I'm a rich man

My friends threw me a surprise party for my 40th birthday. They really surprised me! But in the middle of the celebration, I realized something: I am a rich man!

Seeing so many shows of affections of people that means so much to me, as many in the party yesterday as by phone or texts, it was just great. When I got home, my eyes were opened again to something very simple: I have a house! And then, I started to thank in my heart for everything I have: a place to sleep, food in my fridge, a fridge!, furniture, a car, a job, etc., and these are only the material stuff.

What really fills my life is the privilege of sharing my life with such good heart people, which I have as companions, friends and family, as many near to me as in other countries, from which I constantly learn and I'm able to see God's love in each of them.

I could tell how blessed I was by each of them and there are some tales to tell, but if I did, it'll be so long that you won't read this post! hahaha. Leaving jokes aside, I just want to acknowledge one person: my Ceci, my amorcito.

Amorcito, thank you for loving me and being by my side! You give so many reasons to be thankful for having you that I just don't know how to start. Your heart doesn't just make me to fall in love with you, but also it challenges me to be like you. Everyday you inspire me and challenge me to be better. With your example, you bring out the best of me. You believe in me even when I gave you reasons for not doing it. You are beautiful my love!

Romans 5:8 says that our heavenly Father loved us even when we were sinners. My amorcito, you are the person that daily shows me that love of my Father, because, after Him, nobody knows me better than you, and in spite of that, you still love me.

I am the richest man of the world for having you, the most precious possession of my heavenly Father.

Do not generalize people

"All Peruvians are the same." No, they don't.

"All Americans are the same." No, they don't.

"All politicians are the same." No, they don't.

"All Chileans are the same." No, they don't.

"All christians are the same." No, they don't.

"All Russians are the same." No, they don't. 

"Rich people, poor people, black people, Chinese people, are all the same." No, they don't.

"Saying that all people are the same is just a desperate answer of the one with no arguments, of the weak and insecure", says God to Ratla in the novel "Gadol Searching for the Truth - The Downfall" (soon available in English).

Nowadays, because of Chile's disqualification of the Football Soccer World Cup, you can read all kind of commentaries generalizing an entire country just because of the arrogance showed by many of its futbol soccer players. Good people paying the sins of others. And this is just one example of what happen in the world.

You can find as many good things as bad things in everywhere. The perfect culture does not exists. My pastor, Robert Barriger, usually says: "If you find the perfect church, get out of there because you will ruin it." Well, I think I can say the same about any culture: "If you find the perfect culture, get out of there because you will ruin it".

I am pretty sure that in your country there are more that one person making a bad reputation of the rest of you, of which you say: "why they don't just leave the country!", "because of him, I am sure everybody is thinking that all of us are the same." If you don't like when others do that with your country, why are you going to do the same to the rest? You should practice, rather, what Jesus taught us: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Matthew 7:12).

Next time you see that somebody different from you as to nationality, creed, race, economic status, gender, etc., say or do something bad, please, do not generalize saying that everybody that lives in that particular country, everybody that professes that same creed, everybody of that same race, etc., are the same, because they are not. Get the habit of not generalizing people. Spend a little more time specifying who are the ones that did or said that bad thing, and you will see that doing this, you will be contributing to have a less-hate and more-accepting society.

Hope it helps!