WHAT THIS WORLD, OF CRAZIED HUMAN BEINGS, SO DESPERATELY NEEDS IS “DISCERNMENT AND RESOLVE”, BUT GOD´S, NOT HUMAN´S STYLE ONES!

As you all, the benevolent readers of these digressions already well know, I am an avid reader and watcher, of electronic messages and newspapers and television news, through the truly amazing, internet waves and devices.

When young, it was my daily duty to read newspapers, and analyze articles, to prepare a daily summary of collective tendencies, that could threaten the status quo, and the government I served.

I never believed in indiscriminate violence, as it only begets more violence, and if not controlled and wiped out, by way of cleverer psychological maneuvering, chaos is the only result, and the consequent way of living, for our desperately confused societies. This was my reasoning at that time.

But time does not go by inadvertently. Time does not go by without leaving behind a lesson. Better said, myriads of lessons that we stubbornly refuse to pay attention to and draw the logical consequences.

Men, usually, only perceive the external signs in our human behavior. Even when we try to open ourselves to scrutiny and guidance! They only see the grey, white and black hair mixed and messed up by circumstances.

They only see our deep eyebrows, our no longer fresh face and our sagging bellies, and so try to, honestly, but only humanly, even if spiritually motivated, discern and advice what they, again, honestly believe is what is most needed by us at the time.

There is an almost universally misunderstood or apprehended concept in the Bible. That of “eternity placed in the hearts of men”.

Sometimes this is visualized as a longing for paradisiacal blessings and enjoyment. Other times as the rightful claim for them, to be enjoyed while we are on this earth in a very prodigal son fashion!

This happens so because we usually confuse the trimmings, and the overflowing, with the purity of the essence of inner peace, and discernment.

God talks, shares, soothes, guides, caress, wakens us up, call to our door, through dreams, melancholic longings and awareness, as those that come to us, while wandering in the solitude of the spiritual deserts.

He usually does not speak while we are immersed, anonymously shouting and jumping, amongst the excitement, and the behavioral pull and push, of the crowds and the masses.

He doesn´t, either, while we are subjugated by the guilt hollering prophets and psychological gurus, of all types and kinds, so highly popular in these days of chaos and confusion.

Last Monday, I had one of those experiential longings and I went out to seek understanding, advice and guidance, because of one of these melancholy bouts.

Because these days I do not drive anymore, I used public transportation, which passes just at the entrance gate of our residential compound. And it was quite an experience.

Our usual busy surroundings this morning was a chaos. Buses were being used to block the road to the city by their drivers forced by the owners of the businesses to violently claim for more financial incentives and subsidies from the government.

And old lady, waiting at the bus stop, highly distressed, asked me to make change so she could call her daughter to come and pick her up to take her safely home.

Two drivers were ostensibly aggressive, sitting on the sidewalk, watching a policeman trying to ease the traffic and letting us, the walkers, crossed, again, safely, to the other side of the street, to be able to take the circulating busses.

And people patiently, as used as they are to the abuse and lousy behavior of the bus drivers, piled on in the center of the bus, filled to the hilt, as we all were sardines in a can, or matches in a box, while slowly going up hill towards the city.

Surprisingly, it only took half an hour to reach the city. I was more than an hour early for my appointment. So, I leisure walked around, killing time and gathering my thoughts and feelings.

It was a very cool morning.

The cars and buses were just that, buzzing through the streets

as if they were streaks of lightning.

And then, just two blocks away, I found a quiet place on a corner, beautified as a garden access to a crossing over footbridge.

It was then that I felt the presence of God.

And old man was sitting, reading a book under a cluster of flowers, his stockinged feet, free from his well worn shoes.

I could not resist taking a picture, as I felt something was knocking at the door of my conscience. I FELT IT AS A GLIMPSE OF HUMAN DISCERNMENT AND RESOLVE, SEEING THEMSELVES DISCARDED BY THE RUNNING AWAY, AND THE CHASING RAINBOWS, PEOPLES.

Then, I kept on walking on a circle around the blocks to get back to the place I was to visit.

I passed by the installations of one of the largest radio corporations of the city. The street was quiet, cars parked in an unending row, security guards silently watching us passing through. Another example of busyness of the unresting world!

A block away two girls were giggledly asking, another old guy behind bars, to sell them lollipops. One more block, and I passed by the closed doors of a pastor I used to deal with, many years ago, when placing his sermons in the airways of the Christian TV station I used to manage. And no cars passing by, noising the quietness of the surroundings.

Then, after almost two hours of chatting and sharing, I went back home, still looking for a glimpse of orientation and guidance, and assurance that the melancholic longing had a purpose of its own, and a confirmation message would come to my spirit.

And it surely came! I bought a bag of a fresh fruit I love, to enjoy it with my wife and son, back home. I took another bus for the trip back and, surprisingly, I found a seat beside a young woman and her “months old” child.

The little girl kept on smiling at me, taking hold of one of my fingers and playing with it, with such a peaceful and smiling face as she felt cozy, safe and secure. And this lasted the whole one hour drive until they got out almost at the same time as I had to, just a few bus stops before my destination.

And then, after I got home, having lunch, hugging my wife and listening a little while to the instrumental music, she so loves to listen, I went upstairs to check my emails, and I found this message waiting, sent by son of one of my former fellow officers in the army.

THAT´S GOD!

Is all this coincidence or a message from our loving God?
I leave it to you to decide it.

For me, it is the message I titled, this morning,

after waking up with such a peace in my spirit,

as:

WHAT THIS WORLD, OF CRAZIED HUMAN BEINGS,

SO DESPERATELY NEED IS “DISCERNMENT AND RESOLVE”,

BUT GOD´S, NOT HUMAN´S STYLE ONES!

And the assurance that He loves us and blesses us

in the midst of little pleasant things and gestures,

the laughter of the children,

and the messages from the people

who love us, and keep us in their hearts.

And the exhortation to become like children,

and sing His praises in gratitude and wonderment.

Because He has already paid the price for our salvation,

forgiveness, reconciliation, and inner peace

despite any adverse circumstances!

THE CUP OF LIFE… THE CYCLE OF LIFE!

Life is a time running cycle!
Birthing! Growing! Blooming! Dying!
Re-birthing! Growing! Blooming! Dying again!

So is the Cup of Life!

Life is a cup filled with happiness, but is never given full!
We are given just a sip, from time to time,
having to fill the cup drop by drop, everyday,
to keep on living!

Let´s not spend our time wailing because of our misfortunes,
predicting imaginary tragedies,
or scared by maladies that probably will never hurt us… !

We are born to fight for happiness! To create it! To build it!
despite the sorrows and disenchantments,
the mistakes, trickeries and the irremediably unforeseeable!


Happiness is not found in possessions and pleasures…
We act correctly and she, alone, by itself, comes into the picture!

Happiness is… Not longing for what we are missing…
But balancing… everything we have with what we haven´t!

Let´s not sell our happiness! Let´s, freely… give it!

We should never look for cheap or simple recipes
to reach what we believe is happiness!

HAPPINESS INGREDIENTS…
SHARING! UNCONDITIONAL LOVING!
GRATEFULNESS! NON SCARRED FORGIVING!
ACCEPTANCE WITHOUT CONDITIONS!
AND NOT GIVING UP, EVER!

Everything has to be harmonious!
From the beehives… a little honey!
From the seas… a speck of saltiness!
From life… a touch of optimism!
From imagination… sweet dreaming!
From pain… the roots strongest!
And from Faith… the rocks solidest!

We are not happy because we don´t know
how to fill our cup of happiness!
Because we do not give to life all that we can give her!
And naively wait for life to give us, without having
to pay the price for it!

Let´s not forget that the best way to be happy
is to see for others to be happy; serving them!
Let´s give a lot from us and happiness will come on its own.
Let´s fill our cup, and delight ourselves being so…
HAPPY!

INTELLIGENCE VERSUS MANIPULATION, THE CHALLENGE OF TODAY!

Some days ago I was discussing with a friend, who was preparing a summary for one of her college presentation essays, the influence on educational processes, of the theories on multiple intelligences presented by Howard Gardner theories in his book “Frames of Mind”.

I have to recognize that I had not been in contact with his work until now, nor I have been familiar with the modern educational theories, as a product of past, but in my own experience, solid approaches, based on the scarcer sources of innovative motivators and influencers of our sensations and emotions.

After reading the booklet she was using, in Spanish, for his work, I realized the appropriateness of the concepts and definitions of such multiple intelligences or abilities, as described by Gardner, when applied to the analysis of the manipulation of the behavioral attitudes, actions of the present generations.

It became clearer the astute and clever usage of the perceptional abilities that all humans possess, as stated by Gardner when he says: People have a unique blend of intelligences. The big challenge facing the deployment of human resources 'is how to best take advantage of the uniqueness conferred on us as a species exhibiting several intelligences' (ibid.: 45).

While he relates the “Linguistic” and the “Logical-Mathematical” intelligences, to the educational spectrum, leaving the rest to the arts and finally to the personal realm… it seems to me that every one of them, gyrate around the individual and collective!

It has become overwhelmingly present and absorbing the already blatant and pervasive task of proselytism, and the push for change to adapt to, and accept new mores and beliefs, reducing to the minimal expression the capacity for analysis, questioning and discrimination by the individual, and consequently, by the collective structures of societies and nations, especially in the political and the financial.

Let´s analyze the definitions focusing on this approach of visualization and involvement of them all in a coordinated effort to break the individual perception of the real nature of things presented for consideration.

According to Gardner, Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize (the listener) and compose (the emitter) musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. It runs in an almost structural parallel to the linguistic intelligence.

Nowadays it almost replaces the written language by way of emphasizing the spoken repetitive, high pitched staccato verbal message, at the same time that encompass, surround and permeates the bodily-kinesthetic and spatial, abilities or receptive intelligences of the audiences and receptors of its messages.

In other words, it transmits, influences and dominates its audience through the Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence that entails the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems, because of its capacity to use our mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements.

And due to the present technological proliferation of techniques, instruments, process and special effects makes the most mesmerizing manipulation of our Spatial intelligence that involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.

It is in such a way that our sensations and emotions are saturated, motivated, led, and for all practical purposes manipulated into subconscious, subliminal, and automatic control, by way of deception and absorption of the message addressed to the individual and the social collectivity that are the focus and the target of the messages.

This is the moment when the powerful impulse to become a member at all costs of the generational social conglomerate, influenced by the intervention in our minds, and emotions, in a concerted effort to dominate our spirits, is almost coerced into passivity, if not massive, indiscriminate, or lost into and carried away by the force of the masses, action and participation.

This is the field of influence of what Gardner defines as the Interpersonal intelligence which is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people.

And because of the push for acceptance of the peer pressure as the only acceptable way of living to be considered a club member, clashes with the self-controlling and self-discriminating capacity that human beings should always keep intact at all costs.

This is what Gardner defines as the Intrapersonal intelligence or capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner's view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives.

The effort to reinforce the existence and positive action gives place to a “Questioning phase” where what is defined as the Logical-mathematical intelligence, or the capacity to analyze problems logically, investigate issues to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically.

This type of intelligence or ability tries to join efforts with the Intrapersonal intelligence that entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner's view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives.

Unfortunately this questioning sees itself challenged by the complacency of the different inputs identified as derived from the limbic system identified by this author as the intelligences related to the frames of minds, or mind perceptions as the central motivating and justifying factor.

Those derivations receive the name of “Affective”, “Motivational! And “Emotional” intelligences, which are not evil per se, but open themselves to complacency, undue and unrightfully acceptance of what internally raises an alarm ring in our conscience.

This clash is ending with an increasingly usual result of failure and consequently isolation and rejection of the dissenters and questioners, by the already subjugated individual and its influencing social partners.

We all should always have in mind, and pay the corresponding consideration to the statement by Gardner that “these intelligences, are amoral - they can be put to constructive or destructive use”.

The challenge is then, to turn the coin over, and instead of accepting that success, leadership, consist, as is the rule nowadays, in the manipulation of the individual and collective sensations and emotions, which is the negative and destructive use of the intelligences endowed to men by our Creator.
There are other abilities that have been defined as such in order to justify the human acceptance of the free-fall behavior of mankind, in order to deny the, in their eyes, unjustified and unnatural acceptance of the superior ruling and control of who I call the Creator.

Almost all of them concur in the denying or degrading as an unnatural submission of man, whom they consider the master and controller of all Nature, despite any abuse, neglect or lack of concern for its care, permanence and protection.

They have been labeled as the Naturalist intelligence which enables human beings to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of the environment, 'combining a description of the core ability with a characterization of the role that many cultures value' (ibid.: 48).

Or the “Existential intelligence”, opposing them to the “Moral” and “Spiritual” intelligences, discarding them as “far more complex, with manifest and problematic connotations”, and preferring to replace them with the euphemistically called, human concern with the ultimate issues!

LIFE AND ROSES!

As I have stated from time to time, I have become part of a movement of caring people who are really and deeply concerned about raising up their voices to state what they believe in relation to the ongoing accelerated progression of collective moral values in our societies.

My little seed has been to turn these thoughts into the English version in order to comply with the desires of distribution expressed by their original authors. Felipe de Urca is one of them, and I feel privileged in doing so, after I got to know about him through some of my dearest friends.

I was pleasantly surprised in finding out he has been planting his little seeds and spreading them on the winds for already a thousand times. And with an additional blog, too! I am translating here two of his last ones, making mine his words.

There is a need to be persistent in our efforts, even if rational minds tell us we could be wasting our time. I hope that by translating the messages we get to reach more sea stars in the maelstrom of the present times, taking them back to safer places to become witnesses of the real possibility of a better future for mankind. Enjoy them!

MY LITTLE SEEDS! One thousand ones! March 1st. 2010.

One day, walking on the beach I saw an old man, picking up something from time to time, and throwing it into the sea. He was doing this time and time again! As soon as I got nearer I realized he was picking up sea stars, thrown upon the shores by the tides, to throw them back into the waves!

Intrigued, I asked him why he was doing that, and he answered me: I am throwing them back to the ocean. As you see the tide is low and they have been left behind, and if they do not go back to the water they will die for lack of oxygen!

I understand, I told him. But there must be thousands of sea stars on the beach. You can´t throw them all back! There are too many! And you don´t realize this probably is happening over hundred of beaches along the shores.
Aren´t you doing something meaningless?

The old man smiled, he bent down and picked another sea star, and while he throw it back, he answered me… For this one it had it!

Every message I send in my “LITTLE SEEDS” is a little sea star I throw back into the ocean! I know that, in this complicated and accelerated world, a single gesture of tenderness and solidarity maybe is not enough! I can´t do anything to solve the maladies and sorrows of the whole world, but I can do a lot generously trying to help
within the small circle where I have been placed to live in.

If just once and if through these messages I make you stop and meditate, be emotionally moved, convicted,
laugh or even cry… then, you are one of those sea stars, gone back to tell the others that kindness does indeed exist, and is worthy to be kind, and that there are, still, peoples who believe in the good inside
of the other peoples!

I desire the best for you, with all my heart, and may God allow my “LITTLE SEEDS” to keep on bringing Light, Hope and Love to those who receive them and resend them. Thanks, my Lord, for the 1000 daily bulletins already published and the more than a million visits to the internet blog! FELIPE DE URCA. March 1st. 2010.

THE GREEN STAR OF HOPE!

THERE WAS A TIME IN HEAVENS

WHEN THERE WERE MIRIADS OF ALL COLORS...

SILVERY, GREEN, GOLDEN, RED, BLUE.

One day they asked God to live on earth among the peoples.

He agreed but told them He would keep them as small

as they were seen from down earth.

That night there was a beautiful rain of stars falling down.

Some lightened up the churches towers.

Some ran around and played with butterflies and fireflies.

Some mixed with the children toys…

And the earth was wonderfully illuminated!

But the time came when they decided to go back home to heavens.

And the Lord told them He understood why.

Their place was in heavens.

Where everything is perfect, immutable, eternal, imperishable!

While earth is the place of the transient, the fleeting, the falling,

the mistaken, the dying!

In other words, the imperfect and the trying!

After counting them all, God found one was missing.

An angel told him… No, Lord, one star decided to stay back and live among the peoples!

She discovered her place was where imperfections are omnipresent,

all around are limits, things go usually wrong,

and all is hard, tough and trying!

What star is that? The Lord asked, again.

The star of hope! The green star!

The only one with that color!

And when they looked down, again, they saw the star was not alone.

The earth was illuminated again

because there was a little star in everyone´s heart!

Because the only thing that man has and God does not need, is hope!

God already knows the future

and hope is for the one who does not know it!

Receive that little star, hope, in your heart! YOUR STAR!

DO NOT LET HER LEAVE! DO NOT ALLOW HER

TO EXTINGUISH HERSELF AND DIE!

Be assured she will always light up your path!

Be positive always and be grateful to God for it

and the star He has given you!

God is good. He gives us the desires of our hearts. For many years, while being involved in a very satisfactory life filled with planning, and setting into operation, projects of the most diverse nature, I always longed to have time to relax, rest, and being a witness to so many past experiences of many as well as mine.

He has allowed me to spend my days in a very safe and cozy neighborhood where garden roses and beautiful scenery abound. I have been specially blessed to be able to witness, in a daily basis, the birthing, growing, maturing, seeing their petals gracefully split away and nurture the ground from where new roses will sprout in due time.

One of the greatest pleasure I have had is to be able to walk around taking pictures of the rivulets of beauty that are there, for us to enjoy, if we take the time and we open our minds to it. They are part of my life, today, and of the message on “Life and Roses” that I dedicate to all those workaholics of today, as I was for years, thankfully, already past, over, and gone, but leaving me time still to enjoy the rest of my living cycle.

These flowers and other pictures now adorn the screen of my laptop, for my enjoyment, relaxation and leisure. They have become part of my life. I hope they do the same for you, at least the few ones I included in my following video. They teach us a lot, in a quiet way, spreading out their beauty in a silent but immensely powerful way.

They have taught me a life lesson that eluded my mind and my spirit for such a long a time. Birthing, living and dying are just the chain links of an unending circle both for Nature and mankind. In this, Nature is way ahead than men, despite our self proclaimed superiority and intelligence, that so many times is blatantly controversial and destructive.

If we could really listen, pay attention, consider the logic of their living cycles, and act accordingly… how different our life could be! How more pleasant! How less intent on abusing and oppressing, knowing that we are just pages being flipped over by the winds of time and circumstances! And how worthier lessons of wisdom and experience could be our legacy and inheritance to our children and mankind!

LIFE AND ROSES!

LIFE IS LIFE. AND ROSES KNOW WELL,
AND MUCH BETTER THAN ALL OF US,
HOW TO LIVE IT!

Life it seems that is and it has always been

full of pain and sorrows!

Should it be like this?

While we go on living full of sap and energies…
we never pay attention to the real facts of life!

We are always busy complaining about thorns,
and trampling over roses,
conveniently forgetting they were made

by God to protect them.

We become from time to time so overwhelmed

by the natural disasters,

as if they were indispensable, for us to waken up

to the fact, of their cyclical occurrence and inevitability,

and the need for human compassion and solidarity.

And we also forget about the beauty of Nature,

and the need to be grateful

for the opportunity to enjoy it,

once we understand that natural phenomena

are just that… natural!

And only become disasters

because of the carelessness or abuse of man