Meire Marion's Corner...: August 2013

Sunday, August 18, 2013

I Walk by Faith Not by Sight

"We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7

This is such a true statement when it comes to my life. I walk by faith not by sight. To me this means so much more than simple words can explain. Nonetheless, I will do my best to try to get my message across.

Two years ago I was attacked by a bacteria ( which doctors have no idea whatsoever what it could have been ) which made my bone marrow swell cutting off the connection of my brain with the rest of my body from the breast down. It took me one week to walk again, with the help of a walker; contradicting medical reports that stated that I was not to walk again for at least a year and a half. Of course they were basing their results only on facts from scientific research. I walk by faith. I walk because God wants me to and allows me to.

Mind you, I still do not feel from my breast down, my legs hurt from inside out. In the winter time or when temperatures drop, my legs feel like they are on fire. If you touch them, they feel cold and I cannot tell whether or not you are touching them, especially my left leg. Science cannot explain this either. According to the results of my MRIs I should be able to feel properly, but I don’t. I walk by faith. I walk because it is God’s will.

If you look at me, you cannot imagine that all of this is going on. I walk. I might lose my balance from time to time. But I place one foot in front of the other and take the steps that I need to take to get me to places. I walk by faith. I walk because God loves me.

My doctors have told me that I am lucky that I am not blind for if I were, walking would be impossible according to their written material. They state that I walk because I can see where I am stepping. I walk by faith. I walk because God is merciful. I walk because I am blessed not lucky.

Google Images

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Mysterious Events That Have Appeared in the News Recently

Two stories have been in the headlines for some time these days here in Brazil.

One is a sad story about a thirteen – year - old boy who is being accused of murdering his whole family – mom, dad, grandma and great aunt. His parents were police officers which made the choice of the murder a bit easier- shooting. In my heart I would like to believe that he didn´t do it. But according to the police and their investigation, everything leads to him. Unfortunately we will never know the truth, because the boy took his life as well.

The press is making him look like a super hero, for he was a fantastic shooter and we could even say a professional one, based on what we read in the papers. The neighbors and family members are making him look like a kind, sweet and gentle young teenager. The school is making him look like an example student who used to be quiet and quite studious. His friends are divided into two categories; the ones who really liked him and say he was calm and cool and the others who were perhaps a bit envious of him and say that he used to draw pictures of war and loved playing those video games that most, if not all, teenage boys like to play at that age. One of his friends, who stated that he was his best friend, told the press that the boy´s wish was to be a hit man when he grew up. His family, aunts and uncles, refuse to believe that he did all of that and are stating that they were killed because of internal police reasons. They were simply eliminated, wiped out, deleted.

According to what I have read and heard, I cannot come to a consensus as to what really happened. It is possible that the boy really was a psychopath and snapped that day, or he was pressured to do it. Usually when someone is going to end his life, there is a suicide note along with the incident. The greatest question here is will we ever know? And can we trust the answer we get? Well, we’ll have to wait and see…

The other story, also sad, is about a brick layer in Rio that was last seen being put into a police car and taken to the station. Because of cameras all over the community, they have his getting into the car on tape; however, the big mystery is that no one knows where he is. People are starting to protest with signs and banners asking “Where is Amarildo?” (That is his name). Police say they do not know. The press is on top of the story interviewing Amarildo´s friends, family and co-workers. It must be very sad when someone in your family just disappears. At least when the corpse is found, you are sad, but at least you can rest in peace knowing that the person has stopped suffering. He could be being tortured for all we know.

Poor Amarildo, if he came from an upper class family then perhaps the authorities would have found him by now. To be point blank, the police wouldn´t have taken him in the first place.

This wouldn´t be the first time a person has disappeared. There are many stories of people just vanishing into thin air. Could they have been abducted? Well, we will have to wait and see what is going to give with this story too…

What do you think?

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(Written August 12, 2013)
copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Friday, August 9, 2013

WAKING UP TO THIS VIEW IS PRICELESS!!!!

Around 6 am Cookie (my furry feline friend) was agitated and kept on scratching away at the bathroom door and meowing. It bothered me tremendously for this was probably bothering the neighbors. ( I worry too much about the others)Her wish finally came true it was around 6:10, I got up, walked to the kitchen to check her food bowl and looked out the kitchen window. I quickly reached for my cell phone.

I took a few photos of the show in the sky with Instagram, however, it was not portraying what my eyes were witnessing. I looked and looked and remembered that my old digital camera was in my bag. I went to my bedroom window and this is what I saw for the next fifteen minutes:

Photo by Meire Marion - Sao Paulo, Brazil

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Protests in Brazil

Since the month of June, there have been protest marches all around the country. It started off with a group of students who set a date on a social network for a march to protest against the bus fare that was going up 20 cents. It was beautiful to see that finally people weren´t going to take what the government was doing any longer. There were marches in many different cities all at the same time. Unfortunately, together with these people, there were people who were just there for the heck of it. These people covered their faces and broke store windows and also into banks. It was very sad to see because at the same time that a gigantic group protesting for their rights, there was a smaller group destroying other people´s properties.

The marches were positive for the bus fares went back down. However, other points were brought up like education, health, corrupt political actions and the police force. Therefore, there have been protest marches every week since. Nowadays though, the people that take part in these acts are few, hundreds not thousands like those because of the 20 cents. Nonetheless, those who were protesting just for the heck of it marched on and there were times that it seemed like there were only people destroying property.

When people were protesting for the 20-cent reduction, they would chant “It´s not only because of the 20 cents”. It was beautiful. Finally the Brazilian population were taking measures and doing something to change the country for the better. However, two months have gone by and it seems like it was really only about the 20 cents. Prices have increased tremendously in food, clothing, medication and so on.

It seems like the population of the country woke up in June and went back to sleep. Sad.

(The picture below was taken two weeks before the protest marches started. Behind the flag, under the viaduct, there is a gym set up for those who live on the streets. When the flag came down, I thought it was to show off the new equipment, but now I am wondering whether there is a connection between the flag and the protest marches. Mind you, this is in the downtown area. )

Picture by Meire Marion

( Written August 8, 2013)

Saturday, August 3, 2013

The Visitor

Photo by Rodrigo Ares

Classes had just restarted on that day after a thirty-day vacation. There was no rock playing on the speakers. It was a different group of students who were attending the afternoon class. Everyone seemed happy to be back and interested in what was going on in the lesson. However, the classroom was the same one. It flew from window to window but did not come in. For one second everyone thought it would, to our sadness it didn’t.

My heart was filled with joy with the visit. To me it meant that we were on the right track and there was joy at that moment. It felt nice to know that perhaps that butterfly that visited us last semester is still flying around spreading good vibrations.