Paradise Lost - Warsaw Progresja Letnia Scena 22-07-22

 

First encountered Paradise Lost live at Castle Donington in 1995 and thought they were the band of the day, so it was nice to catch up with them in Warsaw Friday night.

Must say that Enchantment works incredibly well as a coming on song.

And doing Draconian Times from start to finish worked well, of course.

Huge queues for getting a beer though, possibly due to the hot and balmy evening:

 

Eastern Polish Red Sundown

 

Nice few shots from an Eastern Polish sundown here, really like how the cabbage column is almost illuminated below:

The tomato tent almost looked illuminated too:

The whole place had a kind of mystical aura about it, as the red sundown transformed the whole environment.

Removing a Prickly Thorn Bush

 Really enjoyed the challenge of removing a prickly thorn bush from our garden in Eastern Poland.

This job had to be done slowly and strategically, first removing a lot of the outer branches:

 

When all the greenery had been removed, that's when a bit of saw work was needed to make it manageable for pulling out.

 

Thankfully, the bush was now small enough to easily yank out.

The bush was a real nuisance as it attracted lots of insects and was positioned right next to the gazebo.

Revitalising the Compost Heap

 

Spent getting on for two weeks in Eastern Poland recently doing many things in the garden, one of which was revitalising the compost heap at the back of the barn.

The first task was to get rid of some stinging nettle invaders so as to have space to work on the compost heap:

Then, the task was to dig out all wood (e.g. branches) with a pitch fork and relocate it to a wood pile further away from the back of the barn.

After doing these two basic tasks, the compost heap looked a whole lot better and less of an eyesore:

Dinesh D'Souza: What's So Great About Christianity

 

Bought this wonderful Christian apologetic work shortly after it was published in 2007, but I've only just got round to reading it properly, cover to cover.

 

The central message I get from the book is that academic Christianity not only holds its own with academic unbelief, but also gets the better of it.

 

I'm really enjoying the content of the book: how the Crusades were a just war to combat 2-3 centuries of Islamic expansionism; how St. Thomas Aquinas' five ways of naturally showing the existence of God are still more than relevant today; how evolution poses no threat to religion as it amounts to coded design (plus God lies outside time and space, anyway); how modern atheist/secular regimes have killed infinitely more people than any Christian (or any other religious) leaders etc.

 

Hats off to Dinesh D'Souza for this remarkable book which is both highly erudite and readable. Find it as equally interesting and meaningful as Charles Taylor's A Secular Age, but much less heavy-going.

Have read that Dinesh D'Souza comes from a Catholic background in India while currently attending an evangelical kind of church in the USA (and NOT renouncing his Catholic background). This seems to shine through in What's So Great About Christianity as D'Souza appears to, for example, effortlessly fuse a keen knowledge of the Bible with a sensitive awareness of Thomism. Thus, in some ways the book may be viewed as an expansive work of Christian inter-religious experience (without any of the narrow trappings and limitations of ecumenism, of course).

Hornet's Nest in the Gazebo

 

Of all things, a hornets' nest in the gazebo in Eastern Poland.

Fortunately, a knowledgeable neighbour knew how to take care of it.

Warsaw: Firemen's Training Place

 Approaching the firemen's training place in the Marymont district of Warsaw:

Near the door, there was a memorial to Fathrer Jerzy Popiełuszko who was murdered by communist security police officers  in 1984:

Benediction

 

Benediction after the Old Latin Mass from the first Sunday after Corpus Christi a few weeks ago.

So happy that I have relatively straightforward access to the Old Latin Mass in Warsaw.

Kotek on the Table

 

Kotek looking nice and relaxed, making himself at home on the table.

He was so comfortable that he became completely sprawled out: