viernes, 30 de mayo de 2014

THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (META ANALYSIS)

It was late in the afternoon. I could not sleep. All these things started to come up in my mind. And I was dreaming about the life that I’ve always wanted to have. I remembered seeing a movie; a movie directed by Woody Allen.

“I haven’t seen this movie in a while,” I whispered to myself.
Then, the last thing I can remember is that I started to think about the movie’s main protagonist. Her name was Cecilia. She reminded me about all the things I want to accomplish. But, unfortunately, I fear that my reality has overcome my dreams. At that moment, I got up from my bed and I turned my ipad on. I log into my Netflix account. I was decided to dream for one last time.

“Who knows?” I asked to myself, “Maybe, this is all the strength I need to dream again.”
I searched the title everywhere, until I found it. “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” I exclaimed, “this is it!” I hit the play button and got ready to finally discover the place where all dreams come from. As the story went by, I remembered how limitless dreams are. And I discovered what Woody Allen wanted to say about them. Undoubtedly, up on the screen, anything is possible. Anything is reachable and ready to go. Egyptian adventures, spending your whole night in a big city, affording expensive drinks, wearing fine clothes, enjoy popular night clubs, etc. Anything you could dream of comes together onto a screen.

As I mentioned it before, Cecilia, the movie’s protagonist is a woman ready to follow her dreams. I got inspired by her just by thinking that she never lost a bite hope despite the time in which she was living in. As you may or may not know, Cecilia was a young woman living in the Great Depression; a time in which millions of hopeful people escaped their crappy lives by going to engaging theatres and watching the same movie over and over. Cecilia, undeniably, saw the theatre as the most beautiful of all oasis. She knew that just by looking at that piece of paradise, all of her problems would go away. And she was right.
On her fifth time around the theatre, the film’s most notorious and flawless character appeared and seemed to call Cecilia by her name. “Me?” she says in disbelief, “You mean me?” All of a sudden, this character steped out from the black-and-white screen and went into her color world. Here, I struggled with what is truly real.

“What is reality?” I cried out to heaven, “What is real? Can someone explain me the way life works? I’m tired of getting comments such as grow up or open your eyes to reality! I’ll open up my eyes whenever I want to! ‘Till then, I’ll remain hopeful and I’ll strengthen myself with dreams and nothing else but dreams.” I’m sure Cecilia felt this way. Sadly, Cecilia ended up choosing what was real for her. She gave up her dreams for something she thought was going to bring nothing else but happiness into her life. Big mistake if you asked me. This is just another reason why I can’t comprehend women. Why she chose that? I don’t know. All I know is that you never have to give up your dreams by any circumstances. No matter how tough they may be. The only thing that soothes me is that Cecilia got to live the moment she was waiting for entire life. She had long dreamt about meeting some impossibly adventurous and romantic character from the movies, and she got to live this after all.
 
 

lunes, 26 de mayo de 2014

HELP THE ENVIRONMENT, HELP YOURSELF: USE A BIKE!


As you all may or may not know, one of the most effective ways to reduce pollution is to use a bicycle. With the help of this post, I'll share a video that shows some of the benefits that bicycles can offer to all those who use them. Additionally, this video will talk about all of the healthy benefits you could get by using one of them. I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't want to miss it! So, prepare yourselves for a video that could change your way of seeing life permanently.



                                     


URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CuTQvSJUuA

miércoles, 21 de mayo de 2014

Is it okay for a Christian to get tattoos?

I'm sitting in the middle of Mr. G's classroom. It is a beautiful day. The sun is shining and the class is full. Time has flown and there are only a couple of school days left. My junior year is almost over. Everyone is tired and with their minds blocked. To start his class, Mr. G told us, "Stop counting the days down but make them count!" I couldn't have agreed more. I'm here for a reason. And it was time for me to discover what that reason was. "I'm going to assign the final project for this class," he said, "and you are going to be able to choose any controversial topic from this list right here." All of the sudden, he pulls out a list with an endless number of topics that have caused great controversy in today's Christian Church. To be completely honest with you guys, I wasn't sure about what would be the best theme for me to research about. And, then I came across a theme that has always caught all of my attention. A theme that after researching on, changed my perspective on life forever and opened my eyes to reality-- "Is it okay for a Christian to get tattoos?"

Before researching on this theme, I really had to ask myself, "What does the Bible have to say?" Because, as you may or may not know, making marks on the skin is mentioned in several Biblical verses. Starting up with Lev. 19:28, "‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord"; up to Rev. 13:16-17, "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead. 17 and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name"; are some of the verses that talk about this. I must admit that I struggled with this for a few days. And then, I finally got into the conclusion that something we must examine is whether or not we Christians are required to keep Old Testament Law. The answer is... No we are not. Now, this does not mean it's okay to lie, to cheat, and to steal. It means that we are not required to keep Old Testament Law in order to get or maintain our salvation. This is because we have died to the law and because of that, all things are lawful to us. We must retain the truth that we are not to violate any moral law of God. It is always wrong to lie, cheat, and to steal. Such commands are clearly reiterated in the New Testament and are based on the character of God. So, the Old Testament law dealing with morality, is definitely to be upheld. All of the Ten Commandments (except Sabbath-keeping) are referenced in the New Testament as still being valid (Mt. 19:17-19; 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:9; Rev. 13:6).

If we must conclude that tattooing is automatically bad in and of itself, then we must also conclude that shaving off the hair on the side of the head and shaving edges of men's beards is also equally bad. But, since cutting hair and shaving beards is not sinful in itself, how could we conclude that tattooing is also automatically sinful? We can't. We see no New Testament commands that tell us to keep the sacrificial system, forbid work on the Sabbath, forbid the shaving of beards, or forbid tattoos, etc. Since we have died to the law and all things are lawful, then the Christian is not under obligation to keep the Old Testament command not to get tattooed. Remember, if tattooing is a sin, then so is shaving the beard off of your face.

This information I found changed my entire life. And I was really grateful with God because since that moment I understood that we are saved by His grace only and not by keeping the law. Thank you God, thank you Father for being the best of all!




WORKS CITED

CARM.org's Cast of Writers. "Is It Okay for a Christian to Get a Tattoo?" CARM.org. 2014. World Evangelical Alliance. Web. 21 May 2014.

Fairchild, Mary. "Tattoos and Christians - Should Christians Have Tattoos? What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos?" Christianity.about.com. 2014. About.com. Web. 21 May 2014.

Schumacher, Robin. "Is Getting a Tattoo a Sin?" Blogs.christianpost.com. 21 October 2012. Blogspot.com. Web. 21 May 2014.

lunes, 19 de mayo de 2014

EAT BETTER, LIVE MORE, HAVE A HEALTHY LIFE!

I've always heard people complain about the stress they feel toward their useless diets. The truth is, my friend, you do not have to starve to death. The secret is to know what food is best for you. And then, START LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE. Do not worry if the results don't show up as soon as you thought they would. Time takes time. And a healthy life too. Here I leave you with some of the meals (plus interesting facts that you probably didn't know) that will put you into the path towards the life you've always dreamed of.

HEALTHY TIPS:

3 MEALS ESSENTIAL FOR ACHIEVING A HEALTHY LIFE

1. THE APPLE:  

· Helps digestion
·  Avoids constipation and facilitates evacuation
· Provides the body fluid                                                         
·  Benefits cardiovascular health, reducing the presence of cholesterol on the blood
· Regulates sugar levels



2. THE CARROT:

· Prevents cancer, dementia and premature aging of skin and hair
· Improves eye health
· Reduces cholesterol levels
· Reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases




3. THE BROCCOLI: 

· Helps the prevent of tumors on the breast, lung, colon, stomach, and bladder
· Raises defenses against infections, aging, reduces cell damage  and eliminates toxins from the body
· Avoids constipation and promotes digestion
· Controls overweight





URL: http://freealfin.blogspot.com/2009/06/3-alimentos-para-vivir-mas-y-mejor.html

TOP 10: TIPS TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT




Add caption
Hi! My name is Aaron and I really have a conscience about the earth. Throughout this blog, I’ll be discussing about the things we can do in order to save the environment. I must say that an important part of my “calling” is to make people meditate about how their lives are going to be in 50 years or more. I really enjoy challenging people with questions such as: What would happen to your children if we continue to live without creating a conscience of care for all the things that God has provided us with? Do you think that we are going to enjoy the things we have now if we continue to live like this?
With this blog, I’d also like to develop a deep conscience in relation to saving the earth so that the next generations can enjoy it. I’ll be answering questions like: How can we help? And what can we do to live a better life? So, stay tuned!




TOP 10: TIPS TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Add caption

1. TURN OFF THE LIGHTS, even if you're only going out of the room for a few minutes. 

2. SEPARATE YOUR GARBAGE, like glass, paper, plastic, aluminum, wood, organic matter, natural fabrics, synthetic fabrics, and rubber.
3. SAVE THE WATER, when you take a shower or when you brush your teeth.
4. SHOP WITH A RE-USABLE SHOPPING BAG.
5. TURN DOWN THE HEAT, especially the water heater.
6. DON´T USE AEROSOLS.
7. RECYCLE THE NEWSPAPER.
8. USE BICYCLES.
9. DON´T USE MANY ELECTRONIC DEVICES AT THE SAME TIME.
10.PLANT A TREE ON YOUR GARDEN.







URL: http://www.mattneuman.com/49simple.htm

martes, 13 de mayo de 2014

A DREAM FULFILLED

The end of my junior year was getting closer and closer. Everyone seemed to be exhausted yet excited about going to the junior/senior banquet. I must admit that this wasn't my case at all. The end of my junior year started to approach and I was planning something big; something that would change my life for good.

When the opportunity knocked on the door, I didn't hesitate. And I took it as if my life depended on it. My aunt was going to England and I had to go with her.

"This is the opportunity I've been waiting for my entire life. Am I going to let it go so easily?" I asked to myself.

Time reached me faster than I expected. And I had some insignificant hours left to see my dream take place. I must admit that one of the hardest things that I've ever done was to try to convince both of my parents to let me go on this trip all by myself. I was underage and I knew that this was going to signify a problem.

"Am I going to let my age be the obstacle between me and my future? I don't think so," I said to myself as I looked at my own image reflected on a mirror.

With a stubborn attitude, I began to fill out all the formal forms that needed to be filled. And when my parents agreed to let me make this journey, everything became so much easier. In that moment, I knew that I didn't only have God's approval and blessing but my parent's as well. I couldn't be happier, that is for sure. I knew that this journey was going to be the steps that were going to take me to another level in my life; steps that would provide me with freedom and open my eyes to reality.

I got a package from the UK Embassy located in Bogota, Colombia a month before the ending of the school year prior to my senior one. To be completely honest with you, I didn't know what to expect. I started to break all the seals I found. I had never felt so nervous before. Until... I came across a letter. My whole life changed since that precise moment. I knew that I was going to experience things that I had never experienced before; experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything else in this world.