#The Existential Background of Human Dignity

[philosophybitmaps]

[ketrindoll]

In the West itself, despite all the war crimes, atrocities, killings, rapes, hatred and aggression, the voices of ideologised sensitivity continue unabated. A sensitivity that calls for a simple halt to military action, recalls American geopolitical mistakes in the face of Russia's brutal crimes, and justifies Hamas as desperate fighters against capitalist and globalist Israel.

These voices also contribute to the lack of understanding in the West of the gravity of the situation. The deconstruction of the legal and diplomatic system offered to the world after the Second World War has ended. A deconstruction which, first of all, liberates dictatorial regimes and, secondly, liberates the anti-Western, anti-American attitudes that have been conserved in history.

Putin and Hamas receive support not because anyone wants to justify their actions, but because part of the world justifies their goals and their final geopolitical outcome. To force the West out of its position of economic, political, legal and, ultimately, socio-cultural dominance. And in this uprising, human life or dignity recedes into the background.

Russia cannot achieve victory in Ukraine, but it can achieve that its war becomes an example to others that the world order can be dictated by those who reject the fundamental ideas of democracy and human rights. And that is the great existential danger for the West. Greater even than the cynicism of individual dictators.

[awesome-luciano-blog]

The Power of Service: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Timeless Wisdom on Mental Health and Leadership

In the annals of history, Martin Luther King Jr. stands as a beacon of hope, justice, and equality. His words reverberate through time, transcending mere rhetoric to become guiding principles for generations. Among the many profound statements he left us with, one stands out as particularly poignant: "Everybody can be great because anybody can serve."

In these words, Dr. King encapsulates a fundamental truth about greatness and service. He challenges the conventional notions of greatness, stripping away the trappings of wealth, power, and privilege. Instead, he invites us to redefine greatness through the lens of service—a concept accessible to all, regardless of social status or academic credentials.

"You don't have to have a college degree to serve," Dr. King reminds us. In a world that often equates success with formal education and professional achievements, this statement carries immense significance. It underscores the intrinsic value of every individual, irrespective of their educational background. It speaks to the dignity of labor, whether it be sweeping streets or leading nations.

Moreover, Dr. King's words highlight the universality of service. "You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve," he famously quipped, emphasizing that service transcends linguistic, cultural, and ideological boundaries. It is a language understood by all—a language of compassion, empathy, and solidarity.

At the heart of Dr. King's philosophy lies the profound notion that service is not merely an act but a state of being. "You only need a heart full of grace," he asserts, "a soul generated by love." In essence, true service emanates from a place of genuine empathy and altruism. It is rooted in compassion, driven by a desire to alleviate the suffering of others and uplift humanity as a whole.

What, then, is the connection between Dr. King's teachings on service and mental health? At its core, service offers a powerful antidote to the malaise of modern life—the sense of alienation, disillusionment, and existential despair that afflict so many. Research has consistently shown that acts of kindness and altruism not only benefit others but also foster a sense of purpose, belonging, and well-being in the individual who performs them. In serving others, we discover a deeper sense of meaning and fulfillment that transcends the ephemeral pursuit of material wealth or personal gain.

For leaders, Dr. King's message on service holds invaluable lessons. In an era marked by divisiveness, polarization, and self-interest, his words serve as a timely reminder of the true essence of leadership. Great leaders are not measured by the size of their egos or the extent of their power but by their capacity to inspire, empower, and uplift those around them. They lead not through coercion or fear but through service, empathy, and moral clarity.

Leaders who embody Dr. King's ethos of service understand that their primary responsibility is to serve the common good—to work tirelessly for the betterment of society and the advancement of justice and equality. They recognize that true greatness lies not in the accumulation of wealth or accolades but in the impact they have on the lives of others.

In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr.'s timeless wisdom on service offers profound insights into the interconnectedness of mental health and leadership. By embracing the ethos of service, we can cultivate a more compassionate and resilient society—one in which every individual is valued, every voice is heard, and every heart is filled with grace and love. As we strive to build a better world, let us heed Dr. King's call to greatness through service and, in doing so, honor his enduring legacy of hope, courage, and justice.

[writingmochi]

….. 🎸

you got delivery

for my favorite person 💐

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM2tPeBdG/

hello back to you too, i am echoing to you I guess is what you say!! i love cams and happy with that nickname as well, i love all of the nicknames

i consider u as a loyal person, i am taken a eye towards your commitment to kpop and let me say it is quite loyal

ur take in connection between idol and fan is very interesting, as much as i agree with it in a few aspect, i would say it is also as friendship. being a fan of txt, the group really emphasizes a friendship between the group and the fandom!

sasaeng are absolutely scary! i do not understand how people can become a sasaeng because in the end of the day the idol is still a human being, they are just like you

by the people behind the idols do you mean the staff?

and who do you believe is narcissistic? I do agree with many celebrities in the world they have a privileged background as many are nepo kids

oh my rping does sound truly fun, yes sometimes the reality can get blurry so it is always important to acknowledge what is happening

- 📸

lissie: heyy cams! long reply ahead but I'll gladly use it!

that's what being a fan for more than a decade can show to people lmao but ngl, i'm getting tired of the whole kpop content machine. like, okay, it's good that you have staple strategies but it's getting repetitive now... that's why i've been following other artists too worldwide and expanding my knowledge in music. txt, enha, and ateez are probably the kpop artists i have the most interest in (indicated by my willingness to watch their concerts if i could) and i have a few groups that i'm interested in such as billlie and newcomers to my kpop interested idols listTM which are &team and riize < the new sm boy group cause sungchan is one of my bias back in nct.

i did mention that i've experienced all spectrums of fan-to-public figure interaction (minus stalking ofc) and friendship is one of them. i have an army friend who has bts for the hardest time of her life and it's admirable what public figures can do to motivate people. but, just like what doja cat said, i have to live on my own, you know? as much as i know them, they don't know me, and that is a boundary that i discovered existed in the last couple of years as i mature as a fan and a person. so i'm doing my best to walk along that boundary as an admirer of someone who i won't know personally in my lifetime...

what i meant by "the people behind the idols" is the person itself, eg: txt yeonjun is just one facade of choi yeonjun, the south korean man living on this earth, because txt yeonjun is a persona of his whole being that he meticulously keep and take care along with txt and big hit music to make moas happy and satisfied with the content he and his group produces. the people behind their idol persona are who i empathize with. i know it's a bit existential but there are real people behind the idols you know. there is a choi soobin behind txt soobin, there is a jennie kim behind blackpink jennie, there is a jeon jeongguk behind bts jungkook and so on... we don't know who they are behind the camera and the screen along with them off-stage...

oof that's hard... i learned about the dark triad when learning organizational behavior (consisting of narcissism, machiavellianism and psychopathy) and i believe that a human has all three traits but it depends on the levels they have. i acknowledge that i have narcissistic tendencies because of the way, for lack of a better term, i try my best to shove my works up people's eye sockets so they read them. i believe i have that because it relates to my pride and dignity as a writer here, asking "why do people have more notes than i do?" and any of its alternatives. and it's normal because it is human nature to take care of themselves first and foremost and it is heightened by the existence of power, fame, and influence. though there are more narcissistic people out there in the fiction and real-world like logan roy from succession for example

i don't wanna name idol names because that is just disrespectful to the human way of life that a person has. so, to each their own.

nepo kids aren't inherently bad though because it means that they use the resources coming from their parents in a "good way" in their eyes. most parents don't wanna see their children suffer so they support their children in the best ways they could do. for me, it depends if they deserved it and have the passion, skills, and effort to do so or not, especially in the arts industries. i've watched a video before on how being a kpop trainee is an expensive investment and how if a trainee quits before their training contract ends, they have to pay the costs the agencies have done to train them. if we think about it logically, then it is better for the rich kids to be trainees because the money they might pay out if they quit won't do collateral damage to their basic needs (food, clothes, and housing) and if their idol career doesn't work, they have higher chance to bounce back like going back to school or start working...

but because the kpop industry is business first and foremost, they think more about how to break even and profit. *queue lissie with her business knowledge* so they "discard" the people with talent but no strong backing because it is riskier; if they don't succeed, the business will lose assets more and increase their liabilities. thinking about it as a creative person, i hate that thought so much and it really is the way we live now, especially with capitalism ideology and such.

this is getting too meta so let's change it to rp lmao yeah it definitely is getting blurry. tech doesn't help it either especially when it comes to virtual reality or augmented reality like the metaverse and such. that's why i really emphasized in my writings that what i wrote is fiction and most of it is made up by me imagining stuff in my head...

wanna end this by saying that do treat other people kindly!

[philosophybits]

The freest person is the one with the most hope.

Gabriel Marcel, The Existential Background of Human Dignity

[quotessentially]

From Gabriel Marcel’s The Existential Background of Human Dignity

[thebusylilbee]

When the world's leading conservation congress kicks off Friday in the French port city of Marseille it will aim to deliver one key message: protecting wildlife must not be seen as a noble gesture but an absolute necessity -- for people and the planet. Loss of biodiversity, climate change, pollution, diseases spreading from the wild have become existential threats that cannot be "understood or addressed in isolation," the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said ahead of the meeting in a vision statement endorsed by its 1,400 members. [...]

Mass extinction

The creatures with which we share the planet are at high risk too --- from us. As the human population climbs toward nine billion by mid-century, many creatures are being crowded, eaten, snared, poisoned, poached, hawked and hunted out of existence.

Current extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times greater than the normal 'background' rate. (pic by Eric Conroy)

Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN's Red List Unit, said that if species' destruction continues on its current trajectory, "we'll be facing a major crisis soon". [...] In each of the previous mass die-offs over the last half-billion years, at least three-quarters of all species were wiped out.

The IUCN has assessed nearly 135,000 species over the last half-century for its Red List of Threatened Species, the gold standard for measuring how close animal and plant life are to vanishing forever. Nearly 28 percent are currently at risk of extinction, with habitat loss, overexploitation and illegal trade driving the loss. Big cats, for example, have lost more than 90 percent of their historic range and population, with only 20,000 lions, 7,000 cheetahs, 4,000 tigers and a few dozen Amur leopards left in the wild. [...] Invasive species are also taking a toll, especially in island ecosystems where unique species of birds have already fallen prey to rodents, snakes and disease-bearing mosquitos that hitched rides from explorers, cargo ships or passenger planes. An update of the Red List on September 4 is likely to show a deepening crisis.

Our right to exist

For the first time in the IUCN's seven-decade history, indigenous peoples will share their deep knowledge on how best to heal the natural world as voting members. (pic by Carl de Souza)

One proposal calls for a global pact to protect 80 percent of Amazonia by 2025. "We are demanding from the world our right to exist as peoples, to live with dignity in our territories," said Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, lead coordinator for COICA, which represents indigenous groups in nine Amazon-basin nations.

Recent research has warned that unbridled deforestation and climate change are pushing the Amazon towards a disastrous "regime change" which would see tropical forests give way to savannah-like landscapes. Rates of tree loss drop sharply in the forests where native peoples live, especially if they hold some degree of title -- legal or customary -- over land.

"Indigenous peoples have long stewarded and protected the world's forests, a crucial bulwark against climate change," said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.

An ocean of plastic pollution

Other motions offer a lifeline to ailing oceans, including one calling for an end to plastic pollution by 2030. Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals, from otters to whales.

Current global extinction risk in different species groups, according to the IUCN (pic by Erin Conroy)

And then there's the question of money, and the fact that so little of it has been earmarked for nature. Current global spending of about $80 billion a year needs to be increased 10-fold, said Sebastien Moncorps, director of France's IUCN committee. "That's about one percent of global GDP, but when you realise that half of all economic activity depends on nature being healthy, that's a good return on investment."

[relatablepoetryandquotes]

“The freest person is the one with the most hope.” - Gabriel Marcel, The Existential Background of Human Dignity

[greatmuldini]

When the Sheffield Repertory Company, on 18 October 1948, invited local journalists to meet the new talent for the new season, it was not the shy smile of a timid stranger that for the Telegraph photographer epitomized the joyous occasion but the incandescent, albeit no less self-conscious, charisma of the naturally gifted performer - who may have begun his formal training on that very day in 1948 but who, by his own admission, had been acting “since birth.”

Indeed, the formal introduction of the new Assistant Stage Manager came a good seven months after the young prodigyhad been granted permission to study with the Company: his first appearance to that effect in the Minutes of the Executive Committee on 9 March 1948 was followed over the summer of 1948 by small to medium sized roles for which he received full credit but no regular pay. The precarious arrangement was revised when a "striking performance" in The Hasty Heart convinced the Executive Chairman that a “very difficult part” had been “played remarkably well.”

Originally performed on Broadway in January 1945, The Hasty Heart takes place at a British military hospital somewhere in South-East Asia, where six wounded Allied soldiers are recuperating from their war wounds. Each one of them represents his particular corner of the Empire or, in the case of “Yank,” a former colony. Looking after them is the equally archetypal female character, Sister Margaret, whose no-nonsense style of nursing soothes fraying tempers, and her compassionate approach helps to heal not just physical wounds. One patient, however, presents an existential problem: proud and stubborn Scotsman Lachlen McLachlen is terminally ill but has not been told he has very little time left. Margaret falls in love with Lachlen and agrees to marry him despite the looming death sentence. When Lachlen finds out he is furious but can in the end be convinced to accept the inevitable as he learns to accept the heartfelt friendship of his comrades and the unconditional love of his fiancée.

Lachlen’s change of heart is the result of an intervention by the “difficult” character, whose presence is required for the sole purpose of effecting that change. As the catalyst who brings about the final reversal of Lachlan's fortune, Blossom provides the evidence of their shared humanity - ironically by being different from everybody else. When Lachlen, hurt and angry at the perceived betrayal of his friends, and the indignity of his situation, declares his intention to leave the hospital and die alone, it is Blossom who steps forward to offer a parting gift. Blossom - who does not speak a single word of English and therefore would not have been aware of what the others knew - communicates non-verbally the pure, raw, primitive emotion that he alone can express. His affection is pure, untainted by superior knowledge or ulterior motives and allows Lachlen to recalibrate his own highly irrational response.

Blossom is a "difficult" character for the actor, who must convey meaning mostly through mime - and who must perpetuate the racial stereotype of the “silent black warrior” as dictated by the script, the tastes of the time, and stage conventions beyond his control: in New York, the part was played by African-American actor Robert Earl Jones (1910-2006, father of James); the 1946 West End cast featured Nigerian expatriate and star of stage and screen, Orlando Martins (1899-1985), who also took the role in the 1949 film version. The Sheffield Repertory Company, as a permanent ensemble, remained throughout the post-war period a close-knit group of local players whose white working class background would have matched the equally homogenous crowd in the auditorium.

While “exotic” characters and locations were a welcome diversion from the daily grind of the steel mills, true-to-life authenticity would not have been the foremost concern on anyone’s mind. Likewise, any lofty notions of "inhabiting the character" would have been dismissed out of hand in the fast-paced environment of the repertory system with its weekly or, as in Sheffield, bi-weekly change-over. Unlike the commercial long-running ventures on Broadway or Shaftesbury Avenue, regional repertory companies relied above all on the "quick study" and improvisation skills of the actor, favouring versatility over diversity. The need for speed also meant that certain shortcuts were considered legitimate, including the use of Blackface to indicate a character's non-white ethnicity.

The challenge for the actor underneath the generic makeup would have been to preserve the dignity of the individual in his care. The experienced producer, for his part, who elected to trust the most junior member of the Company with that responsibility, would have made his choice fully expecting his protégé to succeed. More than an adequate performance, Geoffrey Ost would have seen the “disciplines of the theatre” brought to life on stage - for the final time by the amateur. With their next production, the Sheffield Playhouse set the scene for a professional debut that could have launched a respectable career for the new Assistant Stage Manager had the fierce young “teaboy” been so inclined.

[aesirfalling]

From your writing asks: #1, 8, 10, 26, and 28 :) I wasn't sure if you had wanted me to answer any specific ones myself, but since it was an ask I wanted to respond properly~

I definitely wanted you to answer some specific ones yourself :^)

What themes would you like to write about that you feel don’t get explored very often?

I think this is obvious to everyone who’s read my more recent fics (so like... my fics from 2016 onwards?), but I like to write “realistically,” especially in regards to joys and pain. When people write about angst things like breakups and depression and physical illnesses they are sometimes hesitant (rightfully or understandably so, in many cases) to really get into the nitty gritty, and in many cases, uglier parts of them, but like, they’re a part of life and people in our lives don’t have a good time (or even many good moments at all) when these kinds of things happen to them. Those moments are still important, though, and I personally feel like embracing the dark aspects of those things makes getting through them in the end more emotionally and existentially powerful? If that makes sense. I’m definitely still wrestling with, like, the extent to which I should write such things (esp. since like, in most cases, fic readers are not reading your fic to suffer), but I think my underlying sentiment as a writer is to examine/meet feelings and life unflinchingly and with some kind of grace.

(I’ll get to the joys eventually. I swear. I have that draft of the second chapter of Lost and Found in my Google Drive. There’s Radiance and the mood in that, too. I just don’t like to write too much preemptive joy.)

The other thing I want to bring up as well is a kind of like... infrastructural realism? Or is it like, socioeconomic, worldly things? Like we’ve talked about this as well RE: how I’m covering Hope in my fics and how you worldbuild a lot around missions and such in yours. I think this is mostly a fic thing since to do this well requires a longer fic with a lot of forethought, and most people don’t have time for that. And honestly most people don’t like Hope for the structural engineering work he put into building new planets either

Favorite dialogue in your wip? (If asked more than once, respond with a new piece each time)

Oh man this interlude is going to be CHOKE FULL of dialogue that will kill me and most of them haven’t even been written yet

But the things that I’ve already put down on my dump file are like all dialogue

Here I just wrote up this thing

Snow: Go on then. Tell me that you don’t miss the stars. Tell me that you are okay with just sitting here day by day, pretending that you don’t know anything, pretending that you don’t have regrets and wants. Tell me that you don’t care if I won’t invite you to the wedding with Serah, if Light finds another man, or if some orphanage is burning on the other side of town. Tell me - 

Hope: I don’t think you understand. I never needed anyone to motivate me.

Hope: I needed someone to stop me.

What scene was the most fun to write for you and why?

Hmm... we might have to establish a definition for ���fun’ :P

I think in more recent memory, I’ve had the most fun writing the dialogue between Hope and E1 in the Intermission, because I relish all opportunities to write him (especially in FWWCH where I’m usually banned from writing in his POV) and writing two of him is just double the fun. I also adore all occasions where introspective idiots have to talk to other versions of themselves because it’s kind of like. The inevitable 404 error when they realize they are actually empathizing with themselves is tearjerker and heartwarming central.

What do you feel like you need to work on as a growing writer? How can you improve?

Oh lordy there are so many things. Lemme just list a few off the top of my head

1) Linguistic ability: There is definitely a part of me that is sad about the fact that leaving my home country at the age of 11 has left me in a place where I am kind of bilingual but kind of... not really “Native” in either. Like, I have this lingering feeling that I’ll never get to the level of a “Native” English speaker/writer, and I definitely hit like language ability walls all the time when I write - things wouldn’t feel naturally lyrical, I’d run out of words, I wouldn’t know how to describe something the way it should be described, the sentence structure variety is pitiful, etc. I think it’s especially apparent when you’re writing a long fic, where like you have to deal with the same things over and over (e.g. writing Hope cooking, or how Lightning physically perceives him, etc) and there’s more of a limit on where natural inspiration can take you. I should read more good prose (since that’s apparently how I get better at English) but, ugh, effort.

2) Characterization: how many times have I whined about how much I suck at writing Lightning lmaooooooo I think the general thing is like, everyone is decent at writing someone they personally relate to, but we struggle when we try to write outside of our comfort zone. Lightning is definitely the poster child of “character unlike me that I’m trying to get a hold of,” but I think I struggled even more trying to write Fang, and I’d probably struggle trying to write someone like Cid seriously. I think a large part of the struggle is trying to morph yourself into that character (or, like, dissociating from yourself and just... “becoming” that character depending on how you view writing meta??) since like, just understanding someone is not enough. Just understanding someone won’t let you write convincing dialogue where they talk and move around the way they usually do. You have to like, become them and that’s really hard when you have a strong writer’s ego (I know, shocking, coming from me.)

3) Worldbuilding: wtf am I even doing with Hope’s White Lotus thing lmaoooooo anyway a world could always be more interesting, consistent, realistic, nuanced etc. And not necessarily through more word count on the worldbuilding-y stuff. I think it’s more about understanding the factors driving the world than anything else. Like what the resources are, who has power/agency, how things are done (e.g., in our world, decisions are mostly made by individual nation states, although large corporate entities often have immense political influence). AND THEN JUST LIKE CHARACTERS THERE’S THE STRUGGLE WITH EXECUTING THEM - like just because I understand there are rich oligarchs behind things doesn’t mean I’m good at writing the Great Gatsby. I dunno, I have a perpetual sense of imposter syndrome when I try to understand and write things about the world, regardless of whether or not the world is real. I feel like a large part of this goes back to the fact that I’m still only in my 20s and haven’t seen much of the ‘real world’ as they say, although I guess I’m technically still way ahead of most fic writers.

4) General writer’s attitude: this influences themes and the heart of one’s writing. When I say that I care a lot about the grace and dignity of my narratives and my characters, it ties back into this - I want to tell human stories, and I want to tell stories that reflect on our struggles and our faith despite said struggles. It’s the kind of lens that I filter all my words through and impacts every word I write. The obvious problem, then, is that my writing’s only ever going to be as perceptive or sympathetic as I am, and that’s something that I can and should always work on. Am I too obsessed with tragedy? Am I honestly far better at posing questions than providing solutions, even when I highly value solutions? How do I become the kind of writer and person that I want to be without driving myself insane or losing touch with the people that I want my writing to speak to?

5) Discipline: Am I ever going to finish FWWCH (or H&L or any of my other WIPs lmao)? Stay tuned.

I think a lot of my self-doubt as a writer comes from just how much I know I can improve on tbh

Do you need background noise to write? If so, what do you listen to?

I wouldn’t say I work with “background noise” - I work with mood-appropriate playlists (did you know I’ve been gratuitously naming all my fic chapters after songs?), or you know, the good ole 2 o’clock cosmic silence. It’s pretty interesting to me actually, since I also have an engineering degree and like... I need silence when I’m trying to logick things like math or the correct wording for a formal writing thing (e.g. a grant or policy proposal). So my creative hemisphere wants stimulation while my mechanical brain wants silence. Figures.

[pope-francis-quotes]

7th May >> (@ZenitEnglish By Deborah Castellano Lubov) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis: ‘You Are Rightly Proud of This Great Woman,’ Pope Francis Tells Authorities in Birth Country of St Mother Teresa. Pope Francis Underscores to Civil Authorities & Diplomatic Corps That This Marks ‘1st Time Successor of Apostle Peter Has Come to Republic of North Macedonia’ (Full Text)

‘You are rightly proud of this great woman.’

Pope Francis stressed this during his one day visit to North Macedonia, on May 7, 2019, when addressing members of the diplomatic corps and civil authorities, in Skopje, the city of birth of Saint Mother Teresa, during his apostolic journey to Bulgaria and North Macedonia 5th - 7th May 2019.

Today’s one day visit to North Macedonia, marks the first visit ever by a Roman Pontiff to the country, where Mother Teresa was born.

In this context, Francis said he wished “to pay homage in a very special way to one of your illustrious fellow-citizens, who, moved by the love of God, made love of neighbour the supreme law of her life,” who “won the admiration of the whole world and pioneered a specific and radical way of devoting one’s life to the service of the abandoned, the discarded, and the poorest of the poor.”

“I am naturally referring to the woman universally known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta,” he stated. Born in 1910 in a suburb of Skopje with the name of Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Francis recalled that she carried out her apostolate of humble and complete self-giving in India and, through her Sisters, reached out to the most varied geographical and existential peripheries.

The Holy Father expressed his delight in being able to, today, to be able to pause in prayer at the memorial dedicated to her, built on the site of the Church of the Sacred Heart, where she was baptized.

“You are rightly proud of this great woman. I urge you to continue to work in a spirit of commitment, dedication and hope, so that the sons and daughters of this land, following her example, can recognize, attain and fully develop the vocation that God has envisaged for them.”

Historic 1st

“This is the first time that the Successor of the Apostle Peter has come to the Republic of North Macedonia,” Pope Francis also said, saying he was happy to do so on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which occurred a few years after the country became independent in September 1991.

Pope Francis concluded, praying: “May God protect and bless North Macedonia, preserve it in concord, and grant it prosperity and joy!”

Below is the Vatican-provided full text of the Pope’s address:

***

Mr President,

Mr Prime Minister,

Honourable Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Distinguished Civil and Religious Authorities,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am very grateful to the President for his kind words of welcome and for the gracious invitation to visit North Macedonia that he, together with the Prime Minister, extended to me.

I also thank the representatives of the other religious communities present among us. I offer a warm greeting to the Catholic community, represented here by the Bishop of Skopje and Eparch of the Eparchy of Blessed Virgin Mary of the Assumption in Strumica-Skopje, which is an active and integral part of your society, sharing fully in the joys, concerns and daily life of your people.

This is the first time that the Successor of the Apostle Peter has come to the Republic of North Macedonia. I am happy to do so on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which occurred a few years after the country became independent in September 1991.

Your land, a bridge between East and West and a meeting-point for numerous cultural currents, embodies many of the distinctive marks of this region. With the elegant testimonies of its Byzantine and Ottoman past, its lofty mountain fortresses and the splendid iconostases of its ancient churches, which speak of a Christian presence dating back to apostolic times, North Macedonia reflects all the depth and richness of its millennial culture. But allow me to say that these great cultural treasures are themselves only a reflection of your more precious patrimony: the multiethnic and multi-religious countenance of your people, the legacy of a rich and, indeed, complex history of relationships forged over the course of centuries.

This crucible of cultures and ethnic and religious identities has resulted in a peaceful and enduring coexistence in which those individual identities have found expression and developed without rejecting, dominating or discriminating against others. They have thus given rise to a fabric of relationships and interactions that can serve as an example and a point of reference for a serene and fraternal communal life marked by diversity and reciprocal respect.

These particular features are also highly significant for increased integration with the nations of Europe. It is my hope that this integration will develop in a way that is beneficial for the entire region of the Western Balkans, with unfailing respect for diversity and for fundamental rights.

Here, in fact, the different religious identities of Orthodox, Catholics, other Christians, Muslims and Jews, and the ethnic differences between Macedonians, Albanians, Serbs, Croats, and persons of other backgrounds, have created a mosaic in which every piece is essential for the uniqueness and beauty of the whole. That beauty will become all the more evident to the extent that you succeed in passing it on and planting it in the hearts of the coming generation.

Every effort made to enable the diverse religious expressions and the different ethnic groups to find a common ground of understanding and respect for the dignity of every human person, and consequently the guarantee of fundamental freedoms, will surely prove fruitful. Indeed, those efforts will serve as the necessary seedbed for a future of peace and prosperity.

I would also like to acknowledge the generous efforts made by your Republic – both by the State authorities themselves and with the valued contribution of various international Agencies, the Red Cross, Caritas and several non-governmental organizations – to welcome and provide assistance to the great number of migrants and refugees coming from different Middle Eastern countries. Fleeing from war or from conditions of dire poverty often caused precisely by grave outbreaks of violence, in the years 2015 and 2016, they crossed your borders, headed for the most part towards northern and western Europe. With you, they found a secure haven. The ready solidarity offered to those in such great need – people who had left behind so many of their dear ones, to say nothing of their homes, their work and their homeland – does you honour. It says something about the soul of this people that, having itself experienced great privations, you recognize in solidarity and in the sharing of goods the route to all authentic development. It is my hope that you will cherish the chain of solidarity that emerged from that emergency, and thus support all volunteer efforts to meet the many different forms of hardship and need.

I wish likewise to pay homage in a very special way to one of your illustrious fellow-citizens, who, moved by the love of God, made love of neighbour the supreme law of her life. She won the admiration of the whole world and pioneered a specific and radical way of devoting one’s life to the service of the abandoned, the discarded, and the poorest of the poor. I am naturally referring to the woman universally known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Born in 1910 in a suburb of Skopje with the name of Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she carried out her apostolate of humble and complete self-giving in India and, through her Sisters, reached out to the most varied geographical and existential peripheries. I am pleased that I will shortly be able to pause in prayer at the Memorial dedicated to her, built on the site of the Church of the Sacred Heart, where she was baptized.

You are rightly proud of this great woman. I urge you to continue to work in a spirit of commitment, dedication and hope, so that the sons and daughters of this land, following her example, can recognize, attain and fully develop the vocation that God has envisaged for them.

Mr President,

From the time that North Macedonia gained its independence, the Holy See has closely followed the steps that this country has taken to advance dialogue and understanding between the civil authorities and religious confessions.

Today, God’s providence offers me the chance to demonstrate personally this closeness and to express gratitude as well for the yearly visit made to the Vatican by an official Delegation of yours on the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. I encourage you to persevere with confidence along the path you have taken, in order to make your country a beacon of peace, acceptance and fruitful integration between cultures, religions and peoples. Drawing from their respective identities and the vitality of their cultural and civil life, they will thus be able to build a common destiny in openness to the enrichment that each has to offer.

May God protect and bless North Macedonia, preserve it in concord, and grant it prosperity and joy!

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

7th MAY 2019 11:34PAPAL TRIPS

[ghost--electricity]

Aging into oblivion

My friends and I are approaching 30. How different the late 20s feel from the early ones. After college, my friends all spread out thousands of miles in attempts to remake their lives; leaving the comforting warmth of the bayou in a search for some intangible ideal of existing on their own terms. Some are more successful than others. Lots end up coming back. That’s the thing about Louisiana: the roots are stronger than anyone would even like them to be. 

I stayed behind, like the crew member left to watch the ship. Lots of things that once were new and exciting have lost their flair. Suddenly going out to bars has become some sort of weekend obligation or commitment. I wonder how long before I stop doing it all together. There are few people left for me to even get drunk with on a Friday night. The college kids who are better at curating an online presence than holding a conversation dominate the night scene. 

Among those my age, lots of long relationships between couples are coming to an end. I hear about their demise days and weeks after the breakup, like some sort of cosmic background radiation. I wonder what it feels like to have spent the bulk of your 20s with someone who is not the person you end up with. I wonder about the realness of any of it. On the other hand, the few surviving couples are looking to up the ante and get married, to have their moment before settling into some sort of latter period of life.

Then there is the bleak future looming ever ahead. Problems too big to address in some feeble tumblr post. There is the climate change cliff we are getting ever closer to, threating the very prospect of survival. If the process of creating a mechanized planet doesn’t destroy the environment, there is talk of human labour being replaced by the same machines that we are degrading the earth to make. The means of production, including labour itself, will soon be owned by a wealthy few. Where does that leave the rest of humanity? 

The moment appears dire, and I want to do things to address all this, from amending my personal relationships to defending the environment and the dignity of human life and labour. I want to devote myself to combating the steady degradation of life that I see taking place all around me at all times, but I have to worry about paying bills and navigating the complexities of modern existence. 

There are unique moments I have. Moments of resonance where things seem to line up and make sense precisely because there is no sense to be made – they just ARE. God is a verb after all. These moments are rare and usually not long in duration. You can open yourself up more to the possibility of them by doing things like spending time in nature and listening to Bach, but it is ultimately out of your control when or where or how they occur. These times of existential harmony are what I am living for in the summer of 2017 as I age into oblivion.

[ellyney19621206]

馬賽爾：人性尊嚴的存在背景 Gabriel Marcel: The Existential Background of Human Dignity: Essays and Plays ande some interpretive essays（在 永和永貞路） https://www.instagram.com/p/CQG8keDrOIP/?utm_medium=tumblr

[literatequotes]

“Freedom is a conquest, always partial, always precarious, always challenged.” - Gabriel Marcel, The Existential Background of Human Dignity

[philosophybits]

Freedom is a conquest, always partial, always precarious, always challenged.

Gabriel Marcel, The Existential Background of Human Dignity

[relatablepoetryandquotes]

“Freedom is a conquest, always partial, always precarious, always challenged.” - Gabriel Marcel, The Existential Background of Human Dignity