Friday, February 26, 2010


What I liked the most in this story is the psychology of the old man. When he’s alone, he speaks to himself. Every now and then he says “I wish the boy (his apprentice) was here”. Also the way he talks to the birds, to the giant marlin(which is his target) treating it as his friend and he is playing a game with it, to those small fishes, the way he fights with those sharks. I liked his way of looking at things, his zeal for catching the biggest fish, the way he keeps himself alive and pushes his limits everyday, his sacrifices, his dreams, his thinking, his character as a whole. Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Patience



Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand."

Trusting God


It is much easier to say, “Father, please forgive me for being crabby today” than it is to say, “Father, I have been putting so many things before You in my heart that I spend hours every week sinfully angry. I am unloving and selfish in my relationships and lazy in my service to You. Because Jesus died for sins such as these, please forgive me and help me change.” And He will.

C.S. Lewis compares the work of God when we confess sin to the work of dentists when we go to them with a toothache. He says in Mere Christianity (Book 4, Chapter 9: "Counting the Cost"), “I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache.”

You should never question the love God has for you. He is even gracious to His enemies, never demanding rent when they walk His earth and breathe His air. So, if you are His purchased possession, do not hesitate to “dump the whole load” when you confess your sins. He already knows how bad it is anyway. The demolition work will only make you look more like His Son.
Can you trust Him?

True Intimacy-Henri Nouwen


Human relationships easily become possessive. Our hearts so much desire to be loved that we are inclined to cling to the person who offers us love, affection, friendship, care, or support. Once we have seen or felt a hint of love, we want more of it. That explains why lovers so often bicker with each other. Lovers' quarrels are quarrels between people who want more of each other than they are able or willing to give.
It is very hard for love not to become possessive because our hearts look for perfect love and no human being is capable of that. Only God can offer perfect love. Therefore, the art of loving includes the art of giving one another space. When we invade one another's space and do not allow the other to be his or her own free person, we cause great suffering in our relationships. But when we give another space to move and share our gifts, true intimacy becomes possible.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010


Here's looking at you, Kid!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Hen and Her Chicks


By Wayne Jacobsen

The forest fire had been brought under control, and the group of firefighters were working back through the devastation making sure all the hot spots had been extinguished. As they marched across the blackened landscape between the wisps of smoke still rising from the smoldering remains, a large lump on the trail caught a firefighter's eye.As he got closer he noticed it was the charred remains of a large bird, that had burned nearly half way through. Since birds can so easily fly away from the approaching flames, the firefighter wondered what must have been wrong with this bird that it could not escape. Had it been sick or injured?Arriving at the carcass, he decided to kick it off the trail with his boot. As soon as he did, however, he was startled half to death by a flurry of activity around his feet. Four little birds flailed in the dust and ash then scurried away down the hillside.The bulk of the mother's body had covered them from the searing flames. Though the heat was enough to consume her, it allowed her babies to find safety underneath. In the face of the rising flames, she had stayed with her young. She was their only hope for safety, and willing to risk her own life she gathered them under her body and covered them with herself. Even when the pain reached its most unbearable moment, when she could easily have flown away to start another family on another day, she made herself stay through the raging flames.Her dead carcass and her fleeing chicks told the story well enough--she gave the ultimate sacrifice to save her young. It also illustrates an even greater story--this one almost incomprehensible. In this story it is the Creator of heaven and earth who does exactly the same thing to rescue his wayward children from their own destruction.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Love and Vulnerbility


















By Mary Selby

I happen to have a cocker spaniel by the name of Dusty as my companion. Anatole France couldn't have said it better...

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” — C.S. Lewis (The Four Loves)

Tears have fallen today, though we knew this day would come. Our “Arnold Bean”, the once chubby beagle had to be put to sleep at the ripe old age of thirteen. The pain that loving brings is climaxed upon the death bed and perhaps purest in the tears of a child. Yet would we choose to not love, even an animal, in order to avoid such pending hurt, as death comes with life? Would we avoid affectionate attachment, so as to not feel inevitable anguish?
My daughter’s good bye offering to her beloved pet was a video montage which she made from the last pictures of today. Heart felt and tear invoking, her thirteen year old heart morned in an innocent and truthful way. My son, who chose to go with us to put the “old man” to sleep, made some deeply profound statements, as he rubbed his “best friend’s” head. Even in his eleven year old mind, he understood that both Lucifer’s fall and man’s fall were affecting his lovable beagle Arnold, and that because of sin, even the animals must pay the price and die. The sweet little boy that he is, said, “I am going to weep and weep for my best friend.”
Life means death and there is no escaping the pain that it brings. As C. S. Lewis stated, “Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.” In order to live the highest joys, one must experience the lowest lows. Loving an animal, especially for a child, is the first steps of experiencing life and death, joy and pain. These may be the baby steps that help prepare for the loss of a grandparent or friend and should not be discounted and avoided, but embraced as part of growing pains that go along with life in a fallen world.