Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love with all my soul. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
“If only you would greatly bless me and expand my territory. May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain.” Prayer of Jabez 1 Chronicle 4:10
Simple step: “For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37 Do you have a prayer request? Write it down so I can pray with you.
Do you check the mirror before stepping out? Dress for success. Walk head up even though you are broken?
We all want to be respected, to be seen, to be heard, to be known. It is a basic human need. Children grow up maladjusted when they lack enough good attention. It is a desire so strong that they often say, “Look at me.” Maybe you did that too as a child. What did you do to be noticed then? Adults are not spared the dis-ease. We might even act out, fake illness, play the martyr, crack a tired joke, just to get attention, any attention.
Sadly, we don’t always get the proper attention we seek. It could be too little, too late, or too much. (We could be pestered by unwanted demands and attention that we neglect our real needs.) When this need is unmet, some might fall prey to groomers, predators and bullies who take advantage of them. Not everyone knows how to give or get attention. But the need remains.
Sometime in my teen years, I realized it’s a dog eat dog world. I learned that paying attention to oneself is more practical and effective than craving attention from others. To be able to “look at me” with my own eyes, not somebody else’s, is more helpful.
Being able to take an objective look at oneself is a milestone to growing up. Who am I, how do I act when there is no one around to observe or impress, but me? Then it turns out this is actually a good thing. Self-awareness happens when we evaluate our motives, goals, ability, and make adjustments where needed. Not only that, Science tells us that how we perceive ourselves is projected onto others. It’s involved in pygmallon effect. Self-awareness gives us more control over how we want others to perceive us and behave around us, more than just the knowledge of how others think of us. Then we get the attention that is healthy and proper.
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Lastly, once we understand how God sees us, we would want to prioritize it over the others. Because thru it, we get uninterrupted and undiluted attention so that we experience inner peace, almost fearless, even when ignored, maligned or rejected. And because He could see thru us and beyond. What we will be 28 years later! He said to Peter, you will be the rock. How to get to this condition? Simply learn to align ourselves with His values and purpose. It is like a button is pressed when a person aligns himself with Him. Make sense for how do you fill your cup unless you align it to the spout?
Small Step: Have you felt you’ve been less appreciated lately, working too hard to find approval? Try to align one of your purpose with God’s.
After reading all the news about war, do you still have it in you? Not just fear, how do we deal with increase in hate and losses? It might be ironic, but a poignant letter below from Einstein* to his daughter might shed new lights.
”I ask you to guard the letters as long as necessary, years, decades, until society is advanced enough to accept what I will explain below. There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe and has not yet been identified by us. This universal force is LOVE.”
“Give me 100 men who love God and fear nothing but sin and I will move the world.” — John Wesley
“When scientists looked for a unified theory of the universe they forgot the most powerful unseen force. This force explains everything and gives meaning to life. This is the variable that we have ignored for too long, maybe because we are afraid of love because it is the only energy in the universe that man has not learned to drive at will.”
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” — Apostle Paul I Corinthian 13:13
“I deeply regret not having been able to express what is in my heart, which has quietly beaten for you all my life.”
Changing one mind at a time: What’s the first thought you have after reading this. Is it about love? That’s the point.
In 1939, Einstein urged Pres. Roosevelt to pursue research into nuclear weapons, fearing that Germany might do it first. Later he expressed regrets for initiating its development. To his daughter, he wrote the above letter.
If we can talk a little less, think a little more Fault a little less, look a little more If we can rush a little less, read a little more Then silence will be a friend Silent is the night, the song said Then in silence we can Whine a little less, feel a little more Yell a little less, rest a little more Cuss a little less, pray a little more Demand a little less, thank a little more The morning breeze will smile at us Silence accompanies wisdom and strength But then we don't Stoics find its power Its secret strength we miss A calm new world To expand the soul Should we worry a little less, to relax Fear a little less, to trust Despair a little less, to hope Perhaps three days of silence in the tomb Rise, to start anew "There's a time for everything... A time to be silent and a time to speak" ¡Hola! Silencio Silence softens your voice and mine Pierces deaf ears, lying hearts Silence ain't zero Trained to be loud we miss the whispers of God Sounds of silence that crack the rock Reaching the deep Silence meets shadow Friend Prayer like breath delights, clarifies Never alone With that still Voice, rendezvous Never alone
LET US, our children and our children’s children continue their legacy
By July 4, 2026, the USA would be 250 yrs old. It has the most recognizable flag in the world, its sacred treasure. Sad to say, it is the only national flag I have seen to be shredded and burned by its own. To say that it is just a piece of cloth so it can be burned and trashed is dishonest, childish, and disrespectful. It deserves to be protected from vandalism; to be spared from being used as a punching bag, a personal weapon or megaphone. As our symbol of freedom , it is to be displayed to represent such ideals and hope, so that when you look at it, you could almost see the faces of those who fought for it waving to you. What a beautiful reminder and a simple way to unify us despite our differences! So it is not ours to replace, to do as we please with it. Crafted by those who fought for it, it belongs to all who continue that fight even today.
The Lord’s Supper is both a historical and symbolic gesture of Christ. Pinhead by micro-sculptor Willard Wigan 2007
Feeling like an outcast, invisible, useless even in your own home?
No matter what the reason, it hurts. Once, there was a woman who came to Jesus when she was in the pit of pain. Feeling worthless, she said, “Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Little did she know that in God’s table, there’s abundance of real food for deep healing, even crumbs turn into gold. Our faith shows what we depend on especially in dire time. Don’ waste it on what’s unreliable.
Note: The conversation above is found in Matthew 15:21-28.
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Small step: You may not realize you have faith. Just come to the table that serves real food.
Why dip into a well when you can dip in the living water that is eternal?
Do you have a gnawing need to find validation? Do you go to great lengths to alter the parts of your body that you do not like to ward off any insecurity or sense of dissonance? Do you work hard on the parts you want people to notice, while unknowingly sacrificing your real assets? Do you constantly notice in others what you think you lack, then make comparison? Do you quickly become depressed because you cannot get the attention or acceptance you seek? Does a single negative comment change your mood and bring you down easily, disrupting your work and relationships? Do you then cry even for no apparent reason? Have you been binge-eating or self-cutting, drugging yourself, contemplating ending your life, and still nothing you do can erase your loneliness or dis-ease? Happiness seems so elusive.
If you answer yes to a few of the above, you could be obsessing. But obsession is marked by rushing, restlessness, repetitive intrusive thoughts and irrational, risky behavior. That shows the locus of control may no longer be within you. That which we obsess we serve. We’re enslaved. Freedom seems elusive.
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Could such obsession be behind the rapid boom (emphasis on “rapid”) of surgical beauty, sex reassignment clinics, and cycles of fashion trends? Unfortunately, instead of progress, there’s downward spiral. How? The frenzy lifestyle feed anxiety, discontentment, self-alienation, and the delusion that having class, power, wealth, and success alleviate pain and poverty. These materialistic solutions have been used in both capitalist and socialist societies. And they always enhance disconnection with one’s soul, its essence and true purpose. So these pursuits exacerbate loneliness, as shown in the sketch above. This irony is manifest in first-world societies where there is greater sexual freedom and the freest expression of oneself, yet loneliness and social isolation are on the rise. Unity becomes more elusive.
Now what? In response, countries like the UK and Japan have appointed ministers of loneliness. Once again, do you see the missing part?
Hint: When hit with disillusion, the soul is in distress. Suggested reading: Psalm 40 and/or 90.
Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Good points. There’s one very critical day you would not want to miss though: the day you find out what could stop you in your tract. Paul clipped it:
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” (Romans 7:18-19)
Pause a moment and let that statement sink in. If it resonates, it is because the experience is all too familiar. What would stop us? It is ourselves. Yet, we’ve seen the ascendancy of the humanists view claiming that people are by nature good, quite the opposite of the reality. The humanist’s vision has inspired us to work tirelessly to bring progress. We have what it takes to thrive: education, science, technology, all fill our arsenal to conquer the world. That’s what we thought. Then World War II struck. It was like demons were let loose. The good man theory popped. Worse, the very means of progress and prosperity were used against humanity in gruesome genocides.
So as it turns out, knowing your purpose is not enough. Having an ambition is a start. You still need to have the power to actualize it. So, the next place Paul took his readers sealed it. No, he did not spit out condemnation nor pessimism for our inadequacies and imperfections. He talked of forgiveness and transformation. It’s a spiritual healing and empowering. That day is to become a turning point when we become aware of our true self, admit that we are spiritually poor, sick to the core, hopeless and helpless beings without God. As Jesus puts it succinctly in Matt 5:3, “Blessed (happy) are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of God is theirs.” In short, the day we acknowledge that we are sinners, torn and tattered inside out, that we can’t even save ourselves from harming ourselves, or our fellow humans and environment. To call it a day of salvation is not an exaggeration. It’s like a new day dawning for this salvation gives us a new nature: a new purpose, perspective, and power.
Quick check: What experience makes you aware of your spiritual poverty?
It’s an extraordinary time when we can no longer distinguish adults from children, government from parents, men from women. This confusion spills into the culture too: is it art or witchcraft, dance or porn, free speech or hate speech, news or opinion. Instead of outcry, instead of demanding hard evidence, allowing freedom to discuss, agree or dissent, there is approval of violence, suppression of conscience, tampering with the law, and the threatening of lives. It’s being done for justice. In short, as long as it is for justice, for the greater good, then any means is justified. As a result, we need to examine both the means and the end!
How did our pursuit of justice become like this? Could it be because we have also changed our approach, understanding and attitude towards the law? The law is no longer anchored on the truth but context and outcome become the basis. This is a clear departure from the Judeo-Christian foundation of the law. If the moral compass is broken, if it is justice without God in it, then what is it and who is in it? A select few?
From the dawn of civilization, laws have been drawn to preserve order and protect individual lives. These laws may need occasional revisions to strengthen them. But all laws talk about rights and seek accountability for justice. Justice seeks whether I have my rights and others’ too. It pursues whether I have given my due too. Justice demands accountability where I am not judged for what I have not received, but for what I do with what I have, no matter how small it is.
Unique to Christian law is almost all countries that adopt it prosper. “Have I done my responsibility of loving my neighbor as myself?” is the core of the second half of the Ten Commandments. A humane society is a just society. It is built on looking out for one another. In case you haven’t noticed, the commandments address the individual’s duties. And thus God’s justice starts with the individual. not the group. It assumes that each person is responsible for knowing the law, self-examining, and prioritizing the other over oneself. It is humane to aspire to contribute to the whole, using whatever one has. Stealing, murder, slander, disobedience to parents, lying, and covetousness all betray this and the perpetrator is held accountable, if not immediately, later.
Someone once described a scene in hell in contrast to heaven. In hell, each one keeps others at arm’s length with long forks, making it hard to feed even oneself. It’s hellish. In heaven, everyone feeds one another. The short or long fork does not matter.
A good lawgiver will also give just punishment to stem lawlessness. Participation, association, and consent are clearly stipulated so degrees of guilt and punishment are measured accordingly. What happens when solutions are subjective, inappropriate, or inadequate? It is like using a straw boat when compared to the heavy-duty ark built by Godawarded to those who believe in God’s justice. It is unjust to design policies that endanger the law-abiding citizens but reward the vile, the fool and the ungodly.
The justice we seek is the justice we’ll get, if not immediately, then later. I know that justice delayed is justice denied. But that a fair judge would be patient, not rushed. The flood did not happen until after a century of warning was issued through Noah. God’s seeming delayed judgment was not due to softness or neglect but to give each person ample time to repent. Don’t we all want mercy? Probably what we want is mercy, not justice. And God is capable of giving both.
Quick check: Is there an aspect of God’s justice you would like to have more of in our society?
What to think of death? Medically, death is the termination of all functions of life up to the cellular level. However, its salient impact and relevance would be the cultural ones. “Death” is found in all languages. In particular, is “Wang” which means death in Chinese. It connotes destruction, departure or elimination. Surely, this cutthroat designation conveys a gut-wrenching event. “Extinction” best captures its finality and horror as archeologists refer to the dinosaurs’ demise. Maybe that is why death is often used as a weapon against one’s enemy, or as a way to deal with emptiness, to self-punish for guilt or a dare to pain in defiance through suicide.
How have we so misunderstood and misused death! We use it to solve our problems when it is the problem we need to solve. Many have tried. There’s the quest for a fountain of youth, others try philosophy. It is explained as a release from this evil world achieved thru endless cycles. But this is like going under the knife multiple times till one pays it all and gets it right. Isn’t that endless pain, not endless life?
Some soften it by regarding it as “passing from this world.” But if it is mere passing, do we reappear somewhere? If it is cessation of cellular functions, I better eat healthy. If it is extinction, I’ll worry less about doing the right thing and just enjoy myself. If in death there is no longer any consciousness, then I’ll use it to end my troubles. But if there is a continuation, then where is it and how much time do I have to prepare? “Becoming one of the stars” lifts the heart in bereavement. Holding someone’s memory forever in one’s heart warms the cold reality. But what kind of existence is that? These euphemisms attempt to make sense of life, to help us overcome the pain. These do not assuredly tell us what lies ahead, but somehow they provide a relief from the grief of losing a loved one, and the agony of the unknown, of not seeing them again.
The end is the end. What more is there to talk about? Right? But I beg to differ. Death is part of one’s life, though it comes at the end. Not giving it importance is like watching a movie that is suddenly cut, it’s meaningless. The fact is though the future is unknown, death is not. A good ending comes from knowing it’s coming and developing it. Write it into your life, but how?
O death, where is thy sting. Death is the last enemy. By His stripes we are healed.
Jesus predicted, planned, preached and prepared for His death and resurrection. He changed everything about death and how we too can prepare to enter the land of the living, not the dead.
Instead of theorizing or romanticizing death, be down to earth, grounded in evidence. This is where the Easter story is pivotal to our understanding of death. To date, the resurrection of Christ is one of the best attested historical evens by scholars, both Christian and non-Christian. What awaits after death is no longer a mystery, but a tangible hope echoed in “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies.” Thus, the resurrection has changed billions of lives from one of despair to hope, from meaningless to purposeful, from goodbye to see you later. Easter is when death becomes a continuation of our existence, not the end. Like a door one enters another room. the story does not end with death. Jesus uniquely used the metaphor of sleep. Lazarus was dead for four days, but Jesus said He would wake him up from sleep. Lazarus came back to life. Finality becomes temporary. Death becomes temporary to all who believe.
In an age where certainty is frowned upon, absolute truth is replaced by relativity, and faith is regarded as unscientific, there is still no answer, and therefore no end to pain. Death is a fact, it hurts, it disrupts, and facts do not care about feelings, status, gender or age. But then there’s the fact of the resurrection. Then what?
Quick check: Who does not think of death? A Christian Uber driver surprised me by saying death is a time of awarding. November 2, 2023, is All Souls' Day. What are your thoughts after reading this? How does your idea of death hold up? What makes you certain of it?
Small step: Rest in peace" is comforting only if you have found peace already. Have you made the peace? Eternal peace?
* Reference: Gary Habermas, Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?; Anthony Flew, “There is A God”; and https://www.bethinking.org/jesus/ancient-evidence-for-jesus-from-non-Christian Sources.
