Man’s Ultimate

Singapore, Aug 20, 2007

Practicing Christian beliefs results to a variety of response, it could be difficult to some while to others it would be just a simple feat. And yet to many of us, a life of a Christian can not be less than exciting. For we serve a God which is so creative, the ways in which He reveals Himself to His followers is constant yet it always strikes our heart in ways which meets our different needs.

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote these words in one of his songs “the blinding light of grace come breaking through with sweetness”1. Yes, if there is one word that could describe the greatest love given to us is simply that – sweet.

Yesterday, at the Royal Hotel, God’s word was at work again. Sharper than any double edged sword, it has once again penetrated to the dividing soul and spirit. With its triumphant banner of truth it continues to reveal Jesus who is always excited about anything that pertains to us. The great outpouring of His blessing comes in many different ways. Most of them unnoticed, most of them we have not even thanked Him for.

“You will be blessed from Zion”2, the pastor concludes in this simple yet striking truth, especially to a Filipino. One of Man’s ultimate is to be connected to his land.

Scattered among many foreign soils, we can be reluctant when it comes to this topic. Maybe if I would be an American, or European or Australian, there would be so much connection between me and my country. But a Filipino? Well good luck. With all the dirt and corruption that eats the system, from disorganized bus routes to air pollution, creative theft (piracy, selling sub standard products, unhealthy foods) dreams are for sale, education is not a learning institution anymore, respect for authority is dependent on whose side the authority is and the intellectual atrocity penetrating the government is so casual, as casual as the poor children sniffing rugby in front of Quiapo Church.

Shattering! I can not hide my tears while writing this blog. But as I remember the good pastor talking about nationalism, I scrambled for the floor looking for dignity which shame has stepped over. I can not even raise my hands on the question of “do you still love our country” I tried to hide from the noise of my past, I tried to huddle with the fact that I am already in Singapore and a good life awaits me here. I tried everything but to no avail. As if the words from the pastor are not good enough, I was slammed right in the face when he says, “You can be anything you want to be, change your citizen, outgrow your nationality but one thing remains, you were born a Filipino and you will die one”

Death, the familiar antagonist of hope, the curious audience of defeat and the surest thing on earth. Yes, in death I will still be a Filipino, so why pretend to paste a different flag on my tombstone. It will not work. It certainly won’t.

The church service have long ended, I have already done errands for a work that I am applying to, I have already browsed almost a hundred web page this day. But the Word of God shared by Rev. Rey Navarro has substantiated once again that His word judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart.3

The Philippines may be in its prime of emotional chaos, but it’s far from my ability to add any change to this by posing rants and rage over the self-defeat that our countrymen are constantly holding in their hearts. But to those of us who are given the chance to work overseas, who are living an easier life must not leave this one special matter over the closed doors of our minds. Back at home we have our fathers, our mothers, our children, our brothers and sisters. And let us make sure that they would not seclude into defeat, that they would not lose hope on our beloved country. One small step from where we are standing now would matter, for it would mean a gigantic leap of faith, a model of hope for them to see that indeed, they will be blessed from Zion all the days of their life.

Notes:
1. Steven Curtis Chapman, Angel’s Wish, All Things New, 2004
2. Psalm 128: 5
3. Hebrews 4:12

Invitation to Pain

Singapore, 2:54pm

“And should it be Your blessed will with crushing grief my soul to fill, press harder still”

However this may sound to any person, I can not refuse to question what faith could bring about such submissive will and obedience to ask God to press harder still.

L.B. Cowman penned the quotes in italics above. I have been reading her devotional book Streams in the Desert, long before I get to know its true meaning in my life. But this is one author who knows best when it comes to living in a barren wilderness. Long ago she discovered a fountain that sustained her and she shared it with the world through her writings. And thankful to God for the grace of having the ability to read and comprehend, I found myself immersed in her collection of prayers and meditations.

Her book was first published in 1925. That was some 51 years before I was born. And yet the power of the Holy Spirit which sustained her remains to touch the heart and soul of different people who in the same manner had a glimpse of that barren wilderness.

It is really evident that a man can give in to pain forwhatever he would believed in. I saw on Discovery channel, Asian Enigma. It is a hair raising experience to witness what man can do as he is lead to believe that the power of a certain god has given him different abilities. I saw this Snake Manu, there is nothing extra ordinary to what he is doing except that he puts a live snake in his nostrils and then the snake would pass through his mouth. Argh! I can’t make cotton buds enter my nostrils when I was a young kid. How much more a live snake, wait its not just any ordinary snake, it’s a venomous cobra.

Ok enough of Mr. Snake Manu.

Going back to different practices of faith, it is an overwhelming privilege to be part of a family who believes in the risen Christ. Before His Sovereign power to save and lift us up from the place of despair, pain plays a great role in all of this.

As His words lead us from dry desolate places to the waters of the River of Life. There is no better companion than pain. For it is there we find constant need of a Savior, between surrendering to defeat and a victorious attitude to rise up, we see the straight arrow of hope pointing to where Jesus is. And along the way, as we seek to go near Him, we have in our heart these spoken words of trust and obedience to God uttered by Jesus Himself in His most painful moment

“Father if You are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but Your will be done” Luke 22:42

The next time you feel pain, stay still and let the Potter shape you in whatever way He pleases.

Changing Skin

Singapore 3:12am

It's past 3 am...Just made a few twist on my blog skin, now it looks better. I started working on this around 11pm and after a grueling task of trial and error I finally got the right positioning...

The photo above is shot in Cebu...It doesn't look like me sitting on an old rook..but it's me indeed!

time to sleep...

An Unlikely Encounter

Singapore 2007

Yesterday I got a chance to be interviewed by a Singaporean. The company is in the business of providing design solutions for different clients. I never got the chance to apologize to Mr. Recruiter because I did not understand his words when he introduced his company to me.

So what’s there to write about a regular day on a normal interview procedure?

Nothing I supposed, except that this person in front of me is so proud of Filipino employees. He says he prefers Pinoys over other nationality because we perform our tasks better. It was a shining moment for me that very hour; I can not help but tell him how I wish that employers back at home would have the same perspective such as his. How I wish Filipino employers would boast about the workmanship of their fellow Filipinos instead of not giving them much preference and opportunity to work.

I remember the story of my colleague who happens to be a software developer; one time a foreigner arrived at their office which is also an employee of one of their companies which is based in Asia. My friend told me that the fellow was really good in theories but when it comes to practicing those theories, Pinoys are really better. And here before me, a Singaporean confirms… “Filipinos can beat those people (referring to a set of nationalities) head to head".

Wow! Head to head!

The interview ended casually, without an assurance that I am hired, he asked me to perform some tasks and return at his office to discuss how we would proceed. But employment was not my primary concern that day.

I left by thanking him, in a few minutes talk, I learned a lot from him.

I went home excited, not because of getting a new job.

I am excited of the magnitude of passion and nationalism that was birthed in my heart. Yes, I might be over-reacting but that’s how it affected me, to hear from the words of a foreigner that Filipinos are great workers.

I seldom hear this back at home, I don’t even speak about this. For as far as I am concern, we are not that good in doing our job, but I was wrong. It is not how we perform our job, but how we love our country that makes a great impact over our co-workers.

I pray that the wings of nationalism would cover the hearts of each and every one of us. Regardless if we are home or not.

God bless the Philippines!

Happy Birthday Singapore

Singapore 10am

Today is Singapore’s 42nd birthday, it’s such a great experience to be here this day. Yesterday I saw Prime Minister Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on MediaCorp delivering his message. The Prime Minister is very much positive about the future of SG. I have never heard of such passion to pursue his fellow’s welfare, well not from anyone from RP. My thoughts are sporadic as I watch him speak about the welfare of the old Singaporeans, how this time the government is preparing for those who would retire, by having their benefits more accessible. One of his programs is to make people work longer so that they need not retire early therefore more retirement benefits would come their way.

In facing global matters, PM Lee says SG needs dedicated leaders in every sector and indeed as great changes unfold before Singaporeans, one strategy that he gave was for the Singaporeans to be more resilient and be able to tackle problems their own instead of looking for the government to solve every problem.

My favorite part is when PM Lee states that the internet is a tremendous tool changing the world therefore the citizens should make full use of it to link up and become a productive economy and a vibrant society.

He invites everyone to unite..learn to live and adapt.

"Singaporeans should express themselves freely but responsibly. We need to help solve problems and build our nation, not chip away at the pillars of our society. We will not always agree with one another, but we must stay cohesive and united in our common vision for Singapore."

I can not help but think about the leaders of our society back home. I know they all have good intentions, the opposition and the administration have their call to provide for the welfare of the Filipinos. Maybe a few dirty tricks on their hands but I still believe that being in their position there is always a struggle to do what is right. And I salute those who are successful in doing so.

I have been very negative about the president ever since she sat office, most of my friends knew this. Who cares anyway? I am just a fragment of one’s imagination so what does my being negative to anyone have to do with change?

But being brought through the road of failures, I have learned not to sympathize with those who fail but to bring down the judge’s robe for I am not and never will become a judge to anyone of them.

In my heart I just thought that as the leaders of our society scamper for attention, may the solutions for the nation’s problems be visible. It would not be difficult to ask the people to tackle problems on their own if the people would only see that the government is really doing their part. And if they have been doing their part, well its time to educate the people that we have a good government after all. Spread the clothe of knowledge, not through the media but by reaching out to every sector of the society.

Before anarchy would break out into our land let’s leave enough space to trust each other, the people, the government and everything else that surrounds it, including the church and the media.

If Singapore can make it big, the Philippines can too.

As a Filipino living abroad, I am guilty of leaving my country behind in exchange for good welfare and better work compensation. But as there is a sovereign God who leads each of our path. I still pray for the chance to be one with all of you in building our nation together. In rising up from the ashes of shame, corruption and societal failure.

There are a lot of good things happening back home I know it. Take it from me, I never once said anything good about the Philippines. I used to live behind the curtains of “who cares?” attitude, if I could make it better then I would, everyone else must live as he wants to..

But living here in SG for a few months makes me think about the Philippines more often.

Thanks to TFC(ABS CBN) another one of the entities that I loathed seeing.

Oh things could really change so fast…it took me one wrong turn in life to realize greater things.

I end my blog with another of Mr Lee’s great words of encouragement.

"We must do more to engage our young and strengthen their roots in Singapore. We must imbue in them the conviction that Singapore is a special and unique place that belongs to them and that Singapore's future depends on them,"

Gutsy Guilt

Singapore 11:50am

The precious gem of God's Word spoken from the heart of people who do not even know where many hearts are as they write these words, yet as life breathes itself from the wisdom of God out of their writings...it brings hope to the paralized heart, to the futile and the coward, to those who underestimated the deadly and destructive fruits of self-gratification. To those who are crossing the bridge of restoration, inching his way farther from the dark and numbing reality of failure.

6th of August...John Piper wrote the next section, as part of his Desiring God devotional...it says;

The Remedy for Paralyzed Sinners & Fallen Saints
To the fallen saint, who knows the darkness is self-inflicted and feels the futility of looking for hope from a frowning Judge, the Bible gives a shocking example of gutsy guilt. It pictures God’s failed prophet beneath a righteous frown, bearing his chastisement with broken-hearted boldness. "Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light" (Micah 7:8-9). This is courageous contrition. Gutsy guilt. The saint has fallen. The darkness of God’s indignation is on him. He does not blow it off, but waits. And he throws in the face of his accuser the confidence that his indignant Judge will plead his cause and execute justice for (not against) him. This is the application of justification to the fallen saint. Broken-hearted, gutsy guilt.



His grace abounds!...even to the vilest sinner...such as I...

31.31.31.

Singapore 11:41pm

40 minutes before the day ends, I finally got the chance to write something about this day. I can not miss writing about anything today because 31 days from now, on August 31 I will be 31 years old.

It’s only once that I would pass this day. So I took the chance to write about my thoughts again.

It is said that man’s average life span is 60 years. If that’s the case then I’m halfway through, I am on the third quarter of the ballgame. Great huddles that came before me on the first half of my life have done nothing but add color to gray areas of my life. The wrong turns along the way were nothing but a kid skipping his way out of school. A stubborn student of the school of life. A tongue-twisting story teller who keeps himself to be always the protagonist of the entire short stories that escapes his thoughts through his lips. That’s what you have there. That’s how it turned out to be.

But the greatest story is yet to unfold. As time’s cruel intentions have hardened my heart, the grace of the One who owns the clock of the universe lead me to a different path. Everything is now a loss. Compared to the surpassing greatness of what is in store for me, should I keep walking where He leads me, through His grace alone.

And as the celebration of the day of my birth approaches, nothing I could ask for but for that one great desire to be in my heart. "To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon His beauty and seek Him in His temple".1

I have to keep up with the fruits of my self-destructive ways and start from the ground, to see hope, north of where I am standing, I could only imagine if I would be able to speak less than the words that I can. To shout silently in boastfulness of how God have delivered me and to proclaim the only worth I have which I found in Christ alone.

Great friends have come and gone. Love has reached its end. Trust has pondered the walls of my dreams with uncertainty and faithfulness left the prideful heart.

But One remains.

One great God. "Who knows my name, Who knows my every thoughts, Who sees each tears that fall and HEARS me when I call".2

"We could completely trust the Man who died for our sins. With everything that concerns the life that He saved"…3

1. Psalm 27:4 2. He knows my name, Tommy Walker 3. Streams from the Desert, LB Cowman

The Homer Gang

Singapore, 07-28-2007

Circa 1990, in the suburbs of East Bajac Bajac, a small Baranggay in Olongapo City, lives a budding cartoonist. In exchange for a few minutes of pleasure, this young kid skips meal just to draw his favorite cartoon character. This passion to draw extends to the walls of St. Joseph’s High School. A few minutes walk from his home.

As the teacher exhorts how mathematics shape the life of successful people, this young kid sketches the yellow figure he loves to draw, the yellow figure with a hairdo the size of a giant saw. After a few minutes of meditating the concept or his favorite cartoon hero, he shows it to one of his great friends in anime land. “Sheeeeezeee”, this is how he says it but I forgot to ask him how he spells that word, so 17 years after I would assume that this is how he spells it. Christian Reyes, now a licensed Chemical Engineer working somewhere in the middle east would wave flags of complement in agreement to what I just have drawn…yes, that young artist was me. In a time where Adobe Photoshop was just a fragment of man’s imagination, I was already passionate in drawing. I don’t even have a dream of owning my own computer that time, but I was just engulfed in arts…different seasons to speak. And that time it was the rise of the 20th century’s best television series (awarded Dec 31, 1999, Time Magazine)1.

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Sounds familiar? Matt Groening, the man behind this longest running American sitcom said in an interview that they have just passed their 400th episode and thought this was a landmark time2. 20 years after its creation, The Simpsons hit the big screen.

The people behind this series have their reasons for doing this movie just now, and one of them is that we don’t have digital animations back then. Though it took them some time to write the script it all fell in one perfect place. Director David Silverman hopes this could regenerate interest in 2D animation and that it would be a great bonus for them3. Why not? That would be a great bonus for us artists who are still alienated in 3D software programs.

Let’s travel back in time. Back in highschool.

A day after a typical Simpson episode on RPN 9 (it was aired on RPN right?) our gang would regroup in one secluded place of our classroom and cover ourselves with a great force field with The Simpson Zone written all over it. No one would dare enter our zone as we talk about how bleeding gums Murphy made the day again. Hmmm…I am having a difficult time remembering the exact episodes but 17 years later, here in Singapore, while shopping with my wife, the monument of my youth stood right before me. It was not just Bart (he was my cartoon hero), the complete family was there for photo ops. After a few minutes of convincing my wife to take a picture of me and the Homer gang, she did so, hurriedly. And here you saw it in my blogsite. A dream come true…. 17 years after my wandering mind digested this yellow humor. I finally got to have my picture taken with them.

Though I am still waiting for $7 worth of financial aid from my wife, I could only imagine how those who have watched this movie laughed their heart out and who among them where already alive when Homer’s annoyed grunt “D’oh!” first hit our existence.

Argh! I am really that old!

1. Wikipedia, The Simpons 2. First, Singapore, July 2007 issue 3. First, Singapore, July 2007 issue

From the Mouth of Babes

I received this email and thought of posting it on my blog..I do not know who is the author of this compiled benevolent thoughts coming from a group of 4-8 year-olds. For some reason I'm very sure a few years from now when I get back to my blog posts this would be one of my favorites..

What does love mean

in the minds of the young

image grabbed from here

When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7

You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Romans 8:1-2

We need to understand that God doesn’t excuse our sin. Our loving, heavenly Father uses discipline to bring us back to godly behavior. He allows us to experience sins consequences. But divine condemnation isn’t one of them.

Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch Daily Devotional, 07-25-2007

Really Simple Syndication

Like a child leaping for joy as his father finally agreed to bring him to the park, exaggerated as it may seem. That's how i felt a while ago when i finally made my blogsite available through an RSS feed.

Now most of the readers of my blog(assuming you are more than one) can subscribe to my feed from this page. Really exciting? Yes it is...for me! Hehe!

Thanks to the evolution of Web 2.0, geeks like me have more time pondering alternative hobbies other than dancing our way to NerderLand. Have lots of things to look forward to as i intend to write more and more about anything that would come my way. I discovered it is of great help writing about the present so that you have something to read about when you sit in the future figuring out where you went wrong and how everything turned out right - leading to GREAT LESSONS learned.


God speed!

In Pursuit of Happiness

Singapore. 9:52pm


Here are my thoughts again after a long hiatus inside a cave of asp.net codes, world history and book-reading. Suddenly, I found myself recuperating in unimaginable ways. Was it the mind sweeping activities I chose to get busy with? Or was it the encouragement of what’s left of the masses that I gained notoriety as a streaming scoundrel?

One word to fill the blank. Grace.

Yes, of all the attributes that covered my whole being, those that covered me with a placenta of self-proclaimed influence. I almost got to my last breath ignorant of the real fuel that kept my body pumping life for 30 years. I almost threw my dreams to the ravine of an identity crisis. Unabashed and indignant of anyone who comes my way by telling me to sit down and have a good cup of coffee with a cup of good people.

In daytime, I enjoyed life while at nighttime I hid from life. And as the earth freeze for a time being, as the night overcomes the day, I crawled the floor of humiliation grasping for thin air. With a blind sight and a frail body I shook my head in disbelief.

Suddenly out of the corners of the dark alley that I am trapped into, a spark of hope fleets in to light my path. And as I took a small step forward, one mighty arm saved me and broadens the path beneath me. In a minus eighty eight degree centigrade temperature, grace was sufficient for me to feel embraced again with love and forgiveness. As I leave the dust of my wrong decisions leading to mountains of consequences, I found confidence and strength in the sovereignty of a universal master plan so vast for human perception yet so simple before the greatest Artist in the history of everything.

He paints the canvass with different colors and different strokes of His brush. He might have given emphasis to the beauty of the clouds, but He never missed the details of the rough rocks that serve as static walls that the waves embrace. Giving a beautiful refreshing sound of hope as heat subsides when the water meets the shore.


God meets us where we are and not where someone is.
Joseph M. Stowell, Radical Reliance: Living 24/7 with God, 2006

ενιαίο

The continous and widespread fragmentation of the Church has been the scandal of all the ages. It has been Satan's master strategy. The sin of disunity probably has caused more souls to be lost than all other sins combined.

Paul Billheimer
Love Covers(Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1981)


Today I learned that unity does not begin in examining others' fault but in examining my own faults. I realized it is a bit tiring demanding for change when I am no capable of admitting that I am not perfect myself.

The answer to arguments? Acceptance. The first step to unity? Acceptance. Not agreement, unanimity, negotiation, arbitration or elaboration but ACCEPTANCE. Everything else follows. As there is no way we are told to build unity but only to keep unity.

“I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me"
John 17:20-21

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Robert Zimmerman (Jewish) 1964

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

It was only recently that I've read about this American icon (and i was surprised to discover that he is a Jew)...the great poet who helped shaped the future of popular music. Armed with his pen and guitar, spiced with the guts to challenge his own genius, Zimmerman became the youngest topical song writer to emerge in the 60s.

As the rest of his peers are busy with school...science and listening to local radio tunes, this young lad has ears on Little Richard and Woodie Guthrie...

Now I have better things to write about as I become entangled with the roots of a musical genius whom I often hear but never had the time to listen to.

If the point is sharp, and the arrow is swift, it can pierce through the dust no matter how thick.

Positive Minus

A friend once asked me, what in the world are you writing about? What are those things? Where do you get it and how do you find the time to spend thinking about such things?

How would I answer that? My thoughts can only be written at the moment that my heart can speak the truest of its intention. The veracity of my actions has defined itself in a manner that I would not have imagined before. Buoyant as it may seem, but I never intended the curtains to close in grief and distrust.

And as I am always boldly saying, I would stand for what I believed in…NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. Then suddenly… as I review my past actions written on life’s voucher, there’s one thing missing – virtue. You read it right. There was a lack of virtue in what I believed in. I got me a safe place to stand, I had the words to speak, I had a clear understanding of the self-in-a-bottle-of-time attitude but the backbone of all of it was not much founded on rectitude.

All I have now is a picture of the laughter. Though I intend to hear the laughter again, the image itself is still and silent.

But life has to go on.

But one thing I need to do: Forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, “To press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

The time I only have is now, and I wait for tomorrow with the promise of hope and a better future. To seek favor from the heart of the One whom I broke, He who has loved me with an everlasting love.

The storm left for now, but before I get caught in another storm. I would allow the leaves to dry. And when the leaves are dry enough, then would I touch it with confidence, gently hold it firm and with the grace of Him who paints the rainbow in the sky… I will overcome.

I am sorry for the rainy days… I am not used to bringing umbrella when it rains!

>,"<

Blessed Wind #001

The Wind Heads North

An epilogue to “Love Letter to the Wind”
Sevenink in Singapore
5:10am 05-28-2007

“In your graceful and unfathomed steps, you leave a trail for hope to follow. As the leaves kiss the ground when you head home to the north, so will my heart lie peaceful beneath the adornment of dust and shingles that covers my chest.”

85 miles north of the Equator, a few hours shy of sunrise, with a cup of coffee pretending to be my soul mate, I hurried to my laptop in dire hope to write in words the absence of words in my lips.

In the past few days, the Sovereign God introduced Himself to me as the God of details. Many times in my life He proved how majestic the works of His hand is, how he turns worship inside the church to a glimpse of heaven. How He turns mourning into dancing by quenching the thirst of the desperate souls.

But despite His glorious powers displayed in ways that makes every “believer” shun his own god (or even former gods), despite the grandiosity of the sick being healed and sinners being delivered, there are things that are mostly untouched following these words, “I thank the Lord for…”

As our name gets called to stand on the pulpit to testify on God’s goodness, a miniature time-machine gears up at the back of our mind speeding its way to the last time God proved himself to us.

Does it always need to be artistic? Do you need a lot of words to speak “Praise God?”

If God have numbered even the hairs of our head, and if He names all the stars in the sky, then He is in real serious business of touching our lives even in the animosity of our confused society. Even in the unnoticed details that exist with every second of history. In fact, He has crafted us in detail (“fearfully and wonderfully made”). Have you heard of placing an electrode in the human scalp just to record the electrical activity in the brain? Oh well, if there’s anyone else other than God who better understands how each of our brains should perform such activity, I’d give him my life. Do you know that the human heart has two separate parts? One collecting de-oxygenated blood, the other, collects oxygenated blood. A meshwork of cardiac muscle cells, who planned all this?

Truth of details versus the status-quo preference.

What if you are trapped in an island with only the earth’s crust to comfort you, can you dance your way into praising Him? With the immovable rocks before you and the heat of the sun exposing the absence of shade in a radius of 5Km, can we shake our own hands and tell ourselves “I’m glad you are here?”

Without the sound of the cymbals, the amplified rhythm section of a loud band, without a microphone in your hand, without the presence of a rejoicing peer, without the pastor, without your best friend, without your loved one, without everything else. Only God’s promise in your heart…brethren how would you praise God?

Is praise possible in the absence of everything else? Yes, you might say, but have you gone that road before? And are you willing to travel that unpopular direction if you are led to?

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-18

A Ray of Hope for Philippine Politics

Sevenink in Singapore

05-19-2007 12:45am

Gone were the days that the governance of the three stars and the sun were diminished by fame, so to speak. Darlene Custodio, making the lead over a crowd favorite boxer and Eddie "Among Ed" Panlilio with a surprising lead over the son of Leon Guerrero and the wife of a suspected gambling lord gives reason for the young generation to hope.

It’s high time that Filipino’s regain the momentum of choosing better options for their nation. In earlier times, greater exposure in the boob tube and top billing a popular movie no matter how shallow the story is, will give you greater chances of landing a place in the political arena. A place where heroes spill their blood holding integrity and truth as their only assets.

Now, with actors vying for a seat in the senate not landing the top 20 of early tallies proves that popularity alone is not enough. The people have had enough of the popular guys wearing suites instead of aprons.

Aside from this one news that is so appallingly numbing to my skull, TU gets 12-0 in Maguindanao. I’m not that good at mathematics, but when stupidity overshadows logic in the most obvious way, people really do exist in dreamland. I don’t know about substance abuse, but Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin cut lines of crack till their brain stops functioning. The TU guys obviously are not on the road to being OD’d but how come their brain seems to be at loss? Hold your breath, Singson at number 1 followed by Pichay at number 2.

Laughing stock of Asia you would say?

I say no. For this matter is not of the laughing nature. With gnashing of teeth, people involved and who are still subject to the norms of righteousness should stand out for this horrendous feat.

Can’t say the TU guys are not worth it, but for obvious reasons, let’s not allow a circus act dictate our future. Whoever the operators of this abysmal craft should find out for themselves this early where they are heading.

12-0?

Ok let’s go back to paragraph one.

Love Letter to the Wind

Sevenink in Singapore
05.08.07 11:41pm

The helm of time rolls over with a counterfeit bliss attached to its series of countless revolution. In the solace of nature’s warm embrace, I find each moment more invigorating by your presence in my every breath. Though I desire to hold you as you softly swift in front of me, the world may hate me for my selfish carnality to own what is not mine. And as another life breathes you from the opposite side of the world, thus, my will to take you as mine will be forsaken.

In your graceful and unfathomed steps, you leave a trail for hope to follow. As the leaves kiss the ground when you head home to the north, so will my heart lie peacefully beneath the adornment of dust and shingles that covers my chest.

I seek to find rest with you alone in my arms. But how? Calmly you stay but my eyes can’t see you. I can only see you when you swim through the trees with a lovely song . Oh the cruelty of the forest will not make my heart believe that I can't love you. Though tall trees hinders me to follow you, the comfort of the streams that feeds their roots shall lead me to you.

Oh great wind! Speak softly to my ear and tell me where you are heading. Though I may not find ways to make you safe to your chosen place, still, I can build a fence of prayers that my heart alone can give.

Never mind the rain, never mind the heat of the sun... for your breeze will hide my tears and bring forth a cooling soothe of confidence to my weary soul.

The night approaches, will you be here when I sleep? It won’t matter for tomorrow I will wake up and breathe the first air for a new day. I know it’s you, the wind who will stay long after my name is forgotten by everyone. Everyone who will witness my frail body being sealed under the same ground that the leaves have kissed when you left.

And then will I know where your home is. Need I knock when my heart is already at home with you?

Unfathomed Tears

Sevenink in Singapore
05.01.2007 11:45pm

We have the right to cry without the whole world knowing why!

I woke up in the saddest of my days, can’t hardly pray that’s why I just told God what’s in my heart. Today I lost my most treasured possession, which I can not throw away, and plan to throw away, has found a way out on its own. With all its glory and beauty and majesty, the treasure bid goodbye to me.

Last night, the mischief in me caught a glimpse of its own misdeed in mid-air. Of all things to pray about, I prayed about death. I pray that God take me from where I am because I would not know where I would be after the last page of the book turned and galloped to eternity. Where do I pick up the pieces of a broken glass window, and if found out where, why would I pick it? It would only make me bleed!

Minutes after I closed my eyes to sleep, death came knocking at my door. Never was death so vivid and clear in his intention of pulling me out of this earth. The bed I was sleeping has a second deck on top. Suddenly, a rumbling feeling came out of me, I could see the second deck and what’s fascinating is I could visibly see that I’m on my way pass the deck on top of me, and I could really feel my body is still laying on the first deck. It was slow sure death. But I thought about names of persons, of people, then I shouted and I woke up.

How do I pray after that ludicrous stunt?

My first time to read the bible from the back of my tears, imagine yourself inside a car as rain pours heavily outside and on the opposite side of the window you find little words scribbling for your attention. Hard to grasp. But as I am in dire need of God’s word this morning, I just opened my mouth and transcribed the pain I’m feeling inside.

As hopeless as it may seem, I did not waiver to seek for one Word, anything at all that would untie the cord that is strangling my consciousness this very minute.

Then the awesome display of God’s abundant provision took center stage.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him”

Pointblank, the summation of all good things I thought of, I planned to have, all the worth of this world that I strive to keep as myself – they all became like a dew on a leaf in a forest compared to the One who created the forest.

This is what I call small time.

I plan to buy my own Mac this year, I plan to drive my own car next year, I dreamed of plotting my own orbit for the greatest love I’ve had and I see myself as a successful creative artist with limitless access to my digital canvass. Of course I also have different things in my mind other than these which are nothing less than hedonistic. But I choose to discuss anything positive out of myself this time as to avoid confusion. Besides, I’m portraying the role of a super villain here. (Remember a few paragraphs earlier I prayed for death?)

Small time it is.

Now I don’t have a choice but to wait. But for sure, never again will I pray for death. Never again would I reduce the time allotted for me to traverse this road ahead. And with these words, I hope to plant a smile to the beauty of the night; to the color I love most, to the walking shadow under the heat of the sun, to the half of march, to the silent wailer, to the crying voice. I will see the unfolding of God’s promise in a time that is only His.