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markdohle

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Everything posted by markdohle

  1. I believe he is better than Hilary, that may not be saying much. Being in a position of such responsibility could actually wake him up and lead him to see his need for God's grace in his life. There is a saying, 'a people gets the leaders they deserve'.....well we are a divided nation and by that, I would say there is a chasm between the divide, which if it gets wider, the next time in four years there could be actual violence in the streets. Hopefully, that will not happen and all we can do is pray and try to do our part where we are. Peace Mark
  2. I do not think they can replace being grounded in faith. For those who have them, I can't imagine what that is like. Peace mark
  3. What the NDE may have to offer us (It all about perspective and yes faith as well) My faith will dictate to me my perspective towards the world, its meaning and my place in it. As a Catholic that perspective will hone it down to a finer point. Then I am a monk, so that will further narrow down how I interrupt the world. I do believe that is true for all of us, even if what we actually believe is not thought through in a systematic way. Yet how we live will tell us what we really believe…well from my perspective. What is truly in the heart will eventually come out. So for a time we may be able to fool ourselves and others, but the fruit of our lives will manifest sooner or later. I have found that my worldview can’t be proven to anyone; in fact not sure any worldview can be in the end. One thing about our ideas about reality, we believe that we more or less have it, and those who disagree have less. I do that. Even those who are extremely tolerant of all beliefs, well, they think they have it down better than those they are tolerant of…who are less tolerant. Cherry-picking is so much a part of how we take in information that is not noticed by most. I remember I saw a debate on YouTube about the existence of God. It took place in an Evangelical church, a Mega-Church from the size of the auditorium. It was open to the public, but I am sure that the majority were convinced Christians, with perhaps a sizeable number who were convinced atheists, and of course a few self-proclaimed agnostics. The debate did not go well for the atheist. Since he was like many atheists, so black and white in his views and his often, again from my perspective, childish understanding of what Christians actually believe; he sounded foolish. To be fair, we Christians can be just as bad; not only on what we think about atheists but how we judge each other as well. Of course, he was in enemy territory. Like Christian debaters, atheists who partake of this sport, some are much better than others. In the end, there was a vote on who won. Won what I am not actually sure of. Yes, the majority (the Christians) voted against the atheist making the most valid points, and the Christian of course won…..being in a Christian church and all. Of course, nothing was accomplished. For, in the end, we believe first, either in God or not, and then we cherry pick our way to explaining our different ideas about the world. Some go to the extreme of believing that all who disagree with them are mentally ill! In this world filled with people ‘who know’ in a universe of actually ‘not knowing’, I believe there is an experience that may in the end, clear some of this up. I would say that would be those who have Near-Death-Experiences (NDEs). The vast majority who have them, come away from the experience changed and their perspectives, or worldviews, more often than not turned upside down. It could be said that when St. Paul was speaking about the man who went up the “Third Heaven” was actually him. He was stoned and left for dead, so why not? It is interesting that he did not share all that he experienced. Unlike his experience with the Risen Christ; this was an occurrence to lead him into deeper faith in the reality of the Risen Lord and to then share it with others…well from my perspective of course. NDEs pretty much make most of our assumptions, which are often lived out on an unconscious level, proven false about what this life is about. Just like Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount. Those who have NDEs often come back and live what Jesus taught, and that is that the greatest gift, the most profound spiritual gift, is love. In fact, many people can’t stand a loved one when they come back so changed. They may think like this: “What happened to my husband, wife, friend, my brother or sister?” For many, it is like having a loved one who died and was replaced by someone else, who actually ‘knows’ and lives out what this truth calls us all to. How do you put up with someone who has actually experienced what we say we believe but have not experienced? It can be harder than it seems. I have met near-death experiencers who are so sane that I really don’t get them at all. What I struggle with seems to be part of the fabric of their bodies, minds, and spirits. Where I have doubt and seek to deepen my understanding, many seem to ‘know’ and live it. I am not saying they are not still human and fail and doubt themselves from time to time, yet they seem to come from a different place than I do. I have faith, deep faith, I seek to incarnate that in my own life……but when someone has actually been there, well, do they even need faith at all or do they just know. Now I know that many fight the NDE experience and try to find a scientific reason to not believe in them. Which is a good thing, since it brings these experiences under scrutiny, which must be done and I am this will continue into the far future. However, so far, all of the theories seem to fall short in explaining them away. Those who study them often, in the end, believe that they are ‘real’ in the sense that they point to a greater reality, a reality that shows that we are often wrong in our assumptions about life, God, and what we are here for. What they bring back with them does resonate with most who read what they have to say…..even if they are not convinced of another reality other than this one. For, in the end, to say they are real, or to say they are not, is based on each one's faith about the nature of reality. One day there may be an answer to the NDE enigma that will show them to be something real, but just a brain event. If that happens it still says nothing about God, faith, Jesus or if there is any God at all. Some questions can only be answered by the human heart. Sort of like believing that trust, love, and justice are possible. There are some who believe that our very consciousness is an illusion and write books to prove it! So it goes. For me, I will serve the Lord and continue to seek to deepen my faith, trust, love, and understanding and continue to study and learn from the NDE literature as well.
  4. Trust and confidence in God If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything: 1 John 3:20 Confidence in God is a choice that isn't always easy to make, yet it is imperative to make the choice. It is only then that our true journey towards God can begin. Awareness of the Divine Presence and discernment of God's will are foundational in the spiritual life. Through these principles found in the Christian classic “Abandonment to Divine Providence”, we will explore the key elements of our pilgrimage. +++++ People will often not appreciate that confidence and trust in God is a choice. It is not something that we will automatically grow into. Granted, there are some people who find trust and confidence in God less difficult, yet in life, and in our own failures, we can be tested to continue to trust in God’s love for us. Confidence is not an emotion, but a rock bottom attitude that is deeply rooted in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. There is much in life that will test us, for each person is on a journey, a pilgrimage that will take us through many deep valleys as well as the occasional mountain-top, and through it all we are called to have confidence in God…..which is not always easy, that is why ‘choice’ is so important. When I was a young monk, still in my 20’s, I was going through a deep interior struggle and felt alienated from God, then I came upon this quote in 1 John 3:30: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. I believe that quote was the seed that allowed my journey towards confidence in God to begin. Confidence in God takes us away from neurotic introspection towards true self-knowledge that allows us to grow in child-like trust in God’s love and mercy towards all. People will often underestimate how difficult developing confidence can be. It takes faith and courage to abandon oneself to God when in pain, in the midst of inner struggle and darkness. In all of this, we are in God’s hands.
  5. I do think that WBB are Christians, but they are probably far right of the vast majority. Doubt is handled by kicking out those who questions their extremely narrow views. I believe that there is a book out from the perspective of one of the children who was cast out when challenging some of their views. Peace Mark
  6. Thank you for responding my friend. Not what I was talking about. I have faith in Christ Jesus and that he is my savior. We do live in a world where we need to deepen our faith and use our doubts to deepen our understanding and to recommit ourselves to the service of God. Not going to get into the Catholic 'thing' with you ;-).......it goes nowhere. Peace mark
  7. I was talking about just plain doubt, not about lots of it etc. Thanks for your comment my friend. ISIS followers have no doubt, neither do those who follow Westboro Baptist Church.....well if they do, they are kicked out. peace mark
  8. They are trying to find out what a zombie is lacking in its diet to make it want to eat human brains.
  9. What do I really believe? “Death is nothing else but going home to God, the bond of love will be unbroken for all eternity.” – Mother Teresa Many people believe that faith is some form of absolute assurance. I do not believe that. From my own limited experience, there will always be room for some doubt. I think that is healthy and when ‘doubt’ is rejected and pushed underground it can manifest itself in other ways. Being overly defensive as opposed to simply sharing one's faith and viewpoint is one such way. Or extreme rigidity to keep a sense of ‘personal infallibility’ intact is also a common way of dealing with wanting the impossible; that is having absolute assurance. This goes for both believers as well as for those who don’t have a faith of any kind. There seems a need to be ‘right’ in opposition to others. My faith, which I am deeply rooted in, does not spare me from the deep questions of life. Nor does it surround me with a warm blanket of some better life after this one. No, it tells me that in the midst of this life, with all of its chaos, pain, and deep absurdity…is where my salvation, my deeper true eternal life is. As St. Paul says: “We are God’s work of art”. Sounds good, until you see what an artist has to do in order to create a work of art. In some forms of art, the process can be dirty, messy, and chaotic,…yet, in the end, a work of beauty is produced. Faith in God is not about pretending to have cookie cutter answers, though many try it for awhile. One day I was giving a talk, as I was speaking the thought came to me; “do I really believe in what I am saying”. It was an uncomfortable moment, but in the end, I said ‘yes’, I do believe it. Yet I felt buffeted by this question. Faith is lived, not spoken of. Anyone can talk, write and share deeply, but to live it, well that comes from one's ‘inner guts’. I also believe it takes a type of stubbornness to keep searching, seeking and not being afraid of one's ‘inner agnostic’. Some people tell me that belief in God is a form of mental illness. I always find that entertaining since it so self-serving to make that kind of observation. As if that is some form of deep truth. What constitutes mental illness is really a culture construct. A person who is a hapless victim of true mental illness is someone who is outside the broad spectrum of human activity that is considered ‘normal’. I guess in an atheistic state, it is understandable for the government to say that religious believers are mentally ill, yet are they in fact? The atheists I know are no more normal than the believers I am friends with. For an atheist to say a believer is mentally ill has no basis in reality. Granted mentally ill people who are religious will still be mentally ill, the same goes for an atheist as well. Because they act out in ways that go beyond what is considered ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’. Who is touch with reality? Perhaps none of us are no matter what we say we believe. I can say we are each in touch with a small slice of reality and as we grow hopefully our connection will deepen. I can say this. If God exists then believers are closer to the true nature of reality than an atheist. The opposite can be true as well. The problem is that that question will never be answered in a reductionist manner There are rational reasons to believe in an infinite intelligence. It is also rational to believe that such and Intelligence will seek to reveal itself…Which for me is Jesus Christ. Just because someone is an unbeliever and disagrees with me is not a test for mental competency, unless maybe I lived in China or some other atheistic run Government. Or if believe that I can fly and walk through walls no matter how many times I fail to accomplish that deed. Mother Teresa was a woman of deep faith, however, she often felt alone, in darkness, yet her faith endured. Below is a quote from her that shows this in a profound manner. She was a woman grounded in the reality of faith as well as showing her deep love and trust in her Lord. She is praying from a place of deep suffering, yet she embraces it. I believe that it is grace that draws this prayer from her deepest self. Many people understand Mother Teresa and where she is coming from. Others have to make their own decisions on how to interpret her. I do so from my Catholic Tradition where the “Dark Night of the Soul” is something that we will all have go through if we want to become God’s true work of art. The ‘death to self’ is an act of pure grace yet we have to give our ‘yes’. Jesus, hear my prayer. If this pleases you, if my pain and suffering, my darkness and separation gives you a drop of consolation, my own Jesus do with me as you wish, as long as you wish, without a single glance at my feelings and pain. I am your own. Imprint on my soul and life the sufferings of your heart. Don’t mind my feelings; don’t mind even my pain, if my suffering separation from you brings others to you, and in their love and company you find joy and pleasure. My Jesus I am willing with all my heart to suffer all that I suffer not only now, but through all eternity if this was possible. Your happiness is all that I want. For the rest, please do not take the trouble even if you see me faint with pain. All of this is my will. I want to satiate your thirst with every single drop of blood that you can find in me. Don’t allow me to do you wrong in any way. Take from me the power of hurting you … I am ready to wait for you through all eternity.” —Mother Teresa of Calcutta in a letter to Jesus, from Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light
  10. The words of a loving father “All I can do is journey with my son in suffering” My experience in talking to loving parents The older I get and the more I experience being with people who truly take their roles as a father and mother seriously, the more humbled I am. I would think that if there is a royal road to becoming truly ‘holy’ and by that I mean truly more ‘human’, it is living out fully one’s marriage vows. I once read that parental love is the only love that moves towards separation, something that starts from birth and gets more pronounced as the child moves towards adulthood. This letting go I would think can be an arduous journey. The teenage year’s show how that is often played out; it can be quite a struggle for all involved. Children move away from their parents, become individuals in their own right and I have no doubt that is a painful journey for both the mother and the father, who are capable of being loving and caring parents. No human being can be owned; we are all wild in our own way and can only be tamed by a love that is not manipulative. Fear and domination lead to entanglements that are detrimental to both parent and child. Or any relationship for that matter, for once jealousy or manipulation enters the picture it will disintegrate into something else that masquerades as love. I was talking to a father one day who shared about his children. I could tell he was a good man, a Godly man who loved his children very much. His love for his children who were now adults was central to his life. Yet, he knew that they were not his anymore, yet he was still their father. As he talked I saw what a price parenting is, for it would seem that the real struggle can begin after the children grow up and the parents have to watch them make choices and get involved in situations that have serious consequences. Yet he had to allow them to do so and as he told me, “All I can do is journey with my son in suffering”. He had three children and I would think he did that with all of them, as well as did his wife. I would think that because of that understanding of both he and his wife’s place in the lives of their children that they still had a good relationship with them. For they have both learned that they can’t be parents with their children the way it was before adulthood, but relate to their children as adults and actually as friends. For they communicate with their father on a deep level, because he knows what his role is now. To love, accompany, listen and yes to suffer. Perhaps the way we show love, or express it, is how much we are willing to suffer with them and for them. Love does have its price. I believe that Jesus tried to express the profundity of the Father’s love by using the metaphor of ‘Father’ in the story of the ‘Prodigal Son’. The father was actually very maternal towards his wayward child. Waiting every day for his return and when he came, running up and embracing him. When I was speaking to the father, I did relate that as he aged, he was in his mid-50’s; that his heart was becoming more maternal, instead of paternal. Though of course, they are similar in any case, yet one is more nurturing than the other. Being a monk is something that I love, yet, I have not experienced the joy or the pain that comes with parenthood. Marriage is a holy union, showing us the relationship that Christ has with his church. One that is intimate, passionate, loving and long-suffering, for I believe that a loving father and mother are revelation of God’s love for us, though in a limited way, yet it can open the door to an ever expanding relationship both with God and other human beings when we experience the true love that comes from parenthood. When the idea of marriage is lost as a commitment that is grounded in Christ Jesus (for Christians of course), then something deep is lost, both for the parents as well as for the children and it has a destructive effect on society. One of the things lost in the so-called sexual revolution is the sense that the sexual act is something holy, healing and based on a deep commitment to the other. It is not a form of play and frolicking with no sense of real commitment. For what comes out of the sexual act is more life that must be nurtured and loved, guided and allowed to grow apart.
  11. If you love the music, listen to it. Peace mark
  12. Could not find the site when I clicked on the web address. Love God, Love others, seek to treat all you met as children of God, pray for those you don't like, or even fell hatred towards and do not take advantage of others, treat others as you would want to be treated, which takes a certain level of self-knowledge.....bear good fruit. It is based on our loving, trusting relationship with Jesus Christ, which matures and grows. If that is not happening, then perhaps one needs to look deeply and pray hard to be more open to the Holy Spirit. Besides, people on this site don't always agree on who a false teacher is.....do you have a list ;-). Peace mark
  13. I always thought that the 'flat earth society' was a joke. Have never met anyone who actually thinks that to be ture. peace mark
  14. New Year and thinking of the far past One of the losses I was able to rectify a few years back, was to purchase from Amazon my high school yearbook from 1967. I remember one day in the year that I graduated finding out that we were the 50th class to graduate; the first being in 1967. I remember looking at the picture of the first graduating class and thought how far back that was and how old they would be at that time; the age I am now. Now here I am 50 years after the graduation of my own class and I find it surreal. 50 years now does not seem so long ago….a hundred years yes. When I pray, there are times when I experience a film that shows me the people from my past. Of course my classmates are part of that, as well as those I have encountered over the years. They simply come past me in a long row and I feel connected to them and pray for them. Some of men and women I encounter I only met for a moment. Like the woman who spoke to me in San Diego about going to her church and how her kindness to me has always been a deep part of my interior life. Her presence to me and the way she listened was a good lesson that has had an affect on my life to this day. Then there are others that I never think of, but yet come up anyway, very clear representations and so I pray for them and do feel a strong connection when I do. Some are people who helped me, others, people I helped as well as those who hurt me and those who I have wronged in some way. It is good to have the yearbook because over the years I have connected with classmates that I never met in grade school or in high school. So it is good to get a face with the person I meet on Facebook for the first time. However, there are a few in my class that did make a deep impression on me. And even before I got back with them after I got introduced to the internet, I never forgot them. They were always in my prayers and thoughts. There were Nan, Shirley, and Dennis, perhaps the most important people for me in High School. I will leave out their last names, don’t want to embarrass them. It was not like we hung out, but they just made a deep impression on me and I became emotionally attached. Now that I am in contact with them, I don’t need a lot of interface, but it is good knowing that they are still ‘alive and kicking’. Others stay with me from the past. A few from the Navy, which I can’t locate, but that is ok, it was great knowing them. Sometimes I believe that when we connect with others, even if not on a deep level, there is still some sort of deep personal connection that I am not conscious of but there all the same. Like I said above, it comes out from time to time when I am in prayer and they all march before me. Some have names, others don’t, but the connection is deep. Of course, there is the possibility that I could be crazy as a loon.
  15. Well 'claim it' if you want. However, in the Our Father, it says "thy will be done". In the Garden Jesus truly prayed that "the cup be taken away", however, if only the Father willed it. I have known some people lose their faith because they did believe in the 'Name it Claim it' doctrine (?) and when it did not work lost their faith......as if God and God's will was something contingent on their understanding. Mature faith is a long journey and we must lose many false notions of God. We also forget to see how God worked in the lives of many saints, they suffered greatly yet held to the promise that Christ Jesus was always with them. This 'claim it" is used by the people who push the prosperity gospel in many cases. Each of us will face hard times, or get very ill and eventually die, we will see loved ones suffer and no matter how much we pray, events will follow their course. This is simply life, Christ Jesus is with us as we journey through this life, but we will not be protected from the ups and downs in life. Miracles do happen I believe, but I do believe we get what we need, not what we want. Peace mark
  16. Yes, all days are a true gift...... Peace Mark
  17. All this fuss over the New Year (Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever) Ps: 135:1 I know the New Year is an important time of the year. However, when I was in the Navy, even though like most young men I went out a lot, on New Year’s, I stayed in. Never understood all the intense celebration just because it was the eve of a New Year; of course, I am a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to all holidays as well as my birthday. Just ask those who work here at the retreat house. The more I tell people not to bother with my birthday, the more they do. So someone will wish me happy birthday, I will thank them, then forget it is my birthday, until the next time, and there is always a next time. Then there are the belated birthday greetings. However a friend every year brings out a treat and we have it together, I do like that; as well as special coffees from time to time. She makes me a little less a curmudgeon. Although I don’t ‘get it’ about New Year's, I do like the thought of new beginnings, for if we lost all hope of being able to start anew, I feel that we would sink into a swamp of despair and never get out of it. In a sense wishing someone a “Happy New Year” is wishing that they will experience ‘mercy’ and ‘healing’. For to have a new beginning really means a letting go of self-destructive ways; wishing them a new and better life. When in Panama, I would often babysit for people on New Year’s, until I was 14 or so. I would watch TV and at midnight everyone would go wild, except me and I am sure I was not alone in this, wondering about the New Year, so what (?)…..then I think about new beginnings and it makes sense to me. My faith teaches me that every day is a New Year if I need it to be, or every moment, I can start over. All I need is the humility to actually begin and not give up. When a new course of life is decided upon, it does invite a struggle with old habits and compulsions, so it is not easy these new beginnings, but one worth seeking after. Psalm 135 deals with God’s mercy, which truly is unending. Christians believe it, I do, but I don’t understand it fully, perhaps I never will, for if I understand God’s mercy, then I will reduce it to a mere human, contingent concept, which to tell you the truth is kind of scary.
  18. Love what you had to say, thank you for sharing so deeply. Peace Mark
  19. I am sorry about your relationship with your children BacKaran. Not sure they are that way because of their faith, but because they will not allow the love of God into their hearts. I know it must be painful for you, but being a God fearing woman who loves God, have faith that a seed has been planted and will sprout.....though God's timing can be frustrating. peace mark
  20. Thank you, Wayne. For me, there is always a bit of struggle and there are times when I have to say no.....yet there are those who I truly feel I am called on to help. Compulsion and charity can get mixed up I believe; in any case it is is something I will work on all the days of my life, calling on the Lord for grace, help, and insight. Peace Mark
  21. Do what is just, to show constant love No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. (Micah 6:8) Last night I had to spend some time at Grady Hospital here in Atlanta. I had to sit with a friend in the trauma unit there. I had to get to the trauma unit through the emergency room entrance. Before anyone can enter the ER at Grady, there is a metal detector that has to be gone through. So I went through it, and then found my way into the waiting area. It was very crowded with people from all nationalities waiting to be seen. The staff there was very professional as well as caring. To say it was busy is an understatement. It was very hot even with the air conditioning going full blast. So warm that I felt I had some trouble breathing. However, I knew that it was a false signal and ignored it. When it was my turn at the nursing station, I told them the person I was with and that he was taken to ‘Trauma”. The man touched me by his response, not only to those who came to him for help but with me as well. He walked me over to trauma and then left me there. He also apologized for the constant interference from others. Every night this man deals with great pain and suffering, yet he does not close himself off from those around him. He looked each in the eye and listened with care and did not dismiss anyone at all. He not only treated others justly but with constant love as well. The reason I say he did this over a long period of time is the simple way that he helped each person. He simply accepted them and understood their rude demands and frustration. He did not take it personally but sought to be just with each one. He got out of his own way. There are many good reasons not help others. Some valid, but some are excuses not to become emotionally involved. People are messy (well I am), they can be bothersome (so am I at times), demanding (guess what? Yep so can I), yet they need help (I need help from time to time). The unloving response, or the unjust one, can be so entwined with cultures that it can be invisible. Just look at the state of the United States before Civil Rights. Many good God fearing people were blind to the horrors of what many people had to go through during that time….perhaps because it was lawful. I tend to think the whole abortion issue as a legal right is another example. To give a woman the ‘right’ to terminate a ‘life’ within her womb as accepted and obvious and normal, means that the ‘life’ within the womb has no rights whatsoever. People brag on how they got an abortion on the internet so that they could make more money or push their career forward….fine….but what about the life destroyed. I am not saying this to change anyone’s mind, that is impossible, and consciences are lulled to sleep over many moral dilemmas, not just abortion. Is abortion the just thing to do, is it the loving action that we are called upon to perform….I think not. Abortion is a cancer I believe, that only shows something deeper and off center in how we look at life today. I am not pointing fingers, the pain and suffering of our lives can lead us to make choices that many regret for the rest of their lives. I have no idea how I would react if faced with this dilemma in my life, yet no matter how I would react, to get an abortion is to take a life, or to stop the process of life that starts at conception and ends in natural death. There is a woman that I have helped out over the years. She can be frustrating, stubborn and manipulative. It is how she survives. Does that mean that I don’t help her? We can’t help everyone, but I do think that most people have people outside of family that they feel called to help over the long haul. They stick, they stay, and we help them. So I try to do the just and loving thing with this woman, who I have come to care for and at the same time to keep a certain boundary with her. In her own way she does try, but because of certain emotional and mental problems, it is difficult for her to be ‘normal’, to respond the same as most people within a certain latitude. She does have others help her as well. Though some of those who help, because they can’t keep proper boundaries, have to back off after awhile, they become too drained to help her anymore. There are no easy answers to life problems, yet I try not to look at others and just try to do what I can, though it is very little. Yet I do believe we are commanded to do the just and loving thing. I believe this is commanded for our own good, for to turn off our hearts to others will create a great darkness in the heart….a cold unfeeling one, or a very cold and angry one. Not sure which is worse? It is easy to complain, harder to do the simple just and loving thing. I still struggle with it and will to the day I die. So I pray to the Lord to give me a heart like His, one that is fully human and loving, kind and compassionate. God grace is like the rain that comes down on the parched ground allowing life to flow, it can bring the hardest, coldest, heart, to new life that truly does do the just and loving thing.
  22. The more we trust the deeper the relationship.....that goes with God as well as with others.
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