We’ve heard how life seemed so abundant in all things, in sunshine, in water, in the air we breathe. Everything is there for the taking, and the only thing left for us is to claim them. Yet how is it the many of us still lack in many things, particularly in material wealth? If the earth never lacks in water, why is it that we never seem to have even a small drop of it at times?
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When I asked for a Rose
It was January 31 and Valentines Day seem so near. I was praying to God when I suddenly felt so sad. I felt so lonely. I knew that dreaded day would soon be coming when girls would soon be receiving flowers from their special someone, when they would all go about proudly carrying those flowers, certain of the sincere love of those that offered them. I haven’t got any lover though. So no flowers for me, no bouquet, not even a single red rose.
It was kinda embarassing, but I knew the Lord knew my heart and there was no point in hiding anything. I remained true to my feelings, and I asked God for something I’ve never asked before. I’ve asked Him to send me a rose, just one. I don’t know how it could possibly happen, but I prayed, like a daughter asking something from her dear father. I prayed for a single red rose. I prayed for a small expression of love, a small sign that I am loved, and that I am special as well.
It was a heartfelt prayer, though I never really thought much of it the day after. I guess it was enough for me that I uttered it, and that the Lord heard me. It was already upon God’s hands whether to grant the prayer of silly girls like me.
So I went through my activities for the day, attending a seminar in the morning, and meeting my bestfriend afterwards in the afternoon. My friend and I strolled at a mall for a while, and then proceeded to pick up our materials for our upcoming training in Puerto Galera. After picking them up, we tried to find a ride back home. We found it difficult though, and found ourselves trying to find alternative routes.
On our way to EDSA, we chanced upon the Manila Seedling Bank, which we had seen many times before from the outside. A bit curious, we decided to look inside. We were amazed to see such a variety of plants wherever we proceeded. We certainly didn’t expect so much there. But it turned out there was even an exhibit at that time from many skilled participants all over the country!
There were plants of all shapes and sizes, of common and rare varieties. There were beautiful flowers everywhere: gerberas, orchids, sunflowers, yellowbells, roses of all colors! Their scent enthralls the senses, their soft and vividly colored petals can’t help but delight the eyes. The presentation was just terrific, and it really felt like we’ve just entered an enchanted garden, far from the harsh activities of men, protected by fairies and elves that guard them night and day.
And suddenly, right in the middle of that garden, I remembered my prayer. My prayer for a single red rose. And I realized, right there and then, that that prayer had been granted far beyond how I expected it to be answered. For right before my eyes lay not just a flower, not just a rose, not just a red rose, not just a bouquet of roses, but hundreds of flowers flourishing, blooming, glorifying the God that answers all of our prayers.
I’ve only asked for a small emblem of care, but what I received is a mountain of flowers testifying God’s immeasurable love for me. I felt so happy. I felt so special and blessed. I believed then that no other girl was able to receive as much that Valentine’s Day. No other man could have given as much. But the One who did was the One who loved me, the One who loved me enough to answer that silly prayer for a single lonely rose.
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What leads us to extreme religious beliefs?
What leads us to extreme religious beliefs?
Some people would insist on conviction, others would say they are those who found the right way. Yet what is it that prompts us to find these convictions?
I think that we are most afraid of things that we do not know, and so we try to explain everything, even at the expense of reaching the extreme. People are most uncomfortable with the mysterious that we’d rather side with an absolute statement than suffer the vagueness of matters we can’t resolve.
We don’t like the abstract. And so goes the many beliefs we have now that seems to cast all other things aside-
Beliefs that unless we do this and that, we won’t be saved, and we won’t reach heaven.
Beliefs that since there are many things we can’t explain about God, then there must be no God at all.
Beliefs formed from the wonders we observed in nature, such beliefs that make us worship nature alone.
Beliefs saying that because having desires causes us so much frustration then we should have no desires at all and lose our personal identity altogether.
We cannot connect everything perfectly yet. And though this should not prevent us from seeking out the truth, uncertainties for the moment need not take us to extreme beliefs either. I am lead to belief that this line of thinking was what made Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. They wanted to know everything that they would do everything even if it is not yet time. Must we eat the forbidden fruit also? Can we not be comfortable with the mysterious for the moment and enjoy the wonderful revelations given us one moment at a time?
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery – even if mixed with fear – that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man.” -Albert Einstein
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The measure of happiness
Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession. Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they could be! Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life, —if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing. -Helen Keller
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Serving God?
How often have we heard the phrase “in the service of God”?
This morning, it occured to me that such a service is no easy thing, nor is it something we can just claim and add to the fulfillment of our egos.
Serving God. What service can we offer to a God who possesses everything and who has within His power all that He could ever desire? What service does He need from us who at most, could only render a sincere yet imperfect work?
Service is an act of love and an act of gratitude. If we should ever perform it, it is nothing that we should hold Gold in owe to us, but something we ought to be happy for, for God has allowed us to render it and make our joy complete! 🙂