Pamela Q. Fernandes's Blog, page 16

Pics from Brooklyn Museum

I’ve been writing almost every weekend. The Brooklyn Museum was on my list of places to see. However, last Sunday, there was the added bonus of the Brooklyn Symphony performing. And so I decided to get up early(gahhhh) go for mass and head off to the museum. It’s a twenty minute walk for me anyway skirting the perimeter of Prospect Park.

The museum opens at 11. Yup. Not ten. So I was forty minutes early. And I managed to read a book. I was reading, “The Joy of Less.” And before I knew it we were ushered inside. At present, the Pierre Cardin exhibition is on display. I’m not all into fashion.

The main works that I wanted to focus on was paintings and Egyptian art. There is no entrance fee. You can make a donation unless you’re here for an assigned exhibition in which case you have to pay 16$. Overall, the place isn’t as crowded and so you can take your time to read the descriptions and study each piece of work.

Woodcut, etching and more

I guess the Museum is trying to generate interest in the art of woodcutting, etching and some of the older styles of art. There’s an entire room dedicated to teaching how they’re done. On the first floor, the exhibits are mostly black and white. I had no idea that many of these paintings were etched or woodcut. After I saw the videos, I backtracked through some of the work. Why? Because these techniques are four steps long. I cannot believe the artistic vision it requires to create these images though them. It would take a truly gifted eye to do them. Yet, many acclaimed artists including (my favorite) Corot used them.

RembrandtPicasso

There are a number of early etchings from famous artists like Picasso on display to demonstrate the techniques.

Sculptures

There are a few Sculptures here including Giovanni della Robbia’s relief depicting the Resurrection of Jesus. There’s a bench in front of this sculpture. And you’ll see why. Every piece of the sculpture represents something. Even the three shadowy figures representing the three Mary’s, Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome, and Mary the mother.

Robbia’s Resurrection of Christ



European Art



Pinning of the hat by RenoirMonet’s Houses of Parliament

While not as extensive at the Collection at MoMa, there are a few noteworthy paintings here, Degas, Renoir, Monet, Manet and Picasso. What’s surprising, is the influence of religion on art. There are so many pieces of work based on the Madonna and the child Jesus. Every artistic perspective is different.

ManetMonet’s Islet of Port Villez

In addition, there were a few Monets’ here. And bar one, I don’t get the appeal for them. Neither do I get Picasso. The only ones I liked were the Islets at Port Villez and the Houses of Parliament. I guess it’s because when I was taught art in convent school, light was the first thing taught to us. If nothing else, light is the only thing I understand about art. So most paintings where the play of light is expressed tends to appeal to me. And then there’s abstract art. I just don’t get it.

The Gray woman by Pablo Picasso



Forces of Nature



James Hamilton’s Destruction of Pompeii

There is a beautiful series of paintings based on the power of nature. I guess these are some of the most beautiful oils on canvas, all donated to the Museum. These paintings are huge. I had to stand nearly 15 feet away to get a picture. What’s astonishing, is that in European art, there are a number of Puerto Rican paintings. I’m not sure why, but they’re here.

Mesdag’s In Danger



Brooklyn Bridge

I remember mentioning to someone about Emily Roebling and how she supervised the finishing of the Brooklyn Bridge when her husband Washington was sick. She was the first to cross the bridge in 1883. Charles Duran paints their portraits with the Brooklyn Bridge in the backdrop for Washington.

Egyptian Art at the Brooklyn Museum

I believe the Brooklyn Museum has one of the largest collections of Egyptian Art this side of the coast. Some of the reliefs, shabty’s and papyrus are from and studied by Charles Wilbour, an American Egyptologist.

I’m honestly quite humbled. Some of these things date back to 2500 BC. Our lives are just like wisps of smoke in comparison. The ceramics, utensils and stones have survived so long. They’ve seen the world turn and change. It’s so sobering to watch these pieces and feel a bit misplaced in the grander scheme of things.

The hall is divided into prehistoric and early dynastic periods, mid and then the later dynastic periods. You can see how Egyptian life culture has changed and been influenced by its different rulers. The older civilization though seems as advanced as the Incas and Greeks. It truly is remarkable what a great civilization this once was.

Mummy Section

Four mummies are placed in a special section. It’s very dark here and can be quite scary. It was so dark, I couldn’t even read the descriptions. They house the preserved human remains of Lady Gautseshenu, Hor, Thothirdes and a man of the Roman period. CT scans and Xrays show them with their brains but without their internal organs. The organs were usually removed and placed into canopic jars. This long papyrus which contained prayers was inserted into every shabty.

Pottery Manufacture

Faience is actually a misnomer. It’s an Italian tradition of ceramic work but has somehow become associated with Egyptology. However, it’s amazing that during such an ancient time, these brilliant colors and designs of pottery existed. They used two principal materials, alluvial soil from the Nile river and soft desert shale called mari. Silt contained iron oxides and mari has calcium carbonate which fire to a buff color.

It’s just proof of how advanced the Egyptian civilization once was. If you look at all the jewelry, art and sculpture, the level of sophistication for such an ancient time period is shocking. Even the fact that they played chess like games and had furniture like ours. Of course, some of the furniture did look like what my grandmother kept but still 2500 BC and now. Not much has changed and yet, everything has changed.

Brooklyn Symphony Trio

By two in the afternoon, I was tired. So I went to the court and waited for the music. Here’s the sheet. Two bassoonists and a pianist played classical pieces. Sarah McKittrick Sethi, Yuki Katayama and John Russo formed the trio. Here’s some of it.

If you’re going to the Brooklyn Museum, carry something warm. It’s freezing inside there. I had a sweater and still thought it wasn’t enough. I didn’t try the cafeteria but it was well stocked and had quite a few options. By four thirty I was exhausted and made my way home. I missed the entrance for the subway and decided to walk back instead.

Other Intriguing Art

Overall, the Brooklyn Museum a great place to visit. I like the earthy art and that’s what most of my pictures are about. Take your time at the Museum. I doubt you can pair it with Prospect Park and the Botanical Gardens. You wouldn’t do either justice.

Francisco Oller’s Hacienda La FortunaHobbema’s Hamlet in the woodLhermitte’s Old Harvester’s meal

The post Pics from Brooklyn Museum appeared first on PAMELA Q. FERNANDES.

53 Growing in Wisdom

Wisdom is a gift. It is given to us freely by God. We do not need to earn it.

Eric Johnston on Wisdom

Who is Eric Johnston?



Eric Johnston

Eric M. Johnston is a husband of father of seven in Newark, New Jersey.  He teaches theology to undergraduate theologians at Seton Hall University and writes reflections at professorjohnston.com.  He is a student of Thomas Aquinas’s theology of grace and use of Scripture.

In this episode, I talk to Eric Johnston about growing in widsom. He talks about:
-What are sanctifying and charismatic gifts?
-What is the gift of wisdom? 
-How is it different from knowledge and discernment?
-How do we develop this gift? 
-What actions can we take to grow in wisdom?

How to grow in wisdom?







Ask God

I wrote to a number of people to talk about wisdom for this month’s episode and because it’s such a difficult topic, couldn’t find anyone. I sent a quick email to Eric and he replied. He was on a holiday in Rhode Island and said, he’ll take a quick break from the beach and we can record. I’m so grateful to Eric because all his knowledge of theology did help me understand wisdom.

One of the things that struck me is when he says You can’t earn a gift. They’re gifts because thy’re given freely to us. Often, when I’ve made a mistake, as we often do, making the wrong choices, the wrong words, so on, I often say Lord, if only you’d made me wise. Not knowing that God has given us His Holy Spirit to rely on.

Contemplation and Wisdom

I loved this advice from Eric about how we can grow in wisdom by contemplating on God. And what is contemplation? The many ways of looking at God and this is something that struck a chord so deep, that I’ve added Contemplation to our episode list.

He also says that you need to grow all the gifts of the spirit for any one to develop. And that sin slowly chips away at our spirit. This is one of the key things Eric stresses about that sin has consequences and they’re not from a punishing God, but rather a natural consequence of our actions.

ENJOYED THIS PODCAST?

We hope you enjoyed this podcast. Check out our podcasts on  Fellowship and Mother Teresa. If you liked this podcast, like us, leave us a comment and share our episodes on social media with those who may benefit from it. Additionally, if there is a particular saint that you would like to hear about us, tell us and we’ll add him or her to our future episodes. Also, write to our guests and let them know what you think.

We are on iheartradio, Stitcher, Itunes, and tunein.com.We’d love to hear from you. If you hear us on Itunes, please rate and review us.

The post 53 Growing in Wisdom appeared first on PAMELA Q. FERNANDES.

Pics from Prospect Park

It’s been a whole month since I’ve posted. I was sick and was on antibiotics for two weeks. Additionally, August 1 is also my dad’s death anniversary and I’m usually not up to snuff in the weeks leading to and after. So, I’ve done little reading, no writing, hardly any editing and barely any posting.

What I have done is gone on walks to Prospect Park. Since it’s barely nine short blocks away, it’s great for some reflective time. We’re usually out here after dinner everyday if we can. Or on the weekends I usually end up walking here in the evenings.

Prospect Park

Prospect Park was designed by the very same people (Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux) who did Central Park. I’m not sure why but I like Prospect Park better, maybe because it isn’t as noisy or crowded. Even on a popular day, except for the BBQ areas, the rest of the park is quiet enough for you to listen to the sounds of nature; the cooing of birds, the stridulation of crickets, the shiver of the tree leaves as the breeze rustles past them.

I also like the Park better because of the wide open spaces. Of course, I like the tree lined areas as well, but somehow the airy park feels less claustrophobic to me.

Lefrak Lakeside

Brooklyn’s only lake is nestled inside Prospect Park. I didn’t even know it had one until I stumbled on it by accident. One of those walks where my friend and I were gossiping and got lost.

Dealing with Anti-microbial Resistance

When it comes to dealing with Anti-microbial resistance (AMR), here are some shocking facts. 490, 000 people developed multi-drug resistant TB globally, in 2016.

The CDC lists urgent and serious threats from:

Urgent Threats

Clostridioides difficile Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Serious Threats

Multidrug-resistant AcinetobacterDrug-resistant CampylobacterFluconazole-resistant CandidaDrug-resistant SalmonellaSerotype TyphiExtended-spectrum Beta-lactamase producing EnterobacteriaceaeVancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE)Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosaDrug-resistant non-typhoidal SalmonellaDrug-resistant ShigellaMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA)Drug-resistantStreptococcus pneumoniaeDrug-resistant Tuberculosis

Concerning Threats

Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(VRSA)Erythromycin-Resistant Group A StreptococcusClindamycin-resistant Group B Streptococcus

If you need more data about the above, including the number of cases the read here. Additionally, 15,000 people died from drug resistant C difficile. That’s no small number

Anti-microbial Resistance Not Just Doctor’s Problem

Today so many people are handing out antibiotics.

Healthcare providers Veterinarians Agricultural farmers Livestock breeders Universities Scientists and researchers Patients themselves

And therefore, it makes no sense to curb the way only healthcare providers dispense antibiotics if we want to solve this problem.

Anti-microbial resistance is not a big deal

No. Anti-microbial resistance is bigger than that. Last year, in Pakistan, 850 people died from drug resistant typhoid. Typhoid! Can you imagine that? In some areas XDR has reached almost 30%. At this rate by 2020, all cases will be resistant. The same is happening in malaria and HIV. Along the Cambodia-Thailand border, P. falciparum has become resistant to most of the antimalarial medicines. This should have been a wake up call in the medical world. As always, it’s not a problem unless it “comes to a theater near you.” Then it’s a problem.

WHO Prescription for AMR

The WHO has been leading the efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance. They have a prescription.

Doctors, nurses, veterinarians and other health workers

They say health practitioners shouldn’t prescribe or dispense antibiotics unless they are truly necessary. And they may do so only after they’ve made all efforts to test and confirm which antibiotic your human patient or the animal you are treating should have. For instance, it is estimated that in half of all cases, antibiotics are prescribed for viral conditions. They emphasize prevent infections in the first place by ensuring hands, instruments and environment are clean, and employing vaccines where appropriate.

People using healthcare

Patients must take antibiotics only when prescribed by a certified health professional. If they take an antibiotic, they must always complete the full prescription, even if they feel better, because stopping treatment early promotes the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.

Farmers and others in the agriculture sector

Antibiotics given to animals must be used only to control or treat infectious diseases and under veterinary supervision. Misuse of antibiotics in livestock, aquaculture and crops is one of the biggest contributors to antibiotic resistance and its spread into the environment, food chain and humans. Alternatively, clean and uncrowded conditions and vaccination of animals can reduce the need for antibiotics.

Governments

Robust national action plans have to be made to tackle antibiotic resistance. These include improved surveillance of antibiotic-resistant infections, regulation of the appropriate use of medicines. Also, we must educate people about the dangers of overuse.

Industry

The pharmaceutical industry needs to move faster and more aggressively to research and develop new antibiotics. There’s an antibiotic “discovery void” since the late 1980s. There’s an ongoing race between drug development and bacterial evolution. Surprisingly, the EU, the UK, the US and Canada have directly funded basic and clinical research by scientists; working with pharmaceutical companies; and offered monetary prizes for new diagnostics needed to use antibiotics more responsibly.

However, a new, more global approach is needed. The WHO global action plan on antimicrobial resistance is underway but it might be a while before concrete steps are taken.

Your AMR Prevention

Tell us how you’re tackling anti-microbial resistance. Do you have a specific example of how deal with this. Personally, I find many of the resistant bacteria tend to be sensitive to the older antibiotics like Bactrim. It’s like gaming the bacteria, I guess. It’s worked for many of my cases. How about yours? I’d love to know. In the meantime, check out some other posts.

The post Dealing with Anti-microbial Resistance appeared first on PAMELA Q. FERNANDES.

52 Why is Sharing the Good News so Important?

Sharing the Good News is important because you have this amazing Jesus who gives everyone abundant life.

Cameron O’Hearn

Who is Cameron O’Hearn



Cameron O’Hearn

Cameron spent seven years in full time ministry, evangelizing High School and college students through relational ministry with NET Ministries and Saint Paul’s Outreach. Now he is living the dream as a husband and father of three. He studied Divinity at Maryvale Institute in England and now owns a video production company in Dayton, OH. Sacred Stories creates inspiring videos for ministries to help them get noticed online and raise more money at events.

In this episode, Cameron O’Hearn talks about Why Sharing the Good News is so important. He explains:
-Why is sharing the gospel important?
-3 steps on sharing this Good News
-What are some practical ways we can share
-How important is our own life as a gospel message and why is it important for us to live it before preaching it.

Sharing the Gospel







You Begin, God finishes

I reached out to Cameron about doing a podcast as soon as I came back from Montreal. I knew summer was going to be busy and we recorded really early in the morning. Cameron shared very profound ideas during our conversation. One of them was, “You begin and God finishes.”

He says if you don’t know what to say simply open your mouth like Peter and Paul did and God will finish the rest. Cameron recommends using the words, “In my life, God has…. and automatically you’ll be able to finish.

One of the major takeaways from today’s podcast, is “Pray for the opportunity to share the Good News. Just the words, “Come Holy Spirit” before you begin a conversation will work wonders, says O’Hearn.

Three Steps to Share the Good News



Ask questionsBe YourselfShare what makes you passionate

And Cameron’s best advice, if you don’t know what to say, simply share the same of Jesus. He says, “the name of Jesus is the only word that contains the presence it signifies!” Wow!

What I loved about this podcast, is that despite Cameron being a trained evangelist, he shares his own moments where he thinks he’s failed to be faithful to God. But through those moments, God is probably teaching so many of us. The fear is common to all. And Cameron says, “Don’t overthink it.” I’m grateful for the advice he shared because through his own honest confession and personal life, he’s demonstrated how we can evangelize. That in itself takes a lot of courage.

And so while a shy introvert myself, I have avoided this form of one to one evangelization. I pray that I may have more courage to share the Good News with other people. What about you? How do you go about doing sharing the Good News?

ENJOYED THIS PODCAST?

We hope you enjoyed this podcast. Check out our podcasts on  Fellowship and Mother Teresa. If you liked this podcast, like us, leave us a comment and share our episodes on social media with those who may benefit from it. Additionally, if there is a particular saint that you would like to hear about us, tell us and we’ll add him or her to our future episodes.

We are on iheartradio, Stitcher, Itunes, and tunein.com.We’d love to hear from you. If you hear us on Itunes, please rate and review us.

ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

As mentioned, for our 50th episode anniversary we’re giving away a free Christian Book Bundle until 15th July. One of the books is Charles Johnston’s book, the Beauty of the Mass. 

SIGN UP



50th Episode Celebration Giveaway

The post 52 Why is Sharing the Good News so Important? appeared first on PAMELA Q. FERNANDES.

My Interview on The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt Podcast

My interview on the Creative Writer’s Toolbelt Podcast!

Pictures from Montreal

Here are my pics from Montreal. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know by now I was in Montreal for a few days. For starters, Montreal is the cradle of Canadian history. It was ruled by the French and its representatives, namely the priests until they surrendered to the British.

Quebec and its city, Montreal is very proud of its French heritage. So much so, everyone speaks French, the cuisine is very rich and the place has retained if not preserved it’s French identity. I was pretty chuffed with being called, “Madame” everywhere. If you know French, at least some of it, it will go a long way in Montreal!

From Montreal, With Love

So I’ll jump in with my pictures. I never do these posts as travel guides, but for some reason, every time I do them, people always write back with questions. How do you travel, what’s the fare and you know stuff like that. So I’m going to add that in advance.

I had my visa processed in New York in two days. Yes.

Pics from Montreal

Here are my pics from Montreal. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know by now I was in Montreal for a few days. For starters, Montreal is the cradle of Canadian history. It was ruled by the French and its representatives, namely the priests until they surrendered to the British.

Quebec and its city, Montreal is very proud of its French heritage. So much so, everyone speaks French, the cuisine is very rich and the place has retained if not preserved it’s French identity. I was pretty chuffed with being called, “Madame” everywhere. If you know French, at least some of it, it will go a long way in Montreal!

From Montreal, With Love

So I’ll jump in with my pictures. I never do these posts as travel guides, but for some reason, every time I do them, people always write back with questions. How do you travel, what’s the fare and you know stuff like that. So I’m going to add that in advance.

I had my visa processed in New York in two days. Yes.

51 Seven Tips To Help us Forgive

Christ called us to a radical forgiveness, even towards our enemies, which is unique to Christianity.

Celia Wolf Devine on Tips to Help us Forgive

Who is Celia Wolf Devine



Celia Wolf Devine

Celia Wolf-Devine is a retired philosophy professor, author and lecturer. Her philosophical work has been in Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes) and social philosophy. Her first and most complete book on prayer is The Heart Transformed: Prayer of Desire (Alba House, St. Paul). She wrote “A New Companion to Prayer: Meeting God Where You Are” for a distinctively Catholic readership. She is just winding up work on an anthology: Naming God: Selected Readings Representing Differing Perspectives.” However, her workshops focus mostly on prayer- related topics. These are usually for diocesan in service programs to train catechists in Providence, Boston and Portland Maine. Her most popular workshops have been “Prayer of the Heart” and forgiveness based “Setting up a Morning Prayer Routine.” Additionally, she was recently interviewed about her conversion by Marcus Grodi on the Coming Home network. You can find more about her and her work see www.celiawolfdevine.com.

In this episode, I talk to Celia Wold Devine about why forgiveness is important and how to forgive better. She talks about:
-What Jesus teaches us about forgiveness
-Seven steps to forgiveness.
-How to forgive ourselves?
-How to truly do our penance without thinking of it as ritual?

Seven Tips To Help us Forgive

I first came across Celia through her post on forgiveness. Surprisingly, she had no idea her post had been syndicated and so widely shared and commented upon. It was hard to track her down. When I reached out to her, she said “I’d love to do it. I’m happy to use my talents for God’s work.” We finally managed to get our dates in order despite my traveling and her own personal work.

Celia’s tips about forgiveness are relatively simple. Since she’s a philosophy professor, everything she says is backed by data and proof. Simple things like why it’s not a good idea to vent or why an apology is necessary are explained. She even talks about setting up a forgiveness ritual with whoever you live with.

What I loved about this podcast is her suggestion to look at people the way God looks at them. It ties in very well with our previous podcast where Karl Ericksen talked about every person being someone whom Jesus died for.

It is hard to forgive

I agree forgiveness is hard. Especially when you’ve been betrayed and hurt. Even moreso when those betrayals have forced you to change drastically. But as Celia says forgiveness is a process, sometimes a very long process. And who are we to hold a grudge or judgement. Contrarily, forgiveness is not ours to give. The only way you can forgive is by asking God to give you His grace to help you. Therefore, prayer becomes important. You have to pray for God’s grace to forgive.

ENJOYED THIS PODCAST?

We hope you enjoyed this podcast. Check out our podcasts on Confession and Mother Teresa. If you liked this podcast, like us, leave us a comment and share our episodes on social media with those who may benefit from it. Additionally, if there is a particular saint that you would like to hear about us, tell us and we’ll add him or her to our future episodes.

We are on iheartradio, Stitcher, Itunes, and tunein.com.We’d love to hear from you. If you hear us on Itunes, please rate and review us.

ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

As mentioned, for our 50th episode anniversary we’re giving away a free Christian Book Bundle until 15th July. One of the books is Charles Johnston’s book, the Beauty of the Mass. 

SIGN UP



50th Episode Celebration Giveaway

The post 51 Seven Tips To Help us Forgive appeared first on PAMELA Q. FERNANDES.

15 Best Sweet Contemporary Sports Romances

Here’s my list of the 15 Best Sweet Contemporary Sports Romances currently available. Touchpoint Press recently released the first book BOWLED in my Contemporary Sports Romance Series, “To Love A Sporstman.” And I wanted to do a post on the same genre.

While writing my own series, I frequently looked at other contemporary sports romances. There were plenty of sizzling reads and I had to skip pages since the sports was only a footnote. My own book also features cricket, a rare sport discussed in books despite the fact that it is watched my over 1 billion people.

Recently India played Pakistan in the World Cup and I watched the fall of Pakistan’s wickets. As Kapil Dev says, “Scintillating cricket!” Did I ever tell you I’ve seen Kapil Dev in real life???? He’s such a gentleman and I couldn’t stop staring when I saw him. Yes, even at 60, the former Indian captain is swoon-worthy!!!!