by neufer » Sat Jul 16, 2011 5:12 pm
D L Hall wrote:
Several years back, my company sent me to Omaha, Nebraska for a couple of weeks. There was clear, virtually cloudless weather all the time I was there, but never saw any stars in the sky. After about a week and a half, I finally drove about 50 miles out of town. There, the night sky was beautiful. I was offered a chance to move to Omaha. I declined. The dead empty sky was too depressing. For all the money and high tech goodies, it seems like Dubai is Omaha with taller buildings.
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Prologue of the Second Nun's Tale
<<
I wish to expound to you first the name of the saint, as one may read in her history. It signifies, as one would say in English, "heaven's lily;" her name was lily for the pure chastity of her virginity; or because she had the whiteness of honor and the green of conscience and the sweet savor of good fame, was she called a lily. Or Cecilia is as if one should say "the way for the blind," because she was an example through her good teaching.
Or else, as I see in the books, the name Cecilia is compounded by a manner of joining "heaven" and "Leah;" and here symbolically heaven is set forth for meditation upon holiness, and Leah for her ceaseless activity. Cecilia may also be interpreted "lacking blindness," for her great light of wisdom, and for her shining virtues. Or else, lo, this maiden's bright name comes from "heaven" and "leos"; because one may well rightly call her, the example of all good and wise works, "heaven of people," for "leos" signifies people in English.
And even as one can see in the heaven the sun and the moon and everywhere the stars, even so may one see spiritually in this noble maiden the magnanimity of faith, and the perfect clearness of wisdom as well, and various bright and excellent works. And even as these philosophers say that heaven is swift and round and burning, so was the fair white Cecilia ever swift and diligent in good works, and perfect in her perseverance of goodness, and ever burning brightly with love. Now have I declared to you what her name signified.>>
[quote="D L Hall"]
Several years back, my company sent me to Omaha, Nebraska for a couple of weeks. There was clear, virtually cloudless weather all the time I was there, but never saw any stars in the sky. After about a week and a half, I finally drove about 50 miles out of town. There, the night sky was beautiful. I was offered a chance to move to Omaha. I declined. The dead empty sky was too depressing. For all the money and high tech goodies, it seems like Dubai is Omaha with taller buildings.[/quote]
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Prologue of the Second Nun's Tale
[float=right][img3="The Saint Cecilia Cathedral against an Omaha summer sunset."]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Omaha_sunset_in_2008.jpg/800px-Omaha_sunset_in_2008.jpg[/img3][/float]
<<[b][i][color=#0000FF]I wish to expound to you first the name of the saint, as one may read in her history. It signifies, as one would say in English, "heaven's lily;" her name was lily for the pure chastity of her virginity; or because she had the whiteness of honor and the green of conscience and the sweet savor of good fame, was she called a lily. Or Cecilia is as if one should say "the way for the blind," because she was an example through her good teaching.
Or else, as I see in the books, the name Cecilia is compounded by a manner of joining "heaven" and "Leah;" and here symbolically heaven is set forth for meditation upon holiness, and Leah for her ceaseless activity. Cecilia may also be interpreted "lacking blindness," for her great light of wisdom, and for her shining virtues. Or else, lo, this maiden's bright name comes from "heaven" and "leos"; because one may well rightly call her, the example of all good and wise works, "heaven of people," for "leos" signifies people in English.
And even as one can see in the heaven the sun and the moon and everywhere the stars, even so may one see spiritually in this noble maiden the magnanimity of faith, and the perfect clearness of wisdom as well, and various bright and excellent works. And even as these philosophers say that heaven is swift and round and burning, so was the fair white Cecilia ever swift and diligent in good works, and perfect in her perseverance of goodness, and ever burning brightly with love. Now have I declared to you what her name signified.[/color][/i][/b]>>