Earn Those Wings: Reach Detroit

Look at this picture. See how gloomy this picture is? Do you see the tragic ruins of a place that once must have held promise? Take a guess as to where this is.

Did you guess Detroit? Well, perhaps or perhaps not. Detroit was named one of the most dangerous cities in the US, filed for bankruptcy and this picture is one of many similar photographs that I could have shown.

http://www.klove.com/ministry/hope-center.aspx

This webpage really contains all the information about Detroit and what I am trying to promote, so I won't go into it doubly. But I would just like to say a few things, encouraged donation to revive Detroit, a city badly in need of a revival.

For all of us Americans, Detroit is like our cousin. It's part of the US, therefore, we are connected to it. We see all these gory images about ruins that exist all over the world, but what about the ones that exist where we live. Detroit is not the only city facing crime and poverty, but it's a great place to start. We need to fix these problems. Even for those who don't live in America, this is a serious problem. Sitting here in my nice suburban house is easy. But what about those people who can't do that? What about those people who are held up at gunpoint and it takes the police an hour to address the situation because they're so busy? We have to think about those people! Not everyone who is reading this has the means to donate, but if you do, please think about those people who need your help.

They NEED your help. Help them.

Being Positive

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So, this sort of ties into my last post of being that happy face in a sea of sad faces. But this post is all about being positive.

It's hard to do so when the world can be fixed in negativity sometimes. When we go to the news, all we see is media about the tragedies of the world. All we see is the horrid issues that are happening. Those issues can do a great deal to bring down someone's day, yet there are so many things we can do as angels to permanently make someone's day better. 

Just holding the door open for someone, lending them something when they need it, smiling at someone and giving them a compliment that you know would make them happy can make a person's day. It can make their week. Telling them a funny story, showing them a funny video, telling them about something you think they'd appreciate. 

All of these things are ways that we can be angels to everyone and make them see what is happening in the world in a better light. These things will remind people that there are good things that happen in the world. 

So this is just a reminder to all us angels to be angels. We should bring up people's days and lift their spirits. Though we don't actually have wings, we can make people's moods soar.

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Earn Your Wings: Be a Yellow Face

Though doing good deeds at times does help make someone an angel, there is a certain quality in a person that makes them an angel. It's not easy to pinpoint exactly what this quality is, but I will try and describe it. I think this image really reflects what exactly this quality is.

I think most people's eyes go to the smiling, yellow face in the center of this picture in the sea of sad, blue faces. This is because we are drawn to the difference and the contrast that we immediately see. We also like this contrast and so we continue to focus on it. 

To me, this picture makes me want to be that yellow face. It makes me want to be that bright face. But there is one thing that this picture doesn't capture. It's not just about sticking out and being noticed. When the blue faces see the yellow face, they will notice how much warmth it is spreading and they will appreciate that. When they see someone else so carefree and that tries to put on a smile, no matter what the circumstances, they will try and do exactly the same. 

And that's I guess the quality I'm getting at. An important quality of an angel, that sometimes, even the most heavenly angels have to think about and try and focus on. That quality is, the ability to make other people forget their troubles and comfort them in times of sadness. Of course we will all experience times of sadness and we will have our own angels to comfort us. But, we should try and be those angels for others. We should be those yellow faces in a sea of blue faces for them to turn to and try and emulate. When a person sees someone forgetting their troubles, they try and do the same. 

So to earn our wings, we should try and be that yellow face in the blue. We should provide people with a beacon of light that can spread to their hearts when they see us. We should give them that one burst of happiness that they need to be angels, just like us. 

My Theory

Here's my theory, and what the younger brother says seems to have happened. The truth is, the reason that Dzhokhar got involved in planting bombs at the Boston Marathon was because of something that we all do sometime over the course of our lives. He listened to someone he loves. He trusted someone that he loved and looked up to to guide him along the right path. And this is where he was guided. Luckily, if you're reading this, you probably followed the right people. But perhaps you haven't. He looked up to someone because they were the only parental figure he had. My more angel lost his way because he didn't know who to follow. The truth is, this angel made a mistake, just like the rest of us. It is awful to think about what will happen to my poor angel from here. Please let us all pray that he can live...

I Only See an Angel...

When you see this face, does it say "mass murderer" to you? 

For most, it really doesn't. At least not for many. There is a group of  people are saying that he's innocent, that there is no way someone like him could have done something like this. People are going as far as saying that the government staged the entire Boston Marathon bombing. 

But, a small part of me just wants to believe that is true. When I look at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's face, I just don't think of someone who would kill multiple people, including an 8 year-old boy, who's family is in my deepest prayers. When I hear about how his friends and mentors describe him, it just adds to the picture of innocence that he holds in my mind right now. To me, he looks like a young child, who, at his worst, had bad influences above him, possessing him to do something that he never actually wanted to do. To me, his innocence is what I see when I look at him. I see an angel, who was brought off the path by someone on the wrong side. When I hear about how he would work hard at his wrestling, mentor people, help people, I see an angel. He's one of my angels that made a mistake, a mistake that was too large to take back. 

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev certainly has made mistakes, but haven't we all? The Bible says that all sins are viewed under God just the same. There is no sin that is greater than another. So why not have passion for a fellow brother who made a bad decision and was scared and confused as to how to get out of the trouble he was in. He's young and vulnerable and that led him into this situation. He has witnessed horrors which never cross the worst nightmares of the majority of Americans.. He's faced things that we will never have the misfortune of facing. He was not upset with America, according to some of his friends. He fit in and he seemed to be a normal American teenager. He's not someone who hated America and wanted to do his best to bring it down.  He's an angel. Yet he's an angel who has made mistakes. And innocent people have unfortunately bad to pay for his mistakes. 

The purpose of this blog was never to push hidden agendas or provide political commentary. It was simply to teach people how to be angels. But this feeling that I get when I look at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, I see an angel and I just can't describe why. I know most wouldn't share this opinion, and I'm not asking you to. But haven't we all made mistakes? Unfortunately, his mistakes hurt many people in ways which will never allow them to foully heal. Yet, he's an angel. That's what I see when I look at him. An angel., just like I am trying to be. 

Be an Angel to the Earth

We want out Earth to look like this, right? 

We don't want it to look sad. Well, this Earth day we must not only be considering the way that we treat the planet that we live on. It does so much for us, giving us the resources that we need to live. So this Earth day, let's think of something that we can do to give it the resources that it needs.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Everyone is innocent until they are proven guilty

It's something that we've all heard. Perhaps we've heard it a bit too much? Perhaps the true meaning of this statement has been lost on us because we don't truly consider it. Everyone deserves a chance. This case in Boston proves just that. My heart goes out to all of the victims that were affected by this, but all of us must remember to be angels as well.

Though people know what is happening and there are reports of all the terrible crimes that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has committed., we must all remember that he is a person and all are innocent until proven guilty. We must give him that because he should be able to tell his story and let us about what happened from his own perspective.

It is difficult to separate emotions from our duty as angels. After all, when we learn of all the victims of this tragedy, those that are in the hospital suffering from life shattering injuries and those that were not able to live. It is hard to think about them and not feel anger towards the person that is said to have done this. Yet, we must be angels. We must be tolerant and receptive. We must lead the way in believing in the best in people and trying to make the rest of the world do the same. It is hard to separate our emotions from our judgement. But we must remember that this is a person that we don't know, but that we should get to know and understand.