Thursday, January 1, 2009

Gratitude Moment - or actually the entire day

Attempting to create a "Blog Page" and organize my thoughts combined with images has been gratifying - this first day of the New Year - 2009! It has also been challenging for I am so ignorant about the nuts and bolts . . . and learning as I stumble! However: I count this experience as a blessing - learning something new - and sharing with friends (or more likely: boring my friends!).
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blog

Definition
A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.
Information
A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people. People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process. Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog" seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also mean a server's log files.
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Happy New Year!

There is a certain excitement about anticipating the events of a new year. A
hopefulness.
No one knows of course what the future holds - but I pray that 2009 will be a good year!

New Year - 2009

A NEW YEAR'S PRAYER

Dear Lord, please give me...

A few friends who understand me,
and yet remain my friends.

A work to do which has real value,
without which the world would feel the poorer.

A mind unafraid to travel,
even though the trail be not blazed.

An understanding heart...
A sense of humor.

Time for quiet, silent meditation.

A feeling of the presence of God
and the patience to wait for the coming of these things,
with the wisdom to know them when they come.

~By W.R. Hunt

Interesting article in the Science section of the New York Times (December 29, 2008) regarding religion and self-control.

Dr. Michael McCullough states: Brain-scan studies have shown that when people pray or meditate, there’s a lot of activity in two parts of the brain that are important for self-regulation and control of attention and emotion,” he said. “The rituals that religions have been encouraging for thousands of years seem to be a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control.”
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