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The Sermon on the Mount

MATTHEW 5-7 (King James Bible Clarified New Testament)

5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him

5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:11 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

5:12 Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

5:13 You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost its savour, with what shall it be salted? it is thereafter good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house.

5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

5:18 For truthfully I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one small mark shall in no way pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

5:20 For I say unto you, That unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

5:21 You have heard that it was said of them of old time, You shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

5:23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you;

5:24 Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

5:25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison.

5:26 Truthfully I say unto you, You shall by no means come out from there, till you have paid the last copper coin.

5:27 You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery:

5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

5:29 And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.

5:30 And if your right hand offend you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.

5:31 It has been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.

5:33 Again, you have heard that it has been said by them of old time, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform unto the Lord your oaths:

5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

5:36 Neither shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.

5:37 But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatsoever is more than these comes of evil.

5:38 You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

5:39 But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

5:40 And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.

5:41 And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two.

5:42 Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn you not away.

5:43 You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.

5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you, and persecute you;

5:45 That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same?

5:47 And if you salute your brothers only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans so?

5:48 Be you therefore perfect, just as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

6:1 Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

6:2 Therefore when you are doing your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Truthfully I say unto you, They have their reward.

6:3 But when you are doing alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does:

6:4 That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.

6:5 And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truthfully I say unto you, They have their reward.

6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.

6:7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

6:8 Be not you therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask him.

6:9 After this manner therefore pray you: Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be your name.

6:10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.

6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

6:14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

6:15 But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

6:16 Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Truthfully I say unto you, They have their reward.

6:17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;

6:18 That you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.

6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be sound, your whole body shall be full of light.

6:23 But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!

6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than

clothing?

6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?

6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

6:28 And why take you thought for clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

6:29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

6:30 Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, How shall we be clothed?

6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.

6:33 But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

6:34 Take therefore no thought for the next day: for the next day shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

7:1 Judge not, that you be not judged.

7:2 For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete out, it shall be measured back to you again.

7:3 And why do you behold the speck that is in your brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye?

7:4 Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the speck out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye?

7:5 You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the speck out of your brother's eye.

7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and tear you.

7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

7:8 For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

7:9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

7:10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

7:13 Enter you in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there:

7:14 Because narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.

7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

7:16 You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

7:17 Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.

7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

7:19 Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

7:20 Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.

7:21 Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.

7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?

7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.

7:24 Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

7:26 And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof.

7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

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May the Lord bless this presentation of this, His holy Word.

MICHAEL BALL SINGS BEAUTIFULLY:  "PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD" and "GETHSEMANY"

A story of love and war at the genesis of a Millennium.

DELIVER US FROM INNOCENCE

Part One


Scarred and scared

Through the lace drapes and partly opened venetian blinds, the sky is turning from blue into grey as the morning light alludes to rain. Gazing across the pillows in the dimness of the room David watches his wife's breast gently rising and falling as she breathes calmly in a tranquil slumber. Sally is a singer, a Rock-blues singer, she’s good and popular and she is going to make it. Lying on his back staring at the ceiling, David's thoughts drift between moments of hopeful sentiment and the grudging acceptance of the end of passion: No more simple delights, like the easy slouching cosiness of his best-friend in sweet intimate repose against his body. Or the casual sensuality of his hand rested upon her thighs draped across his lap, their legs entwined, recumbent, as they watch a rented video and munch rice-crackers between sensuous gulps of a big velvety Shiraz from the Coonawarra region of South Australia...
Nothing: Just a cold blackness where once there were hopes and aspirations.
Sinister nuances invade his blissful melancholy - foreboding his impending trip overseas. The future seems like a trap, a punitive sentence – the deprivation of choice. Back to the calamity of war in south-east Asia: Back to the annoying pretence of journalism and the awful realities of reporting from the Frontline. The ‘Media’ what a lot of shyte - Fuck the Media! ‘The News’; what a scam: Infomercials, Lifestyle programs, Advertorials and Reality TV. The vitriol exploded loudly into the stillness of the room.
“It’s all bullshit!” David shouted. This outburst caused Sally to murmur and twist restlessly, rolling over and dragging the Bed-cover off David and on to the floor on her side of the bed.
Sally's hair was spread in a silken spray towards him. David moved his head onto her pillow laying his face on her hair, his nose nuzzling the nape of her neck. Unconsciously shifting her position, her knees bending and her back arching, Sally's supple sensual form and David's sinuous frame fit snugly. Gingerly he embraces her. Sliding his hand under her arm and around over her opposite shoulder he drew her gently and firmly against himself. Sighing in a heavy release, his tears dampened her hair.
David's breath stalled in little hiccups as he attempted to control his quivering lungs. The storm of the previous night’s clash had past and consistent with the history of their turbulent marriage they wound up in bed together - emotionally exhausted, physically stimulated and passionately and strenuously engaging in an aggressive sexual dual until they fell limp and wasted, into a deep fitful sleep.
Yet, the consolation of the relationship surviving another day, if only for survival’s sake was no longer present. The inevitable consequence of this parting would be an absolute and indefinite separation. For David, the prospect was unconscionable.
He realised at that moment how much he had relied on his wife. Sally had been his best friend, his nurse, his mother and his whore.
Sally had intelligence and talent, charisma and beauty. David, good for little else but journalism, had the charm of a smiling Assassin and the base cunning of a Shit-house Rat.
With his boyish good looks and quick wit David was generally popular with women and men alike, he had a few good mates but most of his friends were women. David was an enthusiastic bar room buddy and a good-natured lady’s-man. His Anglo-Irish temperament however, was often the qualifying factor at the demise of a relationship.
In business David was the same, circumstances were not often of his own making – it’s just that when offered alternatives; he invariably made the wrong choice – a guileless airhead. Sally was cognisant of this and the consequence it entailed: Like all the plain decent folk labelled as ‘losers’ these days, Sally was aware that David was too sentimental and too generous to be a success. In this age of sycophants in suits supplicating profits to appease greedy shareholders, at the expense of quality and conscience – David had no place. He just didn’t have the knack for the kind of shameless self-promotion that so many of the Chardonnay swilling Café-set she new referred to as, ‘Networking’. Conform or concede.
And Sally knew also, that although he always had a convincing excuse, or someone else to blame for his gullibility and failures David could be cruel and cowardly. He was not a posturing hero like Hemingway and he certainly didn’t have the genius for intrigue like Fleming. David, to his credit, was consistently producing inspired feature-stories. His genuine newsgathering exploits in combat were more the result of the dumb luck of an adrenaline junkie rather than real machismo or detective intuition. David had a peculiar gift.
Sally felt that David showed great potential and she was briefly seduced by his dimpled smile – they were early days - she was over that – no amount of love can save a lost cause. Success meant money and money meant Bills could be paid. Bigger success meant better apartments and greater comfort in the few special moments permitted for relaxation and love by a busy Career-centred lifestyle - Love unfettered and unhindered by financial problems. Time was precious and love required time – with money you could buy the time. Sally new that David’s youthful joie de vies was genuine and tragically fatal. He just didn’t get it, and that infuriated Sally – the more so because she believed that she had really loved him and this compounded her pain because she felt betrayed by his dumb innocence.
Once in a moment of rage she was moved to slap David so hard and with such cruel intent that she had blackened his eye and cut his cheek with her wedding rings. That rage was the result of David’s response to her concerns over their financial situation. After explaining to him the dilemmas of their money problems for an hour – David had no proclivity for mathematics whatsoever. David had answered with wholesome wide-eyed sincerity; while taking a beer from the fridge, ‘we’ll be right princess and money can’t buy love!’
David was clueless and naïve to a fault. An over energized; sentimental fuck-up.
Sally had cried for an hour afterwards, David tried everything to console her until she finally began to laugh hysterically and smother him with kisses and apologies – she was bewildered by the ironic realisation that she felt guilty of beating a child. Sally was loving him to death like an obsessive mother does a backward infant and this love/hate relationship was destroying her and she didn’t have the strength to go on.
If only he’d change. If only he could change.
David wanted desperately to do the right thing, to be a good man and succeed with honesty and integrity. It was easier before his success, no one cared what he thought; His opinions didn’t matter and he didn’t care, he was on a personal crusade. Then, after a series of successful articles people started to listen to him, and socialize with him, which meant booze. “In Vino Veritas” – Sally would watch and wait and worry and then cringe as David would invariably say the wrong thing to the wrong person – honesty is the best policy only if you keep it to yourself. David gradually felt more and more betrayed and he couldn’t understand what he’d done wrong. Sally tried to explain it too him a thousand times after a thousand perceived betrayals. Sally had given up – their wasn’t a single Politically Correct bone in David’s body and he had always stubbornly refused to eat the shit. Now, at another pretentious Gallery 'Opening Night', in a crisis devoid of grace; David lost his faith and embellished a story to try to impress the PC Media's middle-class cognoscenti – the result; too little too late and an impromptu fall from grace. Before when David had nothing and lived in a void. When he was nothing and ignored, at least he had his integrity. No contact with humans – no need to bathe ones soul. No contamination.

Integrity exists in a void.

David needed Sally more than oxygen. He was lost and alone and he didn't want to go back to war - there was just nowhere else for him to go.



end part one/...Part two: "Oblivion or Bust" (who wants to see another part?)

War Photographs: A small example of images I created during 11 years of work as a War Correspondent.

Most of these images were hand-printed by me. I was a member of a group referred to as "concerned photographers" during the eighties and nineties that chose to file the edge of the negative carrier down in their Enlargers, so as to print the entire area of the negative. This technique is used to show the viewer that what we saw, you see. It is a discipline that seperates the "I'll crop a decent image out of it in the darkroom" cheats and those altruistic photographers devoted to the purity and honesty of their craft. It is all about truth from the get go!

ABSDF: All Burma Student's Democratic Front; When I met this boy on the 8th of March 1992, he told me he was 11 years old. I found his little body battered and torn on the 9th of March 1992, he had 12 wounds.

ABSDF: The man crouching on the left is Platoon Sargeant; he was a Technical Studies teacher in Rangoon (Yangon); the boys on the right are his students, now they are his soldiers.

KNLAF: Karen National Liberation Armed Forces: This boy I found in the field hospital of Manerplaw Head Quarters on the banks of the Salween River. The Médecins Sans Frontières Surgeons told me the wounds were caused by an "aggressive combustible accelerant" – Napalm. This was graphic evidence that the Junta in Rangoon was using illegal weapons in their war of oppression.

TWE PA WE-JO: The Sleeping Dog Hill; looking back from the forward spur which protrudes into Burmese held ground about 700 metres, As a Burmese 150mm Artillery shell strike the summit. The dense shrubbery you can see in the middle-distance is the Front-line. The reason for this geographical anomaly is the incredibly steep sides of the mountain and spur-line. 10 to 12 metres either side of the spur-line is an almost sheer jungle gradient, which requires hand over hand crawling to scale. The gradient cannot be discerned from this photograph.

  

KNLAF: This Karen Commando is about to fire upon approaching Burmese soldiers as they appear over the edge of the steep sides of the Spur-line. ( Most of  the negatives I created during my career were destroyed as the result of a domestic dispute, including a small folder containing my best negatives and transparencies; during a period of seperation from my second ex-wife. Doh!)

Coup d'etat in the Philippines: Lumbia Airport on the outskirts of Cagayan D'Oro on the southern Island of Mindinao: This young Marine is pensive as he sits with his comrades while they are told they will be leading the first assault wave during the dawn attack against the rebel held Army instalation called 'Camp Evangelista'. He was killed  in the first five minutes, I tried to find him in vain. I usually try to stay close to the kids that I feature in my stories.

ANKI: Armée National Kampucea Independent: Cambodian guerrillas loyal to the Monarchy these Sihanoukist guerrillas caused the Vietnamese backed regime some serious grief. Trained by the SAS (Thatcher denies it, duh) in small weapons and tactics, demolition and a whole gamut of nasty tactics. This particularly amicable looking chap was my body-guard. (original image; scanned colour print)

N.B: LOVE LIGHT & PEACE!

Weasel Words

Weasel words is an informal term for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. For example, an advertisement may use a weasel phrase such as "up to 50% off on all products"; this is misleading because the audience is invited to imagine many items reduced by the proclaimed 50%, but the words taken literally mean only that no discount will exceed 50%, and in practice the vendor is free to not reduce any prices and still remain faithful to the wording of the advertisement.

The use of weasel words to avoid making an outright assertion is a synonym to tergiversate. Weasel words can imply meaning far beyond the claim actually being made. Some weasel words may also have the effect of softening the force of a potentially loaded or otherwise controversial statement through some form of understatement, for example using detensifiers such as "somewhat" or "in most respects".

Verb

to tergiversate (third-person singular simple present tergiversates, present participle tergiversating, simple past and past participle tergiversated)

1. (intransitive) To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to deliberately obfuscate.

2. (intransitive) To change sides or affiliation; to apostatize.
From Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia [edited for clarity]


Paulie