Image: Peter Robinson

THERES A NEAPOLITAN phrase A carta vicino o fuoco sappiccia which literally means that paper close to a fire will inevitably go up in flames.

Of course, Diego Maradonas seven-year stint with Napoli did end tumultuously butamidst the cocaine and the mafia and the bastard son, there was a multitude of success too.

The city of Naples gritty, tough, uncompromising was and very much remains his spiritual home. He fled, in disgrace, 26 years ago but earlier this week, at a glitzy ceremony where he was granted honorary citizenship of the city, it was like he had never left.

Its understandable.

Maradona, after all, gave Napoli immortality.

He arrived in 1984 having tired of the endless kickings he received on the pitches around Spain. Memorably, his last appearance for Barcelona came in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Club the league champions which culminated in a post-game free-for-all at the Santiago Bernabeu after Maradona retaliated to some verbal abuse with physical retribution.

With relations already strained between him and the club on account of his injury problems and the teams on-field struggles, there was certainly no going back after such a high-profile humiliation for Barcelona footballs most expensive signing and marquee name instigating a mass brawl in front of the King of Spain and millions of TV viewers.

When Maradona touched down in Naples for another world record amount (5m is the oft-quoted figure but in his superb biography of Maradona, Hand of God, author Jimmy Burns says it was, in fact, double that amount), it was treated like the Second Coming of Christ.

But Maradona would not just resurrect himself but, instead, an entire community. His signing became a symbol. Treated with disrespect and contempt by those in the north of the country, Naples was seen as the runt of the litter. To many in Italy it was a seedy, grim, unforgiving place. While it was left in the shadows in terms of politics and economics, it had struggled to compete on the football pitch also. Prior to Maradonas arrival in 1984, nine of the previous 10 championships had been won by teams based in just two cities Milan and Turin.

So, even when there were whispers about a possible deal for Maradona, supporters couldnt contain their level of excitement and anticipation. It would send a message to the rest of Italy.

When Barcelona demanded an extra couple of hundred grand during negotiations, thousands of local fans turned up a Naples building city to hand over their contribution to the pot. Within a day, the money was raised and not long after Maradona was unveiled.

Still, his time with Napoli is largely associated with the Camorra the citys mafia organisation. They were intrigued by what Maradonas signing could do for them: an increase in ticket sales (60,000 season tickets were sold for Maradonas debut campaign) would see exponential growth in touting a staple of the Camorra diet while there was also the economic value of Maradona coming to Naples and how it affected the Camorras other interests. Finally, they also took control of Maradona-related merchandise in the city. According to Burns, they made Maradonas agent, Jorge Cyterszpiler an offer he couldnt refuse.

Source: Peter Robinson

In many ways, it was an atmosphere that Maradona revelled in. In many ways, he saw the local gangsters as mirror images of himself. They had come from humble beginnings and graduated to positions of influence and power. They were rich and enjoyed nice things. Maradona slotted in quite effortlessly.

And, relatively quickly, he found his feet on the pitch too. There was an eighth-place finish in 1985 but Maradona still managed 14 goals and Napoli were only 10 points fromunfashionable champions Hellas Verona.The following season they were better and finished third. Maradona hit double-figures again before heading to Mexico and captaining Argentina to World Cup success.

This was him in his pomp.

There is a neat geographical metaphor regarding Naples vicinity to Mount Vesuvius. Locals get a daily reminder of the threat however inexplicable of eruption and the possibility of destruction. Maradona is the personification of that. But, like the Camorra example, he seemed to take great comfort from the chaos, like it was reassuring. If things were quiet for too long, Maradona would get suspicious. The cyclical explosions became normal.

So, as he excelled with Napoli, his private life was in disarray. His marriage to childhood sweetheart Claudia was falling apart and for a four-month period between December 1985 and March 1986, hed had a fling with a 20-year-old local woman named Cristiana Sinagra.

Source: SVEN SIMON

But when she became pregnant with his child, everything changed. The relationship ended, Maradona ignored his responsibilities, concentrated on the World Cup preparations and gleefully repaired things with Claudia.

The child a son- was born in September 1986 and Cristiana called him Diego Armando after his father. Quickly, the media latched onto the story and Cristiana was open with the press. She had nothing to hide and had been shunned by Maradona. Publicly, he lied, believing ignorance would be bliss.

About this I know nothing absolutely nothing, he said.

It would take five long years and a legal case for Maradona to change his tune.

By that stage, he had been forced into exile and his time with Napoli had come to an end owing to a 14-month suspended sentence for cocaine possession. Simultaneously, he had been banned from football for 15 months and both his professional and personal lives were in free-fall.

Still, if the paper ultimately went up in flames, Maradona had exceeded expectations in Naples.

1987 was the beginning of an unprecedented period of dominance for the club. Maradona scored 10 times as Napoli lost just two games in the entire league season to be crowned Italian champions for the very first time. They had already claimed a Coppa Italia and the celebrations were like nothing the city had ever seen.

Source: Peter Robinson

Everything stopped for a week as people partied in the streets. Sleep was negotiable. Perhaps no one really wanted to wake up from the dream.

Least of all Maradona himself.

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Originally posted here:
Maradona, the mafia and immortality: three decades on from Napoli's Holy Grail - The42

A recent Pew Research Poll reports that 72 percent of Americans agree that there is a literal heaven, and 58 percent an actual hell. Yet, Erhman, an authority on the New Testament, surprises readers early in this book with the assertion that these views cannot be found in the Old Testament and they are not what Jesus himself taught.

The Old Testament thinkers did not conceive of an afterlife. Nor did they subscribe to a belief in the immortality of the soul. Death, for the authors of Job, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Samuel, was final, uninteresting, and unredeemable. Jesus himself did not believe that a person would go to heaven or hell immediately upon death.

If the prototypes of eternal torture and Elysian Fields didnt come from the Bible, where did they come from? Though it would take centuries to arrive at the images we hold today, Erhman argues that it was Plato who most influenced later thinking, leading ultimately to the views of heaven and hell that developed centuries later in the Christian tradition. In Socratess famous last speech, written in the fifth century B.C.E., Plato has Socrates claim that the soul lives on, imperishable. Socrates argues that all who think rightly should die daily, escaping the confines of their bodies by focusing on the welfare of their souls.

The Greeks had evolved a keen appreciation of ethics and individual choice, and with these, the corollary issues of equity and justice. Five hundred years later, Virgil delivers a rendering of the underworld that reflects a first century B.C.E. awareness. Hell is a realm of cracking whips and dragging chains for those who die without confession; while for the good, there await fields of sport, singing, and feasting.

Erhman knows this territory as well as anyone writing today; the reader is struck by his nimbleness in drawing the thread of this rich-layered narrative, sprinkling larger thematic arcs with anecdotes that honor the non-lineal and multivalent nature of eschatological thought.

As the Greek and Roman views evolved, the Old Testament thinkers notions of divine justice shifted as well. From the eighth century B.C.E. until the sixth, Israels prophets were most concerned with the survival of the nation in the face of continuous invasion by the Babylonians and Persians. Isaiah 26:19 promises that God would return to bring his servant Israel back to life. When a victorious kingdom did not come about, the idea of a Cosmic Evil at work in the world was born. The world was controlled by forces of evil, but God would ultimately triumph on the Day of Judgment, ushering in a new Kingdom for his faithful.

This was the theological climate into which Jesus was born. An Apocalyptic, like many at the time, Jesus predicted that the Day of Reckoning would occur in his generation, and involve the full resurrection of the body. When the predicted reckoning did not occur, his followers had to reinterpret his teachings.

It was precisely during this interval that the visions of the afterlife we hold today came into their own as a literary phenomenon. Over time, the Day of Judgment was replaced by a vision that rested almost exclusively on rewards and punishments that would begin immediately at death.

We owe many of our lurid, fantastical images of heaven and hell men hanging by the genitals, women cast neck deep into pits of excrement to the Roman satirist Lucian of Samosata. The Passion of Perpetua, a second-century Latin text by a 22-year-old convert to Christianity, describes dream-visions of heaven beyond her impending martyrdom. The synchronous Apocalypse of Peter details bodies aflame, worms devouring entrails, and lightning piercing the eyes of mothers who kill their infants.

The cast of characters is vast and entertaining. There is Saul, arriving in disguise at the home of the Medium of Endor, a woman whose wizardry he had outlawed years earlier. Desperate in the face of an enemy army and the upstart, David, he seeks contact with his deceased counselor, Samuel, who the Medium produces through a sance. There is the pseudonymous 1 Enoch, in which Sons of God came to earth and impregnated women, producing giants who wreaked havoc by eating everything in sight (including humans), before God sends a flood to destroy them. And much more.

Erhman suggests that the intent of the prophets and fabulists were of a piece: not to impose the terror of death, but a concern for living a virtuous life. He repeatedly hopes that his study will offer assurance and comfort to an anxious world. In the process, he ably enlightens and entertains.

Even if we do have something to hope for after we have passed from the realm of temporary consciousness, he writes, we have absolutely nothing to fear.

HEAVEN AND HELL: A HISTORY OF THE AFTERLIFE

By Bart D. Ehrman

Simon & Schuster, 352 pp., $28

Kathleen Hirsch teaches at Boston College and blogs at kathleenhirsch.com.

Follow this link:
Speculation on the afterlife in Heaven and Hell - The Boston Globe

It's an exciting time for anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club at the moment.

The Reds are the European and world champions and are on course to seal the 2019/20 Premier League title for the first time in three decades as football gets ready to restart and lockdown restrictions ease following the coronavirus pandemic.

With nine games to go, Jurgen Klopp's side are 25-points clear of their nearest rivals Manchester City while it is mathematically impossible for any other side in the top flight to now catch up.

Liverpool need just six points for immortality having lost only once all season and know that should City lose to Arsenal on Wednesday night, an opportunity for them to claim the elusive Premier League trophy will present itself against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

Should those events not take place, Klopp's men could win the title at Anfield against Crystal Palace in the following game or even against City themselves at the Etihad after that.

We want to know what your ideal outcome would be, where you want Liverpool to win the title and what you think will happen during the remainder of the season.

While you're filling in the survey, please take the time to consider signing up for our daily newsletter at the end. It arrives in your inbox before 9am every day and will give you an at-a-glance look at the biggest Liverpool Football Club stories that day. It's easy to unsubscribe if you decide you don't like it.

Continued here:
Where do you want Liverpool to win Premier League title and what do you predict will happen? - Liverpool Echo

TEHRAN -- Immortality by Mehdi Fard-Qaderi won the award for best feature movie at the 15th Ischia Film Festival on the Italian island on Saturday, the organizers announced.

The film was competing in the official section of the festival, which began on June 24.

A jury composed of Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi, Portuguese screenwriter Miguel Barros and German producer Dagmar Jacobsen picked Immortality for the courageous use of a single location in a single shot.

Beyond his mastery, we recognize that it is a well-written and recited movie whose purpose is to provide a unique fresco in modern Iran. What a success, the jury said in a statement.

Immortality, which is a one-shot feature film, tells the story of some strangers who have to spend a rainy night together on a train.

Photo: Director Mehdi Fard-Qaderi holds an award for his movie Immortality at the 15th Ischia Film Festival in Italy on July 1, 2017.

RM/YAW

Read the original here:
Immortality crowned best at Italian film festival - Tehran Times - Tehran Times

ST. LOUIS A trio of pro football stars is a step closer to Hall of Fame immortality.

Former St. Louis Rams receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, and Lutheran North high school graduate Steve Atwater were among 15 announced finalists for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

Atwater, who played all but one season as a Safety for the Denver Broncos, has reached the semifinal stage nine times and is a finalist for the second consecutive year.

Atwater is one of several safeties to make the finalist cut, joining Denver and Tampas John Lynch, Pittsburghs Troy Polamalu and Green Bays LeRoy Butler, but hes had the longest wait.

Holt makes the finalist cut for the first time.

Bruce has been a finalist the past three years.

The three fall into the category of Modern-Era candidates, which will produce 5 members in the 2020 class.

Former St. Louis Rams head coach Dick Vermeil and Don Coryell, who coached the St. Louis Cardinals and later the San Diego Chargers, are among the eight finalists for two slots for coaches who will also be part of the class of 2020. A final decision on those candidates is expected sometime in January. The entire class will be announced on February 1.

Read more from the original source:
Atwater, Bruce, and Holt named football Hall of Fame finalists Thursday - KTVI Fox 2 St. Louis

Following his official retirement announcement on Friday, the debate about whether or not former Giants quarterback Eli Manning belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame rages on.

One of the most polarizing candidates in recent memory, Manning threw for over 57,000 yards and tossed 336 touchdown passes in 16 seasons in New York, ranking in the top-10 all-time in both categories. He also engineered two of the greatest Super Bowl upsets in history, including dethroning the undefeated Patriots in 2008.

However, much of Mannings productivity derived from longevity more than being an elite player at his position and playing in a pass-heavy era may not help his chances of making it to Canton. On three separate occasions, he led the league in interceptions. His career touchdown rate falls below Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, and Jameis Winston.

Per Pro Football Reference, Manning also ranks 42nd in adjusted yards per pass attempt, and though other Hall of Famers posted a similar number, hes also in company with the likes of Steve Beurlein, Jeff Garcia, and Neil ODonnell.

While time will tell if Manning gets into the Hall of Fame, several other quarterbacks currently in the league have built far more compelling cases for entering football immortality. Among those, Seahawks star Russell Wilson may already have one foot in the door in Canton after finishing his eighth NFL season.

This season alone, Wilson became the fifth-fastest quarterback to 200 career touchdown passes, joining exclusive company alongside Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Dan Marino, and Aaron Rodgers. He also became the first player in NFL history to throw 200 or more touchdown passes and run for 15 or more touchdowns in his first eight seasons.

In addition, he joined the eldest Manning as only the second quarterback in league history to pass for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in his first eight seasons. As he'll gladly tell you, Wilson feels he's "just getting started."

Using a holistic approach, Wilson already stands out in a number of critical categories compared to other Hall of Fame-worthy quarterbacks from his era and has a chance to climb even higher in upcoming seasons.

Despite playing in a run-first offense that has limited his throwing attempts for much of his career, Wilson has been as efficient of a passer as any quarterback in NFL history. Hes currently tied with Rodgers for the highest touchdown rate in league history, ranks second behind Rodgers in career passer rating, and trails only Tom Brady and Rodgers for the lowest interception rate all-time.

Though he sits 26th overall in passing touchdowns, hes managed to do so in just 128 games. Only one other player in the top 25 has played in fewer than 150 games, as Matthew Stafford has thrown 256 touchdowns in 149 games. If he maintains his career average of 28 touchdown passes per year over the next three seasons, he will quickly be closing in on the top-10 all-time.

In contrast, Wilson has thrown just 68 interceptions in his career, or less than nine per season on average. He and Andrew Luck are the only quarterbacks in the top 50 for touchdown passes with less than 100 interceptions. At his current pace, Wilson might not reach that point until after his 11th season when he turns 35 years old.

Further bolstering his resume, Wilson recently surpassed Steve McNair to move into fifth place in NFL history for rushing yards by a quarterback. Though his rushing touchdown total pales in comparison to the four players ahead of him, only Steve Young had more touchdowns and passing yards. Young already is enshrined in the hall and Wilson has a chance to pass him in both categories as early as next season.

Coming out of Wisconsin, Wilson fell to the third round because of concerns about his lack of height. But at 5-foot-10, hes proven shorter players can excel under center at the highest level and in the process, he has built an impressive first eight seasons that rivals any quarterback in history.

Assuming he continues to produce at an elite level for a few more seasons in Seattle and continues to avoid injury, Wilson will be a surefire lock to eventually join Walter Jones, Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy, and Kenny Easley in Canton whenever he hangs up his cleats.

Read more from the original source:
Seahawks QB Russell Wilson Building Hall of Fame Resume - Sports Illustrated

Maiken Nedergaard considers herself a pragmatic woman. Shes got kids, a career, and she knows she feels better after a solid night of shut-eye. Shes also a neuroscientist at the forefront of research showing the biological value of sleep. In studies she coauthored in 2013 and 2019, she documented how during sleep, fluid washes over our brains, clearing out toxins like beta amyloid, which is linked to neurodegenerative diseases.

Suddenly sleep became a tonic: an Alzheimers wonder drug available, for free, every evening. For Nedergaard, the results made her anxious about her own bedtime priorities. Now, she says, I take sleep very seriously.

For the rest of us, who dont have labs full of equipment to study the inner workings of the brain, theres a growing suite of gadgets offering the illusion of science: nightly reports full of numbers and charts purporting to show just how well were performing while conked out. Fitbit kicked off this trend when it released the first tracker in 2009.

Little more than a glorified pedometer at the time, the Fitbit couldnt monitor your heart rate, pay for anything, or even tell you the time. (It even shorted a WIRED reviewers run by 0.6 mile: Not cool!) But it did include a sleep tracker that measured the duration and quality of your slumber, producing a sleep efficiency score. Since then, obsession with sleep optimization has only grown. The global sleep-tracking market topped $1 billion in 2016. Its expected to increase by another 18 percent by 2024.

Sleep, once no more glamorous than taking a shower, is now perched at the pinnacle of the well-being-as-a-lifestyle trend. The irony is that by agonizing over sleep, its also turning into a source of anxietythe kind of thing that keeps people up at night. Fears over bad sleep are getting the TED treatment and topping best-seller lists.

In his semi-pop-science distillation of research, Why We Sleep, UC Berkeley psychologist Matthew Walker warns that sleep loss is an epidemic that could have dire consequences. Our chronically overtired brains make our bodies more susceptible to diabetes, cancer, and other diseases, he argued. Getting a good 40 winks, on the other hand, would improve memory and mood, and even make us feel and look younger. Sleep is a nonnegotiable biological necessity, Walker proclaimed in his 2019 TED talk. It is your life support system. And it is Mother Natures best attempt at immortality.

Who among us would scoff at immortality?

And so weve slipped Oura rings onto fingers and wrapped Fitbits and Apple Watches around wrists. Beneath sheets and mattresses weve concealed Beddits and Emfits, sensors that promise to monitor heart rates and sleep cycles from their discreet hiding places. We track our REM and non-REM cycles, scrutinizing the length, quality, and depth of our rest on Reddit forums like r/sleep and r/Biohackers, where users write about the benefits of cold showers and question the need for pillows.

All this measuring, rating, tracking, and comparing now amounts to a new sleep disorder that some scientists are calling orthosomnia. A coinage of Greek origin that merges "straight" or "correct" with "sleep," orthosomnia is a condition where anxiety over proper sleep metrics actually induces insomnia.

The patients' inferred correlation between sleep tracker data and daytime fatigue may become a perfectionistic quest, wrote the researchers from Northwestern and Rush universities who came up with the term after observing three cases of people who relied more on their sleep-tracking data than on the advice of experts. In one case, a 27-year-old woman insisted she wasnt getting enough deep sleep and underwent a full examination in the lab. The test concluded she slept normally, but she remained unconvinced. Then why does my Fitbit say I am sleeping poorly? she asked.

See the original post:
Stop Obsessing Over SleepYour Brain Will Thank You - WIRED

BHOPAL: We adults always try to relive our childhood. But we do not give children, the right to be children. Gandhiji attained greatness and immortality only because he did not allow the child within him to die, said writer and poet Udyan Vajpayee, while addressing the participants of the Illustration Camp on Child Rights here on Saturday.

He said that children are much more imaginative than the adults and their curiosity knows no bounds.

Senior artiste Devilal Patidar said that children should be allowed to think beyond what they are taught in schools.

Art teachers, young illustrators and fine arts students of schools will take part in the three-day camp to mark the 30th years of the signing of the UN Child Rights Charter at the Tribal Museum.

The event is being organised jointly by the Child Rights Observatory, Art Design Teachers Forum and Tribal Museum, in collaboration with UNICEF, Bhopal.

Inaugurating the event, Nirmala Buch, chairperson of the Child Rights Laboratory said that the idea behind organising the event is to hone the creativity of the children and to give them an opportunity to express themselves.

Anil Gulati, communication specialist of UNICEF expressed the hope that the children would give expression to their creativity through their works.

Link:
Bhopal: Children are much more imaginative than adults - Free Press Journal

Life is a precious gift.

We begin our years living in the moment, where time has no meaning. However, a strange thing happens. As we pass through adolescence, puberty and early adulthood, we become acutely aware of time. But it seems to stand still.

Our future dreams, expectations and independence seem to always be on some distant horizon. We wait impatiently. Then comes the independence, commitments and responsibilities phase: relationships, jobs, families, education, credit card debt, mortgages, car loans, etc.

Time is a blur. It only becomes an obsession occasionally especially during our milestone years ... 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 when you wonder how these years slipped by so fast. You remember a time when you thought 30 was old, and 50 and 70 was positively ancient!

If youre fortunate enough to maintain your health and avoid any devastating, life-altering misfortunes, it all comes to a head during whats called a mid-life crisis. The time of its arrival varies, from the 40s on up to the 50s. This is when you begin to stop long enough during your responsibilities phase to take stock of your accomplishments in life.

The illusion of immortality, or the subject matter, at least, is something that you finally come to grips with as well. Your age begins to show. You feel aches and pains that you never had before. And your stamina isnt what it used to be. Is it any wonder some of us go into panic mode and take bizarre or irresponsible actions, trying to recapture our youth one last time?

If we make it through this stage and the gift of time is added to our lives, the panic and anxiety give way to a kind of acceptance of impermanence the beauty and inevitability of change. The seasons change; we witness the cycle of life and death, the ebb and flow, light and dark, cold and hot, wet and dry, wind and stillness, passion and serenity, happiness and sadness always becoming, always balancing, always rejuvenating and never-ending.

If lucky, we come to realize that time is but a man-made construct a convenient measuring device exclusive to the cognitive mind of man, but of little use to plants, animals, earth, the universe and even God. As we reach our senior years, we begin to stop running for the roses and pause to smell them.

In fact, time gives way to the observance of more natural occurances, like the seasons, the grandeur of a mountain range, the undulation of a shoreline, the symmetry of a pine cone, the delicate intracacies of a dandelion, the intimacies of an enduring love, the preciousness of each breath, a closer relationship with God.

There is one special gift that comes with the cognitive mind that transcends time and impermanence. Its called memories. Like a photograph or a video, it allows you to temporarily leave the impermanence realm and bring the past to life.

Someone once said, The idea that just because something doesnt last forever, doesnt mean its worth is diminished.

Cherish the memories of loved ones whose lives have passed on before you. They once were a part of your life experience. You honor them when you pause to reflect on the special role they played in shaping your life. Remember the good times, the stories, the adventures, the smiles, the hugs, the tears, the love. This way, the bond between you will never be broken.

While living, you have the power to breathe life into their souls once again through your memories. Hold fast and revisit them. They become richer each time.

Find a quiet place ... better still, a spot where you once shared experiences together. Youll be surprised at the joy those memories bring back to your heart. Remembering will sometimes remind you of your loss, though. But thats OK. A tear shed for a loved one is never wasted. Besides, those memories tend to remind us of how precious and impermanent this gift of life really is.

Will Thault is a retired Albany businessman whose travels have led him to many memorable adventures.

See the article here:
WILL THAULT: Reflection on the impermanence -- and joy -- of life - The Albany Herald

Have you read the one about Emily Dickinson and Death?

Because I could not stop for Death He kindly stopped for me The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality.

If you havent, dont worry. Dickinson, one of several new series debuting November 1 on the Apple+ streaming service, dramatized it for you.

A glum but glam Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld), dressed in a sumptuous, off-the-shoulder red velvet gown, is sitting in a horse-drawn carriage with Death (a very seductive Wiz Khalifa). They are obviously enjoying each others company. Emily is afraid that her stern and conservative father wont let her publish her poetry. Death tells her not to worry: Her poems will be published. She shakes her head and sighs, unconvinced. My father will burn every copy if he has to, she tells him. Anything to prevent me from ruining the good name of Dickinson.

My darling, he purrs. Youll be the only Dickinson they will talk about in 200 years.

Hailee Steinfeld (left) and Wiz Khalifa (right) in Dickinson. [Photo: courtesy of Apple TV+]As it turns out, Death was right. Emily is the only Dickinson anyone is talking about 150 years after she wrote that poemand 1,788 othersduring her lifetime. But the dark-haired, free-thinking, fun-loving, living-out-loud Dickinson that Steinfeld channels is at odds with the traditional image of Dickinson alone in her quiet Amherst home gardening and baking bread in a starched white dress. Only the most passionate fans of the 19th century poet will recognize this alt-Emily.

But they all agree that modern readers should get to know the young, vivacious, and confident poet as a young woman.

Although the series includes fantasy sequences and a hip-hop soundtrack, it tries to stay faithful to Dickinson and her world. The series did get in touch, says Harvard Universitys Leslie Morris, the Gore Vidal curator of modern books and manuscripts at Houghton Library that houses an extensive collection of Dickinsons works and artifacts, including a reproduction of her writing room. I was impressed with the attention to detail. The production people were very conscientious about getting it right, she says, adding that she spotted several items from Harvards collection, including a famous portrait of Emily and her siblings in trailers for the series.

Although Dickinson departs from previous dramatizations of her life, scholars and fans agree that its not that far from the truth. Even at the start, there were two very different Dickinsons, says Christopher Benfey, a professor at Mt. Holyoke College and a Dickinson scholar. She died in 1886, and her poems started appearing in print in the 1890s. First, there was the Emily in her white dress writing love poems about nature; someone who never married or fell in love, but if she did, it ended tragically.

But people knew there was another side of Dickinson, he says. There were rumors around Amherst that Emily and her younger sister, Lavinia, were a bit promiscuous. Others were shocked that some of her poems didnt even rhyme. For about 100 years, these two Dickinsons have been around, but the first image stuck, he says. Certain poems were attached to that image, he says. It was a very New England image: reclusive and lonely.

Steinfelds Dickinson is hardly lonely. She is self-assured and determined, trying to reconcile her desire to write with the expectations for young women of her time. She pouts. She parties. She daydreams. She skips out on religious lectures at school. And most importantly, she writes.

Dickinson takes place during a pivotal time in the poets life, according to Martha Ackmann, a journalist and author of These Fevered Days, Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson. Dickinson is on the verge of beginning her writing career in earnest. There are many letters to friends from her teenage years. Theres a huge paper trail, she says. One of the things that stands out is that she is so social. She has lots of friends and makes friends easily. Shes recognized by one of her teachers at Amherst Academy as a great writer, and theres even a little bit of jealousy among her peers.

Ackmann says Dickinson knew she wanted to make something of her life. In one letter to a friend, there is a reference to setting up her desk and getting ready to write. All things are ready, she wrote. Ackmann says the letter reveals a young woman with the confidence and developing talent she knows will take her someplace.

I have always been amazed that Dickinson knew her own worth as a poet, says Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, Murray professor of arts and humanities at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Sweeney says that Dickinson once remarked that her barefoot rank was better than changing her style in pursuit of fame. I believe she was confident that her poems would be understood and appreciated.

Modern readers more likely to read Dickinson on their mobile devices relate to Dickinsons poems for a variety of 21st century reasons. The writer Lotte Jeffs put it this way in a recent article for the London Sunday Times: No one else has so elegantly articulated the complicated dichotomy of desire for public profile and privacy that shapes the way we navigate our online lives . . . . She also says that Dickinsons brevitywhat she cleverly calls her snackable presentationis another part of her appeal. Ideas so tightly packed in so few words you could almost Tweet them in their entirety.

And in the end, the poetry is the thing. Its a TV show, its not a scholarly monograph, says Harvards Morris. Im hoping very much it will deal with some of the issues Emily herself dealt with: friendship, love, creativity, and just daily life. I hope it gets people back to reading poetry.

Sweeney says the Dickinson she admires is an independent woman who managed to organize her life so she could devote it to poetry. With any luck thats the Dickinson viewers will see in Dickinson.

Excerpt from:
Why Emily Dickinson fans are excited about 'Dickinson' on Apple TV+ - Fast Company

It seems possible to suggest that a bishops character must be in harmony with the spiritual qualities expected from the office.

For the sake of this reflection, spirituality is understood as a mechanism within each person that moves that person towards the pursuit of sacred meaning. In turn, sacred meaning is understood in the generic religious sense of how the bishops office engages in (1) the pursuit of the good, (2) the pursuit of immortality and (3) the pursuit of good relationship with God, including evidence of a desire to remove whatever blocks good relationship with God.

Finally, a person is taken to be a human being in action. Personhood is thought to arise from three generic streams of relationships. Personal choice associations cluster on the arms of those streams of relationships.

The first stream of relationship takes place at the level of the environment. It marks our biological DNA and is therefore first in the order of origin. The many associations that cluster about the arm of a persons environmental associations include all the physical dimensions of being human, but in the present context they arise primarily out of that persons spiritual search for sacred meaning in the environment. We expect the office of the bishop to hold the sustainability of the environment in the highest regard since it embodies the qualities of unity, truth, goodness and beauty that is God.

The second stream of associations that characterize a person (in the order of origin) is a stream of interpersonal relationships. The office of bishop is expected to draw spiritual meaning from building vibrant relationships between all the priests, deacons, lay ministries and parish clusters the bishops office serves. In order to measure a candidates strength in this area I would turn to the empirical evidence found in a priests parish building experience.

In my personal experience as a member of a parish bereavement team, I have observed how a priest can bring a bereaved family together by allowing them to tell their story of pain, their experiences with the deceased, what they would like to hear from the homilist about the deceaseds character, and so on.

The success in bringing together a grieving family at the time of death provides a good indication of the leadership qualities we expect from a bishop to unite and assist the faithful in their religious celebrations of successes, losses and complaints found in their parish experience. The need exists to meet parishioners in their experiential settings while demonstrating the ability to exercise an informed leadership role.

The third stream of relationships takes place at the level of introspection and reflection as the office of the bishop reflects on the data carried in the first two streams of relationships to administer diocesan resources. In the first instance, the office holder needs a certain normalcy about him. We cannot expect parishes to get their act together if the bishops own internal house is not in order. The ability to be centred, loving, compassionate and action-based ranks highly.

We recognize that no one is perfect. Ours is a spirituality of imperfection. We strive to find sacred meaning in all our relationships and pledge to do our best to ensure that our spirituality is aligned with a generic interpretation of the nature of religion.

The office of bishop and indeed of all persons of religious faith strives to find the good in all things while portioning the relationship between the terrestrial order and the eternal order. We seek eternal life and resist the destruction of evil, but we do so by pursuing the sacred good we find in the here and now, as we strive to grow our spirituality of imperfection.

Administratively, the office of bishop must be smart. It must recognize the autonomy of each parish and help grow their sacred search for meaning. It must provide parishioners an opportunity for informed consent through respectful teaching moments, and it must be seen to be fair, just, and respect privacy and confidentiality, but to do so within the administrative framework of regulatory laws, the good of the Church of Rome, and the harmony of the whole.

A fully developed discussion of this issue would also include a position statement on culture (attitudes, values and beliefs of parishioners), society (groups such as CWL, KOC), politics (regulations concerning the appointment), economics (costs, value added), environment (resources), and ethics (empirical evidence and normative standards).

Ken A. Bryson, PhD, is professor emerita of philosophy at Cape Breton University. He can be contacted at ken_bryson@cbu.ca.

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OP-ED: Examining the spiritual character of a bishop - The Guardian

In 1989, the third Indiana Jones film titled Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released. The film once again starred Harrison Ford as the famous archaeologist, but this time he is joined by Sean Connery, who plays his father in the film. The Last Crusade became the highest-grossing film of the series until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull topped it in 2008.

RELATED:10 Best Spielberg Movies Ever, According to IMDb

The Last Crusade is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and even after three decades, there is a lot fans probably don't know about the movie. Here is Indiana Jones: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Last Crusade.

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Before a storyline about the Holy Grail was conceived Indiana Jones 3 looked a lot different. Originally the film was called Indiana Jones and the Monkey King, which would have seen Indy go up against a ghost in Scotland in a haunted mansion. The Fountain of Youth would have been the legend that Indiana Jones focused on.

Things were changed up a bit in later revisions of the script, Indy instead searching for the Peaches of Immortality. Needless to say, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg decided to go a completely different route, which was probably for the best.

With The Last Crusade focusing on the quest for the Holy Grail, Steven Spielberg was worried people might think of another movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the most famous of the Monty Python movies and still holds up to this day.

However, despite the film coming out in 1989, Spielberg was worried people would think of the 1975 film when they watched The Last Crusade. Spielberg once told Entertainment Weekly, Of course, I was worried that people would hear Holy Grail, and they would immediately think about a white rabbit attacking Monty Python.

After Indiana Jones makes it through the three tests leading to the Holy Grail chamber, Donovan and Elsa soon enter the chamber behind him. Elsa gives Donovan a cup she thinks is the Holy Grail, so Donovan drinks holy water from it. She chose poorly, so he quickly ages before turning into a skeleton.

Related: Indiana Jones: 10 Things You Probably Didnt Know About The Temple Of Doom

The effect was incredibly complex and is actually considered the first-ever complete digital composite effect in a movie. All three of the Indiana Jones movies have had some incredible special effects, but Donovans death is among the most impressive.

There were multiple locations used for Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, but one of these locations was Petra, Jordan. At the time, King Hussein bin Talal and Queen Noor controlled the country. The King and Queen would often visit the set of The Last Crusade after Spielberg offered to let them watch production.

The Queen is said to have given Spielberg a ride to set and the King even lent them four horses. The horses that the heroes ride into the sunset on in the final scene of the movie belonged to King Hussein bin Talal.

There arent very many people that have starred in all four Indiana Jones movies. Harrison Ford has starred in all four of course, but before Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released, Pat Roach had appeared in all three films. Roach appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark as the Giant Sherpa who gets chopped to pieces by the airplane blades. In the second film, he appears as a guard in the Temple of Doom who whips the child slaves and fights Indiana before the mine cart scene.

The actor once again appears in The Last Crusade as a Nazi character named Gestapo, who has a very brief appearance in the movie. Roach likely would have had a cameo in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but unfortunately the actor passed away in 2004 at the age of 67.

Alison Doody snagged the role of Elsa in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but she wasnt the first actress to be offered the role. Originally, Amanda Redman had been offered the gig, but she turned it down. Redman would have had to do the scene in the tomb of the First Crusade Knight where Indy and Elsa are covered in rats.

Unfortunately, Redman has an extreme fear of rats so she had to decline the job offer. Redman is known for movies like Sexy Beast and Mike Bassett: England Manager, so needless to say, The Last Crusade would have been the biggest movie of her career.

Nazis have been antagonists in both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. The costume designers for The Last Crusade, Anthony Powell and Joanna Johnston, had to meticulously study Nazi uniforms from World War II to make sure the costumes in the film were as accurate as possible.

Related: Indiana Jones 5: 10 Scrapped Ideas From Previous Sequels It Should Use

While they created several Nazi costumes for the film, Powell was actually able to find several real Nazi uniforms that can be seen on screen in several scenes, including the book-burning scene.

Actors arent always comfortable while filming scenes for movies, but with as big of a star as Sean Connery was, the crew likely tried to make him as comfortable as possible. In one scene, they actually allowed Connery to film his scene without any pants on (although Connery probably didnt ask for permission).

The set for the scene where Indiana Jones and Henry Jones Sr. are on the blimp was incredibly hot, so Connery only wore his trousers to stay cool during filming. Ford followed suit so that neither of them were sweating during the scene.

Its safe to say that Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful and most well-known directors in history. He has directed several films like Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park, all of which earned more than one Oscar at the Academy Awards.

Spielberg has also directed all four Indiana Jones movies, but he had to pass on Rain Man in order to direct The Last Crusade. Spielberg had worked on the script for Rain Man for nearly half a year, before having to leave the project to direct the third Indiana Jones movie.

Before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out in 2008, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was considered the worst of the three Indiana Jones movies. Spielberg has even said in the past that Temple of Doom is his least favorite of the first three movies and regrets making the second film so dark.

He returned for the third film to make it up to fans and re-capture the spirit that made people fall in love with Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg even brought back Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies from Raiders of the Lost Ark to ensure that this happened.

NEXT:10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Raiders Of The Lost Ark That Are Guarded By Top Men

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Indiana Jones: 10 Facts And Trivia You Didn't Know About The Last Crusade - Screen Rant

Baseball is America's pastime, but football is America's passion. No matter how successful the other teams might be around here, it doesn't fill the void that each Redskins fan carries in their heart.

Sports championships present an opportunity to take stock of ones riches.

You might have heard that the Washington Nationals are Major League Baseballs World Series champions.

(Pausing here so you can joyfully scream again.)

The Washington Mystics raised a WNBA trophy of their own a few weeks ago across the Anacostia River.

(Its OK. Embrace the joy. Make some noise.)

And who could forget the Nats beloved bros up in Chinatown, the Washington Capitals? Theyre finally over their 2017-2018 Stanley Cup parade hangover, and theyre leading their division right now.

(Whos up for another parade in June? Yeah? Us too! Make some more noise!)

Give it up for D.C. United, too! Their new pitch is sweet, and they made a playoff run of their own this year.

(Yes, Rooneys gone, but its OK. Theyre still contenders. Lemme hear ya!)

And hey, how about those Washington Redskins?

Youre not cheering.

They beat the Dolphins!

Seriously? Nothing?

They got a damn good organizational culture, yall! Get excited!

Crickets, huh? Wow. OK, then.

Indeed, its impossible to take stock of ones riches without acknowledging the um deficiencies. And before any of yall start sending hate mail this way, keep in mind that social media started the fire here. Im just sayin.

To paraphrase Fox NFL analyst Howie Long: Baseball is Americas pastime, but football is Americas passion. No matter how successful the other teams might be around here, it doesnt fill the void that each fan carries in their Burgundy and Gold heart.

(Cue Rainbows to the End Zone.)

For once upon a time, legends walked the sod of RFK Stadium. Legends known now by their surnames: Theismann. Riggins. Monk. Rypien. Taylor. Washingtons passion was quenched, more than once, once upon a time.

Today, the void is vast. And it expands each year that Sith Lord Belichick raises the Lombardi Trophy.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but autumn Sundays arent an event around D.C. anymore. And for a struggling franchise, the one thing worse than being mocked is being ignored.

At least in this instance, theyre being mocked.

If the crew at Redskins Park needs some inspiration, they can look no further than Capital One Arena. While the Nats were climbing out of a two-run deficit and achieving immortality Wednesday night, Your Washington Wizards were holding their own against James Harden, Russ Westbrook and the Houston Rockets.

They gave up 159 points, yeah. But they rang up 158, too, and they probably wouldve gotten the W if Harden werent such an F-word.

Judging from the first few games, new GM Tommy Sheppard has put together a hungry, fun squad this year.

Perhaps the Wizards potential and the other local teams successes will elevate Washingtons NFL franchise. Perhaps it will drive them to take stock of themselves and make the right changes, so they can make a playoff run of their own in the near future.

Because the void can only exist for so long.

Right?

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Column: DCs sports riches dont come in Burgundy and Gold - WTOP

"There are a few chinks in his armour, so I'll believe I can win tomorrow, British shuttler Rajiv Ouseph told Badminton England after setting up a quarter-final clash with China's Lin Dan in the 2017 BWF World Badminton Championships in Glasgow.

File photo of Lin Dan. AFP

One wonders if the quote was relevant given the 34-year-old's dip in form and below average performances in big events this calendar year. To add weight to Ouseph's bold statement, Lin lost the opening game 14-21 on the next day and was on the back foot in the second, but the Briton was soon forced to swallow his words. Lin floored Ouseph after the interval in the second gameand held his nerve to enter the semi-final of the men's singles.

The result showed how onerous the task to stop the 33-year-old Chinese is. He never runs out of steam and is a player with complete control of the shuttle and the game.

In the next game, he was pitted against World No 1 Son Wan Ho of South Korea the man who reached the top of the rankings purely on the basis of points he gathered by entering the last four of Superseries tournaments. Having been stretchedto three games in his previous two matches, the onus was on Lin to stay steady against an in-form and a very defensive Son, who was coming on the back of an impressive straight-game win over the high-flying Kidambi Srikanth.

Despite a slow start, Lin raced into the lead and clinched the first game 21-17. Son, who was hesitant to play net shots, let the Chinese surge ahead in the second game and eventually gifted him a handful of points through net errors to lose the match in straight games. The only weapon Son had was to play long rallies, which Lin had a grip on throughout the match. And again, the Chinese ace proved he is not to be taken lightly at the world event.

The two results are, in fact, a reflection of Lin's vast experience in major tournaments. He has been under the toughest of situations and that's why he is considered an immortal figure in a sport where there are no favourites as such. It's the consistency that has left the world in awe of the man who became the first and the only player to complete the 'Super Grand Slam', having won all nine major titles in badminton: Olympics, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games and Asian Championships, all by the age of 28.

Lin, who had previously won the world title in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013, will have to beat 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Viktor Axelsen in the final of the World Championships on Sunday. Nicknamed 'Super Dan' by his fans, the 33-year-old will play his seventh final in the World Championships. He lost only once in 2005. Incidentally, it was the Dane who sent Lin packing in the Olympics last year in the bronze medal match. Moreover, the scores are tied at 3-3 in the overall head-to-head meetings between the duo. Axelsen, the current World No 3, has barely put a foot wrong in the tournament with impressive victories over Ng Ka Long Angus, Chou Tien Chen and Chen Long en route to the final. However, Lin is just beyond comparison when it comes to finals.

With such unrivalled record at World Championships and a knack for creating history every now and then, the Chinese ace will be looking to surpass South Korean legend Park Joo-bong and Zhao Yunlei of China, who have five world titles each, to become the shuttler with themost number of gold medals at World Championships. In other words, to become immortal!

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World Badminton Championships 2017 final: Lin Dan on the cusp of immortality as record sixth title beckons - Firstpost

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As it were this time last year, grey clouds are hovering over Merewether Tower as the clock strikes 12 in the afternoon. Buses, cars and motorbikes halt for a group of pedestrians trying to cross the busy thoroughfare, II Chundrigar Road, to reach the decades-old Edhi Centre in Mithadar.

With the passing of Pakistans greatest philanthropist, Abdul Sattar Edhi, on July 8 last year, the centre like all others is now looked after by his son Faisal Edhi, while one of the foundations longest serving representatives, Anwar Kazmi, sits in the office managing the day-to-day activities.

Clad in a grey shalwar kameez, he sits behind a desk teeming with stacks of files and two telephone sets that ring almost incessantly. Kazmi, 72, had known Edhi since 1962 when he took a friend to the Mithadar dispensary.

Edhi called for a compounder to tend to my friend, while he sat down on a bench and spoke to the rest of us for a long time. We discussed local and world politics; I was quite politically charged at the time and was associated with the left. Over the course of that conversation, it turned out that we shared similar thoughts and he asked me to come by more often. That was the start of a bond that lasts to this day, he reminisced.

Referring to the famous strike by students in 1964 near DJ Science College in which many were injured, he said Edhi had stepped in personally at the time to tend to the victims. We had to strategise because had we taken those students to the civil hospital they would have been booked by the police. So we took them straight to Edhi sahab who tended to the injured.

Our friendship grew stronger because of our like-mindedness and finally in 1970, I started working with the Edhi Foundation; at the time, though, the foundation was much smaller in scale as compared to what we see today.

Speaking about the late humanitarian, Kazmi said that Edhis four core principles simplicity, truthfulness, hard work and punctuality were what catapulted him to greatness. His thoughts always translated into actions. Also, I dont remember him ever mincing his words; he couldnt care less about repercussions.

Against the tide

When Edhi pursued his mission, he was going against the norms of his community, said Kazmi.

He told the Memon community that he only wanted to work for humanity and wasnt interested in the dynamics of any particular community system, solely because they were controlled by men seeking profits. He said he didnt want to pave the way for those who would always be needy.

Known for his journey from an 8x8 dispensary to one of the worlds largest humanitarian organisations, Edhi had told the world that he would not seek donations because he was sure that common people would come forward to help him when they saw his efforts.

The people did help him. When they saw his tireless work ethic, they came forward in droves to donate. It was with their assistance that after a few years Edhi acquired a second-hand vehicle that he transformed into an ambulance. At the time that was our only ambulance and it went all over the city to help people in distress, Kazmi narrated.

Faith and fury

Though he was considered a man of few words who had an impassive expression, Kazmi recalled a time when he saw Edhi immensely angry.

One of the worst tragedies to have occurred in Karachi was the 1987 bombing in Bohri Bazaar, the first of its kind in the city. I was sitting with Edhi when the news started filtering in; within minutes calls were made to all units of the city and all ambulances were told to rush to the scene.

Kazmi recalled that all vehicles were soon out in the field, except for one that remained parked at the centre. We found out that the ambulance driver had gone to say his prayers. I seldom saw Edhi sahab as upset as he was when we told him the reason; he was incensed that the driver had chosen to go for prayers instead of helping those battling for their lives. His words at the time were, Any man who cant understand the essence of humanity cannot work with us.

A motorcyclist (R) pays his respects to Abdul Sattar Edhi (2nd L), as he travels to his office in Karachi.

He had also once called out the military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq, for giving room to religious fanaticism, urging him to instead provide basic necessities for the people.

At the time, Edhi sahab spoke at a well-attended event and told all those present that neither did Pakistan need enforcement of religious laws nor did the people want it. He said the villages needed more schools and hospitals, not mosques and madrasas. The criticism against him after this speech was instantaneous but Edhi never did back down from voicing his opinion, said Kazmi.

Ignoring naysayers

It is hardly a secret that there was a widespread propaganda campaign against Edhi owing to his secular notions.

He was called chanda khor, dehriya, and other such names but he never responded to anyone. We were young and always itching to give a rebuttal but he said apna rasta khota na karo (dont add obstacles in your own path), Kazmi laughed.

Instead, he added, Edhi would always refer to an example of a beggar entering a village. He would say that a beggar carries a stick with himself to ward off stray dogs. If a dog comes too close, he just waves the stick to make it step back. Similarly if they would come near me I will signal them with the stick because I cant let them impede my path. If the beggar would waste his efforts in fighting all the dogs, he wouldnt be able to survive.

Passing the mantle

Over the course of the year that has passed since Edhis demise, many questioned the capability of his son, Faisal Edhi, to pick up where his esteemed father left off.

He raised Faisal to one day fill his shoes. Ever since his childhood, Faisal accompanied his father on relief work. He knew he would depart one day and while Edhi sahab is undoubtedly irreplaceable, he moulded Faisal in way that I am sure he would prove his mettle in a few years.

Yaar it only takes a minute, get more of them

Recalling the time when the charity foundations communications system was being transformed into a wireless one, a visibly amused Kazmi said Edhi had stopped talking to him owing to their disagreement over the new system.

Faisal Edhi

Edhi sahab was reluctant because he feared it would be costly and useless. We would be sitting right next to each other but he grew silent on me and refused to come near the vehicles after the system was installed. Finally, a Sri Lankan engineer took him to test the system and from the Tower centre Edhi was able to connect with the volunteers in different areas of the city. When he found himself speaking to Haji Iqbal from Moosa Lines or Raju in Korangi, Edhi sahab started laughing and turned to me and said, Yaar, it only takes a minute, get more of them.

He said Edhis chief concern was that public money would be wasted on what he thought would be a huge investment. To our luck, the person who took up the task felt he was indebted to Edhi sahab because he had found his intellectually disabled daughter through an Edhi home.

I cant dodge a bullet with my name on it

Going back to the time when the army patrolled the streets of Karachi, Kazmi said an incident in Aligarh Colony made them take the risk of venturing out during curfew time.

Nobody was stepping out because of the volatile situation in the city during the 90s. When we received the news about shootout and that causalities were feared, Edhi sahab and I headed to Aligarh Colony.

Soon, security personnel intercepted us and told us we could not proceed further. We tried to reason with them and, finally, a senior officer who recognised Edhi sahab told the men to let us through. It was a fierce clash between Mohajirs and Pakhtuns but both sides stopped as soon as we entered the area.

That was the kind of risk Edhi sahab was always willing to take. There were times when even we would advise him against a certain plan. However, his reply was always the same; if a bullet is fired with my name on it, no force on earth can divert it elsewhere.

Excerpt from:
Reliving Edhi's journey to immortality | Pakistan | thenews.com.pk - The News International

As he neared the end of his life, American patriot and deist Thomas Paine turned his attention to the possibility of postmortem survival.

In a posthumously published essay, he conjectured that humans who had been exceptionally righteous would likely experience bliss and those who had been exceptionally wicked would suffer. But the rest of us, having done nothing in our lives to merit either eternal reward or punishment, would simply cease to be.

By his own admission, Paine wasnt much of a reader. So I suspect he didnt know that his defense of conditional immortality bears some resemblance to a position defended by the 2nd-century Christian theologian Theophilus of Antioch.

Before his conversion to Christianity, Theophilus had been a pagan philosopher steeped in the writings of Plato, who lived 6 centuries earlier. Plato taught that humans are born with immortal souls, a doctrine which gained widespread currency in the Greek-speaking ancient world before Christ. These souls, trapped in physical bodies, yearn to return to the blissfully immaterial realm whence they originated.

Theophilus embraced Platos belief in inherent or unconditional immortality before he became a Christian. But after converting, his study of Hebrew scripture and early Christian writings convinced him that the doctrine was incompatible with both. Instead, Theophilus argued, soul-immortality isnt a given. The soul has the potential for immortality if certain conditions are met, but also for utter dissolution. Immortality, in other words, isnt an essential or inherent characteristic of human nature.

His argument is ingenious. Everyone, Theophilus asserted, acknowledges death to be an evil. God, therefore, couldnt have created humans as mere mortals doomed to die, because doing so makes God the author of deathwhich means that God, the supreme source of all goodness, is responsible for evil. This is logically impossible and morally repugnant.

On the other hand, if God had endowed humans with inherently immortal souls, freedom and self-direction, essential conditions for moral behavior, would be jeopardized. Theophilus reasoning is a bit murky here. But his point seems to be that a carte blanche bestowal of immortality on humans would somehow weaken our moral fiber, perhaps because we would take the gift for granted. If Im confident I can never die, why bother to do much of anything? Its our awareness of the fragile brevity of life that motivates us to make the most of the time we have.

In order to avoid both of these undesirable possibilities, concluded Theophilus, God created humans in neutral mode, as it were, when it comes to mortality and immortality.

If a person freely and conscientiously chooses to keep the commandments of God, those efforts will be rewarded with the emergence of soul immortality.

If, however, a person should incline towards those things which relate to death by disobeying God, then the consequence of this free choice is, literally, ceasing to be. No eternity in heaven or hell, no possibility of redemption, and no resurrection on Judgment Day, because no soul has emerged.

Today, Theophilus is largely forgotten except by church historians. But his better remembered contemporary, St. Irenaeus, was so impressed by the doctrine of conditional immortality that he defended a similar theory. He argued that humans are created as imperfect (mortal) creatures, but that we can grow souls and acquire immortality by how we deal with lifes adversities.

When faced with suffering, said Irenaeus, we can allow it to crush us spiritually, diminishing our capacity for soul-growth, or we can respond by cultivating soul-growing virtues such as patience, trust, humility, and fortitude. Irenaeus intuition is a religious version of the contemporary slogan, No pain, no gain.

Although conditional immortality remains a minority opinion in the Christian worldit was, in fact, condemned as heretical in 1513 by the Lateran Councilit has been defended by learned theologians such as Origen in the 3rd century, Anselm of Canterbury in the 11th, and John Hick in our own day.

But perhaps the best-known defense of conditional immortality is found in an 1819 letter by the poet John Keats, written when he was already suffering from the tuberculosis that killed him 2 years later. Life, he declared, with all its joys and vicissitudes, is a vale of soul-making capable of igniting the divine spark within each of us into a full-fledged soul.

Kerry Walters pastors Holy Spirit American National Catholic Church in Montandon. http://www.ancclewisburgpa.org. His video-essays may be found on the YouTube channel Holy Spirit Moments with Fr. Kerry Walters.

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Conditional immortality - Sunbury Daily Item

Sky Sports get carried away an awful lot but last Saturday was understandable.

Professional rugby was brought in not long after Sky's launch and the pair have been tight for two decades now. One hype machine feeds into the next until we get to the stage where beating New Zealand brings men to within a step of immortality.

That's how it went down at The Cake Tin, in Wellington, as Sky Sports' Graeme Simmons caught up with Lions flanker Sean O'Brien. Looking ahead to the third and final Test, on July 8, Simmons proclaimed:

Simmons:"Immortality beckons. That's what it is. Immortality is beckoning.

O'Brien:"Sure that's what we're here for."

Carlow's finest handled the question well, refused to get carried away and focused on the task at hand. There was a quizzical look fired Simmons' way but O'Brien let the hype-man worry about the hype.

O'Brien ploughed off to join his victorious teammates and soak up the applause.

Ronan O'Gara feels 'The Tullow Tank' will be disappointed with letting that bombastic question slide quite so easily. The former Ireland and Lions outhalf toldThe Hard Yardsrugby podcast what O'Brien should have responded with. O'Gara commented:

"It was such a missed opportunity by Seanie. I'd say it was because he was so fatigued but normally he'd bury him!

"It was such a chance for him to go viral there. Seanie, he's an unbelievably good craic character. Very witty.

"It would ave been his style there to come up with an absolute cracker of a comment like,'I'm already a superstar in Carlow, I'm not too bothered anyway lads!'"

O'Gara added:

"That's Seanie though. He's an unbelievable character and that's why lads play for him.

"Je's got a thing about him now where you just need him in your team."

Immortality may be a tad over the top but imagine the comments if the Lions get the job done in Auckland. And imagine O'Brien's comments in return.

*Check out the full O'Gara chat on O'Brien from 36:00 below:

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Ronan O'Gara suggests how Sean O'Brien should have responded to immortality question - SportsJOE.ie

Maitland is calling on tourists to seize their chance of immortality

BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Sean Maitland has urged the British and Irish Lions to join rugbys immortals by inflicting a defeat on the All Blacks that will send New Zealand into mourning.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/lions/maitland-is-calling-on-tourists-to-seize-their-chance-of-immortality-35907387.html

Sean Maitland has urged the British and Irish Lions to join rugbys immortals by inflicting a defeat on the All Blacks that will send New Zealand into mourning.

Warren Gatlands men have defied expectations to take the series to a decider and know victory at Eden Park today would bring a triumphant conclusion to the most challenging tour undertaken in the professional era.

New Zealand-born Scotland wing Maitland, who travelled to Australia with the side in 2013, insists a Lions victory would have significant repercussions for both sides.

If the Lions can do it... everyone is using the word immortals and immortals are exactly what theyll be, Maitland said. Im from New Zealand and everyone has been talking about this tour since 2005 thats how much the Lions means to the country.

If the All Blacks lose there will be a backlash from the public. Rugby is massive and part of the culture.

Maitland is convinced the Lions can prevail.

There will be extra pressure on the All Blacks after the second Test and Im sure theyll turn up. Its Kieran Reads 100th game and theyll want to do it for him, Maitland said. No one has given the Lions a chance so to see them tearing it up is great. One hundred per cent they can do it, anything can happen.

Belfast Telegraph

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Maitland is calling on tourists to seize their chance of immortality - Belfast Telegraph