Foreign Lands

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by Robert Louis Stevenson

Up into the cherry tree
who should climb but little me?
I held the trunks with both my hands
and look abroad on foreign lands.

I saw the next-door garden lies,
adorned with flowers, before my eye,
and many pleasant faces more
that I had never seen before.

I saw the dimpling river pass
and be the sky's blue looking glass;
the dusty roads go up and down
with people tramping it to town.

If I could find a higher tree
farther and farther I should see,
to where the grown-up river slips
into the sea among the ships.

To where the roads on either hands
lead onward into fairy land,
where all the children dine at five
and all the playing things come alive.

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On Giving

Then said the rich man, speak to us of giving.
          And he answered:
          you give but little when you give of your possessions.
          It is when you give of yourself that you truly give,
          for what are your possessions but things you keep and guard
for fear may need them tomorrow?
          And tomorrow - what shall tomorrow give to the over prudent
dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the
Pilgrims to the holy city?
          And what is fear of need but needs itself?
          Is not dread of thirst, when your well is full, the thirst
that is unquenchable?
          There are those who give little of the much of which they have-
and they give it for recognition , and their hidden desire makes
their gifts unwholesome.
          And there are those who give little and give it all.
          These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and
their coffer is never empty.
          There are those who give for joy, and that joy is their reward.
          And there are those who give and know not pain in giving,
nor they seek joy nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
          they give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its
fragrance into space.
          Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from
behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.
          It is well to give when asked, but it  is better to give
unasked through understanding;
          and to the openhanded the search for one who shall receive
is joy greater than giving,
          in there is aught you would withhold?
          All you have shall someday be given;
          therefore give now, that the season of giving maybe yours
and not your inheritors'
          you often say, "I would give but only to the deserving."
          the trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
          They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
          Surely, he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights
is worthy of all else from you.

Author: Kahlil Gibran

Another Dawn

With low sun and homebound herons,
horizons prods divine art to stack
lilies in my throat recalling.....
a boat that bowed down to the boiling sea.

For a moment, the sea was a scene
of frenzy and screams and bubbling head-
all in frantic fray to cluctch breath
upon a bow to Saint Raphael,
silenced soon by bitter blast of waves.

Drifted ashore by blind belief,
I discerned the graves loss embedded
in mind the fervor the heart needs
for being bloodsucker to her deeds,

And the hurt heart itched by the blue
charmed of entwining arms behind shrub
on low sun with song of crickets
daedaled desire for another dawn
to impel fleshness before fall of night.

Author: Celedonia G. Aguilar

The Slave

They set the slave free, striking of his chain;
then he was as much of a slave than ever.

          He was still chained to servility,
          he was still manacled to indolent and sloth,
          he was still bound by fear and superstition,
          by ignorance, suspicion and savagery,
          his slavery was not in the chains,
          but in himself.

They can only set free men free.
And there is no need of that:
free men set themselves free.

Author: James Oppenheim

The Folishness In Trusting In Riches

Anyone can see that even wise men die,
     as well as foolish and stupid man.
they all leave their richest to their
     descendants
their graves are their home forever;
     there they stay for all time
     though they once had lang on their own.
A man's greatness cannot keep them from death;
     he will still die like animals.

See what happens to those who trust in themselves,
     the fate of those whose are satisfied with their wealth-
they are doomed to die like sheep,
     and death will be their shepherd.
The righteous will triumph over them,
     as their bodies quickly decay
     in the world of the dead far from their homes.
But God will rescue me;
     He will save me from the power of death.

Don't be upset when a man become rich,
     when his wealth grows even greater;
he cannot take them with him when he die;
     his wealth will not go with him to the grave.

The Wonderful World

                                  Image via Wikipedia

Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world,

with the wonderful water around you curled,

and the wonderful grass upon your breast-

World, you are beautifully dressed!

The wonderful air is over me,

and the wonderful wind is shaking the tree;

it walks on the water, and whirls the mills,

and talks to itself on the top of the hills.

You, friendly earth, how far do you go,

With the wheat-fields that nod, and the rivers that flow,

with cities and gardens and cliffs and isles

and people upon you, for thousands of miles?

Ah! You are so great and I am so small,

I tremble, to think of you, World, at all;

and yet, when I said my prayers today,

a whisper inside me seemed to say:

"You are more than the earth, though you are such a dot;

you can love and think, and the earth cannot!"

By: William Brighty Rands

The Whole Duty Of A Man

Meaningless! Meaningless!
     say the teacher
Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless!

What does a man gain from all his labor
     at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
     but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
     and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
     and turns to the north;
     and round and round it goes,
     ever returning on it's course...
The eye never has enough of seeing
     or the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
     what has been will be again;
     there is nothing new under the sun.
...here is the conclusion of the matter:
fear God and keep his commandments
for this is the whole duty of a man.

The Monkeys In Council

                         Image via Wikipedia

Three Monkeys sat under the coconut tree,
discussing things as they were said to be.

Now listen here you two,
there's a certain rumor that can't be true,
that man descended from our noble ways!
the very idea is a disgrace.

No monkeys ever deserted his wife,
starved her babies and ruined her life;
and you've never known a mother monk,
to leave her babies with others to bunk.

And another thing you'll never see,
a monk build a fence around a coconut tree,
and let coconut go to waste
forbidding all other monks to taste.

Here's another thing a monk won't do:
go out at night and get in a stew,
or use a gun, or club, or knife
to take some other monkey's life.

Yes, man descended - the monkeys cuss-
but, rather, he didn't descend from us!

The Mountain and The Squirrel

                Image by abroadjz via Flickr

The mountain and the squirrel
had a quarrel,
and the former called the latter
"Little Prig."
Bun replied,
"You are doubtless very big;
but all sorts of things and weather
must be taken in together
To make up a year
and a sphere,
And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place,
If I'm not so large as you,
You are so small as I,
And not half so Spry.
I'll not deny you make
A very pretty squirrel track;
Talents differ; all is well and
wisely put;
If I cannot carry forest on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut."

Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Psalm 23

Thou O Lord is my compass,

I Shall not lost of thee.

Thou directs me into thy way;

and leads me in thine own will.

Thou brightens my path out of darkness;

and hold my hands to the way of righteousness,

to show me the truth and thine holiness in glory.

Yes troubles, problems

and circumstances comes

i worry not;

distraction of evils appear,

I fear not; 

for thou lifts me up.

Thou preparest me a place into thy side,

so thou can look and guide me;

away to the wrong road.

Surely, safety and protection

will follow me,

all the days of my life;

and i shall stay at the side of

The Lord Forever

by: Janet Bautista

The Power of Prayer

There will be times when we can no longer bear some situations happening in our life. At times which we're pressured enough to get into action to find some solutions to every concerns we have in life. We're troubled as if nowhere to run or hide. We can't even sleep nor feel safe at every moment. Sometimes, no friends to share the agony that we can deeply say in ourselves life is not worth anymore.

We heard some bad news around the world like earthquakes that hits Haiti and Chile as well and other things that made us fearful about our future.

We fear because we don't really know what lies ahead. We doesn't even know the mind and will of every mankind towards its surroundings. The mind of every politicians especially here in the Philippines referring to some aspect governing our nation and our people. Especially this upcoming elections in our country, I'm worried about the much talked about computerized election which may or may not be materialized due to an emerging issue of electrical supply that would affect the automated election process. Cheating. Some aspiring officials are spending much money to get into the position that would placed them to protect and serve their own political will and self-interest.

We become tired and deaf of hearing from day to day the issue that comes from the newspapers, on television and in the internet.

As I arise this morning from bed, i figured out what would I do then. What will I do now? While in bed, I began to kneel and found myself praying for safety and assurance hoping that everything will be fine today. That I may be able to withstand the trials that will come upon me and my family. I'm Praying that I may be able to find answers to my problems and calm my troubled heart. Ease my mind from all the worries that hinders me from doing my job and responsibilities toward my family and work. 

I humbly ask God to touch my heart, mind and soul and send me a blessing and a miracle. A miracle which will heal me from my physical illness that a physician could not do. 

We know God performs miracle and read in the Old Testament how the Son of God healed the Lepers, the Lame, the blind and restore the life of a dead person and much more. I believed those things.

We know God is always there for us and never leave that He even leaved us one print of footsteps in the sand to show that He cares for us.

Let us pray to God for there is power in prayer that anybody could not give. I'm not alone in this statement, anybody could attest to the power of prayer. If man only pray and humble down before Him, he can feel what I'm saying. It can turns away the hearts of men from pride and selfishness. When there's no one to talk to God is there. Let all our thoughts and intent be known to God and say anything that your mind can express to Him. You can find refuge in GOD.

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Will Life Begins At 40?

 I hope so! But, I'm not sure about it. My wife greeted me yesterday a happy birthday. Then today, my mother did prepare something for me and and greeted me, too! Well, I'm not really used to having a birthday celebration and all I want is just a simple one with or without it. But, of course, I'm thankful for what they did for me!

Whenever my natal day is coming each year, I usually had to recall my early days and compared them with my life today. I don't feel old and hate getting old anyway! I want to stay young if possible. But, all of us will get a little older each year, becoming more mature and getting more serious in life. I have to face it! But life must not end in seriousness nor in happiness, it should be balanced.

What makes me realize then, whenever I had a recollection of my past, is that, I already have a life and family of my own. Those early moments in my life as a boy, a teen, and now, as an adult has brought me into a stage of maturity, more responsible and being independent. I learn from my childhood the importance of a family, friends and company. I learn how to earn money when I was 9 years old because I came from a poor family and happy for our early beginnings in life. I learned how to be simple in life, in custom, in attitude and the importance of love and charity. Family should be bounded in love and harmony. Should help one another and learn the most important thing, which is to love our parents.

I'm thankful for my parents for raising me in a very strict manner, full of discipline, becoming obedient, loving and the greatest of all, having fear in God.

Now that I'm 40, I hope and wish that God will lengthen my life, and bless me spiritually and physically, maybe with another 40 years in life just like my parents; that I may be able to see what would befall us in the last days. To feel how good it is to be in the millenium times and become a part of it. That I may be able see and feel for myself how good a life can be when peace and justice will be restored on earth.

I wish also that my wife and son will be more blessed, and my son will be able to achieve what I wanted him to be. I wish to be more patient, understanding and of sound-mind, for I don't want to be a burdensome one day to my family. When I'm old enough, I want to be more self-independent and spend my life in simplicity.

Call for Peace in 2010

There Is Hope For Peace

(1)                                                                                                           (6)

When chaos fills men’s hearts with fear         Every nation aspires for peace.

And everywhere confusion reigns;                  Terrorist are minorities.

When dreams are dashed to nothingness       Hands reach out to cooperate,

And only emptiness remains,                            Hearts yearn to settle all disputes.

I choose to believe                                              Peace can be achieved

There is hope for peace.                                     In this century.

                                                                                                               

(2)                                                                                                           (7)

When laughter is no longer heard                     America, Afghanistan,

And only cries of pain resounds                       hear, O Israel, Pakistan,

For loved ones gone so suddenly                    Arab lands in the Middle East:

As buildings fell ‘midst smoke and flames;    you want to enter into rest.

I choose to declare                                              Peace can be achieved

There is hope for peace.                                     In this century.

(3)                                                                                                           (8)

When a nation mighty and strong                    Come, let us reason together,

Becomes victim to hell’s forces,                       Let us not fill out thoughts with war,

Who can blame the rest of the world               Happiness and prosperity

For dreading an impending doom?                  Are the goals of humanity.

I choose to affirm                                                Peace can be achieved

There is hope for peace.                                     In this century.

(4)                                                                                                           (9)

When anger binds the hearts of men               Return to righteousness, nations,

And hatred rears its ugly head,                         for love is stronger than hate.

Talks of deep vengeance fill the mind,              Life, not death, is the gift of God;

And reason might be pushed aside.                 Each land has a place in the sun.

I choose to announce                                         Peace can be achieved

There is hope for peace.                                     In this century.

(5)                                                                                                           (10)

When all are wakeful in the night                     Though your past is filled with battles,

Worrying what might happen next,                 Your future can be sealed with peace.

And restless as the day goes by                      You can be a blessing to all

Thinking when a war would break out,           As you work in true harmony.

I choose to assert                                                Peace can be achieved

There is hope for peace.                                     In this century.

                                                                                                               

                                                                Carmelita H. Acosta

                                                                Manila

There Is Hope For Peace

(1)
When chaos fills men's hearts with fear
and everywhere confusions reigns;
when dreams are dashed to nothingness
and only emptiness remains,
I choose to believe
there is hope fore peace.

(2)
When laughter is no longer heard
and only cries of pain resounds
for loved ones gone so suddenly
as buildings fell 'midst smoke and flames;
I choose to declare
there is hope for peace.

(3)
When a nation mighty and strong
becomes victim to hell's forces,
who can blame the rest of the world
for dreading an impending doom?
I choose to affirm
there is hope for peace.

(4)
When anger binds the hearts of men
and hatred rears its ugly head,
talks of deep vengeance fill the mind,
and reason might be pushed aside.
I choose to announce
there is hope for peace.

(5)
When all are wakeful in the night
worrying what might happen next,
and restless as the day goes by
thinking when a war would break out,
I choose to assert
there is hope for peace.

(6)
Every nation aspires for peace.
Terrorist are minorities.
Hands reach out to cooperate,
hearts yearn to settle all disputes.
Peace can be achieved
in this century.

(7)
America, Afghanistan,
hear, O Israel, Pakistan,
Arab lands in the Middle East:
you want to enter into rest
peace can be achieved
in this century.

(8)
Come, let us reason together,
let us not fill out thoughts with war,
happiness and prosperity
are the goals of humanity.
Peace can be achieved
in this century.

(9)
Return to righteousness, nations,
for love is stronger than hate.
Life, not death, is a gift of God;
each land has a place in the sun.
Peace can be achieved
in this century.

(10)
Though your past is filled with battles,
your future can be sealed with peace.
You can be a blessing to all
as you work in true harmony.
Peace can be achieved
in this century.

Carmelita H. Acosta
Manila