STEPHEN, THE SMALL FISHERMAN

We all know St.Peter was known as the Big Fisherman. He was an illiterate fiserman appointed by Jesus to catch men and St.Peter did a commendable job. He even died crucified upside down.

Meet Stephen, a small fisherman. He has been fishing for 40 years. He has no money to repair his boat. The bank is not prepared to lend him money. He has a wife and two grown up children—one girl and a boy. Both are working but they are not earning enough money. Sometimes they go without food. He says he is used to hunger. He says that the BIG MAN(GOD) knows whom to give and whom not to give. He has no complaints about his life.
What astonished me was that he undertakes to pay for the Church Feast once in 7 or 8 years. When I asked him how he can find the money, he laughed and told me that the BIG MAN will provide. I was shocked. But he has tremendous faith in THE BIG MAN.
Once he did not get a catch for several days. He was in great difficulties. He was very upset. He went to the Church and told God that he will not come to the Church again. As he came out of the Church a cobra stood in his way and was ready to strike him. When he put his foot forward, the cobra came forward. When he stepped back the cobra also went back. He did this several times and suddenly he realised that he had offended God. He went running back to the Church, fell on his knees and asked God for forgiveness. When he came out of the Church the cobra had vanished. Do you think this is his supertition or a figment of his imagination? Any way my hairs stood on end when I heard this story.
Look at his hard tough hand

At the end of our conversation I gave him Rs.20 to have some tea. He told me that he did not talk to me because I will give him money. I told him that I would have had tea with him myself if there was a tea shop close by and therefore I requested him to take the money. He graciously accepted it and walked away with a grateful smile.

IN A DILEMMA

Hi Friends:)

Greetings:)

My laptop stopped working and I gave it for repairs. The repairer told me that it will be necessary to change the motherboard. The cost of the motherboard will be Rs.12000. Even if I change the motherboard the laptop will be old except for the motherboard. So instead of changing the motherboard at this exorbitant cost, I am thinking of buying a new laptop.

I have saved numerous photos and various other details for my future posts. All that is lost.

Anyway, this is all part of the game. In the mean while I would like know from you whether I should replace the motherboard or buy a new laptop.

Needless to say I will be a bit slow in catching up with you since I am depending on my third son David to spare me his computer whenever it is free.

Wish you all the best:)
Joseph

GOD’S MARVELS III –THE SEA AND THE OCEAN

Today, 8th JUNE is celebrated as WORLD OCEANS DAY. I came to know this when I visited Crazy Cris at Here and There and Everywhere. I am also participating in the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon.

We all know Ocean is a marvelous gift of God to mankind. It does several things for the benefit of human beings. But man in his greed for wealth is slowly destroying the seas and the oceans by letting out industrial waste into the sea, indiscriminate hunting of marine food, oil spillage from tankers, throwing plastic waste on the beaches etc. If we don’t understand the seriousness of our actions we will have to face oceans wrath one day.

This post is a reminder to us of the various benefits and advantages we derive from the seas and oceans. Please click on the photos for a larger and lovely view.

Deep blue ocean— mysterious, bewitching, spellbinding and awe inspiring.

Cruise ships bring hundreds of tourists to our shores.

Fishermen go to the deep sea in their colorful motor boats to get our daily quota of fish.

We watch breathtaking sunsets over the ocean and seas.

We watch rolling waves with roaring sound with great admiration

Cargo ships bring various products to our place from other countries.

People stand on the shores to enjoy the breeze and to feel the sea water under their feet.

Chinese fishing nets at the mouth of the sea entrance enable many fishermen to earn their living without going out into the sea.

Oil tankers bring crude oil to our city from oil producing countries.

People sit on the rocks dumped in the sea to prevent soil erosion and chatting away in the evening.

Dear friends take care of the sea and the ocean and they will take care of us.

LITTLE GIRL EARNS A LIVELIHOOD

At what age a person should start earning a livelihood? This question will be difficult to answer. Well, let us take a look. It was late in the evening and therefore the photos are not very clear.

Oh!! What’s this little girl doing! Is she playing with the hats? That’s what they are supposed to do. Be carefree. Be happy. Have a good time. Be loved. Be fussed. Given nutritious food in time.. Wear good clean clothes. A roof over her head. A nice bed to sleep with soft pillows.Toys and dolls to play with. Story books and fairy tales.

No! She is not playing. She is selling hats for her lively hood. She is sitting and shouting,” Hats! Hats! Hats!” She looks innocent. She is cherubic. She is an angel from heaven.
But people are walking past her. They have no time for her. Even to look at her and smile. They have their own problems. What have they got to do with this poor little girl!

She sits there like the most beautiful, gorgeous flower, enchanting, fascinating, breath taking, spell binding. No one cares!

You see, no one Kerala wears hats. This little girl is from North India and she doesn’t even know the local language, Malayalam. Only tourists will buy hats. But the place where this innocent, poor little darling is sitting is not the place for tourists. So she continues to keep shouting at the top of her voice hoping someone will buy
Her parents must be sitting somewhere else and selling hats. Probably they will come from time to time to check if she is sitting there selling hats and not playing.

We spend almost all our money and efforts in bringing up our children, giving them a religion, providing for them, educating them to the best of our ability and take care of them and worry about their future.

I stopped and smiled at this little girl. She gave me an innocent smile and she looked at me expectantly. I asked her for the price of the hat. She said that it was Rs.20. I gave her Rs.20. She took a hat and gave it to me. I told her I don’t need the hat. She wanted to know if the money was for her. I nodded my head and smiled. She became very happy. Her eyes brightened up with joy. I just can’t forget that look on her lovely face for a long, long time.
What is the future of this little girl? Will she become a business woman? Will she get an education? Will she fall into bad ways? I agree, she will become street-smart. She will be tough mentally and physically. She will have no fear. Will she survive to grow up?

My dear friends, I hope you can enlighten me!