Endless Stage

It's my 38th birthday. May 29 it is.
Except for the overwhelming greetings that flooded my Facebook wall, there’s nothing more. It's a boring age, that's how it is.
Nothing so exciting about it, only questions, nagging questions.

Was that it?

John 10:10 is my favorite line.
"I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full..."
Is this life for me? For my family?


Pink house
Last night Namie, who just celebrated her 4th birthday last week said; 'Daddy, I told you we should have a house of our own so that I could paint it pink!' Hans, our eldest, protested right away, "Pink? No, it should be blue or something not girlish!" Okey, okey," I interrupted, "I got your message loud and clear, pink or no pink we should have one."

Years of blessings
For almost 8 years, we’d lived in a huge four bedroom house, owned by my wife's aunt. We pay nothing and we occasionally received more blessings than we deserve. God has been so good in all those years.

But looking ahead, the situation is getting denser. If you have played Plants vs Zombies, you'll understand what I am saying. Remember the endless stage in the survival mode? Zombies keep on coming and coming until they ate up your defenses, weapons and finally your sun flowers. Dead, dead, dead. “The Zombies ate your Brains”!

A New Battle Cry
Well, once upon a time, the word 'survival' was a cool word. But I think Wall E is cooler than that. No, actually it was Captain B. McCrea who said it when Auto forced him to stay in the Axiom because, according to its directive, people can't survive going back to Earth. During their scuffle he blurted out, "No, I don't want to survive, I want to live!"

I wanna live!

The Legend of the Fall

There are several versions of this great Aesop’s fable. I searched around and found most of those versions wanting.  I heard a real good one before.  I hope  can do justice to this great teacher.
For several years, the four bulls survived cycles of famine. It was told that while most animals in the forest as well as in the desert silently died, the four bulls survived. They survived even from the preying of the king of the jungle: the lion.


Their secret was simple. They would guard each other's back:
East <->West;
North<->South.

One ominous summer, the lion found the fox. Just as the lion was about to eat the fox, the latter offered a deal. “If you’re going to let me go, I’ll tell you how to eat those siblings, referring to the four bulls.” A deal was struck.

The fox started his mission: to divide the siblings. Off he went to each one of the bulls and whispered something. Just  before the sundown, the bulls started to quarrel and eventually disintegrate.
A small opening in their defense the lion was waiting for. He charged and ate them one by one.

While the lion and the fox were sharing their prize. The lion remarked, “You’re a genius! Just what did you tell each one of them?”  “Oh that,” The fox replied, “lies and truth about each other.”

story adapted from Aesop; photo: bestlatin.blogspot.com

WYSIWYG

For the sake of universality I withhold some details of the place and the names of the people involved. This is held to be true and well documented in a book and in the chronicle of the place.

The Force
The place was known to be where God performs myriads of miracles already.  In fact, that was the reason why Ivan's family brought him there. Ivan was a certified atheist, he claimed. His family, however, 'forced' him to bring him there for the hope that he would be able to see again after he lost his sight in an accident. According to the doctors, it's beyond cure because it destroyed most of the nerves around his eyes.

Ivan's hatred in God started a long time ago when he was still in the army and still had his sight. Nobody knew where it exactly started. But his friends and family regarded it was an evolution.

An Opportunity
The primary reason why Ivan agreed to come with his family was precisely to prove to them that God was indeed a product of man's need to fill the void of emptiness in each of them.  This should be an affirmation of his argument. If there is anything Ivan remembers about God, it was hatred. God is dead, and God is the reason of man's suffering.

On their third day, like any other morning, people began to swarm into the spring where miracles and healing should take place. As usual, he refused to be led into its perimeter. This time he overheard a boy shouting in deep prayer and frustration, "Lord, please, heal me. It's been a year now since I came here. My family has been suffering too. Please, let me walk again. I want to play and run and jump as well with my friends!"

To Ivan, it was too much for his temper. He stood up and shouted: "Hey, whoever you are this boy is praying for, answer his prayer! Haven't you heard that?! You're heartless and never cared!" His military commanding voice echoed several times around the cave-like place. At that, a miracle started to unfold. Nobody noticed it except Ivan: the boy was still on the wheelchair. He saw him. He saw the boy!

WYSIWYG
As for the record, the boy was not healed that day. Ivan, however, had his sight back. Nobody could make a more sensible explanation why it was Ivan who received the miracle; people could only speculate. Some unbelievers attributed it to the power of benevolence, some to an instant karma, some to a psycho-physiological phenomenon. To the people who have faith in their hearts, no explanation was needed: WYSIWYG: God works miracles...
 

The Man Who Thinks He Can

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are.
You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can...

~Walter D. Wintle 1965

What Matters Most

We find greatest joy, not in getting,
but in expressing what we are...

Men do not really live for honors or for pay;
their gladness is not the taking and holding,
but in doing, the striving, the building, the living.

It is a higher joy to teach than to be taught.
It is good to get justice, but better to do it;
fun to have things but more to make them.

The happy man is he who lives the life of love,
not for the honors it may bring,
but for the life itself.

~ R.J. Baughan

Our Version of Peace

Hans was seated next to me. He was only three years old then, now he is nine. The passenger vehicle we're in, picked up some passengers as it passed by the public market. Among the new passengers was a mother with her son. It was a grand entrance: the mother came in first then the son came after her running and crying. The child must have been 7-9 years old.


Gut
The mother took the seat next to another  lady  beside me on my left. The child was frantic and wanted something from the mother. It was then that the mother grabbed the child by the neck with both hands, bit his face and kicked him in the stomach with all her might. The boy was thrown into the floor rolling and screaming. I felt all my blood rushed to my face. I felt the heat oozing on my both ears. I covered Hans' face and stepped over.
  
All lines are busy
I told the mother," Ma'am, do it again and you would see!" I felt myself in a low but growling voice. It was loud but not shouting. The people around us had mixed reactions.  Some looked at the boy with pity, Some pretended they did not see anything and looked away, and others continued with what they did.

My Resolve
The lady between me and the mother tapped me and said in a very low voice, 'let's not interfere,' her voice was almost in a whisper. I answered, 'No!' I directed back my look at the mother again, and locked my eyes to hers. Sensing my deep resolve on the situation, she looked away and screamed. Again, the people around us simply continued with their own 'peaceful' display of impatience and awkwardness.

Final destination
It was then that the driver made a signal that  I arrived at my destination. I led Hans to my right and walked passed her with my eyes still locked up to hers. She avoided it. Before we finally stepped out I took a glance of the people and the boy who was still on the floor, I felt so much anger and frustration. I felt so helpless...

When I think of it now, I felt less worried of the boy. He must have survived just like any other street kids I see everyday along the busy agora. What bothers me most was the vicious indifference of the people.

Gnawing question
They must have their own reasons why they refused to act. Those people may just want to protect their 'own' peace, or they were simply too lazy to respond to their feelings. I don't know. But I believe the whole thing explains the line  I could hardly understand before: "The opposite of love is not hatred, it's indifference..."  What do you think?

Are Storms Necessary?

Disturb Us, O Lord
when we are too well pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little
when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore


Disturb Us, O Lord
when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life;
having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity.
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb Us, O Lord
to dare more boldly
to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you push back the horizon of our hopes,
and to push us into the future with strength, courage, hope and love.

~by Sir Francis Drake
 

photo:mikebaird@flickr

The Seven Wonders of the World

 
Junior high school students in Chicago were
studying the Seven Wonders of the World. At
the end of the lesson, the students were asked
to list what they considered to be the Seven
Wonders of the World. Though there was some
disagreement, the following received the
most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. The Taj Mahal in India
3. The Grand Canyon in Arizona
4. The Panama Canal
5. The Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."
The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
1. to touch...
2. to taste...
3. to see...
4. to hear... (She hesitated a little, and then added...)
5. to feel...
6. to laugh...
7. and to love.
The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.
May this story serve as a gentle reminder to all of us that the things we overlook as simple and ordinary are often the most wonderful - and we don't have to travel anywhere special to experience them.
Enjoy your gifts!

photo: john a ryan Full text:unknown via inspirationalpeak.com

The Wooden Bowls

A frail old man lived with his son, his daughter-in-law, and his four-year-old grandson. His eyes were blurry, his hands trembled, and his step faltered.

The family would eat together nightly at the dinner table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating rather difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon, drooping to the floor. When he grasped his glass of milk, it often spilled clumsily at the tablecloth.


With this happening almost every night, the son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.
"We must do something about grandfather," said the son.
"I've had enough of his milk spilling, noisy eating and food on the floor," the daughter-in-law agreed. So the couple set a small table at the corner.

There, grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed their dinner at the dinner table. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in wooden bowls.

Sometimes when the family glanced in grandfather's direction, he had a tear in his eye as he ate alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening, before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly: "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy replied, "Oh, I'm making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

These words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears streamed down their cheeks. Though no words were spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening, the husband took grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days, grandfather ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk was spilled or the table cloth was soiled.
 

Full text: author unknownn

photos: top: pizdauz collection, boy: coyotecreek @ flickr, bowl: bestamericanarts.com

A New Day…

 

"This is the beginning of a new day.
You have been given this day to use as you will.
You can waste it or use it for good.

What you do today is important
Because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.
When tomorrow comes,

This day will be gone forever;
In its place is something that you have left behind...
Let it be something good."

~Anonymous

photo: schaaflicht @ flickr

The Mother Who Changed The World

Mamma mia! I have waited for this occasion to tell this story.  I heard this by word of mouth almost 17 years ago.

 

This story has changed the world, maybe not your world (yet), but the world of these people...

 

The Tradition
Tutsi needed to fulfill a tradition: according to this tradition, once an elderly woman became invalid, the eldest child of the family had to deliver  her into the heart of the jungle and leave there to die.

The journey
The day came when Tutsi had to do this. She carried her mother on his back and began a day long journey. While going on his way in silence, he noticed that her mother kept on reaching for branches, breaking them and leaving the pieces behind.

At sundown, they finally reached the dropping point. He laid her down with some food to last maybe for a day.  Her mother wanted to hug him before leaving, but Tutsi refused to come near her.  Deep within he felt some kind remorse, but kept it by himself.

What's within
When he was about to leave he noticed again those twigs behind them. So he turned back and spoke for the first time in the day. "Mother, why did you keep on breaking those branches? I am sorry. I know you are angry."  With that her mother struggled to speak: "No, son, it's not that. I am not angry. I broke those branches and scattered them along the way because I don't want you to get lost ...they will guide you back home..." A douse of emotion surged upon him,  he broke down, cried aloud and hugged her mother.

The following morning, in the tribe, everyone was present in the council. For the first time in the history of the tribe, a long held tradition was questioned, but since nobody really knew why that tradition came to be, everybody agreed to reverse it.

The Day
Since that day, every year they brought all mothers, old and young, into the public square to be honored, praised and hugged...

Happy mother's day...

 

photos: web | posted by: john b. bejo

Life as It Happens…

 

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

- Mother Teresa

Being There...

We got awkwardly petrified when she  suddenly came and burst “Why are you crying?! You look stupid!” referring to our friend who happened to be her daughter. Our friend was actually sharing her problems among us when her mother came by to shoot that unforgettable scene.


On my part, I did not expect it from a mother.  Gina (not her real name) was in so much pain. And the mother was furious to know that her daughter cried in front of us. I did not really know her other reason for doing that, if there is any, but one thing is clear: she did want to see her cry.

Boys don't cry
Most ‘boys’ would prefer to shed blood rather than tears. Tears are sometimes more dreadful than blood. For most of them, crying is a sign of weakness and cowardice.

In the same vein, some people are in panic once they see their friends crying. They are at a loss to look for words to stop the scene, hoping that those feelings would go away. But the reality is, the more we suppress it, the deeper its fang would go.

Pets are not allowed
Crying does not make any person less of a human being. Emotional crying is actually more human than we thought of. According to science, animals are not capable of crying the way humans do.¹ They may shed some tears, but they don’t go into such emotional suffering the way human beings do which leads to crying.

Crying is not a sign of cowardice in the part of men, either. In fact, it’s the other way around. What prevents these men from crying? Fear. It’s the fear of being branded as gay or weak.

Being there...
Tears don’t only clean and lubricate our eyes; it takes the toxins of pain out of our body; It cleanses the soul.

When a friend came and cried in front of me, I asked her what she wanted me to do, she replied: “Just be there…”

credits: ¹moments of science photo: npcs-counseling.com additional reading 1, 2, 3

Be The Best Of Whatever You Are

 

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley-but be

The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

 

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;

If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us here,

There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;

It isn't by size that you win or you fail-
Be the best of whatever you are!

- Douglas Maloch

 

photo: johanroed | posted by john b. bejo

I Know Something Good About You

Wouldn't this old world be better
if the folks we meet would say,
"I know something good about you,"
and then treat us just that way?


Wouldn't it be fine and dandy
if each hand-clasp warm and true
carried with it this assurance:
I know something good about you?

Wouldn't things be more pleasant
if the good that's in us all
were the only thing about us
that folks bothered to recall?

Wouldn't life be lots more happy
if we'd praise the good we see?
For there's such a lot of goodness
in the worst of you and me.

Wouldn't it be nice to practice
this fine way of thinking too?
You know something good about me,
I know something good about you =)

credits: photo: four-legged-friends.com text: ~ Anon