a gift named prayer May 21, 2009
Posted by jr3 in My Fave Entries, Poetry & Prose, Random.2 comments
in times of vulnerability, seek Him.
may you always find abundance and protection in His grace.
may you find the audience of His earth angels
in times when you need attention.
may your troubles tremble in His presence
when you are in no shape to fight back.
may He do your battles for you when you call
and even when you don’t.
when you are down and reduced to crying,
may He pick you up and give you a comforting pat.
in times when you’re feeling you’re about to hit rock bottom,
may sad memories loosen their clout and give you up
so the happy ones He already laid on your path will redeem you.
there is no hitting rock bottom for people who fully understand what happiness is.
in times of shaking, may you be unshakable.
keep the faith. He has your riches.
may you always honor that He planted the best in you.
mediocrity is not His mark, excellence is.
may you find yourself always in the crowd of champions.
may you be inspired unceasingly.
in everything you do, may excellence be your standard
not for anything else but for His glory.
may you make His will your will –
it’s never meant to be the other way around
or any other way, for that matter.
may the biggest and grandest room in your heart be for Him,
put Him first and He will honor you.
when He honors,
there are no hell days nor boring days.
there is prosperity and a life lived effortlessly.
may He always honor you.
may His favors always overtake you
so you will never ever find yourself in want.
may you always be tuned,
let Him work on every aspect of your life.
allow Him His ways in you and He will fill your cup.
may you grow in strength each day
and may you live immensely blessed ’til the end of your days.
another one of those posts May 22, 2007
Posted by jr3 in C'est la Vie, Flashbacks, Friends & Family, Humor, Poetry & Prose, Random.6 comments
“No amount of worldly success could ever compensate for a failure in the family.”
the last three (3) entries were posted merely for the sake of posting something. this entry is like those previous entries. please bear with my yakkity yakkity yak.
:: society’s measures of success: high-paying job, big house, expensive car and gizmos, smooth-running career — these are the “conventional” measures of success which my friend and i would say “duh” to.
i like what she said in defense of the unconventional measures of success: “these unconventional successes are well worth my ‘poverty’ as the world would call it and well worth the pain i had to endure just because i fell in love with the stars and everything else essential but not easily seen.” i find her statement pretty bold and noble. no wonder, we’re friends.
:: here’s for reggie! reggie who? fans of prison break would surely recognize him as secret service agent bill kim. i was able to watch seasons 1 and 2 of prison break again (a clear sign of addiction!) and i found bill kim so pro and so annoying that i ended up checking him out. as a result, i found out that the actor who plays the part, reggie lee, is not korean american like bill kim is in the series. reggie lee is a filipino american who can speak tagalog, english, and cantonese.
:: once, when my labmate and i were walking around the campus in diliman, a korean pair stopped us and asked, “do you know the way to the sexy station?” what a question to ask in broad daylight! hala, taymsa og sa dihang naskandalo jud mi sa pangutana — ding, red light district thoughts. we gave them the benefit of the doubt though. so we had to beg their pardon before we could say something off. it turned out, their question was actually: “do you know the way to the taxi station?” ehehe…
:: my art mentor shared this:
What Money Can’t Buy
by Daniel Olsson
Money Can Buy
A job, but not accomplishment.
A house, but not a home.
A pet, but not a friend.
Medicine, but not health.
Decorations, but not happiness.
A ring, but not love.
A book, but not a story.
An education, but not knowledge.
Glasses, but not sight.
Toys, but not fun.
Clothes, but not beauty.
A piano, but not a song.
Paper and pencil, but not words.
A bed, but not sleep.
Food, but not a meal.
A window, but not a view.
:: those who really value the concept of home and family know that flirting with wreckers, in whatever form they come, is a no-no. things that will most likely bring forth the erosion of good relations in the family are not worth it. no matter what one gains, for as long as he/she ends up with a wrecked family (or wrecked family relations) because of his/her actions, he/she ends up losing.
:: we may not always have much but we would always have enough because we have LOVE and FAMILY! and that is why we do great things! with much love, we can do great things.
:: from phd comics: “in academia, never say you have problems. it is a sign of weakness. call them challenges or issues but never problems.” uhmmmm… makes sense. renaming problems “issues” or “challenges” will make you feel better and on top of the game. but then again… a problem, by any other name, is a problem.
:: no wonder my labmates wanted me to join them in their naruto craze! but i only got into the wagon just recently, thanks to my sister who borrowed the dvds from our cousin. naruto, the character, is sooooo annoying. i find him so annoying but i always end up rooting for him episode after episode. hahaaaay, the great irony. in this case, “the more you hate, the more you love” applies. my sister and i are planning to watch bleach and one piece next.
:: the most viewed photos in my flickr account:
673 views: yey, they love herbie!*
363 views: indulgence!
:: i managed to accumulate so many pictures in just a short period of time. this is what i realized when i finally got around to organizing my online photo albums in photobucket. i already uploaded close to 2000 photos and i still have to transfer the photo albums i have in friendster and those i hid in multiply and flickr. hala, so now i still have to labor for the fruits of my and my friends’ labor (read: “posing and picture-taking”).
*about the image: i merely added the texts that say “1960s” and “herbie” to the original herbie photo i found somewhere on the net. the image was used among with images of other 60s vehicles for our dorm’s open house early last year.
shower of light April 7, 2007
Posted by jr3 in Poetry & Prose.4 comments
Does money really buy happiness? No. Because happiness is not for sale. When it comes to happiness, only people you love, and who love you, can bring it. If you have enough dough to buy yourself a luxurious yacht, but no real friends to sail with, you’re sunk.”
– Reader’s Digest Asia, May 2006
you’re timeless, i’m time-bound — i could never win if i competed against you…
you and your endless journey and your different colors,
you and your lure and the thousand and one stories you write across the skies,
you who don’t always look happy, but always fascinating, always beautiful.
i’ve gone from here to there, lived through then, now, and tomorrow just by watching you.
you are probably the first real thing i ever saw.
you do spectacular battles against impending darkness,
you quash the creeping gloom with a burst of life,
you hold me in awe and you are what i want to be…
because you remain luminous… in hues of yellow, orange, and red and blue and green and hints of them
because you remain boundless, always sowing inspiration, always reaping every fighting chance.
because you give me something and something more,
i’ll try and i’ll keep trying, anyway.
about the image: it’s somewhere just off manila bay. the photograph was taken by jr3 while on board the boat, st. joseph the worker (bound for iloilo), on october 24, 2005.
tenacity February 4, 2007
Posted by jr3 in C'est la Vie, Poetry & Prose, Random, Sappy.6 comments
“Stories were full of hearts broken by love,
but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream –
whatever that dream might be.”
–Pearl S. Buck
once there was a heart. it choked. it broke.
once there was a dream. it died.
i once had that heart. i once had that dream.
one broke. one died.
i stepped in too late to save one or both of them.
i now have a new heart. i now have a new dream.
i’m taking good care of them.
the dream, it did not really die.
it only got the fate that befell the heart.
i didn’t get a new heart. i didn’t come up with a new dream.
i couldn’t. my hands’re full –
it’s like having a new heart, it’s like having a new dream
nursing that broken dream that the broken heart still sustains.
about the image: multi-colored sky as viewed from corregidor island’s battery grubbs. photo taken by val.
blame pablo March 23, 2006
Posted by jr3 in C'est la Vie, Poetry & Prose, Random, Sappy.14 comments
“Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example,’The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.’
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings…”
– Pablo Neruda
tonight is your last night for tomorrow i’ll let go. it’s weird that i don’t seem to miss you anymore eventhough part of me still wants to. it’s easier to let go now. i’m no longer afraid to lose what i never had. i don’t have to cry, there will be no tears for me to shed. the world has shown me a million smiles — maybe they’re all yours, maybe they’re all reflections of mine. who cares if they’re yours? i don’t… well, at least, not in that way that i used to. i guess it’s the right time. i feel some sense of peace. every memory i was able to keep from what i can now call ’so long ago’ shall stay with me. i don’t have to throw them away nor leave them behind so i can forget. i know now that they won’t hurt me like i once naively thought they would. you, you can’t be with me. that’s not anymore the saddest thing i’ve ever known. you made your choice. i am ready to forge mine. without bitterness. without pain. without sadness. with a hope. i hope this is right, i hope i’m not lying.
p.s. you’re still my friend.
