I believe angels are real. If they are not, how could we explain miracles that happened to babies and children who were miraculously saved from danger?
I could vividly remember I was 6 years old then. After school, I went directly to my playmate's grandmother's house where my 6 other friends joined me to play. We played hide and seek for a few minutes and every one laughed boisterously. I got so tired that I decided to sit by the window and leaned on the plasterboard which I thought was locked with a hook. It was too late that I realized I was falling off the window. Every thing went black. And when I regained consciousness, I found myself seated on a chair with no injury and no bruises. My mother then was holding cotton with ammonia close to my nose, whose strong scent awakened me from a seemingly deep slumber. When I looked around, I saw my family and friends surrounding me, worried about my fall. When they sensed that nothing bad happened to me, they were so happy. My family were so happy too, knowing that a miracle happened. It was unexplainable that I fell to the ground of solid soil from the second floor of the house about 10 feet high, yet I was unscathed.
That same day, I believed that I was saved by my angel sent by God to protect me from harm. I don't know how my angel did it. Perhaps, he caught me just in time and put me down safely on the ground or he put an invisible cushion on the ground which protected my fragile body.
Whatever means he used to save me, all I knew is that God saved me through his angel for a reason.
As I looked back to that miraculous experience, I realized God's purpose for my life - to be part of His mission of bringing more people to His kingdom through my vocation as a teacher. Yes, I am a teacher and with this profession, I believe I can do much in making the youth know God more and establish a more personal relationship with Him.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Never hurry
This afternoon, I attended the mass and a talk by Br. Obet Cabrillas. One important lesson about life which touched me tremendously is on how I should live my life. Bro. Obet mentioned that a lot of people live their lives always in a hurry and in doing so, they never get to appreciate the precious gift of life which God bestowed upon them.
And I began to reflect on what Bro. Obet said. Am I like the many who never give much importance to life? Am I like them who are living lives in a very fast pace that there is no more opportunity to even appreciate every day blessings?
How sad that my answer to these questions is a resounding "yes." How disheartening that most of the time, I dash out every morning to go to work, do things at a faster pace to be able to cope with the demands of my job, never mind if I have even paused to mingle around, to see people in their faces, to see how they smile. It has become a routine for me that as I get to my haven in school, people seldom see me chatting with fellow workers, for I am very busy beating deadlines.
It is only now that I learned to slow down when I discovered my illness. I have a thyroid nodule which causes me a lot of inconveniences. I feel exhausted so easily even if I have done just a few things; I get impatient and irritated even at small things which I am not in control.
With these strange feelings, I realized I am not getting younger, sooner or later, I will leave this world. And this reality haunts me deeply that I began to have a paradigm shift - that from this day onwards, I will live my life as if it is my last, that I will take time to savor the beauty of life and not just let a day pass without even appreciating every single circumstance that happens throughout the day.
I know it is never too late to have a changed of perspective. Now is the time to change; now is the very time to live a life of no hurry.
And I began to reflect on what Bro. Obet said. Am I like the many who never give much importance to life? Am I like them who are living lives in a very fast pace that there is no more opportunity to even appreciate every day blessings?
How sad that my answer to these questions is a resounding "yes." How disheartening that most of the time, I dash out every morning to go to work, do things at a faster pace to be able to cope with the demands of my job, never mind if I have even paused to mingle around, to see people in their faces, to see how they smile. It has become a routine for me that as I get to my haven in school, people seldom see me chatting with fellow workers, for I am very busy beating deadlines.
It is only now that I learned to slow down when I discovered my illness. I have a thyroid nodule which causes me a lot of inconveniences. I feel exhausted so easily even if I have done just a few things; I get impatient and irritated even at small things which I am not in control.
With these strange feelings, I realized I am not getting younger, sooner or later, I will leave this world. And this reality haunts me deeply that I began to have a paradigm shift - that from this day onwards, I will live my life as if it is my last, that I will take time to savor the beauty of life and not just let a day pass without even appreciating every single circumstance that happens throughout the day.
I know it is never too late to have a changed of perspective. Now is the time to change; now is the very time to live a life of no hurry.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Reciprocity
One time, I was surprised hearing our househelp's daughter saying, "Ate Nery, di magagaling ang estudyante nyo po," (Ate, (endearing word of respect to an adult? Nery, for sure, your students are good). I asked her why she said it. And she replied, "because you are bright, so it follows that your students are also bright."
I was flattered with what I heard. And then, I began to realize that she was trying to rationalize things, that by merely looking at the source, one can easily see the product or output.
Looking at her logic, she has a point. And this simple conversation with a 10 year-old child made me think that if we will just do our very best to influence others to really live their lives to the fullest in the same way as we do, then there will be no problem of peace and order, poverty, corruption and the like. Hence, if that happens, our temporary stay on earth will not as bad as it can be.
How idealistic, easier said than done. But, it is possible, isn't it? I have watched the movie, "Pay it Forward," and in a social studies project that a student did in the movie, he made the people feel loved and cared for. Hence, in the end, this school project made the people learn to love and give it away unconditionally without counting the cost. And this results to a chain reaction, the one who gets love gives love in return.
Yes, the movie is fiction, but the idea presented there is doable. So, can we just apply the concept of love reflected in the movie, and be the next happiest man alive.
I was flattered with what I heard. And then, I began to realize that she was trying to rationalize things, that by merely looking at the source, one can easily see the product or output.
Looking at her logic, she has a point. And this simple conversation with a 10 year-old child made me think that if we will just do our very best to influence others to really live their lives to the fullest in the same way as we do, then there will be no problem of peace and order, poverty, corruption and the like. Hence, if that happens, our temporary stay on earth will not as bad as it can be.
How idealistic, easier said than done. But, it is possible, isn't it? I have watched the movie, "Pay it Forward," and in a social studies project that a student did in the movie, he made the people feel loved and cared for. Hence, in the end, this school project made the people learn to love and give it away unconditionally without counting the cost. And this results to a chain reaction, the one who gets love gives love in return.
Yes, the movie is fiction, but the idea presented there is doable. So, can we just apply the concept of love reflected in the movie, and be the next happiest man alive.
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