Vitamins for the Heart
by Marie Story: There’s no historical record of the date of Jesus’ birth. There has been speculation—some say it was in the spring, others say it was in the fall—but no one really knows for sure what day He was born. There’s no historical evidence that He was born on December 25th. We’re also pretty sure there wasn’t a Christmas tree, turkey, or carolers in attendance. So why do we celebrate His birthday on December 25th? And what’s the deal with the tree, the carolers, and all the rest of our modern traditions? People really only began celebrating Jesus’ birth on December 25th around 350 AD. It then took hundreds of years before Christmas was widely accepted by Christians as a celebration of Jesus’ birth, mainly because many of our modern Christmas traditions have their roots in ancient pagan history. December 25th was originally the celebration of the birth of…
By W. Schmidt: “Please choose the way of peace... In the short term there may be winners and losers in this war that we all dread. But that never can, nor never will justify the suffering, pain and loss of life your weapons will cause.” – Mother Teresa in a letter to George Bush and Saddam Hussein in January 1991. Since they didn’t listen to her, a war started which caused no end of trouble to this day. And then more wars like that got started which are causing more trouble, like in Libya and Syria. Recently I talked with a lady in Germany who still remembers the suffering she and her family endured after WW II. War and destruction were sewn like the wind and back came a whirlwind of the same kind. We always reap what we sow. Many Germans were refugees after this horrible war. They had…
By W. Schmidt: Where would we be without our parents? Well, obviously we wouldn’t be here. Often we appreciate someone more when we don’t have them anymore. I felt that way recently after my mother passed away just 3 weeks after my father. This way their last wish in life was fulfilled, that when one leaves, the other one can follow soon. It was quite moving to say good bye to them at their grave side. Even if many of those present and I believe that they are alive in the spirit world, it was a big change, a cut, a loss to not have them around in their physical presence. At the same time it was a learning and growing experience in many ways. For one, a lot of good memories were shared. Our parents were wonderful people and had a beautiful long life, 101 + 99 years, married…