Unfailing Hope

background photo from www.lackgrounds.com

           There are times when we feel that we can’t go on anymore. We feel that the trials are too difficult to overcome; we feel that the problems are too painful to bear; we feel like life is merely a series of pitfalls that will continuously pull us down until we decide to give it all up. Nonetheless, the Bible assures us that these trials are God’s gifts to us. It is not that He wants us hurt, rather, He wants us wiser and stronger. If a parent would not allow his one year old child to try to walk across the crib for the first time, will his child be able to walk on its own?  No. Though it will hurt the parent see its child stumble, he lets his child go on with the assurance that every time his child falls, he’d be there to pick him up. The same thing goes with the Father in Heaven. He exposes us to hardships because He is preparing us for the best. If along the process we feel so tired, we just need to call upon Him so that when He hears our call, He may be able to hold our hand and assist us until we finally see the light. And so I boast  when trials come because trials make  me patient; when I am patient I gain  merits, and through this  merits I  learn to hope—to  hope in the Lord who never fails.

The Forgetter and The Forgotten

photo from photography.nationalgeographic.com | words by tine magpayo

People remember and people forget. It hurts to remember when you want to forget; In the same way, it hurts to forget when you want to remember. 

Friendships come and friendships go. It is something that either grows or dies in the passing of time. The challenge of friendship is to be able to look at and take different directions but to once again be able to meet at the final destination. However, there are times  when friendship only goes as far as having the courage to let go. That courage does not usually come with the hope and enthusiasm to find each other again.


When we become separated with the people who matter most to us, we yearn for the feeling of having them around. And since circumstances would not always permit a close bond among friends, people will have a tendency to search for that feeling in the company of strangers-- strangers who are simply "friends waiting to happen." But the sad truth in life is that once we get attached to someone, we unconsciously get detached with someone else. The human heart, figuratively speaking, has some sort of carrying capacity. It cannot cater to everyone and most of the time, the person whom you find assurance to be with in the future is the one  you stick to. How can someone who has  stopped  being in your present give you security of togetherness in the future?

In every situation that required letting go, there would always  be the one who has come to forget and the one who has been forgotten. But why is it that the one has come to forget always appears as the "bad person?" Did he/she wanted the friendship to end? NO. As much as a person recalls and relives past moments in his/her life, memory has its limits. It can only go as far as remembering events but it cannot return the same old feeling and attachment  one used  to feel no matter how much one wants it back. Certainly,  it hurts to be forgotten.  Although sometimes, in forgetting, the one who  has come to forget hurts as much as the one who has been forgotten.

Learning and Unlearning Love

background photo from syntetyc.deviantart.com |  text by tine magpayo

          Some people believe that love is a decision, not an emotion. I beg to disagree. For me, love is both a decision and an emotion. To fully grasp what it means to learn and to unlearn love, it is important to focus on love as a feeling.

        We all  learn to love but we cannot learn to unlove. Learning is a process of absorbing; unlearning is a process of forgetting. To learn requires one to take something in; to unlearn requires one to take something out of one's system. To make the premise more simple, let's compare it with the idea of solving complex Math problems. Once you have learned how to solve, you cannot learn to not to be able to solve. Nonetheless you can unlearn to be a good Math problem solver if you don't use your skills for some time. I think same goes with love. If you stop practicing what you often did, you'll end up not having what you often had. If you want someone out of your life, you don't learn to unlove that person; you try to unlearn to love that person.

         Honestly, I'm not really sure of what I am saying or if I was able to express my ideas clearly. In the first place, love is too complex to be understood. But then again, if we shall look at love as an emotion,  then it is meant to felt, not to be understood. Ohhhhh how I love contrasts!!! :)

On Dreams and Faith

background photo from brickworkz.com | text by tine magpayo

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
You're human. You think; you feel; you dream. Whether you admit it or not, you have big dreams buried in the deepest corners of your heart. Don't keep them there... Acknowledge them. It is through knowing the true desires of your heart that you are able to discover yourself.



BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU WANT
As we grow older, we come to realize that we live in a cruel world. As Mother Gothel in the animated film Enchanted put it: "The world is dark and cruel. If it finds even the smallest ray of light, it destroys it." There will be little voices whispering "You can make it," but there will also be big voices screaming "You cannot do it." Nonetheless, it is still your choice to whom you will listen to.Have some faith, kid. There must be a reason why God placed that dream in your heart. And there's probably a better reason that dream stayed in your heart amidst all the attempts to make it vanish.



WORK FOR WHAT YOU WANT
BAD NEWS: It is truly very hard to actualize visions. GOOD NEWS: You've got your whole life ahead of you. Think that everything you do is a step that leads you to your Big Dream. Work on the little things and one day you'll find yourself just a fingertip away from the big thing.



PRAY FOR WHAT YOU WANT
You may be a smart, sufficiently emotional, and hardworking human but that doesn't change the fact that you are only human. In the words of Fr. Gerry Orbos, we have to remember two things in this life: First, there is a GOD and second, none of us is HIM. We have a God who listens and who is very much willing to help us if we only ask for it. One of my favorite Bible verses is Mark 11:24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." 

Have faith in yourself, faith in your dreams, and faith in our GOD.