Our House

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Spirit Moments

Anabelle and I are back in our house in Filinvest.  It is a simple but a very beautiful house, lovingly designed by a good friend who has since passed away. It has a lot of doors and windows so that light and air flows freely throughout the whole house. It has a warm, welcoming and homey feel about it. Not a few friends have commented how peaceful and reassured they feel when they come to visit. I guess beyond the design and the structure, the living and the loving that happened in our house have also contributed to its unique feel and character.

Our sons know that there will always be a home they can come home to. Home may not be a place. It is really where the heart is. In this instance, however, home takes the shape and form of our house where they have allowed their hearts to rest from their struggles, to be vulnerable without being destroyed, to be weak to allow their strength to come back, to be foolish and not to be laughed at and out of the place. It is home. Even Jonathan and Jane already have fond memories of their favorite nooks and crannies in this house.

Our friends know that they are always welcome here: to share a meal and make the bonds that tie us even stronger, to drink coffee or wine and give physical dimensions to the warmth of the friendship that we share, to just visit to swap stories and relive the past that brought us together, to dream and share what else we can do together into the future. Over time, friends have become family in this house. And over time, family have become friends because of the time we shared in this house.

Family, friends and even strangers coming into out house will feel the peace and the love that have been nurtured there. If they come in peace and love, they will find that the peace and love they bring come back to them and multiplied many times over. If they come in pain and sorrow, they will find the peace and love to heal their wounds. If they come burdened by life’s vicissitudes, they will find at least the respite to face them again later. If they come in anger or with hatred (for I have hurt and disappointed people in my life), I pray the peace and love that resides in our house will cool the anger and melt the hatred.

‘Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.’
Luke 10:1-9

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The Random God?

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Spirit Moments

We are barely three weeks in the Philippines and the country has been visited by three strong typhoons and one major earthquake, not to mention the man-made disasters caused by never-ending inanities of our national leaders. I am reminded once more that man is not in control; that ultimately God is in control. I do not see God as a cruel master who loves visiting plagues and devastation on His people. In the aftermath of the destruction caused by these natural calamities, I can feel the pain and suffering of those affected. I cannot in honesty say that this is the will of God for them. But in the destruction, I can see the compassion of people reaching out to those who have suffered. I can see the outpouring of generosity of strangers to those in need. I can see the love of those affected for the places and loved ones they have lost. In the midst of ugly destruction, they see the beauty they have lost but can build again. In the midst of the pain and suffering, they realize there are people who would come to help them. In some mysterious ways, God is visiting His people.

This may all sound like finding a meaning in an otherwise meaningless or senseless situation. And I am tempted to say that this is simply nature’s random action. There is no reason to it. There is no morality to it. We just have to learn to live with it.

In our everyday lives, we live by cause and effect. If there is smoke there is fire. What goes up must come down. What goes in, eventually comes out. There is nothing random. Everything has a reason. And yet when it comes to the big things in the universe; we say it is all just a random occurrence? That makes no sense to me. Randomness is not in control.

When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
Luke 11:47-54

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Generosity Is From The Heart

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Spirit Moments

I often tend to equate generosity to the giving of monetary and material goods. I envy other people’s generosity who give impressive amounts of money. Like Tevye, I sometimes lament: “If I were a rich man, I would build houses for the poor and schools for their children; I would build factories to give jobs to their fathers; etc. etc. etc. . . . ”

I also realize that when people are challenged to be generous, the easiest thing to give is money. Generosity is sharing the lot of the poor. People would gladly give a little bit of their money to avoid experiencing the squalor and filth of being poor. Generosity is being with another person who is in pain. People would rather give a small sum rather than spend their own time just being present to and consoling one who is in pain and with sorrow. Generosity is giving up one’s pleasures to help others in needs. How easy it is to give money to a cause for others to do the hard work and just feel good that one has done his share by simply giving a monetary contribution.

Generosity is not what comes from the hands. Generosity comes from the heart. If I am free and willing to give of my heart, then I can let go of whatever is in my hands. Generosity is first of the spirit and then of the mind and the hands.

The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.”
Luke 11:37-41

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Signs That I Treasure

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Spirit Moments

Life is such a wonderful experience. It is great to be alive. It leaves us often asking for more. There is a consciousness among men that there is a lot more to life than what we see or experience and we want to know. It is like holding the end of a beautiful piece of string and we want to know where it started and where it will end. We want to see the whole ball of yarn it is a part of. We look for signs of what else lies ahead, what lies in store  for us.

Man has always looked for signs of what is life really all about. Often, we just want to have more of what we already have: more food, more clothes, more material goods and possessions, more pleasures, more power, more fame, more success. Christ exasperation, I guess, from our missing the whole point of human existence. Christ wants us to level up. Like he said on many occasions: “I can multiply the loaves again and change the water into wine again but you will be hungry again. I will give bread to eat and wine to drink and you will never be hungry again.”

Why wish just to have more pleasures when in accepting your pain and sufferings you can transform these into joys? Why wish just for more power and fame for yourself alone when in loving and serving others you channel the power of love into a community where fame means embracing everyone as a brother or a sister? Why be fearful of death when in facing it and looking it in the eye together with Christ, you can come into life everlasting?

I ask for no sign except for the sign of knowing that I am with Christ every step of the way, the sign that the string I hold is attached to his rope, that the dreams and hope that I nurture are but signs of the continuing work of Christ in me.

When the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation.
Luke 11:29-32

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Grateful

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Spirit Moments

ImageI may be gnarled and knotted by the years
I have been weathered and beaten by the elements
My forlorn shape may speak of all my fears
My trunk and branches by age have been bent.

Still I am thankful for all those years
Caressed by the wind and kissed by the sun
The gentle water nearby I always hear
It’s great to be alive, I’m having fun.

At night my leaves fold up to take a rest
I look up the sky to be blessed by the stars
My present moment is always the best
For my past is gone and tomorrow is still afar.

Indeed I am grateful for my here and now
My knots and gnarls are a record of my past
My leaves and fruits are from my tomorrow
But it is my today where my eternity will last.

And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19

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Faith and Jamais Vu

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Spirit Moments

Anabelle and I are back in the Philippines. And yesterday, we went out to see the ‘old places’ and do some ‘old things’. Feelings of deja vu struck me immediately: I have been here before. I have done all of this before. Everything was familiar: the sights, the sounds and the smells. And yet I also had persistent feelings of jamais vu: this is all so strange, feeling like I don’t belong. This is all so different from what I remembered.

I have similar feelings in my relationships with people. I have always found joy in meeting friends and family after a long period of time and we are able to just pick up from where we last left off. Like, we have never been apart and we are still part of each others’ lives. But sooner or later, I realize that the other person has lived a big chunk of his of her life of which I was no longer a part; and that I have lived a big portion of my life of which he or she is not a part.

People change and places change even when I am gone. I some how naively think that they would be frozen in time and space when I am not around. This is of course absolutely not true. People move on and place develop like they had a life of their own. I move on and change even when people expect me to remain the same.

In a world of constant change, I long for stability and an anchor to keep me grounded. My faith has been a source of stability for me, with God as an abiding presence. My relationships have kept me grounded as I have tried to live them out in love, a decision I have made based on my faith – that even in the midst of change, somethings never change.

While Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”
Luke 11:27-28

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Relationships Are All That Matter

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Spirit Moments

I shall always be grateful that my life has been rich, full and truly blessed. I have come to realize that my joys and happiness do not come from the material things and possessions that I have. For I can do without so many of these things. As I have advanced in years, I have cut down and done away with many of the luxuries and gratifications I used to indulge in the past. But I cannot imagine my life without the relationships that have defined me and made me the person that I am today.

Last night, we had a family dinner at a barbeque place, Jonathan’s favorite. I think what we paid for was not the food we ate  but the joy I felt watching Jonathan and Jane eating with gusto the grilled meats prepared by the best griller in the world – their Lolo. These two angels have come into my life in just the last decade. And all the previous decades in my life make sense because of them and all hose years were actually just leading up to this happy decade with them.

In my life, there have been many people and relations along the way. And they have all made the journey a happy and meaningful one. Anabelle and I are touched by all the people reaching out to us and wishing us good journey as we go back to the Philippines in preparation for Macky’s and Lani’s wedding. We are excited as our family and relations expand with the union of our two families – the Brillantes and the Quiazon. We are eager to see family and friends back home where it all started and with whom we have shared and built lives together for almost six decades.

As I do my morning prayers, I touch and feel the continuing Presence that has been the constant relationship all these years. When Ima was a young mother and I was a new-born babe, He was there sharing the joy of Ima and Tatang. Growing up in Pampanga and in the seminary, He was there holding my hands as I lost myself in the games that I played and in the endless daydreams I indulged in. As I was trying to find and define myself as a teen-ager, He was there through my anxieties and insecurities. Through the tumultuous years of young adulthood, trying to live out my idealism; He was there in every rally and meeting all the struggling that I went through. As I started our own family with Anabelle and struggled to build a career, I felt His guiding presence. Seeing our sons grow and blossom into their own persons; making friends some lasting a lifetime, others for a reason, still others for just one season; making good at careers and being recognized for excellent work; working with like-minded people and making this world a better place to live in. It was all about relationships and how these all tie together in the one relationship that bound us all together – that there is one God we call “Our Father”.

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
Luke 11:1-4

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Life Disturbances

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Spirit Moments

Often, I get my relationship with God all mixed up. I would ask Him to do as I will instead of praying that I do His will. This kind of attitude is what drew a rebuke from Jesus to Martha. Martha wanted Jesus, or at least Mary, to also be caught up in her ‘busyness’ in the kitchen cooking up the food and preparing for a feast. She meant well. She wanted everyone to have a good time. But her idea of having a good time is to eat. Maybe the Lord just wanted time to rest and to talk and be with His friends. Mary chose the better part by simply being in the presence of Jesus. I also often get caught up in a flurry of activities, believing I am doing good. I need to slow down and rest in the Presence of the Lord. Santa Teresa de Avila, learning from Mary, shares with us her deep insight:

Nada te turbe, nada te espante todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda, la paciencia todo lo alcanza,
quien a Dios tiene nada le falta sólo Dios basta.

There are times though, I get too comfortable and begin to wallow into mediocrity. Still waters eventually become stale and even turbid. For water to stay fresh, it needs to be constantly stirred and aerated. In prayer, I ask to do God’s will and not ask God to do what I will. I should allow God to disturb my life every now and then, to stir it up and get me out of my comfort zone –  the better for me to respond to His call and inspiration.I make as my own prayer, this prayer of Sir Francis Drake:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Allowing God to disturb my life, I trust that He will guide me to bigger and better surprises and blessings in my life.

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42

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Being a Neighbor: Go and Do Likewise

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Spirit Moments

There is a lot not right in the world today. There is too much hunger and suffering. There is too much violence and injustice. There is too much greed and selfishness. There is not enough forgiveness and forbearance to forget past offenses for people and nations to move forward and live in peace. There is not enough sharing and caring so no one dies hungry or destitute. Crass materialism corrupts the bodies of people while their spirits are dying from neglect.

And yet there is a lot of good things happening in the world today. There are people striving for high ideals, trying to change themselves and the world for the better. There is a lot of loving and sharing and building the future in young families raising their children in love, joy and hope for a bright and better tomorrow. There are selfless people dedicating their lives to and putting themselves at the service of others. There are hands reaching out in love and care to others in needs; there are feet walking to where the need is the greatest to help relieve the pain and the suffering; there are hearts beating in compassion for others who are in tears.

And because the world has never been as interconnected as it has ever been than today, people get to know of these things on real time. Each in his own way, people are able to do something. The world knows about what world leaders do or say. Many have been greatly impressed and inspired by Pope Francis. And they get to hear or read even about ‘small people’.  Millions are in deep admiration for Malala, praising her for her courage and strength. Many are saddened whenever and wherever disaster strikes. And many respond generously to reach out and help. Indeed, the world has become one global village and everyone is my neighbor. I will reflect on this and pray that I am able to “Go and do likewise.”

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.‘
Luke 10:25-37

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ImageWhy light a candle in the dark?
Its flame is but a feeble flickering against the power of the dark.
Just let the darkness envelope me and
Swallow me into nothingness.

Why light a candle in the day?
Its light is but a shadow compared to the power of the sun.
It is but a vain attempt to capture the warmth
And the glow of the life-giving rays from a million miles.

Why light a candle when everybody else does?
A million lighted candles will not dispel the darkness
Nor will they ever equal the candlepower of the sun
So why try to even light any candles at all?

Is Faith like the lighting a candle in the dark?
To dispel the darkness in my life and in my soul?
Is believing affirming the tiny spark of the divine in me?
To feel the faint flickering in me that is comes from the infinite warmth?
Do I believe because everyone else I care for also believes?
Do I believe because this is the community I was born into?

So why indeed do people seek the light
when everything else around is darkness?
Why would people even care to bring forth new life
when everything else ends in death?
And why even try to be good
when everything we do eventually ends in destruction?

Isn’t it because deep within us there is this tiny spark, a flickering light
That says that the light is stronger than the darkness
That life is stronger than death and that life will not be denied
That at the end of the journey, love and goodness will triumph.

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.’
Luke 17:5-10

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Spirit Moments | Comments Off on The Light and Power of Faith