| John 11:25-26 |
| 25 ...I am the resurrection, and the life: |
| he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: |
| 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die... |
Entoto Mariam Church, Near Addis Ababa
መልካም ገና
Melkam Gena
[Photo By: KPA]
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Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
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Pope Francis on Saturday called for dialogue between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, urging them not to let a dispute over a dam on the Nile lead to conflict.Video from the Vatican, Pope Francis' entry into the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam politics, starting at the 12 minutes 40 seconds point:
"I invite all parties involved to continue on the path of dialogue so that the eternal river will continue to be a source of life, which unites and does not divide, which nurtures friendship, prosperity and fraternity and not enmity, misunderstanding and conflict," [Source]
2165 Mississauga Road North. Range 3, CIR, pt. Lot 10.And more here:
This is a two-and-a-half storey structure built as an English country estate in English Tudor Manor style. It was designed by architects George and Moorhouse in 1938 and originally known as the William George Dean residence. (William George Dean was a director of Eaton's.) The building later became a convent for the Felician Sisters of St. Francis Canada. It is not visible from the road. There is a carriage house attached to the east side and a modern addition to the west. There was a small cemetery on the property where about seven of the sisters were buried. Sometime before 2004 six of the sisters' bodies were moved, without the knowledge of the Registrar of Cemeteries, and reinterred in Assumption Cemetery. It is possible that there are still some burials on the property. The property is listed on the Heritage Register. Description as of July 2018.
Agency: Mississauga Library System
Felician Sisters of St. Francis Canada Convent & Cemetery, Erindale
Date Built: 1938
Subject: Historic buildings - Ontario - Erindale (Mississauga)
Location: 2165 Mississauga Road North, pt. Lot 10, Range 3 CIR
Brimelow: ...my definition of a Civic Nationalist: Someone who's willing to vote for Michelle Malkin for President when she runs on a platform of immigration moratorium...So, tell us, when are you going to declare, Michelle?The generally abrasive, and constantly angry, Michelle Malkin, about whom I wrote on May 15 on her reaction to the COVID-SCAM, has done her one-on-one with VDare's Peter Brimelow.
Malkin: The prospect of me going back to Washingtonian in any form is really not attractive to me at all...
Brimelow: Social Distancing. It can be a socially distant president..."
In any case, as usual with our off-Main-Stream-Media, they cannot make up their minds, or more precisely, cannot come up with their own data analyses and conclusions that COVID is not much to write about other than to compare it with other phenomena, such as immigration.Earlier on, in my commentary on the Brimelow-Derbyshire video conversation, I speculate if VDare and their followers actually want the social, financial, and cultural ruin of our West, and the world over, really, a "global Gotterdammerung, to start their America on a clean, white slate.":
The discussion between Derbyshire and Brimelow centered around black crimes on whites, which is the repetitive, mantra-like, redundant postings through which VDare has made its trademark, over the couple of decades it has existed.Near the end of the interview, the Brimelow-Malkin discussion does touch upon the COVID-SCAM social, cultural, and financial upheaval, but wraps it around immigration control, the scamdemic being a useful tool to start closing off and monitoring that porous border.
I have to speculate whether it is something that they wish for, some kind of racial war, to start the machinations of a global Gotterdammerung, to start their America on a clean, white slate.
The populations that are suffering due to this "pandemic" at much higher levels are the poor, mostly black and other "people of color," although not due to illness or death, but through financial loss of jobs and savings.
Brimelow: I really think that's what's happening with social distancing now. We're going to have to get used to all these epidemic diseases coming in because apparently it won't stop immigration from the Third World.So what if a disproportionate number of American citizens who are black (and brown - how about that, Michelle M., but what does she have to worry, with her Jewish/"white" husband) are in danger of the social and financial consequences of this disease. Our whole purpose is to support and represent the white race.
When I wrote Alien Nation I said I thought immigration was the wild card that would get immigration to public debate. But in fact, it turned out to be terrorism and they had to tell a lot of lies to suppress that problem. Now they're going to tell a lot of lies about a disease. But this is like at least the third wave of diseases that have come in since Alien Nation (Brimelow's 19... book) was written..
[...]
But the thing is social distancing...i like price and wage control. Massive overkill to what's going on...I think. Does that make sense to you?
Malkin: Yeah, absolutely, and I alluded to this in my column today at VDare [KPA:...I posted on it here] and this paradox of the government both overreacting and under-reacting.
Brimelow. Part of the problem is that they just won't be frank about it. For two months, three months, we've been writing about the disease, the racial issue...the racial differences in susceptibility.
[...]
And then quite suddenly in the past week, it has been politically correct to write about it, because it turns out that American blacks were unusually susceptible. And therefore it is useful to for basically guilting out the whites again.
And near the very end, the "Pandemic" gets a fleeting mention by Malkin, in relation of course to immigration ....
Malkin: But when the pandemic dies down, (if it dies down), that he's [Trump's] intent on pushing congress to pass the DACA deal after the Supreme Court.
I have to speculate whether it is something that they wish for, some kind of racial war, to start the machinations of a global Gotterdammerung, to start their America on a clean, white slate.Hypocrisy knows no bounds.
This got me thinking about theology. What’s it for ? It’s obviously tribal in essence, though you have to extend the meaning of “tribal” to include “fictive tribes” like Christianity and Islam. (Well, I think you do.) Any given theology is of zero interest to anyone outside the tribe. If someone tells you he’s making a deep study of Rabbinic Literature, you can be 99 percent sure he’s Orthodox-Jewish; if deep in Thomism, he’s Roman Catholic; etc.
[...]Well that got Ilana M.'s attention alright:
It’s all just tribal chanting.
[...]
I don’t really have a conclusion here. I’m just thinking out loud. And trying to get Ilana’s attention.
As one of the few intellectually honest, brilliant, paleo-conservatives around, Derb, naturally, always has my attention. (There are quite a few brilliant paleos, but not all are intellectually honest.)
[KPA: There is the indomitable Ilana tooting her own horn, at the slightest opportunity. Although I should be careful with that "indomitable" (= "impossible to subdue"].Continues Mercer:
A couple of comments from one secular rightist (me) to another (Derb): Although not religious, I’m a defender of the so-called Judeo-Christian tradition. I’m not hostile to religion...And
I’m of a generation of secular Jews which knows and loves the Hebrew Bible as a tremendous literary, philosophical, and historical achievement.I commented on this "conversation" in my Camera Lucida blog: Defence of the Judeo-Christian Tradition by Atheists:
It is unprecedented that people come outright and say "I am not religious." Previous generations wouldn't even know how to articulate these thoughts. What is even more irritating is the "but" that many of these people add. "Although not religious, I’m a defender of the so-called Judeo-Christian tradition." What does that even mean? As in "I will abstain from participating in one important element of Western tradition, but I will support it anyway?"
People can be overwhelmed by the beauty and poetics of the Bible, just as one can admire the poetry of Shakespeare. But, how can they, if they are so drawn to this book, not feel the mystery and transcendence of it as well? Where does that "tremendous literary achievement" lead to? Just for us to feel its tremendous literary achievement? Isn't there just something a little more than that?
Such is the ways of our modern world, where atheists sit around talking about the literary achievements of the Bible, as though they are great connoisseurs, and yet not have an ounce of reaction to its bigger picture.
Mercer goes on to quote Paul Johnson, who says:
The Bible is essentially a historical work from start to finish. The Jews developed the power to write terse and dramatic historical narrative half a millennium before the Greeks.Yes, like the literary achievement, there is no doubt about its historicity as well. But, as usual, these "reasoned" intellectuals go around in circles.
It reminds me of people who endlessly talk about the great champagne they had, or the wonderful cheese you can buy at that high scale market, and who are so engrossed in their ability to discern such wonderful foods.
The Bible seems like such an exercise.
The Old Testament is a historical book. But the New Testament has an odd sense of ahistoricity about it. It is almost as though history has come to an end, or has reached its conclusion. Which is of course what Christ's story is all about; the long line of Jewish history, miracles and prophecy, which produced the Son of God, who became the salvation of mankind.
If the Bible (Old and New) were simply a historical document, then what would they make of the New Testament section of that Bible?
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[W]ere designed primarily at the behest of Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as annual Easter gifts for Tsarinas Maria and Alexandra.This is the Easter gift that Tzar Alexander III gave Tzarina Maria Fedorovna in 1885, which also marked their twentieth wedding anniversary:
Easter is the most joyful celebration of the Orthodox faith in Russia. After the devout church services, families gather to exchange gifts of decorated eggs, symbols of renewed life and hope. The Easter of 1885 also marks the twentieth anniversary of Czar Alexander III and Czarina Maria Fedorovna, and the Czar needs an exceptional gift for his wife.Here is what the Walters Art Museum says about the (above) Rose Trellis egg:
So he places an order with a young jeweler, Peter Carl Fabergé, whose beautiful creations have recently caught Maria's eye.
On Easter morning, Fabergé delivers to the palace what appears to be a simple enameled egg. But to the delight of the Empress, inside is a golden yolk; within the yolk is a golden hen; and concealed within the hen is a diamond miniature of the royal crown and a tiny ruby egg – both now lost to history.
On April 22, 1907 [on Easter], Tsar Nicholas II presented this egg to his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, to commemorate the birth of the tsarevich, Alexei Nicholaievich, three years earlier. Because of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, no Imperial Easter eggs had been produced for two years. The egg contained as a surprise a diamond necklace and an ivory miniature portrait of the tsarevich framed in diamonds (now lost). Fabergé's invoice, dated April 21, 1907, listed the egg at 8,300 rubles.Many Fabergé eggs were either sold or taken out of Russia during the Russian revolution. Eight eggs are lost. Ten are now on display in the Kermlin Armory Museum. Sotheby's put up nine eggs for auction in 2004, and the entire collection went (back) to Russia, purchased by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path.The biblical version identifies these men as "wise men from the east."
They were of noble birth, educated, wealthy, and influential. They were philosophers, the counselors of rulers, learned in all the wisdom of the ancient East. The wise men who came seeking the Christ child were not idolaters; they were upright men of integrity.And
They had apparently studied the Hebrew Scriptures and found there a clear transcript of truth. In particular, the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament must have claimed their attention, and among these they found the words of Balaam: “A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17, NKJV). They certainly were acquainted with the prophecy of Micah: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2, NKJV; see also Matthew 2:5, 6). They probably also knew and understood the time prophecy of Daniel regarding the appearance of the Messiah (see Daniel 9:25, 26) and came to the conclusion that His coming was near.
[Source: The Magi]
They have become known most commonly as Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper). According to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India. [Source: Britannica.com]And a more precise origin of Balthasar as an Ethiopian:
Balthasar is the young black King of Ethiopia and wears a purple/blue cloak. Balthasar is traditionally associated with the gift of myrrh. [Source: Jesuit Institute, London: Feast of the Epiphany]An explanation: Ethiopia stands at the southern post of the Arabian peninsula, and is often categorized as an "Arabian" land. Its history may connect it to Arabia, but it has always maintained an independent and separate identity. It is very likely that one of the magi did come from Ethiopia.
Scholars have tried to connect the gifts the Queen of Sheba brought with the possible location of Sheba. She brought spices, gold, and precious stones, all products of extreme wealth. Spices, in particular frankincense and myrrh, came from the area of modern-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, on the African coast of the Red Sea. Ancient gold mines have been found in the same area.And
That Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was peopled from South Arabia is proved linguistically...[Source: Britannica.com]And below is an excerpt from the chapter “Where is Medieval Ethiopia? Mapping Ethiopic Studies within Medieval Studies” by Suzanne Conklin Akbari (of the University of Toronto), in Toward a Gobal Middle Ages: Encountering the World through Illuminated Manuscripts (Ed. Bryan Keene).
In theological terms, Ethiopia was understood as a place of special grace and apocalyptic expectation. In the Hebrew Bible, the story of Solomon and Sheba was interpreted in terms of a mystical union that brought the earthly Jerusalem into contact with the southern riches of Ethiopia; in the Acts of the Apostles, the queen of Ethiopia, named Candace, is identified as the ruler of the Ethiopian eunuch who converts to Christianity. Apocryphal stories of the Magi, seen in a twelfth-century Beatus manuscript from San Petro de Cardeña (1175–85; New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991.232.1), also associate one of the three wise men with Ethiopia, in a reassertion of the fundamentally tripartite division of the world found in the medieval world maps and medieval encyclopaedias. These texts divide the world into three parts—Asia, Africa, and Europe—to correspond to the three sons of Noah: Shem is associated with Asia, the biggest part; Ham, the outcast, with Africa; and Japheth, the youngest, with Europe. The three Magi recapitulate the sons of Noah, but while the sons of Noah are scattered outward into the wide world after the Flood, their descendants populating each of the three continents, the three Magi come inward toward the sacred center of the nativity. On this Beatus manuscript page, a depiction of the Virgin and Child with the Magi, to the right, is integrated within a larger genealogy laid out in a series of linked circles, plus the familiar form of the T-O world map at the top left. Note that the T-O map includes not just the names of the three continents, but also the three sons of Noah, as a visible reminder of the Old Testament prefiguration of the three Magi, seen at right. The economy of type and antitype is expressed in terms of word and image, with the
names of the sons of Noah foreshadowing the vivid human forms of the three Magi.
Depictions of the Magi vary in how they present the ethnic origins of each of the three kings. Some, such as the Beatus image mentioned above and as in a book of hours from Naples (1460s; Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 12), show exotic dress but only moderate differences of physiognomy, while others, as in the Prayer Book of Albrecht of Brandenburg illuminated by Simon Bening (ca. 1483–1561), show bodily diversity more vividly, with black skin (fig. 4.4). Like the Ethiopian magus, depictions of the Queen of Sheba also vary in how they portray ethnicity. While there was a rich medieval commentary tradition on the Song of Songs that interpreted the allegory of the beautiful and black bride in historical terms, as the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba, pictorial depictions of the encounter of Solomon and Sheba often show the queen as fair-skinned, as in the page by Simon Bening that faces his image of the Magi.10 The queen is attended by two other women, her attendance on Solomon and offering of gifts appearing as a counterpart to the offerings of the three Magi. To put it another way, a chain of typological prefigurations links various moments in salvation history, with each one of them rooted in an essential notion of Ethiopian identity. In one typological relationship, the sons of Noah prefigure, and are fulfilled in, the three Magi. In a second typological relationship, the encounter of Solomon and Sheba, and the tribute offered by the Ethiopian queen to the king of Israel, is fulfilled in the tribute offered by the Ethiopian magus to the newborn king of the new Israel.
