when the time is now

“Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” 2 Peter 3:8

we’re now ten days into 2011, and i still don’t have a list of new year’s resolutions.  not that i even plan on having one, but it has been tradition that before the old year ends, the list should have been done and must be followed from Day 1 onwards.  but since it’s a bit late already, maybe my new year’s resolution is to not have any new year’s resolution at all.

before Christmas, Megan was giving slight hints here and there about what gift she really wanted-a canon 550d camera.  since it is quite expensive and we don’t have the money to buy one just yet, i told her that patience is a virtue. wittingly she responded that time is gold.  haha!  that camera might as well be gold!

aah youth! -  carefree, always in a hurry as if there’s no tomorrow.  but only with age will they realize that time is just a passing fancy.  and i sure finally did. in fact, as i grow older, i perceive time as a curse.  especially when life is defined by the years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds, nanoseconds… 

when i was younger, i used to believe that time is really gold because our culture dictates our life in terms of the years that we live.  like when at 12, one has to finish grade school.  one can vote or date at age 18.  by 20, one has to finish college.  by 30, one has to have established a career already, earned his 1st million and settled down.  between 30 to 40, one should already have a family, built a house for them, sent kids to school…

between 40 to 50, one would be preoccupied with advancing with that career, take care of seeping health issues and playing on retirement plans.  at age 60 onwards, one should then enjoy the fruits of retirement, then eventually die of natural causes or old age.

imagine the frustration when one doesn’t catch up with the hands of time.  i won’t be surprised if that expensive rolex, that cheap wall clock or that annoying alarm clock can be as deadly as a butcher’s knife.  these timepieces may actually be the number one cause of stress.  and stress as we all know is the number one cause of any illness, or the reason some diseases get even worse  for that matter.

 it’s been two months since my surgery, and i’m still stuck here in my room. since i felt stronger, i think that i should be elsewhere doing something else, which “culture” expects of me.  but God put me exactly at this spot at this very moment. just as He planned.  building up my patience, strengthening my faith and bolstering my confidence in what He has in store for me.

we should be defined by the moments we live. not the hours we spend catching up with the future.  not the minutes fighting off the ghosts of the past.  we are in the here and now. and whatever we think or do now, will shape up our tomorrow .  or change how we look at our yesterday.

if you want a taste of hell, go ahead.  stare at that clock as it excruciatingly tick-tocks your life away.  waiting for that something that may just happen only after a century, or worse, may not happen at all.  do whatever you can wherever you are-NOW.

remember that in heaven, there are no clocks.  no calendars.  no new year’s resolutions. only moments of everlasting joy and infinite bliss with our Lord.  so savor each moment like you’re already in heaven.

big mistake, the captain’s “major, major” wrong decision

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath , for it is written: ”It is mine to avenge; I will repay. says the Lord. On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 

Do not be overcome by evil, OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD.” Romans 12:17-21

we are still in shock as news on the bloody hostage taking in Manila continues since it happened two days ago.  the police officer Rolando Mendoza, who appealed his case not in court, but in front of the world, definitely had his voice heard.  but at what cost? and did it achieve his purpose?

“rolando mendoza was a good man”;  that was what his family, his colleagues in the police force, neighbors and friends who knew him personally say.  what made him do such violent acts which do not conform to the qualities of a “good man” is still in question. 

his demand to get his “life” back which he equated with the retirement benefits that he ought to receive was a sad cry for help.

nobody is in a position to judge him.  but in my own point of view, there is more to life than retirement benefits.  bad things happen even to good people.  even if you strictly do everything the right way, sometimes some things happen beyond our control which cloud our judgement and force us to do things against the moral values within which our characters are built.  this is because our lives are connected with one another.  whatever happens with one, affects another human being’s life.  the rage that the hostage taking incident sparked is a sound proof that all of us are intertwined regardless if we knew each other or not. 

rolando and the hostages didn’t know each other.  but when their paths crossed,  the journey would never be the same again.  it is sad that lives were taken in a futile attempt to win a personal battle.  if only rolando trusted more in the power of the Lord, rather than the word of the ombudsman or the promise of a negotiator, he wouldn’t have conceived that plan in the first place. 

what we do is not necesarily who we are.  we, as human beings made in the likeness of God, are basically good.  but somewhere along the paths we take in our lives, we come across dangerous potholes and humps, and interact with different types of people along the way.  they either make our journey is easy, but sometimes cause us troubles and hardships.  but if we stay in God’s grace, his everlasting love and light would guide us until we reach our destination.

as we go along our way, let us not depart from who we really are.  we are God’s children.  we are brothers and sisters, regardless of color, race or religion.  if we care for our brothers and sisters, we would never feel  threathened, even if everything will be taken away from us.  we will always be taken care of.  if we just believe in God’s promise.

it is written in Matthew 6:25-26  “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.  Is not life more than food? Or the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?”

if only rolando remembered this, he should not have made that big wrong decision.  he would not have made that big mistake.  and he could have prevented all the others from making their own.

cheaper by the dozen

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father…In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”  Matthew 18: 10-14 

cheaper by the dozen is a movie starring steve martin, bonnie hunt, hillary duff, tom welling among others.  it is a story about a big family that is surprisingly happy despite the daily struggles that come with raising twelve kids in all. the parents dreamt of a huge family, so when the kids start coming one after the other, they decided to move to illinois away from the careers they were more than willing to give up.  all for the family.  until the father was offered a job to coach a prestigious university football team that he was once a part of. this was his big dream and with all the perks that go with the job, it was an offer that he could not resist and wouldn’t not turn down.  but this meant moving away from the home they already learned to love.  even if the kids oppose strongly to the idea to leave behind the friends and the life they knew and were  comfortable with: their simple and ‘chaotic’ rural life in illinois.  indeed, they were happy where they were.

but the father had the final say.  they moved to chicago and no sooner than they had already settled, the mother also had her dream realized.  her book was published and she was required to go to new york for two weeks for a series of book signing and tv appearances to promote her book.  this was were all the problems started.  the father was left alone to take care of the kids and the home.  at the same time he was starting to build up his career as a coach.  not yet adjusted to their new way of life, the kids began feeling neglected and their home was turned upside down.  disorganized, chaotic, and more chaotic than ever.  every one started acting like jerks. 

mark, one of the younger kids had a pet frog named beans which he considered his best friend.  among all the kids, mark felt left out and that nobody cared as much for him.  so when beans died and no one seemed to care how devastated he was, mark ran away, rode on a train headed to his most favorite place in the world-their home in illinois.  this had the whole family rally together and look for mark.  and made the parents realized they made a mistake.  they realized how much more important their kids were than any career in the world.

indeed, all of us have our own grand dreams for ourselves.  it’s not a bad thing to pursue them.  but  we must include this in our list and make it number 1: to be able to raise a happy, closely knitted and God-fearing family, however big or small it may be.  you see, there’s always a retirement in careers.  when we are through, somebody else takes our place at work.  not in the case of parents. because parenthood is a lifetime contract.  at the end of the day, when we are already old and gray; when we are sick and dying;  success in our careers won’t matter much.  but although they’ve already grown, the touch of our kid’s hand to soothe us; the smile that they give back at us to make us feel better; that kiss on our foreheads and the warmth embrace each time they see us.  these are what will matter most.  the love we planted in their hearts, is the love we will harvest at our life’s sunset. 

let us all take time to value our children more.  now is the time.  they are treasures that can never ever be replaced.  they are our dreams come true.  we don’t even have to pursue them at all.  they are already here.  only if we ever look at them and care.  then surely, our life’s midnights will never be cold, alone and lonely.

Hug your child today.  Just a simple gesture.  But it will make a difference.  Not only for your kid…but for you as well.