Review of The Martian

This Sunday, I went with my wife and friends to watch 'The Martian' with an ensemble cast led by Matt Damon. This film made by Ridley Scott based on the novel by Andy Weir was amazing!

I didn't really know what to expect while going in. Though I love sci-fi, you just don't know what to expect at times and honestly I had only seen the trailer a few days before I watched the film.

But boy this movie rocks! So, I am not going to give away any spoilers except that it is a movie about an astronaut who is thought to have died on Mars and is left there by his fellow crew members. You guessed it - he wasn't dead.

Now how it must feel to be the only human being on an entire planet is something you will experience when you watch this movie. Matt Damon has done a very commendable job!

There are so many moments in this film that remind us that you can never say die and you have to just keep trying your best to survive. No matter what the odds.

One of the scenes towards the end is so emotional, I actually teared up a bit. The human spirit that flows between all of humanity alike is depicted very well in this film and I suggest everybody watch it. You will not be disappointed.

As soon as I stepped out of the theatre, I tweeted the following:

Just watched 'The Martian'.. What an amazing amazing movie! #TheMartian #themartianmovie .. Watch it! #movies

— Prashant Solomon (@prasol) October 4, 2015

Learn more about 'The Martian' on IMDB.com

Prayer works with faith, patience and perseverance

I have been reading a lot the past few months. Primarily, I've been reading about God and prayer. I have read many authors for the first time and am thoroughly enjoying their work. People like Father James Martin, SJ whose book 'A Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything', Stormie Omartian's Pray Big Series on Parenting, Marriage, Husband, Wife, etc. Currently, I'm reading Michael Harold Brown's 'The God of Miracles' and loving it!

The past few months have been like a roller coaster of life - up and down, then up and then down. I have been going through some difficult times emotionally that I wouldn't like to get into here, but suffice it to say that - PRAYER WORKS!

God has been with me through this storm in my life and remained in the same boat, asleep in the back at first and then woke up and asked me clearly, 'Where is your faith? Peace. Be still!'

Prayers have results. But these results come in God's time, not ours. Patience, faith and perseverance are the pillars of getting results from prayers.

Take the storms of your life not as a curse, but as a blessing that jolts you into thinking more about God than the things of the world. For it is only in these times that you begin to see the impermanence of it all worldly things and the permanence of heavenly things. You begin to realize that life and the tests that come with it are meant to teach and prepare you for the spiritual life that will follow this physical one after we transition from this world to the next.