Ahuv Sheli

part 3 on Poverty: "Everything comes from Above..." photo by Michelle Tandoc-Alamil "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." ~ James 1,17 I awoke with 80/60 mmHg ~ slightly dizzy but smiling. I gazed at the window as the sun reached to fetch me off my bed... May has been a pretty exciting month for me. Unlike the other months I had when we were toxic at work, I had managed to attend two weddings... my childhood friend's wedding my cousin's wedding I was able to keep my Satur-dates except for two... Saturday before Pentecost 2012 mock trial at the barangay hall I wasn't asked to do impossible tasks except for a week-long editing and to wake up at 2 am by my brother in order to check mails. As he  aptly said, "It was worth all those sleepless nights..."  Our third issue's...

part 2 Poverty: On Human Intimacy I haven’t really been myself these past few weeks. That is, apart from meeting the deadlines at work, I spent sleepless nights reflecting on things I have discovered about myself …           Music was my sole comfort;                                  Psalms, my companion and                                                 the children, my slight distraction. I have set my mind on walking forward, but there always seems to be something that draws me back...  Rafa-el gently whispered, "Face it Mel...

Mother's Day Prayer  (source: google) Belle, 12 May 2012 Saturday morning as I prepared for my friend's wedding, I asked my eight-year old niece Belle to help me with the children's assignment for the day. We cut out the prayer cards and readied the diplomas for the children's mothers. I wrote them a letter and gave them their homework. My niece and I, 12 May 2012 As I waited for my friend, I reread my diary. .. Journal Entry: April 18, 2009 at 6:29am It felt odd living in again with my family. It has been years since I left them. I completely disagree with the cliche,"Some things never change..." ---everything does... even that silver cobweb on the ceiling turns gray of dust after a while.  Finally, I got to participate in occasions I never got to celebrate with them like Christmas, New Year, my nieces' birthday, Lent and Easter! I remember those many times she prayed for us. She reminded me of St. Augustine...

Linking into the 'Blogging and Friends' blog hop at Bongo Is Me and  Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease . I met with some friends this day. We've known each other since we were ten and somehow even though two of them already reside in the US, we've managed to communicate all throughout these years. Our traditional lunch at Abe (from L-R: Hazel, Ella, Me, Hazel's parents) 5 May 2012 Sto. Domingo (5 May 2012) Then I went on a date with my childhood friend. I have not visited Him for a while and I longed to see Him (He was waiting for me ). I came home and spent time with my friends online... It was while reading Bonnie's post that I became reminiscent of how my life started in the blogging world. It was January last year when my ARTner and friend for two years in Tagged asked me if I was interested to publish my ideas. I read Fher's blog but made comments on my online journal for discussion. I was a bit hesi...

part 1 Have you ever 'done' theology? I was amazed by a subject offered in our Religious Science course on "studying and doing theology"...our professors engaged us to live among the poor in the squatters area. It reminded me of the first time I stepped into our mission house...okay, okay...I didn't have to walk barefoot nor sleep on the floor, nor dig out food from the garbage... the thing is, it's so easy to romanticize poverty.  I could do away with less clothes, a non airconditioned room and a tv/radioless area... but when a friend asks me for my webster or my favorite book, or to spare time to listen to a patient after duty hours or to spend less time with my virtual world... it is difficult to let go!  These are my riches...inordinate attachments...   soft addictions  . It's a lot easier living among the poor... but becoming one myself in its real sense is a challenge ... Didn't God Himself, the Word, assume our huma...

There was a moment in my life, when everything could be resolved by eating an ice cream... Me at UP Diliman April 2010 It lifted me up especially during those dry moments... it shifted my focus from what was real... As I grew up, some pains became unbearable. I remember crying too much from broken relationships. My mom said my eyes would pop out... I found solace in the Psalms and spiritual readings. But at the same time, my mom taught me to take a retreat and find God in prayer... At Anilao May 20 Some of God's  revelations come from conversations with friends or from the books I read... but most of them came from listening and  through dreams. My Italian friend once said that I was a fish inside a bowl where everything was provided for: food, shelter, love, family, security...ice cream... But as I grew up, God fished me out of the bowl into a better place where I could extend my arms and swim the ocean of life. Along the way, I met o...

I have not encountered the word until I met Him…to whom I gave ten years of my life. To his friends, it was a fairytale sans happily ever after. To my parents, it was fiction, something that was only brought in by the height of my desires. To people, it was madness… I gave up a promising career, my family and a comfortable life… I attribute the word to love. It compels one to do all those “crazy stuffs”. All art forms putting aside its twin pole, pain, have contributed much to our society. Poems, songs, novel, monuments… and the best are newborn creatures called babies… Many have attempted to define what love is all about…. The greatest of which is the very Word became flesh and lived among us. What madness has He brought confounding all our ideas and fantasies of power and dominion?… teaching us that the way is through the cross. Scourged, crowned, cursed, spitted upon and crucified -not a single word came forth from His mouth. He forgave His transgressors. Whe...