It is Better to Light a Candle....

Car at the bottom of the hill

The car suddenly broke down in the middle of nowhere.He crawled underneath to see what the trouble was.she crawled uinderneath to hold the flashlight for him.
It was quiet cozy under there and after a while, they forgot about the car repairs.suddenly a voice said, "And just what do you think you are doing ? "

Looking up they saw the local village constable.
Why we are - er - repairing the back axle ", The young man stammered.
"Well, while you are down there, you had better look at the breaks as well,"Replied the law. "Your car has been at the bottom of the hill for the past half hour."

From the book " ZEN it's history and teachings " by OSHO

Two Waiters and an Alcoholic

Two waiters were standing at a table over which a loaded customer had fallen asleep. said one, " I have alreay awakened him twice. Now I am going to awaken him for the third time.
" Why don't you chuck him out ? " asked the other waiter.
" The devil I will , " said the first waiter.
" I've got a good thing going for me. Every time I wake him up he pays his bill . "

WITH THIS MORNING

My bones erect themselves once more and vertically I challenge earth's gravity against the weight of reality pushing me down. All my senses scream for emancipation from the Bond's of Man's Law ; to erupt through the coils of skin, to reach out, to find some paradise. I grab hold and slowly drive on, moving into oncoming moments. Each face and each word, each touch of human decency seems to eclipse the drama and the tragedy of my sin. With this morning, I choose to walk through the doorway into bold mortality with genuine sincerity. I admit though some days are less sincere than others. Yet it is here amongst us all, that sacred something of human touch, that scent of human civility when you peer into the windows of a friends soul, there you will find unabashed truth, there we learn to transcend and to evolve, to hold onto life once again through faith and hope.

John Arce.

A Song for the Child

There is a tribe in Africa where the birth date of a child is counted - not from when they are born, nor from when they are conceived - but from the day that the child was a thought in its mother's mind.

And when a woman decides that she will have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herslef, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to come. And after she's heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child's father, and she teaches it to him. And then, when they make love to physically concieve the child, some of that time they sing the song of the child, as a way to invite it.

And then, when the mother is pregnant, the mother teaches the child's song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people around her sing the child's song to welcome it. And then, as the child grows up, the other villagers are taught child's song. If the child falls, or hurts its knee, someone picks it up and sings its song to it. Or perhaps the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty - then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.

And it goes this way through their life - in marriage, the songs are sung, together. And finally, when this child is lying in bed, ready to die, all the villagers know his or her song, and they sing - for the last time - the song to that person.


From the book ' How, Then, Shall we live ? ' by Wayne Muller

No Justification for Sin

No justification for sin
Titus D’ Cruz, Trivandrum

IF WE SAY WE HAVE NO SIN, WE DECEIVE OURSELVES
Everyone in this world is a sinner. The evangelist says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins to God, He will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrong doing.” (I Jn. 1: 8-9)
The consciousness that we are sinners makes us worthy to approach Jesus. Jesus said, “I have not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts.” (Lk. 5: 32) These words give great hope and expectation to us, sinners. God has no sin. Therefore, those who believe in Jesus can never justify sin. Because, “He has not commanded anyone to be ungodly, and has not given anyone permission to sin” (Eccl. 15: 20). We find people creating problems for themselves, their families, their societies, their countries and even to whole world by doing great sins and justifying themselves without any remorse. All over the world we find people and organizations justifying sins. They bind themselves with the shackles of sin. Only Jesus Christ and his words can save them from the slavery of sin. That is why Jesus said that his words should be preached all over the world. The reason is that Jesus Christ is the sole atonement for the sins of the entire world. God says “he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2).

Those who live under the slavery of sin will never have peace, nor give peace to others. Take the case of the prodigal son. He returned to God only when he lost his inner peace. Jesus alone can give us back our lost peace.

“Peace is what I give you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does” (John 14:27).

The peace Jesus gives us is not the same as the world gives. The peace world gives is what we get when we disobey the words and do as we like. Whereas the peace we get from Jesus Christ is by obeying the words of God. The peace which the world gives us will lead us to wounds, pains, miseries, and disappointment.

“Be sure, your sin will find you out” (Num. 32: 23). God says through the prophet Isaiah “If only you had listened to my command! Then blessings would have flowed for you like a stream that never goes dry” (Isa. 48: 18). Man has a tendency to do sin. The Word of God warns us, “Sin is crouching at your door; it wants to rule you, but you must overcome it” (Gen. 4: 7). We are surrounded by people and circumstances that tempt us to commit sin. Hence wisely avoid such people. “Flee from sin as from a snake for if you approach sin it will bite you. Its teeth are lion’s teeth and destroy the souls of men”. (Eccl. 21:2).

God will be with us when we keep away from sin. When God is with us prosperity and success will follow. When we become the slaves of sin and justify sin we will face failures. God says, “As long as they didn’t sin against their God, they prospered, for God who hates iniquity is with them. But when they departed from the way in which he had appointed for them, they were utterly defeated in many battles and were led away captive to a foreign country.” (Judith 5: 17-18)

Jesus is so kind and compassionate. He is ready to receive any great sinner wholeheartedly and shower His blessings if he returns to Him with true repentance. If we have taken decision to live with Jesus and for Jesus as per his words, at least now on, Jesus will tell us so, “As you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O! How house of Juda and house of Israel, so will I save you and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong” (Zach. 8:13). “Surely I will bless you and multiply you” (Heb. 6: 14). “And I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12: 2).

To obtain the showers of blessing from God, let us approach Jesus Christ, the Saviour of man kind with repentance.
“Keep your life free from love of money and content with what you have for he said I will never fail you nor forsake you. Hence we can confidently say the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what can man do to me?” (Heb. 13: 5-6).

A Priest and a Cab Driver

A priest and a cab driver arrived at the Pearly Gates at the same time. After interviewing both, St. Peter opened the gates and let the cab driver into heaven, but he told the priest to have a seat and await further consideration.
Outraged, the priest complained, "How can you let that man into heaven before me ? I was a priest for 50 years, and I gave thousands of sermons ! All he did was drive a car around the city. ! "
"That is right," St.Peter answered. " And when you preached, people slept. But when this man drove, people prayed. "
.......................................................

From the book ' Handle with Prayer ' by ' Alan Cohen '

My Autobiography in FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS

My Autobiography in
FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS

By Portia Nelson

I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost......I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

II

I walked down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place
But, it isn't my fault !
It still takes a long time to get out

III

I walk down the same street
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I see it there
I still fall in because it's a habit !
I know where I am
It is my fault !
I get out pretty quickly !


IV

I walk down the same street
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street !


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Wisdom From Amal Rozario

Wisdom from Amal Rozario

Last weekend, I met Jose for a cup of coffee. He told about his latest experimentations with facebook, internet friends, making movies and writing articles. I told him that I will write an article that he can publish in his blog. He replied 'You always tell that, but you r busy'. I reminded myself that I will write him an article sooner than later. And so here is my 1st article for Jose.


Ever thought that we are all connected? When we see other people, strangers especially, what do we feel? If you are like me, probably nothing. I am starting to think we all are connected because we have so many common things. We all share the planet earth. We live, breath, eat, sleep, we have to work for a living directly or indirectly. Our needs are more or less similer.most of all, we all came from the same source.now what? Why would I say that?. While its night and day to see the differences we have based on the region we hail from, our religious affiliations, our language, culture, beliefs and so on, take a moment to think this possibility. here are my supportig facts.


1. we all know that the worlds population is increasing. We see that the population rose from 5 billion to 6 very recently? I remember when India crossed the 1 billion mark. If population grows with time, it sure was less when we go back in time. And if we intrapolate back enough, we can see we all came from a few people. may be from one family. ( Adam and Eve perhaps? )


2. I recently saw a national geographic program about the human genome project. The author spenser studies dna variations among humans of different groups and based on the mutations, he kind of traced back geographically where we all came from. He traced that we all came from central africa. The first humans migrated north into asia. One branch came south to India and went as far as Australia. One brance migrated north west and became Europeans. One branch north east into Russia, and came to America walking over ice, into the Latin America, long before Columbus discovered the new world. He traced all this based on DNA mutations found in people from different parts of the world.


How long have we existed? Biblical historians say its about 5000 years. Evolutionists puts the number around 40,000, before we branched off form apes. When I went to Niagara Falls, I learnt 2 things that facinated me.
1.The great lakes which feed Niagra will all drain to the ocean in 1500 year. After 1500 years, there will be no Niagara Falls. Can you imagine that? The base of the falls erodes inwards at a rate of 3 feet per year. Which means, the Niagara Falls itself is moving at 3 feet per year! What is my point? We are living in a world that is so dynamically changing every moment. And human life from our first parents to now is just a speck. In that speck is our complexities and difficulties and differences as white, black and brown(?), latino,tamil & malayalees and gultes and devar and pallar and so on.give me a break!


So the next time you see a person, see him or her as your long lost distant cousin. and then, think how you feel.

Plans and Aims (Poster)

Million Little Pieces

The Young Man came to the Old Man seeking counsel.
I broke something, Old Man.
How badly is it broken?
It's in a million little pieces.
I'm afraid I can't help you.
Why?
There's nothing you can do.
Why?
It can't be fixed.
Why?
It's broken beyond repair. It's in a million little pieces.

PRACTICE : EXPLORING A LIFE OF SIMPLICITY

Arrange for some time to sit quietly in a place of refuge. Allow yourself to become calm and attentive, using the breath to settle yourself into your body and heart.

Then, in a gentle way, review your current life. Bring to mind each of several areas, including your work, your relationships or family life, your finances, your leisure activities, your possessions, your goals, and your spiritual life. One by one, as each area comes to mind, ask yourself the following questions: What would it be like to simplify this part of my life ? What could I let go easily ? What could I do to make this part of my life more quiet and simple ?

Reflect on the choices that arise within you. Notice which feel immediately comfortable and which feel difficult or frightening. The object is not necessarily to change anything immediately. In this moment you are simply noting where you desire more simplicity in your life and where this is possible. How can you make room for this simplicity ? Take as much time as you need with each area of your life, becoming aware of what steps you might take. Then make a resolution to make changes in each area.

From the book 'How, Then, Shall We Live ?' by 'Wayne Muller' Author of 'Legacy of the Heart'.

How to be happy ,Though human

" Ours is a world where people don't know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it ".
- Donald R Marquis

If you are not basically happy, consider the following suggestions for increasing your happiness, some of which are based on the work of David Meyers, a Psychologist and Professor at Hope College in Holland , Michigan.

* Relax often. You will reduce stress and balance your spirit.

* Get adequate sleep. Your body needs the recharging sleep provides. Don't shortchange yourself; You won't be at your best.

* Develop close relationships. Share love and positive feelings. We're social beings ; We don't exist very well in a Vaccum.

* Identify your beliefs. Affirm your beliefs and your relationship to God (or your own Higher Power). Walk in alignment with your beliefs.

* See life and yourself in perspective. Don't catastrophize problems or overreact to everyday concerns.

* Be optimistic. What have you got to lose by expecting things to work out well ?

* Have mutual respect . You can't expect others to respect you if you don't have self - respect. At the same time , respect others. Realize that everyone including you deserves respect.

* Take pride in your work . Realize that each person's work - no matter what the task - is a contribution to society.

* Set realistic goals and expectations. What can you reasonably expect from any given endeavor or situation ?.

* Identify joyful activities and engage in them regularly.


Taken from the book

' How to Feel is up to You '

By Gary D McKay, PH.D
Don Dinkmeyer PH.D

Irena Gut Opdyke

IRENA GUT OPDYKE (May 5, 1918 – May 17, 2003) was born Irena Gut into a Catholic family in the town of Kozienice in Central Poland, and studied nursing. During the German occupation of western Poland and the Russian occupation in the east, Irena joined a Polish underground unit. She was spotted by Russian troops, beaten, raped, and forced to work in a Russian medical unit. She escaped, only to be captured later by the Germans and forced to work in a munitions plant. An elderly SS officer Eduard Rugemer arranged her transfer to lighter duties in an army mess hall, which happened to afford her both a direct view into a Jewish ghetto, and a chance to slip food under its fence. When Rugemer was reassigned to Lvov and then Tarnopol (in what is now Ukraine), he requisitioned Irena as his housekeeper. There she supervised a laundry staffed by Jews, and when she heard that they were to be transported to a death camp, she undertook to hide 12 of them in Rugemer’s own villa and provide them with food and clothing. At a displaced persons camp after the war, Irena Gut met her future husband, a U.N. staffer named William Opdyke. They settled in Southern California, where she became an interior decorator. She did not talk about the war until she got a phone call as part of a survey on how many people doubted that the Holocaust ever happened. She began telling her story in schools, and in 1982 Irena Gut Opdyke was named by the Israeli Holocaust Commission as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, a title given to gentiles who risked their lives by aiding and saving Jews during the Holocaust, and was presented with the Israel Medal of Honor (Israel’s highest tribute), in a ceremony at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. The Vatican has given her a special commendation, and her story is part of a permanent exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
The production is looking for relatives and descendants of the Jews Irena saved.
If you have any information, please email: IrenasVowSurvivors@gmail.com

Watch the play Irena's Vow

Where The Mind is without Fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.


(The Gitanjali or `song offerings' by Rabindranath Tagore (1861--1941), Nobel prize for literature 1913, with an introduction by William B. Yeats (1865--1939), Nobel prize for literature 1923. First published in 1913.)

Forgive Them Anyway

People are often unreasonable, illogical,
and self - centered
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you
of selfish,ulterior motives :
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some
false friends and some true enemies :
succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank
people may cheat you :
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone
could destroy overnight ;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous ;
Be happy anyway .

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow,
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.


- Mother Theresa.

Seven Secrets to Success

7 secrets of Success.....
I found the answers in my room.

Roof said : Aim high
Fan said : Be cool
Clock said : Every min. is precious
Mirror said : Reflect before you act
Window said : See the world
Calender said : Be up-to-date
Door said : Push hard to achieve ur goals

Attitude

I woke up today, excited over all I get to
do before the clock strikes midnight.
I have responsibilities to fulfill today.
I am important.
My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.
Today I can complain becaue the weather is rainy
or I can be thankful that the grass is
getting watered for free

Today I can feel sad that I don't have more money
or I can be glad that my finances encourage me
to plan my purchases wisely and guide me
away from waste.
Today I can grumble about my health
or I can rejoice that I am alive.
Today I can lament over all that my parents
didn't give me when I was growing up or I can
Feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns
or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.
Today I can mourn my lack of friends
or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover
new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work
or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.
I can complain because I have to go to school or
eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new
tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmer dejectedly because I have to do
housework or I can feel honored because the Lord
Has provided shelter for my mind, body and soul.
today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped.
And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.
what today will be like is up to me.
I get to choose what kind of day I will have.


- Author
Unknown-

Empty Yourself First

"A famous scholar came to learn about Zen.The teacher served him tea. He filled the cup with tea,and carried on pouring so that the cup overflowed. 'It is full ! No more will go in !' the scholar said. 'Like this cup,' the teacher said, 'you are full of your own opinions. How can I teach you about Zen unless you first empty yourself ?' "

Photo gives face to Anne Frank's "one true love"

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A photograph of the boy with the "beautiful brown eyes" who Anne Frank recalled as her "one true love" in the diary she wrote whilst in hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands is to go on display in Amsterdam
The photo of Peter Schiff was donated to the Anne Frank museum by his former childhood friend Ernst Michaelis who realized after rereading Anne's diary recently there were no known pictures of Schiff, a museum spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Frank's Jewish family fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in Amsterdam. During World War Two the Nazis occupied the Netherlands and began deporting Jews to the death camps in 1942, prompting the Frank family to go into hiding.
They lived in a secret annex in a canal-side house for more than two years before their hiding place was betrayed and the family sent to concentration camps.
Anne recorded her years in the attic hideaway in her diaries. A Dutch woman who helped the family found them in the annex after Anne's arrest and gave them to her father Otto who survived the Holocaust. They became famous around the world.
She writes in her diary: "I forgot that I haven't yet told you the story of my one true love."
"Peter was the ideal boy: tall, slim and good-looking, with a serious, quiet and intelligent face," Anne wrote of the 13-year-old she had fallen for in 1940 when she was just 11.
SCHOOL FRIENDS
They would collect each other from school and walk hand in hand through their local neighborhood.
"He had dark hair, beautiful brown eyes, ruddy cheeks and a nicely pointed nose. I was crazy about his smile, which made him look so boyish and mischievous."
Peter later died in Auschwitz, while Anne died in Bergen Belsen concentration camp in 1945.
Michaelis, now 81, had attended a Jewish school with Schiff in Berlin in the 1930s before both families fled the Nazis. When they parted, the boys exchanged photographs.
"He read the diary in the 1950s and thought that Peter Schiff was very likely his friend. But it was only when reading it later that he saw there were no photos and so he contacted us," said a museum spokeswoman.
Anne last saw Peter a few days before she moved into the annexe, but wrote of him in her diary more than 1-1/2 years later after dreaming of him.
"I've never had such a clear mental image of him. I don't need a photograph, I can see him oh so well," she said.
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson)