IF SOMEONE COMES TO YOU…DO NOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE YOUR BLESSINGS!

As the end of the year has come knocking at the door, our friends have filled our solitudes with encouraging messages, showing what the real way of being worthwile should be, if we want to leave behind lasting remembrances.

I have had delightful moments reading and adapting the messages texting and images to turn them into videos to keep on sharing them with friends and readers of my blog pages.

I have wondered about the timing for it, and in doing so they were accumulating in my files. Some of them appealed the most to my feelings. Some others to my imagination! Some to my spiritual awareness!

Usually Christmas time brings me a subtle feeling of wanting something more than the already overwhelming merchandised mood of today. It is not that I do not enjoy the merriment of the season, especially those songs like “it´s beginning to look like Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”. And "Silent Night" never sounded so quiet and soothing as when my wife and I spent Christmas night in the company of an old rural pastor and his wife in a small chapel lost in the cold wilderness of rural Arkansas.

I have never been extremely fond of the fatty red dressed guy because his laugh kind of sounds to me too artificial and hollow, as a sample of some not so real situation or at least one reserved for a few lucky ones.

I have come to this conclusion when comparing the advertised joy that comes from the overextended spending in gifts of all types, that do not assure real enjoyment, as I have always seen more natural smiles with so little to be grateful for, among the humbler ranks of people I have met during my journeys through, the entire world around.

And then came the message from my friend Sarah Wilson, from “The Fresh Air Fund” that relates to Christmas, their funding needs and their search for the fundamental pillars of their ministry, their supporters and volunteers, people like you and me, dispersed all around the varied ways of life and places.

One of the messages I received adapted so aptly to the spiritual environment that I believe is necessary to exist in order to be sensitive to the needs and the plies of, specially, the children of this world.

Consequently, I did not resist blending it with the images of the children they care for.

Enjoy it here, as well as the original message posted at the end. IF SOMEONE COMES TO YOU…!

If someone comes to you…
and if you have the opportunity
to share your blessings with…

it is because you are
one special human being!








If someone, freezing, approaches you...
It´s because you can offer warmth and comfort.

If someone comes to you when crying...
It is because expects from you, consolation.

If your are offered their verses...
it is because you have the music.

If they share with you their sorrows... it is because they wait you will hand over the remedy.



If they come sharing their feelings...
it is because you understand and listen.

If they come to you when hungry...
it is because they know you can feed them.

If they come with kisses...
it is because you have the sweetness.

If you are trusted with their doubts...
it is because you can show them the way out.

If with orchestras.. it is because you have the music.



If downhearted...
because you know how to encourage them.

If with fantasies...
because you see their realities.

if with desperation...
because they find in you
support and stability.



If with enthusiasm... because they do not doubt you will vibrate with their hopes and expectations!


When they share with you their secrets...
It is because they are sure about
your silence and discretion.



When someone, restlessly,
comes to you...
it is because you infuse
serenity in their life.


When they place in you their trust... it is because they find strenght while you help them.




When you are told their fears...

it is because of your poise and stability.

No one, ramdomly, comes to you.

Every encounter is one of God´s projects.

The world is in the hands of those who have the courage to dream and the dariness to live up to their dreams.

Dreams of believing a loving world is possible, and the dariness to make the difference by sharing our dearest blessings with the ones who need them.

If you feel called to be one of these special people, support the ones and the ministries whose call is also to care for and to provide for those children who need it.

Check http://freshairfundseason.com

And also enjoy the original message I was telling you about it.

THOUGHTS, FLOWERS AND FRIENDS, ARE THE PRICELESS GIFTS FROM GOD!

Some time ago, and it´s incredible how fast time passes by, we were getting our things ready to come back to this country of Guatemala, that has been like our real back home, the resting place, the nourishing, and rehabilitating, place for our broken hopes of seeing a better world for everyone around.

We were getting back from our birthplace country, after six years of experiencing, as if they were our own, the hardships and pain that young children suffer when abused and abandoned, and on top of that, subjected to what well intentioned people, but with different perspective and culture, think it is the best for them.

It was a hard earned and assimilated lesson, seeing that the most we were able to do was to offer to these children a short period of love received, care given, and real concern for their well being.

Sometimes I wonder if we do not do more harm by temporary allowing these disadvantaged children to taste something good, or better than what already they have gone through, when changes of perspectives, influenced by other culture and environment sets of belief about what we want to give, as a gift of charity or compassion, dominate the scene, and make things change, even if not for the better.

And I keep on wondering if these children will not become more hardened with those glassy eyes, that I see so often when I ride the buses of our hardship filled, and bloated with despair, lower classes.

One thing for sure permeates the awareness and judgment of even the best intentioned people, Christians included. It is seeing things from our personal perspectives, instead of placing ourselves in the mind and the emotions of the people we want to help, so our efforts become imbedded in their spirit, so they can change, really change for the better in their lives.

It is easy to give out of what abounds, especially if we ask others to do the giving so we can appear as the great people of mercy. It is a laudable position, that of being intermediaries in the transfer of generosity and compassion, no doubt about it.

But what is really required is our full and comprehensive commitment to taking our efforts to the end, not for a while, avoiding setting up rules and parameters that are only meaningful to us.

Undoubtedly there will be children, and even adults, who will analyze us and find the way to please us, purposely, so they can benefit, as much as they can, from what we have to offer.

But even if we only change one soul, one person, one child, one abused, one abandoned, and set him or her on the right track of life, lived as it should be lived, all spent efforts will be worthy to have been done.

But in order to make possible for them to be a positive, and committed, individual, the chain of support must be consistent and be carried with the same purposeful will by all those who become part of the process.

It is necessary that the highest level of spiritual commitment is carried all through without personal interest or conveniences. It is well known that any chain is as strong as its weakest link, and if a subsequent link is added to the strong initial ones, or if the motivation is influenced by personal likings or disliking, then, the responsible one for debilitating, or modifying, the effort, will see unnecessary failures coming into the pictures, no matter what the amount of justifications are invoked for self-appeasement.

It is then when we should pray for divine guidance, because it could be easy to disrupt the already healing process, sending it back to worse than before circumstances.

It can be argued that this is an inevitable fact of life, but the Lord knows what it really went on and what responsibility everyone involved will carry upon their shoulders.

The ones who did well can rest assured that the consequences will be like an unstoppable avalanche of life changing actions. The ones who did not do so, someday, sooner or later will have to face the consequences of their actions and decisions.

Fortunately, everyone of us, besides of our share of successes or losing, in the course of our life find solace in our inner thoughts, relax at the sight of the beautiful flowers that bloom even in the midst of the deepest piles of waste, and get comforted by the assurance and stability, instilled into our weaknesses, doubts and misfortunes, brought by those special friends, like Ivonne and Richard, among the ones who have a special place in our hearts.

Ivonne has already gone to rest in the loving arms of our Creator, but she left a legacy of rightfulness, generosity, loving acceptance of our weaknesses, encouraging appreciation of our best characteristics, that makes her become a living presence all the while we keep on walking until we also reach our final departure date.

To both of them, she, Ivonne, and he, Richard, I want to dedicate the following thoughts and videos, in humble recognition of their being the strongest links in every chain of life events they became part, and we were lucky to be one of them, from time to time.

To them, because so fittingly relate to them, those verses from Isaiah 52:7. “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who announce peace and bring good news of happiness”.

The good news that there are friends like them, who bring peace and happiness to all who were fortunate to share their friendship!

HOMAGE TO FRIENDSHIP!

Richard, my dear friend, and in you, all those whom I met and shared my life with…

In life there are transcendental changes that indelibly seal the phases we go through. It could be a change of fortunes, social status, or living environment, forced or voluntary ones.

Changes in our vision of how to live our life! Different alternatives sought for or forced… again! So many things! So many incidents, fierily branding our emotions and spirits!

Wisdom and experience are not the instruments to accumulate possessions at the expense of the Inner Peace, our own, or that of our own ones.

They are not anything else but the consequences of our adapting to and our positive acceptance of what have been popping up all along our walking paths.

A fundamental premise is the recognition of the fact of, having been given free will by our Creator… our decisions will inevitably bring logical consequences. Sometimes well deserved, other times clearly unjust! But not capable, just for it, to destroy us, if we do not allow it! Or even worst, to lead us to spiritual suicide, which is the worst of all of them!

God, in His infinite generosity, is always ready to give us what we need to walk through life. Enjoying what of good nature offers us! Learning from the failures that confront us, to take us apart from what is harmful or negative.

It is for all this that we are able to walk unharmed, through the different phases that make up the framework of our lives. Making, if we decide so, whatever possible to change our surroundings!

One by one, not in the midst of multitudes, who most of the times hide themselves, in the anonymity of the masses, to bring up all that´s twisted, and malignant, in the human personality!

I am already at the top of my occurrences´ plentiful 73 well and fully lived years. Years of sharing with “all types of people” of “all social standing levels”!

I, still enjoy the blissfulness of going, joined and supported by my wife, contrary to you, who already saw her, departing for her eternal blissful resting! I don´t know if I will be the first to go, or if she will precede me, in this final and decisive change.

But we have the joy of knowing that, in our pilgrimage, we always found friends, friends like you all, eternal friends, temporary ones, generous and understanding friends, as well as those who erroneously judged us, enriching, contradictorily, and incomprehensively, our existence.

Thanks God, I have always been like a stubborn child, refusing to be depressed no matter how traumatic my experiences. My love for reading, my awareness of others´ points of views, and its analysis, my fondness for picture taking… augmenting my emotional reserves for the times of need of encouragement, as well as any bouts of doubt, uncertainty, tiredness or discouragement!

My reckoning of everything I have encountered while walking… The musical and the thought full moments that this material world as let me enjoy… For the good in them, because not everything is wrong in this world…

And, finally, my recurrences to my God, who has always been there, present… protecting us, individually, as well as, we, as a family… through all kinds of changes, experiences, sorrows and blissful times.

All of this has allowed me to understand what it really is the reality of our earthly living. In them, often, I take refuge. I hope them also useful for any of you. Even if, and only as a benevolent remembrance from a friend who cares for you.

TO MY FRIENDS, and everyone else! With my pictures of our Guatemalan gardens and scenery!

There are people, in our lives, who make us happier,

just for the simple fact of having crossed our path.

Some walk alongside us, seeing together many moons go by.
Others, we, fleetingly see them in the lapse
between one of our steps and the following…
We call them, all, friends!

But there are many types among them.

Every leaf in a tree or a plant symbolizes one of them.
The first ones sprouted from our parents.

They show us what life is.
Afterwards… the brothers, the children, the friends,

with whom we share our space, so they are able to bloom
as we have bloomed before!

Our fate introduces to us other types of friends
we did not know were going to cross our paths.
We call some of them… soul mates,
because they are sincere and true.
They brighten our eyes,

are music in our lips
and agility in our feet...

There are also those who are our friends

for just some time,

maybe during vacations, some days, some hours…
They also, make smiles shine in our faces
while they and we spend time together.

The time passes by, the summer goes away,
and our autums get nearer every day.
then, we lose some of our leaves...
some re-birth in other summers,
others remain alive almost forever.

But what bring us happiness is those leaves,
that, even fallen, stay with us,

feeding our roots with gladness,

and marvelous remembrances
of the time we were together,

simply because each person
that enters into our life is unique.

They always leave something of them behind,
and take a bit of us with them, when leaving...
Evident proof that souls

do not meet each other just by chances!

YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE!

There are people, who, by saying just one word,

turn on the lights,
and light up the roses!

And by just smiling with their eyes,
invite us to travel to other places,

and make us walk
through a world that is wholesome

and righteous!

People who, by just extending their hand,

erase away the loneliness,

set up the table, serve the punch,

hang, on the walls, the garlands!

There are people who,
by just holding a guitar, play a celestial symphony!

Who, by just saying a word, reach the souls´ innerness,
make a flower bloom; make dreams come true,

make the wine sing,
making the soul smile,

and then just stay as if nothing had happened!

And we walk along, as fiancées, with Life,

chasing away a lonely death,

because we know that just around the corner
there are people like those… so needed!

You are one of those people. Let´s be merry!
Someday we will rest in His loving arms!
Let´s be assured! God is in control!

THAT´S LIFE!

I do want to close this homage to friendship with some references to what life is in the eyes of many ones, who have lived it, even if not from, probably, a Christian perspective, but full of braveness, optimism, and openness to the fact that every circumstance adds an additional bit of flavor to a life that, otherwise, would be so limited and dreary.

Some will find the way back to God´s friendship, the most desired for in times of troubles, and of blessings and solitudes, too.

By doing so, they, me included, have been able to close the loop and tie up the loose strings of a life that would have been, again, otherwise, so dreadfully wasted.

O.C. Smith, one of my favorite singers of decades past, was one of them. He was able to turn his life into one of service to God, with the example, his dreams, his voice and his experience.

For all this, is why his song about life is so fitting to close my comments on this wonderful gift from God, life and friendship, with him with ourselves, with the rest of the people, even those who antagonize our way of thinking, believing and doing.

For all this, again, let´s sing with him, from the bottom of our hearts and feelings!

That´s life! That´s what people say. Riding high in April, shot down in May. But I know I´m gonna change that tune when I´m back on top on June.

That´s life! Funny as it seems… some people get their kicks stepping on dreams. I won´t let it get me down. This old world keeps spinning around.

I´ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a paw and a king. I´ve been up and down, and over and out, and I know one thing: every time I find myself flat on my face, I pick myself up and get me back in the race.

That´s life, I can´t deny it. Oh, I thought of quitting buy my heart won´t buy. If I didn´t think it was worth a try, you know I’d would roll up in a big ball and die.

One morning I´d would roll up in a big ball and I would die!

Some basic understanding about our present way of living and what the new generations can expect or hope to change for the better!

It has been already a month since I received this forwarded message from George Carlin. I have been going through its content, once and once again, and every time its concepts sink deeper in my mind.

I have chatted with some retired friends, cozily sitting by the fountain in our residential compound´s little park, and we have all agreed that times have changed, faster and vastly more complicated, but in no way better than the ones we have enjoyed so far.

Even in here we see the sad consequences of the hurried way of living of the newer generations. Just the other day, while chatting, some children, not older than eight years old, were playing around the next to us bench in our park.

They were wearing brand name tennis shoes, baggy short pants, sport teams T-shirts, and earrings in their ear lobules, thanks God, not in their noses. And their parents, as usual were absent. Working hard but leaving alone their children at home. No surprise that we also have become used to see nice looking young girls, parading around with young boys, similarly sloppily dressed, and even some already carrying little babies in their arms.

Supposedly this is a middle class neighborhood. Abundant cars noisily cruising along our main street, driven by the older boys and girls. If this is what happens here, you can easily guess what is going on in the crowder and more dilapidated living areas where younger people have adopted the gang style way of living so popular nowadays in the more advance countries, mesmerized by the expelled ones who have been forced to return.

Add to this the broken moral ways of the older, who, justified, they say, by the rampant social injustices of today, dedicate themselves only to shout and claim their right to be subsidized by the government in turn, while they, busily and irresponsibly, contribute to the growing population explosions, bringing more babies to this more than sagging and hurting world.

It is not my purpose to keep on painting so bleak images of the social maladies that are affecting our countries. Similar images are found everywhere, over here as well as in the slums of the more advanced and so called first world cities of this world.

It is for this reasons that the message of doom and despair joins the choiring circus of the media but get lost in the noise and the flashing and the repetitive clowning of the masters, for their financial gain, of such a kaleidoscopic shows that inundate us, every time we turn on the radios or television sets that have taken such a grasp of our homes.

Let´s hope that sanity and change for the better soon arrives. The time is coming on! We are almost reaching the bottommost level of the social moral decay.

There will be no other way but to reach up again, if we do not want to stay crushed to death upon the filthy floors of what I have already defined as the bleakest moral decay of this century that has just begun.

A MESSAGE FROM GEORGE CARLIN:

His wife died, recently. It is not surprising that George Carlin, a comedian from the 70s and 80s, could write so eloquently.

Our time´s paradox is that we have taller buildings but much reduced temperaments. Wider roads but narrower points of views! We spend more but we have less!.

We buy more but we enjoy less!. We have bigger houses but smaller families! More comfort but less time in our hands!.

More academic titles but less Common Sense!. Greater knowledge but less judging capacities! More experts but more problems!.

Better medical care but less well being!. We drink too much!. We smoke excessively!. We waste too much!. We laugh too little!. We drive too fast!. We get mad too easily!.

We do not sleep enough, and we wake up tired!. We scarcely read, we watch TV too long!. And we rarely pray!.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values!. We talk too much!. We love too little!. And hate too frequently!.

We have learnt to earn our living, but not to live!. We add years to our lives, not life to our years!.

We have achieved going “to and back” to the moon, but find so difficult to cross the street to meet a new neighbor!. We conquered the outer space, but not our inner one!

We have achieved great things, but not better ones!. We have cleaned the air but polluted our soul!. We conquered the atom but no tour prejudices!. We write more but learn less!.

We plan more but achieve less!. We have learnt to hurry up, but not to wait!.

We have produced computers capable of more Information processing and distribution, but we communicate, every time, less and less!.

These are the fast food times and the slower digestion ones!. The times of taller sizes and shorter characters!.

The times of unbelievable financial profits and shallower human interrelationships!.

Two home incomes are usual today, but more divorces!.

Luxury houses, but broken homes!. Times of faster trips!. Throw away diapers!. Discarding Morals!. One night sexual shacking ups!. Obese bodies!. And pills for everything! From getting high and calming down, even to kill!.

These are times where there is so much in the stores windows, and so little in our hands!.

Times when technology makes possible for this letter to reach you, so you can choose to share these reflections! Or simply decide to erase them!.

At this point in time, let´s stop and meditate on the words of wisdom, by a remarkable woman.

“If we assume a catastrophic vision of the human being, we are done, life becomes a useless endeavor. I do also feel, internally, incapable of being optimistic… but we have to be, whatever the costs!.

We must keep alive our trust in the future!. These are the timely words of Rita Levi –Montalcini, Italian neurologist, 22/04/1909. Medicine Nobel Prize in 1986.

Once agreed upon on this, let´s go back to Carlin message!.

Remember to spend some time with your dearest ones, because they will not be here, forever!. Remember to be kind with the child who admires you, because that little one will grow up and leave you behind!.

Remember to hug those who are near, because this is the only treasure you can give with your heart, without costing you a penny!.

Remember to say “I love you” to your spouse and your dear ones, but, above all, say it with all your soul!. A kiss and a hug can heal a wound when are given with all you have in you!.

Remember to hold hands with your dearest one, and to treasure this moment, because someday that person will not be with you anymore!.

Give yourself time to love and talk to people, and this way to share your most precious ideas!. And remember always!.

Life is not measured by the number of times we take a breath, but by the extraordinary moments that take our breath away!.

George Carlin

1. FOR SOME VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE ALL SPREAD AROUND, SOMEWHERE!

It has been some time since I posted my thoughts and feelings about what is going on all around us.

It is not that I have missed events. On the contrary, there has been a deluge of news, comments, TV watching and wondering.

Wondering about the whys and hows of the incessant and repetitive pounding on our emotions!

I have, even, had discussions with some friends, who have been subject to the consequences of their straight even if somehow naively dealings with the uncaring factors and actors of greed, power and control.

And consequently, unwittingly and adversely paying the negative consequences!

It is a sad, but a logical reality that their lives have been changed, and bitterness and distrust have become a seemingly unavoidable stain in the fabrics of their life.

I truly hope that time and willingness to learn from failures and injustices received will heal them and make them better than they were before, because of the wisdom acquired through such painful incidents and times.

But I cannot but wonder, as they do, and ask with painful awareness in my heart… ARE WE MISSING SOMETHING VITAL IN THE FABRICS OF THIS LIFE?
Friends send me a lot of messages and reflections. I will not be as prolific with my personal thoughts as I have been before. There is no need to reinvent the iced water or the wheel, nor ride over the prairies of sorrows like the lone ranger of our childhood days.

Instead, I will try to put together in an orderly way, the abundant messages that are floating on the air, somewhere, everywhere, exchanged back and forth through the internet waves.

I had turn the ones that have touched deeper the raw fibers of my spirit, my emotions and my mind.

Enjoy them; meditate on them, starting with what I said before… ARE WE MISSING SOMETHING VITAL IN THE FABRICS OF THIS LIFE?

ARE WE MISSING SOMETHING VITAL IN THE FABRICS OF THIS LIFE?

Now, the question is… Why can we not live in peace with other people?
Could it be just because they are different?

Or because we, rightfully, know they have chosen the wrong paths of life itself,
just because they confuse freedom, and equality,
with deviate, perverse or wicked ways?

Could it be that we are missing something vital in the fabrics of life?

My personal answer is. Yes! With loving righteousness!

This does not mean unrighteous justifications!
Because love does not preclude Knowledge and Discernment!

1a. EVEN IF IT SOUNDS CORNY, IT IS REALLY ABOUT LOVE, OR LACK OF IT, WHAT IS ALL ABOUT!

One of my sons, the other day, commented that I paid too much attention, and got at times dispirited, at times concerned, agitated, mad as hell when seeing in action the puppeteers of the political world, and the sycophants of the media, while the manipulators of the greed and wealth, callously take advantage of the, in my book, unending and artificial crisis, and convoluted financial schemes of today.

He was of the opinion that the present generations widely differ from ours in that they live in a fast and furious pace, but are conscious that almost everything presented to them is just entertainment or doomed to failure in their efforts to convince them, as the books of the past and the words of our elders, did so well when we were younger.

I cannot but disagree, because I daily see the outbursts of the wicked, or the uncontrollably violent upsurges of the masses, in every realm of societal life. And the fire is incessantly fed and stimulated with all types of wiles and ruses.

What I see, all around, is the widespread lack of integrity, the numbing selfishness and the callousness that kills all sensitivity and awareness, immersed as we are in the ruthless pressure of the consumism that devours and destroy every sense of decency, decorum and priorities.

If we could stop believing that hedonism and crass sexuality and greed is all about, and that love, the real one, the real McCoy, as the early publicists used to say, is what it really matters.

And it matters because it enforces our strongest inner-hood potential, and this way we could, maybe be able to turn things about, and make the difference for the good, the real good and the better in this world.

Everybody talks about love, professes love, and defines love as the expression of the uncontrolled freedom to live if in the most deviated and perverted ways, but do we really understand what love can be?

AND WHAT IS LOVE REALLY ABOUT?

Love shows itself in the art of caring,
in generous giving, in unselfish sharing.

In just being there, when it means very much,
with a comforting smile, an affectionate touch.

Love has its own way of looking and seeing,
its own gentle manner, its own special being.

It lasts and supports us through problems and sorrows.
It´s something we know we can count with

in our tomorrows.

How rich we are, how safe, how secure,
when we have love that will endure.

1b. Love and Un-love are the two sides of the coin of life, gyrating out of control these days!

Let´s meditate on the shaking testimonies of the children, as well as that of the elders who really care, and see the disastrous effects of the abuse inflicted by the lack of love.


LET´S MEDITATE ON THE REASONS FOR THE SHORTENED LIFE OF SARAH, THE LITTLE GIRL.

I must be stupid! I must be bad! Because, what other reason my mom could have, to be angry with me?

I would like to be a better one! I would like not to be ugly anymore! Maybe, then, my mom would like to hug me as I would like to be!

I must not talk! I must not misbehave! If I do so I would be locked in the closet all day long!

When I wake up I am always alone! The house is dark for hours and hours!
When mami comes back I will try to be a good girl, even if she does not love me nor hugs me because she feels sorry to do so.

Do not make the slightest noise! I just heard the door is opening;
my dad has come back, drunk, from a bar.
I hear him angry, shouting my name,
and against a wall I tried to push myself.

I try to hide from his horrible stare.
I cannot hold my crying. I am scared.
He finds me, crying. He insults me.
He tells me I am the cause of his problems.
That all of them are my fault!

He starts hitting me! Keeps on shouting at me!

I escape from his grip, and run away, still crying.
I fall down, my bones hurting.
My dad tells me words that I do not understand.

Please forgive me, I shout at him. But it is too late.
His angry face looks like it is burning.
The punches and the words do really hurt.

I ask Father God for mercy,
but my dad does not seem to hear or care

Finally he ends and walks out the door,
while I lie almost dead, on the floor.

My name was Sarah.
I was only three years old.
Today, my father killed me
without mercy and remorse.

1c. and now, let´s meditate about the nobody´s children!

The nobody´s boys and girls are one year old or less.
Some do not know their father, and what´s more like him
Is that man who terrorizes them with his voice and hands,
and who makes them believe that the fairy tales monsters

and villains, exist.

They do not know a mother´s hug, nor an “I love you”.

They do not listen to lullabies and get to sleep through violence and shouts, and do not know if they are awake or are living in a nightmare.

They are those who, the only contact received is that of the punishing hand, the whip that hurts, and the indifference that kills. They are the sons and daughters of life, who must to learn to fend for themselves, even if they haven’t yet learnt to walk.

1d. LIVING IN A VIRTUAL WORLD! A FICTION AND A MESMERIZING DECEPTION!

I am very grateful for the technological advances that allow us to get in touch with many unknown friends, as I consider all of those who by chance, curiosity, or benevolent understanding, get to read, and hopefully consider, what I humbly place on these pages.

I also really enjoy all the attractive features that the publicity industry provides to all those who, being at the same time monetary targets for the tourist, luxury and entertainment.

My TV set and my laptop are my windows to everything that is going on all around. In this virtual world, and through these already indispensable devices, we are able to share the enthusiasm of those, who, by their rightful choice and alternative consideration, decides to enjoy what this world has to offer.

We also have the opportunity, if we desire so, to get acquainted with the hard realities of those less privileged, who only have their imagination to fill the ragged voids in their almost, if not completely so, lives.

Virtualism has come! It is already here to stay! It is neither good nor bad! It depends how we visualize it and how we use it! It can be a good thing if we learn to avoid its dangers of isolating ourselves from what should be always important to us.

What´s virtual?

A man was checking internet on his laptop

while waiting to be served at a restaurant…

While doing so a little child came to his side

tugging at his pants and begging him for some coins.

When asked why he wanted them the child answered…

to buy a bread to feed his hunger.

The man asked the waiter to give the child a bread,

and kept on checking the internet on his laptop.

Distracted by the emails and their content the man was laughing,

and forgot about the child,

until he heard him asking if cheese and butter

could be added to the bread he had received.

The man agreed but told the child to stay put

so he could enjoy what he was reading.

The child then asked him what he was reading,

and the man answered:

Emails!

The child kept on asking… What emails are?

The man answered: Letters on the internet! Internet?

Then the man explained it was a place in the computer

where you could share everything in a virtual way.

Virtual? The man kept on trying to explain,

saying it was an imaginary place

that can´t be touched or reached,

but it seemed tangible and real.

That´s good! The child said.

Now I know I live in a virtual world!

How is that? Do you have a computer? Asked the man.

The child said: No, but my life is like that, a virtual one!

My mother is almost always absent and I rarely see her!

I care for my little crying brother, and give him water,

and he believes is soup, what I am giving him.

My older sister goes out, everyday, to sell her body,

but I don´t understand, because she always comes back home,

and she still has her body.

My father is in jail, but I imagine we are all together at home,

as a family, a lot of food, many toys,

and me going to school to become a doctor, some day.

In that moment, that man understood,

and in him, every one of us should,

what a nonsensical virtualism is this we are living in…

the cruel reality we daily see, personally or in the media,

that we watch as if were just a virtual occurrence,

to be forgotten after the next entertaining

or publicity commercial.

There are two decisions to make.
To keep on doing what we do,

everyone for him or her!

Or aspire to inspire before we die,
doing something to change things,
one at a time!

2. for some very special persons!

As I said at the beginning of these series of postings, there is no need to reinvent the iced water or the wheel, in order to tackle with the struggles of today.

I have read, lately, that people are not only trying to wreck all types of social systems, just or unjust, on behalf of a pretended socialized understanding of equality and rights of the oppressed minorities of the world.

There is oppression, there is injustice, there is widespread abuse… there is not the slightest doubt! But trying to pin it on God, with a hypocritical, malicious, and the most cowardly attitude of not placing the responsibility where it lies, which is in ourselves, is the most aberrant thing to do.

Nowadays, there is an also universal cry for the latest climatological changes that are affecting, in the millions, the lives of the people, in all nations, the richer and the poorer, as well.

It is, and only some timorous voices have raised the question, like the earth, as the nature as a whole as well, is also raising its protest and reacting against the unrepentant abusers of the generosity it has received through the millenniums up to day.

It is the ultimate dilemma of human kind. We cannot keep on abusing and hurting and then blaming God or any other instance for the hurting back that we receive.

It is not a matter of material actions, but of a moral change in us. If the core of the tree trunk of our lives is rotten, its branches, leaves, flowers and fruits will also spiritually rot and materially fall into the deadliest decay.

It is up to us to change. There is no lack of knowledge or warnings, exhortations, or illuminating messages to let us understand the direst need to change if we want to preserve a decent way of living and inheriting a hopeful world to the generations to come.

It is for this reason that I celebrate and encourage those special people, friends or just awareners of what really is going on, who raise their voices to allow us to spread their concerns into the wider circles of our societal groups.

To them, I want to dedicate the words and the music
of a friendly song I received through the internet.

FOR SOME VERY SPECIAL PERSONS!

A friendly son with the flowers of our gardens
that still flourish on our earth!

Hello! Have you been told that your messages
are full of laughter, reflections and encouragement?

Thanks for sharing the presentations you find and receive. Because you help us to face life with joy and hopes!
Because you always keep us in your mind!

We send you all our love and our sincere friendship.
In other words… our best for you!

Friendship is not to be defined!
It simply exists!
Thanks for sharing the good things of life!

2a. the four seasons of life!

Here is another lesson on how to look at life. The actual frenzied pace that has been imposed on people of all social levels, prevent from having the barest enough time to sit back, think and decide what the right priorities should be.

People tends to see life, interpret their needs in accord with the latest publicity pitch, buy, buy, call, call, get, get, the latest gadget, without caring for costs; you will be billed and paid later on!

Consequently, we see only the season of life that the world wants us to be in, the “consumist per excellence” one, becoming aged and faded, jaded, Peter Pans, always chasing mirages and artificial rainbows.

Life must be lived, seen, appreciated, challenged, overcome, enjoyed, balanced, one step at a time, but always keeping in mind its whole spectrum, so we do not lose the right perspectives and priorities.

If we do so, we will be able to navigate through the four seasons that will constitute the treasured mementos and heritage that the present generations have the opportunity to store for the benefit of the future. Let´s meditate about it!

There was a man who had four sons.
He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly.
So, he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go, and look at a tree,
that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter,
The second in the spring,
The third in summer,
And the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and returned,
he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said it was covered with green buds
and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms
that smelled so sweet, and looked so beautiful.
it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them;
he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit,
full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they all were right,

because they had each seen only one season in the trees' life.

He told them that you cannot judge a person or a tree
by only one season.

And that the essences of who they are,
and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life,
can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring,
the beauty of your summer, and the fulfillment of your fall.

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult times,
and better ones are sure to come.

Aspire to Inspire…. before you Expire!

Live Simply. Love generously.
Care deeply. Speak Kindly.
And leave the rest to God.

Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Pains and sorrows keep you Human.
Failures keep you Humble.
Success keeps you growing,
But only God keeps you going on.

Take care and be safe for me.
THANK YOU FOR BEING A VERY IMPORTANT PART
OF THE SEASONS OF MY LIFE!


God bless you and keep you in his care
through all the seasons of your life!

2b. to be poor or rich, today!

What are we really, today? Are we on the right path to happiness and fulfillment, breaking our backs by seeking to possess all the trinkets we are being offered, for a price, today?

Can we close our eyes to what surrounds us, forgetting or blatantly erasing all the suffering and needs, unless it directly affect us or rock our complacent compulsions?

Do we really know or understand what is to be rich or poor? Do we have the right to exact from others what we have not earned ourselves, through hard labor, saving efforts, imagination and self control?

Is being poor, according to the standards of today,
such a tragedy and a curse?

What does it mean to be poor, today?

A rich man, wanting that his son could learn
what it is to be poor,
took him to spend some days with a farmer´s family.
The boy spent three days and nights
living in the countryside.

Going back to the city, still in the car,
the father asked him: how was it?
Good! Answered the son, kind of aloof and distracted.

The father insisted: did you learn something?
Yes! We have a dog. They have four.
We have a pool, with treated water, covering half of our patio!
They have a river with crystal clear water,
myriads of fishes and other beautiful things!

We have electric lights in our garden,
but they have the stars and the moon to illuminate their nights!

Our garden ends at a wall. Theirs reaches the horizon.
We buy food. They cook it.

We listen to CDs. They listen to a perpetual symphony of birds,
crickets, and other small animals!
All that, at times, together with a neighbor´s song
while he works his land!

We use microwaves.
What they eat has the “slow fire” flavor.

We live caged by walls, alarms on.
They live, almost always, with open doors,
protected by their neighbors´ friendship!

We live connected to the mobile phones,
the computer, the TV!
They live connected to the sun, the water,
the sky, the green of the countryside,
the animals, their shadows, their families!

The father was impressed by the wisdom of his son.
Finally, the son concluded:
Thanks for showing me how poor we are!

We are becoming poorer as the days pass.
Poorer in the Nature´s observation,
which is the greatest making of God!

We worry a lot about HAVING, HAVING AND HAVING MORE,
instead of being concerned, ONLY, with “BEING”.
And being better every day, more!

May God bless you, today, and always, Amen!

2c. the son of the planet!

One of the peculiar characteristics of humankind is that we think that we are the privileged, and without any restraint, species on this earth.

We feel like we own it and we are entitled to everything it offers, without caring for preserving what will naturally be affected by our indiscriminate usage, up to the point of their final extinction from this earth.

If we placed ourselves in their place, as a cohabiting species with plants and animals as a whole, we would not be surprised when finding out that we are visualized, by a mounting up many, as the most dangerous virus and predators on this earth.

We, actually, are extremely concerned with the mounting changes that are taking place. Hurricanes! Floodings! Famines! Desertification! Earthquakes! Tsunamis! And we can go on, and on!

Could it be that we have never known what is to be a living entity in this world? Could it be that we have forgotten how to be, or become, a real son of this earth?

It is not so. It is that we have conveniently forgotten what we have already known. It is that we do not want to listen to the wisely thinking people, who keep on telling that in order to survive, we need to know, and practice, what it takes to be a son of this planet that we call our home. Because…

When you find yourself serene and contented
everywhere in the world…

When every place is your country...

When, having anything, you feel you have it all…

When in riches you can look
as the humblest of all…

When you can extend kindness back
to your offenders,
whoever they could be…
And you see your brother in everyone…

When you realize that love
is just and only giving and giving,
without regard to nothing else but giving…

When, indifferent, you move forwards
among those insulting…
And silently you tell them you forgive...

When no one could hurt you,
and nothing brings you sorrows…

When you give back love to those who hate you...

When you consciously act innocently....

When you pursue knowing as much
as your nourishing bread…

When you love everything
without passion nor possession…

When reality finally overcomes illusions…

When you learn to alleviate
the sorrows of the suffering,
without regard to who they are…

And only truth flows from your talking…

When you turn duty into a pleasure,
And pleasure is no more a duty…

When you live your present
as the only thing that´s urgent...

When kindness is your willing…
When selfishness cedes the way to altruism…
When impurity cedes the way to virtue and purity…

Then, you will be a man, you will be a woman!
You will be someone who has reached
the real level of humanity…

You will be a son of the planet, someone
who has finally become a real human being!

2d. between you and God!

We have found how to become a real human being through the words of Mother Teresa, in the posting above. But now a question remains.

Why should I do what I am being told to do, if I know, by experience, personal or from every other source available, that this is the surest way to be taken advantage of?

Why would I choose becoming the fool every one of the smarter ones, loves to trample upon, using it as a carpet to clean dirty shoes, mud, and whatever you could think of?

Why should I believe that my efforts would be reckoned with, if everything done according to these rules is usually doomed to ridicule, mockery and failure?

Why should I behave always with integrity in everything I have to do, if this is the surest way to be chosen as a scapegoat by the slickers of this world?

Why I would be such an easy prey for those who will love to pin their shenanigans on my lap, as I would not know how to deal with things the way they do, nor I would have the resources and contacts to defend myself?

Why should I choose not being another wolf and member of the predating packs of this world, who prey upon the weaker ones that cross their paths?

Let me tell you my friends. There is a wise saying that says that there is no evil that last a hundred years, nor a body that can resist it.

In other words, we will finally overcome the injustice and find a better way to keep on living, with our inner peace of mind and our integrity, intact.

Or we will die, standing tall and consequent with our rightful beliefs, without having to compromise or getting under the yoke of the spiteful and shameful moral procrastination or defeat?

IN BOTH WAYS, ANYWAY,
WE COME OUT AS WINNERS!

Because in the end…
it is not between the world oppressors
and us, and you!
Everything, my friend,
is between God and you!
SO…!

Always give the best of you…
And the BEST will come!
Sometimes people are egotistical,
illogic and senseless.
Even so, forgive them!

If you are amiable, people can accuse you
of egotistical and ulterior motives.
Even then, be kind!

If you are a winner, you will have
some false friends and some enemies.
Even so, keep on winning!

If you are honest and frank, people can deceive you.
Even then, be frank and honest!

What you spent years building up,
someone can destroy it in an hour.
Even so, keep on building!

If you have peace and you are happy,
people can be envious.
Even so, be happy!

The good you do today,
may be forgotten tomorrow.
Even then, do good!

If you give the world your best,
that may never be enough.
Even so, give your best!

For all that counts,
everything is, and will be,
between you and God!

It never was between you and them!

Teresa de Calcutta.

3. A poem for my friends!

At this moment in time, and as the series of posting seem to be stretching along, a logical question arises. Who is this guy who is placing these types of thoughts on the table? What credentials does he claims to have so we feel prone to pay attention to whatever he says? What is his supposed expertise to address these societal incidents? And why he feels he is entitled to discuss them as if he had personal knowledge of what is going on?

For people like me, in other words, those who have reached the golden years of our autumn seasons, the lived and left behind experiences give us the authority to say, hey boys, if you keep on going where you are going, you will hit, head front, the walls I did hit many years ago.

You could probably say, what do you care for? It is my life and I can live it however I choose to live it! Mind your own business, you, prehistoric as you are, because you will never be able to understand the vitality of our present generations.

Some time ago I received an email with what I feel it was a somewhat grossly expressed joke about the generational clashes of today. An arrogant young fellow was precisely saying to an elder one what I referred to two paragraphs above, bragging about all the technological devices they are so apt in using, while we, the older ones, are barely able to deal with the simplest models of the computer world and phones, to mention some of them.

And the elder guy answered the disrespectful brat, that we had been part of the beginning of such a technological progress, if not the actual inventors, or developers, of the devices they are so proud about. And continued asking the brat what was what he was doing for the generations he would beget, and the rest of generations to come.

I do not want to react like the guy I am referring to, because his reaction was born out of hurt feelings and a defensive mood. I want to address these issues, as I have been addressing all along, out of love and caring for the ones who are still unborn, and will have to live with the consequences of our selfishness and mistakes.

Because of this, I want to convey to all of you the poem, and its message, that I transcribe below. Because I consider you my friends, known or unknown yet, already met or soon to meet. You all, fellow travelers in this wonderful journey that life is for every one!

A Poem to my friends!

I cannot give you solutions for all the problems in this life,
nor I have all the answers to your doubts or fears,
but I can listen and share my past experiences with you!

I cannot change your past or your future.
But I will be there when you need me, if you need me at all.

I cannot prevent you from stumbling.
I can only offer you my hand for you to hold it,
and not falling down!

Your joyfulness, your triumphs and accomplishments
are not mine.
But I sincerely enjoy it when I see you happy.

I do not judge the decisions you make in life.
I limit myself to support you, to encourage you,
and to help you, if you ask me to do so.

I cannot force on you the parameters
for you to act within them, but, yes,
but I can offer you the necessary space
for you to grow in within.

I cannot prevent your suffering
when some sorrow breaks your heart.
But I can cry with you and pick up the fragments
to piece it back together.

I cannot tell you who you are,
nor who, you should be.
I can only love you as you are
and be your friend!

These past days I was thinking about my friends.
You were neither on top nor down,
nor in the middle of the list.

You did not start nor ended the list!
You were neither the number one
nor the final one on that list!

To sleep blissfully!
To spread out love vibrations!
To know we are just passers-by down here!

To improve our relationships!
To profitably use the opportunities!
To listen to our hearts!
To do credit to our lives!

I do not, at all, pretend to be the first,
the second or the third on your list.
For me is enough that you want me to be your friend.

Jorge Luis Borges.

4. I still stand!

There is something intangible but fundamental when you live a lot, not only in years but in experiences, pains, joys, love given and received, shared and given again.

It is intangible and fundamental because it blends, indissolubly with you, becoming part of your intrinsic being, and giving you the fortitude and stamina to face the remaining days of your life with a peaceful attitude and desires to leave behind the best of what you have gathered along.

It is so comforting seeing all your family gathering around you when the feasts, the holidays, the anniversaries, the birthdays, especially yours, and knowing that life is going on and you have been able to give the best that is being reproduced in their lives.

There is always the opportunity to keep on giving. Giving out of what is dearest to you. It could be a framed picture that you have taken yourself. It could be a memento or an electronic game or toy that you gathered a long time before.

It could be one of the dolls collected by my wife through the years or some pieces of your treasured silverware that will continue gracing the tables of the homes of your children, as a joyful repetition of the grace they showed in your own.

The same thing happens with your memories, your readings, your reflections, the comments shared when cozily seated in your living room or your dining table, you are able to bring back, alive as if they just happening today, the remembrances that will serve as a reference parameter to their younger lives.

Because, as the celebrated writer, whose thoughts I transcribe below, the greatest occurrence in life is that we can still stand tall, and say with a well earned pride tingling in our voice, even if it is not as strong as before: I still stand, and will stand tall until the last day of my life.

I still stand!
Excerpts from a great man words!
Jorge Luis Borges

I feel, at this moment in life, almost the same
as when I was much younger.
I'm far from placing my happiness on material things,
still enjoying what I have without despair
because of what I have not!

I´m fortunate in knowing how to appreciate
and correctly define what surrounds me,
and I live in harmony with what
I generate through my daily efforts.

I keep on, daily, gaining the love and respect
of my family, friends and fellows,
because Love stays and grow in the light of devotion
and care they are given,
and it´s good to frequently water them
with water from the heart.

I keep my loves alive… the past and present ones,
because they keep me walking.
I treasure my friends´ affection
in the inner refuge I built up,
for each one of them, through the years,
and protect it as a space that, rightfully,
and perpetually, belongs to them.

I am especially grateful to all those
who generously gave me
a piece of their soul and heart,
contributing to make me what I am today
and who I will be tomorrow.

I use, as the purest energy, the confidence on me,
had, and being had, by those who helped me to become
what I have become;

Those who were beside me
in my childhood, teenhood and adulthood,
And, together, prepared me, I hope, to fully live
the, already coming, or arrived, golden years.

The ones before me are always present
and alive in my heart and mind.
Those who raised and shouldered me
so my feet could start walking,
and cared for my legs to be strong enough
to support the ones I have begotten.

I do my best to keep my feet, firm and grounded,
even if, frequently my imagination gives herself
the luxury of flying and dreaming
with an harmonious today,
and a much better tomorrow.

When I am cold, because of my remoteness,
disagreements and conflicts with my fellows,
I call on the heart´s fires to strengthen me,
and be given the courage to assume my faults and
ask to be forgiven.

And when I receive, in any circumstance, an apology
I try to be ready to forgive and forget the offenses.
Penance enough pays the one who assumes his fault,
and is abusive to commit the excess of making forgiveness
more difficult to be received.

I try lo live in peace with myself

because I know we cannot offer it
when we do not have it ourselves.

I know that flying only requires giving strength
to our imagination to enroute itself
towards the horizons where still nothing exists.

I dream with and old age where my wife´s hand is my guide
and my hand is her comfort and support.

I want to repeat myself in every action of those
who seek a dignified way of living,
and in their efforts to impregnate my soul ,
for me to keep striving ahead,
and living as God wants us to live.

I want to have, someday, the privilege to reach the highest,
where the spirit has its fortress and our faith its reason.

This is a message to be shared, and in its flight may reach
wherever it should reach.

LET´S HOPE IT REACHES THE SPIRITS AND MINDS,

OF THOSE WILLING TO OPEN THEMSELVES,

TO THE CHALLENGE OF SEEKING

TRUTH AND DISCERNMENT!

The Summer of 2010 is almost over, but The Fresh Air Fund still needs loving host families!

I have received news from my dear friend Sara Wilson

and the Fresh Air Fund summer activities

that I want to share with you all.

If you have friends and families in the places mentioned below,

share with them this wonderful opportunity to extend God´s blessings,

to all these children, from New York and surrounding communities!

May God bless you, my friends!

For more information check:
http://weneedfreshairfundhosts.com


Fresh Air News

We are looking for families in the following areas to host THIS summer Red Hook, Columbia County, Saugerties, Delmar, Guilderland & Altamont, Latham and Rensselaer, NY.

If you or someone you know is able to host, please sign up now.
In 2009, The Fresh Air Fund's Volunteer Host Family program, called Friendly Town, gave close to 5,000 New York City boys and girls, ages six to 18, free summer experiences in the country and the suburbs.

Volunteer host families shared their friendship and homes up to two weeks or more in 13 Northeastern states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.

The Fresh Air Fund relies on donations to provide memorable summers to NYC children.

The Fresh Air Fund still needs hosts for the summer of 2010.

Thanks to host families who open up their homes for a few weeks each summer,

children growing up in New York City’s toughest neighborhoods

have experienced the joys of Fresh Air experiences.

Fresh Air Fund Host Families

"It is rewarding to see the smile on our Fresh Air child's face as she enjoys the simple things we take for granted..."

Friendly Town host families are volunteers who live in the suburbs or small town communities.

Host families range in size, ethnicity and background, but share the desire to open their hearts and homes to give city children an experience they will never forget.

Hosts say the Fresh Air experience is as enriching for their own families, as it is for the inner-city children.

There are no financial requirements for hosting a child.

Volunteers may request the age-group and gender of the Fresh Air youngster they would like to host.

Stories about real Fresh Air host families and their New York City visitors

are just a click away!

Fresh Air Children

"We made smokes and hot dogs over the fire. I've never cooked outside before!"

Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks.

Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year.

A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations.

Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open, outdoor play spaces.

Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes.

How can we know what´s the measure of failure or success? The Ws, Xs, Ys and Zs of Life and Death!

This afternoon I was walking back home, having gone out to walk my six months female dog, when I crossed paths, on our corner sidewalk with a very small girl, no more than four or five years old, holding the hand of her mother, who was carrying a backpack, bigger than the little girl.

I had been wondering, for weeks, what I should do with my writings and “video made” Powerpoint presentations.

My dilemma has been, if posting them in my Facebook page for the benefit and information of my friends, or posting them in my blog webpage, opening myself to the scrutiny of anyone who cared to read and see them.

The little girl was repeating, once and then again, and in a loud voice, the letters, w, x, y, and z!

The melodic sound of her childish voice struck the innerest cords of my mind, my heart, and my spirit, and made me wonder what I said at the beginning of these words…

How can we know what´s the measure of failure or success?

In life? In what really counts?

In what you can´t deny when you are alone with yourself?

In what rises up when you are seeing around,
as I am in this right moment, a bunch of skiers
jumping up and down the coldest snowy hills of this world?

Or when you become exasperated,
watching the politicians and the manipulators.
excuse me…
should I have said states-men?, states-women?, international personalities?, investors and big money makers of this world?

Do you see it?
There is ample room to choose your circus spectacle role playing!

You can choose whoever you want to be!

A trapeze flier! A clown!

A lion or panther handler placing your head inside their jaws!

A bombastic and grandiloquent announcer, commentator, analyst, or pharisaical spreader of the most scandalous the better, news, scandals, crimes or human perversions!

A flashy puppet! Or just a mesmerized spectator!

I do not want to be seen or considered a puritanical soothsayer.
I have never been such a personage.
I have always tried to find the inherent logic and the beauty in the most dissimilar circumstances.
I have enjoyed life, even if, at times, in a kind of sinful,
but enticing, and not imposing on others, abusing ways.

Because I have always respected the boundaries of self determination, steadfastness, rightfulness and truth, in everything I have tackled with.

This has been my invariable conviction, even if a costly one, most of the time, in my already forgotten projects planning and management, as well as the personally living and lived, challenges, along my already long lasting, and never boring, life.

I have lived through a lot! I have wandered from the top to the abysses of these changing circumstances that have constituted and given flavor to my life!

I have, as my favorite song says, sometimes chewed more than I could eat, even after spitting it out! I have had more than I would have desired, share of losing, as the years have passed and I have been part of the unending struggle of the world I have been immersed in.

But, even if I cried, at times, when hardships have hit my own people, I have always kept my faith in an ever loving father, who is my God, but more than God my faithfullest friend!

I know my time is almost at its end! I know my feet are not as fast and sure as they were before! My knees falter at times, but my spirit soars above the clouds of my imagination, my feelings and my dreams, as in Isaiah 40:31,

And this, along with the remembrances I have treasured along the way, is what I want to softly say to the younger ones, who are beginning to face life and walk through their own dreams hoping to turn them into pleasant realities.

I wanted to tell this little girl, and in her to the little child still hidden within me, that yes, it is a comforting and encouraging truth, that, “yet, those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary”.
May the Lord bless my children, my grandchildren, as well as all the older and the younger of this world, who as the little girl, loaded with the bigger size than hers, backpack of her first words learning task, while they loudly and determined repeat in louder voices, their w, x, y, and z, of the lessons of life.

I still do not know if I will use my blog or my Facebook pages to give myself out for all to see, wonder, criticize, laugh at, or find some hints on how to avoid unnecessary pains and failures, but, meanwhile, keep on saying as I will also say to myself, that we still need to learn our w, x, y, and z!

But I want, first of all, and before going on my way, to give thanks to all those friends, who, faithfully, send me what they find interesting in the waves of the internet, or the newspapers of their world, because they become the material source of my comments, and the progression of my thoughts and understanding of this life.

Part One: REFLECTIONS FOR THE YOUNG AND THE OLDER

Today, one of my granddaughters reaches one of her early life milestones, the age of 10 innocent and happy years, lived in the comforting haven of a loving home.

All the girls in the family, from grandma to the three little ones, plus her closest friends, are celebrating this morning with an orphanage children, giving a little of the lot of love, care and protection our omnipotent, and omnipresent, God has lavished upon us all, throughout all our lives.

Yesterday afternoon, as a dutiful grandfather, I enjoyed up to the hilt of my emotions, her pre-day celebration in the company of 5 of her closest little young friends.

I videotaped them dancing, laughing, prancing around, joking, running all over the gardens of the place we live in, and all of this made me recall some thoughts, that I shared during a blissful time, spent in the company of another one of my granddaughters, less than two years ago.

These thoughts came into existence while sharing my understanding about life, while I was conversing with my third grandchild, Andrea, who had to write an essay on this subject, last year, almost at the completion of her senior High School.

It did also happen she just had arrived to her seventeen year of blissful living, and was dreaming with following her father, my oldest son, steps, in college.

She got an “A” grade, and was rightfully elated, and in the following months it was so delightful to see how without any spectacular outward symptom she became the wonderfully poised gal, who is now, outstandingly getting excellent grades in her “Industrial Engineering” college courses.

With an expanding love for her classmates and friends, who are fond of getting together at my sons home, to study and rejoice as the exuberant teenagers they are, I now want to extend these thoughts to all those, young or older, who, by chance, read them.

Because we want the best of all, the real best of all, not the masquerades and the illusions and faked contraptions of this accelerated world where you, the younger ones than us, live and will have to live.

As one of my dearest friends shared with me, just a few days ago, quote, “I am happy that you find enjoyment in study, writing, and applying the lessons of life to thoughts on paper.

It will be a wonderful legacy for you to leave to your children and grandchildren. We have to pass it on...be a mentor to the generations that succeed us.

We are blessed to know the joys that only older warriors know...those who have earned their ribbons and their rank, not on the parade field but in the trenches of life, unquote.


So, and getting to the point and from the core of my feelings that spread out as a spring from the pond of my experiences, enjoy the thoughts that I offer you now.

Reflections for the teenagers and young adults,

who are just starting life in these tumultuous days!

An elderly woman asked some youngsters

why they were so electrified by the deeds of people

who would never know they existed,

and why they were so anxious to get,

at any cost,

the newest trinkets and gadgets in the market.

This should made us, all, wonder that…

as strong as we could be or think we are we cannot evade,

or run away, from the storms in our lives!

The disappointments, the losses, or to say it simply,

our non reciprocated expectations,

are the things that, independently from our age,

state of mind, or social standing,

make us feel at times, as defenseless oldsters,

or little ones, in need of caring for, and protection.

And this is not always an easy thing to admit,

because of our need to have, and keep alive,

our own identity,

thus, assuring our authenticity and independency.

In these my olden days, I do want to share with you,

what my understanding Is, about these concepts,

and what I would desire for you,

to have a meaningful, and transcending Life,

despite all adverse circumstances.

To you all, who deal with an uncertain future,

I would like to remind you,

so these thoughts become our permanent companions

and parameters throughout your whole lives,

and what you, today, so happily enjoy

as your rightful, and venturesome, time in life,

turn into the firm and everlasting foundations and ambience,

where the concepts turn themselves

into, solidly based, realities in your lives.

The authentic!

The righteous and truthful!

The fundamental!

By their own nature are intimately, and indissolubly,

linked with the self assurance and reliance

in relation to you.

If you are sure about what you really are,

and what you want to be,

undoubtedly you are authentic!

But, if by any chance, a personal insecurity

is present in your life…

it is possible that you cannot overcome,

or even, maybe will try to cover up

through the easy way of posturing as you are not,

because you visualize yourself otherwise, very deep inside.

And in these circumstances is where

it is, so easy, to confuse

authenticity with eccentricity or superficiality.

The real problem is not to be emotive

or loving the good things of life,

such as clothing, music, socializing,

or admiring the fads or fashion figures of this world.

The problem is the “conscious or unconscious” imitation.

The problem is to subordinate yourself to the group´s pressures,

or to the fashions´ whims.

The problem is to, constantly desire to have

more than what you already have,

just because someone else has more than you.

Enjoy life!

But within your own and authentic identity parameters!

Your potential!

Your abilities!

Your perseverance!

And your enthusiasm,

without allowing yourself to be carried away

by the collective pressure

for posturing and behaving as the rest of the gang!

Be, always, as you are in within yourself!

At home!

Among your relatives, and those who love you,

as if you were their own,

because they will be, at any time,

and in every circumstance, your refuge and comfort

along the walking paths of life!

From your walking the paths of life beginnings,

until your sundown, sedately,

dips itself,

at the far limits of your horizons!