A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea. Only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God. To find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man’s parcel of land remained barren. After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.

Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing. Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming,

“Why are you leaving your companion on the island?”

“My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything.”

“You are mistaken!” the voice rebuked him. “He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings.”

“Tell me,” the first man asked the voice, “what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”
“He prayed that all your prayers be answered.”

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of others praying for us.

(Thanks to my colleague Jasmina Varupa for this story.)

…you cannot grow in the great art form, the integration of action and contemplation, without
1) a strong tolerance for ambiguity;
2) an ability to allow, forgive, and contain a certain degree of anxiety; and
3) a willingness to not know and not even need to know.
This is how you allow and encounter mystery.
All else is mere religion.

From Richard Rohr, From A Lever And a Place to Stand: The Contemplative Stance, the Active Prayer,

Presa anunta ca iranianul Habib Bastam, condamnat la moarte in tara lui pentru convertirea la crestinism a primit azil in Romania.

Oficiul Roman pentru Imigrari (ORI) i-a acordat azil, vineri, iranianului Habib Bastam refugiat in Romania, condamnat la moarte de un tribunal din Teheran pentru apostazie, au declarat, pentru agentia Mediafax, surse judiciare.

Acuzatia de apostazie (adica renuntarea publica la o anumita credinta religioasa; renegarea unei doctrine sau conceptii) adusa lui Habib Bastam “se fundamenteaza pe faptul ca acesta s-a nascut din parinti musulmani, iar la varsta maturitatii a acceptat Islamul, conformandu-se preceptelor acestuia, pentru ca apoi sa declare verbal si prin fapte renuntarea de Islam, ocupandu-se totodata de organizarea de intruniri evanghelice, chemand si pe altii sa imbratiseze crestinismul, formand o biserica in casa, desfasurand ceremonii de botez, predicandu-si credinta in crestinism in fata adunarii formate din vecini de-ai sai si negand preceptele islamice”, potrivit hotararii prin care a fost condamnat la moarte.

Cititi mai departe AICI.

UPDATE

Tocmai am primit de la domnul Adrian Papahagi, consilier al ministrului roman de externe, un mesaj prin care imi comunica, fara alte detalii, ca problema iranianului s-a rezolvat si ca decizia initiala a tribunalului s-a datorat faptului ca iranianul ‘nu prezentase situatia corect’.

Nu-mi este foarte clar ce inseamna asta, dar nu este greu de imaginat ca un strain, care nu vorbeste bine romaneste si nu intelege hatisurile inbicsitului si coruptului sistem romanesc de justitie, se incurca in itele lui. Justitia, se spune, este oarba (in afara de cazul cind trebuie sa primeasca pretul coruptiei. Nu i-ar strica insa sa fie din cind in cind si omenoasa.

Atunci cind trateaza cazurile marilor corupti si mafioti din Romania, justitia intinde procesele la infinit, pina se prescriu faptele. Cind este vorba insa de viata unui amarit, care nu are cu ce ‘unge’ constiinta sensibila a magistratilor corupti, verdictul vine cu maxima eficienta. Halal tara!

Oricum ar fi, multumim lui Dumnezeu pentru oameni precum ministrul Baconschi si consilierul Papahagi, ca si pentru altii ca ei, care n-au lasat sa continue aceasta nedreptate.

Sa speram ca roata justiitiei nu se va intoarce. In Romania nu se stie niciodata.

Sa continuam a ne ruga pentru o solutie ireversibila. Doamne-ajuta!

* * *

Vestile pe care le-am primit nu demult vadesc semne ca se fac incercari serioase pentru salvarea iranianului Habib Bastam, caruia i-a fost refuzata de catre instanta romaneasca cererea de azil in Romania, dupa ce acesta a fost condamnat la moarte in Iran, din pricina convestirii la crestinism.

Asa cum scria Emanuel Contac pe blogul lui, Bastam ‘s-a refugiat în România, soţia şi copilul său rămânând în Iran. Cât a stat în Rădăuţi, Bastam a frecventat biserica penticostală Betel, păstorită de Vasile Piscuc.’

Domnul Adrian Papahagi, consilier al ministrului de externe, Teodor Baconschi, caruia m-am adresat in aceasta chestiune, se implicase deja in mod personal in rezolvarea acestei probleme si face toate eforturile pentru rezolvarea ei pozitiva.

Deputatul evanghelic Marius Dugulescu este si el implicat in demersurile pentru salvarea vietii acestui om persecutat pentru convingerile lui religioase.

Iata si un raspuns oarecum oficial in legatura cu situatia iranianului:

Instanta de judecata romana a respins cererea cetatenului Iranian de acordare a sttaului de refugiat , desi, in sustinerea cererii sale iranianul a prezentat si documentul emis de autoritatile din tara sa.

Solutia celor de la ORI este ca, iranianul sa ceara audienta la ORI-Directia Migratie (director Victor Gandac), unde sa explice inca odata situatia sa.

Este evident din cele de mai sus ca vina pentru aceasta decizie stupida si potential criminala o poarta justitia romana, cae care ne trage mereu in jos in evaluarile Uniunii Europene.

Ii invit pe toti cei interesati sa se roage pentru o solutie umanitara coerenta la aceasta problema de viata si de moarte.

Oricum, va vom tine la curent, pe masura posibilitatilor, cu evolutia situatiei.

Daca insa autoritatile romane vor persista in orbirea lor birocratica, vom fi obligati sa apelam la actiuni mai ferme de mobilizare a opiniei publice.

Felicitari lui Teofil pentru abordarea aestei spinoase probleme. Am intentionat de mai multa ori sa ma apropii de acest subiect sensibil pentru mine ca bunic, dar n-am gasit niciodata timpul necesar.

There is a far cry in today’s evangelicalism about what is called the ‘feminisation’ of the church.

Some of those concerned are trying their macho gimmicks: Mark Driscoll makes a fool of himself, and the gospel, with his distasteful exhibation of masculine sexuality, while others are betting on sports and body building, all of it, as we well know from the Bible, powerful way of building strong men of God.

And, of course, for many of those fundamentalistically inclined, the real cause for this undeniable reality is feminism. Exactly how did feminism produce this effect is not told, bet everybody knows (supposedly) that feminism is bad, so it must be it.

Maybe not, argues Mark Sayers in this blog post.

If you find this interesting, maybe you should read it.

Thanks to my friend Mary Perry for this.

Dupa unii, orbiti de ideologia lor anti-scientista, incalzirea globala este un mit. Acest clip facut de NASA arata un rezumat al cresterii termepaturilor globale pe Terra in ultimii 30 ani.

Pariem ca nici asta nu ii va convinge pe cei convinsi deja? Vorba englezului, ‘don’t bother me with facts; I have already made up my mind’.

Cei interesati pot citi AICI un articol din Le Monde pe aceasta tema (in limba franceza).

You may sign HERE the following call against the possible implications of ACTA on the freedom of the Internet:

As concerned global citizens, we call on you to stand for a free and open Internet and reject the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which would destroy it. The Internet is a crucial tool for people around the world to exchange ideas and promote democracy. We urge you to show true global leadership and protect our rights.

You may also sign HERE an apeal against the implications of ACTA on access to decently priced medicine for poor people:

Petition to governments negotiating ACTA:
We urge you to oppose any deal that could cut off millions of people from access to essential medicines. We call on you to ensure that no agreement is reached via the secretive process in Tokyo, and to release current negotiating texts for public scrutiny.

* * *

Pentru cititorii romani

Cititi AICI mai multe despre ACTA.

This week’s radio programme On Being, by Krista Tippett, is dedicated to the Irish poet John O’Donahue and is titled ‘The Inner Landscape of Beauty‘. I have listened with fascination the interview, from which the poem/blessing above was extracted. I believe it is worth giving an hour for this.

In the next video O’Donovan is reciting the blessing during one of his conferences.

Finally, you may watch Irish landscapes, reading yourself the words of the blessing.

Here are also the words of the poem:

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

(Source, HERE)