Conference yukon::christian

>Looks like Chit-Chat got blown away by the old-note eater again.

>Chat away, folks...

    Thanks, Paul!

    Wow, did we have some snow last week!  It started on Wednesday evening
    (can you say "Albuquerque low"?), Thursday morning I got out and
    cleared the drive of about 6 inches, went home at lunch and cleared
    more later that day, and on Friday morning cleared some more again.
    This was heavy, wet stuff.  In fact, we have quite a bit of scrub oak
    around the house that was broken, some right at the base - and the
    leaves weren't even out yet!  It snowed very heavy all day on Thursday
    with near white-out conditions.  We measured 19 inches in the front
    yard late Thursday afternoon and another 2 or 3 by Friday morning.
    Cathey had to leave her car parked at the bottom of our street because
    the hill, combined with the low ground clearance, made it so the car
    would just get hung up.  I barely made it up with four wheel drive!

    Of course, the temps have already risen (50s yesterday and 60s today)
    so it is melting nearly as fast as it came down.  I love Colorado!

    On of the prettiest sights I saw during this storm was on Thursday
    afternoon.  We have a bird feeder outside one of our family room
    windows next to the scrub oak.  As I looked out the window I saw the
    greyish brown branches of the scrub oak, lots of beautiful white snow
    weighing down the branches, and four brilliant yellow and black
    goldfinches sitting in the branches taking turns trying to get to the
    feeder that was nearly buried in snow.  What a contrast in color.
    Unfortunately, I didn't think to get the camera.

    Y'all have a nice day.

    Ron

    P.S.  Go Avalanche!!!  And how about them Rockies?!

 Ah, an Albuquerque low...




 remember those well ;-)

>    <<< Note 14.2 by CSLALL::HENDERSON "Give the world a smile each day" >>>

> Ah, an Albuquerque low...

> remember those well ;-)

    I knew, as I typed that in, that you would appreciate it.  It's been
    quite some time since we have had a storm of this intensity (years).
    Everything here should be greening up rather nicely as it warms.

    Ron

 I remember one that hung in for a couple days and dropped about 2 feet.

    what about the legs? ;')

>      <<< Note 14.5 by BBQ::WOODWARDC "...but words can break my heart" >>>

>    what about the legs? ;')

    Whoosh (the sound of that remark going right over my head)!

    Sorry, Harry, but I missed that one completely.  Could you spell it
    out, slowly, in a way that my limited gray matter can comprehend?
    Maybe I'm still asleep.  That's it!

    Ron

 in .4 I mentioned an abq low that dropped 2 feet, and Harry inquired 
 about the legs (presumably to which the 2 subsequently dropped feet were
 attached).


 Jim (quick today)

>    <<< Note 14.7 by CSLALL::HENDERSON "Give the world a smile each day" >>>

> in .4 I mentioned an abq low that dropped 2 feet, and Harry inquired 
> about the legs (presumably to which the 2 subsequently dropped feet were
> attached).

    Aaaahhhh!  Now I get it.  Funny, Harry!

    Ron

Harry,

It kinda looses something when it has to be explained, doesn't it?

Maybe it was the timming. You know if you had put 2 line feeds before
the legs line, it would have gone over better. 

Or possibly it was because you couldn't use a colored font......


Cheers,

John I.

who got it right away. But I only read it today.

>     <<< Note 14.9 by SSDEVO::INDERMUEHLE "Stonehenge Alignment Service" >>>

>It kinda looses something when it has to be explained, doesn't it?

    Watch it, John, or I'll have to walk down the hall and introduce
    myself!  Here I am, in the same core of the same building and I always
    seem to be too busy to even take some time to walk down to your office.
    Actually, I have walked by your office on a couple of occasions and you
    were not in.  One of these days...

    Ron

    	
    	Go ahead, Ron.  You won't be sorry!
    
    

    Well Ron,
    
    people say I'm a "fun guy" (or maybe they say 'fungai' ;')
    
    sorry for the confusion
    
    H

    so which people are right?

>>    Actually, I have walked by your office on a couple of occasions and you
>>    were not in.  One of these days...
>>
Hi Ron,

Elaine, my wife would like to call my office and catch me in it. So, 
don't feel like I'm avoiding anything. As a consultant for storage I spent
a fair amount of time on the road. When I'm not out of town, I'm usually
plugged into my phone. I have had this little phone and boom surgically
installed right................

Just kidding......

I also have seen your office while searching out an engineer or two to 
research an answer for a customer and not "made" the time. Reminds me 
of the song "Cats in the cradle". I need to make time for a lot of things
or I will miss out on a lot of things.

Got to go. It's hard to type in the conference and discuss a 50MB/s
storage subsystem and the associated backup requirements..

TTFN

John I

    Jill,
    
    to answer your question... it's pretty dark in my office ;') :'D
    
    H

    Dear Sister Nancy,
    
    
    
    
                        HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
    
                                              IN JEASUS CHRIST'S LOVE ...
    
                                                     Jack Perry

    I cannot believe my friday end of the shift spelling of the Lord's
    name. Forgive me .....Lord.    ................Thanks Lord.
    

    Why thank Mr. Jack!  I am 39 years young and celebrating the joy of
    living a life with Jesus. 
    
    My children were so cute last night.  My son pitched a wonderful
    baseball game [present to me] and then they ordered my favorite pizza,
    aglow with birthday candles!
    
    Yesterday, was also hard for me because I attended the funeral of dear
    friend, Chona Ignacio, 46 years, yesterday.  But her funeral was also
    the celebration of having lived a life of joy with Jesus.  And now she
    is in eternity seeing the face of our Lord.
    
    Love,
    Nancy

  Church of Advent choir weaves rich tapestry

  The Choir of the Church of the Advent
  Edith Ho, Director of Music
  At the church, Friday night

  By Michael Manning
  GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

  The church choir is among our nbblest and most diverse musical 
  institutions.  It has both a tradition that qualifies as ancient and a 
  living presence that makes it vital in virtually every quarter of the 
  vocal arts - classical, early music, modern, even pop.  In a city like 
  Boston, you can find more than your share of exquisite, small ensembles 
  like the choir of the Church of the Advent.  Friday night, the choir 
  presented its spring concert in that old Boston church on Beacon Hill to 
  a small but rapt group.

  This being my first encounter with the choir and its well-known director, 
  Edith Ho, my first impulse was to scan the personnel list for familiar 
  names, although only one or two leaped from the page.  It soon became 
  apparent that this is not a group of soloists or a repository for 
  tomorrow's stars the way, say, Emmanuel Music is.  Rather, it's a very 
  disciplined, very refined ensemble of homogeneous talents and compatible 
  timbres with a bent toward an early music sound.

  That sound can be quite extraordinary.  In the opening works by John 
  Taverner, the choir's blend and easy production of tone made for the most 
  gorgeous minutes of the program.  Throughout the evening's performance, 
  even the less interesting music was well served by a supple, buoyant 
  approach to rhythm.  But this English Renaissance set - fluid and 
  rhythmically patterned, although not really metered in the modern sense - 
  was especially grateful for this.

  In the suppliant antiphon, "Christe Jesu, Pastor bone," the choir 
  effected an uncanny transparency of texture while maintaining the melodic 
  integrity of individual voices.  One could feast on the details of the 
  delicious counterpoint or step out of the texture to appreciate the 
  tapestry woven by it.  Arid there were touches of technical polish here 
  and there that speak volumes about the choir's discipline - such as its 
  ability to swell a note gently but uniformly and with absolute evenness 
  of gradation within parts.

  The second half of the program delved into Romantic English church music, 
  which frankly complements the Taverner like lemon juice complements milk.  
  If you're a devoted church musician, you can stomach the turgid, pompous, 
  and circumstantial exaltation of a work like Basil Harwood's "Oh how 
  glorious is the kingdom," or trouble yourself to learn the difficult, 
  distended "Prelude and Fugue in C Minor" for organ by Ralph Vaughan 
  Williams - which organist Mark Dwyer did, and he played it exceedingly 
  well.

  Only the gently dissonant early 20th-century "Faire is the Heaven" by 
  William J. Harris sustained the enjoyment of the first half for these 
  admittedly unsympathetic ears.

	http://www.efrat.org.il/abort.mov

	A portion of "The Silent Scream" with Hebrew subtitles.

    Have you guys noticed that the birthday topic is gone in this version
    of the conference???  I would like to see it brought back, I always
    enjoy greeting you folks on your b-days.  Does anyone else want to see
    it come back?

Sure, why not?  I'll be one of the first ones greeted - my birthday is only
in a few weeks.  :-)

Paul

    We young folks don't mind at all.  Andrew, Jim, Wayne, and Harry may
    not want it though.

 Watch it, Bub...

    Oh, I don't mind.  I will have passed the point of no return in about
    seven months. :-)

      I'll have to wait a long time.   :-(
    
      My birthday isn't for another 364 days!!!
    
    					Tony

    Happy Belated Birthday, Tony!

      Thanks Mike!
    
      By the way, someone at work told me that all the planets are
      supposed to line up on 5/5/2000.
    
    						Tony

    Wow!  I forgot Tony that our b-days were that close together. :-)
    
    Happy Birthday!

      We're the same age too, right?  (GULP!)
    
    					Tony (39)

 
 39?  jeepers, I didn't think anybody was that old in here..


 buncha old fogeys y'all are!

    Ain't that the truth!? :-)

    re: planets on 5/5/2000
    
    In honor of Cinco de Mayo, no doubt.

    Hellooooo, one ringy dingly! Thanks Tony!  Nevah, tell a lady's age!

    Mike,
    
    re: "old" comment - I resemble that remark ;')
    
    H

      Uh oh!  I'm a goner!

    Perhaps we should have a contest for the oldest noter here?
    
Peter

    .37
    
    <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--- me points finger at Peter!  He admits it???
    

    Hi Nancy,
    
       I don't have birthdays anymore! It's aniversarys to my 39th birthday
    that I reconize.
    
                             all best   Jack Perry
    

Re .23 ... 
Ah, Mike, maturity has its own rewards.  One of the ways it gets weathered 
is by hearing the youngsters tell the same jokes so many times round... ;-)

And Tony, I think I'll wait a few more years before having another
birthday... ;-).  The planets lined up - Holst?  Whatever does that do for
the rhythm??? ;-)

Actually, I maintained the birthday note in the previous version(s),anmd 
would be happy to continue.  When it wasn't included in this one, I 
thought that maybe folks felt it was pass�, but being somewhat beyond 
sell-by-date myself, that doesn't wory me.  It probably needs an overhaul 
to archive entries for people who have left....

I have a scheduler job that runs each night, and notifies interested 
parties of any birthdays occurring on that day.   It notifies anyone in the 
list who has a '*' against their name - so you can only be notified if you 
are included! - or use your own procedure, or check the note every day!

					God bless
							Andrew

14.37 � Perhaps we should have a contest for the oldest noter here?
    
Hi Peter, 
I think, we ought to let other people join in the competition too ... ;-)

I should have reminded folks that the birthday note only includes day and 
month.  Not year of birth - that's left to individual [in]discretion.

								Andrew

       Ah, Mike, maturity has its own rewards.  One of the ways it gets weathered 
       is by hearing the youngsters tell the same jokes so many times round...
    
    Oh Andrew, I'm glad you asked...  Jordan's (he is 6) favorite jokes
    these days go like this...
    
    Why did the dog cross the road?
    
    
    Because he was sitting on top of the roof of a car that went that way.
    
    
    Want to hear more?  They get worse!  :-) 
    
    
    Jill
    

    I think it is really great that all of you are still working at DEC
    when you could be retired and enjoying life.

    .43  
    
    What a crock of rocky mountain oysters! I beg your royal pardon, Mr.
    Receding Hairline! :-)

    Mike, say it ain't so (about receding hairline)!
    
    I heard that grass doesn't grow where traffic is busy. :-)

    I don't have one.  She must be confused with someone else.

    :-) Sure, I am, did I not see your photo?  I thought you had some shiny
    on there? :-)
    
    Something must be balding at your age!

    hair tends to do that when its clean, especially my color hair.
    
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                   oo$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o         o$   $$ o$
   o $ oo        o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o       $$ $$ $$o$
oo $ $ "$      o$$$$$$$$$    $$$$$$$$$$$$$    $$$$$$$$$o       $$$o$$o$
"$$$$$$o$     o$$$$$$$$$      $$$$$$$$$$$      $$$$$$$$$$o    $$$$$$$$
  $$$$$$$    $$$$$$$$$$$      $$$$$$$$$$$      $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
  $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$    $$$$$$$$$$$$$    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$  """$$$
   "$$$""""$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$     "$$$
    $$$   o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$     "$$$o
   o$$"   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$       $$$o
   $$$    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" "$$$$$$ooooo$$$$o
  o$$$oooo$$$$$  $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$   o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
  $$$$$$$$"$$$$   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$     $$$$""""""""
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            "$$$o     """$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"$$"         $$$
              $$$o          "$$""$$$$$$""""           o$$$
               $$$$o                 oo             o$$$"
                "$$$$o      o$$$$$$o"$$$$o        o$$$$
                  "$$$$$oo     ""$$$$o$$$$$o   o$$$$""
                     ""$$$$$oooo  "$$$o$$$$$$$$$"""
                        ""$$$$$$$oo $$$$$$$$$$
                                """"$$$$$$$$$$$
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               \|/ ____ \|/
                @~/ ,. \~@
               /_( \__/ )_\-----quiet chrome dome! 
               ~  \__U_/  ~ 

    .49
    
    Hey no hair on him either!

      All right..I'll spiritualize!
    
      "Grass doesn't grow where traffic is busy."
    
      Translation: If you think a lot, you're gonna grow bald.
    
      Inverse translation: Women generally don't grow bald because...
    
      (well, I'll hold on that one!!)

    :-)  

    I have just handed in my resignation from DIGITAL. I expect that my
    last day will be Friday the 6th of June. Its been a hard decision to
    make after 13 1/2 years here, but after much prayer and thought, I have
    decided.

    I'm moving to Canon, and its research and development section as an
    integrated circuit modelling software engineer. Its work that I shall
    enjoy more than the business type software I'm working on here in the
    Optus group.

    Working for a Japanese company will be different, and I ask for your
    prayers, that I may do God's will within the company.

    I'll miss this conference, and all the people within it. I would have
    liked to have met more of you (numerically speaking), and my thanks
    for the hospitality I received when in the USA.

    I expect to have a new e-mail address, but not until I start at Canon
    in July.

    "may the love of God be with you all"

Peter.

    "God made a few perfect heads - the rest He covered with hair"

    Peter,
    
    please keep in contact. My mail address is either
    [email protected] or [email protected] - you have James' I'm
    sure ;')
    
    H

    Re: Note 14.53 by AUSS::BELL
    
    > I'm moving to Canon, and its research and development section as an
    > integrated circuit modelling software engineer.
    
    People I know there include George Potkonyak, Graham Stoney, and Philip
    Craig.  Some of them might have moved since I knew they were there. 
    George is a Christian, but I can't remember the exact status of the
    other two.  Graham Stoney was the maintainer of the Suicide frequently
    asked questions document on the Internet.
    
    > Its work that I shall enjoy more than the business type software I'm
    > working on here in the Optus group.
    
    Know the feeling.  You stayed about a year longer than I expected you
    to.  I couldn't get out fast enough.  ;-)
    
    James

    Wow!  Peter will I still get those great Christmas CARDS??????
    
    Congratulations, my friend.  I hope you will stay in contact with me as
    well.

    Ha!  I couldn't help but snarf.

Hi Jill,

    It was the jokes told by youngsters like Mike I was thinking of.
    My oldest son is 26, and he doesn't realise that his reaction to his 
    grandfather's joke has degenerated into the same state ... of 
    repetition ;-}

Peter!

    We'll miss you! - all the best at Canon....

								Andrew

.43 � I think it is really great that all of you are still working at DEC
.43 � when you could be retired and enjoying life.

I also have a son (now 23) who remembers the time when he thought I must be
12 years old, because it seemed such a big number. 

Mike, while we may not attain the ages of the antediluvial patriarchs, we 
are not archived until our maturity fits us for higher service ... ;-)

							&rew

    Hi folks,
    
     Alive, and well... not so well. Oh well. The heart grows hard and cold
    towards the "loving" being known as God. Over the past several months,
    I've discovered God doesn't care HOW much internal pain exists. Doesn't
    seem willing to make changes I am humanly unable to. Prayers go
    unanswered, life is one empty painful day after another. blah blah blah. 
    The discouragement has turned to disgust, and in this process, whatever
    faith I thought I had has dwindled to "I believe there is a God", who
    is cold and cruel and doesn't care, and on and on and on...
    
      I could go on, but I have little or nothing to say that would be of
    any encouragement to anyone, so... I'll just ctrl z, and go to lunch.
    
     JPR
    
      

Jeff....

Most of us have gone through times where everything seemed just as you
describe.  And from my (all too fresh) remembrance of those times, anything I
might say to you now about things you already know about who God is and how
much He cares sound like just so many platitudes.

All I can say is:

I've been there.  Deeply there.
God brought me out.
And in the process I found that He cared more than I could imagine.

I'll pray for you.

Paul

    Hi Jeff,
    
    I'm glad you are back, I missed you.  I like the way you speak what
    you truly feel.  So does God I bet.  God really is love, although as
    you say, there have been many times when I seriously doubted that!
    
    
    Jill
    

    .61
    
    Hi Jeff,
    
    I'm going through similar emotions as you.  Internal pain?  More than I
    could express in 1000's of lines of text, and it has been with me for
    as long as I can remember.  Currently, I've got external
    pain that is seriously cramping not only my lifestyle, but my ability
    to "work off" stress in my life.  God has taken away my "safety valve",
    and has put me in very difficult times, seemingly rubbing my nose
    in it.  I doubt that it is coincidence that my physical injury happened
    when it did, and has lasted for as long as it has.  God is taking away
    all things that keep me from leaning upon Him.
    
    I've finally "given up".  I've chosen not to care any more... about the 
    pain.  I just accept it, telling God that I can't handle it on my own. 
    Oddly, when I stop fighting it (using my own strength to fix things, or
    my own methods of dealing with it), it seems to ease.  When I stop 
    focusing on circumstance, something that is very difficult for me, I see 
    just a tiny speck of light at the end of the dark tunnel.  That is the
    ray of hope God has held out to me.
    
    I hope you find your speck of light, and will pray for you.  Don't let
    your faith die... you'll find that if you do, you'll have nothing to
    cling to in your time of need, and this will multiply your stress
    greatly.
    
    My circumstaces may be different than yours, but I do understand where
    you are coming from.
    
    
    -steve                    

    Hi,
    
     Thanks for the replies, and the encouragement, but it seems it's all
    in the hands of God, and there is little, or nothing I can do but wait,
    and hang in there. Waiting is probably the least favorite of all things
    to do. As far as my being honest, I have no choice. God sees the heart,
    and He already knows, far more than I, what's going on in there.
    
     Part of the frustration is periodically seeing what appears to be
    "light at the end of the tunnel", and when it's just withing reach, a
    trap door opens up and drops me back into the darkness. There has been
    so much deception (perhaps self?), false hope, and being "mis-lead",
    while trying to be sensitive to the "voice of the Spirit", that I've
    given up listening to anything that may be a "voice". 
    
     Bitterness. So strong I can taste it. How does one remove bitterness?
    I've asked, and pleaded, but it still remains. Although the
    anger/hatred syndrome is of the flesh, the bitterness is deep, and has
    been there many years. I've forgiven everyone/anyone (very hard to
    forgive myself for inadequacies that I am not even responsible for),
    and cannot understand why the bitterness remains,
    
     Guess all that "faith in action" stuff I thought I learned might as
    well go into the trash. And it's really hard to "trust" God, especially
    after experiences have "burned" me, and left me disillusioned.
    
     Thanks,
    
    JPR
                       

    Jeff, I hope you will read topic 77.  I don't know if there is
    anything in my writing that will help you, but I pray that you find
    some encouragemnt.

    Time to brag a little on my son, Clayton!  He's 10 and he's a pitcher
    the Reds B-ball Pony team, the Mustang division.
    
    Last night he pitched the first 3 innings with 9 strike outs!
    
    They won the game 12 to 5.

>    Last night he pitched the first 3 innings with 9 strike outs!

Um..  That's EVERYBODY.  Tell him that I'm impressed.  :-)

Paul

    It was a good night!  So was everybody impressed. :-)

 absolutely!

      Clayton's a real good athlete though I can beat him in hoops.
      OK, so I got a couple feet and a few years on him - so what!
    
    						Tony

    ha! Tony dearest... you oughta come back and try him now! :-)  And
    Matthew has come a long way too on Hoops, there it is... :-)

      I think so far as I am concerned, the sooner the better!
      I doubt my vertical leap will get better with time!

    for the moms:
    
    How was your Mother's Day?

    Julie made me breakfast in bed!

FROM A SERMON ON PENTECOST BY BEDE

Behold how the Jewish feast of the Law is a foreshadowing of our
feast today.  When the children of Israel had been freed from
slavery in Egypt by the offering of the paschal lamb, they journeyed
through the desert toward the Promised Land, and they reached Mount
Sinai. On the fiftieth day after the Passover, the LORD descended
upon the mountain in fire, and with the sound of a trumpet and with
thunder and lightning, He gave them the ten commandments of the Law.
As a memorial of the giving of the Law, He decreed an annual feast
on that day, an offering of the first-fruits, in the form of two
loaves of bread, made from the first grain of the new harvest, which
were to be brought to the altar. We already know that the Passover
Lamb and the deliverance from Egypt foreshadow the death of Christ
and our deliverance from sin, as it is written: "Christ our Passover
Lamb is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor 5:7). He is the true Lamb Who has
taken away the sins of the world (John 1:29), Who has redeemed us
from the slavery  of sin at the price of His blood, and by the
example of His resurrection has shown us the hope of life and
everlasting liberty. The Law was given on the fiftieth day after the
slaying of the lamb, when the LORD descended upon the mountain in
fire; likewise on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of our
Redeemer, which is today, the grace of the Holy Spirit, descending
in the outward appearance of fire, was given to the disciples as
they were assembled in the upper room.

The height of the mountain, and the elevation of the upper room,
both indicate the sublimity of the commands and of the gifts. At the
sealing of the first covenant, the people remained at the base of
the mountain, a handful of elders went partway up, and only Moses
ascended to the summit. At the sealing of the second covenenant, the
whole community of God's people was gathered at the summit, in the
upper room. For the observance of the Law was given to only one
nation -- "He hath not dealt so with any nation, neither have the
heathen knowledge of His Law" (Psalm 147:20) -- but the gifts of the
Spirit to the Church are for the proclaiming of the Gospel to every
living person on the face of the earth -- "The LORD's name is
praised from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same"
Malachi 1:11.

On the Jewish feast of Pentecost, there were to be offered to the
LORD every year in perpetuity two loaves of bread, the first-fruits
of the new harvest. So at the descent of the Spirit the Gospel was
preached with power, and on that day many heard and believed and
were baptized, and from men of every nation under heaven about three
thousand souls were added to the Church, the first fruits of the new
covenant. So every year on the feast of Pentecost, the Church
baptizes, and so offers to the LORD an offering of the first-fruits
of the redeemed from the face of the earth, an offering of both Jews
and gentiles, as tokened by the two loaves.

Observe how the Law was given to the people of Israel on the
fiftieth day of their journey to the Land of Rest that was promised
to them in Canaan.  So likewise, the grace of the Spirit was given
to the people of the new covenant on the fiftieth day, that we might
perceive that our journey is directed toward that Heavenly Country
that is our Eternal Rest, our place of deep and abiding
satisfaction. In the law, the fiftieth year was ordered to be called
the Year of Jubilee. During that year, all debts were to be
cancelled, all slaves to be set free, the very beasts of burden to
be eased from their yokes, and the year given over to celebrating
the Divine praises. Therefore, by this number is rightly indicated
the tranquillity of that greatest peace when, at the sound of the
trumpet, the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall all be
changed into glory. Then, when we are freed from every yoke of sin,
and our debts, that is to say, our faults -- have all been forgiven
and cancelled, the entire company of the people of God will give
themselves over to contemplating the Heavenly Vision, and the
command of the LORD will be fulfilled: "Be still, and know that I am
God."

MEDITATION ON THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR PENTECOST

I adore Thee, my Lord, and God, the Eternal Paraclete, co-equal with
the Father and the Son. I adore Thee as the Life of all that live.
Through Thee the whole material Universe hangs together and
consists, remains in its place, and moves internally in the order
and reciprocity of its several parts. Through Thee the earth was
brought into its present state, and was matured through its six days
to be a habitation for man. Through Thee, all trees, herbs, fruits
thrive and are perfected. Through Thee, spring comes after winter
and renews all things. That wonderful and beautiful, that
irresistible burst into life again, in spite of all obstacles, that
awful triumph of nature, is but Thy glorious Presence.

Through Thee the many tribes of brute animals live day by day
drawing in their breath from Thee. Thou art the life of the whole
creation, O Eternal Paraclete -- and if of this animal and material
framework, how much more of the world of spirits! Through Thee,
Almighty Lord, the angels and saints sing Thee praises in heaven.
Through Thee our own dead souls are quickened to serve Thee. From
Thee is every good thought and desire, every good purpose, every
good effort, every good success. It is by Thee that sinners are
turned into saints. It is by Thee the Church is refreshed and
strengthened, and champions start forth,and martyrs are carried on
to their crown. I praise and adore Thee, my Sovereign Lord God, the
Holy Ghost.

I adore Thee, O dread Lord, for what Thou hast done for my soul. I
acknowledge and feel, not only as a matter of faith but of
experience, that I cannot have one good thought or do one good act
without Thee. I know, that if I attempt anything good in my own
strength, I shall to a certainty fail. I have bitter experience of
this. My God, I am only safe when Thou dost breathe upon me. If Thou
withdraw Thy breath, forthwith my three mortal enemies rush on me
and overcome me. I am as weak as water, I am utterly impotent
without Thee. The minute Thou dost cease to act in me, I begin to
languish, to gasp, and to faint away. Of my good desires, whatever
they may be, of my good aims and aspirations, attempts, successes,
habits, practices, Thou art the sole cause and present continual
source. I have nothing but what I have received, and I protest now
in Thy presence, O Sovereign Paraclete, that I have nothing to glory
in, and everything to be humbled at.

O my dear Lord, how merciful Thou hast been to me. When I was young,
Thou didst put into my heart a special devotion to Thee. Thou hast
taken me up in my youth, and in my age Thou wilt not forsake me. Not
for my merit, but from Thy free and bountiful love Thou didst put
good resolutions into me when I was young, and didst turn me to
Thee. Thou wilt never forsake me.  O keep me from lukewarmness and
sloth. O my dear Lord, lead me forward from strength to strength,
gently, sweetly, tenderly, lovingly, powerfully, effectually,
remembering my fretfulness and feebleness, till Thou bringest me
into Thy heaven.
     John H Newman, MEDITATIONS AND DEVOTIONS