#i get by from translating the text using the language tool add-on. it's kinda interesting reading how they reconcile all the continuities | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rockofeye · 4 years

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Hey Hougan Alex, hope you're doing well. Do you know if there's any English translations of L'Ange Conducteur? I'm not a Vodouisant, but those Catholic prayers are fantastic for daily upkeep. If not, if you know of any other good devotionals in English that you'd recommend I'd love to hear it. Thanks and take care!

Hi there,

I am doing pretty well, and I hope the same for you!

As far as I know, L’Ange Conducteur was only ever published in French. There’s some modern copies out there that say they are the French edition but they are mostly re-bindings of the original texts after it went out of print. I believe the last actual publications of it were from the late 1950s in France; my copy is from the 1920s. It’s a great book that is used for some ceremonies in the religion, which is done in all French.

There’s other French language Catholic devotionals that get used in Haitian Vodou, but I’ve never seen them available in the US except for the occasional rare books dealer. You can usually get them in Haiti if you know where to look (or have someone with you that does).

I use a few different books if the mood strikes me, beyond a lot of the French language ones:

The Psalms are one of my favorite tools for prayer and spiritual work, and lately I’ve been using a re-binding of My Daily Psalm Book, which lays out the Psalms by liturgical days of the week. I just use it how I want to use; the Psalms are subtitled as to their content/purpose, so I go from there. I bought my copy from a small business that’s no longer around, but I am pretty sure this is the same book on Amazon.

I have a few books of 30 days of devotions for particular causes. I use one of them at least once a year to pray for the dead, which is a good way to honor ancestors who may have had a Catholic background or who just may need elevation.

This is a good book for general Catholic prayers, if someone is just starting out and/or wants to add traditional prayers to their practice.

If folk want more structure, this is a great book to use. It includes the Office of the Dead, which is great to pray for ancestors or the dead in general, and the Little Office has an interesting back story. Traditionally, convents and monasteries were divided up between choir monks/nuns, who were often folks from well-off families who spent most of their time in prayer, and a lay brother/sister, who were those who did not come from families of means and did most of the domestic work in the convent/monastery. Choir monks/nuns knew or were taught how to pray the full divine office/liturgy of the church, while lay brothers/sisters were not and may not have known how to read. The lay brothers/sisters were given a simplified office to use (the Little Office) because of that. So...it’s kinda the liturgy of the people.

I have this as a devotion for Thérèse of Lisieux, who is special to me.

And...when I go to mass or go into a Catholic bookstore or whatever, I pick up novena booklets that stand out to me. They’re either free or no more than $2. They’re a quick and easy way to speak to a saint and/or petition for what you need.

Let me know if you need/want more suggestions!

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jshuey · 5 years

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One of the advantages of being a Microsoft Alumni Member is access to the Outside In events that are held on the Microsoft campus. The speakers are from all over the map in terms of background, age, profession, and so many other factors. Recently I had the privilege of seeing the most unique speaker. She was born in Oakland, CA and her parents are from Ethiopia and Eritrea. She has a guide dog to help her get around. Oh, and she is the first blind and deaf graduate of Harvard Law School.

Disability is not the same as broken

Haben’s perception of Microsoft

Microsoft people have access to magic wands

Technology is a bridge

Microsoft is doing a lot to help people with different abilities

She took interview questions via a Braille-Reader. Which was operated in real-time via one of her colleagues. She spoke about her family and what life was like growing up. She had several really funny stories and one of the best was about her love for her first guide dog Maxine and her current guide dog Milo. She let everyone know that Milo is a great dog. But, she added with a wry smile … that he didn’t go to Harvard. You kinda had to be there, but in the moment she said Maxine walked across the dais with her when she received her law degree. She spoke about how the school cafeteria didn’t have braille options for the menus. She nicely asked for help and inquired about the options. What she heard was … there are no plans to make a braille version. She doesn’t take no for an answer easily. Again, she said with a wry smile … I did what everyone would do … I filed a lawsuit. She didn’t take pride in filing the lawsuit. She took pride in helping the school do the right thing. If you get the chance to see, hear, or just be present when Haben speaks ... take it. If you know someone with different abilities ... bring them to an event with Haben. She is inspiring. She is a natural leader. Note Bene: She would be a great hire for Microsoft.

Haben in Eritrean means … pride

In addition to Microsoft hosting speakers like Haben they also hire people with different abilities. Haben reminded us that this is a good thing. She let everyone in the audience know that people with disabilities are often the best innovators. They live with the challenges every day. Sometimes they can effect and impact solutions directly to meet their needs and their vision. Other times they could use a little help. This is where Microsoft comes in with some of the products that are being built today (and tomorrow). Products like Azure IoT, Seeing AI, Voice to Text Real Time Translation Services, Robotics, Haptics, etc. – each of them have direct application potential to help people on so many levels. Seemingly simple things like "Gestures" to open a door are empowering. The picture above with a "wave to open" was taken on the Microsoft campus.

People with disabilities are often the best innovators. ~ Haben Girma

Learning Braille She spoke about learning braille. She talked about one of her early instructors took a very clinical approach to learning braille. She said under that mode of learning it wasn’t very successful. A later teacher made it easy by making it fun. He offered candy as a reward and kept it interesting and challenging. She thrived in this mode of learning … when Learning braille was fun … with rewards. Today there are tools that take content on websites and other computer systems that convert the text on the screen to a braille reader. This is a good start. There is more work to do.

Braille literacy is around 10%

Advocacy Advocacy is everyone’s responsibility. She brought up a few areas where people can push for change. Perhaps even ... can demand change:

Podcasts – Make sure they include transcripts as it helps with SEO and Search in general

Captions on videos – Ask and expect videos to include the option for captions (in multiple languages when it makes sense)

Increase accessibility - plan for it at the start as it is harder to add after the fact

If you feel inspired … What is the call to Action? Do one thing:

Take one concrete step

Remove barriers and access

Make it fun. Make it inclusive.

--- Learn more about Haben

Read her book: https://habengirma.com/book/

Website: https://habengirma.com/

NPR (read or listen): https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/07/31/428075935/she-owes-her-activism-to-a-brave-mom-the-ada-and-chocolate-cake

Tags: Ableism, Braille, Harvard, Microsoft, Advocacy, Alumni, #MSFTALUM ---

Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the Technical Alliances Manager at Zerto where he focuses on the Microsoft engagement efforts.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

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He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

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