Nostalgic Titanic Moment

Welcome to the Art of Sharing
A blogfest of "Nostalgic Moments" from 7 September to 24 September 2011

Nostalgic Moments Blogfest Invitation of Sneha Kedar

It was one of the best romantic films of the 90s...


and it always brings me back to that time when I started life outside college...


No more....
classroom walls... 
Clinical Instructors to guide us...
lunch outs... 
staying up late for Case Reports...


Life has always been home...school...hospital duties...church...
I was thrilled of the life ahead of me...

my nurse lamp

Then one fine day, He came to me and asked me if I wanted an adventure...


Jack: "Come on, just give me your hand."
Rose: "You're crazy."


I just graduated...


Jack: "Whew! I'm Jack Dawson."




He completely swept me off my feet... God, I was so in love...
and for ten years, we held on to each other... 
 through thick and thin...


He took me everywhere... with Him...

my missionary lamp


The more I love Him... the more I love the people we both cared for...
I drew my strength from Him...


Jack: "Promise you'll survive. That you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise."


Rose: (letting go of Jack's hand) I''ll never let go, Jack, I promise."

Why did it not last... forever?


Jack: "I have no-nothing to offer you and I know that. I understand. But I'm too involved now. You jump, I jump remember? I can't turn away without knowing you'll be all right... That' s all that I want."


Rose: Well, I'm fine... I'll be fine... really."


Jack: "Really? I don't think so. They've got you trapped, Rose. And you're gonna die if you don't break free. Maybe not right away because you're strong but... sooner or later that fire that I love about you, Rose, that fire's gonna burn out."


Rose: "It's not up to you to save me, Jack."


Jack: "You're right... only you can do that."




I still think of you... and what could've been...


Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart and
My heart will go on 


"For those who are near are far away... and this shows the space around you is beginning to grow vast... be happy about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind..."


-Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

There's always this "What if.."?


Rose: "I promise."


Jack: "Never let go."


Rose: "I'll never let go, Jack. I'll never let go."

I'd like to share this poem to those who love deeply and passionately... 

If your life dream
has been fulfilled,
you may feel that something
is still missing.
Recast your dream
so that it fits
who you are now.
Embrace
your transformed dream.
-edith padilla (9.19.99)

Rose:  "I love you, Jack."

All quotes from the movie Titanic: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/quotes

You Tube Tuesday: Tapestry of Life

Yesterday was mine...

 Today is yours...

           Thanks to our genius Josh at Its Tiger Time

for our You Tube Tuesdays! 

------------------

I was looking at my tapestry today...

a year has passed since I last wrote and plotted on it. 

It was in 2006 that I started its use under the guidance of a Claretian missionary. 

One of the features I added was lovelife...

As I went through my thirty-five years of existence here on earth, I cannot help but be grateful  for all the things that has happened in my life...
and for all the people who wove their own stories and added colors to my tapestry...

-------------------

I remember how

I started building my dreams...

on sand...

... missions...

youth formation...

a loving husband...

twins...

a haven for children...

nursing home...

a team of caregivers...

home abroad...

 I saw how the sea devoured the sandcastles I formed in my mind...

No More Sandcastles

These were lone dreams

 washed away by the tides...

So,

I started sharing my dreams with other people...

and God started opening new doors for me... 

it took a long time to make a giant leap

because...

opening a new door would mean closing the other one behind...

"I jump, you jump..." one friend told me....

there's no turning back...

For the most part, the journey has been laced with

 ups and downs... sun and rain... highs and lows... 

 but through it all, I felt loved... and that made the travel easier to bear... 

It's still a long road towards holiness---

wholeness... 

but I know that God is always with me 

through the people, who, like me, are heading towards a common goal...

---------------------

"A great paradox of living:

We are, each of us, utterly alone.

And we are all in this together.

We're interdependent;

we're made for communion.

Each of us is like an angel 

with one wing--- we can fly only

by embracing each other."

-Karen Katafiasz, Living from Your Soul, # 31

------------

Fill me with love God... love for You and for everybody else in this crazy, frenetic world... 

Fill me with peace

Thank you for the new found freedom... 

I delight in this gift...

Thank you for all the blessings You shower upon us everyday...

Thank you for your faithfulness and gift of life.

           

Defying Gravity

I raced to my seat early Wednesday morning last week. 

As I silently opened my netbook, my nurse colleague took one look at me and began grazing my back... I wasn't sure what it was she smoothed but what began as a sob almost immediately turned into a yowl... 

I knew something inside must be hurting deeply... a slight touch becomes a prick... and easily reduces me into tears...

me in the swing

What sensitized my nerves to react this 

way the whole September?

Was it the famous question of 'efficiency' at work?

... a promise I've been waiting for a long time that was broken?

... attention I sought and didn't get?

... an unanswered prayer?

I looked into life with so many rules that stifled my growth...

A growing list of screw tapes and disturbing 'have tos' and 'must dos' knocked me down... 

 I grew weary of this journey with so many burdens to carry... 

"Don't Be Tethered to an Ass" steered my spiritual sister Jessica Mokryzcki:

 "If we simply ask God to reveal to us those things that are stumbling blocks to our faith and our relationship with Him He will surely let them be known..." 

http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/2011/04/dont-be-tethered-to-ass.html

So, I bade adieu to some people and left some groups...

 threw away thoughts and words that brought me down...

and broke bonds that enslaved me for many years...

God, I wish to be lifted up...

So, I think this time, I'll try...

Soul Mates

I don't know who you are... or if we have even met?

I just know that you are here... I could feel you ...

closer to me more than I could ever imagine...

 ----------------------
Sulekha Rawat's Collage of Soul Mate articles invite...
http://sulekkha.blogspot.com/2011/09/lets-make-collage-of-articles.html

While it holds true that we usually equate our "soul mates" to its romantic angle, it's also good to look at its other dimensions... I believe that we all have...

Twin flames... born of the same desires and passions...  

St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross

Twin souls... even at the beginning of time...

St. Scholastica and St. Benedict

...mystical...

St. Francis de Sales and St. Frances de Chantal

...spiritual...

St. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi

"It is lovely to be able to love on earth as one loves in heaven, and to learn to love one another in this world as we will eternally in the next. I am not speaking here of the simple love of charity, because we must have this for all people; I am speaking of spiritual friendship, in the ambit of which two, three or more persons exchange devotion, spiritual affections, and truly become one spirit" (Introduction to the Devout Life, III, 19).

http://www.poorclarestmd.org/benedictxvi/franciscans/st/clare.html 

...transcendent...

Have you heard of Fr.Maurice Belliere in the life of 

St. Therese of Lisieux?

http://spiritualmotherhoodforpriests.blogspot.com/2009/09/story-of-love-beautiful-spiritual.html

I believe our souls are meant for the Supreme One...

and He gifts us with our spiritual halves in this lifetime...

----------------
Along my journey, God blessed me with a spiritual companion whom I met when we were both twenty-four. He gave me a cross while doing my missions in N. Africa. He eventually became a priest and even if we'll never see each other again, I know that he continually prays for me from afar. 
---forever grateful XT---
you taught me what soulmates are all about...



---------

You Tube Tuesday

It's time for ...

a day set aside for sharing our favorite video.

           Thanks to our genius Josh at Its Tiger Time 

                      "I'd like to teach the world to sing...
               a song of peace that echoes on and never goes                                     away..."

If you participate, remember to leave your YouTube Tuesday link at Its Tiger Time as well as all the blogs you visit..

It gave me an idea on what I'd teach the kids this Saturday :)

أنا عطشان

"O God, You are my God ---   

for You I long!

For You my body yearns;

for You my soul thirsts,

Like a land parched, lifeless,

and without water..." 

-Psalm 63,1-2

I usually take my retreats in Tagaytay or Batangas...

...places which offer silence... solitude...

Casita Ysabel found in Anilao, Batangas
photo taken on May 2011

... and prayer... 

Calaruega
photo taken May 2011



When I hear God calls...I know it's time...

However, it's not always the case.
There are moments when I am required to
work in the office or in the field or be in a meeting...
But,
the desire is fully there...
existent...
even exigent...

It continually beckons me...
making me aware of my needs...
I pine for something... Someone...
to satiate my thirst...

So I found my way through the streets where I took retreat in the hearts of the people I met.

For three full days, I met Jesus in the elevator...
in the conference hall...
amidst the crowd...
the noise...
collision...
and traffic...

And yet in all these, I realized that the more I emptied myself of unnecessary things, the more I could accomodate people...
the more I could "obey" and truly listen.

God made me realize that I could be serene amidst a frenetic world ---
where 'efficiency' could sometimes rob us of charity...
where 'schedules' could be so taxing that it leaves us jaded...
where 'money' could be more important than health...


Outside the net, I came face-to-face with my "gnawing need" ---
for human intimacy and belongingness...

I had it mirrored to me by the world I lived in...

I craved for that 'human touch" that doesn't just befall between lovers...

I felt human expression at work through communication ---
through spoken words...

And guess what,
I felt more alive doing this...

So, what challenges do you meet each day?
How do you face them?