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    Jakob Poeltls contract sheds light on what the Spurs may be doing – Pounding The Rock - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    The big splash of the Spurs offseason came last week when they locked in one of the returning pieces from the Kawhi Leonard trade by re-signing Jakob Poeltl. The deal, worth just over a reported $26 million through three years, didnt come as a total shock, but it could be a bolder move than many give it credit for.

    For a team with ample raw materials, its not been clear how the Spurs will put them togetherat least not in ways that matter for winning teams. Can they establish a defensive identity? What will their defensive style be like? Which young player(s) develop star-level upside, and how would the other pieces complement on offense? Most of these questions remain unanswered, but the draft selection of FSUs Devin Vassell, Brian Wrights comments afterward, and now the commitment to Poeltl give us an outline to work with.

    Lets start with the Poeltl contract and work our way backwards.

    After averaging just 16.5 and 17.7 minutes his last two seasons in San Antonio, Poeltls new deal suggests a larger role moving forward as the team reloads. Also, theres this statement he made during his media availability last week:

    There was some conversations about my role and how the team is going to look in the future. That was a big part of my decision as well. I wanted to be on a team where I felt comfortable and would get along and play well alongside my teammates.

    Whether it happens during this season or after the summer of 2021 when LaMarcus Aldridges contract is up, it certainly appears that Poeltl will step in as the teams new starting center. Those two remain difficult to pair up at the same time, so Poeltl may need to wait unless the Spurs can convince Aldridge of the move amid a contract year, or they trade him earlier.

    The Spurs have reason to put their faith in Poeltl, even if they didnt show it with minutes the past two years. His first season in San Antonio, the team went 16-8 with him as a starter; in last years forgettable 32-39 campaign, they went 9-9.

    Can he stretch the floor? No, his longest shots as a Spur are the occasional push-shot-cum-jumper from 19 feet away. And while he did connect on 60% of those last season (really good!), hell likely keeping doing most of his scoring around the basket. That production will largely depend on others because of his lack of self-creation, save for those crafty fake hand-offs which spring him for open runs at the rim.

    Defensively he can hold his own on switches, but hes going to guard pick and rolls by stunting and showing and dropping back whenever possible. And as we saw in Orlando versus Joel Embiid, he can be overmatched by bruising bigs.

    Theres certainly room for growth: Poeltl can do more as a facilitator and improve his free-throw shooting, for starters. But for the purposes of team-building, Poeltl is what he is, and that gives us an idea of the other four players the Spurs may envision around him.

    Poeltls strengths as a defender have been evident through two seasons in San Antonio. Opponents shot 11.8% worse within 6 feet of the rim when he was the primary defender last season, putting him in the mix with some of the leagues better deterrents. Combine that with a high block rate (he averaged 1.4 in limited minutes last season), high basketball IQ and deceptive mobility and you have a fine big to surround with switchable perimeter players. San Antonio dabbled in a switch-heavy scheme in Orlando that was happy to switch 1 through 4 while Poeltl hung back on pick and rolls, and its a formula were likely to see more of next season.

    It suits the direction the Spurs have gone in recent drafts, with Vassell as the latest in long, athletic wings that can guard multiple positions, hit the defensive glass, and make plays. Heres Spurs GM Brian Wright after the draft:

    Speed, length, shooting ability all hold value, so well continue to look for those things,... I think the league has really changed where you look at guys as one-position playersyoure either a 1, 2, 3, 4 or a 5. I think what you see now is youve got guards, youve got wings and youve got bigs, and depending on who theyre playing with you diversify. And you want guys who are versatile, who can play multiple positions.

    The first team that comes to mind when I hear the guard-wing-big talk is Boston. Brad Stevens echoed a similar line in speaking about their approach to team-building three years ago and has ridden it to considerable success in the East. That philosophy has included a de-prioritization of the big position, with the team investing most of its cap space at other positions. The Spurs, with their theoretical starting center of the future on a similarly economical deal, can do the same as they start making use of their open salary books in this summer.

    Its an open question as to whether the Spurs are actually trying to replicate what Boston is doing or whether they can with their young pieces who, a) average 2 or 3 inches shorter than the big wings the Celtics have platooned and b) havent threatened to reach the talent level of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. But if the idea is a free-flowing, four-out offense with multiple ball-handlers, then Poeltl can be the low-usage big that stirs the drink. Hes a strong screen-setter who can dive to the rim well enough to put pressure on a back-pedaling defender. He and Derrick White already have strong chemistry and, as guys like Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker and Keldon Johnson develop as decision-makers off the dribble, itll help to more routinely have Poeltl helping create advantages against a set defense.

    Among Spurs rotation players, the Austrian was 4th in assists per 36 minutes last season, thanks largely to working off designated hand-offs and setting up guys like Bryn Forbes, Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli for pull-up jumpers. Whether he can keep getting dimes depends largely on the growth of his young teammates scoring off similar actions.

    Poeltl at under $9 million a year should be objectively good value and a tradable contract should the Spurs look to move him. It also means having one likely starter at around 8% of the salary cap. Should the Spurs need a change-of-pace center to close out certain lineups with? PATFO can chase that, too. When youre a young team still trying to figure out who your future stars may be, and where they may come from, thats important.

    Retaining him doesnt say much to the ceiling for the Spurs youth movement, but it definitely helps set a floor while laying the groundwork for what the front office decides to do next.

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    Jakob Poeltls contract sheds light on what the Spurs may be doing - Pounding The Rock

    Global Sheds and Outdoor Storage Market on a Steady Growth Trail; FMI Provides Projections in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic in its New Revised Report -… - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Future Market Insights (FMI) presents its new, comprehensive study on the global Sheds & Outdoor Storage market spanning from Forecast. Researches at FMI have no left no stone unturned in bestowing readers a comprehensive view of the market, by studying the drivers, trends, challenges, and restraints. Backed by historical data and projected data, the report breaks down the vast study into numerous geographies and end-use segments, among others to condense the research.

    Analysts at FMI have employed in-depth analysis to offer a lucid understanding of the market and the factors shaping its growth trajectory. Ranging from macro socio-economic factors to micro geography-specific trends, the research has taken into consideration every facet that is likely to play a vital role in the growth of the market in the years to come. Presenting a plethora of valuable information, the report will serve as an effective tool, guiding the market players in making fruitful decisions in the forthcoming years.

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    In the wake of COVID-19, there has been a significant change in consumer behavior. This is expected to reflect in the growth of the Sheds & Outdoor Storage market with essential commodities being highly sought out and demand for non-essential commodities witnessing a steep decline. Considering its nature, the growth of the Sheds & Outdoor Storage market will be impacted by the prevailing socio economic situation worldwide. Likewise, players are facing challenges to keep the production and operations on the supply side intact due to social distancing measures and restrictions on movements.

    FMIs report includes a dedicated section expounding both the short-term and long-term impact of the pandemic on the Sheds & Outdoor Storage market. The study is shaped to bolster stakeholders in making the right decisions to mitigate challenges and leverage opportunities through the pandemic.

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    The study bestows valuable insights into the competitive landscape of the global Sheds & Outdoor Storage market, by studying numerous players, their growth strategies, and key developments. The report dwells deep and studies different facets such as product launches, production methodologies, and steps adopted by players to make processes cost-effective, among others, are expected to influence their individual standpoint. Understanding the prevailing trends and strategies on the supply-side empowers players to foster their plan of action accordingly to progress on a remunerative path. Key players covered in the research include

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    Global Sheds and Outdoor Storage Market on a Steady Growth Trail; FMI Provides Projections in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic in its New Revised Report -...

    Souvankham Thammavongsa’s winning book sheds light into the immigrant experience – St. Paul Asian American Press - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    By Diana ChengAAP Film & Arts Writer

    Souvankham Thammavongsas short story collection How to Pronounce Knife is the winner of the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Established in 1994, the notable Canadian literary awards past winners include Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, and Michael Ondaatje, just to name a few.

    Born in the Lao refugee camp in Thailand, Thammavongsa came to Canada as a young child with her sponsored family. She grew up in Toronto where she still lives.

    How to Pronounce Knife is a compilation of fourteen short stories previously published in literary journals and magazines such as Granta, The Paris Review, and Harpers. Several selections in the book are O. Henry and The Journey Prize winners.

    Thammavongsas memory of living in a refugee camp might be vague as she left while still a toddler, her growing up in Canada in an immigrant family would have supplied much lucidity. The details of immigrant lives and clarity of insights mark her stories with poignancy as she creates on the page.

    In the title story a young immigrant child learns to read. Perplexed by the word knife, she asks her father how to pronounce it. Kah-nnn-eye-ffff. Its kahneyff, he tells her. Her pronunciation of the word in class the next day when the teacher calls on her to read does not so much bring embarrassment but a conflict of loyalty, one that other characters in the stories of the book have to struggle with: the tug-of-war between loyalty to ones own family and culture vis--vis the larger society.

    Thammavongsas stories bring us to lives we would seldom meet. Mani Pedi is about a failed boxer conceding to work in his sisters nail salon, learning how to do manicure and pedicure. His scarred and damaged face may be a sharp contrast to the polished nails and creamed facials, it doesnt stop him from dreaming, an internal flame which his sister tries to put out angrily.

    Others extinguish their own dreams. Like the man whose wife has walked out on him in Edge of the World. While his daughter grieves for a mother lost, he does not. He had done all of this lifes grieving when he became a refugee.

    Picking Worms tells the story of a mother and her fourteen-year-old daughter working as worm pickers in the dark of night. In this new land, theres only the two of them as the girls father drowns while pushing them to escape across a river. You could be picking worms but still have your dignity intact, and memories. Whenever I had any time to myself, I often got to thinking of my father. You arent supposed to remember things from when youre two, but I did. All we wanted was to live.

    In other stories theres the voice of the female in a male-dominated society, regardless whether one is an immigrant or not. In the story Paris, the bosss wife watches her husband go out with a female worker. She and another female worker embrace and cry, albeit for different reasons. In Slingshot, Thammavongsa describes the internal world of a seventy-year-old woman whose yearning and desire is no different from a younger one.

    Not that all the stories are about gloomy loses and hurts. Wit and humour bring delightful surprises in Thammavongsas writing. Randy Travis reads like an episode of a comedy sit-com. A wife is infatuated with the singer Randy Travis and asks her daughter to write fan letters to him. The daughter wants to snuff out her mothers craze and writes to the opposite effects. But her husband tries to please her, a husband who doesnt belt out the word love as readily as a country-western singer but shows hes no less loving than a white man.

    Thammavongsas style is subtlety embedded in spare prose, occasionally sprinkled with a dash of witty humor. A word of wisdom is conveyed in these lines from Slingshot: You can do that with a joke, hide how you feel and mean what you say at the same time, and no one will ask you which it is. Apropos insight and a poignant skill of survival for her characters.

    _____________________

    I thank Penguin Random House Canada for the review copy.

    Contact Diana Cheng at[emailprotected],onTwitter@Arti_Ripplesor her blog Ripple Effects rippleeffects.reviews

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    Souvankham Thammavongsa's winning book sheds light into the immigrant experience - St. Paul Asian American Press

    Princess Dianas former butler sheds light on what he saw behind closed doors – The News International - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Princess Diana's former butler reveals what transpired between her and Prince Charles

    Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, came forth breaking his silence on claims pertaining to The Crown being far from the truth.

    Burrell said the show's depiction of what transpired between Prince Charles and Diana is quite accurate.

    During an interview with The Sun, he said, "Josh O'Connor plays Prince Charles as a rather uncaring, cold person. And I'm afraid that's what I saw behind closed doors."

    "He was married to probably the most beautiful woman in the world. But he didn't look after her, and that's what comes across in The Crown," Burrell added. He continued that the rift between Charles and Diana came afloat after her rise to fame.

    "You're seeing an unknown young girl rise while Charles's star doesn't and her popularity becomes greater than his," said Burrell. "And that's the whole problem."

    Burrell added: "Diana said to me, 'I thought when I got married that my husband would be there for me, to care for me, to support me, to encourage me, but he isn't.' People that jump up and say, 'Well, that's not factual', well, that's pretty close to the truth."

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    Princess Dianas former butler sheds light on what he saw behind closed doors - The News International

    Survey sheds light on deer populations, issues along Greenway in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks – Grand Forks Herald - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Thats one of the key findings from a postcard survey of residents who live along the Greenway on both sides of the river, said Gunnar Patz, a senior UND fisheries and wildlife biology major who conducted the survey.

    Patz received a $5,000 Main Street GF Challenge grant last winter to launch the survey, working with Greenway coordinator Kim Greendahl, the Greenway Technical Committee and Jay Boulanger, a UND wildlife professor who left the university in July for a new position as president of White Buffalo Inc., a nonprofit conservation group headquartered in Connecticut.

    The goal of the survey was to collect baseline data on the status of deer populations and depredation problems along the Greenway in the two communities.

    As part of the survey, postcards with survey information were mailed in August to 1,500 residents living along the Greenway, along with information about responding to the survey either online or by filling out paper copies.

    About 20% of the residents sampled responded to the survey. The wide range of responses was unexpected, Patz said.

    Patz and Greendahl were on hand to present findings from the survey Monday night to the Grand Forks City Council and Tuesday night via Zoom to the East Grand Forks City Council.

    We were surprised in the comment section about how strongly some people felt about the deer population and the damage that they had been receiving to their yards, Patz said in an interview. Some people wrote huge paragraphs about how they really feel about the situation and some people said they loved the deer.

    Also of note, most of the respondents who had lived along the Greenway 10 years or more said theyve seen an increase in deer numbers on or near their property. A few homeowners suggested hunting as a way to control deer numbers, but a hunt wasnt among the 12 questions included in the survey.

    The Greenway Technical Committee plans to continue periodic surveys and perhaps set up trail cameras in places to get a better handle on deer activity.

    As a fisheries and wildlife biology student, Patz said the survey provided the opportunity to conduct research with significant management implications.

    I think it was an amazing experience especially to give me a personal look into the beginning stages of a management plan for the deer population in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, he said.

    See the article here:
    Survey sheds light on deer populations, issues along Greenway in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks - Grand Forks Herald

    Modern Shed added $129,000 tiny homes on wheels to product line – Business Insider – Business Insider - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Backyard shed maker Modern Shed has added a newcomer to its product line: the DW, a $129,000 tiny home on wheels.

    Modern Shed has been known to build backyard sheds that can serve as home offices and gyms, storage units, guest bedrooms, and more. But after almost 20 years of doing so, the company has decided to pivot this year amid the coronavirus pandemic to unveil a tiny home on wheels known as the Dwelling on Wheels, or the DW.

    Read more: California's housing crisis is so dire, a startup just raised $3.5 million in VC funding to drop tiny houses in people's backyards

    "We wanted to leverage that experience [of building sheds] to offer something that embodies agility, which is really something this year has asked of all of us," founder of Modern Shed Ryan Smith told Business Insider in an email interview. "The DW can do a lot it's great for enjoying nature short-term, for off-grid living, or as a second, remote home."

    Right now is also a strategic time to sell tiny homes as the movement has increased in popularity this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on in the US, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

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    Modern Shed added $129,000 tiny homes on wheels to product line - Business Insider - Business Insider

    Dinosaur-era bird with scythe-like beak sheds light on avian diversity – Reuters - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A delicate but exquisitely preserved skull of a crow-sized bird with a scythe-like beak that inhabited Madagascar 68 million years ago is showing scientists that they have a lot of learn about avian diversity during the age of dinosaurs.

    Scientists on Wednesday said the bird, called Falcatakely forsterae, possessed a face unlike any other known bird from the age of dinosaurs - the Mesozoic Era - not only because of the beak shape but because of its underlying anatomy.

    Its beak looked superficially like that of a small toucan though the two species are not closely related. While modern birds exhibit a great variety of beak shapes - from the sword-billed hummingbird to the rhinoceros hornbill - little such diversity had been discovered among Mesozoic birds.

    Falcatakelys 3.5-inch (9-cm) skull remains partially embedded in rock because the scientists did not want to risk harming it. Instead they analyzed it using sophisticated scanning and digital reconstruction. Only its skull was found.

    Amazing, small, delicate, fragile, challenging to study - all at the same time, said Ohio University anatomy professor Patrick OConnor, lead author of the research published in the journal Nature.

    Bird fossils are particularly rare in part because they have such delicate skeletons. Hollow bones arent great at surviving the fossilization process, added paleontologist and study co-author Alan Turner of Stony Brook University in New York.

    Because of this, we need to be aware that we are probably under-sampling the Mesozoic diversity of birds. A newly discovered species like Falcatakely provides a taste of the tantalizing possibility of a greater diversity of form waiting to be discovered, Turner said.

    Birds evolved from small feathered dinosaurs about 150 million years ago. Early birds retained many ancestral features including teeth. The Falcatakely fossil has a single conical tooth in the front part of the upper jaw. Falcatakely probably had a small number of teeth in life.

    It belonged to an avian group, enantiornithines, that did not survive the mass extinction event 66 million years ago, ending the Cretaceous Period.

    Unlike the earliest birds such as Archaeopteryx, which in many ways still looked dinosaurian with their long tails and unspecialized snouts, enantiornithines like Falcatakely would have looked relatively modern, Turner said.

    It was in the underlying skeletal structure where its differences were more apparent, OConnor added, with more similarities to dinosaurs like Velociraptor than modern birds.

    Reporting by Will Dunham; editing by Jonathan Oatis

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    Dinosaur-era bird with scythe-like beak sheds light on avian diversity - Reuters

    Really bad: Jrgen Klopp sheds more light on Thiagos problem at Liverpool – HITC – Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

    Jrgen Klopp has shed more light on the problem that is stopping Thiago Alcntara from adding to his two appearances for Liverpool.

    Speaking on Tuesday before the Ajax game, the Liverpool Echo quote Klopp as saying: After Everton it was a really bad injury. He trained from time to time but not in the moment. We realise it was a really big impact on the knee and he has to take a few more steps, and it will take a few weeks.

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    The Story of Diego Maradona

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    Richarlisons awful challenge on the former Barcelona maestro really seems to have done a lot of damage, which is awful to see.

    Liverpool arguably signed the best deep-lying playmaker in Europe when they brought the 29-year-old to Anfield in the summer, shortly after hed just won the Champions League.

    However, the Reds supporters have been robbed of seeing the classy No.6, and it doesnt sound like theyre going to see much of him in whats left of 2020.

    Its no surprise that the ex-Bayern Munich man is struggling so much.

    His knee can be seen going backwards after the Everton No.7 flew into him, as someone on Twitter pointed out in a short clip of the incident.

    Joe Gomezs reaction putting his hands on his head in horror tells you all you need to know about how dangerous the challenge from Richarlison was.

    Hopefully, the dreadful, studs-up lunge wont have any long-lasting repercussions on Thiagos career if that was the case, it would be heartbreaking.

    In other news, Smith shares what he told Villa's players in the dressing room after West Ham defeat

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    Really bad: Jrgen Klopp sheds more light on Thiagos problem at Liverpool - HITC - Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music

    Impact of Covid-19 on Garden Shed Market demand and future scope with top Key players Backyard Products, Newell Rubbermaid, Craftsman, Lifetime… - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

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    Advent a time to shed mediocrity and indifference, pope tells cardinals – Crux Now - December 2, 2020 by Mr HomeBuilder

    ROME Opening the Churchs season of Advent, Pope Francis celebrated Mass Sunday with a crop of new cardinals he elevated yesterday, warning against temptations of mediocrity and indifference and touting prayer and charity as the remedy.

    Praying and loving, that is what it means to be watchful, the pope said in his homily for the Nov. 29 Mass. When the Church worships God and serves our neighbor, it does not live in the night. However weak and weary, she journeys towards the Lord.

    Let us now call out to him. Come, Lord Jesus, we need you! he said, praying, Rouse us from the slumber of mediocrity; awaken us from the darkness of indifference. Come, Lord Jesus, take our distracted hearts and make them watchful. Awaken within us the desire to pray and the need to love.

    Marking the official opening of the Churchs liturgical season of Advent, which marks the beginning of the Churchs liturgical new year, the private Mass was celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peters Basilica. Due to ongoing restrictions on public gatherings related to the coronavirus pandemic, the event was not open to the public but was livestreamed on the Vaticans social media networks.

    Beyond the pope, the new cardinals and cardinals who are residents of Rome, there were around 100 others present who were either pastors or rectors of the titular churches where the cardinals have been assigned, or friends and family accompanying the new cardinals.

    In total, the 13 prelates who got a red hat from Francis Saturday included nine electors eligible to vote in the next conclave and four who are over 80, meaning the title is honorary and they will hold no voting rights.

    Among the new cardinals is Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, the only American in the group and the United States first-ever African American cardinal.

    RELATED: Pope tells 13 new cardinals that red hat is not a career advancement

    In his homily, the pope said Advent is a time to reflect on Gods closeness to humanity, illustrated through his incarnation, and to remember humanitys need of him.

    Advent reminds us that Jesus came among us and will come again at the end of time. Yet we can ask what those two comings mean, if he does not also come into our lives today? So let us invite him, Francis said, urging faithful to make their own the traditional Advent prayer taken from the Book of Revelation, Come, Lord Jesus.

    Pope Francis also stressed the need to be watchful, insisting that one great mistake in life is to get absorbed in a thousand things and not to notice God.

    Drawn by our own interests, and distracted by so many vain things, we risk losing sight of what is essential, he said, adding that Advent is also a time to live in hope.

    Just as before our birth, our loved ones expectantly awaited our coming into the world, so now Love in person awaits us. If we are awaited in Heaven, why should we be caught up with earthly concerns? Why should we be anxious about money, fame, success, all of which will fade away? Why should we waste time complaining about the night, when the light of day awaits us? he said.

    Noting that Jesuss disciples also fell asleep when he asked them to stay awake and keep watch before his arrest, the pope warned that that same drowsiness can overtake us.

    This drowsiness, he said, often manifests itself in mediocrity and indifference.

    Mediocrity, he said, comes when we forget our first love and grow satisfied with indifference, concerned only for an untroubled existence. Without making an effort to love God daily and awaiting the newness he constantly brings, we become mediocre, lukewarm, worldly.

    As time goes on, this slowly eats away at our faith, for faith is the very opposite of mediocrity: it is ardent desire for God, a bold effort to change, the courage to love, constant progress, he said, insisting that faith is not a tranquilizer for people under stress, it is a love story for people in love! That is why Jesus above all else detests lukewarmness.

    Speaking of indifference, Francis said those who succumb to this attitude see everything the same, as if it were night; they are unconcerned about those all around them. When everything revolves around us and our needs, and we are indifferent to the needs of others, night descends in our hearts.

    An indifferent person, he said, immediately begins to complain about everything and everyone; we start to feel victimized by everyone and end up brooding about everything. Nowadays, that night seems to have fallen on people who only demand things for themselves, heedless of the needs of others.

    Pope Francis suggested prayer and acts of charity as remedies for these two spiritual ailments, insisting that consistency in prayer rouses us from the tepidity of a purely horizontal existence and makes us lift our gaze to higher things; it makes us attuned to the Lord.

    Prayer allows God to be close to us; it frees us from our solitude and gives us hope, he said, adding, just as we cannot live without breathing, so we cannot be Christians without praying.

    Similarly, he said called charity the beating heart of the Christian, saying, just as one cannot live without a heartbeat, so one cannot be a Christian without charity.

    Some people seem to think that being compassionate, helping and serving others is for losers, the pope said. Yet these are the only things that win us the victory, since they are already aiming towards the future, the day of the Lord, when all else will pass away and love alone will remain.

    It is by works of mercy that we draw close to the Lord, he said, adding, Jesus is coming, and the road to meet him is clearly marked: it passes through works of charity.

    Follow Elise Ann Allen on Twitter:@eliseannallen

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