A school in psychology (I can’t remember which one) came up with the theory that a man’s life is shaped predominantly by either nature or nurture. The former basically means that a person can attribute (or blame, whichever way the wind blows :p) his/her life to his/her genes. A person is tall or short, smart or not-so-smart based on the genetic configuration that s/he has. The latter, on the other hand, follows the thought that a person is shaped based on his/her environment. For the second one, it’s all about the exposure to the elements, in a manner of speaking.
In truth, I neither agree nor disagree with both of these. Or rather, I don’t completely subscribe to one over the other. I think that it’s a bit of both. Sure, genes cannot be taken out of the picture even if we’re talking about attitude more than a person’s appearance. One cannot recall just how many times one has heard lines that go something like, “You are as grouchy as your dad!” or “You are as stingy as your lolo!” or “You are as kind as your mom!” You get the drift. However, one can easily argue that these are easily attributable to nurture and not just to nature. Being surrounded by people who act in a certain way, it’s almost a sure thing that a person will either follow that attitude, or go the complete opposite way. Or, even if one is possessed by this or that certain trait, it doesn’t necessarily follow that that person will stick to what the stereotype that surrounds that. A popular example would be of a short guy being an excellent basketball player. So yes, it’s partly nature and partly nurture, but I think that there’s something else, and I think that that something is called choice. (Hmmm… I think I think too much. What do you think?:p)
Yeah, sure, a person can’t choose his/her own parents. A lot of times also, one cannot choose one’s own environment. What a person can choose, however, is whether or not to subscribe to a certain point-of-view that s/he is exposed to. I believe that ultimately, it’s in the person’s choices that will determine what kind of a person s/he will be. You choose to be who you are by your actions. Sure, a person can always put up the defense that s/he has been set up, or backed into a corner so that there’s nothing left to do but that one way, which just so happens to be completely opposite to what one wants to do. However, a person can’t keep on saying that that’s the case for the rest of his/her life. That’s not always the case. Besides, first and foremost, we all have the freedom to choose. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of saying this, that each one of us is blessed with an organ up there in our heads called the brain, and that we should use it, because that’s the reason why it’s there. It’s our choice whether we limit ourselves or we allow ourselves to broaden our horizons. We can choose to be narrow-minded little prats or brainless robots if we want, but then, why should we? Why would we want to be like that?
Of course, there’s a limit to being broad-minded – almost everything has a limit, when you get down to it. I’m referring to the term to cover only a certain scope. We should be broad-minded not in the sense that we just accept anything and everything as perfectly all right (which is just wrong), but that we discern for ourselves what is good. It’s not about the relativity of goodness – we’ve been equipped by God with a conscience that makes us know instinctively whether what we’re doing is right or wrong. Job 34:4 says, “Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn between us what is good.” We see for ourselves whether something is bad for us and for our soul. Of course, there will always be things that are mala in se (bad by themselves), such as pagan worship and pornography, but there are also things that are dependent on what kind of person you are. For example, a person can get exposed to certain literature, such as music or books, which will not affect him/her at all, because the person will not allow that to twist his/her ideals, concepts, or whatever since s/he knows that that’s just what these are – literature. On the other hand, another person might be exposed to that same medium, and end up not as unscathed as the first person. S/he will be so affected by it that there will be something inside him/her that would be changed, and even possibly forever. But here’s the deal: a thing cannot get to you unless you allow it to. Besides, as Mk 7:15 says, “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” We might go and “ingest” all things seen as “pure,” but if what comes out of us are filled with venom and spite, what good would subscribing to these things do? Absolutely nothing, except to make one be in danger of being so incredibly self-righteous without realizing that one is no better than the rest of humanity. Again, it’s about discerning what is right for you, and what is not an abomination for Him. Each person has his/her own weakness, his/her own Waterloo, and if one knows of it, then stay away from it. If you think that you’re vulnerable to something, then don’t expose yourself to it, but do not assume that everyone else is suffering from the same weakness that you have. Romans 14:3 says, “The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him.” To extend this thought (and the chapter further), let’s see verses 8-9, “For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” God does not discriminate. If we choose to see Him from this angle while another looks at Him from another, it does not mean that you are the one who is right and the other is wrong. That is just your ego talking.
As long as we know we are in the center of God’s Will, as long as we know we are following Him, we are letting Him lead our lives to where we’re supposed to be, it’s fine. We’re not going to go and do something that’s contrary to what He wants for us just because – and especially not so when we have already come to know Him. That would just be insulting. We live for Him and not for what other people are saying. If we know inside us that we are living for His glory, why should we prescribe to what people around us are doing? They have their own different path; all of us have different paths because all of us are different, but all of these ultimately lead to Him, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6). He has a different call for us, but all of these are to bring us to Him, not away from Him. If we go and condemn other Christians for keeping the faith in a way that is a bit different from ours, even if they are following what God wants of them, we would be no better than the Pharisees of old who think that they’re the only ones who are right, and follow the law for its own sake. We do not see that it’s not so much about the method of walking, but that we have our hearts, our souls, our minds focused on our goal: our Lord.
Sirach 15: 17 “Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him.”
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
From inq.net: Conrado De Quiros' Article
Found this article really amusing and refreshingly honest. Kudos to Conrado De Quiros for a great article.
For those who want to read it themselves, just check out this link.
.
There's The Rub : Authentic fakes
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News
ONE. The joke is attributed to the Moro, though these days his Christian counterpart more easily fits the bill. The Moro trader is selling gold earrings, but one of his customers decides to test the authenticity of the product. He soaks the earrings in vinegar and, alas, the gold turns to dross. Unfazed, the trader exclaims, "Ah, clearly your vinegar is fake!"
Two. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the central bank) has just apologized to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for issuing a P100-bill that misspells her name. Instead of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, what appears on it is Gloria Macapagal-Arrovo. The BSP hastened to assure the public the bill is not fake, it is valid legal tender. In fact, the BSP urged the public to rush to get it-as a bill that makes that mistake is a first in this country. It should be a collector's item, the BSP proposed.
The apology is misdirected. The BSP shouldn't be apologizing to Arroyo, it should be apologizing to the public. The glaring
mistake in that bill is not "Arrovo," it is "President." The "Arrovo" is real (notably given that "robo" is the Spanish word for robbery), the "President" is fake. It is a first in this country, someone who did not win the elections, having money made in her name. The bill is truly a collector's item in the same way that the Ferdinand Marcos bust in Agoo town is a real treasure, a monument to folly and a reminder of the depths to which this country can sink. A country that likes to tolerate authentic fakes.
Well, one thing in Arroyo's P100-bill is real enough. Its value has gotten smaller and smaller.
Three. Juan Ponce Enrile's logging company, San Jose Timber Corp., has a license to log but not to operate as a corporation. The Securities and Exchange Commission revoked SJTC's certificate of registration a couple of years ago for failure to comply with requirements. It has not lifted its revocation. Quite apart from that, Samareños, who fear the areas in their island that Enrile is determined to despoil may become other Ormocs and Infantas, say there's a current log ban covering the entire Samar Island.
Not so, say Enrile and Mike Defensor. Defensor, who issued an order in August allowing Enrile to break a 16-year-old logging ban in Samar, says it is perfectly legal.
Well, Enrile and Defensor have something in common. Enrile is the guy who faked an assassination attempt on himself to justify martial law and who made the term "dagdag-bawas" [vote-padding and vote-shaving] a household word. Defensor is the guy who abducted Panfilo Lacson's witness against Pidal and called it a rescue and who cited an American expert to prove the "Hello Garci" tape was doctored only to be refuted by the expert himself. They're both authentic fakes.
Four. What do Virgilio Garcillano and Elvis have in common? They have both been the subject of "sightings."
Some say they've seen the former election commissioner in Vietnam, others say they've spotted him in other parts of Southeast Asia. The region does not require a visa from nationals of Asean countries, thus allowing fugitives to sneak in without leaving a mark in Immigration. Still others say he's been sighted in Lanao and other parts of Muslim Mindanao, visiting relatives and other strangers. The last prompted Lacson to propose a way for Filipinos to become instant millionaires: Arrest Garci and turn him over to Congress. There's a standing P1-million reward for him.
I myself do not know how Congress settled on the bounty of P1 million. P1 for every vote of the one million votes Arroyo won over Fernando Poe Jr.?
Aquilino Pimentel though has another theory. The only place where Garcillano can be sighted now, he says, is either heaven or hell, though the second is more likely than the first. He personally does not think Garcillano is a current resident of earth. "Someone who holds that kind of information cannot be allowed to live," he says.
Of course, someone who can fake election returns can always fake his return from life, or death. A real fake can always fake or realize a fake reality. But his real absence is the best commentary on the fake presence of the current occupant of Malacañang. Elvis sang "Don't Be Cruel," Garcillano sang "Pipilitin ko po Ma'am." Elvis was called The King, Garcillano is (was?) just called names.
Five. During the recent Apec, Arroyo decried the conditions in Burma and vowed she would help bring democracy to that country. What are the signs of the lack of democracy in Burma and the robustness of it in the Philippines?
One, Burma has no elections; the Philippines has fake elections. Two, Burma is ruled by a vicious junta without the consent of the governed; the Philippines is ruled by a ruthless cabal without the consent of the governed. Three, Burma will not allow people like Aung San Suu Kyi to say what they have to say about the junta; the Philippines does not allow people, like Francisco Gudani and Alexander Balutan, to say what they have to say about the cabal. Burma gags its journalists; the Philippines kills its journalists. Burma has remained one of the most backward and impoverished countries in the world; the Philippines has become one of the most backward and impoverished countries in the world.
Those who can't do, teach.
Six. The First Couple say they went to Disneyland in Hong Kong for their "apo" [grandchildren]. Look at the picture of them that appeared in the Inquirer and see if that's so. They looked absolutely thrilled. The apo were probably bored.
They said they were also there to scout for investment opportunities. Well, they might not have found an opportunity for their country to get rich, but they might have done so for themselves. Disney would pay them a fortune just to not look like Goofy and Minnie Mouse.
Seven. In this country, when gold turns to dross at the touch of vinegar, the vinegar must be fake.
For those who want to read it themselves, just check out this link.
.
There's The Rub : Authentic fakes
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News
ONE. The joke is attributed to the Moro, though these days his Christian counterpart more easily fits the bill. The Moro trader is selling gold earrings, but one of his customers decides to test the authenticity of the product. He soaks the earrings in vinegar and, alas, the gold turns to dross. Unfazed, the trader exclaims, "Ah, clearly your vinegar is fake!"
Two. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the central bank) has just apologized to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for issuing a P100-bill that misspells her name. Instead of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, what appears on it is Gloria Macapagal-Arrovo. The BSP hastened to assure the public the bill is not fake, it is valid legal tender. In fact, the BSP urged the public to rush to get it-as a bill that makes that mistake is a first in this country. It should be a collector's item, the BSP proposed.
The apology is misdirected. The BSP shouldn't be apologizing to Arroyo, it should be apologizing to the public. The glaring
mistake in that bill is not "Arrovo," it is "President." The "Arrovo" is real (notably given that "robo" is the Spanish word for robbery), the "President" is fake. It is a first in this country, someone who did not win the elections, having money made in her name. The bill is truly a collector's item in the same way that the Ferdinand Marcos bust in Agoo town is a real treasure, a monument to folly and a reminder of the depths to which this country can sink. A country that likes to tolerate authentic fakes.
Well, one thing in Arroyo's P100-bill is real enough. Its value has gotten smaller and smaller.
Three. Juan Ponce Enrile's logging company, San Jose Timber Corp., has a license to log but not to operate as a corporation. The Securities and Exchange Commission revoked SJTC's certificate of registration a couple of years ago for failure to comply with requirements. It has not lifted its revocation. Quite apart from that, Samareños, who fear the areas in their island that Enrile is determined to despoil may become other Ormocs and Infantas, say there's a current log ban covering the entire Samar Island.
Not so, say Enrile and Mike Defensor. Defensor, who issued an order in August allowing Enrile to break a 16-year-old logging ban in Samar, says it is perfectly legal.
Well, Enrile and Defensor have something in common. Enrile is the guy who faked an assassination attempt on himself to justify martial law and who made the term "dagdag-bawas" [vote-padding and vote-shaving] a household word. Defensor is the guy who abducted Panfilo Lacson's witness against Pidal and called it a rescue and who cited an American expert to prove the "Hello Garci" tape was doctored only to be refuted by the expert himself. They're both authentic fakes.
Four. What do Virgilio Garcillano and Elvis have in common? They have both been the subject of "sightings."
Some say they've seen the former election commissioner in Vietnam, others say they've spotted him in other parts of Southeast Asia. The region does not require a visa from nationals of Asean countries, thus allowing fugitives to sneak in without leaving a mark in Immigration. Still others say he's been sighted in Lanao and other parts of Muslim Mindanao, visiting relatives and other strangers. The last prompted Lacson to propose a way for Filipinos to become instant millionaires: Arrest Garci and turn him over to Congress. There's a standing P1-million reward for him.
I myself do not know how Congress settled on the bounty of P1 million. P1 for every vote of the one million votes Arroyo won over Fernando Poe Jr.?
Aquilino Pimentel though has another theory. The only place where Garcillano can be sighted now, he says, is either heaven or hell, though the second is more likely than the first. He personally does not think Garcillano is a current resident of earth. "Someone who holds that kind of information cannot be allowed to live," he says.
Of course, someone who can fake election returns can always fake his return from life, or death. A real fake can always fake or realize a fake reality. But his real absence is the best commentary on the fake presence of the current occupant of Malacañang. Elvis sang "Don't Be Cruel," Garcillano sang "Pipilitin ko po Ma'am." Elvis was called The King, Garcillano is (was?) just called names.
Five. During the recent Apec, Arroyo decried the conditions in Burma and vowed she would help bring democracy to that country. What are the signs of the lack of democracy in Burma and the robustness of it in the Philippines?
One, Burma has no elections; the Philippines has fake elections. Two, Burma is ruled by a vicious junta without the consent of the governed; the Philippines is ruled by a ruthless cabal without the consent of the governed. Three, Burma will not allow people like Aung San Suu Kyi to say what they have to say about the junta; the Philippines does not allow people, like Francisco Gudani and Alexander Balutan, to say what they have to say about the cabal. Burma gags its journalists; the Philippines kills its journalists. Burma has remained one of the most backward and impoverished countries in the world; the Philippines has become one of the most backward and impoverished countries in the world.
Those who can't do, teach.
Six. The First Couple say they went to Disneyland in Hong Kong for their "apo" [grandchildren]. Look at the picture of them that appeared in the Inquirer and see if that's so. They looked absolutely thrilled. The apo were probably bored.
They said they were also there to scout for investment opportunities. Well, they might not have found an opportunity for their country to get rich, but they might have done so for themselves. Disney would pay them a fortune just to not look like Goofy and Minnie Mouse.
Seven. In this country, when gold turns to dross at the touch of vinegar, the vinegar must be fake.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Houston, We Have A Problem
I think our computers last week had some sort of a conspiracy and decided to have a mutiny, because by Friday, all of them suddenly conked out on us. Seriously. The computer downstairs (the one used by my ate and my kuya) hasn't really been functioning for a couple of weeks now. My desktop was fine (save for it being on Windows 98) until it suddenly decided to stop working in the middle of the week, when I had to print some documents for school. Fine. I still had Woofy. Or so I thought. I went back from school Saturday morning thinking I could play a couple of hours of Final Fantasy VIII (yes, it's an old game, but I still like it :p), I pull out my laptop, turned it on, grabbed my mouse... to have the wire drop limply on the floor. I initially thought that I just didn't plug it in well, so I tried to put it back in, except that it couldn't. Turned out that for some weird reason, the USB slot glued itself to the mouse's cable and was pulled with it.
So there. All three computers were down by Saturday. We brought all three to the shop. Turned out that the first one was programmed all wrong (we just had it repaired last month) and my desktop had its motherboard chewed by creepy crawlies when we were still in the province (disgusting, I know). As for Woofy, I will (hopefully) be able to get him 2-3 weeks from now, because they have to bring it to the main office of Acer to have the repairs done. I'm just thankful I got my desktop back now. I probably won't be able to update this blog that much until then. I'd still be able to go online (it helps me keep whatever sanity I have left), but not as frequently as I had before.
Howell.
So there. All three computers were down by Saturday. We brought all three to the shop. Turned out that the first one was programmed all wrong (we just had it repaired last month) and my desktop had its motherboard chewed by creepy crawlies when we were still in the province (disgusting, I know). As for Woofy, I will (hopefully) be able to get him 2-3 weeks from now, because they have to bring it to the main office of Acer to have the repairs done. I'm just thankful I got my desktop back now. I probably won't be able to update this blog that much until then. I'd still be able to go online (it helps me keep whatever sanity I have left), but not as frequently as I had before.
Howell.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Tanging Ikaw
Bawat araw akong naglalakbay
Umiikot, gumagala
Hindi alam kung saan patungo
Hindi alam kung ano ang gagawin
Pakiramdam ko na ako ay nalulunod
Dinadala ng mga along hindi nakikita
Pakiramdam ko'y umaakyat ako ng bundok na walang katapusan
Patuloy na pakikipaglaban sa mga bato at buhangin
Akala ko'y ako ang naghahanap
Ang katotohanan ay Ikaw ang nagsikap
Pagbalik ko sa Iyo ay tanging ligaya
Pagmamahal Mo'y aking muling nadarama
Ngayon Ikaw ay nakita
Pag-ibig mo ang tanging nais
Buhay ko ay aking iaalay
Ikaw lamang ang aking sinasamba.
[Haha! First attempt to try writing something in Filipino.:p Feel free to edit it for grammatical errors or whatever.]
Umiikot, gumagala
Hindi alam kung saan patungo
Hindi alam kung ano ang gagawin
Pakiramdam ko na ako ay nalulunod
Dinadala ng mga along hindi nakikita
Pakiramdam ko'y umaakyat ako ng bundok na walang katapusan
Patuloy na pakikipaglaban sa mga bato at buhangin
Akala ko'y ako ang naghahanap
Ang katotohanan ay Ikaw ang nagsikap
Pagbalik ko sa Iyo ay tanging ligaya
Pagmamahal Mo'y aking muling nadarama
Ngayon Ikaw ay nakita
Pag-ibig mo ang tanging nais
Buhay ko ay aking iaalay
Ikaw lamang ang aking sinasamba.
[Haha! First attempt to try writing something in Filipino.:p Feel free to edit it for grammatical errors or whatever.]
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
God's Best
[This is the first of two entries I have posted regarding this entry. This one is the one written recently, while the other, which follows right after this, was made a little less than a year ago. I haven’t read the one I wrote earlier again, so if you notice some differences between the two entries, feel free to point these out.]
Since 2/3 of the S.S. has decided to write about God’s Best in one way or the other, I feel this compulsion to write one of my own.:p Heehee! Just kidding, sorta.
Anyway, Marley was right when she said that this is one of the topics we love talking about. After all, almost every female (or even male) would eventually want to have a family of her (or his) own, and to care and be taken care of. Of course, we also talked about wanting to choose the right guy from the first; the first man we would have a relationship with will hopefully be the one we would also eventually marry.
I’ve always said that apart from God, I don’t want to base my happiness on another person, because that would be just, well, sad. Yet I won’t deny that I still want what I mentioned above. I would be lying if I said that I’m not looking forward to having a family of my own. Just how much exactly I give focus on that drove home when I realized that out of all the Christian books that I own, a huge chunk of it has been devoted to having relationships – Godly ones, certainly, but still on relationships. I have those written by Joshua Harris, Eric and Leslie Ludy, even Dr. Ron Raunikar. I don’t have anything against them, certainly. If I did, I would not have purchased (much less read) these in the first place. Yet I realize that by reading these, it allows me too much to daydream and focus on my ideal home: a wonderful husband, three kids (two guys and one girl, the latter being the youngest), and pets, especially dogs (See, I told you I’ve thought about it too often!) Reading these is not bad; in fact, it’s actually good, as it prepares a person for that certain time in life where God might call him/her to marriage. What isn’t really good is the aftermath of it. Some friends have commented more than once that the problem with us girls is that we are way too emotional, and I have to agree that it’s true at times. We want to find security and belongingness, and the problem enters when we want to have it now, and hopefully in the arms of a guy. I’m not generalizing that this applies to all girls, but this is applicable to a huge chunk of the female population. A part of the blame lies in the world and what it teaches – that a person cannot be complete without a “significant other.” You’re a complete loser if you haven’t found someone yet by the time you’re twelve years old. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but then again, maybe not.
Focusing way too much on this dims why it is called G.B. in the first place. It becomes Lani’s Best and not God’s Best, that is, it becomes too much centered on what I, we, want and not what His Will for us is. It’s like that bumper sticker I see from time to time that goes something like, “Lord, grant me patience right now.” We pray for our God’s Best without realizing that it becomes what we think is best and not what He wants for us. For that matter, how can we say that our G.B. has to be a person to begin with? It could be in the form of ministry, family, or friends, but not in terms of that so-called “significant other.” It’s G.B. because it’s God’s Best – His perfect plan for us. How can we challenge something so incredible? How can we say that what we want is better, when we can have what is the best? Besides, it’s a two-way thing if a person is meant to have a G.B.: it means that s/he is also the other’s G.B., or, as the people from the Bible study that I go to say, you have to be G.B. material yourself. This means developing on your character, and not just allowing yourself to be just the way you are. And yes, I know we can be stubborn and say, “Why do I have to change? He has to accept me just the way I am.” Borrowing from one of my history teachers in college: “That’s baloney.” If you will be just the way you are forever, you’d still be in the cradle sucking on your pacifier. We have a high expectation of who we want our G.B. to be, and we have to have it clear on the outset that chances are, the other person also expects a lot. As Christians, it’s a definite that we choose someone who’s also a follower of our Lord. How can we hope for someone like that when we don’t develop our relationship with Him? This does not mean that we only work on ourselves just so we can get something back. First of all, do we just continue to know more about Him just so we can get a “significant other”? Who are we fooling but ourselves? It’s an insult to God if we do that: to pretend to be in Christ when all we’re striving for is something extremely worldly. Besides, when we come to know Him and be serious in our faith, we can’t help but be changed by Him. It’s about following Him because we love Him, and not because we want to please someone else. If we do find someone, all well and good; if not, we have an Eternal Bridegroom waiting for us in Heaven.
I will probably never forget what Fr. Meehan said to us in our Th 151 class. He said that God loves us all universally, and at the same time, He loves each one of us personally, and one way of letting this love known to us is by being blessed with a spouse – the reason why marriage is given such importance in Church. A friend also once told me that being committed to someone entails maturity and stability in a person’s life. That’s one of the reasons that I now have when I renewed my commitment to Him. If it’s His will for me to have someone, then Thank You, Lord. I’m willing to wait 5, 10, how many years, knowing that it’s definitely God’s Best. Besides, I don’t want to bank on it that much now, because I know it’s not right for me yet. I’m still a student, for crying out loud! I still want that first guy to be the only one for me, God willing. If it’s not His will for me to be with someone, still, Thank You, Lord. That would be my G.B., and I know that He has a different plan for me, and not one involving matrimony. Besides, above it all, I know that no one else can complete me other than Him. I know, because He has always given me that security.
So now, two words will sum up what I will do: active waiting. For what, only He knows. For sure, I trust Him.
Song of Songs 3:5 “I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and hinds of the field, do not arouse, do not stir up love before its own time.”
Since 2/3 of the S.S. has decided to write about God’s Best in one way or the other, I feel this compulsion to write one of my own.:p Heehee! Just kidding, sorta.
Anyway, Marley was right when she said that this is one of the topics we love talking about. After all, almost every female (or even male) would eventually want to have a family of her (or his) own, and to care and be taken care of. Of course, we also talked about wanting to choose the right guy from the first; the first man we would have a relationship with will hopefully be the one we would also eventually marry.
I’ve always said that apart from God, I don’t want to base my happiness on another person, because that would be just, well, sad. Yet I won’t deny that I still want what I mentioned above. I would be lying if I said that I’m not looking forward to having a family of my own. Just how much exactly I give focus on that drove home when I realized that out of all the Christian books that I own, a huge chunk of it has been devoted to having relationships – Godly ones, certainly, but still on relationships. I have those written by Joshua Harris, Eric and Leslie Ludy, even Dr. Ron Raunikar. I don’t have anything against them, certainly. If I did, I would not have purchased (much less read) these in the first place. Yet I realize that by reading these, it allows me too much to daydream and focus on my ideal home: a wonderful husband, three kids (two guys and one girl, the latter being the youngest), and pets, especially dogs (See, I told you I’ve thought about it too often!) Reading these is not bad; in fact, it’s actually good, as it prepares a person for that certain time in life where God might call him/her to marriage. What isn’t really good is the aftermath of it. Some friends have commented more than once that the problem with us girls is that we are way too emotional, and I have to agree that it’s true at times. We want to find security and belongingness, and the problem enters when we want to have it now, and hopefully in the arms of a guy. I’m not generalizing that this applies to all girls, but this is applicable to a huge chunk of the female population. A part of the blame lies in the world and what it teaches – that a person cannot be complete without a “significant other.” You’re a complete loser if you haven’t found someone yet by the time you’re twelve years old. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but then again, maybe not.
Focusing way too much on this dims why it is called G.B. in the first place. It becomes Lani’s Best and not God’s Best, that is, it becomes too much centered on what I, we, want and not what His Will for us is. It’s like that bumper sticker I see from time to time that goes something like, “Lord, grant me patience right now.” We pray for our God’s Best without realizing that it becomes what we think is best and not what He wants for us. For that matter, how can we say that our G.B. has to be a person to begin with? It could be in the form of ministry, family, or friends, but not in terms of that so-called “significant other.” It’s G.B. because it’s God’s Best – His perfect plan for us. How can we challenge something so incredible? How can we say that what we want is better, when we can have what is the best? Besides, it’s a two-way thing if a person is meant to have a G.B.: it means that s/he is also the other’s G.B., or, as the people from the Bible study that I go to say, you have to be G.B. material yourself. This means developing on your character, and not just allowing yourself to be just the way you are. And yes, I know we can be stubborn and say, “Why do I have to change? He has to accept me just the way I am.” Borrowing from one of my history teachers in college: “That’s baloney.” If you will be just the way you are forever, you’d still be in the cradle sucking on your pacifier. We have a high expectation of who we want our G.B. to be, and we have to have it clear on the outset that chances are, the other person also expects a lot. As Christians, it’s a definite that we choose someone who’s also a follower of our Lord. How can we hope for someone like that when we don’t develop our relationship with Him? This does not mean that we only work on ourselves just so we can get something back. First of all, do we just continue to know more about Him just so we can get a “significant other”? Who are we fooling but ourselves? It’s an insult to God if we do that: to pretend to be in Christ when all we’re striving for is something extremely worldly. Besides, when we come to know Him and be serious in our faith, we can’t help but be changed by Him. It’s about following Him because we love Him, and not because we want to please someone else. If we do find someone, all well and good; if not, we have an Eternal Bridegroom waiting for us in Heaven.
I will probably never forget what Fr. Meehan said to us in our Th 151 class. He said that God loves us all universally, and at the same time, He loves each one of us personally, and one way of letting this love known to us is by being blessed with a spouse – the reason why marriage is given such importance in Church. A friend also once told me that being committed to someone entails maturity and stability in a person’s life. That’s one of the reasons that I now have when I renewed my commitment to Him. If it’s His will for me to have someone, then Thank You, Lord. I’m willing to wait 5, 10, how many years, knowing that it’s definitely God’s Best. Besides, I don’t want to bank on it that much now, because I know it’s not right for me yet. I’m still a student, for crying out loud! I still want that first guy to be the only one for me, God willing. If it’s not His will for me to be with someone, still, Thank You, Lord. That would be my G.B., and I know that He has a different plan for me, and not one involving matrimony. Besides, above it all, I know that no one else can complete me other than Him. I know, because He has always given me that security.
So now, two words will sum up what I will do: active waiting. For what, only He knows. For sure, I trust Him.
Song of Songs 3:5 “I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and hinds of the field, do not arouse, do not stir up love before its own time.”
Being in Love
I wouldn't really know if anyone could relate to me, but I was one of the people who dreaded Valentine's Day. After all, I really don't have anyone to celebrate it with. Considering that I'm also one the most cynical people you would ever know, I really think [even now] that the so-called "special event" is just something cooked up by Hallmark to become richer, and it doesn't really do anything to help anyone else anyway. Add to the fact that I'm bitter about it [for reasons that I choose not to divulge], and you get me as your Scrooge for Valentine's. If there's someone out there who is as cranky about the "holiday" as me, we can go and form our exclusive club.But why be bitter when we know that the greatest Being in the world loves us? God says of us, "You are precious in my eyes, and I love you" [Isaiah 43:4].Even more, why be resentful when the One who loves us is Love Himself? 1 John 4:16 says, "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in Him." Be honest: do you really know anyone who would figuratively and literally give their lives for you out of love? I personally don't, no matter how much they love each other. How much more if one did something so horrible as to hurt the other? Yet because of His great love for us, Jesus chose to be crucified so as to save us from having the same fate. It's like whatis being shown in the movies, when the guy/girl intercepts the bullet with their own bodies so as to prevent it from hitting their loved one, who is really the intended receipient of it. Most people get "kilig" over those scenes, as I recall. What happens in real life is so much better though. Our lives came from God when He created us, but we turned our backs on Him when we sinned. Because of our mistakes, we find ourselves on the brink of death, but because Jesus loves us, He did not allow that to happen, and instead took our place and died in our stead. He who is sinless took our faults as His own to save us, and underwent through so much suffering: physical, emotional, mental, and even social. Yet He also rose from the dead, and He gave us a second chance at life. We already can feel His presence with us right now, but even more so when we end up being with Him forever. So we might not have physically someone with us. So what? We know that there's Someone who loves us even more than what the world can offer [Psalm 139]. Who knows? Maybe He can also provide another person for us. We shouldn't look for him/her in our own time though. Song of Songs 3:5b says, "Do not arouse or stir up love before her time has come." Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given you." Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight in the Lord, and He will give the desires of your heart." If it is God's will, then there will be someone with us. Whatever may happen though, God calls us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love others as we love ourselves [Mark 12:30-31]. What then can we do? Instead of being bitter, or inversely, believing in the power of Hallmark, believe instead in true love, the one that comes from God, and that which He calls us to live for.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Looking Backwards and Forward
Yesterday was the last day of registration in Ateneo – a very significant date for those who have worked as RegCom volunteers. Not only does “last day” equate banquet, but the last day of second semester registration is particularly significant, as it means the election for the new batch of ExeCom members for the next year.
[At this point, I would like to provide a brief background for those who have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. The Registration Committee, or RegCom (pronounced as REJ-com, not rEGG-com. We pronounce it as REJ-istration, not r-EGG-istration), is a group of Junior and Senior student volunteers under the Registrar’s Office who facilitate just about anything and everything connected with enrollment. The Executive Committee, or ExeCom, is composed of the RegCom Head, Secretariat Head, Logistics Head, and Assessment Supervisor, and these people are the ones who lead the entire organization.]
Like the rest of my batchmates who served in RegCom, I was invited by some of the outgoing Seniors (who used to be our Juniors) to attend the last day rites and celebration. Of course, I went.:p I wanted to see how they were all doing, from my batchmates, to our Juniors, to our Juniors’ Juniors, and everyone else who falls outside of these, like Sir JJ, who is the Registrar of the Loyola Schools, and who is like our dad in school.
During the video presentation the outgoing Seniors prepared for the Juniors, I was struck by the similarity of RegCom members, no matter from what batch they are coming from. The faces were almost coincidental, because if you compare their pictures with the pictures when we were serving, or even from the batches before us, there’s this almost eerie similarity with all of them. I don’t know if it’s the posture, the way we hold ourselves, our outlooks which are somehow reflected in photo paper, but there’s this something that would identify someone as a member of this prestigious (yes, it truly is) organization. It’s not because we have our own language that we alone could understand, or have inside jokes that only we can laugh at. Who else can understand what RO (not CMT), BatCave, Code Mercury, TC, PC, DC, Pitiker, and ETAs mean? Who else knows Sir JJ, Ate Gemma, Ate Dindin, Ate Carmen, Ate Donna, Kuya Sammy, Kuya Angel, Kuya Joel, Kuya Erick, and the rest of the “unrecognized” people of the admin? Who else would think purple and green pens, along with pink, blue, and white slips of paper are highly significant, or would automatically shush upon entering SS Conference Rooms 1 and 2? Who else would believe that VCDS are core values that are to be lived?
It’s funny. RegCom is one of the reasons why I have truly enjoyed college, yet the beginning of my story with it is far from noble (along with some others, if I were to be honest). During our sophomore year, a couple of friends and I decided to enter RegCom solely because of the early registration privilege. The screening process involved going through an interview, and although I didn’t feel as though it would be a breeze, I was reasonably confident about it. After all, the interviewees were a couple of students just like me, right? Wrong. There were two guys who interviewed me (I would later find out that one is the RegCom Head, and the other is the Logistics Head), and they disabused me of my notion. Sure, they did not smirk or become nasty to me, but they were really unnaturally quiet. If it were nighttime, I probably would have heard the crickets chirping, because they did not say anything that is outside of the questions they were asking me. When asked why I wanted to enter RegCom, I blurted out “For the early registration!” before the words popped in my head, because of the way they just looked at me. Lie detectors would not be needed if they were hired to screen out suspects. After the interview, I honestly did not think that I would be accepted because of the stupidest things that kept popping out of my mouth (out of the hundred or so people who try out, they only accept a small chunk of it). Wonder of wonders! I got accepted! I became really excited about that, but I got deflated again during our first GA. The Seniors were rod-stiff and poker-faced in their seats. The ExeCom members were worse, if that were possible. Even a friend, a self-confessed taray queen, barely managed a squeaky reply when the Head talked to her, after promising that she will freeze him in his shoes with a glare. After the GA, we were made to sign up to the subcommittee we wanted to be part of. At that time, there were only three: Food, Promotions, and Marketing. I really wanted to be in Promotions, but because of the rush to get good slots, I ended up being in the committee that just about everyone avoided, and with good reason: Marketing. I was thinking, “This could not get any worse,” because I ended up in a subcommittee that no one wants to be in, and I also foresaw a very tense relationship we Juniors will have with our Seniors. My guess was not far-off the mark: there were these tensions that developed between the two groups. RegCom’s core values are forcibly ingrained in our heads: Volunteerism, Commitment, Service, and Discipline. It was like entering a military school, because the discipline was really, really intense. You have to try to be perfect in everything that you do, because, as our Head pointed out, “There’s no room for complacency.” To make signs, you have to first fold it 32 times, and then use this color of pen for that purpose, and everything. The Secretariat Head said that our signs should as much as possible not look like it was handwritten. During our time, class schedules had to be written by hand also, and because of the sheer number courses and classes, we ended up taking home work that should be submitted the day after. Call time during prep days and actual registration was at 6 a.m., so I’d get up at around 3:30 and then be off before 5. We’d be dismissed at around 9-10 p.m. because of the number of work that had to be done. The next day would be the same schedule. Even with the nametag, you would still be called “RegCom” (and hopefully by the correct pronunciation!) as though you were a non-person but an entity created solely to serve them (which is in some way true). During actual registration, you will get yelled at by virtually all members of the Loyola Schools community: the students, faculty members, parents of the students, and other employees. What I love saying is that your whole RegCom experience will not be complete if you were not yelled by these people at least once in your career in the organization. The authorities were not much help, because although they did teach us what to do in this or that situation, they weren’t all that friendly about it (if some of my Seniors are reading this, I apologize for this, but this is what I felt and saw at that time). Actually, being “not friendly” is an understatement. I remembered this one time when I wanted to cry out of sheer anger and frustration because of someone who gave me wrong instructions and then suddenly reversed it and made it seem like it was my fault when things fell apart. It was a really horrible experience, and I during those times, I seriously considered leaving the organization. My thoughts were somewhere in the line of, “I am sacrificing my sem break for this?!” Not only do we not have as long a break as the other students, but we had to endure the nastiness of our Seniors as well as the people we have promised to serve. The only compensation we received, not counting the fact the meals we received, was the “early registration privilege,” which did not ensure that we get our first choice of classes. My schedule during the first semester of my Senior year wasn’t the best – my first class started at 0730 a.m. and ends at 0900 pm. The privilege was more of a necessity and not a gift, because we couldn’t have served the students and enrolled for ourselves at the same time. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t paid, unlike the scholars who are also volunteers for the registration period. In my mind, we were just a bunch of sado-masochists. Our former Head said it very well: “We’re a nameless, faceless, and thankless organization.”
Yet I found myself always coming back to serve the students. Even when I have already graduated, I still went back to serve Summer of this year. Sure, we receive all the flack if the registration doesn’t go that well even if we’re not the ones at fault. Sure, we only get free meals out of weeks of working. Sure, we’re probably the most hated organization (which is actually a misnomer; we’re not an org but a student arm of the school administration). Sure, we barely get any rest because we spend our breaks working in school instead of enjoying our sem or summer break. Yet there is this certain fulfillment that we get by working. I have said in that horrible interview that I like helping people, and that did not change. There’s this warm glow of accomplishment that I feel at the end of the reg day, especially if we made the students have an easier – and hopefully happier – registration process. I’ve loved RegCom so much that I did not hesitate to go the extra mile for the organization. When I was made one of the Marketing heads, I gave them my promise that I would do the best that I can. Our batchmates also made the promise that we would not treat our Juniors the way we were treated. That year was great. I did my best to keep the promise that I gave them. I was praying really hard those times for help in getting sponsors, managing them, while balancing it with academics as well as actual registration work, since most of the marketing work – meeting with sponsors, negotiating, etc. – happens during the semester. There were difficulties we’ve encountered –sponsors backing out at the last minute or not paying us at all, red tape, missing paraphernalia of the sponsors, etc., as well as the fact that outside of my co-heads and I, there was barely anyone else working for marketing. Thank God that we overcame through all that, and the sub-committee churned out very good output. We were on really good terms with them, and even now, I can go and just hang with them knowing that they’re not petrified of me (at least, I hope not.:P I don’t think so, though, considering that they love picking on me anyway :D). There were differences, of course; those will never be fully gone. Outside of those, it was really great. The RegCom Room in Colayco will always be a happy place for me.:D I learned so much from the organization not just in terms of the training, which is really amazing, but also but myself. RegCom is definitely a good character builder. It also united very different people into a common purpose, which is amazing. We might have had different reasons to stay, but in the end, we were all in it together, as cliché as that may sound.
[At this point, I would like to provide a brief background for those who have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. The Registration Committee, or RegCom (pronounced as REJ-com, not rEGG-com. We pronounce it as REJ-istration, not r-EGG-istration), is a group of Junior and Senior student volunteers under the Registrar’s Office who facilitate just about anything and everything connected with enrollment. The Executive Committee, or ExeCom, is composed of the RegCom Head, Secretariat Head, Logistics Head, and Assessment Supervisor, and these people are the ones who lead the entire organization.]
Like the rest of my batchmates who served in RegCom, I was invited by some of the outgoing Seniors (who used to be our Juniors) to attend the last day rites and celebration. Of course, I went.:p I wanted to see how they were all doing, from my batchmates, to our Juniors, to our Juniors’ Juniors, and everyone else who falls outside of these, like Sir JJ, who is the Registrar of the Loyola Schools, and who is like our dad in school.
During the video presentation the outgoing Seniors prepared for the Juniors, I was struck by the similarity of RegCom members, no matter from what batch they are coming from. The faces were almost coincidental, because if you compare their pictures with the pictures when we were serving, or even from the batches before us, there’s this almost eerie similarity with all of them. I don’t know if it’s the posture, the way we hold ourselves, our outlooks which are somehow reflected in photo paper, but there’s this something that would identify someone as a member of this prestigious (yes, it truly is) organization. It’s not because we have our own language that we alone could understand, or have inside jokes that only we can laugh at. Who else can understand what RO (not CMT), BatCave, Code Mercury, TC, PC, DC, Pitiker, and ETAs mean? Who else knows Sir JJ, Ate Gemma, Ate Dindin, Ate Carmen, Ate Donna, Kuya Sammy, Kuya Angel, Kuya Joel, Kuya Erick, and the rest of the “unrecognized” people of the admin? Who else would think purple and green pens, along with pink, blue, and white slips of paper are highly significant, or would automatically shush upon entering SS Conference Rooms 1 and 2? Who else would believe that VCDS are core values that are to be lived?
It’s funny. RegCom is one of the reasons why I have truly enjoyed college, yet the beginning of my story with it is far from noble (along with some others, if I were to be honest). During our sophomore year, a couple of friends and I decided to enter RegCom solely because of the early registration privilege. The screening process involved going through an interview, and although I didn’t feel as though it would be a breeze, I was reasonably confident about it. After all, the interviewees were a couple of students just like me, right? Wrong. There were two guys who interviewed me (I would later find out that one is the RegCom Head, and the other is the Logistics Head), and they disabused me of my notion. Sure, they did not smirk or become nasty to me, but they were really unnaturally quiet. If it were nighttime, I probably would have heard the crickets chirping, because they did not say anything that is outside of the questions they were asking me. When asked why I wanted to enter RegCom, I blurted out “For the early registration!” before the words popped in my head, because of the way they just looked at me. Lie detectors would not be needed if they were hired to screen out suspects. After the interview, I honestly did not think that I would be accepted because of the stupidest things that kept popping out of my mouth (out of the hundred or so people who try out, they only accept a small chunk of it). Wonder of wonders! I got accepted! I became really excited about that, but I got deflated again during our first GA. The Seniors were rod-stiff and poker-faced in their seats. The ExeCom members were worse, if that were possible. Even a friend, a self-confessed taray queen, barely managed a squeaky reply when the Head talked to her, after promising that she will freeze him in his shoes with a glare. After the GA, we were made to sign up to the subcommittee we wanted to be part of. At that time, there were only three: Food, Promotions, and Marketing. I really wanted to be in Promotions, but because of the rush to get good slots, I ended up being in the committee that just about everyone avoided, and with good reason: Marketing. I was thinking, “This could not get any worse,” because I ended up in a subcommittee that no one wants to be in, and I also foresaw a very tense relationship we Juniors will have with our Seniors. My guess was not far-off the mark: there were these tensions that developed between the two groups. RegCom’s core values are forcibly ingrained in our heads: Volunteerism, Commitment, Service, and Discipline. It was like entering a military school, because the discipline was really, really intense. You have to try to be perfect in everything that you do, because, as our Head pointed out, “There’s no room for complacency.” To make signs, you have to first fold it 32 times, and then use this color of pen for that purpose, and everything. The Secretariat Head said that our signs should as much as possible not look like it was handwritten. During our time, class schedules had to be written by hand also, and because of the sheer number courses and classes, we ended up taking home work that should be submitted the day after. Call time during prep days and actual registration was at 6 a.m., so I’d get up at around 3:30 and then be off before 5. We’d be dismissed at around 9-10 p.m. because of the number of work that had to be done. The next day would be the same schedule. Even with the nametag, you would still be called “RegCom” (and hopefully by the correct pronunciation!) as though you were a non-person but an entity created solely to serve them (which is in some way true). During actual registration, you will get yelled at by virtually all members of the Loyola Schools community: the students, faculty members, parents of the students, and other employees. What I love saying is that your whole RegCom experience will not be complete if you were not yelled by these people at least once in your career in the organization. The authorities were not much help, because although they did teach us what to do in this or that situation, they weren’t all that friendly about it (if some of my Seniors are reading this, I apologize for this, but this is what I felt and saw at that time). Actually, being “not friendly” is an understatement. I remembered this one time when I wanted to cry out of sheer anger and frustration because of someone who gave me wrong instructions and then suddenly reversed it and made it seem like it was my fault when things fell apart. It was a really horrible experience, and I during those times, I seriously considered leaving the organization. My thoughts were somewhere in the line of, “I am sacrificing my sem break for this?!” Not only do we not have as long a break as the other students, but we had to endure the nastiness of our Seniors as well as the people we have promised to serve. The only compensation we received, not counting the fact the meals we received, was the “early registration privilege,” which did not ensure that we get our first choice of classes. My schedule during the first semester of my Senior year wasn’t the best – my first class started at 0730 a.m. and ends at 0900 pm. The privilege was more of a necessity and not a gift, because we couldn’t have served the students and enrolled for ourselves at the same time. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t paid, unlike the scholars who are also volunteers for the registration period. In my mind, we were just a bunch of sado-masochists. Our former Head said it very well: “We’re a nameless, faceless, and thankless organization.”
Yet I found myself always coming back to serve the students. Even when I have already graduated, I still went back to serve Summer of this year. Sure, we receive all the flack if the registration doesn’t go that well even if we’re not the ones at fault. Sure, we only get free meals out of weeks of working. Sure, we’re probably the most hated organization (which is actually a misnomer; we’re not an org but a student arm of the school administration). Sure, we barely get any rest because we spend our breaks working in school instead of enjoying our sem or summer break. Yet there is this certain fulfillment that we get by working. I have said in that horrible interview that I like helping people, and that did not change. There’s this warm glow of accomplishment that I feel at the end of the reg day, especially if we made the students have an easier – and hopefully happier – registration process. I’ve loved RegCom so much that I did not hesitate to go the extra mile for the organization. When I was made one of the Marketing heads, I gave them my promise that I would do the best that I can. Our batchmates also made the promise that we would not treat our Juniors the way we were treated. That year was great. I did my best to keep the promise that I gave them. I was praying really hard those times for help in getting sponsors, managing them, while balancing it with academics as well as actual registration work, since most of the marketing work – meeting with sponsors, negotiating, etc. – happens during the semester. There were difficulties we’ve encountered –sponsors backing out at the last minute or not paying us at all, red tape, missing paraphernalia of the sponsors, etc., as well as the fact that outside of my co-heads and I, there was barely anyone else working for marketing. Thank God that we overcame through all that, and the sub-committee churned out very good output. We were on really good terms with them, and even now, I can go and just hang with them knowing that they’re not petrified of me (at least, I hope not.:P I don’t think so, though, considering that they love picking on me anyway :D). There were differences, of course; those will never be fully gone. Outside of those, it was really great. The RegCom Room in Colayco will always be a happy place for me.:D I learned so much from the organization not just in terms of the training, which is really amazing, but also but myself. RegCom is definitely a good character builder. It also united very different people into a common purpose, which is amazing. We might have had different reasons to stay, but in the end, we were all in it together, as cliché as that may sound.
---
During our first Legal Profession meeting last Friday, our professor made us write a short essay in answer to a question, which went something like, “Do you have a sincere desire to study law, or is it just for the glamour in society?” Although I already knew what my answer would be, the question still made me pause. Why am I in law school? It’s something that I haven’t asked myself since I entered, as my question before was always, “Why am I still in law school?” Amazing how a single word can change the entire meaning of a sentence. Anyway, I’m digressing. Of course, one reason will be because my mom wants me to. I’d be lying if I said that that’s not a factor in my choice. However, if there was no genuine desire for me to go, I would not have gone through the exam and to school no matter what people would have said.
Right off the bat, I can say that I’m not in it for the honor that society will give me. I never really cared what people would say about me, so it doesn’t matter whether they’d glorify me or look down on me. One reason why I wanted to study law is purely for academic reasons. I have always loved social sciences and humanities fields such as sociology (although my teacher in college wasn’t all that great), psychology, history, and philosophy. I like knowing about how the human mind works, and why people make this or that choice in their lives, and all that. It also allows me to broaden my mind, because these disciplines make you look at things from different perspectives and not limit you to only one or a couple of points-of-view. That was what drew me to law: the ability to be able to interpret the law and situations in different ways (yes, I can be nerdy. Sue me, especially if you find out the extent of my nerdiness). The other thing is quite funny. I keep talking (and knowing) about my cynicism, yet there are certain things where I am hopelessly idealistic of. This is one of them. I want to go into law because I believe there is still hope for our country. There are so many corrupt, twisted people here, yet I still believe that we can still have a bright future. I want to help make that change happen, even if my contribution would not be something gargantuan so as to be immediately noticeable. I want to help those who need it, but who do not have the means to have it. I want to let others know that they can make a change if they just desire for it. I know that God does not want us to fry in our own oil, and I know He has better plans for us, and it’s something that we can reach. This is something that makes me optimistic, because a law degree is not needed to achieve that. It will definitely help, because it gives the opportunity to reach out to those who we normally would not have access to. That’s why I want to go into the profession. If it’s not His Will for me to continue on, there are still other ways to make that change happen.
This is now my second semester in law school. Whatever may happen, may it be His Will that may happen. Might I be able to take care of what has been entrusted to me.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Love's Embrace
What love is this?
For one to offer his life for a friend
Though hated for the sacrifice
What love is this?
For a parent to receive a child with open arms
No matter how hated and betrayed
What love is this?
For a shepherd to look for a single lamb for fear of its life
Even with ninety-nine others
What love is this?
For a diver to give everything he owns
For a single pearl
What love is this?
For a person to offer food and shelter to a complete stranger
Without caring about the person's past
What love is this?
For Him to sacrifice perfection for filth
For those who made themselves strangers to Him
For one to offer his life for a friend
Though hated for the sacrifice
What love is this?
For a parent to receive a child with open arms
No matter how hated and betrayed
What love is this?
For a shepherd to look for a single lamb for fear of its life
Even with ninety-nine others
What love is this?
For a diver to give everything he owns
For a single pearl
What love is this?
For a person to offer food and shelter to a complete stranger
Without caring about the person's past
What love is this?
For Him to sacrifice perfection for filth
For those who made themselves strangers to Him
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
You know the country is going to the dogs when...
A news item about a person included the testimonials he received from his friends on Friendster.
Only in the Philippines.
Only in the Philippines.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Lyrics (wonder of wonders!)
Sunny Days
Jars of Clay
Sunny days keepin' the clouds away
I think we're coming to a clearing and a brighter day
So far away
Still I think they say
The wait will make the heart grow stronger or fonder
I can't quite remember anyway
So if you waitin' for love
Well it's a promise I'll keep
If you don't mind believing that it changes everything
Then time will never matter
Winter, Spring... is what love can truly bring
Ice turns to water, water flows to everything
You can lose your mind
Maybe then your heart you'll find
I hope your won't give up what's movin' you inside
If the car won't start, when you turn the key
When the music comes on
All your cold, cold heart can do is skip a beat
It's a promise I'll keep
When you're waiting for love
If you don't mind believing that it changes everything
Time will never matter
Jars of Clay
Sunny days keepin' the clouds away
I think we're coming to a clearing and a brighter day
So far away
Still I think they say
The wait will make the heart grow stronger or fonder
I can't quite remember anyway
So if you waitin' for love
Well it's a promise I'll keep
If you don't mind believing that it changes everything
Then time will never matter
Winter, Spring... is what love can truly bring
Ice turns to water, water flows to everything
You can lose your mind
Maybe then your heart you'll find
I hope your won't give up what's movin' you inside
If the car won't start, when you turn the key
When the music comes on
All your cold, cold heart can do is skip a beat
It's a promise I'll keep
When you're waiting for love
If you don't mind believing that it changes everything
Time will never matter
Side Comments
Thought about posting this along with the really long entry preceding it, but then figured out that it didn't need any help in length.:p Anyhow, here are some short stuff I can't help but mention that happened in EC05.:p Admittedly, some are shallow, some are not really worth taking note of, but as I can't rely on my very lousy memory, I decided to put it up here to aid in remembering.:)
~o~
Lani the Klutz strikes again! I really, really, really tried hard to be careful in moving, but I still knocked over the lyrics stand during the Singles talk, in front of just about everyone who belongs to it. Urgh. Felt my face burning up really bad that you probably could have put a kettle of water on top of my head and have it ready in a few minutes for coffee. I don't think I ever will grow out of that.
~o~
I have always loved "In the Light" by dc Talk, but it being performed with instrumentals was just... I am speechless, in a good way.
~o~
Thank God for angels - well, they were human beings, but I still think of 'em as heaven-sent - who saw to it that no one will suffer from intense back, leg, and foot pain for standing on the same spot for more than an hour. My limbs and my backbone are forever thankful.
~o~
I have been called many things, but two new adjectives have been attached to me: bionic and paranormal. Not only am I a cyborg, but a ghostly one at that.
~o~
Who would've thunk I'd meet the people I only knew before via the Internet? It was so cool to finally meet the people behind the avatars and posts. It's always way better to talk to people face-to-face rather than via the phone (mobile or landline), snail mail, or the computer. Those girls were great.:)
~o~
In connection with the previous blurb: no matter how old a person will be, if s/he is ready, willing, and able, s/he can always go and be a youth again - even if it meant giving more effort.
~o~
Confucius should have thought of this: S/he who shoots footage of the concert floor, tops of heads of people, and the ceiling, with shrieks as audio, loves the song.
Some peekchurs
Haha! So I'm bored and not sleepy.:p Sue me.:p Anyhow, these were taken only a few hours ago, during the birthday celebration of Elaine and Ate Lucille. By request, here are the peekchurs, at least the ones that are presentable enough to be posted.:)
Dapat stolen shot.:p
Pa-intense effect.:p
Too bad Ate Mich is hardly seen.:(
The Birthday Girls
The SS :p
Star for All Seasons
“All the world is a stage, and we are merely actors.”
- William Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare
[Although I do like the Bard’s work, I do not have a Shakespearean kick going. His quotes just seemed appropriate, for some reason, so I’m going to use these to help me make my point. Oh yeah, these are originally two entries that I merged into one, so I apologize for the length and for the parts that don’t seem to coincide with the other sections.]
Owing to my cynicism of many years [cue in Aerosmith’s “Jaded”], I have known and believed what William Shakespeare has said. I considered just about everyone to wear these masks fit for the company that they will be attending to, and would soon as shed one in favor of the other faster than you can say “façade.” In the present, I still believe in that to a certain degree. This is partly due to the fact that there is still a bit of a cynic in me. After all, who can deny that superficiality still exists, and is actually thriving? What with all the backstabbing and crab mentality going on around us, a person is hard-put to remain optimistic. Yet there is also truth in that certain people should be treated differently from others, not to conceal a part of one’s self, but because the circumstances call for it. You can’t go and treat your professor as your kabarkada in the classroom if you fear for your grade, for example. Yet that does not mean that you have to change your personality depending on who you are with. Don’t have multiple personalities – not only is that a psychological disorder, but the longer you keep on the mask, the more it becomes integrated in you that you end up being who you’re pretending to be. Always be true to yourself, but don’t be so bullheaded to force yourself upon others’ throats. Act according to the situation. In the same way, don’t try to hide who you are behind a mask when you are facing others. Otherwise, they’ll like you for who they are, and not for who you are. Young people, especially, seem to face this struggle more than the others, because in this age, there is always this need to belong to something, so much so that we end up risking who we are just so we can be liked. Otherwise, if we miss our cue, we end up being the laughingstock or the outcast of the play we are in where we barely know the script.
What am I getting at? Simply that we can’t go and pretend to be someone that we’re not. I recently had a talk with a friend who can’t bring himself to call himself a Christian because he felt that he didn’t deserve that name anymore. To connect it to a previous entry, we are Christians not because of who we are, but who He is. Yes, we definitely do not deserve to be His children, but by God’s grace and love, He made it so. It is also by His love that He made us different from each other. I’ve said this over and over again, but it’s really something that I want to emphasize – that we really were made not to be similar. We need not pretend to be someone else because we’re special the way we are. That’s how He made us so. All of us have different God-given gifts that we can tap into. It is up to us whether we choose to utilize these or not.
To further connect it to the other entry [yes, I know that that was long enough, but I really feel that there’s so much to be said about the topic], we cannot put on the label “Christian” as a sort of a shirt that we can pull on and off of us when we feel like it. Sure, other people might be properly impressed by that mask, but in the end, who are we fooling? Ourselves? God? I can’t help but think of this couple who tried deceiving God, and ended up literally falling dead on their feet. Don’t believe me? Read Acts 5:1-11 and see what happened to Ananias and Saphira. It wasn’t so much because they withheld a part of the sum of money that should have been their tithe, but because they tried to fool God. I don’t know if there are any cases of people dropping dead when they decided to lie to God, but the point is, God does not want their material sacrifice in place of their souls. Psalm 51:18 says it: “For You do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering You will not accept.” How can we go and lie to Him, when He knows even the number of hair strands on our head (Mt 10:30)? To be a Christian means to live as a Christian in every facet of life, not one, two, or three, but everything.
~
Almost a couple of weeks ago, I attended a conference of this Christian community that I recently joined. It was really cool because initially, I didn’t think I’d be able to attend, considering that I always go home to the province during the semestral breaks (even with the few days left when I served in RegCom for two years). Anyhow, thank God that He allowed me to go, because I was really blessed with the experience of attending the conference. It wasn’t just the talks that really brought enlightenment to me; the presence of the people themselves was a huge blessing. I’m not just talking about the friends (both old and new) I had there. Seeing and knowing that there are hundreds of people who are just ready to worship Jesus and giving everything that they’ve got – even more – to the Lord is just amazing. I can’t express it in words. Even if I danced and sang the way they did before, it wouldn’t be enough to convey just how much I felt blessed by all that has happened. What was also powerful was the delegation of participants from just about all over the world. It was really great to see that in spite of the language barrier, the cultural differences between the races, the people were really united to worship the Lord. Age also did not matter. It was really amazing to see people, however old they were, bouncing up and down, shouting praises to Him, dancing and singing with all their heart to worship Him. To see these people, and to know that they were called there by God to know Him more and to be part of the harvest, and even the thought that they would bring others to God, that there will be others who would come to know God is just amazing.
There was this message given that was really striking for me, and it’s about worship. Yes, we could worship Him in the ways I described above, but it’s not really limited to that. True worship means complete obedience to what He wills for us. It’s not about segregating a chunk of our life and saying, “Lord, this one’s for You!” It’s the totality of who we are that God wants. It’s not about basing our worship on our condition. It’s about praising Him for everything that’s going with us, even if the situation that we’re in isn’t all that great. I particularly loved this quote that the speaker gave during his talk, that the size of our enemy is the size of God’s confidence in us. That is just completely amazing. It adds a whole new dimension to the promises He gave in the Bible. He says 2 Corinthians 12:9 that His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in our witness, and it supports Matthew 11:28-30, that He is the source of our relief and strength in our burdens. It’s really amazing that even if He allowed us to experience trial that He knows we’re capable of handling, He is still there to support us. That’s not something that we should lose sight of, because it’s all about Him in the end. Feelings may come and go, but God is constant. I love this song of Relient K, because its message is that the trials that we are going through will never overpower the promise of being in God’s presence forever. That is a very beautiful thing to look forward to, to finally be with Him for all eternity, and to just bask in His love and to praise and worship Him anytime and every time. To believe that we can be overcome by our trials is to disbelieve in God’s power. He is God, and nothing is impossible in Him. He has defeated sin and death; how much more our puny struggles? In these situations, it would be better if we focused on Him and what He is trying to teach us and not on the suffering itself. Otherwise, we would end up just huddled in a corner, bawling our eyes out. He always has a reason for everything that He does, and all of these are a result of His great love for us. He makes us go through tough situations not as a form of punishment, but to cleanse us of our impurities.
When I was younger, I couldn’t really understand what it meant when they said that God allows trials to test us? I’d be like, “Test us for what?” It was only until a few years ago that I truly understood what that meant, that He tries us to test our devotion for Him. What kind of ground are we that the seeds which the sower threw fell on? It’s not to taunt us that we are worthless whenever we fall – quite the opposite. He wants us to grow as Christians who are living for Him. How can we know we truly do love and serve Him when everything is always so cotton candy-perfect for us? He wants us to learn how to be humble. How can we boast of something that is not really from us? He wants us to share in His sufferings, and also to be able to aid to those who are suffering. How can we help them when we don’t know what they’re going through? That’s a major thing I learned in the Excellence Conference: that to be excellent is not to put ourselves above others, but to humble ourselves and be willing to serve, not (just) in the way that we think, but also outside of that. John 7:18 says that “whoever speaks on his own seeks his own glory, but whoever seeks the glory of the One who sent him is truthful, and there is no wrong in him.” It’s not about furthering our own agenda. If we did that, God will know about it. What will happen then is that we seek to glorify ourselves and not Him – a version of the so-called “Sunday Christians.” It’s about serving Him through others, and lifting it up for His greater glory, and we do it not for its own sake, but because of our love for Him. There was this part in the homily of the Archbishop, when he said something to the effect that it’s not about the grandiose actions that we do just for the sake of doing them that counts. Even if we do the littlest things, if these are out of love, they’re definitely more meaningful than acts so obvious as to positively be shouting, “K.S.P.!” It’s not about acting. It’s about a genuine move to show that it’s really out of love that you’re doing it. As He loved us, so should we love Him.
John 15:19 – “If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.”
Friday, November 04, 2005
Odes
I recently went to an art exhibit, some of the works interpretations of some Bible verses. They say a picture paints a thousand words, but since I haven’t tried working with that medium yet, I’ll stick to yet more text.:) After all, words can be taken in so many ways too.
Mark 12:30
I worship You with my heart, Lord;
Though emotions may come and go
My desire for You will never pass away
My heart sings of Your love.
I worship You with my soul, Lord;
The Dark One might try to overpower me
But Your eternal light destroys the blackness
My soul rejoices in Your eternal presence.
I worship You with my mind, Lord;
The world might offer philosophy and knowledge
Yet You are the only One I can truly believe in
My mind believes in Your power and glory.
I worship You with my strength, Lord;
My body may be weak
Yet my feet constantly dance, my hands unceasingly clap
My strength is offered for Your glory.
I worship You with all my being, Lord;
Though I might continually fall and fail,
To You I turn to for love, strength, and grace
I offer my life to You as a living sacrifice.
John 14:6
A veritable maze known as decision-making
Labyrinth with many a minotaur lurking in the corners
A wrong turn, a false path
And I find myself running into a brick wall, falling into a pit.
Yet there is a correct path, with a Rescuer present
And He who saves us from the confusion is the Way Himself.
A tangled rosebush known as humanity
A single offering of a blossom for a dozen other thorns
Though beauty alluringly presents itself
One touch, and blood seeps out.
Yet there is the whole truth for those who believe
The King of all that is good is the Truth Himself.
A raging ocean known as life
The swallower of all things, big and small alike
Lack of any form of protection or guardianship
And one drowns, or else ends up drifting pointlessly.
Yet in such a vast disorder, safety can be found
He who provides the lifeline, is Life Himself.
And a bonus...
Rock
Look around you, what do you see?
Death, decay, and desecration
There is not one who remains pure
All have fallen away.
Sense around you, and what do you feel?
Seemingly endless suffering, whether yours or some other’s
There is not one who is excempted from this
All feel pain and rejection.
Lord, I turn to You for strength
You are my strong tower, my refuge
You bring water to the thirsty, food to the hungry
You have saved us from death that is worse than death.
My heart sings praises to You, Father
For all You have done, for all that You are doing, for all that You will do
What can stand against You?
You reign as Lord and King of all.
You are the Master of all that is good
When I look for You, You are always there
When I cry for You, You always answer
You are our sure foundation.
Mark 12:30
I worship You with my heart, Lord;
Though emotions may come and go
My desire for You will never pass away
My heart sings of Your love.
I worship You with my soul, Lord;
The Dark One might try to overpower me
But Your eternal light destroys the blackness
My soul rejoices in Your eternal presence.
I worship You with my mind, Lord;
The world might offer philosophy and knowledge
Yet You are the only One I can truly believe in
My mind believes in Your power and glory.
I worship You with my strength, Lord;
My body may be weak
Yet my feet constantly dance, my hands unceasingly clap
My strength is offered for Your glory.
I worship You with all my being, Lord;
Though I might continually fall and fail,
To You I turn to for love, strength, and grace
I offer my life to You as a living sacrifice.
John 14:6
A veritable maze known as decision-making
Labyrinth with many a minotaur lurking in the corners
A wrong turn, a false path
And I find myself running into a brick wall, falling into a pit.
Yet there is a correct path, with a Rescuer present
And He who saves us from the confusion is the Way Himself.
A tangled rosebush known as humanity
A single offering of a blossom for a dozen other thorns
Though beauty alluringly presents itself
One touch, and blood seeps out.
Yet there is the whole truth for those who believe
The King of all that is good is the Truth Himself.
A raging ocean known as life
The swallower of all things, big and small alike
Lack of any form of protection or guardianship
And one drowns, or else ends up drifting pointlessly.
Yet in such a vast disorder, safety can be found
He who provides the lifeline, is Life Himself.
And a bonus...
Rock
Look around you, what do you see?
Death, decay, and desecration
There is not one who remains pure
All have fallen away.
Sense around you, and what do you feel?
Seemingly endless suffering, whether yours or some other’s
There is not one who is excempted from this
All feel pain and rejection.
Lord, I turn to You for strength
You are my strong tower, my refuge
You bring water to the thirsty, food to the hungry
You have saved us from death that is worse than death.
My heart sings praises to You, Father
For all You have done, for all that You are doing, for all that You will do
What can stand against You?
You reign as Lord and King of all.
You are the Master of all that is good
When I look for You, You are always there
When I cry for You, You always answer
You are our sure foundation.
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