Personal Comments on the Movie....THE PASSION OF CHRIST ....

A very compelling movie....to say the least...and production, script, actors etc. was certainly a stroke of genius....or as an insurance clause states...."An Act of God!"
Certainly the movie inspiration and art assimilation was blessed and is now....A Blessing.
One of the major points for myself, as a Christian, is that the movie was not about 'The Old Rugged Cross...Calvary...or even 'The Crucifixion'....the center focal point of the entire movie.....WAS THE PERSON!
Every person left the theatre with this 'profound knowledge' whether they were a' believer' or not!
In that there is Victory, Success, and a Triumph for the purpose behind it all.....
This is the stroke of genius....the Act of God.... that a drama of this magnitude can produce with modern, technical state-of-the art tools (which is common and ordinary in this year 2004 A.D. ) in the human heart this greatest of All TRUTHS......
Therein lies.....success and victory for this film!
Which brings me to my next point......
I did leave the theatre with a 'unfinished feeling'.....
Too many of the key essentials connected to 'The Passion' was left unsaid at the end....
We were left 'hanging' so to speak..
A sequel must be made in order to 'wrap-up' and complete the 'package deal' of The Passion of Jesus Christ...
For instance......Peter adamantly denied Jesus three times.....and that was it in 'The Passion' yet he was redeemed after 'The Resurrection' in the "Do you love Me, Peter?(three times) conversation. This alone is cause for ' Victory'...over the crucifixion .
Also, FINDING THE TOMB EMPTY.....after all the mayhem documented in The Passion....makes one want to Celebrate Life....jump up and down shouting....Victory, Success, Triumph of good over evil....
The Victory would make a wonderful....HAPPY movie....and bring completion to....The Passion.
......On a personal note....Being a military wife, we were stationed in Germany in 1980 and I went to the Oberammergau Passion Play. All the drama was in German and I had to follow along with a small text book in English...
The last act...The Resurrection...satisfied and completed the drama in my heart which the hours of agony had just produced during the events leading up to the crucifixion. The play was an all day affair.....yet when it was over with the final scenes of Victory bursting inside.....I felt so FREE....so Full of Life....so WONDERFUL that I wanted to Celebrate....have a Party....laugh..love others deeply and allow the Passion of 'the Good Life' to flow freely through me FOVERVER MORE!
That is the memory produced by The Oberammergau Passion Play.
Now this is not to say that Mr. Gibson's, The Passion, failed in my opinion....
By no means.....it accomplished exactly what he set out to accomplish......to turn the eyes of the heart...TO THE PERSON....not the event!
He succeeded MAJESTICALLY!!!
So well in fact.....that NOW 'The Rest of The Story'....MUST BE TOLD.
Since Mr. Gibson is the Bill Gates of the movie industry (in my eyes).....he is fully competent and qualified to complete, produce and develop the script that was written in fact.....by the Life of Jesus Christ!
The Passion is proof, evidence of Mr. Gibson's inner knowledge and spiritual maturity which empowers him to handle such sacred and holy.....Truths....with astounding accuracy.
He is a Blessed Man.....and passes on his gifts to us all....
Now.....I do know that all is not 'la la land' thinking about this movie in the 'real world'!
The 'circus mentality' that surrounds this movie is staggering.
One main point that is said again and again......'the Jews' hate it....it is anti-Semitic etc....
Baloney!!!!
To me.....it was about the 'politics' of the times.....the power struggles between the factions that existed and ruled during Jesus' time.
It was filled with Jews....good and bad.....Jesus was a Jew, his parents were Jewish, his disciples were Jews, the people of the street were Jews....
It was filled with Romans.....good and bad Romans....
It was filled with leaders, rulers with authority....good and bad leaders.....
The camera of life only revealed what traits existed then and is still true for us today....the good, bad, and ugly of life which lies in the heart of all culture, race, nations, governments....and families as well.
The sentence pronounced and carried out in The Passion can not be placed as guilt or 'blame' of any single race...nation....or person. The fact is....(ask God)....IT IS ALL OUR FAULT....every human being that has ever lived and will ever live on planet earth.
We all have the kind of darkness of the soul....that we saw so clearly in the sadistic and cruel Roman soldiers, the ruler Herod, the Jewish rulers, and even in Jesus' intimate associates and friends like Judas and Peter who made 'wrong' choices and decisions....The two thieves on the cross....one responding positive...the other negative....
Was the movie anti-Italian because of the Roman soldiers?
Absolutely not!
We also saw as well....the goodness of the human heart....compassion in the face of danger, family love in a parent and a child as with Jesus and his Mother, devotion and loyalty from John and other followers. This reflected the 'goodness' of the human heart as well....
Very graphically we saw the 'ugly' of mass mobs....
Good, bad and ugly was evident.
As it is with us today....it comes down to making right choices and decisions in who and what we want to be as a person.
We can choose good....we can choose bad or evil and ugly.....
God gave us 'free will' and the intelligence to use our head, brains and heart....rightly.
We do have a choice.....we see good and bad choices every day on our evening news....
Jesus in His Person.......said "I will do what no man alone can do but only a God Man can do....
I will be the guilty party for everybody....I will show the human race.....by my life, death and resurrection that good is more powerful than evil! That love can win over hate....."
Jesus, the Jew......proved this point!
Anyone who believes that truth as stated in the original script, The Bible, has a personal belief or conviction that is commonly called ......faith.
A group of such people.....are called Christians....
Faith in the truth of Jesus Christ.....produces Christians.....Yes, there are those who make right choices and succeed in their life as Christians and then those who fail....we see it every day.
The human heart can not fail to be touched anew.......by viewing and participating in a personal way thru this awesome movie.....The Passion.
We salute you....Mel Gibson....for a job well done.

Busy, Busy, Busy

In the last two weeks I have been so busy that many things have gone...undone.
One being my family and friends Web Page.
I will not try to play ‘catch up’ at this late date....
We did go to the Cortez Seafood Festival last week-end which was in
the fishing village where Cindy lives. It was an authentic culture, craft and art Festival. The artists were local talent and interesting to see....
For pictures go to Link #1....2004 Begins Album

We are going skiing again with family and friends....leaving shortly...
Canaan Valley Resort in Elkins, WVA is our favorite place to relax and hit the slopes. What a change it will be from Florida...and that is why we go.
We don’t want winter to pass us by and us.....not know it!

Will write again in a few days....from the slopes....
Enjoy...The Good Life!

This is a reminder.......Dear Readers;
I have had several questions about the new format on my Photos Page...from Link #1.
First of all I pay for this page so ignore all ads scattered around....
To view pictures....
Choose Album to view...
Double Click on it.....
Then double click on first picture in album and it will enlarge for viewing....look to the top of picture and
you will see the selectors previous/next buttons....also on left you will see....slideshow....
For automatic viewing of that albumn....click on slideshow...
To operate individually choose the next button each time you want to go forward.
That is all there is to it.....
Hope this simplifies the process for you...
Have a Great Day!!!

Why Love?

Celebrating Valentine’s Day is an American Tradition.....
More flowers and chocolates are sold during this time of the year than any other time...
Do flowers and chocolate say....I Love you?
Does a special candlelit dinner say....I love you?
Are ‘diamond’ really a ‘girls best friend’?
.......A heart that is devoted truly to another......MUST express itself in action...DAILY!
Valentine’s Day is just a celebration of that year long....fact!
All kinds of people find all kinds of ways to give the gift of a ‘outward expression’ of this ‘inward happening’.
Marketing exploits this beautiful and delightful tradition ....giving us to believe that we can ‘buy love’ with such and such a gift!

Love, real love.....is costly, priceless and can not be bought at ANY price.
For you see......Love is the most essential human need on planet earth!
Receiving and giving this gift.....and the form it takes in expressing itself.....is truly something to celebrate EVERY DAY!
To Love and Be Loved..... .....is really what life is all about!
Why Love?
Why breathe?
Because our very life depends on it!
Celebrate that fact with those around you that emanate this inward breath of your life.
Truly celebrate Valentine's Day.....joyfully....delightfully....playfully and
.....T H A N K F U L L Y!!!!

Love allows us all.....to enjoy the....Good Life!
Happy....’Valentine’s Day......to all of you my family and friends....
P.S....I love YOU!!!:)....
P.S.S. See my Special Valentine's Day Gift shining brightly on
Link #1.....AAA Blessing Album.....

The “Real” Village People.....

While working at Cindy’s we met many of her neighbors and the local village people....There is the notorious ‘Cat Lady’ who has entirely tooo many cats.....then there is Susie’s Salami Shop with the best Cuban Sandwiches...ever. Susie is a delightful warm-hearted local....then there is Wayne....my favorite....
Wayne has lived in Cortez all his life. He was a shrimper in waters nearby for years, as was his Father, as is his brother. But Wayne is a master craftsman in working with wood. He hand carves items from original wood and the finished piece are not glued or pegged or screwed....but completely carved entirely out of one block of wood. Wayne uses all kind of wood, pecan, walnut, butternut and things I have never heard of in my life. In addition, he makes wood pens....the outside is wood so colorful you could swear they were painted with brilliant hues.
The wood carvers of Oberammergau, Germany would recognize this ‘one of a kind’ Master craftsman, Wayne Fulton. His workshop faces the beautiful waterways around Cortez. Wayne’s ever present companion, Quigley, follows at his heels constantly. His wife, Betty, is an artist as well so creativity reigns supreme in their home.
One person stopped by to offer Cindy $350.00 for her palm in front of her home. A landscaper told Cindy that it was worth about $3,000.
See new pictures posted in 2004 Begins Album....Link #1
Needless to say, she didn’t sell this native tropical asset.
Dockie and Ann helped install new doors that were badly needed and in the process removed doorway ’beads’ from the previous owner.
The house definitely has a ‘facelift’....and more to come....
Cindy will add more natural Florida style ‘flavor’ and color and cheer to her very real....Cortez Fishing Village home.

Before & After

Working on a 1940’s house is certainly an …..act of faith.
Faith that all of one’s hard work, money spent in supplies and the act of house recycling will pay off in the long run….
I am documenting Cindy’s Cortez house in pictures…before and after.
You can see this by going to Link #1....2004 Begins Album.
It is still a work in progress....to be continued...
Sorta like ‘our life’ isn’t it????

Cortez Village

My husband, Charlie and I are in Bradenton, Florida at my niece, Cindy’s ‘new/old’ house. Cindy just purchased a quaint 1940’s house in an equally quaint fishing village. Cortez Village Community is very small but most of the residents have lived here either all their life or a great part of their life. The Village itself has recently been placed on the National Historic list…
Tomorrow the big job of sanding and refinishing hardwood floors begins.
A major job has become quite a fun project.
For example….we thought that Charlie and Dockie had to wire her laundry area for 220 volt electricity. Upon moving the archaic dryer, we found that 220 volt did exist…The previous owner said….’dryer no work’, no electricity. It was not plugged in…and when we plugged it in and turned it on…. it ran and ran even when we opened the door….it still ran….So obviously unplugging the cord was the only way to stop the dryer!
Cindy has now gone out to purchase a new dryer…another problem solved.
Needless to say, there are still more solutions to come.