In Search of the Human Spirit

I will be taking care of my sister’s dog and cat from 5/17 to 5/20, so I won’t be blogging. Her dog has seizures and needs to be watched.

Blogging with resume on Monday the 21st.

Standing in Silence for Peace

On Mother’s Day, Mother’s across the world did something besides wait for their children to call. Groups of women in many major cities gathered together for a moment of silence in hopes of promoting world piece.

Women gathered in Paris before the Eiffel Tower, New York City, and cities throughout the globe. The moment of silence was followed by words of compassion and hopes of peace. Those who gathered felt uplifted by the experience.

When Mother’s Day was proclaimed in 1870, the original idea was for it to be a day to promote peace as well as motherhood. Julia Ward Howe read this proclamation that day:

“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. “

Every year women gather together hoping one day to be closer to that goal.

Greg Billingham has always been considered a character. He’s putting his gifts to good use. He ran the London Marathon to help the Children of Leukemia society.

Billingham wasn’t up on the winner’s stand. In fact, he knew from the start that he’d come in dead last. Billingham ran the marathon in slow motion.

He trained for months getting his steps down. Each step took about 5 seconds to complete. That’s a considerable task since the marathon is 26.2 miles long!

The winner came in under 2 hours, 7 minutes. Billingham was running 4.8 kilometers every ten hours. He finished one week after the event started.

A Mother’s Day wish to all mothers whether you have children or pets. Hope this is a special day for you filled with celebration or quiet…whatever you’d like.

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 12th, Saturday, is Stamp Out Hunger Day. Every year the Post Office sends out it’s mail carriers to pick up food that will be distributed to local food banks.

You can help! Go through your pantry, cupboards, and other places you hide non-perishable food. Come on, you know you’ve got stuff that sounded good at the store but is never going to be eaten. Fill up a bag or two and leave out on your porch by your mailbox before you mail carrier arrives tomorrow.

Your local food bank and those in need of food will appreciate your generosity!

Rosslyn Chapel is a 15th century Episcopal church. It’s found in Roslin, Scotland. It took 6 years to build the chapel. The chapel has some mysteries surrounding it. One of those mysteries involves 213 boxes with carvings that spread across the pillars and arches.

Over the centuries, people have attempted to decode the carvings, but none of the solutions seemed satisfying. Recently, a new interpretation of the carvings has emerged. A father and son believe that the carvings represent a musical score.

Thomas Mitchell is a former code breaker for the Royal Air Force. His son, Stuart, is a composer. The two set out to break the code. They believe that it’s based on something called the Chladni patterns.

The two have named the piece the Rosslyn Motet. They’ve even added words from a popular hymns. They’ll be performing it at the chapel in the next few weeks.

Is the mystery solved? Undoubtedly, someone will come up to refute their findings. However, the Mitchell’s appear to have the most plausible answer to date.

Nola Ochs is 95 years old. She’s just got her name in the Guiness Book of World Records. She isn’t the oldest person in the world, but she is the oldest college graduate.

Ochs started taking classes when her husband died back in 1972. She thought going to Community College would take her mind off of things. She took a class here and there, always striving to learn something new. History was her passion.

In 2006, she transferred to Fort Hays State University in Kansas. She needed 30 course hours to earn her degree. She met that goal this year. Ochs earned a degree in general studies with an emphasis in history.

The day will be even more special for the Ochs family. Walking among the “O” surnames at the commencement ceremony will be Alexandra Ochs. She’s 21 and happens to be Nola Ochs granddaughter.

Ehud Netzer has been looking for King Herod’s tomb for decades. He began his work in the 1970s at Herodium, Israel. This is where archaeologists and historians thought they might find King Herod’s tomb.

Three weeks ago, a member of Netzer’s team came across a sarcophagus. The sarcophagus was broken into many pieces. Despite being in pieces, Netzer commented, “It’s a sarcophagus we don’t just see anywhere. It is something very special.”

Their were no inscriptions on the sarcophagus. Further research and exploration will need to be done before they have 100 percent proof that this is King Herod’s tomb. It looks like all evidence points in that direction. Netzer’s 30 years of work may have finally paid off.

Golden State Warriors fans are having the times of their lives. For the first time in over a decade, they have something to cheer about. Their team made it to the playoffs.

Barely made it, might be a better description. They held out to the last week of the season before they secured their 8th place ranking and a place in the playoffs.

Fans would have been happy if the Warriors won one game in the playoffs. Who would have guessed that these feisty underdogs would beat out the Mavericks in the best of 7 series? And, they did it in 6 games!

So let’s give a cheer for the underdogs…on to round two of the playoffs!