Sharing Peace Like Bread

Sharing Peace Like Bread

Praying Always

Praying Always


Great Reflection (and short) by a wonderful Dominican Sister of Peace

Anxiety: Does It Help Progress Your Life?

How do you feel right now? Happy? Sad? Mad? Irritated? ANXIOUS????

The way we feel each day reflects something about us. If you are someone who is constantly nervous or anxious about something, someone, or some place, then you might have some inner conflicts that need to be resolved. Whatever these "conflicts" (which is a former of inner violence) are, they do not help you progress in life. If we say that we are trying to work towards a society of peace/justice, love, and hope then why are we allowing certain emotions like anxiety for example, to hinder us? 

Just think, does feeling anxious help solve anything? Does anxiety affect others around you in a positive way? Or does anxiety affect YOU in a positive way? If no, then STOP BEING ANXIOUS! 
Let me give you some ways to do that.....

1. Take time everyday to remind yourself that you are special and have a special purpose for being where you are at the current moment. (I recommend doing this in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening) 
2. After step one, take five-eight mins. to breathe slowly and go into yourself. Question yourself about your emotions. If you can not come up with a positive reason to why you are feeling the way you, then you need to change your emotion to something more positive.
3. When anxiety, fear, or depression sets in go out and where ever you are, doing something nice for someone else. Start a conversation. Buy a meal for someone. Do something ordinary in an extraordinary way. 
4. Positively re-invent your mindset. 
5. Remind yourself that there is never any situation in life that you are incapable of having hope and peace in. 

I highly recommend you read my previous blog called "Disarm Your Heart" it will shed some light finding inner peace. 

Are you positively progressing in your life? Are you positively progressing the lives of others? 
If you are saying no because of your anxiety or fear, then you need to ask for help and start changing things. You are never alone. We are a global community. There is always someone out there to help you but you have to make yourself available to be helped!

May peace and love reign in your life today, tomorrow, and forever! 
Jerry :) 

Civil Unions Legalized in Colima

http://usat.ly/12Ewe8v

Read article. Leave a comment on what your thoughts are. 

Peace and love,

Jerry 

Celebrate the Feast of St. Ignatius on Social Media | College of the Holy Cross

Celebrate the Feast of St. Ignatius on Social Media | College of the Holy Cross

Keep Connected with Me!

I made a new twitter account that is specifically for my blog and all of my business related stuff.
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Many blessings!!!

Jerry

hahahaha yes!! Just to make you laugh!

Reflect on it. Leave your thoughts in a comment

Just some bears thinking about life :) lol

http://m.funnyordie.com/slideshows/d35ae554b2/just-some-bears-thinking-about-life

Lol check this out!!!!  

Acceptance, Tolerance, and Judgement: How Should We Be?

Acceptance? Tolerance? Judgement? Is there a right way to be? Who defines how we should be and what is the filter that we should use?

Today, we encounter all of people shouting out for acceptance and tolerance. Then when you state your Opinon or view about an issue and it's different from their perspective, often you are accused of being judgmental. But are you? I think we need to examine these words that society seems to like to use against certain groups of people, as well as for other groups.

What does it mean to be accepting or tolerant? Well I can speak for myself in that I was always taught that accepting means you condone the behavior of someone/group, as good or ok in your book. Tolerance on the other hand means that you deal with certain groups or issues in a day to day basis with a reference to how it affects your life. Let me give you an example from my own personal life. I accept that we live in a nation that has a large diversity of people with different backgrounds. Why? I accept that because I believe that is the way every nation should be. But, I tolerate the fact that I live in a country where women have the “right” to abort a child and where we are one of the very few countries who STILL HAVE THE DEATH PENALTY! In my opinion, I think that is very sad however, I tolerate this because I can not (on my own) change those things. It will take time and alot of effort to change are view on abortion or the death penalty. I have to deal with those issues as they relate to my life. To me this is the distinct difference between acceptance and tolerance. If you differ with my opinion please leave a comment and let's chat about it. :)

Now, what about judgement? Often we hear people say "Only Jesus can judge me"! Is this true? Well, yes it is but they are misusing this statement. They are using it as a defense mechanism so as to not be held accountable for their actions, beliefs, or past (often all of these are negative). Where as when Jesus said “Judge not lest you be judged." -(Matt 7:1-3), what He was speaking of (and biblical scholars are very clear about this) is RASH JUDGEMENT. Not judgement in and out of itself, but imprudent and harmful judgement upon your fellow human being. There is a difference between making a distinction between what is morally right/wrong and not being compassionate towards others. So let me give an example of this. Let us say I am a Counselor for a Rehabilitation Center. The Center has just brought me a new person who was just admitted and I have to explain to them why they were at the Center. For whatever reason, he/she might say "who are you to judge me? You make mistakes like me". My response would be, "Yes you are correct. The difference between us however, is that I am not the one who has been doing the actions you have been doing. I'm not judging you because your need for rehab is objective to all who encounter you. You judged me by just assuming that since I'm not on your end of the desk, that I think I'm perfect and you are not." That is what it means to judge. When you make unfair, unwise, and rash assumptions of a person/group. This is the exact OPPOSITE of what Jesus was teaching.

OKAY! Now let's see how all this fits together. 

So should we be accepting or tolerant? Yes we should. But we need to be prudent due to the fact that  we live very much now in a society where objective standards are not respected as much Ethical Relativism is very ramped right now! To be a properly formed person, who is striving for peace and justice for all, you must be wise about moral issues. You do not have to accept something as okay or morally right, if you think it is wrong, just because everyone in society says it's okay. And visa versa. Pray about it! Research! Discuss! Be informed and let yourself be formed!

Remember there is a difference between making distinctions and being judgmental. 

Also let me make another point. It is not wise for you to hide behind a certain belief system and manipulate it to your standards because you have a prejudice towards certain groups of people. Don't use God as your rationalization for hate, bigotry, or discrimination. God is not a God of hate. God is love. If you are someone like the Westboro Baptist Church who uses the Sacred Scriptures to justify their angry and demonic hate towards LGBTQ people, then you have no right to call yourself Christian, because Jesus never taught what they teach. Accept what is objectively right. Tolerate what you do not like, but work hard to get rid of it. Do not be imprudent about your judgements towards people or issues. Make proper distinctions. The Roman Catholic Religious Order known as the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) say that their official position on life is:

Seldom Affirm 
Never Deny 
Always distinguish  

What do you think? Leave a comment!

Music is the universal language!

Dedicate 1 Minute to PEACE! :)

Lean On Me [Live]

IT FEELS LIKE A LEAN ON ME DAY!!! :)
Remember we are travelers on the same journey! Help each other bear the load!

Touching Strangers

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aperturefoundation/touching-strangers-photographs-by-richard-renaldi

LEAVE A COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THINK! :)

Peace and love,
Jerry

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Stumble Upon Yourself

If you like what you read place feel free to share this post and this page on your different social networking sites! Help me by clicking on any ads you think are interesting and getting more traffic to my site! Peace and love! -Jerry

Have you ever been near someone, related to someone, or event DATED (maybe dating), who for some reason they do, say, or think a certain way that just irritates you SOOO much???
I HAVE!
Well, have you ever thought that maybe you are irritated so much by that person (for whatever reason) because whatever they say, do, or think reflects who you are and you do not like that?

Often times we choose friends (usually without realizing it), who are different than us but they usually have that characteristic of ourselves, that we can not stand! This has happened to me before and it helps you to learn about yourself. When you encounter people like this they help you, as i say....."Stumble Upon Yourself".

Usually, when we "stumble upon ourselves" we learn a value, principle, or virtue, that we have been told before but just never sank in. However, for many people, it sinks in once they see it reflecting back at them from a real life person! It's almost like we see a mirror image of ourselves!
Is there anyone who is in your circle of friends, family, acquaintances that makes you "stumble upon yourself"?

THINK ABOUT IT!

Peace and love,
Jerry

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Just something to think about

The Servant Song by David Haas

Will you let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant too

We are pilgrims on the journey
We are brothers on the road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load

I will hold the Christ light for you
In the night time of your fear
I will hold my hand out to you
Speak the the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping
When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven
We shall find such harmony
Born to all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony

Burning Bridges and Tearing Down Walls.....to Progress Your Life.

Is your life moving forward the way you were expecting it to? 

Have you started getting anxious about things, people, or places for whatever reason and it's starting to affect your life negatively? 

Alot of times in our lives, we get involved with people or things in certain places that in the beginng seem to be a good thing, however we slowly realize it is harming us more than helping us. 

We have to always keep in our mind that we are “Pilgrims On A Journey”. The point of this blog is to help you take time to reflect on your day to day life and aid you in progressing down the road you are called to. 

One of the important things for us to do in our lives, is to take time to determine what we need to get rid of in our lives that is hindering us MORE than helping us. It is good to at times burn those bridges that connect you to things, people, or places that are unnecessary in your life. Then on the other hand it's also beneficial to tear down those walls that keep you from those people who are there to aid you, those places that are meant for your good, or those things that will aid you in becoming a better “pilgrim”. 

There is always a positive and negative means to an end. You want to consistently lean towards the positive but occasionally the negative is inevitable and in the end will benefit you without seeming like it does. So, do you know of some bridges you need to burn? Are there some walls you need to tear down? 

There's a Catholic Hymn by David Haas called the “Servant Song”. It's one of my favorite Social Justice hymns. Well I think one of the verses gives us a clear explanation of how we should view life....

“We are pilgrims on a journey. We are travelers on the road. We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.”  -David Hass “The Servant Song”

This is our meaning in life. Keep this as your mindset. Aid your fellow man. Be a blessing to those around you at all times. 

Burn those bridges that keep you from truly living out those words by Haas and tear down those walls that are keeping the people, places, or things you need in life to progress down the pilgrim road. 

Peace and love, 

Jerry 

TD JAKES AT LAKEWOOD "Can You Hear Me Now" Thomas Dexter "T. D." Pastor...

What Have You Become?

Feminism, Sexism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Athiesm, Fundamentalism, Liberalism, Terrorism, Secularism, etc. 

All these "ism"'s are being thrown around nowadays, along with many more. But I think this is interesting because it shows us many different things about society. Are we slowly becoming more and more isolated? Are we becoming more and more selfish? Are we creating new walls to separate people, while we break down the old walls that were already there? 

Think about this! 

Many of us grew up with "learned prejudice". Some of us were taught that a certain group or type of person was "bad", this we could not associate with them. So, ever since we were born we have become one of this "ism"s. which one are you?......think about it.....

Are you a racist? Sexist? A radical Islamist? Are you a Feminist? What have you become? 

Due to the set up of our culture/society, we naturally have to "adapt" to certain stimuli. Well, often because of this, the values we were conditioned into as a child (whether good or bad) are challenged. Thus, we often become the very thing we at one time were against. For instance, if you were someone who was against completely, to the idea of homosexuality and the entire LGBT Community, but for some reason, due to certain circumstances you realize that maybe YOU are attracted to the same sex! So, you try and see what the lifestyle is like. Then you suddenly realize that your previous stance on this issue or group, is no longer how you feel. So in essence you become the LGBT Community. Has something like this happened to you lately?....think about it!...

In the American Consitution it says that every human person has the "inalienable" rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This means that these rights are innate. They can not be isolated from our human condition. If we hold this objective standard to be true, than what have should become in your world that is hindering you from truly living out these rights? Is your pursuit of happiness being hindered because you have a chip on your shoulder against a certain "group" or "type of person"? 

Often, people ask me "what do you think we need to do to change the culture into a culture of peace and justice"? I always give the same answer. We need to take time to retreat into ourselves at the same time each day and learn about ourselves. Why do we click a particular way? Then after we do that, GO OUT and do something that is normal but in an EXTRAORDINARY way. Like if you are in a drive through and there's a car behind you, buy their meal. Take time to smile at someone and tell them they are important and not to give up. And finally I always say to people that you need to educate yourself and those around you. Get informed. Get active. But before you do that always take time to first check yourself and change yourself by changing the world. The only way we can learn to live in a functional world is if we get rid of our dysfunction and all of the dysfunction around us. This relates to my previous post about "Disarming Your Heart". If you are constantly on the defense in your inner being than you won't be able to be open to the blessings that are in store for you. Create peace by becoming peace. 

What have you become? What should you be?......think about it......

Peace, 

Jerry 

"Overcoming the struggles of life" with Fr. Mark Goring

Suffering is an ideal part of the Life of Progress and Wholeness.

Hawk Nelson: Words [Official Lyric Video]

The most powerful tool you have are your words. Be wise and prudent when choosing your words. One wrong word can have a devastating affect on someone's life