A leper's thanksgiving

Ten men silhouetted along the low ridge called to the leader of a small band below: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."

Bartholomew glanced up. Lepers, he thought. Ragged, pitiable lepers. From the time their skin disease was diagnosed, they were cut off from society, forced to live on their own in caves or huts away from towns. A fortunate few had relatives who would leave food for them, but many had no one. They weren't allowed close enough to beg for a living. Ragged, thin, rejected. Lepers. Even the word spoke an icy finality.

"Have mercy on us!"
Their pleading cut through Bart's thoughts. Jesus was cupping his hands now, and calling across the low valley which lay between the road and the ridge where the lepers stood. His voice rang out sharp and compelling in the stillness of the morning.

"Go! Show yourselves to the priests!"
The lepers looked at each other. You only went to the priests if your leprosy was gone. Only the priests could issue a clean bill of health so you could return to your family.
As they held up their decayed limbs, they were asking, "Why go unless we're healed?" They looked over to Jesus again, but he was conversing with Peter and John, and they didn't catch his eyes.
But then Bart heard a shout, a cry of exaltation, a loud eerie call that filled the valley and bounced off the hills: "I'm healed! I'm whole. My leprosy is gone! It's gone!"

Bart looked around in time to catch a smile at the corners of Jesus' mouth. The healing hadn't occurred as the lepers stood looking and wondering. It had taken place as they had begun to obey Jesus' words. "As they went" they were healed.

Suddenly a lone figure broke from the circle of rejoicing ex-lepers. He bounded over the little creek and raced towards them, rags fluttering behind him. He sped toward Jesus and then landed on his knees before the Master in a cloud of fine dust.
He spoke just a phrase -- "Thank you, Master" -- in a sort of broken accent, the accent of Samaria. Then he just knelt there sobbing.
Jesus spoke now, not really to the leper, but beyond him somehow, as if to the whole world. "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

Bart's mind spun. He thought of the countless times God had answered his prayers, provided for his family, given him work, healed his sickly daughter. How often had he really said "Thanks"? Too often he had taken these blessings for granted, rejoicing in his good fortune, but seldom racing back to the Giver with a word of heartfelt thanks on his lips.

As the man knelt, Jesus' hand instinctively rested on his head, blessing, and at the same time stroking and smoothing the tangles left from years of sojourn. Jesus wept as he caressed the man's head, tears making rivulets down his cheeks into his beard.
Bart looked up. The leper band was now heading off towards the priests' village. They had received physical healing, indeed, but the man at Jesus' feet had received a healing of his whole person. As Jesus helped him up, he said, "Rise and go. Your faith has made you whole."

The newly-whole Samaritan embraced Jesus. Then they stood there for a moment looking at one another -- smile meeting smile. The gift of healing had sent him the message of God's love, but thanks had brought him home.
This is a fictional retelling of the story found in Luke 17:11-17.

The Origin of Silent Night

Tonight is Christmas Eve and St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, north of Salzburg, will be chock-full of people. Father Joseph Mohr has a homily in mind, a message for his flock on this sacred night, but he needs a carol, something special to cap off the service.Silent night, holy night,All is calm, all is bright...The words won't go away. "I need a tune!" he says out loud, shaking his head. "I wonder if Franz can help me. I hope it's not too late." Franz Gruber is the schoolteacher in the nearby village of Arnsdorf -- a gifted musician, organist at the Arnsdorf church, and occasional substitute organist at St. Nicholas. "Franz will help me!" he says to himself. "He can't resist a musical challenge."Franz Gruber, Schoolteacher and OrganistQuickly now he slings on his heavy coat, dons a fur cap and gloves, and ventures into the brisk December morning. The snow is crunchy underfoot as he makes his way across the churchyard towards Arnsdorf, just a 20 minute walk. "Silent night, holy night ... silent night, holy night." The rhythm of the words echoes with each step.Elizabeth opens the door at his knock. "Father Mohr, how nice of you to stop by. Franz will be glad to see you." She takes his coat and ushers him in. Franz is picking something out on his guitar."Franz, remember that poem I told you about: 'Silent Night'?" says Mohr. "I know it's too late to ask, but could you help put a tune to it? I want to sing it tonight for Christmas Eve."Gruber's face lights up. A challenge. A song. He takes the lyrics from the priest and begins to say them over and over, looking for a cadence. Then he hums a line and scratches it down.Mohr soon tires of the process and begins to play with the children. But within an hour or so, Gruber seems to have a melody and is working out the chords on his guitar. "Father, how does this sound?" he calls and begins to sing the words:Silent night, holy night,All is calm all is bright...He stops to make a correction in the manuscript, and then continues:...'Round yon virgin, Mother and Child,Holy infant so tender and mild,Sleep in heavenly peace!Sleep in heavenly peace!Father Mohr is ecstatic. On the second verse Gruber's deep voice is joined by Mohr's rich tenor. Elizabeth, baby on her hip, who has been humming along, now joins them on the last verse. The song fills their home with its gentle words and memorable melody.New Year's Eve at St. Nicholas Church, Oberndorf, 1818That night, December 24, 1818, the song fills St. Nicholas Church at Midnight Mass. Mohr sings tenor, Gruber bass, and the church choir joins the refrain of each verse, while Mohr accompanies on the guitar. By the time the last notes die away, the worshipers are a-buzz with joy and wonder at the song. On Christmas Day, the song is being hummed and sung in dozens of homes around Oberndorf. "Silent night, holy night."And in Oberndorf, they would sing their beloved carol again and again each Christmas. The song might have stayed right there had it not been for an organ builder named Karl Mauracher, who came to repair the pipe organ at Arnsdorf in 1819 and made several trips to Oberndorf over the next few years, finally building a new organ for St. Nicholas in 1825.The Song Finds Its Way to Emperors and Kings -- and to AmericaWhether Mauracher found the music and lyrics on the organ or they were given to him by Gruber, we don't know. But he carried the song to the Ziller Valley east of Innsbruk, where he shared it with two local families of travelling folk singers, the Rainers and the Strassers, who began to sing it as part of their regular repertoire. The following Christmas of 1819, the Rainer Family Singers sang "Stille Nacht" in the village church of Fügen (Zillertal).Three years later they sang it for royalty. Emperor Francis I of Austria and his ally Czar Alexander I of Russia were staying in the nearby castle of Count Dönhoff (now Bubenberg Castle). The Rainer Family performed the carol and were invited to Russia for a series of concerts.In 1834 the Strasser Family Singers sang "Silent Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia. He was so taken with what the Strassers called their "Song of Heaven," that he commanded it to be sung by his cathedral choir every Christmas Eve. It spread through Europe and in 1839 the Raniers brought the song to America as the "Tyrolean Folk Song." Since then it has been translated into over 300 languages and dialects.Various English translations blossomed, but the definitive English version of the song was penned by Rev. John Freeman Young and first published in The Sunday-School Service and Tune Book (1863).Why Is "Silent Night" So Popular?Why has "Silent Night" become our most beloved carol? Is it the words -- tender, intimate, gentle? Or the tune -- so peaceful, so memorable, so easy to play or pick out with one hand on the piano?It is not a joyous, fast-paced carol like Handel's "Joy to the World." Nor theologically-rich like Charles Wesley's "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." Nor does it have a complex tune like "Angels We Have Heard on High."Rather, "Silent Night" is quiet and reflective, calling us to meditate on the scene. It is the ambience conveyed by both the gentle words and melody that create from this carol an oasis of peace."All is calm, all is bright."It calls us to dwell on the Madonna and Child --"'Round yon Virgin, mother and Child,Holy Infant, so tender and mild,Sleep in heavenly peace."You feel as the "shepherds quake at the sight." You can imagine as "heavenly hosts sing Alleluia." And you begin to sing "Alleluia to the King" right along with them.Rays of backlit brilliance highlight many a religious painting, but here the picture of light is painted in words:"Glories stream from heaven afar....""Son of God, love's pure light,Radiant beams from Thy holy face...."Just Who is in this manger? What is the significance of this birth? What is Christmas about -- really? Perhaps most of all, "Silent Night" is beloved because it reminds us in its simple, but exceedingly clear way, the truth behind it all -- the truth that changes everything:"Christ, the Savior is born!"Sing it again this Christmas and let its gentle peace wash over you and its bold assertion renew your soul."Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!"Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!"While the first few paragraphs of this story have been fictionalized, the historical events are true. Joseph Mohr (1792-1848) wrote the words to "Silent Night" in 1816 while priest at Mariapharr. On Christmas Eve 1818, he asked his friend Franz Gruber (1787-1863) to write the tune for Mass that evening at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf where Mohr had been assigned in 1817. I've been careful to rely on recent historical research into the origin of the carol, much of it gathered since 1995, when a manuscript of the carol in Mohr's hand was found, dated 1820-1825. Some of the most helpful (and accurate) information sources are: Bill Egan's Silent Night Museum, Egan's article "Silent Night: The Song Heard 'Round The World," "Silent Night, Holy Night -- Notes," Hyde Flippo's "Silent Night and Christmas," the Stille Nacht Gesellschaft by Manfred Fischer, director of the Silent Night Museum and Chapel in Oberndorf, Austria.

Preserve a marriage by using this 7 letter Phrase

Marriage, we sure understand the word; but in general, it is like a thing that a person must have before he or she will leave this world, even if the latters belief of its being sacred is only very small. Many of the marriages today are in a gloomy situation. The husband or the wife have hidden affairs, not the affair that is Godly, but one that is dedicated to the flesh. Now, what if this said thing corrupts the relationship between a husband and a wife, is there any hope for them to refresh that once blissful feelings of love they had? of course, there is always hope. How? by using the 7 letter phrase, with honesty and sincerity. What do you think is that phrase? Don't bother to think of the phrase, I will give it to you. It is the phrase "I am sorry".

Why Others Don't Celebrate Christmas

As we grow in age, our beliefs also change, most often. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. Before, I don't have any interest of knowing why others don't celebrate christmas, but now, I do. The reason is, we can understand others more by knowing what's behind their minds. Here are a few reasons why others don't celebrate christmas. The first reason, because Christmas is not in the Bible. Based on that declaration, they further state that God did not expect any of us to do the celebration, and there is no celebration whatsoever that was done in the Bible dedicted to Jesus' birth. Second reason, Jesus was not born on December 25. Indeed this is true. Third reason, Christmas celebration is a recycled pagan celebration, and because it has a pagan origin, God abhors it.Ok, there are many more, but that is enough to give you a taste of why others don't celebrate christmas.

Do You Believe Christmas?

This month is December, the end of 2009. We often hear the phrase "Merry Christmas", it is a common thing, but do you really believe Christmas? Of course, you do, right? Almost all the people breathing in this planet believed Christmas; but not the same Christmas. That's the distinct difference. Others thought of Christmas as a festival, a theory, a story not real, but only a celebration of giving. Unlike to some, who believed christmas in relation to that small baby boy, lying in a manger, and later died on the cross. The latter is the son of God in human form. Yes, it is a celebration, a celebration of gratitude, because God in heaven has given man an opportunity to connect to God through Jesus Christ his son.

English Skill is an Advantage

When I was in the elementary ( am talking about an educational level) I learned english because it is required. Then came highschool, I continue to learn english just enough to understand textbooks. However, as years pass by, specially now that am a full fledged adult, I observed that good english speaking and writing is an advantage. I remember a recent talk with an australian friend, he said that he is a regular letter writer of a Saudi guy who is giving him $20 dollars per letter. The surprising thing is, the letter is just a simple one. It is indeed an advantage to be a good writer and speaker of the english language. I admit I still need to learn more, and that is what am doing at the moment. If you are good in english, try to make friends with others around the world, you can use it to open opportunities that others without your ability can only dream about.

Climate Change

Do you agree with what others say, that the world is changing? I guess you do. The world is really changing, in many ways. Try to look back on how the people dress themselves 40 years ago. You can easily spot the difference. Their hair, their life style, their music...etc. Well, the things just mentioned changed because people did it; in other words, they intend to change it. However, there is a change that is apparent at present, that is beyond our control. Did you notice the climate? It has changed too in many countries. In the philippines, you can hardly predict the time where you can enjoy a real hot summer season, because most often, it is warm in the morning but cold and rainy in the afternoon.

The Boxing King - Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao is a household name, not just in the Philippines, but in many parts of the world. He came from a humble beginning; However, talent respects no race and status in life. Manny is a rare and unique person. His talent, coupled with a lot of trainings, lifted him from an ordinary to an extraordinary athlete that he is today. Reigning as the king in seven boxing divisions is not an easy task. Well, many of us have potential talents and skills that are sleeping, let us wake them up and let them live. Each one of us is good in a certain thing, don't let that talent die. Feed it and let it dance for others to admire.

Can you vote this 2010 presidetial election?

If you are a filipino, residing in the Philippines, most likely you are going to vote this coming Presidential election in 2010. However, there are those who have not voted in the previous election or elections and are not sure if they can still vote. To make that verification easier. Click here, type your name and birthday, then you can see your status if you are active and can still vote. Try it, share it with friends too.

Different faces of Philippine's Jeepney

A Jeepney is one of the most used vehicle for passengers in the Philippines. Almost every province has a passenger's jeepney running on its road. I experience riding on that public transportation a lot of times. However, there are times when doing so exasperates me, because the driver allows the people to crowd, not just the inside of it, but the top of the vehicle as well. Anyway, people do things differently in various countries, that is how others are doing with their jeepney in the Philippines.

Dealing with difficult customers

If you are in business or in the said selling activity, no matter how hard you try to please your customers, there will be times that a seemingly conflicting situation will arise. You can't really avoid it one hundred percent. Nevertheless, there are ways to appease the clients feelings. First, if you are wrong, admit it humbly, and apologize. Second, dont take it personally. Meaning, always remember that his or her dissatisfaction is not on you, but on the service or product you are selling. Third, if the customer is wrong, don't correct him straightway as to embarrass him. You must give room to save his or her face. Also, the correction must be indirect; for instance, you might say "Yes sir or yes maam, I understand, I might be wrong with my opinion, but it is like this...etc". Fourth, make the event a learning experience. Try to think what aspect of it you failed, and how did you make it right. In the future, you are in a better position to handle similar complaints. The last but not the least, try to study the art of negotiation. Observe other businessmen, and if you can, learn by listening to others who are successful.

Dream Again

...The picture you are viewing is a house not enjoyed by an average income earner. Many of us dreamed of staying in a house, so beautiful, and comfortable as the one in the photo. However, as the days passed by, and as we earned more years in this earth, our excitement to dream have most often waned.

.

...Is it possible to dream again? inspite of the bleak situation we are in? Yes, and that is the right thing to do. Sometimes, I don't want to dream, because of my past experiences. But the past is past, we can't rewind the time. Let's forget the past instead, geared our strength to the future. Let's dream again. Look at the house, that kind of house will be yours, if your dream will come true. Dream again. Yes, dream again.