GABRIELA YARELIZ

Americaaaaa

SONY DSC — St. Augustine, Fla., America’s oldest city. Photo by: Ruby

By: Gabriela Yareliz

The Fourth of July, a day when I think about the inscription on the statue of liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

A day when patriotism reigns, and we forget the fact that we’ve been racist, imperialists, opportunists and other such things; but instead we embrace the liberty we have offered and the fact that our flag to many is a symbol of safety, sanctuary and freedom. A day when it is great to remember our freedom of religion and diversity. A day to know that despite the country’s flaws… it is great to be an American, because America adopts us all.

I was blessed to go to St. Augustine with a group of friends. We had a splendid time. Between beach time, volleyball, bodysurfing, traffic, oreos, waiting for the mexican restaurant to give us a table, cap wars, photo shoots at Flagler College, snooping, loving our waiter (we named him Jose) and fireworks, we managed to see Captain America and some dude with a flag running barefoot and then with shoes (I guess he found them).

These photos are by Ruby

“And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Saawariya

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I saw this movie a while back around graduation time with Liz. My grandmother calls it the movie about the idiot (Ranbir Kapoor’s character) and the vagabond (Salman Khan’s character). I thought it was interesting. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “White Nights.”

A young man strikes up a friendship with a girl who is waiting for the one she loves. His adoptive mother tells him the following:

“If that girl is meant for you, then nothing on Earth can keep her from you. And if she isn’t meant for you, then nothing on Earth can bring her to you. The decision isn’t in your hands; it’s in God’s. Now we have to see how God decides to place His cross. This way or that way.” Lilipop

Romans 8:38-39

Go for it

Dewey Bozella

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I have been thinking of Dewey Bozella, the boxer who was in jail for most of his life for a crime he didn’t commit. He came to the University of Florida this past school year. When one hears his story there is a lot one can learn; he is a man of faith, courage, integrity and strength. There is one thing he said that stands out to me always.

He said we should think along these lines:

“What would you do if you had no fear?”

I think this is a reminder of the way we should live. Everytime I think about taking an easier way, a more comfortable way– I think of his words.

What would I do if I had no fear?

What would you do?

It is time we start living with no fear– as if we walked straight out of the lion’s den. Stories before us stand to testify that with God’s help, we’ll walk out fulfilled; strong; alive.

When you really want something

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I began reading the book of 1 Samuel. It begins with the story of Hannah, the childless woman who wanted a child more than anything. It is a story I have referred to before, because it is one that I really love. During the festivities in Shiloh, she is upset. She won’t eat, drink—she is really upset. She decides to go to the temple and pour her heart out to God.

1 Samuel 1:10

“And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.”

Eli, the priest sees her and thinks she is drunk. Hannah makes a vow to God that if He gives her that which she desires she will dedicate the child to Him. In other words, give it back to Him.

Eli has no idea what is going on, but he realizes the distress she is going through and tells her, “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant you your petition that you have asked him,” (17).

When Hannah left the place she was not sad or distressed anymore, she had left everything there in God’s hands.

When Samuel is born, she said, “For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him,” (27).

This story is a reminder to me always. There are things we want so badly that they weigh down our souls.

How many of us do as Hannah does and remove our pride and humble ourselves, even in our bitterness and pray and weep to God.

How many of us vow to use that which we want to glorify God and honor Him. Hannah prayed and received what she wanted. She said the Lord gave her that which she asked him for.

If there is a desire weighing down on your soul, my wish to you as you pray is Eli’s wish,

“Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant you your petition that you have asked him.”

Today’s Top Picks: Peace, Clarins and Futbol

By: Gabriela Yareliz

1] Thomas Merton said something along these lines: We cannot have peace with one another because we are not at peace with ourselves. We cannot have peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.

2] Clarins App en francais

On a Shallow Note

If you thought I was shallow with my Monica Bellucci blip, I have got news.

Elle (FRANCE) just announced a new and free App for iPhones and Androids. It is an App by Clarins (the brand with amazing self tanners) in which there are beauty advisers who can tell you how to improve your look if you send them photos. Imagine! You are walking to work. You take a photo of yourself before an important meeting and someone tells you to put on some lipstick, and ta-da; you look amazing!

It is a genius idea. Practical, but shallow.

3]Euro 2012

Guess who isn’t playing with the France team for Euro 2012?

Yoann Gourcuff-sadness.

4] Top 10 Spoken Languages

Watch the video on Bing 🙂

5] My Friend TED

I love TED talks; I recommend this one. This TED talk is about how we expect more from technology than from each other. (TED is dangerously addictive…. for those who have seen speeches on it know.)

“We seems lonely but afraid of intimacy. Siri, the social network, digital assistants, all of these give the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship. The path we are seems fraught with paradox and about the most important human matters.”-Sherry Turkle

Click here to see it.

Be the change you want to see… write your story.

Then you are alive- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

If you carry your restlessness in your heart, then you are alive
If you carry the flames of your dreams in your eyes, then you are alive
Learn to live free like the gusts of wind
Learn to flow like the waves in a stream
Embrace every moment in life with open arms
Each moment your eyes see is a new season
If you carry wonder in your eyes, then you are alive
If you carry your restlessness in your heart, then you are alive

[From Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara]

Bellucci; lipstick; Syria; among other things…

By: Gabriela Yareliz

She is back– and with her own line of lipstick. Monica Bellucci, out of hiding and back. I felt like I hadn’t seen her forever until I opened this month’s Vogue. Fantastic! It is terribly shallow but there is something awesome about red lipstick and curling your hair…

The New Yoker had a fantastic article by Steve Coll, about why he is “Leaving Facebookistan.”

“It takes a while to find it, but if you are a Facebook user, there is a small settings button entitled “deactivate account.” If you click, Facebook displays the faces of people “who will miss you.” If you are determined nonetheless to depart, and scroll further down, you are required to choose a “reason for leaving” before you are permitted to go. Unfortunately, “inadequate citizen rule” or “doubts about corporate governance” are not among the choices. From the available list, I went with “I don’t feel safe on Facebook.”

Farewell, Facebook friends. May you enjoy everywhere the full rights of free citizens.”

I liked it. Congrats Steve Coll.

Also, this Economist cartoon was great… Merkel and Hollande:

Also, the news about Syria is raising questions…all of those people and mostly children killed.

It reminds me of the book of Judges, a book I just finished in the Bible. If you want to read about chaos, atrocities, sadness, abuse, oppression, violence–you can read this book. Israel at its peak of insanity you could say. Ironic, that it is called the book of Judges.

At the end of one of its most horrific chapters it ends saying:

“³⁰And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.” (chapter 19)

The book ends saying: “²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (chapter 21)

What is the international community doing when such terrible things occur? Are we considering it, taking advice and speaking our minds? It is clear that what people do now a days is what is “right in their own eyes.”

In this age of relativism, we see anarchy of the soul–