Miracle of the Sun

The Miracle of the Sun (Portuguese: O Milagre do Sol) was an event on 13 October 1917 in which 30,000 to 100,000 people, who were gathered near Fátima, Portugal, claimed to have witnessed extraordinary solar activity.


The event was attributed by believers to Our Lady of Fátima, a reported apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the children who had made predictions of the event on 13 July 1917, 19 August, and 13 September. The children stated that the Lady had promised them that she would on 13 October reveal her identity to them and provide a miracle "so that all may believe."


According to these reports, the event lasted approximately ten minutes. The three children also reported seeing a panorama of visions, including those of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of Saint Joseph blessing the people.

In addition to the Miracle of the Sun, the seers at Fatima indicated that the lady prophesied a great sign in the night sky which would precede a second Great War. An aurora borealis which appeared in 1938 all over the northern hemisphere, including in places as far south as North Africa, Bermuda, and California and was the widest occurrence of the aurora since 1709 was interpreted as the great light the lady predicted. Lucia, the sole surviving seer at the time, indicated that it was the sign foretold and so apprised her superior and the bishop in letters the following day. Just over a month later, Adolf Hitler seized Austria, and eight months later Nazi Germanyinvaded Czechoslovakia. These have been interpreted as the start of the Great War as predicted by the lady.


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

This will pass..

If I can endure for this minute

Whatever is happening to me,

No matter how heavy my heart is

Or how dark the moment may be

If I can remain calm and quiet

With all the world crashing about me,

Secure in the knowledge God loves me

When everyone else seems to doubt me

If I can but keep on believing

What I know in my heart to be true,

That darkness will fade with the morning

And that this will pass away, too

Then nothing in life can defeat me

For as long as this knowledge remains

I can suffer whatever is happening

For I know God will break all of the chains

That are binding me tight in the darkness

And trying to fill me with fear

For there is no night without dawning

And I know that my morning is near.

-Helen Steiner Rice

Believe..

Finding Christmas..

Almost lover

Numbed

Was told once that my life is pretty much like the one showed in this clip, except that I haven't got the chance to meet someone like in the clip. Yet. There were times that I felt I have met and knew the "right" one, but it didn't last.

To think again, I did have quite the same feeling showed in the clip, just it wasn't entirely the same situation. Different, but with the same "oomph" factor.

My December

Stand a little taller

Better days

Jar of hearts

A quote

11-11-11 / 11:11:11

There is this moment that everything seems to be aligned. Today, that moment came, but it was gone. Time passes really fast, and i feel that i haven't do much. In many ways, i'm left behind. If this is a race, i must be disqualified already. Hopefully i still have the chance to finish this (life) race, no matter what the position will be.

A dream in a dream

Been feeling odd lately, which resulted in a weird dream too, which happened last night. It was a dream within a dream. The feeling was like that i was relieved that i had waken from a dream, only to find out later that it was still a dream. And i get confused (even during the dream).

This has happened many times before too, but this time it was so obvious that after i finally wake up to the real "reality", i could still memorize the dreams very clear. It was kind of a nightmare, perhaps the reflection of my negative thoughts which resulted in a scary dream. The first dream was about me trying to avoid traffic polices, and found out that my name was blacklisted. Suddenly i was awake (which actually not), and i felt very relieved that it was a dream..., a while later i saw through my window, view of smokes everywhere. The smokes burst up very high, which look like pillars of smoke everywhere. There are other things too happened... I saw houses were like damaged, and without roofs. It looks like an after war scene, and at the same time i felt the temperature was getting hot (I later realize this might be because the "real" room temp was quite high and i was somehow dehydrated). Back in the dream, i thought this scene must be something like the end of the world, it felt so scary, and real. Then i awake. Thank God for real.

Fading light

Lyrics from the song:
There is a candle in every soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold
There is a Spirit who brings a fire
Ignites a candle and makes His home

I like the slow and calming melody in this song.  Been thinking, i am like this dark and cold candle.  So dark that i didn't even notice there is a candle.  Was chatting with a college friend today, who works in a refuge camp, and i am thinking that he is like the bright candle and lighting this world.  Unlike me, who works for financial gain, pretty much without a meaning.          

Elements of life

The road

Was reading one post in newspaper/online blog few days (or weeks) ago (i really have trouble in sense of time), and there is this latin quote that i got curious about. After googling it, i found out it was one good quote. Find the way, or if can't, then make one.

The original quote is "Aut inveniam viam aut faciam" (or "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam"), is a Latin phrase for "I shall either find a way or make one."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inveniam_viam

I tried to google another similar quote, from renowned Taiwanese Buddhist monk, Master Sheng Yen. "If the mountain won't move, build a road around it. If the road won't turn, change your path. If you are unable to even change your path, just transform your mind."

And one last quote will apply, taken from a song lyric, God will make a way where there seems to be no way..

-

The Church, The Temple, & The Fireworks

Now this title is similar to a movie title, or a trilogy.. Maybe it will work well as title of a book too..

It was yesterday, Friday, July 1st. I think this day is an important day for two different culture and religion at once. It was the First Friday, and also some kind of a traditional Chinese "lunar celebration" (don't know the right terms in english).

I was on the road, and i was thinking of going to a mass. It was several weeks since my last mass (and i break promises again). To choose church while on the road was difficult. I get numbed by routine. I planned to go for a church in the "old chinatown" area in Jkt. It was a church that i had planned to go for sometime. But it was a plan as usual. I postpone it. And in my dictionary, postpone would mean "indefinite".

The church, named "Toasebio" or St. Maria de Fatima, was a blend of an ancient Chinese Temple, and a modern Church. The building, in a glance, would look like a temple, both interior & exterior. It was one of the ancient/ historical church in Jakarta. One that was reviewed in a book about Churches. It was historical. And i also watched it being reviewed by a local TV station not long ago. So, i get more curious to find out about this. It kinda reminded me with the "adventure" that i used to have. I missed those time.

This church is a blend that, in my opinion, will resemble to Hagia Sohpia in Istanbul. Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia;) was a Cathedral, turned to be a Mosque, and now a museum. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia).

Back to St. Maria de Fatima (i like this name), i was skeptical at first, that there wouldn't be any First Friday Mass held there. Because it was a small church, and i thought there won't be many people too. And i was wrong. There was a first friday mass, and when i asked before i enter, i just found out that it will start soon. (This is a "coincidence" that i always look after, and i missed this). I was there on time. It was 20-30 mins early, and was not late at all (Don't know why I am very proud about this). I got all the time to walk around the church and the linked school, and i looked like one curious tourist.

Just after the mass, we heard sounds of fireworks outside. It was not from the church. From somewhere nearby. (I was thinking, this must be something like a disneyland). The fireworks show lasted about 15 minutes, or more. In the beginning, the fireworks was kinda boring, but i was wrong. After about 5 minutes, it turned spectacular. So many people in the road stopped by to see this "sudden" fireworks. Up till now, i haven't got a clue why there was the fireworks show there. It might be a celebration from one of the temples nearby.

If i have to sum up this whole experience, i'd like to quote from a famous ads campaign. It was priceless.

Regina Spektor - The Call

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