Other Experiences of an English Language Teacher

  Life actually  may be hard and present dire-straits. But more often than not, what occurs to western man today usually is minor stuff.  Yep, life is hard, but that does not necessarily block out you may also be positive, and optimistic.  I do know that they Christians have God in their lives, and that accounts for a great deal. You may be optimistic if you have a firm base to stand on.  There was a general, one with French Louis XIV, and he was about to die, very old. The king wished to offer him the marshall’s mace as a tribute to his generous and brave life. The old man took hold of the mace, and it is said he said, “It’s bright and beautiful, and quite an honor to me, but what I need now is something else,” and he took hold of a crucifix and covered it with kisses.  One can try and see the better side of things in life. I knew one guy that way. He seemed he was not annoyed by nothing in life, not at all. He responded nice to life, and to other people. ...

  We can be happy. God has a wonderful plan or design for us his children, his sons and daughters.  First he has created us, say, perhaps through evolution, ok. He has called us to life. Even more, he has done so to be his children, as I said before. And he wishes we be happy, in this life, and then after that, in eternal life for ever and ever.  When you recognize and realize he loves you, this is, you are loved by him with tenderness, then you can behold life with confidence. When you also realize you are his son or his daughter, then life changes to better, and you can entertain yourself by talking to and with him.  Prayer is so important for us modern people. I have been to Gibraltar for a lot of times, a lot, and last time I was glad there was a chapel on Main Road with the Host, the Eucharist on the monstrance, for anyone who wants to stop and talk with him. Amazing.  In other words, God has wished we can participate in his supernatural life, beyond anythi...

  Today I wanted to write on some perspectives on happiness from what I’ve read and thought of lately, and pushed in some way by the pursuing of happiness everyone commits to.  Happiness is something one cannot try to accomplish on its own, but something you encounter when you live with plenitude and in accordance to your nature.  If someone seeks to be happy, that person may not reach it – it’s more something that ensues when you fulfill what you are for, when you live in accordance to what you are.  You know, great Aristotle used to say that you are happy when you acquire virtues, like hard-working, love to others, sincerity and honesty, fortitude, joy, solidarity, generosity, endurance capability, abnegation, professionalism, etcetera. Virtues let you carry out a life that is worth living it. They let you carry out what’s good and that with facility and liberty. You can choose what is upright just because you wish to do it.  Alejandro Llano was a Spanish phil...

  So we have said that God, our loving father, has a project or vocation for each one of us, and now we have to discover what that is, also with his help.  And we are beings who can love others, God and other people. And we need to be loved, by other people, but also we are loved by him, with tenderness.  We cannot live without loving others. Even ultimately only God can fill our heart – we have some infinite thirst that only God can quench and fill with plenitude. Saint Augustine said, and this sentence is famous, that Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee . And Saint Augustine did know much about love and about seeking love from others.  All that can lead us to ask ourselves, What am I on this earth for? Everyone wonders about that point, and the answer is ultimately, and primarily, on finding out what my vocation or project by God is.  As well we can say that all of us seek happiness, and if this life...

  With these posts I try to shed some light on everyday issues (if possible). Because this our dear world needs some optimistic view, this afflicted world of ours. Let’s see, with my reads help.  To be optimistic we need a firm base to build that optimism upon. And – good news – we can count on God. On him and on man – I believe we can count on man too, for this latter one can give very good solutions to our afflicted world. It’s what you get when reading Jutta Burggraf (1952-2010). She is so great a writer – well, she was, I mean.  And God has a plan or project for every one of us, indeed he has. And now we’ve got to discover it.  Each person has a vocation, now to be discovered. Do you know yours? God calls and summons each one of us. That can also give a message of hope for people, for our world.  Each human person is free, as you know, and thus he or she has to write their own biography: we have the mission of fulfilling our personal project or vocation. Don...

  Everybody knows that in modern urban life in our Western countries a lot of people go along life in a hectic and stressed out way – it seems we don’t have time for anything.  Where are we going to?  It also seems we don’t have time to muse, meditate, reflect, consider, contemplate life and beauty. To enroll in a spiritual retreat for a long weekend? No way, man, impossible. But, Are you sure you can’t attend one?  It seems we don’t have time to cultivate our interior, and how are we going along life? What are our life goals? We must break this up. No way, we can’t keep going like that.  Besides many people kind of they don’t like to face themselves. It’s like they don’t like their lives, the way they are living. Do you have a chance to stop to face yourself? Where are you going?  Also it looks like quite many people can’t stand silence. Music and music, and a crazy chattering. But let’s listen to silence. Let’s listen to ourselves. Let’s take off the head...

  So we have the premise that God exists. And that’s something rational, I mean, God is something you can reach through reason. At the same time it is not something evident – otherwise there would be no atheists nor agnostics. Thus God is not something evident, but nearly so for people who try to live with him by talking to and with him. God is not something, but someone.  Have you ever thought about what is there after this (short) life? I know you have, because everyone wonders about that.  Have you noticed human thirst for plenitude? For love? For unconditional love? Mountains of movies and novels tell about that love – who has not promised eternal love to the loved person? The world has plenty of Romeos and Juliets.  There must be something else after this life.  Man is free, we’ve stated. And responsible, at the same time and inseparably. And now think of all good that a person does in his or her lifetime. Or evil they may do. And when you are called to die...

  We may be living and dealing with our work and family and other stuff, okay. But man is the only animal that knows that he’s going to die. And he’s going to die indeed.  However, I don’t want to write about black omens. What I want to set clear is that when man dies, that is not the end of all. There must be a life after this one.  A few years ago some friends of mine died of Covid-19. And I believe they did not just end and that’s all. There must be something else. Moreover I couldn’t say good-bye to them. They must be somewhere else.  We Christians – and many other people – believe there are heaven and hell, well and purgatory. Even more, any man can believe that there’s a life after this one.  We have immense dreams, and desires that cannot be filled just with earthly stuff. We are, we live, we exist for much more. Injustice and justice have to be punished and awarded after this life. We cannot just perish and that’s the end. We are not just matter – we hav...

https://www.delibris.org/es/news/la-lectura-como-conquista-de-la-libertad  

  So we have agreed that on any person you can trace God, or you can find a trace of God on any person. We treat people, on a daily basis, we are not Robinson Crusoe lost in a desert island in the middle of the ocean, are we?  And those people are a mystery. I mean, man and woman are unreachable, not limited and confined to what we apprehend with our senses – each person is a treasure, even the disabled. And we teachers can confirm that statement on any regular day of classes.  You cannot reach all they mean. Their span in just immense. With no measure. And I believe that that is due to the spiritual part we humans have, and which we call soul. Well, also due to the body united with a soul.  A person may have thoughts which cannot be explained only if we are just bodies. There must be a spiritual part.  And that by considering that a person is unity – you can’t comprehend the body and the soul are separate: you know such and such persons, not their souls and the...

  Do you ever think of life sense or meaning? I mean, what are we here in this world for? I presume you do, you ask about that, for everyone does.  If you have a transcendent view of life, much better, and you’ll easily find that meaning, that Why are we here?  And we must consider God as our creator, and our father. And we have to behave well, for him and his glory, to please our father.  On every person you can think of finding a trace of God. Man and woman are a mystery ultimately. You cannot reach all they mean. Man and woman are unreachable ultimately. And furthermore if you consider their biographies. Man and woman are not just evolved animals. Something else. Much else.  To consider things that way may be helped by thinking. And reading good literature. Most classics are good literature. It’s what best writers have thought of. An example? The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni. Also reading good essays. If you’re a teacher I recommend Carlos Cardona’s Ética...