What Is The True Meaning of Life?

Is anyone there? I hear you cry. Can you hear me somebody? You shout, help! help! You hear your voice echo back like you were in a deep well. With hands stretched upwards, you look up to the sky hoping for an answer. No reply, you hear nothing but the loud echo of your own voice. Hope disappeared a long time ago, you are now in the deep tunnel of despair and disappointment. What seemed to have brought you joy and happiness has now become the source of your sorrow. You are now crying out, held captive by the very thing you desired, the thing you thought would bring you all the happiness you had ever hoped for. How did you get here? Life is funny isn't it? Growing up without much, you had always wished and hoped that one day in the future you would make it. You thought "Gosh, if I had so much money, I would be so, so happy and all my problems would be solved." One wonders where the happiness disappeared to? You remember that old saying "The love of money is the root of all evil"? The money came and gave you a false sense of hope, freedom and security. Your new found wealth became your best friend and your god. You thought "Now, this is the life, all my problems are over, I can travel the world, I can afford all I want, I can have anything I desire." The money accomplished all that for you yet you are not satisfied? Your soul is still crying out? You remember all the pop star drug addicts, who came from the same sort of background as yourself and are now rich and famous. Their story has now changed from joy to sadness. They are yoked by Mammon, the god of this world. They are bound by the very wealth they desired. The wealth and riches has become meaningless, it is now a yoke round their necks. You soon realise after all, this is not what you had been looking for, all you needed was peace and contentment, which no amount of money could buy. What is the true meaning of life? you wonder. Life is not what money can buy, life is not about getting drunk and being at the best parties in town. Life is not about how much material goods you can afford. Life is about being content with what you have, life is about appreciating the little things in life, watching the butterfly landing on the beautiful flowers in the garden, life is about appreciating what you have knowing that some other person lacks the luxury of the same. Life is not about how much you can mount up but how much you have to offer. Life is about giving. Life is about sharing. Life is about remembering those less privileged than yourself. Life is about helping those in need. Life is about knowing that you are not your own, life is about giving your life to the Author of life. Life is not about riches or fame, life is about God because God is the Author of life.

(Written by Ladé, 2008 © All rights reserved.)

You Must Fight

Whatever your troubles, don’t give up

Whatever your pain, don’t give up
Don’t give up, don’t give in
Life may not be kind
Things may not be perfect
Life is a battle
A fighting ring
A tough journey
A war zone

Whatever your troubles, don’t give up
Whatever your pain, don’t give in
Fight! You must
Don’t give in, don’t give up
Don’t let go, don’t quit
When at war
You must fight
Life is not easy

Fight! You must fight back
There is a way
Where there is a will
Where is your will?
You must fight back
Don’t give in, be willing
To not give up
Fight! You must fight back

Be bold, be strong
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be dismayed
You are still here
Though tough
You are still here
Though hard
You are still here
This life, a battle,
Not for one
But for all

Hang in there
Don’t quit
Hang in there
Don’t hang up
Hang in there
Don’t give up

Be encouraged, you are not alone, God is there. No matter what you may be going through I will be praying for you. May God strengthen you today and always. Remember, the winner takes it all. Are you willing to take it all? Then you must fight back and not give up!

(Written by Ladé, 2008 © All rights reserved.)

True Love Never Fails

Doing something good for someone we know or do not know will not cost us.
Saying something nice to someone we know or do not know will not kill us.
Being nice to your neighbour will not cost you.
There is a need for love in the world. Love is what we crave. We all need love.

What is love?
There is a love called Eros. Eros is probably what most people mean when they announce with a smile, "I'm in love." As long as a couple is enjoying a romantic situation, eros can thrive. But, as soon as hurtful words or actions appear, eros simply evaporates.

The other type of love is called Philia. This is the love of friendship, best friends, and the fellowship of being with those people you enjoy. Although Philia is great, it too is not reliable since it is dependent on ours and other people's perceptions and expectations. Unfortunately, we probably all know of a friendship which waned or was severed because of distance, harsh words, how someone interpreted another's actions, etc. Philia then really cannot be true love.

What is true love?
True love is called Agape. This is the love we all need. It is based upon the committment of a decision. A decision to be selfless in loving. This means you have made up your mind to love regardless of situation, perception or circumstance. It entails the decision to proactively seek someone's well-being. This is called Agape Love - a committment to love regardless of who you are and what I can get from you. Agape says, "I love you despite what you did to me." A real friend seeks the wellbeing of others instead of his own.

Today's valentine might be your enemy of tomorrow, there is no guarantee. A life of love is a sacrificial life. What is your choice, Eros, Philia or Agape? The decision is yours. My encouragement to you today is to live a life of true love (Agape). True love never fails.

(Written by Ladé, 2008 © All rights reserved.)

A Place Called 'THERE'

Imagine, you are on a journey, you don't know where you are headed. You keep driving, you don't know when you'll get there. You keep thinking, "it won't be long now, I'll soon get there." Where is there? The journey seems to be taking so long! Where are we really going? What is the destination? Who has the map of the journey in their hands? You seem to be lost. Are you lost? Are you looking for your destination but can't find it? You keep driving but don't know where you are going. You are confused, tired and hungry. You keep driving and wonder when you'll get there. You soon decide to stop over before you run out of petrol. You get to a place where there a lot of people and you decide to stop over. You heave a sigh, at last, somebody here might be able to help you on your way. With a smile on your face, you soon find yourself in conversation with some of the people there. Whilst chatting you find out that they also do not know where they are going but they are surely headed in the same kind of direction you're going, NOWHERE. You find out you are all going NOWHERE! The smile suddenly dissapears off your lovely face. There is a place called NOWHERE. You end up NOWHERE if you have not planned your journey properly. If you have no vision, you will end up NOWHERE. If you have no goals and no plans for your life, you will end up in a place called NOWHERE. You ended up NOWHERE because you had no plan in the first place! If you don't picture where you are going, you will end up going NOWHERE. You need to go back and start all over again, it's not too late, don't give up now. Go back, sit down, take your time and plan your life. Write your vision down. You have not failed, you just failed to plan. There is still hope whilst you are alive. It's not too late now. Rise up and don't give up. It's not over till it's over. Sit down and visualise where you would like to see yourself in a few years time. If you don't have a vision you will not get there. There is a place called THERE. You can only get THERE if you have a vision and a plan but if you don't take time to plan and write your vision down, you will end up getting NOWHERE! If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Before you do anything, take time to plan, you will get to the place called THERE.

(Written by Ladé, 2008 © All rights reserved.)

Help Is At Hand

It seems like the sharks are out to milk us of every penny we've got! Inflation in the United Kingdom has reached an all time high! People are now constantly looking for bargains! This is what the world has turned out to be. Everybody is after our money. Remember before you got your credit card, you were credit worthy, now you are no longer credit worthy! If you park for a minute whilst loading your car, you get a minimum fine of £40. Council Tax has gone up, Road Tax goes up every 6 months, postage stamps go up in price every year, petrol prices have shot up beyond the £1.00 mark, you are fined if you happen to not know London very well and you make the error of not knowing where you are going, so you find yourself lost in transit at some point and you mistakenly drive into the Congestion Zone in Central London, which accrues a minimum fine of £50. Even a simple mistake will cost you! Nobody cares anymore. Think about it, how much would you have left after all these fines, bills etc?. The whole nation is crying out for help. Some are now depressed and in hospital because of this, others are constantly looking for a way out of the whole mess! You wonder how you got into the mess in the first place! Tell me, where do you turn, who do you run to for help? Some have nearly committed suicide, as they could find no help in their time of need.

Stop! Stop for a moment. Calm down, take a slow breath and calm down. All hope is not lost. Help is at hand. There is One Greater than us all who is willing to help and that is God. Commit the whole situation into His hands today and He will come and help you. He is not too far away. If you don't know what to do or what to say just say under your breath, "God please come and help me, I need your help, take over my situation and help me, deliver me from depression and help me. I need you now." It works all the time. I would also advise you seek help from counsellors who can help you with your debt/situation. Whoever you are, I shall be praying for you. Put your hope in God.

(Written by Ladé, 2008 © All rights reserved.)

What's Your Contribution?

A colleague of mine watched a programme on TV last night titled "Eat or Heat", and she narrated to me what it was all about. This brought home to me the concerns I've always had for the elderly and their care, as they are at a vulnerable point in their lives and they need a lot of love and care. A lot of the elderly people they showed on the programme had to make the unenviable choice of either heating their homes or having some food to eat, hence the title "Eat or Heat". They could not afford to heat their homes and at the same time have some food to eat, as there is not enough money to do both. They showed an elderly lady who did not eat for three days because she had to pay for her heating and by doing this she could not afford to buy some food to eat. If she pays for heating she cannot afford to pay for eating. She said she'd rather go without food and have some heat in her home. There was another lady who suddenly had a stroke and fell down the stairs and could not do anything so she laid there for three days until the police came round! Imagine, she laid there for three days! My heart was broken to the point of tears. The thought that came to my mind is "what is our world coming to?" The family is so defragmented that nobody cares anymore. In the old days when either of our grandparents got old and they could no longer care for themselves, one of the family had to take them in. Can you imagine you getting old and not having anyone to care for you? I know, I know, you are probably thinking "but we all have to get on with our lives and we can't really help the situation". The thing is we can help to make the situation better. Think about it, what have you done today to help someone who is in need or more vulnerable than you are? If you have elderly neighbours, have you ever thought about paying them a visit and just saying a little "hello" or even helping out if you have a little time on your hands? We all have our pride and I would'nt want to trouble anyone if I was an elderly person myself but I'm sure they would appreciate some kind of love. Remember, they are not going to be there forever, so why don't you do what you can whilst you can and God will bless you. We are all going to get there one day and I would loathe to think that we would be in a needy position only to find that there is no one to help. We might be young today but we are surely going to get old one day! Reach out and touch someone today and make this world a better place. Put a smile on somebody's face today and somebody will put a smile on yours one day. God bless you as you make an effort to contribute to the lives of others.

(Written by Ladé, 2008 © All rights reserved.)