From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord’s name is to be praised – Psalm 113:3
Every morning on my way to work, I cannot help but marvel at the orange hue of the sky as the sun slowly rises. Sometimes, it looks like the sky is on fire. The heavens are declaring the glory of the Lord and displaying the marvelous works of His hands.
It’s good to take a moment just to appreciate the beauty around us and praise God for it.
Photo by Shutterstock
Source: Bible Gateway
“You don’t have to be a genius to see that this relationship will not last,” commented Marie as she and Caitlin sat in the corner of a trendy restaurant in the fashionable district of Chelsea. It was celebratory dinner party for the opening of Ava’s boutique in the area. She had invited Marie, her sister-in-law who had in turn invited Rachel. They were sitting having non-alcoholic drinks after a delicious dinner while the others were on the dance floor.
Marie’s remark was directed at Ava and her boyfriend, Reid, a businessman/artist. They had been dating for less than a year now. They were dancing but he seemed a bit uncomfortable. Clearly, he didn’t like the public display of affection but Ava didn’t seem to care. This was her way of letting the other women know that he was not available.
As Rachel watched them, she couldn’t deny that they made a very attractive couple. Ava had thick dark brown hair that tumbled down in unruly waves down her tanned back. She looked absolutely stunning in the strapless fuchsia dress. Several male eyes were on her but she only had eyes for Reid. Rachel’s gaze shifted to Reid. He was tall and very attractive. He looked amazing in the navy blue striped suit, navy blue shirt and matching tie. His thick dark brown hair was neatly combed as usual.
She remembered the first time she met Reid. It was at a mutual friend’s place. It was early autumn and as she came out of the cottage to go for a walk in the gardens, she noticed him standing among stalks of wheat which seemed rather out of place to her. She expected the grounds to be covered in green grass and surrounded by trees with changing colors. He was wearing a blue sweater over a checkered shirt and dark blue trousers. He didn’t notice her at first as she stood there just staring at him and thinking that he was drop dead gorgeous. Then, he turned his head slightly to the right and their eyes met.
Shortly after, he went over to her, his eyes never leaving her face. She was wearing a black and white striped shirt and black pants. She hoped her hair looked fine. He held out his hand. “Hello, I’m Reid,” he said.
She smiled as he clasped her hand. “Rachel.” After he released her hand, she folded her arms. She saw the way his eyes slipped over her before they settled on her face again.
“Do you have a jacket?” he asked. “It’s a bit cool today.”
“It’s inside with my handbag,” she said. “I came out to go for a walk and forgot how cool it was. I’ll go quickly and get it.” She went back to the house and when she went back, he was standing where she had left him.
“Do you mind if I join you?” he asked.
She shook her head, smiling. “I would like the company,” she said.
“Did you come alone?”
“Yes,” she turned to look at him as they headed for the gardens. “Did you?”
“I came with Ava.”
“Ava Parker?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know her?”
“Not very well. She’s my friend Marie’s sister-in-law.”
“Yes, I have met Marie. A very pleasant woman.”
As they walked he asked her questions about herself. She learned that he met Ava at a gallery where his artwork was on display. She suddenly stopped and stared at him. “Are you Reid Faulkner?” She asked.
He nodded with a smile.
“I’ve seen some of your paintings and they are amazing. They are so real. My favorite so far is of the homeless young girl. You did it in black and white. It was beautiful and haunting at the same time. It’s now hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in London.”
“I like to paint about current issues,” he said. “I’m more into realism than the other forms of art like impressionism and romanticism.”
“You captured the sadness in her eyes, the dirty fingernails and the hopelessness of her situation. Whatever became of her?”
“She’s in a homeless shelter for the youth now. When she learned that her portrait was in the gallery, she was over the moon.”
“That’s great. How do you do it—your painting, I mean?”
“I sketch and then, I paint. I don’t have to have the person pose for me.”
They continued walking and then they decided to head back to the cottage. When they got there, Ava was waiting in front and as soon as she saw them, she hurried over to Reid. “There you are,” she exclaimed, slipping her arm in his. “I was wondering where you had gone off to. Oh, hello, Rachel,” she said, her green eyes shifting to her and pursing her lips. The displeasure on her face was unmistakable. She tugged gently on Reid’s arm. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet. Excuse us, Rachel.”
Reid barely got to give Rachel a backward glance before he was whisked away. They hadn’t had a moment alone after that. Ava saw to that. However, she couldn’t prevent them from looking at each other every opportunity they got and on her way home, Rachel couldn’t stop thinking about Reid and how much she wanted to see him again. And couple months later, here they were in a Chelsea restaurant.
She turned now to Marie who was looking at her. “You were somewhere else for a bit,” she said.
“I was just remembering something,” she said evasively. “Why don’t you think their relationship will last?”
“She’s too clingy and men don’t like that. They don’t like to be smothered. Besides, I don’t think he’s as into her as she’s into him. It’s all in the body language, my dear. Look at him. The dance is over and he looks relieved. Why don’t we invite them to join us?” She waved at the couple as they parted and were heading back to their table.
Rachel’s eyes went immediately to Reid and her heart began to beat fast. She smoothed her hair down and rubbed the palms of her hands on the skirt of her blue elastic waist dress. Reid’s gaze went first to Marie and then to Rachel where they remained. Ava noticed and said, “Why don’t we go over to the bar and sit there or outside on the terrace where it’s a lot cooler?”
At that moment, Marie got up from her seat and said to Ava, “Why don’t we go and freshen up?” and she grabbed her arm and escorted her away before she could object.
Alone, Reid sat down beside Rachel. “It’s good to see you again,” he said quietly. “I was hoping that we would meet again. How have you been?”
She smiled and tried to act calm although she was nervous. He was staring at her, his expression was intense. “It’s good to see you again, too,” she admitted, sounding a bit breathless. “I’m happy to see you and I’ve been doing well.”
“Are you busy tomorrow afternoon?” he asked.
“No.”
“I’d like you to come over to my studio,” he said. He took out his wallet and removed a business card. He scribbled something at the back of it and handed it to her. As she read the name and address of the studio, he added, “I’d like to paint you.”
She glanced up in surprise. “Paint me?” she exclaimed. “But why would you want to paint me?”
“You’re beautiful,” he said simply. “I want to capture that beauty.”
“I’m not sure,” she said, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. “I’ve never had such a proposition before.” He thinks I’m beautiful.
“Think about it. I will look out for you tomorrow. If I don’t see you, I’ll know that you decided not to do it and although, I will be disappointed, I will understand.”
“Thank you,” she said and she put the card in her handbag. She didn’t feel pressured now.
“If you like, you can still come to my studio just to see my work.”
“I’d like that,” she said.
He smiled and just then, Ava and Marie joined them. Ava’s eyes flashed at Rachel.
Marie said to Rachel, “I think we should leave now,” she said. “It’s getting late and I have a busy day tomorrow with the hubby and kids. Ava, congratulations on your new business venture. I’ve no doubt that it will be a great success. Reid, as always it is a pleasure to see you.”
Rachel got up and came round the table so that she was standing next to Reid. She could feel his eyes on her. She said goodnight first to Ava whose expression was hostile and then she turned to Reid, holding out her hand. He took it and her pulse raced when she felt him squeeze it gently. Their eyes held for a brief moment and then she turned and walked away.
On their way to her car, Marie remarked, “There’s something going on between Reid and you. I sensed it and I know Ava did too, that’s why she didn’t want to leave the two of you alone. So, what did he say to you?”
“He invited me to go to his studio tomorrow. He wants to paint me.”
“Wow, that’s a great compliment. I wish I had an artist ask to paint me. Well, are you going to do it or not?”
“I’m not sure…”
“I think you should do it. It might be fun and besides, it gives the two of you a chance to be alone.”
“But, what about Ava?”
“Ava’s history. I won’t be surprised if he breaks up with her tonight.”
“I don’t want to be the cause for their breakup.”
“It would have happened even if you weren’t in the picture. Don’t feel bad about it. Ava’s not the right woman for Reid. And that’s a fact that’s clear to everyone, except her, unfortunately.”
Rachel sighed. “She already doesn’t like me and now I’m giving her a good reason to hate me.”
“Don’t worry about Ava,” Marie advised her. “She’ll get over Reid in time.”
Rachel thought about it as she lay in bed that night and by morning, she had decided that she would go to the studio. It was on a quiet street and located on the second floor of a warehouse. The door was open and she went in. There was an easel with a blank sheet of paper on it. Framed paintings stacked against the walls. Bright light effused the spacious room. She could smell the paints and she smiled as she looked around. It was such a treat being in an artist’s studio and seeing his work. There were a couple of floor lamps, chairs, a stool and a table with the paints.
As she was studying and admiring the paintings on the wall adjacent to the windows, Reid came in. He smiled when he saw her. “Hello,” he said. “I’m glad you came. I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding the place.”
She turned toward him, thinking how sexy he looked in the black shirt and blue jeans. “No, I didn’t have any trouble finding it. It’s a really nice with lots of natural light. I was just admiring your work. Some of them, I recognized. Has Ava ever been here?”
“Once. Would you like something to drink?”
She shook her head. “Not right now, thanks.”
“So, what have you decided?”
“I’ve decided to let you paint me.”
He grinned, rubbing his hands together. “Splendid. Now, all you have to do is sit on the stool over there and try not to move. You can set your handbag and jacket on the chair over there. Thanks for agreeing to do this, Rachel.”
She did as he instructed and climbed up on the stool. As she sat down, she was glad that she had worn jeans instead of the long black skirt with the side slit. She watched as he mixed the paints and then stood behind the easel and got to work. After two hours of not moving, she was relieved when he set his brush down and stepped from behind the easel.
“We’re done for today,” he said.
She slid down from the stool and stretched. “How long will it take to complete?” she asked.
“Two weeks. You don’t have to sit every time because I know you’re busy. I have a sketch that I can work from.”
“I can come in the evenings after work,” she offered.
“That would be great. Are you hungry?”
She nodded.
“There’s a bistro around the corner where we can have something to eat or we can order take out delivery and eat here. Which would you prefer?”
“Take out.”
They had Thai food delivered to them and they sat cross legged on the floor, eating and talking. It was dark outside by the time they left the studio. Before they parted, they arranged to meet again at the studio the following day. For two weeks, she went to the studio and sat for two hours as he painted her. Finally, the day came when she would see the finished painting. Excited, she let herself into the studio and closed the door.
She went over to the chair to put her jacket on it when Reid came into the room. She turned and her breath caught in her throat when she saw that he was not wearing a shirt. It was in his hand. He stopped short when he saw her. “You’re early,” he commented as he pulled it on but didn’t button it. He went over to where she stood. Flustered, she turned away.
She felt his hands on her shoulders turning her around to face him. Their eyes met and what she saw in his made her mouth go dry. Desire shone in their depths. “Rachel,” he muttered huskily. “You must know by now how I feel about you.”
The feelings churning inside her were on her face. “What about Ava?” she asked, trying not to look at his chest.
“I ended my relationship with her that night at the restaurant. She blamed you. She saw the attraction between us. I told her that I would have ended our relationship even if you and I had not met. I told her that we were not right for each other. I felt badly about it but I couldn’t continue pretending that everything was fine when it wasn’t.”
“I feel sorry for her but, I can’t say that I’m sorry that you’re available now…”
“Oh, Rachel…” he moaned before he lowered his head and kissed her. She kissed him back, her arms going around his neck as she pressed against him. The sunlight flooded the room, bathing them in its warmth as they exchanged passionate kisses. “I love you,” he murmured against her lips.
“I love you too,” she whispered. She had loved him that day when she saw him standing there among the wheat, looking like he just had stepped out of the pages of GQ.
Several hours later, he unveiled the painting and her mouth dropped open when she saw. Moved to tears, she said, “It’s beautiful.”
His eyes were tender as he looked at her. “That’s how I see you,” he said quietly. “You’re beautiful within and without. This painting is going to be for my private viewing. It’s not going to be placed in any gallery.”
“Good,” she said, putting her arms around his waist. “I don’t relish the idea of hanging in public for everyone to gawk at me. Both the painting and I are for your eyes only.” And with that, she reached up and kissed him.
Sources: End Youth Homelessness; Reitman’s; Social Lifestyle Magazine; Albert’s Club
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path – Psalm 119:105
Right now I can walk into any bookstore and buy a Bible. There are so many to choose from. There are Bibles for men, women, teens, children and couples. They are in different languages. And there are different versions. You have Study Bibles, Devotional Bibles, Life Application Bibles and even Spiritual Warfare Bibles. Then we have audio Bibles, online Bibles. The list goes on and on. Some of us have more than one Bible. Some churches give out free Bibles.
Bibles are available in most countries but not to new believers in Asia. Many of them don’t own a Bible. It’s hard for us to imagine not being able to read our Bibles everyday. It’s where we go when we want to know more about Jesus or to grow spiritually and deepen our walk with Him. We can use our Bibles for personal or group studies, witnessing and worship. Believers in Asia aren’t able to do any of these things. Can you imagine going to church and no one has a Bible, not even the pastor?
Try to imagine how different life would be for you if you didn’t have a Bible. Now think of the believers in Asia who don’t have God’s Word to guide them daily in their spiritual lives. Imagine not being able to share the Word with others.
The Bible is more than a book. It is the living Word of God. It brings hope, encouragement, light and joy to those who read it. It is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It protects us from the attacks of the Devil. It was the Word of God that Jesus used three times to defeat Satan in the wilderness. It reveals who God is to us. We learn about His will for our lives. We have the Gospels which tell us about Jesus and His ministry. It is from the Bible that we learn that, “…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
The Word of God teaches us what our responsibilities are to God, society, authorities and our neighbors (Romans 12). It gives us instructions on how to keep ourselves from conforming to the world (Philippians 4:8; Galatians 5:15). It shows us how we can follow Jesus’ example when it comes to prayer, our relationship with God and how we treat others. The Bible is our guide to right living and right thinking. God speaks to us through the Word.
We go to the Bible when we have questions and doubts. It addresses our fears and encourages us. Paul explained why the Scriptures are so important in the believer’s life. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work“ (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 Complete Jewish Bible). The Bible is a must have for every believer.
Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Help to bring the wonderful words of life to South Asia. Find out how here.
Source: Gospel for Asia
I just read in the Stabroek News that the 68th Cannes Film Festival unveiled its official poster featuring legendary actress Ingrid Bergman in a tribute to what would have been her 100th birthday this year. I think that’s wonderful. She was an actress I truly admired and appreciated. She had gentle beauty and an air of quiet refinement. She was very classy. I remember her in films like Casablanca, Gaslight, Anastasia and For Whom the Bells Toll. She acted with some of Hollywood’s A list male stars–Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant and Gary Cooper. It would have been interesting to see her star opposite Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Burt Lancaster.
Acting was something Ingrid always knew she wanted to become. Her father, a Swedish artist and photographer wanted her to become an opera star and had her take voice lessons for three years. She wore her mother’s clothes and staged plays in her father’s empty studio. He documented all of her birthdays with a borrowed camera. He died when she was thirteen. Her German mother had died when she was two years old.
After her father’s death, Ingrid was sent to live with an aunt who died just six months later from a heart disease. She moved in with another aunt and uncle who had five children. Her aunt Elsa was the first one who told Ingrid when she was 11 years old that her mother may have “some Jewish blood”, and that her father was aware of this long before they got married. Her aunt cautioned her about telling others about her possible ancestry as “there might be some difficult times coming.” This reminds me of Queen Esther who was intially cautioned by her uncle not to let anyone know that she was a Jew.
In 1932 when she was 17, Ingrid had only one opportunity to become an actress by entering an acting competition with the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. For Ingrid it was a terrible moment. She recalled: As I walked off the stage, I was in mourning. I was at a funeral. My own. It was the death of my creative self. My heart had truly broken…they didn’t think I was even worth listening to, or watching.”
This couldn’t have be further from the truth as she soon learned after meeting one of the judges who told her, “We loved your security and your impertinance. We loved you and told each other that there was no reason to waste time as there were dozens of other entrants still to come. We didn’t need to waste any time with you. We knew you were a natural and great. Your future as an actress was settled.” What a thrill and relief that must have been for the aspiring actress. She received a scholarship to the state-sponsored Royal Dramatic Theatre School where Greta Garbo had earned a similar scholarship just years earlier.
Ingrid’s dream was now a reality. She was given a part in a new play and over the summer break, she was hired by a Swedish film studio which led to her departure from the Royal Dramatic Theatre a year later to work full-time in films. She starred in a dozen films in Sweden, including En kvinnas ansikte which was later remade as A Woman’s Face, starring Joan Crawford. Ingrid made one film in Germany in 1938.
Then it was off to Hollywood…Thanks to David O. Selznick, she starred in Intermezzo: A Love Story, her first acting role in the United States. It was a remake of her 1935 Swedish film, Intermezzo. Ingrid didn’t plan to stay in Hollywood. She thought she would complete this film and return home to Sweden to be with her husband, Dr. Peter Lindstrom and their daughter, Pia.
Selznick had concerns about Ingrid. “She didn’t speak English, she was too tall, her name sounded too German, and her eyebrows were too thick.” However, Ingrid was accepted without having to modify her looks. Selznick let her have her way because he understood her fear of Hollywood makeup artists who might turn her into someone she wouldn’t recognize. He told them to back off. Besides, he believe that her natural good looks would compete successfully with Hollywood’s “synthetic razzle-dazzle.”
Selznick, who was filming Gone With the Wind at the same time, shared his early impressions of Ingrid in a letter to William Hebert, his publicity director :
Miss Bergman is the most completely conscientious actress with whom I have ever worked, in that she thinks of absolutely nothing but her work before and during the time she is doing a picture … She practically never leaves the studio, and even suggested that her dressing room be equipped so that she could live here during the picture. She never for a minute suggests quitting at six o’clock or anything of the kind … Because of having four stars acting in Gone with the Wind, our star dressing-room suites were all occupied and we had to assign her a smaller suite. She went into ecstasies over it and said she had never had such a suite in her life … All of this is completely unaffected and completely unique and I should think would make a grand angle of approach to her publicity … so that her natural sweetness and consideration and conscientiousness become something of a legend … and is completely in keeping with the fresh and pure personality and appearance which caused me to sign her.
Not surprisingly, Intermezzo was a huge success and resulted in Ingrid becoming a star. She left quite an impression on Hollywood. And Selznick’s appreciation of her uniqueness made he and his wife Irene remain important friends to Ingrid throughout her career.
Before making Casablanca, Ingrid made one last film in Sweden and appearing in three moderately successful films, Adam Had Four Sons, Rage in Heaven and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. According to her biographer, she felt guilty that she had misjudged the situation in Germany. She had dismissed the Nazis as a “temporary aberration, ‘too foolish to be taken seriously.’ She didn’t believe that Germany start a war because the good people of the country would not allow it. Sadly, she was wrong. She felt guilty for the rest of her life and when she was in Germany at the end of the war, she had been afraid to go with the others to witness the atrocitites of the Nazi extermination camps.
In 1942, she starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, a movie famous for its wonderul lines and the famous song, “As Time Goes By”. I was surprised to read that Ingrid did not consider it to be one of her favorite performances. She said, “I made so many films which were more important, but the only one people ever want to talk about is that one with Bogart.” I thought she and Bogart were great together.
I think I only saw For Whom the Bell Tolls once but really liked it. My sister and I liked how she looked with her short, blond, curly hair and a “sun-kissed complexion”. I read that Ernest Hemmingway wanted her to play the part of Maria. When he met her, after studying her, he exclaimed, “You are Maria!” When Ernest told Ingrid that she would have to cut her hair to play the part, she was quick to respond, “To get that part, I’d cut my head off!”
For Whom the Bell Tolls, was the film that saved the song, “As Time Goes By” from being removed from Casablanca. Warner Brothers wanted to substitute the song and planned to re-shoot some scenes with Ingrid but thanks to her hair-cut, they had to drop the idea as there would be a problem with continuity even if she wore a wig.
A year later, Ingrid won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Gaslight. It was a gripping and suspenseful movie of a wife being driven to madness by her husband, masterfully played by Charles Boyer. She next starred as a nun in The Bells of St. Mary opposite Bing Cosby, garnering her third consecutive nomination for Best Actress. She came in a succession of Alfred Hitchock movies, Spellbound, Notorious and Under Capricorn (I never heard of this one).
During her marriage to Lindstrom, Ingrid had a brief affair with Gregory Peck. This affair was kept private until five years after Ingrid’s death, when Gregory revealed in an interview with Brad Darrach of People, “All I can say is that I had a real love for her (Bergman), and I think that’s where I ought to stop…. I was young. She was young. We were involved for weeks in close and intense work.”
Unlike her affair with Gregory Peck, the one with the Italian film director, Roberto Rossellini was a very public one. Although Ingrid received another Best Actress nomination for Joan of Arc in 1948, the film was not a hit, partly because news of her affair with Rossellini broke while the movie was still in theatres. It was her admiration for Rossellini which had led Ingrid to write him a letter, expressing her admiration and suggesting that she make a film with him. She was cast in his film, Stromboli and during production, she fell in love with him and they began an affair. She became pregnant with their son, Bergman became pregnant with their son, Renato Roberto Ranaldo Giusto Giuseppe (“Robin”) Rossellini and this affair caused a huge scandal in the United States. She was denounced on the floor of the United States senate and Ed Sullivan chose not to have her appear on his show despite a poll showing that the public wanted her there. However, Steve Allen had her on his equally popular show, noting, “the danger of trying to judge artistic activity through the prism of one’s personal life.”
The scandal drove Ingrid back to Italy, leaving her husband and daughter. She went through a very public divorce and custody battle for their daughter. She and Lindstrom divorced a week after her son was born and she married Rossellini in Mexico. In 1952, Ingrid gave birth to twin daughters Isotta Ingrid Rossellini and Isabella Rossellini. Five years later she divorced their father and the following year she married Lars Schmidt, a theatrical entrepreneur from a wealthy Swedish shipping family. That marriage lasted until 1975 when they divorced.
In 1956, Ingrid starred in the movie, Anatasia. It was her return to the American screen and her second Academy Award for Best Actress which her best friend Cary Grant accepted for her. She made her first appearance in Hollywood since the scandal when she was the presenter of the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 1956 Academy Awards. She received a standing ovation after being introduced by Cary Grant. In 1969, she starred opposite Walter Matthau and Goldie Hawn in the hilarious and delightful movie, Cactus Flower. It was nice seeing Ingrid take a turn in a light romantic comedy.
In 1972, US Senator Charles H. Percy entered an apology in to the Congressional Record for Edwin C. Johnson’s attack on Ingrid 22 years ago. In 1974 she won her third Oscar for Murder on the Orient Express, earning her the distinction of being one of the few actresses ever to receive three Oscars. Her final role was as Golda Meir in A Woman Called Golda. She was offered the part because, “People believe you and trust you, and this is what I want, because Golda Meir had the trust of the people.” This interested Ingrid and the role was greatly significant for her because she still carried the guilt of misjudging the situation in Germany during World War II. Ingrid was frequently ill during the film although she hardly showed it or complained. She was a real trooper. Four months after the film was completed, on her 67th birthday in London, Ingrid died of breast cancer. Her daughter, Pia accepted her Emmy.
Ingrid was a woman of grace, natural beauty who brought realism and dignity to her roles. She was a star with no temperament, making her a delight to work with, unpretentious, unique, hard-working, “a great star” who “always strove to be a ‘true’ woman.” She was not a saint but a woman with real emotions. She was not afraid to speak out against racism. During a press conference in Washington, D.C. where she was promoting, Joan of Lorraine, she protested against the racial segregation she witnessed firsthand at the theatre where she was performing. This drew a lot of publicity and some hate mail. In a news column in the Herald-Journal, she is reported as saying, “I deplore racial discrimination in any form. To think it would be permitted in the nation’s capital of all places! I really had not known that there were places in the United States–entertainment places which are for all the people–where everybody could not go.”
Notes to Women salute this remarkable woman and actress who won our hearts and deepest admiration with her grace and courage. We celebrate one of the greatest leading ladies that ever graced the silver screen. She once said, “I am an actress and I am interested in acting, not in making money.” Dear Ingrid, we are so very thankful that you chose acting over opera.
I have no regrets. I wouldn’t have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say.
I can do everything with ease on the stage, whereas in real life I feel too big and clumsy. So I didn’t choose acting. It chose me.
I don’t think anyone has the right to intrude in your life, but they do. I would like people to separate the actress and the woman.
Time is shortening. But every day that I challenge this cancer and survive is a victory for me.
If you took acting away from me, I’d stop breathing.
Sources: Stabroek News ; Wikipedia; IMDB; Brainy Quotes; Herald-Journal
Two women, worlds apart and living very different lives. Their worlds collided when Nazanin Afshin-Jam opened her email one afternoon and saw a message marked “Urgent.”
Nazanin Afshin-Jam is an Iranian-Canadian model, singer, and human rights activist. She is a former Miss World Canada and Miss World first runner-up, and has been an advocate for human rights in her role as president and co-founder of Stop Child Executions. She and her family immigrated to Canada in 1981. Nazanin is married to Peter MacKay, Canada’s Minister of National Defence.
An international model and actress, Nazanin became Miss World Canada in 2003 and joined in the Miss World contest in Sanya, China, ranking second. She entered the Miss World competition whose motto is “beauty with a purpose” to have a stronger platform to speak on human rights issues. Afshin-Jam traveled worldwide representing many causes including helping victims of the tsunami in India and Sri Lanka, raising funds for the earthquake victims of Bam, supporting fistula patients in Ethiopia, fundraising for Variety the Children’s Charity, bridging the digital divide through youth advocacy and raising awareness on the practice of Bear Bile Farming in China.
Afshin-Jam continues to address human rights abuses worldwide particularly in relation to women and children in Iran and the Middle East including speeches at UN, EU, Canadian and UK Parliament. She has had media features on CNN, BBC, CBC, FOX, Al Jazeera and numerous radio shows, talk shows and print including Glamour, Seventeen, Chatelaine, Flare and Vanity Fair magazine. Just recently she was on Canada AM promoting her book, The Tale of Two Nazanins in which she writes about Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi, a young Iranian woman who was sentenced to hang for stabbing one of three men who tried to rape her and her niece in Karaj in March 2005.
The former beauty queen started a campaign to help save the life of her namesake including a petition which attracted more than 350,000 signatures worldwide. She has also dedicated her song “Someday the Revolution song” -one of the 12 songs on her album -Someday to Nazanin Fatehi and some other youth in Iran. Eventually, with pressure from the international community, Nazanin Fatehi was granted a new trial by the head of Judiciary in June 2006. In January 2007, Nazanin Fatehi was exhonerated of murder charges and was released on January 31, 2007 after Afshin-Jam raised $43,000 on-line for bail while her lawyers worked on her case. For her efforts in helping save Nazanin Fatehi, Afshin-Jam was awarded the “hero for human rights award” from Youth For Human Rights International and Artists for Human Rights at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
In 2009, Nazanin starred role of Táhirih in Jack Lenz’s movie , Mona’s Dream, about the life of Mona Mahmudnizhad. That same year, Nazanin along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists about signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com about the Persecution of Bahá’ís. She won the YMCA Power of Peace Award as “Young Emerging Leader”.
Nazanin has written a book which she hopes will bring her leads as to where Nazanin Fatehi and her family are. Since 2010, Nazanin has not heard from the young woman. This experience has opened Nazanin’s eyes to need to mobilize world support to fight injustices against women and she hopes to make a difference on a global scale. Through her speeches and music Afshin-Jam hopes to continue being a “voice for the voiceless” and deliver her messages of freedom, peace and love worldwide.
Notes to Women applaud this beauty who is a woman of action and a champion of human rights. We hope that she will one day be in touch with the young woman whose life she saved.
I didn’t know anything about her
No one else was trying to do anything to help her, so I thought why not me?
Nazanin Afshin-Jam
Earlier this month when I was reading about African American women who made a difference so that I could feature them in the special issue of Notes to Women newsletter, one name kept popping up–Eleanor Roosevelt. I promised myself that I would do a little writeup on her. And here we are.
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world” (http://www.udhr.org/history/biographies/bioer.htm).
She basically believed that charity begins at home. And she reminds me of something a friend once said to me. “The difficulty in following Jesus’ command is that we often pick and choose who we decide is our neighbour. We see our neighbour as the starving, AIDS infected person in the Third World or the orphan in a war torn country, needing our love and care but often perceive the homeless in our community as undeserving of our love.”
Eleanor’s childhood was a dreadfully unhappy one. Her father was an alcoholic who was disowned by his family. Her mother, renowned for her beauty, was distant from her daughter whom she nicknamed “Granny” because she seemed to her old-fashioned. After Anna Roosevelt died of diphtheria in 1892, Eleanor, age eight, was raised by her maternal grandmother. She rarely saw her father thereafter, and he died of drink in 1894 when she was ten. These traumatic experiences affected Eleanor for life and she would harbor a constant yearning for unconditional love (http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/roos-elex.htm).
Life didn’t improve much when when Eleanor married Franklin, a distant cousin and they had six children. Eleanor had to deal with her overbearing mother-in-law who apparently told her grandchildren that their mother only bore them. She tried to control Eleanor, making her daughter-in-law feel utterly dependent.
Then Eleanor found out that Franklin was having an affair with Lucy Mercer, her secretary. She offered him a divorce, but he declined for the sake of his political career and because his mother threatened to disinherit him if he did. He and Eleanor never shared a bedroom after that, but their working relationship was respectful, for the time (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FranklinDRoosevelt).
Eleanor Roosevelt was the first First Lady to be more politically active, involving herself in causes like Civil Rights. Perhaps it was because there was lack of charity in her own home that made Eleanor want to reach out to her community. From early adulthood Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated herself to liberty, justice, and compassion for all.
Racial injustice came to her attention only after she reached the White House. By that time, she was already active in promoting other groups’ causes. Before she married Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905, she worked with the immigrants at the Rivington Street Settlement House. During World War I she helped improve conditions for US servicemen.When Franklin fell ill, leaving him crippled, she once again found herself standing up for someone whose value to society was doubted, this time her own husband. The 1921 experience deepened her concern for society’s unaccepted. Later the same decade she began her work promoting women’s causes. Women had just gained the right to vote, and Eleanor encouraged them to make the most of that right and run for office.
After leaving the White House, Mrs. Roosevelt found herself more free than ever to promote equal rights for African Americans. During her final years she continued fighting as hard and fearlessly as ever. On at least one occassion, the Secret Service warned her not to keep a speaking engagement on civil disobedience. The Ku Klux Klan had put a price on her head and the Secret Service said they could not guarantee her safety. Undeterred, she traveled with another lady and her revolver. Such was her determination, independence, and courage right up to the year she died.
Mrs. Roosevelt was not always successful, even despairing at times of making any progress at all. And not every one of the causes she championed, such as the United Nations, turned out to be all that she hoped. But she used every ounce of her influence, charisma, and political capital for the causes in which she believed. Right or wrong, she fought zealously and courageously, and in most cases the world is a better place because of those fights. This zealous First Lady’s support moved African Americans’ cause ahead by decades
(http://www.blackhistoryreview.com/biography/ERoosevelt.php).
Eleanor Roosevelt came a long way from being an unhappy child and dependent woman to becoming a champion for women’s and civil rights. She was committed to what she believed in.
Be inspired by this remarkable woman who endured so much but in the end gave so much because she cared about the rights of others.
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one
Eleanor Roosevelt
