Our Search for Identity

I believe that the discovery of meaning and values is essentially related to our achievement of identity as persons. The search for identity entails a dedication to give birth to ourselves by
scrutinizing the meaning of our uniqueness and humanness. A major problem for many people is that they have lost a sense of self, because they have directed their search for identity outside themselves. In their attempt to be liked and accepted by everyone, they have become finely tuned to what others expect of them but alienated from their own inner desires and feelings. As May observes, "they are able to respond but not to choose." He even sees inner emptiness as the chief problem in contemporary society; too many of us, have become "hollow people" who have very little discernment of who are we and what we feel. May cites one person’s succinct description of the experience of "hollow people": I’m just a collection of mirrors, reflecting what everyone expects of me".

Moustakas describes the same type of alienation fr0m self that May talks about. For Moustakas, alienation is the "developing of a life outlined and determined by others, rather than a life based on one’s own inner experience." If we become alienated from ourselves, we don’t trust our own feelings but retort automatically to others as we conceive they want us to retort. As a result, we live a world devoid of excitement, risk, and meaning.

In order to find out who we are, we may have to let parts of us die. We may need to shed old roles and identities that no longer give us exuberance. Doing so may necessitate a period of affliction for our old selves. Most people who have battled with shedding sophomoric and dependent facade and presumptuous a more active stance toward life know that such rebirth isn’t easy and that it may entail pain as well as joy.

Jourard (1971) makes a point that I find stimulating. He maintains that we begin to cease living when meaning vanishes from life. Yet too often we are encouraged to believe that we have only one identity, one role, one way to be, and one purpose to fulfill in a lifetime. This way of thinking can be figuratively deadly, for when our one ground for being alive is outgrown or lost, we may begin to die psychologically instead of obtaining the challenge of reinventing ourselves anew. In order to keep ourselves from dying spiritually, we need to permit ourselves to imagine new ways of being, to plan new goals to live for, to search for new and more achieving meanings, to acquire new identities, and to reinvent our relationships with others. In essence, we need to allow parts of us die in order to experience the rebirth that is necessary for growth.

To me, then, attaining identity doesn’t necessarily mean contentiously adhering to a certain way of thinking or behaving. Instead, it may involve trusting ourselves enough to become open to new potentialities. Nor is an identity something we achieve for all time; rather, we need to be persistently willing to reexamine our patterns and priorities, our habits and our relationships. Above all, we need to develop the ability to listen to our inner selves and trust what we hear. To take just one example, I’ve friends for whom academic life has become stale and empty and who have chosen to leave it in response to their inner feelings. Some have opted to travel and live modestly for a time, taking in new cultures and even digesting into them for awhile. They may not be directly betrothed in preparing for a career and, in that sense, "establishing" themselves, but I believe they are attaining their own identities by being open to new experiences and ways of being. For some of them, it may take real courage to defy the demand to settle down in a career or "complete" their education.

Our search for identity implicates three key existential questions, none of which has easy or definite answers; "Who am I?" "where am I going?" "Why?"

The question "Who am I?" Is never settled once and for all, for it can be answered differently at different times in our life. We need to transform life, especially when old identities no longer seem to supply a significance or give us guidance. As we have seen, we must decide whether to let others tell us who we are or take a stand and define ourselves.

"Where am I going?" this issue relates to our plans for a lifetime and the means we expect to use in achieving our goals. Like the previous question, this one requires periodic review. Our life goals are not set once and for all. Again, we do show the valor it takes to determine for ourselves where we are going, or do we look for a mentor to show us where to go?

Asking the question "Why" and searching for reasons are characteristics of being a human. We face fastly changing world in which old values give way to new ones or to none at all. Part of molding an identity connotes that we are actively searching for meaning, trying to make rationality of the world in which we find ourselves.

A Hostage No More

I ran as to be free,
I hid so as not to be seen,
I kept quiet so as not to be heard
I made myself stupefied so as not to apprehend.

But...no matter what I did
My pursuer never stopped following me
... it was always behind me
Like a malady that couldn't be healed.

My soul was shivering within me,
Day and night I was trembling with agitation
...scaredto be castigated
...scared to be punished.

I kept on fighting to be free
I submerged myself in vintage
I lost myself in a wilderness
But, just the same, I found myself
A wanderer of my own conscience.

Time came,
When I could no longer endure the strain
When I can no longer withstand the hurting thorns.

Yes, I gave up scourging in darkness
paid my charge
To find myself a hostage no more.

Christmas

Christmas - a word evocative of so much in the hearts of all Christians! Christmas - easily the best loved and therefore the most proclaimed of all perennial events.

Wherever one goes, in cities, towns, schools, and homes, one finds representations of the Yuletide mood, a spirit which seems to flourish in the twelfth month of every year and which seems to break through into all of us as though it suddenly came to exist in the very air we breath. In the busy downtown sections and in the private recesses of our homes, we hear disc jockeys reviving old popular songs appropriate for the season. These are the Christmas carols, classic but engrossing strains which have stood the transitory of years and without which the celebration of Christmas will probably seem imperfect.

At night time, the iridescent glitter of vari-colored lights lends a jubilant air to our metropolis. Big and small stores alike, at times even little stalls, display appealing paradigm Christmas threads. In department stores, the sale of greeting cards and gifts becomes a quick and lucrative business. Once more we greet Santa Claus, the modernized version of St. Nicholas, as the jolly, ruddy-faced oldster with the thick, white beard and with the red cotton-lined suit and cap. The living room of every home is often than not, graced by a captivating Christmas tree decorated with gleaming tinsels, bulbs of red, blue and gold, and cute, bright little what-nots.

These are spectacles and traditions amalgamated with Christmas; however, to some people the word has a gustatory supplication. To the rich there are visions of the dinner table crowded with "jamon", "lechon", roasted turkey or "puchero". To the poor, no matter how hard they have to economize for months in their daily meals, there is always a dinner celebration suitable for making a blissful though simple Christmas. There are always native delicacies usually and ordinarily associated with Christmas. The Tagalogs have their puto bumbong and bibingka, the Visayans, their empanada and pancit molo, in Pampanga, reputably known to be the home of good cooks, we have open "calame" and if it is the "pasalubong" type, only a Pampangueno heart can respond to that challenge to the teeth and tongue and palate. The resistant but tasteful and utterly savory delicacy is a pleasure to served more fully for the young who have strong teeth and jaws and to those who can bite crunch and grind it, and the Ilocanos their tupig.

But this are only eventual. A true Filipino and Catholic Christmas is one which becomes a fountain of gaiety, delightedness, and satisfaction not only because of the external traditions that have come to be associated with it such as the carollings the gay parties, and the exchange of gifts, but also because it calls for the best in us and reawakens our slumbering Faith. In response to the invitation of the church bells we brave the cold December air to attend the Misa de Gallo for nine consecutive days.

The true Filipino spirit of Christmas is not felt in the erroneous feature of Christmas trees and lanterns of different styles and arrangement and gay colors, to the ensuing disregard of the Christ Child in his lonely manger. For us Catholics the veritable spirit is more befittingly revealed in a belen,for the Christ Child Who came to earth for love of man is the pure emblem of love. Christmas to be fully Christmas must be uttered by Love. Christmas is the time to forgive and forget past injuries, to reconcile families than to receive , to be at peace at oneself and with the world - for peace on earth can come only to mean of goodwill.

Romantic Fallacies

What springs normally to the mind of young readers when the word "romantic" is mentioned? Certainly the prevailing opinion is that this word conveys aesthetic feelings compelling balanced reformer aspiring to overthrow the institutions the words of love and song enunciated with upturned eyes and a febrile forehead, romantic adventures, valorous knights in spotless white, passionate proposals to ladies pining with love, all culminating in a march to the enchanting tune of Lohengrin, etc., etc.

However, one must accept that this is a one-sided and almost entirely contorted image of romanticism. The romantic authors of the early nineteenth century in England too sincerely and regarded themselves reformers and innovators -- they thought of themselves as very wise, but unluckily, some of them lacked almost wholly the essence of wisdom.

Take Wordsworth for instance. He regarded the world's eminent interpreter of nature, sometimes called the high priest of nature. The beginning of this nature love may be search out back at Hawshead, the unroofed school of nature, where he has said to have "learned more eagerly from flowers and hills and stars than from his books." His aesthetic poems, the shorter ones especially, with lines that procrastinate ever in our memories bear his notable attributes - his sensitiveness as shown in the Prelude; the genuineness of his expression as he gives us the bird, the wind, the flower and the rivulet just as they are; his sight and insight into the lavishness of loveliness in the common world and the full acknowledgment of life in nature. He has given us lines which strike us intensely and impressively. Out of a heart full of compelling love he wrote:

"The sounding cataract
Haunted me like a passion; the tall rock,
The mountain and the deep and gloomy wood,
Their colors and their forms, were then to me
An appetite; a feeling and a love..."

With a certain flourishing wisdom he heard "the still sad music of humanity"; he learned:

....The nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead,
From joy to joy:..."

With powerful almost disturbed emotionalism he gave us the lines:

"Great God! I'd rather be a Pagan suckled in a creed
So might I, standing in this pleasant lea
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."

There you have a romanticist, a composite of good and bad, a mortal who tried to scale the "gateway of the stars" but could not enter the "golden bar" of heaven because his feet were decidedly of clay.

Wordsworth's philosophy of nature seems, at first sight, very appealing, but examine his lines further and you shake your head in censure and outright dispute. As Catholics we cannot fail to see how his true and genuine paganism crops out constantly and mars the radiance of many of his more purposeful poems. The reader, upon serious deliberation of his works will find doctrines which are for us indefensible. In the keenly sensitive ode "Intimations of Immortality" the doctrine of pre-existence is alluringly shown:

"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,
The soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath and elsewhere its setting
And cometh from afar;
Not in entire nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.

Sounds enticing, does it not? But then he follows this with ideas.

"Earths fills her lap with pleasures of her own;--
To make her foster child, her innate man,
Forget the glories he has known
In that imperial palace whence he came."

Later still in the same poem he says:

"Hence in a season of calm weather
Through the land far we be,
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither,
And can see the children sport upon the shore."

How peculiar this is! He is impressing us that there is an authentic occurence before our temporal life. He says nature can make us forget God and is a supplant for the magnificence of God. Romantic fallacies! Yes and very serious ones for us Catholics; and these ideas do seriously mar the works of Wordsworth.

Very far from Wordsworth is Shelley, the visionary, the radical, the revolutionary, and anarchist. We see in him the incapability to see men and society as they are. He is the unhinged reformer searching to topple the institutions he obscurely identified only in the later years of his life.

His poems are filled with a strange sadness- - -

" Out of the day and night
A joy has taken flight;
Fresh spring and summer and winter hoar
Move my faint heart with grief, but with delight
No more - - oh! never more!"

Shelley's revolutionary works like "Prometheus Unbound," "Revolt of Islam," "Hellas," etc., depict a decided revolutionary radicalism. The reforms they encourage are both stupefying and imaginable. One can only speculate at the widespread beauty that abounds in his passages. He should, I suppose, not be remembered for his vain, foolish rebellion. He shows himself a true poet - a wanderer aspiring perfect beauty though forever sad. The spirit of nature which appeals to us in the sweet-scented flower, the blowing wind, the amber sunset, the magic moonrise - we find reflections of these in his poetry. The emotion that rises and harmonizes into the object beheld, because of the transcendent power of love:

Make me thy lyre even as the forest is
What if my leaves are falling like its own!
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tune
Sweet though in sadness! Be thou spirit fierce
My spirit! Be thou me impetuous one!

He indented himself against all authority. Down with the laws, these only serve to limit the actions of men and cause impediment and happiness; down with religion, priests from ancient times have led men astray; down with the conventions of society; down with the authority of parents over their children! Let us do away with marriage - the marriage contract, all forms of contract are at the root of all social evils. One cannot take this part of Shelley seriously. He appears like a disrespectful, grumpy, narrow-minded, unpleasant, child moved by such vehemence of indignation as he cannot restrain.

The tragedy of Shelley is the tragedy of the Romanticists - thinking themselves so wise but so inappropriate; trying to voice a philosophy fashioned by the commands of fancy not the lucid light of the intellect.

But he was a lyric poet of aesthetic and comely nuances.

Bombastic Byron forever parading his grief and his loss, weaving out of his disenchantment a texture of poetry and beauty - the romantic pilgrim forever sad, yielding in Comus-like rejoicing in an attempt to forget all. Alternating between satiety and contrition. Such a proud sardonic disillusioned man. What bitterness and grief he reveals in the lines:

"My days are in the yellow leaf,
The flowers and the fruits of love are gone;
The worm, the canker and the grief
Are mine alone.

A strange indescribable nature. Byron was. Capable of reliable remarkableness (notice his death) but rarely utilizing the regal privilege..

So there you have the romanticists. More bad than good? Surely not. Although their works have some very intricate faults. This might be because they inspired themselves to discern too much and speculate too little; that they, although philosophers, were all too often improper; that out of frustration with human commonality, they wanted to rip up and shatter that society. If one's house leaks, one must repair it, wisely and economically. Surely there is no need to shatter a house just because it leaks here and there.

The final tragedy of the three English Romantic poets we have taken up in this disquisition is that their best work lies in their minor works. Their major works are marred by unreal thoughts, prodigious, extreme narcissism, and hypocrisy. But their lyric power is above reproof. What loveliness in the common place revealed by Wordsworth; what melting liquid word consistencies in Shelley; what vibrant, oscillating emotions in Byron; what a prowess of consonant values and vowel sounds in all of them.

Thoughts on a Rainbow

How long have I dreamt
to surmount the rainbow's end?
how long i have sought
to ascertain a colorful realm?
how long have I wished
to reach unforeseen beauty?

I am just one -
who thirsts for a morning,
who seeks for new assurances.
far beyond the corners of heaven
far beyond the corners of heaven
lies the glorious existence,
I may ascertain peace,somehow.

This very being
can't stand the pain and the noise
beneath the burning hell,
this ebbing world -
where wandering souls are suspended
in a dark shadow of transgression.

O' glorious rainbow come not
only after the rain!
be not deaf to my cries
I beg thee to reveal the mystery
of thy immortal splendour,
and show thy gates to me!

A TEACHER...AN EDUCATOR

"If we work upon marble, it will perish; if on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds and imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and the love of fellowmen, we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten to all eternity."

Every educator must also be a teacher and every teacher must also be an educator. Let me shed some light regarding this topic. Actually, this was one of the absorbing and informative subject taken up in Philosophy of education. When we speak of the word teacher, we confer to someone who has excellent know-how thus she has the skill to convey information. By an educator, we confer to someone who takes care of the development of the character of the individual. He is the one who actualizes the possibilities and capabilities of the child as well as leads him/her towards the right way of life. Education embraces not only the ingestion of information but also the development of character. Therefore, a teacher has to be an educator and an educator has to be a teacher.

There are certain requisites so that the teacher-educator can live up to the sincere sense of the role she has to delineate. First and foremost is the vocation. an inclination or a wanting to be such must be perceivable. A vocation is a special call from God therefore to really have oneself all out to carry on such vocation requires special grace as well. The spirit as well as the flesh must really be responsive. Thus the wanting for such magnanimous responsibility to teach must also be associated with the purposefulness of character to carry on such vocation.

The presence of love is imperative. Anything done out of love and for love's sake is a remarkable achievement. Such love is rooted in the love of God. Thus the teacher sees God in her pupils. Love is sacrifice. The teacher-educator will be self-giving and consecrated. She is someone who is not for material richness but much more for spiritual value. With this love goes the concern which is typified by the need to know the educands so as to utilize to their needs, to make teaching as well as learning more competent.

Lastly, we have authority. let me first clarify the term authority. By authority, it does not mean to control or insist on from others but rather it confers to service and for the teacher-educator that would mean to facilitate her students to grow. We have certain attributes to acquire in order to attain authority. They are five:
1) physical,
2) psych-social,
3) intellectual,
4) pedagogical, and
5) moral.
For the physical aspect, it involves a generally good physical appearance. This does not impose one to be extra-beautiful but simply to have a pleasing personality. The voice regards a lot too. A teacher-educator with either monotone or high-pitch voice abate eagerness among learners thus well-modulated voice (which can be developed) is important. There must be abilities in movement. For the psych-social qualities, ability relating to others a well as being receptive has to be taken into account. In order to guide our students to maturity, the teacher-educator must be the first to be matured. Intellectual aspects implicates the acquirement of the comprehensibility of ideas as well as expression so the communication arts have to be developed. Pleasant and objective judgment must prevail in her. Ingenuity which comes from a vivid imagination must be enhanced. The teaching competencies or what is known as the didactic qualities of a teacher-educator are all under the pedagogical aspect. Lastly, we have the moral aspect. The teacher educator must also serve as a model. She has to be a living exemplification of someone who employs frugality, valor, providence, and integrity. Veracity and simplicity must be her notable rules.

That is the teacher-educator. For the young aspiring teacher-educators, let us not be afraid of the requirements, shall I say, imposed upon us but rather to look at them as a challenges and guides so that one day we can be real teacher-educators. Success and gratuities do not come first. So little by little let us develop ourselves. For well-determined persons with lofty hopes and dreams, nothing is inconceivable. If we really desire to be benevolent teachers as well as educators, then let us start now, let us not delay and run through any minute. This maybe a tall order for us yet that quotation from Plato rings on my ears "THE ROOTS OF EDUCATION ARE BITTER YET THE FRUIT IS SWEET."

LIVE FOR LIFE

Live more openly inside of yourself.
Keep in mind that you're in a remarkabe force
take this force as your intrinsic energy,
count for succor.

Never concede less than the best of yourself
that may seem banal, but mean to embrace taking time for exquisiteness.
Be a more exquisite soul to stare at and converse to,
not through self-glorification, but for the ascendancy of the art of individuality.

This is not merely a mundane thing,
but a soulful power when you utilize aptly
Believe me,
exquisiteness is a gratuity, very invaluable, very ephemeral.

Live for life.
Take the maple tree as an exemplification
It is gratifying and distinct to behold.
It is like a radiant effigy
Yet full of existence.

Maples bestow subsistence to man in their sap;
bestow radiance to man in their veil and serene.
They time their pursuit according to the urgency that breathes in the seasons.
They are as enchanting in autmn as in spring or summer.

They reckon on the sun to warmth their sap.
Concievably they muse of existence to arise,
but they endure as if they were in that existence now.
They know the tranquility of unfolding in their own condition of being,
and live, not for tomorrow or today,
But for the eternity that roost in the degree maple.

The gratifyingness of their sap is the insignia of enjoyment.
They have the birds for dwellers.
They are the majstic abode of fun-loving amusing squirrels.
Maples have no regard for the petty effects that agitated human beings.

Perpetuate yourself as a radiant maple tree
In traquility and dignity at all times.
Have the image of tranquility before you
So that you may obtain it yourself.

GOD'S VERDURE KINDNESS

The patches of green dotting this creation of neoteric constructions and lights live unrecognized and inconsequential to mostly a preponderance of inhabitants. During a sunny day, God's authority, hidden, is actually presented in the wondrous modifications being showed in just that one bardic tree.

I'd like you to evoke for a while what your high school biology teacher taught you. What is the vital use of the plants stirring humanity? Don't take too long, now. Have you the answer? That's right. Photosynthesis! Definition please.

Photosynthesis is the manufacture of carbohydrates out of carbon dioxide and water by the chlorophyll bodies in the presence of sunlight wih the incidental release of oxygen. Plants obtain their raw materials in two ways: water from the soil, absorbed by their positively geotropic often-branching roots; and carbon dioxide from the air penetrating through their breathing organs, the stomatas of their leaves. God has given plants a certain machinery - the chlorophyll bodies the leaves bestowed with the capability to generate food and transmogrify the kinetic energy of the sun into a possible configuration. The plants also supply us the component oxygen they accidentally release for us to be able to oxidize our food and transmogrify the possible energy into kinetic energy for the sustenance of our lives.

Oh, let's not go in too much into the systematic iota. Anyway, these green plants manufacture carbohydrates which they blend into other organic substances such as protiens, fats and oils, vitamins, etc. Yes absolutely, the superior food supplier is Mother Nature's transcendent and venerated greens.

If plant existence were annihilated the catastrophe of humanity would eventuate. Just think, the need of oxygen supplied by plants would in very minimal space of time strangle the existence out of humanity. One might emulate that if animal existence were absent, plant life would also die because of lack of carbn dioxide, one of the raw materials for food-making. It is true that plants rely on for existence on inorganic substances which we and the animals use if we are to live. We oxidize these organic substances to emancipate energy for the prolongation of the essential proceedings going in our bodies. We transmogrify them into inorganic substances which are still too complex for plant use. The bacteria links the gap between the animal nutrition and plant nutrition and act on the complex inorganioc materials generated by transmogrifying it into a configuration ready for plant use. And the eon goes on.

Even if animal existence were to stop, the plants would still have their provenience of carbon dioxide which is one of the inorganic substances they demand. On the death of the plants the bacteria of decay will act upon them and during the process of decomposition, carbon dioxide is emancipated. Water, another inorganic substance plants demand is no problem, for there are the vast oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes; the steady evaporation from these water beds would provide them with the fine liquid. A double gargantuan conspiracy of existence is very concievable: the plant holophytic nutrition hand in hand with the bacteria saprophytic nutrition.

Thus it certainly is a propel to man's awareness of conceit to have to accept that in this cosmos in the Gargantuan Triad conspiracy of Existence, he is the least important.

Plants are so abundant that they give human being not only food, air, and medicine but also perfumes, dyes, oils, rubber, paper, etc. Plants have a path of getting into human beings colorful existence too. Flowers for the delicate girl and diamonds fo the lover. A diamond is the solidified carbon of plants from geologic era. Idealize houses and buildings gracing this humus are made from the gratuity of trees - lumber. Coal and petroleum which provide for large industries, running into billions of dollars are also of plant origin. All these grants particularly in dormant consfiguration have been used by human being and he has taken benefit of them so that he has precocious himself to the atomic age.

These possessions may startle or electrify the ordinary layman, but in truth they are only indications of what we convey when we enunciate of "GOD's VERDURE KINDNESS."

Angel Whispers

Love and the eternal wonder of love are enough. A dynamic growing thing, not a deadening, delaying emotion like awe.

LIFE

Life is
a lovely white rose
so smelly, so sweet
so nice to possess
yet never forget its bristles

Life is
a bird in the sky
so high it flies
that I cannot feel it
yet it calms down so low.

Life is
a tree in the wasteland
so flexible it grows
so pliant...it sways with the wind
but so strong its roots.

Life is
an unforeseen weather
so radiant and light and fresh
then melancholy,vapid, and dusky
tomorrow what!

Life is
an ocean that sways
so serene it sweeps and
nonviolent it lies
yet raging it attacks.

Life is
a gamut of mountains
its peak I cannot measure
its core I cannot comprehend
its crest with its base

Life is
what it is
a quandary, a riddle
two sides it features
one and then the other

It's up to you to enjoy...or endure.

LORD

Lord: a sobriquet, a bunch of letters,
yet the supreme harmonious harmony
embracing the disturbed eardrums
and tintillating them into a universe
poured in by melodies of a thousand music,
the mysterious euphony prayed for to hear.


Lord: a tiny word
yet holds the voluminous effect
that appease my heart
and awaken it to ever-soothing phenomenon
magnified by the gratifyingness and pureness
of that word; that captures
into a whole and overwhelming lightness
all my spirit.


Lord: the seekable unseeked by some seekers
the lovable unloved by some lovers
the teachable untaught by some teachers
the adorable unadored by some adorers
the praisable unpraised by some praisers
the seizable unseized by some seizers.

Lord: so peculiar yet so pleasant
this is the language I shall always enunciate
to understand the world and be understood.

Mary, The Mother of God

The Mother of the human race, the most blessed and revered Virgin Mary, was of the royal family of David. And a pious old legend tells us about her early days. Born in the city of Nazareth, her parents Joachim and Anne, were of Galilee and Bethlehem. He was a man of reputation, of modesty, and serenely submitted to the will of God. Anne was loved for her surpassing virtues, transcended dignity, and gracious kindliness. Their lives were simple, they had no children, yet they did not forget the word of God that from their eminent family should rise the Messiah promised to the nation.

A spiritual attribute acclaimed this family of the house of David. An ambiance of prayers, works of compassion surrounded them for they were trained with trust and hope. They promised that if God would favour them with a child, they would dedicate her to the service of the Lord.

On a certain day, the angel of the Lord, with a prodigious light appeared to Joachim and said: "Be not afraid, Joachim, nor troubled at the sight of me, for I am an angel sent by Him to inform you that your prayers are heard. If reason will not convince you of the truth of my words, and that those who were barren have brought forth to their great surprise; therefore Anne, your wife, shall bring you a daughter and you shall call her name, Mary.

She shall, according to your vow, be devoted to the Lord from her infancy, and be filled with the Holy Ghost from her mother's womb. She shall be in a manner miraculously born of one that was barren; and while yet a virgin, in a way unparalleled, bring forth the Son of the Most high God, who shall be called Jesus, the Saviour of all nations!"

And the angel of the Lord, in such a heavenly splendour, vanished. Consequently, the angel appeared to Anne saying: "Fear not, for I am that angel who hath offered up your prayers before God and am now sent to inform you that a daughter will be born to you, who shall be called Mary, and shall be blessed above all women.

She shall be, immediately upon her birth, full of the grace of the Lord. In a word, she shall serve the Lord in the temple, shall abstain from every unclean thing, and never know any man. And, being an unparalleled instance without any pollution or defilement and a virgin, shall bring forth a son, who both by His grace and name and works, shall be the Saviour of the world."

Both Joachim and Anne were instructed by the angel to go to the golden gate of Jerusalem. Made glad by each other's vision, they gave due thanks to the Lord who had promised them a child.

Anne, being herself a vessel of honor and goodness, brought forth an unstained soul which according to the angel's ordain was named Mary. As Mary approached the extremity of womanhood, she raised in mildness, worthiness, and charm shedding around her peace and happiness as flowers scatter sweet and refreshing aroma or as the multitude silvery rays of the moon shed its favorable stream of light to the world.

When she reached the age of three, Joachim and Anne dedicated her to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. How they loved the child, yet in their humble unpretentious, they felt themselves undeserving of possessing such a lovely being.

The journey was tiresome. They passed through muddy roads, across bumpy rocks and clusters of thorny bushes. The atmosphere though dominatedd by deep clouds, unvieled the temple, impressively brilliant with light. It was habitual to offer up a sacrifice and so they did. As Mary lifted the stairs of the temple, two hearts which once abounded in joyousness were plunged into sadness. Her absence alone was ample to give them pain. What a great trial God had given them, yet, they had obeyed.

Mary performed all sacred undertakings of a virgin consecrated to the service of the temple. She engrossed herself in ardent meditation, praises to the Lord and communicatuions with the angels from heaven.

In here fourteenth year, Mary was to leave the house of the Lord for marriage, which was a rigorous accountability amongst the Hebrews. To this order, all the other virgins yielded absolute compliance. Mary, the Virgin of the Lord, who lived in a permanent exaltation of prayer in the temple, explained to the high priest, in great sadden of heart that it was her wish never to leave the temple for she had pledged her virginity to the Lord. The high priest, then did not consent to Mary's wishes.

The Blessed Virgin pleaded God with extensive ardor and she prayed, a surprise hearten her and gave her vigor to agree to her marriage.

Since Mary's loveliness, delightfulness, and maidenly values had circled throughout the city, limitless suitors intensely longed for her as wife. Mary's parents no longer lived, so, the resolution was sought out by a prophecy of Isiah that "There come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a flower shall spring out of its roots."

Among the suitors was a pious man named Joseph of the family of David. As he drew his rod, it bloomed and a dove from heaven settledown on it. everyone then knew that Joseph, the most honorable of all men, was destined by the Lord to be betrothed to the pristine maiden of Nazareth.

The nuptial ceremony being over, the new couple, under the leadership of the Most High, returned to Galilee. Mary, in here peaceful life prepared herself for the unfathomable work God had determined her.

On a certain day, when the pure and chaste Virgin was so preoccupied in one of her transports, the Angel Gabriel, more radiant than ever appeared in the ambient air, and said to her, "Hail, Mary! full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women."

The Virgin seemed troubled at his sudden obeisance and began to cogitate what it meant. To this thought the angel replied, "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God: Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call Him Jesus.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father; and He shall reign in the House of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom, there shall be no end."

To this discourse of the Angel Gabriel, Mary remembered her vow of virginity. The angel replied, "Think not, Mary, that you shall conceive in the ordinary way. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore, the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

And Mary answered, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word."

What the divine messenger revealed, filled Mary's heart with inscrutable love and unbounded blissfulness. What was in her affectionate heart was for God alone. Joseph knew not of this, yet, he kept here in purity.

When the ninth month of the Virgin's conception drew near, they journeyed to Bethlehem. While they were there, Mary brought forth the divine Child, the only-begotten and substantial Son of God.

Angel Whispers

Detachment is very great rectitude. It brings emotional refuge, realism, and vitality. It makes others feel free with you, free to come and go without a dispute. But the moment you stop loving life, then detachment becomes inconceivable, because you begin to hold on to things that help.

Forming Choices

Day after day of your life existence, you meet circumstances that demand forming choices. In fact, forming choices is everyone's way of existence but the heart of the matter is not the art of making an excellent choice, it's whether or not you like what you have chosen. It is most meaningful that you are satisfied with what you choose and that you are delighted with your answer. After all you can never do away with forming choices some of which sometimes extremely change your life.

There are experiences that happen so unexpectedly and abruptly and you feel that it is time to make a choice. When such an occurrence happen, never be impulsive or impetuous; rather bring to mind the folk wisdom, "there are two sides to a coin." Whether your decision confines on victory or misfortune, there is always a positive and a negative side of it. What is powerful is to have the right horizon in forming a decision so you will experience it first-hand. Do not be affected by outside forces or by coercion from all sides. Rather, listen to your heart. Weigh the pros and cons of the situation at hand. You will not go wrong. Past ordeals can also lead you in forming the best choices which will ultimately give you satisfaction and tranquility. Remember that life will still go on even after you've made your decision. So, see to it that the choice is one that will give you a real sense of accomplishment. Don't choose simply because you're forced to and you have no restrain of the situation, because you'll gain no sense of accomplishment at all. The choice must give you a tremendous sensation of attaining something you aspire to, not a feeling that you opted for it simply because you had no choice. That is not living life as it should be lived. Live to the fullest. Acknowledge challenges and struggles. Then realize the choices. And decide. But bear in mind too, that you are not in full control of your existence. You must surrender to a higher power. Before making the choice, seek His guidance and you will never be mistaken, especially in matters that consider a lot in your life.

There are times when faced with many a choice, you find yourself in a quandary.

Why?

You allow too many things distort your conviction. For once in your life, make convictions that will benefit unselfish choices. Do not only consider of your own advantage. When faced with choices, consider also of the welfare of others, especially the less fortunate. Ask yourself if the choice you are to form will be helpful to a lot of humans or only to a favored few. If it will help only few, then decide on for the excelling choice. Keep in mind that when selfishness enters a dwelling place or an office, clemency instantly flies out. Always embrace the welfare of others in forming decisions. Do not let your own greedy needs be the norm.

Frequently, this is easier said than executed, but it must be executed if you are to form bright choices. This should be concerned by all who reside in a society, specifically the leaders who must perpetually regard their peoples' welfare due to the difficult times everyone's facing nowadays.

What we want now are men and women who will form choices without compromising the good of the many...

Men and women who won't let their self-seeking intentions dominate their sense of values...

Men and women who won't be apprehensive to utter the reality, no matter the stand of the people around them...

Men and women who won't falter to utter not even when the whole world reasons otherwise...

Men and women who'd be truthful as not to be influenced by riches, command, and prestige.

It may be a tall mandate for everyone, but it must be poked into if you want betterment in things around you. It must be executed, and there is no other being to do it but you.

VISIONS

The time we've spent together
They're so distressingly brief.
Trees so quiet
Disregarding the happiness we experience
I didn't talk much
But then you understand, I guess.

The enigma in you,
It was the most miraculous thing I've discovered.
I asked, "is this true?"
Nobody answered.

And now, you are gone
I recognize those were only visions
A reverie far from verity.

Someday, I will meet you again
Not as a phantom, nor a vagary
Together we will be.

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT

FRIENDSHIP is the relationship of love. A true friend is one who yearns your blissfulness and helps without a tinge of greediness, resentment or expectation. He offers encouragement from the inequities and hardheartedness of others. He is merciful, compassionate and sincere.

The need for a friend is illimitable. In childhood, we look for those who share the adventure and independence of innocence. It is mostly a series of picnics and holidays, completely wanting of any care and responsibility, but nevertheless dependent on playmates. Teenage ends this stage almost suddenly. This is the period in one's life in which he experiences the deep wish of belonging to someone or a group. Then comes maturity, the period in which one may imagine his desires and expectations -- like concern for family, standing, and aggregation of wealth -- to be much higher than those he aspired for during his youth. But such desires hardly affect one's basic need for approval, honor and the blandishment of others.

To love and be loved is the basic aspect to happiness... including plants.

There is no doubt that happiness is certain if we can find a perfect friend in a parent, a child or a beloved. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find someone who loves without conditions. Impediment is almost always a possibility. And even if we finally find a friend in a beloved, parent, or child, the relationship may not last long because he/she may leave or die.

The loss of a friend sometimes lead others to precipitateness and suicide. Some try to get over their misery by amusing their concern and affection to animals or objects.

It is totally unfair for one to expect perfection in another human being because no one is perfect.

Churches, temples, priests, gurus, and all scriptures teach that our only perfect friend, our true love, is God. He is the one who desires our happiness and who created us to acquire the truth, so that we can be with Him in His Kingdom. He does this, even if He is ignored, forgotten and His messengers crucified.

Lovers of God are often mocked or at best ignored.

There is no reason why we should remain ignorant and detached. Perhaps we have not learned well or perhaps we were not taught well. Or, possibly, because we fear the truth. The belief that the momentary things we dote on is the greatest purpose and that God created us to be happy in this world is paramount. Many hear but do not accept and surrender to the truth that the love of God is the only way to peace and happiness, "on earth as it is in heaven."

If we can detach ourselves from the grip of obsessive emotional compromise with beings and things of this world, our capacity to love and be loved will be amplified a million fold because a true friend is limitless and endless.

RECALLING

REMEMBERING:

Everyone of us wants to recall the things that transpired in the past. Most of the time, we recall the good things -- the very first day we stepped into nursery school where we met our first friends, the program in school where we always take part of, the time we had our first crush, the significance we were able to complete our theses-- the things that made us delighted.

But then, we also recall the less pleasant experiences we had. We recall the time the teacher called us to recite and everyone else knew the answer, except ourselves. The time we finished school and we were pained to know that we could not be with our good friends anymore, like the way we used to be.

We have bunch and bunch of experiences that we know we will dote on infinitely. The happy moments, the sad moments, the tragic moments. And sometimes, it even pains us to recall.

When we received an "F" on one of our papers, we felt frustrated. When we were still learning to spell "myriad" we were groping, we were dazed. But -- didn't we overcome them all? For if not, we would have never achieved where we are at the present, would we?

Perhaps, the reason we love to reminisce is not because we want to endure to the past. As we move farther, the mnemonics become treasures for us. Through them, we have become the person we are now. Through them, we learn to keep on living. We know that we have passed the tests, and that we can also pass the tests yet to come.

THE BLISS OF RECALLING:

Recalling, one of the finest words in the English language, also happens to be one of man's finest playthings.

We recall ephemeral, carefree magnitude of our lives, and we heave and hold our breaths for effects that had been. We become fuzz-eyed at bitter memories. No matter how insignificant -- it can be the euphony of a familiar song, waft of a perfume, close similarities of places visited, meeting old friends, photographs and movies -- nearly anything can create remembrances in our minds.

It is almost a marvelous episode when one recollects. He undergoes a complete transformation within himself. He goes back to the day when he was a child, a teenager, a young man, the sort of man he was only a day ago. It is a process where he gets to size up himself in all honesty -- where he was and where he is heading to.

Our remembrances strengthen the claim that the mind does not grow old, although man does. Remembrances serve as an ineradicable videography of one's existence in a spaceship called Humus. And maybe beyond it -- no one knows for sure.

We will forever listen back to our past as long as we live, and as life goes on, we will prolong to add our compilation of remembrances. They will remain precious, infinite, and perfect in total privacy. We wish they stay with us forever.

LIFE'S SWEETISH IMMORTALIZATION:

All over the world people keep diaries to record their personal experiences, reflections, and feelings each day or at frequent intervals. All our experiences would be lost as soon as they ended, and we would lose the pleasure of happy memories as well as the agony of unfortunate moments if not for this " magnetic-lock" personal journal called diary. Often I heard "A short pencil is better than a long memory unless you are blessed with a mind like an electronic computer machine."

You'll never know how much or how little a person wants to recall life's enjoyment and agonies until he/she opens up to you, allows you a "peek" into his diary, or lets you examine his photo albums. These are all silent testifiers that tells a lot. Pictures of him and his bride exchanging "I dos" to mark the beginning of a wonderful life together; of the wedding reception made memorable by the attendance of family and friends. There would also be pictures of their first baby, his first birthday party, his JS prom, his graduation and finally his wedding. "Life is a rut, a treadmill," we always hear our elders say, in that history seems to just repeat itself, and people go through the same motions over and over again.

There would be records and clippings showing receiving well-deserved awards or promotion to the higher rung of the corporate ladder. There would be pictures of daughter's formal introduction to adult society, of doting grandparents lovingly and proudly cuddling their grandchildren. Again, there would be photos and other reminders of glory days or reverses, showing the unspeakable and unpaintable face of defeat-- in one's love or personal pursuits. All these would, of course, be recorded in that "magnetic-lock" little book called diary.

And because photographs soon fade and the embodiment in them would slowly but surely lose their faces and bodies, one can only be content to leaf through the old pages of one's personal journal to recall the good (and bad) old days with a smile, a tear, or a dot of sat.. with God's saving grace.

LIFE'S LESSON:

Not all of us value our past. Some hate it, or the things that provoke the memory, while others simply push it at the back of their mind. What we don't know is, doing so lets us miss the chance of learning lessons from those past occurences. In the end, we'll realize there really is a need for us to recall and deliberate on the things that have happened.

Often we say, "The past is dead and gone" -- what's done is done and there's nothing we can do to change a bit of it. The pain over a lost love may fade or lose power, but the memory can wait even long after it's over.

I remember this movie about Peter Pan who stopped flying; he finds out later that he can fly again by thinking of happy thoughts. We're very much like Peter Pan. What are those happy thoughts? Well, they are the good things that have happened to us, our past. We can recall about the gold old days with our family, our friends, or a loved one. It can't make us fly, but certainly it can make us feel good. If we're sad and feeling so low, a memory of happy moments can make us feel better and move us to go on with our life with reestablished optimism.

But what about sad memories-- a relationship that didn't work, misunderstanding between family members, a loved one who betrayed us, a friendship that was dismantled by jealousy? Things that went beyond our control or those that were simply disregarded? No matter how sad they may be, no matter how tormenting the pain was, one thing I can be sure of is, we all have learned from them. A learning experience that we can use in the future. Through recalling, we get to comprehend what went wrong and where we flunked.

It is said that after the rain, a rainbow follows. The lessons that we learn from each experience should not be wasted. Let's try to overcome our shortcomings and benefit on the things that we lack. It will surely make us a better person.

Memories can help us in many ways if only we know how to deal with them -- properly and promisingly.

BLAST FROM THE PAST:

When two old friends met again, one cannot just visualize the sensation and gladness they are experiencing in that occasion. Sure they're wearing old faces and just like song says, they talk about the places they've been. To get back memories is to recall the past. Recalling makes forsakenness a soothing moment.

Recalling is wealth worth remembering. Recalled memories can lighten up a depressing day, or can, in times of boredom serve as a stimulus, for it can never be tedious when you think of the good old days, right?

There are some episodes in our lives that we would always treasure: our firsts that will endlessly take spirit to us if regained from our memory bank -- like our debut, our first crush in school or in the neighborhood, our first date, the first sport we learned, and how can you forget the death in the family? And what about your first ardor?

Sometimes our hectic schedule and fast-paced life can make us momentarily forget about the enchanting things that have gone past. But we still have the supremacy and the force to recall. It only takes a little strain, and all will come flowing freely again, like water from the beginning.

THE FLEETING MOMENTS

You bestowed the light on a melancholy night
Where moon and stars are on perfect hiding
High-pitched voice from your tiny throat,
A vex of the nights serenity.
But for mother's ears... a melody.
Your smile's a sunshine that
Kissed away the earth's brown facade
Is a warmth to thy mother's breast.
Like a weanling rose
Nurtured with love and tender embraces
You blossomed in beauty to thy mother's eyes.
But like a rose so sweet and yet... so fragile.
You succumbed into malady.
Your chubby cheeks; once tinged with rosy pink,
Now a sunken hollow in thy face.
Thy body, one so full and sprightly bouncing.
(A recipient of mother's hug and embraces)
Lay silently and spiritless,
Inanimate of vital spark.
For mother's sight... an agony;
An ice to hold, a sword that struck.

THE SONG OF A MOTHER

Child, listen your mother sings
She sings the future for you
She plucks and strums and sings
Tunes that are common to all
Would you like to hear her again?

She sings in different melodies:
The songs of trust and gladness
Is for the child of the world
The songs of doom and sadness
Is for the child of a nation

Our mother, the preserver of songs
Croons her lullabies to the notes
Notes that reflects her loved one
She will continue to look
For the love of a child.

Amen.

SORROW: BANE OR BOON?

When I was younger, I remembered the exquisite story of a unique relationship that existed between a master and his horse. The master and his horse grew successively close together until they moved as one spirit and one mind. The hors became a dear and faithful friend to the master. Until one day, the master recieved news of his horse's death. There came a dead and lifeless look on his face that expressed the intensity of his remorse. The death of his friend horse came as an impact that he no longer cared to live on.

The above story is a touching display of human drama that reached its climax at the death of a loved friend and the ultimate death of the master himself.

Death is a subject we do not talk about with so much appreciation as when we speak about love. Death is something that's hard to easily conquer. It can be horrifying experience for someone who has lost a beloved. Death is a negative thing as well as a positive one. Negative thing because it causes deep agony and sorrow. It brings about an excruciating pain, bitterness and heartache. The terrible nick it carries may even scar and handicap the bereaved for life.

On the other hand, death is a positive thing for when a loved one dies, he is made one with Nature. He is tied to a new beginning where there's no end. He becomes a part of the loveliness of God's creation, for the livid pall of death conceals the fairest blessing His love can give.

Sorrows, be it in the form of death, dissapointments and impediments come to all. No one, whether sick or well, rich or poor is excused from experiencing it in life. Sometimes, we think of problems that cloud our reasons as castigation for nog being too close to Him. We may even speculate our sorrows, misfortune and dilemma are too much to contend with but we, do find people in our midst having double or sometimes triple the burdens we carry. It is astounding how they find a praiseworthy solution to them. As we walk along through the tangle of life, we realize that we are walking hand-in-hand with all mankind, laughing and sorrowing, not alone but with all others.

Sorrow in whatever form it may come must be faced with courage and with truthfulness. They must not find us wanting in courage and spiritual strength for didn't our Lord Jesus Himself brave all human consideration to do the will of GOD for our sake? Didn't He carry the cross of the rugged path of Calvary to reveal us that we too have our crosses to carry, alone? Shouldn't we stop accusing our heavenly Father for our prayers unanswered for He knows too well that what He does is the best for us?

Doubtlessly, there are still seemingly unacceptable crosses to be carried, but we must not fail to remember that these things shall pass away. God never meant us to worry in life. He simply challenges us to accept our cross, carry it bravely as Christ did and become better Christians worthy of this adoring care.

Sorrow is boon. It is a suffering without which we can fully understand the meaning of human existence, how it dies only to live again more beautifully than ever before. Without it, we cannot really find true happiness and peace.