Tonight, as I was relaxing and listening to a beautiful trumpet rendition of the music of praise titled "Great is Thy Faithfulness", I reflected on a very difficult question posed to me several times by my friend who at the age of forty-one is only beginning to learn about God and the concept of the soul. My experiences with this friend (whom God has lead me to), has humbled me (a good thing) and my initially lofty aspirations concerning getting this friend to understand and truly know God.
The question is this - What benefit is it to know and love God for those in this world who are "successful", "happy" and "fulfilled" and who have attained such existence without the benefit of ever having heard of God or contemplated such a Being that is imaginary and difficult to even begin to sense?
It certainly is not within my mental capacity nor is it my place to make an assessment as to the whether such individuals are indeed in a state of a happy and fulfilled existence. And so, if such an existence is indeed presumed to be true for such individuals who are foreign to the concept of a loving God, what then indeed is the benefit to them to consider the truth about God and His love? For such people, I am inclined to just leave well enough alone. After all, why "fix" that which is not broken?
Well, dear brothers and sisters, our loving God has enlightened my mind as this very moment with the answer to this question. As with all things great and true the answer is quite simple. All human beings seek love...we all seek and crave for unconditional love from others. It is ultimately what drives our activities and we are in a constant state of seeking because we seek this from our fellow human beings. However, our repeated disappointments with the reliability and longevity of love from our fellow human beings teaches us the limitations inherent in such love which is imperfect and oftentimes influenced by selfish human nature.
Here therefore is the potential benefit of getting to know about God - it is only with the unconditional and ever faithful love of God for us that our spiritual hunger and cravings for true love is ultimately satisfied and fulfilled. Only when I observe the love of God and the love for God strong in a person's life can I truly to come conclude that he/she is indeed living a happy and fulfilled existence.
As we teach the love of God to others, it is helpful to be mindful of the reality that a novice in the faith will be more inspired to learn to sense an imaginary being like God only if they can sense some amount of inner peace and tranquility in our own lives that manifests the love of God for us and our love for God.
The unconditional love that we try to give them (those whom we teach) helps give them a flavor of what God's unconditional love is like. This is the best way to teach God's love to others.
~~~~~
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Commandments: The User Guide for Our Body
In another essay on this blog (titled "Alleluia"), I shared the truth that the act of praising God does not enhance God but rather enhances the person who is doing the praising...it enhances the connection of the person's mind with his/her soul and with God (note that the soul is the real "person" within us...not our mind).
In like manner, the commandments given to us by God are NOT intended to please God or give benefit to Him. Rather, these commandments are user guides on how to get the best functionality out of our God-given bodies.
Society (in particular, the religious and cultural aspects of it) fails (and has failed) its "children" whenever it presents and introduces commandments in a frightening and fearful manner. The temptation and tendency to wrap truths in a package of fear is borne of our own human programming...specifically our nature to be full of fear and to be controlling as a result of it. In doing so, commandments become looked upon as unpalatable and thereby needing it to be force fed into the mind of the "child", only to be eventually met with stubborn rebellion or defiance.
We all want to understand how things are designed to work (well, most males for sure do...I say this with a smile). God made us and only He knows thoroughly how our minds and bodies work. By God's infinite wisdom (and His knowledge of how our mind works), He chose not to provide an explicit and complete user manual to go along with our bodies when it was merged with our soul.
God knows the wisdom of simplicity. In this wisdom, He saw the folly of providing a complex user manual to go along with a complex creation like the body and mind. In actuality, all that we really need is a supreme guiding principle. That supreme principle was provided to us by Jesus when He laid out a new and everlasting covenant between God and man. That supreme principle by which we should live our existence is none other than the principle of LOVE. It doesn't get any simpler than that.
I share with you what is recorded in scripture - "Jesus answered him, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' All of Moses' Teachings and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."
Notice that these commandments are ACTIVE commandments. In other words, these implore us into action...we must do acts of true love in order to be living in accordance with this principle. This is fully in alignment with the truth concerning the nature of true love...love is active; love needs to flow (it cannot stay in one place).
In contrast, most of the Ten Commandments (the old and replaced covenant between God and man) are in "thou shall not" form (PASSIVE commandments) wherein a person can practically live a life doing nothing (no acts of love) and still be deemed to be literally in accordance with the directions.
Did Jesus gives examples of how we love God? He most certainly did! Here are the teachings of Jesus as recorded in scripture - "For when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was homeless, you gave me a welcome; I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me." (Matthew 25:35-36). "...'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you rendered such services to one of the humblest of these my brethren, you rendered them to myself.'" (Matthew 25:40).
So live your life with true (unselfish) love as best as you can and you will bring your mind and body to function in optimum condition.
~~~~~
In like manner, the commandments given to us by God are NOT intended to please God or give benefit to Him. Rather, these commandments are user guides on how to get the best functionality out of our God-given bodies.
Society (in particular, the religious and cultural aspects of it) fails (and has failed) its "children" whenever it presents and introduces commandments in a frightening and fearful manner. The temptation and tendency to wrap truths in a package of fear is borne of our own human programming...specifically our nature to be full of fear and to be controlling as a result of it. In doing so, commandments become looked upon as unpalatable and thereby needing it to be force fed into the mind of the "child", only to be eventually met with stubborn rebellion or defiance.
We all want to understand how things are designed to work (well, most males for sure do...I say this with a smile). God made us and only He knows thoroughly how our minds and bodies work. By God's infinite wisdom (and His knowledge of how our mind works), He chose not to provide an explicit and complete user manual to go along with our bodies when it was merged with our soul.
God knows the wisdom of simplicity. In this wisdom, He saw the folly of providing a complex user manual to go along with a complex creation like the body and mind. In actuality, all that we really need is a supreme guiding principle. That supreme principle was provided to us by Jesus when He laid out a new and everlasting covenant between God and man. That supreme principle by which we should live our existence is none other than the principle of LOVE. It doesn't get any simpler than that.
I share with you what is recorded in scripture - "Jesus answered him, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' All of Moses' Teachings and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."
Notice that these commandments are ACTIVE commandments. In other words, these implore us into action...we must do acts of true love in order to be living in accordance with this principle. This is fully in alignment with the truth concerning the nature of true love...love is active; love needs to flow (it cannot stay in one place).
In contrast, most of the Ten Commandments (the old and replaced covenant between God and man) are in "thou shall not" form (PASSIVE commandments) wherein a person can practically live a life doing nothing (no acts of love) and still be deemed to be literally in accordance with the directions.
Did Jesus gives examples of how we love God? He most certainly did! Here are the teachings of Jesus as recorded in scripture - "For when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was homeless, you gave me a welcome; I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me." (Matthew 25:35-36). "...'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you rendered such services to one of the humblest of these my brethren, you rendered them to myself.'" (Matthew 25:40).
So live your life with true (unselfish) love as best as you can and you will bring your mind and body to function in optimum condition.
~~~~~
Friday, August 7, 2009
My Teacher, My Friend
I was very touched and inspired by an email I received this morning from my high school English Literature teacher...a person who instantly became my close personal friend from the very first day of class. Her message read like a poem and so I share it here with you in the form of one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A State of Happiness
By Ilona Gervasio de Jesus
Yes ......, I am very happy.
I like who and what I have become
and feel very at ease with myself.
You are right.
What really matters is our inner self - CORE.
Happiness is not people, places nor things.
It is a state of mind.
Whoever or whatever surrounds me
can only bring me happiness
if I apply my happiness to them.
Nowadays, I focus more on making an encounter
more pleasant for the other person,
especially when I see a sadness in them.
I figured, what does it really take for me to give to another
that moment in time when I have all the rest of the day.
I look back and I know
that whatever I have been through,
the joys, the sadness, the trials;
these have chiseled my character.
I welcome whatever, grinding, chipping,
polishing and buffing that will come
because I know in my heart that it will transform me
to the diamond I hope to be.
I have been blessed
I HAVE SO MUCH TO BE HAPPY ABOUT.
GOD IS GOOD.
~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A State of Happiness
By Ilona Gervasio de Jesus
Yes ......, I am very happy.
I like who and what I have become
and feel very at ease with myself.
You are right.
What really matters is our inner self - CORE.
Happiness is not people, places nor things.
It is a state of mind.
Whoever or whatever surrounds me
can only bring me happiness
if I apply my happiness to them.
Nowadays, I focus more on making an encounter
more pleasant for the other person,
especially when I see a sadness in them.
I figured, what does it really take for me to give to another
that moment in time when I have all the rest of the day.
I look back and I know
that whatever I have been through,
the joys, the sadness, the trials;
these have chiseled my character.
I welcome whatever, grinding, chipping,
polishing and buffing that will come
because I know in my heart that it will transform me
to the diamond I hope to be.
I have been blessed
I HAVE SO MUCH TO BE HAPPY ABOUT.
GOD IS GOOD.
~~~~~
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Reincarnation
I feel rather uneasy writing about this next truth (as I believe it). The uneasiness is NOT due to my uncertainty concerning the truth but rather on the merits of writing about it and sharing it with others. This is about the concept of reincarnation.
I am uneasy with this writing because I do not want to cause a reader to overly focus on their next existence after this one. Our focus must always be on our current existence and striving to live a life of true love as best as we can manage. I recognize the potential for our human programming to motivate us to give up on a current existence (that is not going according to how we wish it to go) if we believe that there will be another existence that we (our soul) will be “transferred” to (once the current one expires) that might be “better”.
What I am about to say next, I do not say to “scare” the reader into focusing only on the current existence but rather the truth as it was revealed to me (and as I believe it to be) - giving up on this existence (whether through suicide or in living a passive existence until our natural expiration arrives) will bring us into a similar or more difficult next existence.
An even worse potential outcome of our programming's response to an awareness and focus on reincarnation is apathy (indifference or lack of concern) toward abortion, killing and any other evil. Evil is evil and it (in all its many forms) should be fought (with love).
Well, without further adieu, here is my take on reincarnation.
Immediately before the moment a human body expires, the soul (which does not die) separates itself from the body. Depending on the circumstances (that I am not privy to) surrounding a particular soul, it will either be merged by God with another body or progress to Heaven and remain in union with God until the Second Coming of Christ takes place whereupon all souls (who are in union with God) are subsequently given bodies that are perfect and eternal.
If this concept is indeed true (as I believe it is), then I do not feel as much anguish over all the unborn body-soul entities that are aborted in the world. I do not feel as much pain over the early deaths of young babies, children and young adults who have barely had a chance to live a “full” life. Do I believe in such a manner of reincarnation as a result of my strong need to find peace with such tragedies? This is certainly not the case. I am confident that I am objective enough to engage in my search for the truths without my emotions and sentiments clouding my perception of the truths.
Did our great spiritual teacher Jesus ever allude to such a concept? Allow me to share with you what is written in scripture about what He said - “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28). I leave it to you to decide what to make of this statement.
A final point of reflection for me concerning reincarnation is this – what (if any) does a soul bring from all previous body-soul existences to the next? My feeling here is that we (our soul) bring to our next body-soul existence the level and degree of connection between mind and soul that we were able to establish and develop in the previous one. Following this reasoning, an “old” soul would therefore be one that has attained a rather high level of connection between the mind and soul...conversely, a "baby" or “young” soul is one that is in the infancy or earlier stages of the mind-soul connection development process.
Do I need to be absolutely sure about all this? I most certainly do not since my focus is on this present existence and this alone. Despite my belief about reincarnation (as shared here) I live my life with the attitude that this existence is my one and only existence and I am determined to make the most out of it.
Nevertheless, I will grant you that I selfishly (my human programming at work here) wish that this be my last body-soul existence before the Second Coming of Christ (I say this with a smile). I wish to be in Paradise with Jesus just as the criminal who was put on a cross next to Him who defended Jesus and to whom Jesus said "“I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
~~~~~
I am uneasy with this writing because I do not want to cause a reader to overly focus on their next existence after this one. Our focus must always be on our current existence and striving to live a life of true love as best as we can manage. I recognize the potential for our human programming to motivate us to give up on a current existence (that is not going according to how we wish it to go) if we believe that there will be another existence that we (our soul) will be “transferred” to (once the current one expires) that might be “better”.
What I am about to say next, I do not say to “scare” the reader into focusing only on the current existence but rather the truth as it was revealed to me (and as I believe it to be) - giving up on this existence (whether through suicide or in living a passive existence until our natural expiration arrives) will bring us into a similar or more difficult next existence.
An even worse potential outcome of our programming's response to an awareness and focus on reincarnation is apathy (indifference or lack of concern) toward abortion, killing and any other evil. Evil is evil and it (in all its many forms) should be fought (with love).
Well, without further adieu, here is my take on reincarnation.
Immediately before the moment a human body expires, the soul (which does not die) separates itself from the body. Depending on the circumstances (that I am not privy to) surrounding a particular soul, it will either be merged by God with another body or progress to Heaven and remain in union with God until the Second Coming of Christ takes place whereupon all souls (who are in union with God) are subsequently given bodies that are perfect and eternal.
If this concept is indeed true (as I believe it is), then I do not feel as much anguish over all the unborn body-soul entities that are aborted in the world. I do not feel as much pain over the early deaths of young babies, children and young adults who have barely had a chance to live a “full” life. Do I believe in such a manner of reincarnation as a result of my strong need to find peace with such tragedies? This is certainly not the case. I am confident that I am objective enough to engage in my search for the truths without my emotions and sentiments clouding my perception of the truths.
Did our great spiritual teacher Jesus ever allude to such a concept? Allow me to share with you what is written in scripture about what He said - “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28). I leave it to you to decide what to make of this statement.
A final point of reflection for me concerning reincarnation is this – what (if any) does a soul bring from all previous body-soul existences to the next? My feeling here is that we (our soul) bring to our next body-soul existence the level and degree of connection between mind and soul that we were able to establish and develop in the previous one. Following this reasoning, an “old” soul would therefore be one that has attained a rather high level of connection between the mind and soul...conversely, a "baby" or “young” soul is one that is in the infancy or earlier stages of the mind-soul connection development process.
Do I need to be absolutely sure about all this? I most certainly do not since my focus is on this present existence and this alone. Despite my belief about reincarnation (as shared here) I live my life with the attitude that this existence is my one and only existence and I am determined to make the most out of it.
Nevertheless, I will grant you that I selfishly (my human programming at work here) wish that this be my last body-soul existence before the Second Coming of Christ (I say this with a smile). I wish to be in Paradise with Jesus just as the criminal who was put on a cross next to Him who defended Jesus and to whom Jesus said "“I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
~~~~~
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Reading with Love
It is not as important for the writer to write in a manner that can be perceived correctly as it is for the reader to read with charity toward the writer. Reading with love overcomes all inadequacies that may be inherent in any piece of writing. After all, it is our very selves that we bring into what we read.
~~~~~
~~~~~
Our Fallen State
The world as it exist today (as it existed since the fall of man), is an existence that manifests all the traits and elements that comprise the state of being broken away from God...broken away from Love. It is a world that belongs to the leading spiritual entity that made a choice to break from God and be God. It is why our existing body consist of a mind whose programming is in alignment with this imperfection. It is why our minds (for most of us, at least) are naturally prone to hate (and to harbor it in our hearts)...hate is the opposite of love...hate is a powerful element of evil.
After the Second Coming of Christ, all souls that choose to be with God will each be merged with a new body...a body with a mind that is aligned with perfection...a mind that is aligned with true love.
Every act of true love we do is an act of rising from our fallen state.
~~~~~
After the Second Coming of Christ, all souls that choose to be with God will each be merged with a new body...a body with a mind that is aligned with perfection...a mind that is aligned with true love.
Every act of true love we do is an act of rising from our fallen state.
~~~~~
Alleluia
Every time we shout out and sing our praise to God, we bring our minds and body into harmony with our soul. This is so for any soul that chooses to be in union with God. Every act that brings about this harmony, also brings about the increased connection between our mind and our soul. This is the true value and merit that comes from praising our Lord.
Though I would like to think that God is "pleased" or "happy" when we praise Him, this is actually a human thought and sentiment. All emotions are activities of the mind...these have no occurrence in the spiritual realm or with spiritual entities. We use these descriptions because these are the concepts that we (as human beings) understand...we use these to help convey a message that would motivate us to do acts that enhance our relationship with others when in fact it is our own very selves that we are enhancing.
Surely, there are all manner of the "praising" of God that happens in His kingdom. However, in that kingdom, this activity comes about naturally and requires zero effort to bring about.
To recap, we do not enhance God when we praise Him (for He does not "need" our praise)...rather, we enhance ourselves and our relationship with God. And that, my brothers and sisters, is what is truly "pleasing" to God.
So praise God whenever you manage to remember to do so. A good way to start getting into this practice and habit is to always mindfully say "thank you" to God for any and every little thing you experience and get in your life.
Alleluia!
~~~~~
Though I would like to think that God is "pleased" or "happy" when we praise Him, this is actually a human thought and sentiment. All emotions are activities of the mind...these have no occurrence in the spiritual realm or with spiritual entities. We use these descriptions because these are the concepts that we (as human beings) understand...we use these to help convey a message that would motivate us to do acts that enhance our relationship with others when in fact it is our own very selves that we are enhancing.
Surely, there are all manner of the "praising" of God that happens in His kingdom. However, in that kingdom, this activity comes about naturally and requires zero effort to bring about.
To recap, we do not enhance God when we praise Him (for He does not "need" our praise)...rather, we enhance ourselves and our relationship with God. And that, my brothers and sisters, is what is truly "pleasing" to God.
So praise God whenever you manage to remember to do so. A good way to start getting into this practice and habit is to always mindfully say "thank you" to God for any and every little thing you experience and get in your life.
Alleluia!
~~~~~
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Dear Daughters (12-13-2008)
Oftentimes, we (by nature) lock our own selves into a belief that who and what we are (or have become) is who and what we really are. In truth, there is no such thing as "who we really are" or "what we really are". Rather, there is only the truth and reality of what we can become.
Take your sights off who you are and set your sights on who you can and want to become. Always remember these well known words of wisdom – "Becoming is superior to being".
~~~~~
Take your sights off who you are and set your sights on who you can and want to become. Always remember these well known words of wisdom – "Becoming is superior to being".
~~~~~
Dear Daughters (1-1-2009)
The path where our greatest fears lie is quite likely where our greatest joy, peace and fulfillment lies as well. Be strong, be brave and be still in the face of overwhelming fear and adversity. Those times are moments that offer us the best opportunities to strengthen and grow our spirit and soul.
I leave you with a beautiful prayer from Psalm 141: “I call upon You, O Lord; come quickly to me”
As Jesus said often, “Ask and you shall receive”. Ask for Him to come to you during your darkest or most melancholy moments and He will bring you strength to overcome anything. God hears the cries of the heart…always.
~~~~~
I leave you with a beautiful prayer from Psalm 141: “I call upon You, O Lord; come quickly to me”
As Jesus said often, “Ask and you shall receive”. Ask for Him to come to you during your darkest or most melancholy moments and He will bring you strength to overcome anything. God hears the cries of the heart…always.
~~~~~
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Light and Dark Sides of HP
We have at this point (in this series of essays) hopefully come to understand the existence of two types of "choices":
1. the choice that is governed by our human programming (which I will refer to henceforth as the natural choice)
2. the choice that is made by the soul (which I refer to as the supreme choice as described in an essay titled "The Supreme Choice" )
There are two sides to the influence of human programming on the mind. I like to refer to these as the light side and the dark side of human programming. The light side are those influences of human programming that bring about joy, happiness, peace (mental peace), and all other "positive" human feelings, emotions, and experiences. The dark side include those influences that bring about the opposite of those experiences such as fear, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and other "negative" emotions and feelings.
Let's talk about the dark side of human programming since this blog is written to help the reader remove anguish, anxiety and pain from their day-to-day existence. The areas of the dark side that bring us the most troubles are those that we are not able to overcome. We may never quite overcome FOREVER some of these more troubling parts of our programming. Nonetheless, we can define, strive for and incrementally achieve for ourselves a level of capability for overcoming that brings a sense of peace to us.
There have been numerous times when I would pray to God to remove a very troubling programming from my mind. But then I later came to realize (as I matured) that this troubling programming (that I would pray about) also came with a sub-programming that helped perpetuate my failure at overcoming it. That sub-programming was none other than the strong desire to not lose this troubling programming. Are you lost yet in the jargon of all these?
In other words, I really should be focusing my overcoming efforts at overcoming the sub-programming makes me want to continue to continue being empowered by the troubling programming.
I use this personal example to somehow illustrate the dynamics of human programming and the power it has over our activities and choices and consequently the quality of our relationship with one another.
~~~~~
1. the choice that is governed by our human programming (which I will refer to henceforth as the natural choice)
2. the choice that is made by the soul (which I refer to as the supreme choice as described in an essay titled "The Supreme Choice" )
There are two sides to the influence of human programming on the mind. I like to refer to these as the light side and the dark side of human programming. The light side are those influences of human programming that bring about joy, happiness, peace (mental peace), and all other "positive" human feelings, emotions, and experiences. The dark side include those influences that bring about the opposite of those experiences such as fear, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and other "negative" emotions and feelings.
Let's talk about the dark side of human programming since this blog is written to help the reader remove anguish, anxiety and pain from their day-to-day existence. The areas of the dark side that bring us the most troubles are those that we are not able to overcome. We may never quite overcome FOREVER some of these more troubling parts of our programming. Nonetheless, we can define, strive for and incrementally achieve for ourselves a level of capability for overcoming that brings a sense of peace to us.
There have been numerous times when I would pray to God to remove a very troubling programming from my mind. But then I later came to realize (as I matured) that this troubling programming (that I would pray about) also came with a sub-programming that helped perpetuate my failure at overcoming it. That sub-programming was none other than the strong desire to not lose this troubling programming. Are you lost yet in the jargon of all these?
In other words, I really should be focusing my overcoming efforts at overcoming the sub-programming makes me want to continue to continue being empowered by the troubling programming.
I use this personal example to somehow illustrate the dynamics of human programming and the power it has over our activities and choices and consequently the quality of our relationship with one another.
~~~~~
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Laws
For the most part, we have become accustomed to looking at laws with a negative sentiment. This is due to our natural tendency to view laws as some form of control imposed on us by some controling entity that restricts our full experiencing of freedom.
The laws of nature (natural laws) keep us from taking off from the ground and naturally flying, for example. The laws of society seek to prevent us from engaging in numerous activities that our minds and bodies would wish to do. The controls defined and implemented by an establishment seeks to bring about a desired common behavior from members of that establishment in order to achieve a desired objective.
There is one set of laws the preception of which has been twisted as a result of man's teaching of these from the point of view of reward and punishment. These are the laws from God. The better perspective is to view these laws as the user manual and guide for the human body and its natural programming. These laws were not made for the pleasure of God (God is not a controlling entity).
~~~~~
The laws of nature (natural laws) keep us from taking off from the ground and naturally flying, for example. The laws of society seek to prevent us from engaging in numerous activities that our minds and bodies would wish to do. The controls defined and implemented by an establishment seeks to bring about a desired common behavior from members of that establishment in order to achieve a desired objective.
There is one set of laws the preception of which has been twisted as a result of man's teaching of these from the point of view of reward and punishment. These are the laws from God. The better perspective is to view these laws as the user manual and guide for the human body and its natural programming. These laws were not made for the pleasure of God (God is not a controlling entity).
~~~~~
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