Imagine a future moment in your life where all your dreams come true. You know, it’s the greatest moment of your life when you get to experience it with one person. Who’s standing next to you?-Unknown

Sometimes you have to step outside the person you’ve been and remember the person you were meant to be. The person you wanted to be. The person you are. -Marvin

God's Presence

Forsaken by God? When you can’t feel God

Detecting God’s presence When trying to measure time or weight or temperature or speed or any of a hundred other things, we make a huge leap forward whenever we stop trusting our feelings or intuition and start relying on instrumentation. For instance, trying to tell the time by using our feelings, such as how hungry or tired we feel, and our senses, such as how light it seems, is crudely inaccurate compared to using an objective measure of a clock. Likewise, guessing from circumstances or whether we feel guilty or happy or peaceful or excited or lucky, is a most unreliable way of gauging spiritual reality. The more important a matter is, the more critical it is that we stop trusting our feelings or senses and start relying on an objective measure. What if an airline pilot ignored the plane’s instrumentation and decided to fly by his gut feeling? Spiritual matters are literally more important than life and death. All of eternity hinges on them. The stakes are far too high to dare rely on your feelings or circumstances to guess spiritual reality. Sensations like ‘feeling’ the presence of God are so vague as to be virtually useless as a spiritual gauge. I don’t know if I’ve ever ‘felt’ God. And whether or not I have is of little consequence. To base one’s faith on such feelings would be a disaster for anyone. One’s faith must be in the integrity of God. Do not rely on your own understanding, warns Scripture (Proverbs 3:5). There is a way that seems right but it leads to death, screams another verse (Proverbs 14:12). You need the precision of God’s Word. Each revelation of Scripture is like a dial in a pilot’s cockpit. Give more credence to your gut feeling than to one of them, and your spiritual life is on the line. The Bible affirms that a prophet can speak in the name of God and his prophecies be supernaturally accurate and yet if his message does not align with Scripture, it is merely a test that must be utterly rejected (Deuteronomy 13:1-4). If the great apostle Paul, who worked miracles in name of Christ, proclaimed a gospel different to that recorded in Scripture, his words must be rejected. The same, he insisted, applied to a message from an angel (Galatians 1:8). Even the most anti-God force in all creation can appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The Deceiver could possibly give you a false spiritual experience, but he cannot change the Bible. ‘Heaven and earth will pass away,’ said Jesus, ‘but my word will never pass away’ (Matthew 24:35). God can give you feelings God could instantly give you feelings but in the long run it wouldn’t help. Your faith must be in the bedrock of the Word of God, not the shifting sands of feelings. Emotions fluctuate wildly. God’s word is solid. And the only way anyone can be a solid Christian is to ignore feelings and hold on to that word. It’s no use thinking, If God gave me some sort of sign or feeling it would strengthen my faith. You would be hoping to put your faith in the memory of the sign or feeling, rather than in the integrity of God. You are indicating that you regard what you see and feel are more dependable than Almighty God. Handling doubt It’s been rightly said, ‘Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs.’ Rather than become over-worried about your doubts, look to what you do believe, and draw strength from God. You will make it, not because of anything within you, but because God is powerful. Forget any deficiency you sense within you, and remember instead the sufficiency of Christ. When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, he replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed . . .’ The implication is that what we need is not so much great faith, as a great God – and you’ve got One! Often our problem is that we wrongly think our faith to be so insignificant that we don’t bother using it. To achieve great things in God, simply use the faith you already have. Take your eyes off the supposed inadequacy in your faith, and fix them on the adequacy of your God. He is all you need. When handed a million dollar check you can have many doubts and still end up rich. It doesn’t matter how much you suspect the check might bounce. It’s only if you doubt so much that you refuse to try to cash it that you could miss out. A man came to Jesus saying, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.’ He got his miracle! We cannot muster faith by ourselves. Jesus said even about himself, ‘I can of myself do nothing.’ How much more must that be true of us! So continually look to God to strengthen your faith. That won’t stop the Evil One putting doubts into your mind. He’s been using that ploy ever since Adam and Eve, when he insinuated that God did not have their best interest at heart and that the True God was lying when he warned that eating the forbidden fruit would harm them. The Deceiver even tried putting doubts in Jesus’ mind. God had audibly said, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ Then along came Satan. ‘If you are the Son of God . . .’ he began two of his temptations. We must not let such accusations against God wander unchallenged through our minds. Reject the thoughts. Push the slimy intruders out of your mind. Displace them with the truths of God’s word. Hold out against the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Entertain that old snake’s thoughts no more than you would let a viper repeatedly bite you.   No one has perfect faith. The Bible shows even the greatest people of faith wavering in their faith (startling example). You have faith – maybe not as strong as you would like, but you have it. And Jesus taught that as you use what you have, God will give you more. (Luke 16:10; Matthew 25:21) If we had to become perfect (whether you define that as having absolute faith, giving up every sin, being absolutely sincere, or whatever) no one could ever be saved. If it were necessary for us to get our act perfectly together in order for us to be saved, it would mean God is so pathetic that he needs our help to save ourselves. You are not asked to believe you are good or lovable or dependable. You just have to believe that God is good and lovable and dependable. Faith sufficient to receive God’s blessings is fully within your grasp. So we come back to our million dollars example. (Previous webpage) All that the Deceiver can do is try convincing you that you are just as spiritually poor as you were before you asked forgiveness through Jesus. He’ll try putting thoughts and doubts into your mind to get you to throw away as worthless, God’s ‘million dollar check.’ He’ll try to say that God is not true to his word – that although the unchanging Lord promised spiritual riches to all who come to him through the sacrificial death of Jesus, it’s a lie. The Evil One might be more subtle and try to persuade you that you are not calling God a liar, you simply think you are not good enough. But this is just his trickery because God guarantees that whoever (no exceptions) asks forgiveness through Jesus will be forgiven and inherit all of God’s riches. (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:15-16; Romans 5:10; 8:32; 1 John 4:10 etc) Either that includes you, or God is a liar. Easier for some? Some people have a bigger struggle in receiving assurance of God’s favor upon them and yet these are the very people who usually end up receiving a bigger than normal blessing. I guess you have heard of John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the most published books of all time. John Bunyan’s spiritual torment was horrific. For years this poor man lived in inconsolable agony, convinced he was going to hell and he could find no way out of his spiritual dilemma. With a severity that few of us could even conceive, year after year he was repeatedly overwhelmed by sin, hopelessness and the seemingly certain prospect of an eternity in Hell. Not only did he finally get all he had been yearning for, it was largely this experience that formed the book that has touched and brought spiritual help to multiplied millions. No wonder Pilgrim’s Progress is such an outstandingly powerful book, impacting people over the centuries and around the world in a phenomenal way. Much of it was virtually autobiographical. Great men like George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley also suffered enormously in their struggle to find salvation. Whitefield’s spiritual need was so all-consuming that his fastings almost killed him. John and Charles were inconsolable until at long last they found salvation. Spurgeon suffered so greatly in his quest for salvation that he wrote, ‘I had rather pass through seven years of the most languishing sickness, than I would ever again pass the terrible discovery of the evil of sin.’ Not surprisingly, their subsequent ministries eclipsed that of almost all Christians who have been spared such anguish of soul. So I believe the greater your present struggle, the more likely it is that you are headed for an exceptional spiritual adventure. The positive side of doubt A woman who was plagued with doubts e-mailed my ministry partner. Helen Hall’s reply was so good that I must share it with you:
When we are hit hard by life’s negative experiences – death, divorce, unemployment, rebellious children – we can all find ourselves questioning God’s existence, or mercy, or love, or ability or willingness to help. But you are approaching this in the right way – by bringing your doubts out into the open. Babies don’t ask questions. They just accept everything around them quite happily, unless they are uncomfortable. But 4 year olds are totally different! They ask endless questions. How? When? Where? Why? Who? They have become more mentally aware of the world around them, and they are trying to make sense of it all, and understand how it all fits together. If they ask “Why did you do that, Mommy?” it isn’t that they are doubting their mother’s love or wisdom. They are just trying to understand how her actions fit into the general scheme of things. They are on a steep learning curve. And, spiritually, you are on a steep learning curve. So were the disciples. Christ said to them at the Last Supper (John 16:12) “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” It is possible that these doubts that arise in you from time to time are an indication that the Holy Spirit knows you are now ready to grow a little more. Currently you are experiencing ‘growing pains,’ but your faith will be all the stronger for it! Yesterday I was reading Matthew 9:18-26:
(18) While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” (19) So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. . . . (23) When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, (24) He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. (25) But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. (26) And the report of this went out into all that land.” My attention was particularly caught by “the noisy crowd wailing,  . . . And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.” (NKJV)
The crowd were right! They had to be right. They were official mourners. They could recognize death when they saw it! The girl was definitely beyond help. And so they ridiculed Christ’s words. They were never more wrong! This was certainly a case where “seeing is believing” didn’t work! And then I looked at, “But when the crowd was put outside.” What an odd way to put it! Why “was put outside,” not “had gone outside”? I examined the Greek word for “put outside.” It means to eject, cast out, expel! The Bible uses this same word when it talks about Jesus casting out evil spirits! So I now see my doubts as being like that noisy, clamorous crowd, who, trusting in the evidence of their own eyes, were so sure they were right – and were so seriously wrong! And now I grab my doubts by the scruff of the neck and throw them out.
Should you believe your senses?
• 
  
A scientist says earth hurls through space at great speed; to you it seems motionless.
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A doctor says a mark on your body is cancer; to you it feels harmless.
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An electrician says a wire is dangerously live; to you it looks dead.
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A mechanic says your car needs oil immediately; you don’t think it’s necessary.
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A soldier says an area is sown with land-mines; you can’t see any. Who should you believe: your senses, or the expert?  
• 
  
Jesus says ‘if anyone loves me . . . my Father will love him and we will make our home with him’ (John 14:23); you feel empty.
• 
  
God says how often I would have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings (Matthew 23:37); you feel God is unfeeling.
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God says nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39); you feel something going wrong proves God no longer loves you.
• 
  
God says rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4); you feel there’s nothing to rejoice in.
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God says be not surprised at the painful trial you are suffering (1 Peter 4:12), we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom (Acts 14:22); you feel surprised.
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God says, he was bruised and wounded for you (Isaiah 53:5); you wonder if he loves you.
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God says your sins will be wiped out (Acts 3:9) and he will remember them no more (Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12); you feel he is holding the past against you. (More such statements) Who do you believe: your senses, or the Expert? Climax If your spiritual enemy knows you will be thrown by what happens to you, he can twist you around his little finger just by giving you a hard time. You are inviting him to attack because he knows it will keep you from trusting the Lord, who alone can defeat Satan. For as long as you look to feelings and circumstances to verify spiritual truth, you will be a weak Christian. But you can be a powerful spiritual conqueror by stubbornly clinging to the fact that the God who cannot lie is steadfastly devoted to you. Refuse to entertain any other thought. By having that resolve you have defeated the devil. He knows it doesn’t matter what he hits you with, you will cling to God, your strength, so he has less incentive to bother. Faith – believing in the integrity of God despite what things seem – is the basis of the entire Christian life. Some people’s ‘greater’ faith might only be an illusion produced by them having had an easier life than mine. Nevertheless, I am sick of being immobilized by excuses. I don’t care how impossible things look, how many failures I have experienced, how spiritually dead I feel, how much the Lord appears to overlook me: God is still the God of the Bible. His Word affirms he is my God and he loves me, regardless of how abandoned, unloved and insignificant my wild imagination paints me as being. That makes spiritual success inevitable. All I need do is stop wallowing in doubt long enough to receive my rightful inheritance. So often God seems to deliberately overlook me. So often the Bible seems as dry as dust. So often I feel as if I have nothing to live for. My emotional pain seems endless. God constantly seems to favor others over me. But nothing – nothing – can change the constancy of the incomprehensible enormity of God’s love. Nothing can made God break his word. Suppose it were rumored that your marriage partner is being unfaithful. There are three things you need to know for peace of mind. Does your partner insist he or she loves you faithfully? Is your partner honest? Does he or she know what genuine love is? Once you are certain of these three things, you can dismiss all evidence to the contrary and believe in your partner’s love. God in his Word has declared his undying love for you. He’s put it in black and white for the whole world to see. Is God honest? Does he know what real love is? Then you can put aside any suggestions to the contrary and rest in his love. If salvation were by works we might have to hobble 100 miles on our knees, or some such thing, as certain misguided Indians do. To go even one mile on our knees, we would have to resist the pain and slog on with sheer determination, step after step after excruciating step. But since salvation is by faith, we should prayerfully look to Jesus and pour that degree of grit into ignoring agonizing doubts and press on relentlessly, month after month, year after year in sheer faith that God keeps his word. We long for some sort of sign or confirmation that God keeps his word. In his grace the Lord might one day give us confirmation in addition to his promise, but to refuse to believe without it is the height of impertinence because it means we think God could lie. Anyone with such a low view of God has no right to expect anything from God. We march forward not by signs or warm fuzzies but by faith; stubbornly holding on to scriptural truth even when everything within us screams against it. That’s the path to spiritual honor. © Copyright 1998, Grantley Morris. May be freely copied in whole or in part provided: it is not altered; this entire paragraph is included; readers are not charged; if used in a webpage, the new page is significantly different to this one. Many more compassionate, inspiring, sometimes hilarious writings available free online at www.net-burst.net  Freely you have received, freely give. For use outside these limits, consult the author.

Where the World Began by Margaret Laurence

This is where my world began. A world which includes the ancestors-- both my own and other people's ancestors who become mine. A world which formed me, and continues to do so, even while I fought it in some of its aspects, and continue to do so. A world which gave me my own lifework to do, because it was here that I learned the sight of my own particular eyes.

Suki Review Part 1: Suki Tinted Active Moisturizer!

Hello, beauty junkies!  Let me begin by first confessing my dearest and most deadly (literally? and non-literally) addiction to organic beauty products. I found myself in this craze for beauty product ingredients and went on a hunt/spree to look for products that were going to be good to my skin: meaning no harsh chemicals such as petroleum, alcohol, and silicone, to name a few. I then found myself browsing http://www.saffronrouge.com/, a online beauty product store that dedicates themselves to selling products without harsh chemicals in them; my dream come true! This is where I discovered Suki.

First of all, research! I started researching for more online beauty stores and found that Saffron Rouge overpriced their products. Secondly, they weren't true to their promise: I found products on their site that were far from safe. So, I went over to http://www.essentialdayspa.com. I found great reviews on the site, they offered various brands (from organics to even famous, "chemical" filled ones that are cult favourites), and to add, they offered at regular price, Suki products, at a cheaper price than Saffron Rouge. To top if off, they had a discount code they were offering at the time and promised a good amount of samples. I knew the site was for me. (PS: They currently have a 40% off discount code going now until August 10! Use it! I fully trust their site. They are truly dedicated to their customers! You won't be disappointed by them.)

So, I ordered the Suki Color Tinted Active Moisturizer and the Suki Balancing Day Lotion, and received samples of the Suki Pure Balancing Facial Moisturizer, the Suki Pure Nourishing Facial Moisturizer, and the Suki Intensive Nourishing Masque. (I love how they knew to send me all Suki samples!)

First off, I was super stoked for the Tinted Moisturizer. I have been a long addict of high end products. I've used foundations from Nars, Dior, Mac, Estee Lauder, Clinique, and on and on, but wanted to try an organic alternative that promised to treat my skin, while evening out my complexion and letting my skin breathe. It seemed like a miracle product.

I bought the color Natural, being a olive-y, tanned complexion (a true MAC C4 in the winter and a true Dior honey in the summer).

After applying my Aveeno Baby SPF 50 sunscreen and the Suki Balancing Day Lotion (will review later), the moment came for me to use the product I have been dying to try. It comes with a pump, which allows you to choose the amount of product you want to use, an added plus! However, on the first pump, it disposed some hard residue, very unpleasing to look at, or apply onto your face. I caught it and disposed of it immediately, thank God. With the first pump, it appeared like a foundation, in texture and in consistency- not too liquid-y but liquid-y enough. I dotted my face and began smoothing it over my face. 

THE HORROR! THE HORROR! (Heart of Darkness reference... I was studying the book for school and ... This really has no excuse. I'm so weird...lol) I felt like I got a foundation 5 times darker in shade than my skin tone. To add, I looked like I smeared a top layer of oil all over my skin (I have combination to oily skin that is very dehydrated). After fully smoothing it all over my skin, I waited, hoping the product would oxidize to match my skin tone, or something! Nothing... I needed to run, so I grabbed some oil absorbing sheets and blotted away. *sigh* It took about 5 sheets and each sheet grabbed the tinted moisturizer away with it. Hint: the tinted moisturizer does not SET. So, I was stuck with oil still on my face, no coverage, and a darker complexion on my face than my neck and body-- a vile? sight... I was out of time so I had to leave. 

Later in the day, I went into the bathroom and checked the mirror. I was still an oil blob and looked extremely dark in my face, although the colour did die down a bit. The tinted moisturizer seemed to highlight large pores and the little miliae on my skin. I was not happy.

An extra detail, every time I touched my face, the moisturizer wiped off. I only noticed because the tinted moisturizer was so dark!

So, the next time I tried the tinted moisturizer, I mixed the Balancing Day Lotion, I skipped the sunscreen, but to no avail. But yesterday, before heading out to the gym with my friend, I decided I would mix the tinted moisturizer with my sunscreen. Much better... My skin looked illuminated and fresh with the slightest, barely noticeable coverage-- perfect for the gym. Who knew the combination would be such a perfect match. It was just perfect! It looked flawless and beautiful. But, would I repurchase? It's a 50/50 for me, so we will have to see!

Online Shopping at Victoria's Secret and a Bikini Review!

About two weeks ago, I made my very first online purchase on Victoria's Secret online store. The shipping came just in time and the product came without any defects; however, the sizing was not correct and the colour was totally off.

I ordered the Riviera Halter top in Shimmer summer sky. (Link is no longer available.)

Mind you, I bought it for full price... The bikini in itself was $48 and there was an extra charge of $30. That is one hefty price tag for a bikini top: one whose quality should match the price!

I got a small, based on their sizing chart, and let's say, it was huge... You could poke at it....if you know what I mean, ladies.

Moving on, the color, shimmer summer sky, is not accurately represented in the picture. In the picture, it is a soft, light, baby blue that comes off very understated, simple, and sophisticated. In reality, it was a candy, bright, turquoise blue that clashed with my olive, tanned skin. It was horrifying.

 

The push-up aspect of it.... Oh my.... It was not push-up. It just had cups that every bikini has in a non-push-up bikini in Bloomingdales or Nordstrom. It offered no lift or added support. It was a cup, not anything "designed to dazzle with our top-of-the-line push-up technology"....

When I ordered this bikini, I imagined it to be like the push-up bra sold at Victoria's Secret. But let me assure you, it was nothing like that. Far from it actually... In all honesty, I am a Victoria's Secret bra lover. The bra in the link just mentioned is my all-time favorite bra. I only choose to wear that specific bra. Let me just say, I was very disappointed.

Oh- but let me also mention, the bikini was definitely shimmery! The fabric was extremely luxe and sturdy. So, I definitely don't regret choosing the "luxe Italian fabric". 

I filled out my exchange form and asked to exchange my Riviera bikini top for a Beach Sexy Lace Ruffle Bandeau top. It's a good $34. So, exchanging it would give me back $14 and an added $5.99 (I believe), if I use the return slip they gave in my order. Which means, I would get about $20 back... but when I went to the postal office, it cost me $12 to ship the order to VS, so I technically only get $6... To a first time online customer, I don't know if I'd buy anything else from the site, especially as a Canadian who has to pay for the extra taxes, duties, and import fees. Boohoo to us. :'(

The order for the new bikini has been placed. I pray it will be as beautiful and fitting as it is portrayed to be. If this order fails, I'll be forced to keep the bikini and ban online shopping at Victoria's Secret for good. And, when I say 'ban', I mean try hard not to browse the Victoria's Secret's site constantly. Hehe.

I'll keep everyone updated!

PS: I am extremely jealous of the girls online who have had fabulous orders with VS's swim line (bikini and bottoms included), especially the bottoms. I chickened out in buying any bottoms in their swim line because I was unsure of the sizing and fit. And, this order assured me that I had made the best decision by not ordering anything else from them.

PSS: Victoria's Secret, please make this order a good one! Or I'll have to turn to Bloomingdales, Nordstroms or the like for my bikini, and I really would love to love yours! <3 br="">
Do I recommend? Subscribe to keep updated on the following review part deux!

Bless you.

Sincerely,
me!

Please leave any comment, feedback, review, or experience that you would like to share!
Hope you enjoyed! :-)

Study Resources for Ontario G1 Takers!

The official driver's handbook:
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook/
practice test:
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook/section5.5.0.shtml

Quiz 1-signs:
http://www.apnatoronto.com/ontario-g1-practice-test-signs.html
Quiz 2- Rules 1:
http://www.apnatoronto.com/ontario-g1-practice-test-rules1.html
Quiz 3-Rules 2:
http://www.apnatoronto.com/ontario-g1-practice-test-rules2.html
Quiz 4-Rules 3:
http://www.apnatoronto.com/ontario-g1-practice-test-rules3.html
Quizzes 1-6:
http://www.drivingtest.ca/ontario-g1-driving-test/

G1 Signs Practice quiz:
http://www.g1g2.org/g1-test-practice.html

28 quizzes (middle left blue toolbar):
http://find-a-driving-school.ca/free-g1-practice-tests/g1-practice-test-one/

G1 Practice Test:
http://www.g1practice.com/

Driver's Manual Summary:
This fee includes the cost of the knowledge test, your first road test and a five-year licensing fee. In order to schedule a road test appointment, you must prepay the road test fee.

Chances

The word rings in my mind. It lingers... I can't seem to erase it from my mind. It makes my heart skip a beat. It gives me butterflies in my stomach.
The word is a vague one, a broad one; one of hope, one of rejection, one of dreams, and one that may remind us of our failures. But, it's a word I cannot forget.
I ask myself a million times a day, "Should I take the chance"? "Am I worth it"? "Am I worthy or well qualified"? I live life in fear of taking chances. I question, I worry, I fret. Why? Rejection stings like a burn. The burning sensation lasts. It takes weeks to heal, maybe even months or years.
However, what I have realized is, chances are open doors before our own eyes. The doors could open to a hell, or they can open up to a heaven. Would you take that chance for a heaven? Imagine, you take the chance and you achieve what you have sincerely, genuinely wanted to achieve. Your passions, hopes, and dreams become a reality. Would you take that chance? Would you risk your life to open the doors before your life for that heaven?
Well, it comes down to the question, "How bad to do you want it"? To be honest, I don't know. But, I do know, be fearless, like Taylor Swift sings to us. Life is too short for fear, frets, worry, and too short for you not to spend it fulfilling your deepest passions.


Take the chance! I do admit, it's harder said than done! ^^

How bad do you want it?

"I am living a lie. I'm the one hurting myself. I'm the one choosing to hide."

Freedom Writers Poem named Moment

Moment

Let him wish his life
for the sorrows of a stone
never knowing the first thread
of these
never knowing the pain of ice
as its crystals slowly grow
needles pressing in on the heart
to live forever
and never feel a thing
to wait a million lifetimes
only to erode and become sand
wish not for the stone
but for the fire
last only moments
and change everything
oh to be the lightning
to exist for less than a moment
yet in that moment
to expose the world to every open eye
oh to be thunder
to clap and ring
to rumble into memories
minds and spines
to chill the soul and shake the very ground
pounding even the sands
into smaller pieces
of the mountain brooding, extinct,
yet gathering for one fatal moment
to power to blow the top clean off the world
oh to last the blink of an eye and leave nothing
but nothing unmoved behind you

Vincent Guilliano
January 9, 1991

Poem is from the movie called "Freedom Writers".

Oceans will Part by Hillsong Lyrics

If my heart has grown cold
There Your love will unfold
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand
When I’m blind to my way
There Your Spirit will pray
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand

Oceans will part nations come
At the whisper of Your call
Hope will rise glory shone
In my life Your will be done

Present suffering may pass
Lord Your mercy will last
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand
And my heart will find praise
I’ll delight in Your way
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand

Oceans will part nations come
At the whisper of your call
Hope will rise glory shone

Writing Reviews for Plays, Shows, Theatre, etc. Review Example:

I found myself having to write a review on a play for my English class. The last time I had to write a review for something I watched was in middle school. I looked for examples of what would be appropriate but also qualified to hand in as a high school student in senior AP English. Here are the reviews I found:


The Story: Family patriarch Max lives in perpetual struggle for supremacy with his two grown sons, Lenny and Joey and his brother Sam in a run-down part of London in the 1960’s. Their fragile but dysfunctional apple cart is upset by the arrival of Max’s eldest son, Teddy, and his wife Ruth, home after living in America for six years.

 “Pinteresque” is a phrase used to describe typical features of Harold Pinter’s plays; dramatic pauses, black comedy, an absurd story, repeated phrases that seem to mean more than they appear. A Pinter play is as much about what is not said as is spoken.

A Pinter play is not light fare; Max and his sons are not The Waltons, this is not your feel-good kind of story. Unless your own life looks better by comparison, you are not apt to exit this play feeling very good about the human condition.  Even The Grapes of Wrath – depressing as it is – leaves you with the life-affirming knowledge that the characters will soldier on, in pursuit of something better. With The Homecoming, you just hope you never run across people like these characters and that they never procreate.

This story is for those who like examining people’s unspoken motivations. It is a marvelous play to study; to delve into, pick apart its meanings, dissect characters, to examine themes. It is not a play one enjoys watching.

Not that the direction is not crisp or the acting sharp. Jennifer Tarver has a knack with the darkly humorous, there is no doubt about that. Aaron Krohn makes Lenny into a sociopath – menacing one moment, charming the next; Cara Ricketts is an enigmatic, shrewd Ruth; Stephen Ouimette’s Sam is a gentleman out of place among predators, both haunted by and reveling in secrets. As portrayed by Mike Shara, Teddy is strangely apart but still very much one of Max’s son’s, and Ian Lake turns Joey into an animalistic man-boy.  As their father Max, Brian Dennehy is at his best when quietly bullying, switching gears from intimidating to nostalgic as fast as Lenny changes from charming to snaky.  

But as good as the direction and performers are, it is not a play one can enjoy watching. The characters are cruel or at best aloof. The comedy is of the uncomfortable kind, the laughs generated by pitiless insults and emotional abuse, rather than any genuine mirth. It is a joyless story, the characters remorseless, the action callous. 

Watch The Homecoming forearmed with knowledge of the play for best results; Robert Cushman provides a fine analysis of the play’s themes in his review. The Homecoming continues until October 30 in repertory at the Avon Theatre. 

reviewsbyrobyn.blogspot.com

Sunday, 14 August, 2011 reviews.robyn.blogspot.com

Members of the Misanthrope cast. Photo by Cylla Von Tiedmann

The Misanthrope

By Moliere; translation by Richard Wilbur

Directed by David Grindley

Featuring Ben Carlson, Sara Topham, Martha Farell, Juan Chioran, Kelli Fox

The Story: Alceste is fed up with the two-faced nature of everyone at court, and is resolved to leave mankind behind to live like a hermit where he is free to speak the unvarnished truth. Unfortunately for him, he happens to be in love with one of the falsest creatures on earth, the charming coquette Célimène. When Alceste’s brutal honesty lands him in trouble with the law, and Célimène’s behaviour gets her censured in public, these two opposites may have a chance to attract – but can either of them bend enough to accept the others’ faults?

Director David Grindley was last at Stratford to direct the punk-rock-n-roll Midsummer Night’s Dream of 2009. In that production he gave the play a fresh, almost wild look; in directing Moliere’s The Misanthrope in 2011 however, he stepped back and set it in the Rococco period, roughly 100 years after the Baroque play was penned. This means that this very talky play has little action, but a lot of style.

The set, designed by John Lee Beatty, is a veritable chocolate box of gilding, drapery and light. And the costumes! Robin Fraser Payne’s designs must have take the wardrobe department a year’s worth of work to stitch, and in particular the dress worn by Sara Topham is a frothy confection of pink ruffles, bows and flounces, that could have been lifted straight from The Swing, a 1767 painting by Jean-Honore Fragonard. (Not that the other women’s dresses and men’s multi-layered suits are anything to sneeze at either.)

The acting is anything but frothy, even thought the tone remains light. As Alceste, the Misanthrope of the title, Ben Carlson is as masterful with Moliere as he is with Shakespeare, turning translator Richard Wilbur’s rhyming couplets – which could sound like Dr. Seuss in many actors’ mouths – into everyday conversation. He takes Alceste from rage to heartbreak without ever missing a beat, and one does feel the truth and conviction of the character at every turn.

Sara Topham as Celemine, Ben Carlson as Alceste.
Photo: Cylla Von Tiedmann

Alceste’s love interest, Célimène, is played with both fire and wide-eyed – but false - sweetness by Sara Topham. She shows Célimène to be immature with her petulant rages, but with a slowly dawning realization that she may have gone too far with her behaviour. She also gives as good as she gets, taking on both her rival Arsinoé and her lover Alceste and often getting the better of them. Ms. Topham and Mr. Carlson share one fantastically stormy scene which is riveting in its passion, humour and sweetness.

Kelli Fox as Arsinoe.
Photo: Cylla Von Tiedmann

Alas, Alceste’s ‘radical honesty’ and Célimène’s gossipy slander is no more popular in 1666 as it is in 2011. When the two lovers finally part, the audience witnesses two hearts breaking.  

The other actors are equally strong in their performances; Kelli Fox makes Arsinoé a pleasure to dislike, as does Steve Ross and Trent Pardy in their roles as the simpering courtiers Clitandre and Acaste – Mr. Pardy’s Acaste is particularly glittering and mean. Not to be outdone, Peter Hutt takes Oronte’s foppishness down a notch and replaces it with a shade of chilly malevolence.   Robert King, Brian Tree and Brigit Wilson are wasted in their small roles, although Mr. Tree makes the most of the inarticulate Dubois .

Martha Farrell as Eliante.
Photo: Cylla Von Tiedmann

As for the true lovers in the play, as Philinte Juan Chioran is at his best when imitating a raging Alceste and exchanging knowing looks with Eliante; played by Martha Farrell, Eliante becomes not just the steady voice of reason, but also a lively woman entirely capable of throwing palpable sparks at Alceste (it is not her fault that it is Philinte who catches fire for her).

All in all, this is a classily acted and designed production of a classic play that is a pleasure to hear and see. It continues at the Festival Theatre until October 29 in repertory.