A Little Morning Prayer

Dear Jesus,
Keep my words sweet, my tongue undeceiving and my smile true.
Keep my works loving, my arms strong,  and my hands clean.
Keep my heart beating, my mind missing and my spirit singing.
Keep me with you, saved, loved and forgiven.
Amen.

39 Second Story

My nieces, Heart, Bambi and Happy, were demanding a story, and I needed to tell it in less than a minute before Namie and I would alight the car. So, I told them the story about a caterpillar.

The flies and other insects hated her because she looked hairy, ugly and hideous. But she continued doing what she loved to do: trimming and eating leaves. Then one day, a fairy decided to reward her and shame the flies and other insects. So, while everyone was sleeping, the fairy wrapped her with  fairy web and transformed her from the inside.

In the morning, nowhere could the caterpillar be seen. The flies and the other insects rejoiced, but their celebration was cut short when they saw a fairy like creature flying above them. Her beauty stunned them. But their amazement suddenly turned into remorse and shame when they realized that the fairy like creature in front of them was the same ugly, hairy and hideous insect they used to shame.

At the end of the story, just before we alighted the car, everybody clapped their hands. Oh, the glow and sparkles in their eyes  were more than enough reward for me.

The story of our life may not be as magical as this one; but guess what? It’s not finished yet; and the best thing about it, is that we make them. So, it’s up to you how you end it... We’re waiting :)

 

Father,
Thank You for the stories that happen everyday.
We may have time and humility to listen, appreciate and learn
From each other’s stories.

May our stories will always have a happy ending,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: itp.nyu | posted by john b. bejo

When To Say Goodbye

One of the surprising but truthful lines my mentor in marriage counseling told us was: "Not all marriages should be saved."

To put it in a more general way, we say:
not all relationships: marriage, friendship and even family bond should be saved.

Saying goodbye is oftentimes the hardest thing to say. It takes so much energy and strength to endure the pain of separation.  But, it's doable, and in some instances NECESSARY.

I said my first goodbye  with the girl I loved 20 years ago. It was one of the hardest but necessary decisions I've ever made.  Relationship should make each individual a better person. In our case, our relationship was already hurting both of us.

Any relationship which forces us to become what we are not is a deceit.
Any relationship which prevents us from becoming a better person is selfish.
Any relationship which prevents us from encountering God drags us to hell.

A person who stays in a destructive relationship has little self-respect. It’s a cycle masochists love to be in.

“Don’t throw  your pearls to the  pigs, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and attack you.”~ Mat 7:6

 

Father,
Thank You for the gift of self respect.
Help us keep it intact and precious the way you intend it to be.
Help us find the right person and stay.
But give us the courage to say goodbye
When we need to,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: inyemysli.ru| posted by john b. bejo

Samurai, Dolphins and Prejudice

The human mind is scrambling to find answers on the recent catastrophe that hit Japan. The thing is, scientific explanations about the nature of earthquake, tsunamis and Japan's geological situation did not satisfy the human hunger for curiosity. Human mind rushed to repeat the same question: why Japan?

Videos of Japanese killing dolphins, sexual samurai and previous war crimes
re-surfaced on several Facebook walls and other blogs. I sensed previous shocks turned into subtle disdain against the Japanese.

To some, these made them feel good: "well, I see now." "that's why." "that's what you get when you mess up with nature." "it's payback time."

Well, it's easy to recall all those things, BUT I doubt that this is all about God's wrath spewing calamities. I don't think that we are more holy than the Japanese. I don't believe that all Japanese are dolphin-blood hungry, sexual perverts and godless.

Every now and then we see more horrible crimes than these right at our backyard. How about those terrorists who beheaded people simply because they mentioned the Name of Jesus? How about those Christian Americans who killed 1.37 Million of unborn children in a year? How about those Filipinos who killed the most journalists in the world? How about Honduras which has the highest number of murders in the world?

I do believe that human spirits are better than this. If we really are serious in looking for supernatural answers, let’s go back to the Bible:

“Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?” ( Luke 13:4 ) “"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."(John 8:7)

‎"Never look down on anybody unless you are bending to help them up." Let’s look through the eyes of faith. Let’s light a candle and stop cursing the darkness. Let’s help if we can, keep silence if we can’t.

 

Father,
Make us find the answers from the right place,
With a pure intention.
Help us to see these things through the eyes of faith
In Jesus Christ Your Son.
Amen.

photo: Code Geass | posted by john b. bejo

Tsunamis and Faith

When a catastrophe  hits us, like what happened recently in Japan, we often ask: 'why?'

WHY?

The answer is as elusive as  tsunamis. It's unique to every situation. It's up to every person to find his/her meaning. The only sure  thing is this: God never wills any of these to happen, but yes, He allows them.

Life can only be understood forward. And forward means, days, months or even years in the future. But it does not mean that people should not be sad or shocked with the situation, in fact, people need to undergo them. That's one purpose of catastrophes. It is meant to move us.

Nature has its path, and anything that's on its way, it will show no mercy. History is there for us to learn.

When a super typhoon flattened our home, and a tsunami killed hundreds of our people  in 1984, I thought it was already the end of the world. Yes, I heard stories of horror, but I heard stories of faith as well, lots of them.

For those who have no faith, everything that happened is pointless.
For those who have faith, no amount of tsunamis could sweep them away from the love of God.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? It’s neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor danger, nor sword” ~ nor tsunamis. (Romans 8:35)

 

Father,
Hold us close to Your heart.
Comfort and assure us of Your presence
As we endure life’s greatest trials.
Be with the people who need you most,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: web | posted by john b. bejo

Mea Culpa

Everyone in the team was shocked to find out that the more than 12GB files were deleted. The torrents have been running for more than two weeks already, and somebody just deleted them. Everyone was furious. Everyone wondered why somebody would to it. It was just stupid.

After a while of cursing the mysterious culprit, an email of apology blasted in everyone's inbox. Still everyone could not believe it. Everyone became silent. The email of apology came from me...

Well, it was one of the stupidest things I did in life. I could hardly remember why I did it, but, yeah, I did it and it was stupid.

Once in a while we do stupid things, more stupid than that 12GB download deletion. All of the sudden we found ourselves in a quagmire, and there are only a little we could do. 

Everyone falls down. Heroes get beaten. And yeah, even Jesus fell down, not once, but thrice.

Only the dead stops committing mistakes.

Life is not about being perfect.
Life is about getting back up each time we fall down.
Life is the time we're allowed to commit mistakes while getting it right.

Mistakes are nature's way of setting us right...

 

Father,
Thank You for this wonderful day.
Thank You for reminding us
That You sent Your Son
Not to condemn us of our mistakes,
But to forgive and save us.
Amen.

photo: Despicable Me| posted by john b. bejo

“I’m Sorry…”

M. Night Shyamalan, the director of The Sixth Sense, made another great movie lately: Devil. Towards the end of the story, the Devil failed to kill her prey because he started asking for forgiveness for his hidden crime. It disarmed the Devil.

One the hardest things to say is "I'm sorry". It shatters the ego and breaks our pride. In some instances, the process kills. History brims stories of people who chose to die rather than admit they're wrong.

People who deny their spirits of remorse suffer from the rebellion of their bodies by acquiring psychosomatic disorders. It hardens the arteries and squeezes the heart. They become the cancers of the society: arrogant and ridiculous.

Animals are incapable of remorse. A person who is incapable of feeling remorse is often labeled a sociopath or psychopath. People who refuse to say 'sorry' don't need to die to go hell: they're already in hell. Their guilt follows them inside their blankets.

Saying sorry is a healing process. It’s similar to dying which requires us to undergo DABDA (Denial > Anger > Bargaining >Depression > Acceptance ) But the result is liberating and salvific. It disarms the aggrieved, it restores our dignity and brings us back to life…

 

Father,
You taught us once again

The power of forgiveness.
Give us the strength and the grace to be sorry for our sins.

Embrace us with your loving forgiveness
As we say, “I’m sorry.”
Amen.

photo: Devil Film | posted by john b. bejo

Friends Are Not Prospects

Everybody is selling!
One of the realities in social networking is this:
Some of our FB contacts don't really consider us as friends, but PROSPECTS.
Last month, I had to 'unfriend' and block some contacts who unscrupulously tagged me with their marketing yadah yadah WITHOUT my permission.  It was a tough decision on my part because I honestly considered those people friends.

Facebook is a wonderful thing. But it seems that some people don’t really understand what true Permission Marketing really is . So, let the marketers sell us their commodities with our permission, and not hide from the guise of friendship. Give us a choice to follow them or not.

As we observe, this reality is even more pronounced outside the social networking sites. Some people around us who claimed to be our 'friends' are not actually friends in the real sense. According to Aristotle, "relationships based on profit or pleasure should not be called friendships at all."

Real friendship needs time, shared activities, fun and challenging situations. Real friendship does not bring one another to perils. Real friendship does not control, nor condone corruption. Real friendship brings the real person out in each other. Real friendship does not sell nor use each other.

You’ve Got A Friend…

Father,
Thank You for the friends around us.
We may be true friends to the people
Who consider us friends.
May our friendship bring us closer to Your Son
Jesus Christ, our true Friend who died for us.
Amen.

photo: Lie To Me| posted by john b. bejo

A Prayer of a Grateful Heart

Thank You, dear Lord
 
For the hands that guide us,
For the eyes that watch over us
For the words that soothe our fears
For the whispers that dry our tears

For the silence that enables us to pray
For the day when we dance and play
For the night that allows us to dream
For the dawn that brings us the sunrise' beam

For the friends who make life worth living
For the enemies who make life intriguing
For the kin who hug us with affections
For the person who loves us in our imperfections.

Thank You, dear Lord...