Waiting For The Final Answer

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.
But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
~ John 10:25-28

I encountered someone yesterday who spoke openly about her relationship with the Lord. I was impressed by her intimacy with the Lord and how he seems o be present to her every moment of the day. I became a bit disturbed though when she started telling us about her conversations with the Lord. We noticed and liked one of her home decors, a religious item, and she told us how she came upon it. She was walking in a mall once and at one point, she heard a voice. It was the Lord telling her to stop, turn right and enter the shop right before her. Then the Lord told her to look up on of the display shelves and there was the decor we noticed. She bought it. And the Lord talks to her like this frequently and on a daily basis.

I believe I have my own conversations with God. But I never hear His voice. He never tells me what to do in as clear fashion as He does to this lady. Is she imagining things? Or am I imagining things carrying on a conversation where no one hears and no one really says a word?  I wrote the other day that I have this distinct feeling that I have been and still am being led all my life. I interpret people, places and events in my life as signs of God’s presence. Is this for real or am I just deluding myself? Why am I so unsettled by this lady’s experience of the Lord? Who is to say that my experience with the Lord is authentic or that her’s is not?

“My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.” How do I hear the voice of God? How do I follow Him? How do I know that what I am doing is actually doing the will of God? How do I confirm that my prayers are actually and in fact conversations with my God?

During such moments of doubt and confusion, I simply keep quiet. But for the final answer, I guess I just have to wait.

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Following the Shepherd

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Birthday Prayer 2015-03

Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.”
~ John 10:27-28

Had I been the only one to write my life story, it would have been pretty boring and straight-forward. I would probably be still living in Angeles where I was born and grew up. And I would, by now, a retired teacher. there would be a lot less people in my life, specially special friends. There would have been less twists and turns and, as a consequence, there would have been significantly less heart breaks and also a lot less joyful moments in my life.

I am glad I did not write the script for my life. I have always had the feeling that I was being led all through-out. Yes, by a Shepherd. And yes, I have been a teacher most of my life. And yes, I am today a retired teacher. Among many other things. I have also been a HR trainor, a marketing person, a healthcare executive, a management consultant, a mentor, a facilitator and a host of many other roles I could not have imagined in my youth. I have been to places many of which I only read in books as I was growing up and others I never imagined I would visit in my life. I have done many things beyond what I thought even possible.

Life has not been easy. There were many challenges and obstacles I had to confront and overcome. But the rewards have been great and beyond my expectations. Yes, there were days I worried about what I would eat on the morrow or if I would even eat at all; but I also experienced what it was to lie down in green pastures. There were stormy days and night when I could not sleep a wink; but I also knew what it was to be led beside the quiet waters. Always, I had the assurance that there was Someone looking out for me and taking the best care I could not even imagine for myself.

Goodness and loving kindness has been with me every step of the way, even when the way was not clear.

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Life And Spirit

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus said to his disciples:
“It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.”
~ John 6:63

The past ten weeks have been a real celebration of life for Anabelle and me as we went on a prolonged vacation in the Philippines. It was one big feast as we shared food and meals with friends and family. It was a feast for the senses as well as we went to places so beautiful we were open open-mouthed in awe and wonderment. It was both relaxing for the senses and tiring for the body and bones. It was a great time to be alive.

Beyond the pleasure of the senses and of the physical, there was also a stirring and the uplifting of the spirit. We experience an awareness and consciousness of things that wne t beyond the physical and the material. We felt the love and friendship of family and loves ones and from friends and ear ones. Beyond the stories, the times and the meals we shared with them, we became keenly aware of the bonds of love and caring that bound us strongly together. Through the trips and the get-togethers we had with them, we knew that they would gladly give of themselves to us – both in good and bad times. That they would always be part of our journeying – in joy and in sorrow, through tears and laughter, with hands always outstretched in loving and in giving.

Indeed, the flesh is of no avail if the Spirit is not there to bring life to its fullness.

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Matter And Spirit

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus said to the crowds,
“And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”
~ John 6:39-40

Matter is indestructible. It merely changes is shape and form. Break down molecules of water into its component parts, you will always get twice as much hydrogen atoms than oxygen atoms. Breakdown salt into is components, you will always get equal number of sodium atoms and chlorine atoms. No more, no less. And yet over all that matter and tripping all over those atoms, there hovers and skips a consciousness and an awareness that animates all matter. We experience that as the spirit.

Spirit seems to need matter to exist. It is through our bodies that we are aware of the world around us. And yet, when we sleep and when the body is almost non-functional we are still conscious and aware of ourselves. There lies our dreams, our unconscious and our subconscious. This awareness and consciousness seeks for its source, its cause and its ultimate end. I do not fully understand all of this but it is what I know Christ was talking of when He talks of coming from the Father and going back to Him.

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Cycles And Circles

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
~ John 6:35

 Life always strains and strives towards the light so that darkness eventually gives way to the light, chaos to order, and even death to life. So it is in the natural order and proceeding of things: what goes up must comes down, what goes around comes around. It is the great cycle of life that night follows day, birth follows death and laughter follows sadness. those who are hungry seek food to eat; those who are thirsty seek water to drink. When it is cold we put on clothes to keep warm; when it is hot we take them off to keep cool. And the cycle keeps spinning on and on but in ever-rising and ever-widening circles so that the light eventually becomes eternal light and life becomes eternal life.

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Newness Of Life

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Spirit Moments

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This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. ~ John 21:14

The past few days have been very hot and people have been seeking a relief from the heat by turning on the air-conditioning or going to the beaches. When it is cold, we seek the warmth of the fire or of a cuddle. The darkness seeks the light and the chaos seeks order and pattern. What is dirty wants to become clear and what is murky eventually becomes clear. Everywhere around us are indications of new life and the resurrection.

Here is is something I posted from four years ago:

There is in mankind’s collective memory is a deep longing for a paradise we once had and lost. And literature is replete with stories of our collective desire to regain this lost paradise: Atlantis, Utopia, Shangrila, Erehwon, Matlock. Easter is God’s announcement and inauguration of this new heaven and the new earth, where there will be no more weeping and no more tears, giving us firm reasons for hope and joy. And where God’s words find roots and bear fruits we see this paradise regained happening here on earth. EDSA in 1986. GK communities across the land where the dispossessed regain their selves and dignity and in the process experience hope and joy.

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God-Encounters

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true.
He whom God has sent speaks the words of God,
for he gives the Spirit without measure.
~ John 3:33-34

There is a God. It is the only explanation to the question of why is there something instead of nothing. And that includes why I am here.

I look at nature and God is there. The beauty of the fields and the flowers is but a reflection of the infinite beauty and goodness that He is. I stand in awe gazing at the skies and the stars. And I cannot comprehend His might and greatness. I try to embrace all of creation and I realize there has to be a Creator.

I am not alone. I exist in a web of relationships with other people. Some are good. Some are bad. But for life to flourish and prosper -as it has through the ages- there has to be more good than bad. more loving than hating, more giving than getting. There is a God.

Aside from all these signs, God had revealed Himself in person. In the beginning, through His signs and wonders he did for His people. In the fulness of time, He took on our form and joined us in our humanity. In m lifetime, He has shown Himself to me in more ways that I can count or even comprehend.

Yes, there is a God. And I encounter Him every morning in my Sacred Space.

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No Cross, No Resurrection.

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Spirit Moments

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
~ John 3:16-21

There is so much anger  and hatred in the world today. One only needs to look at the news to realize this. There are still many good people and many good things happening but these all get buried under the avalanche of bad news. It does not help any that it is election season in both the US and the Philippines. There is more vitriol and poison, more lies and falsehoods, in the atmosphere.

There is also a lot of pain and suffering. Most of it caused by all the anger and hatred in the air. Most of it is unnecessary and avoidable. There are more tears shed that need not be shed. Instead, we can turn those into laughter. There are more heartaches that can be healed. Yet, we often chose to just let them be, expecting they would eventually die down or pass away. Man is indeed in need of redemption and salvation from the sorry state he often finds himself in or deliver himself into.

Our God is a God of Love. And we know that love is the answer; that in love we will find the path to eternal life. And yet, to love is as difficult as to bear one’s cross. Maybe this is the meaning of Easter. The answer to all the ills in the world is love. But to love is to suffer on the cross. And without the cross, there is no Resurrection.

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How Can These Things Be

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘Do not be astonished that I said to you,
“You must be born from above.”
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’
Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’
~ John 3:7-15

Yesterday, Mary said “How can this be?”
Today, it is Nicodemus who asks “How can these things be?”
Today, I join them in wonderment as I too try to reflect on their questions.

I remember and reminisce my past and I wonder how, why and who gifted me with life. I did not ask to be, but here I am enjoying the blessings of life. It has been a long, happy, fulfilling journey from the little town of Angeles (then) to the cosmopolitan city of San Jose. I have been surrounded by family and friends I could not have all put together by my own and who have made my life meaningful and worthwhile. It can only be because of the Presence that I believe have been guiding me every step of the way in my life-journey.

I look at my life today and I think about the continuing blessings that are being showered on me and my family. And I ask “What have I done to deserve this happy life I have been enjoying?” The last three months have been specially blessed and happy. We have seen and visited many friends and families to celebrate our shared and common pasts, as well as to make and store new lovely memories to ruminate on in the coming days. The time and space we used to share have for the most part been gone or have changed radically. And yet, the bonds of love we have developed over that space and time remain strong and sweet as ever. It could only because of the God of Love who has always made Himself felt in my daily life.

I am now close to the end of my life-journey and I have less days to enjoy than I have lived.  There are times, I think of the possibility that there is nothing more in store for us after this life; that I might be found underserving of any heavenly rewards since I have enjoyed them already here on earth; that at the last moment of my life I fumble and lose everything I have saved for the future. Yet, I do not face the future with fear nor regrets. In fact, I am kinda excited. There is this nagging feeling within me that constantly affirms that even as I approach the end of this journey, the best is yet to come. There will be a grand ending waiting for me that will exceed all my wildest expectations and imaginings. That will be when this Presence that had brought me into life and has been walking this life-journey with me will finally reveal Himself fully to me.

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How Can This Be?

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Spirit Moments

But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be?”
~ Luke 1:34

In the world of particle physics, there is no rhyme nor reason. Just randomness. A single proton and a single electron move about hither and thither with no particular pattern nor reason. In fact, physicist talk only of probabilities in trying to tract the movement of sub-atomic particles.

And yet, move reality up one quantum notch higher, that one electron and one proton will always go together to form hydrogen – the most plentiful substance in the universe randomly all over the place. And whenever an hydrogen atom encounters an oxygen atom, if and when the conditions are right, there will always be an H2O molecule – water, the life-giving substance in our world.

There is a lot of randomness and uncertainty in our world. But there is also a lot of meaning and reason at our level of reality. Often, like Mary, we find ourselves wondering, “How can this be? How is this possible?”

There is the God of Randomness and Unceertainty who is able to coax light out of the darkness and chaos. There is the God of Surprises and Serendipity who creates meaning and purpose out of all the randomness and uncertainty around us. There is the God of Love and Mercy who through His unexpected generosity and boundless goodness have given us the gift of life.

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