Listen to this: Take me to the King

Being a fanciful person, who has read more romance novels than technical books over the years, who  at times has struggled with working, when the need to wander and roam beckoned, who will listen to a song or a piece of music and be captivated with no sense of recognition of the importance of the singer, only to realise later that was the name of the song, or this person sang the song, or who will be entranced by a movie, mainly because of the music such as Make A Joyful Noise's Man in the Mirror  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RxTSoiqXg0, I found the song "Take me to the King" unforgetable. Whether it is the underlying concept which has been handed down over the years through different times and places, or whether it is concept of the kingdom of  King David or King Solomon or that of Christ as a King, for however rare a moment that was. The concept of Christ the King, was not necesarrily in the same vein as the preceding two kings, given the generations between each of them or the differences in the times, the locations, the lifestyles, the stories of their lives which are provided by the Bible. The most vivid imagery of the song  available at that time was to that of the Magnificat, the looks of Mary, the surroundings as seen in wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat
However one of the fundamental  concepts that separates Jesus as a King from the other Kings, is that he had lots of male figures around him, like the disciples, his father and all of the figures which have been developed to some extent in Catholicism.  However here is the link to the Song, Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8TAr9jgA9A

Praying the Rosary in different languages

Last year or thereabouts, a night of prayer and fasting was organised in the Grand Stand of our Queens Park Savannah. The Grand Stand has  been known for many things over the years from Panorama Finals ( Competition between the various steel pan groups) on the night before Carnival to the Parade of the Carnival bands on Monday and Tuesday, however I was not familiar with the place or shamefully enough the location.
The night actually started at about 6:00p.m. or thereabouts with  the recitation of the Rosary. One of the orders which was chosen, elected to recite the familiar prayer in French, Spanish among other languages. Hearing familiar words spoken in other languages and understanding the use of  words which would be spoken in an every day langauge class  created a sense of there are other ways of thinking, which I have been trying to hold on to over the last year  Here are some of the images which I have located since then in an attempt to hold on the spark which was re created that night.

The Hail Mary in French

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoUbuesLqXI 

French

Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce.
Le Seigneur est avec vous.
Vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes,
et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni.
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,
Priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs,maintenant et à l'heure de notre mort.
Amen

Prayer: Dios te salve, Maria (Hail Mary) in Spanish

Dios te salve, Maria.
Llena eres de gracia:
El Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú ere entre todas las mujeres.
Y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre:
Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Amén.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Our Father in French

Notre Père, qui es aux cieux,
Que ton nom soit sanctifié,
Que ton règne vienne,
Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.

Donne-nous aujourd'hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offences
Comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,
mais délivre-nous du mal,
car c'est à toi qu'appartiennent le règne,
la puissance et la gloire, aux siècles des siècles.
Amen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npb1ZqcuYDA&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.ourladyweb.com/mary-avemaria.html

House of Hades - Rick Riordan

I started reading this series as a result of one of my nephews leaving his sister's book around.  Over the years, the acquisition of each book meant  a delayed wait, while someone else  read the book, trying not to take the book before someone finished it. I was extremely happy to start reading the  series  after several books had been acquired, however I soon caught up with the others and that meant I was waiting and waiting. So I am happy to say that there is one more day to the release of  House of Hades, and  I am wondering is this going to be the end of the series? Will there be a shorter release period between books?  Don't know at all.  Just in case you do not have a clue as to what I am speaking about, here is a summary:

The House of Hades is the fourth book in the bestselling Heroes of Olympus series, set in the action-packed world of Percy Jackson.

The stakes have never been higher. If Percy Jackson and Annabeth fail in their quest, there'll be hell on Earth. Literally.

Wandering the deadly realm of Tartarus, every step leads them further into danger. And, if by some miracle they do make it to the Doors of Death, there's a legion of bloodthirsty monsters waiting for them.

Meanwhile, Hazel and the crew of the Argo II have a choice: to stop a war or save their friends. Whichever road they take one thing is certain - in the Underworld, evil is inescapable.

Some rules to think about in life - I

Many things happen in life, there are those that you understand through intellect, experience, wisdom, those that you accept and those that you just deal with, either through prayer, gritted teeth or a smile or a laugh. However there are rules or things that persons consider or examine which gets them through all of the above times. At this time in my life, here are some that I think that are important.

1. Try to see the big picture. Sometimes what you see, may not be the whole picture, sometimes you have to trust your instinct and sometimes you have to care enough about the other person or persons and  that is what spares you to see another day. There is a concept of "grace", which can be obtained from attending funerals with some form of reverance, some form of caring and this is one of the fundamentals of most religions. There are times when you may not attend the funeral for the grace which you will get, but for the feeling which you had for the person,  in recognition for all the good which the person did, for all of the times when they showed up and helped at an event when help was needed.
2. Try to see one step further. When you feel like giving up, try to see one step further, hard as it may be to see in any direction under the current circumstances.  Every so often, stop and instead of staying where you are, try to look at things from another angle, try to see how to move whatever it is one step further. It may take days of trying, but once you understand that you have to go forward and in tough times, having a strategy may help you to learn something other than getting the job done. 
3. Celebrate the future in the present. Tonight I listened to Mary J Blige's Have yourself A  Merry Little Christmas on the Music Speakeasy section of the Wall Street Journal website and I realised that I needed to start celebrating Christmas all now, as I may miss out on a big part of  he celebration if I wait until Christmas. I do not know what Christmas will be like, however I can start celebrating now. See the link for access to the  pre release which is located on the right side of the page.  http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/category/music/