The Old Is Good

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Spirit Moments

And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
~ Luke 5:39

I read a wisecrack once that went, “He who lives a long life will die a lonely person.” I found that humorous with a ring of truth to it. When one dies very very old, one is likely to be the only one left among friends and contemporaries. I remember my mother-in-law in her old age would sometimes inquire about a friend or a relative only for us to tell her that they have passed away. And she would get lonelier with each query we answer.

I feel more like an old wine. The old is gold. I welcome each morning with joy and anticipation. My days are not as hectic as they used to be. Now, I have the time and the leisure to relish every moment. I enjoy chewing on the cud. Sometimes, I would even regurgitate some memories and not just reminisce them but re-live them in the present.

I am more at home with silence and alone-ness. These are times I can really count my blessings and enjoy them all over again. No moment is ever wasted when they are spent in gratitude for all that have been.

Don’t I miss all my friends and families that Have gone before? Oh yes, I do. But I want to relish the remaining years I have with my present loved ones. At the same time, I am excited to meet my loved ones who have gone ahead once more in forever.

“Lord, thank you for the experience of being like old wine. This wineskin you have given me has served me well. It is good for some, maybe many more, years. But at the same time I am excited to receive from you my new wineskin when you will do a remake of me.”

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Duc In Altum

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Spirit Moments

After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
~ Luke 5:4-6

 The other day, I got a request from a friend on what to do. She has unwittingly befriended a prison-inmate, yes a convicted criminal, through Facebook hoping to be of help to him. Initially, she did not know his real situation in life. She is into Internet marketing and now this guy wanted her help to set up his own internet enterprise. She requested for more info and that is when she found out who he really was. She is now worried and wanted some advice on what to do.

My initial gut reaction was to recoil in fear and apprehension. Almost spontaneously I wanted to tell her to go and run away immediately. Then, I was  reminded of the Good Samaritan. If I had come across that man who had fallen among robbers, I probably would have gone the way of the priest and the Levite – skirted away from the man. But the Good Samaritan stopped and took care of the victim.

The tendency to stay in my comfort zone is always strong. But the Lord keeps on challenging me, “Put out into the deep.” Duc in altum. Dare to venture out. Get out of your selfishness and self-preoccupation. But no, my usual reaction is to remain in my smugness and indifference. I find all sorts of alibi to refuse doing good. I say I care for the poor but it is so hard for me to give even just small alms to homeless or jobless people in the streets. I love being inspired by the beatitudes and yet when was the last time I fed a hungry person, or gave a drink to one who is thirsty, or comforted one in sorrow, or brought peace to people in conflict, or even just avoided fanning the scourge of hatred and anger and division?

“Lord, let me take your words to let out into the deep more seriously. Unmoor me from my securities and let me find your out there in unfamiliar waters.”

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Things Change Yet Remain The Same

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Spirit Moments

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This is something I wrote four years ago. Yet it seems like I have just written it today about what is happening in my beloved Philippines:

SPIRIT MOMENT: A tree does not bear fruits and say to itself that it does so to serve nature and humanity. Gold does not glitter and say to itself that it does so to become a thing of value to men. It is men’s faith and affect that give them that effect. I have always been touched by the faith of Filipinos, specially in times of hardships and adversity but also in times of joys and celebrations. And yet it baffles me that in an area of robust economic development, we lag behind all of our neighboring countries. Is it because our faith has remained infantile and borders on superstition? Or, has our faith made us passive and less competitive to thrive in an economic world driven by competition? Or, are we wrong to hanker for material comforts and worldly possessions when we already have generosity of spirit and irrepressible joy in our souls? I know many Filipinos who dream of eventually retiring in the Philippines in spite of the ‘horror stories’ of corruption. crimes and inefficiencies in the country because it is truly ‘more fun in the Philippines’. Maybe we know or have something that makes the Philippines the paradise that it is.

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Father’s Day

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Spirit Moments

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Facebook was full of positive vibes today with so many beautiful thoughts and wonderful wishes for fathers. With all the paeans being sung for fathers, their love and dedication and how they have influenced, shaped and molded so many live, ours should be a better world.But it is not.

Something is missing. Something is not quite right.

Maybe, we have forgotten about Our Father. Maybe, we have kept Him out or our lives. Maybe, we rarely talk to Him these days. Maybe, we might have even stopped believing in Him. Maybe, it is time to remember and recite this prayer we know by heart:

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
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The Kingdom And The Child Within Us

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Spirit Moments

“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it.”
~ Mark 10:14-15

I sometimes wish I were a child again
Playing in the sun, dancing in the rain
Oblivious of time, not worried of tomorrow
Life full of laughter, surcease from sorrow.

Then one day, the child grows up and learns
The more one dreams, the more one yearns
Heartaches and tears soon hardens the heart
The child and his innocence are soon apart.

Yes, life becomes a difficult and a weary way
Darkness on the horizon? Oh no, it’s another day!
If not for the love of family and friends,
One gets eager to find out how it all ends.

There is a secret that we all ought to know
There is an inner child in us even as we grow
The child stays pure and gentle and innocent
Touch this child and all your blessings will be present.

This inner child keeps all the goodness there is in us
Preserves all the beauty around us without any fuss
Teaches us all the truths we need to make sense of life
And relieves us of all our burdens and heal all strife.

“Let the children come to me.” the Lord, said He.
“For such is the Kingdom of God as you will see.”
“Of all the pains, tears and sorrow, you will be free.”
“You will be happy for all eternity and be with me.”

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Small Things Make The Difference

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Spirit Moments

“Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid,
with what will you restore its flavor?
Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.”
~ Mark 9:50

In the infinite expanse of the universe, it is amazing what God can do with little things. In a remote corner of this universe, in a galaxy far far away, on an inconspicuous planet revolving around an average star, God is conducting His most magnificent experiment and writing out one marvelous story after another.

On this planet, called Earth, God continuously creates out great things out of small things, works out great events out of ordinary happenings and writes out magnificent stories out of the humdrum and commonplace activities of the people living there. And He sprinkles signs of His works and wonders all over the place: a dash of salt that gives flavor and preserves food, a light shining in the darkness, lilies of the field, food for the thousands who are hungry, a stranger who looks after someone who fell among thieves, innocent children playing and not worrying about tomorrow.

All this beauty and goodness is gift from God. But it does not come free nor easy. In the process of living and becoming, we can get bruised, battered and even maimed.But when we triumph through His love, He will bring us to perfection. We can choose to play it safe and stay un-bruised, un-battered and remain whole. But if we were to lose it all, what sense is there to living and becoming?

“It is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire that cannot be put out.”

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Choices In Life

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus replied, “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.”
~ Mark 9:39-40

I am aware that I have done bad things in my life, sometimes to myself and oftentimes towards others. Sometimes small things but there have been times I have been bad big time. But when I am most myself, when I am with and for the Lord; I know that I will always choose to be good and do the things that are good and pleasing in God’s sight.

I am not blind nor deaf to the times I have dealt in lies and falsehoods, from little white lies to monstrous deceptions. There have been times I have been scheming and duplicitous. But when I am truly myself, when I am with and for the Lord; I know I shall always speak the truth and live by it, even if this might mean discomfort, pain or even death.

I have done some ugly things in my life and have brought some ugliness in some people’s lives, sometimes inadvertently and sometimes with malice. But when I am my authentic self, when I am with and for the Lord; I know that I shall always choose what is beautiful and work to make this world and the lives of people around me better and more delightful.

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Changing Yet Staying The Same

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
~ Mark 9:35

For all the benefits of logic and reason, there is sometimes more wisdom in contradictions and irrationality. Leaders lead and are supposed to be out there in front. And yet, Christ tells us quite the opposite. He uses a child full of innocence as the paragon of wisdom. On several occasions, He teaches us to find life in dying, to gather our treasures and possessions by giving them away.

This contrarian approach to life and wisdom is echoed in the words of Sheryl Sandberg, whose recent commencement speech at UC Berkeley is going viral, “It is the hard days—the times that challenge you to your very core—that will determine who you are. You will be defined not just by what you achieve, but by how you survive.”

I am going through one of my dark periods right now, the longest and most over-staying in my life. It is perhaps God’s way of preparing me for some great blessing He will be sending my way. Or, preparing me for my final trip home. But four years ago, I was feeling the same way and wrote down these words:

I have been sulking and morose the past several days and nursing a very foul mood. I have been so self-engrossed, seeing only my point of view and feeling only my hurt. In the process I have hurt the person dearest to me. All the days I have been trying to learn and live the ways of God seem to have been wasted and all for naught. I wish and pray that the evil spirits that have taken over my life these past few days may be exorcised from me but I realize that the devil is me. Being good is not easy. It is a constant struggle. Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, bang! you lose it all in one outburst of utter self-centeredness.

There have been many changes in my life. But the more I change, the more things seem to stay the same.

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I Do Believe, Help My Unbelief!

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus said to him,
“Everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
~ Mark 9:23-24

I am and shall always be forever grateful for the gift of life.
But to think that the best is yet to come even as I come to the end?
Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!

I have seen sadness and have shed tears for it, in anger, in pain.
But to be promised an everlasting life where there is no more pain, no more tears?
Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!

I have seen the goodness in people and I am not blind to the evil in them.
But to believe that goodness will finally triumph over evil?
Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!

I try to be truthful and honest to myself and with others.
But I fail often; yet there will come a time I shall have my redemption?
Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!

There is unspeakable beauty in and around me, waiting for me to see.
But how often do I dwell in what is ugly and horrible to behold and experience?
Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!

When my cup is empty and by my spirit dry
When life is difficult and all I can do is cry
Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!

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Rain Down, Rain Down

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Spirit Moments

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Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”
~ John 20:21-22

Today is the Feast of Pentecost: the coming of the Holy Spirit, raining down graces and blessings on the Church to give her courage, strength and inspiration. Cascades of gifts pour on the fearful disciples. The timid and the timorous are transformed into the the bold and the daring. The inarticulate and uneducated become full of eloquence and wisdom. From their hiding places, the disciples sally forth to proclaim the Word.

We have had Pentecost (Spirit) Moments in the history of the Philippines. The EDSA Revolution was one such moment. After decades of oppression and timidity, the people rose up to throw off the shackles of the dictatorship and tyranny. Parochial self-preservation gave way to communal sharing and giving. Fear for one’s safety and possessions gave way to passion for nation and country. Passivity and cynicism gave way to volunteerism and desire to contribute.

Today, we may be going through another Pentecost moment. The recent Philippine elections have seen the biggest voters’ turnout in the country’s history. They have generally be the most peaceful and orderly. There were less reports of election-related violence. And I have not come across any report of election-related deaths or killing. The counting have been the fastest ever and generally acknowledged as honest and accurate.

The winners for the top two posts are from the fringes and the peripheries, not from the usual centers and corridors of power in Manila. They belong to what VP-elect Leni Robredo has so picturesquely described as “yung mga nasa laylayan ng ating lipunan“. In the spirit of the new Pentecost, may we not lose any of those at the fringes and peripheries of our communities. Instead, may everyone be saved and be served.

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