(link courtesy of youtube)
Not a Catholic anymore but I’m thrilled of Pope Francis’ papal visit.
I was a teenager when Pope John Paul II visited the Philippines for the World Youth Day in January 1995. Eh wala pang internet nung panahon na yun so kelangan pang manuod ng TV para makibalita. Sa nakikita ko, ka-level ni Pope Francis si Pope John Paul II pagdating sa charisma.
I hope that everybody will experience the gift of love.
🙂
Dear God,
Please give us the faith that we need to fully trust in Your plan.
Please guide us in our decision-making especially if it will affect the people around us.
Please remind us to be humble and forgiving, open-minded, respectful and loving.
Please shower us with optimism and please give us the gift of being the sunshine on anyone’s cloudy day.
Please keep us away from harm and sickness so that we can still help to spread the word of God through kindness and charity.
Lots of love,
Us
Through the years, my role in life has always been the patient listener and empathizer and to some extent, the unofficial peacemaker. What I realized from the problems shared to me were the following:
1. Problems are mostly created by us, therefore, only the “perpetrator” can solve the problem. A friend like me can only offer a shoulder to cry on but I can never solve somebody else’s problem. What if the problem is money? I can only offer up to a certain amount but unless the person do something to solve his money problem (like maybe finding a better job), then there’s no way that I can be of absolute help.
2. Don’t problem somebody else’s problem. Believe me, it’s emotionally draining! You can empathize without ruining your plan for the weekend just because you become too affected by somebody else’s problem. But you need to be sensitive of your friend or loved one’s nature of problem, too. It’s unethical to flaunt about your latest designer bag to somebody who has money problem. It’s hurtful to show off your holiday vacation with the love of your life to somebody who has just been dumped by a lover.
3. There should be a balance between being optimistic and being pessimistic. If you tend to look at the positive side of things, he might get too hopeful. If you do the opposite, he might lose hope and end up suicidal. Being a patient listener is striking a balance between giving positive and negative opinions about the other person’s problem.
I’ve always believed that when life throws you lemons, make a lemonade and I’ve always shared this thought to friends and loved ones who are in trouble. Aside from a good support group, a strong relationship with God helps during life’s trials.
Cheers!
Good vibes!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 39,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 14 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
My family knows how much I give quality time to eating so any sort of interruption and negativities are a big NO NO.
During breakfast, I have the habit of turning off the morning news so that I can fully concentrate on eating. Morning is supposed to be the most positive time of the day but we’re bombarded with depressing news from the NLEX-hostage taking to the victims of summary execution to the PDAF Scam to the Binay issue etc. The media have the habit of sensationalizing news so expect graphic semi-blurred images of accident victims and even the caterpilar attack in Davao.
At work, selected managers have this weekly lunch meeting for fellowship purpose where they can also discuss pressing issues of the week. I imagine myself being the odd man out if I were in their company because for sure, I would be focused on eating rather than discussing.
I think that modern and fast-paced living is the reason why meals are not as treasured as it was generations ago. People would rather hurry finishing a meal than take his time to appreciate God’s graces. As a result, we tend to overeat because an unsatisfying meal will lead to eating a follow-up meal after the main meal.
Relax. Take your 15-minute quality meal and enjoy the taste!
The killing of a 26-year old transgender in a lodge in Olongapo City affected me. If the motive was correct, the suspect, a US marine, felt duped when he discovered that the “girl” that he took to the lodge was a male disguised as a female. Nevertheless, I don’t think that that is enough reason to kill somebody. There’s just too much hate in this person to be able to kill!
The location of the said lodge is in the middle of a busy street. I’ve been to that lodge once when I accompanied a visiting friend to look for a place to stay in Olongapo. The room was not sound-proof so murder by strangulation was most fit. Almost a decade ago, there were no CCTV’s on the vicinity of the said lodge. I hope that they have CCTV’s now for a more accurate identification of the suspect.
Jeffrey Laude did not deserve what happened to him. He might have gone a little naughty for disguising his true sexuality but he did not deserve such violence and death. The suspect could have left him unharmed but he chose the violent way to “teach” him a lesson that he would never learn.
Violence in any form should NOT be tolerated. Being murdered because of one’s sexual orientation MUST never be justified!
Justice for Jeffrey Laude!
Justice for all victims of crime and violence!
I’ve been very busy with my job since the start of the year so I’m clueless about most of the issues that the world is facing. The attached picture is about a group of Yazidi refugees in Iraq. I do not know how this atrocity started so I’ll just focus on the question “Can we ever achieve peace and order?”
Can we ever achieve peace and order?
Let’s not get too far, in the Philippines, we have our own war against terrorists. Moving closer, some parts of the region still practice clan war. Moving more closer, some neighbors are not even in good terms. Moving more more closer, some families are broken and disconnected because of personal issues.
Terrorism is just like bullying; terrorists show power over the poor victim and they work in groups. It’s the reason why I hate to see any child being bullied; bullying is NEVER normal in ANY society in the same way that terrorizing people is NEVER acceptable for whatever reasons like a religious war.
What we need is a proactive society where people react to the tiniest bit of violence. Terrorist groups yielded power because we underestimated their capacity to grow and wreck havoc.
The World of Second Chances 