Finding interfaith similarities

Before the world was created, the Self
Alone existed; nothing whatever stirred.
Then the Self thought: "Let me create the world."
He brought forth all the worlds out of himself:
Ambhas, high above the sky; Marichi,
The sky; Mara, the middle region that is earth;
And Apa, the realm of waters below.

-Aitareya Upanishad



King James Bible:
John: 1.1

In the Beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.


Parallels with the book of Genesis.


This is sooooo cool!

Rewarding bad behavior

Yesterday, my little popo was on the receiving end of some Trini disciplinary action. Hear what happen....
He ate and I decided to let him out of the house so he could run around in the backyard. He has developed a knack for torturing lizards and any other critter in our backyard including the birds. Last i saw, my mom was feeding them (the birds) channa! Anyway, Popo is smart. he likes to dig holes in the yard and no one noticed that he was digging one close to the fence.
I was inside talking to my parents when i noticed him jumping in some shrubs really close to the fence but he wasn't hitting the fence so i saw him back back and jump one more time and then lo and behold, popo was running a marathon in the neighbor's unfenced yard!
Now we live on a really busy street and if you ever notice when your dog get out of your bounds, like they does go deaf too! So popo scoot across the street and all the traffic and ran up to this lady who shooed him away or scared him...either one. One minute I was inside talking to my parents and the other, i heard myslef say, " papo in the neighbor yard!" and i was out the door. i realized what i was doing after i broke through the hedge that separates our house from the neighbor's and was standing barefoot in the middle of the road directing traffic so that no one would bounce down my dog.
Popo was running to people's yard and marking territory like his bladder was a ten gallon tank! Jeez! Finally, he ran into this yard and right up to the people's door and heard what sounded like two very big dogs barking inside and the owner cussing like crazy. I think that's when popo got scared and he sat down right after he lay claim to the people tree and all! i grabbed my popo and the first thing that came out of my mouth while i was hitting him...and out of the yard...
me: "you dotish? what does wrong wit you? you does get crazy ah what?"
so i'm hitting him and he feel he bad, he start to bite and scratch me! so my mom said something that made me almost drop popo and start laughing.
my mom: "doh hit him on the road...yuh want people to call animal cruelty on we? wait til he come inside!"
as soon as we entered the yard, from nowhere, popo got a trini style cuta$$ from my mom. well after the first lash, i brakes for him and tell her to stop. popo stop biting and scratching forthwith! he slept for the rest of the evening until furgie came home and poor fella, when she came home, she took him to the hole he dug and hit him too. needless to say, he fought back. so later on in the night, i went to walmart and bought him a toy because really, my popo doesn't get lix for anything. I make sure about that and he looked so sad in his cage. Lo and behold, tonight, like christmas for popo still because furgie went and get another toy for him...and cookies! If i was popo, i would think that the more i run out of the yard, the more toys for me! but at the same time, i don't think anyone will forget a cuttail from my mom either!
i guess i realized that snowflake means a lot more to us that what we could imagine. the first thought that went through my head yesterday was not for my safety but all through, even when the two big dogs were barking, i was thinking about his well being. it's amazing how this one life can mean so much. part of the reason he got so much lix was simply because we wanted him to remember that he cannot run out on the road and believe me, he will get the same if i ever catch him playing with a frog!

Oiling the thinking wheels.......

After reading a fellow blogger's blog (heh heh), I started to think. What is it that makes us human? Can we call ourselves human if we refuse to think? And I mean think logically. Why, of all the million creatures inhabiting this earth, are we human? What is religion if it isn't just a set of beliefs that keep us in check? Why do we as humans, choose to follow leaders and be led blindly like sheep when we are capable of thinking for ourselves? Is it because it hurts our brain to think? Is it because we are made to believe that as long as there is food and water, and an occasional miracle, we can allow ourselves to be led by other people's ideas?

Peeved at CNN!

Sometime ago, I resolved to stop looking at the news. It was depressing and not only that but i was thinking too much about the reports long after the news broadcast. I was doing well too but the sad reality is that you can never really escape the news....especially when there is so much hype and so much fear that the news reporters instill in us.
Just two days ago, a bridge collapsed in the Mississippi river and almost sixty cars went down in the river below. Some people died and some are still missing. I have a lot of problems with the way how major news stations reported this. Once again, i have to thank CNN for striking the fear of God in me.....Thanks a lot CNN!
First of all, let me say how i managed to watch the news. See, i do well at home. My mom's favorite station is CNN but I know when she is watching the news, i go play with Snowflake outside. He's much more entertaining. However, yesterday, i had to go to the bank. While waiting for a Customer Service Representative (had to wait for an hour!!!!), I saw news clips between advertisements for home equity loans, etc. Major news flash across the screen....."Officials say x000 (x represents a number between 1 and 9) bridges in the US are structurally deficient."
WTF??????!!!!!!!!!
Don't we pay taxes for these things to be fixed? You know, things like levys to prevent major floods, bridges, roads.........Once again, I would really love to know where my tax money goes to.

This morning while taking my mom to work, she was asking me,
my mom: " can you imagine what those people felt or thought of when they were falling in the river?"
me: "no ma. I don't know.'
my mom: " you know if they were calm, they could get out of their seatbelts and maybe paddle up to the surface."
me: "yeah ma, but in florida they tell us all the time how to do that because of the canals."
my mom: "and then if a car was on top of their car in the water....."
me: "i know."
my mom: "and they say that the bridge and them are dangerous...a lot ah them too!"
me: " yeah, but they supposed to have additional support, ma, and this bridge didn't have it."
my mom: "what about the one in key west?? and that one is over the sea!"
me: "that's a new bridge though....."
In my head I added, "i hope." My mom's job is tough....worrying. I like traveling over bridges. It fascinates me.

After, I dropped my mom off, I crossed.....AND HAD TO STOP in traffic under a bridge and i found myself praying and hoping that the blasted bridge didn't fall on my head with the weight of the traffic. I wondered if the bridge was "structurally deficient" and let me tell you, that was a looooooooooooooooong, excruciating 20 seconds of my life! Did CNN do it's job? Hell yes! I was scared. the fearmongering is unbelievable.

In mid July, I left my job at the mall. One week later, I was hired at a job fair for teachers in our county. I will be teaching at a high school in the fall. I am actually really excited that i will be working in my field and teaching kids all that I know in biology. I've learned many techniques on classroom management but what am i thinking about???? Remember Virginia Tech? yeah...... Should I be afraid? I guess not. but should i be cautious? yes....but how much so??? What is a life if it is lived in fear?


While in my teacher training, I drifted off topic and by happenstance, I clicked on the Trinidad Express. Why I did that, I do not know.....I should learn to pay attention in class. Anyway, the front page news carried an article about a mother who lost five of her six children in a car crash in Virginia. All Trinis. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like hearing that news. Later on, the Sunday news reported that the father suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital. The ages ranged from 25-11. A friend who was also traveling with the siblings died. I thought of last year when the four friends died and my parents went to the wake and they walked from one house to the other. And i thought of my friend Darsh, who died on July 13...one day after his 21st birthday. It's been four years.