Monday 23 December 2013

Church of England synod vote " paves way" for female bishops

 
 
 
Church of England synod vote " paves way" for female bishops
 
 
Members of the clergy voted overwhelmingly in favour of new proposals which allow the ordination of women as bishops for the next year.
Mr Cameron said he would work with the Church to see women bishops in Parliament and he strongly supported women bishops and he hoped the Church of England took that key step to ensure its place as a modern church in touch with society .

Anglican practices and rituals are primarily found in the Book of Common Prayer, a compilation of liturgy developed by Thomas Cranmer in the 16th century. Anglican Christianity has many features in common with Roman Catholic Christianity but it also has differences such catechism or ordination of women , but women have never been allowed to hold high positions in Church until now. This leads us to our next pictures , the first woman bishop consecrated in Ireland, Pat Storey a married mother of two and now the bishop of Meath and Kildare ."Exciting and daunted", that  is as she says to feel ...

Shadowlands


Yesterday I watched " Shadowlands" .

This film tells the story of C.S.Lewis and  his autumnal romance involving the British writer C. and a divorced American woman named Joy Gresham ,who after a short time he marries .
But, who was C.S. Lewis ?

 He was a British novelist who wrote , among others," Nadia chronicles"and he held an important position at Oxford university , at the same time he gave speeches about God , we see that in the movie. He was raised as a Christian in Belfast when he was born but became atheist at the age of 15 and somewhere I have read a sentence that is supposed he stated " I am very angry with God for not existing " and I believe that this paradoxical declaration of lack of faith , summarizes perfectly the mix of feelings and bitterness of someone who ,without wishing it, has become atheist .
When he met J. R. Tolkien he recover his faith and he became part of the Church of England.

The important thing here is not telling the story but giving my opinion . I reckon that both actors are amazing as they establish a perfect connection and transmit a great deal of emotions through their looks, not only throughout their face expressions but also through the way they look each other. They are able to transmit melancholy, pain, happiness or hopeless and involve us in their inner thoughts and world.

As for the story itself , just to say that is really moving and surprising in its simplicity since is a love story happening in someone`s maturity . I have never thought that love could  be lived and felt so deeply at that age because passion  is commonly believed to be a feature of youthful . Her quite fortitude enduring the pain and her acceptance that she was to die and nothing lasts forever or that ,you enjoy things more when they stop seeming a dream and they become real again, are really striking contracted with his shyness and not acceptance of living his life without her . Watching the movie , I wondered how a human being is able to endure so much pain and go on living because when he cries in the attic you can just feel a lump in your through . How can someone face the vacuum that the death of someone you loved has left ?

During the movie he repeats a  theory , "suffering and pain are God's way of perfecting us, of carving away the wrong parts, of leaving a soul ready to enter heaven" but for his own pain , his theory   collapses because who wants to be perfect at expensive of suffering , especially , when human being are supposed to search for pleasure desperately.



Syrian refugees struggling at Christmas

 
 
Christmas is supposed to be a Christian commemoration of Jesus birth , it closes the advent, time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas. During the advent , Christians remember that Jesus came into the world in Palestine some years ago and on Christmas day , they celebrate his birth with a huge feast .
Christmas is also celebrated for a large number or non -Christian around the world since it is a time for being in family , having good intentions and exchanging presents , it could be said that Christmas is a time for being nothing but happiness, it could be...Nonetheless there is not certainty that happiness can be a reality for the Christian living in Syria. 
Christians are about 2/3 of the population in Beirut . They are preparing to celebrate their most important feast while in the streets of nearby villages ancient Christian communities have been caught up in the violence and crossfire.
People blame Islamic extremist for destroying coexistence in Syria.
That is what this report of BBC NEWS shows and states. 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday 8 December 2013

Spaniards in London " Nice to meet you"


Spaniards in London( more than 5000 downloads) is a web serial about the adventures of some Spaniards in London. It looks at  their daily life ironically and deal with problems such as bad jobs, language barrier or cultural differences.
Because of the crisis, thousand of young Spanish have emigrated to London looking for a new start. It is not always easy  to leave your life behind and to be able to adapt yourself to new life conditions. The stories are real and very funny , some of the  situations lived by the characters remind me of some ridicule moments that I myself had to deal with from the very moment I landed there .I had the firm belief that after one year  living there,  English would come to me as easily as Spanish does . How come that didn´t happen ?
 I leave here the first episode as well as the link ;  www.spaniardsinlondon.com  

I´m totally hooked on it !
 

Friday 6 December 2013

Mandela death

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25250082http://

Nelson Mandela, anti- apartheid icon and father of  modern South Africa, died at age of 95.
He was a inspiration for blacks and whites and its message of no vengeance and his lack of bitterness made him be admired by people from all social classes from political leaders to commonplace people.
When Mandela was released from prison ,he wrote: "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.

We have to read Mandela´s Way for Christmas ,therefore we would understand better why today the world cries this man who turned a nightmare of inequality and racism into a reality of equality .

I leave here the link for us to know the world reaction to his death and some speeches from world leaders about Mandela death.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
Nelson Mandela