Ironically Blessed…
Should you find it hard to get to sleep tonight;Just remember the homeless family who has no bed to lie in.
Life is still beautiful…
(Audio book version here)
A death of the people close to us would always shake us from within. It bites and numbs us. It makes us sad for the loss, and more so, it makes us realize how vulnerable we could be. When a friend died days ago, it happened again. We know Dionisio as a healthy, medium built, really nice guy. But death snatched him away without respect, without qualms, without excuses, leaving a baby and a bereaved wife.
Judas Face
The story goes that a famous painter, Johannes Ponté, was tasked to paint the life of Jesus in the church' mural in Europe. The painter went around the city to look for models. As for the face of Jesus Christ, he looked for a person whose character of innocence, firmness and divinity were written in every contour of his face. Finally, he found one. The meek aura of the boy overwhelmed him day by day. He had to admit, the lad’s presence changed his life.
The 3 H’s of Being Human
Humility
The words ‘human’ and ‘humility’ share the same root word: Latin. humus; meaning soil. This tells us two important things about ourselves:
First, that we should always make our feet planted on the ground. There's no reason to be boastful of our successes; at the end we'll all go back to dust.
Second, humility does not mean demeaning ourselves, or hiding, or playing small. Humility is the truth and the truth is God loves us and wants us to shine.
The Beauty Within
A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.
Psychic Vampires
Bram Stoker Dracula has always been my favorite vampire movie. Blade is cool. Underworld is sexy. Twilight is romantic. Vampire movies look cool, sexy and romantic on the screen and books. So sexy that there were times that I thought it's cool to be a vampire.
Heretic 2.0
My classmates used to call me a heretic: I did not mind. When I informed the moderators that the rhymed piece they gave to students could not be considered as poetry, I was sarcastically told by a colleague to go and write my own. I left and have written my own.
Jesus, Lady Gaga, Gandhi, Ninoy Aquino, Joan of Arc, Vassil Levski, Steve Jobs: these people were considered heretical in their own times.
The Five Pillars of Love…
Live: Every relationship is a life force, an inspiration, a reason. It should be a light in the dark, a spark of hope in the middle of the storm, a healing balm to an old wound. And while love is enough reason to live, it's more than enough reason to die for the other...
Filtered
One of man's greatest inventions is the vacuum cleaner. It was designed to suck everything. Be they dirt or gold, this machine doesn't care. In the same manner, the internet is like a Pandora's box. Once we open it, we also open ourselves to the deluge of information of dirt and gold.
Who Is Lousy?
(Audio book version here)
I got to admit that there are lousy priests.., and pastors.., and imams.., and monks.., and evangelists.., and doctors.., and nurses.., and bystanders.., and teachers.., and bloggers.., and readers.., and everyone else... Everyone has his/her share of lousiness. But, it does not mean everyone is a hypocrite.
Navigator Star
Lovers, warriors, navigators, sages, prophets and even loners have always looked up the stars for signs. Stars have brightened countless nights and dawns. Among the zillion stars in heaven, however, there's one prominent star that's saved thousands of lives. This star would appear even in the darkest night. It always points to the right direction. That's why it's called the navigator star.