Cranes are amazing birds. They teach as patience. They are very protective.
Be free. Fly as high as you can
Accept others just as they are. Be kind, share the space. The sun shines to all the people.
Politics
Thank you for the new day.
Thank you for life.
Thank you for your love and protection.
Thank you for all you do for us each day.
Thank you for providing for our needs.
Thank you for the strength to do the things that are challenging to me.
Thank you for my husband, my family and friends.
Thank you for the mountains, the sea, and the beautiful skies.
Thank you for your word.
Thank you for being in control of my life.
Thank you for saying “yes” and “no” to my prayers.
Thank you for shaping me in ways I don’t always understand right away.
Thank you Lord. Because of you I have hope and faith.
Thank you for understanding my deficiencies.
Thank you for the people you put in my way.
Thank you for grace.
Thank you for your mercy.
Thank you for your death at the cross and your resurrection.
Thank you for the forgiveness of my sins.
Thank you for the Holy Spirit that gives me wisdom and also convicts me.
Thank you for salvation and eternity.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Lord!
We always want to make sure that “Safety is First” and that people are responsible to practice their professions. Authorities make sure people are safe. That’s why there are all kind of rules and regulations, test and licenses imposed:
- License to drive
- Enforced use of seat belts in cars, planes and toddlers chairs.
- Degree to become a doctor to save lives.
- Degree to become a lawyer to defend wrong doing or evil.
- Degree to become a religious leader to help saving souls.
- Even a degree + 1 year internship to get a license to deal with dead people.
but no degree, license or test to buy a weapon to practice evil and kill the same people who the government, doctors, lawyers and religious people try to save.
We know that we have had children and young adults killing at school and even parents and siblings killing each other at home. Teenagers who got bored have gone out in a killing rampage.
Base on the premise that children are good people, parents are responsible defenders of the first amendment, and that the NRA wants more good people with guns to defend themselves from the evil ones.
Meditate on each question. Close your eyes. See your/a child. Place your hand in your heart. See the pain of a parent with a child in the grave.
- What age should your/a child learn to kill to defend from evil?
- What’s the age of accountability for a child to bring a gun to defend from the evil student:
- Kindergarten?
- Elementary school?
- Middle school?
- High school?
- College?
- Have you ever imagine yourself in a place where everyone, the good and the evil, are carrying a weapon?
- Can you see your good children at school or college seated beside another good child or evil one carrying a weapon?
- Can you see yourself, in your own home with your children and yourself having a heated argument knowing you all have a weapon?
- Can you just imagine going to work and having everyone showing how strong they are with their gun on a desk?
- What about the crazy drivers all carrying a weapon ready to fire if you look twice at them?
Safety First. It’s Just Common Sense.
Note: if this article comes to you at a time of grief due to violence, please receive my condolences.
After the massacre in Las Vegas, I have heard so many ridiculous excuses and explanations to procrastinate the conversation or ignore it all together. When a person is morally and economically compromised to serve someone, nothing can be done, nothing can be achieved. That’s how we got here to the 9th month of a presidency that have achieve nothing more than chaos at the White House and chaos in the world. I do not expect any control in the purchase of weapons. Why? beyond the second amendment, this is a dirty business with enough money to buy not only conscience but also souls. From the stupid excuses the one that has shocked me most is the claim that the murderer bought his arsenal legally but made illegal use of them. The question is. For what the hell does someone need so many guns? Why is there no limit to the number of weapons someone can acquire? Where is common sense? People defend the use of weapons right and left as if they were decoration items. Yes … it is possible that the wall is the place where someone wants to display his weapon, but not cover a complete wall with them.
When the morals and integrity of people can be purchase in any fashion, there will always be sufficient reasons to protect that which a pure heart or mind can’t process.
We are leaving to our children a world full of hate, bitterness and intolerance.
A world where everything is solved by screaming, insulting, offending, humiliating and harassing.
A world where evil becomes good and the good is perverted.
A world where morality is over, ethics and professionalism are things of the past.
A world where if someone is bored or does not like something or someone, simply eliminates it without disgust.
A world where violence is fed every day by our leaders in government and social media.
A world where everything we want, even if we do not need it, we must have instantly.
A world lacking of role models.
A world confused between freedom and debauchery.
A world where families members are strangers.
A world where technology is used to plan evil.
A world where friendship, love, laughter and care are reduced to an image or a forward message.
PHOTO: People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (David Becker/Getty Images)
A world that worships evil in what we wear and the lyrics we sing.
A world where parents don’t have peace when their children are at school.
In this still taken from video provided by Aleppo Media Centre, a child sits in an ambulance apparently after being pulled out of a building hit by an airstrike. Photograph: Aleppo Media Centre
A world where children are no longer safe.
A world where every child must learn to kill to survive.
A world where selfishness counts more than the well-being and safety of people.
A world in need of God.
A world in need of prayers.
Lord have mercy.
A national anthem is generally a patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions, and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation’s government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from “Defence of Fort M’Henry“, a poem written on September 14, 1814, by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the American victory.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” was recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.
By Original uploader was Dr.frog at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3661221
In 1899, the US Navy official adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner”. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that “The Star-Spangled Banner” be played at military and other appropriate occasions. The playing of the song two years later during the seventh-inning stretch of Game One of the 1918 World Series, and thereafter during each game of the series is often cited as the first instance that the anthem was played at a baseball game, though evidence shows that the “Star-Spangled Banner” was performed as early as 1897 at opening day ceremonies in Philadelphia and then more regularly at the Polo Grounds in New York City beginning in 1898. In any case, the tradition of performing the national anthem before every baseball game began in World War II.
By Francis Scott Key - Frank A. O'Connell; Wilbur F. Coyle (1914). National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial, Baltimore, Maryland, September 6 to 13, 1914 (1914). Baltimore: National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial Commission. p. 64., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3807435
The Star-Spangled Banner – 1944
Lyrics
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Additional Civil War period lyrics
In indignation over the start of the American Civil War, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.added a fifth stanza to the song in 1861, which appeared in songbooks of the era.
When our land is illumined with Liberty’s smile,
If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile
The flag of her stars and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained who our birthright have gained,
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
Right or Wrong to Protest the National Anthem?
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is traditionally played at the beginning of public sports events and orchestral concerts in the United States, as well as other public gatherings. The National Hockey League and Major League Soccerboth require venues in both the U.S. and Canada to perform both the Canadian and American national anthems at games that involve teams from both countries (with the “away” anthem being performed first) It is also usual for both American and Canadian anthems (done in the same way as the NHL and MLS) to be played at Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association games involving the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Raptors (respectively), the only Canadian teams in those two major U.S. sports leagues, and in All Star Games on the MLB, NBA, and NHL. The Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, which play in a city on the Canada–US border and have a substantial Canadian fan base, play both anthems before all home games regardless of where the visiting team is based.
Two especially unusual performances of the song took place in the immediate aftermath of the United States September 11 attacks. On September 12, 2001, the Queen broke with tradition and allowed the Band of the Cold-stream Guards to perform the anthem at Buckingham Palace, London, at the ceremonial Changing of the Guard, as a gesture of support for Britain’s ally. The following day at a St. Paul’s Cathedral memorial service, the Queen joined in the singing of the anthem, an unprecedented occurrence.
There is pride in the history carved in the intimate fibers of a nation’s flag and the deep sentiment of its patriotic national Anthem. The blood boils and the heart quivers. When someone attacks a nation it revives the feelings of homeland and heroism. People turn to the God we trust, the history, the meaning of the flag and the hymn. The courageous soldiers that gave their lives for our freedom. Memorial Day and Veterans Day give a especial meaning to the fallen who lived and died in search of freedom. Our greatest pride!
“O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”
When a leader betrays the nation, there are broken hearts, inexplicable anger and desolation. The courageous men a women stand tall to show pride and readiness to fight back and defend what has cost so many lives.
“We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.”
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_anthem
Flag Picture:
By Original uploader was Dr.frog at en.wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3661221
Lyrics Picture
By Francis Scott Key – Frank A. O’Connell; Wilbur F. Coyle (1914). <a rel=”nofollow” class=”external text” href=”http://www.archive.org/stream/nationalstarspan02nati#page/n63″>National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial, Baltimore, Maryland, September 6 to 13, 1914</a> (1914). Baltimore: National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial Commission. p. 64., Public Domain, <a href=”https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3807435″>Link</a>
“The Star-Spangled Banner” video: Title: Movietone News: “The Star-Spangled Banner” (Version II) (ca. 1944) Sumary: Patriotic montage of scenes accompanying performance of U.S. national anthem as sung by Merrill Miller. Producer: Fox Movietone News Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W Keywords: Patrioti
My heart can’t stop crying the reality that my parents are not longer with me. No calls from them I will get today. No Happy Birthdays, “mañanitas” , blessings or good wishes. And yet, I know they wanted the best for me, they still want it. Their sentiment wasn’t for just a birthday or a season of my life. Their prayers were heard in heaven day after day, year after year.
Thank you Mom. Thank you Dad. I miss you both so much.
Mi corazón no puede dejar de llorar la realidad de que mis padres ya no están conmigo. No recibiré llamadas de ellos hoy. No Feliz Cumpleaños, “mañanitas”, bendiciones o buenos deseos. Y sin embargo, sé que querían lo mejor para mí, todavía lo quieren. Su sentimiento no era sólo en mi cumpleaños o por una temporada de mi vida. Sus oraciones fueron escuchadas en el cielo día tras día, año tras año.
Gracias mamá. Gracias Papá. Los extraño mucho a ambos.
The first resistance to the unknown is experienced when the baby cries after leaving the mother’s womb. From that point on, the baby is in continuous changing, learning, adapting, growing, failing and trying again. No body says it would be easy to walk without first some stumbling and falling, but we did it, and we don’t want to go back to crawling.
Just as the first experience, it happened again when we went to school, college, university, work, marriage, having our own families and so on. In each season we had to face the fear of the unknown, learn and adjust to it. The sooner we do it, the better it is.
Adjusting to a new life style after divorce, illness, financial loss, or dead of a loved one. Perhaps, we are working but some radical changes are happening that are hard to adjust. Maybe we are just praying for the right person to come to our life. Whatever the situation, there is always fear to the unknown.
At times we have to adjust to situations we thought they were over for us: going back to school or to work again after retirement… yes, we are always confronted with the unknown, every day, every minute. It can be nerve-racking and it can drain our energy. Once done, many times we wouldn’t change it for nothing.
So, what can we do when the uncertainty comes?
I normally remind myself of whom I lean on. My Lord Jesus Christ. I claim his promises: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” Isaiah 43:2-3.
If I feel I failed, I remind the Lord his promise on Isaiah 54: 7-10. I claim His favor to me. “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. 8 In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. 9 “Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. 10 For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you…
Just like the baby lean on his parents for comfort, we also need someone. Peace and calm come back when we face the unknown with Christ. Thank you for His mercy. It helps us to keep on going facing every day until eternity comes…
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21
Irma left Florida with a lot to be done and rebuild. It could have been worse. Thank you to the Lord for his mercy, to the emergency teams, meteorologists, reporters, government, neighbors, gas stations, stores and to all who made it possible to keep Floridians safer, informed and with the necessary provisions. They sacrificed their lives and families for us, and for that, I’m grateful.
I was just a little child when I learned to personalized my prayers. First, it was at school from my first grade teacher and then I heard that from an aunt. What a difference it makes in my life. Those were very inspirational words of wisdom. Thank you!
Click to See Psalm 121 Continue reading “I Learned to Pray in the “I” Form”
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