Martin Luther became the unintentional reformer who provided the spark, which led to the Reformation.  This led to new way of looking at scripture, a new understanding of God’s relationship with people and the ministering of God’s word to the people.  Luther was not the first person to question the methods of the church, but politics and economics allowed him to be the one to set flame to the kindling and start the fire.

Portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder.  It is in the Veste Coburg, or Coburg Fortress, one of Germany's largest castles above the town of Coburg, in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria. Lucas Cranach the Elder  (1472–1553)

Emperor Diocletian abdicated the throne of the Roman Empire and moved to Split on the coast of the Adriatic.  He left  two Augustus emperors with two Caesar (emperor assistants) to fight among themselves to determine who would be the Roman Empire’s emperor.  The final two clashed at the Milvian Bridge on the edge of Rome.  Through his victory Constantine was able to set the stage for making Christianity the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.  The picture of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge by Giulio Romano 1520-1524 currently resides in the Vatican City, Apostolic Palace

According to the Torah, which are the first five books of the Old Testament, we are to raise a noise at the start of the new-year.  This brings us to the sounding of the Shofar, a trumpet type instrument ideally made from ram horn.  The horn of any animal from the Bovidae family is acceptable except a cow’s horn.  The Shofar has no pitch devices inside it.  Like the bugle, all variation in notes is through the player’s lip positioning and movement.  The Shofar is blown 100 times during the day in a pattern of mixed blasts and notes.

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One day this little statue of a Buddha appeared in the stairway of our apartment complex.  Our neighbor, who was in the process of moving in, though that the complex seemed a little too hectic and thought the presence of a Buddha might have a calming effect.  It seems to be working.  Every time I pass by I relax and smile.

70 years ago the Jewish state of Israel was created.  The event signifies the first time in over 2,000 years the Jewish community has a land it calls home.  Despite the controversy Jews celebrate the day around the world with readings from scripture, community actives such as parades, dances and barbeques.  (By some it is considered a miracle of Jewish victory over superior might similar to Hanukkah and Purim.)  https://www.myjewishlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2003/08/yom-haatzmaut1.jpg

On the day following his capture Jesus was tried and found guilty.  He carried his own cross to the hilltop named Golgotha outside of Jerusalem where he hung through the day until he died.  Possibly the best depiction of the pain and suffering of Jesus’ death from the cross is found in Michelangelo Buonarroti’s Pieta (1498-99) it resides in the first chapel to the right after entering St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.  The contorted shape of Jesus as he rests on his mother’s lap made my joints ache.  The grief and sorrow in Mary’s face as she looks upon the shattered body of her son casts a shadow, which tells us all is lost.  Last May as we stood before the statue, I could feel the agony and the weight of this hopelessness.  

Photograph by Juan M Romero - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46153417

I love this painting.  It is from a French website and the best I can see at this point is there a Libyan bent.  But what I also see is an interpretation of Jesus.  In this interpretation Jesus is portrayed as the same race of the local people.  I believe God is pleased that we see Jesus as both the Lord and Savior, and as one of us.

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Saint Patrick’s day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.  In other places around the world, such as the United States, where the Irish traveled following the potato famine of the between1845-49 Saint Patrick’s Day is a welcomed holiday where people are proud to display their Irish heritage.  Although there is a religious connection to Saint Patrick for bringing Christianity to Ireland most people today see it as a celebration of the tenacity of Irish heritage as they parade through the Irish sections of cities.  As seen in this gathering in Philadelphia. http://catholicphilly.com/media-files/2018/03/St-Patrick-Parade_0677-796x531.jpg