This is the beautiful cyclamen flower. At a time when colour is very scarce, the cyclamen provides colour for many weeks. They love a sunny and warm spot indoors, but they can also be planted outdoors. They thoroughly dislike lots of rain. In Ireland we have had a lot of that recently! which is why the cyclamen in our photo today is indoors at Altamount in Millstreet and is doing very well.
I have shared a new video below and it is called a – A ‘wheelie’ different Advent wreath – It’s starting point is two bicycle tyres!!
On This Day
On December 13th 2003 Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces
On December 13th 2021 Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, was named Time’s Person of the Year
On December 13th 2022 New Zealand passed the world’s first tobacco ban, outlawing smoking for those born after 2009
Birthdays Today
Dermont Kennedy (Pop Singer) is 32
Taylor Swift (Pop Singer) is 34
Saint For Today
Today Dec 13th is the feast day of St. Lucy. She is the patron saint of the blind and those with ey trouble She is also the patron saint of the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia
Significance Of Today
Today all eyes will be on Dubai to see if they can come to an agreement at Cop 28 on a working document going forward.
Interesting Quote For Today
“The science is clear: to preserve a livable climate, the production of coal, oil, and gas must rapidly decline, and global renewable power – including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal energy to increase.” ~United Nations
Did You Know
Did you know that Cop 28 stands for United Nations Climate Change conferences and are the world’s largest annual climate summits. They bring together 198 countries and that’s almost complete membership of every country in the world.
Video for the Week🎥
The video for this coming week is called ‘A wheelie different Advent wreath’
Here is my Thought for the Week:
‘God is a circle whose centre is everywhere.’ ~Timaeus of Locris
The circle is a universal and sacred symbol with many meanings. It represents eternity, timelessness, totality, wholeness and God. It is a symbol of unity. It is also the symbol of infinity. It does not have a beginning or end nor does it have sides or a corner. No other shape is as unique or as complete as a circle.
In ancient culture the yin and yang symbol is represented as a circle divided into two equal parts by a curved line. One side represents the yang (masculine) and the other is the yin (feminine). Both are beautifully balanced and represent harmony and balance. When there is too much of one, the circle becomes out of balance. The invitation is to constantly find the balance and harmony in life as best we can.
For thousands of years the circle represents God. God is the circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference in nowhere. This ties in with our expanding universe. We know our planets circle around the sun and we know that the moon circles around our planet earth every month. We are surrounded by the beauty of circles.
The idea of God as a circle is inclusive, meaningful and accurate. God like a circle is at the centre of everything, not just the good stuff, but also the difficult and challenging moments in our lives too. When life gets difficult it is our belief that we are circled in light and love.
As we approach Christmas, it is all about celebrating a God who is at the centre of everything and the centre of our lives. If our lives feel out of balance as they sometimes do, we are invited to let the circle of God’s light and love bring some beautiful balance back in. Christmas is such a lovely time to begin to let this balance return.
