Whew! Busy day today! Here’s a quick K using my “person, place or blog” theme in the A to Z challenge:
K is for Karnataka, where we traveled to last fall and discovered…
…cow parking in Bangalore…
…Bangalore’s colorful markets…
…potato haulers…
…places of worship…
…and crap on the menu: (see my post previous post about this)
My kids were shocked!
And since this is random and silly, onto something more serious. The King’s Highway. I stole the following blog from my husband’s site (Bishop Leo Michael’s Episcoblog). He’s also blogging the A to Z Challenge. Thanks Dear!
The Kings Highway by Bishop Leo Michael: As I completed several hundreds of miles on the highway. New shoots and blossoms on branches still wearing a wintry look appeared along landscapes transitioning into spring. This reminded me of Isaiah 35: 1The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. 8And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 9No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Highways wind through fertile plains, majestic mountains, green valleys, through peaks and troughs. However, highways also have rumble strips and narrow shoulders. There are rules to follow and at times you run into occasional work zones where you have to slow down. A reminder of St. John the Baptist’s clarion cry for every heart to prepare for the coming of the Lord: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Mark 1:3)
The destination of the King’s Highway is Heaven. A life lived according to the Gospel is a requirement to be a disciple of Christ. Our everyday choices determine our destination: Heaven or Hell. Life with or without God.
Along the King’s Highway, we meet people of all sorts and conditions. Isaiah calls us to: 3Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. 5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. 7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
We who are privileged to ride on the Kings Highway sometimes take detours and lose our way. If we veer from the King’s Highway, Jesus tells us in the parable of the wedding banquet, the King will fill the table with others from all over the highways and byways. We may not find a room there.
Along the highway when we get low on gas, we dread running out of fuel. We look for the nearest gas station and wonder how far our remaining gas will take us. When we run out of grace on the King’s highway, we can easily fill ourselves as the Grace of God is always available plenteously, only if we desire it. Unlike the gas, God’s grace need not be purchased, for it has been bought by the precious blood of the Son of God.
For those who wonder what Anglicanism is, read the King’s Highway:
In the words of Canon Patric Comerford in his essay on Anglo-Catholicsm, “Archdeacon George Dundas Carleton (1877-ca 1961), from Dublin, was educated at Benson’s school in Rathmines and at TCD, where he was auditor of the College Theological Society. An early tutor at Kelham Theological College (1902-1914), Carelton was involved in a dispute that almost split the Kelham community. As a missionary in South Africa (1915-1923), he was Warden of Modderpoort Theological College (1918-1923) and Archdeacon of Modderpoort (1922-1923). After leaving the Kelham Fathers, he played a key role in organising the 1923 Anglo-Catholic Congress and for a year worked as the Anglo-Catholic Congress Missioner (1923-1924), when he published The King’s Highway: a simple statement of Catholic belief and duty (1924, republished in 1973 by Canterbury press in the series of Classics of Anglo-Catholic Devotion), before working briefly for SPG (1925) and then going into parish ministry in the Diocese of London (1926-1948).”
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And just because there are so many other great blogs out there:
Another world traveler, Jarm Del Boccio’s blog, Making the Write Connections, has some great travel pictures today.
And on the Quirky Creative blog, Beth blogs about six things she’s learned from Kids
Tomorrow, I hope I’m not to lazy about something lovely for L.
Like this:
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Xenophanes of Colophon was a traveling poet and sage with philosophical leanings who lived in ancient Greece during the sixth and the beginning of the fifth centuries BCE. There are a significant number of surviving fragments for such an early figure, and the poetic verses available to us indicate a broad range of issues. These include comments on religion, knowledge, the natural world, the proper comportment at a banquet, as well as other social teachings and commentary. He satirized traditional religious views of his time as human projections.
Xerxes was king of Persia in 485-465 BC. The first part of his reign was marked by the famous campaign into Greece, beginning in 483. After the defeat at Salamis in 480 Xerxes himself withdrew from the expedition and it was finally discontinued in the next year. During the remainder of his reign, Xerxes seems to have spent a listless existence, absorbed in intrigues of the harem, and leaving the government to be carried on by his ministers and favorites (often slaves). He was finally murdered by his vizier and left an unenviable reputation for caprice and cruelty. According to the Bible, Esther, was his Jewish queen. Even if you don’t read the Bible, this is a really fascinating story about how Esther saved the Jewish people. I also enjoyed the movie, “One Night with the King,” based on the story of Esther and Xerxes.
And Bishop Leo Michael of the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite, has an excellent post today about X times. Check it out! I think he’s pretty fantastix! And so is his Epsicoblog!
