Second Friday of Eastertide: "What Did You Drag Me Into?"
An amazing sanctuary + National Space Day + NP of American Samoa + V. "Jesus Appears on the Road to Emmaus"+ Meet the Christian singer Flamy Grant + Patroness of Care for Creation
EASTER SEASON OF LIGHT
Many cultures had a deity who either was the light itself or who brought the light to the people. For this season of light, our organizing principle will be a diverse fellowship of these light-bringers.
A > Ra (Egyptian) - Photo of light from my archive. In June 2017, I visited The Cathedral of Christ the Light in the Diocese of Oakland, CA. Here’s photos from that amazing sanctuary.
Looking forward from the main entrance:
Looking backwards to the main entrance:
B > Surya (Hindu) - Celebrations + Remembrances Today (from National Today)
C > Amaterasu (Japanese) - Good News!
[From Good News Network, 4/30/25]
D > Tonatiuh (Aztec) - Planetary Pilgrims visit U.S. National Parks (least to most attended)
American Samoa - 59 out of 63 in attendance.
E > Dazhbog (Slavic) - My journey with Saint Ignatius, John Wesley, Patrick Carnes and Father Ed Hayes. I’m writing a book about my faith journey and how it’s been interwoven with these four spiritual men. Here’s some of my story - as I’m writing it.
F > Belenus (Gaulish) - The Via Lucis (Stations of Light) or Stations of the Resurrection are fourteen devotions based on events described in the gospels. Stations of the Light by Mary Ford-Grabowsky is the main source of the reflections found in these images.
The songs paired with each Station of Light are drawn from the extensive Spotify playlists entitled: LGBTQ Christian and Rainbow Faith. Songs featured here are also found on the uncommon communion: Via Lucis (Stations of Light) playlist.
It’s Friday, so let’s have some fun - and praise God!
The singer, Flamy Grant, has a pretty amazing story. Learn more about them HERE and HERE.
[From People Magazine, 8/2/23]
G > Mawu (West African) - To remember Pope Francis and his definitive linking of following Christ and caring for “our common home,” we reflect on excerpts from “Laudato Si” (published in 2015)
[paragraph 17.] Theological and philosophical reflections on the situation of humanity and the world can sound tiresome and abstract, unless they are grounded in a fresh analysis of our present situation, which is in many ways unprecedented in the history of humanity. So, before considering how faith brings new incentives and requirements with regard to the world of which we are a part, I will briefly turn to what is happening to our common home.
[paragraph 20.] Some forms of pollution are part of people’s daily experience. Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards, especially for the poor, and causes millions of premature deaths. People take sick, for example, from breathing high levels of smoke from fuels used in cooking or heating. There is also pollution that affects everyone, caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agrotoxins in general. Technology, which, linked 7 to business interests, is presented as the only way of solving these problems, in fact proves incapable of seeing the mysterious network of relations between things and so sometimes solves one problem only to create others.
[paragaph 21.] Account must also be taken of the pollution produced by residue, including dangerous waste present in different areas. Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources.
The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.
In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish. Industrial waste and chemical products utilized in cities and agricultural areas can lead to bioaccumulation in the organisms of the local population, even when levels of toxins in those places are low. Frequently no measures are taken until after people’s health has been irreversibly affected.
H > Kawa (Hopi) - Sacred Story Affirmations: Meditations on Discernment of Spirits by William M. Watson, S.J.
IV. GOD RESOLVES ALL MY PROBLEMS WITH TIME AND PATIENCE
The enemy of human nature is fond of using our impatience to generate great worry and anxiety. When we are worried and anxious, we turn our eyes away from the Lord. We focus almost exclusively on our problems, whether they are great or small. We forget all the times the Lord has rescued us in the past…
When you find yourself getting tied up in knots over your problems, turn to God and praise the Lord for all the times you have been rescued in the past.
Lord Jesus, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next. You are faithful to your people and the church. You never leave us. Make us turn to you in our trials that we may praise you forever in
Creation, Presence, Memory, Mercy and Eternity
J > Sol (Norse/Germanic) Prayers and inspiration from Everything Could Be a Prayer: 100 Portraits of Saints & Mystics (2024) by Kreg Yingst [Note: I HIGHLY recommend that you purchase this amazing book so that you can experience the art accompanying each person]
Today we pray with the patroness of CARE FOR CREATION - Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)
We can love ourselves by loving the earth
O Great Creator, I am blessed by the beauty around me - the lush vegetation and the diversity of the animal kingdom. Thank you for the ever-greening forest, the majestic mountains, and the crystal-clear waters. Guide me to always care for your creation. Amen.
As Planetary Pilgrims, we are invited to be aware of where our earth is in its annual trek around the sun as well as where our moon - Luna - is in its 28 day cycle around Earth.
So, as of this writing (11:35pm on Thursday):
The Summer Solstice arrives (6/20/25, 10:41pm) where I live in 49 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes
Luna is in the waxing crescent or 25% of full. It’s 4 days and 7 hours old (the time since the last new moon) Click HERE to see what the moon looks like at this phase.
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RIGHT NOW, we Planetary Pilgrims are MOVING:
1,000 mph - as the earth rotates
66,000 mph - as the earth orbits the sun (in one year we travel 595,000,000 miles around the sun)
43,000 mph - as the Sun, Earth, the seven other planets (and their satellites/moons) move together through space
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This movement through space passes us through time:
1 year, 185 days until the Midterm election (11/3/26)
3 years, 189 days until the next Presidential election (11/7/28)
3 years, 263 days until T-Rump finally is done and I turn (by God’s grace) 59 yrs old (1/20/29)