As human beings, everything we are and have, we have received as gift from God, often through the instrumentality of others. And because we have received, we give to others the gift of what we are and have. However, it is often tempting to keep our gifts for ourselves, and not share them with others. Sometimes we are tempted to give, but only to get something in return ---- praise, a good name, status and power in society. Sometimes we give to God in order to get favors ---- a good job, success, and healing. Whereas it is admirable that we expect favors from God and not from human beings, how much more wonderful would it be if we can give, freely and joyfully, for the sheer joy of giving, without expecting anything in return, neither from human beings nor from God. Freely. Totally. Joyfully.♥
"Where your treasure is, there your heart is also." Our hearts can easily become fixed on "earthly treasure." Our tendency to look for happiness in material things is what makes us so susceptible to the clever deceptions of the world of advertising. Everyone knows, of course, that buying a certain product ---- a soft drink or shampoo will not give us the earthly paradise that the commercials portray, but as long as we long for earthly treasure, the advertisements are still effective. We are told not to waste our time storing up material wealth, such as money, clothes, possessions. These things are good when they are used for the right purposes, but they simply do not last, so they cannot give us lasting security or happiness. Since we live in an age when so many products are deliberately manufactured 'not to last', this message should be even more obvious to us. All we have to do is look at a ten-year-old car or cell phone and we can see that material things can give us only passing happiness. The odd thing about living in a materialistic age is that this very lesson is so often missed. The rapid breakdown of one gadget only leaves us hungering for the new, improved version. How can we be so easily fooled into thinking that this one will succeed in making us happy, when the previous ones all failed so miserably? We can be quite irrational about our early possessions, like the compulsive gambler who thinks that he will be satisfied forever if he can just win the jackpot one time. Even if we are to buy a product that will potentially last for generations (if it is not lost or stolen), a piece of golden jewelry, for example, or a diamond, we will not enjoy it forever ---- we will leave it behind when we die. The ancient Egyptians used to bury their kings surrounded by things that they thought they would need in the next life. When archeologists dig up their tombs thousand of years later, most of the items are corroded. But even those that remain intact are of absolute no use to the dead man buried with them. Completely Change the focus of our hearts to "store up heavenly treasure," treasures that really lasts. At the very end, nothing else will matters but, love.♥
MANILA
."She had never seen poverty on this scale. 'How can one person possibly make a difference.' For every one person Sienna fed, there were hundreds more who gazed at her with desolate eyes. Manila had six-hour traffic jams, suffocating pollution, and a horrifying sex trade, whose workers consisted primarily of young children, many of whom had been sold to pimps by parents who took solace in knowing that at least their children would be fed. Amid this chaos of child prostitution, panhandlers, pickpockets, and worse, Sienna found herself suddenly paralyzed. All around her, she could see humanity overrun by it's primal instinct for survival. 'when they face desperation . . . human beings become animals.' For Sienna all the dark depression came flooding back. She had suddenly understood mankind for what it was ---- a species on the brink. 'I was wrong,' she thought. 'I can't save the world.' Overwhelmed by traffic mania, Sienna broke into a sprint through the city streets, thrusting her way through the masses of people, knocking them over, pressing on, searching for open space. 'I'm being suffocated by human flesh!' As she ran, she could feel the eyes upon her again. She no longer blended in. She was tall and fair-skinned with a blond pony tail waving behind her. Men stared at her as if she were naked. When her legs finally gave out, she had no idea how far she had run or where she had gone. She cleared the tears and grime from her eyes and saw that she was standing in a kind of shantytown ---- a city made of pieces corrugated metal and cardboard propped up and held together. All around her the wails of crying babies and the stench of human excrement hung the air. 'I've run through the gates of hell.'
~Excerpt, Inferno, Dan Brown ~
"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
~ Voltaire ~
Francois-Marie Arouet, November 21, 1694-May 30, 1778
Hello Dan Brown, 'presumed you visited Manila. As they say there is always two side to a coin. It's heart rending to depict poverty as hell. If a person realizes that some worldly element is distracting him/her from this goal, there shall be no hesitation to distance oneself from such element. As per the Mosaic Law, every sacrifice was to be salted in order to consecrate the offering and remind the people of one's covenantal relationship with God. Therefore, losing saltiness would mean losing one's purity of intent. As Soren Kierkegaard has noted, "purity of heart is to will one thing," and this one thing is God and God alone, . . . . (Sirach 5:1-8 / Mk 9:41-50). One way to identify wisdom is to recognize its opposite. If we are wise, we will not allow foolish "inner conversations" to take place in our minds. We will not give in to overconfidence, the sin which the Catechism calls 'presumption.' There are two kinds of presumption, one kind moves us to rely too much on our own wealth or personal strength, as if we were more powerful than God, the other kind moves us to suppose God will forgive us even if we are not repentant. All who are wise in the ways of the Lord know that we must often choose a path that seems more difficult now, in the future, we will be richly rewarded. One leading to reward, the other to punishment. To the foolish the choices may seem rather insignificant. On the positive side, there is the simple act of giving someone a drink of water. It is not a grand act or an impressive sacrifice ---- it will not be reported in media or change the world. We may be tempted to think that small acts of charity are not even worth doing, but the Lord says the man who does this "will not go without his reward." On the negative side, misleading a "simple believer." Causing another person to sin ---- especially one of the Lord's "little ones" ---- is a very serious matter. The world may treat sins as no more than light entertainment, but anyone who commits them merits a punishment harsher than being "plunged into the sea with a great millstone fastened around his neck." To emphasize the seriousness of any actions or decisions that will determine our eternal destiny. Which direction are we going in, toward eternal life in heaven or toward eternal punishment in hell? We are better off entering the Kingdom of God crippled than entering hell with our bodies fully intact. The roots of sin are not in the hand, the foot, or the eye. What must be "cut off" is every attachment to sin in the heart. We are better off gouging out our presumption and making a good confession than gouging an eye.
Many people consider the use of such grim images ---- like drowning under the weight of a millstone or burning in a fire that never goes out ---- to be unpleasant and improper in our days. We are not supposed to make people feel uncomfortable. Only positive messages are considered acceptable. Jesus is not so concerned about how we feel, but how we are living and where we are going. His message of love and mercy includes the disturbing truth about hell. God loves us all, therefore, "Everyone will be salted with fire" ---- the fire of divine love.
Storm come and go, as often as before, sometimes it took almost everything, sometimes it leaves nothing, sometimes it leaves us nothing. But through all these, with the beautiful sunny disposition of a rainbow, life goes on. Life always goes on. Standing tall, Manileños has but one word for you MABUHAY!♥
"Accept God's message for what it really is : God's message, and not some human thinking."
~ 1 Thessaloninas 2:13 ~
Waves . . . .
feel the music
let the beat help you feel good
feel the music of a meaningful life
by listening to your own lyrics
now
dance
dance to the music
of your own composition.♥
~ramp297,280212~
Inside my cocoon
suffocated . . . .
choking, ---- a Rainbow!
coming, wrapping, tattooing
in frenzy shades of
black, blue, green, pink, orange, . . . . yellow
My cocoon
caged . . . .
enclosing, an Escape!
exciting, letting, freeing
into open-wide-space
slowly waving new wings
free
flapping out to the summer wind, . . . . rain.♥
~ramp297, 090312 ~
You can't be always what you are
It's about time you spread your wings
You should fly . . . . need to fly
Start with little flaps
Spread your wings for more bigger flaps
Keep going
Understand this
You can't stay what you are
Always.♥
~ramp 297, 050312~
"Speechless . . . . contained . . . . words don't come easy."♥
I contained myself in words
In the dreams and visions they call
The taste of them on my tongue
I creep as they brush across my lips
Flutter as they form in my chest
A roll larger than myself
While they wind a path through my mind
Illuminating this sensation, and that emotion
Recording all the world so that no moment must die
But these are only words
Contained
And for all they do for me
I would rather hold your gaze
Drawn you in
Feel your breath as you speak to me
In a beaus nonsense no words can bring
Contained in you, I am eternally bounded.♥
~ramp 297, 290212~
Why did you say them ----
Those profound words I wanted to say?
You strung them together
One bead, one word, one feather
They were mine, you know
I held them close,
Afraid to look,
In case you saw them too
And stole them away
To write my book.
In the dark of the night,
I would look at them
Dream them,
Touch and even think them
Bold, unabashed
They would tumble
Beautiful and raw
They would flow
At day break, though,
They were gone ----
Again.
You saw through me,
You saw my soul.
You stole them all
And wrote them down
You made them real . . . .
They belong to you now
Lofty ---- tangible
They are ---- My words.♥
~ Words, Ameeta Agnihotri ~
