Lilit Marcus: October 2007 Archives

Every week on Beliefnet we spotlight someone from our community who has made waves, helped and inspired others, or done something new. This week, it wasn't difficult to choose someone--we had gotten several emails urging us to highlight RangerKen. He's a veteran of 30 years in the army who married a fellow servicemember and settled in the Boston area. He's the father of two grown children, a schoolteacher daughter and an army sergeant son. In his second career, RangerKen became a chemistry professor. He's an Episcopalian married to a Catholic, an avid equestrian, and a huge fan of Winston Churchill.

What Members Had to Say About Him:

"He is a knowledgeable poster, an articulate writer and a gentleman through and through. He posts with conviction without waffling and yet he is open-minded to the other individual’s position. He moderates the Iraq War Board the way this government should be run – with as little interference as possible – yet in strict compliance with the Rules of Conduct. In this he is the MASTER MODERATOR of this very contentious board. He never fails to welcome new posters, to be supportive of their right of self-expression, and at the same time keeping his board disruption free and safe for ALL posters. In all things, he seeks to ensure ALL points of view are well expressed on his board."- mlyons619

"What I know best about him is that he has brought calm and order to two very touchy boards and that he deals with members with such grace and humor that I can't recall anyone taking umbrage at his actions. I am terribly fond of him. What impresses me about him is that despite his own strongly held beliefs about one of the most divisive issues of our time, he is respectful to those who differ and really believes in their right to express their differences."- Cheryl, Beliefnet Community manager

What RangerKen Has to Say About Himself:
"I am fortunate that my current career lets me teach, help, guide, advise, and encourage young men and women to be the best they can be and to make a positive contribution to our country. I pray that I will always do it well."

If you want to see RangerKen in action, you can view his profile here. You can also head over to the boards he moderates on the Middle East News & Politics Discussion.

Every week Beliefnet members post prayer circles, asking others to pray for their family, health, finances, relationships, and more. Here a few of this week's prayer circles.

Pray for Jennifer Mungia
"My husband is serving our country and he has been in Korea for a year already. He is supposed to come home next month. Please make sure that he does come home to me."

Pray for Beverly Coons
"My mom Beverly is 44 years old and she will be undergoing a brain surgery to remove a tumor on the outside of her brain."

Pray for the Sabatino Family
"I would really appreicate it if everyone could take a moment to pray for the Sabatinos in their hour of need. They have just found out their unborn baby has a heart defect."

Pray for Krystle Robinson
"A young single mother of 2 yr old in need of prayer for a positive change and health issues."

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and we here at Beliefnet are doing our part to raise awareness, as well as to provide hope, comfort, and support for those coping with breast cancer and their loved ones.

Health editor Holly Rossi has started a topic in her journal called "Stories of Survival." She's collecting stories from members of our Beliefnet community. If you have a story of your own, or a story of a friend or relative, that you'd like to share, you can get started by clicking here.

Here are some more great Beliefnet offerings:

The new home of our Cancer Support Group

Beautiful and touching Breast Cancer Awareness Month e-Cards

Healing prayers and mantras for various stages in the cancer journey

The new Beliefnet Community is a really exciting way for us to learn more about our users. Instead of just seeing your latest posts, we can see your profiles, view pictures you've posted, learn about your interests, and more.

On that note, we're happy to focus this week on DAH54. As we make the transition from the old Beliefnet Community to the new one, DAH54 has been a great friend to those needing some help making the transition. He has used his Beliefnet journal to give tips on how to use the new community tools.

DAH54 has also taken advantage of these community tools. He already has a stable's worth of friends, and he's uploaded several videos of some of his favorite songs.

You can check out his profile, read his journal, and view his videos here.

Every day members post prayer circles on Beliefnet. They ask for prayers for any number of subjects: health, money, family, and more. Below are a few of this week's prayer circles.

Pray for Rosa Vasquez
"Rosa is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Pray for her so she will not suffer in her last days."

Pray for Azelin J.
"My foster daughter is a child who has been through a lot in the short time she has been on this earth. Please pray that the LORD GOD will keep her in his hands always."

Pray for Bill Gillanders
"Bill is 56 and has Pancreatic cancer. He is having surgery on the 25th of October."

Pray for Joan M.
"Please pray for my neighbors' son, who is addicted to heroin."

Have you heard about Blog Action Day? Today, October 15, more than 11,000 blogs written by people all over the world are writing posts about the environment. According to the Blog Action Day website, "Every blogger will post about...

Since Beliefnet launched, Prayer Circles have always been among the most popular areas of the site, giving our readers a chance to lend hope, comfort, and support to other members in need. Each week we'll spotlight some of the touching...

Meet JumboJava Many people come to Beliefnet in a time of trial, asking others to pray for them. They then stick around and return the favor, praying for other members. But few make the kind of impression JumboJava has made....

Beliefnet definitely has something for everybody. This week we've highlighted some particularly juicy topics about relationships, politics, health, and parenting. Does Marriage Have an 'Expiration Date'? "Did anyone notice the article on Politician, Gabriele Pauli -- who has shocked the...

Meet Ayelet2 Many people come to Beliefnet's message boards looking for hope and solace. In 2006, a member of Beliefnet’s Mormon community was upset about having a disability and not owning a car to get around. Enter Ayelet2, a regular...

Since Beliefnet launched, Prayer Circles have always been among the most popular areas of the site, giving our readers a chance to lend hope, comfort, and support to other members in need. Each week we'll spotlight some of the touching...

There are so many discussions going on at Beliefnet that it's hard to know where to jump in. So we're highlighting a few of our most interesting conversations: How Important Is Attraction in a Marriage? "Everything else is 100% perfect...