Real Life Survivors vs. entertainment 'survivors'

it's early in the morning. i wake up, take a long hot shower, prepare my coffee, take a glass of water, put my clothes in the laundry...and get to work...the day is busy, i run the errands, chat with friends, manage my finances, eat, shop, cook, clean...etc, till it's time to relax. but first: 'It's been a tiring day', 'money is not enough', 'life is too hard', 'life is unfair', 'i'm so unlucky'...sounds familiar?

our lives have become so facilitated by all kinds of gadgets and amenities, yet instead of being simplified, they have become way too complicated (and meaningless). now, we (by 'we' i mean that percentage of the world's population which actually has access and enjoys fully this so-called 'modern life') don't try to survive and live day for day, scarcely meeting ends...no,we don't. and we don't know what it means to see your kids die because you couldn't provide for them, no, we don't. we don't comprehend the struggles and the human will to Survive, to Live, to Be, because we've been given a chance by birth (or so).

So, instead, we resort to more sophisticated ways of understanding the grudges, the hardships and 'tricks' of survival...entertainment.

Shows like 'Survivor' have become so popular all over the world. We admire the men and women who push themselves to extremes to 'survive'...and eventually win a million dollars or so...ye, but survivor is nothing like that! ...anyway, who wants to know. it's enough to see a few photos of starving children on the news, hear about hundreds of thousands of people 'displaced' (one might not even understand it well)...that exhausts our engagement in World Affairs, which are for politicians to solve... and then we can switch back to our Entertainment channel.

I'm not against entertainment in general. i suppose it is beneficial in some ways, enriching our lives or just helping us relax, but these particular forms of entertainment have exposed and perverted some of human's most honourable qualities, like will power, determination, vigour, courage etc. What do these shows encourage and inspire us for? Seeing how far a man can be pushed, the limits of his/her strength, will, hope? But it's all fake...because no one will be willing to do these things if there were no incentives. So, then, is this kind of show really displaying the heights of human courage and will power...or the depth of his/her desire to attain the prize (simply the greed for money)? I guess stimulation is not a bad thing, it is indeed necessary, since humans operate better when they are given a carrot, rather than nothing...but we are missing the point.

If you look closer in the news next time, and instead of ignoring or avoiding the faces of the displaced, the refugees, the starved, the underprivileged, the sick, and the weak...you will not see losers, but real life Survivors, heroes who have fought more battles than soldiers in wars have! Then you will be moved!
It is these people who aspire admiration and honour, the ones who Never give up, who strive to Survive on a daily basis...whose courage is beyond our understanding. These are the Survivors of this world. And this is NOT entertainment!

Don't encourage shows like 'Big Brother', which deprives people from growing and only engages them in meaningless gossip and trivial stories. Don't encourage shows like the World's Eating competition, during which, tons of food is wasted and which, despite all the food being devoured, leaves your mind and soul empty. Don't encourage shows like 'Survivor', or even 'Fear Factor', which despite being quite amusing and exciting, only prove the ultimate power of money to control people, to push them to do...just about anything.

When you wake up tomorrow, let your first words be of giving thanks, for just how blessed you truly are, and let your life not be 'devoured' by the media, 'consumed' by the multi-million corporations, but let it be moved and transformed by the stories of those to whom heaven belongs...the real survivors of this world. Jesus said,

" Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to visit me....

'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me...' Matt.25:31-46

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how much is 5 $ ?

how much is 5 $ for you?

today i read in the Economist an article about a new study on poverty, conducted by two experts from the World Bank http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010733. the title read "the bottom 1.4.billion". so, it's estimated that 879 million people live with under 1$ per day and another 520 million with under 1.25 $ per day, altogether accounting for 1.4 billion of the world's poorest inhabitants. (measured by purchasing power parity the numbers might differ, but the reality is overwhelmingly apparent - eradicating poverty, especially extreme poverty, by 2015 and complying with the promises for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), call for drastic reconsideration of the current efforts, intensifying of the successful methodologies and strategies, doubling all efforts and power towards meeting the goals and most of all leading to the alleviation of these millions of people living in deprivation!)

just a few days ago, i started asking myself about the real value of money, more specifically 5 Euro. i, myself, have lived in a middle-class family, and despite having been broke at times, i have never been starved, never been left without a roof above my head and have been blessed with a chance to develop my potential and receive education and a future that many never get. at the same time, i know people who have thousands of euros pocket money, eat dinners as costly as a monthly (annual) income of an average family, and live not in houses but castles and mansions. yet, there are those people i know, who work day and night just to try to buy the bear necessities of life...and survive.

so, how much IS 5 $?

to answer this question, i dared make a rough calculation of my daily expenses (for today) and reach to a more sustained conclusion about the value of a 5 $ bill. - how much, indeed, did i spend during the past day and on what?
so, lets see: 1. i bought breakfast/lunch for about 2 $, yet sometimes, when i decide to "spoil myself" and buy iced coffee etc. i might spend as much as 3 $. 2. i finally managed to buy myself a new pair of sneakers (the discounted ones were all big size, so ended up buying the expensive ones) 120 $ 3. i found a rather compact, small bag pack on sale and bought it for 15 $ 4. i went home and made myself a big salad, toasted some bread, added some cheese and ate a happy meal (if that was in a restaurant, it would cost me as much as 4 $). 5. in the evening i went out with my cousin and didn't pay for anything cause he was treating, but all in all, my portion of the treat cost about 2.5 $, plus i had some home-made soup for dinner, accompanied by some ham. 6. today i used the toilet numerous times, showered with hot water, washed my hands, drank clean water, had the computer (with internet) on for quite awhile, used a bit of electricity, talked on the mobile phone and will now close the day.
it's a very rough calculation...yet it clearly shows the value of money...money here...money there...money everywhere! of course, i do not purchase shoes everyday (i ain't a shopping freak) but ONCE in AWHILE...i NEED to...and so goes the story...

the question remains...how much is 5 $? of, course, when you have it, it might look irrelevant and trivial, but when you need it, when its lack is sensed, then it seems giant and essential.
for me, today, 5 $ got a new meaning...with 5 $ a family in a rural area somewhere in Cambodia, let's say, might live a whole week...and if 5 $ is saved in the course of 1 month, the freedom of a girl sold in prostitution might be bought back (Kristoff's article on the two teenage girls in Cambodia)...nevertheless, 5 $ may also mean a single cup of coffee, a phone call, a pack of cigarettes, a pair of socks, a week's payment, a price for a prostitute, 1/5th of a micro financial loan, a piece of chocolate, a rented movie...

i am conveying a poll about the value of 5 $ for you! please, feel free to answer the question. there is no 1 right answer...because, money creates different, parallel worlds, in which people's lives can be compared only by their riches in heaven and in no way by their lifestyles here on earth, how can you compare black and white? you can only contrast them...but you can compare two nuances of red...so is it - the bottom 1.4 billion and the top 5 billion, of which more than half is somewhere in the middle...and only a tiny portion...is selected for enjoying and lavishing the riches on earth.

it's time! to look at our 5 $ bill in the pocket and reevaluate it. it's time! to awake for the harsh truth and to face it boldly, ready to sacrifice our insatiable desires and false needs, for the common good, for the better future of all.
it's time! to re-use this 5 $ bill sensibly and responsibly, maybe to feed s.o. in need, maybe to save and sponsor a kid to go to school, maybe to try not to use is as if we don't have it and see just how badly we do need it.

it's time! to become better stewards of the blessings God has provided for us and give more thought to our saving account in heaven.

we don't want to end up carrying full pockets of 5 $ bills to heaven and find ourselves homeless there...

for it is said "for where you treasure is, there your heart will be" Luke 12:34,

Jesus warned us : Matthew 6: 19-21, 24-25, 31-33
19”Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. 21 For your heart will always be where your riches are. 24 You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 Do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for you body. After all isn’t life worth more than food? And isn’t the body worth more than clothes? 31 So do not start worrying: ‘Where will my food come from? Or my drink? Or my clothes? 32 Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. "

how about we each make a small heavenly pocket where to store money we've saved from things we've craved for but sacrificed and, according to each one's pocket, do something nice for someone, whether just buying them food, or maybe clothing, or maybe books for school...Brothers and sisters, let our treasures be measured by the number of people we've showed love and mercy to, rather than by the amount of money we have stored in the bank!

INVEST IN YOUR HEAVENLY ACCOUNT TODAY AND YOU WILL WEAR THE CROWNS OF LIFE WHEN WE MEET WITH JESUS!

God bless you all!

Love and Peace

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THE OBITUARY OF HUMAN RACE

THE HUMAN RACE DIED LAST NIGHT IN ITS, YET ANOTHER UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO LIVE A MEANINGFUL LIFE!

WE - THE REMNANTS, THE REMAINS, THE RUINS, ARE GRIEVING IN THE MOST SORROWFUL MANNER POSSIBLE, YET, REALIZING THE DAMAGE HAD TO BE DEVASTATING, HAVING IN MIND THE SCALE OF HUMAN RACE'S MADNESS AND OBSCENITY!!!

FOR THOSE IN MOURNING AND FOR THOSE STILL WONDERING ABOUT THE CAUSES OF THE LETHAL END OF HUMANKIND, LET US LIST 5 POSSIBLE THINGS THAT KILLED MANKIND!

1. their total obssession with a little thing called MIRROR...in which they used to see someone greater and better than anyone else, someone who deserved to be served and pampered, someone who apparently was as good as (a) god...., someone called SELF and this someone consequently turned out to be a mere illusion, fed up by their own pathetic maniac-driven actions and who, at the end, crashed into pieces and gauged their eyes and pierced their hands and twisted their arms and broke their legs...and left them total invalids, incapable of looking beyond the dark, seeing beyond the fog, hearing beyond the wall, going beyond the door. incapable of cutting open this mascarade costume of brutal pretence and getting out of it, out of the nutshell, out of the SELF- image SELF-body SELF-self....unable to grasp the reality as it poses itself in the distance, unable to catch the horizon...maybe only the vertical (in a whole different dimension), unable to break the walls, jump off the prison and shake the dust off their feet and see the NON-SELF dimension...unable...to see that it wasn't , it had never been about them...and that they were and they were nothing but SLAVES to the master SELF, who controlled every neuron, electron, and atom in their system.

2. as years went by, they caught a disease, incurable, demolishing lives mystery virus called - INSATIABLE DESIRE. they were all literally swallowed by its huge jaws and despite its horiffic looks, poignant smell, and dreadful nature...they were drawn to it, like bees to honey...it's the drug that drove all their instincts, replaced all their natural habits, their feelings, their emotions, it's a poison of some sort, a lethal weapon of a kind, made by an unknown (known) source and operated through a nasty parasyte that penetrates the FLESH (so perishable and weak) and strikes the very essence of human beings - the total annihilator also known as TEMPTATION (greed). so, all in all, its mechanism is as simple as this: the virus finds its victim, the parasyte follows and establishes itself securely, and then...waits for the victim to fall in its traps...it repeatedly says : YOU WANT TO HAVE THIS...and the hypnotized victim whose "immune" system is already totally out of order due to DISBELIEF, DISLLUSIONMENT, DIS....replies back I WANT TO HAVE THIS and I WILL NOT STOP AT ANYTHING TILL I HAVE IT...so, this is how all the strongholds of "moral values", built up traditions, beliefs and wisdom...evaporate and turn into smoke, which only intensifies the disillusionment of the already dizzled victim...then...its history

3. another method of self-destruction commonly used by the primitive species called HOMO HABILIS was WORDING, in other words, using words simply for the sake of using them, unaware (ignorant) of the immense power hidden in them and of the possible catastrophic effects of their MISusage (or amazing power and effect if properly used)...so it all started, word by word dropped in the field, like dead landmines...which have completed their mission - to exterminate their target - and rest numbly dull...words of courage now gave out only squeaks like parrots, words of wisdom, only sounded like foolish blabber, words of love, nothing but mere clatter...so it was, yet before, long long ago, there were times when words had magical power to give life, to bind the broken hearted, to heal the sick, to revive the dead, to restore the weak, to relieve the suffering, to bring to victory the losing...there were times when s.o. would tell s.o. else "i love you" and all nature will suddenly fall in deep silence and profound meditation...contemplating the beauty and magic of life. there were times when s.o. would put an arm on the shoulder of another and will whisper "don't worry, two are better than one...i am here for you". there were times when mothers sang lullabies, when the wind was blowing a melodious sonnet, when the waves would play a symphonic orcestra, when the grass would dance the cha-cha-cha...and s.o. somewhere would say "praise God, who made all these things, praise the Creator of life, praise him"...these times are now over. God said "i give you life and death - choose life", yet they chose death.

4. then came THE "saviour". some, who got the chance to own him, those who got the chance to grasp him, or even just to smeLl him, all of them truly worshipped him, fervently and zealously they brought sacrifices to him to quench its desire (like a vampire of a sort, he used to suck human's good and process it to come out a new product - excrements)...but it would not cease craving for more...till it leaves you with nothing but the desire to own him, which builds up like a volcano and sooner or later erupts...and the damages it causes...are indescribible. first it requires only your attention, then your time, then your family, then your belief system, then your love, your joy, it asks you to betray your friends, to forget your God, to despise your morals, to denounce your beliefs and finally...ultimately...it strips you off your own life, lures you to embrace HIM with all your vigour, zeal, and devotion... and just as you think you got it all... leaves you to become a rotten good-for-nothing nobody. this beast's pseudonym is "dough", also known as $ MONEY - yet another terrorist capable of murdering thousands upon thousands of "innocent" people. people forgot it was all paper...and fire beats paper...just as rock beats fire...just as water beats them both...and just as the bible says "nobody can serve two masters, you either serve God or money"...they chose the latter...and they suffered the irreversible consequencesof their WRONG CHOICES.

5.then came the "different ones", the weirdos, the left-overs, the test-ers, THE ALIENS, the others....that's us...the remnants, the ruins, the petals of past "glory", the notes of a sung melody, the voice of a distant echo....we warned, yet they were deaf... blind... and mute...to our voices. "we" were in the shadow of the tall skyscrapers, in the shacks of the nearby slums, brothels, we were the unheard, the invisible, the forgotten...and even though many shouted for help... many asked for mercy, it was unseen, unheard of, unknown...it was all EMPTY. we suffered the disasters, both human-caused and natural; we drove the economies of the Human Race, but as foreign elements; we Produced the joys, pleasures and amenities for the The Human Race without enjoyin their benefits...we were alive, yet for them we were dead. so, then, when their own pity, trivial existence was pushed to the edge...

...they woke up...

and realized that the human race cannot be human and cannot be a race, without those tiny, negligible elements hidden for the naked eye, those rusty old parts forgotten and left to die away...just as each machine needs all its elements, to the smallest one, to operate properly...

...but it was too late...

we have scattered around in search of a refuge, in search of a new life, in search of salvation...and we've found it in the arms of THE SAVIOUR - Jesus Christ...the rest is history.

we are here to testify for the atrocities committed by the human race to us, as well as to forgive wholeheartedly these monstreous acts and to unite to built a new human race...one whose engine is driven by mercy and love, and whose purpose is to bring joy and happiness to all, one in which every element, regardless of its size or position, deserves and receives full recognition, respect, and a love-filled life!

we pay our respects to the ashes of human race and we pray that they never repeat the mistakes from the past!

God bless us all!

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