Aptiva

"Life is short, death is certain, and eternity is real." What is interesting, dear reader, is that all would agree with the first two parts of this statement. The sadness comes not in that people would disagree that eternity is real, but their self inflicted ignorance of the matter. Life is so short. Yet we fill it with such meaningless tasks. That compared to the eternity of which we will spend, what limited time we have here on earth we squander and quash rather than use it to make informed decisions about where the eternity we are destined for will be spent. So, on the final day of 2008, as a precious new year approaches upon us. I encourage you dear reader to consider, if life is short, and that death is certain, will you not spend some of your precious time in informing yourself about the choice of where eternity will be?

A wonderful fact to reflect upon, dear reader, is this, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. This quote reveals the mystery of the celebration of the Western world calls the Christ Mass in a wonderful way. While this above statement is true for every other human being in the world, it is not true for the son of a carpenter Jesus Ben Joseph. His claim was that he was the Messiah, the hope that Israel had been looking for, the solution that God had provided for not only the individual nation but also of the world in total. In a day, which is now surrounded by so much pageantry and preparation, this essential truth of who Jesus thought himself to be can be easily lost or simply misunderstood. Another interesting concept is that God himself is a secret and a mystery, unless he chooses to reveal who he is. This is yet another major dimension of what the Christ Mass story brings to the earth. God reveals himself in human form. In a

There is dear reader, a silent war going on around us skirmishes taking place, battles being fought, and more often lost that won. The largest problem is that most combatants are completely oblivious to the fact this war is taking place. In happy ignorance they continue, while they continue to give precious ground. This war of course I refer to starts initially with the mind, and very thoughts, but its ultimate goal, through storming the capital city of our heart is to reach the seat of power, our soul. We are so bombarded by ways to think, opinions to hold, actions to either take or disapprove of that we have become massively oblivious to the effect that this is having upon our life. The major weapon of course, is television. Its most blunt yet effective tool, being that of advertising. Moving swiftly behind for a follow up punch is the news. With these two warriors we're told what to purchase, and what to be sad, happy, annoyed, angry, or downright indifferent about. Yet this is

There is a saying, dear reader, that "everybody is exactly in the place with God that they desire to be". For if the divine being is correct in their statement that their character is unchanging, it's therefore the implication that the closeness or distance of any relationship we have with them, is based on our choices. Imagine if you will the ocean, a vast body of water, we can choose to ignore or relate to. Our personal choice does not affect the ocean in any way. Neither does our choice to ignore it prevent it affecting our lives in ways that we cannot even begin to imagine. Yet the evidence of the effect on our life, by the ocean will become clear to us the more we concentrate on it and interact with it. The only real difference between a fisherman and a city executive, is that the former acknowledges their full reliance upon the ocean. While the latter, as they drink pure fresh clean water (this selfsame water provided by the weather system, reliant upon these oceans

For many people, dear reader, there is a goal, which is so rarely attained, that of being clean. This can start with physical cleanliness, be extended to the foods we ingest, the clothes we wear, the things we touch. It can then move to places and objects, with the avoidance of going to certain areas in the world or dealing with certain situations. It then moves to people, avoiding those who are considered by the original party to be unclean in and of themselves. It presses upon us, dear reader to consider what being clean is actually all about. It is not unreasonable that when some violent action has been perpetrated upon us we often move to the physical cleanliness provided by scrubbing and cleaning every part of our body. This is an unwitting ceremony designed to remove as much memory of the violence, as is possible. Where the violence itself cannot be reversed, the cleaning of the body at least allows it to be made distant. It is however in the same theme that we as human beings do

There is, dear reader power in the word . However, this is combined with a personage, who gives this selfsame word. This is true of encouragement or criticism. For the closer a person is to our lives, the more effect, they will have on us with the words they give to us. Like some weird amplifier two people saying the same thing, standing right next to us can see the effect of their words penetrate very little, or deep down to our very core. The difference being the amplifier of connectivity. Words of encouragement coming from a loved one can last a lifetime, sadly, so can words of abuse. How many boys have grown into men, still seeking approval from a father, who will never give it. How many girls have sought to emulate their mother, only to find as a fully grown woman that they are still lacking in their mother's eyes. Yet the encouragement of those nearby seems to have such little effect, because the deep relationship does not exist. This dear reader can become a problem, when we

There is Dear Reader a word not oft used in today's parlance, and that is balm. Indeed within the context next employed, it's use is even rarer, for there is a saying that "the word of God is balm unto the soul". One understanding of Balm, is something that has a soothing effect. We only need to have experienced the effects of the sun's rays on our backs one too many times to understand the need for balm. For as our skin cries out for healing with every chafe and scrape of its raw tenderness against any clothing we are forced to wear, it breathes a sigh of relief as upon it we pour a soothing balm of after burn suncream. The audible sighs of relief which come from the body which has experienced this is tangible to those who listen on during these moments. Yet dear Reader our own souls are in as much torment as these blackened and charred bodies can often be, the only difference is visibility. For the anguish and pain is tangible to all as we see the effects of de