Exasperated! Angry! Disgusted! At your wits end! In our world today our lives are chaotic at best and often reflect the world around us. This is a space regardless of faith, race, nationality, age, family status or gender for the discussion of the individual’s spiritual journey. This is a journey of how we come to terms with ourselves, develop our strength and find inner peace. Join me, and share in the adventure.
Many Meals for 500 weeks! The Wednesday Night Many Meals program at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Paula recently celebrated its 500th week. The outreach program was started by a group known as the Spirit of Santa Paula, which quickly outgrew its home and moved to the First Presbyterian Church. Serving between 500 and 600 meals each week the guests include the lonely, the elderly, the needy, children, farm workers and people trying to make meager incomes stretch between paychecks. Shown is Kay Wilson-Bolton, one of the hardworking Many Meals volunteers and her friends on a Wednesday evening. They are perfect examples of God’s lights shining in the darkness.
Messages
We do good work not to earn our salvation. We do good work because we are already saved. God expects us to be part of the world around us, helping where we can and encouraging people to reach their full potential. It is through our good works that we become God’s lights shining in the darkness. The September message is from Matthew 5:14-16 where Jesus tells us to be lights shining in the darkness.
A man moves forward on his knees toward the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fátima, Portugal. The Pénitent Way starts in front the Church of the Trinity and flows downward for about 600 feet to end before the Basilica. The journey is hard on the knees. Even with knees in good shape, there are small slivers of stone and grit on the path. These work into your knees…it is not so much about theology, or belief…these elements come together to provide the faith it takes to endure the Pénitent Way.
My Blog: Thoughts and Reflections
Our Lady of the Rosary in Fátima, Portugal
On June 13, 1917 Francisco Marto (8 years old), his sister Jacinta (7 years old) and cousin Lúcia dos Santos (10 years old) were tending sheep when they saw a beautiful woman dressed in white and shining brighter than the sun. She appeared in an oak tree in Cora da Iria, on the edge of Fátima, Portugal, a small village about 75 miles north of Lisbon. When we visited the site in April 2024, no matter your religious leaning, what really impressed me was the sheer faith of the believers met.
A short slide show is available at:
Our Lady of the Rosary in Fátima, Portugal
Continue with the link below to more of the story.
There is something about a wall of tile. This one has to do with history. This is representation of the Tagus River front of Lisbon before the earthquake of 1755. The tile wall was originally in the Ancient palace of the Counts of Tentúga. In 1865 the palace was renamed the Cadaval Palace and is located in Évora, Portugal across form the 1st century Roman Temple.
Museu Nacional do Azulejo National Tile Museum
We had read that the Tile Museum in Lisbon was a “must see” site. So we plotted our course to get there. It is full of “Wow Moments,” and the time spent there you will cherish and remember.
We took the 159 bus west along the Tagus River getting off at the Igreja Madre Dues stop. We crossed the Rua da Cingular a do Porto (a very busy major thoroughfare). We walked past a car dealership, turned left down a narrow street for a few feet and stopped in front of an unimpressive looking large white building, with a single flag flying street side, advertising the Museum Nacional do Azulejo (Portuguese for National Museum of Azulejo / National Tile Museum). The National Tile Museum is a celebration of traditional Portuguese tile work spanning 500 years. The collection, located in the Madre de Deus Convent, is one of the largest ceramics collections in the world.
A short Slideshow is available at:
Museu Nacional do Azulejo - National Tile Museum
Continue with the link below to more of the story.