Welcome to the Sanctuary of the Angels
Sanctuary of the Angels is dedicated
towards giving us some tools with which to deal with some hard issues in
the real world. I suspect it will never truly be finished. Every time I
turn around I find another issue, another battle and another source of
strength. The core of the Site, and of the struggle itself perhaps is a
question. How can we be people of peace love and generosity and still stand
fast for what is right and good. I take it that our job as true humans
is simply to leaven the lump by our own participation in Eternal life here
and now. Sometimes we do have to work for laws to be changed and even for
laws to be put into practise to the extent that they become part of the
way we think. Nevertheless I have never held, and never will hold with
the notion that spiritual battle is about taking a great big spiritual
battle sword and clumping our enemies over the head with it. In the struggle
for the heavenly places this is quite as dangerous as it is in so called
real life. If the victory we claim is to be Christ's victory then it will
be an anointing. It will transform the inward places of both protagonists,
and it will involve choices.
Only the whole, I've not found that
telling people that they are wicked is any more efficacious than telling
them that they are weak. Besides which I suspect that the actual structure
of our way of thinking, and of our social and economic systems leans towards
injustice and inequity and downright rottenness.
How to live ? How to live in joy and
peace and plenty in an abundant universe who has based its system of values
on someone else's lack?
Okay - this is turning into a sermon.
My apologies. Lets turn to the Sanctuary of the Battle Angels then, and
see what is here and what is new.
PLAGUES
The first of the plagues should go
up with this new edition of the welcome. I've called it 'Hunger' : it is
dedicated to a very dear and wonderful friend of mine - Marie. With
it go my prayers for her beautiful daughter.
SITE ADDRESS
As yet I have not felt that the site
was anywhere near complete enough to be promoted. There are major and glaring
errors that I simply have not been able to get to. Besides this, I began
to run a monitor on the xoom site, and discovered that the site was down
more often than it was up. So I now have a mirror site. Which should be
identical to the original site in every way - when you cannot reach xoom,
try http://hammer.prohosting.com/~seraphs/ or, even more simply http://turn.to/TheAngels.
There is a banner at the bottom of this page which you are welcome to download
and place on your own sites as a link. The beauty of the 'turn.to' address
is that I can change the address it refers to - should one site be down
for a while the other can take over. In the meantime I have reserved a
site at RedRival.com in the hopes that the two sanctuaries may there find
a home in the near future. I've researched the site and it seems to be
stable and spacious. At the time of the shift I shall resubmit the site
to search engines, but not before. My hope is that constant visitors will
notice no hiccoughs, so lang as they use the 'turn.to' address.
NEW PARISH LIST:
There is a new site mailing list.
We share this with the original 'Sanctuary'. It includes a Saturday mailing
of concerns for prayer, a Sunday Newsletter, and it is to be hoped will
enable some of us to 'meet each other'. It will also enable us to pray
for each other 'with understanding'.
QUIET TIME EMAIL LIST
So now I am ready to do a bit of
concerted work on the site. The QuietTime email list is still available
from the site map proper. You can click on the links at the top of the
page to go to the beginning of the site - or to the site map or to the
prayer resources.
IRC CHAT
For some years now I have run an
irc chat channel. I shall shortly set up a java link to it from this site.
Meanwhile if you have Mirc or Pirch simply type /server.carina.mellorien.net
and when you have connected /join #Sanctuary
There will also be a link to #Hearth
on the same network and server. #Hearth is set private. It is a channel
for self nurture, and sharing the secrets of the heart.
Link to
irc chat
#Sanctuary and #Hearth
There is a 'bot' in the Channel set up
to respond to the versicles from the old Book of Common Prayer, Matins
and Evensong. She also has the prayer lists whose contents will be similar
to those below. I say similar because they are updated sometimes twice
daily.
While you are here, please
give a thought to those we are praying for today:
***Catherine
***Vickie
whose blood pressure is way up. She
is haemorrhaging behind the eyes and
there is a fear that diabetes may
be involved. Dear God, don't let it be
diabetes. for my eyes,b/P and the
bad ringing i have in my ears..i feel
like i hear of bugs all the time,
it sounds like Katie bugs singing in my
head it never ceases
***Suzanne, William and Davis
"
"The boys and I continue to feel the
prayer support and appreciate your
remembering us."
News from around the world. Concerns
fit for Intercession
Colorado - fires.
Blowtorch winds fuelled Colorado's
wildfires Thursday, fanning flames that
continued to rage out of control
and
prompting some fire-fighters to shut
down their air assault. Gusts up to 60
mph sent flames racing toward houses
in the foothills surrounding Denver,
where hundreds more residents were
forced to evacuate.
Venezuela
Though devastated by mudslides in
December Venezuela must freeze its
reconstruction efforts due to insufficient
funding, the state's governor
said Thursday.
Germany -
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced
early Thursday a plan to phase out
nuclear power in Germany. If implemented,
the deal will be the fastest
withdrawal from nuclear power by
a major industrial country.
Indonesia -
Angry mobs have killed at least 103
people in Jakarta this year as
residents frustrated by rising crime
are taking the law into their own
hands, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
Twelve of the victims, including
five last Saturday, were burned to
death
The Pacific
In Fiji, George Speight has hijacked
an elected government in the name of
racial supremacy. In the Solomon
Islands, an inter ethnic war over land
threatens to obliterate a fledgling
nation. And in Indonesian West Papua,
tribal chiefs are demanding independence,
setting themselves on a
collision course with an inexperienced
but resolute government in Jakarta.
(Two of our local shop keepers have
relatives and friends caught up in
this situation, they are worried
and frightened)
Jolo
Malaysia indicated on Thursday that
ransom might have to be considered to
win the freedom of 21 mostly foreign
hostages, including nine Malaysians,
held by Moslem rebels in Philippine
jungles for nearly two months.
Zimbabwe
plunged into crisis after the occupation
of hundreds of white owned farms
ahead of key parliamentary elections
this month. At least 29 people,
mostly opposition supporters, have
died in a wave of political violence
and hundreds of people have been
beaten, raped and forced to flee.
