My brain, as I have discussed before, likes to think at all times. I don't know why, and frankly I wish it didn't. But this time I'm letting it fly--and fly it has. For a while now I've had a couple books I've been working on little by little, adding a couple words here and there every so often. But lately, I've been really impressed to pursue a particular book and as time goes by I feel like it becomes more relevant to me today.
The thing that made me make up my mind to spend some quality time on it was a proposition by two good friends of mine, also writers (but far better than I. . .). And so, I am a part of my first author's club.
This book will be about Carlos Romero, a man living in Latin America who decides to pick up stakes and move to the United States. This book is a commentary on this country's ever changing struggle to cope with the millions of people who immigrate looking for the promised land that the US itself has advertised around the world.
We'll see how this little booger does.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
A Rose (or, Random Story Without Any Sense Whatsoever, I)
The artist stared blankly at his canvas. Two months it was, since he was last inspired. Brush stroke after brush stroke had been erased, and his cut finger did not help. How silly it was, he had cut himself on a rose. A rose? It can't be, not a rose. Two months, and no inspiration, save a rose which cut his finger. Instantly, he mixed his oils, readied the canvas, contemplated roses of many colors, and began to paint. A rose, it has to be the most beautiful of all. A rose, with its indescribable red petals. Ah, but that's not good enough. It cut me again, didn't it? It didn't let me get it just right. Throw it out, start over. Mix oils, ready the canvas. How to breathe life to a mental picture when the image he sees is perfect? Ten more tries, but something was missing. Then he remembered. The most beautiful rose also carries the sharpest thorns. He tried five more times, and at last he stopped. He knew then that he had tried to describe the indescribable. The sixteen roses he painted were all around him. To anyone else, he had failed. But to him, he has sixteen roses, all beautiful, which would remind him of that perfect rose.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Why I'm Not a Religionist
Lately, there was a video that went viral among my friends of a young man voicing his opposition to Religion, sparking a debate between those who believe that Religion should be done away with and those who stand by Religion.
I am not a religionist, and here's why.
Now, as any good journalist, I am biased--as is everyone in the world--but I will state my bias here, and what I believe is my personal belief based on my experience and knowledge gleaned from experiences, friends, and books, and from my personal study of the Bible. Again, this is my personal belief, it does not reflect the views of anyone else but me.
Let me give a bit of background. Religion isn't bad per se, but as a human institution it is prone to many faults. Heck, even divine institutions are prone to faults when men pretend to take control over it, like marriage (or lack thereof in this country). Thanks to the defaming power of human opinion and control, many good things have lost their good meaning. Take the swastika, for example. For many tribes and cultures of the world, the swastika held different meanings, nearly almost always something positive, like "life." It is still used today in Hindu cultures to evoke "Shakti". Even so, one glance at a swastika and the first thing that comes to mind is images of Nazi military parades and a wild man with a funny mustache.
Words can also lose their once good meaning. "Gay" used to mean (and is still in the dictionary as) happy, merry. 1953 came around, though, and people gave it another meaning. Now saying that you are gay is almost always received with the wrong connotation.
I believe the same thing has happened to the word/institution of "Religion." The word we use today actually comes from a 13th century Latin word which means sanction, supernatural constraint, and tie back. For us, religion is "a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." (Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary.)
To offset the video, my friends all chose to look at James 1:27, which states "A religion that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (ISV). The defenders of religion then stated, "See, religion is not evil. This is what religion is."
And they were right. Here's my point: for the Greek mindset and Hebrew connotation of James and the early church, religion had a completely different meaning than what we have today. The word James uses for "religion", threeskeia, comes up again in Colossians 2:18, except that here it means something completely different to our eyes: "Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by boasting about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without cause by his carnal mind" (ISV). Here, it means worship!
I believe that this is what I mean when I say I'm not a religionist. I do not believe in a system, mere protocol. This is what religion has come to mean now. Our understanding of religion comes from a word that means constraint, and that has been practiced over and over again by people, so changing what true religion (should I say worship?) is. What religion is now is a system of guilt, made so that we keep looking amongst ourselves and our pastors for knowledge, when God wants us to reason things, think things through.
Religion has told us to convert as many as possible, striking up Crusades against muslims, and decimating Native Tribes, shaking everything up in inner Africa as we hold up the banner of religion. That is NOT the gospel. We were meant to spread the gospel and make disciples who would turn into apostles and spread it even more. Sometimes we stay stuck as disciples, just taking everything taught to us and believing it. In this process, converting is not a step. "Baptizing them" usually throws people off--we must convert to baptize! But how are we to baptize someone who is more Christ-like than us? Maybe that person from a different religion is more Christ-like--they should baptize me. Spread the gospel. Not inject the gospel.
I am not a religionist. I believe that Jesus came to show us what true worship is. True worship is spreading the gospel. What is the gospel? Jesus spread it every time He went somewhere: He healed, He clothed, He fed, He soothed, He cried, He provided, for us to know how God looks like, who God really is. I cannot truly worship something or someone I don't know. I am not in this world to "Adventisize" it, I am here to be Jesus' hands and feet. True worship. Religion in its grassroots origin. With the freedom to think, to question. Not to be constrained, tied back by "it is written, and that's it. No thinking allowed."
Let us engage in true worship.
I am not a religionist, and here's why.
Now, as any good journalist, I am biased--as is everyone in the world--but I will state my bias here, and what I believe is my personal belief based on my experience and knowledge gleaned from experiences, friends, and books, and from my personal study of the Bible. Again, this is my personal belief, it does not reflect the views of anyone else but me.
Let me give a bit of background. Religion isn't bad per se, but as a human institution it is prone to many faults. Heck, even divine institutions are prone to faults when men pretend to take control over it, like marriage (or lack thereof in this country). Thanks to the defaming power of human opinion and control, many good things have lost their good meaning. Take the swastika, for example. For many tribes and cultures of the world, the swastika held different meanings, nearly almost always something positive, like "life." It is still used today in Hindu cultures to evoke "Shakti". Even so, one glance at a swastika and the first thing that comes to mind is images of Nazi military parades and a wild man with a funny mustache.
Words can also lose their once good meaning. "Gay" used to mean (and is still in the dictionary as) happy, merry. 1953 came around, though, and people gave it another meaning. Now saying that you are gay is almost always received with the wrong connotation.
I believe the same thing has happened to the word/institution of "Religion." The word we use today actually comes from a 13th century Latin word which means sanction, supernatural constraint, and tie back. For us, religion is "a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." (Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary.)
To offset the video, my friends all chose to look at James 1:27, which states "A religion that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (ISV). The defenders of religion then stated, "See, religion is not evil. This is what religion is."
And they were right. Here's my point: for the Greek mindset and Hebrew connotation of James and the early church, religion had a completely different meaning than what we have today. The word James uses for "religion", threeskeia, comes up again in Colossians 2:18, except that here it means something completely different to our eyes: "Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by boasting about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without cause by his carnal mind" (ISV). Here, it means worship!
I believe that this is what I mean when I say I'm not a religionist. I do not believe in a system, mere protocol. This is what religion has come to mean now. Our understanding of religion comes from a word that means constraint, and that has been practiced over and over again by people, so changing what true religion (should I say worship?) is. What religion is now is a system of guilt, made so that we keep looking amongst ourselves and our pastors for knowledge, when God wants us to reason things, think things through.
Religion has told us to convert as many as possible, striking up Crusades against muslims, and decimating Native Tribes, shaking everything up in inner Africa as we hold up the banner of religion. That is NOT the gospel. We were meant to spread the gospel and make disciples who would turn into apostles and spread it even more. Sometimes we stay stuck as disciples, just taking everything taught to us and believing it. In this process, converting is not a step. "Baptizing them" usually throws people off--we must convert to baptize! But how are we to baptize someone who is more Christ-like than us? Maybe that person from a different religion is more Christ-like--they should baptize me. Spread the gospel. Not inject the gospel.
I am not a religionist. I believe that Jesus came to show us what true worship is. True worship is spreading the gospel. What is the gospel? Jesus spread it every time He went somewhere: He healed, He clothed, He fed, He soothed, He cried, He provided, for us to know how God looks like, who God really is. I cannot truly worship something or someone I don't know. I am not in this world to "Adventisize" it, I am here to be Jesus' hands and feet. True worship. Religion in its grassroots origin. With the freedom to think, to question. Not to be constrained, tied back by "it is written, and that's it. No thinking allowed."
Let us engage in true worship.
From the Very Interesting Mind of Rene Descartes
"I would give everything I know for half of which I ignore."
Thursday, January 19, 2012
From James Joyce's Irish Pen
Sleep Now, O Sleep Now
Sleep now, O sleep now,
O you unquiet heart!
A voice crying "Sleep now"
Is heard in my heart.
The voice of the winter
Is heard at the door.
O sleep, for the winter
Is crying "Sleep no more."
My kiss will give peace now
And quiet to your heart -- -
Sleep on in peace now,
O you unquiet heart!
James Joyce
Sleep now, O sleep now,
O you unquiet heart!
A voice crying "Sleep now"
Is heard in my heart.
The voice of the winter
Is heard at the door.
O sleep, for the winter
Is crying "Sleep no more."
My kiss will give peace now
And quiet to your heart -- -
Sleep on in peace now,
O you unquiet heart!
James Joyce
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Mum
It's nice when you get a gift just because. I missed my mom's birthday on here, but I'll give her this random gift.
My mom embodies what I perceive as endurance. Endurance does not mean you'll go through any situation unscathed; rather you'll go through any situation and keep moving on.
To the strongest woman I know, Mum.
My mom embodies what I perceive as endurance. Endurance does not mean you'll go through any situation unscathed; rather you'll go through any situation and keep moving on.
To the strongest woman I know, Mum.
Dad
It was his birthday. But how do you truly congratulate him without sounding cliche? "I hope you have many more..." or "Thank God for another year with you." Yes, these are thoughtful lines, but overused nevertheless. For the bravest man I know: Happy Birthday.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Darn that Fuse
So...I blew a fuse on my amp. Suddenly any opportunity at playing my electric guitar is gone. Not that I had much in my room anyway, since my roommate goes to sleep so early. One of these days I'm gonna play guitar and he's gonna have to put up with it. haha. (Insert mischievous smile here.)
Besides, I think HE blew the fuse. I play it with headphones on, and I left it on and left for some dinner. When I came back it was disconnected. If anything, he forgot to turn it off before disconnecting it. hmmm.
Besides, I think HE blew the fuse. I play it with headphones on, and I left it on and left for some dinner. When I came back it was disconnected. If anything, he forgot to turn it off before disconnecting it. hmmm.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Why I Don't Make New Year's Resolutions
It's that time of the year again where the gyms are packed, cigarettes are put away, and time scheduled for the family. However, only a fraction of these so-called resolutions ever survive past January. Someone once told me that they didn't make any resolutions for fear of failing. For me, the reason is completely different.
I used to make resolutions, mind you. I did it for a couple of years while in High School. It was really more like cheating actually--I set goals I knew I would get with or without resolutions.
I don't make resolutions because simply put, I would rather set shorter term goals. Why? In these last two years so many things have changed so quickly that for me making goals lasting more than two months is unrealistic. Besides, if (when) a resolution isn't reached, the excuse "I've got all year" quickly comes to mind. No, I realized that any change in my lifestyle has to occur over a daily basis, not on a "this year I will." For me, I think every morning I should wake up and say "today I will." A year is just too long. Change is also more easily managed in small bites, lest I chew off more than I can eat and end up giving up earlier.
I used to make resolutions, mind you. I did it for a couple of years while in High School. It was really more like cheating actually--I set goals I knew I would get with or without resolutions.
I don't make resolutions because simply put, I would rather set shorter term goals. Why? In these last two years so many things have changed so quickly that for me making goals lasting more than two months is unrealistic. Besides, if (when) a resolution isn't reached, the excuse "I've got all year" quickly comes to mind. No, I realized that any change in my lifestyle has to occur over a daily basis, not on a "this year I will." For me, I think every morning I should wake up and say "today I will." A year is just too long. Change is also more easily managed in small bites, lest I chew off more than I can eat and end up giving up earlier.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
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