TWO NEW INCHIES

EVERY INCHIE MONDAY  -- one for last week and one for this week:  

The prompt was WIND

Just a reminder to new readers, Inchies are little pieces of art, one inch square in size, done in any medium. Mine are usually drawn in Prisma colors .  If this picture looks kind of rough it's because it is actually larger than the original.

This week's prompt is  BOAT:

No prizes for guessing where this is!

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K IS FOR ....

K is for  KICKING HORSE PASS

We first visited Kicking Horse Pass while we were still students in 1963.  We gathered all such camping equipment as we had, bundled it into our little old  Volkswagen beetle and set off from Toronto, Canada to see the Rockies.  After about 5 days driving we arrived at Yoho National Park close to Banff.  Kicking Horse Pass is located on the continental Divide between Alberta and British Columbia. (Banff B.C. and Yoho National Park.)  It is over 5,000 feet high and the Canadian National Railway makes its journey west through this pass.  Today there are two spiral tunnel through which the train has to pass to gently lower the gradient and to make less trouble for the trains.  

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Trans Canada Highway had only recently been completed in '62 so we really felt like we were adventurers. Being from the tiny island of Great Britain we loved the experience of the vastness of North America.  I remember on that particular trip making the huge gaff of calling Dubuque, Iowa, Dew-bew-kway when asking directions at one point. (Well how was I to know!!)

In fact a few years later we took the trip from Minnesota  driving west to the coast with our two children, then five and three years old, in our very small red mustang and then all the way down Hwy 101 to San Diego and back via New Mexico.  Now that was an adventure in a class of its own!  Try viewing the Grand Canyon with a hyperactive five year old ("...back in the car NOW!") ...and a three year old who'd picked up a tummy bug!  

But back to Kicking Horse Pass.  How did it get its name?  Well apparently, a member of the exploratory expedition named James Hector, who was a naturalist, a geologist and a surgeon, was kicked by by his horse at that spot.  So the event was memorialized by naming the pass and the river "Kicking Horse". Such embarrassments get passed down in history. (They are still probably laughing today at that prim English girl who didn't know how to pronounce Dubuque. ) 

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Our trip to Kauai is only a few weeks away, so more excitement is in store for our family.   This time we are taking my sister with us.
It  will be her first visit to the islands.  We purchased a time share there about ten years ago, and it has been one of the best things we've done.  We took our sons with us a couple of years ago and now "Kaybee".  Couldn't do all these visits without the benefits of Barry's mileage plus program.

Afternoon Coffee Break

Lush tropical greenery

Can't swim, but love the water.

Living area - very comfortable

Thanksgiving Dinner at Gaylord's

Just to whet your appetite, Kaybee!

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This is my entry for ABC Wednesday.  Click HERE to see more informative and fun entries.

SO WAS JESUS MARRIED...?

 

Certainly Dan Brown author of   "The Da Vinci Code"  would like us to think so. It would continue to boost his sales and increase the believability of his book, which he would be the first to tell you is entirely a work of fiction.  This fragment that has been found is still in the process of being authenticated and that process is likely to take at least another year and more years after that as its process of authentication comes under scrutiny. 

        But what if it is found to be a genuine fragment from the early the centuries of Christianity?  Well then it must be placed alongside more than 5000 other fragments.  Though the fragment may prove to be as old as some are saying it is, it doesn’t mean that what is written on it is true.

 

            Of all the thousands of fragments and manuscripts from early church years, we have many that are fictional and unreliable.  These writings are known as the New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.  The Gospel of Thomas the Gospel of Barnabas are just two of these.    It is a fascinating study to discover how  and which Christian Scriptures were indeed considered authentic and reliable and therefore earned their place in what we call the Canon of Scripture.  It was a couple of centuries after the death and resurrection of Christ before this final list was determined.  Those that did not make the cut were grouped together as useful and interesting for study but not necessarily authentic.  The Pseudepigrapha were another group of writings that were considered by early Christian scholars as probably fake. Often the writer assumed the identity of a well known associate of Jesus or an early church father in order to make his writing seem more authoritative.

      The ones that did make the cut had certain distinguishing traits that made them authentic -- one of which was that they were written and supported by eye witnesses and those who knew, saw and heard Jesus personally.

Unfortunately, the waters of this subject are made more murky by the fact that from the time of the translation of the Bible into English, the Roman Catholic Church has included the Old Testament Apocryphal books in their dogma as having the same authority as the usual canon of Scripture.  In contrast, the Protestant Church has been adamant that the Canon of Scripture is closed – no more manuscripts and thus no more teachings may be added to either the Old or the New Testaments.

 

      Many differences between the Protestant and  Roman Catholic Churches have come about just because of this issue.  The sinlessness of Mary, her Assumption and the infallibility of the Pope have been added to Catholic beliefs only in the last two hundred years. Protestants who base their beliefs only on what is taught in the Bible reject these teachings.  Still more confusion is engendered by those who call themselves Christian but are open to not only what the Pope says but also to any other teachings of any other person which seem to them to be reasonable.

      There is so much more to add to this subject that I cannot begin to tell all about it here. If you would like to learn more, let me recommend you Google The History of New Testament documents and begin your own research.  If you have questions, email me and I will be glad to try to answer them – as long as they are posed in a respectful manner.

To find my email click on my profile and you will find it there.

'j' IS FOR....

J  IS FOR...

A Joyful Joining in marriage of...

JENALYNN AND GLYN JONES

Friday, September 7, 2012

The Bride and Groom

 Glyn and Jena and sweet, adorable, precious Haley....

Our First Grandchild.

 Owen, (son #2) Vicki, (Owen's #1 girl), Jena and Glyn

Barry, (my pastor husband,) the new family and me.

It was a fabulous weekend!  The wedding took place on a houseboat on Lake Powell, Arizona. The background is real, not painted. Perfect weather, perfect location, and perfect union of two families.  

Jokes and Jocularity abounded as we enjoyed the blending of the two families. 

(Sorry, I haven't posted photos of Jena's mom and dad as I forgot to ask permission from them). 

 The two families have so much in common and Vicki and Jena got on together like a house on fire. They have so much in common. Glyn and Owen have always been the best of friends. I think the laughter and fun from our houseboat must have echoed all around the canyon walls up and down the lake.

We spent two days on the lake, swimming and exploring. Who could have asked for anything more  -- or a happier weekend.

Thank you Lord, for making this event so happy, memorable and

JOYFUL !

This is my contribution to ABC Wednesday for the letter J, a letter that is close to our hearts.  To see more interesting, unique and thoughtful contributions from bloggers around the world please

click HERE

Here comes this week's Inchie !

The prompt for this week is  WALL.

The most attractive kind of wall I can think of is the stone wall built by the farmers living in Derbyshire and north of there.  In fact they are all over England, Wales and Scotland. They are attractive, but also take time to maintain. These walls are built without mortar and cleverly put together by careful shaping, construction and placement..  Although hedges are nice for promoting wild life, which  I love, but stone walls have a special appeal for me reminding me of my growing up years in Yorkshire and  Derbyshire.

To see more Inchies based on this topic please visit Every Inchie Monday HERE and see the creative materials used by those who participate.

More Doodles by Chris.
These are fun to do.  I especially like choosing the colors and manipulating the shading.  The one I like best out of these three is the third one.  The first one, is just not what I was trying to produce. It is too busy and the yellow is not a good choice.  The second one is quite pleasing, but if I had used some of the complicated tangle patterns that would have given it more interest . The third one is more in line with what I am looking for -- pleasing colors, balance, order and symmetry as well as interesting designs within the overall piece.

Yes, I know that balance, order and symmetry are often 'no-no's' for some art styles, but I have decided that my art should reflect more of who I am. I am definitely more on the orderly side -- not picky and highly regulated, but organized, with reasonable self discipline along with  a pinch of adventure. I really like things that make sense -- definitely not fantasy.  Some would say "break out of the mold" and I would answer "been there, done that, like where I'm at now better."

CATCHING UP WITH INCHIES AT LAST

For the last eight weeks I really got behind with my submissions to EVERY INCHIE MONDAY.  I hate being a quitter so today I have spent some time catching up.  Every Inchie Monday gives a prompt or topic which the participator has to present every Monday  using any media, but it must be one  inch square. 

      

                                    

                        TOURIST                                                       CEILING                 

         

                                                      

 HOUSE                        EYE

SUNSET

These are all one inch square and are done with Prismacolor pencils.

For a while I was doing my submissions as a Twinchie, (two inches square) because I had a cataract that needed to be removed.  At last they decided I could have the surgery -- thank goodness -- as it was on my right eye and that is my good eye.  A few weeks went by after the surgery while we adjusted the prescription for my left eye with which I was seeing double. Finally everything was straightened out, but then a major event in our family, about which I will blog next week, took over our lives for a while.

Please visit Every Inchie Monday to see more talented entries, using a variety of media, by clicking HERE

I have also just realized that this post also qualifies for Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday -- the letter "I".  Since I just got back home I was thinking I missed it.  So please visit ABC Wednesday  to see more INSPIRED entries by clicking HERE.