A Quote for the Day

Only the heart that is pure and free of attachment to the glories and materials of this world can have the eyes to see beyond the trappings of this world. Grace clears the eyes of the person whose heart is prepared to receive grace. That is why even the most intelligent persons will not see the errors of their ways, having been blinded by pride and selfishness. Only the humble heart sees what no one else can see.

Sometimes mysteries are better left the way it is--a mystery.

It is very difficult to love someone you have learned to fear.

People fail to take on an opportunity because their heart do not belong where it should be. They fail to see it pass before them, at times presenting it to them in various faces. Most do not recognize these faces. Worse, some do not even have an idea what opportunity looks like.

Even with the best doctors around, no serious ailment will ever be cured when the patients refuse to be treated. That is true in health. That is also true in governments.

It is not how much you give that matters. But how much love accompany that giving. Millions maybe given; but without love, what merit does that giving brings? Give then with love, and let that love determine how much you need to give.

The good is the most deceptive enemy of the better.

Bullies are not difficult to figure out. They are cowards who gain false courage behind the pawns that shield them from real consequences of his actions. Remove those pawns, and you will see the most despicable self-esteem there are. They simply fear those who do not fear them.

One serious obstacle in the growth of faith is the conviction that God has no involvement in the affairs of man, each moment each day, including such an ordinary things as finding a space to park or getting the traffic light to go "red" just in time to let you step down from a jeepneey in a no-stopping street corner.

The truly humble people are those who can sincerely say that there's nothing they have done on their own but only with God; and there is nothing they can ever do without Him. Beyond these echo the Serpent's deceiving lie.

The worst enemies are those you believe do not exist.

Those who forgives the most loves the most. Only those who does not love refuse to forgive.

If you're having headaches from so many problems, sleep. At least ninety-percent of problems get manageable after a good night's sleep.

One of the most beautiful thing in a good relationship with the Triune God are the many surprises He can pull off in the most unexpected moments in your life. These are surprises that fascinate the soul, touch the core of your being with a joy that no material thing could ever provide.

To accuse an innocent person is to accuse oneself of arrogance and judgmentalism, and prove it so.

There are two basic ways of serving God that even active workers in the Church will have serious difficulty understanding the difference--"doing God's work" and "working for God." And either choice will reflect an important difference between our relationship with God and how we look at our work in relation to God.

There is a natural sweetness in everyone, that goodness in our nature that came to us from God with our birth. It just happened that a lot of us let the bitterness in life change their nature slowly as they grow old. Will that natural sweetness be restored? We don't know. Maybe when we learn to remove that bitterness from our heart. Maybe when we come to have a full grip again on who we are.

The easier part in Christian faith is to love God. The more difficult, in fact the most difficult, part is to love God only and nothing else. Yes, we love other things too, at times as passionately or more so. That is the biblical case of serving two masters; one has to be despised in favor of the other.

The instinct for survival brings the best in people who believes that the gift of life is something to be protected, nourished and celebrated. It brings to fore the greatness of people when they look at life beyond what the eyes can see or the senses can perceive. Then life becomes a chance to inspire others to be better than the petty and mundane search for the passing glory in a passing world as we know it.

Busyness on things that matters most, and on activities that encourage others to be compassionate as well as generous to others, means more than the busyness that shows nothing other than the self and all the glories it wanted to claim before the all peoples. Busyness is a virtue when it virtuously uses the limited time that belongs to each day, and glories the Creator instead of the created.  

History deserves the interest given to it when its lessons help people make a better one for their generation; not merely a subject for academic discussion, but a forceful force that transcends the darkness of its path. Otherwise, it is as dead as a dog runover in the roadside; as empty as the cup of holy blood that many refuse to drink.

One tragic fact in policing is that police came only when the victim has died, not protecting the citizens from getting attacked. So much for the police credo: "To serve, and to protect."

If only we realize, and genuinely believe, that we are children of an infinitely good Father, we would choose to be good children of that good Father as long as we live. The sobering truth however is that despite what many people may say, deep inside at very seat of our soul, that genuine belief is not really there. So people still continue to live according to the lights of their vile motives as if they will not be answerable for it and for all the actions coming from it.  

Most of those who learned a lot of things, did so because somehow someone took the time to teach them. Happy Teachers' Day!

We learn to love because we've been loved first. In the same way, we give because we have already received so much.

Oftentimes we missed the fact that the life we despise is someone else's dream.

Some children do not deserve their parents. Most parents deserve their children.

A broken heart only truly heals when it forgives-- really forgives--the person who broke it.

We learn to love the most when we lost the one we love. We tend to take them for granted wrongly assuming they will always be there. It is time to cherish them when they are still alive. For eternity may still be too long when we meet them again.

Oftentimes asking the right questions provides more answers than making assumptions that you understand what's being said. It is a fact of psychology that we seldom fully understand what we hear or read. We simply try to make sense of the message through the eyes of our presumptions. Most of human relationships fail because of this.

The adage, "no pain; no gain," is overrated. You don't have to seek for the pain in order to get that gain. It is always smarter to get the gain without getting the pain. And that applies to almost anything in life. A bit of thinking--creative thinking--is needed though. Sports scientists knows that very well. Painful muscles are signs of overdoing it. It is always better to train those muscles without having to let lactic acid cause any pain. A brief rest can do the trick. Rest, then do it again.

Generosity is measured not with what portion of the excess that you give, but with how much of what you need that you let go for others.

The most essential things in life comes without color. Imagine what water or air be in black or blue or even pink. Color in nature is a byproduct of natural processes. In the world of humans, it is added to break the monotony of a meaningless existence. Color tries to add life into the lifelessness of a rather unreflected life.

Only the heart that knows the deepest of sorrows can truly experience the deepest of joys. Surface happiness makes the heart grow shallow.

Certain people like former US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney just lack insight on people, and read them like reading writings on a paper, seeing only the writings and not the soul behind those letters. As a consequence they misunderstood the letters, and missed on the people.

Even with heavy rains pouring on you, you can choose to feel burdened or rejoice. There are always valid reasons either way.

One beautiful thing about gold is that it glitters. Unfortunately that glitter is what makes gold dangerous too.

In an occasion that disrespects the poor, distaste develops even with the best food that money can buy.

Most of the time, it is easier to shoot the messenger than to listen to the message.   

The risk we do not know is always more dangerous than the risk we know. From "Tasty Dish and the Risk We Know," SunStar Cebu Breakthroughs, published on 31 August 2011

A house divided is larger than a bachelor's pad.

At times, it is in looking through the cold darkness that we can clearly see and experience the beautiful warmth of light.

There is nothing we can do about how long we live. But we can do so much on how much meaning our life will have--meanings that can spill into eternity.

When we live according to God's will today, we have no need to peek into the future on what it shall be.  

Learning about history is good if its lessons guide the people of the present. Otherwise, it is as dead as a dog run over in the roadside no matter how much you know historical facts.

If you don't believe in coincidences, all events in life reveals the hand of God... or the design of the Enemy. To know one from the other, pray.

Honesty is the essential ingredient of trust. Anyone who cannot be honest with you, you simply cannot trust, unless the bare truth can hurt your feelings, and she knows that, and simply wants to look for the right time to say it. Withholding the truth is telling a lie.

It is one thing to stumble on evil accidentally. It is another to go looking for it.

There is no other way towards a lasting peace of soul than this--accepting God's will whatever it maybe, wherever it may lead even to the portals of death (who can escape death anyway). Lay your troubles before his feet. You may have to do your best. But the outcome will always be a gift, may it be failure or success.

We don't have to be intelligent to be wise. In fact, at times, intelligence can get the way of wisdom when it becomes an occasion for pride, to boast.