Weather the Storm

Hold on to yourself -
believe in what you believe
and do not despair.

You are who you are
and though you make these mistakes
the choice is still yours.

Learn from it.
Make the choice.
---<--@



You told the truth, Kristen, and you were right to do so... but be careful who you tell the truth to, for the world will seldom understand.

Your courage it will mistake for cravenness and your honesty for treachery.

Remain honest and brave. 

Weather the rising storm and hold yourself fast from within.

It is painful but you will outlast it.

For the fashions of this world are as fickle as it is fleeting...

Awkward

Awkward is that space

between two moments - frozen -

between two strangers.

At the threshold of

welcome and friendship - it's there -

The caution of love.

The choice is...

must be made.

---<--@

If you can't live with awkward, you can't live with brave.

Herding Cats

As luck would have it -

I will elude prediction.

This is decided:

I am my own mind -

the meaning inside the word.

You can not know me.

Find your own

sense of self.

---<--@

Mindless Claptrap -

Have you ever noticed that when you're a cat, you are immediately associated by those who are inclined to do so as somehow, somewho, opposed to dogs.

Yes, the cat - the enemy of the dog!

The dog, the enemy of the cat!

It's all humbug, of course. Things between cats and dogs are actually more complicated than these over-hyped stereotypes loudly proclaim.

But it sells exactly because it is mindless.

So start thinking for yourself!

---<--@

Finally, scenes we'd like to see -

"The Value of Weakness"

This is exactly how Captain America began, kitten.

Trust me. Go on, show these pups some skill!

=^.^=

Sword of the Soldier

This sword is sharp
not because there is a sword,
for what is a sword?

A sword is nothing
without the will that weilds it;
a heart of courage.

This sword strikes
against War!
---<--@

To the noble hearted soul,

in every person of the soldier,

virtue is the real steel.

The spirit of his sword

lives apart from its base metal

and becomes his rank and distinction.

For every soldier's sword instructs -

The steel of its truth is the art of its peace.

Excalibur in flames!

The Call of Vocation

Respond to thy call,
be true to thyself, and then -
cast thyself away!

Launch into the deep!
Cast thy suns, O dear Christians,
let us live our Light!

Shine upon
the darkness.
---<--@

Hear with courage...

Respond with generosity...

Embrace with charity...

Your Christian calling to serve...

Got Vocation? Everybody does.

Humor is an Art

Life gets low at times,
the storm threatens, the waves toss,
the gray clouds gather...

Humor is an art,
to laugh, a return to art,
reviving the soul.

Humor lifts,
when it pours.
---<--@

This earthly life is a constant battle and a good sense of humor is a primary survival skill.

Truthfulness

When you speak, take heed,
do not curse others with lies,
and beguile the weak.

Do not sunder truth,
and mislead the wayfarer,
with a serpent's tongue.

Be sincere,
speak thy truth.
---<--@

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

- Proverbs 18: 21

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

- Proverbs 10: 18

Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

- Proverbs 13: 3

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

- Matthew 15: 18

Stuck in a Moment

There are times in life
when it seems nothing is right
because it's all wrong...

But it's not all wrong
when each moment is begun
with hope in the wing.

Never dwell
on the past.
---<--@

Smile like your worries have an end... and they will.

Promptly Rise

With ev'ry fall - and -
with ev'ry failure - you must -
promptly rise, have faith...

Pick yourself up - and -
learn, and be stronger for it:
Leave your sins behind.

Shake the dust
off your feet.
---<--@

The Brave

Why is Superman -
so super? Is it because
he is born super?

Heroes are not born,
no one is honored just for
merely exisitng...

No try is
a wrong try.
---<--@

Big S

Yeah, she's quite wacky,
and she uses shocking words,
but always means well...

You can't just give up
when life gets you down, say "Yes!"
Big S for Big Smile.

Turn that frown
upside down.
---<--@

Speak

When you speak, take heed,
do not curse others with lies,
and beguile the weak.

Do not sunder truth,
and mislead the wayfarer,
with a serpent's tongue.

Be sincere,
speak thy truth.
---<--@

Mission

Envision the dream

and live for the becoming:

I am my mission!

Seize the day, O heart!

Come work the work of winning:

Launch into the deep!

Believe. Trust.

Be fearless.

---<--@

Soldier

Born not I to live

but live to die, fight to live,

brave the fire below!

My futures I give

to the love I must now live -

I am a soldier.

One life

for many.

---<--@

Ripples

Ripples in the crowd -

waves of fear and violence...

failed to shatter hearts.

A day of joy turned

to anguish. The scars live on.

The heroes survive.

God bless you,

Raissa.

---<--@

The real test of courage is saying "NO" to such infantile pranks like the one that gave Raissa and others like her a heavier burden than they had to carry in this life before this incident.

The 2010 Bar Blast was not only reckless, it was plain cowardly.

God bless Raissa for showing us how real courage works - this girl has true grit!