RIGOLETTO - Can an opera reveal the meaning of life?

www.Redeemer.com Dr Timothy Keller
Rigoletto is based on a story by Victor Hugo Le roi s'amuse
The Rigoletto's daughter is taken away by her Duke boyfriend so Rigoletto arranges to pay to murder the boyfriend. When his daughter overhears the plot she walks in to sacrifice herself. When her father discovers that his daughter was struck by the arrow of revenge he says "speak to me beloved daughter."
She responds I'm dying. Give me you blessing. Up there in heaven close to my mother I will pray for you for eternity
Say no more... forgive him... my father... farewell.

Dr Keller
Art stands on it's own. If you can put it into a nutshell, you don't have to write it.
Victor Hugo did a recap of the story.
Rigoletto does 3 things
1. Daughter in the place of God as the only hope
2. Judge in the place of God
3. Inner ring jealousy

1. Daughter in the place of God as the only hope
You can love so much that you smother and kill who you love. If you love your children more than anything in the world you will destroy them. Underdiscipline or overdiscipline.
God must be your hope.

2. Judge in the place of God
He had set her up to fall, his 2nd sin kills her. Payback will recoil. Prov 4:29 don't repay. Ps 7 dig a hole and fall in
In Grimms story of shoemaker and tailor- the evil recoils. It doesn't always happen? It does always in the spirit. Dr Keller has seen men who make all kinds of terrible choices because they have been hurt and become unforgiving. You will lose your treasure and soul if you don't forgive.

3. Envy of the inner ring. Rigoletto hates people that have the power. Inner rings are everywhere
Terror of being on the outside. Virginity is lost to the desire to be in the inner ring.
Ads say buy what the girls "in-the-know" are wearing.
We must conquer the fear of being on the outside. Or you will make lousy choices.
The opposite of a tragedy is victory out of the jaws of defeat.
The Bible talks about the greatest story- the king of the universe became an outsider for you- he takes you to the ultimalte inner ring of Father Son Holy Spirit. Follow him and you will have joy.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Keith Boyd www.TrinityNY.org

Lev 23 feast of Passover starts in the evening of the 14th, Unleavened bread the next day
No yeast allowed anywhere in the country for 7 days. Why? The nature of yeast- the power to effect the whole. Symbolically- Sin. One little white lie, grows to another bigger lie. Soon it effects you whole being. Lust, greed, etc. works the same way.
In a Jewish house, the father would take a candle at twilight and search the house to make sure there was no yeast in the house.
On the 14th God redeems you, on the 15th God calls you to sanctification.
Is 53:4 Jesus was crushed pierced wounded striped for our salvation. Even the matzo bread pictures that.
Ps 16 David prophesies about the Holy One -he will not decay.
Jesus proved that he was yeastless- sinless.
1 Cor 5:7 Get rid of the old yeast. Jesus was sacrificed on the 14th and He is the unleavened bread. It is now the 15th -get rid of corruption and sin in your life. We got work to do- Clean house. We can't clean on our own power. We need the light of the Word of God to help us find the sin. So we can clean up. Get rid of the yeast of malice, and wickedness. Paul was specific. Get surgical and clean up. Deal with the larger wickedness as well, so the specifics don't come back. It's now the 15th so move on, don't stay in Egypt.
Church Deacon asked the boys class- why do people call me a Christian? Probably because they don't know you.
Keep the feasts lest you be cut off
Let's clean house right now. God is faithful and just (because he punished our sins on the 14th) and is ready to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness
I surrender all to you
Amazing Grace My chains are gone I've been set free my God my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood his mercy reigns. And God who called me here below will be forever mine.

3:24 in the line

TKTS sells 1/2 price Broadway tickets on the day of the show. The line opens at 3 pm, cash only. There are at least 1,000 people ahead of me.
The ladies are in retail therapy at Macy's, the world's largest department store. I had my retail therapy at Conway's. It only took 20 minutes.
The line is moving fairly fast. It should be less than 1 hr.
I spoke to Justin earlier. He is working 7 days a week as manager of the Subway on McLeod. One staff had broken her hand, another one came to work drunk, and he feels stressed out. ''Too blessed to be stressed?"
Today is 2 months since Renee was promoted to glory. The overwhelming sense of devastation has lessened somewhat. The pain is still just under the surface, and the least little thing can set off a firestorm.
Martha and I have been reading 90 Minutes in Heaven. That has helped to make heaven more real, and to imagine the joy Renee is experiencing there.
It is now 4:07 and I got 4 tickets to David Hyde Pearce and Curtains.

So far this week

Sunday we got to NYC just in time to go to Redeemer. At midnight we picked up Alayna and Kara at the airport.
Monday was a relaxing day. The ladies managed to get some retail therapy into the day.
Tuesday I went to Philadelphia for some business meetings while the ladies got more retail therapy in New York.
Wednesday morning I had another business meeting and in the afternoon we went to Disney's Little Mermaid for the 2 o'clock matinee production. After that we took a leisurely drive along the Hudson River Palisades to Tarrytown and the Castle on the Hudson for a memorable dinner.
Thursday we met with Dr O'Reilley and Dr Steinherz. We gave them each a framed photo enlargement signed by Renee. We also met Dr Lagualia and some of the staff. Clearly, every one tried their best, but God had something better for Renee.
After that it was time for lunch at a ''healthy'' café, desert at Coldstone Creamery, retail therapy, and a very long walk in Central Park with a significant amount of photo therapy along the way. You can see those results on Martha's FaceBook and on my Picasa photolink.
For dinner we went to a Passover Seder hosted by a Messianic Jewish Congregation. Very interesting and informative.
In the process of all the walking, my back got busted so I'm writing this while lying in bed. Hopefully my back will get better soon.

Passover Seder at TrinityNY

4 cups of wine represent 4 truths.
1. Sanctification
2. Plagues
3. Redemption
4. Praise
We were freed from Egypt
Freedom from slavery

We eat
1. Kiddush (parsley dipped in salt water) freed from Egypt
2. Karpas (horseradish)
3. Matzah the bread of faith there is a Greek word in the middle of the seder broken wrapped in white linen hidden redeemed at a price
salt water represents tears
4. (apples nuts mixture)
5. Roasted egg

Yeshua's blood is efficatious
Change and transformation results.

3. Redemption Cup was mamed centuries before Christ. When he lifted it and added "to remember the sacrifice" this makes it exciting

4. The Cup of Elijah. Invite Elijah to the Seder to prepare the cup again until all things have been fulfilled. We will all lift the 4th cup at then Mariage Supper of the Lamb

Next year in Jerusalem
Lashanah haba'ah b'yerashalayim

Practicing the Christian Life- Walking

www.Redeemer.com

Dr Timothy Keller
The psalmist says he delights in God's laws.. But it is very hard to know how they could be so delicious they could exhilarate. Oxford Prof. C. S. Lewis

Reading selected verses of Psalm 119

the spiritual disciplines. Practices. the use of Scripture. Practicing it.
1. Recognize it's majesty
2. Authoritative All for All time.
2. Tap it's power
3. Intimacy
3. Unlock the secret

1. Recognize it's majesty
Often when the Bible talks about itself it calls itself law. Every part is normative, authoritative. Something you follow for all time. Permanent. All its parts, all. Not just wise sayings.
2. Tap it's power it is freeing, culturally liberating. NY Times represents the cultural elite. 80 years ago they had different norms. How do you escape today's cultural moment? Use the Bible as your Vantage Point.
It is psychologically liberating. Euripedus the Greek Philosopher: "no one is free." Something or Someone is ruling over you.
Intimacy
When you have a personal relationship your will gets crossed.
How will God tell you something you don't want to do? If it is I who says where God is he will always be easy to get along with.

3. Unlock the secret
Worship the Bible as if it's a person, a Counselor, why? Jesus is the word in flesh. All the words are true. Text. Not just as text but Jesus came as the word in flesh. Jesus saved us by following the word by obeying it for you, everything in the Bible is about Jesus.

Meditate Study get the power, study it.

April 19

We started in New Bern NC in a 150 year old Bed & Breakfast and drove thru Chocowinity NC, had lunch at Marbella in Washington NC, the only NC place Renee has on her facebook map.
We drove through Whaleyville VA where they have butterfly banners on the light posts.

When we got to Virginia Beach (Renee had told us it was a waste of time to go there), we bought a light house map and found that the red striped Assateague light house (the one Renee photographed) was 2 hours away over the 17 mile long bridge/tunnel (one of the 7 engineering wonders of the world) across Chesapeake Bay north on Virginia's Eastern shores. We found it on Chincoteague Island, photographed it in the sunset, before going to Don's Seafood for delicious crab imperial stuffed flounder. Pecan Pie finished the meal.

We still aim to get to NYC before the 6pm service at http://www.redeemer.com/

The greatness of our God is seen, In sky and sea and forest green; And living creatures great and small, Reveal the God who made them all. http://www.daiseyscruises.com/

We ended up staying the night at http://www.riverhouseinn.com/ with Larry & Susanne Knutson

April 17 Birthday time

Dance as though no one is watching you,
Love as though you have never been hurt before,
Sing as though no one can hear you,
Live as though heaven is on earth.

Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

Just when the caterpillar thought life was over, It became a butterfly.

We left St Simons Island today and made it as far as Charleston SC. We hope to arrive NYC by Saturday night.

We celebrated my birthday starting Wednesday night with dinner on Jekyl Island, delicious breakfast this morning, delightful dinner at Hanks in Charleston, and a load of gifts from my beloved including the Bible on CD by Johnny Cash, a brass wall clock, a floating turtle and a wall hanging.

I have been blessed today. I'm too blessed to be stressed!

Today we Read from Job 6

8 "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire.9 I wish he would crush me. I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.10 At least I can take comfort in this: Despite the pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 But I don't have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for.12 Do I have the strength of a stone? Is my body made of bronze?13 No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success.

14 "One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty.*15 My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook that overflows its banks in the spring16 when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.17 But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears. The brook vanishes in the heat.18 The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing to drink, so they die.19 The caravans from Tema search for this water; the travelers from Sheba hope to find it.20 They count on it but are disappointed. When they arrive, their hopes are dashed.21 You, too, have given no help.

NLT

Savannah Gospel Cruise - lots of music

When the Saints go marching in

Gospel Cruise Savannah

Oh Happy Day
Because He Lives X 2
Soon and Very Soon
How Great Thou Art
Will the Circle be Unbroken
Order my Steps Oh Lord
Down by the Riverside
When the Saints go Marching in
Victory in Jesus
Beulah Land I'm waiting for you
Amazing Grace
I Come to the Garden Alone
Happy Birthday
Some Glad Morning I'll Fly Away
Lord I thank you for this day that was not promised to me. There are miracles and blessings for me.
I will bless Thee Oh Lord with a heart of thanksgiving
Jesus touched me and washed my sins away
Jim Nabors gospel CD

There were 4 honeymoon couples on board.

Book Tickets to Little Mermaid
1st Jerusalem Church
Diane Ricardo 912.925.0489
Vernard Flowers & Mass Production Gospel Choir
Singing together for 27 years

CBC Interview

With pictures by Renee

St Simons Community Church

Let us break open the alabaster box of our brokenness and give that to Jesus.

Vintage Faith - Sacraments
Pastor Steve http://www.sscommunitychurch.com/

Sacraments are the logos of the faith to make the Visual connection to the heart. Branding the image into your heart.
1 Cor 11:23-26 - bring your Bible to church.
Remember what Christ has done.

We left 1/2 way through the service and went to Christ Church

Savannah GA

Kara is flying home tonight. We are having lunch on the waterfront at the Shrimp Factory. We bought tour tickets for Savannah's historic district with 14 on/off stops.
George Washington visited Savannah on May 12, 1781 and was so impressed he sent Savannah a gift of ''Washington Guns"
Renee loved Savannah and she wanted us to go visit it. Well it was worth the trip! The oldest builings in America the center of the American cotton industry settled by people released from debtors prison.
Georgia was the only place in America where slavery was illegal and no lawyers allowed!
Sure would like to come back.

St Simmons GA

We are sitting on the deck of the Coastal Kitchen listening to very loud music, waiting for the flounder meal. Weather is nice 60F. We have a 2-bedroom apartment for one week right on the ocean at the King and Prince Resort. Sure looking forward to doing nothing for a week.
We walked on the beach and took pictures.
Will hopefully meet some friends here, including Renee's friends.
The stars are out, the moon is smiling and it's a good evening.

For Sale

boat Motorhome

Boston Elliot Hotel

Another one of the "lost" blogs from the PDA
The Boston Elliot is one of those overpriced hotels that is really and old dolled up rip-off. No internet ($10/day extra), no parking (very slow 1 hour valet $40), not close to anything, no coffee, no breakfast, no fruit. Small beds. Old garage sale furniture and decorations. Old tiny rickety elevators. Only freebee is the newspaper hung in a fancy bag on your doorknob. The business center is a tiny room behind the front desk, with a computer. You have to leave the door open if you don't want to suffocate. Much better to stay at the Holiday Inn Express and drive into town to see and do Boston. Lots of nice old buildings to look at.

Boston

I wrote a blog last night, but then it disappeared when I was ready to post it. I had trouble falling asleep because my brain kept spinning over the what-ifs. What if I had not been so distracted by the forced buy/sell my partners foisted on me during the time Renee needed my full attention. If I had demanded that scan on Friday, and a change of protocol would that have kept her from dying? Probably. Why did I not stand up for my beloved Renee when she needed me?
I asked Dr O'Reiley that question. He said the guilt parents place on themselves is untenable. "you did the best you could" and it's the doctors that need to ask themselves what they missed.
To get some sleep I took a sleep aid. Does that kind of sleep count?
We are in Boston today to see some of the sights and to visit our friends from the time of Karalee's transplant 18 years ago.

Renee's Wave Tour NE

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Plan for today

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Worship- Practicing the Christian Life

Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His Truth; the purifying of imagination with His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of the will to His purpose - and all of this gathered up in adoration. Archbishop William Temple

Dr Keller www.Redeemer.com

Ps 95- The vinete
Learn about worship
1. why we should
2. what it is
3. how do you do it

1. why we should worship
We are all created the same. Christians are filled sin. They are imperfect.
So many profess but don't allow their characters to be changed. We need a bridge between belief and character. Engage mind and emotions. Let that change you.
Illustration- if you want to move a rock you need to drill a hole and put the explosives in the middle and you can move the rock
2. what is worship
Use your entire being to ascribe ultimate Value to Someone. Worship drives your belief into your heart.
The Lord is the great God. The shepherd
Everyone builds their lives to something. Everyone worships. Worship = Worth shape. Being shaped by something that's worth something.
Illustration - woman gets mom's jewels. Leaves it lying around till she takes it to jeweler who finds it is priceless. He is shaped by the worth of it. She is shaped after he evangelizes her.
Everybody is shaped by the worth of something. If you really value God's approval other problems will become minor
3. how do you do it
A) Corporately only when you see a person with someone else. You will never know God unless you worship corporately. You can not be a changed life Christian without going to church
b) rhythmically worship. that changes you - not information only confession / offering
c) Rest- read Hebrews 4 rest from your works. Your works will not save you- only burden you- the gospel- Jesus Christ came and died for you. He is looking at you as God's treasured possession- when you realize that, you will worship Him. Your burdens will fall off. He aved you.

Read the Story

Keith Boyd www.TrinityNY.org

Luke 24:13- Two friends of Jesus met him and asked him whether he was the only one in Jerusalem who had rot heard of the things that had happened Jerusalem and Jesus responded with ''what things?" as if he didnt know. They responded with "we had hoped" Jesus would free us. God had a bigger plan. God wants us to learn how to treasure the eternal. We need to learn to be happy with what whave. Do we want or bird that can sing or a bird that can dance? Will we let God change our perspective? Like he did to the 2? Jesus talked to them from the books Of Moses about the Passover lamb, the feast of unleavened bread. Broken and hidden. Celebration when the kids find it. Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus connected the dots to himself.
Over the next weeks we will study the feasts of the Old Testament. We need to know the story of God. Even when things are not working as they should, God is in control. When the train goes thru a tunnel and it gets dark do you jump out? No, the engineer is in control and will take us out on the other side. God is still able to calm the storms. There is power in the story. Connect the dots. If you feel life is down read the story. The engineer is in Control. He is risen - HE IS RISEN INDEED!
Communion
Plan to attend Passover Seder April 24 & 25.

My Favorite Healthy Breakfast

1/4 cup oatmeal, 2 tsp cinnamon, slowly add 3/4 cup milk stirring to mix in the cinnamon, slice 1 apple and place around the rim of the bowl to prevent milk from overflowing in the microwave, add 2 tblsp of crunchy peanut butter and microwave for 3 minutes. Delicious! Add rum and raisins or substitute with other fruits for variation.

mail - video

It's been a busy week here in NYC, with things to see and do, people to meet, DVDs to burn, hotels and flights to book. Thanks, Martha and Londa, for making the week fun.

When we got here the mailbox was empty, except for one card that said all our mail would be returned to sender, unless we picked it up on 70th Street before March 28. We got here on the 29^th and by the time I went to the Post Office, they were adamant that they had returned all the mail to the senders.

We still would appreciate your mail when you get it back. You can resend it to us at our home address or here at the apartment till April 25^th or to my office at Box 428, Morris, MB R0G 1K0 Canada. Thanks. We love to hear from you.

We have decided on our next few weeks of activity, and if you know of specific places Renee has visited on this route, we?d like to hear from you.

We are heading to Boston for a few days and then south to St Simons Island for a week of sun, and then back to NYC for the 20^th to 28^th, before heading home. Karalee has an audition at Capilano College in Vancouver on May 1^st. She and Martha will head to Vancouver as soon as they get home. I get to drive by myself from Cleveland (from where Martha flies) to Winnipeg.

Emotionally we are up and down, crying and laughing, energetic and tired. We are so glad to have the hope of eternal life and the resurrection, giving us the assurance that we will see Renee again some day. In the meantime, we miss her terribly.

Donors to http://www.ywamvancouver.com/ making donations in Renee?s memory will receive a copy of the Memorial DVD if they so desire, edited by Karalee with added photo shows and video clips, which make it a truly memorable video. 24 chapter divisions make it easy to review your favorite segments including Renee?s Earth, Fire, Water, Wind production.

Raymond and Martha Dueck

359 E 68th Street Apt 2A, New York, NY 10065
Martha 917-751-0421
Renee's blog at http://reneedueck.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=747310337
Martha's blog http://marthadueck.blogspot.com/
Raymond 352.235.4688
See our pictures at http://www.dueckpics.blogspot.com/
our favorite charity http://www.thelifelight.com/

Today

We started the day at EJs a crowded cash only New York diner breakfast. We visited our friends (including the chaplain, doctors, nurses) at the hospital. They were all eager to get copies of the Memorial Videos and cards. We got lots of hugs, and Renee's nurses spent a lot of time with us to assure us of their love. What a wonderful group of people!

For supper we went to Serendipity 3 where we got plates of good food, and mountains of dessert!

Then off to the top of the Rock at the Rockefellar Center for our last enjoyable evening with Londa and MarthaD.

The Morweena youth are in NYC this week, but we have been unable to connect with them.

Leonard & Linda are in New Jersy. Hopefully we can connect with them on Sunday.

Parking

It can take several hours each day to move the car to another parking location. There are thousands of free parking spaces on the streets of Manhattan. Problem is they are all taken or someone pulls in just in front of you. When you finally find one, you are required to move your vehicle for street cleaning twice a week. The alternative is commercial parking garages at $30 - 35 per day. And then they pack the cars in like sardines. And scratch them up.
Well, I found another spot good for the day. Londa and MarthaD are leaving tomorrow, so I'll have to lose my spot again tomorrow morning when I take them to the airport.

Raymond
352.235.4688