First sight: Vatican City (Photo/Theme): 13 November 09)

Hello, this is Amorella at the first sight of the city state of the western Catholic Church. Orndorff is allowing me to present an out-of-mind flavor to their recent trip. I chose the pictures and the theme on the day the photos were taken. Now home and relaxed it is time for a reflection.

I thought that most everyone has seen the usual photographs, but of course this one was taken on the taxi run and we had just turned the corner so I took the shot on the ‘approach’. The alien perspective to Italy appeared natural as it was my first trip also.

As Amorella is really my inner spiritual writer/guide I open my mind to see what she has to say. Opening the mind to possibilities is about as spiritual a theme that I can imagine, so no more need be said by me.

In the rush of the taxi, I, Amorella, look at this architecture and see reason rising to a domed point/period with the flavor of a hat placed on a human head. With this, I am reminded of last year’s interview in the Vatican daily newspaper.

“The Director of the Vatican's Observatory, Fr. José Gabriel Funes, said in an interview with the Vatican daily, L'Osservatore Romano, that believing in the possible existence of extraterrestrial  life is not opposed to Catholic doctrine. . . .

The astronomer began the interview titled, "The Alien is my Brother," by saying that, "Astronomy has a profound human value. It is a science that opens the heart and the mind. It helps us to put our lives, our hopes, our problems in the right perspective. In this regard, and here I speak as a priest and a Jesuit, it is an apostolic instrument that can bring us closer to God", said Fr. Funes . . . .

When he was asked about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the Director of the Vatican Observatory responded that "it is possible, even if until now, we have no proof. But certainly in such a big universe this hypothesis cannot be excluded."

Asked is he sees a contradiction between the Catholic faith and believing in aliens, he said, "I think there isn't (a contradiction). Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures over the earth, so there could be other beings, even intelligent (beings), created by God. This is not in contradiction with our faith, because we cannot establish limits to God's creative freedom . . .”

[From: www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12628]

I am particularly fond of the humility touched upon in the adverbial clause at the conclusion of my selection. It serves to balance out the spiritual architecture. – Amorella.