Did you ever have any experience perhaps by accident about, of all places and at such an unholy hour, discover something new, amazing or unusual in a friend or acquaintance? Perhaps your jaw dropped and your eyes stopped blinking... time seemed to stop... others, the same but they're looking at you instead... hmmmm - speechless, in a trance if not hypnotized, wondering if you really have known after all you have been with, this "kalog" friend of yours... Now you might say, "well, it depends", if what you discover is something good or praiseworthy you might feel envious or end up hugging him (tsk, iba na 'to...) and wishing it would last forever (naku ha! ano ka ba talaga..?), or if you have perceived something negative or disgusting, the impression might leave you in a paranoic manic-depressive state your whole life through ('kakaawa ka naman...). In either case, there is always something new we can discover in someone we know, and everyone has his own story to tell.
Someone says that most people spend considerable time knowing about others and what they do but surprisingly less time knowing themselves. Perhaps they are afraid of discovering something not likeable in themselves... those dark shadows they have long kept and confined in one corner of their subconscious. They might feel more comfortable by allowing others the initiative of bringing them out actually for them, since this will give them a psychological bufferzone where they could engage in arguments and all sorts of justifications or defenses. Could this perhaps be the reason why people sometimes are afraid to pray? Prayer enables one to discover the "real ME"... with no justifications whatsoever... just the "bare YOU as YOU ARE". One can simply go through the motions of attending a "Prayer show" with others everyday but without really and personally encountering the pathways leading to God. In my opinion, the only way we can truly know ourselves and others is through prayer both communal and personal but hopefully a prayer (moment) that will not grow mechanical nor external only but with time dedicated to meditation and listening to what God has to say to renew ourselves....
Jesus is a man of prayer, and there's absolutely no doubt about it. I believe though that while walking on the mountain with his intimate circle of disciples, he could have found a place where he could pray, and that was exactly what happened before he was transfigured - while in a prayerful posture.
Now, why was Jesus transfigured in the presence of his disciples? Was it only because he wanted them to realize that the hour has come for the lamb of God to be sacrificed on the cross of golgotha to redeem mankind from sin? Perhaps there could be other reasons and one of them is prayer - as the doorway through which the human self communicates and is sustained by the Divine Godhead. By being transfigured, Jesus is leading us to knowing that with our constant communication with the heavenly Father through prayer, we can achieve that "enlightenment" stage yet while living on this earth, precisely that grace-filled beautiful moment enjoyed by Adam and Eve before they sinned against Yahweh.
Constant meditative and deep prayer can lead us to our own taboric experience, like Jesus did.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hurry... the last train is coming!
Just after lunchtime, I received an email from a lady friend of mine I have not heard of in a long time, and her message was -
hello po!
i pray that you are in the best of health. I have not heard from you for a long time and im sure from me also, i have not send you mails lately. i am in samar (not real place) at the moment..i have given birth last dec 15th but unfortunately i am not lucky enough to get married..i was supposed to get married last May but the guy backed out as he was not ready (at age 41! huh) but im not sad. i am happy that i was given a beautiful baby girl as a gift..i know i have sinned about having a child out of wedlock im just praying that in due time my daughter would understand and forgive me.
God bless!
I knew her since her college days; she was one of my students in a moral theology class I was assigned to teach during summer at a nursing school in their province. She had fine manners, talks and shows respect to teachers, administrators, OP Trinity sisters, etc. In other words, she was a sensible young lady. When she hurdled the nursing licentiure exam and afterwards worked as staff nurse in a medical center in london, she emailed me once saying how happy and contented she was with her job and could not possibly ask God for more... or so as she said it. She also mentioned she had a filipino boyfriend working in another london company, quite mature and caring enough. I presume he was the same guy who backed out of her since, in her previous emails, she did not mention any other guy courting her except him. I'm not at all surprised to know he's had 41 years of age since, nowadays it has become common knowledge that an individual's intellectual quotient may not necessarily be at par with his/her psycho-emotional makeup - in short, one may be a 45-yr old intellectual genius while at the same time psychoemotionally remaining a child of 5 (yrs).
In another instance, I told her (through email) that she be cautious and really give much thought about getting married and preparing herself for it. She responded with a little sarcasm saying she doesn't have any plans of entering a monastery, and by this time with a stable job and about to reach midlife she feels desperate in catching up with the last train...
And that was exactly what happened... but with unexpected results...
It's almost always risky being in a hurry... without much thought, without adequate preparations - in getting things done, in going somewhere, and in being with people especially those one may happen to know occasionally or only recently. Many times, people in a hurry tend to forget doing things they normally should or bring those they don't really need; sometimes they find themselves in places or circumstances without really knowing why, becoming victims of people who take advantage of their "hastiness".
Being in a hurry usually creates tension, anxiety or stress as the object of desire becomes an obsession. And since that same object becomes the sole focus of attention, unconsciously many minor details (some essential like discernment, for example) are left out until one realizes their importance or decisiveness when difficulties are encountered in realizing the desired object.
To say it plainly, there are mistakes which can be corrected, but there are also those whose effects remain permanent, irrevocable or irremediable... like giving birth to a child out of wedlock...
Magsisi lang ba kapag huli na?
hello po!
i pray that you are in the best of health. I have not heard from you for a long time and im sure from me also, i have not send you mails lately. i am in samar (not real place) at the moment..i have given birth last dec 15th but unfortunately i am not lucky enough to get married..i was supposed to get married last May but the guy backed out as he was not ready (at age 41! huh) but im not sad. i am happy that i was given a beautiful baby girl as a gift..i know i have sinned about having a child out of wedlock im just praying that in due time my daughter would understand and forgive me.
God bless!
I knew her since her college days; she was one of my students in a moral theology class I was assigned to teach during summer at a nursing school in their province. She had fine manners, talks and shows respect to teachers, administrators, OP Trinity sisters, etc. In other words, she was a sensible young lady. When she hurdled the nursing licentiure exam and afterwards worked as staff nurse in a medical center in london, she emailed me once saying how happy and contented she was with her job and could not possibly ask God for more... or so as she said it. She also mentioned she had a filipino boyfriend working in another london company, quite mature and caring enough. I presume he was the same guy who backed out of her since, in her previous emails, she did not mention any other guy courting her except him. I'm not at all surprised to know he's had 41 years of age since, nowadays it has become common knowledge that an individual's intellectual quotient may not necessarily be at par with his/her psycho-emotional makeup - in short, one may be a 45-yr old intellectual genius while at the same time psychoemotionally remaining a child of 5 (yrs).
In another instance, I told her (through email) that she be cautious and really give much thought about getting married and preparing herself for it. She responded with a little sarcasm saying she doesn't have any plans of entering a monastery, and by this time with a stable job and about to reach midlife she feels desperate in catching up with the last train...
And that was exactly what happened... but with unexpected results...
It's almost always risky being in a hurry... without much thought, without adequate preparations - in getting things done, in going somewhere, and in being with people especially those one may happen to know occasionally or only recently. Many times, people in a hurry tend to forget doing things they normally should or bring those they don't really need; sometimes they find themselves in places or circumstances without really knowing why, becoming victims of people who take advantage of their "hastiness".
Being in a hurry usually creates tension, anxiety or stress as the object of desire becomes an obsession. And since that same object becomes the sole focus of attention, unconsciously many minor details (some essential like discernment, for example) are left out until one realizes their importance or decisiveness when difficulties are encountered in realizing the desired object.
To say it plainly, there are mistakes which can be corrected, but there are also those whose effects remain permanent, irrevocable or irremediable... like giving birth to a child out of wedlock...
Magsisi lang ba kapag huli na?
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