In Transit: National Leographic

Okay, I finally consented to posting this on my blog.

Same show... "tighter" shots from Miguel Dumaual's cameraman...

:p

Benefits of healthy sleep

Ever spent the night studying for an exam only to find it hard to concentrate and remember the answers the next day? Is worry keeping you awake like a snoring bedtime partner? The National Sleep Foundation reports that nearly two-thirds of the people in the United States are affected by some sleep problem. Forty million people suffer from chronic sleep disorders and an additional 20 to 30 million are affected by intermittent sleep-related problems. In spite of these alarming polls, few recognize the importance of getting enough sleep; fewer still are those who are aware of how to manage their sleep problems.

Healthy Sleep: Key to a Longer Life
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records show that approximately 100,000 crashes per year are related to drowsy drivers who drifted out of lane and into a few moments of sleep. The Fatal Accident Reporting System reports over 1,500 fatalities result from drowsiness related crashes.

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that insufficient sleep adversely affects our battle against the bulge. Compared with those with 7 to 8 hours of total sleep time, individuals having only 5 hours or less of total sleep time had significantly increased odds of being obese. Insufficient sleep is also related to diabetes. Leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite, is lowered, while production of ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, is increased. This finding clearly shows that we must not sacrifice sleep time. The Archives of Internal Medicine closely relates chronic lack of sleep with diabetes. A 2005 study showed that people getting five or fewer hours of sleep each night were 2.5 times more likely to be diabetic, while those with six hours or fewer were 1.7 times more likely.

Lack of sleep puts women especially at risk of experiencing heart problems. A 2003 study found that heart attacks were 45 percent more likely in women who slept for five or fewer hours per night than in those who got more.

A recent study among 430 adults in British Columbia showed that depression is common among those who have unhealthy sleeping habits and they are more likely to resort to alcohol abuse just to doze off.

Power for your Brain and Body
Few people will argue with the assertion that sleep is essential for good health, top mental performance and emotional function. We all have, at one time or another, felt great after a good long sleep. Even so, few of us actually stick to the healthy diet of eight hours.

The body rests during sleep; however the brain remains active, gets "recharged," and still controls many bodily functions including breathing. It is during sleep that the body performs many vital functions like muscle repair, memory consolidation and release of hormones regulating growth and appetite. A good night’s sleep arms us with a greater ability to concentrate, make correct decisions, or engage fully in work or social activities.

Doctor Robert Stickgold from the Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, makes this suggestion when trying to learn a new skill or set of information: sleep on it! "If your brain is too tired it can't take information," he says. He emphasizes sandwiching your learning activity with sleep. Getting enough sleep before the day you are set to learn something and sleeping the same day after your learning activity seems to help consolidate memory in the brain and allows it easy access for later use. This explains how a good night’s sleep may be the best preparation you need for that all-important presentation before the boss.

How to get Healthy Sleep
Fussing over how to get healthy sleep could work against you: you may end up losing it. This is the same with any mental activity akin to worrying about the details of everyday life. The best way to get healthy sleep is as simple as taking a breath.

Doctor Sat Bir Khalsa, instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School, discovered significant benefits of breathing techniques in the treatment of patients with insomnia. Lie down in a comfortable position. Begin to calmly observe your breath. Focus on every inhalation and exhalation. When the worries of the day begin to surface in your mind, gently and deliberately bring your focus back to your breath. This exercise effectively clears out your head and relaxes the mind. You’ll be asleep in no time.

Establish a ritual before bedtime. Turn off the TV and your e-mail. A warm shower or bath, or a warm glass of milk, melts stress and releases relaxation responses deep within the body and mind. Sticking to this routine may signal the brain and body to unwind.

Avoid caffeine at least four hours before your bedtime. Alcohol and nicotine have ill effects on your sleep patterns as well.

Create a sleep-conducive environment—dark, quiet, comfortable and cool. Make sure your beds and mattresses are comfortable for you. Take advantage of eye covers and curtains to shut out distracting lights. Use the bedroom only for two activities: sleep and sex. Bringing your work or any other mind-stimulating activity to the bed may just keep you awake and send the brain signals that it is okay to stay alert while in bed.

Finally, exercise and eat a balanced diet. A healthy lifestyle changes your life; make each moment count while awake and while asleep, you will feel better for it!

The law and the lawmaker

If you suddenly become president of the Philippines, what rules would you implement?

If you litter, you go to jail.
Protect and save women and children from abuse.
Absolutely zero illegal drugs.

Go ahead. Name your rule, or rules. Realize that whatever law you would wish to implement tells something about the kind of leader that you are.

Which makes me think of God, because He's given His Law in the Bible. I'm reading Leviticus right now. Animal blood, burnt offerings, bread without yeast. Symbols for a call to holiness and a life of worship and repentance, all made forever available to us by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

I'm now thinking of His law on giving. It's a universal law. "Give, and it will come back to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over."

If God commanded us to give, He must be a Giver.

Last night, we bought a new sofa (much needed). We ate at the mall's food court. A girl, arms and legs covered with sores, was begging from the customers.

Several rationalizations to justify not giving money:

We're not teaching the parents to be responsible.
She just might buy rugby with it.
et al.

But I have a simple solution. I always bring crackers with me, so instead of having to give money, I give food.

I looked around and saw her eating leftovers. I came over to her and offered her the crackers. You know, I was actually worried she might not accept it! Does God ever feel hurt when we turn down His gifts to us?

I put the crackers on the table and left. I got back to our table and when I looked back, the guard was already escorting (scolding) her out of the mall.

The table she left was empty. No crackers on it. Maybe it's in her pocket.

Borrowed story: Law of the garbage truck

I was in a taxi and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this black car just cut right in front of us. The taxi driver slammed on his brakes and we skidded, almost hitting the car in front of us. We missed it by just a few inches. After that, the guy in the black car stuck out his head, did a few hand signals, cursed and shouted at the taxi driver.

Do you know what the taxi driver did? He smiled and waved back at the guy.

I figured what an amazing response! How strange. I asked the taxi driver, “Why would you just smile and wave at that guy after he almost ruin your car and send us to the hospital?”

The taxi driver simply said, “Sir, I follow the Law of the Garbage Truck.”

“What is the Law of the Garbage Truck?”

“Very simple. Many people are like garbage trucks. They are full of garbage--anger, hate, envy, frustration, bitterness, disappointment, greed, etc. When their garbage truck fills up, they look for people to pile their garbage on. If you are not careful, people will pile their garbage on you. When someone pours his garbage on your life, do not take it personally. Just wave, wish them well and move on. Do not get involved. You will be happy that you didn’t get involved.”

What's been said about fatherhood

Just some of my favorites culled from the Net.

"It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping."--John Sinor

"Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later . . . that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could . . . adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life." --Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities

"Whatever you are, be a good one."--Abraham Lincoln

"There must be many fathers around the country who have experienced the cruelest, most crushing rejection of all: Their children have ended up supporting the wrong team."--Nick Hornby

"My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass.' 'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.' " --Harmon Killebrew

"You don't put kids under surveillance: It might frighten you. Parents should sit tall in the saddle and look upon their troops with a noble and benevolent and extremely nearsighted gaze."--Garrison Keillor

"A man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."--Marlon Brando as Don Corleone in The Godfather

"When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in only 7 years."--Mark Twain

"Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express."--Joseph Addison

CCF Couples Retreat 2009

I remember in April 2009, Veck and I packed for the Couples' Retreat scheduled early the next day. We were off to Caliraya to spend the weekend.

It's always a blessing to return to Caliraya. For one, that was where I asked Christ to become my Savior. Then, there's the buffet meals, the clean air, the horses, birds, trees. It is a wonderful place.

This was the first time Veck and I went to Caliraya together, and we brought Dana along. This CCF's Couples' Retreat's theme is Fireproof, and we had the chance to see the movie. We would listen to messages focusing on Biblical principles about married life. Then we would break out into groups and discuss what we've learned.

In the first pages of my Bible, there's a section dedicated to putting in one's fondest memories. Our recent trip to Caliraya makes the list:

Bonger and Bekya's Wedding, 27 December 2007, Bulacan, Bulacan.
Renewal of Wedding Vows, 27 September 2008, Antipolo. This was in our first CCF Couple's Retreat.
Dana Keziah is born, 07 March 2009, Malolos, Bulacan.
Second Renewal of Wedding Vows, 25 April 2009. Caliraya, Lumban Laguna.

What happens at a Renewal of Wedding Vows Ceremony?
First, there's a dinner, prepared for you. There's some singing. This time it was my friend, Joan Flores, who regaled us with a classy/jologs/romantic rendition of Grow Old With You from the musical The Wedding Singer. Mrs. Philippines 2009 Camilla Kim-Galvez sang The Nearness of You.

Then we were given a pair of rings. We would recite our wedding vows with Pastor Roy Felipe as officiating minister, give our spouse the rings, then kiss. Then there's wine and cake. It's an excellent reminder of my solemn word to God to love my wife through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, richer or poorer, for better or worse, till death do us part.

During this retreat, Veck and I met a lot of couples, but most memorably, we met Mark and Susan. Thirteen years into their marriage, they were on the verge of separation. They were cynical or in denial of their marriage's emotional health. It would seem that a palpable wall stood between them wherever they went. We saw this in their body language. Too, they never talked to each other, although individually, they were pretty talkative. They even missed Couples' Night on purpose. We missed them during the celebration.

Noticing this, I leaned over to Jess and Becca, who informed us that Susan wasn't feeling too well, hence their absence at the Renewal of Vows ceremony. It was sad that they would miss this opportunity. Then, I came up with an idea.

"Maybe we should hold a little ceremony tomorrow morning, just for them, for their Renewal of Vows," I said. Jess seemed to like the idea. Little did we know that in their room that night, Mark and Susan were already discussing their separation. They had their reasons, and at that moment, they saw that these reasons outweighed any other reason for them to stay together.

Sunday morning came. Jess approached us after the message on Handling Finances. He asked if we could be witnesses to Mark and Susan's Renewal of Vows. Veck and I of course said yes.

Mark and Susan recited their wedding vows. They gave each other rings. Then, after some moments of embarrassed hesitation, they kissed. It felt strained, the whole ceremony, but Veck and I hoped for the better for them.

At the end of the retreat, several couples came up to the open mic and gave their testimonies and thanks on how the retreat has sparked their loved for their respective spouses. There were several couples who took the mic. Finally, Mark stood up and told their story, how they were decided on leaving each other after the retreat; how they felt there would be no hope for them; and then...

It changed. By God's grace, when they went through the Renewal of Vows, they decided to give it one more chance to make their marriage work, to apply the Biblical principles they have learned, and ultimately, to truly forgive each other for past hurts. God is truly amazing! Mark would return to his seat after his testimony, putting an arm around his wife's shoulder.

Thank yous
Thank you to my Breakout Group, these couples who are years along the married life, for candidly sharing their experiences and encouraging Veck and I.

To Jess and Becca, praise God for your wisdom and patience!

To Mon and Bing, our indomitable, indefatigable dGroup leaders, who tirelessly meet and pray with us. You are an encouragement and have become true friends. You guys rock!

To Raffy and Joan, for being there, at the retreat, and anywhere, always.

Your first line of defense against disease

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the single most effective preventive action you can take to save yourself and those you love from swine flu—and most communicable diseases, for that matter —is proper hand washing.

Proper hand washing can protect you from other disease-causing germs as well, such as staphylococcus, streptococcus, salmonella, E. coli, hepatitis and the dangerous MSRA which is resistant to conventional antibiotic treatment.

What kills germs?
Heat, from 167 to 212°F, kills most germs. In addition, chemical germicides such as chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, iodine-based antiseptics, alcohols and soap detergents can be used. Alcohol is only effective if used in proper concentration and for a sufficient length of time. If you use rubbing alcohol or an alcohol-based gel sanitizer, make sure you rub it into your hands until the alcohol dries completely.

Clean hands throughout history
In Ancient Middle Eastern cultures, the washing of hands accompanied most religious activities. The Jews were known to wash their hands and feet before meals as a traditional practice.

It was less than 200 years ago, in 1843, when doctors took up the practice of washing their hands. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes advocated hand washing to prevent childbed fever, which he believed to be an infectious disease passed to pregnant women by the hands of doctors. His ideas were met with disdain by many physicians during that time.

Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis noted that the mortality rate in a delivery room staffed by medical students was up to three times higher than in a second delivery room staffed by midwives. During that time, medical students came from their lessons in autopsy and handling cadavers straight to maternity wards and delivery rooms. He ordered doctors and medical students alike to wash their hands with chlorinated solution before examining women in labor. The mortality rate in maternity wards dropped to less than 1 percent.

There’s the rub
When you rub your hands during hand washing, the soap molecules surround and lift germs and dirt; and water rinses them down the drain. Have you seen how doctors wash their hands before they engage in an operation? Make that your model. Make sure you build enough lather. Rub the entire surface of your skin, even between the fingers and under jewelry, like rings. Rub the lather as high up as your wrists for 20 seconds and rinse. Dry your hands thoroughly. Wet hands are twice as likely to pick up and transmit germs from your surroundings than dry hands.

Vicky, a pediatrician and mom, is conscientious of her two-year-old daughter, Dana’s health. Already, Vicky has taught her to wash her hands properly.

"To make sure she rubs long enough to meet the 20-second rule, I sing the ABC song to her. She sings along, and when we get to ‘Now I know my ABCs, next time won’t you sing with me,’ it’s time to rinse.”

When to wash?
Wash your hands before eating; after you use the bathroom; when you use public transportation (including elevators); after you use communal products like coffee machines, telephone booths, office computers, etc.; and after office meetings when you’ve shaken hands with your client. Wash your hands especially after you step out of the supermarket. Not only have you picked up one grocery item after another, you also handled cash.

Your worst enemy
The worst enemy to your health is not germs. It is laziness and neglect. People would rather “splash and dash” when in the restroom than take the time to wash their hands properly. Practice hand washing like a form of meditation. It’s a chance to take a minute or two to slow down and enjoy the flowing water and scented soap. In the long run, you’ll also enjoy a healthy, germ-free life.

Carve a six-pack with a pack of cards

I promised to get myself a six-pack by my birthday. Here's my game plan.

Here’s what I need to carve a six-pack: a pack of cards. Play a game of Six-Pack Solitaire!

Shuffle a standard deck of cards. Include the Jokers. Each Suit corresponds to a particular exercise, which is described below. You will do the same number of repetitions as indicated on the number of the card. If you get Face cards, you’ll do planks. Jokers mean 10 jumping jacks. Here’s the complete list to print out and use whenever you want to tone your abs while having fun!

King → Plank, 30 seconds
Queen → Plank, right obliques, 30 seconds
Jack → Plank, left obliques, 30 seconds
Joker → 10 Jumping Jacks
Aces → Six breaths in Down Dog Pose
Spades → Sit-ups
Hearts → Push-ups
Diamonds → Squats
Clubs → Squat Thrusts (Assume a Squat position, then drop your hands on the floor. Jump your feet as far back as you can to a Plank position. Hold for a second and jump your feet back between your hands. Go back to the starting squat. That’s one rep.)

Deal a row of four cards, face up. You will perform the exercises indicated by each card. After the fourth card, rest for 45 seconds. Then deal another row of four cards. Keep doing this until you work through the rest of the cards on the deck. That’s your workout for today.

For example, you get a King of Hearts, 5 of Diamonds, an Ace and 9 of Hearts. That means you’ll do a 30-second plank, Squats for 5 reps, six breaths in down Dog position, and 9 push-ups. Rest, and deal another four cards.

You won’t get bored with this challenging workout routine since you never know what four-card combination you’ll get. This keeps your body and mind working. Let the cards guide your fate into a perfect six-pack in no time. Have fun!

Don't have a deck of cards? Try this random card dealer online from Random.Org

Super charge with super sets

Find out how Super Sets double your gains in half the time.


Are you tired of doing the same workouts week after week? Do you find yourself moving through your usual menu of training sessions with less-than-optimal enthusiasm? Has your performance reached a plateau? If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, it's time to learn about Super Sets.

What are Super Sets?
A Super Set is a series of intervals or exercises which are carried out without any recovery. See if you can do two exercises back to back without any rest in between. This increases the intensity of work in a specific muscle group, making it develop faster. Super Sets also make your workouts time efficient.

Very few other forms of training can test your limits as much as Super Set training. When you carry out Super Sets, you challenge your boundaries. You begin to look forward to your workouts because they are so challenging - and so different from what you usually do. It basically requires you to keep working at your relative maximal intensity over the duration of your workout. You challenge your muscles to work as hard as they possibly can for an extended period and a maximum improvement in strength takes place.

Check out the different kinds of Super Sets you can do:

Single body part Super Sets let you perform back-to-back exercises for a particular body part. If you’re working your biceps, do Biceps Curls followed by Hammer Curls.

Antagonistic Super Sets work on opposing muscle groups. An example would be doing chest press and cable row for your chest.

Pre-exhaust Super Sets let you do an isolation exercise followed by a compound exercise. An isolation exercise works one muscle group while compound exercises move the body through more than one joint. Try cable rows followed by a deadlift to exercise your back.

Giant Sets are like doing back-to-back super sets, which means you do three or more exercises. Do a bench press, a dumbbell fly, push-ups and a cable crossover to work out your chest.

In-set Super Sets let you do two different exercises for a particular area, doing one after the other. For example, do one rep of front raises followed by one rep of lat raises, alternately. This combination works your shoulders.

A unique three-body part combination utilizes the in-set style for three different body parts, say your biceps, shoulder and triceps. A classic example would be doing one rep of bicep curl followed by a rep of Arnold press then progressing straight to a rep of triceps extension, and counting all this as one rep, starting again with the bicep curl for the next rep and so on.

Precautions
While you may combine any of the above Super Sets for a unique workout routine, be sure not to subject the same body part to two different kinds of Super Sets. If you do a Single Body Part Super Set for your biceps, be sure not to include it in an Antagonist Super Set with the triceps. This will avoid placing too much stress on the muscle and keep you from getting injured during your workout.

While Isolation Exercises have their benefits, our bodies are designed for our muscles to work together. It only makes sense that we exercise these muscle groups together. If you are interested in gaining serious muscle, chat with your online coach today and ask about Super Sets. Your body will never be the same again.

a little self-love

This is the sadness.
This is the writing
without the sugar rush
or the adrenaline.
This is the bedrock me.

Bedrock of who I am:
my person's Part and Parcel.

I embrace you, lonesome creature.

I hear you.
I listen to your voice of pain, of anger,
of resentment.

You are valued.

I shall wash you--
arising from ashes--
in a tub of tears.

I will pat you dry till
you are one with the sky.

Cherish the hard questions

You have to cherish the hardest questions. You have to cherish the friend that asks you these questions. That friend is true, and loyal, and has a sharp eye. Value that friend.

Sometimes it takes asking the hard questions before life stirs you. It takes facing the hard facts, the difficult truth, the one you don't like to face and hide your face from, for the phoenix to realize it has been laying dormant in ashes for so long and it's now time for rebirth.

There's so many ways to hide from these questions. Nicotine. Alchohol. Destructive sex. Chatting. The internet. TV, watching gyrating women in noontime shows giving false hopes to the impoverished. Listening to celebrities talk about the lives of other celebrities in gossip shows. Hanging out with people you secretly dislike but need to distract you from taking the necessary path to wellness. These people tell you lies: "Okay lan yan, pare!"

"Tagay muna!"

"Me ganon?! Kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?"

"Like hello?! Don't say that! At least you're not like so-and-so," and so, instead of facing the fact that you have money problems and increasing debt, you compare yourself to one of your officemates who is a single mother of three and struggles to make ends meet. "I mean, hindi nga sya makabili ng disenteng damit, `di ba?" your destructive friend would say. So you purchase an extra pair of shirts and shoes you don't need to clog your already full closet in the hopes that designer clothes can buy you self-esteem. Never mind that you can only pay the minimum P500.00 in your credit card bill. Never mind that you are afraid to answer the phone because it might be the collectors again. At least your friends would think you are well-off.

"Wow, bago sapatos! Iba ka na talaga, `di ka na ma-reach," they say. You glitter with the compliment but to prove them wrong, you reach into your wallet and buy them another round of drinks so you keep them close. "Naks, naman! Yan ang gusto ko sa'yo! Di ka nagbabago!"

These are poisonous people. They don't want you to change for your own good. They don't want you to change because they want to keep you useable, for their ends.

"Alam mo, true love yan. Eh ano kung pareho kayo ng gender? Basta, I am happy for you that you have found the one." This is said with a smile on their lips, but they never say anything about men and women who have thrown their lives away chasing a sexuality that goes against God's design, and feeling utterly alone and suffering the consequences of their sin even in their old age. So you see a matrona in his 80s, wearing make-up and tattooed eyebrows, walking down the street. You sneer "May asim pa ang Lola mo!" and miss to see the sadness in their eyes.

"Sexual preference mo iyan, ano bang pakialam ng iba?" ... and boom! You are convinced.

"Naku, kalimutan mo na yang ex mo na yan. May papakilala ako sa'yo. Papa!" ... and as soon as you succumb you begin the cycle of destructive relationships again, knowing well that the person only wants you for your body or your money and will leave you as soon as someone comes along who is sexier and wealthier.

"Guys, let's meet on this. What can we do to solve this problem?" says your patweetums sycophant colleague, and then he goes off and steals your ideas to make him appear brilliant. You are glad that it was your idea that saved the day, but you seethe in the sidelines knowing someone else took the credit for it. But because your colleague is patweetums and super-friendly to you, you keep a smile on your face.

"Tagay pa, p're! Hina mo naman!" says your newfound officemates as you blow your first paycheck in a beer house. Never mind that you have to drive home. Never mind that there's bills to pay and a family to provide for.

You block and you block yourself from the clarity you need to heal. A doctor can never fully help you unless he makes the correct diagnosis. And a doctor asks questions.

For once, be hard on yourself. Face the difficult questions. Deal with the discomfort. Remember that at first flush, going sane feels like going crazy.

Hard questions are those that force you to come up with the answer, the bedrock truth. No one needs to shove that truth down your throat. Simply own up to these questions and you realize the answers are there.

"What's the payoff you get for remaining in that destructive relationship?"

"Do you really need a boyfriend to be happy?"

"Exactly how much are you making each week? How much are you spending? Can you simplify your lifestyle?"

"Is that the best use of your time today?"

"Have you prayed about it?"

"What does the Bible say about your current situation?"

"How healthy is your diet? How often did you exercise this week?"

"When will you start taking good care of yourself?"

"How much longer will you wallow in self-pity and not move to better your situation?"

"Didn't you talk to me about this over a year ago? Haven't you done something about it?"

"How has your worrying helped you get closer to solving the problem?"

God and manzanilla

A bottle of chamomile oil can heal more than an aching tummy. It can also heal a doubting heart. Read on and find out.

I don't remember the details now. I don't remember when exactly, but it was some years ago. YESHUA was still an active ministry then. I don't remember the place, but it's most probably a church in Batangas, where a certain Pastor Weiner ministers. Pastor Weiner is a favorite among the single ladies in YESHUA.

It was either we were invited to teach a two-day workshop or we had a show. But we were there Saturday and we were set to come home the next day. I know because the story I am about to tell involved us having to stay at the church overnight.

Late in the evening, I was awakened by a very uncommon ache in my belly. I had the gas. It was colic. I couldn't sleep. I didn't know why I got it. I only knew I was uncomfortable and couldn't ask anybody for help. All the other YESHUAns were asleep. The whole church was quiet.

"Get up!" I think I felt God was saying.

I cried. "Father, my tummy hurts. It hurts so bad. Please make it go away. Just say the word and I'll be okay. Please!"

"Get up, my child," went the insistent voice.

So, in pain and difficulty, I got up.

"Walk out of the room and go into the other room."

"You mean the room where the girls are sleeping?"

"Yes."

I did. All our bags were gathered together at one corner. On the wall was a medicine cabinet.

"See that green bottle? Put some on your tummy."

"Okay," I seemed to answer the voice back in my head. Gingerly, I walked up to the cabinet. I was worried someone might walk into the room and think I was stealing. There were pills in the cabinet box and I'm sure one of these were made to relieve the pain I was in. But green oil it is. I opened the bottle and put a few drops into my palm. I rubbed it onto my tummy.

The relief was instant. I walked back to the other room and fell soundly asleep.

I woke up and thought it was all a dream. So I hurriedly went to the other room. Sure enough, there it was. "Manzanilla," I read from the bottle.

Whenever I feel crabby, tired, uncared for, unloved, neglected, left alone even by God, I remember this story. I remember this story and I think, God loves me and the solution to the problem/situation/ache I may have at the moment may just be in the other room, within reach, if I just simply ask Him for help. For we all are never out of the reach of God's love.

Name Game

Marivic and I did this a while back and it was fun and also insightful. I hope you find time to play this little name game, too.

First, google your name. Add the words 'name,' 'meaning' and 'origin' as keywords in the search field. What you're trying to do here is to find out what each of your names mean. Do this step for each given name (if you've more than one), and for your middle name and last name. Then try to form a slogan out of it.

Here's what we got:

Rico -- rich in Spanish is ricoh
Duran -- my middle name has a French/Latin origin meaning firm and enduring. This felt good because I always thought that Duran came from the Filipino "duraan." "Dura" in our language means to spit, or spit, so "duraan" can either mean to be spat upon or spittoon. I tried to google if that had any historical truth, but again and again, only "endurance" kept coming up, so I'm sticking with that.
del Rosario -- of the rosary, in Spanish, too

So I've rich, enduring, of the rosary. My slogan is: The enduring richness of a string of prayers.

My wife's maiden name is: Marivic Salonga Javier
Marivic is a combination of Marie and Rebekah.
Marie -- bitter, Hebrew origin
Rebekah -- to tie, also of Hebrew origin
Salonga -- this has a Filipino origin. It was derived from "salungat" which meant to oppose
Javier -- means bright

I'm thinking her slogan can be: To oppose and tie bitterness and bring out brightness.

Dana Javier del Rosario
Dana -- Arbiter
Javier -- Bright
del Rosario -- of the rosary

Prayerful and Bright Arbiter. Or Bright Arbiter of Prayerfulness.

So, what's yours? Please post them here.

Gmail and writing

I like gmail. Gmail is so flexible. With gmail, you can have multiply inboxes so one will show only unread mail and one will show everything in inbox. You can put color-coded stars so you know which mail is most important to read. You can label mails so they automatically go to separate folders. You can see youtube videos and picasa photos using gmail. If your friend sent you an mp3 via email, you can listen to it right away with gmail. Plus, it never runs out of space for you! You can play the old snake game on it even.

You can also chat with gmail. That's how I chat with my Mom from Canada. My little sister, Erin, happens to have gmail and when she's online, we chat.

There's also a nifty Search field so you can find the email you want to read just by putting in a keyword. You can also filter out unwanted email. Plus, all replies to mail you send are in one single thread, like when you post in online newsgroups.

Once I got this great idea for a story loosely based on gmail. I was much younger then. I made the mistake of telling my friend my story idea. The reason I told was because I wanted my ego stroked. I wanted my friend to say, "That's a great idea for a story! You really are a writer."

Instead, my friend shot down the idea with one well-aimed remark: "Google will sue if you use their trademark in your story."

That story, until now, has remain unwritten.

There's so many other great features in gmail but there's also the option of setting it to "Basic HTML." That's gmail stripped down to the very basics. It's how it looked like when it began years ago. (I was one of the very few who was sent an invitation by a friend to start a gmail account when it was still on Beta. Back then, you had to be invited to get a gmail account. There was a sense of exclusivity to it. Now it's free and popular, although not as popular as yahoomail. A lot of my friends stick with yahoo.)

When you set gmail to basic html mode, you temporarily lose the chat feature and many other add-ons you may have added. That's okay. You can always set it back to "standard mode." But sometimes I like it pretty basic. You send and receive email, that's it.

Writing should be like that. Basic. Just baring one's essential self onto paper. "This is who I am, really..." When stripped of ego, writing can be very powerful. Then, no one has to say "You're such a great writer!" for you to feel like one. You simply write.

The act of writing makes you a writer.

"CAT" in the act

Here's something amusing. God's creatures are truly amazing! Just when you thought you know your pet well, they surprise you.

In Russia, a black cat was caught by its owners (and on video) barking like a dog. He's perched on top of a window barking at something below. At first I thought it was some sort of trick until the animal turned to face the camera, and you can almost read a "whoops, busted!" moment in its eyes as he turned back into mewing as cats "should" do.

I wonder how this cat learned this. Maybe it got tired of having the neighbor's dog bark at it, that he thought, "Well, if you can't beat them, join them, but be coy."

Having played a feline recently on stage, well, I learn you can certainly teach an old cat new tricks. I researched and found out that cats can actually make quite a variety of sounds, depending on how they feel.

According to PawsOnline.info, cats can snarl when angry, yowl when afraid, mew when wanting attention, purr when he wants you to approach, and make clicking sounds when it's ready to kill. They even have actual wav files of cats making different sounds.

Interesting, eh? Now why this cat would bark aside from pure "because-I-can" mischief, I have no idea. Have fun watching.

Whatever it takes

Motivational speaker Bong Saquing said, “Where Christ is, there is no crisis.” Pretty clever play of words, I thought. But could it be true?

On my way to CCF Eastwood for the Sunday Celebration, I passed by homes tall and beautiful and stalwart, even in the storm. Cars of beautiful make and model zoomed pass the taxi I was on. I tried not to notice the radio that blared oldies-but-goodies hits and the cantankerous engine that threatened to die any moment.

It did. The driver cursed; I didn’t. I glanced at my watch. I’ll be late for church. A child rapped at the window, face and hair wet in the rain. I looked into her eyes. The taxi cab lurched, belched out smoke, and suddenly we were cruising again. There were poor people in the streets. Sometimes I fear I might lose my job and become like them. Families living in karitons, the father pushing his wife and kids and wares. All their property, freshly picked from trash bins, are stashed inside the cart, too. Soon, they’ll be gone. When I get to Eastwood, I won’t see them. In Eastwood there are only tall condos and affluence and stressed yuppies working in contact centers. Just the same, they need Christ. We all do.

Pastor Jess taught us that Jesus is the All-Sufficient God. “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty,’” He once told Abraham. Jesus made a great nation out of a centenarian couple. Is there something He cannot do? When God says something, He will do it. We can plant our faith on the promises of the All-Sufficient God. In His Word our faith can take root, grow, bloom and bear fruit. But to find out if my faith is rooted in Him, God tests me. Only I don’t like tests. Tests reveal my ignorance and imperfections. Can’t God use other means?

“The LORD works outside the box. He is never confined by our expectations,” says Pastor Jess. “The All-Sufficient God does not exempt even us from testing.”

When I am tested, do I dig deep into my own resources? Or do I look up to God? I realize God tests us because He wants us to grow in character. God is for us, not against us. I simply need to ask Him for help. He’ll be glad I asked.

A huge crowd of 5,000 men (not counting women and children) once followed Jesus. The disciples, lacking compassion, wanted to send them away. Jesus wanted to feed them. He tested Philip by asking, “Where can we find food to feed all these people?”

Philip dug deep into his own resources. “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have money to feed them."

Andrew looked around for a solution. “There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

Jesus provided the solution. He took the loaves and fish, and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people. Amazing. Jesus, full of love for the people, tested the disciples to teach them to depend on God, thereby making them His channels of blessing and compassion to the people. What’s more, He asked the disciples to gather the leftovers, and there were twelve basketsful—one for each of them—so they would remember that where they lacked compassion, that is, love spurred into action, they could look up to the All-Sufficient God.

What’s in your hand? A pen? A calculator? Your laptop? A basketball? Your wallet? What do your fingers grasp that define your occupation, your assets, your person? See, there was once a boy who had five barley loaves and two fish. Barley is the food of the poor, much like our pandesal and galunggong. But no matter how little he had, he chose to surrender it to the All-Sufficient God and as a result, the multitude was fed. How about you? What is in your hand?

Pastor Bong was right. Where Christ the All-Sufficient God is, there’s no crisis. But there will be testing. There will be moments I’d be asked to surrender what I have. And there will always be compassion to experience and to pass on.

There are so many ways. Volunteer for CCF Eastwood. Commit an hour each day to pray for the nation and the church. Keep some crackers in your bag always, so the next time a child knocks at your car window, you can slide it down and have something to give. But when you do give, look into the child’s eyes. Make her know you know she exists. Jesus loves that child and died for her. Pray this most dangerous of prayers: “All-Sufficient God, whatever it takes, by Your grace, use me.”

To Do Everyday.com -- Rico's survival guide

For sustained clarity, guidance and creative energy, fewer things are more effective than these three W's, especially when done everyday.

Walking. "Solvitur Ambulando," said Saint Augustine, and it certainly felt that way reading through his Confessions. It was a life lived one footfall at a time.

Our apartment, when you walk along Araneta Avenue from SM City Sta. Mesa towards Puregold along E. Rodriguez, is right smack in the middle. If you wish to get on the LRT2 that runs along Aurora Boulevard or on a jeep bound to Quiapo and Cubao, you can either ride a jeep or take a walk. When I can, I walk.

I leave home for work at 9:00 p.m. and around that time, there are fewer jeeps. Tricycle rides cost P25.00. I walk all the way to SM City Sta. Mesa and catch a bus and get off at Robinson's Galeria in Pasig. From there, I take another walk to my office building along Emerald Avenue. Usually, by the time I settle down at my desk, I am primed to work. Something about the workout I got from walking sets my mind on a spiritual keel for creativity. Whenever it rains and I have to take a taxi straight from home to work, I feel differently.

When I am stymied in my writing, I walk to Ortigas Park, around the block, to El Pueblo, really anywhere, so I can go deep again and listen for the words.

Writing. "Thoughts disentangle themselves when they pass through your fingertips," wrote Dawson Trotman. I guess that's why Julia Cameron recommends doing it first thing in the morning. Somehow you are gifted throughout the day with a sense of direction and guidance.

How many times have I wanted to yell, "Stop, world! I need to write!" Write I do, but the world goes on. The rain falls because it's the rainy monsoon. The bosses would go on not noticing my work. I still don't have an employment contract. Bills will pile up, deadlines loom nearer and nearer, GLC homeworks and projects remain un-done, morning pages and artist dates are missed... that's why I write. I write to try to make sense out of it. Write to make things "right." Write to make some art out of it, like a flower breaking through a compost pile. I just write, period.

By writing, I own my experience: like how I still feel bad about flaring up at the kids hours before the recital when I know from experience how bad it felt to have been yelled at before a performance. How bad I feel I for turning some kids down from continuing with the workshop for the sake of my sanity because I was outnumbered 54 to 1. How frustrated I am that some Christians can be so selfish and how several times these past few weeks the Lord has told me to love, love, love them. I hold my brothers and sisters in such high esteem that when they disappoint me, I get devastated. But the Lord commands us to love one another, not to put each other up on man-made pedestals.

By writing, my heart is able to tell it as it is, without the meddling of my editorial mind. I used to say that the only reason I'm a writer and an actor because that's the two easiest crafts to learn from among the arts. I now know how wrong I am. Writing and acting do not come so easily to others as it does to me. God gifted me with writing and acting because I wouldn't know who I am and what I am for without these. Without the pen and the stage I would be a worthless worshiper.

Wonder. We are all called to regard this world with wonder. The day we lose that wonder is the day we lose the magical child in each of us. We grow old and die. This was why Antoine de Saint Exupery wrote The Little Prince, so we never lose that sense of wonder. Heck, this was why God created the heavens and the earth. There's not just one star or a thousand. There are billions! There's not just fifty-thousand species of flowers or bugs. Countless! Snowflakes, like us human beings, no two alike!

This is also why God gave me Veck and Dana, so I will always be reminded that on the throne reigns our wonderful God and Savior and I should never ever lose hope in this world.

Angel time

As I write this, it is 4:30 in the morning. The radio is on. I am listening to Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor and feeling a bit out of sorts. In a few hours, I am meeting my friend Argel--if he shows up this time--at a favorite bookstore. The malls here open at 10:00 a.m. I can't wait.

I can't wait to get my hands on Anne Rice's Angel Time, to crack open its covers, to smell its pages, and to savor its words. I can't wait to be taken up on wings to where Rice's writings would take me.

For a month now, Metro Manila and other parts of the country has been battered by storms. We have cried out to God in prayer. We have cried out for help.

God answered. Angels became among us. Miracles abound.

Because of the flood, I took my family and fled from our brick home. The water came up neck deep. We saved the books and left behind everything else. We now live on the third floor of a tall apartment, where the view is both horizontal and vertical. Let me talk of both homes.

Our old home was on the basement floor. In it, you stand chest deep into the ground. Except in the nighttime when it's dark and the neighbors' TV sets blare out telenovelas, it always feels like 5:30 in the afternoon. You have to step out to see if it's high noon or early in the morning. Electric fans needed to be always on for ventilation. Like a mole, I secreted myself in this home. Nestled, I wrote. We were content. Dana could scream as loud as she wanted and no one would hear. Veck and I watched DVDs with the volume up and the neighbors couldn't hear.

If our old apartment was a hole in the ground, our new one is like an orchid's pot hanging in the air. The vertical drop is dizzying, standing on the terrace, and when I stand there to catch the morning sun with my daughter in my arms, I embrace her more tightly. I wonder how it would be to fall from this height. On my way to work, the taxi driver turned on the radio for news. A man jumped to his death from his fifth floor apartment. No one knew why. Family and friends claimed he wasn't suicidal in any way. His mother was devastated. "All he complained about was his toothache. He said it was unbearable."

I wonder if he feels any pain where he is now.

Thrust into the sky like that, you are always aware of the weather. The sun streams through the windows and lights up the sofa like an unashamed guest making itself comfortable. When the skies turn grey, so do the walls. When night comes, it becomes very dark. We are like the canvas that the sky fingerpaints.

Two large windows on opposite sides of our new home, one in the living room and the other in the kitchen, open up a vista for me of rooftops, buildings, flowering trees. The breeze flows freely. The air is sweet with the scent of ripe fruit and fresh laundry flapping and drying on clotheslines.

We moved in Saturday. My first impression was, "Too small. Too claustrophobic." Veck's Ninang Lucy and Ninong Junior helped us move the furniture and clean up. I am grateful because it is through their eyes that I saw I had much to be grateful for. They said it's cozy, and with a little trick to furniture arrangement, can actually appear spacious.

Ninang Lucy gazed out the window. "That's an apple mango tree. Not quite bearing fruit yet, but full of flowers. It will have glorious fruit in season."

I began to like the apartment. My mood shifted. The floor plan of this apartment is very horizontal, like the wings in the theater where actors wait for their cues. The curtain rises.

I witnessed the weather just yesterday when, arriving home from work, I opened the door to the terrace to let the sunlight in. "Hello," I said. It rushed into the room enveloping me in a warm embrace. Late in the afternoon the sky became filled with heavy clouds which unloaded heavy rainfall. From the kitchen window, Dana and I enjoyed watching huge raindrops onto the lower roofs.

Later today, I will sit in the terrace, a cup of chocolate nearby, and read Angel Time. Later today I will meet Toby O'Dare, the character that that Facebook Quiz "Which Anne Rice Character Are You" claimed me to be. I can't wait.

Bach's music has died down, giving way to Beethoven's Piano Sonata no. 8, Pathetique, Second Movement. I should get some sleep but can't. I can't wait for the bookstores to open.

I now think of a friend going through a crisis of self. She looks through old emails, trying to find a sense of who she was as told to her by her friends. I fail to tell her that she must move to find who she is as told to her by herself. Her own version of who she is.

But I am wrong. It is God's version--definition, if you will--of who we are that matters most. I AM WHO I AM knows who we really are. He created us.

A friend from Australia, Susan, tells me her life's pursuit is to connect with God. God, as defined by Himself, is "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." God knows who He is. He knows who we are. He made the first step. He introduced Himself. "Hi, I am God. This is what I do..." But unlike casual introductions in social parties, an encounter with God leaves one changed, indelibly.

The sky is clear and the air is cool. The sun lights up everything outside. Glazunov - Igor Golovschin's Chant Du Menestrel, Op. 71 now plays in my ears. Like the weather, music changes. But God will always be God. In that we can take comfort.

-=-=-

I was wrong. On TV it said the man hadn't been able to sleep for three nights already, because of toothache. The mom hypothesized that her eldest son jumped seven (not five as I thought I heard) floors because he was still mourning the passing of his father months back. The brother blamed depression due to unemployment. He said he remembered his brother laughing hysterically then suddenly running towards the balcony. Then there were shouts from the neighbors.

The TV news program got a good shot from the balcony from where the victim jumped. Seven stories down, his body lay below, a strange heap, arms and legs in a position that couldn't be comfortable, nor taken out of one's memory once seen. He looked like a human swastika. (Thank you very much, responsible TV news program, for instilling the image in my head.)

Neighbors covered his face with yesterday's papers. Tomorrow he'll be headlines of the tabloids.

The ripple goes on

Pastor Vince Burke taught us some history last Sunday. Let me post the story here as he told it in his own words...

Edward Kimble was a shoe repair man who lived in the 1800s. In 1858, God spoke to his heart and he decided to win his students to Christ. One of the students he went to visit worked in a shoe store, selling shoes. And so he went to this shoe store, paced around nervously for a while, and eventually went in and shared the gospel with this 17-year old young man. This young man got to his knees and prayed to receive Christ. And the ripple began because that young man was D.L. Moody. D.L. Moody became, and went on to become one of the greatest evangelists of all time. He invented the paperback book so he could get more literature out for the gospel sake. He created a school in Chicago that today, even today, still sends out one out of every 18 missionaries around the world. Tremendous impact worldwide! And God used him to speak face-to-face to more people than anyone else in history during his time. Up to that point, Billy Graham has since superseded that.

Years later, a man named Frederick Mayer was deeply stirred by one of D.L. Moody’s messages and he gave himself to the Lord; and he gave himself to preaching the gospel and he himself began a nationwide preaching ministry. A college student attended one of his sessions and came to Christ and began following the Lord, and he himself became a pastor and began holding evangelistic meetings in various parts of the US. And he decided to call a young man alongside to help him. His name was Billy Sunday.

Billy Sunday went on to become one of the most famous evangelists of the 1920s, reaching thousands and thousands for the cause of Jesus Christ in the earliest part of the 20th century. At one such crusade, Billy Sunday was preaching and thousands were coming and it just wasn’t slowing down. Billy Sunday had to leave, so he assigned a guy named Mordecaiham to take over and continue the meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina.

During one of these meetings, a young farm boy known as Billy Frank came – couldn’t get it at first until a very wise usher found some seats for them and this young man went forward, got on his knees and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. Billy Frank we now know is Billy Graham. And you know the story, Billy Graham went on to reach millions for Christ throughout modern times.

Talk about a ripple, talk about an impact! And where did it start? With an unknown shoe repair man named Edward Kimble who followed the Lord in obedience, who looked at the little rock in his hand, the rock of our salvation and said, “I need to make a difference through that rock.” And the ripple began.

You’re holding a rock in our hand, and God wants to use you to make an impact. Don’t sell yourself short, don’t put yourself on the shelf before God does. He has a job for you to do until He comes and you can do it, by God’s grace.

We need more Edward Kimble’s, don’t we? Because more Edward Kimble’s mean more D.L. Moody’s, and Billy Sunday’s, and Billy Graham’s.

I wanna share one more ripple that’s much more personal. D.L. Moody was preaching in the southern part of United States and there was a young man who wanted to attend the session but he couldn’t get in, it was too crowded. This 12-year old boy was very dejected. He went outside the stadium and sat down on a rock and put his head between his hands and worried, "Oh, no! What am I gonna tell my dad? I really needed to go to this." And he really genuinely wanted to go but he couldn’t get in.

While he’s sitting there, three or four men walked up; and one of them tapped his shoulder and said, "Son, what’s wrong?"

He said, "I can’t get in, it was too crowded."

And this big, old guy said, "Hey, no problem. Get a hold at the back of my coat and I’ll get you in." So this guy grabbed on the back of his coat and followed him in down the aisle, toward the front, up the platform and he sat right next to D.L. Moody.

And that young man, 12-year old boy, put his faith and trust in Christ that day. His name was Paul Rader. Paul Rader went on to become an evangelist in the city of Chicago in the 30’s, in the tough guy El Capone days, very difficult times. God put His hand in that ministry in a very remarkable way, they held meetings every night for six years attended by thousands. Many ministries were spawned out of Paul Rader’s gospel tabernacle in Chicago, one of them was Youth for Christ, a Christian evangelistic youth organization that’s worldwide in scope, new tribes mission was born in that ministry, Paul Fleming came to Christ under Paul Rader and began that great mission. HCJB, a radio station in Quedo, Ecuador which spawned FEBC, I believe, came out of that ministry. A famous news commentator named Lowell Thomas said, "I taught at Northwestern University in Chicago, I bring my speech class down to hear Paul Rader. I’ve never heard of a communicator as powerful or dynamic as this man, Paul Rader."

Paul Rader had a piano player, his name was Lance B. Latham, affectionately known as Doc Latham, to those who knew him. Doc played piano in the crusades and was infected with the power of God’s work as it was happening in those days and Doc was led by the Lord to start a church in the north side of Chicago. He called it the North side Gospel Center. And in their ministry, they created a very creative youth program called Awana. We have Awana here in the Philippines here at CCF. It’s a worldwide ministry today because Doc had a passion to reach boys and girls for Jesus Christ while they’re still moldable, and reachable and pliable – touch them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Doc had the heart of Jesus because he knew how important children were. There’s only two times that Jesus got really ticked off. One was when he turned the temple tables over and the other was when the disciples shoo the kids away. He was indignant, He was furious and He spent the whole next chapter, chapter 18 of Matthew talking about how important kids are. And Doc had that passion, he began to reach boys and girls for Jesus Christ and one little boy that he reached he can barely see him up at the top; he’s the kid with his head cut off right under Paul Rader, his name is Jack Connor. Jack Connor came to this club, became a believer; his parents were divorced, he came from a rough background, he was one of that neighborhood punks, and he came to know the Lord and he became Doc’s boy, and Doc discipled him and trained him, and he began to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and became a real leader for the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the 1972, Jack Connor after having been with New Tribe Mission for twenty something years, came to the Philippines. They went to Tara, in Palawan, and began to translate the Scriptures into the Tagbanua tongue. No believers, no churches and they began to share their faith with these tribal people and spent four years there – some rough times, some good times and many came to know the Lord. And you know, today every Holy Week the Tagbanua people gather for a conference. And over one thousand people gather in one of twelve Tagbanua locations to celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ and they figure out how they’s gonna spread it around the world. The light of God’s glory has come to that place and I was able to go there last Holy Week, not this one, a year ago, and presented the New Testament in Tagbanua and one of the biggest thrills of my life to see God’s work in that regard. They had a daughter, her name was Lorie, she’s the girl in the middle with funny hat. While they were in the Philippines, there was a young guy in Chicago into drugs and Satanism, and gangs and all the rest, and one day was invited into the Northside Gospel Center, and he went and he heard the gospel and put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ and began to follow Jesus and the Lord changed his life. And four years later, he met Lorie Connor and they got married and had kids and came back here. And I could say to you today, I’m so glad for the Ripple.

It’s not about me, it’s about Him; and someday, I’m gonna get to heaven; I’m gonna go find Edward Kimble and probably D.L. Moody, and Billy Graham are gonna be walking behind the sky, trying to touch Him. And I’m gonna say, "Thank you, brother, for throwing that stone in the water. Thank you for starting the ripple. Look how far it’s gone."

Amazing, isn't it? How the ripple Edward Kimble started made such a huge impact that brought Pastor Vince himself to Christ.

Oh, but the ripple hasn't stopped.

In 1993, Pastor Vince stood up in front of a crowd of teenagers in Caliraya Re-Creation Center in Laguna. He told them that Jesus loves them and died to take away their sins. He said Jesus rose up from the dead to prove that He is God and that He has conquered sin and death.

"Picture this," Pastor Vince said. "Imagine all your sins you ever committed... try to remember them, bring them back to mind... the earliest sin you can remember, to the most recent you committed. Okay, now squeeze that sin into a knife. And Jesus on the cross says, 'That knife will kill you. If you ask Me, I will take it away from you.' And you give that knife to Jesus and Jesus dies."

Among the audience was a very sleepy 13-year-old. He was seated at the back, ready to dose off to sleep. But something about what Pastor Vince said made him sit up and pay attention. When he heard the Gospel, he realized for the first time in his life that God loves him and what Jesus' death and resurrection truly meant.

He accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior that day.

That 13-year-old boy was me. I'm now 29 years-old. Married, and father to a one-year-old girl. And the ripple won't stop with me. By God's grace, I will live a life that brings glory to Him, and brings people to Him.

Sa gutom na sikmura

In my dream last night, Kuh Ledesma was singing a song. I haven't heard this song before, but it was talking about poverty or the plight of the poor.

Tetchie Agbayani was doing some presentational acting of the song. She was costumed as a taong grasa. She had a loaf of bread in her hands. She would pull a pinch of the bread, open her mouth, but throw it away. It was that part of the song that talked about how small the portions of food that the poor eat each day.

The taong grasa character wished for more bread, and from "off stage--from the wings" bread of all types were thrown her way, showering her with so much food. She was so happy. Then she wakes up and finds that it really wasn't bread that was thrown away, but dried leaves.

She begins to scold herself for thinking that dried leaves were bread. The song Kuh was singing was still playing, and the lyrics was saying, "Huwag ka nang magtanong. Sa gutom na sikmura ang dahong lanta tinapay ang mistula."

All of these were happening as if on a stage. I wondered about the magic of how the bread was magically transformed into dried leaves while I was "watching the performance live." I thought, "Hey, that's the Theater. Anything is possible." But I thought I ought to find out how exactly that was done just the same. Then the lyrics played again: "Huwak ka nang magtanong. Sa gutom na sikmura... dahong lanta tinapay ang mistula."

*
I went to sleep last night at around 10:30. I woke up at 9:10 a.m. I can't even calculate how long I was conked out. I had several other dreams, aside from the weird one above.

Same night, different dream: Veck and I were walking somewhere in "Caloocan" but the streets were completely unfamiliar and wouldn't look like anything like the real Caloocan. We were on our way to my office, but I knew I haven't showered. Feeling uncomfortable, I told Veck I'll look for a restroom and shower quickly.

We happened upon a house. A car repairman was eying us. I knocked, and two girls with rather homely faces let me in, agreeing to allow me to shower in their bathroom. I left Veck standing outside as I squeezed through an opening under the door (it doesn't open) to get in. I took a last look at Veck standing outside, as the girls pointed where the bathroom is.

Their house turned out to be huge, as in huge. It's like the house was a series of rooms, one connecting to and from another, that stretched on and on. It seemed the house itself covered many blocks in that city.

I asked the homely girls, "Are you rich?"

She said, "Yes."

"Where's the bathroom?"

"It's there. It's there."

They kept leading me, and soon an old woman, who was their nanny, joined us. I slowly realized they were leading me away and away, further into the labyrinthian house. I realized I had to go back to Veck. She must be worried. What if the car repairman did something bad to her?

I made my escape. When I ran out of a window, out through a gate, I realized I was several blocks away from where I left Veck. I ran up the street, trying to remember the route we walked, but my legs felt leaden.

I realized the best way to get to her fast is to drop on all fours and run like a lion. Which I did. I ran like a lion, gaining speed and velocity, trying not to get confused in the streets, to get to where I left Veck, by the entrance into the house--the immovable door.

Dream ends.