Mind Mapping

Maps should be updated regularly. The reason is simple: terrains, names, situations and people change. Yes, people and situations change.

Lara Braun would easily freak out alone, or in the crowd. It started to happen when she went out of their town to work somewhere. She claimed people disrespected and singled her out.  She was so conscious of her space and former school title as the Glee Club president. 

She would go around dropping names, pointing fingers, questioning motives, spewing hate words and blaming others for her misery. Her posts are sprinkled with stressful language soaked in the vinegar of retaliation and contempt.

What happened is not actually another case of psychosis. It's simply another case of laziness and fixation. She refused to update her map. She insisted on using her old map and applied it on different place, different time, different space,  different people and different situations.

All of us have several sets of maps which we either inherited from our parents, families, towns, schools and places of work. The real problem comes in when we insist on changing the people and environment around us , instead of updating our maps.

 

Father,
Thank You for the blessing of memory.
As we go along the journey, we may learn to
Let go of the past and embrace the grace of the present.
We may not be so concerned so much of ourselves,
Instead, give us the strength to embrace
The community and family we’re in,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: Edward Munch | posted by john b. bejo

Mind Mapping

Maps should be updated regularly. The reason is simple: terrains, names, situations and people change. Yes, people and situations change.

Lara Braun would easily freak out alone, or in the crowd. It started to happen when she went out of their town to work somewhere. She claimed people disrespected and singled her out.  She was so conscious of her space and former school title as the Glee Club president. 

She would go around dropping names, pointing fingers, questioning motives, spewing hate words and blaming others for her misery. Her posts are sprinkled with stressful language soaked in the vinegar of retaliation and contempt.

What happened is not actually another case of psychosis. It's simply another case of laziness and fixation. She refused to update her map. She insisted on using her old map and applied it on different place, different time, different space,  different people and different situations.

All of us have several sets of maps which we either inherited from our parents, families, towns, schools and places of work. The real problem comes in when we insist on changing the people and environment around us , instead of updating our maps.

Father,
Thank You for the blessing of memory.
As we go along the journey, we may learn to
Let go of the past and embrace the grace of the present.
We may not be so concerned so much of ourselves,
Instead, give us the strength to embrace
The community and family we’re in,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

Walls

"What's wrong?" my friend asked, "I said, nothing. It's just that I don't want to bother you anymore with my own problems." To which she replied, "If you're going to shut yourself in, it means that you left me outside, shutting me out of the gate ... where it is cold and dark."

Those words were so picturesque that until now the image is still alive in my mind. Yeah, she's right. Sometimes we thought we are protecting our loved ones from our 'own' harsh 'realities', but we don't. As Dinah Shore said, "Trouble is part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you enough chance to love you enough..."

Even the most ferocious dogs allowed themselves to be stroked when they're in pain. Sharing our pains does not only make us feel better, it gives others a chance as well to be better persons.

 

Father,
We’re grateful for the people you’ve given to us.
Melt our pride and make us more trusting
So that we could be more honest with our feelings,
In that way, we also give others a chance to enter
Into our lives,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: as signed | posted by john b. bejo

Walls

"What's wrong?" my friend asked, "I said, nothing. It's just that I don't want to bother you anymore with my own problems." To which she replied, "If you're going to shut yourself in, it means that you left me outside, shutting me out of the gate ... where it is cold and dark."

Those words were so picturesque that until now the image is still alive in my mind. Yeah, she's right. Sometimes we thought we are protecting our loved ones from our 'own' harsh 'realities', but we don't. As Dinah Shore said, "Trouble is part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you enough chance to love you enough..."

Even the most ferocious dogs allowed themselves to be stroked when they're in pain. Sharing our pains does not only make us feel better, it gives others a chance as well to be better persons.

 

Father,
We’re grateful for the people you’ve given to us.
Melt our pride and make us more trusting
So that we could be more honest with our feelings,
In that way, we also give others a chance to enter
Into our lives,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

Why Me, Why This?

“We arrange things by moving them around Until we get the best result. Life works in the same manner. So, when you feel there are so much annoying movements and troubles lately, Loosen your grip and get ready for a change.God is arranging your life...”   ~ john b. bejo

 

photo:  KcranmerArt | posted by john b. bejo

Why Me, Why This?

“We arrange things by moving them around Until we get the best result. Life works in the same manner. So, when you feel there are so much annoying movements and troubles lately, Loosen your grip and get ready for a change.God is arranging your life...”   ~ john b. bejo

 

photo:  KcranmerArt | posted by john b. bejo

It’s Complicated

The reason why most of us don't want the word ‘conflict’, it's because it carries with it negative subliminal stimuli to pains. Nobody wants pain.

Our counselor professor once said, "how would I know if the couples have problems? 'when they start telling me 'we don't have problems."

Imagine a movie without conflict. Boring, huh? The quality of movies depends on how conflict brought out the best and the worst in each character. Titanic hit it. Braveheart roused our love for freedom. Harry Potter enchanted us with its magic.

Considerable amount of conflicts are necessary to each couple and community. "Chaos looks counterproductive but it is the first genuine step towards community building." ~  ( M. Scott Peck)

We don't need a conflict- free world. What we need are people who brave the waves of conflicts, determined to reach the shore of understanding and reconciliation.

 

Father,
We know that this is an imperfect world,
Complicated and confusing, but please help us understand that
What matters most in this life is our relationships with one another,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: up web collection | bottom @ flickr.athanassia | posted by john b. bejo

White Noise & Green Spaces

Imagine piling up all the books in the world one by one up to the moon, and then imagine 50 times more of this scenario on top of each set of pile. Lots of books, huh?! But that's nothing compared to all the digital data we have generated already in Facebook alone.

Now imagine all these digital data floating in our digisphere like garbage in space: like this >>>

We call this digital noise and it has already polluted our digisphere.

Now then, going back to our everyday digital life, there are people who have the habits of speaking out their frustrations, annoyances and irritations either in blogs, forums or walls. These are contaminating. A person from the Middle East, for example, could stress out another person on the other side of the globe by simply posting a stressful updates on his wall.

There are individuals, however,  who dedicated their lives in producing white noises and green spaces in the internet. These are the people whose posts inspire, motivate and make us smile for a while. Their posts make us love life and make us want to live.

Digital noise is inevitable, but we could choose to strike a balance from time to time and let our contacts feel that this world could be filled with soothing music instead. Let’s create a cleaner web not only for us, but for the next generations as well…

 

Father,
We’re grateful for this wonderful world
That you’ve shared with us.
Give us the grace and the courage everyday
To take decisive steps to make our world
A more beautiful place to live in,

In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: reyhomes.com | posted by john b. bejo

Role

“Eventually, we'll all be a part of someone else's memory; and our names will be written in their books. We'll either be a hero, a cameo or a tyrant. The good thing is: we could choose our roles before and while it is written…”

Believe

Believe in your dreams.
Your vision maybe distant and foggy,
But they are your only gateway to success and happiness.

Believe in your power.
You may have cracked several times;
But remember, even diamonds needed to be cleaved and sawed and cut.

Believe in the people who believe in you.
Oftentimes their eyes are more honest than yours.
They risked enough to stand upright beside you.

Believe in your worth.
Your worth does not lie on the opinions of your boss, nor you enemies, nor your contemptuous teacher.
It's you who give worth to yourself.

Believe in the people who depend on you.
You're their only source of strength and hope.
Be strong in front of them.

Believe in your courage.
You may have run away in the past, but the war is not yet over.
Pause, take a rest and get back up.

Believe in your God who believes in you.
The world may abandon you, but He never lost faith in You. 

Believe in Change.
This maybe short,
But who knows, it's the only encouragement someone needs
To survive a day...

photo: wallpaper collection | written and posted by john b. bejo

Seventeen Years

Last February, I sent an unsolicited apology letter to a person whom I violated with my action almost 17 years ago:

"'I'm sorry for bothering you. Lately, I decided I needed to make peace with anybody I came in contact with since my childhood, especially with those I hurt in one way or another.

I just want to make a formal apology for the stupid things I did that upset the whole group especially you when we're together. I have no excuse. I am sorry."

Perhaps, that person must have forgotten it already, but I did not. It haunts me. I haven't heard any reply or acceptance anymore, but that's immaterial already. Forgiveness heals the confessor first.

When we were young, apology was the gesture performed only by the younger siblings. Neither my parents nor my elder siblings humbly apologized to me. I was the youngest among the boys.

Today, at home, humble gestures of apology are everybody's business, elder or younger. I apologize to my wife. I apologize to my children... and we always ended each ritual with a hug and understanding.

Yes, apology needs a courageous heart, but it needs more a loving heart that believes in the innate goodness of each person…

 

Father,
We’re grateful for another day.
Now, committing mistakes and being imperfect
Makes more sense: it gives us the opportunity too
To forgive and to be forgiven.
Thank You for forgiving us first even before we ask for it,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

photo: acerminaro.blogspot.com | posted by john b. bejo

Run, Run Away

When You Give, give and run away so that you receive nothing in return. In this way, God will meet you somewhere to repay you a hundredfold.

 

 

photo: mervson.com| posted by john b. bejo