The Search

It seems that there is a lot of turmoil and disasters happening everyday. There is a financial crisis worldwide, everyone is (or should be) trying to find a way to make things better for their families as well as themselves. Everyone seems to be trying to find answers. Where do you search to find solutions for the many questions we face in life? Where do you go to find peace? Searching within yourself will give you all the answers you are looking for. There is a light in all of us we are born with it, there is an undeniable spirit in us all. Soul searching is what we all do at one time in our lives. Truth abounds in us all, it's facing that truth that sometimes leaves us confused. The worst thing any of us can do is lie to ourselves, self evaluation is probably one of the toughest things we have to face in our lives. It will sadden us or make us happy. Being a nurturing parent I tell my kids to never lie to themselves. If you are totally honest to yourself I believe life becomes simpler. Always search yourself with honesty and humility and a peace will come upon you that you never thought could happen. A warmthness will occur that will surprise you. With all the seemingly impossible obstacles around us that we face in our lives the search within ourselves will always bring a solution to whatever turmoils and troubles we face. We just have to remember that when we do need a solution all we have to do is the search.

My Son Asked What Is Patriotism?

My son is 13 yrs. old and he had a school assignment, his assignment was to write a paper about what patriotism meant to him. He told me about his paper and I asked him, "what does it mean to you?" (I was thinking to myself he doesn't even know what the word means) He actually told me he didn't know what the word meant. I asked him, "how can you write about it if you don't know what it means?" He thought about it for a long time and the following is his paper:

When this assignment was given concerning patriotism I didn't know what patriotism meant. I told my dad I had to write a paper on patriotism and he asked me if I knew the definition of the word patriotism. I told him no. He said that my paper would better if I knew what the word meant. I went to the dictionary and I looked up the word and the definition was, "Love that people feel for their country." I thought to myself do I feel that way.  I love my mom, I love my dad, I love my brother, I love my grandparents. and I love video games. I wondered do I feel the same way about my country. I really thought about this and that made me start asking questions about patriotism to my family and friends. I asked them what was patriotism. I didn't quite understand all of the answers, but the answer that got my attention the most I will share.

Patriotism to most of the people I asked did represent the country except they talked about it in terms of the earth. They told me when you feel something in your heart  you would be willing to make sacrifices for it. It's something you are proud of and that you would never want to be without it.

 I thought about this for a long time before I started writing this paper. I though what do I feel passionately about in my heart? What do I feel proud of and what would I be willing to sacrifice for? When I thought about it the answer was so clear to me. I feel all of that for God. When I told my dad he said that made sense because every country on earth belongs to God and who better to be patriotic to. I'm not old enough to really understand what love of country is, but I have known for a long time the love I have for the Lord. If this is how patriotism is suppose to feel I know when I am old enough to understand it I will welcome it with all my heart.