| Subject: Where To This Time |
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mb for CFK
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Date Posted: Mon, Jan 19 2009
Figure 1: The hard work follows, after the celebrating. Let us pickle those smiles with steely support.
“Lead… and I will follow.” This pronouncement carries a ton of questions shrouded with doubt and fear. There is only one true call, one true call indeed that sees the light of dawn. “Pick up your cross and follow me.” If indeed, one is truly committed to his calling, he must heed this call. Be instruments of justice – justice for all men; spread justice for all men – this is the message of brother. This is the summons that required the Son of God to give up heavenly glory to assume human form, be humbly born only to be tortured to death by the very creatures he rewarded with all of his creation. To die ignominiously in the hands of his sinful, fallen creatures is unthinkable. But he did it anyway… all in the name of LOVE.
To be in the position that he is in now, President-elect Barack Obama has never intended to simulate occurrences surrounding Christ’s mission. But I dare say he is one of God’s chosen. He was called to duty at this most critical time. The circumstances of his early life prepared him for this. He was not a model child, nor was he a budding teenage idol or leader. He was, like most of us, the normal kid experiencing the highs and lows of youth. All those times, the thought of becoming the 44th president of the greatest nation on earth, which he will be this Tuesday, was far from his wildest imagination. But it came, not early on, but later, when he finally decided the only way to make a real difference is to serve the poor. He chose the underprivileged regions as his core site of service. He chose to be a community organizer, the primary goal of which job was to rally the residents to become assertive and engaged members of their respective communities.
But just like the composer of the song “Amazing Grace”, John Newton, who wrote the song after a series of life changing experience, BO got his call to greatness by the same token. His is the story of ordinary people – they who get tested, cleansing and reinforcing from everyday struggles, fought perseveringly and tenaciously. He lost his mother to cancer at a young age. He grew up in a fatherless family. He lost his absent father shortly after he lost his mother. The pathetic mental and physical state of his father at the time of death must have devastated him terribly. All these trials and pains led him to the decision of his lifetime – be someone who can make a difference.
Undoubtedly, as he awaits his inauguration day, he is faced with the stark truth that he was summoned to make not only any difference, but THE difference. This must have held his mind captive for some time now. Does he have the magic wand that will heal the ailing nation… and the ailing world? He doesn’t! But he has the make, the grit and the composure to make things happen. (However, he was still abundantly blessed, what with grandparents who staked much of life’s conveniences to raise him up; and he was absolutely very appreciative of them, particularly, of his grandma.)
To sidetrack temporarily, take for instance the situations surrounding the election of Abraham Lincoln. He was smoothly cruising on a four-term Congressional seat as a representative of his county, Sangamon, only to end this political trip with one oratorical explosion. He made just this one utterance, and boom! It stirred an outrage of national magnitude. (“God of heaven has forgotten to defend the weak and innocent, and permitted the strong band of murderers and demons from hell to kill men, women, and children, and lay waste and pillage the land of the just.”) After this highly controversial outburst, his political career was over. Consequently, he decided to temporarily leave the political arena and go into private practice as Prairie lawyer. It was a career pregnant with landmark victories. One of them gained him so much publicity, that it attracted once again public admiration. This was a case filed by the owner of a steamboat that collided with a bridge over the Mississippi River, a bridge built by Rock Island Railroad between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa to facilitate trade between the northern and southern Mississippi dwellers. Suing for damages, the steam boat owner claimed the bridge was a peril to navigation. Lincoln argued in court for the railroad and won, removing a costly impediment to western expansion by establishing the right of land routes to bridge waterways .Episodes of this caliber proved Lincoln was a man of great wisdom, will and guts. He worked his way once again into politics through his brilliant law practice as a defense lawyer. And he never camouflaged his passionate hatred of slavery, as embodied in these words:
The Act has a declared difference, but as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world – enables the enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites – causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity, and especially because it forces so many really good men amongst ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty - enables the enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites - criticizing the Declaration of Independence, and insisting that there is no right principle of action but self-interest.
I am not surprised BO chose to ride the trains to Washington, D.C. just like AL did. As I watched him today via TV, riding that fateful train to the nation’s capital, with his wife, Michelle, the Bidens, and the rest of the passengers, I shared his joy at witnessing such adulation from the street crowds, hands waving, as his train coursed by. His face was beaming as he addressed the waiting throngs in Delaware and Baltimore. He surely deserves the treatment! (Say what you think about the left-wing media manipulation that spearheaded his campaign to the finish, but I can only say that they were instruments of fate. I am a firm believer that when fate calls, it always takes the theatrical approach!) It is history in the making and messages are all over the walls. As some commentators of the event pointed out, BO rode the train to rally people to get engaged, i.e., be part of the recovery we all need. He rode the train to send people the message, that should Congress vacillate supporting his proposed solutions, the people will intervene for him and fight for him by imposing their wills on law makers.
I repeat, BO desrves the celebration the nation is presently according him as he awaits his inauguration and holds his inauguration – the country exudes with hope for the future. Knowing what is in store for him, I sincerely admire the man. He has a humongous mountain to push along perilous terrains. As he said today, he cannot do it alone. He needs everybody to initiate change within and spead out that change. He said it is a shared journey with us the people. He will make mistakes, but the mistakes will be rectified wisely and calmly. He is counting on each and everyone. We, the American people want him to succeed. We know that his success is our success, and all benefits of his success will pour in abundance to us the American people. (When did we fail as a people? Past the Pearl Harbor bombing, past the 9/11 massacre, past the Katrina catastrophe, past any trial, we are still here, all in one piece. Take heart fellow Americans. Nothing is going to break us as a people. THESE TOO WILL PASS, AND WHEN IT WILL, WE WILL BE SOLID AS ROCK, NO DOUBT.)
Let me digress a little here. That US Air plane crash into the Hudson River was part of America’s THE moment. Everything is finely and pristinely woven into the fabric of this historic moment. For has it ever been a murky message that someone is in control? He sits the right people to carry his wishes. Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger, the pilot of the fated plane was put there for just that purpose. In the intricacies of universal events, who would strategiclly lodge that flock of Canadian geese in the pathway of the plane at that exact moment in time? Do we even realize how much free space there was in the heavens? It is almost zero probabilty that those specific pathways of flight will converge. But they did! Perplexing? Or merely coincidental? For most believers, such was a miracle, a miracle that delivered one timely and universal message – man is dealt with something within his capacity to control. This miracle we witnessed, and the world too, was testimony that with the right man at the reins, even the seemingly impossible will happen. (The same was true with 9/11. God put the right man to pull us through, unscathed; this president gave us the unconditional commitment to prevent the occurrence of a similar happening. He delivered this, without qualms. Any normal thinking American can swallow bigotry, bias, pride, or even hatred, to accept this fact. He was the right man at this point in time.) The seasoned pilot dived into grimy waters to save ALL one hundred fifty-six passengers. All 156 passengers, mark that!
Barack Obama will lead us to safe grounds. What he lacks he has augmented with a rock solid Cabinet. He will be strong because we are behind him. He also has surrounded himself with the best of the very best the nation can boast for. He is only human, so let us not expect smooth sailing always. In weakness, let us be his cratch, his cushion, his harbor light, and his power house. The worst we can do is to assassinate his character and expose him to even greater pain by broadcasting to the world his blemishes and blunders.
We all gang up together to vanquish whatever is ailing our country. Erase any form of divisiveness in Congress and work to expedite solutions for common good. Democrats and Republicans alike must transcend divides to get us through these tough times. Everything of the past is water under the bridge. All we can do is to pick up the lessons and sprint away.Today, if we own up to mistakes and right them, and we are convinced we are in this together, we can move on and heal faster. The ultimate fountain of empowerment has provided us with the right tools, and it is up to us to pick them up and put them to use.
Barack Obama does not only need our good wishes and prayers for success, for his administration’s success; he, most importantly, needs as to carry the cross with him to save our country and the world. Let us all join him in this momentous journey.
Figure 2: Potential to Unfold
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- Maymaysa kadi nga tao ti agsursurat nga CFK ken Silaw? Agpada ngamin ti style da... (NT) -- Agdamdamag laeng, Mon, Jan 19 2009
- Good read. I learn something about history today and I am more optimistic and inspired what lies tomorrow. (NT) -- Hope, Mon, Jan 19 2009
- Will "try to pickle those smiles with steely support", whatever that means. (NT) -- ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Mon, Jan 19 2009
- APO , NO KUMA KARGA ITI DYARYO , KOMIKS ,READER'S DIGEST WENNO TIK -TIK DAGITA NGA TOPICS KET SAAN YO KUMA MET NGA I -PO -POST SEN TA MAKAPADOLING ITI KINA-ATIDDOG NA ! AGBAS-BASA KAMI MET APO TA KAN - KANAYO NAK NGA NAKA - STAMBAY IDIAY FEATI UNIVERSITY IDI ! (NT) -- ONGPIN BOY, Tue, Jan 20 2009
 Saan ko nga maawatan no apay nga agsermon kayo iti maipanggep ti obseesion you kennin Apo Obama! No koma ta abababa iti panangeyebkas yo tay rikriknaenyo Apo CFK, tapno adda met lugar ti post mi, aya. Doble doble met la ngarud iti ibagbagayo nga topic...isi met la nga isu ti kayat na nga sawen! MD Boys (NT) -- Mario Flores (Nalastug tay nengneng a pawikan!), Fri, Jan 23 2009
- KET URAY LA NAG-CRACK TAY ANTIOCOS KO NGA NANGBASA DAYTOY NGA POSTING,INTERO AGMUKAT DA TAON ITI KAATIDDOG NA,LIBRE ITI AG POST APO NGEM USELESS NO ATTIDDOG LAUNAY TA AWAN ITI MAKASANGO NGA MANGBASA,YOU ARE JUST WASTING YOUR TIME,NO NGAY KUMA NAG-EXERCISE KA LA KUMAN ISU PAY IKUTTONG MO... (NT) -- POCALIKTIK MOVEMENTS, Wed, Jan 28 2009
 Saan nga pumasa daytoy ti uray ania nga newspaper CFK .Apay kunam? (NT) -- KFC Editor., Wed, Jan 28 2009
- Saan ko nga naplas nga basaen ta makatak-kiac ti kina-attidog na (NT) -- Taga Pula, Wed, Feb 04 2009
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How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
DEAR PAO
angaw laeng apo
Coping Up... Raising Our Children
