Iren Bencze Teacher and Mentor

07/06/2025

I've been reading the following verses in Psalm 32:1–5, and I noticed a term I hadn't seen before: 'Selah'. I learned that it is a Hebrew word often found at the end of verses or paragraphs. As opposed to 'Amen', 'Selah' is used purely in the Psalms and in song. As such, it is generally understood as a musical or liturgical sign, *possibly indicating a pause for reflection, contemplation*, or a musical interlude.

"3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah."

Pausing to think reminded me of a conversation I had the other day. While growing up, we were taught never to talk about what ails us, as it may be taken as a sign of weakness. Now grown (and even aged), we must realize that talking our pain or worry over (with God and multiple people, if needs be) can actually help us heal from the wounds we carry, instead of being consumed by them.

28/05/2025

Doctrine and Covenants 104:13 made me pause this morning, as from early childhood I was taught that I was responsible for what I had. It was up to me for how long those new pair of shoes looked nice, and how long they lasted. So too our bodies, homes, and relationships. Do we appreciate them by taking care of them?

"For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings..."

20/03/2025

Well said in 1916. E. G. Peterson, Utah Agricultural College.

02/02/2025

As I was reading the morning mantra attributed to the Trappist Monks at the Abbey of he Genessee, I was wondering if I could write a more personalized version of it. This "poetic" iteration is coauthored with ChatGPT:

Each Day, a Choice. Each Choice, a Legacy.

This is the dawn of a new day.
God’s gift, placed in my hands to shape.
I choose to fill it with purpose, with kindness, with light.
For this day is mine to spend, and my choice matters—
I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
When the sun sets, it will be gone forever,
leaving only what I have traded it for.
Let it be growth. Let it be joy.
Let it be love, wisdom, and light.
Let it be worthy of the life I was given.

21/12/2024

“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.”
― David W. Orr, Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (Image: Designer)

27/10/2024

Are the arcs really the same shape and size? 🤔

16/09/2024

Kotlarik, this reminded me of the conversation we had the other day 🙃

Why do recruiters still ask for them?

04/09/2024

I think it's the first time I sang How Firm a Foundation all the way through today, and the following verse stood out because of a word I was unfamiliar with: dross. Its origins refer to the scum formed on the surface of molten metal. If we are the ore, and our lives' fiery trials are meant to refine us, the three-times repetition evokes quite a vivid image of our rubbish being consumed by God's flame, so we may turn into the best versions of ourselves.

10/08/2024

Fun :)

Six research-backed moves to improve your mood

28/06/2024

Early 19th century 🤓: "The Mechanics’ Institution was originally established in 1825, and in the year 1833 a building was erected for their meetings, in Howard Street. The committee of management subsequently took the Corn Market chambers, which are found admirably adapted for the objects of the institution, which affords to mechanics, artisans, and others, opportunities of acquiring, at their leisure hours, the principles of science and the arts; and for the cultivation of literature. The library comprises upwards of 2,000 volumes, and the reading-room is supplied with the leading London and provincial newspapers and magazines. There are classes for the English and French languages, arithmetic, mathematics, writing, drawing, music, and modelling. The present number of members is two hundred. The income for the year ending September, 1849, was £110. 15s. 10d. President: Mr. Edward Elsmere.—Honorary Secretaries: Mr. W. P. Scoltock and Mr. Robert France, jun."

Project Gutenberg is a library of free eBooks.

22/06/2024

Ever thought of working in space exploration as a seamstress?
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amy-kleypas-73144918a_we-are-hiring-in-the-nasa-johnson-space-center-activity-7210014980669067264-2373/

11/06/2024

Watch the recording for some "out of this world" moments 👩‍🚀🧑‍🚀