Family Fun at WonderWorld- news article

Trapped in a pitch black room, dazed and confused in a house of illusions, and the beginning of a new friendship with a deer, one would not expect these things in one place, yet that is exactly what was in store at WonderWorld.

On June 24, 2007, the Quintero family, which included Miguel Sr, Belinda, Angelina, Miguel Jr, and Daniel, went to WonderWorld in San Marcos, TX.

The purpose of the trip was to produce a family fun experience. It was one of the first trips the whole family took together. Which is significant since Miguel Jr. and Angelina are already in their mid to late 20’s.

Belinda Quintero expressed her thoughts on the significance of the trip.

“When Angie and Miguel were little, we never went anywhere. I always promised them that someday we would go somewhere, today was that day.”

When the family arrived at San Marcos, the cave was first on the list. Belinda refused to get in the cave, citing

breathing problems.

“It was dark and eerie, especially when they turned off the lights” Miguel Jr. said.

After the adventurous walk inside the cave, the tower was next.

It was in the tower that Daniel talked to the Tour Guide about Texas State, a school that he hopes to go to next year.

After the tower, Belinda caught up with the rest of the family at the Antigravity house. This place combined optical illusion and geographic foundation to make a truly nauseating experience.

The pet farm was next. It was here that Angelina met a deer who wouldn’t go away; even after she had no food. Miguel Jr. stated it was “la amiga de Angelina.”

After the trip, everyone expressed their appreciation. “It was a blast,” Belinda said. Angelina stated that she would come back -especially to see her new friend deer.

“Whom should we admire”?

“What do you say when a person who you admire does something like this”. These words are posted on a black screen made by a wrestling enthusiast on YouTube.com.

   The tragedy of Chris Benoit and his family has hit the wrestling world hard, and has left many wresting fans, like myself, feeling a variety of emotions. Fans loved Benoit for what he represented. Indeed Benoit is remembered as a great wrestler, a former world heavyweight champion who seemed to include a strong work ethic into his philosophy.

   Yet it is the sharp contrast between his on camera persona and the hidden life that is currently being unfolded that boggles fans the most. Many are ashamed to have once admired Benoit. Some only look to his wrestling career as their final adjudication of him. But despite the different emotions, one item is of truth.

  We put ourselves in this situation when we admire those whom we have never met.   One problem that occurs when we admire a famous person is that we only admire the qualities that transcend through the screen. Therefore, we do not have an adequate grasp of who they are outside the lights.

      However, with the advent of reality shows, the lives of celebrities are becoming less private, the fact still remains that once all the cameras leave, we can not truly understand who they are. One puts himself in a situation where disappointment can occur when he admires a celebrity, for when bad news comes out concerning that famous person, he finds out that the qualities he praised about that person are not in alignment with who the celebrity really is.

   True Admiration lies not with the stars in Hollywood but with the people who are around us.

     The hardworking teacher who strives to make sure you understand the material, the loving family member who is looking out for your best interest, the clergyman who you can trust to help you when you are in need, these are the people who we should admire. They are people who we can talk to, people who are nice, and people who we can truly love.

Shakespeare stated that love is intertwined with admiration.

We all know people who care for us. It is this great love and care that produces greater admiration.

We will continue to pray for Benoit’s family and for anyone else who was hurt by this incident. Yet with the bittersweet nature of the world, we can take this great tragedy, and shed light on what admiration truly is.

Unfair question on CNN Republican Debate

The debate ended just a few minutes ago. Although there were some moments of humor (the lightening strike while Giuliani spoke about abortion ), the trouble started when they asked the Republican Candidates about evolution. One of the main problems that exist with this is that it goes against the idea of religious freedom. The fact that a candidate believes a certain metaphysical idea is not a good standard to adjudicate his presidential competency, especially if it has nothing to do with public policy. The belief of when life begins relates to policy, the philosophy of utilitarianism relates to policy, but the belief of how or why we are on this planet does no service or disservice to the role of presidency. I found this question to be of great disservice to the debate and I hope others in the main media will agree.

Good Friday

Today for the Good Friday Passion play, I played the role of Jesus. It was a very rewarding experience and I got many compliments from nice senior ladies who told me that they were crying. As great as that was, I was most happy when a little girl about the age of 3 came to me and shook my hand. Now, I don’t know if it was the will of the mother or if the little girl actually did it on her own but seeing that brought up many thoughts. I remember when I was little and asking my mom why a man was on a cross and bleeding. It just didn’t make sense why we had a statue of a bloody man on our wall. As I grew, I learned more about his suffering and redemption for us. As my knowledge grew, so did my love. Seeing that little girl helped remind me of the goodness of children. It helped reinforce my pro life philosophy. And it also showed the greater mystery that children may have when viewing the Passion or when seeing Jesus on the Cross. It is up to us to help those children grow in greater wisdom of our Lord, that is what my parents did for me, and that is what I hope happens to that little girl.

Lost my election :(

Today, I lost my presidency to my Ex-girlfriend. I admit I was in total shock. I was president of debate for two years. No one ever wants to lose an election, it shows that for some reason- people support someone else over you. It is a great test of prudence, humbleness, and strategy. Luckily there are very loving people in the world and many of my friends and teachers sent their condolences and told me I was still the best debater in the school. My Friend said this is the problem of democracy, dis- enlightened people. My mom told me to let it go and move on with my life. I suppose it is just another lesson that I have to learn. Life has many lessons, always forcing you to learn them even if you’re not ready.

Faith in Catholic Education

I go to St.Rose of Lima Catholic Church in San Antonio TX. It is a nice Church, very beautiful in it’s architecture. We have good Priest and Sisters and a great community of believers. However a dark cloud exist in our CCD or Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes. A problem (that I believe) the volunteer religious teachers can not solve. Many young kids who are entered into the program are atheist. For whatever reason, they don’t believe in God. Yet they are still in the classes. I feel that this is the greatest assault on one’s fabric of ontological value. Not only are they deceiving other people around them, they are also deceiving themselves. They are saying prayers to a God that they don’t even believe exist. They are going to Church and taking part in the Eucharist, yet believing it is nothing more than just a weird tasting piece of bread. I wonder how one can lie to themselves like that. I could never say I believe in something every week when I never really did. What makes this happen? For some, it’s the prize at the end of the classes. Not the prize of Heaven, but of a party, the Quinceanera . A girl told me how she was only in the class so she could have a party, after that, she would quit. Another reason why people stay in a program that they don’t even believe is true is because their parents force them to. This leads to a second problem. Parents are the best people who can show their kids the goodness of the Catholic faith. This should begin when the child is young, and it should be entwined with a fabric of Love. Religion can not be taught effectively if there is no love in the lesson. One can not learn religion from a stranger. That is why those people who are outside the malls or downtown who try to speak about God are usually ignored. Religion can not be accepted without an acceptance of love first, and you can not teach what you do not have. That is why sending kids to a class one hour a week is not going to help them learn more about their faith. Parents must be well educated in their faith and teach it to their children themselves in a loving manner. This will more than likely reduce the atheism of a teenager since it will help them understand it more . But if the kid still wants to be an atheist, the parents must try to help the kid see where they are wrong and still allow them to be educated by them, not the CCD program. Parents are the greatest defenders of the Faith for their children. Today in our decaying society, we need more educated parents. This is the first step towards a more abundant Catholic faith for the entire family.