White Noise

Remember the movie which Michael Keaton starred in? The movie of the same title which won varying reviews and thoughts from movie critics?

Well, it was about this concept of the white noise and no, it was not purely fiction as there are some ongoing research about this topic; something that even had its roots dating in history.
Yeah, since the early days, people have resorted to communicating with the dead. They usually try to contact a medium or even shaman to get to the other side; trying to convey their message or even hearing from beyond.
Sometimes, they even involve all those mechanical and electrical devices to achieve the purpose.


Look at the history chart (timeline); there has been various attempts; and no kidding, some were even recorded.
There were those static noises or buzzings heard when they try this out; rather eerie huh?
Well, finally in the 70's, they gave this noises a name; the EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) - which refer to the noises/voices recorded on the tape.

All about dreams

Recently I was asked about the question of dreams and also there was an ongoing conversation with a close friend of mine on dreams as well; which kept this topic as one of my bin items to blog about.
Psychologically, dreams are often interpreted as the imaginations or illusions of the mind and are not desirable for a good night's sleep. During sleep (which is supposed to be the time for the mind to take a rest. When the mind starts to wander off; creating all the illusions and visions of anything, then experts interpret that as some sort of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep; which in turn tells us that your mind did not get the rest it deserved. And usually, this is when your eye lids flutter and also your mind is most wide awake; therefore usually your dreams can be recalled the next day or after waking up.
That is the reason why some of us wake up looking tired and exhausted and feeling frustrated despite tucking themselves into bed every night.
Dreams keep your mind active; it is still running; in processing all those images, etc. Sometimes, even strong emotions can be experienced while in dreams and thus represented in realities. For instance when you are asleep, and all of a sudden you laugh out loud and you are filled with tears upon wake up.
Dreams; vague topic - not biologically proven in its significance and all that can be said relates to the neurology part of the human body. I will not go too much into the science; you can read that in Google or Wikipedia.
I will just share my thoughts on dreams.
Can we remember our dreams?
Well, I guess it really depends on the effects....and also your state of mind. As mentioned earlier, the REM sleep usually indicates the mind at its highest level of wakefulness and usually if you experience all the strong emotions, you can usually remember your dream. Even so, it may not be the full details of your dream:)
Most of the dreams are only there when you sleep and somehow you always wake up remembering nothing from your dream....and can only mumble that you dreamt of something the night before.
Weird huh?
There's also the psychological interpretation of dream; whereby different types of dreams and the images you see relate to your everyday life and also the lack of something or a longing you have in life.
I do know something about dreams' interpretation as well; interesting:)
The previous weeks, I have been having some weird dreams; and I won't exactly call them dreams anymore; more like nightmares!! Haha...nightmares are those that gives you the reality feeling of fear; some to the extreme.
Now I am not sure why I am having those dreams but I guess I can relate to some of my feelings and thoughts earlier.
There's so much more I can think of to talk about dreams but I guess I can only share as much :)
Do let me know of your thoughts and views on dreams as well:D

Above All

Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what you're worth

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Good Friday today!

Today is Good Friday; the famous Friday where our Lord Jesus Christ will be crucified and die for our sins.
He took it above all to take this unto himself.
And we also realize the TRUE love from our Almighty Father who sent HIS one and ONLY son to suffer and die for our sins.
Today will be a day of abstinence and penance; most of the Christians/Catholics alike will be fasting to observe the death of Jesus Christ and to reflect on our own sins.
It is really a very sad occasion; and I remember when I was very young, Daddy bought me this Children's Bible which was really thick and full of pictures and colors (meant for kids) and I read the whole thing; from the Old to New Testament (well, i LOVED reading since young).
When I came to this part of the crucifixion, I was totally in tears and couldn't stop crying.
It was totally inhuman to me!!
Crown of thorns, nailing on the hands!!! Ugggghhhh....even thinking of it now, gives me the shudders.
I couldn't even bear to watch Passion of Christ for that reason.

It must have been the worst ordeal any normal human being can go through.
Most of you may say that well, he is the Son of God. However, also bear in mind, he was also of flesh and blood and is as human as you and me.
His pains are no less than what we experience.
Imagine when you get a small cut and even you will scream and sometimes, even the tingling when your cuts expose themselves to the air, imagine this!!!
And think, he was even continuously whipped inhumanly without mercy and he was forced to carry this huge cross on his back and even went through the humiliation of being stripped naked in public.
*Tears*

And all that, because he Loved us so much.....he thought of that ABOVE all of his sufferings.
Have a blessed Good Friday everyone, just observe today as a day of solemnity and be mindful of all our sins and repent.
Remember and do not throw away Jesus's effort to redeem us and give us new lives!
God bless you...

The Last Supper

The Feast of the Last Supper; or the Passover Night.

This is a painting by the famous painter; Leonardo Da Vinci who took a total of 7 years to complete this piece.

The great artist went to great lengths; searching for the models that fit his imagined and ideal vision of the innocent and pure image of Christ to the image of Judas to portray the apostle who betrayed Jesus.

It took him a great deal and he finally found them; but as I found this interesting story on the painting here

The Passover Night was named where Jesus knew that it will be last night before he passed over to be with His Father (as according to the priest whom I attended mass last night).

Also, it is a celebration of the unity and consecration of the blessed sacrament; the Body and Blood of Christ which he offered at the table.

He also washed the feet of his disciples and encouraged them to do the same to each other; "Love one another as I have loved you"

This act was also re-enacted in the mass every year where the priest will wash 12 selected parishioners' feet.

The priest in this church I attended last night was different in the sense that, besides washing their feet, he even took it to kiss them.

Quote, "When you wash someone's feet, you look at the feet, and not at the face. That case, you are not doing a great job and is unwilling to wash their feet. Also, when you are at service, do it with will and joy and regardless of whose feet are those".

The blessed sacrament was also put up for adoration and silent commemoration until midnight.

Back to the last supper, the above picture depicts Jesus with his 12 apostles and the one that is farthest from Jesus was Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus for ~5 silvers which is the equivalent of $16.96 in today's currency.

Jesus, however, knew his betrayal and mentioned that during the washing of the feet ritual to Simon Peter who refused to let him wash as that he was not worthy of his Lord to do so.

Jesus reasoned that he will know one day what he is doing; and quoted as saying (from the Bible):

"You are clean, though not all of you are"

Jesus mentioned that one of them will betray him; and mentioned that it is better for the man to never be born.

Judas mentioned that, "Rabbi, surely you do not mean me?"

Jesus said, "You have said it"

During Supper, the famous of the blood and body took place where Jesus broke the bread and offered to all his disciples, pronouncing (actually performing the miracle of the transformation of bread) as his Body.

Then doing the same thing, this time to wine (transforming to blood), he once again offered it to his Disciples.

Thereafter, they went to the Mount of Olives.

This is the famous Last Supper/Passover Night captured from what we celebrate or commemorate today as Holy Thursday, which marks the continuity of the Easter Triduum.

God bless all of you!~

Maundy Thursday

Today is the Feast of the Last supper.....the Holy Thursday or as some call it Maundy Thursday.
There are a lot of versions referring to this day as well; Great Thursday, etc.
In fact, I just found from Wikipedia that at the dusk of today, it will mark the end of the Lent Season...I used to think Lent only ends on Easter; that's why we celebrate.
Anyway, tomorrow, Good Friday will still be a day of penance and observation - so, not considered the end yet.

The famous tradition of this day is actually Christ breaking the bread and offering the wine to his disciples.
Then there is also the practice of the washing of the disciples' feet which is also reenacted in the churches as an observation of the custom every year.
This is conducted by the lay/ministers in the church by washing the feet of the parishioners or the congregation to commemorate this humble act of Jesus as the master towards his disciples.
It is also the night where one of his disciples, Judas betrayed Jesus.

Holy Thursday is also the mark of the beginning of the Easter Triduum; marking the 3 day celebration before Easter; starting with Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.
The caricatures of this event is made famous through various paintings; the most famous was the Da Vinci's Last Supper which created the controversy through Dan Brown's novel about the mysteries behind the painting (some kind of code, etc).

I will be attending the mass tonight as well; for the Holy Thursday; God bless you and let's prepare ourselves for the celebration of the Lord's resurrection.