Making Miracles

The 'message in a bottle' was given by my org buddy/friend. This is  one of my
most-valued presents since the letter contains so much. Thank you, buddy.

Who writes what and who finds that? 

Who creates the link between separate beings? 

What can bind people together until the end? 

Do your thing. Do what you think you should do even if you're not sure of what you should be doing. Do nothing if it seems to be the right thing to do. Hide emotions; confess feelings. Do whatever you feel the situation calls for. Hurt and allow yourself to get hurt. Believe that things will get better.  We're all human and we're all subject to feel pain. Love and be loved. Stay when you have to stay and leave when you have to leave. It's cliche but it's still worth saying: Everything a happens for a reason. Let the reason unfold one day. Right now, do your thing.

You have to do your thing because you can't stay still while the whole world moves on. Do anything. Be it something worthwhile, be it something stupid, just do it. By doing something, you're making a miracle for yourself and maybe for other  people as well. All the things you've done in the past and all the things you're doing now will lead you to better places, to better people, and to better perspectives.

Who writes what and who finds that? 

Who creates the link between separate beings? GOD does.

What can bind people together until the end? FAITH.

“There are winds of destiny that blow when we least expect them. Sometimes they gust with the fury of a hurricane, sometimes they barely fan one’s cheek. But the winds cannot be denied, bringing as they often do a future that is impossible to ignore.”

-Nicholas Sparks, Messagein a Bottle

Random Thoughts on a Rainy Day

photo from http://www.unesourisetmoi.info/minimal/index.php?c=home&s=y&id=home__a_marilyn_monroe_gallery

When we were asked to read the biography of Marilyn Monroe which included some of her written works  like poems and diary entries (for Creative Writing class), I came across this line and I must admit that somehow, it hit me.

Love comes in so many contexts. In here she was definitely referring to romantic love. "One cannot love another, ever,  really." This statement deals with love as  something absolute. Either it's perfect or it's not love at all, either it  lasts forever or it is  not love at all. False dichotomies. Life and love involve not only the extremes.

As of the moment I'm not sure if I have or if I ever will love at all.  What if random people come? Shall I keep my eyes and ears closed even when "the moment screams for IT." Maybe. The whole connection thing portrayed in the movies...  I hope it works for me. Or else I'm dead. Well, not really.  I  just want to get it right the first time around...as much as possible. I'm too fragile to take chances. I just want to believe that when he comes, he comes, and I shall know. IF he does come. I'm the waiting type rather than the searching type.

And the whole marriage thing? I can clearly remember what I heard from a TV show (though I forgot the title of the TV show). In marriage, you don't  necessarily have to love each other all the time. I  mean,  you're cooking food and you're loving your passion; You're doing office works and you're loving your job; You're bringing your kids to school and you're loving the family you have. All  these time, you do  not possess the feeling of being in love with your partner YET at the end of the day, you know you love your partner.

I guess the bottom line is, love does not require two people to make their lives revolve around each other. Marriage does not force couples to stay sweet and  in love til they grow white hair. Maybe commitment just asks of one  thing: companionship. Feelings change.  And for this reason, you cannot be forever in love with one person BUT you can truly, unconditionally love a person until you die...  because love is not just an emotion, but a decision as well.

Make the right choice! :)

The Man on the Cross

background photo from www.christianmyspace.com | words by tine magpayo

The Man on the Cross
by Christine Magpayo

What causes me to move is the stillness

of the Man on the cross.

He is the conqueror of death—

the perfect picture of fulfilment.

The stillness of my God on the cross

Causes me to go on and on.

He is peace; He is motivation;

He is hope; He is love; He is strength.

Each part of Him is beautiful:
His restless feet that walked countless miles
and His tired hands that touched and healed

the sick and the suffering

had been nailed to permanence.
His limbs are like tree branches
whipped and broken by the storm winds,
but now appears to be embracing the clear skies.

As a cloud can give out
so much rain, His weary body
had shed so much blood.
Bereft of life,

His body hung low and gray.
Leaning on the wooden cross,

My Savior looks tranquil.
The cold flesh feels no more pain.

Looking at His bowed head,

I see the features of His face:

Eyes (now closed) that looked with compassion
and lips that spoke only of goodness and truth.
Like an infant asleep
After a day of cries and smiles,
Calmness can be traced
from the curves of my Savior’s  face.

Nothing and no one ever compares
to the God of all who died for me.
He served His purpose so I can serve mine.
What is my mission compared to His?
Love will keep me alive
because His love is enough.
Not only it is freely given,
But also more than what I deserve.

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.