WordswithAnna

Tag: faith

  • Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park

    Sedona, AZ

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    Aside from a tourist bus driving us here on a cold windy day in AZ, Peace Park brought a change of perspective into my heart. The Buddhist site honors prayer and meditation, directed toward the welcoming of all religions. Specifically, honor is displayed to Amitabha Buddha for infinite light. This site was truly a representation of how still and faithful a soul can be, through religion and belief systems. As a Christian, we are developed to believe that Jesus and the way we see Him, is the one true king. When surrounded by practices of meditation, the releasing of energy, and the understanding of karma, the Buddhist faith is, nontheless, intriguing. No one is to say which religion ranks over another, as they all bring new ideas and traditions to guide a spiritual and personal awakening. As I have come to broaden my experiences through different cultures, communities, and belief systems, I have found that every religion leaves a part of your soul more accepting and connected to a larger world. With little knowledge about the Buddhist traditions, Peace Park brought tranquility unlike any I’ve ever encountered. When someone comes to learn in places like these, each will come face to face with serenity and what energy means to a person, on a larger scale. This seemingly small site brought an interest in learning more, something I had to search for in my own self, through new experiences. I have been bored for many years. Turns out, all I had to do was try new things. I would love to meet and learn more about Buddhist culture, and that is a promise to my future self.

    To many more new experiences coming soon.

    AH

  • Can Tik Tok Lead you toward Salvation?

    “God will forgive you”

    “repent for your sins”

    “the only answer is Jesus”

    “I am praying for you”

    What is wrong with these phrases? Nothing. Except do the people saying them really know what they mean? As I have built my relationship with Jesus, there are some things that I never want to be associated with. The main one being, “TikTok famous” by spreading “God’s word,” and only because it is so far away from a biblical perspective. In no way am I saying that I am better than these people teaching scripture on this app, but I do think I am more experienced when it comes to understanding the bible.

    So what is my concern with these conversations?

    Ultimately, it leads to the spreading of false information. My biggest example is premaritial intimacy.

    “I want a Godly relationship, where we go to church together, read the bible, and learn to love like Jesus.” But, when it hits 10pm on a sunday after spending quality time together, what happens under the blanket will be something that is acceptable, because God will forgive me.

    Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

    Nowhere in the bible does it allow premarital intimacy to be acceptable or not a sin under the salvation of Christ. Someone who continues to sin, though they know God, are not saved.

    Now, as earthly humans, we will all sin. But salvation comes from repenting of your sins and rebuking Satan from both your physical and thought life. Saying you believe in Jesus is not a contract to eternal life.

    I see this a lot in my age group, as I was once one of these people. Just because Jesus forgives our sins does not make it an excuse to continue to defy and avoid His Word.

    Acts 2:38-39 says, “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’”

    I encourage every TikTok scroller, including myself, to open the bible each time you hear a Christian perspective online. Hear what they are saying, but do not let them lead your faith without listening to the One True King. Oftentimes these people have a good start to what the bible is saying but fail to incorporate it in their everyday lives. Read the bible and take notes on it. The bible is your map toward salvation and to further build your relationship with God, not what is said on TikTok.

  • The Weight of the World on My Heart.

    We live in a world where prayer is rejected. We live in a world where evil is forced to be consumed by the every sense humankind can absorb. This just cannot be.

    Those who disagree, see the world through this lens. Just for a moment:

    Through my eyes, I wish I didn’t see anger and resentment toward people who should be seen as equal despite the color of their skin,

    Through my ears, I wish I didn’t hear conversations of disdain and contempt toward people who’s beliefs are different than someone else’s within,

    Through my hands, I wish I didn’t feel cold and detached souls against people who pray for everyone to feel whole again, Amen,

    Through my nose, I wish I didn’t smell gunpowder and flames that separate justice from the gunmen, fear dripping down our chin,

    Through my tongue, I wish I didn’t taste bitterness and acidity directed to the defeated, those who taste the evil, again and again.

    Redundancy is necessary

    because of what is at stake,

    The “divided” United,

    we’re building a cemetery,

    A community that lacks communion-

    is one that is bound to break,

    A free country,

    freely killing those that have peace because of what they make.

    We solved our past challenges

    and now we’re challenging that past,

    the one we “left behind”

    to avoid future attacks.

    We choose the life we live and this is not what we want.

    No need for laws and regulations to be taught

    to understand that this community is not the one we sought.

    I don’t know much but I do know this,

    I want better for this country and I want better for humanity. We are all humans; We are born with intent to create and build, and a purpose to serve and help. We are born with strength and we are born unique. We are born differently to share our experiences with our neighbors, not to give them a reason to fear diversity.

    I want my life to look different.

    The weight of the world is on my heart,

    and it is time we remove the cement that has calloused our community.

    -Anna Hoerner

  • This is NOT the world I choose to be proud of.

    Serious talk,

    For everyone that isn’t aware yet, this is what happened on August 22nd 2025, in Charlotte NC. In North Carolina’s city’s light rail, a young and hopeful woman had her life taken away from her in a brutal and vicious manner. Out of everyone we could blame there, my biggest issue lies with the bystanders. That literally did that and only that, stood by, and watched this young woman be stripped away of her life.

    Now, politics and controversy aside, fatally stabbing an innocent girl who sits in front of you on the train, is wrong. Fatally stabbing ANYONE, ANYWERE, is wrong. We are so quick to assume race, ethnicity, background, and class are what’s wrong with our world. Has anyone stopped to think about the fact that it doesn’t matter WHAT race is involved? These events will still happen. This, has become a matter of justice and how this young woman’s family can get the most out of this tragic and evil incident. What we should mostly consider, is how she died and the way it happened.

    This woman, 23 year old Iryna Zarutska, escaped an even more terrorizing danger from Ukraine, as she was previously residing in a bomb shelter. In the midst of the chaos, we all are made well aware of in Ukraine, she escaped and sought The United States as a safe haven. Understand, that this woman sought out protection from a country that has been “previously” known to provide freedom, safety, and new chances for people living elsewhere. This, today, is not the United States I have spent my whole life idolizing. Nor do I ever want to say that I am okay with the world I live in every day.

    Iryna stepped foot on that train, sat down, kept to herself, while not even looking at another person. Moments later, she was stabbed 3 vicious times in her stomach.

    I have not done all of my research on this man, this attacker, and truly evil hearted spirit, but I do know this: 14 times. 14 TIMES, he was charged previously. ABC News also states that, “He also spent five years in prison, for robbery with a dangerous weapon…”(Forrester) Not only this, but he has a history of schitzophrenia as well as an arrest from this past January. I have analyzed the camera footage to a sickening amount, trying to understand this horrific event and why it had to happen. This man, Decarlos Brown JR, was seen shaking and nodding his head in the footage, moments before Iryna got on the train. Showing signs of a pyschotic state as well as qualities of his Schitzophrenia, I can only assume that he acted on what he was hearing inside of his head. This man, under absolutely no circumstances, should have been allowed to go anywhere without an EXCEPTIONAL amount of supervision.

    For everyone curious, look up the definition of Schitzophrenia on Google. What is the first phrase that comes up? “A disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel, and behave clearly.” Sound familiar to this situation? Good, it should. Treatment methods to help reduce symptoms include, antipyschotic drugs, pyschotherapy, and “Coordinated specialty care services”. With that being said, how could this man have been under the supervision of NO ONE?

    My heart goes out to the family of Iryna, who had made the claim on ABC NEWS, “… She loved America, we will bury her here,” (Ferguson.) This is something that makes my stomach churn; she loved America. She worshipped it for all of its glory. All of the claims we make about how we’re the “best country” is turning out to be the most ignorant and hypocritical thing we could vocalize. I truly hope that extreme measures are pushed in order to get Iryna and her family the justice that she deserves.

    Where my BIGGEST issue lies is with the people who chose to sit and watch this young woman bleed out in front of them. Like I have said, I have watched this video footage over and over again, watching the actions of every person in the surveillance. I do however, understand that shock is a major factor, as well as the fact that many people may not have truly known what had happened.

    Following the attack, a man followed Brown off of the footage and another woman grabbed her things and got up. Neither of them thinking about helping the young woman as she was LOOKING around for help, clenching her stomach. To their defense, the attacker very discreetly had the knife wrapped in his hand, so those people may have considered that she had just been hit. However, as the attacker walks forward, a trail of blood rolls off of his knife, which should’ve be an automatic sign to check on the girl for serious, or in her case, fatal injuries. Three people sit just seats behind this attack, two of which watched it happen. And still, not even a look over at this girl. This young woman grabs her stomach, looks around the room, looks at her stomach, and throws her hands over her eyes. These last moments of this girl’s life, were spent with her hands burried into her face, praying that she would wake up from this nightmare.

    In my heart of hearts, I am a poet. With that, I analyze looks and actions over straight forward facts.

    Iryna’s eyes. Iryna instantly displayed eyes of betrayal, confusion, concern, and fear within milliseconds. She glanced around as everyone did everything but help her. Therefore unable to recieve medical attention before being pronounced dead. Her look is the one thing I will never be able to get over. She stared into the eyes of the attacker as he walked by her, completely confused as to why this had happened to her.

    These event should always be talked about as we, as a community, choose to stand up for laws and regulations that need to be put into place. I understand that in the midst of an unjust and evil world, crime cannot be completely prevented.

    But something has got to change.

    Lord, I pray for this family and for this young woman who has joined you in Heaven. She was so young and her life was stripped away from her unfairly. But Lord, Your plan is greater than any of us could imagine. I pray You use her story to inspire so many people to not be quiet and to advocate for change. No matter how big, or how small, every voice in this advocacy is important. I pray You help us all understand why this tragedy had to take place and that You help guide us going forward. I pray that You keep us safe and You protect us from the evil that is out there. Lord, watch over Iryna’s family and allow us to help them recieve justice, love, and support in any way we all can.

    In Your lovely name we pray, Amen.

    Below, I have linked ABC NEWS article that I reffered to, as well as the GoFundMe link to help support Iryna’s memory as well as her grieving family.

    https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/charlotte-increases-security-train-ukrainian-woman-killed/story?id=125397170

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-iryna

    -Anna Hoerner