Showing posts with label In This Journey Called Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In This Journey Called Life. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

29 Photos That Put All Of Our Struggles In Perspective

When I read this article, it really proves to me more that this planet we called earth and our home is no longer safe to be called a home. I barely know the chaos going on around the world. Men are becoming harsh, and wicked.
The world is becoming dirtier and unsafe. Truly, sin has completely destroys humankind and the perfections of this planet. Herewith, is the post that I thought is worth to share.

Re-blogging:
           From Huffingtonpost.com
   

Life can flutter between being terrible and terrific, but sometimes everything can all be proven worth it in just a sliver of time captured on camera.The Internet has a history of rounding up powerful photographs, but some images just go one step further and change your perspective on life and the challenges presented by the world we live in. All of these photographs may be once in a lifetime shots, but the tragedies and triumphs they document are those millions around the world face every day. We have an ugly and beautiful home, and it's entirely worth fighting for.
Warning: Some of the photos below are graphic:
1. There's this place called Earth. It can be often pretty surprising.
 Proposed spending cuts for the Spanish region of Catalonia in 2013 caused this fight to break out in Barcelona between riot police and firefighters afraid they or other public employees may lose their jobs.

2. On this small planet, sometimes immense pain can lead to happiness.
During the 2011 Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand, attendees performed various body piercings to rid themselves of evil spirits, as well as bring luck to their community.


3. But far too often, this place can be unbelievably treacherous.
This photo was taken moments before the Indian child dove into the overflowing Ganges River as it flooded the region during the country's monsoon season in August of 2013. Thousands were left dead or missing in what was only the very beginning of this particular monsoon season.


4. Humans and nature conspire to destroy homes.
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A mud volcano erupted in Indonesia's eastern Java Island in 2006, destroying 12 villages. Excessive gas drilling from the Lapindo Baratas drilling company was blamed. In 2013, these villagers covered themselves in mud to dramatize the destruction of their homes and the ongoing struggle that has ensued.



5. We brave institutional oppression.
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A 2013 gay pride rally taking place in St. Petersburg was declared illegal under Russian law for being "gay propaganda," before turning bloody as activists and Russian nationalists clashed. About 40 gay rights supporters made up the rally, while they were surrounded by people throwing rocks, eggs and fists.

6. And just surviving childhood can be a struggle.
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This is an orphaned child in the wake of the Haitian earthquake of 2010. Following the devastation, adoptions of orphaned Haitian children were taken on as a relief effort by multiple countries, including the United States.

7. A whole life can change in a flash, no matter where you grow up.
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John Fahy Jr. mourns his father and younger brother in 1996, just two months after his mother died of cancer. He was 13 years old. John Fahy and his 6-year-old son, James, were killed by a house fire in which John Jr. and his sister, Meaghan, were the only ones rescued.

8. The world we've come to love can often seem to collapse around us.
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A Palestinian family's home in East Jerusalem was demolished in 2013 by the state municipality for not having proper safety permits. The family claimed they were still waiting for the permits to arrive.

9. And in an instant, everything is gone.
The Japanese earthquake of 2011 inflicted a death toll over 15,000 and left much of the country devastated. Nearly 10,000 more people were either injured or labeled missing.

10. So we may sometimes feel powerless.
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In 2010, an Iraqi Emergency Response Brigade member searched the family house of this Iraqi child while looking for his father, who had an active arrest warrant. The father was suspected of planting IEDs in Baghdad, Iraq.

11. Wanting nothing else but to fight back.
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While protesting the expansion of the Jewish settlement of Halamish into the West Bank in late 2012, a Palestinian girl raised her fist to punch this Israeli soldier.

12. Even when facing all but impossible odds.
Protests led by students opposing the Chilean educational system in 2011 ended up taking a violent turn as protesters and riot police clashed often.

13. But sometimes everything can be too much to handle.
Chinese paramilitary police recruit being shipped to start his service in the Zhejiang province began to tear up in this photo, taken on Dec. 12, 2010.

14. Sometimes the world seems to hate who it is.
The head of Gay Forum of Ukraine, Svyatoslav Sheremet, was beaten up in 2012 while on his way to announce that a pride parade was being cancelled.

15. And sometimes it may even seem truly heartless.
During a public protest on March 11, 2011 in NiterĂ³i, Brazil, a cop named Captain Bruno Schorcht discharged his pepper-spray onto a small girl.

16. Especially for those born into unfortunate circumstances.
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30 years after the Vietnam War, many families in more remote villages are still suffering from the effects of the toxic nerve gas dioxin used in Agent Orange. Both of these younger men, pictured here in 2011, are in their twenties and have been suffering with physical and emotional trauma since birth.

17. But in the face of the truly terrible suffering of this world, all we can do is try.
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During massive floods taking place in Cuttack City, India, in 2011, a heroic villager saved numerous stray cats by carrying them with a basket balanced on his head.

18. Try and try again.
This photograph, taken in 1967, shows an anti-war protester sticking carnations into the rifle barrels of soldiers protecting the Pentagon.

19. And dare to conquer this complex life.
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In Ban Khok, Thailand every household is required to live with a Royal Cobra. Being able to tame the venomous snake is considered a highly respected talent. This photo, taken in April 2010, shows Mr. Vukjow Mare and his cobra.

20. Or make the world seem a bit more magical.
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The Space Shuttle Enterprise flew over Manhattan in 2012, on its way to New York City to become a part of the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum as a special exhibit. Although slightly damaged during Hurricane Sandy, the shuttle has reopened to visitors.

21. While always remembering to help those who simply can't help themselves.
In China's Wolong Nature Reserve, panda cubs are released in a highly delicate maneuver where employees wear panda costumes to minimize human interaction.

22. Whether that means fixing what the world has helped to break.
The VA hospital in Des Moines, Iowa provides various healthcare services to veterans, many of them requiring special needs.

23. Or having the decency to be a bit more mindful, especially of those who have been left behind.
Attendees of the 2012 New York Fashion Week posed for an extremely poorly located picture outside of Moynihan Station.

24. With the world as it is, we all sometimes need to be reminded not to jump.
Powerful image. This cop talked Kevin off the Golden Gate Bridge 8 years ago. Kevin is now married and has two kids.
Kevin Berthia was talked out of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge by this police officer in 2005. He has since become an advocate for suicide prevention and has started a family.

25. Even if everything can sometimes seem quite trivial.
Radio broadcasts have reached out from the world to about a diameter of 200 lightyears, seen to scale in the Milky Way Galaxy above. According to Carl Sagan's science fiction novel, "Contact," Hitler's speech at the Nuremburg rallies might have been the first radio signal strong enough to be ever be picked up by aliens.

26. But there are moments even amongst the greatest despair when the world proves that it's all worth it.
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Rosemary McDermott and her husband, Anthony Minor, discovered that their family records had survived the Hurricane Sandy devastation of Breezy Point, Queens in late 2012.

27. When everything that seems to have been lost is somehow given back.
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Five-year-old Sahil Saeed is reunited with his mother and father after being kidnapped by gunmen in Pakistan in 2010.

28. When the small blue dot we live on reveals its true beauty, and when we'd never think of jumping.
Alex Honnold is an America rock climber who often goes without any safety ropes to catch him if he makes a mistake and falls. The photo above shows him in the middle of a solo free climb of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park in California.
29. Unless jumping means we're going home.
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The highest jump of all time is started by Felix Baumgartner in late 2012. In the 127,851 feet, Baumgartner exceeded the speed of sound.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the subject of the 24th photograph. The man's name is Kevin Berthia.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Trusting God When Life Seems Unfair


Sometimes, I felt life is unfair and when life is getting so harsh, we tend to say God is unfair. As a devout christian and a missionary, it's not easy and even so painful to see those who aren't doing well in life.
In fact, it is frustrating to know when you always hear the sermon in the church telling God is love and yet, you couldn't see the reality of His love but the contrary of what it's to be called love. Poverty is one of the rampant epidemics in the world, which no matter how hard you work for life to survive, still you couldn't get out the brinks of life's impoverishment. The reality is, the poor's getting poorer while the rich's getting richer, wherever you go, sights of life's poorness is still visible and sometimes it became an eyesore to the public's eyes.
I cam across of this blog telling, "When God Seems Unfair".

God is unfair, here’s why…When we see good people suffering and the bad living their full life, when we see a child rapped, when a town is devastated by natural calamities, when innocent people are killed by some lunatic, when your brother or a parent die of cancer even if you prayed your heart out, when you lost your job, when you don’t feel like you deserve what’s going on in your life — we question God, “Are you fair?” Why are these bad things happen to good people?I admit with honesty and sincerity, that I do not hold all the answers and wouldn’t want to try to give absolute answers. True enough, who can? Can we really explain?However, I offer possible answers based on God’s Word itself. Some, “maybe’s” that we can think of.When bad things happen to good people…1. Maybe you’re just a victim of a fallen world. The reality is, the world we live in is sick. It’s dying. In this world, the Bible says, you will face troubles. It guarantees that we do, because we live in a sin-sick world. Why do our love ones get sick, and eventually die? Why would somebody hurt us even if we do good things to them? It’s not your fault. It’s just that we live in a sin filled world and we become victims of it.2. Maybe it’s a direct result of your sin. We would ask God why he allowed us to be financially messed up? Because probably, you loaned a car, a house and purchased the newest iPad even if your income cannot support it. Why wouldn’t your children love you? Maybe because you were out most of the time. Sometimes, we suffer because it is a direct result of our own sin.3. Maybe God has something bigger in mind. I was watching this not-so-good Gerald Butler movie (and yes, we kinda saw that just because it’s a Gerald Butler movie) called “Machine Gun Preacher”. In that part of the movie when he gave his life to God, you would probably rejoice already. But then, right after that, he got laid off as a carpenter and his house got destroyed by a storm. You would think, why would that happen to him considering that those events happen right after he committed his life to God? Isn’t that unfair? But then, because of those two events in his life, a door opened up for him to start his own construction business. When something seems unfair, maybe God is doing something else for your benefit.But here’s the bottom line. Asking the question “Why bad things happen to good people” is a flawed question in the first place. The right question is “Why good things happen to bad people”. The reality is, in the eyes to a holy God, all of us are bad. We are all sinners. And if God is fair, he would have given what our sins deserve. Because he is UNFAIR, he gave us what we do not deserve — love, care, blessings. And for those who accepted Christ as their savior, he gave salvation — we don’t deserve it, we didn’t earn it, we CAN’T earn it, and yet he gave it anyway.Mercy is God NOT giving us what we deserve.Grace is God giving us what we DO NOT serve.God is UNFAIR.
Disclaimer: The following text is owned by Gamboa

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Faces of Life

They said, sometimes one picture can be worth a thousand words or textbooks. And by seeing the face of a person, things can be read without the mouth explaineth.
In my travels, I have had encounter so many people both on road travels & by planes. Staying in a metropolis with a crowded people cannot be barely avoided but meeting different types of people from different walks of life.
What made me so like and appreciated the more about the faces of the people are those who are living in the countryside both locals and abroad.
Their innocence and kindness are very apparent and amazing. The uniqueness & expression of their faces is mesmerizing and appealing too.
It's amazing how their faces give you insight about how life treats them and their happiness in life. Let me share some pictures of different faces that I have encountered in this world.

Devin from Canada





Kevin from Germany










Patrick from Sweden





My pupil - Polly (half French - Polish )


Two Piotreks

David (half British-Polish)


Hector (half French - Polish)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

It's A Hard Life


Life is hard, it really is. Some might not completely trust me with this, but I could feel it and I am with it and I'm experiencing it myself. I don't need to be visible and show my tears of agony proving that I am right but the pain of life's hardship is within crushing me deeply. People might have seen me smiling and laughing, yet, down inside is I'm battered and crying quietly.

February is ending quickly just as the usual months that passed by normally & it seems that nothing happens in my life as I expected it to. I just pray for the strength to endure difficulties, however, seemingly God is closing His ears on me. Been tired of waiting and hoping when there's no seems to hope for.
I have no proper job for 8 months now and my old folks keeps on their knees wishing that I could make it one or so before it's long due. 
So exhausted of anticipating much of my applications that I sent abroad through online,yet, none one has to care of telling me if I'd the chance of getting the slot or not.
I'm still a bit busy and earning a little but all of which are just ample for my personal needs. Long before this update, I just had celebrated my birthday on the Valentine's day, and still I did it normally just as it were from my previous ones. It was a lonely one I had because - like what I said, I don't have a proper job till now. I couldn't make any formal nor have it myself done in style. Yet, thanks to friends for the greetings and Mike O. for the cake.
That reminds me of my birthday celebration in Warsaw, friends back there were the ones who prepared something for me since I kept it hid.