My New Year's Resolution

Isn't it exciting to come upon a new year. It is like a new beginning almost. You can go back and see your problems, learn from them, and go on. I have some different aspects I wish to change about myself which I wish to discuss.

The first category which I wish to change this year in my realtionship with my Heavenly Father. This year I am going to be more diligent and faithful in reading the Word and in spending time in prayer constantly. I want to be able to feel the prescence of the Holy Spirit like never before. I haven't been a good child towards a holy father. I am going to build myself up to the tempations and the worldly desires. Of course, I cannot have any success without the power of the Holy Spirit.

My second category is my mentality as a whole. I am going to become a more intelligent and well rounded man who uses common sense and thinks through his problems. I want to become a man who reads. I want to learn from the men and women who have come before me by reading them. One can learn so much by reading. I wish to have a set number of books to read for a month. Also, I wish to become more organized and neat. By doing this, I will be able to think more clearly. I want to be able to think without feeling or emotions getting in the way. I am not saying that I do not want to have emotions or feelings, but I do not want them to affect my thinking skills in a negative way.

My third category is my health. I want to become the most healthiest that I have ever been in my life. I want to become a man of exercise and discipline. I want also be the strongest I have ever been. I want to eat corectly which will make me feel better. When I feel more healthy, it will affect my whole self and every area will aprrove.
All of these categories connect--- the mind, spirit and body. I will improve in all these areas which will make me as a person better. All of these improvements are not for myself, but they are for the pupose of the kingdom. Ultimately I wish to become a better citizen of the Kingdom of God.

Experimental Poetry

If I need to talk to someone,
I hear," Yes, son,
Sit on my knee
And talk with me.

If I need to be reassured,
I can be cured,
In your great love,
Love from above.

If I need advice in my life,
Amidst the strife,
I go to you
Who guides me through.

The Return to Asceticism

Many years ago lived an extraordianry man. He spoke to the animals and talked to fire. He begged for food and lived on the streets with nothing but a shabby cloak. His name was St. Francis of Assissi. This man brought a new view upon his world. Bringing back beauty and losing materials was his mission. This man acted as an antidote for his world. Can he act as an antidote for our society?

Francis emphasized the idea of dependence. He stated that we are dependent upon God for our every breath. He viewed the world as hanging upside down, but it wasn't hanging on anything. The only person holding it was God himself. He begged for his daily bread, and he thanked God for providing it through the givers. Today, many people are so independent and self centered that they forget where all their blessings come from. They act as if they built their own wealth, but there is something beyond. They need to return and realize that they are dependent.

Once they realize that they are dependant upon a supernatural being, they will be thankful like Francis. Francis thanked God for all that he had. Because he was dependant upon God for everything, he was thankful for his every belonging which was not much. He was also thankful for the people around him and for creation. He loved to be around nature and animals. He was very thankful for the whole world. Many today don't have this attitude. Why should they be thankful, they weren't given anything, right? Wrong. They actually have been given the most wonderful gift of all. That is Jesus Christ. Maybe they haven't recieved this gift yet.

Since everything thing was a gift for Francis, he saw everthing as beautiful. "A good thing looks better when it is a gift." When your whole life and everything with it is a gift, one will go through life more thankful and happy. Why can't people realize that? Many who have all they ever wanted are not happy at all. They do not understand that everything is a gift.

Francis is a gift today for our world. He is a man that we should all learn from. We should return to the asceticism of the world. Everything should have a wonder about it. Why go through life seeing everything as dull and old. The Lord's creation should make us turn back to him. We should be in awe of this Awesome God. Please look at the world through the eyes of St. Francis.