40 days to live.

It is a campaign started in St. Mark church in DC, and they started this campaign at the beginning of the Great Lent 2009. Actually they started a general campaign called "1 year to live" for the fiscal year 2009 and then customize it to fit the Great Lent.

The Idea here is to think about "what if it is our last year (40 days) to live?, what shall we do?, what shall not we do?, how to get benefit of it? and how to prepare ourselves to the everlasting life, the second life with Christ?" this is great idea, it helps to prepare ourselves and to look to that world with eyes of someone who is gonna leave it soon, if you just look this way you will find a lot of things changed and you have a new mind and heart.
Please, find more details and lectures about in this link and join the campaign.

Old Wise Man

I used to take my morning coffee and breakfast in McDonalds before start my work, I was reading while waiting and I noticed that a group of old guys come daily and have the same table beside the window talking and laughing, one day one of them was passing by me and asked me "what is this language of this book?" and I told him it is Arabic, he smiled thankfully for my answer and asked a new questions about my nationality and I answered "Egyptian". then he went in his way, next day another guy came to me and said that his friend told him that I am from Egypt and he start to talk with me about himself and he told me he has Hispanic roots, then he started to talk with me about societies and how he likes to read about differences between nations and his thoughts about our eastern traditions, he also offered me some of his books one of them is “Democracy In America” by Tocqueville and it was written 200 years ago about politics in America.

This guy used to come to my table to say good morning and talk a little with me, he was motivating me and showed me his confidence in my qualification and used to say to me “you will be good, you are fine his speech was always motivated, he was believing in me and I do not know why he said “you made your –nation selection- and that is the most hard part, it is not easy grow” he used to name the change in my life with growth not change as I am not changing but I am growing and having new experiences and life, also he gave me a poem he likes talking about this idea, this guy reminds me with the old wise king that met the young shepherd in story of “The Alchemist”.

I loved talking with him and he gave me high spirit and courage to do things help me to grow, I wish to be good and fine as he said.