Life is too short

I FEEL YOUR PAIN MY FRIEND

2011-07-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend

You said, the road to heaven is hidden on the cross and
that worry does not solve the problem of tommorow but
saps and robs the glory of today.

We really don't know how special a moment is until it pass,
then it is too late. You said grab life for all its worth and
don't let it go. Live, love, dance the music, for it too will pass.

All you will have is a fleeting memory melting like dew drops
in the early morning sun.

Remember a song is not a song until it is sung.
A bell is not a bell until it is rung.

Love is not love until is is given.
It is the reason you are alive.
I am love.
Live!

I LOVE YOU

THE BEST TIME TO LOVE IS NOW

2010-10-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

My friend

You are right. The best time for me to love is now. I don't know how long I will have the
opportunity. Really circumstances change. It is beyond us. People die. Children grow up.
We have no guarantee of tomorrow. Time is a restless continuous set of changes. Ahead
is a moment we call future. It quickly changes into present then quickly changes into past.
Time is a lens that capture dreams and turn it into reality. And God will judge us on how we
spent our time in this life. Time will be the scale of our before and after on the altar of the Lord.

So the best time for me to express my love is now. The best use of my life is loving. Yes, the best expression of love is time. Love is an inner attitude that involves the whole human being.
Love is a gift of self. My time.

Maybe if we watch more open this video (Premashu Mitra) it will give us a deeper insight
of a God who always gives us an endless chance to love. Love is not a feeling, nor emotion.
Love is a person and He is our Father. It is in loving that we become more like Him.

Let us watch this....... GOD IS LOVE. HE'LL BE THERE FOR YOU...HERE IS THE PROOF.

PEACE IN THE LOVE OF GOD

2010-09-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

My friend

It is said that peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of God in our lives.

What is peace in the love of God my friend. Is it in knowing that He loves me? Is it in knowing
that He cares? Is it the thought that He is my Father and that fathers, good fathers I
mean, are Sheperds who would give His life for His sheep? Hirelings run away you said.

May we all have that peace that comes from the love of God. Peace be to you my friend!

" MY HOME IS GOD HIMSELF"

2009-10-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

"My Home is God Himself ", Christ brought me there.

I placed myself within His mighty arms;

He took me up and safe from all alarms

He bore me " where no foot but His has trod."

Within the holiest as Home with God,

And had me dwell in Him, rejoicing there.

O Holy place! O Home divinely fair!

And we, God's little ones, abiding there.

" My Home is God Himself "; it was not so!

A long, lond road I traveled night and day

And sought to find within myself some way.

Nothing I did or felt could bring me near.

Self-effort failed, and I was filled with fear,

And then I found Christ was the only way,

That I must come to Him and Him stay,

And God had told me so.

And now " my Home is God, " and sheltered there,

God meets the trials of my earthly life,

God compasses me round from storm and strife,

God takes the burden of my daily care.

O Wondrous Place! O home divinely fair!

And I, God's little one, are hidden there,

Lord, as I dwell in You and You in me,

So make me dead to everything but Thee;

That as I rest within my Home most fair,

My soul may evermore and only see

My God in everything and everywhere;

My Home is God.

"LORD YOU HAVE BEEN OUR DWELLING PLACE THROUGHOUT ALL GENERATIONS"

Ps. 90:1

THE END OF THE WORLD

2009-10-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

If it is a dream I want to wake up. But no matter how hard I tried my dream seems to point to a reality that it is the end of the world......my world.

The water is rising so rapidly that I knew in a few more seconds my world will be covered up with water and it did. "Ondoy", the storm has drop a month rain in six (6) hours and darkness is fast covering up the night like a blanket because all electrical services are one by one disconnected. Sooner than I think darkness sets in and it seems forever. There was an eerie silence intermittently broken by frightening sounds of people crying for help. Yes..it was my most unforgettable night.....Now I know what the wife of Noah felt the first night of the deluge. The moans, the shouts, the cry of anguish of those thirsty for help. It was a terrible night to experience I will never forget it. A Godless night it seems. That is what my daughter said and experience.

It is must have been a very long night for my daughter who lived in Pasig. They took refuge to a nearby two story apartment because their house was entirely submerged on water and to escape to a higher ground is futile since a very large area of Metro Manila is also submerged ten feet high. Cars and buses were swept away like toys because of strong current. Streets are flooded and houses disappear that give you a feeling that you are in the middle of great ocean. It is really a very frightful and agonizing night for seeing people shouting for help and cannot do anything about it. It was a hopeless night. Faith dried by the thought that we cannot extend our helping hands to our brothers and sisters who desperately needed help. My heart she said was filled with sorrow. Tears begin to blur my eyes and began to flow.... a river of helplessness follows.

That fun Saturday night was turned into a horrible fright night. And when Sunday morning breaks the deafening silence of the night this is what they saw.

My friend I pray that you restore their spirit specially those who lost hope. Another storm is coming ............................

GOD SAVES US ALL............................................................................................................

LOVE

2009-09-10T19:53:00.001-07:00

My friend

What do you think our blogger friends say about this?

Can happiness exist without love? Or can love exist without freedom?
It is said we exist for love and to love and we can only be happy loving
and being loved.

Truly love that is forced or that which arise from self-interest does not deserve the name.

True love, that is blessed loved only exist between two people when they freely surrender
themselves to each other.

Love is the condition of happiness. " man would not know how to live without love." says St. Catherine of Siena.

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides.

And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out

whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconcievable

that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathless, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation

of promises of eternal passion. That is just being " in love" which any

of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over

when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate

accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew

towards each other underground,and when all the pretty

blossoms had fallen from our branches we found

that we were one tree and not two." St Augustine.

Life is about love.

Love you my friend.

THE EYE

2009-06-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

My friend

It was night when you were betrayed. Yes, it is always dark when we sin. The room was filled with eerie silence and the sounds of the last song of praise is slowly dying out.......... when you speak.

"One of you will betray me." Stun by your word, they all look up and saw you trying to subdue that loneliness in your eyes. And then with quivering lips you said, " do quickly what you are about to do. "

" Do quickly!" you speak aloud, yet in the silence of your heart they never heard the words trying to get out of your lips...."before my tears starts to fall."

" Is it I, my Lord?" they all said. Except the one who probably said to himself.... how did he know?

How did He know? Did He ever turn his back on us? Does he care? And when he looks at us? What is it like?

When I was younger. I never look up at the picture of Christ hanging on my wall whenever I pray. Simply because I am afraid. Afraid that I may see an angry Christ. A Christ with an accusing eye ...telling me how bad I am...charging me of my wrongdoing. Thats how I pray then. Yes...I never look at him.

Then one day, while praying inside the Chapel of St. Joseph, I felt a top on my shoulder, and I look up. I saw a huge picture of the face of Christ hanging in front of me. He is looking down at me. I got up and move at the back of the Chapel. Here I said to myself his eyes will not reach me. I was wrong. Now he's looking straight at me....it seems to me that I cannot escape the situation so I muster all the courage I have left and begin to stare. As my eyes meet his. My fear slowly banished away. It is not an accusing eyes. It is a compasionate eyes. The eyes that understand. The eyes that says....I LOVE YOU! IT IS ALRIGHT! I KNOW YOU! I UNDERSTAND! Since then I always talk to the eyes that speaks.

Every nice friend is a glimpse of God. It is one of life's blessings...a priceless gift that can never be bought, sold, or forgotten! Take care my friend...remember always I understand because I love you....

"If I had not come" Jn. 15:22

2008-12-21T19:23:00.000-08:00

My friend

I am wondering what the world would be like if Jesus had not come. The world would drastically change isn't it. Santa Clause will not be coming to town. Churches, Cathedrals, Monasteries even the whole Vatican City will disappear on the face of the earth. Pastors, Priest, Nuns, and other charitable institution run by them will vanish. Life styles will radically change. It would be a very different world! I guess this is what we will find ourselves without Christmas. No Jesus ....no Christmas.

The words, faith, hope and love will eventually lost its meaning. Even the word.......forgive will change. An eye for an eye will prevail all over the land. The Bible if it could still be called such will be thinner. No new testament. No epistles of Paul....No word of God. That which is hidden in the old testament will never be revealed because there is no new. For that which is revealed in the new is hidden in the old testament. The Book will just be empty words.

There is a story about a Minister who fall asleep one Christmas morning. He dreamed of a world into which Jesus never came. No Christmas.

In his dream, he saw himself walking through his house, but as he looked, he saw no stockings hung on the chimney, no Christmass tree, no wreath of holly, and no Christ to comfort and gladden hearts or to save us. He then walked onto the street outside, but there was no church with its spire pointing heaven. And when he came back and sat down in his library, he realized that every book about our Savior had disappeared.

The Minister dreamed that the doorbell rang and that a messenger asked him to visit a friend's poor dying mother. He reached her home, and as his friend sat and wept, he said, " I have something here that will comfort you." He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise of hope and salvation, and all he could do was bow his head and weep with his friend and his mother in bitter despair.

Two days later he stood beside her coffin and conducted her funeral service, but there was no message of comfort, no words of a glorious resurrection, and no thought of a mansion awaiting her in heaven. There was only " dust to dust, and ashes to ashes," and one long, eternal farewell. Finally he realize that Christ had not come, and burst into tears, weeping bitterly in his sorrowful dream.

Then suddenly he awoke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard the choir singing these words in the church nearby:

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem

Come and behold him, born the King of angels,

O come let us adore Him,Christ the Lord!

LET US BE GLAD AND REJOICE THIS CHRISTMAS! HE HAS COME!

With Christ all roads leads home!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

ANGELS

2008-12-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

There was this little girl sitting by herself in the park. Everyone passed her and never stopped to see why she looked so sad. Dressed in a worn white dress, barefoot and dirty, the girl just sat and watched the people go by.

She never tried to speak. She never said a word. Many people passed by her, but no one would stop.

The next day I decided to go back to the park, out of curiosity, to see if the little girl would still be there. Yes, she was there, right in the very spot where she was yesterday, and still with the same sad look in her eyes.

TODAY, I was to make my own move and walk over to the little girl sitting all by herself. As we all know, a park full of strange people is not a place for young children to play or stay alone. As I got closer I could see the back of her dress. It was grotesquely shaped. I figure that was the reason why people just passedby and made no effort to speak to her. Deformities are a low blow to our society and heaven forbid if you make a step toward assisting someone who is different.

As I got closer, the girl lowered her eyes slightly to avoid my stare. As I approached her, I could see the shaped of her back more clearly. She was grotesquely shaped in a humped-over form. I smiled to let her know it was okay.......I was there to help if help is needed and to talk.

I sat down beside her and opened with a simple, " Hello." The girl acted shocked and stammered a " Hi" after looking deeply into my eyes. I smiled and she shyly smilled back. We talked until darkness fell and the park was completely empty.

I asked the girl why she was so sad. She looked at me with a wan look and said, " Because, I'm different."

I immediately replied, " That you are!" and smiled. The girl looked even sadder and muttered, " I know."

" Little girl," I said, " you remind me of an angel, sweet and innocent."

She looked at me and smiled, then slowly she got to her feet and said, " Really?"

" Yes you're like a little Guardian Angel sent to watch over all people walking by."

The girl with a worn out dress smiled , her face lightening up.

Straightening up, she opened the back of her crumpled dress allowed her glorious wings to spread, and said " I am your Guardian Angel!"

I was speechless.

She held my hand and said, " For once you thought of someone other than yourself. My job here is done."

I got to my feet, " Wait, why did no one stop to help or even just to talk to you, an angel?"

" With most people distracted by the material world, you were the only one who could see me."

With that, she was gone.

And with that my life was changed dramatically.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN ANGELS?

I DO.....................

A GOD OF A MILLION CHANCE

2008-10-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hi my friend. You are really a God of a million chance. You never fail to amaze me. I thought I am gone and you keep on giving me this precious time. Well I am writing again to tell you how grateful I am. I am writing to let your children know that you are really a great Father who looks not on weakness of His child but rather looks with an understanding heart. A heart that accepts everything... me. Yes.......a victory of grace no less...on me.

I always wonder what you see in me. My passion being shared by this God of compassion? My frustrations and pain is not mine alone? But His too? Why my friend do you love me so much? You burst forth life in me amidst its ashes.... joy in my sorrow...laugther in my tears, you're a great friend......and father. A savior!

When ever I contemplate the crucifix hanging on the wall of my room I think I am beginning to understand that there is really power in powerlessness. The cost of this unconditional love for us...for me....the humiliation and pain you suffered, all the way to your last breath just for me...for us.... brought me to this beautiful place called peace. A place where you accept with open arms suffering and pain, knowing that you are sharing the suffering of my ever loving friend who said, " forgive them for they know not what they do." Yes, even to those who tortured and put him to death. The cost it seems is too little compared to the gains of loving.

This story moves me.

" My friend isn't back from the battlefield, sir. Request permission to go out and get him."

" Permission refused," said the officer. " I don't want you to risk your life for a man who is probably dead."

The soldier went, all the same, and an hour later, came back mortally wounded carrying the corpse of his friend. The officer was furious. " I told you he was dead. Now I've lost both of you.

Tell me, was it worth going out there to bring a corpse?"

The dying man replied, " Oh, it was, sir. When I got to him he was still alive. And he said to me

Jack, I was sure you'd come.

FATHER'S DAY

2008-06-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my moms birthday. It is also Father's day. I am so grateful beyond words for both of them. What memory about your father makes you cry, they ask. How about you my friend. WHAT MEMORY ABOUT YOUR FATHER MAKES YOU CRY?

You know I have no memory about my father. I was not able to meet him. I can write books about fathers but it would be a lie for I have not experience one. My father died when I am only seven months old. I never knew him. His absence in my life must have made who I am today. What I am truly proud of is to be a part of a family who filled the vacumn of his absence. My brothers, my sisters have become my father and my mother. From them I have learned that it doesn't take much to make someone happy. Love is free and they have plenty of it. My father must have left a mark with my brothers and sisters for they all show his spirit in their lives. He must be a great father for it shows and is felt by this little old me with my family. I am the youngest.

HOW ABOUT YOU MY FRIEND. WHAT MEMORY ABOUT YOUR FATHER MAKES YOU CRY?

HAPPY FATHERS DAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM....I MISS YOU.

FOR MY MOM WHO DIED WITHOUT ME SAYING I LOVE YOU

2008-05-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

Our Mother is the Sweetest

Our mother is the sweetest and most delicate of all,

She knows more of paradise than angels can recall,

She's not only beautiful but passionately young,

Playful as a kid yet wise as one who has lived long.

Her love is like the rush of life,

A bubbly, laughing spring that runs through all

like liquid light and makes the mountains sing.

And makes the meadows turn to flower

And trees to choicest fruit.

She is at once the field and bower

In which our hearts take root.

She is at once the sea and shore,

Our freedom and our past,

With her we launch our daring ships

Yet keep the things that last.

I love you Mom I know you can hear me. I miss you soooooo much.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

A STAR

2008-05-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

Each of us represents a star in heaven. Sometimes we shine with the rest, sometimes we twinkle alone and sometimes when we least know it, we make others wishes come true.

If the sun shines in your soul, does it matter if it rains outside? Happiness within overlooks the sadness any event may bring. So stay happy and shine all the way through.

Thanks my friend.

THE DUCK

2008-04-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner.

As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally, let's wash the dishes' But Sally said, 'Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.' Then she whispered to him, 'Remember the duck?' So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.' Sally just smiled and said, 'Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help' She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?' So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.'

Thought for the day and every day thereafter? Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done... And the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.) ..whatever it is...You need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.

He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved. Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today.

Thanks my friend.

THE SEEDS OF FAITH

2008-04-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

" Today is the first day of the rest of your life." If my glucose (sugar) count did not rise the other day (452), I could not understand this beautiful poster I saw today. Yup, I forgot to test my glucose (sugar) for the past several months. I forgot that my body is intimately connected to the social, mental, spiritual aspect of my life. If Aida, my wife didn't insist to test it that day ....well it will be all over. Truly you speak in many different ways my friend. I am so grateful.

My friend, I come to you today to ask you to take off my old heavy garments of despair and heaviness. Make me new today. Give me that garment of praise so that I can be a display of Your glory and splendour. Make me an instrument of Your peace and love that they may know You through me. May I decrease so You may increase in me.

My friend, you gave us seeds to plant in our hearts . Seeds if we nourish and help grow would strenghten our faith and trust in you. Seeds we usually reject unknowing you are always close to help. That You are in the shadow, keeping watch over His own. You allow trouble to pursue us, as though You don't care, so we may be brought to the end of ourselves until we discover the treasure of darkness and the immeasurable wealth of tribulation. It maybe that I will only see You once the ordeal is nearly passed, but we must dare to believe that You never leave us alone in our trial. Although your presence is veiled...... the secret of your deeper love is shown.

Be strong, He has not failed you

In all the past,

And will He go and leave you

To sink at last?

No, He said He will hide you

Beneath His wing;

And sweetly there in safety

You then may sing.

(selected)

GOD RESERVES THE BEST MEDICINE FOR OUR TIMES OF DEEPEST DESPAIR.

TO GIVE A NEW MEANING TO WHAT WE ARE

EXPERIENCING NOW IN OUR LIFE

AND LOOK AT IT WITH THE

EYES OF GOD

ARE OUR NEW SEEDS OF FAITH

SURRENDER NOT YOUR

HOPE

THANK YOU MY FRIEND.

LOVE IS POWER

2008-03-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

My friend

You're right. Loneliness can be the most horrifying emotion we can ever experience. It can cause us to do and feel things which we may not normally do. Like over-eating, turning to alcohol, or other things like drugs. If we are not careful all the things we do to mask the pain of loneliness can actually intensify it. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to take on the challenge of fighting and winning the feeling of loneliness.

Motivated by a strange spirit to walk slowly, feeling lonely I guess, along A. Mabini St., last wednesday night, as a result of fatigue and poor health, and heavy financial burden when I suddenly notice two girls walking towards me just like the picture above. The bigger girl stop and smiled at me and that makes me also smiled and asked her " why are you carrying her? She's heavy and you're just a little girl. " And she simply answered " I carry my sister because I love her." As I gave the last ten peso coin in my pocket, I watch them move away from me thinking of the incident, it wakes me up from my deadining mind and senses.... from the problems I carry. " I LOVE HER. " she said. " THAT'S WHY. "

That's when I begin to think and understand that only because of love that all things we do have value. Love is for others. Love is merciful. Love is grateful. Love is power that enables us to carry not only the burden of others but our burdens as well. It is only when we live a contended life that all things we dreamed of will follow. You love me my friend inspite of my sins. It is your unconditional love that sustains me. You carry me when I can no longer walk and in pain.

Yes my friend. Forgiving is love. Forgiving is remembering! Remembering that my brothers and sisters is like me. Weak and prone to mistakes. If I forget this I will be angry, and unforgiving. Love will be lost. I cannot even forgive my self and I will be lost in self pity....this stupor.

Yes, love is power. Power to endure pain. Power to give even our very own lives for the sake of that someone we love. I remember the story of a mother and her child in Darfur, because of the proximity of the clinic from their place and because her child is crying prantically for milk and because she knew that without it her child will die allowed her child to sip her own blood from her drying breast as they walk towards that life saving clinic. Walking almost for hours, mile after mile the mother became weaker and weaker because of lost of blood. And when they finaly arrived her dying wish is for the nurses at the clinic is let her child live. And she gave her life in peace. It is finish. Her child is safe.

Life is a sweet sacrifice.

Sometimes God breaks our spirit to save our soul.

Sometimes He breaks our heart to make us whole.

Sometimes He sends us pain so we can be stronger.

Sometimes He sends us failure so we can be humble.

Sometimes He takes everything away from us so we can learn the value of everything we have.

A blessed day for you my friend.

THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING

2008-01-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

"ASSALAM ALAIKUM" God's peace be with you!

My friend,loving is a hard thing. It is said that when you love be prepared to be hurt. Yes I think this statement is true. Loving is really not an easy task. More often the one who love suffers more than the one we loved. Specially when the one we love does not understand our language of love. Yes, love has its own language in every person. It is acquired on the culture He/She is born in. Like a Chinese talking to an American unless they study the language of the other they will never understand each other. Yes there is a need to study the language of love specially of your chosen lifetime mate if you want it to last forever. It is in knowing that loving comes.

One of the hardest part of love is forgiveness. No one can profess to love without forgiving. It is easy to condemn and not forgive enemies that are impersonal distant, and without human face. And it is equally easy for us not to ask forgiveness from person or people who are faceless, far, foreign, and perhaps belong to another period of history. Yet forgiveness is essential in loving.... without forgiveness there is no love.

Maybe my friend you will ask, what credentials do I have to write about this difficult subject where I too am a spiritual beggar. Maybe my friend I say what I believed in and besides it gives me somewhat a spiritual freedom. I write what I see.

One does not really have to look too far or too hard around us to see the signs of brokeness and dis-order; deep seated conflict, hidden wounding, unrepented sins, unredressed guilt and costly ignorance. Something is fundamentally wrong with our present understanding of the human person's make-up. Modern living has redefined humanity. The meaning of love has been truncated and watered down or altogether ignored that it has cause confusion and even cynism in its usage.It is symptoms of an ailing world. It is a spiritual illness.

Maybe it's secularism. Secularism is a spirit and an attitude that puts God at a distance, removes Him from what goes on with this world,separates Him from human society and human history. Have you ever heard of the song "God is watching us from a distance"?

God who is love is not watching us from a distance. Immanuel! God is with us and in us! This is the God of Jesus..the God of the Scripture..the God who suffers with us and for us in Jesus. Not just in the human nature of Jesus but in Jesus as Son.

In the end I would like to share the life testimony a woman I admire so much for her courage some years ago in a workshop. I would like to hide her in the name Sherbet.

Sherbet's mother was killed by her very own father. She was estrangled, mauled and dumped in a vacant lot. Her father had a mistress and had fallen into bad company. He left and was never heard again. Sherbet hated her father for what he did to her mother but she tried to hide her dark past. Her aunt adopted her and her elder sister legally. Their surname was changed and they were transfered to another school and introduced as their biological children. She was happy for her new family because they were treated as real children. During grade school years, she had been consistent honor student. People admire her for being the prettiest, wealthiest and the brightest in the class. She wanted to prove to the world that she is not like her father.

When she fell in love with a senior student, her parents did not like him. She got pregnant but her boyfriend was not ready to marry her and advised her to have an abortion. Her parents were very angry when they knew about it. She discovered that her boyfriend was irresponsible. His own father was an alcoholic and his mother went abroad to escape. Sherbet broke up with him and returned to her parents who accepted her with open arms.

She joined the Life in the Spirit seminar and was reconciled to God.After recieving the Lord in her heart she was healed of her guilt feelings. She then forgave her real father and asked the Lord to touch him and bring him back to her someday. She also asked forgiveness to her parents for the times that she disappointed or hurt them.

She is grateful to her parents for their support and their presence in her moments of cisis and for loving her as their real daughter.

It must be the grace of reconcillation no less. The grace of love. God was unveild in her life. What do you think my friend.

SOME PICTURES

2007-12-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

If I sow love, I will reap love a hundredfold.

hmnnnnnnn......it is only in silence that I can clearly hear the voice of God, which guides my life. I really have to count my blessings. What do you think my friend?

An Old Man's Wisdom

2007-11-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

A man of 92 years, short, very well-presented, who takes great care of his appearance, is moving into an old people’s home today. His wife of 70 has recently died, and he is obliged to leave his home. After waiting several hours in the retirement home lobby, he gently smiles as he is told that his room is ready.

As he slowly walks to the elevator, using his cane, I describe his small room to him, including the sheet hung at the window which serves as a curtain.

"I like it very much", he says, with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old boy who has just been given a new puppy.

"M. Gagné, you haven’t even seen the room yet, hang on a moment, we are almost there. "

" That has nothing to do with it ", he replies.

" Happiness is something I choose in advance. Whether or not I like the room does not depend on the furniture, or the decor – rather it depends on how I decide to see it. "

" It is already decided in my mind that I like my room. It is a decision I take every morning when I wake up. "

" I can choose. I can spend my day in bed enumerating all the difficulties that I have with the parts of my body that no longer work very well, or I can get up and give thanks to heaven for those parts that are still in working order. "

" Every day is a gift, and as long as I can open my eyes, I will focus on the new day, and all the happy memories that I have built up during my life. "

" Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw in later life what you have deposited along the way. Every day is a gift, and as long as I can open my eyes, I will focus on the new day, and all the happy memories that I have built up during my life. "

So, my advice to you is to deposit all the happiness you can in your bank account of memories.

Thank you for your part in filling my account with happy memories, which I am still continuing to fill…

Remember these simple guidelines for happiness.

1. Free your heart from hate.
2. Free your mind from worry.
3. Live simple.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

If you have been blessed by this message my friend, tell this story to your loved ones and your friends….it is the way we touch each other with simple truths that spread goodness in the world. Who knows, a miracle may happen as a result….

Thanks friend.....

PONDERING CHRISTMAS

2007-11-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have a dream, Joseph.

I don't understand it, not really, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our Son. I think that was what it was all about. The people had been preparing for it for about six weeks. They had decorated the house and bought new clothes. They'd gone shopping many times and bought elaborated gifts. It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren't for our Son.

They wrapped them in beautiful paper and tied them with lovely bows and stacked them under a tree. Yes, a tree. Joseph right in their homes. They'd decorated the tree also. The branches were full of glowing balls and sparkling ornaments. There was a figure on top of the three. It look like how an angel might look. Oh, it was beautiful. Everyone was laughing and happy. They were all excited about the gifts. They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our Son. I don't think they even knew Him. They never mentioned His name.

Doesn't it seems odd for people to go through all that trouble to celebrate someone's birthday if they don't know Him? I had the strangest feeling that if our Son had gone to this celebration He would have been intruding. Everything was beautiful, Joseph, and everyone so gay, but it made me want to cry.

How sad for Jesus not to be wanted at His own birthday party. I am glad it was only a dream. How terrible, Joseph, if it had been real.

Hmnnn......I wonder........

Christmas is not a season

2007-10-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

When I was little my heart get excited when the "ber" months start appearing in our calendar.....October-November-December. Lights will soon begin to appear like fireflys scattering everywhere, in houses, in trees, in streets. Like in fairyland my world would metamorphose into a world of light. Yes it's beauty is unsayable. Then my soul will be illuminated by some strange presence...of a spirit...Joseph never spoke a word when he first experience it...all is silent in this act of creation ..It is the sound of silence, the Voice of God, the Speech of God, the Breath of God stirring over the waters, it is the Word made flesh, a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power...it is compassion wrapped in a human flesh.It is a new life offered in a crib.

Yup I think this is what Christmas is all about. It is a life illumined by the light of divine grace. It is a sign of His continual presence within us. Christmas then is not a time, nor a season. It is a person.

Let us take this to heart. God is a Word. The Word. This Word was made flesh. He dwelt among us. This Word was incarnated...born...a man. Like you. Like me. This Word became a concrete visibility, a Person. The Person of God no less. And His name? Jesus, not Yaweh, not El Shaddai, or any other name but Jesus. Just Jesus. Simply Jesus. He was one of us.

And Why?

To remind us of what we have forgotten, or never really knew;

WHAT we are: A Word too, of the Father, in the flesh.

WHO we are: Persons too, Sons of God.

HOW we are: The image, the likeness of God. And this likeness? A LIKENESS in LOVE!

Of such is the dignity, the majesty, the splendor of the Person, the human Person. The dignity , the splendor of God are His in the Son, the Second Person of God, and our own Brother in grace no less! Jesus in us.

How then to celebrate Christmas? How to celebrate Jesus? If we can only turn all the tinsels in our Christmas trees into persons and people...If we can fill those Christmas stockings, et al, for those little persons without stockings.If we can turn our Christmas banquets into feasts of the truly hungry persons and people...true Eucharist no less. If we can transform our shopping sprees into frensied shopping for the lost. If we can turn our exchange gifts into --exchanges of self instead...If.....

In brief,

To birth this Word, this Person..JESUS.. in us, and in others this Christmas and everyday hereafter until the consumation of our life must be truly CHRISTMAS.

Blessed be the Lord who did not leave Us!

IT IS ALMOST TIME

2007-09-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

Time is Gods gift to us. It was set in motion when God called forth light and divided light from darkness to make day and night. Yes, that was how earthly time begun. There is a great difference between God's time and earth time. Literal reading of the Bible will create much problem if we interprete the creation narrative in Genesis literally in terms of six twenty- four hour days. For instance, how were the first three twenty-four-hour days measured if the sun wasn't made until the forth day? I too believe that God can create the whole thing in a second or much faster than that if He so desire there is no problem with that. But "day" (Hebrew - Yum) does not always refer to clock-time; so it isn't necessarily used here to refer how long God took to have the job done. I think literal reading advocates are not aware of this problem. Well, it is not my intention to create a debate about the creation narrative here but simply to say that time is Gods gift to us and we have to use it well. It has it's beginning and it has it's end in each of us.

My earthly time begun when I was born. From the dark room of my mother's womb to the bright light of my first day on earth. Looking back I could say its wonderful to think that God has set my earthly time ticking like a clock that will go off when its time to wake up to God's time. Death then is waking up to God's time.

Yup it is nice to think that I am not of this world and that I am just passing through and I will soon wake up to His Light of Glory. With these thoughts I realize now that I should have spend my time on earth loving because life is all about love. It is all about relationship and relationship is all about love.

My time is God's gift to me. It is all mine. To spend it with others means sharing a portion of my self to them. Yes sharing my life .....because my time is my life and the time I shared with others , I will never get back. My life ends when my time cease to tick and sad to say it is almost over. It is almost time....to wake up to God's time.

My friend, now I know that the essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves and I often did not understand that. The desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or chocolates or a beautiful card. It is time. My time given in love.

It is said that we cannot give with out loving, but cannot love without giving. Yes love means giving up...yielding my preference, comfort, goals, security, money, energy, or time to the benefit of someone else ...sacrifice is the essence of love.

Yes my friend, people die. Children grow up. Circumstances change. And I don't know how long I will have the opportunity. And it is almost time....... procrastination is a legitimate response to a trivial task.

CANVASS OF LIFE

2007-08-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

Life have it's mixtures of colors, of light and shadows. It has mountains, hills and valleys. It is beautiful if seen through the eyes of the artist who painted them in this so called canvass of life. The poetry of pain eloquently spoken through laughter and tears, of failure and success of his subjects are vivid pictures of the beauty of life.. of love.....of hope.....of faith that one can live with dignity and pride inspite of any odds. Life I suppose is mystical...it is spiritual...it is beautiful.

K. Gibran once wrote: " Your children are not your children. They are the sons and dauthers of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. "

FROM GRACE TO GRACE..... truly there is no human relationship so intimate and loving than this.....P. Divarkar is right in saying: " Everything is precious because it is from God, and yet everything is relative--precisely because everything is precious only in relation to God. "

" One Act of Random Kindness at a time. "

from: Evan Almighty

So profound is your wisdom, my friend, so absolute.

Unite my thankful heart with Thine, my friend.

(Painting by JoeyVelasco)

ATTITUDE

2007-08-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror,and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?" So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?" So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly.......

Leave the rest to God

have a gr8 day too!!!! Cheers.......Friend....

What do you think?

SOPHIAGURL

2007-08-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

My friend

I would like you to continue blessing my daughter who celebrated her birthday last August 27. She is the one responsible to this beautifull blog which you now see. She never give up fighting for me an old bulb loosing it's glow. Yup, thats what happen when we grew up in age...light is dimmer. So I say while the fillament is still new, young and strong continue glowing and light up the way of others specially your children for they will do the same to you when your light grew dim. When your bones no longer hold ground. When you're cold and needs warm. Their light will shine on you. Yes, their love will see you through.

Daughter, be careful not to let your age and experience work against your keen sense of discovering novel ideas. A person who thinks he knows it all has actually stopped learning. The antidote for old age is a suspension of judgement. Dont be too quick to say no.Do not let your experience and ripeness of age blind you to new opportunities.

The secret? It has nothing to do with your age. It has everything to do with God---how He can use you. How much are you willing to be used by Him for His glory. Age doesn't matter really. Only God does.

Happy Birthday Sophiagurl! My love will always be there for you. I LOVE YOU!

Suffering Love

2007-08-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

" Is the power to heal the power to suffer?

Why when power went out,

did pain come in. "

Life is a paradox. What you want, you may not get; what you get, you may not enjoy; what you enjoy is not permanent; what's permanent may not satisfy. Therefore my friend, seek real happiness from God alone. He's permanent and He can give you the contenment this life can never offer.

Listen:

It is easy to love Him when the blue is in the sky,

When the summer winds are blowing and we smell the roses nigh;

There is little effort needed to obey His precious will

When it leads through flower-decked valley, or over sun-kissed hill.

It is when the rain is falling, or the mist hangs in the air,

When the road is dark and rugged, and the wind no longer fair,

When the rosy dawm has settled in a shadowland of gray,

That we find it hard to trust Him, and are slower to obey.

It is easy to trust Him when the singing birds have come,

and their songs of praise are echoed in our heart and in our home;

But it'w when we miss the music, and the days are dull and drear,

That we need a faith triumphant over every doubt and fear.

And our blessed Lord will give it; what we lack He will supply;

Let us ask in faith believing....on His promise rely;

He will ever be our Leader, whether smooth or rough the way.

And will prove Himself sufficient for the needs of every day.

Trusting even when it appears you have been forsaken; praying when it seems your words are simply entering a vast expanse when no one hears and no voice answers; believing that God's love is complete and that He is aware of your circumstances, even when your world seems to grind on as if setting its own direction and not caring for life or moving one inch in response to your petitions; desiring only what God's hand have planned for you; waiting patiently while seemingly starving to death, with your only fear being that your faith might fail...." this is the victory that has overcome the world"; this is genuine faith indeed. (George Mac Donald)

THE PRECIOUS GIFTS

2007-08-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

When trials becomes hopeless,

Hopelessness becomes a trial

As we grow old, we encounter in life adversities that afflict us and those we love. Sometimes there are issues we cannot resolve no matter how hard we try. And for that matter, we feel hopeless, inadequate, impotent, useless. This is specially so when our love one is involve and there is no way we can help out.

When our kids are still kids, we can easily step in to help when they are in trouble and they are more than willing to accept our helping hands. But as they grow older and become more and more independent, they usually refuses to listen and accept right reasons. They become butterflies that does not know the color of their wings. And this is the parents greatest torment...helpless....sad...they turn to the Lord believing that somehow their prayers will yield fruits in due time. I might not see it now but the fruits shall come in God's merciful time....is their faith.

Thanks my friend! With the gift of faith, hope and love, everything is transform into grace. We were able to give meaning to everything...even to what we lack. We know that God can draw good from anything and everything. It is an expression of His love. Thanks for this precious gifts.

Images of Death

2007-08-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

My Friend

I am beginning to feel tired again. Please hold my hands for they might notice and ask me why. Cover me please with your grace from their prying eyes. Help me up with thy loving hands for the sands of time is fast drifting and I think I have no longer the luxury of time. My sun is setting and I am afraid its going to be dark soon. Touch me my friend and heal this troubled heart I pray.

My friend, why do people surround themselves with images of death. I remember an incident when I was little, I wandered around in a very large room of my lolo and got the scare of my life because it is practically littered with pictures of the dead. One of them is an old painting portrait that keeps on staring at me. Fear struck and my heart beat so fast that I run out of breath and almost painted. Since then I never entered that room again. Why do they stuff their room with images that will cause them painful memories of losing someone they love? Are there pictures of the dead that could make us happy? Pictures that will not cause pain and fear in our already troubled hearts. A picture that assures us that everything will be alright.... a picture of life?

(Photo taken from BBC World Special Feature Report- August 4- In an investigation encompassing ancient Jericho, Aztec America, and classical Italy)

I have seen a video report of a recent archeological find that thousands of years ago people stuff the skulls of the dead. Archeologist are astonished to find them inside their dwelling places. Some are busted provably a victim, an offering to a sun god like those of the Incas and the Aztecs. Yet, they are trying to restore them to resemble as much as possible the image of their love one or a friend. Is it an old way of remembering their dead? Or are they defining the meaning of death?

Death: this is the key to the whole mystery, to the entire puzzle. It is a reality that requires an explanation. It must be integrated with the life of man and of the world, otherwise it would have been vain for man to have been provided with an intellect. It must have a purpose.

Through the eyes of the an atheist, of one who says he does not believe in God, death is viewed as nothing more than just that, the end of life, darkness, senselessness, a blank, nothingness. And at the same light death is nothing more than " traces of a cloud," a mist that is chased by the rays of the sun and overcome by its heat" , hardly " the passing of shadow." Does everything ends in death? Could love and suffering conceivably have any meaning at all for us? How about pain, joy? Would man's endeavors be worth anything? His attempt to become someone, or to achieve anything? If this is so man has to maximize the advantages he can obtain during his lifetime. Love then will eventually loss its meaning. The world would be transform into a jungle.

My friend you said, no theory can ever change reality and only the real matters. Realities are not those that vanish, but rather those that last, that remain. They are not those that flit away and are lost forever but rather those that persist when all else has passed away. I think we could learn a great lesson from our awareness of death's inevitability. We could learn how to manage our lives, our children's future, our family, our country.

It is really really very essential to know the difference of attitude. Msgr. J. Escriva said, " For others, death is a stumbling block, a source of terror. For us, death--Life--is an ecouragement and a stimulus. For them it is the end; for us, the beginning" (The Way-738)

Thank you my friend for surrounding me with your image.

LIFE

2007-07-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

My friend

In life, there are moments when you miss someone so much that you would only fulfill your dreams by holding that person tight in your arms.

When a door of happiness is closed, another opens, but us, we continue to look at the closed door and we do not attach importance to that which we just opened.

Do not trust appearances: they are often false. Do not interest yourself in wealth; it will disappear.

Seek somebody who communicates with you in laughter, because one laughter could turn a sad day into a joyful one.

Dream whatever you desire to dream. Go wherever you wish. Seek whatever you desire. Because life is unique by how you shape it.

The lucky ones inevitably do not have the best of the best.

They seek simply the best of what they see on their journey.

The most beautiful future will always depend on the need for forgetting the past. You have to overcome its errors and all that hurt you if you want to get out of it.

Live the life in full, and always smile in spite of difficult times.

Sent this message to those who count on you.

As I did.

To those who mark your life.

To those who made you laugh when you really needed somebody.

To those who show you encouragement when you are down.

To your friends.

To those who passed by you.

To those who look up to you for encouragement.

To those who need you at their side.

Never loose the opportunity to give sunshine to the day of a person who needs a few encouraging words.

Life is a matter of perspective, either you complain because roses have torns or you rejoice because torns have roses. It all depends on how you look at it.

Life is beautifull my friend........... live.

Freedom and Liberation

2007-07-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend

In my solitude my friend, I keep on thinking the story you told me when I was young, about the birds who live on top of the tree. It keeps on coming back specially those words you said, " like me, I am free. " Do you mean freedom is a choice? That I have to make a choice in order to be free.? Do you want me to discover and understand the true nature of the word....freedom?

For centuries men have pursued unrelentlessly their quest for freedom and we have also seen and witness the vague interpretation of its meaning that has cause death to millions and strife that torn nations apart. It seems that modern men has mis-interpreted freedom as doing away with all forms of bonds and authority and acknowledges neither God nor master. It is becoming a popular tought that respecting the freedom of others is a basic ethical principle. Is it more theoretical than real my friend and an endemic self-centeredness taking root in our hearts.

You said once my friend, that love cannot exist without freedom. And love that is forced or which rises from self-interest does not deserve the name. That true love and therefore blessed love can only exist between two people who freely surrender themselves to each other. Is these what you want us to learn when you instituted matrimony and made it a Sacrament?

Is freedom not only the ability to choose but also to accept what we have not chosen? Is this the meaning of your word..." the truth will set you free? " Is accepting what is painful and disagreeable.....accepting that which we have not chosen and do not like....the meaning of resignation? Is this what you mean when you said, " in all things God works for good to those who love Him?"

Sis. Faustina Kowalska once said, love is a mystery that transform everything it touches into something beautiful and pleasing to God. They say, love of God frees the soul. It is like a queen that never knew the oppresion of slavery.

Our hearts are prisoners of our pride and fears it must change and learn to love. It is also said that he who does not know how to love will always feel deprived and the anguish will imprison his heart. Can a person love without faith and hope? Is it possible?

My friend, my life may not be as ideal as others but my faith and hope in you is my only shelter in this scourging heat of fear and despair. It is the only thing I got and I know you love me for it. Teach me my friend about internal freedom the one you have so that I can become the person you meant me to be. I choose to be free like you. Help me my friend to be free...like those birds that fly in the air.

SELF-MASTERY-CONQUERING SELF

2007-07-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

Dear friend, in silence in the presence of the mystery which is You allows me to recall a story you told me when I was young. It is about the story of the birds that lives on top of a tree. I didn't understand it then 'till now.

The younger bird is asking his mom why can't he fly like her older brother.

MOM: I cannot see any reason why you cannot fly son. You are a bird. I am a bird. You are my son. And birds fly.

YOUNG BIRD: It hurts when I try to fly. Further, I am afraid to fall.

MOM: Let me see. You have beautiful wings. Strong chest. And oh, I can see now why you cannot fly son. You tied one of your feet to the tree. No wonder it hurts when you try to fly. Untie it, and I am sure son, as sure as the Sun rises every morning you will fly. You will see places you have never seen before. You can fly against the wind and prevail because you are a bird. Birds fly son. Untie them.

You told me that I must strip myself of attachment that separates us. That attachments hinders my spiritual growth. That I will be imprisoned by them and hurt my soul. That I must untie all these attachment and free myself of it if I want to be free like the birds on the tree top. I must control and conquer all desires that do lead me away from You.That I must realize my unbelievably good fortune because You have invited me not merely to be a friend but to be Your other self. That I cannot have both unless I put off myself.... strip me of me and be You, You said.

You are saying.....be indifferent to your worldy goods, yet use it wisely. Do not wish too eagerly to acquire more than you have. Do not let you heart be captured by affection for the goods you possess. Care for your possessions reasonably, knowing all things are Mine and that you are My steward. In a serene and peaceable spirit, seek not only to preserve but even to increase your possessions so long as you may do so justly and in keeping with your state of life. Beware however of the love of things, which is really self love.

Learn to love my will. Do this and posses My peace. With your grace my friend, I will.

The essence of life is love of God

2007-07-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yes my friend......thank you for allowing me to see that...

true joy is that which is found in all those who have discovered God in the most diverse situations and circumstances of life. And true peace is not the absence of conflict, tensions or war but the presence of God in our life. Joy and peace then is founded on a life of faith, on supernatural hope, on loving surrender to a loving God.

This kind of peace and joy is a very special kind because it endures in the midst of all trials and even in the darkest moments of our life. It rises over the present no matter how hard this may be or seem to be. Sadness and hopelessness comes to us when we place our hearts in ourselves and things that we believe will make us happy, thus in the end we find loneliness and sorrow.

Yes my friend, the greatest error I could make is to base my life on false security of material well-being, on human prestige, on money and things of little or no consequence at all. To place God first and ourself second is the beginning and basis of joy and peace. To live our faith is to live in a new light, serene and cheerful as God sees it. He is our source of joy and peace.

Help me then for I know your love will see me through in all this. This is not a mindless resignation my friend but an abandonment of a child to his Father's benevolence. I know without hardship there is no great victory...it is not by the impulse of its wings that bird flies but also by the resistance in the air. As long as I believe in God there will always be joy and peace. Don't you ever let me go my friend. I put my trust in you.

FORGIVEN

2007-06-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

The story in the Gospel or shall we say in the New Testament are colletions of what Jesus said and did and certainly not His autobiography. They are the most talk about stories about Jesus in Jesus time that are passed on from one community to another. One of those stories that caught my attention is about an unname woman who have lived a sinful life. She gate-crash a party in the house of a certain Simon where Jesus was invited. She risk meeting Jesus in that unfamiliar place. Surrounded by so called moralist and self-righteous crowd "she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kiss them and poured perfume on them." With faith she poured that very expensive perfumed that cost 365 day wages. That Alabastar Jar must have cost a lot that even Judas was moved to say, " it must have been sold and the money given to the poor. " Judas loves the poor more than Jesus by allowing it?

Unseen by their self-centered eyes, the woman is making a wordless confession, eloquently being spoken by gestures that only Jesus forgiving heart can see and hears. And Jesus understood and responded with love and an assurance of forgiveness saying " one who was pardoned more " has more reason to love more than the one little is forgiven. Not a word was spoken by the woman yet her action expresses her very purpose....... Forgiveness....and she got it.

Psychologist are saying for years that confession is essential to our health. It is good for the soul because it frees us to love when forgiven. Yes there is freedom in forgiveness....and you said my friend that without freedom there is no love.

When ever I look at you on the cross, I can see how hard, how difficult, how costly, it is to forgive. How far my friend are you willing to go to forgive me and this unforgiving world. You paid the debt that you did not owe. How can I look at you without seeing the love you gave for me. You are right. To love is to see the other as precious regardless of the wrong done or the injury felt. Help me then my friend to love even my enemy.

Ralf Luther wrote: " To love one's enemy does not mean to love the mire in which the pearl lies, but to love the pearl that lies in the mire. "

WHAT MATTERS.

2007-06-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

My friend,

As I have said, some truths are not enticing to reflect on and their recollection usually makes us decidedly uncomfortable. I am refering to that subject known as eschatology...the end times. I know most certainly that they are not pleasant topic to talk about and this truth is parenthetically bracketed and consign to oblivion. I am just wandering why many does not include death in their future list. Maybe it does not belong there...in the future. Maybe because it must be included in the now list. Death is appointed to all and should not be ignored because it is the surest event in our life.

Vicka of Medjugorje said, Death " is just like entering another room." Francis of Assisi said, " It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. " Jesus said, " It will come like a thief in the night." Yes it is frightening to even think about it if we are not prepared for it. " We do not know the hour" He continued.

" Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrise, no minutes, hours or days. All things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do list will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fave away. It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you live, at the end. It won't matter wheter you were beatiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encourage others to emulat your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who love you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters. Choose Him who loves you." (This was sent to me via-email....thanks)

" just a breath away "

2007-06-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

Nay........I am coming home with my friend. Pls. wait for me at the gate. I am just a breath away. Tell Tay. At last we'll see each other.

My friend, do I have to wear this torn? Please hide it so they cannot see? Well I know......" my grace is enough for you! " What is it like to cross-over? Will you hold my hand because I am afraid? Will the life I live be just a memory for those I left behind, each moment of it more blurred as time passes by? What happens when one dies? They say they will lose all significance, reason, love, beauty, science, suffering, aspirations, work, human conduct, even time itself. If this is the case, will it make a difference if man would lived his temporal life like a saint or like a scoundrel? I mean doing good or causing pain and disaster to all those around him?

You know my friend, it is said that the difference between a full life and an empty one is based on whether a man's life has a meaningful content or not. And the content of man's life is measured by the amount of love he has for God. " After the living and the dreaming comes what is most important: the awakening."(Andalusian poet) For when we awake shall we find ourselves face to face with a vast eternity. It is only then shall we catch a glimpse of the "greatness of little things and the smallness of great things" (Chesterton). What is priceless and worthless. What is truly important and what is mere futility. It is vitally important for us never to lose sight of this since time is fleeting and life is ebbing away. May God in his mercy and love never allow me to forget this truth.

Pondering over my past life, I found some pages missing. It is that human father experience. I remember a story written by Rohr, " The Wild Man's Journey, " about a nun who works as a chaplain in Lima, Peru and recounts how the male prisoners requested for an extra box of cards for Mother's day. So thinking that when Father's day comes the demand for cards would be the same, she bought an extra box. But to her surprise, no one requested for it. She then discovered why. Almost all the male prisoners lacked human fathering.

You know my friend, my father died when I am only seven months old. I am the youngest of his nine children. Born seven years after my elder brother Fred. I grew-up not knowing what father means. Then my mother died. And my life change dramatically. Pages are torn from the book of my life. It became meaningless. Moral paralysis sets in. I am a lost soul. My first tought then is that God is punishing me by this suffering and pain....I was wrong. God's love is greater than my sins. He is using this pain, this suffering, to plow the field of my life, preparing it like a farmer prepares his field for planting. He is watering it with His grace and guarding it with his love. I believe that salvation, eternal blessedness, is not due to man by the mere fact of his having been born. It is not due to a Christian simply because he has been baptized though it's a pre-requisite. Christians are not born St. Jerome said, they are made. Inspite of the Jews lineage to Abraham, John the Baptist, called them hypocrites. Jesus called Peter, satan. Gandhi advise Christians: " The first thing I would advise Christians is that they all begin to live their lives as Jesus Christ lived his," then Christianity will begin to take root in India and thats what Mother Theresa did....live Jesus.

My friend, hardships, misfortune, poverty, pain, suffering, have propelled many a life to moral heroism and spirtiual greatness. It bring out the strongest qualities of their soul to life. There are many prominent characters of the Bible that are broken, threshed and ground and they become bread of life so others may live. Thank you my friend. I know you know what I am saying. Actually I know you are the one making me think all of this. A breath away's not far to where you live. Take me quickly if it is your will or let me stay if it will give you glory.

THE TEARS OF GOD?

2007-05-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Pain! Pain ! Go away! Come again another day. Little Norie wants to play. Hhhmmm, the magic of writing isn't working today my child. Maybe another day.

Tell me my child, can anyone who is rich in love be poor in pity? Does God demand a bowed-back, gnawed hands, bended knees to win his favour? Does the Father of compassion takes pleasure to see his son nailed to the cross for doing His will?

In this valley of tears, there is always sadness and brokeness that goes with human love. We know that the moment you begin to love you must be ready to suffer. Even God suffers not because of incompleteness or imperfection, but of the fullness and generosity of love. He goes out of his fullness to share in our pain, simply because he loves us. For it is the very essence of love to be moved, to be affected by what is happening to the person we love. Their pain and hurt is also our pain and hurt. When our love one suffers we also suffer, sometimes even greater. I think God is not unmoved by our suffering. He is not a God who watches us from a distance. He is with us, Immanuel. He is a God who suffer with us and for us in Jesus. What the Book of Job failed to explain, Jesus did. It is the Father's choice to suffer out of love.

Daughters, this is what you get for loving me.....he..he..he.. sorrrrrryyyyyyyyy.

Marvel with me now, you know whenever I look at the cross I do not see Jesus. I can only see the Father, loving me, with outstreched arms, waiting for me.

IT'S QUARTER TO THREE

2007-05-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

It's quarter to three. The noise of the City has died down. It's you and me again my friend. It's quite and still. I am dead! No I am not. It is like standing in the middle of an eye of the storm. I am begining to enjoy this strange mysterious tranquility when a soft cold wind touches my face. And when I open my eyes disturbed by the gust, I saw the petals of the flowers being bath by the dew. It's a beautiful sight. Gently the heat of night is being push away by this heavenly breath. Refreshing it anew. As the leaves of the trees watch and claps at this nature's wonder, I step out to greet this beautiful new morning and wonder in awe.

It is a birth of a new day, of a new hope. The sun is slowly lighting up the dead night putting colors everywhere. Slowly but finally it is uncovered..... a new life. I guess it is natures provision for renewing the face of the earth.

My friend, I think He is telling me that He gives quiteness in the midst of the storm. Hope in the midst of despair. Refreshing and making beautiful every step of our life. He takes from our soul the stress and strain to make us see the beauty of His peace. The peace that the world can never give. Yes, my friend, my daughther was right. The hurt is moving away. This heavenly dew will never appear while there is heat or wind. Temperature must go down, wind must cease, the air must come to a certain coolness and rest before moistures will become dew.

He speaks to us in silence. Solitude is not attained solely because we are alone. He gives quiteness even in the midst of losing our inner strength and comfort. He speaks. " Quite! Be still!" Can you not hear it? He always does this when we are tempted to look at our joys, pleasures, passions, or our dreams with too much self-satisfaction. His voice could be heard above the screaming voices of the wind of fear. " Quite! Be still. " And suddenly there is a great calm.

When earth and hell seemed mobilized against us...He will come.

You see my friend. He wants us to be happy.....maybe not in this world.....but surely in the next.

I LOVE YOU

2007-05-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend

Now I am beginning to feel tired. It was my daughter who created this blog. She convince me that writing down my feelings would ease the pain in my heart and heal my spirit. It will become an effecacious balm she said that will soothe my hurt. Well, I know that God uses suffering to plow our field of life so that it would yield more harvest. Our tears will water the mysterious seeds and His grace will make it grow into a beautifull crop. I also believe in the salvific value of suffering. Yet, the thought of having pain and lossing my mind when the attack begins scares me.

My mind now does not work the same way as it use to I told her. There is a big cyst at the center of my brain. And many small one around it. MRI ( Magnetic Resonance Imaging) films shows it. The interpreting Doctor said it is benign. Others told me that it is congenital. Still others told me that the gain in exploring is not commensurate to the damage that will be done. What they did not tell me is when will it stop growing. When will it stop squezzing my brain and stop this excruciating pain I secretly hide. How did they know it is benign without histopath, without examining the blog, well I am glad they didn't. My skull is still complete and intact. No holes and they promise they will not saw an inch of it to explore. I beg them. Let me go, as one in peace?

It is hard for me to believed that life is just a brief flash of light between the long darkness that preceded the womb, and an everlasting darkness that will follow the grave. I am not just a meaningless speck in the universe, tossed off by the creative power of an uncaring God. I am not a biological accident. Come to think of it. My life is not bad at all. I have a beautiful wife, three wonderful kids, all are now professionals, two girls one boy, with four lovely grand children three girls, one handsome boy. What can I ask for? I know I can now go clothed with joy just by thinking of them.

As I gaze at the image of Jesus at the cross. I ask, what is the most painfull of all? Is it the nail in your hands, or the one on your feet? Is it the crown of thorns in your head or the open flesh on your back? I must agree, as I hear clearly in my mind, it is the betrayal of someone you love. It is the rejection, the complete disregard of all your effort. It is an offer of love denied. Yes I must agree it is the most painfull of all your pain on the cross. Only by grace can we enter into this blessed bliss. Only by grace can we stand and come into they presence. Lord remember not my transgressions, but by your cross bear me up.

......better than my best.

2007-05-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

They say that, " the way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance and every trial as being straight from the hand of our loving Father."

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hand I clung to loosed themselves from mine;
But while I swayed, weak, trembling and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;
But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber free from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my heard the skies were black with storm,
And fierce grew the onslaught of my foes;
But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and perfect peace I knew.

I thank you, Lord, You were too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Your bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;
Giver of good, so answer each request
With Your own giving, better than my best.

Annie Johnson Flint

While there's still time

2007-05-06T01:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

Today I wake up a little bit afraid. Some truths are really not very much enticing to reflect on and their recollection usually makes us very uncomfortable. Allow me my friend to share a story I read written by Father Michael Mueller from his book " The Sinner's Return to God."

"A Traveller once found himself alone on a dreary moor. The ground was covered with snow. The bleak winter wind moaned and blew in fitful gusts. All nature seemed dead around him,and scarcely a star-light gleamed on the dreary tomb. The poor lonely traveller had lost his way. He had been wandering long amid the snow-drifts. He was benumbed with cold, dispirited and weary. Must he lie down upon this bleak moor and die? Must the ice be his bed and the snow his winding-sheet? He thinks of home, but thought fill his soul with bitterness. Never again shall he feel his fond wife's embrace, never again shall his children welcome him with the merry laugh and the warm, tender kiss. The poor traveller sinks upon the ground in weakness and despair. A distant sound strikes upon his ear, rouses him from his stupor, and fills him with hope. It is the sound of the convent bell ringing the matin chime. The lost traveller shakes off the sleep of death. He sees in the distance a glimmering light. He urges on his weary steps. He reaches the convent door and is safe."

It may be in the evening,
When the work of the day is done,
And you have time to sit in the twilight,
And watch the sinking sun,
While the long bright day dies slowly over the sea,
And the hours grow quiet and holy
With thoughts of Me;
While you hear the village children
Running along the street---
Among those passing footsteps
May come the sound of My feet.
Therefore I tell you, Watch!
By the light of the evening star
When the room is growing darker
As the clouds afar.
Let the door be closed and latched
In your home,
For it may be in the evening
I will come.

Thomas DeWitt Talmage

STILL AT IT

2007-05-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Sophiaguri

You know I am now living at the sunset side of my life. I have my passport, and my doctors have given me my ticket. I am now at the departure area waiting for my plane. I am going home and the Father is still at it... Giving me a chance to be transform into his likeness. I mean like the rich man in the story. Everyday Lazarus sits at the rich man's gate waiting for love to come and it did not He is still giving me a chance to love. I guess love is the language of heaven. And if I want to live there I must know the language else I will never understand them.Could it be that this is the reason for the delay of my flight. And that the problems and the pains I am now experiencing is part of His plan. I believed that the cross is not the end of life but its beginning,for after the Holy Week comes Easter. He never promised me an easy passage, only a safe landing.

Oh, set your sail to the heavenly gale,
And then, no matter what winds prevail,
No reef can wreck you, no calm delay;
No mist will hinder, no storm will stay;
Though far you wonder and long you roam
Through salt sea sprays and o'er white sea foam,
No wind can blow but that will speed you home.
Annie Johnson Flint

A chance to love

2007-05-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

May 2, 2007

"We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then is not an act, but a habit."
Aristotle

Dear Sophiaguri

I am very happy for you because you've just discovered the secret of the truly rich. Thanks for sharing (Willie McCool GK Legacy Village).I hope I spelled your name right. Mother Theresa of Calcuta once said, " You cannot give what you don't have." I think you are rich. I know you are, rich of this kind is called " friends of the Lord. " I know a story of a rich man who is actually poor in the eyes of the Lord It amazed me to read the story and sometimes makes me uncomfortable. The rich man hss no name as St. Gregory the Great observes, the poor man's name is Lazarus, probably the "friend", a somebody.

The story as told by St. Luke goes like this, " There was a certain rich man who used to clothe himself in purple and fine linen, and who feasted every day in splendid fashion. And there was a certain poor man named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. And it came to pass that the poor man died and was borne away by the angels into Abraham's bossom; but the rich man who also died and was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes, being in torments, he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bossom. And he cried out and said, ' Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finge in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. ' But Abraham said to him, ' Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime hast recieved good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now here he is comforted whereas thou art tormented. And besides all that, between us and you a great gulf is fixed, so that they who wish to pass over from this side to you cannot, and they cannot cross from your side to us.' And he said, ' Then Father, I beseech thee to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they too come into this place of torments. And Abraham said to him, ' They have Moses and the Prophets: let them hearken to them.' But he answered: ' No father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' But he said to him, ' If they do not hearken to Moses and the prophets they will not believe even if someone rises from the dead. "

Why did the rich man go to hell? Abraham is a wealthy man? There's nothing in the story that the rich man had commited sins we normally called mortal. There is nothing in the story that the rich man have acquired his riches in a questionable way, through dishonesty or malpractice. Being well dressed is not sufficient reason to condemn him. The same could be said of his magnificent dinners that envolved expenses worthy of his guest. Today, people live as if they are rich, spending even what they have not yet earned on activities a lot more pointless and absurd. It is not bad I think to have a lot of maney? Why did the rich man go to hell?

I think the story is about the secret of being truly rich. It is about love. It is about God, our Father. St. Jerome said, " Christians are not born, they are made. "
The rich man is being given that chance...a chance to love. A chance to be transform into the likeness of God. A chance to be included in the family of love. For God our Father is love and his sons and daughters must be like him. LOVE.

Those who love are truly rich for they can give their wholeself for the sake of another...

Thanks for sharing,the rich man was given a chance to love and he blew it, rich....

" THEN HE AROSE...THERE WAS A CALM "

2007-04-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2007

The adverse winds blew against my life;
My little ship with grief was tossed;
My plans were gone--heart full of strife,
And all my hope seemed to be lost--
" Then He arose" --one word of peace.
"There was a calm" -- a sweet release.

A tempest great of doubt and fear
Possessed my mind; no light was there
To guide, or make my vision clear.
Dark night! 'twas more than I could bear--
"Then He arose " I saw His face--
" There was a calm " filled with His grace.

My heart was sinking 'neath the wave
of deepening test and raging grief;
All seemed as lost, and none could save,
And nothing could bring me relief--
" Then He arose " -- and spoke one word,
" There was a calm" "IT IS THE LORD. "
L.S.P.

" The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, it's in what direction we are moving. " Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Willie McCool GK Legacy Village"

2007-04-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

" From one man's death, hundreds will now gain new life," this is what his mother-in-law, a Filipina, Atilana Rambayon, said when she donated her one-hectare piece of land to Gawad Kalinga (GK) in Moncada, Tarlac in his honor. Willie's dream is "to see a borderless world- a world without poverty-where people, especially the poor, are given equal opportunity. "

Elenor Roosevelt said " The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

"GK's vision is a slum-free, squatter free Philippines by providing land to the landless, homes to the homeless, food to the hungry, thus giving dignity and peace to every Filipino. Because kindness begets kindness, GK volunteers Filipino-American Tony and Marietta Pascua built 50 homes on the donated lot and the community was named to the astronaut..' Wille McCool GK Legacy Village. " (The Phil Star. Patricia Esteves 4-29-07)

The Ramayons with daughter Lani wife of Willie McCool vowed to keep the astronaut's legacy by providing the poor of Moncada with land they could call their own. It is said, today, the residents live harmoniously and productively in the Moncada village. And they are also saying "that there are plans to build a mini-science museum in the village that will harness the science and math skills of the children..... It is not impossible to dream that the first Filipino astronaut to conquer space might even come from this GK Village as they continue and get inspired by McCools legacy. "

On Jan. 16, 2003, McCool joined seven crewmembers for the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107, of which he was the pilot. The Columbia crew perfomed 80 experiments during the 16-day scientific mission. But before landing at the Kennedy Space Centerin Florida, Columbia exploded during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.

His way

Stephen Merritt

Sunday School Times

God sent me on when I would stay

('Twas cool within the wood);

I did not know the reason why.

I heard a boulder crashing by

'cross the path where I had stood.

He had me stay when I would go;

"Your will be done," I said.

They found one day at early dawn,

Across the way I would have gone,

A serpent with a mangled head.

I ask no more the reason why,

Although I may not see

The path ahead, His way I go;

For though I know not, He does know,

And He will choose safe paths for me.

Sorrow is God's tool to plow the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvest.

2007-04-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

April 28, 2007

A flood victim sits atop the ruins of his home a day after the tropical depression Winnie hit the village of San Jose in the province of Rizal November 30, 2004. About 200 people died after flash floods and landslides devastated several coastal towns and left swathes of the northern Philippines under water.

I stumble in an old newspaper this picture taken 3 years ago and I suddenly remember the story I once read about a man who lost everything because of the flood. Some of its spiritual insights I am just beginning to understand. Take this..." Blessed is sorrow, for it reveals God's comfort." In the same way, they say.." Blessed is the night, for it reveals the stars to us."

Well here is the story, A flood once washed away a poor man's home, taking with it everything he owned in the world. He stood at the scene of his great loss, brokenhearted, discourage, confused, and a little bit angry deep inside. " How can this happen to me? I have not done anything wrong.... Lord. " His spirit is broken, deep sorrow sets in and tears begun falling in frustration. He was at this stage when he noticed the waters are subsiding. He saw something shining near the riverbank that the flood had washed bare. "It looks like gold," he said. And it was gold. The storm that impoverished him made him rich. Most often in life, sorrows reveal hidden depths within, which were never before known or suspected. It takes sorrow to expand and deepen the soul. from the heavenly life.

The dark brown soil is turned

By the sharp-pointed plow;

And I've a lesson learned.

My life is but a field,

Streched out beneath God's sky,

Some harvest rich to yield.

Where grows the golden grain?

Where faith/ Where sympathy?

In furrow cut by pain.

Maltbie D. Babcock

Thanks! L.B. Cowman and James Reimann. My life's journey is getting lighter.......ty. We have a very mysterious God.....

Special Kind of Beauty

2007-04-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

April 27, 2007

If you missed the beautiful sunrise this morning. It's ok you can still see the most beautiful creation of God when you take a bath and look at the mirror.

Yes, its you. Exercise and be happy. Old man needs it to loosen up those hard veins. Besides it is good for the heart.

listen.....

There's a special kind of beauty

In the ones the Lord God chose,

And we know we have assurance

That He sees how each one grows.

Weve been planted in God's garden

And we'll never be alone,

For the Father is the gardener

Gently caring for His own.

We been planted in God's garden

Where we're learning still to grow-

There's so much He wants to teach us,

So much we have to know.

It is certain we will blossom

With His tender love and care,

For He's placed us beside others

That He knows will help us there.......

Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes it grow. ( 1 Cor. 3.7)

WHO COULD STOP THE SUN FROM SETTING

2007-04-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

April 26, 2007

When nothing on which to lean remains,
When strongholds crumble to dust;
When nothing is sure but that God still reigns,
That is just the time to trust.

It's better to walk by faith than sight
In this path of yours and mine;
And the darkest night, when there's no outer light
Is the time for faith to shine.
(F.B. Meyer)

Christmas Evans once said: " Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason, but simply taking God at His word.

THE CATCH-BASIN OF GRACE

2007-04-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

APRIL 25, 2007

Everyday we stand at the threshold of the unknown. Each day is new, uncertain, vague. We don't know how it will turn out for us. For everyday is a new experience, an adventure. a journey. These unknown are our mountains, our hills, from the valley of grace from heaven. If the world is flat the boring sameness would weigh us down as we journey through this life. We need these hills, these mountains, these difficulties encountered in our journey to bring us to that " throne of grace " that will sustain us, till the end.

....till the end.

JOB'S NEIGHBORS

2007-04-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

April 24, 2007

Lisa:

" Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets...
so love the people who treat you right, forget the ones who
don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason...
know a good thing when you see it and don't let it slip away...
if you get a chance take it... if it change your life let it....
nobody said it would be easy, they just said
it would be worth it... "

Boljick:

" In life, there are lots of people watching our next move,
desperately waiting for us to fail and even praying for us
to give up...But don't mind them...it just doubles the fun of
living and surviving...let's keep in mind that failures and
problems are not things we should be scared of...they could
lead to breakthroughs and great discoveries...see life as an
adventure and enjoy every moment of it! "

Winnie:

" Ever wonder what ASAP means? Maybe if we think of
it in a different manner, we'll begin to find a new way to
deal with those rough days along the way. If there's work to
do, deadlines to meet and you've got no time to spare
but as you hurry and scurry...asap, ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER...

Au-au:

" Those who joyfully leave everything in GOD'S HAND will
eventually see GOD'S HAND in EVERYTHING. Worry ends
when FAITH begins. "

Jesus: ( Mathew 6: 25-27 )

" Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you
will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do
not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life."

FROM THE WINDOW:

After the rain, the clouds that veil the blinding rays of sun will slowly
open..green leaves will become greener... brown earth will become browner.
Raindrops that clings on leaves and rocks will glitter like diamonds sprinkled
all over the earth at the touch of the sun. And what was once gloomy and
sad will become bright and beautifull.

THE COMFORTER

2007-04-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

April 23, 2007 Comforters

i love this and meditate on it everyday.... hear...

They tell me I must bruise
The rose' leaf,
Ere I can keep and use
its fragrance brief.

They tell me I must break
The skylark's heart,
Ere her cage song will make
The silence start.

They tell me love must bleed,
and friendship weep,
Ere in my deepest need
I touch that deep.

Must it always so
With precious things?
Must they be bruised and go
With beaten wings?

Ah, yes! by crushing days
By caging nights, by scar
Of thorn and stony ways,
These blessings are!

(John Henry Jowett)

HIDDEN SPRINGS IN OUR LIFE

2007-04-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

April 23, 2007

They say there are hidden springs in the desert of our life that drinks rain from heaven the reason the supply is endless. They say that this hidden springs are sources of life, of faith, of hope and cause us to endure our suffering and finally love them, because it cleanses, it heals our spirit and body as well. They are powers that pushes us to go on and on until we reach our final destination..the end of our road. Now as I stand at the threshold of the unknown. I must find this spring, these life giving power that will bring me to that happy eternity they are talking about.... heaven.