Rafael Scarfullery's Blog

Read my thoughts and/or quotes from writers that help us become better human beings.

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Location: Charlottesville, VA, United States

Visit my website: http://www.RafaelScarfullery.com.
Watch my music videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/rafaelscarfullery.

My main goal in life is to fulfill my purpose on earth and help to fulfill other people's purposes, too. I want to make a little positive contribution and make the part of my world a more peaceful and loving place. I love music and it's the principal channel through which I carry out the above goals. I'm professionally and thoroughly prepared in several music areas: composition, orchestral/choral conducting, performance (classical guitar and organ), college teaching, and church music.

In my website, www.RafaelScarfullery.com, you can watch my music videos, listen to my CD's and buy them, see samples of my compositions, buy scores for downloading, download free scores, read about my music career, read my thoughts and other people's quotes that help us to become better human beings, and much more. If you'd like, send me your feedback. I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting!

Rafael

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Our Modern Food Distribution System

In this modern world we use a complex food distribution chain system. We can have whatever we want at any time and season and from anywhere in the world. Just imagine! As someone said, "The world comes to us every time we go shopping the grocery store."

The food distribution system works this way:

1. Growers: grow the food
2. Processors: convert the raw product
3. Transportation: transport food from production to distribution centers
4. Packagers: package and grade the product into retail units
5. Warehouse operators/Distribution centers: store the food for future use
6. Retail Grocers: market, display, and sell the product to costumers

This system has its pros and cons. Pros: It's highly efficient for mass distribution. Also, we eat like kings! Food has never been cheaper, especially in the USA. It's so cheap that we see buffets offering a wide variety of food and all you can eat. Every time we enter a buffet it's like being in a banquet. And in other times banquets were reserved for the very rich, kings, special occasions, weddings, etc. Now we take it for granted. 
Cons: Cheap food uses fertilizers and pesticides from petroleum and other chemical products. In fact, we're eating petroleum in our food (read the book, "The Ommivorous Dilemma"). Cheap food is also many times genetically modifed, but studies are scarce and uncertain. However, the biggest con I find in the modern food distribution system is that it can lead to hunger in different parts of the world. Large fields in many countries are reserved for a particular crop. Big growers can do well in business, but not small growers, who usually have to sell their land and migrate to cities to find work. If there are only big growers and their crops fail, what happens? Lack of food, but in big quantities that feed many people in different countries. Hunger. Also, whenever people get sick because of eating a particular food and the FDA notices it's tainted food, it orders the company to recall thousands or even millions of pounds of it. 
Now, imagine the opposite. Small growers do well in business and even home owners are encouraged to grow some food in their yard. They sell directly to their community and sorrounding areas, and the surplus is sold to cities and even other countries. Homeowners buy only what they need and don't grow. If the small growers' crops fail, starvation will only happen in that area. Not in a large area or even in a country.  Also, with local food growers, tainted food will only be a local issue.

So the best option is to encourage local food production. Even organic food is not a good option if it's grown far away. We may still want (for comfort) large food productions such as rice, wheat, etc., but local food production is by far the best choice. So everytime we see a local market, let's stop and support it. And maybe we too can learn to grow food, which can bring joy to our lives. 



 



Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I was just reading a little about people who have helped to further peace and this, by Swami Satchidananda, caught my attention:  

"A harmonious life "is achieved by maintaining:

1. Our natural condition of a body of optimum health and strength.
2. Senses under total control.
3. A mind well-disciplined, clear and calm.
4. An intellect as sharp as a razor.
5. A will as strong and pliable as steel.
6. A heart full of unconditional love and compassion.
7. An ego as pure as a crystal.
8. And a life filled with Supreme Peace and Joy.

These traits may be for a super human. However, I think, Jesus, who was the son of God, had these traits and he said that we too are God's children. So that means we can have a harmonious life and be a blessing to others.


Saturday, February 14, 2009

How to Get Success

Shakespeare stated that to get success we need to:

1) Know more than others
2) Work more than others
3) Expect less than others

It has been proven over and over again that knowledge plus relentless work lead us straight to achieving our goals. In a LiveScience.com article by Robert Britt, "Is Einstein the last great genius?", he states, "A 35-year study in 2006, which looked at mathematically gifted children to see what they ended up doing with their lives, revealed the ingredients of a great and productive mind: cognitive abilities, educational opportunities, interest, and plain old hard work. Not everyone who starts out smart ends up brilliant." Let's see some people who have achieved great results:

1. St. Paul (yes, the evangelist). He stated in I Corinthians 15:10: "I worked harder than all of them." In fact, Christianity wouldn't have spread throughout the world without St. Paul's hard work. 
2. Will Smith (a Hollywood actor). He stated: I have less talent, but I work harder than anyone in Hollywood. And it pays off. His movies are the most rentable.

Let's learn from others and get to work harder than anyone.