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!

Part two: FATE! HOPES! AND FEARS!

To complete these reflections, I want to extend my thoughts to the young and older alike, as we all are part of the living fabric that make this world to be what it is.

I do not want to avoid or close the eyes to the hard realities that afflict all societies, and individuals, today.

But, also, and to be faithful to the moral values I learnt since my early childhood, I need to state that they are not strong enough to crush your will or destroy your integrity.

To all I tell, believe me, that it is worthy trying to be real and standing tall before life´s contrivances, temptations and fateful pressures.

We must really understand that fate can be overcome, hopes are an indispensable ingredient of a plentiful life, and fears will sprout, sooner or later.

They will do so wherever and whenever, we hesitate, doubt or claudicate before the subtle or gross and forceful threats to our rightful understanding of life and our consequent behavior.

SO, LET´S UNDERSTAND WHAT FATE, HOPES AND FEARS

ARE ALL ABOUT!

The Fear of Life, the Fear of Man, and the Fear of Peers´ pressure!

Everything comes down to the basic question of
TO BE OR NOT TO BE,
and then, facing the consequences.

Consciously determining who you are and who you want to be!

Deciding, foremost, who you want to be when there are no witnesses around!

Accepting as a fact that God has a plan and its timing for your life!

Usually, people fear death, whether in its natural form,
or in that of loneliness, and rejection by peers, acquaintances or friends!

And, because of it, allow the “fear to live” to enter in their lives,
avoiding taking risks and standing firm
in their rightful beliefs and convictions.

Giving up to the pressure and the manipulation
of the natural impulse to become accepted
by the peers and companions in their walking through life.

One thing should be learnt along the way.
Not to have fear of the world,
nor of death or life!

Nor of compulsory compliance with any “group demanding”
exigency or behavior.

And as we walk along the way, we cannot but be,
at the same time,
Vertical and uncompromising in our belief,
tolerantly understanding the reality of ours and other people´s weaknesses
without appeasing the unrighteousness,
just because it is simply convenient!

Part three: IN PEACE !

If we keep ourselves faithful, resilient, and persistent, it will come a day when we will, exultantly, and accurately, be able to proclaim, for all to hear, that we are in peace!

Since my High School years I have always liked poetry. I even wrote and won some minor prizes under a pseudonym while I was a military cadet.

One of the poems that I liked most, even if, at that time, the least I could think was that it would apply some day to my life, was, and still is, with real cause today, the poem written by the Mexican poet and diplomat Amado Nervo, IN PEACE.

I have come to learn that living life to its fullest extent is not to climb and desperately stick ourselves to the top of the mountains, at any cost, despite the snow, freezing winds and emptiness that usually come as a collateral to the worldly prize of recognition and success.

Worst of all is to synthesize success as just the mere acquisition of social standing and financial abundance or excess, at the expense of inner peace, and the blissful solitude and enjoyment of the memories that tell you, once and then again, that you overcame with honors the uproar of the compromising storms that attacked your integrity and self-esteem.

Being in peace, while we live through our golden years is not the end of the road. It is, instead, the fundamental phase in life where the meaning and transcendence reside in the passing out the baton of the accumulated experiences.

By doing so, the new generations, at least, will not conveniently say that they did not know where the fateful detours and mistakes were waiting to deviate them from the straightforward path that would lead them to the higher levels of fulfillment in what it really matters in this life.

I truly hope, that someday, every one of you, those who, even if for a fleeting moment pay attention to these words, will be able to say, as I say today: Life, you owe me nothing! Life, we are both in peace!

BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT IT REALLY LIFE IS WORTHY TO BE LIVED.

TO FINALLY BE ABLE TO SAY WE ARE FINALLY IN PEACE!

AND INDIVIDUALLY SAY…

I bless you life as I get ready to leave you,

because you never gave me failed hopes,

unjust labors or unmerited sorrows.

Because at the end of my rough life´s walking,

I see I was the architect of my own fate and destiny.

And if I extracted honey or bile from occurrences,

it was because I had, firstly, placed in them bile or tasty honey:

when I planted rosebushes I always harvested roses.

Certainly my springs will be replaced by winter:

but you never told me May would last forever!

No doubt that I felt unending the nights of my sorrows;

but you never promised I would only have good ones;

and in exchange I had some of them saintly unruffled.

I loved. I was loved. The sun caressed my face.
Life, you owe me nothing!
Life, we are both in peace!

RELAX! GOD IS IN CONTROL!

50th. ANNIVERSARY´S LIFE´S REMEMBRANCES

Some months ago my oldest son in an email told me that wisdom is to know, and agree with the phase of life we are in, and living it, accordingly.

It was his core comment on how biological rhythms and behavioral priorities change in what is circumstantial, but when integrity, at all costs, is sought and preserved, convictions and fundamental beliefs mature, stronger than ever before, even if becoming mellower and seasoned, as very special crops wines.

This is only possible when we are consequent and consistent in the way we understand and face life, and live it to its fullest extent, without compromising the fundamental values that made us what we were and continue to be.

This is the only existing way, in these tumultuous, seedy, corrupting and manipulating times, that allows us to rightly define what our hopes and our fate should be.

This is the only way to have inner peace despite any outside and conveniently luring, lurid or corrupting pressures, or the oppression that prey on our natural fears and desire to feel accepted by the collectivities that surround us.

We should never fear those who can materially oppress, and kill for all purposes, and by all means, our body life.

On the contrary, we should never, consequently, allow these predators to corrupt the essence of our spirit´s life, and our behavioral accomplishment accumulated through the years, rain or shine, storm or lightning.

Today, this 4th. of July 2010, is a special day to be grateful for and rejoice! 50 years of having reached adulthood, by way of getting the professional tools to make the fundamental decisions to live independently, and be ready to marry and start a family, and build a future.

Circumstances, 50 years ago may have been different. They inevitably have varied. As life went on circumstances may have been negative, and way of living changing.

But who we were, who we are, and who we will be until placed to rest in our graves, will remain as the fruit of our willingness to face life, so we can leave, a valuable for its consistency, legacy to our families, friends and foes, and life journeys partners and companions.

In my personal life there has always been a favorite song marking the essence of the successive life periods. When younger, “The Impossible Dream”! then as the years passed they took turns, back and forth, from sentimental to pop, to soul and country!

But always present, there has been one that has marked the way I was, and I intend to be until my last day on this planet. MY WAY! NOT A WHIMSICAL OR EGOTISTICAL WAY, BUT THE FOUNDATION FOR AN EVER GROWING SPIRITUAL, AND MATURER, WAY OF LIVING!

Listen to it, enjoy it, and think about its message about standing tall, while you see the phases of my live displayed in my following video.

The “Fresh Air Fund Friendly Town trips for the summer” have already come!

A few days ago I received from my dear friend Sarah from the Fresh Air Fund organization, the great news that just this just past June 30th they started the first departure of the Fresh Air Fund Friendly Town trips for the summer.
She excitedly shared that they are all thrilled that this day is here and that all of the families are so excited that the children are coming into their homes and towns as this is the first day visiting for summer 2010.
This made me realize that what God desires from each one of us is that we all, as those who have been chosen of Him, holy and beloved,

Put on a heart of compassion (love)

And kindness (generosity),

Humility (not feeling superior nor rejecting those in scarcer circumstances),

Gentleness (treating them as if they were our own flesh and blood) and patience (accepting the disruption of our complacency, set ways, and egotistical comfort) Colossians 3:12
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17

If you want to join the joy and the excitement, just check, for information the link…. http://freshairfundhost.com

It´s that time of the year, again!

Time to sow so we later abundantly reap, and fill our remaining life with happy memories of good things well done and done on due time for the needed!

We tend to lose sight of the most simple, pure and significant facts of our daily lives, immersed as we usually are in the maelstrom of the news incitation´s to change our convictions and beliefs. It is undeniable. it´s strong and pervasive influence, as they so relentlessly root for the most debased social excesses of today, virtualized and rationalized to the most ridiculous extremes.

It is a mesmerizing experience, as we become more and more addicted to our gluing to the screens when all scandals, hidden agendas, and whatever is intended to be carried on, are so grandiloquently presented by so many sprouting, well paid and unremorsefully self appointed gurus of the media.

As time has gone by we, as a couple have been privileged to be able to sow and then to abundantly reap, filling our lives with fond and happy memories. As I have always be fond of taking pictures, since my early childhood and my first camera a small squared Brownie Kodak, I have grown accustomed to attach remembrances and memories to the photos I take, so, to the amusement of my closer ones, I can quietly sit and smile, and remember the past at the oddest times of my days.

My dear friends from the Fresh Air Fund ministry tell me that only 2 weeks remain available to host children in their homes in order to give them a precious happy time in this fleeting moment of the year. It is time to sow, believe me. It is worth the try and the reaping magnificent when our autumn years whiten our hair and our hearts.

I leave with you the words of the song, which are the background of the video-memories I want to share, today. Because it is that time of the year, again! The time to plant good deeds in the path of our lives, so we cultivate the most effective vaccine for the prevention of the Alzheimer of the golden years.

TRY TO REMEMBER

Everybody talks about the good old days.

The good old days!
Well, let's talk about the good old days.

Come to think about it…
As bad as we think they are,
These present days will become
the good old days of our children.

Why don't we try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh so mellow.

Try to remember! And if you remember
Then follow… why does it always seem the past is better?

We look back and think the winters were warmer,
The grass was greener, The skies were bluer,
The smiles were brighter.

Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time rewritten every line?

And if we had the chance to do it all again… Tell me…
Would we? Could we?

Memories like the corners of my mind.
Memories! Misty watercolor memories of the way we were.

Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind!
Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were.

Oh can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time rewritten every line?
And if we had the chance to do it all again…
Tell me… Would we? Could we?

Memories may be beautiful and yet…
What's too painful to remember we simply choose to forget!

So it's the laughter we'll remember we’ll remember,
Whenever we remember the way we were!

Check the links to the ministry in the web.

http://freshairfundhost.com/

If there is no time left to be a host, donating your time by opening your home to all these children, then open your pockets and donate funds

so they can cover the costs that this wonderful work of love require to be made into a fact of happiness for the needed when they need it most!

Do it, my friends! There is no worthier cause as it is the foundation of what will remain with us when the time to rest and enjoy the peacefulness of the older age comes knocking at our doors.

You will see it by yourselves as I see it today while walking around our peaceful residential place.

Blessed be the Lord for the children

who play outside, on the street, secure of being loved and cared for!

Blessed be the Lord for the brisk and cooler mornings,

Blessed be the Lord for the doggy friend

that watches us passing by, wondering if we would also take him in,

bought, or free given, he could cared less what way,




while we pull the chain of the puppy that jumps and frolics,
joyfully biting the legs of our pants!

Blessed be the Lord for the purity

of the aroma and the beauty of the flowers

that prompt us to recall the good and happy memories of our yesterdays!

A THREE PARTS REFLECTION ON LIFE! Part one: What the World is going through, nowadays!

The statement, because of its repetitiveness, it sounds almost like a scratched or broken record, going over, and over, the same site description! Manipulation! Confusion! Suffering! Despair!

Friends keep on telling what, apparently, is usually overlooked today, as we go along, trying to keep up with the frantic pace, that is being imposed on us all. That “The Common Sense” has died!

We cannot but, otherwise, agree on the fact
that many people cry today,
because that long standing friend
has gone away!

No one knows how old he was,
because his birthday certificate
has been long lost
in the world´ bureaucracies drawers!

He will be remembered for having taught
such valuable lessons,
as that of having to,
diligently, work to build a home
out of just a house.

As well as learning why the birds
sing so early in the mornings,
and that life is not always fair,
and that, most probably,
we are responsible for it!

“Common Sense” lived
under simple and efficient rules
such as not spending more than what we earn;
or not paying more than what we buy is really worth;

As well as following parental
trustworthy strategies such as…
the adults, not the children,
being the ones in charge!

His health rapidly deteriorated
when society applied,
well intentioned but unreliable rules,
of, collective protection, enforcement.

Instead of promoting healthier,
family and individual values and behavior,
taking away parental rights
under the pretense of children rights protection,
but also their responsibilities!

Allowing some media to,
irresponsibly, meddle, everywhere,
with the inevitable outcome of not solving the problems,
but compounding them,
because the unwise publicity
fosters the scandal,
and the families’ disintegration!

Common sense lost ground
when the parents cave in,
and left the schools in charge
of disciplining their children.

And even more when the schools
also cave in, to social activists forcing God out,
but decided they had the right
to provide contraceptives,
and even abortions
without notifying the parents.

“Common Sense” lost his desire to live,
when the Ten Commandments
became a laughingstock material,
some churches, and preachers
became big businesses, and bigger businessmen;
and criminals started to receive
better treatment than their victims.

The “common sense´s death”
was preceded by that of his parents,
Truth and Trust,
and that of his wife,
Discretion,
his daughter,
Responsibility,
and his son,
Discernment!

Left behind are his three stepbrothers:
“I know my rights”!
“it´s somebody else responsibility”!
and
“I am a victim of society!


Very few went to his funeral,
because everybody was too busy
minding their own business!

And the end result has been living
in a more chaotic world,
plentiful in technological progress,

but void of peace, trust, truth,
responsibility and discernment!
because they have been killed
by the greed, lack of love and solidarity!

Four generations, today,
populate this earth!

One that believed, and took for granted,
and swallowed, what they heard in the radio,
and read, in the books and the newspapers!


The one we told them Superman only flew in the movies
and batman fantasies were good but unreal!

Then the younger, who, I am told,
do not believe what the news try to make them believe,
preferring to live in their own, made believe, virtual world,
their pleasures, and, at any cost… fun!


Affecting the fourth generation of all the children
with callously inflicted abuse,
infant weddings, pedophilia,
unfathomable poverty
and earliest deaths!

The fundamental question and challenge,
has always been, and will always be…
unbelief? Unending violence and chaos?

But I hope that the pendulum of life
will swing to the other end, again!
And some better common sense days
will come to pass again!

The world has not yet come to an end!
The future is of the younger!
And of The Lord, who rescued us all at the cross!