On Saturday, April 24th, 2010, over thirty members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia Chorus and principal cast members from the upcoming production of La Traviata converged on the Reading Terminal Market Italian Festival.

Wearing street clothes and  blending in with the crowd, the artists swung into action as the first orchestral strains of the famed were piped through the market, giving a rousing, surprise performance for hundreds of delighted onlookers who were there to enjoy the Italian delicacies and the everyday treats that the Reading Terminal Market has to offer.

The four-minute piece drew an overwhelming crowd, and won a thunderous ovation that included both laughter and tears from the audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zmwRitYO3w

Follow: http://twitter.com/kennethboa
Connect on Facebook: Kenneth Boa

This is an unprecedented technological breakthrough in solar imagery. It gives us new insights into the marvel of our sun which is perfectly fine-tuned for life on earth. We are privileged in our time to see the wonders of creation in ways previously unimagined.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrmUUcr4HXg

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/first-light.html

Lord God, where can I find life but in You? Teach me the error of seeking to reduce You to manageable proportions and to make the invisible visible. Protect me from the subtle forms of idolatry in which I worship and serve something in Your created order above You. I know that only one thing can occupy the center of my being and that if it is not You, it is an idol that is not worthy of my allegiance. I thank You that when I do succumb to the sins of disobedience, Your grace always reaches further than my rebellion. Still, I desire to delight in You above all else, and I am grateful for the gift of Your Word that guides me in the way I should go. Your revelation teaches me how to live and gives me the perspective I so greatly need in a world of uncertainty.

• Have you committed the error of seeking to reduce God to manageable proportions in your life?

Father, You have never left me alone. Even when I feel that You are distant and removed, I know that I am still in Christ, seated with Him at Your right hand. You have allowed seasons of fullness and of dryness, times of abundance and of profound need. I know that You are more interested in my character than in my comfort, and that You use everything to forge godly character in my life. You have called me to fidelity to the process rather than to live only for a product. Give me the grace of holy remembrance, so that I will frequently review all that You have done for me during my journey with You. May I call to mind Your faithful acts, Your provision, Your patience and Your great acts of deliverance. Apart from You, I have nothing and am nothing.

God, I recognize that I did not determine the circumstances of my birth, my abilities, my opportunities, my pathway. It is You who have called and chosen me for Your inscrutable purposes. My times are in Your hands, and during this season of my temporal sojourn as a pilgrim, a wayfarer and a stranger, I know that You are working all things together for my greatest good. You see what I cannot see—the outcome—and You have called me to be faithful to the process and look to You for where it leads. I acknowledge my own powerlessness and my foolish attempts to do things in my own way, timing and reasons. I thank You that I can learn from the intensely realistic characters of the Bible, because human nature does not change. As I read their stories, I realize that they illustrate the stories of Your people today.

• Do you seek to walk in the wisdom of being faithful to the process and leaving the results in the hands of God?

Lord, give me the illumination to see You more as You are rather than what I fancy You to be. I realize that all the stories in the pages of Your revealed Word point to You, Your character, Your ways, Your faithfulness, Your goodness, Your graciousness, Your patience, Your loyal love, Your creative purposes, and to the excellence of Your glorious attributes. Everything is about You and not us, yet You have chosen to make us the recipients of Your boundless grace. May I know You, and may I know myself in light of the knowledge of You. Your progressive revelation of Your person, powers and perfections illuminates my path and inspires me to walk in fidelity and obedience to You, and I ask for the empowerment by Your Holy Spirit to be fully obedient to all that You call me to be and do.

• Reflect on the attributes of God and how they relate to your own life.

God of our fathers, I give thanks that You have revealed Your great and surprising story of redemption to us in Your extraordinary Word. Through the Scriptures, I see that there is always a purpose in what You do, and that nothing catches You by surprise. You are fully sovereign over human history, and I am grateful that You have embedded Your people in a larger Story. It is this Story that gives me perspective and hope amidst the uncertainties and obstacles of this earthly sojourn. Your creative plans behind the scenes turn the apparently hopeless situations we face into manifestly hopeful outcomes. Your deliverance and Your timing are surprising, but I want to learn to trust in Your wisdom and not in my own. May I hope in Your providential care and not in my own limited plans and efforts.

• How do you embed your story within the greatest story ever told?

Father, I confess that I don’t know where You are taking me during this earthly sojourn, and that I often try to go my own way instead because I think I understand it. But I also confess that Your purposes and character are perfect, even when they appear to be otherwise. I know that You cannot do anything that is contrary to Your goodness, and that You cannot lie. All that You have promised, You will surely fulfill in Your time, in Your way and in Your power. Teach me to take the risks of radical obedience and ruthless trust so that I will honor and please You. I realize that I can only be truly satisfied when You are glorified. Teach me in my thoughts, words and deeds that trust is a choice. I choose to rest in You and hope in Your perfect character. When I am fearful, I will hold on to You.

• Ask God to teach you to take the risks of radical obedience and ruthless trust.

Dear Lord, Your ways are past finding out. Just when I think I understand Your direction, I discover that a new level of trust in Your purposes is necessary. As I look back, I realize that You have never let me down, though it often appeared that way when I was going through the trials. As I look ahead, I rest in Your good will for my life. Mine is only an illusion of control—all things are really in Your hands. Like Abram of old, You change my name and my destiny, and You call me to a country and to a promise that seems impossible to fulfill. But by Your grace I will believe that what You say is true, even when it makes no sense to me. You have called me to trust in You, not to understand all Your ways. Nothing is impossible with You, and I will confidently hope in what You have promised.

• Have you given up the illusion of control?

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, You rule the universe but chose to become intimately immersed in human history on planet Earth. You have gradually unfolded the mysteries of Your sovereign plan in the developing stories of Scripture, and You see ends that are impossible for any of Your creatures to fathom. While we are on this earth, we walk by faith and not by sight, knowing that the only worthy object of our faith is Your unchanging character and Your sure promises. As I read Your Word, I see with greater clarity that faith in Your promises runs contrary to appearances, because You call me to hope in the unseen and the not yet. Yet You have given me the holy invitation to risk everything I have and am on the invisible promises that will not be fulfilled in this life, but in the new realm You are preparing for Your people.

• Why is faith in God’s promises counter-cultural and counter-intuitive?