For those things in life, I have visited “the city of sin” more than I would have proposed. I ran a marathon there a few years ago, I’ve spent a couple of yearends there, and on last week’s unexpected visit, we went for a new business presentation that was a huge success.
Now, let me tell you: Las Vegas is an offensive city – the world can’t be that unequal! The excesses of Las Vegas are insulting, and everyone who parties there looks insensitive to all the people who can’t even afford to eat. On my first visit, my reaction was one of deep indignation, wondering what am I doing here? Only by the third day, or earlier… I think I was just one of them. This is still a desert, full of people who come to quench their thirst… with sand. They won’t find living water there, except for a few real oases.
It takes very little time to get used to the excess. And although I am neither a casino gambler, nor a drunkard, nor do I expose myself to the risks of a night club, yes, one of those for “gentlemen”, in that city there are more dangers than are visible among all its lights and glare. Life in my case, does not need that kind of complications, although just getting close to them can be fatal. With all this and the peace of God that I have enjoyed for years, I have to admit that Las Vegas is best avoided, you easily get used to it and it becomes enveloping!
Even for those of us who have visited it to go to a show, its restaurants, the conventions, 
business, shopping or just to get to know it, Las Vegas is too much attraction all together not to recognize the risks involved. In an oversight, anyone can go down the strip.
In the world of entertainment, Las Vegas is like Disney for adults, only with the added bonus of having enough candlepower to destroy anyone’s life. And that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” is solemn nonsense. It’s like self-deception combined with indulgence, covered as a bad joke and a passing exit, because what happens in any place or time in life, stays with you forever. So powerful is 
the past, that not even God has wanted to change it. Obviously, “what happens here, stays here” is absolute stupidity.
This is a city of contrasts and a place of high risks. What looks and shines hides a dangerous reality, full of pain and emptiness. There you should not flirt with any of the countless “offers” on the market, but on the contrary fly directly in the opposite direction.
Now, you see the catch, you don’t have to go all the way there to recognize where to run away from! Las Vegas is a city in Nevada, and risks like yours are everywhere. Around every corner there is a “casino” or an “offer” to lure us in. It is up to us to recognize the margins we need to stay in the safe zone.
What captures our attention is usually high risk. While what we choose to give our attention to is usually good. Even in the context of Cirque du Soleil and the countless attractions of the world, I think I better give my attention to what is lasting and fulfilling. Thus, I better give my attention to the Openhouse.
Greetings!
