Spirit Moments | From minutes to moments . . . .

Life’s Daily Miracle

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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I just love this photo. When I see cows, they’d usually be grazing. Their heads bowed, they’d be feeding on the grass slowly and leisurely masticating their food. This cow seems to be looking out into the horizon, ruminating on life rather than on its food. Often, I am like a cow. I have my head close to the ground, engrossed on my daily food and surviving the day. But I know I am most human when I look out into the horizon and pondering the deeper meaning of life and taking in all the beauty and goodness before me. Then, I am immersed in the grandeur of the universe and love and kindness and the fullness of existence enfolds me.

One of the thoughts that would often engulf me during such moments is the realization that life is full of miracle. In fact, life is a miracle. Often, miracles are associated with a dramatic turnaround of events, like an instant healing of a serious illness. Life’s daily miracles are nothing of that sort though. They are small, slow and often painful turns for the better. Just as the sun creeps slowly over the hills at dawn or sinks ever so unhurriedly over the horizon, so does the realization of God’s grace and presence in these small miracles transform us bit by bit. Patience. Presence. Prayer. I believe that God giving us our daily bread, or grass, is a far greater miracle than winning in the lotto.

If life is a daily miracle, why am I so often insistent in looking for a sign of God’s miraculous presence in my life? A baby needs no words nor any other sign than the warm embrace of the mother to know that she is present to ease his pains or allay his anxieties. My ears have been deafened by all the noise around me. My eyes have been blinded by the glitter of false gold and fake treasures. My heart has been hardened by the many little cares I have burdened myself with. I have been jaundiced by my pride, selfishness and greed. I only need to see the grandeur there is in nature or the goodness there is people I have been blessed with to realize that there is a loving Presence that guides and leads my daily life into untold and often unseen miracles. I need to be like that cow, raise up my head and look out into the deeper and wider horizon of life.

Posted in Mystery, Nature | Tagged Miracles | Comments Off

Love is Life and Life is Love

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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It is a story as old as time itself.
The story of Creation is the original love story.
We are because of love. I love; therefore, I am.

At the end of His “week” of Creation, God said almost like an afterthought:

“It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him.”

Man was never meant to be alone.
He needed a suitable partner
to make him complete
to allow him to be steward of Creation
to continue God’s work of Creation
to be an image of his Creator.

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman
the rib that he had taken from the man.

A quote from Matthew Henry that I totally resonate with:
“Women were created from the rib of man to be beside him,
not from his head to top him,
nor from his feet to be trampled by him,
but from under his arm to be protected by him,
near to his heart to be loved by him.”

When He brought her to the man, the man said:
“This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called ‘woman,’
for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”

Sure, it is a story, a myth.
But there is the depth of truth in it
why we are men and women in this world.
And the difference have brought about
all the excitement and joy we derive from being alive.

That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.

Yes, it is a story as old as time itself.
And it is re-told and re-lived in every person’s life.

Posted in Life, Love, Marriage | Tagged Relationships, Truth | Comments Off

It’s A Mythic Universe We Live In

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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This is from today’s First Reading:

God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

The beautiful story of creation.
This is pure myth but it is nothing but the truth.

Science today would have me believe that I am the product of random chance;
that I happened purely by accident, the end result of a long series of evolution.
Myth has it that I was created purposefully and mindfully by a loving Creator;
and that He fashioned me in His image and likeness.
Imperfect though I may be, I reflect all the goodness and beauty whence I come from.

It is a beautiful world I live in, again a glimpse of the beauty from the Creator.
I was given stewardship of this Paradise to care for and fructify.
But I have been wantonly abusing and destroying it.
The Creator spent six days preparing for it
And at the end of it all, He placed me in charge of this beautiful Paradise.

Oh, sometimes, I despair that I have been and still as so vile and wicked
I lose sight of the goodness and the beauty from whence I came from.
I need to be constantly reminded that:
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.

And after this tiresome work of Creation, God ‘rested’.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

If this be nothing but myth, then I am dying to finally be born into this mythic reality
the seeds of which were carefully and lovingly implanted in me by the Creator.

Posted in Faith, Mystery, Nature, Stewardship | Tagged Truth | Comments Off

The River of Life

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Spirit Moments

Waves naturally rush to shore like leaves fall off the tree.
They pound upon the sands till there’s with white purity.
But sometimes the waters flow gently away as in a stream.
Is that a river in the ocean, or is it just a fanciful dream?

The river gently glides and slides as water on waters flow.
It seems to be in no hurry but it knows where it must go.
Meandering upon the ocean’s soft surface, it moves ever onward
Seeking a haven of refuge or perhaps some sweet reward.

The river is still and silent, relentless in its fluid motion
Letting out into the deep, it becomes one with the ocean.
Water is life-giving and life always flows from water
The river of life flows on and it flows into forever.

Posted in Life, Nature | Tagged Poetry | Comments Off

The Foamy Waters of Life

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Spirit Moments

White, foamy brine of life.
Churning, crushing, seething and tossing
And in the frothy, bubbly waves
life eventually emerges.

Rushing, ebbing and receding
Playful, carefree and with wanton glee
The waves cleanses the sand of dirt and grime
What is soiled and filthy is crashed and churned
Back into clean and clear whiteness
Rough edges polished out of pebbles and stones
Gritty bits of rock are pulverized into fine powder.

Sometimes the waves coax the dark winds to turn into gales.
The waters above turn black but the heads of the waves
Remain foamy white, still gleeful and full if life.

The waves will always rush to shore
Sometimes gently, sometimes ferociously
But always, churning out with creative force,
Auguring the birth of life and the sound of joy
In their foamy and briny wake of white.

Posted in Life, Nature | Tagged Poetry | Comments Off

Come To The Refreshing Waters

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Spirit Moments

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourself and rest a while.”

Calm. Clear. Clean.
Life can be messy and dirty.
Make it clear and clean.
Crowd out the bitterness and the anger
with thoughts of love and compassion.

Life can be noisy and distracting.
Wash out the din and the bedlam
with silence and the solitude.

Feel the flow of the clean clear water
Be refreshed by its soothing sound
In the silence and solitude
Transform the dirt and the noise
into the life-giving force of the gentle waves.

Posted in Faith, Life, Nature | Comments Off

Giving And Generosity

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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When I ‘give away’ what I have, my treasure;
I may feel diminished because I lose what I give away.
When I share and ‘give away’ my talents, what I can do;
I do not lose them but instead multiply them
and these talents are even enhanced.
And when I have nothing to give or am empty-handed;
I can still share and ‘give away’ something of myself,
like finding the time to do good,
or finding the time to be with a friend,
or finding the time to serve others,
or finding the time to enjoy and just be with the family.
Indeed, there are many instances when it is easier to give away talents and treasure
than to find the time to give of myself.
In the end, it is only what I have in my heart that I can truly and generously give away.

I believe I have been a generous person
(although I am sure that there would be some who would think otherwise).
I have given out of my blessings and fullness.
I have also believed that one cannot give what one does not have.
The times I have found myself not giving nor generous
are the times I was afraid I would run out of things for myself.
And yet the real challenge to giving and being generous
is to be able to give when there is no more to give.
Christ praised the widow’s mite over the Pharisee’s largesse.
Christ showed us what real and ultimate giving is:
stripped of everything he had
(his fame, his name, his human dignity and even his last shreds of clothing),
he was still able to give fully even in his utter emptiness and nothingness.
Can I be generous even when I am nothing and empty?

Posted in Generosity, Love, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Sacrifices and Offerings

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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It looked like an idyllic scene, calm and serene. But there were strong gusts of wind constantly sweeping over the landscape. A few seconds after this photo was taken, my precious Batanes pandan hat was blown away from my hand, It rolled down the hilly slopes, flew over the cliffs and sooner than I realized what had happened; it disappeared behind the cliffs straight into the ocean below. I felt terribly sad. Such a beautiful hat to add to my collection and barely an hour yet in my hands, gone into the crashing waves below.

Then, a thought struck me: what if it was your life you lost over those cliffs? Is the beautiful hat you just lost more precious than your life? And a light bulb turned on over my head. That is what sacrifices and sacred offerings are all about.

What am I willing to give up to keep my life? To what extent and effort am I willing to go to save a life, mine or that of a loved one? Life brings to me a whole lot of presents I can never be thankful enough. That is why I willingly set aside some of those gifts as offering for all the bounty I receive. And even when I feel I have nothing to give, I still can give something out of my nothingness. “For the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.” I have received and therefore I give; and the more I give, the more I receive.

Life is such a precious gift no one has the right to take it away or snuff it. And yet, there are people and situations where a person willingly sacrifices his life (or parts of it) for the sake of a loved one. And the paradox of it all is that it is in our willingness to lose our life that we keep it and it is in our readiness to lose everything that we gain all things.

Posted in Faith, Life | 2 Comments

Darkness, Conversion and the Evil One

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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We live in dark times. Darkness is all around us.
It is even darker for those whose lives have been snuffed out
just because they lived in slum areas;
or they did not speak like we do;
or they behaved or acted differently;
or they spoke another language.
It is darkest for those who never see the light of day
because they are aborted even before they are born;
or even before they are done playing out of their childhood;
or even before they learn what their life is all about.

Today we celebrate the conversion of Paul.
As Saul, he was brought darkness into the lives of the first Christians.
He was the number one persecutor of these early Christians.
Converted on his way to Damascus, he became Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.
In each person is a wonderful story aching to be told.
We have a choice on how to tell the story.
With God’s grace, Saul became Paul.
With God’s grace, anyone is capable of conversion.
Anyone can change.

There is only one person not capable of change or conversion.
He is the Evil One. The Devil. Satan.
He has made an eternal decision to go against God’s will.
And sadly, his minions are very active in our world today.
We must be aware and beware.
He is real.

Posted in Character, Sin | Tagged Change | Comments Off

Let the Children Teach Us Once More

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Spirit Moments

I just love watching how children, specially at play,
even though they might have just met each other for the first time.
Spontaneously and very naturally, they soon become friends
and are deep in play and in a fantasy world all their own – in no time at all.
Much sooner and with a lot less effort than adults.

Today, in the Philippines, our national leadership would destroy our children
by passing a law bringing down the age of criminal responsibility to 9 years old.
Can children really be held criminally responsible at this tender age?
What kind of society would compromise its future by imprisoning
its children in such a ludicrous and cruel prison?

They say the youth are the hope of a nation.
How can a nation remain hoping if children are treated like hardened criminals?
Parents are always hopeful for the future because they want to see
their children living in and creating a better world;
perhaps even to redeem their shortcomings and weaknesses.

Children are born with and in love.
They learn about anger and hatred and revenge much later.
How can a nation live in love and harmony
when children are seen as full of hate and malice even at a tender age?
There are no parents who would like to see their children
grow in hate and anger; but rather dream of having loving and compassionate
children.

Children carry with them the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
They are a guarantee we shall survive in spite of our follies and sins as adults.
How can we be so blind to this truth when even beasts protect their offsprings?
Without children, there is no future.
Without a future, why do we even care or try?

Posted in Children, Faith, Family | Tagged Home, Search, Truth | Comments Off