Half Dead 3

[Juliano Nichols]

However, since the branches are still green on the inside, you are correct in thinking they are not dead. I suspect that aphids are the problem. Open any curled leaves and look for the insects. Also the grey appearance of the branches could be the result of the growth of sooty mold arising from the honeydew.

For heavy infestations, use insecticidal soap. Spray the foliage thoroughly, including the upper and lower leaf surfaces. Insecticidal soap kills pests by suffocation so the spray must come in contact with the aphids to be effective. Repeat the spray three times at 5- to 7-day intervals. DO NOT apply the soap spray in hot weather; wait until temperatures are below 30C.

The priest and the Levite are both religious figures. Some commentators have wondered if they were concerned with purity laws, should the half dead person they see by the side of the road become completely dead. The Torah rendered anyone who comes into contact with a corpse ritually unclean for a week (Numbers 19:11). We can likely think of other examples when misguided religion is a hindrance to extending mercy and compassion.

This rings painfully true to our own experience. What if our openness to acts of compassion is more determined by the pace of our life rather than what we believe? Things have certainly not gotten less busy in the 43 years since the experiment.

At other times King would take a wider lens approach to the parable and suggest that in order to prevent future robberies that the whole Jericho Road needed to be repaved, with some the good lighting and signage. Personal acts of compassion eventually lead one to call for policy change to address underlying root causes.

The obstacle of religious purity, the obstacle of busyness, the obstacle of fear, the obstacle of structural and policy failure. Any one of these could be and has been a sermon in itself. The parable lends itself to many readings.

The parable is about these three characters who face a decision on the Jericho Road. We identify with these characters. We know who the hero is, and we know all too well some of the obstacles to acting that out in real life.

In other words, this essay argues that Mennonite immigrants from Europe eventually became white Americans by entering into the already-racialized social matrix as helpers. Or, to put it in the setting of our parable, Mennonites became white by attempting to be the Good Samaritan toward communities of color deemed to be in need.

This whole story began with a lawyer asking Jesus how he might inherit eternal life. Jesus proceeds to ask him and others to identify with a traveler who is only half alive. The healing presence comes from the least expected sources, the Samaritan, the person, the place that the traveler was likely trying to avoid at all costs.

He tried to eat his last easily obtained food without any pressing thoughts or worries, but that peace still eluded him. Had been for the past few months now. If he was really being honest with himself, that kind of peace had been lost to him ever since he had half died in his own basement. The past few months had been especially hard on him though, even he could admit that to himself.

What has he been running from? Ah. An excellent question. Jazz would be so proud of his sleep deprived mind for coming up with it as he thinks himself through his current predicament as a sort of coping mechanism or some such nonsense. He could use some of that sisterly nonsense right about no.. -No!

Walking to the outskirts of the city took the rest of the daylight, and a lot of the energy he had gotten from the small taco he had gotten from the gruff food truck dude. God, he was spiraling. Why had Mr. Gruff man from the food stand (ha) made such an impression on him? Because he was the first person in this city to take more than a passing interest in him? That makes sense, even if it was also kind of sad.

He had walked quite a ways from the park in the center of the city. He was right on the edge, where the light pollution was thinnest while still being within the city. Just thin enough though, to admire the stars.

It had come from nowhere, stabbing and biting in its intensity. Pain that was only getting worse as time went on. Curling into himself within the crater, he gasped and cried out at the new wave of pain radiating from his core.

If being torn apart had been painful, feeling himself reassemble from the core outwards was excruciatingly worse. He could feel his very atoms maneuvering and reattaching themselves to each other to form bones, tissue, skin...

You know that Samaritans were reviled by first-century Jews and that the feeling was at least somewhat reciprocated. There was a set of complicated reasons for this, partly religious, partly ethnic. Samaritans regarded only Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, as authoritative, the Word of God. They had a built a temple on Mt. Gerazim, outside of Jerusalem, in competition with the Temple in Jerusalem. They were suspected to be the result of intermarriage between Jews and non-Jewish populations. Jews regarded them as impure and unclean, as heretics. Interaction with them made Jews ritually impure.

Where do we locate ourselves in this parable? We want to be the Good Samaritan, moved with pity, who shows mercy. Too often, of course, we are the priest or levite, to busy going about our business to take notice of someone in need. Perhaps even more, especially now, in the face of all the injustice, hate, and evil that unfolds before us, we feel impotent or perhaps have grown callous, averting our eyes to the suffering and dehumanization of others.

But what if, sometimes, we are the one in the ditch, stripped, robbed, and left for dead? And what if, at that moment, Jesus comes to us in the guise of someone we hate because of the color of their skin, their sexuality, their ethnic or national background, immigration status?

We are all alive--that is, all of us who are creating speech and using expressions like half-dead or half-alive are currently alive. To say we are half-alive does not create the same internal juxtaposition of the speaker's status, than if the speaker said half-dead. We're more used to being around people who are alive - at least most of us - so half-dead serves to better capture someone's attention.

I believe it is a right question in a wrong forum. Everything can't be quantified in digits. Certain things are more experienced and felt then logically put across in an equation.There are layers to a person, not just internally, but also externally: This is the aura and the seven fields which form a part of a human body. When there is too much damage to these levels,( why that happens, is another in-depth discussion) the outer aura which 'holds' the inner being safe and enclosed, is damaged.Then there is another aspect: These are soul fragments which get lost when we attach ourselves to something too deeply and can't pull back sometimes.Those also leave us feeling 'partly dead' because that fragment of your soul which was a part of you, now is invested deeply in a relationship, person, cause etc.. which over takes you so much, it takes precedence over all of your existence and anything else in your life. Sometimes in very rare cases, and though this is not a direct answer to the question, but there are instances when the auric field is so damaged, external energies come imbalance and 'take over' which leaves the person feeling groggy, confused and not feeling like 'himself', and one often proclaims, the real me feels 'dead'. So yes, it is possible to feel 'half dead'.But the way to know about this deeper, is to know yourself and go deeper and gain knowledge on these subjects if a literal search is the seek.

I haven't posted in BBC for as long as I can remember... but when the MOCing bug bites, it bites hard. Sometimes there's nothing more fun than pulling out the old BIONICLE bin. Certain Brickfair acquisitions of mine - some useful new elements I bought, custom-painted parts, and prototypes from years past - only spurred on my desire to create. I can take this opportunity to point out that the custom-painted elements seen below (I Sharpied the Piraka spine myself) were done by MrCod.

These three are characters near and dear to my heart. The BZPRPG, being a text-based role playing game, is wholly driven by the interaction of characters, and these three have been some of my favorites to interact as over my years in the game. I hope you'll permit me to indulge myself a little as we go, and tell you a bit about each of the characters as they crop up.We can start with Heuani. (NOTE: The linked names of characters from here on out lead to their respective Flickr Galleries, where higher resolution versions of all the images below can be found.)

In the 2012 arc of the BZPRPG, the world of the game was very similar to Mata Nui in the BIONICLE canon in 2001. Similar, not identical; instead of triumphing over Makuta as they did in canon, the Toa Mata failed, because one of their number betrayed them at the crucial moment. That Toa, once he submitted himself to serving Makuta, was warped into the hateful persona of Heuani.

Heuani was a dark and seductive presence. He was defined by his statuesque, lusty beauty, his honeyed words, and the dangerous shadow powers that Makuta endowed him with. He was armed with a crystal flamberge and a Kanohi Felnas, both of which he used to devastating effect against dozens of his enemies and captures. He was at once alluring and repulsive. Vezok's Friend made a stunning artwork based on my descriptions of Heuani, capturing his enigmatic nature and appearance admirably. His artwork was my basic reference for my MOC of Heuani.

There was no suitable piece for either a humanoid Felnas - Heuani's face had to be more attractive than Gorast's head! - or for the crystal flamberge, so I am very happy that I was able to have Heuani's mask specially painted to resemble VF's art. Heuani's sword here, while neither transparent, double-sided, nor ripple-bladed as it was in the game, was one of the coolest pieces I had, so I thought it'd have to do.

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