To Everything There Is a Season

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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Invariably, at the end of a successful mission, Col. Hannibal Smith would say to his A-Team “I love it when a plan comes together.” In today’s Gospel, one gets the feeling of a plan coming together, of things converging towards fulfillment.

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert where he remained in the desert for forty days and where he was tempted by Satan. Meanwhile John had been arrested after having prepared the way for the Messiah. After fasting and prayers in the desert, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:

“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

It was the fullness of time. It is the season for the unfolding of God’s plan. God’s time may sometimes be slow and sometimes quick. But the unfolding moves forward inexorably. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

“A time to be born, a time to die.” We live in times where many babies are unborn and many more who die young. The time will coming when every birth will be welcomed as another gift from God and dying is to be born to eternal life.

“A time to plant, a time to reap.” We live in times where many are sowing the seeds of discord and hatred. And they shall reap their just rewards. The time is coming when good seeds will be sown to yield harvests a hundredfold, even a thousandfold.

“A time to kill, a time to heal.” We live in times where men have been desensitized by many senseless killings, born out of hatred, anger and the desire for revenge. Let the time come where good people will harken to God’s voice and heal and bind all wounds.

“A time to laugh, a time to weep.” We live in times where many people are weeping in pain and sorrow. Let the time come when people with hearts of flesh will wipe away those tears and bring back the smiles.
“A time to build up, a time to break down.” We live in times where there is a lot of destruction Some from natural causes. Most through the work of men. The time is coming when people of good will and good hearts will rebuild a new and better city of men.
“A time to dance, a time to mourn.” We live in times of mourning and sadness. Let the times come when we shall be dancing in songs and rejoicing.

A time of war, a time of peace. We live in times steeped in wars. Let the time come when peace shall reign in the hearts and homes of people.

A time of love, a time of hate. We live in times where hatred has possessed the hearts of men. Let the time come when the brightness of love rises among us.

There will be bad times and difficult times. But “who will separate us from the love of Christ?” Not the deaths nor the killings. Not the sorrow and the weeping. Not wars nor the destruction. Not the anger nor the hatred.

“For if God is with us, who can be against us?” And in the fullness of time, at the proper season, He makes all things beautiful. Just as he created us, he will also bring us to perfection.

Posted in Change, Faith, Life, The Good News | 2 Comments

Another (Lunar) New Year

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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Today, February 16, much of Asia will be celebrating the Lunar (Chinese) New Year.
In a span of less than two months, we have celebrated three New Years:
the Church’s Liturgical Calendar last December 3,
the Julian Calendar, followed in most of the West, last January 1,
the Lunar Calendar, followed by many Asian countries, today.

New Years speak to us about beginnings, fresh starts, hope, renewal and time.
Beginnings are always time of fresh hope and new initiatives.
They allow us second chances.
I have always been sympathetic and kind to new beginnings,
specially the bold and daring ones.

New beginnings also remind us of time.
There are those who reckon the year by the time it takes earth
to complete one revolution around the sun.
Others reckon the year through the number of days
it takes for the moon to revolve around the earth.
Still others reckon the year through the changing of the seasons.

We can also choose how to reckon our days and year.
There are those who reckon and count time in minutes and seconds.
They tend to live their lives in panic, frantic and always short of time.
24/7 are almost always not quite enough.

There are those who live their lives in moments,
relishing, appreciating, and enjoying the times of their lives and
then storing them in their memories.

My time is something I create.
I can live by the minutes,
or by the moments.
My choice?
The latter.

Happy New Year.

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Love In The Time Of Ashes

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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In a rare serendipitous confluence of events,
today we celebrate both Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent,
and Valentine’s Day, the celebration of Hearts and Love.

Lent is the spiritual preparation for the celebration of the greatest love story of all time.
The love story that fashioned out life from stardust
and then breathing a soul into it to make us happen.
The love story how we seek to destroy the beauty of that life
through our intransigence and hardheadedness.
The love story that seeks to right that fault
and finally bring us to perfection.

And in the contrarian ways of our Creator,
the spiritual exercises He challenges us to do
are in fact very physical.
Through these spiritual exercises,
we show our loves for our loved ones.

So, we show our love by giving:
we exercise our hand muscles when we open our hands to give,
we give of what we have,
we give away out treasure, which we earned through the work of our hands,
we give assistance when help in needed.
we give our presence, specially in times of pain and sufferings.

Then, we show our love by sacrificing:
we exercise our heart muscles when we deny ourselves
what our hearts desire,
we soften the hard muscles of the heart that have made it like a stone,
to make it a heart of flesh that beats for love alone.

Finally, we show our love by praying:
we exercise our head muscles when we lift up our minds in prayer,
we use our imagination and will
to align our desires and intentions
with those of what God wants for us.

We are but dust and our live is but a shadow.
But if we let God, He will turn our dust into gold
and our shadow into shimmering light.

Yes, it does make sense that Lent
begins with the celebration of Love.

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A Daily Miracle

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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One of the deepest truth in my life is that fact that I am not a random event.
I did not come into existence as a fortuitous confluence of atoms and molecules.
I have been willed into existence deliberately and lovingly.
And everyday, I am consciously re-gifted with this life in love.
When I begin to realize and appreciate this daily miracle,
everything around me takes on the aura of the sacred and the divine.

If life is a daily miracle,
why am I so insistent in looking for a sign of God’s presence in my life?
A baby needs no words nor any other sign
than the warm embrace of his 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 in 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.

Tomorrow, Lent begins.
A period of fasting and abstinence.
A period for reliving and remembering the greatest love story ever.
I need to abstain from all the noise and distraction
to open my eyes and ears to the presence of God in my life.
I need to fast from pleasures to break my heart of stone
to again feel the presence of God in the people He sends into my life.

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Generosity

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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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 enough were 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 even when there is nothing or 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?

I have also realized that the most precious thing I can give away are not presents but my presence. Even when I am most empty and am nothing at all, I can still be there for others. Yet, I can also be selfish with my presence. In my spiteful and selfish moments, the first thing I deny others in my presence. God, when asked who He is, said He is Presence.

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 or what I can do, I do not lose them but instead multiply them. These talents are even enhanced. And when I have nothing or am empty-handed I can still share and ‘give away’ myself, like finding the time to do good or finding the time to be with a friend or finding the time to serve others. 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.

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To Know And To Believe

Posted on February 11, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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What I believe is beyond reason,
but it is contrary to it.

I do not need faith to know that there is a God.
I only need to see the beauty and grandeur of nature
to know that all of this marvel was made possible by someone.
I only need to be touched by people’s kindness
to know that the goodness in our hearts came from the ultimate good himself.
I only need to understand the truth and reason behind the workings behind of this
to know that it is the handiwork of a divine intelligence.

But I need faith to believe that
this God does not merely operate
like an objective and impersonal principle, ex opere operato.
I need faith to believe that this almighty God has taken a personal interest in me.
I am not just one of his many creations.
He knows me by name.
In fact, my name is written in the palm of his hand.
I need faith to believe that this all-knowing God
knows me better that anyone else, myself included.
“In your mother’s womb I formed you.” He says.
I need faith to believe that even as He created me,
He wants to bring my life to perfection.
I need faith to trust that He will bring to fulfillment
the deepest yearnings and longings in my heart.
I need faith that God is present with me, in me, for me, by me,
everyday of my life, even beyond death.
For these realities are beyond
the understanding and grasp on my intellect and intelligence.

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On Hiking

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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I have access to a fitness center where I can use a treadmill, a stationary bike, an elliptical machine. And for a while, I tried to exercise there on a regular basis. But I soon got bored. It was getting me nowhere – literally. I would run on the treadmill and it got me nowhere. I would ride the stationary bike and I reached no place. I climbed the elliptical machine and I never got to the top of anything.

Hiking is so much more stimulating and invigorating. I walk a trail. There is a distinct beginning and an end. Along the way, I see trees, plants, flowers, and all sorts of living creatures. I breathe in all that fresh, clean air. I bask in the warmth of the sun, while a refreshing breeze cools me down. I climb up a hill and when I get to the top, I am rewarded by a scenic vista of the place. I am happy to be living where I am. There are so many places to go for a hike or a brisk run or a challenging bike ride. I get to hike on a new trail, practically every week.

Many people today want to keep healthy by exercising regularly. But usually in a fitness center or a gym. Their exercising is very much like their lives they live: a lot of motion, effort, and perspiration but getting nowhere. They miss the serendipity and exhilaration that comes with a nature hike. If I may paraphrase this quote from T.S. Eliot:

We should never cease from hiking as our exercise. And the end of all our walking will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

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Lunacy And Old Age

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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I admit to being a lunatic. Nothing can stir more tender emotions in me that a full moon on a cloudless night in some faraway place by the sea or in the woods or up in some hills. I would love the silence and the quiet.

Here among flowers a single jug of wine,
No close friends here, I pour alone
And lift a cup to bright moon, ask it to join me
~ Li Bai

Lately though, I experience silence and quiet even in the midst of a noisy and busy street, or in a bustling and lively mall, our even while watching TV and having a normal conversation. I feel my hearing is fading away. And rather fast. I do not mind the silence and the quiet. I love it in fact. But it gets in the way of my relationships and connections with people, which are even more precious to me.

I often miss a word in a conversation. Then I lose track of the context of the dialogue. And I end up lost and tuning out. Sometimes, I mishear and I make people around me chuckle or even laugh outright. Like, I thought someone I was talking with worked at the airport, when I thought I heard ‘landing’ in his response while it was ‘lending’ that he said. Or, how I replied “Oh, I just walked. I did not drive.” when I was asked “When did you arrive?”

When I was younger, similar incidents would also have made me chuckle, or in my meaner moments, I would probably laugh out the person making the mistake. As I get older, while these incidents may amuse others; they are starting to get to me and they are starting to hurt. Not only for being laughed at. But also for the effects these incidents have on my relationships.

Yes, I have always seen myself as mildly lunatic because of my love affair with the moon. But it gets me insecure if and when people would start thinking I have incipient dementia. But as long as I can preserve my love affair with the moon, I shall be able to keep the people I love.

The silver light, which, hallowing tree and tower,
Sheds beauty and deep softness o’er the whole,
Breathes also to the heart, and o’er it throws
A loving languor which is not repose.
~ Lord Byron

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Travails of a Warriors Fan

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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As a long-time fan of the Warriors, I remember the time when they were the favorite whipping boy of the league.For a long time, they were the cellar dwellers, the floor for all the other teams to step on. Every victory then was a occasion for celebration, a cause for rejoicing. The losses? The fans were used to them.

Today, they are on top of the heap. In fact, the defending champions. Fans expect them to come out as winners in most every game. Oh, they may lose a game or so. That was okay. But to be 1-4 for their last five games and suffer back-to-back losses for the first time, that stings. It is unacceptable. Emotionally invested as I am in the team, the back-to-back losses are more upsetting than the the occasional victories in the past were exhilarating.

Hmm. There must be a life-lesson in here somewhere.

Growing up my favorite super hero was Superman. Luke Skywalker was not yet born at that time. When I had my first son, I introduced him to Superman, hoping he’d take after me. Alas, he fell in love with Batman instead. And I asked him why. He said, “What’s the fun when you can never lose and always win? Batman gets hurt, can die, and sometimes loses out to the Joker or the Riddler.” My son had a very perceptive insight.

I remember coming to the US where most everything worked out as planned and the systems (transport, public service, retail outlets) generally functioned effectively. People would go crazy when thing do not work out as expected. I came from the Philippines where hardly anything worked out properly (transport, public service, retail outlets). So, the few occasions when these systems actually served their functions, there was great rejoicing and real gratitude.

I know there is a lesson here somewhere. I am listening and open to what life or the universe or God is trying to tell me. But of late, I have been rather hard of hearing.

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Too Good To Be True?

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Spirit Moments

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In my daily experience of dealing and relating with people,
I have learned that what is too good to be true is often not true.
A lucrative job that is easy and effortless would probably involve something criminal.
An investment scheme that promises very high rates of return is probably a scam.
A food supplement that is claimed to heal or prevent a whole host of symptoms and diseases is most probably nothing more than a placebo.

But in my spiritual life and relationship with God,
I have also learned that what is too good to be true MUST be true.
There is no compelling reason that I should be here. Yet I am here.
I did not choose the village (my family and friends) I grew up in.
Yet, everyone and everything I needed to grow up was there.
He promised me life everlasting.
And, my God, that must be true and am excited just thinking about it.

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