I just came up with a new proverb: Think before you talk. Someone had just made a comment from "The [Godfather's] scene in which Michael is giving brother Freddo a warning rebuke never again to side with anyone against his family. Freddo's failure to heed this advice cost him his life in Godfather II. Freddo kept making a fool out of himself. He failed to think before he opened up his mouth. I can look back and see that I've spoken foolishly in some occasions by not editing my speech before I opened up my mouth. Hence my new proverb: Think before you talk.

Hi folks. This is Robert Fiad hailin from Ping.fm. Salutes to you all.

Pop Art & Movie Posters

Pop Art & Movie Posters, a group on Flickr.

I have always enjoyed looking at old movie posters.

Illustration and Graphic Addicts

Illustration and Graphic Addicts, a group on Flickr.

One of the things that fills my life is art and I enjoy sharing it.

How to Overcome a Lifetime of Discouragement after a Thirty Minute Christian Sermon

      This morning of Sunday, July 3, 2011, I did not want to get out of bed to go to Sunday morning service. When I got to church it was about 9:30 a.m.. The service message was about getting back on track with God's calling for your life and mine according to his purpose.

      I am glad I went.  I came out of there refreshed, reinvogorated, reinspired, and recharged more than I'd ever felt before.

      On some occasions, I have been told to get my act together when I had trouble getting starting on something.  However, many times in life, I've found myself overwhelmed when I've been held accountable for circumstances that I could not control.  It seems so unfair.  You feel that you're at the mercy of some situation that you absolutely know you have no control over.

      Feels rotten, doesn't it?  It does to me, big time.  Yet it happens.  Why?

     We live in an individualistic culture.  The American Dream is about subduing your circumstances, subduing the earth on your own strength, and in the natural. Yet, as we live our lives out, we realize that we are woefully inadequate to subdue the circumstances in our lives.  And too often, it involves money scarcity.  We lack the very capital resources required to get our acts together or perish at the hands of this desperately demanding world.

On many occasions, I've been very tempted to just forsake all my dreams, all my aspirations, and decide to sit out the rest of my life.  Forget success.  Had I asked to be put in the world?  Did I ask if I wanted to be born?  Hell, no!  None of us did. And yet we're all here and demands are being put on us 24/7.  So it feels like a raw deal.  I'd even considered writing a book for unhappy people to focus on reducing the misery in their lives and never mind the search for happiness or fulfillment because only 20% of people get to actualize their dreams anyway.

After this morning's sermon I realized how wrong I was.

The pastor stated that God puts calls on us even before we're born.  And we're faced with a choice, "Heed the call, obey the voice of God for your life according to the plan He has for us and wind up and be blessed.  Otherwise, we can turn away, abandon God's plan, and be cursed.  If we make the wrong decision, turn away, the devil will be waiting for us with curses. And God will allow the devil to curse us.

If we decide to do the right thing, if we heed the call and march back to Him, with the intent to obey God and live up to His plan, we will straighten our lives out, will make the crooked places straight.  Yes, there will be trials.  Let each us be perplexed but not distressed.  When the going gets tough, let us state as my Pastor, David Stocker, Sr. said: "My Life is in the Hand of the Lord."  It is not up to us to make our lives work for Jesus himself said that "Apart from Him you can do nothing."  We must disregard the idea that it is up to each of us to "get our act together" on our own strength. 

No !   No !  And again, No !

Instead, "My Life is in the Hand of the Lord." 

Need hope? 

The pastor ended the service with the right set of words to frame our thoughts on.

"God will work for me if I obey His Voice."

So, whenever the going gets tough, whenever you feel like throwing off your belief that life is for you, think:  "My Life is in the Hand of the Lord.  God will work for me if I obey His voice."  Every day, frame your thoughts on those statements. Let your mind be frame on that mentality.  Your crooked ways will be made straight. 

God will indeed heal your broken, injured life. After all, He is God Almighty.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Let her go free !

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality” - Alighieri Dante

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_hottest_places_in_hell_are_reserved_for_those/169930.html

I hate oppression; I hate bullying. And I totally distrust governments which rulers push their people around and trample them underfoot.  See what's happening over there in Burma. 

This courageous woman named Aung San Suu Kyi is a well known human rights activist and because she has stepped on the toes of the heavy-handed goons who run the Burmese so-called government, she's imprisoned.  We who live in free countries must intervene for those who cannot successfully enforce their right to enjoy freedom.

We are not to remain neutral.  Let us all join this noble effort for freedom sake. I strongly urge all of us to visit this very worthy website, http://www.64forsuu.org/aboutassk.php, and seek in what way you can partake of this human rights mission not just for her but for all humankind.

The Appointment, a song by Leonardo Favio

Lesson experiences are often narrated in songs, especially in songs about romantic love turned sour as the result of cheating.  This one, a beautifully sung reproach-song, is one of them. However, it isn't just about the offended cheat spouse or lover who got burned.  It talks about a cheating wife or girlfriend who's on a rendevous with some mysterious lover but she's just walked into a major surprise. There's no violence but there is shock.  The lyrics below narrate the story of this encounter.

Come on in and sit down quietly

Finally you're here

Now imagine that I am not me but

another man, the one you expected to see

A stranger who has written you a verse

and drew for you, on a piece of paper, the Moon

An improvised lover,. a mysterious passionate one

He set up for you an appointment at this hotel

Undress yourself now and turn off light

and make me love as you do with these lovers

I swear that today is the last time

that you make fun of me,  that you deceive me

my hands wrote you the letter

and were my fingers that put up the trap

My heart cries on the inside out of  sorrow, and out in pity

but I leave you and I go forever... forever

It was my hands that wrote you the letter

It was my fingers that put up the trap

Come in, sit quietly

Finally you're here and you you can't imagine

that I am not another man that you expect to see

 A stranger to you to written a verse

and draw for you the  moon on a piece of paper

an improvised  lover improvised, a mysterious passionate one

I set up the appointment in this hotel

Now undress,turn off the light instantly

and make me love as you do with these lovers

I swear that today is the last time

that you make fun of me, that you deceive me

It was my hands that wrote you the letter

and it was my  fingers that  set you the trap

and it's now my heart which cries out of pity and sorrow                                     

on the inside; but I leave you and I go forever... forever

My hands that you wrote you the letter

And my fingers that set up the trap...

_{La Cita por Leonardo Favio}

_{http://ar.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080812212956AAHVCeL}