Crow

Crow

Huntley Meadows Park, Virginia

Large and intelligent was the dark black crow

Who kept flying with hoarse and cawing voices

His only will was to reach his final destination

The wind kept blowing while he kept soaring

Far away in the river

With his 360 degree vision, he saw his prey who went under water

While the crow continued to look for food

Turning his ear to wisdom

Inclining his heart to understanding

That he possibly missed the catch of the day

Kind and grateful he was

As he prayed the Lord with all his heart

While not relying on his own intelligence

With the patience of an owl

And the virtue of a peacock

He still struggled for his first meal

Sitting down by the river on a rock till the dusk

Turned to a full moon night

As the fish jumped to the shore

He got his first catch

A tiny fish full of herbs with love

How Prayer Strengthens my Relationship with God

How Prayer Strengthens my Relationship with God

A church in Poland

   Brothers and Sisters, today I’m here to talk about how prayer strengthens my relationship with God. How many of you here believe in God? I believe it is all of you and so do I. Because, for me God has been a symbol of strength who redeems his people and leads to justice. I was reading in the book of Mormon where Enos had an experience of prayer in coming to God and Jesus Christ. It resonated well with my own personal story in the hospital. One day in May 2023, I was at the hospital crying and weeping as hard as I could. It was not because I was weak. It was because I was strong yet I was paranoid. I was suffering from the worst spell of PTSD and Bipolar Disorder. I sat there in the chair and shed my tears as nurse Coco read the verse from the book of Psalms in the Bible.  As she stopped, I turned to God to pray out loud. Lord, I am down here trying to do what is right while struggling to understand the racial structure in America in the 21st century where some people have been discriminated against others (sometimes violently) because of their race or ethnicity. Please, help me understand the justice system of America where sometimes the innocent are treated unfairly. 

   In the midst of my hospitalization, the Lord asked me to stand up for justice. I knew God was my light and my salvation. God was with me and would be with me until the end.

   My first hospitalization in March 2021 led to the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. However, I didn’t accept my illness for almost a year. I thought to myself, How could God  allow this to happen to me? I looked myself in the mirror and said,” Lord Could you please release me from the suffering of life?” Then, I tried to harm myself. Although, I yearned to die, my death escaped me as it ultimately resulted in my 4th hospitalization that led me to accept my illness and start my medication. Through my prayer and commitment to change at the hospital, I was able to get help from wonderful Veteran Affairs staffs, pyschologists, psychiatrists, nurses and Chaplains that allowed me to save my life. If it was not for God, I would not be standing up here in this stage and talking to you all. After my hospitalization in Massachusetts, I went to Nepal and stayed in Kathmandu, the foothill of Himalayas for 9 months. I understood this as a calling from God for me to climb Everest Base Camp. To avoid my fear of heights, I even did bungee-jumping hanging upside down 303 ft from the rope. 

   My soul yearns for the prayers as I confess my sins. The confession of my sins is the beginning of good works. Through my prayer, I’m asking God humbly to hear me everyday. I know it appears God is sometimes slow in responding to us because he has to hear the prayer of 8 Billion people. However, I also know God answers prayers in his own due time and has prepared a better future for us. God will not ignore us. God withholds from us what we are not yet ready for. He wants us to have a lively desire for his greatest gifts. This is to say I always pray to God and do not lose my heart. In the words of St. Augustine, my prayer to God strengthens my relationship with God because I pray as though everything depended on God and work as though everything depended on me.

   During times of insomnia, I prayed to the God with prayers and it allowed me to fall asleep. Prayer leads me to consciousness. It allows me to be aware of the surrounding and how I can apply my five senses to make a better decision. As a 30 year old chanting Buddhist mantra, “Om Tare tu Tare ture swaha” in my home in Grinnell, Iowa, God heard my prayer granting me a job with a respectable salary in Auburn, Pennsylvania. By age 30, I had two homes, one in Grinnell, IA and another in Pottsville, PA. It was a dream rooted within an American dream. However, I didn’t have the satisfaction. There was a swift downfall as I sold both my homes and resigned from my job after my diagnosis of bipolar disorder. My happiness was gone and my dream was shattered into pieces of glasses. 

   Fast forward to 2024, I am limited to one bedroom in a townhome shared with 3 other housemates. Yet, I am the happiest person in the universe. I am grateful to God for he has allowed me to save my life through the darkest of times. This is how I know God is great and that my relationship with God has grown deeper by the day. 

   To sum up, God grants me the power to overcome my flaws through prayers. God grants me inner peace of my soul which leads to my happiness. God rewards me with virtue. God allows me to gain wisdom through prayer. God guides me in an uncertain journey but I also know that God has plans to prosper me. Hence, I am doing the will of God as I seek kindly redemption because I have been to the mountaintop, most recently Mt. Kilimanjaro Base Camp which strengthens my relationship with God. To sum up, like 2 Nephi (4:20-21), God has been my support through my difficult times and has guided me to light through darkness. Although, I am now a Catholic, I will always be at heart a believer in Church of Jesus Christ because you gave me a new life through my relationship with Christ.

Ultimate Hope of Ancestors

Ultimate Hope of Ancestors

A foggy morning at Sunkoshi river, Nepal. Photo by Sohan

Ultimate Hope of Ancestors

by Roshan Pandey

You may shoot me with your sophisticated weapon

But, I will fire you back with my powerful words

Because my weapon is kindness

You may want to see me broken down in my knees

But I want to see me risen back in my feet

You may want to see me weeping in tears

But I want to see me swim in a deep ocean

Because I am the hope of Veterans that defy to give up

And stand up for justice and equality for all

You may want to see me brokenhearted covered in blood

But I want to see me down in prayers

Because prayers lead to action

You may want to see me hopeless in a deep well like a frog

But I want to see me climb a mountaintop

And preach a sermon

You may want to see me silent and voiceless like an owl

But I want to see me be the voice for poor and needy

You may want to see me suffocate in fire

However, I want to see me run through the flames

Into the deep blue ocean

Because I am the ultimate hope and dream of my ancestors 

 

History Lover

History Lover

Statue of Abraham Lincoln at Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC

Is it the bird or is It the air?

Can you see that I’m a man without fear?

North Dakota couldn’t sluggard me from fighting a fierce black bison

Louisiana couldn’t cease me from being a Tiger

South Carolina couldn’t halt me from being an Army Warrior

Virginia couldn’t knock me down from being an Ordinance soldier

Alaska couldn’t impede me from being an Arctic Warrior

North Carolina couldn’t dissolve me from being an Airborne soldier

Florida couldn’t scare me from swimming with manatee to scare away gator

Iowa couldn’t finish me from being a Hawkeye

No way that I could back off from Pennsylvania as I was a Nittany Lion

Bound to rule the state

Texas made me a Cowboy

While Massachusetts turned me into a mighty Warrior

Finally, Virginia made me a history lover!

Oh God

Oh God

Hear me Oh God as I rise through the ashes

Feel me Oh God as I travel through the fire

Feed me Oh God as I walk hungry in the sand through the desert

Talk to me Oh God as I seek the truth

Hear me Oh God as I call you for redemption

Return to the Earth Oh God as I pray for your love and compassion

My eyes are inflicted with the wound from childhood

How long will it be till I stop weeping tears through my eyes?

Answer me Oh God as you’re the only one that I fear

In my lonely life as I walk the road that you chose for me

I can see the sign of life as you uplift my heart with joy

Bringing a sweet laughter while I walk through the mountain

As you fill my lungs with cool breeze of air

I see the signs of peace in every step I take along the icy patch

Oh God fill my mind with wisdom and knowledge

As I dream of the world with peace and justice

Although I am blinded by Odysseus, sacker of cities

As I may be ignorant Veteran that seeks wisdom while I question everything

Hear me Oh Lord as I seek the righteous path

That grants me freedom and happiness

As I seek to cultivate the virtue of courage, justice, wisdom and moderation

Better to die than to compromise my principles

Protect me Oh God with your divine wisdom