Catching Up

Here we go again.

A lot has happened these past few weeks that I want to write about. Unfortunately, I usually don't have the time to write and when I do find time, I'm either tired or suffering from writer's block. 

Anyway, I'm still committed to this blog. Don't be surprised if, one of these days, I'll go on a spree.

Peace out.

The Ideal Woman

A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.

The quote is from Maya Angelou, an American writer noted for redefining the autobiography genre.

I got the quote while I was browsing Facebook and came across one of the wedding pictures of Bro Franco and Sis Mae. It was a simple photo of the newlyweds with the quote strategically overlaid via Photoshop on the groom's suit.

The quote got me thinking about how the brothers in my community, Ang Lingkod Ng Panginoon (Lingkod), perceive women and what their criteria of the ideal girlfriend should be.

For me, the criterion was simple: someone just has to be smart for me to be infatuated at her. I've shared this to a lot of people that if a girl is smart, everything else follows. My thinking was that, considering their rarity, intellectually engaging women are and should be more attractive (Unfortunately, most guys don't share my sentiment). 

But Rommel, a fellow brother in the community, shared to me another thing that guys should be looking for instead. During our prior conversations, he talked about the 'essential' stuff that should be in every single guy's wish list when he's out looking for someone to court. It's non-negotiable. It's something that's more important than brains or beauty. And it goes something like this: the woman has to have a relationship with God.

It's simple really but it's something that's very hard to fake. I've had only glimpses of it observing everyone during the prayer meetings or even during our fellowships.

But it was during the Regional Lingkod Training Conference (RLTC) that I saw how transformative the quality was and how evident it is. For close to a week, I was surrounded with women whose aura were pleasantly different. Their genuine smiles spoke of the joy and happiness they felt inside. Their confident demeanor reflected the peace and serenity that pervaded their inner selves. The way they spoke, honored, and encouraged one another showed how much love they had to give. These were women of God and they were beautiful.

Angel, another Lingkod brother, shared to me the need to be with such a woman. A woman who has a strong relationship with God inevitably pushes her man to "level up": to be more Godly and holy. The man wants to become a better man for her and, because of the standard set by the woman, he does become one. He becomes more loving, more generous, more life-giving.

To end, the quote mentioned earlier sums it up: a godly woman chooses to love her man because she loved Him first. And a man, seeking to win her love, must be ready and willing to seek and find God.

Never Again

This is saddening. 

With a generation like this, it wouldn't be far-fetched to think that another Marcos can stay again in Malacanang.

To the younger generation: Please. Never again. Utang na loob. Study your history.

God and Suffering

God is not the source of suffering. But he allows suffering to happen. As to why, that's one of the biggest questions in history and also one of the biggest mysteries of Christianity.

This was the nugget of wisdom I got from the priest's homily last September 30 (sorry, I forgot the name of the priest). The first part was not new; I've heard Fr. Manny, a Jesuit, say this one time. But the latter part, where it says that even the Catholic Church has no answer to why a benevolent God would allow suffering, was novel. 

The first reading in that mass was about Job lamenting about his dreadful situation, specifically cursing the day of his birth. But, surprisingly, Job never got around to cursing God. 

Unfortunately, the book of Job doesn't answer the question on suffering either. Instead, the final parts of the book exhorts us to put our faith and hope in God in our times of distress, to lift up our suffering to Him who knows everything. 

This reminds me of a dialogue from the movie God on Trial. After Nazi soldiers begin herding Jewish prisoners into the gas chambers, a prisoner, Moche, asks the resident rabbi, "What do we do now?"

The answer? "Now, we pray."

There's no clear answer to why we suffer; the only thing we can do is to take solace in our God.

Human Personhood and Abortion (Part 2)

In a previous post, I shared an article by Peter Kreeft, a Philosophy professor, who debunked the position held by pro-choice advocates by demonstrating that their arguments are not logically sound.

In another article, Nina Martin writes about Justice Tom Parker and how he's subverting the precedent established by the Roe vs. Wade case, which legalized abortion in the U.S. How he is doing it is based on a simple assumption: that, in order to illegalize abortion, the fetus must be considered a person in the eyes of the law.

In the Philippines, abortion is already illegal. The 1987 constitution protects both the life of the mother and the unborn from conception. The Revised Penal Code of the Philippines (RPC) provides criminal penalties against women who undergo abortion and those who assist in such procedures.

In our country, most people recognize that unborn fetuses are indeed persons, as contemplated by law, and are to be accorded rights, including the right to life.

In the U.S., this assumption is still taking root several decades after the Roe vs. Wade case. What judge Tom Parker is doing is laying out the foundation, the jurisprudence necessary to overturn the current precedent. He is doing so by establishing in his opinions that fetuses already enjoy fetal rights, rights which show that existing statutes recognize fetuses as persons. From there, it can already be argued that fetuses also have a right to life or have the right to seek legal protection against abortion. 

As to whether Justice Tom Parker is successful in pushing this position if and when the right case comes along, we'll have to wait and see.

Here's the article: This Alabama Judge Has Figured Out How to Dismantle Roe v. Wade

The Questions To Ask

This is a good article. 

It features questions you could ask during a date to "foster romance" or during a tight gathering of friends to promote deeper intimacy. It's also a good way to check for new perspectives on life:

36 questions to bring you closer together

Enjoy.

Pusod

Puso!

That was the rally cry of Filipinos supporting Gilas Pilipinas, the basketball team representing the country in  the FIBA world cup a couple of weeks back.

I wasn't a fan of the team, knowing full well that tournaments like these don't favor underdogs. It wasn't about being an un-patriotic citizen but more of being the casual observer who simply knows upsets in favor of Gilas Pilipinas are unlikely. 

Still, I have to commend the grit and determination of those who competed. But it doesn't change the fact that the team was woefully equipped, financially and genetically, against the juggernauts of the basketball world. 

I remember the lamentation of my PE teacher, a soccer coach, way back in college. He shakes his head whenever he mentions the nation's love affair with basketball and insists that it is soccer which offers the best chance to win gold medals. He backs this up by saying that soccer is a game which nullifies the advantage of height and favors petite players who can perform intricate footwork (think about Lionel Messi, for instance).

Anyways, arguments like these are rehashed. A lot of experts have already argued about prioritizing other sports (e.g. dragonboat racing, boxing etc.) where our Filipino athletes have a better chance of winning. But these sports don't seem to capture the nation's passion as much as basketball.

As to why this is, that's a question that demands a lot less heart and a lot more navel-gazing.

We Need Songwriters

I've already mentioned this sentiment to several people: this country needs songwriters. 

Nowadays, many people are clamoring to be the next big singer: the one who's going to belt out those high notes on live television. Everybody wants the glamour associated with being the sole singer on stage.

But there are only few good Filipino songs around in contrast to the hundreds of English songs that many of our artists sing nowadays. So the tendency for most Pinoy pop artists is simply to adopt a UK/US/Swedish English song, put a little twist, and present it as, ironically, an "original rendition".

It's sad because there are a lot of things in our culture that demands to be written and sung. 

This phenomenon, our tendency to sing foreign songs, only lends credence to what an artist, Freddie Aguilar, said several years back. Although politically incorrect, his remarks then speak to a truth which our artists should take to heart:

"Hindi ako nagsasabi ng monkeys, ang sabi ko kaya tayo binabansagang mga Pilipinong unggoy dahil manggagaya tayo. Ako, magtatanong sa lahat ng mga singers na mga Pilipino, bakit puro mga banyaga ang kinakanta ninyo? 'Yan ang tanong ko, hindi yung tinatanong n'yo kung bakit ko kayo tinatawag na unggoy, kayo ang nagpatawag na unggoy, dahil gaya-gaya kayo."

- Pep.ph