I have always been aware of the term but not its' meaning- i.e. iambic pentameter.
My good Mound Park friend, Bob Looney, is probably the only one on the planet today who remembers that I wrote poetry and beanbag football reports for the Highland Fling newspaper (Highland Elementary school in Portsmouth Ohio). Nonetheless, I wrote a "Girls Softball" poem for my granddaughter, Tobey Kegley and her teammates. Tobey is Jay's daughter Jeanie and I have fallen deeply in love with, perhaps even moreso than with our other beautiful granddaughters Morgan and Ida Scout. We follow Tobey's softball, a game we also love, and spend a lot more time with her and her dad. I have made the moves but have not been able to get the poem entered into my blog as yet. I will keep trying. Another good friend, Jack Plymale a protoge' of Bert Leach and also an ex-Trojan football lineman is a lover of poetry.
Here is a piece on iambic pentameter from Wikipedia:
Iambic pentameter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, search
Iambic pentameter is one of many meters used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words establish in each line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet". The word "iambic" describes the type of foot that is used (in English, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable). The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".
These terms originally applied to the quantitative meter of classical poetry. They were adopted to describe the equivalent meters in English accentual-syllabic verse. Different languages express rhythm in different ways. In Ancient Greek and Latin, the rhythm is created through the alternation of short and long syllables. In English, the rhythm is created through the use of stress, alternating between unstressed and stressed syllables. An English unstressed syllable is equivalent to a classical short syllable, while an English stressed syllable is equivalent to a classical long syllable. When a pair of syllables is arranged as a short followed by a long, or an unstressed followed by a stressed, pattern, that foot is said to be "iambic". The English word "trapeze" is an example of an iambic pair of syllables, since the word is made up of two syllables ("tra—peze") and is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable ("tra—PEZE", rather than "TRA—peze"). Iambic pentameter is a line made up of five pairs of short/long, or unstressed/stressed, syllables.
Iambic rhythms come relatively naturally in English. Iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English poetry; it is used in many of the major English poetic forms, including blank verse, the heroic couplet, and some of the traditional rhymed stanza forms. William Shakespeare used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets.
Contents [hide]
1 Simple example
2 Rhythmic variation
3 History
4 Reading in drama
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
[edit] Simple example
An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The rhythm can be written as:
da DUM
A line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row:
da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM
It's possible to notate this with a '˘'(Breve) mark representing an unstressed syllable and a '/'(Forward Slash) mark representing a stressed syllable[1]. In this notation a line of iambic pentameter would look like this:
˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /
The following line from John Keats' Ode to Autumn is a straightforward example:[2]
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
The scansion of this can be notated as follows:
˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /
To swell the gourd, and plump the ha- zel shells
The divisions between feet are marked with a
, and the caesura (a pause) with a double vertical bar
.
˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /
To swell
the gourd,
and plump
the ha-
zel shells
[edit] Rhythmic variation
Although strictly speaking, iambic pentameter refers to five iambs in a row (as above), in practice, poets vary their iambic pentameter a great deal, while maintaining the iamb as the most common foot. There are some conventions to these variations, however. Iambic pentameter must always contain only five feet, and the second foot is almost always an iamb. The first foot, on the other hand, is the most likely to change by the use of inversion, which reverses the order of begins with an inversion:
/ ˘ ˘ / ˘ ˘ / / ˘ /
Now is
the win-
ter of
our dis-
con- tent
Another common departure from standard iambic pentameter is the addition of a final unstressed syllable, which creates a weak or feminine ending. One of Shakespeare's most famous lines of iambic pentameter has a weak ending:[3]
˘ / ˘ / ˘ / / ˘ ˘ / ˘
To be
or not
to be,
that is
the ques- tion
The symbol \ here has been used to indicate a secondary or subordinate stress. This line also has an inversion of the fourth foot, following the caesura. In general a caesura acts in many ways like a line-end: inversions are common after it, and the extra unstressed syllable of the feminine ending may appear before it. Shakespeare and John Milton (in his work before Paradise Lost) at times employed feminine endings before a caesura[4]
Here is the first quatrain of a sonnet by John Donne, which demonstrates how he uses a number of metrical variations strategically:
/ ˘ ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /
Bat- ter
my heart
three- per-
soned God,
for you
˘ / ˘ / / / ˘ / ˘ /
as yet
but knock,
breathe, shine
and seek
to mend.
˘ / ˘ / ˘ / / / ˘ ˘ /
That I
may rise
and stand
o'er throw
me and bend
˘ / ˘ / / / ˘ / ˘ /
Your force
to break,
blow, burn
and make
me new.
Donne uses an inversion (DUM da instead of da DUM) in the first foot of the first line to stress the key verb, "batter", and then sets up a clear iambic pattern with the rest of the line (da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM). In the second and fourth lines he uses spondees in the third foot to slow down the rhythm as he lists monosyllabic verbs. The parallel rhythm and grammar of these lines highlights the comparison Donne sets up between what God does to him "as yet" ("knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend"), and what he asks God to do ("break, blow, burn and make me new"). Donne also uses enjambment between lines three and four to speed up the flow as he builds to his desire to be made new. To further the quickening effect of the enjambment, Donne puts an extra syllable in the final foot of the line (this can be read as an anapest (dada DUM) or as an elision).
As the examples show, iambic pentameter need not consist entirely of iambs, nor need it have ten syllables. Most poets who have a great facility for iambic pentameter frequently vary the rhythm of their poetry as Donne and Shakespeare do in the examples, both to create a more interesting overall rhythm and to highlight important thematic elements. In fact, the skillful variation of iambic pentameter, rather than the consistent use of it, may well be what distinguishes the rhythmic artistry of Donne, Shakespeare, Milton, and the 20th century sonneteer Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Linguists Morris Halle and Samuel Jay Keyser discovered a set of rules (English Stress: Its Forms, Its Growth, and Its Role in Verse, Harper and Row, 1971) which correspond with those variations which are permissible in English iambic pentameter. Essentially, the Halle-Keyser rules state that only "stress maximum" syllables are important in determining the meter. A stress maximum syllable is a stressed syllable surrounded on both sides by weak syllables in the same syntactic phrase and in the same verse line. In order to be a permissible line of iambic pentameter, no stress maxima can fall on a syllable that is designated as a weak syllable in the standard, unvaried iambic pentameter pattern. Notice that the word God is not a maximum. That is because it is followed by a pause. Similarly the words you, mend, and bend aren't maxima since they are each at the end of a line and if they weren't it would mess up the rhyme of mend/bend and you/new. Rewriting the Donne quatrain showing the stress maxima (denoted with an 'M') results in the following:
/ ˘ ˘ M ˘ M ˘ / ˘ /
Bat- ter
my heart
three- per-
soned God,
for you
˘ M ˘ / / / ˘ M ˘ /
as yet
but knock,
breathe, shine
and seek
to mend.
˘ ˘ ˘ M ˘ / / / ˘ ˘ /
That I
may rise
and stand
o'er throw
me and bend
˘ M ˘ / / / ˘ M ˘ /
Your force
to break,
blow, burn
and make
me new.
The Halle-Keyser system has been criticized because it can identify passages of prose as iambic pentameter.1, Other scholars have attempted to revise Halle-Keyser, and they, along with Halle and Keyser, are known collectively as “generative meterists.” Derek Attridge has pointed out the limits of the generative approach; it has “not brought us any closer to understanding why particular metrical forms are common in English, why certain variations interrupt the metre and others do not, or why metre functions so powerfully as a literary device.”2 Generative metrists also fail to recognize that a normally weak syllable in a strong position will be pronounced differently, i.e. “promoted” and so no longer "weak."
Several scholars have argued that iambic pentameter has been so important in the history of English poetry by contrasting it with the one other important meter, variously called “four-beat,” “strong-stress,” “native meter,” or “four-by-four meter.”3 Four-beat, with four beats to a line, is the meter of nursery rhymes, children’s jump-rope and counting-out rhymes, folk songs and ballads, marching cadence calls, and a good deal of art poetry. It has been described by Attridge as based on doubling: two beats to each half line, two half lines to a line, two pairs of lines to a stanza. The metrical stresses alternate between light and heavy.4 It is a heavily regular beat that produces something like a repeated tune in the performing voice, and is, indeed, close to song. In fact, a great many songs and almost all jazz music are four-beat. Because of its odd number of metrical beats, iambic pentameter, as Attridge says, does not impose itself on the natural rhythm of spoken language.5 Thus iambic pentameter frees intonation from the repetitiveness of four-beat and allows instead the varied intonations of significant speech to be heard. Pace can be varied in iambic pentameter, as it cannot in four-beat, as Alexander Pope demonstrated in his “An Essay on Criticism”:
When Ajax strives some rock’s vast weight to throw, The line, too, labours and the words move slow. Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o’er th’unbending corn, and skims along the main.
Moreover, iambic pentameter, instead of the steady alternation of lighter and heavier beats of four-beat, permits principal accents, that is accents on the most significant words, to occur at various points in a line as long as they are on the even–numbered syllables, or on the first syllable, in the case of an initial trochaic inversion. It is not the case, as is often alleged, that iambic pentameter is “natural” to English; rather it is that iambic pentameter allows the varied intonations and pace natural to significant speech to be heard along with the regular meter.6
1,Derek Attridge, The Rhythms of English Poetry, 41. 2.Ibid. 50. 3. Attridge, The Rhythms, Antony Easthope, Poetry as Discourse, Martin Halpern, “On the Two Chief Metrical Modes in English,” PMLA 77, no. 9. 4. Attridge, 76-122. 5. Ibid. 124 -126. 6. For a detailed discussion of the varied intonations possible in iambic pentameter, see John R. Cooper, “Intonation and Iambic Pentameter,” Papers on Language and Literature, 33, no. 4, reprinted with changes as the first chapter of John R. Cooper, Wit’s Voices: intonation in Seventeenth-Century English Poetry. 2009.
[edit] History
Latin verse included lines of ten syllables. It is widely thought that some line of this length, perhaps in the Alcmanian meter, led to the ten-syllable line of some Old French chansons de geste such as The Song of Roland, those lines have a caesura after the fourth syllable. This line was adopted with more flexibility by the troubadours of the 12th century, notably Cercamon, Bernart de Ventadorn, and Bertran de Born.[5] In both Old French and Old Provençal, the tenth syllable of the line was accented and feminine endings were common, in which case the line had eleven syllables. Italian poets such as Giacomo da Lentini, Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Dante adopted this line, generally using the eleven-syllable form (endecasillabo)[5] because most Italian words have feminine endings.[6]:91 They often used a pattern where the fourth syllable (typically accented) and the fifth (typically unaccented) were part of the same word, the opposite of the Old French line with its required pause after the fourth syllable. This pattern came to be considered typically Italian.
Geoffrey Chaucer followed the Italian poets in his ten-syllable lines, placing his pauses freely and often using the "Italian" pattern, but he deviated from it by introducing a strong iambic rhythm and the variations described above. This was an iambic pentameter.[6]:87–88 Chaucer's friend John Gower used a similar meter in his poem "In Praise of Peace."[6]:91
Chaucer's meter depended on the pronunciation of final e:s that even by his time were probably silent. It was soon forgotten that they were ever pronounced, so later readers could not recognize his meter and found his lines rough.[7] His Scottish followers of the century from 1420 to 1520—King James I, Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, and Gavin Douglas—seem to have understood his meter (though final e's had long been silent in Scots) and came close to it. Dunbar, in particular, wrote poems in true iambic pentameter.[6]:105–112
In England, the poems of the 15th and early 16th centuries are in a wide variety of meters. Thomas Wyatt, for example, often mixed iambic pentameters with other lines of similar length but different rhythm. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, on the other hand, used a strict ten-syllable line that was similar to the Old French line, with its pause after the fourth syllable, but typically had a regular iambic pattern, and had many of the modern types of variation. Thomas Sackville, in his two poems in the Mirror for Magistrates, used a similar line but with few caesuras. The result was essentially the normal iambic pentameter except for the avoidance of the "Italian" line. It was Philip Sidney, apparently influenced by Italian poetry, who used large numbers of "Italian" lines and thus is often considered to have reinvented iambic pentameter in its final form. He was also more adept than his predecessors in working polysyllabic words into the meter. However, Sidney avoided feminine endings. They appear more often in the work of such masters of iambic pentameter as Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare.[6]:119–127
Iambic pentameter became the prevalent meter of English poetry. It was estimated in 1971 that at least three-fourths of all English poetry since Chaucer was in this meter.[8]
[edit] Reading in drama
There is some debate over whether works such as Shakespeare's were originally performed with the rhythm prominent, or whether the rhythm was embedded in the patterns of contemporary speech. In either case, when read aloud, such verse naturally follows a beat.
The rhythm of iambic pentameter was emphasised in Kenneth Branagh's 2000 production of Love's Labour's Lost, in a scene where the protagonists tap-dance to the "Have at you now, affection's men-at-arms" speech. In this case, each iamb is underscored with a flap step.
[edit] See also
Trochee
Anapaest
Dactyl
Systems of scansion
[edit] Notes
1.^ for a more detailed discussion see the article on systems of scansion
2.^ This line (line 7 of "To Autumn") is used by Timothy Steele as an example of an unvaried line of iambic pentameter, see page 5 of All the fun's in how you say a thing, Ohio University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8214-1260-4.
3.^ This line is used as an example by Marjorie Boulton in The Anatomy of Poetry (revised edition), Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1953, revised 1982. ISBN 0-7100-9087-0, page 28, although she marks the third foot as carrying no stress.
4.^ see Robert Bridges, Milton's Prosody.
5.^ a b Menichetti, Aldo (1994), "Quelques considérations sur la structure et l'origine de l'«endecasillabo»", in Cerquiglini-Toulet, Jacqueline; Collet, Olivier, Mélanges de Philologie et de Littérature Médiévales Offerts à Michel Burger, Librairie Droz, p. 225, ISBN 2-600-00017-8, http://books.google.com/books?id=WV9MiiR9C5AC&pg=PA225#v=onepage&q=&f=false, retrieved 2009-09-18
6.^ a b c d e Duffell, Martin J. (2008), A New History of English Meter, Modern Humanities Research Association, ISBN 1-905981-91-0, http://books.google.com/books?id=BAAOSblbBBoC&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q=&f=false
7.^ That Chaucer had counted these e:s in his meter was not proposed till the 19th century and not proved statistically till the late 20th. Duffell, A New History, pp. 83–84
8.^ Nims, John Frederick (1971), Sappho to Valéry: Poems in Translation, Princeton University Press, p. 18, ISBN 0691013659
[edit] References
David Baker (editor), Meter in English, A Critical Engagement
Robert Bridges, Milton's Prosody, with a chapter on Accentual Verse and Notes
Alfred Corn, The Poem's Heartbeat
Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter and Poetic Form, McGraw Hill, 1965, revised 1979. ISBN 0-07-553606-4.
Harvey Gross and Robert McDowell, Sound and Form in Modern Poetry
Philip Hobsbaum, Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form
Leonardo Malcovati, Prosody in England and Elsewhere
Timothy Steele, All the fun's in how you say a thing
Lewis Turco, The New Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics
Miller Williams, Patterns of Poetry
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Sunday, May 16, 2010
Dave Kaelin aka Dawood Kahn- Adventurist and soon to be published
I met Dave Kaelin and had a good discussion about ten years ago in Atlanta while attending an SEC basketball tournament. Dave and I like to be among Kentucky basketball's most faithful fans. We must have talked close to an hourvery early one morning. He is a good listener and observer and I try hard to be the same way. Our mutual friend, WildcatRick, tells me Dave has begun compiling a book, and he should have many. Dave is a historian who has worked and traveled, mainly in the Middle East. He has a wildness which, although he is deeply opinionated in my estimation, keeps himself open-minded to this world's happenings. He also appears fearless to the extent that any man can be today. Here is an adventure he sought out and reported in his http://www.silkroadsandsiamesesmiles.com/ blog May 13, 2010:
Afghanistan, Ghorid, herat, islam, Khoda Hafiz, khorasan, Masjid Jami, Moghul, Timorid
Masjid Jami
In Afghanistan, Central Asia, Travel, islam on May 13, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Sometime during my tour in Afghanistan, I got outside the wire. I tend to do this from time to time. Get out and wander around with a friend or two.
This particular time, I was doing some business with the ANP Province Headquarters. While there, I crept out with a few guys and one ANP Colonel and strolled over to the Masjid Jami in Herat. COL Khoda Dad spoke with the head Mullah there and asked him to give me a tour of the Mosque. After intros were made, I was escorted about and taken to almost every part of the Mosque. One of the more interesting parts of the tour were when they showed me the room where all of the repairs are made for tiles and such. They do all repairs by hand. Exactly the same process as hundreds of years ago when the Mosque was first created. They even hand paint the ceramics onto the tiles.
I took these pictures as I walked around in awe of the agelessness of the place.
I’m very lucky to have been able to have had this and other experiences in Afghanistan. I’d venture to say that not everyone has such incredible and unique adventures over there.
Khoda Hafiz!
Afghanistan, Ghorid, herat, islam, Khoda Hafiz, khorasan, Masjid Jami, Moghul, Timorid
Masjid Jami
In Afghanistan, Central Asia, Travel, islam on May 13, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Sometime during my tour in Afghanistan, I got outside the wire. I tend to do this from time to time. Get out and wander around with a friend or two.
This particular time, I was doing some business with the ANP Province Headquarters. While there, I crept out with a few guys and one ANP Colonel and strolled over to the Masjid Jami in Herat. COL Khoda Dad spoke with the head Mullah there and asked him to give me a tour of the Mosque. After intros were made, I was escorted about and taken to almost every part of the Mosque. One of the more interesting parts of the tour were when they showed me the room where all of the repairs are made for tiles and such. They do all repairs by hand. Exactly the same process as hundreds of years ago when the Mosque was first created. They even hand paint the ceramics onto the tiles.
I took these pictures as I walked around in awe of the agelessness of the place.
I’m very lucky to have been able to have had this and other experiences in Afghanistan. I’d venture to say that not everyone has such incredible and unique adventures over there.
Khoda Hafiz!
A $50 Lesson- Thanks Jackie Brown!
Jackie Brown's forwarded email message:
A $50 Lesson
I recently asked my friends' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do? '
She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'
Her parents beamed with pride.
'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. ‘
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, ' Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50? '
I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'
Her parents still aren't speaking to me.
P.S.
I am not an advocate for the Republican Party; however we Tea Partiers and any others who want to bring back the freedom of America have little other choice. I admit to wanting every bit of the religious freedom back as well- that is, being able to have the Bible in schools, court houses and wherever good solid teaching may be offered to our populace. We should be able to freely express our beliefs and openly want our next generations to be able to take for themselves that which they may find wholesome as most of us (86%) have. We need to tolerate less those that want to Damn America. Sacrifices of America's service people should not be wasted on such. The 'progressives', also known as democrats, have brought change I do not want for our country.
Sam
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 5117 (20100515) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
A $50 Lesson
I recently asked my friends' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do? '
She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'
Her parents beamed with pride.
'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. ‘
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, ' Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50? '
I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'
Her parents still aren't speaking to me.
P.S.
I am not an advocate for the Republican Party; however we Tea Partiers and any others who want to bring back the freedom of America have little other choice. I admit to wanting every bit of the religious freedom back as well- that is, being able to have the Bible in schools, court houses and wherever good solid teaching may be offered to our populace. We should be able to freely express our beliefs and openly want our next generations to be able to take for themselves that which they may find wholesome as most of us (86%) have. We need to tolerate less those that want to Damn America. Sacrifices of America's service people should not be wasted on such. The 'progressives', also known as democrats, have brought change I do not want for our country.
Sam
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 5117 (20100515) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
Saturday, May 15, 2010
How fights start. Thanks Marge Rusnak!
----- Original Message -----
From: kanzurem@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 08:05
Subject: Fwd: laugh Very funny
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are some of the funniest statements I've read in ages, and I think you'll each agree with me! ENJOY!!!
How Fights Start
My wife sat down on the settee next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust.'
And then the fight started...
******************************************
My wife and I were watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?"
"No," she answered.
I then said, "Is that your final answer?"
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, "Yes."
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."
And then the fight started.....
******************************************
Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."
My loving wife of 5 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"
And that's how the fight started....
******************************************
I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it.... He was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, "I AM NOT HAPPY!!!"
So, I looked down at him and said, "Well, then which one are you?"
And then the fight started.....
*****************************************
My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds..'
I bought her a bathroom scale.
And then the fight started....
******************************************
When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her some place expensive... so, I took her to a gas station.
And then the fight started...
******************************************
After retiring, I went to the Canada Pension Plan office to apply for my CPP. The woman behind the counter asked me for my Driver's License to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.
The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my application.
When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the CPP office.
She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.'
And then the fight started...
******************************************
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'
'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'
'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'
And then the fight started....
******************************************
I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason took my order first. "I'll have the steak, medium rare, please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?""
Nah, she can order for herself."
And then the fight started...
******************************************
A woman was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She was not happy with what she saw and said to her husband, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'
The husband replied, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.'
And then the fight started
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 5117 (20100515) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
From: kanzurem@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 08:05
Subject: Fwd: laugh Very funny
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are some of the funniest statements I've read in ages, and I think you'll each agree with me! ENJOY!!!
How Fights Start
My wife sat down on the settee next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust.'
And then the fight started...
******************************************
My wife and I were watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?"
"No," she answered.
I then said, "Is that your final answer?"
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, "Yes."
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."
And then the fight started.....
******************************************
Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."
My loving wife of 5 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"
And that's how the fight started....
******************************************
I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it.... He was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, "I AM NOT HAPPY!!!"
So, I looked down at him and said, "Well, then which one are you?"
And then the fight started.....
*****************************************
My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds..'
I bought her a bathroom scale.
And then the fight started....
******************************************
When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her some place expensive... so, I took her to a gas station.
And then the fight started...
******************************************
After retiring, I went to the Canada Pension Plan office to apply for my CPP. The woman behind the counter asked me for my Driver's License to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.
The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my application.
When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the CPP office.
She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.'
And then the fight started...
******************************************
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'
'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'
'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'
And then the fight started....
******************************************
I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason took my order first. "I'll have the steak, medium rare, please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?""
Nah, she can order for herself."
And then the fight started...
******************************************
A woman was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She was not happy with what she saw and said to her husband, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'
The husband replied, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.'
And then the fight started
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 5117 (20100515) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
Misssionaries- Wikipedia
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Missionary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, search
For other uses, see Missionary (disambiguation).
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
Its neutrality is disputed. Tagged since August 2009.
It is written like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since August 2009.
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to carry on ministries of the word]] and literacy, or ministries of service, such as education, social justice, health care and economic development.[1][2] The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem (nom. missio), meaning "act of sending" or mittere, meaning "to send".[3]
In Christian cultures the term is most commonly used for Christian missions, but it applies equally to any creed or ideology. Buddhism launched 'the first large-scale missionary effort in the history of the world's religions' in the 3rd century BC.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Christian missions
1.1 Biblical mandate
1.2 Catholic missions
1.3 Orthodox missions
1.4 First Protestant missions
1.5 Evangelical Church missions
1.6 The British Missionary Societies
1.7 Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries
1.8 Latter-day Saint missionaries
2 Islamic missions
3 Missionaries and Judaism
4 Eastern religions
4.1 Buddhist missions
5 See also
6 References
7 Sources and references
8 External links
[edit] Christian missions
Main articles: Mission (Christian) and List of Christian Missionaries
A Christian missionary can be defined as "one who is sent to witness across cultures."[2] The Lausanne Congress of 1974, defined the term, related to Christian mission as, "to form a viable indigenous church-planting movement." Recognizing justice as being at the heart of the Gospels, some modern missionaries now promote the development of western government[citation needed], education[5] and economic structure[citation needed] in the place of pre-existing local systems and tradition. Missionaries can be found in many countries around the world.
[edit] Biblical mandate
Jesus instructed the apostles to make disciples of all nations(Matthew 28:19-20). This reference is understood by Christian missionaries as the Great Commission to engage in missionary work.
[edit] Catholic missions
Main article: Catholic missions
See also: Roman Catholic Church and Colonialism, Jesuit China missions, Spanish Missions of California, Missionary Society of St Thomas, and List of Roman Catholic Missionaries
The New Testament missionary outreach of the Christian church from the time of St Paul was extensive throughout the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages the Christian monasteries and missionaries such as Saint Patrick, and Adalbert of Prague propagated learning and religion beyond the boundaries of the old Roman Empire. In the 7th century Gregory the Great sent missionaries including Augustine of Canterbury into England. During the Age of Discovery, the Roman Catholic Church established a number of Missions in the Americas and other colonies through the Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans in order to spread Christianity in the New World and to convert the Native Americans and other indigenous people. At the same time, missionaries such as Francis Xavier as well as other Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans were moving into Asia and the far East. The Portuguese sent missions into Africa. These are some of the most well-known missions in history. While some of these missions were associated with imperialism and oppression, others (notably Matteo Ricci's Jesuit mission to China) were relatively peaceful and focused on integration rather than cultural imperialism.
Much contemporary Catholic missionary work has undergone profound change since the Second Vatican Council, and has become explicitly conscious of Social Justice issues and the dangers of cultural imperialism or economic exploitation disguised as religious conversion. Contemporary Christian missionaries argue that working for justice is a constitutive part of preaching the Gospel, and observe the principles of inculturation in their missionary work.
As the church normally organizes itself along territorial lines, and because they had the human and material resources, religious orders—some even specializing in it—undertook most missionary work, especially in the early phases. Over time a normalised church structure was gradually established in the mission area, often starting with special jurisdictions known as apostolic prefectures and apostolic vicariates. These developing churches eventually intended 'graduating' to regular diocesan status with a local episcopacy appointed, especially after decolonization, as the church structures often reflect the political-administrative reality.
[edit] Orthodox missions
The Eastern Orthodox Church, under the Orthodox Church of Constantinople was vigorous in its missionary outreach under the Roman Empire and continuing Byzantine Empire, and its missionary outreach had lasting effect, either founding, influencing or establishing formal relations with some 16 Orthodox national churches including the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (both said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Andrew), the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Paul). The two ninth century saints Cyril and Methodius had extensive missionary success in Eastern Europe. The Byzantines e19th century. The Russian Orthodox Church also sent missionaries to Alaska beginning in the 18th century, including Saint Herman of Alaska, to minister to the Native Americans. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia continued missionary work outside Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution, resulting in the establishment of many new dioceses in the diaspora, from which numerous converts have been made in Eastern Europe, North America and Oceania.
[edit] First Protestant missions
Among the first Protestant missionaries were John Eliot (missionary) and contemporary ministers including John Cotton and Richard Bourne, who ministered to the Algonquin natives who lived in lands claimed by representatives of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century. Quaker "publishers of truth" visited Boston and other mid-17th century colonies but were not always well-received.[6]
The Danish government included Lutheran missionaries among the colonists in many of its colonies, Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in Tranquebar India in the late 17th century. But the first organized Protestant mission work was carried out beginning in 1732 by the Moravian Brethren of Herrnhut in Saxony Germany(die evangelische Brüdergemeine). While on a visit in 1732 to Copenhagen for the coronation of his cousin King Christian VI the Moravian Church's patron, Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf got to know a slave from the Danish colony in the West Indies. When he returned to Herrnhut with the slave, he inspired the inhabitants of the village—it was fewer than 30 houses then---to send out "messengers" to the slaves in the West Indies. The first missionaries landed in St. Thomas in December, 1732. Work soon was started in another Danish colony, Greenland. Within 30 years there were Moravian missionaries active on every continent, and this at a time when there were fewer than 300 people in Herrnhut. They are famous for their selfless work, living as slaves among the slaves and together with the native Americans, the Delaware (i.e. Lenni Lenape) and Cherokee Indian tribes. Today the work in the former mission provinces of the worldwide Moravian Church is carried on by native workers. The fastest growing area of the work in Tanzania in Eastern Africa. The Moravian work in South Africa inspired William Carey and the founders of the British Baptist missions. Today 7 of every 10 Moravians are in a former mission field and belong to a race other than Caucasian. Like other missionary denominations, Protestant missionaries have been accused of cultural imperialism and have often been associated with a colonial power. (See Americanization (of Native Americans).)
[edit] Evangelical Church missions
With a dramatic increase in efforts since the 1900s, and a strong push since the Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974, [1] evangelical groups have focused efforts on sending missionaries to every ethnic group in the world. While this effort has not been completed, increased attention has brought larger numbers of people distributing Bibles, Jesus videos, and establishing evangelical churches in more remote, less Christianized areas.
Internationally, the focus for many years in the later 20th century was on reaching every "people group" with Christianity by the year 2000. Bill Bright's leadership with Campus Crusade, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, The Joshua Project, and others brought about the need to know who these "unreached people groups" are and how those wanting to tell about the Christian God and share a Christian Bible could reach them. The focus for these organizations transitioned from a "country focus" to a "people group focus." (From "What is a People Group?" by Dr. Orville Boyd Jenkins: A "people group" is an ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. There are two parts to that word: ethno and linguistic. Language is a primary and dominant identifying factor of a people group. But there are other factors that determine or are associated with ethnicity.)
What can be viewed as a success by those inside and outside the church from this focus is a higher level of cooperation and friendliness among churches and denominations. It is very common for those working on international fields to not only cooperate in efforts to share their gospel message but view the work of their groups in a similar light. Also, with the increased study and awareness of different people groups, western mission efforts have become far more sensitive to the cultural nuances of those they are going to and those they are working with in the effort.
Over the years, as indigenous churches have matured, the church of the "Global South" (Africa, Asia and Latin America) has become the driving force in missions. Korean and African missionaries can now be found all over the world. These missionaries represent a major shift in Church history.
Brazil, Nigeria, and other countries have had large numbers of their Christian adherents go to other countries and start churches. These non-western missionaries often have unparalleled success because they need few western resources and comforts to sustain their livelihood while doing the work they have chosen among a new culture and people.
[edit] The British Missionary Societies
Main articles: Baptist Missionary Society, London Missionary Society, Church Missionary Society, China Inland Mission, and Church's Ministry Among Jewish People
The London Missionary Society was an extensive Anglican and Nonconformist missionary society formed in England in 1795 with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa. It now forms part of the Council for World Mission. The Anglican Church Missionary Society was also founded in England in 1799, and continues its work today. In 1809 the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews was founded, which pioneered mission amongst the Jewish people. It continues today as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People. All these organisations spread through the extensive 18th and 19th century colonial British Empire, establishing the network of churches that largely became the modern Anglican Communion.
[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries
See also: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
Typically, all adult Witnesses are expected to spend time every week "witnessing" in their area. Depending on the civil law in the respective country, this may take the form of proselytizing door to door, distribution of magazines and other literature such as The Watchtower and Awake! or responding to the questions of passersby. They also conduct home Bible studies with interested persons.While all baptized Jehovah's Witnesses engage in missionary work, the branch office of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, will appoint fulltime missionaries. Regular Pioneers are appointed to serve in a local congregation and spend an average of 70 hours a month preaching. Special pioneers are appointed to serve in isolated areas where preaching might be limited. Foreign missionaries are appointed to serve in another country after they have completed a 5 month course at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in Patterson, New York. They devote an average of 130 hours a month. They consider this activity as obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ in (Matthew 28:19-20)
[edit] Latter-day Saint missionaries
Main articles: Missionary (LDS Church) and Mission (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an active missionary program. Young men between the ages of 19 and 25 (usually beginning at the age of 19) are encouraged to prepare themselves to serve a two-year, partially self-funded (the LDS Church pays for transportation, health and dental care, the MTC stay, leadership, etc. the missionary pays a monthly amount), full-time proselytizing mission. Young women and retired couples may serve missions as well. Young women who desire to serve as missionaries serve at an older age, 21 or older, and often for only one and a half years. Missionaries typically spend one to three months in a Missionary Training Center where they study the scriptures, learn new languages, and otherwise prepare themselves to teach the Gospel and understand the culture in which and the people among whom they will be living. The LDS Church has about 53,000 missionaries worldwide.[7]
[edit] Islamic missions
Main article: Islamic Missionary Activity
Islamic Dawah Center in Houston, TexasDawah means to "invite" (in Arabic, literally "calling") to Islam, estimated to be the second largest religion next to Christianity. From the 7th century it spread rapidly from the Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world through the initial Muslim conquests, and subsequently with traders and explorers after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
Initially, the spread of Islam came through the dawah efforts of Muhammad and those who followed him. After his death in 632 CE, much of the expansion of the empire came through conquest, such as that of North Africa and later Spain (Al-Andalus), and the Islamic conquest of Persia putting an end to the Sassanid Empire and spreading the reach of Islam to as far East as Khorasan, which would later become the cradle of Islamic civilization during the Islamic Golden Age and a stepping-stone towards the introduction of Islam to the Turkic tribes living in and bordering the area.
The missionary movements peaked during the Islamic Golden Age, with the expansion of foreign trade routes, primarily into the Indo-Pacific and as far South as the isle of Zanzibar and the South-Eastern shores of Africa.
With the coming about of the tradition of Sufism, Islamic missionary activities increased considerably. The mystical nature of the tradition had an all-encompassing aspect, a property many societies in Asia could relate to. Later, with the conquest of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks, missionaries would find easier passage to the lands then formerly belonging to the Byzantine Empire. In the earlier stages of the Ottoman Empire, a Turkic form of Shamanism was still widely practiced in Anatolia, which soon started to give in to the mysticism offered by Sufism. The teachings of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, who migrated from Khorasan to Anatolia, are good examples to the mystical aspect of Sufism.
During the Ottoman presence in the Balkans, missionary movements were also taken up by people from aristocratic families hailing from the region, who had been educated in Constantinople or any other major city within the Empire, in famed madrassahs and kulliyes. Most of the time, such individuals were sent back to the place of their origin, being appointed important positions in the local governing body. This approach often resulted in the building of mosques and local kulliyes for future generations to benefit from, as well as spreading the teachings of Islam.
The spread of Islam towards Central and West Africa has been prominent but slow, until the early 19th century. Previously, the only connection was through Transsaharan trade, of which the Mali Empire, consisting predominantly of African and Berber tribes, stands as a strong proof of the early Islamization of the Sub-Saharan region. The gateways prominently expanded to include the aforementioned trade routes through the Eastern shores of the African continent. With the European colonization of Africa, missionaries were almost in competition with the European Christian missionaries operating in the colonies.
The Muslim population of the US has increased greatly in the last one hundred years, with much of the growth driven by widespread conversion.[8] Up to one-third of American Muslims are African Americans who have converted to Islam during the last seventy years. Conversion to Islam in prisons,[9] and in large urban areas[10] has also contributed to its growth over the years.
An estimated US$45 billion has been spent by the Saudi Arabian government financing mosques and Islamic schools in foreign countries. Ain al-Yaqeen, a Saudi newspaper, reported in 2002 that Saudi funds may have contributed to building as many as 1,500 mosques and 2,000 other Islamic centers[11]
[edit] Missionaries and Judaism
Despite some inter-Testamental Jewish missionary activity, contemporary Judaism states clearly that missionary activities are not a priority.
Modern Jewish teachers repudiate proselytization of Gentiles in order to convert them. The reason for this is that Gentiles already have a complete relationship with God via the Noahidic covenant (See Noahide Laws); there is therefore no need for them to become Jewish, which requires more work of them. In addition, Judaism espouses a concept of "quality" not "quantity". It is more important in the eyes of Jews to have converts who are completely committed to observing Jewish law, than to have converts who will violate the Abrahamic covenant into which they have been initiated.
Jewish religious groups encourage "Outreach" to Jews The outreach or "kiruv" movements encourage Jews to become more knowledgeable and observant of Jewish religious law. People who become more observant are known as baalei teshuva. "Outreach" is done worldwide, by organizations such as Chabad Lubavitch, Aish Hatorah, Ohr Somayach, and Partners In Torah. There are also many such organizations in the USA.
Members of the American Reform movement began a program to convert to Judaism the non-Jewish spouses of its intermarried members and non-Jews who have an interest in Judaism. Their rationale is that so many Jews were lost during the Holocaust that newcomers must be sought out and welcomed. This approach has been repudiated by Orthodox and Conservative Jews as unrealistic and posing a danger. They say that these efforts make Judaism seem an easy religion to join and observe when in reality being Jewish involves many difficulties and sacrifices.
[edit] Eastern religions
The first missions were sent by the Indian religions, in particular Buddhism.
[edit] Buddhist missions
Buddhist proselytism at the time of king Ashoka (260-218 BCE), according to his Edicts.See also: Buddhism in the West
The first Buddhist missionaries were called "Dharma Bhanaks". The Emperor Ashoka was a significant early Buddhist missioner. In the 3rd century BCE, Dharmaraksita - among others - was sent out by emperor Ashoka to proselytize[citation needed] the Buddhist tradition through the Indian Maurya Empire, but also into the Mediterranean as far as Greece. Buddhism was spread among the Turkic people during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE into modern-day Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, eastern and coastal Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. It was also taken into China brought by An Shigao in the 2nd century BCE.
The use of missions, formation of councils and monastic institutions influenced the emergence of Christian missions and organizations which had similar structures formed in places which were formerly Buddhist missions.[citation needed]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Western intellectuals such as Schopenhauer, Henry David Thoreau, Max Müller and esoteric societies such as the Theosophical Society of H.P. Blavatsky and the Buddhist Society, London spread interest in Buddhism. Writers such as Hermann Hesse and Jack Kerouac, in the West, and the hippie generation of the late 1960s and early 1970s led to a re-discovery of Buddhism. During the 20th and 21st centuries Buddhism has again been propagated by missionaries[citation needed] into the West such as the Dalai Lama and monks including Lama Surya Das (Tibetan Buddhism). Tibetan Buddhism has been significantly active and successful in the West since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959.
[edit] See also
Timeline of Christian missions
Short-term missions
Evangelism
Missiology
Proselytism
Missionary order
Missionary Society of St Thomas
The Roman Catholic Church and Colonialism
Indigenous church mission theory
Spanish Missions of California
Religious conversion
[edit] References
1.^ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/missionary
2.^ a b Thomas Hale 'On Being a Missionary' 2003, William Carey Library Pub, ISBN 0878082557
3.^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mission
4.^ Foltz, R.C.; Religions of the silk road; 1999; p.37
5.^ Robert Woodberry- the Social Impact of Missionary Higher Education
6.^ Selleck, D., discussed throughout Chapter 1, Quakers in Boston: 1656-1964, Fleming & Son, Somerville, 1980.
7.^ LDS Newsroom - Statistical Information
8.^ A NATION CHALLENGED: AMERICAN MUSLIMS; Islam Attracts Converts By the Thousand, Drawn Before and After Attacks
9.^ http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=960&wit_id=2719
10.^ Ranks of Latinos Turning to Islam Are Increasing; Many in City Were Catholics Seeking Old Muslim Roots
11.^ Kaplan, David E. (2003-12-15). "The Saudi Connection". U.S. News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/031215/15terror.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-17.
[edit] Sources and references
Project on Religion and Economic Change, Protestant Mission Stations
LFM. Social sciences & Missions
Henry Martyn Centre for the study of mission & world Christianity
Sociology of Missions Project
William Carey Library, Mission Resources
Hiney, Thomas: On the Missionary Trail, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press (2000), p5-22.
EtymologyOnLine (word history)
Robinson, David Muslim Societies in African History (The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK 2004) ISBN 0-521-53366-X
[edit] External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Missionaries
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Missionary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, search
For other uses, see Missionary (disambiguation).
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
Its neutrality is disputed. Tagged since August 2009.
It is written like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since August 2009.
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to carry on ministries of the word]] and literacy, or ministries of service, such as education, social justice, health care and economic development.[1][2] The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem (nom. missio), meaning "act of sending" or mittere, meaning "to send".[3]
In Christian cultures the term is most commonly used for Christian missions, but it applies equally to any creed or ideology. Buddhism launched 'the first large-scale missionary effort in the history of the world's religions' in the 3rd century BC.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Christian missions
1.1 Biblical mandate
1.2 Catholic missions
1.3 Orthodox missions
1.4 First Protestant missions
1.5 Evangelical Church missions
1.6 The British Missionary Societies
1.7 Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries
1.8 Latter-day Saint missionaries
2 Islamic missions
3 Missionaries and Judaism
4 Eastern religions
4.1 Buddhist missions
5 See also
6 References
7 Sources and references
8 External links
[edit] Christian missions
Main articles: Mission (Christian) and List of Christian Missionaries
A Christian missionary can be defined as "one who is sent to witness across cultures."[2] The Lausanne Congress of 1974, defined the term, related to Christian mission as, "to form a viable indigenous church-planting movement." Recognizing justice as being at the heart of the Gospels, some modern missionaries now promote the development of western government[citation needed], education[5] and economic structure[citation needed] in the place of pre-existing local systems and tradition. Missionaries can be found in many countries around the world.
[edit] Biblical mandate
Jesus instructed the apostles to make disciples of all nations(Matthew 28:19-20). This reference is understood by Christian missionaries as the Great Commission to engage in missionary work.
[edit] Catholic missions
Main article: Catholic missions
See also: Roman Catholic Church and Colonialism, Jesuit China missions, Spanish Missions of California, Missionary Society of St Thomas, and List of Roman Catholic Missionaries
The New Testament missionary outreach of the Christian church from the time of St Paul was extensive throughout the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages the Christian monasteries and missionaries such as Saint Patrick, and Adalbert of Prague propagated learning and religion beyond the boundaries of the old Roman Empire. In the 7th century Gregory the Great sent missionaries including Augustine of Canterbury into England. During the Age of Discovery, the Roman Catholic Church established a number of Missions in the Americas and other colonies through the Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans in order to spread Christianity in the New World and to convert the Native Americans and other indigenous people. At the same time, missionaries such as Francis Xavier as well as other Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans were moving into Asia and the far East. The Portuguese sent missions into Africa. These are some of the most well-known missions in history. While some of these missions were associated with imperialism and oppression, others (notably Matteo Ricci's Jesuit mission to China) were relatively peaceful and focused on integration rather than cultural imperialism.
Much contemporary Catholic missionary work has undergone profound change since the Second Vatican Council, and has become explicitly conscious of Social Justice issues and the dangers of cultural imperialism or economic exploitation disguised as religious conversion. Contemporary Christian missionaries argue that working for justice is a constitutive part of preaching the Gospel, and observe the principles of inculturation in their missionary work.
As the church normally organizes itself along territorial lines, and because they had the human and material resources, religious orders—some even specializing in it—undertook most missionary work, especially in the early phases. Over time a normalised church structure was gradually established in the mission area, often starting with special jurisdictions known as apostolic prefectures and apostolic vicariates. These developing churches eventually intended 'graduating' to regular diocesan status with a local episcopacy appointed, especially after decolonization, as the church structures often reflect the political-administrative reality.
[edit] Orthodox missions
The Eastern Orthodox Church, under the Orthodox Church of Constantinople was vigorous in its missionary outreach under the Roman Empire and continuing Byzantine Empire, and its missionary outreach had lasting effect, either founding, influencing or establishing formal relations with some 16 Orthodox national churches including the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (both said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Andrew), the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Paul). The two ninth century saints Cyril and Methodius had extensive missionary success in Eastern Europe. The Byzantines e19th century. The Russian Orthodox Church also sent missionaries to Alaska beginning in the 18th century, including Saint Herman of Alaska, to minister to the Native Americans. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia continued missionary work outside Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution, resulting in the establishment of many new dioceses in the diaspora, from which numerous converts have been made in Eastern Europe, North America and Oceania.
[edit] First Protestant missions
Among the first Protestant missionaries were John Eliot (missionary) and contemporary ministers including John Cotton and Richard Bourne, who ministered to the Algonquin natives who lived in lands claimed by representatives of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century. Quaker "publishers of truth" visited Boston and other mid-17th century colonies but were not always well-received.[6]
The Danish government included Lutheran missionaries among the colonists in many of its colonies, Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in Tranquebar India in the late 17th century. But the first organized Protestant mission work was carried out beginning in 1732 by the Moravian Brethren of Herrnhut in Saxony Germany(die evangelische Brüdergemeine). While on a visit in 1732 to Copenhagen for the coronation of his cousin King Christian VI the Moravian Church's patron, Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf got to know a slave from the Danish colony in the West Indies. When he returned to Herrnhut with the slave, he inspired the inhabitants of the village—it was fewer than 30 houses then---to send out "messengers" to the slaves in the West Indies. The first missionaries landed in St. Thomas in December, 1732. Work soon was started in another Danish colony, Greenland. Within 30 years there were Moravian missionaries active on every continent, and this at a time when there were fewer than 300 people in Herrnhut. They are famous for their selfless work, living as slaves among the slaves and together with the native Americans, the Delaware (i.e. Lenni Lenape) and Cherokee Indian tribes. Today the work in the former mission provinces of the worldwide Moravian Church is carried on by native workers. The fastest growing area of the work in Tanzania in Eastern Africa. The Moravian work in South Africa inspired William Carey and the founders of the British Baptist missions. Today 7 of every 10 Moravians are in a former mission field and belong to a race other than Caucasian. Like other missionary denominations, Protestant missionaries have been accused of cultural imperialism and have often been associated with a colonial power. (See Americanization (of Native Americans).)
[edit] Evangelical Church missions
With a dramatic increase in efforts since the 1900s, and a strong push since the Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974, [1] evangelical groups have focused efforts on sending missionaries to every ethnic group in the world. While this effort has not been completed, increased attention has brought larger numbers of people distributing Bibles, Jesus videos, and establishing evangelical churches in more remote, less Christianized areas.
Internationally, the focus for many years in the later 20th century was on reaching every "people group" with Christianity by the year 2000. Bill Bright's leadership with Campus Crusade, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, The Joshua Project, and others brought about the need to know who these "unreached people groups" are and how those wanting to tell about the Christian God and share a Christian Bible could reach them. The focus for these organizations transitioned from a "country focus" to a "people group focus." (From "What is a People Group?" by Dr. Orville Boyd Jenkins: A "people group" is an ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. There are two parts to that word: ethno and linguistic. Language is a primary and dominant identifying factor of a people group. But there are other factors that determine or are associated with ethnicity.)
What can be viewed as a success by those inside and outside the church from this focus is a higher level of cooperation and friendliness among churches and denominations. It is very common for those working on international fields to not only cooperate in efforts to share their gospel message but view the work of their groups in a similar light. Also, with the increased study and awareness of different people groups, western mission efforts have become far more sensitive to the cultural nuances of those they are going to and those they are working with in the effort.
Over the years, as indigenous churches have matured, the church of the "Global South" (Africa, Asia and Latin America) has become the driving force in missions. Korean and African missionaries can now be found all over the world. These missionaries represent a major shift in Church history.
Brazil, Nigeria, and other countries have had large numbers of their Christian adherents go to other countries and start churches. These non-western missionaries often have unparalleled success because they need few western resources and comforts to sustain their livelihood while doing the work they have chosen among a new culture and people.
[edit] The British Missionary Societies
Main articles: Baptist Missionary Society, London Missionary Society, Church Missionary Society, China Inland Mission, and Church's Ministry Among Jewish People
The London Missionary Society was an extensive Anglican and Nonconformist missionary society formed in England in 1795 with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa. It now forms part of the Council for World Mission. The Anglican Church Missionary Society was also founded in England in 1799, and continues its work today. In 1809 the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews was founded, which pioneered mission amongst the Jewish people. It continues today as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People. All these organisations spread through the extensive 18th and 19th century colonial British Empire, establishing the network of churches that largely became the modern Anglican Communion.
[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries
See also: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
Typically, all adult Witnesses are expected to spend time every week "witnessing" in their area. Depending on the civil law in the respective country, this may take the form of proselytizing door to door, distribution of magazines and other literature such as The Watchtower and Awake! or responding to the questions of passersby. They also conduct home Bible studies with interested persons.While all baptized Jehovah's Witnesses engage in missionary work, the branch office of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, will appoint fulltime missionaries. Regular Pioneers are appointed to serve in a local congregation and spend an average of 70 hours a month preaching. Special pioneers are appointed to serve in isolated areas where preaching might be limited. Foreign missionaries are appointed to serve in another country after they have completed a 5 month course at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in Patterson, New York. They devote an average of 130 hours a month. They consider this activity as obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ in (Matthew 28:19-20)
[edit] Latter-day Saint missionaries
Main articles: Missionary (LDS Church) and Mission (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an active missionary program. Young men between the ages of 19 and 25 (usually beginning at the age of 19) are encouraged to prepare themselves to serve a two-year, partially self-funded (the LDS Church pays for transportation, health and dental care, the MTC stay, leadership, etc. the missionary pays a monthly amount), full-time proselytizing mission. Young women and retired couples may serve missions as well. Young women who desire to serve as missionaries serve at an older age, 21 or older, and often for only one and a half years. Missionaries typically spend one to three months in a Missionary Training Center where they study the scriptures, learn new languages, and otherwise prepare themselves to teach the Gospel and understand the culture in which and the people among whom they will be living. The LDS Church has about 53,000 missionaries worldwide.[7]
[edit] Islamic missions
Main article: Islamic Missionary Activity
Islamic Dawah Center in Houston, TexasDawah means to "invite" (in Arabic, literally "calling") to Islam, estimated to be the second largest religion next to Christianity. From the 7th century it spread rapidly from the Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world through the initial Muslim conquests, and subsequently with traders and explorers after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
Initially, the spread of Islam came through the dawah efforts of Muhammad and those who followed him. After his death in 632 CE, much of the expansion of the empire came through conquest, such as that of North Africa and later Spain (Al-Andalus), and the Islamic conquest of Persia putting an end to the Sassanid Empire and spreading the reach of Islam to as far East as Khorasan, which would later become the cradle of Islamic civilization during the Islamic Golden Age and a stepping-stone towards the introduction of Islam to the Turkic tribes living in and bordering the area.
The missionary movements peaked during the Islamic Golden Age, with the expansion of foreign trade routes, primarily into the Indo-Pacific and as far South as the isle of Zanzibar and the South-Eastern shores of Africa.
With the coming about of the tradition of Sufism, Islamic missionary activities increased considerably. The mystical nature of the tradition had an all-encompassing aspect, a property many societies in Asia could relate to. Later, with the conquest of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks, missionaries would find easier passage to the lands then formerly belonging to the Byzantine Empire. In the earlier stages of the Ottoman Empire, a Turkic form of Shamanism was still widely practiced in Anatolia, which soon started to give in to the mysticism offered by Sufism. The teachings of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, who migrated from Khorasan to Anatolia, are good examples to the mystical aspect of Sufism.
During the Ottoman presence in the Balkans, missionary movements were also taken up by people from aristocratic families hailing from the region, who had been educated in Constantinople or any other major city within the Empire, in famed madrassahs and kulliyes. Most of the time, such individuals were sent back to the place of their origin, being appointed important positions in the local governing body. This approach often resulted in the building of mosques and local kulliyes for future generations to benefit from, as well as spreading the teachings of Islam.
The spread of Islam towards Central and West Africa has been prominent but slow, until the early 19th century. Previously, the only connection was through Transsaharan trade, of which the Mali Empire, consisting predominantly of African and Berber tribes, stands as a strong proof of the early Islamization of the Sub-Saharan region. The gateways prominently expanded to include the aforementioned trade routes through the Eastern shores of the African continent. With the European colonization of Africa, missionaries were almost in competition with the European Christian missionaries operating in the colonies.
The Muslim population of the US has increased greatly in the last one hundred years, with much of the growth driven by widespread conversion.[8] Up to one-third of American Muslims are African Americans who have converted to Islam during the last seventy years. Conversion to Islam in prisons,[9] and in large urban areas[10] has also contributed to its growth over the years.
An estimated US$45 billion has been spent by the Saudi Arabian government financing mosques and Islamic schools in foreign countries. Ain al-Yaqeen, a Saudi newspaper, reported in 2002 that Saudi funds may have contributed to building as many as 1,500 mosques and 2,000 other Islamic centers[11]
[edit] Missionaries and Judaism
Despite some inter-Testamental Jewish missionary activity, contemporary Judaism states clearly that missionary activities are not a priority.
Modern Jewish teachers repudiate proselytization of Gentiles in order to convert them. The reason for this is that Gentiles already have a complete relationship with God via the Noahidic covenant (See Noahide Laws); there is therefore no need for them to become Jewish, which requires more work of them. In addition, Judaism espouses a concept of "quality" not "quantity". It is more important in the eyes of Jews to have converts who are completely committed to observing Jewish law, than to have converts who will violate the Abrahamic covenant into which they have been initiated.
Jewish religious groups encourage "Outreach" to Jews The outreach or "kiruv" movements encourage Jews to become more knowledgeable and observant of Jewish religious law. People who become more observant are known as baalei teshuva. "Outreach" is done worldwide, by organizations such as Chabad Lubavitch, Aish Hatorah, Ohr Somayach, and Partners In Torah. There are also many such organizations in the USA.
Members of the American Reform movement began a program to convert to Judaism the non-Jewish spouses of its intermarried members and non-Jews who have an interest in Judaism. Their rationale is that so many Jews were lost during the Holocaust that newcomers must be sought out and welcomed. This approach has been repudiated by Orthodox and Conservative Jews as unrealistic and posing a danger. They say that these efforts make Judaism seem an easy religion to join and observe when in reality being Jewish involves many difficulties and sacrifices.
[edit] Eastern religions
The first missions were sent by the Indian religions, in particular Buddhism.
[edit] Buddhist missions
Buddhist proselytism at the time of king Ashoka (260-218 BCE), according to his Edicts.See also: Buddhism in the West
The first Buddhist missionaries were called "Dharma Bhanaks". The Emperor Ashoka was a significant early Buddhist missioner. In the 3rd century BCE, Dharmaraksita - among others - was sent out by emperor Ashoka to proselytize[citation needed] the Buddhist tradition through the Indian Maurya Empire, but also into the Mediterranean as far as Greece. Buddhism was spread among the Turkic people during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE into modern-day Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, eastern and coastal Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. It was also taken into China brought by An Shigao in the 2nd century BCE.
The use of missions, formation of councils and monastic institutions influenced the emergence of Christian missions and organizations which had similar structures formed in places which were formerly Buddhist missions.[citation needed]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Western intellectuals such as Schopenhauer, Henry David Thoreau, Max Müller and esoteric societies such as the Theosophical Society of H.P. Blavatsky and the Buddhist Society, London spread interest in Buddhism. Writers such as Hermann Hesse and Jack Kerouac, in the West, and the hippie generation of the late 1960s and early 1970s led to a re-discovery of Buddhism. During the 20th and 21st centuries Buddhism has again been propagated by missionaries[citation needed] into the West such as the Dalai Lama and monks including Lama Surya Das (Tibetan Buddhism). Tibetan Buddhism has been significantly active and successful in the West since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959.
[edit] See also
Timeline of Christian missions
Short-term missions
Evangelism
Missiology
Proselytism
Missionary order
Missionary Society of St Thomas
The Roman Catholic Church and Colonialism
Indigenous church mission theory
Spanish Missions of California
Religious conversion
[edit] References
1.^ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/missionary
2.^ a b Thomas Hale 'On Being a Missionary' 2003, William Carey Library Pub, ISBN 0878082557
3.^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mission
4.^ Foltz, R.C.; Religions of the silk road; 1999; p.37
5.^ Robert Woodberry- the Social Impact of Missionary Higher Education
6.^ Selleck, D., discussed throughout Chapter 1, Quakers in Boston: 1656-1964, Fleming & Son, Somerville, 1980.
7.^ LDS Newsroom - Statistical Information
8.^ A NATION CHALLENGED: AMERICAN MUSLIMS; Islam Attracts Converts By the Thousand, Drawn Before and After Attacks
9.^ http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=960&wit_id=2719
10.^ Ranks of Latinos Turning to Islam Are Increasing; Many in City Were Catholics Seeking Old Muslim Roots
11.^ Kaplan, David E. (2003-12-15). "The Saudi Connection". U.S. News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/031215/15terror.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-17.
[edit] Sources and references
Project on Religion and Economic Change, Protestant Mission Stations
LFM. Social sciences & Missions
Henry Martyn Centre for the study of mission & world Christianity
Sociology of Missions Project
William Carey Library, Mission Resources
Hiney, Thomas: On the Missionary Trail, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press (2000), p5-22.
EtymologyOnLine (word history)
Robinson, David Muslim Societies in African History (The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK 2004) ISBN 0-521-53366-X
[edit] External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Missionaries
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God's 26 Guards- Email from clay Vice
Thanks Clay!
This is a credible story to Christians who continue to pray to God.
Sam
----- Original Message -----
From: Clay Vice
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 05:35
Subject: Fw: God's 26 Guards
God's 26 Guards
Here's a message that will bring you chills.
Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone and
Then just put it on a list and said, 'I'll pray for them later'?
Or has anyone ever called you and said,
'I need you to pray for me, I have this need?'
Read the following story that was sent to me and
May it change the way that you may think about prayer
and also the way you pray. You will be blessed by this....
A missionary on furlough told this true story while
Visiting his home church in Michigan .
While serving at a small field hospital in Africa ,
Every two weeks I traveled by bicycle
Through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies..
This was a journey of two days and
Required camping overnight at the halfway point.
On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city
Where I planned to collect money from a bank,
Purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin
My two-day journey back to the field hospital.
Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting,
One of whom had been seriously injured.
I treated him for his injuries and at the same time
Talked to him about the Lord.
I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and
Arrived home without incident....
Two weeks later I repeated my journey
Upon arriving in the city,
I was approached by the young man I had treated.
He told me that he had known I carried
Money and medicines.
He said, 'Some friends and I followed you in to the jungle,
Knowing you would camp overnight.
We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs..
But just as we were about to move into your camp,
We saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.
At this, I laughed and said that I was
Certainly all alone in that jungle campsite..
The young man pressed the point, however, and said,
'No, sir, I was not the only person to see the guards,
My friends also saw them, and we all counted them.
It was because of those guards that
We were afraid and left you alone.'
At this point in the sermon,
One of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and
interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the
exact day this happened.. The missionary told the congregation
the date, and The man who interrupted told him this story:
'On the night of your incident in Africa ,
It was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf.
I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you.
In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong,
I called men in this church to meet with me here
In the sanctuary to pray for you.
Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?'
The men who had met together to pray that day stood up.
The missionary wasn't concerned with whom they were,
He was too busy counting how many men he saw.
There were 26.
This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord
moves in behalf of those who love Him.
If you ever feel such prodding to pray, go along with it,
you don't know what it can mean to that person..
Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of hell.
I encourage you to forward this to as many people as you know.
If we all take it to heart,
We can turn this world toward God once again.
As the above true story clearly illustrates,
'With God all things are possible'.
More importantly, how God hears and
Answers the prayers of the faithful.
After you read this, please pass it on and
Give God thanks for the beautiful gift of your faith,
For the powerful gift of prayer, and for the many miracles
He works in your own daily life... And then pass it on.
Who says God does not move on the earth today?
I ask the Lord to bless you as I pray for you today.
To guide you and protect you as you go along your way.
His love is always with you, His promises are true,
and when we give Him our cares you know
He will see us through.
So when the road you're traveling on seems difficult at best,
Just remember I'm here praying, and
God will do the rest.
Pass this on to those whom you want God to bless
I Can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Just think .... You have only ONE LIFE .... it will soon be passed!
ONLY what's done FOR CHRIST will last!
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 5115 (20100514) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
This is a credible story to Christians who continue to pray to God.
Sam
----- Original Message -----
From: Clay Vice
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 05:35
Subject: Fw: God's 26 Guards
God's 26 Guards
Here's a message that will bring you chills.
Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone and
Then just put it on a list and said, 'I'll pray for them later'?
Or has anyone ever called you and said,
'I need you to pray for me, I have this need?'
Read the following story that was sent to me and
May it change the way that you may think about prayer
and also the way you pray. You will be blessed by this....
A missionary on furlough told this true story while
Visiting his home church in Michigan .
While serving at a small field hospital in Africa ,
Every two weeks I traveled by bicycle
Through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies..
This was a journey of two days and
Required camping overnight at the halfway point.
On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city
Where I planned to collect money from a bank,
Purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin
My two-day journey back to the field hospital.
Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting,
One of whom had been seriously injured.
I treated him for his injuries and at the same time
Talked to him about the Lord.
I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and
Arrived home without incident....
Two weeks later I repeated my journey
Upon arriving in the city,
I was approached by the young man I had treated.
He told me that he had known I carried
Money and medicines.
He said, 'Some friends and I followed you in to the jungle,
Knowing you would camp overnight.
We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs..
But just as we were about to move into your camp,
We saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.
At this, I laughed and said that I was
Certainly all alone in that jungle campsite..
The young man pressed the point, however, and said,
'No, sir, I was not the only person to see the guards,
My friends also saw them, and we all counted them.
It was because of those guards that
We were afraid and left you alone.'
At this point in the sermon,
One of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and
interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the
exact day this happened.. The missionary told the congregation
the date, and The man who interrupted told him this story:
'On the night of your incident in Africa ,
It was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf.
I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you.
In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong,
I called men in this church to meet with me here
In the sanctuary to pray for you.
Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?'
The men who had met together to pray that day stood up.
The missionary wasn't concerned with whom they were,
He was too busy counting how many men he saw.
There were 26.
This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord
moves in behalf of those who love Him.
If you ever feel such prodding to pray, go along with it,
you don't know what it can mean to that person..
Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of hell.
I encourage you to forward this to as many people as you know.
If we all take it to heart,
We can turn this world toward God once again.
As the above true story clearly illustrates,
'With God all things are possible'.
More importantly, how God hears and
Answers the prayers of the faithful.
After you read this, please pass it on and
Give God thanks for the beautiful gift of your faith,
For the powerful gift of prayer, and for the many miracles
He works in your own daily life... And then pass it on.
Who says God does not move on the earth today?
I ask the Lord to bless you as I pray for you today.
To guide you and protect you as you go along your way.
His love is always with you, His promises are true,
and when we give Him our cares you know
He will see us through.
So when the road you're traveling on seems difficult at best,
Just remember I'm here praying, and
God will do the rest.
Pass this on to those whom you want God to bless
I Can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Just think .... You have only ONE LIFE .... it will soon be passed!
ONLY what's done FOR CHRIST will last!
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 5115 (20100514) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
Friday, May 14, 2010
Print to speech for the blind- Thanks initially T.J. DuPuy
----- Original Message -----
From: mslarch@aol.com
To: bbanchy@fuse.net ; kbcolley@roadrunner.com ; jackieb@earthlink.net
Subject: Re: You type...it speaks HAVE SEEN BEFORE; IT'S SO VERY MIRACULOUS! L,J
Hi Bill......Just a short follow up on your anecdote re Kurzweil and his remarkable computer for the blind. During my years at DIGITAL, the corporation was collaborating with Kurzweil (his office was in the Boston suburbs) and they developed this extraordinary equipment as a joint venture. I believe the first recipient was Stevie Wonder.
Regards
Marty
-----Original Message-----
From: bbanchy@fuse.net
To: karen; Jackie Brown
Sent: Tue, May 11, 2010 12:21 pm
Subject: Re: Fw: You type...it speaks HAVE SEEN BEFORE; IT'S SO VERY MIRACULOUS! L,J
I don't usually "reply to all", but forgive me for doing it this time. 20+
years ago, I was involved with volunteer work with the blind. One of the people
I worked with was named Jim Gibbons - a very bright and unusual character. (To
give you an idea, he got his MBA from Harvard while he was working at Cincinnati
Bell; I helped him with some of his school work). Jim now resides in Virginia
with his wife and kids, and is the CEO of an advocacy company involved with the
Blind - wish I could remember the name.
Anyway, while I was working with Jim, visiting from my office at IBM downtown, I
got to be familiar with a machine that was "new high tech" at the time (in the
80's) called a "Kurzweil" or "Kurzweiler" (can't remember for certain.) But
this machine would take input that was typed into it, and translate it into
SPEECH!! You were given a choice of about 8 or 9 different "voices" in which
the machine would speak, and it was a wonder to behold. It was a big help to
Jim, too. (If I remember correctly now, you didn't "speak" into the machine;
rather, you scanned printed copy into it, and it turned the printed copy into
speech. That's even more remarkable when you think about it.)
This program from TJ is a little better, because it has the face of a cute
woman! :-)
Bill
---- Jackie Brownwrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: T. J. Du Puy
> To: T. J. Du Puy
> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 7:45 AM
> Subject: FW: You type...it speaks
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Tj
>
>
>
>
>
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> tjdupuy@depodio.com
>
> National Cell
>
> 615-202-4747
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>
> This is amazing!!! Just think what it would mean for kids who are affected
with autism but can't verbalize or stroke patients and others who lose the
ability to communicate! WOW!!
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> You Type...it speaks... This is amazing. Try
it and see!!
>
> Turn up your volume.
> She will say anything you type. I sure don't
know how they do this! When you move the mouse around, her eyes follow the
pointer. When you write something in the left space and then click on 'Say it,'
she says it!
> You can also change persons doing the talking
and the language they speak.
> Technology! Wow !!
> CLICK HERE
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> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mslarch@aol.com
To: bbanchy@fuse.net ; kbcolley@roadrunner.com ; jackieb@earthlink.net
Subject: Re: You type...it speaks HAVE SEEN BEFORE; IT'S SO VERY MIRACULOUS! L,J
Hi Bill......Just a short follow up on your anecdote re Kurzweil and his remarkable computer for the blind. During my years at DIGITAL, the corporation was collaborating with Kurzweil (his office was in the Boston suburbs) and they developed this extraordinary equipment as a joint venture. I believe the first recipient was Stevie Wonder.
Regards
Marty
-----Original Message-----
From: bbanchy@fuse.net
To: karen
Sent: Tue, May 11, 2010 12:21 pm
Subject: Re: Fw: You type...it speaks HAVE SEEN BEFORE; IT'S SO VERY MIRACULOUS! L,J
I don't usually "reply to all", but forgive me for doing it this time. 20+
years ago, I was involved with volunteer work with the blind. One of the people
I worked with was named Jim Gibbons - a very bright and unusual character. (To
give you an idea, he got his MBA from Harvard while he was working at Cincinnati
Bell; I helped him with some of his school work). Jim now resides in Virginia
with his wife and kids, and is the CEO of an advocacy company involved with the
Blind - wish I could remember the name.
Anyway, while I was working with Jim, visiting from my office at IBM downtown, I
got to be familiar with a machine that was "new high tech" at the time (in the
80's) called a "Kurzweil" or "Kurzweiler" (can't remember for certain.) But
this machine would take input that was typed into it, and translate it into
SPEECH!! You were given a choice of about 8 or 9 different "voices" in which
the machine would speak, and it was a wonder to behold. It was a big help to
Jim, too. (If I remember correctly now, you didn't "speak" into the machine;
rather, you scanned printed copy into it, and it turned the printed copy into
speech. That's even more remarkable when you think about it.)
This program from TJ is a little better, because it has the face of a cute
woman! :-)
Bill
---- Jackie Brown
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: T. J. Du Puy
> To: T. J. Du Puy
> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 7:45 AM
> Subject: FW: You type...it speaks
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Tj
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> tjdupuy@depodio.com
>
> National Cell
>
> 615-202-4747
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> This is amazing!!! Just think what it would mean for kids who are affected
with autism but can't verbalize or stroke patients and others who lose the
ability to communicate! WOW!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> You Type...it speaks... This is amazing. Try
it and see!!
>
> Turn up your volume.
> She will say anything you type. I sure don't
know how they do this! When you move the mouse around, her eyes follow the
pointer. When you write something in the left space and then click on 'Say it,'
she says it!
> You can also change persons doing the talking
and the language they speak.
> Technology! Wow !!
> CLICK HERE
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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