In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.  He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.  About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split  and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 27:46 Some manuscripts Eloi, Eloi
2. Matthew 27:46 Psalm 22:1
3. Matthew 27:53 Or tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they
4. Matthew 27:56 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph

New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Palm Sunday - Duminica Floriilor

On Palm Sunday Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death and resurrection. For many Christian churches, Palm Sunday, often referred to as "Passion Sunday," marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday.

Duminica Floriilor (sau, mai popular, Floriile) este sărbătoarea care amintește de intrarea triumfală a Domnului Iisus Hristos în Ierusalim, înainte de Patimile și Învierea Sa.

După cum se știe, Duminica Floriilor este ultima înainte de Paști: în seara acestei zile debutează, în bisericile ortodoxe, cunoscuta serie de slujbe numite denii, care caracterizează cel mai mult săptămâna Patimilor.

Ramurile de finic, considerate simbol al veșniciei de vechii egipteni, deveniseră deja cu secole înainte de Hristos un simbol al (Zeiței) victoriei în lumea greco-romană. Deja în teologia creștină timpurie, ele puteau simboliza, de asemenea, victoria spiritului asupra trupului. Fundamental însă, purtarea ramurilor în triumf reprezintă credința că, prin Învierea Sa din morți la finalul Patimilor (ca și prin învierea lui Lazăr, sărbătorită în ziua precedentă, numită Sâmbăta lui Lazăr), moartea a fost "înfrântă", și oamenii au obținut accesul la viața veșnică întru Dumnezeu", ne-a explicat teologul Dragoş Mîrşanu.

Horses Never Lie

He's of the colour of the nutmeg.  

And of the heat of the ginger.... he is pure air and fire; 

and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him, 

but only in patient stillness while his rider mounts him; 

he is indeed a horse, and all other jades you may call beasts.  

~William Shakespeare, Henry V

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

“Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight—

how to get from shore to food and back again. 

For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. 

For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. 

More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly. 

This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make one’s self popular with other birds. 

Even his parents were dismayed as Jonathan spent whole days alone, making hundreds of low-level glides, experimenting.

“Why, Jon, why?” his mother asked. 

“Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? 

Why can’t you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross? 

Why don’t you eat? Son, you’re bone and feathers!” 

“I don’t mind being bone and feathers, mom. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can’t, that’s all. I just want to know.” 

“See here, Jonathan,” said his father, not unkindly. 

“Winter isn’t far away. 

 Boats will be few, and the surface fish will be swimming deep.

 If you must study, then study food, and how to get it. 

This flying business is all very well, but you can’t eat a glide, you know. 

Don’t you forget that the reason you fly is to eat.” Jonathan”

― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

“- „Chiang, lumea asta de fapt nu e paradisul, nu-i aşa?”
Bătrânul zâmbi în lumina lunii. 

„Te desăvârşeşti mereu, Jonathan”, spuse el.
- „Bine, dar ce se va întâmpla acum? Unde mergem? Oare paradisul nu există nicăieri?”
-„Nu, Jonathan, nu există. 

Paradisul nu este un loc sau un timp. 

A fi desăvârşit—iată paradisul”.” 

― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull 

Very Far Away from Anywhere Else

And I needed a rock. 

Something to hold onto, 

to stand on. 

Something solid. 

Because everything was going soft, 

turning into mush, 

into marsh, 

 into fog. 

Fog closing in on all sides. 

I didn't know where I was at all...

Silent Spring

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.

Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her a U.S. National Book Award, recognition as a gifted writer, and financial security. Her next book, The Edge of the Sea, and the reissued version of her first book, Under the Sea Wind, were also bestsellers. This sea trilogy explores the whole of ocean life from the shores to the depths.