Feasting and Fasting

I first posted this in my other blog in 2007. In the light of all that's going on around us and maybe within us too, it might be a good idea to revisit these thoughts:

Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent, denoting the forty days' preceding Easter in the Catholic liturgical calendar. The traditional Lent practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are interposed here with the Lenten Rule of the late Bishop Arthur C. Lichtenberg, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, 1959-1962:

May this season of Lent be a time to:

Fast from criticism, and feast on praise;
Fast from self-pity, and feast on joy;
Fast from ill temper, and feast on peace;
Fast from resentment, and feast on contentment;
Fast from jealousy, and feast on humility;
Fast from pride, and feast on love;
Fast from selfishness, and feast on service;
Fast from fear, and feast on faith.

Valentine Day Special! - 3

I saw this message on a website: "The purpose of Valentine's Day is to let those we care about know that we love them". There's also another way to look at it: How much God himself loves us. I like to think that if God himself were to write a Valentine card for us, it could sound something like this: Part 3 here:

Ten Guidelines From God

Effective Immediately,
Please be aware that there are changes YOU need to make in YOUR life. These changes need to be completed in order that I may fulfill My promises to you to grant you peace, joy and happiness in this life. I apologize for any inconvenience,
but after all that I am doing, this seems very little to ask of you. Please, follow these 10 guidelines

1. QUIT WORRYING:
Life has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you forgotten that I am here to take all your burdens and carry them for you? Or do you just enjoy fretting over every little thing that comes your way?

2. PUT IT ON THE LIST:
Something needs done or taken care of. Put it on the list. No, not YOUR list. Put it on MY to-do-list. Let ME be the one to take care of the problem. I can't help you until you turn it over to Me. And although My to-do-list is long, I am after all... God. I can take care of anything you put into My hands. In fact, if the truth were ever really known, I take care of a lot of things for you that you never even realize.

3. TRUST ME:
Once you've given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back. Trust in Me. Have the faith that I will take care of
all your needs, your problems and your trials. Problems with the kids? Put them on My list. Problem with finances? Put it on My list. Problems with your emotional roller coaster? For My sake, put it on My list. I want to help you. All you have to do is ask.

4. LEAVE IT ALONE:
Don't wake up one morning and say, "Well, I'm feeling much stronger now, I think I can handle it from here." Why do you think you are feeling stronger now? It's simple. You gave Me your burdens and I'm taking care of them. I also renew your strength and cover you in my peace. Don't you know that if I give you these problems back, you will be right back where you started? Leave them with Me and forget about them. Just let Me do my job.

5. TALK TO ME:
I want you to forget a lot of things. Forget what was making you crazy. Forget the worry and the fretting because you know I'm in control. But there's one thing I pray you never forget. Please, don't forget to talk to Me - OFTEN! I love YOU! I want to hear your voice. I want you to include Me in on the things going on in your life. I want to hear you talk about your friends and family. Prayer is simply you having a conversation with Me. I want to be your dearest friend.

6. HAVE FAITH:
I see a lot of things from up here that you can't see from where you are. Have faith in Me that I know what I'm doing. Trust Me; you wouldn't want the view from My eyes. I will continue to care for you, watch over you, and meet your needs. You only have to trust Me. Although I have a much bigger task than you, it seems as if you have so much trouble just doing your simple part. How hard can trust be?

7. SHARE:
You were taught to share when you were only two years old. When did you forget? That rule still applies. Share with those who are less fortunate than you. Share your joy with those who need encouragement. Share your laughter with those who haven't heard any in such a long time. Share your tears with those who have forgotten how to cry.. Share your faith
with those who have none.

8. BE PATIENT:
I managed to fix it so in just one lifetime you could have so many diverse experiences. You grow from a child to an adult, have children, change jobs many times, learn many trades, travel to so many places, meet thousands of people, and experience so much. How can you be so impatient then when it takes Me a little longer than you expect to handle
something on My to-do-list? Trust in My timing, for My timing is perfect. Just because I created the entire universe in
only six days, everyone thinks I should always rush, rush, rush.

9. BE KIND:
Be kind to others, for I love them just as much as I love you. They may not dress like you, or talk like you, or live the same way you do, but I still love you all. Please try to get along, for My sake. I created each of you different in some way. It would be too boring if you were all identical. Please, know I love each of your differences.

10. LOVE YOURSELF:
As much as I love you, how can you not love yourself? You were created by me for one reason only -- to be loved, and to love in return. I am a God of Love. Love Me. Love your neighbors. But also love yourself. It makes My heart ache when I see you so angry with yourself when things go wrong. You are very precious to me. Don't ever forget.......


HAPPY VALENTINE!

Valentine Day Special! - 2

Part 2 of the Valentine Day series. A friend sent this in. Author unknown.


Why Do Families (And The World) Lack So Much Love?
Mostly, It's Because Husbands Aren't Loving Enough

Two days ago, I had an ecumenical meeting with the President Gloria and
various religious leaders in the country (even Muslim leaders). That was
where I spoke to Bishop Ruben Abante, the head of the Alliance of Baptist
Churches in the Philippines . We were talking about how to solve the
problems of the world. That was when Bishop Ruben gave me a word
about families that blew my mind.

He said, "Brother Bo, the Bible says in Ephesians 5:25, 'Husbands,
love your wives, and wives submit to your husbands.' Have you ever wondered
why the Bible doesn't say, 'Wives, love your husbands?'" "
Why?" I asked.
The Bishop explained to me that the responsibility to love the
family rests on the husband's shoulder. The wife and the kids are only to
respond to that love. In the same way that the Bible says in 1 John 4:9 (my
life verse) "We love because He first loved us," we respond to God's love
for us.

That was powerful. I began to reflect on all the broken families
I've counselled through the past 28 years of my life. Most of them (not
all ) were broken because the father didn't love enough. And as I reflect
on
all the broken people I've counselled, I can see the same pattern. In most
of these individuals (again, not all), I see the lack of a loving father in
that person's life.

Fathers, you have a pivotal role in the life of your wife and
children. You are to aggressively, assertively, deliberately love them-and
they will respond.
But the good Bishop was not finished. He said, "Why didn't God
say, 'Husbands, submit to your wife?'" "
Why?" I asked again.
He said that once that love is there, submission is the natural
response . He asked, "Why is there so much rebellion and disobedience among
children today?" He explained that kids need to see their mother submit to
their father as a model to follow. (We didn't have time to talk about
situations where the man of the house doesn't love. Should the wife still
submit? That difficult question I hope to answer it in another article.)
But let me share with you my experience.

I love my wife. I do it aggressively, assertively, and deliberately.
And she submits to my leadership. I have a vision for the family
and I'm bringing my family to that vision-and she supports me.
But what does that mean in daily life? That I'm king and she's my slave?
Gosh, you should visit my home.

Because I love her, I want to serve her. And because she follows
already my general direction, I realize that 90% of life's decisions are
about the trivial stuff. Because I love her, it's my joy to say, "Yes" to
her . So in reality, I follow her 90% of the time! She isn't my slave. She
is the queen I pamper.

That, my friends, is marital headship-submission in daily life.
It is with this note that I greet you a Happy Valentines Day.
May your families be filled with love.

Husbands, take responsibility in filling your family with love.
Wives, support and submit to your husband.

And together, we can fill the world with God's love.

Valentine Day Special! - 1

I'm not really a Valentine Day person..... simply because like many other occasions, it's become so commercialised that it's lost its real meaning. Anyways, over the last couple of weeks I've been receiving a few emails that shine some light on the meaning of "Love" - that most abused 4 letter word! I thought I'd run a short series based on these. Here goes No.1:

The Wedding Passbook

Monica married Nick this day. At the end of the wedding party,
Monica's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook with a
$1000 deposit amount.

Mother: 'Monica, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your
marriage life. When there's something happy and memorable happened
in your new life, put some money in. Write down what it's about next
to the line. The more memorable the event is, the more money you can
put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the others with Nick.
When you look back after years, you can know how much
happiness you've had.'

Monica shared this with Nick when getting home. They both thought it
was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second deposit can
be made. This was what they did after certain time:

* 7 Feb: $100, first birthday celebration for Nick after marriage
* 1 Mar: $300, salary raise for Monica
* 20 Mar: $200, vacation trip to Bali
* 15 Apr: $2000, Monica got pregnant
* 1 Jun: $1000, Nick got promoted
* ..... and so on...

However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial
things. They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married
the nastiest people in the world.... no more love...Kind of typical
nowadays, huh?

One day Monica talked to her Mother: 'Mom, we can't stand it anymore.
We agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!"

Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if
you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first.
Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out
all money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a
poor marriage.'

Monica thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the
queue and planning to cancel the account. While she was waiting, she
took a look at the passbook record. She looked, and looked, and
looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just
came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and
went home.

When she was home, she handed the passbook to Nick, asked him to
spend the money before getting divorce.

The next day, Nick gave the passbook back to Monica. She found a new
deposit of $5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I
notice how much I've loved you through out all these years. How much
happiness you've brought me.'

They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe. Do you
know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not ask. I
believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone thru all
the good years in their life.

"When you fall in any way, don't see the place where you fell instead
see the place from where you slipped. Life is about correcting mistakes."

Give Thanks!

We're now into the second month of the new year and as usual, the doubts about being able to keep up with my grand agendas and resolutions for the year are becoming increasingly hazy. But grace abounds even in these cloudy times. For there are moments when a little sunshine seeps through the fog and illuminates the scene, even if only for a while.

Something like that has been happening to me on and off this past one month. This thought: "Give Thanks" has been slipping in and out of my consciousness almost unknowingly. At certain times, it seems to make sense. At others, I had simply ignored it. But it didn't go away quietly.

So this morning, for want of nothing better to do, I clicked on one of my favourite sites and lo behold, this headline was staring at me: "Gratitude is the Attitude" from Spirituality for Today, written by the Rev. Mgr. Frank Wissel. I'd like to share it with you:

One cannot begin to understand the life of Christ without taking into account his profound sense of gratitude. There is a Gospel reading in which Jesus stood in the midst of 5,000 people. In his hands he held five little loaves of bread and two small dried fish.

As far as we know from reading the story, this was all the food that he had. This is how he handled it. He lifted his eyes to heaven and gave thanks. Then he broke the food, gave it to his disciples, and they in turn gave it to the people. What happened then, we are not told. But when the picnic was over, all of the people had eaten their fill and two full baskets were left over.

At the very least, that says something about the multiplying power of gratitude. The person with an ungrateful heart never has enough of anything. But when our lives are filled with thankfulness, we often discover that the little we have is more than enough.

I think it was the German philosopher, Nietzsche, who said, "We must learn to love our wounds." That must be life's most difficult lesson, but how important it is. If we zigzag through the years, being grateful for the good times and resentful of the bad times, we can never become whole and healthy-minded people.

Christ had learned that difficult lesson. On the night in which he was betrayed, he gave thanks and it was also on that same night that he established the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. We call it the Eucharist, which is the Greek word for "thank you."

In France they say, "Merci." In Italy they say, "Grazie." In modern Greece they say, "Eucharisto" - Eucharist, thank you.

That is why this sacrament is the climax of Christian worship. It is the church of Christ, standing once more before his cross and lifting our hearts in gratefulness for his sacrifice on our behalf. The ethical implications of such gratitude are immeasurable. Someone has called gratitude, "the mother of all virtues." That is a defensible proposition.

Let us say, there is a man who has no spark of gratitude anywhere in his heart. Instead, he is bitter and resentful. Why should he be grateful when he is utterly convinced that life has been totally unfair with him? Such a person, so long as he keeps that attitude, will never rise to any heights of moral and ethical achievement. He will not get much out of life nor give much to it.

Then there is another man who thinks living is just a matter of give and take. So much of this for so much of that. You work for what you get, and you get what you work for. As far as he can tell, he is just about breaking even.

Such a person will avoid the bitterness of the man who feels cheated. But he will probably be arrogant about his own achievements and cold and indifferent toward the needs of others. He will never scale the heights of ethical or moral achievements.

But finally, there is that person who lives out of a sense of indebtedness. He is convinced that no matter what he does, he could never pay back all that he owes. There have been times when he has felt cheated, and there were times when he seemed to be breaking even. But when all of life is taken into account, he is sure that he is way ahead. God, and people, and life have given him more than he ever deserved.

Strange as it may seem, our Lord was that kind of man. One can hardly imagine his feeling that way, for if ever there was a man who paid his own way and pulled his own load, it was him. If ever there was a man who had the right to resentment, it was the Lord. But he did not see it that way.

If we ever wanted to imitate him, we must cultivate that same spirit. And if we ever hope to be anything like him, we must be grateful for what we have. When we give of ourselves without counting the cost, one can be sure that it is out of the philosophy "gratitude is the attitude."

I didn't realise that the word "Eucharist" means "Thank You"! Now I know. The significance is immense for me. Maybe I will just spend the rest of the day with this one word.

I like this quotation by G.K. Chesterton, the English writer of the early 20th. century:

"You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink".

In other words, "in everything give thanks". I shall try to remember that as I go stumbling about my way in the next 11 months or so!