Archives for rotary

My Invocation to Leawood Rotary

On August 25th, 2011 I gave the following Invocation to the Rotary Club of Leawood that I belong too. A couple years down the road, I am remembering a great soul and an American Soldier who gave his life for our freedoms. Leawood Rotary Club is an Organization that gives its time, resources and efforts in making a difference in the world. I am a proud Leawood, KS Rotarian. Where we put Service Above Self.

INVOCATION:

They say that whatever we do comes with a price….a price for freedom, liberties and living our “dreams” is far higher than what we as individuals can EVER realize living where we live.

This nation has been built on principals of Service, Hard Work, Innovation and to stand for righteousness. Just the other day i was seeing a documentry of the days after september 11th when the United States went into Afghanistan, it really changed a lot of perspectives for me of how “this war against terrorism” was conducted as opposed to the many we have fought before.

I was amazed of how the United States only sent 7 men, yes ONLY 7 MEN from CIA to make pacts with the Northern Alliance Group that rebeled the Taliban before many other troops started coming in…..

Making a Long Story Short, it amazed me how the US conducted Drone wars against taliban and insurgents that came to our land and to our homes and tried to disrupt our way of life. Shortly after this documentry one morning i got a text message and it said “Brother Mason Died in Afghanistan”

I was taken back, i was quite and practically numb the entire day…. Matt Mason was my fraternity brother at Northwest Missouri State and was one of the 30 Navy Seals that was killed in Afghanistan and we as a country lost an honorable man, a great member of our community and he leaves behind 2 boys about the ages of 4 and 5 and an expecting daughter in the next month or so.

This man, gave his life for OUR FREEDOM, FOR OUR LIBERTIES and for our “DREAMS” that we living HERE cannot even begin to comprehend what it takes to fight those wars. That man was an honorable individual that fought for you and me amoung many others that have gone before and will continue to pay the BIGGEST PRICE for our FREEDOM.

Lets take a moment of silence and remember those that we know or those that have lost their lives so we all can live freely.

Thank You, I will be passing out a few things i got at matt’s services for you all to check out.

One World !!!

Waking up to the many well wishes and pictures of the celebration of the Chinese New Year on Facebook and rejoicing in starting the Year of the Snake, I have been thinking about some important notions that surround us today.

1 – We live in a globalized world. We have to think beyond our own boxes and our own surroundings, we learn through others and share what we have with them.

2 – Humanity will embrace every thing positive and will take every chance to be a part of new beginnings, where the Old is left behind and New makes the path ahead.

3 – United States is a true example of how we live in a Melting Pot where we are PEOPLE before being Europeans, Chinese, Indians, Catholics, Christians, Hindus or Jews. We celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Diwali, Chinese New Year and remember great leaders that have shaped our future such as Dr. Martin Luther King and President Abraham Lincoln to name a few. Where we see people as people, despite the cultural, religious and color of our skins that make us unique and different. We importantly embrace humanity over all other denominations.

4 – How those truly leave a better world behind are truly those that have shaped Humanity for a better tomorrow. The work of Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Bill & Malenda Gates Foundation in conjunction with Rotary International and President Bill Clinton through his Clinton Foundation is shaping the world to leave a better tomorrow.

As I have been thinking about this more today, I am reminded of what our founding fathers build this great nation on.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I wish you the Very Happiness, which is truly the Highest form of Health and an important purpose of life.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake or as the Chinese would say “Kung hei fat Choi”

– Akshay Andy Anand

 

citizen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GlobalCitizenship