Transfiguration (autism and giftedness)

“True spiritual love is not a feeble imitation and anticipation of death, but a triumph over death, not a separation of the immortal form from the mortal, of the eternal from the temporal, but a transfiguration of the mortal into the immortal, the acceptance of the temporal into the eternal. False spirituality is a denial of the flesh; true spirituality is the regeneration of the flesh, its salvation, its resurrection from the dead.”


― Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, The Meaning of Love

Transfiguration occurs when the divine overshadows the human. It also occurs when the human gift overshadows disability.

The incredible musical gift of this autistic young man, and his personal gift to his friends speaks so clearly of this. Rex and Friends performed Thursday night, March 2nd, with Theater By The Blind in Venice, California.

Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov (Russian: Владимир Сергеевич Соловьёв) was a Russian philosopher, theologian, poet, pamphleteer and literary critic, who played a significant role in the development of Russian philosophy and poetry at the end of the 19th century and in the spiritual renaissance of the early 20th century.

RitA’s Pics of the Week!

We launched our Instagram just a bit ago. Take a look! (@rosesinthealley).

Click on our Instagram logo below or here and follow us!

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
Is there a train that can take us away from it feeling like this in March?
"....come with me, where dreams are born & time is never planned." - Peter Pan
Looks like something from the 20's. Still feels like the temp is in the 20's. Winter is pretty, but it's March and we are ready to move on!
Under the tracks at a great pub in Chicago. After work/ rush hour conversations halt every 30 seconds. All part of it!
TWISTER!

Connection or Distraction?

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.”          Herman Melville

Human beings are connecting beings. We don’t do well alone. We are hard-wired for connection. We spend our entire lives finding new ways to connect.

But you would never know it to look at our behavior. With Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat and whatever the next social media craze or phone app is, including virtual reality.

We hide it so well behind those technologies “that connect us”, that you would think that the ideal was a solitary life, gazing into a headset. The biggest complaint I hear from youth and young adults are that they are “lonely” when they use technologies designed to “hyper-connect”.

That kid chasing Pokemons …yeah that kid that no one can get his attention… he actually wants to connect. If you don’t think so, just stop for a moment and ask him which Pokemon he is chasing, and be ready for an hour long discourse.  

And don’t think I’m down on social media. What is this blog anyway? I just know there is a balance between real connection and just more distraction. And we might want to be a little more aware of it.

By the way, music is a great way to connect. Take a look and listen in to some

social music!
(come on, click it and check it out – it’s worth it!)

 

NASA Women

Women have played critical roles throughout the history of the U.S. space program … yet in many cases, their contributions are unknown or under-appreciated — especially as women have historically struggled to gain acceptance in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM),” Maia Weinstock wrote in her proposal.

Folks talk about this all the time, but not enough is being done. And it needs to start at the beginning, in the early school years. But the really important years for encouragement are the teen and young adult years when critical decisions are being made. It my hope that women will not only contribute to a brave, new world, but also make it a more caring one.

http://steamteam5.com/

STEAMTEAM 5: The Beginning is a children’s book that tells the story of five amazing girls who use science, technology, engineering, art, and math to do amazing things.

But this is much more than just a book. It’s the beginning of a movement to attract girls to careers in STEM/STEAM.

Pictures from the Hubble Telescope set to Enya’s Universo

And if you are truly interested in the welfare of girls and women throughout the world, check this out as well. All Girls

Walk With Me in the Desert

The desert … arrid barren ground …. hostile to plant, animal and human life.

This is what greets the refugee in Syria and the would-be migrant worker from the South or Central Americas.

A place of suffering and, many times, death.  

Why the journey? What lies ahead? And, where are we in this?

Do we walk with them, or do we add to the misery of their path?

Do we dance with them, or do we wall them out?

Do we work with them for the joy of the harvest, or do we keep our wine to ourselves? 

Let’s walk with them, climb with them and dance with them!  It’s the human journey, after all, and we are all sojourners in this place. And all that remains when we’ve gone is the truth.

Walk with Me (click for audio)

Walk with me in the desert
See my hands pierced through
All is lost and is suffered
And what remains is true

We will dance in the cool desert air
As darkness falls upon us here
Walk with me in the desert
(We’ll talk along the way)

———————————————-

Come with me to the mountain
Take a breath and look down
See the road lies before us
Leading to promised ground

And we will dance in the clear mountain sky
Let our spirits learn to fly
Come with me to the mountain
And see the journey’s end

———————————————–

Work with me in the vineyard
See the fruit rich and full
Bursting forth in its yearning
To be carried home
And we will dance to a new song
Joy will fill our hearts
For soon we will be home
At the table of our Love

————————————————-

Dedicated to the March, 2001 mission at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church- Oklahoma City, OK conducted by Rev. Michael J. Boulette , entitled “The Journey Within … The Experience of Lent.”

Copyright © 2001, Robert G. Metivier

  • Joshua Tree  United States- photo by Frank McKenna
    Mountain in Israel- photo by Rob Bye
    Vineyard grapes in Israel- photo by Amos Bar-Zeev