Day 55, Friday, April 30, 2004, Thoughts for the Day Forum Post [F]
Today, Day 55 of our expedition, is Friday, April 30. It is the 10th day of Ridvan in the Baha'i Faith's calendar, the feast days of Saints Adjutor, Eutropius, Maximus, Quirinus of Neuss, Suitbert the Younger, and Pope Pius V in the Catholic calendar, the third day of Floralia-- the feast of Flora-- in the Roman calendar, St. James the Great Day in the Orthodox Church, and Bealtane's Eve among those of the Pagan and Wiccan faiths. While we are still in the grip of late (or so the meteorologists believe) winter here, in many places on Earth, this day is celebrated as the end of winter and the arrival of spring-- May Day's Eve, Walpurgis Night, Carodejnice.
It is also the observance of the birthday of King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, Queen's Day in the Netherlands, and Liberation Day in Vietnam. It is the day Christopher Columbus was given his commission of exploration, the day the United States made the Louisiana Purchase, the day George Washington took the oath of office to become the first President of the United States, the day Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first people to leave their footprints in concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, the day Casey Jones died trying to make up speed on the Cannonball Express, the day Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide, the day CERN announced the World Wide Web protocols would be free.
It is a day where the old gives way to the new, endings and beginnings, a day to consider our past and look to the future. It seems most appropriate as the day that our Athosian brothers and sisters move to the Mainland to begin a new life.
Take a moment today to set to rest the regrets of the past and welcome in a new chapter for yourself and for Atlantis. And be sure to light a few bonfires-- literally or metaphorically-- in celebration of that future.
--
Connall Gilchrist
Expedition Chaplain
It is also the observance of the birthday of King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, Queen's Day in the Netherlands, and Liberation Day in Vietnam. It is the day Christopher Columbus was given his commission of exploration, the day the United States made the Louisiana Purchase, the day George Washington took the oath of office to become the first President of the United States, the day Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first people to leave their footprints in concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, the day Casey Jones died trying to make up speed on the Cannonball Express, the day Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide, the day CERN announced the World Wide Web protocols would be free.
It is a day where the old gives way to the new, endings and beginnings, a day to consider our past and look to the future. It seems most appropriate as the day that our Athosian brothers and sisters move to the Mainland to begin a new life.
Take a moment today to set to rest the regrets of the past and welcome in a new chapter for yourself and for Atlantis. And be sure to light a few bonfires-- literally or metaphorically-- in celebration of that future.
--
Connall Gilchrist
Expedition Chaplain