Pure in heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8)

How can I be 'pure in heart?' This is the beginning of a long turmoil that I'm dealing with right now. Yes, on the outside, I can look "pure" or like a great Christian but I know that the outside doesn't matter. I yearn to have a pure heart that rediates throughout every aspect of my life. I want to be able to not look upon another woman lustfully. I want to be able to have compassion as my first reaction. I want to be able to forgive instead of retaliate. Is there anyone out there reading this that can explain and show me how to be pure in heart? I don't want cookie cutter christian answers.

Where are we going?

Most people seem to think that the more they have, the better off they are. That new car, the latest fashion, the biggest house, the darkest tan... what I am beginning to see are people being 'enslaved' by products. To quote a line from one of my favorite books / movies, Fight Club, "The things you own, end up owning you." When did we become a society that translates our obsession of wants into needs? If I was to walk down the street with a walkman, people would look at me funny because I don't have an MP3 player! We all go crazy if our electricity goes out for a couple hours. I think we are becoming a spoiled generation.

History Repeats Itself

I went to see M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Happening' today and the funny thing is, I kept thinking of all the other natural disaster movies where nature decides to kick man's ass. If you haven't seen the movie then don't read any further. Basically, Nature gets pissed with the way humans rape it and decide to communicate through wind to have plants release neurotoxins. It causes a person to loose all sense of emotions, walk backwards, and find the closest means of committing suicide. Some of the scenes were pretty gruesome (except for a cheesy part where a man feeds himself to some lions at the zoo...it looked really fake). Overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie but I just couldn't help myself think about the past "nature revenge" movies. Alfred Hitchcock made 'The Birds' and Steven King made 'Maximum Overdrive.' Okay Maximum Overdrive was not nature causing problems per say but you get the picture. Now we finally have a movie for the 21st century to cause large mass histeria of disillusioned "what ifs!!!" What if nature decides to tell plants via w-mail (wind mail) to release toxins to specifically tell our brain through extremely complex ion channels interacting with membrane proteins to make us lose control of our emotions, motor skills, and rational making us shove a twig in our jugular...scary!!!

Time = Fate

I was thinking this morning about time. Time is deciphered by the rotation of the earth around the sun, we all know this but who invented ‘time’? Every single human being lives by this code. We form societies and place emphasis on the importance of understanding this principle. It becomes the god of our lives because we relentlessly need to know it, see it, and live by it. You age a person by this code, we age our days by this code. What if we decided to just do away with time? We don’t pay attention to our schedules, show up whenever we feel like it. Radio/T.V. stations, movie theaters, sports, churches, workplaces, schools, etc. do and play whatever, whenever. People come and go at will, absolute chaos…or is it? Maybe we need this to show that we do not control the world- we are just spectators. The moment we feel disorder is brewing we do anything and everything we can to bring ‘order.’ We want to know that time is on our side and we control our providence. It needs to said that time is our enemy. It is the silent killer that will eventually drive us to extinction. Anxiety, knowledge, and faith all has its roots in time and all three tend to drive a man to death. Freedom awaits us only if we decide to give up our regiments and realize that time is only an invention, not a way of life. Will this ever happen? Probably not. The paradox of the whole thing is I’m limited by TIME and I have to finish this blog or I’ll get in trouble at work. I guess that makes me a charlatan.

New Website

Today, I finally launched my first business website. It feels great! I just got an email letting me know that the business cards I ordered are on their way. I feel like I'm taking the right steps to make my dream of being a professional photographer a reality!

www.freewebs.com/cmoreno

Last Day

Today is April 30th, the last day of the month. I think I had a pretty good month. I became more organized by prioritizing my daily tasks. I became more focused by setting small goals each week such as "I'm going to lose three pounds this week," or "I'm going to learn the A scale on my guitar." I had a few clients for my photography business that I'm trying to get off the ground and I was able to help three people in need this month. On the downside, contracted what I thought was pink eye but turned out to be a 'corneal laceration.' The doctor told me on April 25th that he is not sure that my eyesight in my left eye will be restored 100%. That is not something I was wanting to hear but, as with everything else, I have to remain positive!

"I'm learning, little by little, that I decide what my life if going to be. Things happen to me, but it's my reaction that matters." -Anonymous

What (Who) am (I)

What makes me- 'Me?' Is it my talents? My thoughts? My politics? My viewpoints? My faith? My religion? My love? My hate? My size? My friends? My enemies? My family? My successes? My failures? My clothes? My job? My possessions? My money?

Who am I? What am I? If I was to meet myself in some obscure situation, would I even be recognized?

Every person I meet think they know me. They see me and say "Ah, that's Chris, he's a(n)." The funny thing is, I see too many people base their lives on other people's 'perception.' "I'm cool because they said I was." "I'm attractive because they think I am." What if you lived without human contact? What if we all became 'Helen Keller's' and no one could see or hear others? Would we die?

Would I die?