October 26, 2026 a thought for today, A tongue is not necessary to declare love. Welsh Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “y is for....”. I used one of my yellow daffodil image for this one. 

The next assignment was “frosty or icy”. I used another from the
archives. This one is a snow pile on my neighbor’s gate. 

The last one for yesterday was “scary”. Yet another from the archives. I haven’t been too attentive to the Halloween decorations this year. This on was taken last year in one of the neighborhood yards. 

Life today. First off, I have been trying for a virtual visit with two of my grandsons that I have been unable to date to “see” as much as I would like. I was able to finally get my tablet to work so I had sound and made contact with them yesterday. It is so good to be able to see their face and hear their voices. I have had contact two of my other great grand children when we all have time at the same time. The other two great grand children of my sextet are in town so I can see them in person now and then.

Another happening yesterday was the introduction to the new “bulletin” at church. It seems to have been well accepted generally. It is a totally new format. I worked on generating a new template to match the old one. It looks like with a little more work it would be an option to use. The program I used for all my church work was “discontinued” so I had to come up with something. Now I am working on a template for the newsletter, that will determine if I will continue with it monthly or give it up. A friend at church suggested that she thought that Copilot could generate a template that would be as workable as the original, so I did some research. AI says that is not possible. Copilot doesn’t completely duplicate the original. 

Tami came over today to help Sue with some badly needed paperwork. It looks like it is going to take some time to get it all ironed out. 

I have been able to get several things on my list done today, with a couple put off until tomorrow. I have the bulletin for this week completed, some more work done on the newsletter template and the photos for today ready for upload. 

There is some “street work” going on in the neighborhood that is suppose to last all week. There are several heavy duty trucks involved so they are going up and down the street. 

The word to ponder today is eternal.  Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. Victor Hugo. I live in company with a body, a silent companion, exacting and eternal. Eugene Delacroix. Energy is eternal delight. William Blake. "Know thyself," said the old philosopher, "improve thyself," saith the new. Our great object in time is not to waste our passions and gifts on the things external that we must leave behind, but that we cultivate within us all that we can carry into the eternal progress beyond. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Hatred does not cease in this world by hating, but by not hating; this is an eternal truth. Buddha. Unjust dominion cannot be eternal. Seneca. I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. Thomas Jefferson. To wisdom belongs the intellectual apprehension of things eternal; to knowledge, the rational apprehension of things temporal. Saint Augustine. Nature is the most thrifty thing in the world; she never wastes anything; she undergoes change, but there is no annihilation, the essence remains - matter is eternal. Horace Binney. If a man's eye is on the Eternal, his intellect will grow. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal. John Philpot Curran. Hope springs eternal in the human breast. Alexander Pope. Our activity should consist in placing ourselves in a state of susceptibility to Divine impressions, and pliability to all the operations of the Eternal Word. Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon. The problem of restoring to the world original and eternal beauty is solved by redemption of the soul. Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is only one thing better than tradition and that is the original and eternal life out of which all tradition takes its rise. James Russell Lowell. 

Article summary. I try to stay away from discussing religion and politics as much as I can but the title interested me in that it indicated how religion can help the rest of your life in a positive way even if there is a reason that visiting a place of worship regularly for one reason or another stops. I feel a foundation is the best beginning for a happy and successful life. I wanted to take a look at this opinion. The title is  Faith still shapes morals and values even after people are ‘done’ with religion. Philip Schwadel, Professor of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Sam Hardy, Professor of Psychology, Brigham Young University. At theconversation.com. In the opening of the article it is mentioned that in 2019 44% of American claimed “belief in God is necessary for ‘moral and good values’”. It builds on morals and values in “multiple pathways”. Some are, it shapes how we think about the world, it “fosters” good habits and is a “web” to social connections. Then it asks what happens when some “fall away” from going to church. In the article it calls them “religious dones”. The two authors of this article got together to test “religion residue effect” among Americans. They concentrated on how the “dones” keep the morals and values of religion. The “dones” are two groups, some have never been religious and those who are “religious” in thought and feelings and behaviors. One of the studies was based on how many maintain things like volunteering and giving in charity after they have dropped away. Here they measured “care/harm, fairness/cheating, ingroup loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion and purity/degradation”. They found in this test that the religious folks supported those just mentioned “five moral foundations”. They found that the currently religious were more likely than the “dones” and the “dones” were more likely that the “consistently” non religious to “endorse” the five moral foundations. A second test or study measured the values that are “core” to “organizing principles in people’s lives, and religion is positively associated with the values of security, conformity, tradition and benevolence”. In this test they measured by age, from 10 to growing older. In young adults the “dones” were more likely to support social values in security, conformity and tradition than the non religious. The authors/testers feel the projects “show that the religion residue effect is real”. In other words the “dones” values and morals were more “similar” to the religious than the nonreligious. One interesting fact they provided that “religious observance on values appears to be strongest among former evangelical Protestants”, more so than “done” from mainline Protestantism, Catholicism and other religious traditions”. The longer the “dones” are away from the church the less and less they feel the residual affects. As the article progressed it pointed out that there is a growing number of nonreligious. By 2020 the percentage of nonreligious had quadrupled, as in “3 in 10 Americans having no religion”. That made it more nonreligious than anyone single “religious tradition, including the two largest: Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism”. As it is ending, they say that it seems that “those who leave religion are not the same as those who have never been religious”. At the last the authors say “this distinction will become increasingly important to understanding the morals and values of the American people.”

Photos in my life today

The first upload is “z is for ....”. Zipper, there are six of them in this image. 

The second challenge is “my choice”. It is one of my series of “overlays”. This is a set of books with a vintage style aged texture. 

The last assessment for the day is “fence”. I like ‘different’ styles of fences
and gates. I found this one as I was driving through the neighborhood. 

Creamed Chicken on Biscuits sounds good for dinner. 

Joy

my upload to Find Art America ..... a luffa on a multi colored scarf

want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)