TAGUBILIN AT HABILIN

DIG THIS: A very striking poem I found on Bianca Gonzales' blog (Thanks!). You might find it funny but somehow very true.

TAGUBILIN AT HABILIN
Ni Jose F. Lacaba

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!
Mabuhay ka!
Iyan ang una't huli kong
Tagubilin at habilin:Mabuhay ka!

Sa edad kong ito, marami akong maibibigay na payo.
Mayaman ako sa payo.

Maghugas ka ng kamay bago kumain.
Maghugas ka ng kamay pagkatapos kumain.
Pero huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay para lang makaiwas sa sisi.
Huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay kung may inaapi
Na kaya mong tulungan.

Paupuin sa bus ang matatanda at ang mga may kalong na sanggol.
Magpasalamat sa nagmamagandang-loob.
Matuto sa karanasan ng matatanda
Pero huwag magpatali sa kaisipang makaluma.

Huwag piliting matulog kung ayaw kang dalawin ng antok.
Huwag pag-aksayahan ng panahon ang walang utang na loob.
Huwag makipagtalo sa bobo at baka ka mapagkamalang bobo.
Huwag bubulong-bulong sa mga panahong kailangang sumigaw.

Huwag kang manalig sa bulung-bulungan.
Huwag kang papatay-patay sa ilalim ng pabitin.
Huwag kang tutulog-tulog sa pansitan.

Umawit ka kung nag-iisa sa banyo.
Umawit ka sa piling ng barkada.
Umawit ka kung nalulungkot.
Umawit ka kung masaya.

Ingat lang.

Huwag kang aawit ng “My Way” sa videoke bar at baka ka mabaril.
Huwag kang magsindi ng sigarilyo sa gasolinahan.
Dahan-dahan sa matatarik na landas.
Dahan-dahan sa malulubak na daan.

Higit sa lahat, inuulit ko:

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!
Mabuhay ka!
Iyan ang una't huli kong
Tagubilin at habilin:
Mabuhay ka!

Maraming bagay sa mundo na nakakadismaya.
Mabuhay ka.
Maraming problema ang mundo na wala na yatang lunas.
Mabuhay ka.

Sa hirap ng panahon, sa harap ng kabiguan,
Kung minsan ay gusto mo nang mamatay.
Gusto mong maglaslas ng pulso kung sawi sa pag-ibig.
Gusto mong uminom ng lason kung wala nang makain.
Gusto mong magbigti kung napakabigat ng mga pasanin.
Gusto mong pasabugin ang bungo mo kung maraming gumugulo sa utak.

Huwag kang patatalo. Huwag kang susuko.

Narinig mo ang sinasabi ng awitin:“Gising at magbangon sa pagkagupiling,
Sa pagkakatulog na lubhang mahimbing.”
Gumising ka kung hinaharana ka ng pag-ibig.
Bumangon ka kung nananawagan ang kapuspalad.

Ang sabi ng iba: “Ang matapang ay walang-takot lumaban.”
Ang sabi ko naman:
Ang tunay na matapang ay lumalaban

Kahit natatakot.
Lumaban ka kung inginungodngod ang nguso mo sa putik.
Bumalikwas ka kung tinatapak-tapakan ka.
Buong-tapang mong ipaglaban ang iyong mga prinsipyo
Kahit hindi ka sigurado na agad-agad kang mananalo.

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!
Mabuhay ka!
Iyan ang una't huli kong
Tagubilin at habilin:
Mabuhay ka!

"LOvE chANgEs Us"

(2006)

I could not sleep last night and decided to watch a movie. I was looking for a good action movie but I could not find one. However, I ended up choosing "A Walk To Remember" movie. Yes! You heard it right. I watch Love Stories, too. :-P

Well, the story is about two different people brought together by fate and were put to test the power of faith and love to transform a life into something worth living. So tragic yet spiritual love story. What struck me most on this movie is about the "kindness, charity, forgiveness, redemption, strong faith, and love" of every characters showed.

LOVE changes us. We can spot those who have begun a new romance by their smiles, their increased energy, the way they dress, and the way they talk constantly about the new love in their lives.

On the spiritual level, Paul realized the power of loving and being loved. As I read the passage on Ephesians 3:18-19, he knew that the secret of effective evangelism for the Christians was that they continually experience how much they were loved by God. The same is true for us today. If we understand the length, height, width, and depth of God's love for us, there is nothing we cannot do.

And for us, we show our love for others in different ways, some small and some more significant. But God didn't show us love by giving us a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates. God showed us love by giving us His son Jesus Christ to die on a cross. That's how much God loves us. When our roots sink into this love, we are strengthened and God's love shows in our actions. We are changed.



Paul wrote, "I pray that you may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
~Ephesians 3:18-19

"i'LL bE tHeRE!"

(2006)

"Okay, bro. I'll be there". Some Kapatids responded as I invite them to watch a movie today.

I believe most people feel that the most beautiful words ever spoken are "I love you."

But a close second are the words "I'll be there." In everyday situations, I am sure that you want to hear them from a friend when you think the world is turning against you or from your love ones when you feel like celebrating. But even more, I know we want to hear them from God. We want to hear them when illness strikes us, when a someone turns on us, when a friend betrays our trust. Or perhaps, when a relationship sours. The list could go on almost endlessly. Every day, we could face situations where we can't bear to be alone.

And we won't be. No matter what, God says, "I'll be there." As He promised...He will be the same as yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The fires may be hot, the waters may be deep, the shadows may loom large.

Sometimes God carries us and gives us rest. But God comes to us and walks with us most of the time, we just need to feel Him.
We do not have to go it alone. God will be there. :)



Thus says the Lord,.."When you pass through the waters, I will be with you!"
~Isaiah 43:2

"TuRNinG ThOuGhtS iNto PrAyERs"

Another old reflection of mine (2006).

She is one of the Pillars of Ang Lingkod Ng Panginoon organization here in Angeles City and I always see her on our regular Prayer Meeting every Friday. I do not know her very well. However, I do know that she had been away from our Community for a couple of months due to some personal concerns. I sometimes got a chance to chat with her over the internet. On this particular Friday, I happened to take a glimpse of her and suddenly wondered if she still had doubts or uncertain feelings of serving the Lord. Later during sharing time, she stood up to share the story of her life while she was in the U.S.. Holding back the tears in her eyes, she shared to us how the Lord worked in her life at the time she was really trying to avoid any services and how HE made ways to change her mind.

I pondered this sequence of events. Was it a coincidence that I had thought of her before I knew she was trying to move on with her life away from a Community? Or had God given me thoughts about her concerns for a reason? I decided then that God had indeed been nudging me to pray.

Indeed, it was a powerful lesson for me. Now I intercede for people when they come to mind. I pray that the Lord will be with them to meet their wants and needs, have them draw closer, and show them love.

I am fully convinced that the Lord brings specific people to mind because we are meant to pray for them.

God bless us all! :)

Paul wrote, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone."
-1 Timothy 2:1 (NIV)

Until My Heart Caves In!

Many of us have mobiles, palm pilot, e-mail account or even voice mail. With these we can contact one another virtually anywhere in the world, at nearly any time we want to.

With all these devices, though, do we actually know each other any better than we did before?

I've asked myself this question where my relationship to God is concerned. I have constant, immediate access to God. I can communicate with God from anywhere. Unfortunately, I don't talk more with God despite of this easy access. Too often I ask a quick, "Please help my mother recover quickly from her illness" or "Please help me to be nicer today," but don't open my heart to God. I don't tell Him about my hidden hurts or fears. I don't thank God in amazement for the people who come into my life and into the lives of others at precisely the right time. I don't talk with God about my dreams and hopes for the future.

But those were the days when I was not yet in the renewal. Now, I am trying to create a life with God, grabbing every opportunities that will come my way.
I am sure God wants us to speak in prayer about all that is in our hearts. When we are in that kind of deep, constant communication with God, our lives become much more fulfilling. I will continue to serve and love Him until my heart caves in.

Life as we know it!

Ready?

One of my old reflections in life, way back 2006. Just reposting here!

"How does it feel to be in Lingkod?" This was the phrase in which Brother Ric O. asked me to include when I did the Committed Members' collage board to be displayed in our Lingkod office. So catchy and it made me pray that one day for God to use me to share the good news of Jesus. That opportunity came last night when I took a bus on my way home after coming from my friend's mother's burial in Tarlac. At one stop, two people boarded the bus. They sat down opposite beside me. While they were talking, I overheard the man asking his buddy, "Have you secured your life?" I was amazed and happy for the chance to answer that question but I realized I'm not with them. So I just answered in my mind that my life is secure in God.

Brothers & sisters, we may not all blessed to become great evangelists, but each of us has a special story about how our hope and faith in Christ has changed us. God gives us chances to share the Good News. Our responsibility is to share the hope we have.

God could save humankind without your help or mine, but in most cases God uses people like us to reach out. Who are the people around us who need to know about Jesus? We can trust God to help us share our faith when an opportunity comes -- even on a bus. Be ready!

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. "
-1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

To God Be The Glory.

Fear Not...

I paralyze you. I torment you. I can make you sick. I can keep you awake. I know your deepest, darkest secrets. I stand between you and obedience, between you and growth, between you and faith.

What am I?

My name is Fear.

Fear is a vicious, cunning monster who waits, coiled, ready to spring at just the right moment.

There's nothing worse than that feeling that something has poked an icy hole in your stomach, destroyed your sense of stability, uprooted your safety. Like so many human weaknesses, fear boils down to our desire for control. When control spirals away, fear jumps in to take its place.

But get this. Did you know that the most frequently repeated command from by God in the Bible is "fear not"? It's repeated 366 times. That's a "don't be afraid, I am with you" for every day of the year. Coincidence?

Even when we can't feel His presence, He's always there, and He's promised never to leave us. Believe. Trust. Obey.

He's on your side.


- Anonymous

Unemployment Rate in the Philippines

According to the National Statistics Office or NSO, as of January 2008, 7.4% is the Unemployment rate in the Philippines.

Unemployment has remained high in the Philippines, at almost twice the level of neighboring countries, despite relatively fast employment growth in the past decade. Employment growth was not sufficient to reduce unemployment because of rapid population growth and increased labor force participation.

Hmmmmmn! I just wondered if I will become one of these unemployed people a month from now.

Bounce

BOUNCE is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's a story of a man who gives up his airline ticket to another man only to watch that very flight crash. And a year later, he finds the widow of the man who took his seat. Hide his identity to the girl, they soon fall for each other and later found out his real identity. The result? They broke up and parted ways. But because of his pure intentions, they eventually end up together again. And the rest of the story is for you to find out so watch the movie. :-p

Fate sometimes happen in a very unexpected situation. When things go wrong, we always feel life is so unfair. We intend to forget that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes people come into our lives to teach us something (and learn from it!). For us, forgive and forget is not very easy. It's a human nature but we should not continue to hold on if there is nothing to hold on to. We have to let go and move on.

Have you ever felt God encouraging you to let go in some situation when everything within you wanted to hold on? Sometimes we are called to let go and entrust ourselves to the powerful currents of what God is doing. When we do, we experience saving grace.

Make a rebound!

Something To Ponder

"I don't want to fly around in a suit all day for the rest of my life" - Clark Kent

Even Superheroes want to rest with what they are doing. So I guess, REST is important and should be a part of our daily lives. It's a blessing from GOD (Remember, HE rested the seventh day; blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. -Exodus 20:11 ). It is crucial for us to stop, to think, and to allow God to help us to regain our focus on right priorities for our lives.

Life as we know it!

Am so happy today!

~ I'm so happy today, an old friend came home!
~I'm so happy today, I was able to chat with her!
~I'm so happy today, I will have a breakfast this morning with a friend!
~I'm just so happy today! :)


~That's life as we know it!