It's SUNDAY, but FRIDAY'S on the way...

It really does seem like we spend most of our lives waiting for something, doesn't it?
And honestly, if we look at things in a big enough picture... zoom out far enough, if you will, there is always something to look forward to...

But meanwhile, back here in TodayLand, we are living what IS our lives...

This can be a bit depressing, it can be an eye-opener and it can be just the perspective that we need to put that extra effort into making every day count... That sunset, this flower, that kind deed or expression.

Not to say that we shouldn't be working toward a better tomorrow, nor to say that it is wrong to anticipate one, but be sure to live life along the way, or you may find yourself at the end and then realize that the point wasn't to win but rather to play the game...

Regarding charities, immigration, illegals, and church work...

Ok, so not to overlap too much, but I posted a response to a forum thread earlier, and it seemed rather "blog-worthy..."

here is the link to the thread for reference purposes:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/government/84346-attitude-toward-missionaries.html

To start off, here is the OP of the thread:

A group of 20 of us is coming for a mission trip to help in a Haitian refugee camp not far from the border. We would like to know what the attitude in country is to rich white people coming to help what could be considered illegal immigrants. We will be with a well organized and long stand missionary organization. Do the locals resent us helping the Hatians and not helping them? Is the government happy that we are there?

Several opinions were addressed, some friendly, others downright hostile. Seeing people on both sides of both the Dominican-Haitian border, the Dominican-American border and the Mexican-American border, and being somewhat of a migrant myself, I have my opinions on immigration, on border patrol, and on illegal immigrants. I also have been on both sides of the charity equation and have my 2 cents about that as well. They probably wont all be the same as yours, but that is alright, cause no one really listens to me... this is just one guys opinion.

first let me say a word to those that oppose "evangelizing, well digging and Bible distribution."

Well drilling is truly a great work... you are "teaching to fish" and not "feeding them a meal." Think of all the man-hours that were previously spent procuring water that can now be used to do something productive like work... sure, these man-hours can also be used to smoke dope, but that doesn't make you responsible if the recipients of these wells turn to crack... you gave them water, not drugs, right?

Now to the root of this question, you must realize that free speech is designed to work equally for everyone. You dont often see people "forcing" their religion on people. Maybe in "cult" compounds, but not in mountain villages with new "missionary-dug" wells. And in no way does the well obligate people to read the Bible.

With that said, I'm sure there are plenty of people (both the evangelizing well diggers, and recipients of these wells and Bibles) who will stand firmly on the belief that they are doing more good and are helping people more with their Bibles then they are doing with the wells. They are entitled to this opinion, and as long as we remain a free society where people have free speech, (would you really want to take this away?) they will continue to have the right to share their beliefs with others.

perhaps there is a miss-understand regarding economics. While the illegal immigrants are bad for the country, the so-called mission efforts to help them are nothing but healthy for the Dominican economy. They come here. From each plane ticket that is bought, about $300 of that is taxes... taxes that go toward paving your roads, feeding your poor, buying bikes and trinkets on 3 kings day, and mostly, taxes that are miss-appropriated by Dominican officials. This is neither the fault of the visiting "missionary" (tourist) or the fault of the illegal immigrants, so if your country is struggling, you should really take this up with your government leaders and not with the tourists who inadvertently help to pay their salarios.

And keep in mind that there are about as many Dominican immigrants in the U.S. mooching off of the system there as there are illegals here mooching off of the Dominican system. Most of these Dominican illegals are better cared for then your Haitians, send more money home to the D.R. then the Haitians send back to Haiti, and yes, both are a problem for their host country.

Finally, if you would like to go to Haiti and help the Haitians there, you are welcome to...

And if you do, you will see while you are there that there is far more of a white missionary concentration there in Haiti then there is in any town in the Dominican Republic.

If "charity from rich white people" was the main deciding factor when the Haitian decides where to reside, they would most likely all stay in Haiti, since there are far more foreigners there to mooch off from. The Haitians are here (for the most part) to work, and I firmly believe that unless both the Dominican and the American people decide that they would like to work and do these jobs themselves, they both really should make legal immigration an easier and less expensive process. The cost of legal working immigration, both to the U.S. and to here from Haiti, is higher then the working class can afford; this is the primary cause of the immigration problem, and its something that can only be fixed through better legislation.

None of this is to defend the illegal immigrant... an "illegal" by definition, is a law breaker.

And I guess that will be another post for another day...

Happiness is only REAL when SHARED.

Happiness is only REAL when SHARED.

I watched this movie over a month ago about the life and wanderings of "Alexander Supertramp."

His outlook on life was uncool, his childhood was messed up, and having more money then most people upon graduation from college, he gives a lot of it to charity, throws it away, and even burns it. 

After  "freeing" himself from all earthly possessions,  he sets off wandering...

working odd jobs, begging and mooching, he lives the life of a hobo.

when his wanderings take him to Alaska, he decides to live entirely off of the "wilderness."

As he is dying alone in the woods in misery from ingesting poisonous plants, he pens these words:

Happiness is only REAL when SHARED.

Is this something that we can learn without having to learn from the experience of being alone and miserable?

Job... a guy who had "everything," lost it, and was given "a whole lot more..." IS THAT GOOD ENOUGH?

OK, I assume that most of you all have heard of Job... the guy from the Bible. This is supposedly the oldest book in the Bible.

Hypothetically speaking, he had it all.

I'm not here to discuss whether this is a parable or an actual historical account... for all practical purposes outside of the realm of archeology and creation science, it really doesn't make a bit of difference.

The point is there is this guy who HAS EVERYTHING. God allows Satan to TAKE IT ALL away. He remains FAITHFUL TO GOD. GOD BLESSES JOB MORE THEN EVER.

Seems simple enough, right?

But wait, there is a catch. Job had seven sons and three daughters. A natural disaster kills them all, crushed to death under the oldest brother's crumbled house while at a party.

Then, after God tests Job and Job remains faithful, God gives him seven more sons and three more daughters.

The question is, then, DOES THAT MAKE IT RIGHT?

The first flaw in this question is that we shouldn't question GOD. Sounds like a simple and stupid rule, but He knows everything and we know nothing.

The second flaw in this question is that all was not lost... all things considered, Job didn't loose his children. You could say their lives were short, but that isn't the same as to say they "were taken from him." NONE OF US ARE PROMISED SEVENTY YEARS, FOLKS. Did you really "loose what you had" (years of your life, a loved one, posesions, etc), or were you blessed to have them while you did?

The third flaw in this question is that Job was humbled and God told him the way things were. Put him in his place, so to speak. By the time God got around to giving Job more kids, Job must have realized that he had nothing coming to him. Couldn't we all learn something from God's words to Job here? We all think that we have this stuff "entitled" to us... A good job with decent pay and benefits. A nice car to drive. Good food on our plates. A wonderful woman by our side. A working computer. A good camera. Health. Wealth. Happiness. The list goes on. We earned it. We deserve it. God owes us.

THAT IS BULL.

God owes us nothing. We are His children. Everything we have, He gave us. Our only proper response to what we have, be it little or a lot, is GRATITUDE and RESPONSIBILITY. GRATITUDE for what we have been given, and RESPONSIBILITY to use that which we have been given to the fullest.

The final flaw I see to my own question here is that you dont need to "fix" what was "broke" to be happy again. Job can't have his kids back, but he can be happy again. You might not be able to "get back on the horse" but when that happens, you get on another horse. Or maybe you get on something else... a truck, a bike, a boat. Perhaps you start walking. You dont give up, that's for sure. You cant change the past, but you can change the future.

Meaningless dust, Dry bones, Profitless work, And other perceptions of these years we call our lives...

Who was "The Teacher?"

The man who penned the seemly dreary and gloomy words of Ecclesiastes...

This was not a guy who was down and out because he lived a dull and boring suburban life and had never traveled outside his state.

He was not an un-accomplished old man who felt he had squandered away his youth doing nothing worthwhile.

This was a man who WENT, a man who SAW, a man who BUILT, a man who LOVED, a man who DREAMED, a man who MADE HIS DREAMS COME TRUE.

He was a man rich in wealth, in women, and in life experiences.
After it all, he came to the conclusion that "IT ISN'T HERE!"

IT ISN'T HERE!

Do what you can in this world... GREAT!

SEE all there is to SEE.

LOVE all you can LOVE.

BE all you can BE.

This world is not our home.

There's no place like home.

There's no place like home.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

We wither as God BLOWS on us...

"All men are like grass,

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

because the breath of the LORD blows on them.

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God stands forever."

Isaiah 40:6-8

Dust In The Wind

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone

All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity

Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.

Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea

All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind

Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky

It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy.

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind

Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind.

-Kansas