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Fw: Words Trivia (4/27/2025): ? Which sentence uses "vindictive" correctly?
Mary? Live long and prosper |
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Re: [ForAllThings] Fw: Words Trivia (4/27/2025): ? What does "vagary" mean?
YAY!!! I got this right. Mary? Live long and prosper
On Monday, April 28, 2025 at 01:36:19 AM CDT, Mary Landers via groups.io <maryeland@...> wrote:
Mary? Live long and prosper |
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Fw: Words Trivia (4/27/2025): ? What does "vagary" mean?
Mary? Live long and prosper |
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WDRV's Rock 'N Roll Roots with Bob Stroud
![]() Rock ¡®N Roll RootsRock ¡®N Roll Roots with host Bob Stroud airs every Sunday from?9 am to Noon on The Drive. Roots is a Chicago institution with a 30-year history on the radio airwaves. Bob Stroud demonstrates his vast rock & roll knowledge and spreads his musical wings for our Sunday morning entertainment and now rebroadcasted from 9 pm to Midnight. You can e-mail Bob Stroud?at?bstroud@...?or?follow him on Facebook. ROCK 'N ROLL ROOTS FOR 4.27.2025 Featuring the 60s and 70s Root Salute to: Tommy James & The Shondells Mary |
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Inspiring Quotes for Sunday, April 27, 2025
Fear has a very concrete power of keeping us from doing and saying the things that are our purpose.Luvvie Ajayi In her popular??¡°Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable,¡± bestselling author, speaker, and podcast host Luvvie Ajayi pointed out the undeniable power of fear. That powerful force can wind up controlling our actions ¡ª or inaction, as is often the case. But Ajayi encouraged her audience to use it as a motivator. ¡°I'm not going to let fear dictate what I do,¡± she said. ¡°Anything that scares me, I'm going to actively pursue it.¡± Feeling afraid doesn¡¯t have to be a warning sign of what to avoid; instead, it can act as a beacon, lighting a path for us to?, which is the only way to grow. MaryLive long and prosper |
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Re: Fw: Celebrity Birthdays for April 27
Happy birthday to all and may all be celebrating a birthday next year? ![]() Mary Live long and prosper
On Sunday, April 27, 2025 at 10:24:32 PM CDT, Mary Landers via groups.io <maryeland@...> wrote:
From: Jackie Schmitt Here's today's celebrity birthdays. Jackie
?
April 27: Singer Kate Pierson of The B-52¡äs is 77. ? Singer Herbie Murrell of The Stylistics is 76.
Actor Douglas Sheehan (¡°Knots Landing¡±) is 76. ? Guitarist Ace Frehley (Kiss) is 74. ? Singer Sheena Easton is 66. ? Actor James Le Gros (¡°Ally McBeal¡±) is 63. ? Bassist Rob Squires of Big Head Todd and the Monsters is 60. ? Singer Mica Paris is 56. ? Actor David Lascher (¡°Sabrina, The Teenage Witch¡±) is 53.
Actor Maura West (¡°General Hospital¡±) is 53. ? Actor Sally Hawkins (¡°The Shape of Water¡±) is 49. ? Drummer Patrick Hallahan of My Morning Jacket is 47.
Singer Jim James of My Morning Jacket is 47. ? Singer Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 46.
Bassist Joseph Pope III of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats is 46. ? Guitarist John Osborne of Brothers Osborne is 43. ? Actor Francis Capra (¡°Veronica Mars¡±) is 42.
Actor Ari Graynor (¡°Nick and Norah¡¯s Infinite Playlist¡±) is 42. ? Singer-guitarist Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy is 41. ? Actor Sheila Vand (¡°24: Legacy¡±) is 40. ? Actor Jenna Coleman (¡°Victoria,¡± ¡åDoctor Who¡±) is 39.
Singer Nick Noonan of Karmin is 39. ? Actor William Moseley (¡°The Chronicles of Narnia¡±) is 38. ? Singer Lizzo is 37. ? Actor Emily Rios (¡°Breaking Bad¡±) is 36.
Mary Live long and prosper |
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Fw: Celebrity Birthdays for April 27
From: Jackie Schmitt Here's today's celebrity birthdays. Jackie
?
April 27: Singer Kate Pierson of The B-52¡äs is 77. ? Singer Herbie Murrell of The Stylistics is 76.
Actor Douglas Sheehan (¡°Knots Landing¡±) is 76. ? Guitarist Ace Frehley (Kiss) is 74. ? Singer Sheena Easton is 66. ? Actor James Le Gros (¡°Ally McBeal¡±) is 63. ? Bassist Rob Squires of Big Head Todd and the Monsters is 60. ? Singer Mica Paris is 56. ? Actor David Lascher (¡°Sabrina, The Teenage Witch¡±) is 53.
Actor Maura West (¡°General Hospital¡±) is 53. ? Actor Sally Hawkins (¡°The Shape of Water¡±) is 49. ? Drummer Patrick Hallahan of My Morning Jacket is 47.
Singer Jim James of My Morning Jacket is 47. ? Singer Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 46.
Bassist Joseph Pope III of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats is 46. ? Guitarist John Osborne of Brothers Osborne is 43. ? Actor Francis Capra (¡°Veronica Mars¡±) is 42.
Actor Ari Graynor (¡°Nick and Norah¡¯s Infinite Playlist¡±) is 42. ? Singer-guitarist Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy is 41. ? Actor Sheila Vand (¡°24: Legacy¡±) is 40. ? Actor Jenna Coleman (¡°Victoria,¡± ¡åDoctor Who¡±) is 39.
Singer Nick Noonan of Karmin is 39. ? Actor William Moseley (¡°The Chronicles of Narnia¡±) is 38. ? Singer Lizzo is 37. ? Actor Emily Rios (¡°Breaking Bad¡±) is 36.
Mary Live long and prosper |
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Fw: Music History for April 27
From: Jackie Schmitt
Mary Live long and prosper |
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Fw: Nice News (4/27/2025): What cheerleading used to look like
Get your pom-poms out ¡ª it¡¯s time to celebrate one of America¡¯s oldest sports! The 2025 Cheerleading Worlds kicked off Friday at the ESPN Wide World
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Fw: Wordsmith (4/27/2025): AWADmail Issue 1191
Apr 27, 2025
This week¡¯s themeDickensian eponyms This week¡¯s words How popular are they? AWADmail archives Next week¡¯s theme Words that aren¡¯t what they appear to be Make a gift that keeps on giving, all year long: or AWADmail Issue 1191A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and LanguageSponsor¡¯s Message: ¡°A Classical Education is priceless. Which is why we¡¯re offering ours for free.¡± Old¡¯s Cool Academy Back-to-Basics Summer Camp starts July 1st. . From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: In this week¡¯s A.Word.A.Day I asked our readers what fictional character they would like to turn into an eponym. Here¡¯s a selection from the responses.
My candidate for eponym is (Kenneth) Widmerpool, the main character in
Anthony Powell¡¯s 3,000-page, 12-novel cycle, A Dance to the Music of
Time. He is a spectacularly, wonderfully, exuberantly loathsome character
who reinvents himself so many times, so many ways, that it staggers the
imagination. Nobody much likes him, with good reason, but by sheer force of
will, he achieves great success -- for a while. I once had a Solomon Islands
eclectus parrot baby I named Widmerpool, but he escaped the house. So,
a Widmerpool would be a laughable, ridiculous figure who surprises you. A
little, but only a little, like Trump.
-Ben Silverman, Playas de Rosarito, Mexico (bajabensilverman gmail.com) Spock: Logical, not emotional. After Mr. Spock of Star Trek. -Oberon Zell, Asheville, North Carolina (oberon mcn.org) Tom Parsons: Someone who consistently works against their own best interests; a happy conformist who is making it clear to everyone that he¡¯s happily conforming, to keep himself safe from the judgement of other conformists. Everybody who reads 1984 thinks they would be Winston Smith and not Tom Parsons. Until the cage of rats. ¡°He loved Big Brother¡± is the most soul-crushing final line in literature. -Bill Young, Vernon, Connecticut (billsplut gmail.com) Yossarian: A person who seems paranoid but isn¡¯t, because people really are out to get him. After Capt. John Yossarian in Joseph Heller¡¯s novel, Catch-22. -Jim Distelhorst, Edmonds, Washington (jim.distelhorst gmail.com) Marlowe: To investigate someone or something of dubious character. After my favorite character in fiction, the down-at-the-heels private detective Philip Marlowe. -Tom Furgas, Youngstown, Ohio (tofu4879 gmail.com) Leibowitz: To study diligently. After the monks in Walter M. Miller Jr¡¯s classic sci-fi novel A Canticle for Leibowitz who spend centuries preserving the work of Isaac Edward Leibowitz, the patron of their order. -David Santangelo, Stevens Point, Wisconsin (dcsantangelo2005 comcast.net) Rick Blaine: to do the right thing in a difficult situation -- despite great personal cost. After Rick Blaine, owner of Rick¡¯s American Caf¨¦ in the film Casablanca, who did the right thing in giving up Ilsa to support the work of Laszlo fighting the Naz¦És. Example: President Biden rick blained when he withdrew his candidacy in the 2020 election, and threw his weight behind Kamala Harris, hoping to achieve a Democratic victory over Donald Trump. -Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York (gannamconsulting earthlink.net) Snopes: A person lacking either conscience or ethics who achieves power and riches for his own needs. In his book The Hamlet William Faulkner creates the quietly cunning Flem Snopes, who quietly but effectively gains control of the riches and property of an entire community. Gradually but surely squeezing out more ethical competitors, he smothers what is good and traditional in the local culture. (All three volumes of the Snopes Trilogy are challenging reading in any decade, but perhaps very well-suited for the present!). -Dave Campbell, Dayton, Washington (museumofdave gmail.com) Scout: An extremely good-hearted, empathetic, thoughtful, confident, and highly intelligent tomboy in the best and most positive sense of the word. After Scout, one of my favorite characters in fiction, in To Kill A Mockingbird from Harper Lee. -Gary Vollmer, Kassel, Germany (gary.vollmer arcor.de) Javert: A person who sticks wholly to the letter of the law, for whom everything is only black & white and who has no real kindness or forgiveness for anyone who¡¯s made a mistake. After the police inspector in Les Mis¨¦rables. There are no second chances with a Javert. Of course, in the end, a Javert always self-destructs, even though we may not be around to see it. -Margaret Breuer, Sarasota, Florida (mabreuer0519 gmail.com) Granny Weatherwax: a confident woman who defends others as needed. After Granny Weatherwax, a character from Terry Pratchett¡¯s wonderful Discworld. -Lauren Mulcahy, Cape Town, South Africa (gorlockza yahoo.com)
Email of the Week -- Brought to you by Hamlet, Beauty, Pistons, and Fishing. .
When my wife and I are watching a comic scene on television or at a play and the main character gets into a pickle that grows ever more absurdly worse as the scene progresses, we often say, ¡°Oh, boy. I can¡¯t watch. That¡¯s too Lucy.¡± The reference is to the many antics and ridiculous lengths of the late comedienne Lucille Ball on the television hit from the 1950s, I Love Lucy, such as the infamous scene (, 3 min.) in the chocolate factory¡¯s wrapping department. We also use the eponym to describe an appliance that goes awry, like so many did in Lucy¡¯s home. For example we had a ¡°Lucy toaster¡± that would pop the finished toast high up in the air, requiring a bit of acrobatics to catch it before it hit the ground. And we had a ¡°Lucy washing machine¡± that tended to get so badly out of balance it would walk across the room and ooze prodigious amounts of soap bubbles out from around the lid. I think Dickens would approve. -Terry Stone, Goldendale, Washington (cgs7952 bellsouth.net) Kirkify: To talk an overwhelmingly powerful adversary to death when all else fails. From Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. (, 9 min.) -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) I have Sherlocked, but it was when I was looking for something for my wife who had been on the couch feeling ill. I checked everywhere, tearing the couch apart, searching on and under the coffee table, in the refrigerator?! Finally, I announced that it had to be under the couch since it was nowhere else. With a flourish, I checked and there it was! -Steve Reinheimer, Lake Placid, New York (sreinheimer gmail.com) Hermione: A very clever person. After Hermione Granger, a character in JK Rowling¡¯s Harry Potter series. -Vivaan Jain Tomar, 11 years old, Mumbai Maharashtra (vivaanjaintomar gmail.com) Gamgee: A true and loyal friend who would do anything, including facing real dangers, for a friend. After Sam Gamgee, a friend of Frodo Baggins in JRR Tolkien¡¯s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sam sacrificed much, even risking death to help Frodo complete his mission. -Christopher Laryck, Niagara Falls, Canada (seigeehcj gmail.com) From: Robert Burns (robertburns oblaw.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day-- Thinking that the character looked and acted a lot like Trump I did a quick search and . Robert Burns, Ocean Beach, California From: Patrice Curedale (patrice.curedale gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day-- I was the Artful Dodger in, hmm, 7th grade. Still a child. Community theater. Oh how I loved every moment! Even in our tiny town we had enough talent to make magic. Our Oliver had the sweetest treble. And Sykes was sooooo scary. Nancy was warm and beautiful. Sigh. One of the highlights of my life. Watching your clip of the film I thought perhaps it should run now with Musk as Fagin, and his DOGE gang picking our pockets. Patrice Curedale, Woodland Hills, California Subject: Artful Dodger and Dickens Here, I¡¯ve envisioned LA Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani as a playful prankster back in his Little League days in his native Japan, caught red-handed by his coach stealing base pads from the ballpark. Fast-forward to 2024 and designated hitter Ohtani¡¯s magical first season with the Dodgers when he broke Major League Baseball¡¯s longstanding 50-50 barrier, i.e., combining 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season for the first time in history. Any avid reader of Charles Dickens¡¯ novels will be struck by his coining of some of the quirkiest, most evocative character names in all of English literature. Here, a pensive Dickens recalls the surnames of some of them. Not a commonplace one in the lot. Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California Anagrams
Make your own and . Limericks Podsnap Trump, self-satisfied down to his core, Is convinced that he¡¯s smart; and what¡¯s more, In his Podsnap-like way He¡¯ll confirm every day, That his hair¡¯s what the people adore. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) That Podsnap will say with a smirk, ¡°I know that my tariffs will work.¡± But his trust in his gut Is the act of a nut Called by some a self-satisfied j¦Årk. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) My poor kitty has gone to God¡¯s lap; He will find that she¡¯s quite a podsnap. While He shouts, ¡°I¡¯m almighty!¡± She¡¯ll shed on His nightie, And think He¡¯s a rather odd chap. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Turveydrop Without substance, but with lots of show, A Turveydrop, as we all know, Will be preening and prancing. He¡¯ll for sure call it dancing; And on everyone¡¯s nerves he will grow. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) Mr. Turveydrop, Dickens would say, Was a model for folks in his day. Who demonstrates how We ought to act now? The Kardashians show us the way! -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Said Donald, ¡°You¡¯re surely no Turveydrop, And you certainly have a nice curvy top. Come to bed now, ok?¡± Answered Stormy, ¡°You¡¯ll pay; It¡¯s six figures to go with a ´Ú´Ç±è.¡± -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Stiggins Just look at that awful red nose! It¡¯s not only bulbous, it glows! That Stiggins! He¡¯s lyin¡¯ While preachin¡¯ (or tryin¡¯!) He¡¯ll be off to the pubs ¡®til they close! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) There once was a priest, who did toy With a savvy, alert altar boy. And you¡¯ll have to agree, That a Stiggins was he; Even though all he did was annoy. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) That Stiggins will preach about piety, While notably lacking sobriety. A hypocrite? Yes! But somehow -- God bless! -- This causes him little anxiety! -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Said Liza, ¡°You¡¯re daft, ¡¯enry ¡¯iggins; No gent-lman, merely a Stiggins! You¡¯re a t¦Ïsser, a twit, A knob, w¦Ánker, and git, And your b¦Ïllocks are certainly big-uns!¡± -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Pecksniff A Pecksniff I recently met Did lecture me sternly, but yet As I soon would find out He was really a lout. Would he sell his own mother? You bet! -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) That fellow lauds family life, But privately cheats on his wife. He¡¯s at home in DC, As you¡¯d think he might be -- In Congress such pecksniffs are rife. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) ¡°I never will swallow your if You continue to be a damn pecksniff,¡± Said McCoy. Answered Spock, ¡°You¡¯re illogical, Doc.¡± Every week those two had a Star Trek tiff. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Artful Dodger A young Artful Dodger today Picked my pocket, and I¡¯m in dismay. And I ask: ¡°Why the Dickens Was I such easy pickins?¡± We¡¯re here, not in London, I say. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) Artful Dodgers abound in the city, And their victims are people I pity. , Then you should be aware The result will not likely be pretty. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) A pickpocket master was Jack. For thievery, he had a knack. ¡°A true Artful Dodger,¡± Dubbed Fagin, a codger. ¡°Now boys, it¡¯s his gift that you lack.¡± -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) ¡°I¡¯m immune as the White House¡¯s lodger -- The world¡¯s number one Artful Dodger!¡± Laughed Donald. ¡°My crew Is safe here with me too; Raise our flag, boys, the new !¡± -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns ¡°Take each podsnap it open and eat the peas inside,¡± read the instructions on the package. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) ¡°If we turn the plain meaning of the Constitution topsy-turveydrop-ping all pretense of the rule of law, we can make America great again!¡± said Donald. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) ¡°I¡¯ll bu-stiggins¡¯ b¦Ôtt for ¡®ow ¡®e treats me!¡± said Liza Doolittle. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) ¡°To be sure of freshness, before you pecksniff,¡± read the warning label on the chicken feed package. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) ¡°If the woman ahead of thee hath of groceries a c-artful dodger for a different checkout line,¡± the Quaker advised her friend at the supermarket. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) The great pitcher Sandy Koufax was nicknamed by many, The Artful Dodger. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national
existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon¡¯s
but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition,
ambition, and ignorance on the other. -Ulysses S. Grant, military commander,
18th US President (27 Apr 1822-1885)
This week¡¯s sponsors are:
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Fw: My Modern Met - April 27 Daily Digest
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Fw: This Day in History (April 27): 4977 B.C.: Universe is created, according to Kepler
Mary Live long and prosper |
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Fw: On This Day in History (April 27): Spanish Settle in the Philippines, 1st Labor Government and a Record-Breaking Female Pilot
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Fw: Peace, Hope and Healing From A Wounded Place
From:?Gregory Fry Today's Scripture: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ¡°Peace be with you.¡± When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.? Jesus said to them again, ¡°Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.¡± And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ¡°Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.¡± Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, ¡°We have seen the Lord.¡± But he said to them, ¡°Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.¡± Now a week later His disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, ¡°Peace be with you.¡± Then he said to Thomas, ¡°Put your finger here and see My hands, and bring your hand and put it into My side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.¡±? Thomas answered and said to Him, ¡°My Lord and my God!¡± Jesus said to him, ¡°Have you come to believe because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.¡± Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in His name. --John 20:19-31 Jesus ¡°showed them His hands and His side.¡± There is an obvious context to today's Gospel pericope: Jesus is willing to go "the extra mile" to satisfy the apostles' doubts about His resurrection. Recall that up to this point all the apostles have had to go on regarding Jesus's resurrection was the empty tomb--and the testimony of others. ?If one accepts the canonicity of the longer ending of Mark (16:9-20)--or even if one doesn't--it would seem that the conclusion noting their skepticism regarding the testimony of Mary Magdalene (16:11) and of the disciples from Emmaus (16:13) makes sense: why would Jesus have felt the need to directly reveal Himself to them in the way that He did? Why would He make a point of showing His wounds to them otherwise? When calling the absent apostle "Doubting Thomas"--since he was absent at that first appearance of Jesus to them--are we not stigmatizing him unfairly? Had any of the other apostles been absent, would they have demonstrated any greater faith? Thomas's statement--¡°Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe¡±--is not that of someone who would have believed testimonial evidence of Jesus's resurrection up to that point. By extension, the same would apply to the other apostles, or they would have confronted Thomas on that basis as well as through their own eyewitness testimony. At the same time, I wonder if there is another meaning/message in the way He revealed Himself to them. Is there something else that He wanted them ¨C and wants us ¨C to see? I think there¡¯s more to be seen than just the mark of the nails and the piercing of the spear. I think it¡¯s about more than simply being able to identify Jesus as the one who was crucified. I think that in showing us His wounds Jesus is identifying with every person who has ever been or is wounded. I think the open wounds of Jesus hold the pain of the world. And as the poet Warsan Shire writes in her poem, ¡°what they did yesterday afternoon,¡± that pain is everywhere: later that night i held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered where does it hurt? it answered everywhere everywhere everywhere. The wounded body of Jesus is an emblem of our wounded world. To look at Jesus¡¯s hands and His side is to see the wounds we¡¯ve received and the ones we¡¯ve inflicted on others. ? And I wonder what that brings up for you. What hurts your heart today? What are the tender spots of your life? What¡¯s festering deep inside that you don¡¯t want anyone to see? Where do you see another hurting? Can you hold his or her gaze, or do you look away because you just don¡¯t want to see? In what ways have you and I added to the pain of another? The daily news breaks my heart. Today's lead stories--about the continuing atrocities in Ukraine and deliberate suffering and death imposed on innocents--even non-combatants--is difficult to witness. So are wars?and suffering imposed elsewhere--in Gaza and the rest of the middle east.? Yet such atrocities and worse have occurred and continue to occur elsewhere, largely outside of "news" reports. I see fear. I see death. I see protests. I see anger. I see crime. I see violence. I see prejudice and racism. I see arrogance. I see privilege. I see unemployment. I see poverty and economic hardship. Those are the open wounds of our country and we¡¯re hemorrhaging. We¡¯re bleeding out and some can¡¯t breathe. Our nation is in a hard place these days, and we have been for quite a while--yet the same is true elsewhere, although the particular issues and particular horrors vary, as well as our willingness to recognize them. In facing such challenges??many have said that we¡¯re all in this together. Yes, but we¡¯re not all together in this. We are not ¡°all together in one place¡± and of one mind. Our country and our?world is divided, fragmented, and wounded. And so is my heart. Maybe yours is too.?? It¡¯s not easy to talk about our wounds; whether it¡¯s our individual wounds or our national wounds, whether it¡¯s the wounds we¡¯ve received or the ones we¡¯ve inflicted. To talk about our wounds requires us to look at what we¡¯ve done and left undone. It means we each have to look within ourselves. It means taking responsibility for our lives. It means valuing the life and wounds of another as much as our own. We might need to confess and we might need to forgive. We might need to reach out to another and we might need to open ourselves to another¡¯s reaching toward us. We might need to offer the ointment of healing to another and we might need to receive another¡¯s ointment for our healing. I know all that in my head and it makes sense. But most of the time I don¡¯t want to face or deal with my wounds. It¡¯s too painful. It¡¯s a vulnerable and risky place to be. And maybe you feel like that too. More often than not I just want to deny that they hurt. I want to ignore or forget my wounds, relegate them to the past. I want to cover up and hide my wounds so you can¡¯t see them.? Sometimes I make judgments about and blame others. Other times I want to use my wounds, revel in them, and play the victim so I can get some attention or sympathy. And maybe worst of all is when I use them as a justification for hurting someone else. But Jesus doesn¡¯t do any of those things. Instead, He shows up behind the locked doors, stands among the disciples in the midst of their fear, and says, ¡°Peace be with you.¡± Then He shows them His hands and His side. He shows them His wounds and then He says again, ¡°Peace be with you.¡± Jesus's wounds sit in the middle of the peace He offers. Peace bookends both sides of His wounds. And what if that¡¯s true for us? What if we all live with a wounded peace? What if the only real peace we can offer comes out of the wounds we¡¯ve suffered? ¡°Peace be with you,¡± Jesus says. What does that mean when you¡¯re afraid and you¡¯ve locked the doors of your house, your heart, your life? ¡°Peace be with you,¡± Jesus says. What does that mean as we continue to try to cope with all of our personal issues, or of those close to us, much?less all of the polarizing? social and political issues of the world today? And of course, that's only one particular issue. Our responses to most other challenges--even in identifying or acknowledging them--is even more fractious. ¡°Peace be with you,¡± Jesus says. What does that mean for us sinful people in a fallen world? ¡°Peace be with you,¡± Jesus says. What does that mean for you and me today? What is this peace Jesus offers? What does it look like, feel like? I don¡¯t have a lot of answers to the questions I¡¯ve asked. Each one of us must figure out how to be "peace" in our locale. I can¡¯t tell you how to do that but I can tell you this. The peace Jesus offers doesn¡¯t mean serenity or lack of conflict. And it doesn¡¯t mean that we necessarily get our way. And I think it¡¯s more than a truce, an agreement to disagree, or the resignation to go along in order to get along. The peace Jesus offers changes hearts. It sends people into the world. It heals lives and lets all people breathe. The peace Jesus offers will be found next to our wounds. It¡¯s a wounded peace. ¡°Peace be with you,¡± Jesus says. What will you do with your wounded peace today? To whom will you offer it? And how will you let it make a difference in the life of another? ? Thanks be to God that we worship a wounded Lord--unlike us, an innocent Lord who was wounded by and for our transgressions, but one who is rich in love and mercy: one who loves and forgives us!? Thanks be to God that He is willing to walk with our wounded selves, always ready to guide and support us in our own trials--one who is willing to guide us to likewise support others in their trials as well!? Thanks be to God that the guidance and solutions Jesus offers is based on seeking wholeness and healing for all--not without cost to ourselves or others but always with an ultimate "best possible outcome" as a goal for all who would love, serve, and follow Him--in loving and serving others in His name! ? Thanks be to God for that indeed! AMEN!! Mary Live long and prosper |