Archive for thoughts

Walking on Water

{ June 30, 2008 @ 1:36 p06 } · { books, life, meaning, thoughts }
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As I go through the day, I can’t help but think if I am indeed living in reality. Because in the core of my being, I feel that this is not it. I know. I’ve read it in the Bible and it’s so easy to say to yourself after reading it that it’s so true. That this is not yet the reality that we should be living in. Everything in this world is saying that this is all just temporary. And I have to admit that really feeling it’s temporariness is a great feeling. Everything suddenly becomes real.

After Take No Glory left Dumaguete, everything just changed. I cannot explain this awesome feeling but it is real. God is real and there is no turning back. I chose to walk with Him and I am discovering more amazing truths everyday.

Everything that I do in this world will leave a mark no matter how ordinary that can be. Time is not what we know it to be. It’s not just what we see in our watches. Time is not limited to what we do in this earth.

While we are talking about time, let me share with you something amazing I have just read from Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle:

As the echoes of the beginning linger, so, too, all that moves outward in gradually diminishing but never-ending sound waves. One of the more delightful mysteries of sound came when the on one of our early spaceships heard a program of nostalgic music over their sound system and radioed NASA to thank whoever it was who had sent them the program. From NASA came a baffled reply that they had sent the astronauts no such program and knew nothing about it.

This phenomenon triggered a good deal of interest and research: who had beamed the music to the astronauts? What was its source? All the radio and tv programs all over teh country that day and hour were checked out, and none of them was responsible for the music the astronauts had so enjoyed. Further research. Could they all have imagined hearing a nonexistent program of old popular songs? Was it a kind of mass hallucination? It seemed highly unlikely. Research finally revealed that that particualer program had been broadcast in the 1930s.[emphasis mine]

That just goes to show that everything that we do will always count. I don’t want to waste my time.

We have never been taught this amazing truth in the classroom when we were learning how to tell the time. In this world, we may never have to know it but if you’re looking for reality, this may count a lot. Everything that we know of reality is only a small percent of the real thing. There are a lot of things that our finite minds can never grasp. At least, not in this lifetime anyway.

You may be asking why on earth is that important. I have been trying to write stories and nothing makes sense. I figured that the reason behind that is I have to unlearn the “grown-up” perspective of this world. Honestly, it makes everything hard. Our so-called self-control and understanding can only do harm in us.

We have to be childlike in a way. People may be telling you that fairy tales or fiction in general is a waste of time. That you should be reading biographies or scholarly books. Why don’t you balance it? Fiction holds a lot of truth. The kind of truth that you can never find in “things that make sense”. Remember, Jesus never preached the truth in highfalutin words. He used parables, stories.

If life seems worthless to you, remember how you were when you were in the fourth grade and everything was new and beautiful. Remember the feeling when there was nothing between you and the world. And walk on.

A Change of Mindset

{ January 15, 2008 @ 1:36 p01 } · { meaning, thoughts }
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The MDG summit was a very informational event. I definitely learned a lot from the opening ceremony. It was informational in a way that I suddenly became aware of everything that’s happening around me. Yes, I knew there was poverty. I knew that a lot of kids are working instead of being in school.

Having enough and being in school myself, I tend to be absorbed by everything that’s happening in school and in my own life. I thought that the poor people should be helped by the government but I never took steps to helping them myself. The speeches of Dr. Francis J. Kong and Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson made me realize that there is more to the MDG goals than just paperwork and words. People actually need to work for it and that doesn’t exclude me.

Dr. Kong’s “transformational talk” made me see the real problem of the country. The root cause of everything that’s happening in the country is the “poorness and the smallness of thinking” of the people. It actually “keeps people poor”. Poverty is not only limited to the economic aspect but there is also the “poverty of spirit, discipline, and integrity.”

Dr. Kong also pointed out the mistake of most people. “Very few people invest in the culminating of the mindset.” If the poverty of the mindset is not addressed, people will always be “imprisoned with the smallness of their thinking”.

“I never believed that the Filipino was poor,” Kong said in his speech. “But people are products of choices they make from day-to-day.”

With his speech, I realized that a lot of people lose hope easily. Most of the students sometimes take their education for granted and dodge through school requirements without really learning. He also pointed out that a person’s attitude is more important than his/her skills. A person can achieve a lot from diligence and skill combined than skill alone.

At present, a lot of celebrities are publicly supporting a cause. As a result, a lot of people seem to support causes because it’s popular or because it’s what celebrities are into. But Kong breaks this “hype” by encouraging everyone “not to take a stand because it’s popular, but because it’s the truth.” This goes to show that the right motives would achieve a lot because you know what you are fighting for. You understand its nature and the urgency of the matter. With that understanding comes hard work and commitment which are important ingredients to success.

The inspirational talk by Dr. Kong was perfectly supplemented by Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s speech that definitely opened my eyes to the shocking truth. The statistics presented was alarming and it’s not dull at all. It made me realize that I didn’t look hard enough and that I need to step out from my comfort zone. Before the summit, I was aware but I didn’t really see. Now I am fully aware and am raring to see more of the world and do as much as I can to help.

I admit that Sen. Lacson’s speech was not as inspiring as Dr. Kong’s. But he presented the stark truth I kept on hiding from. So inspiration plus harsh facts did a lot of good my mindset.

The Grinch II

{ December 1, 2007 @ 1:36 p12 } · { Christmas, rant, thoughts }
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grinch.jpg

“Santa that’s my only wish this year…” Britney’s voice is heard in the air as I pass by a store filled with plastic christmas trees, balls, stars, and colorful angels. People stop by the store and are busy choosing which decoration would look best on their tree this year. Children wander to the toys’ section and thinking up of ways to convince their mom to buy them one…for Christmas.

As I go to my favorite coffee shop, there was a plastic wreath on the glass door. Thankfully, Christian music was blaring from the speakers. It’s better this way than having to listen to cheesy Christmas songs on the radio. Blech!

While reading a book with two chocolate chip cookies and a cup of cappuccino, my brain, which has this amazing capability of thinking about two million things a minute, started whirring. Suddenly, I stopped reading and just stared into my coffee cup, just thinking.

What’s a good plot for a short story? When will I start writing the essay that I planned to write a long time ago? But what will i write about? I am drawn to eyes. Should that be the central theme? I haven’t done my Math homework yet. I wonder when I’ll pick up my workbook and calculator and actually do it. I don’t wanna do my C Fund homework! I want to finish reading this book so I can start reading my new Italo Calvino book. What should I do after this? Should I buy today’s newspaper or not? And what’s with Christmas???

I finally settled on the Christmas thought. Why can’t I feel the Christmas spirit? I used to be excited whenever December comes. I remember that I’d feel this beautiful and magical feeling while sitting under the Christmas tree with the tiny lights on and just stare at it for hours. But where is this feeling? have i lost it? Have I…*gulp*…OUTGROWN CHRISTMAS???

Maybe I have. Maybe I’m too busy thinking about a million things that i just get irritated by Christmas songs that seem to catch me wherever I go. I get irritated by caroling and gifts. Yes, I admit, the trees in National Bookstore with the pink and blue angels are pretty but I don’t want it. What is wrong with me? Have I turned to the Grinch?

Hmm…the Grinch. That big, icky, green fur ball. Yuck! I don’t even wanna compare myself to him. But I can’t help it. I have all the symptoms. I just want to hide in my favorite coffee shop and avoid Christmas shoppers and songs. I’m contented with a cup of my favorite coffee while I bury my nose in a book. I’d rather study than feel festive. I swear.

But I don’t want to be the Grinch. I don’t want to turn green and be a hermit. I want to feel that beautiful feeling again. That feeling of anticipation and excitement for Christmas. Where is it?

Maybe it’s because Christmas has been too commercialized that the real reason foe celebrating this holiday and taking our mind away from schoolwork is hidden behind a landslide of Christmas parties, Kris Kringle, cheesy songs, and dusty, plastic trees. And while I’m writing this, a plastic version of Santa Claus is looking at me through the window. Stop staring at me Santa! No cookies and milk for you this time.

After i convinced myself that commercialization is the reason behind the gloomy feeling, my thoughts go back to the million things I thought about earlier, searching for a new thing to think about. I lift the green cup of coffee to take a sip. Should my story start at a coffee shop? I thought. Before I got an answer, I felt a burning sensation on my tongue. It’s hot!