Wisdom. What would you pay to gain it? But wisdom is something you can't purchase with gold or a Ph.D. from Harvard. How many seemingly successful people do we know who suck at life and relationships? Because God alone is the source of wisdom. With it, He too gives...
Why Must it Always be the Children?
I write this piece not because of any political or ideological conviction. I'm posting this because I believe that every life is precious. Each one counts because life is from the Creator Himself; so no one, powerful or downtrodden, rich or needful, has a right to...
Laminated and Barcoded
A lot of stuff happens because they should. An egg can't be an egg apart from its shell. Onions would be blah without their skin. A fetus won't thrive outside the amniotic sac in its mommy's womb. Skin covers us from the elements like the sun's rays and microbes. I...
Whatevering
What's your go-to word when you want to say something but run out of words? Mine? "Whatever." The Bible offers a whatevering alternative: Philippians 4:8 "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is...
Worship
Will you allow me a bit—just a tiny bit—of self-indulgence? I love to sing. Always have. Always will. I'll probably be eternally singing. And that's no joke. But read on. In high school, circa nineteen kopong-kopong (a long long time ago), I dreamt of being a Broadway...
Too, Too Much
Information. They're right up there, swirling in the internet etherworld—accessible with just a few clicks on your smartphone. Type your keywords and voila, any topic you want to research pops up. They’re so many you'd have a hard time deciding which to explore. FB...
Shapeable, Moldable
"Bote!" "Garapa!" "Dyaryo!" Shouted by a cart-pushing Chinaman going around our Manila neighborhood, these words woke me up most mornings when I was a kid—bagong-saltang probinsyana (fresh from the province, Sampaloc, Quezon) getting used to life in Manila. This was...
When Panic Sets In
I drove myself to the pharmacy. Coming out of it, I could not find my car in the parking lot. Walking back and forth and not finding it, I began to panic. Then I woke up. An awful dream. Which triggered a migraine. It didn't help that I've started taking pills which...
Darius and His Allergies
A kid and his park are soon parted—at least momentarily, for Darius whose one great love is playing in the park with his friends. A few months back, Darius joined an art competition in his school (Wolf Canton Elementary School, Chula Vista, San Diego). Not only did...
The Judas in Us
There will always be someone—in a family, team or organization—pursuing his own dubious agenda. Take Judas. Yes, that Judas. Called by Jesus to His team yet sold Him off for 30 pieces of silver. "What happened to this disciple who supposedly left everything to follow...