REMEMBERING 2009

By Fuana Tmarsel

Let me begin by giving glory to God for the great and wonderful things He has done for us and through us, for it is in Him that we live, and move and have our being. For some the year may be memorable because some of life’s monumental events happened for them like marriage, giving birth, becoming a homeowner or even having achieved great accomplishments. Some of us perhaps look back with sorrow having missed opportunities or lost someone we held dear to our hearts to death or other adversity. Whatever it was, we can be grateful because we still have tomorrow to find new opportunities and to seek to open new doors.

‘TIS THE SEASON OF LOVE

By Fuana Tmarsel

Ever wonder why God started with the heavens and the earth before he created Adam and Eve. The Bible says that the earth was formless and empty and darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters and then he said, “Let there be light.” And there was light which separated it from darkness. And so he called light day, and darkness, he called night.

Is the Congress ready for Democracy?

By Fuana Tmarsel

It’s on the lips of our political leaders. Lips that quickly summon ideals of democracy, yet seemingly possessing minds devoid of its notion, indeed not the understanding to practice it.

Dare to hope for Palau

By Fuana Tmarsel

I was only 5 years old when Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his most eloquent and inspirational speech at the foot of the symbolic monument of Abraham Lincoln whose ideals for freedom for the blacks translated into the Emancipation Proclamation. Could Rev. King be considered idealistic? He spoke of ideals, certainly not the realities of his day. But, they categorically inspired the future of America then, and what had become America today. Rev. King, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, et al possessed Christian ideals. The Nazis did not. That is the difference.

A Veil of deception: Blinded by money

By Fuana Tmarsel

An aria, coming from the halls of power in Ngerulmud, includes a deceptive refrain: We need money and our duty is to find money for you. We must amend this law and that law to please our investors so they can give us money. This sustained rhetoric is designed to cause a sense of urgency and alarm among the people. While it is true that we need money, it is important to examine whether the money we’re bringing in will not cost us our identity, rob us of our culture, molest our pristine waters, land and air, deprive us of our peace and serenity, and in the future dispossess our people from land, property and opportunities.

SHAPING THE FUTURE IS NOW!

By Fuana Tmarsel

Three years ago, I wrote an article with the above title to introduce a newsletter written, edited, and published by my 8^th graders at Maris Stella School, as part of our writing project. In it, I bemoaned the apparent absence of parental involvement in the lives of the students, our children, and as we commence yet another opportunity to educate them in schools, I rewrite it to remind us that education begins at home.  As a mother of a teenage daughter, I realize that children today are much more vulnerable to vileness than those who grew up without cable television, I-pods and the Internet.