Everytime somebody in our clan gets married, my grandfather is always asked to give a speech on secrets to a good marriage. Believe it or not he gives the same speech every time he is asked to speak.“

S.A.L.T is the secret to a good marriage according to him. He begins by telling this story:

There was an old king who one day asked his three daughters one by one if they loved him. The first daughter replied that he loved his father as much as she loves all the gold in the kingdom. The king was so happy to hear how much he was loved by his first daughter. The second daughter said that he loved her father as much she loves all the silver in the kingdom. The king was so delighted with this. Finally he asked his youngest daughter how much she loves him. The youngest daughter replied, “Father, I love you as much as I love salt.” The king was so angry why her youngest daughter compared her love to that only of salt so she banished her to serve in the kitchen.

While serving in the kitchen, the king’s youngest daughter told the cook not to put salt in all the king’s dishes. As the days passed along the king slowly loss his appetite for the food that was served until finally he became very sick. When he asked the cook why the food did not taste as tasty as before, the cook explained that it was his youngest daughter’s instruction not to put salt in all the meal that was served before him. The king was furious so the youngest daughter was summoned. When asked to explain her actions she told her father that she was demonstrating how much she loved him. The king finally understood her daughter’s point. He finally realized that his youngest daughter loved him so much because he cannot live without salt.

After that introduction, my grandfather then continues that the key to a successful, loving and a good marriage is SALT. His main points are then highlighted by the first letters of the word “SALT.”

S - Share - Husbands and wives must share invidual blessing that they recieve with each other. They must share not only physical things but good experiences as well. They have to remember that when they enter married life, they are considered as one flesh. Sharing also speaks of helping each other with the burdens and responsibilities in the marriage.

A - Attention - While it is normal for the husband and wife to spend some time with their friends or their interest, they must give the bulk of their attention to each other. Sometimes the wife complains that the husband just comes home and sits in front of the T.V watching sports. Or the husband complains that the wife keeps on chatting with her friends on the phone.

L - Live within your means - Statistics has shown that the number one cause of quarrels between couples is money problems. Before and after marriage, each couple must sit down and set some guidelines as to how money should be handled. In order to avoid any serious conflict, a budget has to be set and expenses should be contained within the budget without also forgetting to set aside some money for emergency savings and investments.

T - Trust - When you fail to trust your spouse it shatter his or her confidence thereby limiting his or her capacity to succeed in any endevour in life. That is why trust is considered as the foundation for any good marriage.

While the principles of S.A.L.T may look simplistic however it is proven to work as my grandparents has applied it in their marriage and they had a good strong marriage which stood the test of time. It is my hope and prayer that you apply the principle of salt in your respective marriage as well.

Several months ago, I was preparing for a Sunday sermon on thanksgiving. The Lord brought to my attention the Samaritan leper’s thanksgiving recorded in Luke 17 verses 11 to 19. This is a very familiar story among Christians. The story goes like this, there were 10 Samaritan lepers who asked Jesus for mercy. Jesus told them to show themselves to the priest. While going there, they found out that they were healed. Sadly, only one of them came back to thank Jesus.

Being a firm believer in expository preaching, I dug deep into the greek words used in the text. I looked up the greek words for “Thanks.” The word here is the word “eucharisteo.” This is where we get our word for “Eucharist.” Eucharisteo is also the same word used in the Gospels when Christs gives thanks for a meal. In the Epistles, the apostle Paul often uses this same word

Eucharisteo can basically be broken down into two words. “Eu” to mean good or well and “charis” which means to favor, thank or to respond to a good favor. This word is also used as the verb form of “favor” or “Charis” in Greek. Often, the word “Charis” is translated as “Grace” in English.

Looking back at the story and the greek words used, you can clearly see the message that the message that our Lord is trying to convey here. The Lepers were asking for “Mercy” but only one leper got “Grace.”

Oftentimes we interchange “Mercy” for “Grace.” We usually think that they mean the same thing. However take note that there is a difference between them. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace on the other hand is getting what you don’t deserve. Because we are sinners, we deserve to go to Hell. But because God is merciful, we are spared from the punishment of eternal damnation. Recieving the gift of eternal life on the other hand could only come because of grace. We do not deserve forgiveness of sin nor do we deserve eternal life, nevertheless we received it because of God’s GRACE.

Scripture tells us in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9 that “For by Grace are you saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not works lest any man should boast” The gift being reffered to here is “Saving faith.” What this verse is trying to tell us is that even the faith to believe in Jesus Christ is given to us by God. We are so depraved that by ourselves alone we do not have the natural ability to believe the promises of God. What we have is only natural faith. “Super natural faith” is required before we could fully understand what salvation in Christ truly means.

Thanks be to God for giving us “Supernatural faith,” for the faith to believe. Truly it is not because of our own natural ability that we have the faith to believe in Christ, it is only because of Him alone.

Since he was given what he does not deserve, the Samaritan Leper expressed his thanks to Jesus Christ and the verse says that he “turned back and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks”

The Bible says that Jesus asked him saying, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are none found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.”

And I love this last part, Jesus continues and tells him “Arise; go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole.” Literally he is saying to this Samaritan Leper “Your faith has saved you.”

Truly, the Samaritan Leper got more than what he asked for. He asked for mercy but he got grace instead and with that salvation. Being truly thankful is certainly is worth it !

Psychics have long been known to possess a psychic gift. A psychic Gift can be extremely challenging for those that do not understand the gift completely. Many psychics say that their psychic gift started in them when they were just a small child. As they grew older, a lot of psychics believed that their gift was able to help people and to guide people into a careful understanding of their surroundings and to what they really want in their lives. Many psychics choose to give their gifts to those that choose to listen to what they have to say.

Many psychics enjoy using their gifts to help others to grow in such a way that will help others to see and to hear what they have to say. Many people enjoy getting psychic readings because it actually helps them to see what is going on inside of them. There are all different types of psychics to include: clairvoyants, rune readers, tarot card readers and astrology readers. No matter what kind of psychic you are looking for, there are plenty to be found on the internet. The internet is full of psychics that are looking to offer you their services. Some psychics use their gifts for free while others use them for profit. No matter what kind of psychic you are looking for, it’s always important to know that psychics enjoy what they do because they have a special and unique calling in their area of expertise.

A good psychic knows from right from wrong. A good psychic can obviously tell you what you need to know and hear. A good psychic can also show you what you need to learn about yourself. Some psychics don’t know how to address your deep core issues, while others do know how to address them. It’s important to understand that being a psychic is a tough task and so few people can ever really look at a psychic and understand why they have the gifts that they do. At times, a psychic may seem as though they are not easily looked upon. Many people look at a psychic and don’t completely understand why they are the way in which they are. It seems as though there is a lot of information in the world today that helps psychics to get ahead and sometimes they take this information and do good with it. There is so much energy giving play in the sense that when people look at psychics, they look to see why their energy is going to be closer to someone that is truly going to be able to care about them. Many psychics explain that they are the real deal and many psychics find the need to prove themselves to people over a long period of time. Many psychics find the need to explain to people what their psychic gifts mean to them and why they are choosing to use them in their life time. Some people choose to use their psychic gifts for many different reasons. When a person finds their psychic gift to be useful in helping others, they honestly take it and use it to help someone that is clearly in need.

Death Records is one of the key public vital records. It is available free of charge. They are also provided commercially by private information brokers. Being public records, they are accessible by any member of the public. In other words, anyone can conduct a public death record search on anybody. There are variations in restriction and rules governing the retrieval and use of public death records from state to state but by on large, they are quite freely available.

Free public death records can be obtained from both government and private sources. The former can be requested by mail, telephone, fax or in-person. Many states now also have the online option. Private providers of public death records vary widely in the way their records are retrieved. Most of them are tied to a primary product or service and can be quite suspect in intent.

The government death records are without doubt reliable and safe to use but the problem is they tend to fall short in terms of packaging and presentation. As such, it could be quite challenging to put together a user-friendly death record report from them especially if you are compiling from different government departments or offices. If time and bandwidth is of essence, it is generally advisable to turn to commercial record providers.

We can learn quite a great deal about the deceased from the death records and a good starting point is the Social Security Death Index. Information such as personal particulars of the subject, family and parents are typically presented in public death records. Obituaries, burial, funeral, cause of death, age, time and place of death and so forth are also shown. Free public death records are invaluable for Genealogy and other historical studies. They are also known to be used in criminal investigation. Death Certificates are another key document associated with public death records. They are required in many official undertaking.

Free public death records are easy to obtain if you look in the right places. It’s even more convenient nowadays with the internet. All that’s needed is a computer with internet access. Of course, you also need some input information of the deceased and the time on your hands to carry out the search.

Marital, or more precisely failed marital history, can tell a lot about a person. When a relationship gets serious enough, it’s a good idea to check out how your partner stacks up in that area. It could be touchy to be direct about it, so it’s better to do it in a discreet way.

Why not? It’s easy and convenient to access public divorce records these days. It’s quite natural for people with failed marriages before to avoid the subject or even conceal it. The onus is really on our self to play it safe. It could help to avoid a whole lot of misplaced trust and trouble later if indeed there were withheld information.

By running a public divorce record check, we can obtain information on personal particulars of the people involved, when and where it occurred and the resulting legal disposition such as asset division, children custody and so forth. These are personal information and are governed by official restriction on its access and use in some states. Where they are not, ethics and respect for privacy should be exercised.

It used to be quite onerous and time-consuming to retrieve public divorce records, even your own. Different government departments all over town, long queues, tardy paperwork, inefficient filing, storage, archive and so on and so forth. All these had become problems of the past with the advent of office automation and the world-wide-web. Today, it’s possible to obtain public divorce records in a matter of minutes, 24/7 from anywhere. Further to that, there are various ways of accomplishing this to choose from to suit individual needs and preference.

Public divorce records can be obtained free of charge from government offices. If there is a fee, it would typically just be a nominal amount as administrative charges. There are also other free sources beside that but it’s better to steer clear of those, considering the prevalence of identity theft and computer virus nowadays. The best public divorce records are those supplied by commercial providers. Although fees are required, you can count on the quality. This is critical especially when you have serious business in store for the records.

Well you might want to find out the various benefits and social issues that are relevant for retirement living. Each of the fifty states have different ways of meeting the various needs of their senior community. Up to now you will need to see what they have in way of housing for elderly citizens, social activities, and medical health care. You will also need to see if you can afford to live in those states. When researching make sure to take the appropriate notes. This way you can refer back to them when it comes time to compare and make a decision.

When you have been working hard for virtually all of your life you look forward to retiring. This is the period of your life where you will be able to indulge yourself with new activities and events that you were not able to do while you were working. It is at this time you provide yourself with the opportunity to do what you want.

When researching various states the internet will provide you with an incredible amount of valuable information. Most states, if not all states, at this time will have a site with sections dedicated to senior benefits. If not, there is a local number for one to call and ask the questions they might have. So, get online, have fun and do the research necessary to find the best retirement states you might like.

For example, special health care needs, social activities, transportation systems and weather. The internet will be a good place to start and will certainly help you with the initial research that you will need to do. Here you can find out the various weather condition, conditions of each state and see if you like living in that type of weather all year round. Next you will need to think about the social life. The best way for you to choose the best retirement states in the country would be to list down all of your retirement needs.

There are many different activities that people love doing but many of these will change as you grow older. So you will need to see if the potential retirement state will have a broad choice of activities for you to explore and indulge in. For instance, are you accustom to fine dining, bingo, entertainment venues or staying in at home. Now all of these items are great to find out about but the big question is how can you choose the best retirement states based on your living expenses.

The savings can be tremendous. Since money is a major consideration for many senior citizens finding the best retirement states that offers all of these benefits, including great social and medical benefits is a real prize find. In all of these states there are certain types of taxes that senior citizens don’t have to be concerned about. These taxes can be sales tax, property taxes, taxes of foods and in some cases real estate taxes. In some cases these tax exclusions or breaks are huge benefits to senior living.

Rest Ministries, founded in 1997, is the largest Christian organization that serves the chronically ill. They recently did a survey and asked people to “List some of the programs or resources a church could offer to make it more inviting comfortable.” Below is a sampling of some of the 800+ responses, all of which could be done in 20 minutes or less.

1. Send out encouraging emails.

2. Make sure the handicapped stalls in the bathroom are functioning and clean.

3. Add padded chairs or cushions to make church easier to sit through. Room for wheelchairs is always a need and don’t forget to include extra places for family members.

4. Be open-minded about a support group for the chronically ill like HopeKeepers. It would make me feel very special, knowing that there is an understanding of people’s needs that are not always visible.

5. More disabled parking, even if they are temporary spots.

6. Educate the ushers that people arriving late may have difficulty walking or getting out of cars and will need some assistance.

7. Ask volunteers to call people with chronic illness just to check on them when they don’t make it to services.

8. When suppers are given, I may need help getting my meal, or at least understanding I cannot wait in a long line.

9. Be gentle when giving people big hugs. It can topple over or hurt a person.

10. Have a video tape of the service, not just a live web cast. Not all our computers work that well.

11. Check out the church doors. Can someone with an illness open them with ease? If not, install a mechanical button to push them open.

12. Stop telling me that if I really believed and had faith I would be healed by now. Please don’t insist how good I look, because I know for a fact that I look terrible and miserable that day.

13. Offer me ways to serve within the church that can be performed regularly, but not on a set schedule. I really want to contribute, but I need some flexibility so that I can do a job when I feel well enough.

14. Make the sermon notes available to download and print out so I can listen later or even just review what I didn’t catch the first time.

15. Acknowledge National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. A selection of books on the topic in the church bookstore would be nice. Rest Ministries has a top 100 list of Christian books for the chronically ill for some ideas.

16. Just talk about chronic illness! Mention it in sermons as one of the challenges many people face just like unemployment.

17. Let me know about any Christian volunteers from church who would be willing to clean my house for a small fee. Some have offered to clean my house, but I am just not yet able to accept charity. But neither can I afford to pay a regular house cleaning service.

18. Help with some of the small costs of providing encouraging books and resources for the church library the chronically ill can check out.

19. Remember there are lots of caregivers in the church–not just caregivers of parents, but spouses and ill children too.

20. Provide copies for free of the sermon on CD.

Many Hindus are taking to Krsna consciousness, and this is great. However, there is a misconception that politicians like Dave Cameron visiting Bhaktivedanta Manor or holding a Diwali festival with 20,000 Hindus attending is good publicity for Krishna consciousness. Such activities support the belief that the Hare Krishnas are part of the Hindu religion. In some countries, it may be beneficial to align with the local Hindus for preaching purposes; this is not so in Britain where there is a large Hindu population and Hinduism is just another minority religion. I appreciate the effort of the present leadership, and their intentions are commendable.

Dave Cameron is the leader of the official opposition political party. He is visiting religious minority groups to gain support for his bid to become the next British prime minister. His visit to the Bhaktivedanta Manor on behalf of the Hindu population of the country was arranged by the Hindu Forum of Britain, who refer to the Manor as a major Hindu temple in Watford. Such a high-profile leader visits a Hindu temple as part of his political campaign canvassing the minority religions. How much more loudly does one need to broadcast to the population of Britain that the Hare Krishnas are Hindus?

The activities at the Manor should continue, so as not to cause a disturbance. The situation can be beneficial if the devotees there were encouraged to co-operate with financial and utilititarian support for broader preaching. Something needs to be done separately, to address the lack of preaching amongst other groups, mainly the populations whose ancestors’ heritage is from the British Isles.

No material education is necessary to understand the language of Bhakti. Dynamic preaching is needed. I propose a dynamic resurgence of preaching, as during the days of Srila Prabhupada. To the east, west, north and south of London are many boroughs, districts and towns and villages with thousands of streets and millions of people. All are searching for happiness.

To inspire the younger devotees of this country, I propose that the GBC of the UK invite all stalwart, experienced and enthusiastic homegrown devotees — such as Janananda Prabhu, Mahavisnu Swami, Bhakti Vikas Swami, Prabhavisnu Swami, Partha Sarathi das Goswami and others — to head a resurgence in preaching on a huge scale. Partha Sarathi Maharaj — formerly from England, but little-known there, unfortunately — was instrumental in spreading KC through mass distribution to people using innovative methods, such as his tent campaigns in South Africa. His experience is valuable.

Some planning is required. However, it is counterproductive to get tied down with unnecessary meetings, wasting hours of valuable time speaking of strategies, getting anxious and all fired up, but without action. Just reach out and preach. This will surely please Srila Prabhupada.

The sea front at Mumbai, packed with people, is a spectacular sight. People buy them and install them in their houses and worship the idol for one to ten days, after which the idol are taken out ceremoniously, carried in a procession through the streets of the town (especially in Maharashtra) and immersed into the river, sea or well.

After his death the festival was celebrated but on a smaller scale. In 1894 when the British banned public assemblies Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak who felt that this was way of spreading the freedom message through a legitimate religious festival revived the festival. On full moon day every idol is taken down to the Chowpatty beach accompanied by hordes of people singing and dancing and is immersed in the Arabian Sea.

On the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapad, the great festival of Ganesh or Ganpati is celebrated. This festival marked the birthday of Lord Ganesh. Ganpati is one of the most popular deities. Both Shaivites and Vaishnavites worship him. Even Buddhists and Jains have respect for Ganpati. He is considered to be an avatar of both Shiva and Vishnu.

A cultural feast is held to coincide with Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra especially at Pune. Classical dance, music performances, poetry recitations, folk dances, theatre and film festival are the main features of this festival.On the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapad, the great festival of Ganesh or Ganpati is celebrated. This festival marked the birthday of Lord Ganesh. Ganpati is one of the most popular deities. Both Shaivites and Vaishnavites worship him. Even Buddhists and Jains have respect for Ganpati. He is considered to be an avatar of both Shiva and Vishnu.

To appreciate this occasion, one must go to Mumbai where preparations begin months in advance. Images of Ganesha are installed within homes as well as in places of assembly. Elaborate arrangements are made for lighting and decoration and Ganesha is fervently worshipped for about 7-10 days.

On full moon day every idol is taken down to the Chowpatty beach accompanied by hordes of people singing and dancing and is immersed in the Arabian Sea. His devotees believe that no enterprise will succeed unless he is invoked. The picture of Ganpati is often found on the doors of houses and printed on wedding cards. On the occasion of the Ganpati festival a large number of images are made of all possible sizes, and people buy them to keep in their houses as a divine guest for one and a half, five, seven, or ten days, after which the image is taken out ceremoniously and thrown into the river, sea or well for immersion or “visarjan”. Ganpati is the god of learning. He is addressed as the “Remover of Obstacles” (”Vignaharta”).

Since we were babies, we loved to watch things. We were visual and continue to be. We react to what we see. And to a lesser degree, we are auditory. Sounds can cause a reaction as well as sight. Cartoonists are aware of this and have to work harder than an actor or comedian to get your attention.

Pertaining to zen, where do cartoons fit?

We love to laugh because of the great feeling it gives us, and there is a good reason for that. Many eastern philosophers and yoga experts believe that the laughing chakra is in the same area as the sex chakra. The lesson here is to use them wisely and not at the same time. In other words this could be very upsetting to a soul-mate unless you can tactfully explain that your laughter chakra short-circuited during lovemaking. Stranger things have happened I guess. One caveat: If you are the female partner and should this happen to you, please respond, without missing a beat, the predictable compliment/lie “But size doesn’t matter, it is what you do with it.” Okay, maybe not take it that far, ladies, just be gentle with us.

Though men never buy this line, it feels better, and it lets you off the hook.

But back to cartoons. Cartoons are truly nothing more than a small piece of art, hopefully humorous, that tell a much longer story, using what I like to call “extreme editing”. Though we call ourselves writers, we truly are more editors than writers. Yes, we can write, and, though a cartoon may not have any caption or “word bubble” at all, generally some text is added to “drive the point home” Most cartoonists are instinctively aware, though, that if it can be done with no wording, a picture only, that is a triple bonus to the psyche, and, when we can occasionally do that, we get complimented way beyond our actual talents. But that’s ok. It’s good for the ego.

Because cartoonists have such an impact on our society, we often think of them as “bigger than life”. I can assure you, being one, we are just like everyone else. We just don’t crave the limelight; but the limelight craves us, it appears. This fascinates people. When you mention names like Charles Schulz or Gary Larson, some wonder if they are even in the same species. They are. They simply enjoy making people laugh.

There is a zen to laughter and humor and it begins in that silly chakra. Always keep that chakra open, as, as long as there is life, there will be humor. And as long as there will be humor, there will be cartoonists.