Ahuv Sheli

It took me several days to put my entry inside the box... but God never fails me... This was inspired by a reflection I had with Corinne Rodrigues' post at Everyday Gyaan: http://www.everydaygyaan.com/2011/07/whats-behind-your-anger.html I was having a hard time swallowing my sister's friendship with my former tagged friend... She adamantly insists that it makes her happy. I would have felt the same, had she not been married. The time she spends with him meant less time with her daughter. "Self-righteous!" she shouted at me one time while my niece was having art sessions with me in my room and she was chatting with her 'friend.' Was I being obtrusive? Making it clear to her that I didn't approve of what she was doing? Silence for me would mean I didn't care... ...mediocrity will be suicide... As I prayed, I asked God's hand on mine... I tried talking to her but she was obstinate as eve...

For the longest time, a friend had been pushing the screws to make me go out more and cease my wishful thinking.   He said the period of bereavement is over and it's time to taste real joy. My world didn't stop revolving the moment he left.  It took me time to hear what the Lord has been telling me. The Spirit blew and invited me to fill the vacuum with something else... It was October last year when I started working as a journal staff and I promised God that I'll spend my free days with the street children but it didn't push through til this day. 'Mama Rosie,' as we fondly call her, asked me if I'd like to do Catechesis for the children every Saturdays. I said I'd gladly do it. I usually spend my Saturdays cleaning the house, sleeping, catching up with blog posts or taking care of my nieces when they are around. Sam and I used to talk on this day... Then I thought, what a huge space God created for Saturday afternoons so He gav...

...Oftentimes, it really makes me wonder why is it easier to be kind and compassionate towards other people rather than with my own family and kin... when problems arise, I ask a friend's shoulder to cry on... instead of my mom's... Sometimes my sister just needs a listening ear but  I give her sermons instead (She told me, if I were a man, I could have passed as a priest)... What makes our relationship complex? Is it the blood that ties us? Is it the familiarity? I'd look at our home, where we once shared meals together... now it's empty... we move about our own busy worlds without really interacting...  The Lord invited me to focus on what is there... what is present... and I saw the bread...  I looked at the existence of another kind of hunger which we most oftentimes overlook by the abundance of the food we eat but never get to share... that inner hunger present in each one of us  ... a listening ear...   ...

The past few weeks Roy Durham has been animating us with Poe-A-Tree Hop : "Well here we are going again just hopping all over the world.  As you may know the last hop we were looking at the rainbows. Saw some mighty pretty ones two.  But to have a rainbow you need a little rain . So this time, get you a box of Kleenex or a supply of crying towels cause were going to have a down pour of tears causing poem and tear jerking story for you to read. As you dry your eyes please leave a sympathy note in the comments. There a list of blogs that is participating in this hop below the poem and or story.  Have fun and cry your eyes out you will feel better. It's good for you, Mikey like it."       ----------------------------------------- I was listening to music yesterday to probe my heart. There was one melody that particularly struck me.  As I listened, it brought back a lot of memories and I found myself i...

Lying on my sick bed gave me more time to receive the aftershocks of the earthquakes in my life.  Everything (the tensions and pressures of the month) came out of my body in the form of infection.  I laughingly accepted my seven-year-old niece's joke that I will be quiet for a while because my sore throat gave me the locked jaw effect. In all honesty, it's the greatest charity I could offer everyone...                                         to be silent for awhile...  It has been an unusual week for me... getting sick is already a part of my routine... but keeping quiet isn't. I allowed the presence of the people around me to transform me and my ambience... acquiescing to what is asked of me at this moment... ------------------------------------------- I've never met 18-year old Aster nor my 40-year old cousin Malou but both are terri...

Poe-A-Rainbow Badge by Roy Durham ------------------------------------------------------------------ Life was a marsh gray and drab yellow  sun  ensconced by ash obscured my sight muted silver rays trickled faintly in my world  summoning  an early mourn Then suddenly you arrived... Majestic... Resplendent... Radiant...  an explosion of full colors! splashing its way through my locked chamber you opened with pink ... a dash of blue and yellow ...  tints of purple and bright red ... washing away every streak of sadness my way I'm consumed by Your LOVE ! "You've changed my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with GLADNESS !"  -Ps. 30,12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the list of bloggers who are participating in this hop.....

After my first two years in North Africa, I was sent to my country to have my Ignatian retreat with the Good Shepherds...  I was a bit surprised that we were in the company of about twenty priests from various dioceses. A friend told me they were there for "reform" and "therapy"... and I felt kind of blessed that I was there at that time... We journeyed for thirty days in silence and prayer since we were strictly forbidden to talk... but there were times, when I'd find myself with them and one priest even gave me a book by Henri Nouwen... There was one moment when we became a little lax with our silence since we attended a play by the Trumpets, "A Happy Prince" in another seminary ground and we were reprimanded like little children. A day before I ended my retreat, a middle-aged priest celebrated his 25 years of ordination... While others hugged and shook his hands to congratulate him after the mass, I did something that surprised not ...