AND THEY CRUCIFIED HIM

A medical doctor provides a physical description: The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist deep into the wood.

Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and movement. The cross is then lifted into place. The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. The victim is now crucified.

As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists,excruciating fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain -- the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet.

As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them deep relentless, and throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath.

Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream,and the cramps partially subsided. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen.

Hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-renting cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as

tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against rough timber. Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.

It is now almost over. The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level. The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues. The tortured lungs are making frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues.

Finally, he allows his body to die.

All this the Bible records with the simple words, "and they crucified Him" (Mark 15:24).

I was excited about taking my children to their first large Easter egg hunt at the local park. I couldn't wait to see them run through the field with their new baskets, stop to look below their knees, then bend over to pick something up.

I stood next to a mother who was coaching her child at the starting line. "When it's your turn, hurry and get as many eggs as you can," she said.

"I can't believe how competitive people can get over Easter eggs," I whispered to my husband. "I'm glad we're not raising our children like that."

"Me, too," my husband agreed. Then he pulled them into a huddle. "All right, here's the plan," he said. "When the whistle blows, I'll charge straight down the field, and pass all of the slower kids, while you run down the sidelines. I'll meet you at the fifty-yard line and you can hand off your basket to me. I'll empty the eggs into my bucket then we'll make a break for the end zone and refill as fast as we can." He gave them each a high five as they got into formation.

"Honey," I said. "What are you doing? It's the experience that's important, not how many eggs they find."

"Exactly!" he said.

When the whistle blew I stood back and held my breath as a group of eager children, and parents, surged forward searching for colored plastic eggs. I watched my son run down the side of the field. Then he put his basket on is head like a jaunty little cap and kept running until he reached the play structure on the other side of the park.

My six-year old daughter sauntered out to the field swinging her basket on her hip. She casually picked up a plastic egg, opened it, and popped the jellybeans into her mouth. Then she sat down on the grass.

I figured a little encouragement might help her. "Pick up another egg!" I cried. "Quickly, before they're all gone!"

She pulled up a dandelion, then blew on it to make a wish.

I ran towards her, picked up an egg, and tossed them into her basket.

"Mom," she cried, "you're not supposed to help."

I bent over and snatched two more away from another little girl.

"Stop it, Mommy!"

Just as I was reaching for another, I noticed the other parents were beginning to stare so I walked to a bench on the other side of the field and sat down.

When the hunt was finished my son ran towards me holding out his basket.

"Want to see what I found?"

"Sure."

I looked in and saw a feather, two pebbles, and a handful of tanbark.

"It's a moon rock, an eagle feather, and some tree dust," he said proudly.

Then my daughter reached into her basket and pulled out several dandelion stems. "And I found some wishing sticks!"

I smiled. Even though they didn't find many eggs, it was fun for them and a good learning experience for me. I decided that, as soon as we got home, I'd help them display their new treasures in the backyard -- then give them a laundry basket full of Easter grass and let them loose in the living room.

Have a great month and thank you for supporting my column! Best to you and yours, Debbie Farmer

I think this area should be called "Incidently...." simply because I post things here as I run across them, not necessarily as announcements. *smile* I also tend to put things here that don't fit anywhere else.

For the Easter Issue, I found this at Rosie's Easter Basket. For this, I give thanks and celebrate!

'And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. (Mark 16:2-7)

So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:19-20)'

From: Mary Smith This is just such a good site for answers or questions for that matter. http://www.christiananswers.net/
http://www.christiananswers.net/creation/home.html

Why Do We Give Easter Eggs?

The Easter egg is venerable indeed. While the gaily colored cardboard ones and rich chocolate ones that we enjoy are quite recent in origin, the real egg, decorated with colors or gilt, has been acknowledged as a symbol of continuing life and resurrection since pre-Christian spring celebrations. Given as gifts by the ancient Greeks, Persians, and Chinese at their spring festivals, the egg also appears in pagan mythology, where we read of the Sun-Bird being hatched from the World Egg. in some pagan customs, the Heaven and Earth were thought to have been formed from two halves of an egg. As the egg was an obvious symbol to early Christians of Jesus' Resurrection, it was felt to be a most appropriate and holy part of the Eastertide celebration. Even as early as the Middle Ages, eggs were colored to be given as gifts at Easter; Edward I's accounts for 1290 include the expense of purchasing hundreds of eggs to be distributed to his household. in the 17th century, pope Paul V blessed the humble egg in a prayer to be used in England, Scotland, and Ireland: "Bless, O Lord, we beseech Thee, this Thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to Thy faithful servants, eating in thankfulness to Thee, on account of the Resurrection of Our Lord." Forbidden during the solemn fast of Lent, eggs were reintroduced on Easter Sunday, both as part of the feasting and as gifts for family, friends, and servants.

Anonymous (1913)

Also found at Rosie's Easter Basket

OURSELVES

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Longing

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them." - George Eliot

GOALS

If you have a great ambition, take as big a step as possible in the direction of fulfilling it. The step may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the largest one possible for now. - Mildred Mcafee

To Soar

"As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might." --Marian Anderson

women@send.memail.com

LIFE LINED UP (TM) is dedicated to helping you achieve your goals, create quality relationships and maintain healthy balance-- SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Reminders for the Advancement of the Soul: ***************************************************

~~~Measure your health by your sympathy with morning and Spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature, if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you, know that the morning and spring of your life are past. Thus you may feel your pulse.

Henry David Thoreau

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Change your FOCUS

~~~Do you strive for perfection? Many folks do and it is such a burden for you and for those around you. Nobody's perfect but you sometimes feel a constant pressure to do things exactly as they "should" be done every single time.

~~~If this is a pattern for you, it is well worth the time to examine it carefully and consider breaking the mold. You'll be much happier, and much more attractive. In my psychotherapy practice, I was once talking with a woman who also enjoyed doing cross-stitch as I do. She told me that she sometimes would take out hours and hours of work for one imperfect stitch. As we spoke, it became evident that there was no area of her life where she could relax and relieve herself of this pressure to do things perfectly. Her relationships were fraught with the tension of being "nice", being "proper", being "liked", being perfect. Mostly her life was ruled by the impossibility of succeeding. Why? Because she was doing difficult things for the wrong reasons and tying herself up in knots in the process.

~~~Perfectionism has its roots in the desire...and need...to be accepted. Perfectionists have been trained to approach everything they do in ways that will impress the people they care about. They want to impress them so much so that those people will want to take them to themselves and never let them go. Rather than being taught to accept themselves, they were trained to make themselves SO socially acceptable to others that that is their only focus.

~~~Parents play a primary role in creating this drive for acceptance in you. The desire for acceptance is normal but the drive for acceptance is excessive. That drive comes from the idea that you must never fail to impress those who are important to you. For some folks, that is generalized into wanting to impress every single person...important to them or not. Commitment to this tireless and endless effort stand in the way of knowing that most folks are lovable and acceptable just because they breathe!

~~~Perfectionism is rooted in the foolish and futile attempt to do the impossible for dubious reasons. It creates anxiety and makes each day stressful. In the extreme, some folks feel that making a mistake should be punishable by death! It wastes time and energy. It is very difficult for a perfectionist to create a close relationship with anyone. When you are never satisfied with yourself, you can never rest. You may even resent the folks you are trying so hard to please. In the final result, the lives of perfectionists are run by other people--people who may approve of them if they are perfect enough.

~~~Imagine the disarray in a relationship when a perfectionist wants the approval of a controller. No matter what the perfectionist does, the controller keeps moving the marker, wanting a little more perfection. What a nightmare! What a great relationship to leave!

~~~If you find yourself in a constant state of anxiety, spend a few moments examining your degree of perfectionism. Sure, it's a great thing to have occasionally but it is a destructive way to live constantly. Are you beating yourself up for not being perfect?

~~~REMEMBER, WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO EXPANDS!

Do men just play dumb when it comes to cleaning? Is this an obvious attempt to avoid any sort of housework? I used to think so, but now I think it may have something to do with a testosterone brain block or something.

Last year my house barely survived our annual spring cleaning day. In fact, both the fire department and the American Red Cross still have us on their monthly check-in list. So this year when the time came to divvy up the chores and dig into spring cleaning, I made a cheat sheet of sorts for my husband to refer to:

Broom (brum) - a long handled brush used for sweeping (also doubles as a mode of transportation for your mother)

Vacuum (vak' u em) - much like the leaf blower except it sucks in, instead of blowing out. Don't let this alarm you. It isn't broken and doesn't need more torque, speed, RAM or whatever it is you did to the dishwasher.

Dust pan (DUH) - Contrary to popular belief, this is where you sweep the dirt, not under the hallway area rug.

Dust Cloth (dust kloth) - A cloth designated for removing tiny particles of dirt from every flat surface of the house. Hint: look for your old "lucky shirt".

Bucket (buk' it)- Cylindric container used for holding soapy water when mopping the floor. Also known as your mid-evil knight helmet when you're playing with our seven-year-old

Mop - (mop) a bundle of coarse yarn, rags or cloth fastened at the end of a stick. You'll remember this as your dance partner at the New Year's Eve party last year.

Toilet Brush (toi' lit brush) - Used for scrubbing the inside of the toilet bowl. I don't care what this looks like, you may NOT use my shower luffa again!

Oven Cleaner (uv' en Klen' er) - No, not the teenager. This is an actually product that you buy, spray in the oven and wipe out two hours later. You won't need your welder's mask for this task, but if it makes you feel more dangerous, go ahead.

Sponge (spunj) - used to gently wash away food particles from dinnerware. It won't be necessary to use your 300psi Power wash set. That was given to you in hopes of cleaning the EXTERIOR of the house (hint hint).

Squeegee (skwe' je) - Same principle as washing the car windshield, and yes, real men DO squeegee!

Final Note:

While Duct tape may be a wonderful plumbers aid, it's really not the best solution for keeping the bathroom towels in place, and Jamie's teacher is still asking why his homework was stuck to his forehead last week. For these reasons, I have hidden the duct tape and distributed your picture to the local hardware stores. Don't make me call Duct Tape Anonymous again.

Take your time, everything will be fine. If you need me, I'll be in the basement cleaning up the smoke damage from your "do it yourself" electrical rewiring incident last week.

About the Author: Kellie Head is a frazzled mother of six and terrified wife of a crazed do-it-yourselfer. Between emergency room visits and firehouse calls, she is the editor of the online parenting magazine, ParentingHumor.com. Visit the site at http://ParentingHumor.com

Low-Fat Is Out

Researchers from around the world reported to an international food conference in London in January that the current low-fat diet fad has failed to decrease obesity in the world. Instead, they suggest that weight control and better health are more readily attained by a better balanced diet: one that includes a moderate amount of fats. Their ideal model resembles the Mediterranean diet: high in fruit, vegetables, grain, olive oil, fish and nuts.

Reuters, January 15, 2000.

Mammography Screening: Not Decreasing Breast Cancer Mortality

Danish research published in The Lancet concludes that mammography screenings are not decreasing breast cancer mortality. Researchers based their conclusions on a hard look at eight previously published works. Most studies suggested a benefit, but two showed none. Those last two, say the Danish researchers, were the only ones to use an adequate randomization. The study was prompted by statistical evidence from Sweden that showed no decrease in breast cancer mortality since screenings began in 1985.

The Lancet, January 8, 2000.

[MOVIES] ~Chick Flicks, Gotta Love 'Em
(For when you're looking for a Movie to make you feel like a Princess)

From Angel

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ REVIEW Easter Parade is a wonderful, glorious production with lots of wonderful singing and dancing. The costumes are extravagent and beautiful. Besides, how can you go wrong with a musical starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire?! Credits: About.com Email: gardenladys@mcsi.net

Previous  Reviews: City of Angels Sabrina Six Days, Seven Nights Message In A Bottle: Movie Web, You've Got Mail Notting Hill Hope Floats : Fox Movies, Meet Joe Black, A Walk In The Clouds : Movie Web, AT FIRST SIGHT: MGM, At First Sight: Film Ink , Step Mom:Spe Movies, "Bridges of Madison County,", As Good As It Get's: Sony Pictures, Somewhere In Time, Sleepless In Seattle: Movie Talk ~*~*~*~

Petunia's QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I have kleptomania, but when it gets bad, I take something for it." -- Unknown

===== QUOTE OF THE DAY ===========================
More Descriptions Worth Remembering

He errs, as other men do, but he errs with integrity. -- Benjamin Franklin (of George Washington)

She was the type that would wake up in the morning and immediately start apologizing. -- Woody Allen

A hippie wears his hair long like Tarzan, walks like Jane, and smells like Cheetah. -- Buster Crabbe

Clarke Gable's ears make him look like a taxicab with the doors open. -- Howard Hughes

--Source: Leo Rosten's Carnival of Wit (See Footnote)

===== JOKE OF THE DAY ============================
How to Write a Term Paper

1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

2. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.

3. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some coffee to help you concentrate.

4. Stop off at another floor on the way back and visit with your friend from class. If your friend hasn't started the paper yet either, you can both walk to McDonalds and buy a hamburger to help you concentrate. If your friend shows you his paper, typed, double- spaced, and bound in one of those irritating see-through plastic folders, drop him.

5. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

6. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.

7. You know, you haven't written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You'd better write that letter now and get it out of the way so you can concentrate.

8. Go look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.

9. Listen to one side of your favorite tape and that's it, I mean it, as soon as its over you are going to start that paper.

10. Listen to the other side.

11. Rearrange all of your CDs into alphabetical order.

12. Phone your friend on the other floor and ask if he's started writing yet. Exchange derogatory remarks about your teacher, the course, the university, and the world at large.

13. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

14. Read over the assignment again; roll the words across your tongue; savor its special flavor.

15. Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren't missing something truly worthwhile on TV. NOTE: When you have a paper due in less than 12 hours, anything on TV from Masterpiece Theater to Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, is truly worthwhile, with these exceptions: a) Pro Bowlers Tour b) Any movie starring Don Ameche.

16. Catch the last hour of Soul Brother of Kung Fu on channel 26.

17. Phone your friend on the third floor to see if he was watching. Discuss the finer points of the plot.

18. Go look at your tongue in the bathroom mirror.

19. Look through your roommate's book of pictures from home. Ask who everyone is.

20. Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.

21. Open your door and check to see if there are any mysterious, trench-coated strangers lurking in the hall.

22. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

23. Read over the assignment one more time, just for the heck of it.

24. Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.

25. Lie face down on the floor and moan.

26. Leap up and write the paper.

27. Type the paper.

28. Complain to everyone that you didn't get any sleep because you had to write the doggone paper.

===== WEIRD & WACKY WEB SITE =====================
Dandelion Wine

"Dandelion wine is the distilled essence of a bright yellow flower. Nothing gets you through the worst of winter better than a taste of flowers in the midst of gloom."

For those who have always wondered how to make Dandelion Wine, this is the place! Comes complete with history and a recipe.

Have you ever been had?:

I mean down and dirty had! Took you for a ride! Made a fool out of you. And took your hard-earned cash to boot! How can you watch out for the kind of predator who thinks nothing of taking your cash for a promise they never intend to keep? This page is intended to educate you on some of the more commonly run con games. There are also tips to help you protect yourself from the predator that is just waiting to claim your hard earned cash as his/her own!

(Submitted by Jeepers -- Thanks!)

Simeon Magic

"I am Simeon, the World's Finest Internet Magician! Please allow me to entertain you with my Magica Effects"

Cool Internet Magic -- Check it out!

(Submitted by Jazz -- Thanks!)

The Land of Lost Socks

Where do all those lost socks go? Sock-eating dryers? Alien abduction? Runaway socks hitting the road and living on the streets?

Describe that sock you've lost, and we'll see if we can find it. Somebody has the other one, right? You can drop them a note and find out what your sock has been up to.

And, of course, as others look for their lost sock, they may drop you a note as well...

(Submitted by Erin -- Thanks, Erin!)

Free Single Use Camera

Freebie Forest where you find free stuff, free samples, trial offers, free coupons, free catalogs, free to enter sweepstakes, contests and anything else that's free.

Get a free bag of Nestles Treasures chocolates.

Free tea sample

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Note: Their new "JPEGCruncher" shrinks many other types of images to JPEG format, including GIF, BMP, JPEG, TIFF and other formats.

Freegraphicland.com: Here's a new index of Webmaster-related sites, ranked by the number of votes they're received from visitors. Site categories here include graphics, JavaScript, CGI, CCS and HTML.

GraphicsFreebies.com: (Top free graphics sites ranked by votes)

That's it for this week ladies! I wish you peace!

Sincerely,
Schaun Wagner,
Willow Whispers Host

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