because we are One

because we are One

Monday, May 19, 2014

9:05 AM

because we are One

The recent weekend was a blast. Together with 28 other singles from KSD Community, I went to a fun-tastic summer outing in Iligan City (and beyond :) see pix for elaboration). With the full support and consistent encouragement from our District leaders, the singles' outing was finally pushed through. To fully grasp the exhortation to cultivate single life within the Community, I wanted to have a deeper sense of understanding of the state of life we presently live out. Other than the obvious definition of the word - Not married or related to the unmarried state, I found some helpful synonyms;  One, Individual, Undivided, Unity.

This season in our lives, we are blessed with the precious time to know best who we are. Our identities take shape into the mold our Creator has designed us to become.  The stage is set for us to fully express our God-given identities. While we enjoy the comforts of home, the nurturing of our parents and the guidance of our community, we get to exercise the disciplines of discernment and handling responsibilities. When we want to engage into any endeavor, it gets our undivided attention. How we fare today reflects much about the future we build. Intrinsic to what we are now dictates who we will be someday. All the more, while we are still young and single, we must be in unity with our true selves, with our God. Inconsistency is un-acceptable. We can't possibly say we want to love the Lord and refuse to accept and take responsibility over our state of lives at the same time. Someday soon, if not already is now, we will each be taking in significant roles that will shape our own families and the entire society. Let's contribute. Let's stay young and joyful. You (and me) are not just single. You are that One person who can make a difference. And you know  exactly how to do that while having  the time of your (single) life.

strings attached

strings attached

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

2:10 PM

I have the tendency to store up things I don't necessarily need. It took years for me to unlearn bit by bit this habit. Some easier to let go, others harder to part with. I make it a point to do my de-cluttering ritual once a year, either during my birthday or Christmas.  Something in the act gives me a sense of calm and accomplishment. Letting go of my stash somehow gives me a certain feel of spiritual cleansing. And it's always a happy drug for me. Apt for new beginnings.

I am not your regular home organizer therefore a one-time general cleaning is all I can manage :)  I'd wonder how I manage to keep so many. Receipts I wanted to keep to remember dates, wrappings because they're pretty, boxes because they might come in handy. The list continues. Some proved to be useful in time of need, most left forgotten as soon as stacked. I have the same attitude towards life.  In 2003, I took up a course in Professional  Education. I didn't plan on teaching, I just wanted a diversion  from my work. Thirteen years passed, only my filed Transcript bears my name. Other than that, I just practically shelved it away until the credentials got invalid. Same scenario happened in 2012. The tone deaf me just one day bought a guitar and took guitar lessons. It was supposedly easy. I just need to properly hold the guitar, strum then play. Much to my surprise the Music teacher first asked me to count and tap harmoniously. Repeatedly. And I never felt so uncoordinated in my entire life.  It took some courage to admit I was really offbeat. So the guitar has to be shelved, too. Among the many others, I seem to have grown a pattern of getting into some things I knew beforehand I was not apt for. At the expense of time, money and some even with emotional investments. The more costly a decision is made, the harder it is to part with. Most wasteful, too.

Tomorrow, I will let go of the guitar. Thankfully not to waste but to a sister-samaritan who can play beautiful music through it. At last my guitar can find peace and a real home. This parting reminds me more, the next time I engage into and welcome something in my life, I better be certain I will be able to use it well and not put it to waste. Else, it'll be just another unplayed guitar.

the Sun and the Tree

the Sun and the Tree

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

7:51 AM

Once upon a time there were two best friends. One is Sun and the other Tree. They loved to play and do things together all day. They run up the hill, swim in the lake and pick up berries from the field. One bright morning, Sun and Tree went out to play and were having so much fun. Along their way, Sun asked Tree "Will you go and leave me someday?". To this Tree readily replied, "Never. I shall not."  And off they went to see an old cave to play hide and seek. The second time Sun asked Tree  "Will you go and leave me someday?". Again, Tree replied, "Never. I shall not."

Now it was Sun's turn to be the it. She counted one to ten and Tree went off looking for the best place to hide. Alone and counting, Sun was unaware that behind her the monster Night was sneaking up to get hold of her. And he was getting nearer, closer to Sun who still kept counting. "...seven...eight...nine…"

Meanwhile, Tree went out too far to hide. From where he hid, a silvery blue bird landed and gave him a curious look. Then it flew away leaving an awestruck Tree following closely. The bird flew far away but Tree won't give up the chase. Both tired from flying and chasing, they come to a halt. The now annoyed silvery blue bird asked Tree, "Why do you keep chasing me?". "Because you keep flying away", Tree replied. "Can you be my friend?" Tree further asked. "I don't want to be your friend. Go away!". Sadly, Tree turned his back and started walking away. The bird felt sorry for being mean but was too proud to call back and apologize. Sulking, Tree kept sighing and wondering why the bird won't let him be his friend. In a far distance, he heard a faint cry calling his name. "Sun!", he suddenly remembered. It was already getting dark.

Captured and dragged, Sun tried so hard to free herself from the claws of the Night. She begged and cried. "Please let me go. My friend will be sad if he comes back and find me gone". "Let your friend be. I have some good use of you. I will lock you up in the Sky together with the Stars. You will be my possession and no one can take you back" Night roared. And so, Night took Sun away and carried her up into the sky, far from the reach of anyone. He put on a chain in Sun's ankle and told her to stay put. Alone and afraid, Sun cried herself to sleep.

Tree was already too late. Nowhere in sight can he find his friend. He was so sad and sorry that he did not move and leave. He wanted to stay in the same spot thinking that Sun might return one day. Many days passed , the sorrowful friend kept bowing his head and punishing himself for leaving his friend. Up in the sky, Sun sees her friend in a sad plight. She begged and begged the Night to let her go. Still Night wouldn't let her.One day, when Night went out, secretly she found a crack in the sky. There she found her way to peek in and look down upon her sorrowful friend. But she couldn't go farther. Her chain was too strong to loosen. Every day she made an attempt to escape, opening up more cracks to make her way out. Night soon discovered what was Sun up to. Furious, he cast a spell on his captive. "Because you want so much to escape from the Sky, I shall let you have your way. But! No one can ever look at you. You will be so bright that anyone looking at you will go blind. And to your friend I will cast a spell as well. Because he won't ever move away, I will let him grow roots and leaves. He can never run and play again. And when you are gone, he will die."

And so it happened. Since then, as each day begins, the Sky would crack up and the Sun will come out. The Tree down below raises up his head and greets his old friend. And then all sorrows melt away and  a new day of adventure begins. One day the Sun asked the Tree "Why did you not move away?". The third time the Tree replied, " because I told you I will never go and leave you".

Proving Identities

Proving Identities

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

7:52 AM

An "identity" is a tautology, an equation or statement that is always true, no matter what. For instance,sin(x) = 1/csc(x) is an identity. To "prove" an identity, you have to use logical steps to show that one side of the equation can be transformed into the other side of the equation. You do not plug values into the identity to "prove" anything. 

Pasted from <http://www.purplemath.com/modules/proving.htm>

I was not a brilliant Math student but I was a good student studying Math :)

Still, I managed to enjoy some and survived all subjects required for me to graduate the course. In the 13 years that passed, I mastered my pluses and minuses with a bit of multiplications & divisions on the side. MDAS is a mighty weapon for everyday living :D (I surely hope my Professors are not reading this. Else they might file a petition to withdraw my grades. Tsk!)

In our Junior year, we took up Trigonometry. That was about the same time I already kept asking myself whether I was in a wrong place or perhaps in a wrong time. I couldn't fathom why my classmates who would not even take notes ace the exams while I who would copy down the last equation could barely move to item number 2 in our quizzes. I've never felt life to be so unfair. Huhu...Then one morning, when the books were out and the  Prof begun scribbling on the board, I got smitten by a kindred spirit staring back at me. Our lesson that day was Pythagorean Identities. Even to this day, it amazes me how I managed to love and look forward to that topic. And I got correct answers in all quizzes, too! Yep! You read it right, no typographical errors here :D  Man, that was such a mystery. Haha...Let me warn you though, that subtopic only lasted for a week. And we met again only in the Finals. I think I got 2 or 3 questions right of the 50 that we were given. Thanks to my ehem..excellence  with the Identities. Even as I write, I couldn't help suppressing a smile. It was such a pleasant memory; like an oasis in the dessert at the time when I could barely finish the course.

Moving forward, to this present time, somehow the lessons move out from the classroom into the realities of life. Growing up was, and still is, never easy.  I had to put up with a lot of identity crises, playing one role to the next, always trying to fit in. Always trying to be the good neighbor, the good friend, the good sister, the good daughter. What I thought would be good, or would be good in the eyes of my imaginary audience, I readily plugged into my system. Like a trial and error method of taking values of the x's and y's of my life equations. In the end, I got tangled with hypothetical solutions. Slow  maybe, yet, guided by divine grace, growth became a beautiful and happy process. I am no longer in front of all sorts of audience, I am with my loved ones. I need not be good, I only have to do my best for the people  who love and accept me just the way I am. When I was called into this life to be holy, it was to be true first and foremost to my self, of who I am and what am I here for. An understanding where reason meets faith. Always, our dear Professor, Dr. Luna would say "Be guided with logic. Use your common sense". We used to laugh about it and joke about a common sense that is not so common. Truly, even in our walk of faith, always we must be guided by logic. After all, isn't God the most logical and sensible? Even in the midst of a great mystery, always the human mind, touched by divine wisdom, gets to comprehend what is beyond understanding. With our spiritual eyes opened the one truth withheld to many who refuse to see gets revealed. Only in unity with our Creator will we ever find who we are. Only then can the image of man and God be one and the same.

little shepherds in distress

little shepherds in distress

Monday, May 12, 2014

1:01 PM

He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:13-15

How often have I entrusted my life to a mere hireling. Every time I get attracted to the glitz and promises of the wordly things, I’d get excited and fixated. I readily let go of the arms that hold me still and run away from the source of real security. Only when I stumble and hurt my knee do I get back to my senses and start looking back. Such a pain yet I seem not to learn. But still, always, I find the Lord’s loving arms ready to receive me back and walk on with me. Without even a need to say anything, He readily understands what I cannot say out of too much guilt and humiliation. With a loving look and a smile that says “I understand”, He wipes away my shame.

As we move along, I can’t help but think about the false shepherds in my life, the hirelings who did not really care. They were up and proud when all was bright. When the storm set in, like a puff of smoke, they vanish in thin air. I am often ready to judge and condemn, but perhaps today calls for a different choice. My Shepherd is out looking for the lost. Perhaps I am called to do the same. Aren’t we all hirelings with the natural tendency to save our own skin in the presence of danger? Aren’t we all capable of denying the Lord, more than three times in our lifetime? Have I not, at some point, been false and selfish?

But before I run and play the role, it may be best to remind myself that before I can share in the Shepherd’s task, I may first need to refuse to be a hireling. To labor not for money but to share in the love of the Shepherd. Being true and dependable requires more than enough strength to fulfill. It is not a task for the faint-hearted. To the many who failed, including me, surely the Lord continues to seek and find. That He may bring all back to His Kingdom.

In full circle

11 May 2014

6:58PM

I’ve put off writing a bit longer than I intend. Perhaps it was because of the corporate hustles I had to contend with every day.  Some battles you need to fight not just to survive but to let others take their chance of living as well. And I take that to heart. Or perhaps it was the loss of words to describe that part of my world unseen to most people, known only to few who understood. Or better yet, perhaps, silence was the best thing to do when you are uncertain of many things.

Today, I stepped out to watch the flowers of May in bloom, to smile at strangers along my path and looked up to heaven to say thanks. The mornings are never been better; the familiar scent of crisp freshness, the soft kiss of the sunrise and the familiar track that meets my feet. Even as I write, when letters form into words and distance comes into a close, I see a familiar face looking back at me. I have come home.

Most things have gone full circle now. It’s time to embark on a new beginning.

(posted first in FB)