OWNING OUR STORY: Brené Brown - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Rather...

 than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice,

we..?

 must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen.

This...

 is vulnerability?

 This...

 is daring greatly?”

~(Brown)~

Brené Brown - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Brené Brown (born November 18, 1965) is an American scholar, author, and public speaker, who is currently a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.[1] Over the last twelve years she has been involved in research on a range of topics, including vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. She is the author of two #1 New York Times Bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection (2010) and Daring Greatly (2012).

Brown began her career as a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.^[5] Her research focuses on authentic leadership and wholeheartedness in families, schools, and organizations.

Brown is the author of I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power (Penguin/Gotham, 2007), The Gifts of Imperfection: Letting Go of Who We Think We Should Be and Embracing Who We Are (Hazelden, 2010), and Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown (Gotham, 2012). Her articles have appeared in many national newspapers.

In March 2013, she appeared on Super Soul Sunday talking with Oprah Winfrey about her new book, Daring Greatly.^[13] The title of the book comes from Theodore Roosevelt’s speech “Citizenship in a Republic”, which is also referred as "The Man in the Arena" speech, given at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910.

Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness but it is also the birthplace of joy and creativity, of belonging, and of love. Brown asserts that we learned to protect ourselves from vulnerability-from being hurt, diminished, or disappointed-by putting on emotional armor and acting invulnerable when we were children. Brown finds three main “vulnerability shields.”

Foreboding instead of joy. When individuals start to feel joy, we wait for the other shoe to drop. We believe that when things are going well, disaster must be right around the corner. Practicing gratitude, joy is an invitation to acknowledge how truly grateful we are. Research participants consistently linked joy with gratitude, and saw gratitude as a spiritual practice that is associated to human connectedness and a greater power. Perfectionism, as Brown describes as the two hundred pound shield, is a self-destructive and addictive belief system. We think that if we are perfect, we can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame. Numbing is another shield, as in numbing ourselves emotionally. The need for numbing comes from the intolerable feelings of shame, anxiety, and disconnection. The reason for individual’s intolerance for vulnerability is scarcity, because of the “never enough” culture she claims people live in.

Defining vulnerability “as exposure, uncertainty, and emotional risk,” Brown maintains that this feeling is the crux of most of individuals meaningful experiences. Ultimately, she writes, it is not a weakness; everyone is vulnerable, everyone needs support from friends and family. Trust and vulnerability go hand in hand. Brown believes it is essential to expose oneself to a wide range of feelings in order to combat shame, break down the walls of perfectionism and stop the act of disengagement that separates many from themselves and others. Gaining a sense of courage and learn how to create meaningful connection. “Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice,” (Brown) she writes, “we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly.” (Brown)

PREVENIENT GRACE: Consecration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you..."

~(Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV))~

 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

~(John 11:25-26)~

 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

~(John 12:32)~

Consecration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word consecration literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups. A synonym for to consecrate is to sanctify; a distinct antonym is to desecrate.



Consecrated life



The life of those who enter religious institutes and similar institutes is also described as Consecrated Life.





A rite of consecration of virgins can be traced back at least to the fourth century.[2] By the time of the Second Vatican Council, use of this rite was limited to cloistered nuns.[3] The Council directed that the then existing rite should be revised.[4] Two similar versions were prepared, one for women living in monastic orders, another for consecrated virgins living in the world. An English translation of the rite for those living in the world is available on the web site of the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins.





Churches, altars, and other ritual objects




Chrism, used as anointing oil, is (usually scented) olive oil consecrated by a bishop.





Objects such as patens and chalices, used for the Sacrament of the Eucharist, also used to be consecrated by a bishop, using chrism.





A more solemn rite exists for what used to be called the consecration of an altar, either of the altar alone or as the central part of the rite for a church. The rite is now called the dedication.[5][6] Since it would be contradictory to dedicate to the service of God a mortgage-burdened building, the rite of dedication of a church is carried out only if the building is debt-free. Otherwise, it is only blessed.





Eucharist





A very special act of consecration is that of the bread and wine used in the Eucharist, which according to Catholic belief involves their change into the Body and Blood of Christ, a change referred to as transubstantiation. To consecrate the bread and wine, the priest speaks the Words of Institution.

***

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

~(John 3:14-18)~

Prevenient grace 



Prevenient grace is a Christian theological concept rooted in Arminian theology,^[1] though it appeared earlier in Catholic theology.^[2] It is divine grace that precedes human decision. It exists prior to and without reference to anything humans may have done. As humans are corrupted by the effects of sin, prevenient grace allows persons to engage their God-given free will to choose the salvation offered by God in Jesus Christ or to reject that salvific offer.

Prevenient grace is embraced primarily by Arminian Christians who are influenced by the theology of Jacob Arminius or John Wesley. Whereas Augustine held that prevenient grace cannot be resisted, Wesleyan Arminians believe that it enables, but does not ensure, personal acceptance of the gift of salvation. Wesley typically referred to it in 18th-century language as prevenient grace. In modern English, the phrase preceding grace would have a similar meaning.

Arminian Free Will Baptist theologian Robert E. Picirilli says that the word "prevenient" in prevenient grace comes from an archaic English usage meaning "anticipating," "going before," or "preceding."^[3] Picirilli says that a good synonym for "prevenient grace" is "enabling grace," as it enables sinful mankind to believe.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline (2004) defines prevenient grace as "...the divine love that surrounds all humanity and precedes any and all of our conscious impulses. This grace prompts our first wish to please God, our first glimmer of understanding concerning God's will, and our 'first slight transient conviction' of having sinned against God. God's grace also awakens in us an earnest longing for deliverance from sin and death and moves us toward repentance and faith."

Thomas Oden of Drew University defines prevenient grace as, "...the grace that begins to enable one to choose further to cooperate with saving grace. By offering the will the restored capacity to respond to grace, the person then may freely and increasingly become an active, willing participant in receiving the conditions for justification."

Infant baptism is seen in Methodism as a celebration of prevenient grace. Although infant baptism is important for the life journey of the faithful disciple, it is not essential.

In John Wesley's sermon "On Working Out Our Own Salvation" (sermon #85), Wesley stated that prevenient grace elicits, "...the first wish to please God, the first dawn of light concerning His will, and the first slight transient conviction of having sinned against Him."

Wesley insisted on prevenient grace as a solution to two great problems in Christianity: the belief of original sin and the Protestant doctrine of salvation by grace alone. Wesley thought that prevenient grace enabled the doctrines of original sin and salvation by grace to co-exist while still maintaining God's sovereignty and holy character as well as human freedom.

Calvinists often object to prevenient grace, falsely claiming it allows for Pelagianism or Semipelagianism. Arminius recognized the possibility of this objection. Theologian Robert E. Picirilli writes, quoting Arminius, that:

What Arminius meant by "prevenient grace" was that grace that precedes actual regeneration and which, except when finally resisted, inevitably leads to regeneration. He was quick to observe that this "assistance of the Holy Spirit" is of such sufficiency "as to keep at the greatest possible distance from Pelagianism."^[3]

Calvinists have their own doctrine of prevenient grace, which they identify with the act of regeneration and which is immediately and necessarily followed by faith.^[11] Because of the necessity of salvation following this dispensation of prevenient grace, it is called irresistible grace. Wesleyan prevenient grace also contrasts with the Calvinist understanding of common grace by which God shows general mercy to everyone (Matt. 5:43-48), restrains sin, and gives humankind a knowledge of God and of their sinfulness and need of rescue from sin. Common grace is thus said to leave people without excuse. Arminians object that Calvinist common grace leaves people absolutely incapable of coming to God (a point on which Calvinists agree) and thus do not believe it leaves them without excuse.

Calvinists further maintain that when the Bible speaks of humanity's condition of total depravity, of spiritual death, it speaks of it as an actuality, not a hypothetical condition that prevenient grace resolves for everyone, as they believe the Wesleyan doctrine teaches. Calvinists see all people as either dead in their sins or alive in Christ (Eph. 2:1-5), and they see the Wesleyan doctrine of prevenient grace as creating a third state, neither dead nor alive.^[12] Calvinists understand "dead in sin" to mean absolutely unable to choose God, whereas Arminians understand it to mean the state of being separated from God by sin, but capable of choosing God.

Some Calvinists (and others) derisively refer to the Wesleyan concept of prevenient grace as "universal enablement." They characterize the Wesleyan view as teaching that God has restored to every individual the ability to seek after God and choose salvation and as not being justified by the Bible.^[13][14] They argue that because this grace is supposedly given to all alike, the determining factor in salvation becomes the will of man. Calvinists believe that Wesleyans teach that God seeks all people equally, and if it weren't for the fact that some were willing to respond to his promptings and persuasions, no one would be saved. They see this dependence on the will and choice of the individual as a good work required for salvation and thus an implicit rejection of salvation by grace alone. Conversely, in Calvinism it is singularly God's own will and pleasure that brings salvation (see monergism) lest salvation be, at least in part, "of ourselves" in contrast to Ephesians 2:8-9.

Wesleyans counter these objections by claiming that God has initiated salvation through prevenient grace, and while human beings still maintain God-given free will to respond to that initiative, salvation is still initiated (and ultimately activated), by God, through justifying grace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevenient_grace

Holy Wednesday - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Holy Wednesday - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: In Christianity, Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday,^[1] also called Holy and Great Wednesday in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, is the Wednesday of Holy Week, the week before Easter. It is followed by Maundy Thursday.

In the New Testament, just after Palm Sunday, the Sanhedrin gathered together and plotted to kill Jesus, even before the feast of Pesach.[2] On the Wednesday before his death, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper. As they sat at the supper table, a woman named Mary anointed Jesus' head and feet with costly oil of spikenard.[3] The disciples were indignant, asking why the oil was not instead sold and the money given to the poor.[4] But Judas wanted to keep the money for himself.[5][6] Then Judas went to the Sanhedrin and offered to deliver Jesus to them in exchange for money. From this moment on, Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.[7]

In the Orthodox Church, the theme of Holy and Great Wednesday is the commemoration of the sinful woman who anointed Jesus before his Crucifixion and Burial; a second theme is the agreement to betray Jesus made by Judas Iscariot.

The day begins with the celebration of the Presanctified Liturgy on Tuesday afternoon. Later that evening (in parish practice) or early the following morning, the matins follows the special Holy Week format known as the Bridegroom Service. Towards the end of matins, the Hymn of Kassiani is sung. The hymn, (written in the 9th century by Kassia) tells of the woman who washed Christ's feet in the house of Simon the Leper. (Luke 7:36-50) Much of the hymn is written from the perspective of the sinful woman:

O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, sensing Your Divinity, takes upon herself the duty of a myrrh-bearer. With lamentations she brings you myrrh in anticipation of your entombment. "Woe to me!" she cries, "for me night has become a frenzy of licentiousness, a dark and moonless love of sin. Receive the fountain of my tears, O You who gather into clouds the waters of the sea. Incline unto me, unto the sighings of my heart, O You who bowed the heavens by your ineffable condescension. I will wash your immaculate feet with kisses and dry them again with the tresses of my hair; those very feet at whose sound Eve hid herself in fear when she heard You walking in Paradise in the twilight of the day. As for the multitude of my sins and the depths of Your judgments, who can search them out, O Savior of souls, my Savior? Do not disdain me Your handmaiden, O You who are boundless in mercy."

The Byzantine musical composition expresses the poetry so strongly that it often leaves many people in a state of prayerful tears. The Hymn can last upwards of 25 minutes and is liturgically and musically a highpoint of the entire year.

In reference to Judas Iscariot's intent to betray Jesus, formed on Holy Wednesday, the day is sometimes called "Spy Wednesday".

PROVERB 16: ! :Muath al-Kasasbeh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Muath al-Kasasbeh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Muath Safi Yousef al-Kasasbeh (Arabic: معاذ صافي يوسف الكساسبة‎ South Levantine pronunciation: [mʊˈʕaːð-, mʊˈʕaːz ˈsˤɑːfi ˈjuːsef el kaˈsaːsbe]; 29 May 1988[1] – c. 3 January 2015)[2] was a Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot.

Al-Kasasbeh's F-16 fighter aircraft crashed near Raqqa, Syria, on 24 December 2014 during the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). United States and Jordanian officials said that the crash was caused by mechanical problems, while ISIL claimed that the plane was hit by a heat-seeking missile.[3][4]

ISIL held al-Kasasbeh captive before killing him in early January 2015. It then conducted negotiations with the Jordanian government, claiming it would spare al-Kasabeh's life and free Japanese journalist Kenji Goto in exchange for Sajida al-Rishawi, a woman sentenced to death by Jordan for attempted terrorism and possessing explosives.[5] After the Jordanian government insisted on freeing al-Kasasbeh as part of the deal and showing proof that he was alive before it would exchange al-Rishawi, the Islamic State released a video on 3 February 2015 showing al-Kasasbeh being burned to death while trapped inside a cage.

Al-Kasasbeh was burned to death by ISIL members in January 2015.^[5][24] His killing was recorded on video and shown near the end of a 22-minute "snuff film" entitled Healing the Believers' Chests, credited to the Islamic State's official Al Furqan Media Foundation and distributed via a Twitter account known as a source for ISIL propaganda, and on video-sharing sites.^{[21][25][26][27]}

The video shows him with a black left eye, first at a table and then confined in a black steel cage outdoors and dressed in an orange jumpsuit doused in gasoline. He was burned alive while numerous armed men in sand-colored balaclavas and desert-style camouflage watch. A truck finally extinguishes the fire by dumping rocks and sand on it.^[26]

Most Western media outlets refused to show the full video, sometimes describing it or showing images immediately preceding al-Kasasbeh's immolation.^[30] Fox News posted the complete video on its website.^[31]

Al-Kasasbeh was one of eight children, including an elder brother, Jawdat Safi al-Kasasbeh, born to Issaf and Safi Yousef al-Kasasbeh, a retired education professor, in Al Karak, Jordan.^[6][7][8] He was a Sunni Muslim.^[9] The al-Kasasbehs are a prominent Jordanian family of the influential Sunni Muslim Bararsheh tribe from southern Jordan.^[10] His uncle, Fahed al-Kasasbeh, was a Major General in the Royal Jordanian Army.

Al-Kasasbeh married engineer Anwar al-Tarawneh in September 2014.^[13] Prior to his capture, al-Kasasbeh lived in the village of Ay in the Karak Mountains in Karak Governorate, 90 miles (140 km) south of Amman.^[10][14]

 

EMORY POLICE FINALLY RESPONDS: BY MAIL?

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2015/04/its-not-fall-that-kills-you-its-change.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2015/02/office-of-president-james-wagner.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-captain-elliot-and-sergeant-harper.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2015/02/two-sock-monkeys-missing-speak-no-evil.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2015/02/gods-silence-in-penultimacy-god-is-your.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-captain-elliot-simply-jims-revised.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2015/01/detective-sergeant-john-harper-captain.html

http://www.twistedpurplecow.blogspot.com/2014/02/every-head-bowed-and-every-eyeclosed.html

http://www.twistedpurplecow.blogspot.com/2014/02/just-got-back-from-courthouse-downtown.html

http://www.twistedpurplecow.blogspot.com/2014/06/if-i-bear-witness-of-myself-my-witness.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/first-united-methodist-church-of.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/emory-police-vs-glenn-memorials-umc.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/white-methodist-god-specializes-in_24.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/care-and-counseling-center-of-georgia.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/hello-officer-lorena-do-you-even-know.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/dekalb-county-jail-and-missing-milk.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-balanced-and-tragic-vision-of.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-conflict-of-visions-wikipedia-free.html

http://minusfleshequalswaterandspirits.blogspot.com/2014/12/white-methodist-god-specializes-in.html

Received this piece of mail from the Emory Police approximately 2 1/2 weeks ago.    

Have not opened it yet. 

Even if the four incidence reports I'm understanding the Emory Police to have in this active file under my name is enclosed within this envelope; way to thin to contain what it should considering all I've been put through getting this far in my request asking to inspect this file and to receive copies of it as well.

Do plan on opening it eventually.