Psalm 103:1-12

¹ Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Reflection

Out in the desert at the top of Mt. Sinai, Moses brought forth another set of stone tablets as commanded by God.  The first set had been destroyed because of the Israelite’s disobedience and rebellion.  But once again, the LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding love and faithfulness.”  (Exodus 34:4-7)  At that very moment, God revealed Himself, His ways and His nature.  The fact that God even gave them a second chance to receive the laws was a divine testament of His compassion and grace.  Not condemnation or judgment, God revealed that He is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.  For the many generations afterwards including us, through this Psalm, we are reminded of His gracious ways in dealing with us.  In compassion and grace, He heals, rescues and loves us in the most intimate and personal way.  This is who He is.  Because of Him, we are who we are.

Responding to the Transmitted Message

Let’s praise the Lord for his love and mercy – for He treated us not as we deserved but gave us unmerited favor to live in Him.  Let’s thank Him for the compassion and grace He shows us.

Maybe you’re waiting to see the Thor movie until after finals are over. Maybe you’ve seen it and you’re dying to get more back story on the mythical God of Thunder. Maybe you’ve been staring at journal articles all morning and just need a break. Maybe you just love comics loaded with exclamation points! Whatever the reason, Special Collections has just the thing for you. As part of our fantastic Comic Books Collection, we have more than 200 back issues of the original Thor comic books dating from 1965 through 1990! The first issue in our collection, number 119, even includes a battle against one of Thor’s movie foes, The Destroyer!

But Thor isn’t limited to his own book. You might also know him as part of The Avengers, along with Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man! Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered there as well, with more than a hundred issues from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Catch up on the Avengers back story now, before their movie comes out next year! And before you ask, yes, we’ve got classic 60’s and 70’s issues of Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man as well!

Special Collections will be open from 1 until 4 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday all the way through Finals Week, and until 8pm on Thursdays. During the summer, we’ll be open by appointment only. To find our superhero lair, enter the Library Gallery and walk straight back- you’ll see our doors on the right. No secret decoder ring required!

To browse all of the comics available at Special Collections, enter “comic books” in the “Collection” field in the following search; or put in more specific search terms to find the exact comic you’re looking for: http://umbc.pastperfect-online.com/37467cgi/mweb.exe?request=advform .

by Steve Ammidown, Special Collections Student Assistant

Maybe you’re waiting to see the Thor movie until after finals are over. Maybe you’ve seen it and you’re dying to get more back story on the mythical God of Thunder. Maybe you’ve been staring at journal articles all morning and just need a break. Maybe you just love comics loaded with exclamation points! Whatever the reason, Special Collections has just the thing for you. As part of our fantastic Comic Books Collection, we have more than 200 back issues of the original Thor comic books dating from 1965 through 1990! The first issue in our collection, number 119, even includes a battle against one of Thor’s movie foes, The Destroyer!

But Thor isn’t limited to his own book. You might also know him as part of The Avengers, along with Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man! Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered there as well, with more than a hundred issues from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Catch up on the Avengers back story now, before their movie comes out next year! And before you ask, yes, we’ve got classic 60’s and 70’s issues of Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man as well!

Special Collections will be open from 1 until 4 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday all the way through Finals Week, and until 8pm on Thursdays. During the summer, we’ll be open by appointment only. To find our superhero lair, enter the Library Gallery and walk straight back- you’ll see our doors on the right. No secret decoder ring required!

To browse all of the comics available at Special Collections, enter “comic books” in the “Collection” field in the following search; or put in more specific search terms to find the exact comic you’re looking for: http://umbc.pastperfect-online.com/37467cgi/mweb.exe?request=advform .

by Steve Ammidown, Special Collections Student Assistant

Maybe you're waiting to see the Thor movie until after finals are over. Maybe you've seen it and you're dying to get more back story on the mythical God of Thunder. Maybe you've been staring at journal articles all morning and just need a break. Maybe you just love comics loaded with exclamation points! Whatever the reason, Special Collections has just the thing for you. As part of our fantastic Comic Books Collection, we have more than 200 back issues of the original Thor comic books dating from 1965 through 1990! The first issue in our collection, number 119, even includes a battle against one of Thor's movie foes, The Destroyer!

But Thor isn't limited to his own book. You might also know him as part of The Avengers, along with Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man! Don't worry; we've got you covered there as well, with more than a hundred issues from the 60's, 70's and 80's. Catch up on the Avengers back story now, before their movie comes out next year! And before you ask, yes, we've got classic 60's and 70's issues of Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man as well!

Special Collections will be open from 1 until 4 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday all the way through Finals Week, and until 8pm on Thursdays. During the summer, we'll be open by appointment only. To find our superhero lair, enter the Library Gallery and walk straight back- you'll see our doors on the right. No secret decoder ring required!

To browse all of the comics available at Special Collections, enter comic books in the Collection field in the following search; or put in more specific search terms to find the exact comic you're looking for: http://umbc.pastperfect-online.com/37467cgi/mweb.exe?request=advform .

by Steve Ammidown, Special Collections Student Assistant

Thanks to Wikicommons.

Just because we’re fighting in Pakistan doesn’t mean we’re done with Libya! NATO continues bombing of military targets in Tripoli.

About those pictures... Some Senators to be allowed to see photos of Osama bin Laden’s body.

How much for that company? Internet phone service Skype was bought by Microsoft for $8.5 Billion.

Thanks to Wikicommons.

President, no, Sheriff Obama, after playing the role of international lawman, has returned his focus to the dusty streets of  the Texas town of El Paso.

Yesterday, he spoke on the issue of immigration reform, something especially relevant to a town so close to Mexico (and raging drug war). Obama notes:

we have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible.

…Over the past two and a half years, we’ve seized 31 percent more drugs, 75 percent more currency, 64 percent more weapons than ever before.

Because of this increased security Mr. Obama suggests it is now time to pass badly needed reforms as

…Today, the immigration system not only tolerates those who break the rules, but it punishes folks who follow the rules.

It could be expected that such words would stir up support from those calling for immigration reform but some are questioning his sincerity.

Over at Mother Jones, Suzy Khimm notes that

the timing of Obama’s renewed immigration push may give the impression that the move is largely a political ploy to win over Hispanic voters in 2012. Until Obama eases up enforcement and lays out a specific timeline to tackle immigration reform … he may have a tough time coming across as a credible immigration reform advocate.

Even if the President fully means what he says, Democracy in America’s E.G. thinks that his speech sent the wrong message that immigration reform is about national security rather than

an economic phenomenon with costs and benefits. That’s more accurate, less inflammatory, and would give any proposal a better chance of passage.

This has got us wondering. We’re sure that our readers are a diverse crowd, including immigrats, and we would love to know your view. Most likely they are more coherent than ours… so post them up!