Ahuv Sheli

"Do not let yourself be distracted by the great noises of war, the dramatic descriptions of misery, and the sensational expressions of human cruelty...   The newspapers, movies, and war novels may make you numb, but they do not create in you a true desire for peace..." - Nouwen, Henri, The Path of Peace , Finding My Way Home: Pathways to life and spirit , (Diliman, Quezon City:  Claretian Publications, 2004),80. I was at  St. Paul's Saturday afternoon when I received an invitation to reflect on 'peace.' The reflection grew with several posts I read ~ 'survival stories,' an uproar on justice, war, gruesome crimes, family misunderstandings, passing of a bill I don't support, etc.  It took me to a dream I had in November, it was a short flash but it was enough for me to remember ~ I saw the devil sitting on top of my roof  ~  "it prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"  (I Peter 5,8 NIV) . It...

December 26, 2009 at 3:02 am, lifted from my 'Memoirs of a Young Traveler' "It's the most wonderful time of the year..." goes one song.  It's the BEST time of the year for me... I remember on one occasion, I was asked by an Egyptian priest to play for the Arabic community in a mini concert sponsored by our bishop. I said okay, even if they told me about it a few minutes before the concert began. It was good that they had the musical sheets readied, I had time to rehearse with them (but I practically had to read the notes from right to left). Anyway, the best part came before we sang our Christmas carols. I was a bit jittery, still studying the notes.  There was this little African boy who looked at me intently. He had those cute innocent eyes. I was anticipating what he might need. I thought maybe he was getting hungry... or maybe he was lost and was looking for his mother. I was thinking a lot of things, when he suddenly took my han...

Kindly visit my Christmas post at  We Have A Story my drawing of the Madonna and Child on chalk between 2009-2010, adapted image "The question is: Is the humanity of our time still waiting for a Savior? ... ...despite its contradictions, worries and tragedies, and perhaps precisely because of them, humanity today seeks a path of renewal, of salvation, it seeks a Savior and awaits, sometimes unconsciously, the coming of the Savior who renews the world and our life, the coming of Christ , the one true Redeemer of man and of the whole of man." ~ Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, December 20, 2006 source:  Excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI's Spiritual Thoughts Series: "Christmas"