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Live Mindfully

Mindfulness has become a buzz word in recent times, yet I have found that not many people know what it is or how to incorporate mindfulness into their ‘busy’ lives. In the Dictionary mindfulness is described as… a technique in which one focuses one’s full attention only on the present, experiencing thoughts, feelings, and sensations but not judging them:
The practice of mindfulness can reduce stress and physical pain.

For me, I explain mindfulness to my clients as – focusing on the present moment without judgement or anxiety about what is or what should be or what needs to be. It is simply focusing on the now within your body and experiencing peace and ease within that moment.

‘When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love’ – Thich Nhat Hanh

Here 12 simple ways that you can bring mindfulness into your everyday life…

1. Take a walk.
Spend some time standing still and concentrating on your breathe. Walk at a relaxed, fairly slow pace. Focus on the body movements you are making with each leg, each arm and body. Inhale as you lift your foot, exhale as you place it down. Repeat.
2. Eat something.
Rather than shovelling in your food, take time to taste it, smell it, enjoy it, feel the temperature of your food and feel the texture. This is a much healthier option to eating.
3. Drink something hot.
Close your eyes and feel the warm liquid in your mouth and subsequently as it travels down your throat into your stomach.
4. Listen to music.
Listen to all the different sounds and instruments in the music. If there are lyrics separate the lyrics from the melody. Tap to the music. Hum or sing along. Where in your body you can feel the sound?
5. Do Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong or other similar moving meditation exercise.
A combination of stretching, breathing and movement.
6. Driving.
Turn off the radio, tone down your anxiety about getting somewhere on time and enjoy the quiet time to yourself.
7. Make art.
Painting, drawing, sewing, crafts, or anything creative is incredibly meditative. Put on some quiet music as well, light a candle and enjoy creating.
8. Journal.
Each day write in your gratitude journal. Notice the pressure of the pen on the paper. The sound of the tip scraping along the page. The way the ink bleeds. How the pen feels in your hand. Now, take a deep breath, and allow mindfulness to flow, going deeper. You will then start to write with complete presence, using your intuition and inner wisdom.
9. Wash your hands.
Feel the water flow over your hands, feel the temperature. Smell the soap. Dry your hands on a towel and feel the towel against your skin.
10. Give a massage.
Touch is a powerful thing. Give yourself or give someone else a massage. Receive a massage. Feel the pressure, oil and warmth of your skin and the other person’s skin.
11. Breathe.
The easiest of all! Yet something we often forget about. How you breathe can determine how anxious or relaxed you are feeling. Slow down your breathe and breath into your belly. Watching your belly rise and fall with each breathe.
12. Gazing.
Staring at a candle flame or something similar, allowing yourself to become immersed in the object as you quieten the mind.

It really is this simple to become more mindful in your life, to allow that peace, acceptance, joy and love in.

Give one of them a go right now! And commit to doing one (or more) each and everyday.

I run regular weekly meditation sessions, to help you to become more mindful. Please email me on [email protected] to claim your free trial meditation session.

To your happiness always,

Ups and downs

I am often asked by my clients how to navigate and manage through life’s ups and downs and why do the downs continue to come? It is something that even I still struggle with coping with the downs of life.

My biggest piece of advice is that ups and downs will always be there, they will continue through life as we cannot experience a happy time if we do not experience the sad time. Life is not just filled with the good bits or ‘Photo Album Moments’ which are great moments, yet it is not in these moments that we learn and grow as people. It is in the not so good bits that we develop and help to make us the person that we are today.

For me, to overcome these downs and continue to move toward the light of life, is to take action to move away from the down and into a place of peace. When life is throwing you a curve ball if you are in a place of peace, you will be able to navigate through it easier and more effectively without wallowing in self-pity and becoming the victim. As when self-pity and victim mode takes over it will take you longer to move through the down!

For me, I maintain this place of peace in my life through meditation, seeing the bigger picture of daily downs (and ups) and treating myself (and those around me) with more self-compassion. I am writing about this today as this was me yesterday, as I exploded in anger at my family over something small and feeling like I was been pushed to my limits. Yet rather than seeing that I have failed I look at this moment as a learning curve and a way to show and teach my children that sometimes we do feel angry and it is okay. It is important to express anger (in a productive and controlled way) yet when we allow the emotion to overtake us we cannot control ourselves. As I noticed what was happening I removed myself from the situation to allow myself get back into a place of peace.

This place of peace is the key. To get to this place of peace takes ACTION not wallowing ACTION. My action was to remove myself and re-centre myself to see the bigger picture of what was going on!

What ACTION can you take to navigate through life’s ups and downs?

Until my next blog, enjoy your children.

To your happiness,

Signature -Debbie

Action, action and more ACTION…

At my ‘Align with your 2015 Dreams’ workshop on the weekend, I was asked “How do I overcome these negative thoughts that keep popping up in my mind, I know what they are yet they continue to keep on coming?”

Action, action and more ACTION was my answer.

Action is what will stop that thought in its track and more you away from it into a more positive place!

For me, this is something that I used to struggle with, because yes I knew why and what my negative thoughts were about, yet they continued on. So now whenever I feel that niggling self-doubt pop up, I take action in my life. It almost feels like I am proving that the self-doubt is a thing of the past and I am moving onto a more empowering future through the action!

This also keeps me away from that ‘poor me’ phase, which I would easily slip into once those negative thoughts arrived and I would relive different examples in my life where I felt like I was not good enough! The emotion would rise within me and I would begin to feel stuck in this phase again…

It is through the action of either a task in my business, putting myself out there in a social situation or simply just getting off the couch!

How can you take ACTION today to move away from your negative thoughts and into an empowered tomorrow?

To your happiness,

Signature -Debbie

Number 1 Tip to Overcome Your Down

We all have our ups and downs within our day-to-day lives. When we focus on the downs it will often make them seem like we are unable to overcome these downs. By focusing on the down, we bring in emotion and often past examples to re-enforce the down. So we end up not only experiencing the current down but also the many past examples of a similar down.

When we step away from the emotion (and the past) and look at the bigger picture which the situation is bringing it will enable us to see that there is light at the end of the down, we can re-align ourselves with the possibility of overcoming it and into the solution rather than the problem!

I know it is often hard to see a solution to the problem when we are stuck in the emotion of it, so to help I always distance myself from the situation and calm myself by taking deep breaths. Often this is enough to see beyond that moment and into the possibilities of improving the situation!

Give it a try today!

I talk a lot about changing your thoughts in the first chapter of my book, Beyond The Schoolyard. You can download my first chapter by clicking here.

To your happiness,

Signature -Debbie

The power in the now…..

At my weekly meditation class last week we talked a lot about being in the present moment. This is something that seems to keep on coming up for me lately.

This moment now is what keeps the past alive and what allows the past to continue to infiltrate into our lives.

This moment now is where we feel anxious or worry about the future.

When we look at the present moment with peace and acceptance, then the past will not dictate our present and the future will work itself out.

To quote my meditation teacher..

“Like attracts like, so when we are at peace in the present moment we will attract peace for all future moments”.

How true! We can change the future just by changing our present thoughts – it is very empowering when we think of it in this manner.

My biggest task this week has been to slow down, focus on the present moment and understand why something from the past or future is affecting me right now (when it is not even happening in the present moment). I had a perfect example of this over the weekend. I began to feel overwhelmed and anxious over something that was out of my control (and specifically someone). I needed to take a step away from the emotion that I was feeling and see why it was affecting me right now. I AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH was the current reason why it was affecting me! Which was really simple to see once I was able to step in the present moment and see logically what was happening. So instead of reliving the past and worrying about what was going to happen in the future because of this event, I told myself that I was GOOD ENOUGH and I am perfect just as I am in this moment. This is where I put my focus, not on the external event that was causing me angst.

How can you apply this to your life? And where do you allow the past to infiltrate into your present thoughts, actions and reactions.Slow down today and focus on the now. Be present in the now, not in what could of been or what should be.

To your happiness,

Signature -Debbie

More Joy, Less Stress

More Joy and less stress is something that we all want in our lives, I know I certainly do! But what is the magic key to creating more joy and letting go of the stress in your life?

The magic key is acceptance and gratitude (alright 2 magic keys!)

Acceptance is around accepting that everything is as it is meant to be, my favourite saying in life is IT IS WHAT IT IS! On my crazy busy days as I am juggling my kids, work and life, I will say this a lot and often drive my kids insane with this saying! To be able to accept that it is what it is, allows us to live in the present moment.

I heard a quote lately that read:

“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present”. – Lao Tzu

This sums it up perfectly when you are trying to change the past you will feel hopeless, when you are worrying about the future you will feel anxious. It is in the present moment that we feel peace and joy. Focus on what is right now, not what could have been or what should be. The right now is where you can make changes to how you perceive the past and how you influence the future. Be the person you want to be right now.

The second magic key is gratitude. It is huge and can make powerful changes in your life. When we live in gratitude we are appreciative, thankful and happy with exactly what we have. We are not trying to be someone else or to get something else or look a different way. We just are, exactly as we and happy with ourselves.

It is so important that we focus on what we have and be grateful for everything that we do have in our lives. We need to let go of the “if onlys” and focus on what we have right now, in the present moment. Acknowledge all the things in your life (the good and bad) and be grateful for either the learning the bad situation is giving you or the pleasure the good situation is giving you. Coming from a place of gratitude will have a positive effect on your life and your current state of mind!

With these 2 magic keys you can start to unlock a life filled with more joy and less stress.

How are you going to be more accepting and grateful for all things in your life today (the small and big things)?

Until my next blog, enjoy your children.

Signature -Debbie

Wow – I have just had one of the most amazing experiences of my life! A trip of a lifetime with my husband!!

This trip has reiterated to me how grateful I am for my life and the people I have in my life. To me gratitude is about being appreciative, thankful, noticing those simple pleasures and acknowledging them. It is about living your life in appreciation of everything you have and everything you do! It is a very powerful place to be and such an important place to be!

At times in our busy lives we take people and things in our lives for granted and do not appreciate them for what or who they are. To me this is really important as when you come from a place of gratitude you are happier, less stressed and able to appreciate the beauty in all that life has to offer!

On my recent trip abroad, I have really taken a step away from the hectic life of being a working Mother to my four children, this has given me the opportunity to really see life as a gift, which I cherish and appreciate. I understand fully that at times in our lives, especially when the children are fighting and dinner needs to be cooked and after school activities need to organised, we get caught up in the stress and grind of it all. Next time this happens take a step back and be thankful for having happy and healthy children who are able to enjoy your cooking, do their sporting activities and have siblings to argue with.. Unfortunately there are so many people out there in the world who long for these simple pleasures and stresses…

Upon my return home I am starting a Gratitude Diary – which will be a way that I can write down and formally acknowledge all the things in my life (the good and bad) and be grateful for either the learning the bad situation is giving me or the pleasure the good situation is giving me. I encourage you to do the same, even if it is just a thought every day to be grateful for something or someone in your life. You will see what a positive effect this simple and effective exercise will have on your life and your current state of mind!

Until my next blog, enjoy your children.

Beyond the School Yard

Meditation Made Easy!
Bring Calm & Focus to Your Life


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Punch and Paint
Date:Wednesday, February 14, 2018, 11:30 AM—1:00 PM
Event Type:Arts & Crafts

Sip delicious punch as you let your inner artist out. No worries if you are a novice. Pre-sketched canvases, brushes, and paint will be provided. Open to first 12 participants. Please call or visit branch to register. Funding provided by the Friends of the Scott Candler Library.

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Spartan blog

Escape From Meriden Autumn 2017

Published by Nick Wishart on 21/11/17

I love the concept of this race. I loved the atmosphere and camaraderie before the start of this race especially. The start was pretty unique and makes it worth entering just for the madness of watching your fellow competitors scatter in all directions at midnight!

The CCC: Chrispy's Chamonix Challenge

Published by Paul Chrisp on 04/09/16

The preparation for this race began almost 2 years earlier. It’s always been at the back of my mind to do a big race in the Alps, and the CCC seemed like a logical choice. I'd got the qualifying points, secured a place and was now at the start line on a beautiful day in the Alps...

Lakeland 100: Dig deep. In fact, just keep on digging

Published by Nick Wishart on 04/08/16

I love the whole weekend vibe of being involved in this race.

This is our fourth year as a family in Coniston, having completed JTF (just the 50) for the past 3 years.

I think I had run out of excuses not to enter the 100. I’d steadily improved my experience and time each year in the 50, but was never really enticed to step up to the 100, possibly because you see a lot of 100 legends in a pretty dark place as you pass them by!

Arc of Attrition 2016 Race Report

Published by Nick Wishart on 10/02/16

Attrition. Noun; the process of reducing something’s strength or effectiveness through sustained attack or pressure

The Arc of Attrition had its inaugural year in 2015 and is a 100 mile coastal ultramarathon, held in winter on the South West Coastal Path over exposed and remote terrain in many places. Designed to be an extreme challenge with strict cut offs, the degree of difficulty to complete is also dependent on prevailing Atlantic coastal conditions.

RingOFire 2015; a circumnavigation tale of Ynys Mon

Published by Nick Wishart on 24/09/15

Motivation is everything. When you want something this much, then you surely will prevail. Well, after 3 days spent running 135 miles, I have proven to myself beyond doubt if there ever were any, that the mind rules the body and your legs will go where you direct them.

 This could be a long race report and so I feel that I need to set the context.

Apocalypse 100... JetPac's First 100 Mile Adventure...

Published by Jason Stobbs on 29/07/15

Apocalypse 100

Originally the 100 mile challenge was on my radar for 2016, but a good Ultra running friend Neil had decided to take on the challenge in 2015 and was looking for some camaraderie and a friendly face to run this with.  It was the day of Neil and Joanna’s wedding (August 2014) when Neil dropped in relaxed drunken conversation “You are doing the Apocalypse 100?”  With intrigue I enquired about this challenge and the day later I sent a text to Neil “I’m in see you at the start.”

Lakeland 50; Here We Go Again

Published by Nick Wishart on 28/07/15

One of the first things that crossed my mind at about 10:25pm on Saturday night was; no blog for me thank you. That was an initial reflection at the end of a race that frankly went arse up when the cramp put a halt on proceedings on the way up Garburn Pass.

 However, there is always something to be learned from a race and reflection helps you improve, so I’m sat at the computer after all, glass half empty thoughts banished. My blog is basically notes for personal future reference.

Ultimate Trails 110k; All night and most of the day

Published by Nick Wishart on 02/07/15

 Two things attracted me to this race; a distance challenge above 50 miles, having done several of those already, but below 100 miles, as I tend to be made of glass at times! Secondly, the midnight start gave me a chance to run all night and experience an endurance race on zero sleep. There is a third; I just love the Lake District!

Sandstone Trail Time Attack 2015

Published by Nick Wishart on 11/05/15

Being our local trail and nearest ultra, this event has steadily attracted more Spartans year by year and now has a special place in my calendar.

 I have run the full distance about 9 times now, so I am pretty familiar with the route.

This includes two epic, cold December night time headtorch runs, with my last pilgrimage coming on a hot Easters day with Dave and Andy. I guess we must like this trail!

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Tori Stafford trial

Rafferty linked to escort service

Hank Daniszewski, QMI Agency

A woman who thought she had an exclusive relationship with accused child killer Michael Rafferty agreed to set up an escort service and give him the money, jurors in his murder trial heard Friday.

The former girlfriend, Charity Spitzig, testified she worked as an escort and gave Rafferty more than $16,000 in the six months before eight-year-old Tori’s Stafford’s slaying.

That sum included $500 deposited into Rafferty’s account the day the eight-year-old Woodstock girl was abducted.

Spitzig, 26, is a mother of five who lived in London in 2009. She was one of many women who connected with Rafferty through the online dating site Plenty of Fish.

Spitzig testified one of her children had died.

Earlier in the trial, one of Rafferty’s girlfriends said he was upset about a stepson who had died.

Spitzig testified Friday she hoped to marry Rafferty and “move on as a family.”

“It was pretty promising -- exclusive, you could say,” Spitzig said.

Spitzig, still living in Southwestern Ontario, said she and Rafferty discussed their financial situation.

“We discussed me going into the escorting business, which I did, and from there on in any money that I was making would go directly to him.”

Bank records presented in court show Spitzig deposited $16,835 into Rafferty’s account from December 2008 to May 7, 2009.

That amount didn’t include cash she handed to Rafferty directly, Spitzig testified.

On the morning of April 8, 2009, the day Tori vanished on her way home from school, Spitzig deposited $400.

About 1 p.m., she said, she received a message from Rafferty that he needed “gas money,” prompting her to deposit another $100 into his account.

Rafferty told most of his girlfriends he was a dance instructor and contractor, but there’s been no evidence so far that he was actively engaged in either occupation.

Following Spitzig’s testimony, Rafferty’s lawyer, Dirk Derstine, asked for the jury to be excused to discuss legal issues.

When the jurors returned, Justice Thomas Heeney cautioned them that testimony that Rafferty was dating numerous women, including an escort who supplied him with money, isn’t relevant to the charges he faces in the Stafford case.

“All of this may lead you to believe that Mr. Rafferty was a philandering cad or worse . . . Whatever you may think of Mr. Rafferty’s character, it has no relevance to whether he is guilty of the crimes he is charge with,” Heeney said.

The court also heard from Elysia Haid, 23, who testified she and Rafferty had sex in his Woodstock home the day after Stafford was murdered.

Haid was a Sarnia college student in the spring of 2009 and met Rafferty through the Plenty of Fish dating website.

She first met him face-to-face at a hockey game in London on April 4, 2009. She said Rafferty texted her on April 8, the day Stafford was abducted, and asked her about getting together the next day.

Haid said she went to Rafferty’s house on the morning of April 9, went for a drive and then had sex with him in the afternoon.

When she left, she testified, Rafferty told her he was going to a candlelight vigil for Tori.

In his cross-examination, Derstine noted Haid seemed unsure of the date of that encounter in a earlier statement to police. But Haid insisted it was April 9.

The court also heard from three other women who met Raffety through online dating and chat sites.

Patrycja Demidas, Celina Horvath and Tara MacLelland, were all questioned about records showing they’d received calls or messages on from Rafferty’s Blackberry on April 8.

Demidas said the calls were about an “argument” she was having with Rafferty and the other two women had no recollection of the calls.

Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in Tori’s death.

Terry-Lynne McClintic, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the case and was sentenced to life in prison.

The trial resumes Tuesday to deal with a legal issue. The jury isn’t scheduled to return until Wednesday.

-- With files by John Miner


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Gustav Klimt - Coffee Cup - classic - The Dancer

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Coffee cup classic - Gustav Klimt - The Dancer

shapely coffee cup made of fine bone china in a gift box in leather embossed look in gold. The motif of Gustav Klimt - The Dancer is shown on both sides of the mug.

  • Cup 0,35 L
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Dematic Global Website

Solutions for Food & Beverage

Minimal Touch Solutions to Build Pallet, Layer and Case Orders Efficiently

The need for "store-friendly and aisle-ready" deliveries, reverse route sequence truck loading, worker ergonomics/safety, additional space, and the growing number of stock keeping units is creating demand for increased productivity, and efficiency in the food and beverage distribution center.

Dematic Approach

Dematic provides warehouse logistics solutions for food/beverage producers and distributors, ranging from regional institutional food and beverage distributors to large international food producers. These solutions are engineered to accommodate the specific distribution requirements of items sold in a grocery store, convenience store, restaurant, hotel, school, etc. While most of the inventory is considered dry goods, Dematic solutions accommodate fresh and frozen products by operating in temperature controlled environments. These intra-logistics systems often accommodate strategies for order assembly by store planogram, peaks/valleys in order volume, controlled access to inventory, product tracking, order/inventory accuracy, and first-expired, first-out processing. Typical solutions are designed to optimize the processes involved with receiving, storage, put-away, replenishment, case and piece picking, consolidation, order packing, and truck loading, along with the ability to handle a variety of load types: cartons, trays, totes, and pallets.

Dematic brings a non-biased, activity based, industrial engineering approach to the development of each food and beverage distribution system. Dematic has the process improvement engineering experience and expertise to design high performance solutions, with hundreds of successful order fulfillment implementations operating across the world that support food/beverage production and distribution. At the core of each solution is the innovative system design, along with the strategic management software that provides real time control, visibility and operational insight.

Systems may be comprised of a single solution such as case picking, or they may include all the operational functions from receiving to shipping. Dematic engineers each system as a modular, flexible, scalable solution to accommodate changing activity profiles, average to peak capacity and future growth. Dematic guarantees successful system performance while creating a strong ROI

  • Reduce warehouse space requirements, fulfillment time, and labor
  • Optimize material and information flow, processes, activities
  • Increase throughput, accuracy and ergonomics

Food & Beverage Supply Chain Trends

  • SKU proliferation, ethnicity, healthy sizing
  • Longer shelf life
  • FSMA Food Safety Modernization Act for traceability and quick recall
  • Younger generation’s passion for food (convenience, where it came from, sustainability, ecology)
  • Mixing or blending centers are being discussed to optimize transportation and delivery
  • Moving from full pallet picking to handling cases and eaches for order fulfillment

Economic Drivers

  • Customers (Retailers) are demanding more “order ready” pallet deliveries
  • Multiple formats – large retail stores, small stores, eCommerce, home delivery
  • Smaller, more frequent orders requiring daily delivery
  • Fuel costs volatility – companies need better trailer/order cube utilization
  • Increasing costs (raw materials, packaging, traceability, bio-terrorism, older equipment and infrastructure)
  • Driver availability
  • HOS – hours of service allowed to drive

Food Solutions

Food - Building Pallet and Case Orders for Your Operation

Finding success in the Food market may sometimes feel like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with an ever changing set of pieces. Whatever your sub-market, the Dematic solution helps you identify and track those pieces so you can concentrate on solving the puzzle.

Download Brochure

Beverage Solutions

Beverage - Managing Variations, Improving Efficiency

You need to be prepared for this reality to deliver more quickly and with greater flexibility or risk losing market share. In a market as dynamic as Beverage, the Dematic approach is the one that can guarantee solution success.

Download Brochure

White Paper: Automation Solutions for Seven Key Challenges in the Food & Beverage Industry

Automation Solutions for Seven Key Challenges in the Food & Beverage Industry

This white paper looks in detail at the trends and drivers facing F&B manufacturers and distributors, and how the latest automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) and other automation cost-effectively address the challenges these trends pose.

Download White Paper

Typical Solutions

Typical Solutions

Mouse-over functional areas to view typical solutions. To view all Dematic solutions visit Solutions by Supply Chain Function.

Dematic Software

Dematic Software is a knowledge-based logistics platform that provides information needed to swiftly adapt and optimize supply chain fulfillment operations on a real-time basis, whether on-site or remote.

Using advanced analytics, Dematic Software derives more value from warehouse and enterprise data by collecting and delivering it in real-time via intuitive dashboards on desktops, laptops and mobile devices.

Tropical Cheese Industries

The software-directed order fulfillment system brings increased productivity and order accuracy to the case pick, palletize, and load process.

United States leading producer and distributor of Latino-targeted dairy products

Contact Dematic

Contact Us

For more information fill out our online inquiry form, or get in touch directly.

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China's top legislature opposes U.S. lawmakers' meeting with Dalai Lama

China's National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislative body, on Friday voiced strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition after some U.S. lawmakers met with the Dalai Lama in Washington one day earlier.

"The meeting went against the United States' commitment that it does not support 'Tibet independence' and constituted a severe interference into China's internal affairs," said a statement issued by the NPC's Foreign Affairs Committee.

Tibet has been an inseparable part of the Chinese territory since ancient times and the Tibetan people are always important members of the family of the multi-ethnic Chinese nation, said the statement.

Recalling the history of Tibet, the statement said some one million serfs were not liberated until 1959, when the feudal serfdom was abolished through democratic reform.

Prior to that, Tibet was a society of feudal serfdom under theocratic rule, a society characterized by a combination of political and religious powers.

In March of 1959, a group of high-ranking feudal serf owners in Tibet started an armed rebellion in an attempt to preserve the feudal serfdom. After they failed, the Dalai Lama and his followers escaped overseas and started their secessionist agenda.

Since then, a new chapter for Tibet's development has come, said the statement.

Freedom of religious belief has been fully ensured among the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet, said the statement, adding that the traditional culture has been preserved and developed, and the people's living conditions have been greatly improved over the decades.

However, the 14th Dalai Lama has never given up his advocacy for "Tibet independence," said the statement.

"His real purpose is to split the country and destroy national unity as he preaches the so-called 'middle way' and peddles the 'true autonomy of the Greater Tibet' under the cloak of religion and in the name of human rights," said the statement.

The committee said the Tibet issue is a purely domestic affair of China and that the Chinese government and people strongly oppose any country's permission for the Dalai Lama to visit, any politician's meeting with him in any form, and any person's attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs or harm China's sovereignty and unity.

"The Chinese National People's Congress strongly urges the U.S. legislature to take seriously China's solemn concern, sincerely honor its commitment to recognizing Tibet as part of China and not supporting 'Tibet independence,' stop using the Tibet issue to interfere in China's internal affairs and do more work conducive to the friendship between the two peoples and the development of the China-U.S. relationship," said the statement.

[Source: Xinhua, Beijing, 07Mar14]

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Wrinkle Cream | Facial Products in Malaysia - Dermlaze Skin Specialist

SAL Wrinkle Cream contains four key ingredients, including an advanced new source of bio-energy: MG6P (Methyl-Glucoside-6-Phosphate). The natural glucose derivative diffuses throughout skin to re-energise senescent fibroblasts and trigger essential elements, thereby leading to increased production of collagens and elastin. Another key ingredient, hydrolysed elastin, boosts levels of hyaluronic acid for increased skin suppleness and firmness. The formula’s extract of tropical plant Acmella oleracea smoothes expression lines, while Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) stimulates generation of new skin cells to prevent wrinkles and correct uneven tone. SAL Wrinkle Cream’s high clinical efficacy has confirmed visible reduction of deep wrinkles.

Key Ingredients and Benefits

  • MG6P : Bio-energy reduce deep wrinkles by increasing collagens and elastin.
  • Acmella Oleracea Extract : to smooth expression lines.
  • EGF : growth factor prevents wrinkles and correct uneven tone.
  • Hydrolysed Elastin : to boost hyaluronic acid for skin suppleness and firmness.

This product is suitable for mature, normal and dry skin.

After you usual regimen (preparing skin with antioxidant, whiten & correct), smooth cream evenly onto face, neck and chest, put a little extra on areas that tend to be dry. After SAL antioxidant.


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Desso Hybrid grass for 2 stadiums at the European Football Championships

07 June 2012

With a few days before the kick-off of Europe's largest football event, exciting times for football fans can commence. Two stadiums in Ukraine will have a hybrid grass pitch. In the stadiums of Kharkiv and Donetsk, Desso Sports Systems has installed their hybrid grass system, a 100 % natural grass pitch reinforced by artificial fibres.

Top matches on a high tech pitch
With this type of pitch, the stadiums of Donetsk and Kharkiv will have a perfect pitch throughout the tournament. The stadiums will be used intensely for both matches and training. Thanks to the reinforcement of artificial fibres, Desso GrassMaster offers reliable pitches in all weather conditions.

"In three weeks time, Donbass Arena will host 5 matches in the EURO 2012 tournament, including a quarter and semi-final. With Desso GrassMaster we will have a perfect playing surface throughout the tournament."

Alexander Atamanenko, CEO of Donbass Arena, Donetsk

Co-host Ukraine will play 2 matches in Donetsk. Holland will play all of its group matches in the stadium of Kharkiv, including the game against Germany. On June 11 England will play against France in the stadium of Donetsk.

About the hybrid system
The system consists of a 100 % natural grass pitch into which artificial fibres are injected 20 cm deep, every 2 cm across the pitch. This results in approximately 20 million artificial fibres, reinforcing the natural grass. The ingenuity of the system is to be found below the surface. The natural grass roots grow around the artificial fibres, thus anchoring the field. The system offers stability and reinforcement, ensuring a uniform surface in perfect condition at all times. The pitches at Kharkiv and Donetsk were installed in the summer of 2011, and successfully withstood the very harsh winter.

Top players already familiar with Desso GrassMaster
Most players active at the tournament have already experience with playing on the special grass in their regular competition. More than 450 clubs have already installed the system in their stadium or training center. Top clubs such as  Arsenal FC, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, AZ Alkmaar, RSC Anderlecht  play on the Desso GrassMaster system already for a number of years. A number of matches during the FIFA 2010 World Cup Football in South Africa was played on Desso GrassMaster pitches.

Since the installation of the system in 2010 in Wembley, the stadium has a perfect pitch again. In 2011, more than 60 sports events and 8 weeks of concerts were organized. During the Olympics 2012, Wembley will host qualifying football matches, the semi-finals and finals.

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Star Wars: Jedi Academy

Star Wars: Jedi AcademyStar Wars: Jedi Academy
Written and Illustrated by: Jeffrey Brown
Publisher: Scholastic
Format: Softcover, 5.25 x 7.5, 160 pages, Full Color, $12.99
ISBN: 978-0-54550-517-8

If 2014 is going to start anything like the first review and lesson plan for Diamond Comic Distributors' Katie Korner, it's going to be one heck of good year for graphic novels. Jeffrey Brown's Star Wars Jedi Academy is absolutely worthy of taking a moment to stop reading this review and quickly order it ASAP. I'll give you a few minutes to order it. I'll be waiting right here to share teasing treats about what's now on its way to your mailbox . . . .

Ok, now that you and I both know that your copy of Brown's Jedi Academy is on its way we can amp-up your anticipation.

"A long time ago in galaxy far, far away," Brown notoriously sets the stage.

And then it happens. "There was a boy named Roan Novachez," Brown introduces an entirely new take on the legendary Star Wars. The cinematic and literary beauty of what Brown accomplishes in his Star Wars spin-off is rare. Many are the writers and artists who have tried to recreate or retell a Star Wars tale. None – in my humble opinion – have done it so well. Some of them may have been good, perhaps noteworthy, even decent. But Brown's Jedi Academy is brilliant! A tip of the hat from Brown to George Lucas this new graphic novel is destined to not only become a series, but also a phenomenon. Trust me, I would stand in line all night to get the next graphic novel in the series. And I would probably dress up as Brown's new character, Roan, for the occasion.

Without further teases of acclaim and anticipation here's the skinny. Roan Novachez has dreamt of following in his family's footsteps; in fact, he feels destined to attend the prestigious and beloved-family school of choice, The Pilot Academy Middle School. As if a rejection isn't foreshadowed early on in the story due to Roan's surety and overwhelming anticipation, I absolutely did not expect the letter from the Pilot Academy Middle School to crush his hopes and dreams so drastically: "We will have to deny your admittance to the Academy at this team. Although nearly all of the applicants are accepted to the Academy, a small number of students are rejected for various reasons. We wish you all the best . . ."

"Harsh!" is a word that may come to mind. As soon as I thought "harsh," however, my next thought was "Perfect!" A coming of age graphic novel for early and young adult readers Roan must face some real-life obstacles, some real life situations, and some real-life realities. Situations out of his control, even if he does indeed later learn to use the force. Unbeknownst to him at the time, his path is singular and perhaps even more special than those of previous family members.

To Roan's surprise a second, unexpected letter arrives shortly thereafter. At the request of Master Jedi Yoda, Roan is invited to attend The JEDI ACADEMY. But why? Jedis are chosen from a young age. Roan is already in middle school. Why would Master Jedi Yoda want him – AT HIS AGE!!! – to come to The JEDI ACADEMY?

I'm sure your book is being processed by now and on its way. You'll just have to wait to find out what's in store for Roan. Trust me, it's worth the wait.

English Language Arts Elements of Story

Plot: Soon-to-be middle school student Roan Novachez believes he is destined to follow in his family's footsteps and attend the Pilot Academy Middle School. But his dreams are dashed to a million pieces when a rejection letter arrives. When one door closes, however, another one opens. And this is just the case for Roan. Roan receives a second letter from Master Jedi Yoda to attend The JEDI ACADEMY. Disgruntled and pouty, Roan agrees to attend, but he is curious as to why Master Jedi Yoda would ask him to attend The JEDI ACADEMY when students at the academy are nearly always brought up by the academy from a much younger age; the other students will surely see him as an outcast for sure. What does Yoda see in him? He's not even good enough to get into the Pilot Academy Middle School.

Major Characters: Roan Novachez, Jax and Reg, Master Jedi Yoda, Davin, Roan's mother and father, Oliver, Principal Mar, Mrs. Pilton, Kitmum, Mr. Garfield, Librarian Lackbar, RW-22, T-P30, Pasha, Cronah, Cyrus, Jo-Ahn, Tegan, Gaiana, Egon, Bill, Ronald, Shi-Fara, Ewok Pilot

Major Settings: Alderaan, Pilot Academy Middle, JEDI ACADEMY, Tatooine, Coruscant, Kashyyyk

Themes: Obstacles and Challenges, Hopes-Goals-Dreams, Flexibility, Identity, Family, School Life, Bullying and Positive Response Strategies

Traditional and Contemporary Literary Pairing Suggestions: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Peter Pan by J.M.Barrie, Bone by Jeff Smith, Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, any of Stan Lee's Spiderman stories, Huck Finn and/or Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Holes by Lois Sachar, Clone Wars animated series on Cartoon Network

Some Teaching Recommendations Using the Common Core Standards For Young Adult Readers

Key Ideas and Details*
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
* The number referenced above corresponds to the number used by the Common Core Standards (www.commoncore.org)

Lesson Idea for Young Adult Readers:

Because this story is so brilliantly written as a coming of age text the Common Core Standard for Key Ideas and Details focused on analysis of events and individuals over time is central to comprehension. Below is a timeline students can use to record either the events in the story or Roan’s character development. As Yoda might say "Is yours, the choice."

Students should feel free to make their own notches/line indications where they feel necessary on the timeline. Eight to ten notches/line indications should be expected.

Event / Character Timeline for Jedi Academy

Dr. Katie Monnin is an Associate Professor of Literacy at the University of North Florida.  Besides the joy that comes with reading comic books and graphic novels, Dr. Monnin enjoys a Peter Pan-ish life of researching and writing her own books about teaching comics, graphic novels, and cartoons: Teaching Graphic Novels (2010), Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels (2011), Using Content-Area Graphic Texts for Learning (2012), Teaching Reading Comprehension with Graphic Texts (2013), and Get Animated! Teaching 21st Century Early Reader and Young Adult Cartoons in Language Arts (2013); Teaching New Literacies in Elementary Language Arts ( in press, 2014).  When she is not writing (or sitting around wondering how she ended up making an awesome career out of studying comics and graphic novels), Dr. Monnin spends her time with her two wiener dogs, Sam and Max.


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• synonyms

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
  1. of or like an elf.
  2. small and charmingly spritely, merry, or mischievous.
  1. an elf.

Origin of elfin

1560–70; alteration of Middle English elven elf, Old English elfen, ælfen nymph, equivalent to ælf elf + -en feminine suffix (cognate with German -in); ælf cognate with German Alp nightmare, puck, Old Norse alfr elf
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for elfin

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for elfin

  1. of, relating to, or like an elf or elves
  2. small, delicate, and charming
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for elfin

1590s, from elf; first found in Spenser, who may have been thinking of elven but the word also is a proper name in the Arthurian romances (Elphin).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

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Usage examples for migration

  1. Those which indicate elements of the migration other than Angle or Saxon. – The English Language by Robert Gordon Latham
  2. And as they imagined every migration to have been a warlike expedition, they have represented Myrina as making great conquests; and what is extraordinary, going over the same ground, only in a retrograde direction, which Osiris had just passed before. – A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume II. (of VI.) by Jacob Bryant
  3. But the convenience of living in the Old World is so great, and it is such a trial and such a risk to keep crossing the ocean, that it seems altogether likely that a considerable current of re- migration will gradually develop itself among our people. – The Complete PG Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)
  4. As I have said, migration was at an end, yet here I had stumbled upon a Bay of Butterflies. – Edge of the Jungle by William Beebe
  5. By the time this migration occurs, the young fish have grown to six or seven inches in length, and are called " tinkers." – Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Samuel Adams Drake
  6. It appears to me highly improbable, that emancipation would be followed by the migration of the emancipated. – The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus by American Anti-Slavery Society
  7. Obviously, however, the drive was dependent on great stretches of open country, with free grazing and free access to water, and it is also manifest that these conditions could not long endure in the face of constant westward migration. – The United States Since The Civil War by Charles Ramsdell Lingley
  8. The great tide of migration has turned northward. – Nature's Serial Story by E. P. Roe
  9. Then came once more those strangers leading long Migration of their subject folk. – Poems New and Old by John Freeman
  10. My impression is that this migration takes place at night or before sunrise, for it was only early in the morning that I have seen them progressing, and I found that those I brought away with me in chatties appeared quiet by day, but a large proportion managed to get out of the chatties at night- some escaped altogether, others were trodden on and killed. – Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon by J. Emerson Tennent
  11. We must create a new rural environment which will not only stem the migration to urban centers, but reverse it. – Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present by Various
  12. Do these different dates, in such distant districts, prove anything for or against migration ? – The-Natural-History-of-Selborne by White, Gilbert
  13. Toward the beginning of migration, these two periods of activity decline somewhat. – A Quantitative Study of the Nocturnal Migration of Birds. Vol.3 No.2 by George H. Lowery.
  14. With freedom of migration among universities, a student by moving from place to place can thus secure any combination of specialized courses which best fits his requirements. – The Economic Aspect of Geology by C. K. Leith
  15. Our childhood was varied by a good deal of migration. – Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life by Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey
  16. What's that about migration of tribes? – Red Money by Fergus Hume
  17. At all events, as they were approaching the station he asked, and without a trace of feeling, whether there were any orders for him with reference to the proposed migration. – Max Carrados by Ernest Bramah
  18. The whole thing suggests more a national migration than the march of an army. – With Rimington by L. March Phillipps


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article imagePeeping Tom caught on camera watching girls in dressing room

By Cynthia Trowbridge     Jul 23, 2011 in Crime
Two recent incidences show the importance of being alert to your surroundings even in the dressing room of a department store.
Two 14-year-old girls were at a Macy's store on June 11 trying on prom dresses. They were taking pictures of themselves while in the dressing room of the dresses they were trying on.
The picture showed the girls in pretty dresses. But there was another person in the photo that they were not aware of being there. The photo showed a man on his hands and knees looking under the door of the girl's dressing room.
One of the girl's said, "Our jaw dropped when we saw that someone was looking in on us." reported
Sam Black, the father of one of the girls was furious and contacted Macy's and turned the photo over to the Flint Township Police Department.
Macy's released the following statement about the incident: "Macy's condemns this type of improper behavior and does everything possible to prevent it. When any associate or customer witnesses incidents such as this, we urge them to report it to store management so that we can take the appropriate action, including alerting local law enforcement."
Black is not criticizing the local Macy's or the police department. He does want parents, kids and corporations to be aware this goes on all over. reports Black said, "It's being treated like an isolated incident, but it's not an isolated incident. This is happening to not only my daughter, but to other daughters. It makes me furious what he's doing! And he needs to be caught."
In Kansas City, Mo a mother and her daughter were shopping at a Sears at Antioch Center. The mother went into one dressing room and the daughter into another one.
When the mother came out of the dressing room she saw a man on the floor and thought he was an employee of the store. He told her he was looking for someone.
The mother went back into the dressing room when the man came back in and bent down looking into her daughter's dressing room. reports the girl said, "She started screaming, 'Security, security. There's a peeping tom on my daughter.'"
The man ran out of the dressing room and the store and the police were called.
The man was captured on surveillance video but so far has not been caught.
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article imageRoberto Luongo will sumbit trade list, Toronto and Tampa on it

By Marcus Hondro     Apr 26, 2012 in Sports
Vancouver - There are multiple reports coming out of Vancouver claiming that Roberto Luongo will be givng the Canucks a list of teams he's willing to be traded to. The list will be given over next week, reports say, and it will include Toronto and Tampa Bay.
Sportsnet Pacific's host Don Taylor said on that show's Wed. April 25 broadcast that the Luongo list would be submitted next week but did not say the precise number of other teams on the list in addition to the Maple Leafs and Lightning. It was described as a "short" list.
On their website, Sportsnet Pacific says that Luongo has told their reporter Dan Murphy that both Toronto and Tampa Bay will be on the list and TSN is on record as saying that "sources" say Toronto is on the list. There is no direct quote from the goalie from either source.
Roberto Luongo: puts Canucks "ahead of me"
Speculation is high that Luongo, who turned 33 on April 4, will be traded by the Canucks. While that seemed unthinkable until recently, it took hold after Cory Schneider, 26, was given the game 3 start against the L. A. Kings in round one of the playoffs. While Vancouver lost the round and are out of the playoffs, Schneider played the final three games and allowed but 4 goals. Further, Schneider's strong playoff performance comes after an excellent regular season in which his 1.96 GAA third in the league and his .937 save percentage was second.
On Tuesday, as players cleaned out lockers, Luongo said he is willing to do whatever was best for the team, including agreeing to a trade. "I don't want to be one of those guys that will stand in the way of anything, I always want to put the team ahead of me and not be one of those selfish guys," he said. "There haven't been any decisions made, but over the course of the next little while we'll talk to Mike (GM Gillis) and make that decision."
Tampa and Toronto: Poorest Goals Against in NHL
Even before the reports that Tampa Bay would be on a list submitted by Luongo, that team was being speculated upon by media pundits and fans as a possible destination for Luongo. The Lightning could find cap room for Luongo, need a goalie, could be competitive with Luongo and are in the state where his wife is from.
Toronto was considered a less likely location, but had been included by media and fans because the Leafs are desperate to make the playoffs and their goaltending let them down last season. Also Luongo's friend and former goalie coach Francois Allaire works for Toronto and Leafs' asst. Dave Nonis was the GM in Vancouver who traded for Luongo six years ago.
Toronto finished 29th in goal against this past season in the NHL while Tampa Bay finished 30th and last. Other possible teams that might want Luongo include Chicago, whose number one goalie, Corey Crawford, had a poor season and playoff, and his former team, the Florida Panthers.
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article imageSpengler's note: 'I do what I like doing best – killing people'

By Can Tran     Dec 25, 2012 in Crime
Webster - William Spengler, the shooter in the Christmas Eve neighborhood blaze in Webster, NY, and the deaths of two people, left a note. The note said he wanted to do what he liked best: killing people.
Christmas is the time to be jolly; but with what happened within the last two weeks, not everybody's going to be jolly. On December 14, there was the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Most of the victims were children between the ages of 5 and 10. The whole world publicly mourned for the victims of the mass shooting. Only a day ago, in Webster, New York, ex-con William Spengler decided to shoot a couple of people before taking his own life. So far, the shooting of the first responders to the blaze, set by Spengler, was premeditated. Spengler had planned it out. What he did was set fire to his own house and lure the firefighters out.
When firefighters arrived, Spengler opened fire. Two of the people were killed and two others are in critical condition at the hospital. Nobody really knew the motivations of Spengler's act. Spengler was sent to jail in 1980 for killing his grandmother, who was 92 at the time. He spent 18 years in prison; Spengler got released in 1998. For the time, Spengler remained rather quiet. However, a friend reported that Spengler had love for his mother; but at the same time, Spengler had hate for his sister.
The Sandy Hook shooting, committed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, sparked enough national outrage that gun legislature talks have been renewed. However, it's very likely it will turn into a very nasty political battle. The shooting committed by Spengler can be stacked onto the debate as well. You have gun-control advocates calling for a ban of assault weapons and the pro-gun advocates saying that it's the bad guys and crazies that go out committing the mass shootings. In the case of Spengler, it was an ex-convict who got his hands on an assault rifle.
It was revealed by the Webster Police Department that Spengler had the following firearms on his body: a .222-calibur Bushmaster rifle, a .38-caliber revolver, and a 12-gauge shotgun. However, it wasn't disclosed what firearms were used to attack the firefighters. The assault rifle is reported as being the same make and caliber that Lanza had on him when he perpetrated the mass shooting on December 14, at Sandy Hook Elementary.
However, it is unknown why Spengler committed such an act; but, a note was revealed to have been typed by him beforehand. According to the note, which the authorities have yet to release as it is part of the evidence collected, Spengler typed that he wanted to burn down as much of the neighborhood as he could. In turn, when people arrived, Spengler would then kill them. Spengler said he wanted to do what he liked doing best. What Spengler did best, according to the note, was to kill people. However, no further motive has been found in Spengler's note.
One of the people killed was Webster PD Lt. Michael Chiapperini. He was the public information officer of the WPD. Chiapperini was 43 at the time of his death. The second person, 911 dispatcher Tomasz Kaczowka, was 19 at the time of his death.
Joseph Hosfstetter, the first wounded firefighter, had a bullet lodged in his spine. Theodore Scardino, the second wounded firefighter, suffered wounds to the chest and knee.
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article imageFt. Bragg soldier and wife arrested for allegedly making dog porn

By Brett Wilkins     Sep 17, 2013 in Crime
Raeford - A US soldier and his wife have been arrested and charged with crimes against nature for allegedly having sex with dogs and then posting videos of the illicit acts on the Internet.
The Fayetteville Observer reports Raeford couple Ruben Chance James Fox and his wife Amber Nicole Fox, both 23, were arrested by Raeford police on Monday morning.
The Foxes were charged with multiple counts of crimes against nature involving bestiality, disseminating obscene materials and conspiracy. Amber Fox was additionally charged with soliciting a crime against nature.
The Associated Press reports Ruben Fox is an active duty US soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, some 25 miles away near Fayetteville. A spokesman at the base confirmed that Fox is a specialist in the 82nd Airborne Division.
According to the cybercrime unit of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Police Department, explicit videos made by and featuring the Foxes engaging in sex acts with dogs were discovered being shared on an unidentified website. Raeford police were then notified. Raeford officers searched the couple's residence in the 900 block of East Prospect Avenue on Friday, seizing cameras and computer hard drives.
Two mixed-breed dogs and three cats were also seized from the couple's home and placed in a local shelter.
The Foxes are being held on $15,000 bail each.
On Sunday, Amber Fox asked 'God' to protect her family.
"Please help our oppressors to have mercy and see the truth," Fox wrote on Facebook. "Please guide them and touch them Lord with your love. Please help guide us back to your holy path and do your holy work."
This is the second time bestiality has made headlines in the past week. Four days ago, the British press was abuzz with the story of Graham Redfearn, a 41-year-old Shropshire pedophile arrested for allegedly having sex with a horse and two dogs and making videos of himself raping the animals. When questioned by investigators, Redfearn said he was "experimenting."
Husband and wife bestiality arrests are far less common, but do occur with some regularity. In January, Canadian couple Ryan and Donna Fleury were arrested in Ontario and charged with marijuana, bestiality and firearms offenses after police found "evidence of bestiality involving a dog" at their home, along with 1,600 cannabis plants and illicit guns.
Last year, authorities in Maricopa County, Arizona arrested Shane and Sarah Dae Walker and charged them and a friend with felony bestiality after an undercover detective caught the couple attempting to arrange a group sex session in which Sarah would have had sex with a golden shepherd dog.
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One Direction want to make prank TV show

Louis Tomlinson says the boyband are planning a hidden camera-style series.

One Direction have revealed that they want to prank celebrities for a new TV show.

The boyband said they would like to play hidden camera-style practical jokes like those on BBC Three's comedy series Impractical Jokers.

One Direction New York Premiere of "THIS IS US" - red carpet arrivals
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"We want to do a TV prank show like that new one on BBC Three," Louis Tomlinson told the Daily Star.

"It was funny and full of practical jokes. We would like to do a show like that and prank celebrities."

Tomlinson recently admitted that he was "shocked" by the backlash surrounding Miley Cyrus's performance at the MTV VMAs.

"We were shocked by how much coverage there was," he said. "I think she was shocked. I don't think she knew she would get so much attention from that."

Watch One Direction discuss their new film This Is Us with Digital Spy below:

Jet Li attends 'Gong Shou Dao' Kung Fu camp closing ceremony on November 3, 2017 in Tongling, China
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But his manager says there's no cause for concern.
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James Arthur sued by Script for copyright infringement
Suit claims he copied 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved'.
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'You got to bleep one single word.'
Prince Harry opened the door for his wife as they headed to their wedding reception
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex drove in an E-Type Jaguar.
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It's one year to the day since the terror attack.
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Suits' Patrick J Adams apologises after 'body-shaming'
"I'm no bully."
Kelly Clarkson gives strong speech against gun violence
"I'm so sick of moments of silence. It's not working."
8 of the most awkward moments at the 2018 Billboards
That Taylor/Demi moment is uncomfortable.
Lisa Riley - Former Emmerdale star Lisa Riley reveal breast reduction and huge weight loss - skinnier
Former Emmerdale star Lisa Riley announces engagement
"The best thing to ever happen to me."
Salt-N-Pepa reunite for Billboard Music Awards 2018
They took everyone back to the '90s.


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'Doctor Who': BBC announces Fourth Doctor Time Capsule deluxe box set

A teaser featuring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor was revealed earlier this week.

BBC Worldwide is to release a new deluxe Doctor Who box set commemorating the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.

An online teaser video featuring audio clips from Baker's era of the Doctor provoked speculation amongst Who fans when it was released online last week.

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The clip has now been revealed as a promo for the limited edition 'Fourth Doctor Time Capsule' box set, which will contain exclusive content and memorabilia from Baker's time on the sci-fi drama.

The set contains a new interview with Baker and an advance vanilla release of classic adventure 'Terror of the Zygons' - set to be released in full later this year.

The four-part tale, from writer Robert Banks Stewart, introduces the shape-shifting alien Zygons, who will return to Doctor Who for its 50th anniversary special in November.

BBC Worldwide's 'Fourth Doctor Time Capsule'

With a limited run of 5,000 units, the Time Capsule also includes an exclusive post-regenerative Fourth Doctor action figure - wearing Jon Pertwee's trademark frill-fronted shirt, a Fourth Doctor sonic screwdriver, an audio version of classic Tom Baker story 'Genesis of the Daleks', the novel 'Tomb of Valdemar' by Simon Messingham, art cards of all the Fourth Doctor's companions and a letter from Tom Baker himself.
The 'Fourth Doctor Time Capsule' will be released on July 29.

> Doctor Who Matt Smith to attend 50th Celebration Weekend

Mia and Niska in Humans 3.2
Humans season 3 writer hints at one Synth turning bad
Dissecting the latest outing with show's co-creator.
Doctor Who: season 16 ('The Key to Time')
Classic Doctor Who episodes to be streamed worldwide
You don't need to be a Time Lord to watch them all.
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Humans' writer on season 3, episode 1's shock exit
Dissecting the series opener with Jonathan Brackley.
Humans 3.1
Humans season 3, episode 1: A bleak but brilliant watch
Skipped season two? Start again at Day Zero.
Max and Mia in Humans 3.1
Humans writers have "ideas" for a season 4
The story of the Synths might not be over.
Humans cast do the Human or Synth test
Exclusive: Humans cast find out if they're Synths in test
Bad news for Tom Goodman-Hill.
Mia and Niska in Humans 3.2
Gemma Chan and the Humans cast reveal series 3 secrets
"The conflict ramps up hugely."
Humans 3.1
Emily Berrington is Humans' secret weapon
Niska's alter-ego on series 3 and fight for equality.
'Doctor Who' series 1: the ninth Doctor and Rose
RTD reveals Doctor Who 'Rose' scene he'd like to change
He made a tweak for his novel based on the episode.
PHOTOSHOP Hugh Grant as the 11th Doctor
Exclusive: Hugh Grant's agent blocked Doctor Who offer
He could've been the ninth Doctor.


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Fall 1985 · Vol. 14 No. 2 · pp. 3–5

Mennonite Brethren Church Membership Profile, 1972-1982, Preface

Al Dueck, J. B. Toews, and Abram G. Konrad

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5).

The exhortation of Paul in his second letter to the Corinthian church is a call for self-examination to know the status of their faith. Already in his first letter to the Corinthian believers he warns of the danger to their faith from the environment of a secular, pagan culture to which they are exposed (1 Cor. 15:30-34). His message to the church is a clarion call, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).

The concerns of the Apostle are a mere echo of the words of Jesus to his disciples, “You are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). The writings of John offer the same concern in the exhortation, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). {4}

The exhortations of Jesus and the apostles are very relevant to our “post-Christian” 20th Century. The Believers’ Church of today, caught in the cauldron of revolutionary changes, finds its orientation in the unchangeable revelation of God through Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. God does not change, neither do His purposes for the church in the world change.

The Mennonite Brethren Membership Church Profile is a small effort in response to Paul’s exhortation to examine ourselves whether we “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). To employ social science methods in this self-examination provides the benefits of this discipline in examining the influence of culture upon social behavior. The voices of Robert Bellah, et al. (1985), Alasdair Maclntyre (1981) and others cannot be dismissed by a discerning church that is not “of the world” in purpose and character, but has a sacred calling to be “in the world.”

A weakness in this discernment lies in the processes which rest upon the base of changing cultural influences and values. The responsibility of the church is based upon an unchangeable foundation which judges all values, character and relational behavior within the cultural environment. While the limitations of the social sciences are recognized, the results of the Mennonite Brethren Membership Church Profile can provide a basis for reflective discernment and new developments within the church.

The implications of the data emerging from the Profile are offered within the framework of our Scriptural understanding of the 16th Century Anabaptists—the left wing of the Reformation. The “soul” of this movement was a cry for a return to the apostolic New Testament Believer’s Church of the first Century. The founding document of the Mennonite Brethren fellowship of 1860 based its commitment upon the same principles and practices. Reference to Anabaptist faith and practice in these chapters identifies a Scriptural understanding of faith and practice that grows out of the 1st and 16th Century Believers’ Church. Reference to “tradition” must be similarly understood.

The involvement of several groups in the study of the Profile outlined in chapter 1 testifies to our sincere interest in a careful interpretation of the data and to genuine concerns about the development of implications. The Profile can serve as important reference material for our Conferences and churches, and it will also provide helpful material for a forthcoming publication by J. B. Toews, Mennonite Brethren: Faith and Life. {5}

Our claim to be a Believers’ Church, true to the Scriptures, demands a positive and honest response to the Scriptural exhortation to examine ourselves. The Mennonite Brethren Church Membership Profile research and publication serves as one element in the examination process. We trust that this activity will be followed by a continued prayerful study of the Scriptures, a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s guidance in response similar to that for which the prophet Jeremiah prayed, “Restore us to Thee, O Lord, that we may be restored; renew our days as of old” (Lam. 5:21).

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April 1975 · Vol. 4 No. 2 · pp. 294–302

Garden of God

Arthur DeFehr

One summer day in 1963 I visited the infamous Berlin Wall and, standing on a platform just behind the wall, I gazed past the Brandenburg Gate into the Eastern Zone. In the distance I could see a group of people behind some barricades, waving frantically. My imagination brushed in the details of the lives and emotions of those distant individuals. The following day I crossed into the Eastern Zone and happened to pass the spot I had seen the day before. To my surprise there was a group of tourists like myself happily waving to our comrades in the West.

What we see and how we interpret what we see depends on the place from which we look. Two and a half years ago the Mennonite Central Committee invited me to assume the responsibilities of Director for their program in Bangladesh. For two years I looked at myself, my neighbour, my world, and my God from a different perspective. To gain that perspective I travelled through 12 time zones and precisely 180 degrees longitude and from a cold climate to a tropical one, from a Christian country to a non-Christian one, from the wealthiest of civilizations to the very poorest, from a land of open spaces to the most crowded spot on earth; from a white society to a non-white society, from a place of hope to a place without hope.

From that vantage point I, my neighbour, my world, and my God looked different, devastatingly different! I could tell you heart-rending stories about Bangladesh. You would feel uncomfortable for a few minutes, but that would pass. I don’t intend to let you get off that easily! With one foot firmly fixed in the filth of the world’s worst refugee camps and the other in the depleted soil of a community which is descending the final curves of the limits to growth projections, let me tell you what my God, my world, my neighbour, and I myself looked like.

I am not a theologian. Theology is the filter we put between man’s soul and God’s revelations. Since there are many filters, each labelled and well-described, each represented by its own scholars, books and institutions, we can even choose in advance which filter we will insert between ourselves and God. My two years in Bangladesh shattered the filter that had developed within me over the previous 29 years, and I suddenly saw many things that had previously been filtered out. Many comfortable assumptions lay in shreds. When I picked up my Bible, the words took on such strange meanings that it seemed like a different book about a different God.

Where does a man position himself when he looks at the universe and his place in it? At the centre of course! We begin with the implicit assumption that man is the purpose and end-product of creation, and {295} therefore all other factors are subordinate. Interestingly, whether we are Christians or not, we still end up with man in the same place—the centre. If there is any one thing that looked different from that other vantage point, it is the place of man in the whole scheme of things. I intend to test our historical perspective by beginning with the premise that man is somewhere else than at the centre.

The Bible begins with the marvelous story of God taking a “shapeless chaotic mass” and creating an order of things, culminating in the highest order of creation—man.

Then God said, Let us make a man—someone like ourselves, to be master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas; so God made man like his maker. . . .

Genesis 1 deals with creation in hierarchical fashion, and without a doubt man represents the peak of the creation process. Does this mean, however, that man is the purpose of creation and can use the awesome powers granted to him as the highest order of creation only to serve his own ends? Is being at the top of the creation process a right or a responsibility?

Genesis 2 deals with the creation process again, but in a more subtle qualitative manner.

The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and placed in the garden the man he had formed. The Lord God planted all sorts of beautiful trees there in the garden, trees producing the choicest of fruit. At the centre of the garden he placed the Tree of Life, and also the Tree of Conscience, giving knowledge of Good and Bad.

It is noteworthy that man was created from the same building blocks as the rest of creation—the dust of the ground, and God added the “breath of life.” Then God placed man in the garden. He didn’t give man the garden, or place him in the centre of the garden; he simply placed man in the garden just as the trees and the rest of the components were placed in the garden. What was at the centre of the garden? Two trees, representing two choices, choices to which we will come back later.

A garden—has it ever occurred to you why God chose this particular image? A garden is a combination of soil, water, and plants which produces useful things. However, a garden is not a closed system or an ecologically balanced system like a patch of jungle or a swamp. It requires one extra dimension to become a closed system—the knowledge and care of the gardener. Given this combination, a garden can truly become an ecologically balanced system which can permit its constituent parts to function at their full potential. Such a system, a garden, has no life span; it can continue forever. {296}

Continuing with the creation story. . . . “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden as its gardener, to tend and care for it. But the Lord God gave the man this warning: ‘You may eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the Tree of Conscience—for its fruit will open your eyes to make you aware of right and wrong, good and bad. If you eat its fruit, you will be doomed to die.’ ”

Man was placed in the garden to be “its gardener, to tend and care for it.” He was to be that critical extra dimension which permits the other elements of nature to operate at their fullest potential. You will note that man is the only element with the capacity to choose whether or not it will make its best contribution. The soil, the water, the sun and the seed do not choose whether or not to play their appointed roles. Kahlil Gibran says this better than I can, “You often say, I would give, but only to the deserving. The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture. They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.”

“To withhold is to perish”—what does that mean? The orchard that doesn’t produce fruit will be chopped down in the short run and will not even be able to reproduce itself in the longer run. To withhold its fruit dooms its continued existence. If the gardener eats from the Tree of Conscience, he will be “doomed to die.” On the other hand if he leaves the Tree of Conscience alone and eats from the Tree of Life located at the centre of the garden, a tree from which he was permitted to eat, there is presumably no necessary end. In other words, the gardener must choose to play his role as gardener to ensure continued existence, since he dies along with the garden if it fails to produce.

What then is the Tree of Life? Surely this is the care and gardening necessary to keep the garden producing. This implies that man recognizes the contributions and limitations of the soil, the other resources and each plant and other living thing. Man submits himself to the natural laws and to the order of creation, recognizing that he is not Lord of creation, but a part of creation. If man accepts his place within the created order of things, he is eating of the Tree of Life, since God’s creation will remain in balance and can continue forever.

What if man does not accept his role in creation? What happens if man demands more fruit than the garden can produce, and uses more wood than can be replaced, and requires more water than can be replenished? This can happen for a while—new seedlings aren’t planted, the water table runs down, we use up the tolerance of nature for chemicals, and then the productive capacity is permanently impaired. This is not gardening. This is exploitation and it is a one-way street.

Man has been doing this for thousands of years and I don’t have to quote any doomsday predictions to tell you what stage we have now reached. Man chose to eat of the Tree of Conscience when he decided {297} that he would be master of the garden rather than gardener. He placed himself at the centre of creation rather than accept the balance which God had designed to sustain a perfect order of creation.

Man rejected God when he rejected the role that God had designed for man within creation. Man’s acceptance of the role would have made creation perfect. Man sinned and creation is not perfect; it is out of balance and in accordance with the writer of Genesis is “doomed to die.” The metaphor continues in Genesis chapter 3, “Then the Lord said, ‘Now that the man has become as we are, knowing good from bad, what if he eats of the Tree of Life and lives forever?’ So the Lord God banished him forever from the Garden of Eden, and sent him out to farm the ground from which he had been taken.” God metaphorically expels them, since the Garden really doesn’t exist anymore, because the Tree of Life has been rejected.

The perspective from Bangladesh convinced me that we are indeed living in a garden, one which we are systematically exploiting for the benefit of ourselves. We have the tendency to project the present, and our generation lives on a continent which is in the process of being raped. Therefore we assume that we can exploit forever, but the water table in West Texas has fallen from 50 feet to several hundred, the Imperial Valley is becoming saline, the lush farmlands are being paved. Bangladesh has also been exploited for centuries, but now the appetite of the population exceeds the natural fertility of the soil, the denuding of the Himalayas has increased the ferocity of the flooding rivers, the demand for land has pushed settlers into the tidal flats of the Bay of Bengal and into the path of the terrible cyclones. Man has not gardened, and now the garden cannot sustain him. The most terrifying aspect of our North American perspective is that we have yet to realize that our point of view represents a rapidly diminishing minority.

If man has indeed usurped centre stage in the creation drama and rejected the role assigned to him, how will God respond? Remember the promise God made—if you eat of this fruit you are “doomed to die.” It will not kill man on the spot, but that choice makes man’s end inevitable. God put the possibility of eternal existence into his order of creation, but man rejected that alternative. As the natural system becomes increasingly imbalanced, its collapse becomes ever more a certainty.

Returning again to the poetry of Gibran:

As I sat deep in thought, I felt a breeze passing through the branches of the trees, and I heard a sighing like that of a strayed orphan.

“Why do you sigh, gentle breeze,” I asked, and the breeze replied, “Because I have come from the city that is aglow with the heat of the sun, and the seeds of plague and contaminations cling to my pure garments. Can you blame me for grieving?” {298}

Then I looked at the tear-stained faces of the flowers, and heard their soft lament, And I asked, “Why do you weep, my lovely flowers?”

One of the flowers raised her head gently and whispered, “We weep because Man will come and cut us down, and offer us for sale in the markets of the city.”

And another flower added,” In the evening, when we are wilted, he will throw us on the refuse heap. We weep because the cruel hand of Man snatches us from our native haunts.”

Gibran records the lament of the brook and the birds, then closes as follows:

Now the sun rose from behind the mountain peaks, and gilded the treetops with coronals. I looked upon this beauty and asked myself, “Why must Man destroy what Nature has built?”

The Scriptures are filled with continuing references to man’s obedience or disobedience to God and the result in terms of natural phenomena. Hosea tells his people:

The Lord has filed a lawsuit against you listing the following charges. There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. You swear and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another. That is why your land is not producing; it is filled with sadness, and all living things grow sick and die; the animals, the birds, and even the fish begin to disappear (Hosea 4:1-3).

Man sins and his natural surroundings deteriorate. What happens when Israel returns to God? Let’s return again to the words of Hosea.

O Israel, return to the Lord, your God. . . . Then I will cure you of idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be forever gone! I will refresh Israel like the dew from heaven; she will blossom as the lily and root deeply in the soil like cedars in Lebanon. . . . her people will return from exile far away and rest beneath my shadow. They will be a watered garden and blossom like grapes and be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. . . . Whoever is wise let him understand these things (Hosea 14).

Time and again the authors of the Bible use the image of harmoniousness with nature to portray harmoniousness with God. Possibly the relationship is something more than convenient imagery. Jesus himself uses this imagery constantly, with references like this: “Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit produced.” After relating the parables of the sower and the rocky soil, the thistles among the wheat, and the tiny mustard seeds, Matthew tells us: {299}

Jesus constantly used these illustrations when speaking to the crowds. . . . For it had been prophesied, “I will speak in parables; I will explain mysteries hidden since the beginning of time.”

When I look at our history since Jesus gave us those parables, I have to conclude that those mysteries have remained mysteries. If we really understood Jesus our world would be different! Jesus reached the point of crisis in his own life—and withdrew to a garden to get it all together. Possibly we could also get it together for ourselves if we returned to the garden. We won’t—and where will that lead us?

As North Americans we view the relationship between man and nature as follows: man plants, irrigates, fertilizes, sprays for pests and weeds, and in the event there is an Act of God to destroy his crop, he insures! The Bengali farmer doesn’t share that perspective. He moves entirely with the rhythms of nature—the bounty or failure of the monsoon, the fury or beneficence of the rivers. He feels he is part of his surroundings and sees God in that pattern. A Bengali friend, viewing the wreckage of his society, said sadly, “God is not happy with Bangladesh.”

Is God happy with the rest of us? “With us, yes—but it’s the rest of ‘those sinners’ out there!” After two years in Bangladesh I have much more trouble telling the “good guys” and the “bad guys” apart.

If God wants to reveal himself to his creation today how can He do it? The last time He sent his Son to his vineyard he was rejected by those who had been prepared to receive him. They rejected him because He failed to meet their expectations. If God is at the centre, who then decides how God should reveal himself? Have any of you ever heard any predictions about how and when Christ will come again? Have you ever noticed that some of these predictions are at variance with each other? Christ tells us that we do not know—only God knows. It’s strange, isn’t it, that man determines that God cannot add another verse to His written record, that He can come only at a certain time and in a certain form, and, of course, that His whole coming is designed to save the “good guys” from the approaching catastrophe? If God’s chosen people were wrong the last time, how are we so sure they won’t be wrong again? Two years of viewing the Christian community from that other perspective suggested that we may not be part of the solution but part of the problem.

I suggested earlier that my perspective from that other place did strange things to many previous assumptions. Several months ago I studied a very difficult passage, the seven judgments of Revelation chapter 8, and it seemed strange how obvious their meaning was. I suddenly realized that these judgments were part of our daily life, and a direct product of our own action, yet we were blind to them. Let’s take a quick look at this passage. {300}

The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down upon the earth. One third of the earth was set on fire so that one third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass.

Anyone with any sense of geography knows what man has done to the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, the eroded hills of Crete and Lebanon. Overgrazing is sucking the Sahara southward. The Imperial Valley is growing more saline. Many, many more examples could be given. The judgment of the first angel is well underway.

Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and what appeared to be a huge burning mountain was thrown into the sea, destroying a third of all the ships; and a third of the sea turned red as blood; and a third of the fish were killed.

Lake Erie is dead, the Mediterranean is dying, the Sargasso Sea of the North Atlantic is filled with garbage, the Baltic is unsafe for swimming, and every day we hear of oil spills or other disasters. The anchovies have disappeared off Peru again, the catch on the Grand Banks is declining, and experts forecast that the total catch from the sea is probably at its peak and will decline from now on. The second angel is also on the scene.

The third angel blew, and a great flaming star fell from heaven upon a third of the rivers and springs. The star was called ‘Bitterness’ because it had poisoned a third of all the water on earth and many people died.

We all remember when the Calumet River went up in flames, but most of our major rivers can no longer support much animal life. At this time tests are being done on Indians in Eastern Manitoba to test the impact of the high mercury levels in the Winnipeg River system. My guess would be that this angel is close to his target of damaging one third of the world’s fresh water.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet and immediately a third of the sun was blighted and darkened, and a third of the moon and the stars, so that the daylight was dimmed by a third and the nighttime darkness deepened. As I watched, I saw a solitary eagle flying through the heavens. . . .

Do you remember the London smogs which have killed hundreds? New York is now experiencing acid rain, and in Calcutta you need headlights by four in the afternoon. Ecologists have pointed out that the family of birds represented by the hawk and the eagle are affected first by pollution, since they are at the top of the food pyramid. All these birds are now becoming extinct since they can no longer reproduce because of the high levels of DDT. Isn’t it strange that John uses the image of the solitary eagle to bring attention to this judgment? {301}

Man exploits the earth by destroying the life-giving potential of the soil, the oceans, the fresh water and the atmosphere. How far can this potential be reduced before there is a backlash?

Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet . . . Smoke poured out as though from some huge furnace, and the sun and air were darkened by the smoke. Then locusts came from the smoke and descended onto the earth and were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to hurt the grass or plants or trees, but to attack those people who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads.

Is it surprising that the exploited eventually turns on their exploiter? Many insects have developed resistance to man’s chemical attacks—and are more dangerous than before. At this moment there are huge swarms of red locusts swarming in their breeding grounds in Tanzania and Uganda. The failure to supply the necessary chemicals and the lack of equipment aborted efforts to control them this year. It is expected that in the next months swarms of unprecedented magnitude will devastate parts of Rhodesia and Mozambique.

After man has reduced the capability of the earth to support him, then men begin to fight among themselves for what is left. Although we use five times as much grain and ten times as much energy per person as other nations, we still justify embargoes on food exports and fight for available fuel supplies. At this point one must ask the crucial question: are Christians a part of this problem or a part of the solution? If our pattern of living reflects the society around us, then how can we pretend that the laws of God will spare us?

The sixth angel blew his trumpet . . . “Release the four mighty demons held bound at the great River Euphrates.” They had been kept in readiness for that year and month and day and hour, and now they were turned loose to kill a third of all mankind. They led an army of 200,000,000 warriors. . . .

If man is capable of destroying his natural surroundings, he is also capable of destroying his fellow man. But what if we don’t change our basic attitudes? The writer tells us that after this sixth judgment, “the men left alive after these plagues still refused to worship God.” Where does this lead to—what is the ultimate judgment—or rather, what is the ultimate capacity of man for selfishness? He will use the ultimate means to protect his own interests, and he already has the means at his disposal to render the earth totally uninhabitable!

Then the seventh angel poured out his flask into the air; and a mighty shout came from the throne of the temple in heaven, saying, “It is finished!” Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed; and there was a great earthquake of a magnitude unprecedented in human history. . . . {302}

When the dust settles God will re-establish His perfect order and He returns to the place from where He started at Creation:

And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, coursing down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. . . .

From the perspective of North America I had seen man with his scientific knowledge, his technology, his learning, standing on centre stage and all Creation bowing to him. When I made that long step to the other side and looked back, I realized how foolish man really looks. Suddenly God and the unity of His creation moved back into the Centre, and man stood there, naked, as a fragile part of the whole scheme of things. Man stood there, naked, making a pitiful effort to cover his shame with his titles, degrees, and possessions.

Is there an alternative for twentieth-century man which is consistent with the plan of God? Yes, I believe there is. We must collectively become the gardeners we were meant to be. This means that our combined actions and demands on our surroundings and each other must be such that they could be continued permanently. Man has chosen to eat of the Tree of Conscience and is doomed to die. To be Christian means to make a choice—to eat of the Tree of Life. Christ tells us that His followers are already living in the kingdom of God, but what do we do with that?

God’s History will show that He was revealing himself to our generation but we passed him by because He did not meet our expectations. If there is a current parallel to the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, it will be the modern Church and its institutions. I sincerely believe that there are many people who live in harmony with God and His creation, but I further believe that the correlation between this group and those who cry “Father, Father” is only incidental. If there is any one challenge I leave to those who call themselves followers of Christ, it is to become gardeners in the Garden of God.

Arthur DeFehr is general manager of A. A. DeFehr Furniture Manufacturing Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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