SouLsEarChiNg ♪▲α--punkies07

Calling all BLOGGERS - Help Flood Victims of Mindanao! (Sun, 18 Dec 2011)
Calling all bloggers and dear readers to help our poor kababayans in Mindanao. Indeed, Christmas is less than a week from now yet many people will be spending it with broken hearts and homes, lost loved ones, and maybe even some who are still struggling to cope with the flash floods brought by Typhoon Sendong.  This is a good time to show compassion to our very own Nation. Encourage others. Spread the word. Use your capabilities. A small effort can go a long, long way. God be with us all! 
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The Worm, the Girl, the Ant Hill. (story) (Fri, 18 Nov 2011)
  "The worm. The girl. The ant hill." Three simple characters and one simple story that somehow changed my outlook in life.   Baby steps. That's what I call my spiritual journey at this moment of my life. Slowly and steadily, I am trying to make way for more time and devotion to my spiritual needs while on the way dealing with other functions of life.   For several years, even while I was still working and living in Cebu City, I have been attending sunday services at Ayala Center through Bread of Life Ministries. I can't say that I am an active member because I just technically attend the service and be one of the few people who prefers to immediately exit after the service. But what kept me hooked with this Church is their modern and more strategic approach to learning more about God and about living a Christian life. I won't go into details of what the church does differently from other Churches here in our country, or other religions at that, because I believe that one is called for one assembly where he most see himself fit and motivated to build a relationship with his Creator.   Anyway, after I moved here in Bacolod, I luckily found out that they too have a satelite church here. I then started to attend Sunday services and had known few people along the way. Still, I'm the typical enter-attend-exit type of guy in the service.   I can certainly call it a blessing as I did not have a hard time at all convincing my siblings to join me in the services. They too loved the church immediately after the first visit. Since then, I and my siblings, together with some friends, have been attending the Church's different services.   It is only recently though, after more than 2 years, that I decided to level up my niche in the church. I am now attending small group sessions, where you can share experiences and opinions about a topic with a certain group of people in the Church. I found it very comforting to know some people in the church in an almost personal level.   One time in our small group session, our moderator shared a wonderful story. It's something she already shared a couple of times especially to those who were already tenured in the church. It's just so special to her that she's always enclined to share it to someone she hasn't told this story yet.   It's her childhood story - and it goes like this.   One hot summer day, one girl found a worm trying to escape the warmth atmosphere of a dry land. Worms are generally more adaptable to cold and wet surroundings. They don't have eyes that can see but have 5 hearts that can help them feel their environment as they crawl. It's such a big worm, as big as a grown man's middle finger. It is also long, as long as twice as you can stretch your palms, and of course it is slimy and slippery in nature.   She sees the worm trying to move away from that piece of dry land. The worm, having no eyes, was just swirling its way out - anticipating that there's a moisture rich land at the other side.   By the looks of it, she immediately figured that the worm is in for a big demise and it can potentially cost the life of the poor crawling creature. Just nearby, she saw a hunch on the land. It is an Ant hill covered with strong and willing ant soldiers, and perhaps filled with many more hungry ants inside.   Feeling pity for the poor worm but coward and "ma-arte" enough to touch it, she then took two small sticks and tried to pick up the worm to make it change course from its current path. She tried and tried harder. But the worm just slides right through the sticks and still continues on its way - the way to disaster. As the worm gets closer to the ant hill, she tried even harder. She was able to make the worm get back a few steps but the willing worm still struggles and fights to continue its journey.   Her childish instinct finally kicked in. She grew tired and left the worm alone. Moments later, she went back to see what happened. All that was there was a worm covered and swarmed by ants. Death finally took its fierce bite.   Then, it suddenly struck her.   It is her (and it is us). The worm - the struggle to pursue our wants, the need to find comfort and freedom, the want to not be told or guided by others, the persistence to continue what we believe is right based personal through logic, the carelessness with our decisions that usually lead us to tragic events.   But is it Him - who knew what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. It is Him that sees the bigger picture. It is Him that only wants what's the best for us. It is Him that doesn't want us to be harmed but rather be comforted. It is Him that would willingly grab the whole ant hill with bare hands, even if it would hurt Him and even cause Him to die, just to clear it from our path.   --------  
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