GROWING GOOD CORN

There was a Nebraska farmer who grew an award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it always won first place. One year, a newspaper journalist interviewed him and learned something amazing about how he grew it. The journalist discovered that the farmer shared his seed corns with his neighbors. " How can you afford to share your best seed corns with your neighbors when they too are joining the competition each year?, the journalist asked. "Why, sire, said the farmer, didn't you know ? The wind pricks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn too."

It Depends Whose Hands It's In

A basketball in my hands is worth about P300
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is
about S30 million.
It depends whose hands it's in

A baseball in my hands is about P250
A baseball in Mark Mcquire's hands is
worth S25 million.
It depends whose hands it's in

A tennis racket is idle in my hands
A tennis racket in Rogers Federer's hands
is a Wimbledon Championship
It depends whose hands it's in

A rod in my hands will just tremble in fear
A rod in Moses' hands
will part the mighty sea
It depends whose hands it's in

A sling shot in my hands is a kid's toy
A slingshot in David's hands
is a mighty weapon
It depends whose hands it's in

Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hands
is just a couple of fish sandwiches
In God's hands it can feed thousands
It depends whose hands it's in

Nails in my hands might become a birdhouse
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands
will bring salvation for the entire world
It depends whose hands it's in

Life: A Matter of Perspective

A life without problems, oh, who doesn't want such? No bills to meet, no challenge to work, no illness in the family, absolutely zero worries. Is that possible? Maybe, but only under two circumstances I can think of. One, when we are six feet below the ground and two, when we have already lost our senses and had gone loony.

Nobody said life would be easy. It always brings us predicaments, in all shapes and sizes and we can just never live without them. The first challenge we must confront is HOW we should see the problem. Life is actually a matter of perspective: how we accept realities and how we deal with the inevitable. In our daily cycle, there are unexpected snags and hitches . As Murphy's Law suggests, when something is bound to happen, it will happen. The secret to serenity, as a writer shared, is to never argue with the inevitable. It is already there, now; let's roll up our sleeves and see how to go through this.

Yes, some ordeals are so complex that just thinking about them makes our knees grow weak. We can forego action, escape in the night and wake up in the morning with a heavy load. Or face them with a disposition that is open for maturity. As one writer penned: " all the problems become smaller if you don't dodge them, but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, its spines crumble.

Paul Ferrini has wonderful thoughts about this fact of life: " Every lesson is a widening and deepening of consciousness. It is a stretching of the mind beyond its conceptual limits and stretching of the heart beyond its emotional boundaries. It is bringing of unconscious material into consciousness, a healing of past wounds and, discovery of new faith and trust "

Trials bring us to critical crossroads in the long and winding roads of life. They compel us to pause for a while, and choose which way to go next. We can look at our infirmities as a punishment from God or grab the chance to become wounded healers for others. We can be angry over the death of a beloved or we can celebrate the beauty of life with the living. We can be embittered by the mistakes of the past or we can be hopeful for the promise of the future. In every pain and problem we go through , we become fuller, more whole and learned persons.

Whatever!!!!

People could be very harsh but oftentimes we allow them to control our lives. We live trying to please others and think much of what others would opine should we do one thing or the other. Worse, we sometimes apologize for having done something which was entirely right, only that it displeased others. Why we have come to this? Have we been reduced to low life forms, without a mind of our own and acting not because we deem it is true but because of the loud proddings of society?

Within us is the power to determine for ourselves the road we want and must take, the actions to make. People may seem things differently. If we desire nothing but to give in to their whims and pander at every demand, we will end up satisfying no one and losing ourselves in the process.

Have you ever commented on a person who wears an old school attire from head to toe that you don't like such"childish costume" and, this person replied that she did not wear such to gain your approval or anything close to it, but because she is comfortable wearing those? I myself once did. And I learned my lesson.

Life is not meant to impress others. Even Jesus Himself was abandoned by His friends amidst the loud chants of "crucfy Him." If we are to stand up for something we believe in, then we have to squarely face possible rejections and antagonists. There are always battle lines to be drawn and sometimes we may find ourselves alone. But the majority is not always right. The voice of the crowd may not always be the voice of God. We must never allow the noise from outside to distract us from listening to the voice inside.

At the end of our earthly vocation, we will not be asked how we fared in the scoreboard of others but of our actions aimed at serving His will.

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find see that you have crossed the mountain.

Angels in Diguise

I woke up this morning feeling kind of blue
and I stumbled out of bed
and dragged my feet across the room.
Right oustide my front door was a rose
and a note the said, "Somebody loves you"
Then a soft white feather fell from nowhere.

Out on the street it started to pour
and before I got soaking wet,
a total starnger ran to give me
the jasket off his back.

I turned around to thank him
but he waved me with a smlie
I could hardly believe my eyes.
He has a bright halo and wings to fly

Take a look at the ordinay
Don't need to look for paradise
You could be next to
an angel in disguise!

A Call

During my last year in elementary, I enthralled myself in my studies for one great goal, to be part of the top five honor list. I was able to achieve it and as fruits of my efforts, I was one of the lucky students in Assumption granted with an academic scholarship thus, alleviating my parent's burdens in sustaining me in this school. I thought this was only a blessing. Actually it is, but also a key in discovering my mission.

All of the scholars were summoned to attend the meeting just this thursday as an introduction of what Gawad Kalinga is. This was a way for us to understand further the invitation to be stewards of God's kingdom. I was able to meet Jason Gonzales for the second time; first was during the leadership training. I was once more inspired by his speech. He told us that being part of this mission is a manifestation of one's love for her country. From him I understood that nationalism can be shown through sevice to our fellow countyrmen.

I now see the other reason of being one of the lucky scholars. It's not just only being spared from the tuition fees but also using this blessing to cultivate the arid lives of those whom we ostracized, treated as outcasts and ignored. It is the way to bring forth happiness amid the sufferings and sorrowness of the least, the last and the lost. It is a form of bravery by stepping out from my comfort zones and reach out to others. It is a call for movement towards progress!