A Quote for the Day

There are things in life that we have to take on faith. And once we have made that scary leap, we will discover a new sense of freedom that will not be rattled by death. 

All that we have and do not have, and all that we will ever have, are gifts. There is nothing in them to brag about.

To be of peace, a person must renounce the option towards violence. Self-defense becomes a search for means to subdue violence without using force that destroys the attacker. To be in peace, a person must renounce the voices of arrogance and selfishness that destroys the tranquility of the soul. Instead, he lets the peace-giving presence of God consume his soul each moment each day for the rest of his life.

Genuine needs are those that are good to our body and soul. Anything bad to our body and soul that comes to us presenting itself as a need comes from the Enemy who wants to deceive us into misusing the good things that God has given us in this world, and harming us in the process, stealing our health, our lives, and our salvation.

The only reason why we need to love our enemies is this--like us, God loves and cares for them too.

A person who have a hard time facing the truth will have an easy time telling a lie.

We look at people, things, events, and situations in our lives with sets of lenses that color the way we interact with life. The darker these lenses are the more removed we become from the truths that can enhance the depth and breadth of our lives. Until we remove the darkness in these lenses, good things will appear foreboding and deceptive things become very convincing. And all of life becomes a lie.  

Only those who give all they got can understand in full measure the true value of giving.

We care the most when we least remember ourselves. [Photo by Ellen Lindner Adventure Quilter]

Just because a person intends to take moral responsibility in performing a sinful act does not mean that the sinful act ceases to be sinful, or a disorderly behavior ceases to be so. It neither means that doing the sinful act is no longer sinful. While intending not to hurt others is much better than not hurting others, it is not the same as not hurting others at all. This is what Pope Benedict XVI means when he was quoted in the book Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times saying: "There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility." Doing so does not provide an exception to the sinful disorder committed in the use of condom for reproductive control, it simply indicates a development of moral responsibility (not to hurt the customer through the spread of HIV) in the male prostitute.

Common sense is not that common as we presume it to be. Each person has his own sets of common sense that others may not share. Albeit they can provide practical solutions in specific circumstances in life unique to the person.

If you left your home seeking for a better one, and not find it, maybe you will never find that "perfect" home at all. And without having a clue the home that you learned to despise and departed from may be the right home after all.

God loves and takes care even those who do not believe in Him. So what's the difference between a believer and an unbeliever? The privilege of knowing that Unknown God. And the boundless joy of being close to Him as Abba through Jesus, or the Big Brother in Jesus.

You will never hear a son speak well of the mother he had abandoned and despised. Only the son who loves her adores her, honors her, and speaks beautiful words about her.

The best time to relax is when you have no time for it, and when you already forgot the last time you had one.

Humility is knowing very well what we can and cannot do, without closing the possibility that with God's specific graces something more can be achieved. But all these shall be according to His Holy Will.

Discontent is a symptom of underlying self-determinism, a soul that is blind to God's will but troubled with the growing frustrations of not getting what he wants to get or with the exciting prospects of going for the coveted prize. A person who follows the will of God contends himself in whatever lot in life that God makes certain to him to be his to live. His peace and joy stem not from the achievement of personal goals but in knowing that he is following the Will of His God.

The excitements of life comes in its ups and downs, in the faces of people whom we love and love us back in return, in the kindness and joyful faces of strangers, in the graces that makes us understand our very lives deeply and broadly despite the many shadows that we have to pass through in this mortal journey. It is the adventure of a lifetime; an illumination that makes what can be a dreary existence more meaningful and worth dying for.

Opportunity comes only when, after facing drawbacks or failures, you continue to move on and see what happens next. This thought came to me when waiting for the red traffic light to turn to green, and I felt some hunger as well as the kids. A man tried to sell cooked ripe banana to vehicles sixth and so ahead of me. I tried to see if he looks my way so I can catch his attention. But after failing to sell any from these mix of private cars and taxis the light turned to green, and he simply moved towards the sidewalk without even realizing that he could have sold some of his products if he move on fast after failing to sell to the cars ahead.

True forgiveness cleans the slate of the forgiven. If you have not fully restored your trust to the person you believed you "forgave" you have not really forgiven.

No court of law would be of much use if the citizens of the country, having read the law books, interpret the law on their own private interpretation. (Photo by Rutgers University School of Law Business Law Journal )

A statement containing a lie, even if it contains some truths also, is nevertheless a lie. A white lie is, as what its name defines, a lie. There is no such thing as an accidental lie. It is always a deliberate untruth.

Science cannot give exact knowledge of things in this world. It can only give a probability of that knowledge. A 95-99% probability leaves 1-5% improbability. That improbability gives enough space for providencial grace to turn events even exactly the opposite of what science predicts.