Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
“The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but deliverance from fear.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Trees fell blocking our roads. Wires sagged heavily filled with icicles. Power and telephone lines were all torn down in our neighborhood. Households were without power — no heat, no lights since Thursday night.
I heard from the radio that hundreds of utility crews have been busy through days and nights. But our power here at home hasn’t been restored until now. My daughter has been sick all this time. The night when she ran a high fever every thirty minutes and so, we couldn’t bring her to the emergency room because we had to wait in line for at least six hours.
Last Saturday, it felt like we were sitting at the park even when we were in fact inside our house. We had gone to a different household in Leominster to stay overnight. They had power. They had heat. They had Christmas lights on.
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Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” — Cicero
It’s chilly outside and the air smells like snow. Before you know it, the holidays will be here. This Thursday, for instance, is Thanksgiving Day. It is a time when we can be especially aware of the things we are thankful for.
For some reason or another, some people are unable to feel thankful even during this very special day. They may be focused on the things that they don’t have. This is rather intriguing to me because I have met a lot of people with less who are more able to feel thankful than some who have much more. So, I’m sharing some facts I would like you to think about most especially this Thanksgiving Day:
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of war, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people around the world. If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish some place, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare, even here in North America.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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Saturday, October 4th, 2008
Yesterday’s approval of the $700 billion bailout bill may restore America’s financial order but it will take some time for the entire nation to experience its impact. Meanwhile, unemployment rate is getting worse, housing prices continue to fall, and the rising prices of food and fuel still hurt American households. Many workers, even those with good jobs, are saving little or nothing for retirement.
As Presidential candidates see economy as a political issue, many voters are finally paying more attention to what each candidate’s record tells about them. Americans can no longer afford to solely depend on media to provide the right information for them. Media has proven its imbalance and failure to be a competent watchdog for the people’s good and internet sites multiply global information and disinformation. We should, therefore, carefully research candidates and put a great deal of thought into our greatest duty as citizens.
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