Category Archives: Poems and Writings

No man has the right to deny another of those gifts and freedoms.

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IMG_1156Every morning we wake up to a brand new chance to change our world and the path we are walking through life on. We have another day to start over and change direction along to make amends for our wrongs. We should not only forgive but we should also ask for forgiveness and display our regret for the wrongs we have committed. Once displayed then we should ask for the forgiveness and then move forward knowing we did all we could to make up for the mistake as well as showing  regret for our wrongdoing. We should then forgive ourselves for our shortcomings and begin moving forward in life. Every minute we live is another chance to choose a better path and a chance to change how we interact with the world. During the day there is a constant battle between the heart god blessed us with and the mind the world help program. The love god inspires within us battles the selfish mind for control of our destiny. The good thing is that we do have freewill and can choose to follow one or the other and even both. Of course it is better to choose one for we can only serve one master at a time.

MP900444203The world we live in is constantly bombarding us with conflicting messages and negative images along with immoral themes through modern media. If we see the negative and immoral enough we will become insensitive to it and eventually such insensitivity and tolerance leads to complete acceptance to such things. The problem is, there is no way we could stop all the negativity or immorality in our modern media, but we can make sure we do not become insensitive to it or accept it in any way. We must remind ourselves that even though it has become commonplace that it still is not acceptable and still is wrong. We must teach our young of right and wrong and how not to allow themselves to be mislead by the social acceptance of immoral and negative things. Just because everyone is doing something or says it isn’t wrong anymore doesn’t make it so. We shouldn’t judge others for accepting the wrong, we should just avoid the same traps they fell for. We should also try to get them to see the truth and help guide them away from such illusions. The one thing we must always remember is they have freewill and have the right to believe and live as they choose. God gave every one of us the choice and the right to freewill and no man has the right to deny another of those gifts and freedoms.

Our mind is a collection of ideas and beliefs that we gained through our experiences in life , those ideas and beliefs are a mix of both treasures and garbage.

Raymond Barbier

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All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future.

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MP900426559Seems the person we all judge the hardest is ourselves, We hold ourselves to a higher standard and expect to achieve it. We tend to forgive and overlook other people’s faults and mistakes much easier than our own. We can have compassion for every one around us but we seem to find it hard to have compassion upon ourselves. We need to learn we are also human just like everyone else and we can’t be perfect or without flaw. We must accept ourselves for who and what we are and forgive ourselves for our shortcomings. We always have room for improvement but we must realize we are beautiful and good as we are. We should build upon what we are and not try to destroy that which makes us unique.

We definitely need  to wake up to the reality that we are who we are and that it isn’t that bad being an imperfect human.  It is quite relieving to know we are like everyone else in the fact we are imperfect and make mistakes. We just need to learn from those mistakes and improve what we don’t like in ourselves as well as embrace the light that dwells within. God made all of us the way we needed to be in order to learn the lessons of life he set before us. We can not live in the past or the future because we live in the present and we shouldn’t dwell on what was or what might be. All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future.
MP900399589We need to love ourselves and one another in the same way God and Jesus loves us.We need to accept the grace given and give as much grace as we can to ourselves and others. God gave us the spirit of love, and of a sound mind not of anger or fear and Jesus taught forgiveness and compassion.  For the spirit of love, forgiveness and compassion is not only meant for others but also for ourselves as well. For it is hard to love, forgive or have compassion on others if you can’t even have it for yourself. The sound mind comes with loving oneself and having the compassion to forgive yourself. With a sound mind you will find that there is very little others can say or think about you that will matter much. You will only be concerned with the truth and not of opinions and/or hear say.

 Listen to the heart God blessed you with and not the mind that the world helped program.

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Raymond Barbier

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Where has all the compassion, love and respect gone?

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MP900427611Where has all the compassion, love and respect gone? People seem to be colder at heart and have only interest in themselves. Compassion is a key part of being human and respect is like the super lube of society. Without one or the other the world begins to become chaotic . Seems selfishness and the lack of respect for others is becoming the driving forces of the world we live in. Thing about selfishness is it is the seed to other things such as lust, greed, envy and vanity. I was brought up to respect elders, authority and have compassion for those who are less fortunate and in need. I was also taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of God and no person is greater than another. I never could see how anyone could find pleasure or some kind of satisfaction in causing physical or emotional pain to others. To help others and to make them smile or to make them laugh is the right path to follow and can be quite rewarding emotionally too.

MP900427738It seems Karma does exist in one form another, what you sow you shall reap and what you give you will get back seven fold. So when you show compassion it will be shown to you and when you give hate it will come back to you. It may take years but you always pay for both the good and bad you do in life. I just don’t understand why for some people being compassionate and carrying a heart of love is such a hard thing to do. Is it fear of being considered weak or the chance of being hurt by others? No matter how tough or how compassionate you are, you are going to be hurt from time to time in life its part of being human. It could be they have a deep wound or emotional pain blocking them from becoming what God had planned them to be. I wish everyone could be compassionate, understanding and full of kindness and we all could follow the teachings and examples god gave us through Jesus.

MP900289198There were many great prophets, philosophers and sages god gave man, he gave us great philosophies and examples to follow through them all. He just wants man to be kind, compassionate and forgiving towards each other. Far as the many branches on the tree of life and the many religions spawned on our planet, let each person choose their path and be good to one another. We all have freewill and the right to choose which religion and or faith we want to follow. We shouldn’t force our belief on others or judge them if they choose differently than ourselves. The judgment of who is right and or wrong is God’s alone, not that of man’s. We of different religions and faiths can get along and even be friends, I have many friends that are of different religions and faiths than myself and we have no hatred or distrust between us because of our differences of belief. We have respect for each others beliefs and live with each other in friendship and peace.

“ Learn from the wisdom of the old and the innocent truths of the young.”

Raymond Barbier

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A Middle-aged Man’s Thoughts on Life

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MP900321192 A lifetime sounds like a long time, but it is but a drop of water in the ocean of time. It goes by in a blink of an eye, one minute you’re in high school and the next minute you’re a grandparent or at least old enough to be one. It really does seem just yesterday I was a teen and a day before that I was a child. Life goes by way too fast and there is very little time to appreciate everyone and everything in it. We get so wrapped up in everyday life we don’t even realize that life is flying by. By the time we figure out that life goes by fast we are past the mid part of our life here.  Getting old isn’t so bad at least until teenagers and kids keep pointing it out to you. Just because I am so-called old doesn’t mean I don’t have dreams or that I don’t want to have fun or that I am incapable of doing so. I am pretty much the same person I was when I was 18 to 19 years old just a bit wiser and a little slower to be as compulsive. I have quite a few battle scars from relationships and life’s lessons that I didn’t have back then but still I try to be optimistic.

I guess the funniest part of it all is I went through most of my life never being old enough for one thing or another and now I am too old for a lot of the same things. Seems I missed that right age for everything somehow. Well phooey on all the people who think I am too old to do what I like and the same that think I am to young to have my own opinions and wisdom. I am me and no matter what age I am and will live to be I will live life and enjoy it with all my heart. If I am not the right age or good enough in someone else’s eyes then they don’t have to look. To live life by the opinions and ideals of others isn’t living your own life. To live by what is your own ideals and beliefs is living a full and hopefully  a happy life. Even if it isn’t as happy or as fulfilling as I might want it is still my life and my choice and that is what really matters.

For life goes by quickly and we should enjoy every moment we are blessed to live to see.

Raymond Barbier

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Love – So sought out and so easily took for granted.

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p10053 Love, Such an illusive emotion and such a powerful force. When you are within its warm embrace life is wonderful but when you wander away from it you feel the cold reality of life. Hard to find but so easily given away, impossible to capture but simply surrendered too. So many levels and so many depths, so fleeting yet so eternal. Not just a biochemical reaction and more than just a word. It is so grand you can not see its boundaries and it has no limits. So sought out and so easily took for granted. One of the greatest treasure one could find and the easiest one to give away.

Love has no prejudice, it comes to the rich, poor, powerful and the weak. Love humbles the strong and then it gives strength to the meek. Love has been blamed for the start of wars as well as bringing peace. Such a wonderful thing love can be and it still remains one of mankind’s biggest mysteries.

 

 

Love is the question and it is the answer as well.
Raymond Barbier

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Each day you wake up is but a gift and each night you lay down is a blessing.

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IMG_1085  Each day you wake up is but a gift and each night you lay down is a blessing. Every person you meet can either become your friend or your enemy, so treat strangers with kindness. For you do not know what greatness may be within that stranger you greet or ignore. For every one of us are full of greatness in one way or another. We all have been blessed with our own unique gifts and talents. We should not let them go to waste, we should use them for  the enrichment  of both our life and the lives of others.

The trick is to find those god given talents or gifts, sometimes they are hidden well and other times they can be right under your nose. Usually they will be something you naturally enjoy and excel at but sometimes they are like a fixer upper and need a bit of tweaking before they become complete and fully developed. One of the biggest obstacles is modern day life, it can keep you so stressed and distracted that you unable to focus on what is important.This can keep one from seeing the goodness in life and the world along with keeping you so busy that you have no time to do anything beyond just surviving. Another obstacle is worry, worry does nothing but rob you of your present in order to steal away your tomorrow. Worry tends to fill your mind and take it over leaving no time for you to live or enjoy the moment your living in. You can become so overwhelmed by worry and your fears that they become the only thing you can even think of and focus on.

We need to learn to avoid worrying and how to put aside fear so we can have time to enjoy the blessings we have and the gift of life we have been given. Find happiness in the small things and in your family and/or friends. Respect yourself as well as others and seize the moment for it is only a temporary point in the time stream we live in. Each day you are alive is a gift and should be cherished as such. For there is never a guarantee that tomorrow will come.

 

Time waits for no one and no one can escape time.

Raymond Barbier.

Start looking at the world not only through our own eyes

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006 Living in a society where there is no value to anything, where we want everything and want it yesterday. Sensations both old and new are the fuel and the faster we can get them the more we want them. Addicted to our senses and a slave to our need for stimuli we race forward without taking the time to truly enjoy the world around us. We leave friendships and loves behind us in search of the perfect life, we fall to the deception that is such a thing as a perfect life or a perfect relationship. Too much too fast and we are approaching either an overload or the tragic end to our fast past world. So quick to judge others but slow to see the imperfections in our own lives. We live our lives so quickly and so unaware of the happiness we could obtain as well as the beauty all around us.

Even the children are loosing their innocence way too early, imagination is becoming an extinct quality as well as the ability to see the world in its true majestic form. We allow politics, religions and philosophies to divide our world and keep us from reaching our true potential as a species. It is not our differences that makes us unstable or weak, it is our inability to use those differences as the strength they really are. Our ability to change, adapt and to exchange ideas makes us a very unique and wondrous species. Our lack of tolerance and our inability to truly see each other in a compassionate light leaves us in constant turmoil. We need to start looking at the world not only through our own eyes but through the eyes of others, we must start being more selfless in the way we think and live. Individuality is a good thing but not seeing the whole picture due to only perceiving things though our own eyes  is a path to eventual destruction. We must realize that our personal perception of the world around us is not the only true perception. Reality is the sum of every living creature’s perception of the physical universe.

We need to slow down and smell the flowers, behold the beauty of nature and enjoy the company we are blessed to keep. For if we keep on forging into the future like a speeding bullet we will eventually burn out. Stand as many but as one, seek out the truth of all things and live each day as it may be our last. Loving ourselves and all that is around us, fearing nothing but our own deception. Do right upon others and forgive those who are not wise enough to see the error in their ways. We also should remember to forgive our own short comings for we are all but human. But being human is a grand thing for we are children of the great creator. God gave us life and that in itself makes us special and unique. Each of us were given gifts and abilities, each different from the other but the same in their purpose. We mustn’t waste those gifts not take them for granted. We should use them for the good of mankind and share them with all life.

Very random thoughts that I feel needed to be shared. Right or Wrong they are here for you to read.
Raymond Barbier

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Only god knows and only time can tell.

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IMG_1078fb Where do we go from here? The world is suffering from earthquakes and extreme weather while there is civil unrest happening across the globe. Governments being toppled by both protests and warfare. The people want change from east to west and they starting to act upon their desires. Luckily here in the U.S. we can do it through political channels and also we can create change by utilizing all the media avenues available. The internet gives the people a power to express their concerns and to assemble as a political force like never before. So with all the sever weather, earthquakes and civil unrest in the world, where are we heading?

Seems we are at some kind of crossroads and which way we go depends on the choices the people in power make. With the fact oil is becoming less attractive as a fuel/energy source we desperately need to invest in alternative fuels and energy sources. Solar is the cleanest choice for energy though the current solar cells are still only capture a fraction of the sunlight’s energy. Still a viable energy source but the technology needs to be improved so we can capture higher percentages of the energy coming from the sun. Wind power works well but only when there is sufficient wind speed. Hydropower is the best out of the lot due to rivers are continuously flowing allowing for a constant energy source. This leads to the fact that batteries used to store energy also need to be improved so solar and wind power both can be good alternative energy sources.

The fact all three of the before mentioned power sources are renewable energy sources unlike oil, natural gas or coal they are the best bets for our future energy sources. We still face the problem of transportation and their use of combustible carbon based fuels. Besides the growing cost due to higher demand and that eventually the oil deposits will run dry, the toxic fumes the exhaust of such vehicles is harmful to both earth and the life that lives on it. The only alternatives at this time to petroleum-based fuels are Electric powered vehicles  or using natural gas, hydrogen or a synthetic fuel. Though I have heard of a compressed air powered vehicle being built-in the U.K.

If we survive the present problems in this world we just might figure a more efficient and less toxic or wasteful way to power our homes and  a better way to propel our vehicles. Maybe the civil unrest will bring  more of a positive change than a negative one. Only god knows and only time can tell.

Just a collection of random thoughts.
Raymond Barbier

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Just some random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon.

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p10104  Why is it so many people over seas dislikes western culture and the governmental powers of the western world? Well far as our culture, to a morality based religious culture the western culture would appear to be quite decadent and low in moral standards. Besides the cultural differences there is the past colonization of the middle east by the British and French. Even though all the colonies were dissolved and abandoned the resentment is still there. Then the long dislike between Islam and both Christians and Jewish faiths doesn’t make things any easier between the western and middle eastern powers. Sometimes I believe the west in general seems to interfere too much with the middle east and that keeps mistrust and hatred brewing.  A lot of the tension in the middle east is spawned from the constant debate of the Holy places in Israel. The fact that civilized people can not come to a fair way of sharing the Holy sites. The holy sites do not belong to one religion, they belong to all of God’s children be they Muslim, Jewish or even Christian.

After all we are all followers of the same god regardless the fact that the prophets we choose may be different or we may believe the messiah has already came once or not. Religion put aside there is the presence of military forces in middle eastern countries, even if they are invited by the governments or not they are seen as invaders by some in that region. Places like Iraq and Afghanistan may require our presence for a short while longer but the sooner we pull out and let the active governments stand on their own the better. The fear of a terrorist supporting government taking over or infiltrating the new governments in Iraq or Afghanistan is a waste of time. Regardless of how long you train and support the current governments the fact remains there will always be the risk they will turn terroristic or unfriendly after we leave. Our military presence isn’t going to make any difference on that fact. Plus with a about a decade of military and financial support, both Iraq and Afghanistan should be able to stand on their own by now.

Diplomacy should be the first priority for both the west and the middle eastern powers, both sides need to put their past differences aside for the good of our world. Trust can be earned on both sides if they are both willing to work at it and maybe sacrifice a few things along the way. Peace is always a possibility if both sides are truly willing to work for it. Just think how much money both sides would save and be able to apply to helping the people who are in need. All the money spent by governments and terrorist organizations to wage war could be used to build houses, schools and feed the hungry or heal the sick.

Just some random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon.

Raymond Barbier

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To be stuck in such a vicious cycle

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p10303 I have noticed a lot of people who go through life stuck in a vicious cycle of buying , using and wanting something more. It seems nobody can be satisfied with what they have, they want the newest and best of everything there is. Even when the newest isn’t necessarily better than what they already have. It doesn’t seem to stay just in the materialistic end of the spectrum, it is in every part of the modern psyche. From your house to your soul mate, nothing is ever good enough or there is greener grass on the other side of the fence. To be stuck in such a vicious cycle consumes your finances, energy and your happiness. The temporary gratification from the new wears off quickly leaving you wanting more. It seems modern society is addicted to consumerism and needs to reevaluate its priorities as well as its habits.

We need to revisit the ways of our grandparents and great grandparents, they lived their life in simplicity and only bought mostly only what they needed. They would buy a few luxuries but they knew happiness came from the people around them not trinkets or toys they can buy. There is nothing wrong with buying a few things you want but you should not be consumed with having every new version that comes out. Seems this generation and the generation growing up are stuck with the mentality that everything is disposable and replaceable. Shame is that this is not just limited to possessions, it also includes people in their lives. If a lover isn’t perfect just dump them and get a new one, if grandma is becoming a burden dump her into a rest home. If a friend becomes boring or disagrees with you toss them aside like a used tissue. This kind of mentality is corroding the core of society and eventually there will be nothing sacred or valuable in our world.

Family, friends and community should be the first priority for each one of us, keeping up with the Joneses or having the biggest and newest shouldn’t be a concern. For what makes lasting happiness is in the social groups we form and not in the trinkets we gather along the way. Since life is but a temporary state for all of us, we should live life in peace and loving one another instead of satisfying our selfish wants. I look at it in this way, I am not the only person or living creature on this planet. Thus I am not the center of the universe or even this planet. I share this world with so many and should enjoy the fact I have some great company here on earth. I will not always agree with them all, but I will always accept them as fellow travelers of this path called life.

Wrong or right, This is my 2 cents worth.

Raymond Barbier

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