The Shadow In The Light

Such beauty, grace and splendor inherent
Inspiring to most and intrigued by some in torment
Driven by love and dedication to the Son
Her mission at hand remains hopeful, powerful and divine.

Eager and obedient with absolute trust
A portrait of credence and certitude, and not even a twinge of disgust
Unmitigated by her youth
but motivated by the Father’s Divine Truth
She said yes to the call
to be the vessel for the Lord
Who would be the Savior of all.

Such display of humility so fearless and bold
By the archangel the birth of the Messiah foretold
Paved the way to God's grace in delivering us from bondage to sin
To set us free from condemnation
And simultaneously escape eternal damnation.

O Mary, my Queen, my Patroness, my Intercessor
You are the moon that claims not to be the source of light
But the shadow that reflects the light of the Divine Son,
The One True Light of the world.

Sweet Whispers

Amidst the absence of audible sound
When every moment fades into a black ground
Every anticipated desire into a standstill
Brings forth sensations of refined and ethereal seal
Melancholic longing resounding
And sweet caress and exuberant talk dawning and imagined.

Each passing night
I try and close my eyes
Mere thoughts of you
At times they break me up
And pull and rip me apart.

Each passing night
Before I close my eyes
I ask God to let us come together
And meet you in my dreams to never
Let no moment pass us by
No matter how transient, no matter how far
To hold each other tight
When everything else seems not quite right.

Each passing night
I hope and anticipate
a date with you, my dearest Pop,
In my dreams that I could scream
I LOVE YOU with all my heart!

Tonight I was sound asleep
Smiling, you kissed me on the cheek
Dried the tears that burn my eyes
And whispered sweet nothings in my ears
Like you used to when I was two.

A God of The Unexpected

A majority of us have developed a general understanding of the existence of an omnipotent, all powerful, all loving and merciful God with all the infinite superlative attributes combined that are beyond and above human description who transcends time and space, conceived of as the majestic, "supernatural creator and overseer of the universe," and the source and compass of all morality but we rarely pertain to God as someone possessing a sense of humor which is quite contrary to the generally accepted persona of a godly character that is usually within the standards of all seriousness, conventionalized and subdued nature, rather than joking and half-hearted representation.

It gives me great delight to assume that God does have the most amazing sense of humor, and could crack the best punch line of all time without trying too hard. Besides, it is our Christian core belief that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is simultaneously fully divine and fully human, thus, God’s human nature could superficially support my purely hypothetical assumption of God cracking up a joke or two, or getting a laugh out of the situations derived from our self-profiting interests with self-centered wants and our clouded concept of needs, or maybe God playing some kind of trick on me, etc.

Does God really work this way? Does He ridicule us and create a mockery of us when we opt to deviate from His ways and follow our lead and inclinations instead? Let’s keep in mind though that God the Father gave His only begotten Son to be born only to die for us, so it doesn't quite fit in to associate God getting a laugh out from our unfortunate circumstances. Remember that God is the source of all happiness and He takes delight in every joy that we have, He does not take comfort in our sorrows but rather takes action to counterbalance our sadness.

So instead of wondering if God has a sense of humor, it might be more appropriate to infer that our God is a God of surprises, who has the tendency to respond to our needs uniquely personal with a twinge of mirth and humor, and completely different from what we anticipate to receive, not because He wants to contradict or aggravate us and make us uncomfortable but He knows what's best for us; He undeniably reads the hearts well, magnificently distinguishes the maladies of the soul, and gently covers the surface punctuated by injuries with unrestricted endearment and affection of no boundaries.

Either way, God loves to see us smiling, chuckling and busting a move or two in our euphoric moments! He chuckles and celebrates right along with us, and loves to see us take great pleasure in it. When the time comes that we acknowledge our flawed human reaction and learn to accept the fact that God's plan turns out to be the best decision ever made (even if it initially caused us to squirm), we could have assumed that God was exercising His sense of humor but in all reality, He was certainly surprising us with what He already knew to be the best in the first place. He is the Master of the plan after all.

What Sin?

When God says, " I absolve you from your sins," believe that God really meant it. We are mindful of our lack of love when we stand before it. When we did something in the past that we regret of doing, and lay it before God, He'd say: " I will pulverize it, and I will remember it no more! What sin?" That is the power of God when He forgives us...when He heals us. Leave the sins of the past in the past. Let not the past cloud our perception of the future. The mercy of God is simply awesome!

Most Worthwhile

Various experiences in one’s life often create a certain aura of transient instability that motivates most people to deviate from the norm and go beyond the predictable. We sometimes find ourselves in situations that we wouldn’t normally indulge into or pay any attention to, not because we don’t care but partially because we are scared, or we simply just don’t want to get involved. Such reasoning often negates the possibilities of great things to come. The light at the end of the tunnel is almost always missed but if we allow ourselves to sail through the shaded surface, we might be surprised and delighted to discover that something valuable and remarkable lies beneath it despite the turbulences and crookedness of the path. The things that we are scared of are usually the most worthwhile. At some point, we need to move from not being scared to being bold; defeat it and be released from being trapped.

When We Say Nothing At All

Why can’t we ever do anything at the very important moments? We are caught off-guard and we become so quiet with a sense of awkwardness and yet we grasp a conscious awareness of what we truly feel towards the person(s) and our emotions become evident at a comparatively brief period of time. For a brief moment, the concept of an unforeseen self awareness emerges. No need for words. A simple smile, a touch of a hand or simply a spontaneous eye contact suddenly becomes the mechanism of conveying our affection and it makes all the difference. What we do is far more significant than what we say.

I Am My Father's Daughter

The admiration for an individual rarely materializes anymore in this very mundane world that we live in today where the “I” power continues to reign supreme in our self-absorbed world, but every once in a while, we come across a person who is at least a portion of an embodiment of unsurpassable degree of excellence, if not at all perfect, who is worthy of acclamation, at least on my standards. Humble, patient, forgiving, generous, loving, smart, amusingly funny, self-possessed, selfless, grudge-free attitude, God- fearing are just a few traits that I can describe my beloved Tata. He has taught me so many great things in life and has inspired me in so many different levels. His influence made an impact on my many critical decision-making positions without ever compromising the moral principles he passed on to us that we hold dear in our hearts; discerning course of action based on principle rather than from the point of view of expediency. His legacy towards the simplicity and the basics of life has always been four-fold in its proper order: First, love God; second, love your mother/father/spouse/family; third, love your neighbor; fourth, love yourself. He has been very consistent on living this life. He lived what he preached. He strived to be in perfect union with God and lived a life in accordance with God’s teachings, but like every God’s creation, by virtue of our human nature, still fell short without fully reaching its perfection because he acknowledged the fact that flawlessness can only be attributed to God. Putting one’s life for a friend is the very core of his being next to his high regard for God. He is the kind of person who cheerfully gives something without expecting anything in return, and wishes to remain unnoticed not anticipating any accolade of special acknowledgment or favorable recognition.

As I was growing up, being the typical selfish, immature, attention-seeking young person that I once was, I never really fully understood this not until later on in my adult life. He instilled in me an attitude that calls for a deeper desire for God and a selfless act of love towards others. A few years before my Tata’s passing, I was given the rare opportunity to look deeper into my faith, thus, I was able to freely talk to Tata about God and the Scripture with more profoundness and utmost interest. His favorite bible story was St. Paul’s journey to conversion. He knew the full account of events on the chapter. I remember him telling this story when we were little, but I never really paid attention to it then. It was later on that I realized what he meant that just like St. Paul, we are always a new creation in the face of God whenever we seek forgiveness and humble enough to ask for it..

Although I am feeling a profound sense of loss, and a bit nostalgic as if a part of me is missing, I am inclined to hope for a future after this life ends as God promised before the world began.