You can't fight being happy. Why
should you choose to be miserable when there is so much that you can be
happy about? Je ne peux pas m'empêcher d'être heureuse. Pourquoi choisir d'être triste
quand il y a tant de choses réjouissantes?
Why should you willingly choose to
only see what is bad and false and uncomely and ignore what might be seen
as good and wholesome and lovely?
Man was not made to be miserable. I
don't believe that we were meant to only have hardships and suffering. It
fills our world, but that doesn't mean that we are all only doomed to
lives of toiling and suffering.
Dieu n'a pas
créé l'homme pour être misérable. Je refuse de croire que nous sommes sensés
n'avoir que des épreuves et des souffrances dans la vie. La misère remplit
peut-être notre monde, mais cela ne signifie pas que nous sommes condamnés
à une vie de souffrance.
You cannot ignore the hardships of
life, but neither can you dwell on them to the extent that you don't see
anything clearly anymore. Take what you can, leave nothing behind, and face
whatever is in store for you next with a brave heart and a smile.
On ne peut pas
ignorer les difficultés de la vie, mais on ne doit pas non plus s'y apesantir
au point de ne plus voir les choses clairement. Observe tout ce que tu
peux, ne néglige rien, et affronte ce qui t'attend avec un coeur courageux
et le sourire aux lèvres.
Life is too short to spend it worrying
and contemplating the million and one ways anything could go wrong.
There are some things we accept,
others that we change, and still more that we must leave to something else
to handle, because we can't even begin to know how to see them, much less
what to do about them.
Live life in as much happiness as
you can, choose roads that take you places, but make the journey down
them memorable.
Don't worry as much about the look
of the road as the songs that you will sing while walking down it. Enjoy
the journey. If life was always meant to be a quest, with something to
reach and have achieved by the end of it, then why does life always end in
such a way as to make no more distinction between so many different lives, much
in the same way as we are all born, the same fragile helpless beings as
everyone else ever was. A life well lived is just that, well lived in the
eyes of the one living it. What is the point of being remembered, by the
next generation of helpless beings that enter this world, who will also
one day have lived out their time and reach the same fate as you, if what
you are remembered for neither enriches or blesses them? If you will give to
others, let yourself give to what will better the life of someone else
beside you now, because this life you live now will only be lived but
once. Everyone else in the world living at this time will also expire and die
as you will, and then what is left of your life? Can you one day look back
and say, I lived life as I wanted to live, I enjoyed every moment I
could, what I did and gave was done and given to enrich in some way the lives
of those around me, the lives of those who have walked down the same
years in which I have, and who will also be as unknown and dead and
forgotten when they are gone, by the next generation. I lived life for what I
saw in the world around me as the best way it seemed that my life could be
lived. I didn't wander, wondering how I could make a mark that would be
everlasting, and wondered if I was worth anything at all in the infinite space
of things..among the hundreds and thousands that have lived before me and
what use I shall have ever been to the world. I will not go out of life
saying those things. I will live the time that I have allotted to me, for
whatever reason, for whatever purpose, to use the life that I have given
to me to its fullest. Why wonder about the philosophy and meaning of life
in the bigger scheme of things, when the bigger picture is so infinitely vast
that you only become overwhelmed by the scale of it. If we were meant to
be small, our lives to be short, and unseeming of very great and
celestial significance in this life, then why worry about it, and simply
live it to the best of our abilities with what we have to fill it.
We are human, we cannot be more than
we are...we are given life, and we are meant to make a use of it that
will not harm or anguish the others in the world around us, because it is
impossible ever to say 'I am alone in the universe'. Everything we do
affects something else, and yet, our own importance is always less than we
think.
Trapped in one mind, in one body of
being, we cannot help only seeing the world around us through those
eyes, only observing and finding what we are capable of seeing and knowing
to look for.
No life is a waste if it in some way
imparts happiness to the others it comes in contact with, because isn't
that the highest emotion that we know to look for: simple peace and contentment
that all is right with the world and that we are living the way that we
should be? Some never find it, and that is a great loss, because you are
only worth so much to anyone else as what you are capable of being worth to
yourself. If you do not see life as joyous, how can you help others to find
joy? If you don't see the purpose to care about where your life is taking you,
how then can you see the importance of where anyone else is taking theirs?
Everything affects the other, but you cannot live anyone else's lives for them.
YOU can only make a mark on the lives of others around you, by the way you see
and use your own.
Today is the most beautiful day of
your life!
There is no right or wrong way to
live.
It is vitally important not to
believe people when they tell you something can't be done, or it will suddenly
become true.
If every man listened to his
neighbor, and did only what his neighbor said, then his mind would change every
passing minute as his neighbor changed his. Live as you know, keep your
convictions, and let noone tell you that something can't be done, that
what you do is wrong, or that you should be anything other than what you
are.
"A life without problems is a
life unlived."
THOUGHTS ON CONGO
Um, so I’m
going to write something now about my life in congo….right…ok first everyone, I
would like to confirm that nothing that I say here can be used against me in a
court of law or otherwise. Thank you.
First I want
to say that I never intended to come here. In fact, I did everything in my
power not to go. But once I made the decision that for better or for worse this
was to be my home, it changed my life forever.
I love this
place now, and I wouldn’t trade my experiences here for the world.
How can I
complain of my life! I’ve had experiences that nobody else in the world has
had. I’ve lived as nobody else has lived. There’s a rush to living here that
cannot be found anywhere else.
People
respect you for being who you are, a missionary. There is a special feeling of
fulfilment at the end of the day that I have not found anywhere else.
Sure it’s
tough! There’s no fellowship. But in a way it forces you to make friends with
those outside of our little communities. I am closer to my Bible students. I
have friends among our home’s contacts. I used to tend to shy away from anything
other than a working level of interaction with those I met who were not in the
Family. After saying our witness to someone, I would leave and pray to never
see them again, and not want to have anything more to do with them.
The lack of
fellowship here has helped me to broaden my perspectives and have more of an
understanding for those people living ordinary lives. I’ve made friends outside
of the Family, which I think has broadened my social skills.
You can’t
avoid being who we are here! You can’t avoid getting involved in what is going
on here!
I was prone
to dislike witnessing activities, to dread going out tooling when I was in
South Africa. But ever since I came here, I couldn’t help but getting involved.
It's so much harder to rebel against feeding starving orphan children isn’t it!
The other stuff comes, the love for witnessing, but first it is realising that
I am helping other people, that I am making a difference in somebody’s life
that has made me to want to do what we do!
I listened
to people tell me for years about how great it was to be in the Family, but it
wasn’t until I got here that I actually saw the sense and the point in what we
do.
When you see
people who are obviously in fear of their ancestors, who talk about demon
possession as if it was common place, it makes you see why we have to go and
tell them about Jesus, and make them see that Jesus is the only thing
that they need, and they don’t have to stay with their old beliefs and
superstitions any more! Most everyone here says that they are Christian, they
respect you for giving out God’s word. But you still find those who also
practice other things, and when you see that our witnessing and teaching is
what is making a difference in these peoples lives, and it is what is freeing
them from fear, that is what makes me want to keep on doing this!
Yes, I’m
challenged, every day is a challenge, and I’m busy.
I’m by no
means cooped up in the house all day. I go to visit our contacts, and friends.
I go to top
restaurants when I go on outreach. We have friends and contacts with all of the
top business people in our city.
I personally
know people like the CEO of Vodacom for Congo, the manager of the biggest food
chain store in the capital, a top guy from the biggest bread bakery in
Kinshasa, the owner of the biggest Plastic factory in Kinshasa.
I am
learning new things all of the time. One of our printing contacts is giving me
photoshop classes whenever I go to see him, and I’m learning to cut hair from
one of our friends who cuts all of our hair for free (I might also say that he
is the best hairdresser in the country!)
We witness
to everyone! The poor Congolese, the rich Congolese, the French, the Belgians,
the germans, the portugese, the hesbolla, the Lebanese, the Greeks, the
Christians, the Muslims, the atheists,…and it may be possible for you to
witness to at least one of each all in a day!
I’ve had
people literally almost grab activated magazines out of my hands! I’m a
University teacher…hah hah…of our 12 Foundation Stones classes.
This is an
amazing country with so much potential. Its not just “up in africa” in some God
forsaken place. This is the literal heart of africa. And there is far too much
to be done than we could ever hope to accomplish in any of our lifetimes.
Everything makes a difference here. Everything counts.
MY AFRICAN PARADISE
africa
I see what I
see, and I know what I know, all because I have lived in Africa.
What did I
see in africa?
I saw a man
beating another man today,
I heard a
lie being told today
And I said
nothing
Because this
was Africa
I heard
children crying in the streets today
One of them
took another’s toy away
But when I
saw the filth and the grime
That those
little hands seemed to ignore in their minds
That was
what made me realise
I was in
africa
This is
africa
The smelly
market and sounds
Children
huddled together
Men pushing
each other
To get onto
the next bus
Where they
drive too fast, and walk too slow
Noone goes
out in the rain
Everyone
dances without any restrain
Only in
africa
In the
African winters where the burning sun is less strong
Where the
scorching heat is replaced
By calm
cooling chilled winds
I saw a boy
in the hot sun with a scarf
It’s africa
Take me to
africa
Where the
children play
And the
people faint
For lack of
water
When the
river runs right by their door
Take me to
africa
Where the
children run free
Without
misery
Because they
don’t know what they haven’t got any of
They only
know that they run alone for lack of natural love
Thank me for
my time in africa
Tell me I am
free
When all
that I can see
Is day to
day useless plodding
As we drop
in the well
Our stories
to tell
And the
people thank us all the same
For that one
tiny drop of water
That doesn’t
even begin to fill their need
Where
children don’t cry
Where roads
run safe
Where people
are industrious
Where the
river is clean
And the
clothes have the sheen
That comes
from being washed in water
Take me to
this other africa
Where the
fighting is dead
And the
happy souls stand on their heads
Instead of
robbing each other
Take me to
another africa
That is
still covered in plagues of elephants
And wild
beasts roaring
And children
fawning
To be with
their mother
Take me to a
different africa where the monkey is not meat
And the
children are still sweet
And they
don’t fight and steal from each other
For it is
only that way that it could be
My African
paradise
Scholarship Essay
When I was
a little girl somebody asked me “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I
answered without hesitation, a missionary. I had grown up in TFI where helping
people was a part of everyday life, and I couldn’t think of anything else.
I got a
little older and things changed. I questioned my beliefs, and for a time I
stopped believing in God altogether. It’s enough to say that later on, I had a
personal experience with Jesus that brought me back to believing, not as I once
had, but more completely, as now it was something that I had found, and that
was mine.
My choices
when I was 16 to not just be in the Family, but to really be a part of the
mission, too were my own. I wanted to help others know Jesus more completely as
I had. I was happy, with the responsibilities I had found, knowing I was doing
all I could to further the mission. I had experienced the joy and fulfillment
this brought. I still had a desire to study, to learn and improve and expand my
capabilities, but for the moment I had put that aside.
I had
always been artistically inclined, and I used this in my work. I put up a
website for our mission projects, created flyers and PR brochures, among other
things. They had a really good impact, one example is someone who discovered us
through the website, and pledged enough money to support some of our projects
for a year! I decided that design is what I wanted to learn more about. I
resolved that this was a way I could continue to help the work and countless
other projects. Going to university would further my ability to contribute to the
mission.
Around the
time I had decided to study, I contracted a long illness. It forced me to leave
the Congo that I had grown to love, and especially the people I worked with
that had become my life. While getting treated in South Africa, I studied for
my college entrance exams, and continued to help in my home as much as I could.
I did finally get better for a time, and I moved to France last year to study.
How did my
missionary service impact my life? I can’t see how it hasn’t. Who I am
today is a result in part of not only my upbringing, but the choices I made to
make mission work my calling for the time that I did.
I know that
in the university applications and interviews I did, I stood out with my well
traveled childhood, and my humanitarian work. I wouldn’t have the focus in my
passion for design that I have now, if I hadn’t seen its potential usefulness
to humanitarian projects, which I want to always be in some way involved in.
Living in
Congo also helped me to learn French, which has the invaluable benefit in my
life now of me being able to study in France. This is going to cut extensive
costs off my program of study. The school I decided to attend is really a good
fit for me, as it offers the opportunity to take classes in English and French,
and at a significantly lower cost than schools in the US.
Since being
in Europe, I have seen some great humanitarian awareness design projects. My
goal is to one day create things of that caliber that can truly make a
difference in the world! I intend to use what I learn to raise awareness in
future for missionary and humanitarian projects. This is really a skill that
can enable me to contribute to the mission, from wherever I am. I hope to be
able to find the necessary funding to fulfill my dreams.
Design
fills me with so much joy, and knowing that there is the potential to use it in
such a positive way to still make a difference in people’s lives makes it all
the better.
THE PERSONAL STATEMENT (Essay for
Parson-Paris School of Arts--2010)
“Leave the world a better place than
how you found it.” This for me is the legacy of Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was
more than an artist, designer, engineer, or scientist. He was an innovator, the
father of design. He determined always to progress, even to the danger of
entering the world of impossibility. I admire most in Leonardo that continual
search for a challenge, a way to improve the world around him.
Leonardo exemplified determination
to learn at all costs. Modern medicine has Leonardo’s perseverance to thank for
the first accurate drawings of the human anatomy. Practice in observing and
learning from the world around him resulted in fascinating discoveries. His
unparalleled genius had so many ideas, that in order to express them he had to
invent technical drawing. It was his interest in the latest technology that
kept Leonardo always in demand, helping to elevate the role of artists of his
day.
His different facets of knowledge
went hand in hand—not just looking at the surface of nature, he penetrated into
what makes nature work. This is a principle that I admire in any design—an
advertisement that reflects an understanding of human psychology, results in a
more effective design than something simply pretty. Knowledge of nature,
combined with his artistic mind, gave Da Vinci the audacity to attempt the
ridiculous project of a machine that would make men fly. He dared to design it
400 years before others had the courage to build it. “Knowledge empowered the
dreamer to create the reality.” His work inspires me to become a designer who
dreams the impossible, clarifies it, and lives to see those ideas made a
reality for others.
My interest in design began when I
saw the importance of a well designed and attractive presentation. During my
work as a volunteer for an NGO in the DR Congo, I took up the role of a
creative producer—creating flyers, visual appeals, project albums, and a
website to attract support for our humanitarian projects. My appeals, by
advertising what our organization did, have helped to find new sponsors that
otherwise would not have even known we existed! While my original motive was
helping the humanitarian project, I fell in love with creating itself. I
realized the power design can have.
I've always wanted to affect what
people see, make cheerful what was once drab, and add color to something plain,
excitement to something ordinary! I love art. Yet my ideal art is something
that fulfils a purpose. Communication design is without a doubt what I want to study.
Through it, I believe I have found a way to make art a part of my life while
pursuing something that can be of use. I find a joy in using innovative
knowledge to make something that helps another. Motivated by Da Vinci’s legacy,
I dream of leaving a mark on the world through my design. I want to learn to
use my creativity to its full potential.
This is the essay I wrote in 2009 to
apply to VCU (Graphic Design College in Virginia)
“Education and Life: A Personal
Statement”
Why I want to Study Graphic Design
Where would
we be without designers? Where would we be without those who designed stop
lights, traffic signals, Sign Language for the deaf, who drew the human anatomy
for the first time so doctors could learn about what really went on with our
bodies; who designed shoes, sun-cream, houses? What about God, the greatest
designer of all who designed the world?
Art makes
the world beautiful. It transforms every-day necessities into something more
pleasing to work with, to look at, to use. Inspiration for any task can
be drawn from our surroundings – or likewise one can be un-inspired very
quickly by them. And art sometimes qualifies what those surroundings are like –
it directly affects how our lives are influenced. There is something about our
surroundings that affects our moods, our emotions. Certain colors are known to
have an effect on the temperament of animals, and likewise of humans. Pleasant
surroundings can make us happier, more productive individuals. And what fills
our surroundings, but the bill boards we drive by, the furniture in our house,
the pictures on the wall, the advertisements in the magazines, the stories on
television, even the flowers in our garden – and all can be attributed to a
form of art.
In a
consumer society, everyone is constantly on the search for the more attractive,
the superior design, and the most popular gadget. This is what makes design
such an invaluable part of our ever developing world. The profession of design
is a serious one, and it is one on which so many other professions and
practices rely-- to make themselves known to the rest of the world and to
compete for their place in it.
I want a
career affecting what people see, and making cheerful what was once drab,
adding color to something plain, excitement to something ordinary! I love
creativity’s power. Not just to make and to shape new things, but to give a
fresh take on something familiar and revive it!
I have seen
the benefits of having a well designed and attractive presentation. In a fast
paced world, first impressions are all most people have the time to go by,
before making a decision to either want to find out more about what you’re
offering or to move on in search of something else. This is where effective
advertising and design become as important as the product or the service
itself. If people don’t know that the product or service even exists, how is it
of any good to anybody? Or if the product or service is known, but is not
understood, or no one goes out of their way to see its usefulness because of
its unattractive package – how then will it be of use to anyone?
Here is my
story: After high school, I worked as a full-time volunteer for a non-profit
NGO working with orphans in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I
helped in a variety of ways from your typical food distribution, aiding in
teaching programs – to book-keeping and secretarial work. But I soon found
something else to do that no one else was doing – creating flyers, posters,
visual appeal letters, project albums, and then thank – you’s for the companies
and individuals that made our work possible through their help. I also put up a
website to attract more attention to our humanitarian work.
It is not
easy to get sponsorship for orphans, much less for the volunteers that work
with them. My appeals, by advertising what our organization did, have helped to
find new sponsors that otherwise would not have even known we existed! It was
then that I realized the power that design can have.
When I taught
myself the computer programs to be able to create these visual appeals, my
intent had mainly been to help our humanitarian project – but I soon fell in
love with creating itself – and being able to be a help to others through it
was just the marvelous incentive. In high school, I had always intended to
pursue an art major, but finances not permitting, I worked instead as a
volunteer – fulfilling my next great interest – to help people.
But now I
think I have found a way to make art a part of my life while pursuing the
knowledge and practice that will be useful to almost anyone – and help them
find support for their goals. I find a joy in using innovative knowledge to
build something that helps somebody else. Will you be the university that will
enable me to learn the skills to use my creativity to its full potential?
Thank you
and best regards,
Natalie Anne
Volpe
Christmas (That's an article I wrote early 2004 when I was 13
for an Activated Magazine. It got published about a year later, on the back
cover page of the magazine.)
“Hallelujah
the bells do ring
Hallelujah
the angels sing…”
“Girls and
boys, leave your toys…”
Yes, this
message is for all, whether you are a girl or a boy, a man or a woman. Toys can
also mean worldly trappings or anything that encumbers your life or distracts
you from the true meaning of Christmas.
“Make no
noise…”
There is a
lot of noise in the world today--noise of war, fear, bloodshed, inhumanity to
man. I ask that you leave it all behind.
“Kneel at
His crib and worship Him…”
I ask also
that you would kneel before Me in submission--at My crib, a manger, a barn--not
just a church anywhere.
“At Thy
shrine, Child divine, we are Thine.”
Yes, you are
all My children everywhere--regardless of color or creed. Think not of
“shrine” as meaning a church building, for I interpret “shrine” as being the
temple of the Holy Ghost—meaning you (see 1 Cor. 6:19). You must
begin the celebrations by checking your heart and asking the divine Child to
come in.
“…Our
Savior’s near…”
I am nigh
unto those who have a broken heart, unto all those with a contrite spirit.
(Psalm 34:18).
Did you let My love come into your heart? Then you can truly sing, “Hallelujah
the bells do ring in my heart! He has opened my spiritual eyes and ears and I
can now see and hear the angels sing! Hallelujah for everything because, with
my Savior, all will be right!”
* * *
Let us all
draw near now to the Christ child, let us take this step of faith and
adoration, that He may transform our hearts and fill us with the miracle of a
new life.
The Ducklings and the Log (Here's a story I wrote in 1999 for children).
On the edge of a quiet pond, in a little nest
a mother duck sat on her eggs. She waited for many days for her ducklings to
hatch. When that day finally came, a cute, fuzzy little yellow duckling popped
out of the egg. Then another little duckling hatched, and then another one. The
mother duck was thrilled, she had three beautiful little ducklings!
When the ducklings were old enough, the mother
duck waddled off to the pond for a swim while her three ducklings followed her
to the edge of the pond.
SPLISH. The first little duckling jumped into
the water.
In went the next one with a SPLASH.
And SPLOSH went the last one.
The water was so nice and refreshing, and the
ducklings splashed and paddled in the water, playing and having fun. Their
mother watched them carefully, making sure they didn’t wander astray or get
into trouble. They were good little ducklings at first, and they’d play games
together. But soon they started to fight and argue with each other.
One day, their mother caught a small fish for
her ducklings. She said to them, “Please share this fish nicely. I am going over
to visit one of the other ducks, so please divide it fairly, and leave a piece
for me. I’ll be back soon.”
“Alright, Mother,” the ducklings chorused. But
as soon as she left they began to squabble.
“I’m the oldest, I need the biggest piece,”
one of the ducklings squawked, as she grabbed the fish in her beak.
“No way!” piped up another duckling. “Mother
gets the biggest piece, ‘cause she’s the biggest!”
“I don’t think that’s fair,” the smallest of
the ducklings said. “I’m the littlest and I need to grow more than you do.
That’s why I need the biggest piece. Mother doesn’t need half as much as I do.”
“No, I’m older than both of you, and the
oldest gets the most,” maintained* the oldest duckling.
“Well, Mother’s older,” retorted* one of the
ducklings.
“But she’s not a duckling,” came the reply.
“Stop it, guys! We’re supposed to divide it
equally,” cried the littlest duckling.
But no one listened and soon the three
ducklings began to fight-pulling and tugging at the fish-because each duckling
wanted more than the other.
When the mother duck came back she was very
sad and disappointed that her ducklings couldn’t work things out nicely. “Oh
dear. This makes me very sad!” she frowned. “I am not happy with this
behavior.”
“We’re sorry, Mother,” came their half-hearted
apology.
“Well, you’re just going to have to go without
any dinner,” their mother decided. “Because I don’t like to see you squabbling
when you could work things out nicely instead.”
As the days went by, the three little
ducklings didn’t learn their lesson, and they continued to fight and disobey.
The poor mother duck didn’t know what to do anymore. Her once cute ducklings
were now displaying the ugliest behavior she had ever seen! She began wondering
if there was some way to teach them to be well-behaved and to stop fighting. It
made her very sad to see them act the way they did, but she didn’t know what
else to do, because the ducklings wouldn’t even listen to her. She hoped that
they would learn their lesson without having to get hurt. And she worried for
them.
One bright and sunny day, the mother duck went
with her ducklings to a nearby swamp. On the way there the ducklings argued
about who was faster, who was smarter, which one could swim the best. On and on
it went. Finally their mother’s patience had run out. She had told them
countless times to stop arguing, but they did not listen.
“Listen, you three,” she said in a stern
voice. “You had all better stop your squabbling or that will be the end of this
outing, and that’s final! This is not the safe pond that you’re used to playing
in and I won’t have you bickering* all the time. It may be dangerous, because
when you’re fighting you’re not listening to me. So either you stop, or we’re
going back to the pond this instant.”
The three were surprised to see their mother
so upset, and so they quietly followed her down the winding path that led to
the swamp. When they reached the swamp the little ducklings could hardly
contain their excitement.
“Oh, this is so fun!” one of them exclaimed.
“Look at all those logs out in the water,”
said the littlest duckling. “They’ll be so much fun to play on.”
“I bet you couldn’t even get up on one of
them,” snickered the duckling beside her. “You can hardly walk without
tripping, you’re so clumsy.”
“Well, don’t think you can do better,”
muttered the other duckling.
“Mother, can we go out to those logs?” one of
the ducklings asked.
“I’d prefer not,” was Mother’s response. “But
come now, we need to cross the swamp, follow me.” And off she swam, avoiding
the logs. One little duckling followed closely, and one lagged behind, but the
littlest one decided that she was going to explore for herself.
It’s so boring, she thought. I’m going to find
some adventure myself, and those logs look so fun.
She called the other little duckling that had
lagged behind and the two of them made their way towards what they thought was
a log. But when they got near the log it began to shift in the water.
“Whoa,” cried one of the ducklings,
“something’s not right!”
“Oh, don’t be a scared ducky,” the other
duckling said. “It’s just the water making it roll like that.”
But she was wrong. Instead she came face to
face with a mean-looking crocodile-a very angry one at that, because they had
disturbed his sleep.
“Oh, dear,” wailed the duckling. “Mother,
Mother, save us!” And the two of them began swimming frantically towards the
shore. They got out just in time before the crocodile had a chance to catch
them. The crocodile turned slowly and made his way back to the swamp.
When the mother duck found the two stray
ducklings, they were still shaking from the experience. Their mother didn’t say
anything, she just looked at both of them.
“We’re sorry for wandering off,” the littlest
one whimpered. “I should never have thought I knew best.”
“Me too,” chimed the other one.
Their mother responded, “I hope that will
teach you to obey and listen next time, because it could have been worse, and I
might have only had one duckling left in the end. And I would’ve been very
sad.”
“Yes, Mother,” chorused the ducklings. “We
promise never to do that again.”
And they didn’t. Instead they began to listen
to their mother and to each other. They didn’t squabble, they learned to follow
instructions, and because they did, they spent many happy days together, until
they all grew up and taught their own ducklings the importance of obedience and
not being argumentative as well.
Moral: I bless obedience, because when you
listen and obey, I can protect you from danger. So be loving and obedient, and
you’ll have a much happier time, because you’re doing the right thing.-Jesus
Le
Nid de l’Hirondelle
Voilà
l’hirondelle qui s’envole et qui plane
Elle
quitte ta cheminée vers les mers lointaines
Même
mourante tu sais qu’elle partirait
Au
delà des aulnes et au delà des chênes
Vers
les terres mystiques du Sud où elle recueillera
Les
enigmes de la bouche du Sphinx
Puis
de retour à ta petite cheminée
Elle
y fera son
nid
Oui
il en est ainsi
Et
elle repart encore vers les mers lointaines
Peut-être
bâtissant un nouvel abri dans un arbre étranger
Le
nid est vide ; je sais maintenant
Qu’ils
sont partis, ils se sont envolés
Les
petits de la vieille hirondelle
Ils
reviendront après les froidures
Volant
tout le printemps, somnolant en été,
A
l’automne les voilà repartis emportant avec eux
Un
autre groupe d’hirondelles
Pour
profiter ensemble du soleil avant le crépuscule
Le
nid n’est jamais abandonné à jamais
Les
hirondelles reviennent toujours quand la saison est bonne
Alors
ouvre grand ta fenêtre à l’orée du printemps
Et
les hirondelles avec elles amèneront
De
bonnes nouvelles pour tous, des histoires merveilleuses
Du puits de Samarie.
(poem written for my
grandmother's birthday in 2004)
Creative writing--
Exercise I: Write a short anecdote (300-500 words), with the
title ‘Seen Through a Window’, describing what is seen and the feelings of the
person looking.
Subject: A woman, looking in the
window of a beach house where she spent the holidays once as a child.
‘As Seen Through a Window’
The
rain sloshed against the wooden panels as I rubbed the glass and peered in my
old summer home. My eyes lighted at the first on a familiar article. “The
little kitchenette stove that we used to use outside! It’s still there, right
in that corner by the closet”, I viewed excitedly. It was unreal, the
furnishings, the decorations, the one crooked stair, all practically unchanged.
My thoughts wandered as I daydreamed back to happier days, when I was just a
little child, sitting on that window ledge surveying the scene around me just
as I was now. “Except that now I am outside”, I recollected sadly, “And never
likely to step inside the old house again.” “But I can still look, just one
last time”, I told myself as I again focused on making out through the rain
pelted window what the inside of that sitting room looked like again.
“Here
are the pink and orange lounge chairs that dad hated so much,” I laughed. “And
they’re not likely to replace them either, their good condition is appalling
for such an ugly build.” The white washed walls, the fraying blue carpet on the
nice light cream tiled floor of the kitchen could just be seen protruding from
the room beyond. I desperately sought again to the left, blast this rain, you
could hardly see a thing, ah there, the little cupboard under the stairs. I
used to hide there….. My eyes lingered on the spot, mentally opening the little
door and ducking inside. I used to sit in there and tell the little wooden
walls all my secrets, I had felt it was my little place to belong.
I knew all
the rest by heart now, besides, I couldn’t see much more anyways. I knew
Robert’s and Philly’s rooms were just down the hall, Mum and Dad had slept in
the next one……..I had shared the tiny upstairs with little Emily……Enough
was enough, I closed my eyes to once again savor it all. I opened them again
slowly, I was still facing the window, mentally unraveling the upholstery,
trying to take it all with me. I sighed and pulled my gaze away.
Exercise II: Write an article of about 1,000
words on a subject of your choice (eh eh, here's my chance to pick my favorite
subject!), having in mind a suitable market.
A Christmas Carol
What do you think of when you think of Christmas? Perhaps
gifts, evergreen trees, lights, holly, good food, and the multitude of other
symbols that have become associated with the Christmas tradition. The birth of
the Christ child, the upcoming New Year, the end of the old, and yes, most
probably for many, Mr. Scrooge.
The
familiar tale of the old, bad-tempered, miserly Scrooge has not been lost
through the many years since its first publication. Made into several
films, the story has become a symbol of Christmas, goodwill, and hope to all
humankind. Yet while we remember the story and keep the saying ringing in our
minds of “Don’t be an old Scrooge” whenever we see an act of hardness,
stinginess, or greed, how often have we really thought about the actual lessons
of the story itself in application to our own lives?
The story
takes a rather overdone miser, and brings him through a dramatic change for the
better, touching countless lives around him and bettering his life as a whole.
He was, before his transformation, the opposite of all the good qualities that
Christmas stands for of love, charity, goodwill, unselfishness, feeling, care
for the fellow man. While Scrooge may be a rather extreme representation of the
miserly features he represents, perhaps it is better to view him in that way,
simply as a metaphor of all the misers, however small, that reside in all of
us.
Yes,
there’s a little selfishness in all of us, isn’t there? Goals gone a little
awry, did we begin our jobs with high ideals to serve others, but have
forgotten and turned again to serving ourselves? Do we pass others by without a
word or kind glance when they cross our path, being too caught up with
ourselves to notice? We don’t have to wait until we become as extreme in our
coldness and selfishness to others as Scrooge was before we decide to make a
change.
Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if at every Christmas, we could take again an honest look at
our lives, at the things of the past, what we are doing right now in the present
and even at our goals for the future, and see what really has become most
important to us? We may not feel selfish in comparison with the person beside
us, but will Jesus look at how much better we were than our neighbor?
In the
ultimate act of love and unselfishness, God gave Jesus to us on earth, to teach
us His love, and then to die for us so that we could have eternal salvation. At
Christmas, we celebrate the giving of this marvelous gift, so how much more
fitting that we should remember what Jesus did for His fellow man just because
He loved us.
We can
never hope to pay Him back, but the Bible says that “...whatsoever you do to
one of the least of these My brethren ye have done it unto Me (Jesus).” Every
kind word and deed, done out of love, not because it’s logical or in our “best
interests”, but because it will help someone else, will then, ultimately help
us, most often in the way we were least expecting.
By taking
Jesus as our model, we can only then hope to reflect some of those qualities
that will keep us alive, happy, a blessing to those around us, and a better
person in general.
Let us
make it a goal then, to, and not only at Christmas time, step back a bit and
reassess our life and values and discern what has been the driving force in all
our actions. Let us savor ever moment while we have it, and make the most of
every opportunity to help another human being, because in the end, out of all
our best efforts, and all the work that we felt was so important, that’s all
that’s going to matter anyway. We can pray then, to be more like Jesus, and
have less of ourselves so that we can truly come alive and keep the Christmas
spirit all year round.
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