Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow American patriots!  To those of you who don't know, the Fourth of July celebrates and commemorates our independence.  We remember our cycle going through British colonies to a group of United States on this day, July 4, 1776.  We, as citizens of the United States celebrate our 237th birthday as an independent country.  I hope all have a good day, and we'll continue the day with dance, songs, celebration, and feasting at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, as well as Macy's Fourth of July Parade starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern United States Time on the NBC Television Network.  Have a good Fourth of July everybody, and I hope you all have a good day!

                        

The Heart of Worship: St. Laurence Catholic Church

This Saturday I was notified of an all-day event at St. Laurence Catholic Parish.  This event was known as the Heart of Worship, an event started ten years ago as a way to kindle the flames within our hearts as a Catholic people to use our light to light other people's hearts on fire with God's love and grace.  I attended and was changed by the experience.  Worshiping all day and giving my heart to God through song, scripture, and conversing changed my life.  Starting in the morning with just paying an at the door fee of $20 for the whole day, I stayed all day listening to great speakers and partaking in activities often done at retreats, and in the evening before Mass, we ate a meal catered by Pappa's Bar-B-Q and were served by clubs at St. Laurence Catholic School like the Leo's Club, the National Junior Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the National Elementary Honor Society, and etc.  One of the sayings and teachings that stuck with me was a line quoted from St. Francis de Sales, "Lord, my heart belongs to you, and to you alone."  At this retreat my heart was truly, "lit with God's love and grace," and thus the slogan for the event was fulfilled.  All of the hundreds of people attending and barely fitting in the Church were truly given, "Hearts on fire with the light of God's love."

Guru's Burgers & Crepes

With burgers only found in Texas and crepes equivalent to a 5 Star Restaurant's, Guru's Burgers & Crepes in Sugar Land is your next go to place!  With decent prices aptly retailed individually, the burgers and crepes are something to behold.  The burgers have soft bread with perfect ingredients and spices that create quite a spectacle underneath the roof of your palate, and the patties are not just a generic smoke, but rather a memorable, organic simmering that will take its place among those you never forget.  The crepes are soft and flaky, making it a, "melt-in-my-mouth," sort of taste, but having the crepes at such a delicate state, made with such finesse   The service is excellent, waiters constantly asking you (not when your mouth is full though) how you are doing to try and better serve you, accommodating your every need.  The facility itself is squeaky clean, yet laid back!  You can't find a better mix of Asian, European, and Western American food anywhere else!

The Meaning of Kindness In Our World

Kindness can be considered cordial, then it can be considered as natural, but to some, it can even be pondered as sacred.  Kindness as cordiality because of the heartfelt feeling that kindness gives to both the recipient and the giver.  Kindness requires the heart and feeling or else it is tainted with being false.  To other people, kindness can be considered natural.  Being raised to be chivalrous and courteous to others with manners can make a person think naturally to be kind to others.  In their perspective, it is otherworldly to not show kindness to others, especially when it is not an inconvenience to the giver.  Finally, kindness can even be a wonder of being sacred to some people, because in this era and generation, kindness shown to others without inconvenience or repayment is rare and sacred to the heart and treasured.  An example of this is a person who works hard everyday and tries to show kindness to those about, and when there is finally another person who tries to do the same, the kindness shown is a treasure to the heart, sacred in fact that it makes your day at least one hundred times better.

A Time To Give Thanks

At the time when the Religious Wars of Europe ended, people through all of Europe sought religious freedom for what they truly believed in.  A specific group from England that were known as the Pilgrims received permission from the King of England to go to the New World to escape the turmoil Europe was enduring at the time.  They set out sailing to the Americas, a land newly discovered and unsettled.  At the time they made landfall, it was the season of winter.  This was bad for farming. Thankfully, the Native Americans took the settlers in and provided for them and taught them to survive.  When harvest came, thanks to the Native Americans, the settlers had obtained such a plentiful income that they hosted an enormous feast that included their mentors.  We celebrate this harvest in modern times as Thanksgiving.

Children receive a break from school for a few days, and the entire family celebrates by preparing food in their own household and most commonly, "carving the turkey."  Though we are celebrating the Pilgrims' landfall in North America, we also celebrate the essence of, "being thankful," for all we have, all the blessings and our lives in general.  Things like our family, household, friends, modes of transportation, life, culture, background, etc. are what people usually are thankful for in addition to much, much more.  No matter how challenging our lives can get, there is always a light to whatever situation we can be in.  "Where there is a dove, there is a serpent, and vice versa."

Music De Cordiality

The richness of music composition just consumes me.  When I close my eyes, a piece of music can transport me to another time, place, setting, or even another universe.  "Earhart-Sounds of Courage," by Robert W. Smith is a piece of such stature.  Last weekend, on a Saturday, November 10, 2012 at the Kinkaid School in  Downtown Houston, I was invited to witness the performance of a chosen few for the, "Regional Band," in the whole area of Houston, Texas.  When I came in, there were children all running around, being ushered onto stage to get ready to perform.  The Middle School and High School region bands were ready to play, to show the world of an arrangement of such a height that would never come together in that form again to play such a piece.  Another piece that transported me to another dimension and time was the piece, "Heroes Triumphant," by William Owens.  Both pieces had an air of magnificence about them with a march style of music.  Never had I witnessed such a change in my heart until I heard those two pieces.  I was on the verge of tears like never before.  The students joined in congress, gathered from all the schools in the Houston area.  I heard that they had difficulty at first, but worked together very well to form the master band I heard upon walking into the Brown Theater on the Kinkaid Campus.  To think they only accomplished this in a span of less than 8 hours!  These kids had to have had really sophisticated training in music.   I hope that all musicians throughout the world would be inspired to try and achieve great heights and pieces like such.

Operation Viral Treats Episode IV: My Halloween Evening

I am traipsing through the woods wearing tan and green tiger-stripe camouflage with a tactical vest hanging from my chest.  Trying to remain silent, I mask the sound of my radio telling me where reinforcements are being shipped in and where tangos are hiding, waiting to pounce on their prey.  I make sure my AK-47 airsoft replica is working, and also confirm that my sidearm of a Ruger P345 airsoft replica is still intact with speed-loader handy and dead rag also reachable.  Also important, I check my hydration pack to make sure there have been no punctures and see if my green parachute cord necklace is still there to alert people if I have been infected with the zombie disease, or if I am part of the Fort Bend militia trying to contain the disease.  This is how I spent my Halloween evening, trying to help the military as Fort Bend militia to control the outbreak of zombie disease from an explosion near Katy, Texas that caused many unknown civilians to turn into zombies, with only the possibility of an airstrike to bring them back as humans, but only so many airstrikes are allowed in this military simulation.  The main objective was to contain the disease and try to survive the Operation Viral Treats:  Episode IV, without turning into a zombie.  There were also minor objectives, like trying to locate food drops to make sure civilians not affected by the zombie disease are taken care of.  The airsoft game simulates a possible real life scenario, that does not have to be with zombies, but rather hostile forces that, as civilians, we may one day be forced into going against in real life.  It helps you simulate CQB scenarios, in which a possible force may break into your home or office building and you will have to retaliate.  It also helps with field games, in which you have to pretend you are like the military, out in the woods, trying to retaliate on a big scale of land and win over your rival's objectives.  Perfect way to spend a Halloween evening right?