I have not been productive in my writing outputs since last year. I am trying so hard but I just can't find time sometimes, or when I have plenty of time, I can't find something worth writing.
For productivity sake, I started by cleaning my home office, our bedroom and technically the entire house, with the help of the hubby of course.
I found the tidiness inspiring. I opened my computer and started working. Before doing personal stuffs, I needed to attend to my office work first. I also need to catch up with reports and planning. The clean house made a lot of difference. I guess my first rule of productivity, clean and declutter!
I am also reading a book now called Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Somehow, her insights is driving me to accomplish something. She begun her book by stating her 12 Commandments and Secrets of Adulthood, and that encouraged me to write my own commandments. But I consider them more of life lessons, something I learned or results of experiences or allowing me to experience new things. After much taught, I have come up with just 10.
1. Be Earlie
2. Find your place
3. Wonder and wander
4. Respond, not react
5. Listen
6. Keep it simple but not mediocre
7. Show love to difficult people including yourself
8. Take risks
9. Laugh or cry, it's ok
10. Pray
Practicing Radical Hospitality
The Congregational Practice of Radical HospitalityAs the newly elected lay leader in my local church, I have been thinking what it is that I could do to improve the situation of the local church.
Congregations that practice Radical Hospitality demonstrate an active desire to invite, welcome, receive, and care for those who are strangers so that they find a spiritual home and discover for themselves the unending richness of life in Christ. Radical describes that which is drastically different from ordinary practices, outside the normal, that which exceeds expectations and goes the second mile.
--Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (www.fivepractices.org)
I belong to a very small local church with more or less 20 adult members and 10 kids who regularly attend Sunday worship. I have been a member of that church since I was eight, I guess. I attended children's Sunday school classes, then taught, joined outreach programs until I moved to Manila for college. Somehow, I have witnessed the ups and downs of the congregation. I have seen how the congregation struggled with leadership, finances, and properties. The old building where we used to hold our services is already replaced with a new, larger one; only it has not been completed yet.
It has been over a year now when I started regular attendance in my small local church again, having moved and married in Isabela. Now that I hold a key leadership position, I have been wondering how we could grow as individuals and as a congregation in faith and ministry.
My mom, who is the Church Council Chairperson, and I talked about how we should move on. We have been trying to assess the situation of the local church but we cannot sum up everything. Most of our observations are on the negative side--most members are not tithers/givers, they come late on Sunday, they don't want to hold leadership roles, they are not commited to the ministry, they are not exposed to the affairs of the church outside of the local church, they are not willing to attend activities other than Sunday worship, they do not participate in the Bible study, they do not read their devotional materials, etc.
On the other hand, we don't think that our local church is weak--we earnestly pay our connectional obligations, we can pay our pastor's salary and benefits, we produce leaders in the higher levels of the church, we have children's ministry, we have two outreach points.
So what could be lacking? What could be wrong?
To address what we thought are problems, I facilitated a round table discussion, though we were not literally in a round table. My aim was to enable each member to speak and share what they think about the church and its ministries. It is more than a meeting but prayerfully and reflectively considering the life of our local church and how the church is relevant to the lives of individual members and their families. Of course we did away with parliamentary procedures! And for the first time, I saw how eager each member to share their insights. I know it is a long and slow process. But I believe it will be worth whatever it is that we spend on this consultative process. The first step is to have an honest and prayerful conversation.
We started answering sort of self-examination questions like:
What makes you excited in going to church?
What makes you stay in this small local church?
What makes you sad about our local church?
What makes you tired in your spiritual life?
When did you see God work in all these?
In that moment, I knew that I was exercising radical hospitality. This kind of hospitality is not only shown to new members or visitors, but also to members--being sensitive enough to let them in into the decision-making process, know their insights, and encouraging them to be engaged in the life and ministries of the local church. I think that for a long time, I have been very comfortable in sitting in my favorite spot in the church, gave my tithes and offering, and attended regularly Sunday worships but actually did not mind about the relationships that exist in my local church.
Our conversations emphasized the importance of the established relationships inside the local church, where members feel that they are part of the family whenever they go to church on Sunday. Many are excited to come on Sundays because they love to see the kids and to bring their children to Sunday school. Many are inspired because of how the lives of other members are lived. That made me realized that maybe many are not involved in the ministries or seem to not be growing spiritually because they are being left out in our "family" as we have focused so much in planning programs, reporting, earning the building fund, and mandating people to take leadership positions. When in fact, we could have started knowing what they wanted in the first place. Begin with relationship! We need to be more hospitable with our own family members.
After the first meeting, we agreed to meet some more and continue answering self-examination questions until we have all tackled the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregation (as written by Robert Schase), until we have come up with our vision-mission-goals statement, and maybe until such time that each member will fully engage and grow in the life and ministry of the local church. It is like going back to square one. But I like it more that way rather than trying to accomplish written programs with just few people involved.
I know that this will be a difficult, and maybe painful, process but I am challenged to be more hospitable and sensitive to needs of my family members. We will be moving to more sensitive issues like giving, tithing, getting involved in missions, and taking up leadership roles. But my hope is each one will show a radical hospitality.
Moving On
I moved back to my home province, Isabela, over a year ago. I admit it was some sort of a painful process for me. But because I was doing it to be with the love of my life, I have to persevere. I believed I can adopt, and I think I did!
When everything was packed and I was getting ready to leave our apartment in few days, I wrote a note with a checklist of the things that I will be missing:
1. McDo coke float and Wendy's biggie ice tea
2. Tuesdays meeting (and eating) with DRP Core Team
3. Dinners and movies with Eufer
4. Walking, hiking, biking at QC Circle, Ninoy Aquino Wildlife, Luneta, and Lamesa Ecopark
5. Late night Mister Kabab food tripping with Kris and Ken
6. SM, Trinoma, Robinsons (isama na rin ang Puregold at Waltermart)
7. Central Vesper Choir, practices, and dinners
8. UMC Headquarters, people and place
9. Timezone fun times (I still have credits in my powercard.)
10. Bus, fx, and jeepney rides and getting stuck in traffic (also MRT and LRT)
With the feeling of nostalgia, I looked back into this list, and realized that I have indeed moved on, and is moving forward everyday--not without these things, people, and places but recreating them in many other things, people, and places; and savoring the moments whenever I have to experience them again. I am not really out of the metro, I still go there once in while and still get the feel of what my life had been. Along the way of adjustment, I have created a new list to compensate:
1. Homemade fruit shakes and teas, which is lot healthier than McDo's and Wendy's
2. Meeting with annual youth officers--some I host at our house
3. Short and long phone calls with Eufer
4. Early morning or late night walks around the subdivision and to the farm with Jonathan
5. Late night conversation with the "Team A" at school (sometimes with food)
6. Trip to local market, grocery stores, and shopping malls.
7. Zion UMC members, especially the kids
8. Home office (with all the creative mess)
9. Neighborhood visits and playing with the kids
10. Weekly long bus rides--bus companies should be thinking of frequent rider rewards!
Being use to moving made me more adoptable to changes. I think the only difficult thing is finding my place in the community. Aside from my relatives, I am not familiar with any other person or family in our subdivision. If I plan to stay longer here, I think I should make an extra effort in knowing my neighbors. That's the challenge, I guess.
When everything was packed and I was getting ready to leave our apartment in few days, I wrote a note with a checklist of the things that I will be missing:
1. McDo coke float and Wendy's biggie ice tea
2. Tuesdays meeting (and eating) with DRP Core Team
3. Dinners and movies with Eufer
4. Walking, hiking, biking at QC Circle, Ninoy Aquino Wildlife, Luneta, and Lamesa Ecopark
5. Late night Mister Kabab food tripping with Kris and Ken
6. SM, Trinoma, Robinsons (isama na rin ang Puregold at Waltermart)
7. Central Vesper Choir, practices, and dinners
8. UMC Headquarters, people and place
9. Timezone fun times (I still have credits in my powercard.)
10. Bus, fx, and jeepney rides and getting stuck in traffic (also MRT and LRT)
With the feeling of nostalgia, I looked back into this list, and realized that I have indeed moved on, and is moving forward everyday--not without these things, people, and places but recreating them in many other things, people, and places; and savoring the moments whenever I have to experience them again. I am not really out of the metro, I still go there once in while and still get the feel of what my life had been. Along the way of adjustment, I have created a new list to compensate:
1. Homemade fruit shakes and teas, which is lot healthier than McDo's and Wendy's
2. Meeting with annual youth officers--some I host at our house
3. Short and long phone calls with Eufer
4. Early morning or late night walks around the subdivision and to the farm with Jonathan
5. Late night conversation with the "Team A" at school (sometimes with food)
6. Trip to local market, grocery stores, and shopping malls.
7. Zion UMC members, especially the kids
8. Home office (with all the creative mess)
9. Neighborhood visits and playing with the kids
10. Weekly long bus rides--bus companies should be thinking of frequent rider rewards!
Being use to moving made me more adoptable to changes. I think the only difficult thing is finding my place in the community. Aside from my relatives, I am not familiar with any other person or family in our subdivision. If I plan to stay longer here, I think I should make an extra effort in knowing my neighbors. That's the challenge, I guess.
Cauayan City Gawaygaway-yan Festival 2012
Gawaygaway-yan Festival is celebrated from March 30 to April 14. This festival showcases vegetable harvests from each barangay. It also commemorates the hardwork and creativity of the people of Cauayan giving tribute to their ancestors, the Gaddangs. The Gaddangs were the first settlers of Cauayan. It is said that they were fond in planting vegetables. Below are the rest of the activities for this festival.
When On A Tight Schedule
We are living on a fast paced world. This is given. But the ways people respond to that pace vary. There are some who easily cope while others linger a bit.
I am raised in a home where everything need to be done the right way at the right time, where things need to be put in their proper places at all times, or if misplaced, "look with your eyes, not with your mouth."
As a child, I followed a schedule posted at the back of our bedroom door. My day is timed from the moment I wake in the morning until the hour when I should go to bed. All activities has a corresponding timestamp: 5:00am - wake up; 5:00-5:15 - prayer and devotion; 5:15-5:30 - fix bed and clean room... 12:00 - arrive from school, lunch; 12:45 - go back to school; and the time goes up to 9:00pm - sleeping time. There was also a checklist on the things I should do on a weekend.
That training, I think, made me to always run after time or have the feeling that time is running so fast that I often lose if I were not able to accomplish anything for a day. It seems that rest and so-called free time are rare commodities. This kind of training was even professionalized when I took my journalism degree. Deadlines are DEADLINES! Because of this, I feel that I am always working on a tight schedule.
Admittedly, there are times that it is difficult to cope with schedules; and the feeling of weariness, tiredness, and helplessness can strike me anytime and make me even more guilty of seemingly not doing anything worthwhile. Sometimes I linger and slow down but again backlogs are piling on my desk and lingering does not cross out a task in my checklist.
Checklist and Calendar/Journal. I have a lot of commitments with different organizations and forgetting an appointment or task is very likely without my ever faithful checklist (but honestly, sometimes I still forget something). But keeping checklist helps a lot. I keep one on paper, on my desktop, and on my phone. Post-its are also helpful especially for keeping ideas. The journal is for longer notes to myself or for reflections and keeping my calendar. On my phone, I use Astrid Tasks. It's very convenient because it syncs schedules/tasks from my email and even display funny comments.
The Best Time. I am not a morning person, I have accepted that long time ago. Though I can do meetings in the morning, I am not in my best energy. My mind seems to switch on after lunch, so I have to make most of that time until before dinner to work on the things on my checklist. Then continue after dinner and I can go up until midnight or a little past that. So instead of trying so hard to work during the morning and waste my energy, I usually use the time reading and doing household chores. Know your best time and work on it.
I am a very mobile person, too. I travel a lot, and most of the times travel disrupt my routine. So to keep up, I have learned the following:
Wander and Wonder. To keep me from being bored, I wander and wonder. I learned to appreciate small things that will brighten my day--a child smiling, funny conversations, etc. I also take pictures to capture the memories especially fleeting moments. Wandering around the block also helps to clear my mind. And to enhance my problem-solving skills, I usually ask "what if" questions to keep my mind occupied. I doodle and read a book, too!
Travel Light (but bring extras). Packing checklist helps and also knowing the right way to fold your clothes. I use vacuum bags a lot. They take away unnecessary air and spaces. I also make an inventory of my clothes and plan ahead what to wear on certain days. I am not an expert in traveling light because I always bring an extra pair or two. I have experiences that I have to stay an extra day so at least I have clean clothes to wear. I have also learned to mix and match. I usually wear jeans that can match different styles of tops. Bring extra because you'll never know about weather changes, too.
Stay Charged. Even if they say that charging your phone or your gadgets even though they still have battery charges is not advisable, it's better to go out of your home with batteries fully charged. You do not know when you need them especially in cases of emergency. So before I leave, I make sure I plug-in.
Communicate Back Home. Stay in touch with your loved ones. Or bring something that reminds you of them, a picture in your wallet may do. When I am away, I make sure to send a note, email or text to my husband everyday. I also chat with friends and family. I always have to deal with separation anxieties but having a daily connection at home helps me to cope.
Keep Friends Everywhere. There are friends who are really friends, who will come to your rescue, stay with you late at night or take a walk with you. I learned to keep those friends whom I can call whenever I am in town. The good thing, they can accompany you to places, too!
Plan Z. As an event planner/organizer, I always keep alternative plans. My friend and I have a mantra: "Be prepared to execute Plan Z" if all else fail. When I am on a tight schedule, these alternative plans work!
Go Home. There's no place like home, indeed. My first place to go when I go home, the bedroom and just feel the ambiance and rest. The best thing when working on a tight schedule is to know that you have a place to go home to and a family waiting for you.
I am raised in a home where everything need to be done the right way at the right time, where things need to be put in their proper places at all times, or if misplaced, "look with your eyes, not with your mouth."
As a child, I followed a schedule posted at the back of our bedroom door. My day is timed from the moment I wake in the morning until the hour when I should go to bed. All activities has a corresponding timestamp: 5:00am - wake up; 5:00-5:15 - prayer and devotion; 5:15-5:30 - fix bed and clean room... 12:00 - arrive from school, lunch; 12:45 - go back to school; and the time goes up to 9:00pm - sleeping time. There was also a checklist on the things I should do on a weekend.
That training, I think, made me to always run after time or have the feeling that time is running so fast that I often lose if I were not able to accomplish anything for a day. It seems that rest and so-called free time are rare commodities. This kind of training was even professionalized when I took my journalism degree. Deadlines are DEADLINES! Because of this, I feel that I am always working on a tight schedule.
Admittedly, there are times that it is difficult to cope with schedules; and the feeling of weariness, tiredness, and helplessness can strike me anytime and make me even more guilty of seemingly not doing anything worthwhile. Sometimes I linger and slow down but again backlogs are piling on my desk and lingering does not cross out a task in my checklist.
Checklist and Calendar/Journal. I have a lot of commitments with different organizations and forgetting an appointment or task is very likely without my ever faithful checklist (but honestly, sometimes I still forget something). But keeping checklist helps a lot. I keep one on paper, on my desktop, and on my phone. Post-its are also helpful especially for keeping ideas. The journal is for longer notes to myself or for reflections and keeping my calendar. On my phone, I use Astrid Tasks. It's very convenient because it syncs schedules/tasks from my email and even display funny comments.
The Best Time. I am not a morning person, I have accepted that long time ago. Though I can do meetings in the morning, I am not in my best energy. My mind seems to switch on after lunch, so I have to make most of that time until before dinner to work on the things on my checklist. Then continue after dinner and I can go up until midnight or a little past that. So instead of trying so hard to work during the morning and waste my energy, I usually use the time reading and doing household chores. Know your best time and work on it.
I am a very mobile person, too. I travel a lot, and most of the times travel disrupt my routine. So to keep up, I have learned the following:
Wander and Wonder. To keep me from being bored, I wander and wonder. I learned to appreciate small things that will brighten my day--a child smiling, funny conversations, etc. I also take pictures to capture the memories especially fleeting moments. Wandering around the block also helps to clear my mind. And to enhance my problem-solving skills, I usually ask "what if" questions to keep my mind occupied. I doodle and read a book, too!
Travel Light (but bring extras). Packing checklist helps and also knowing the right way to fold your clothes. I use vacuum bags a lot. They take away unnecessary air and spaces. I also make an inventory of my clothes and plan ahead what to wear on certain days. I am not an expert in traveling light because I always bring an extra pair or two. I have experiences that I have to stay an extra day so at least I have clean clothes to wear. I have also learned to mix and match. I usually wear jeans that can match different styles of tops. Bring extra because you'll never know about weather changes, too.
Stay Charged. Even if they say that charging your phone or your gadgets even though they still have battery charges is not advisable, it's better to go out of your home with batteries fully charged. You do not know when you need them especially in cases of emergency. So before I leave, I make sure I plug-in.
Communicate Back Home. Stay in touch with your loved ones. Or bring something that reminds you of them, a picture in your wallet may do. When I am away, I make sure to send a note, email or text to my husband everyday. I also chat with friends and family. I always have to deal with separation anxieties but having a daily connection at home helps me to cope.
Keep Friends Everywhere. There are friends who are really friends, who will come to your rescue, stay with you late at night or take a walk with you. I learned to keep those friends whom I can call whenever I am in town. The good thing, they can accompany you to places, too!
Plan Z. As an event planner/organizer, I always keep alternative plans. My friend and I have a mantra: "Be prepared to execute Plan Z" if all else fail. When I am on a tight schedule, these alternative plans work!
Go Home. There's no place like home, indeed. My first place to go when I go home, the bedroom and just feel the ambiance and rest. The best thing when working on a tight schedule is to know that you have a place to go home to and a family waiting for you.
Examen: A Prayer Practice
Once in a while, it is a good practice to look back and evaluate the life that you lived for the past days, months, or years. Have you been living your life to the fullest?
It's been years since I started keeping a journal. Though I don't write on a daily basis, I can still look back at my journals and recall significant events in my life. I have written various notes, including ones that do not make sense, prayers, poems, and reflections and even just a recount of a day's events. When I open my journal, I can't help but thank God to where he brought me thus far. It's always a good thing to examine a life and learn from mistakes and plan for the future.
The Prayer of Examen
This prayer practice allows you to look back through your day or your entire life, or through your ministry program. It leads you to a time of evaluation and at the same time discernment. While praying, the pray-er will be able to pay attention to his/her emotions and become aware of God's presence throughout the day. It was established by Saint Ignatius.
More often than not, when I embark in the prayer of examen, I use John Wesley's self examination questions. The Holy Club used these questions during their Wednesday meetings to check on each other's devotion to God.
From Creating a Life with God by Daniel Wolpert, here is a step-by-step guide to prayer of examen.
It's been years since I started keeping a journal. Though I don't write on a daily basis, I can still look back at my journals and recall significant events in my life. I have written various notes, including ones that do not make sense, prayers, poems, and reflections and even just a recount of a day's events. When I open my journal, I can't help but thank God to where he brought me thus far. It's always a good thing to examine a life and learn from mistakes and plan for the future.
The Prayer of Examen
This prayer practice allows you to look back through your day or your entire life, or through your ministry program. It leads you to a time of evaluation and at the same time discernment. While praying, the pray-er will be able to pay attention to his/her emotions and become aware of God's presence throughout the day. It was established by Saint Ignatius.
More often than not, when I embark in the prayer of examen, I use John Wesley's self examination questions. The Holy Club used these questions during their Wednesday meetings to check on each other's devotion to God.
- Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
-
Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence?
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Can I be trusted?
- Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
-
Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
-
Did the Bible live in me today?
-
Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?
-
Am I enjoying prayer?
-
When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?
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Do I pray about the money I spend?
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Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
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Do I disobey God in anything?
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Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
- Am I defeated in any part of my life?
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Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
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How do I spend my spare time?
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Am I proud?
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Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees
who despised the publican?
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Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment
toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
-
Do I grumble or complain constantly?
- Is Christ real to me?
From Creating a Life with God by Daniel Wolpert, here is a step-by-step guide to prayer of examen.
- Choose a period of time to examine in prayer. This can be a day, a week, or a specific event.
- Allow your mind to wander through that period of time. Some questions you might ask yourself about that period include:
- When am I most/least grateful for during that time?
- When did I feel a sense of love, peace, joy, life (the gifts of the Spirit)?
- When did I feel exhausted, dead, drained, angry, mean?
- What specific events, thoughts, or experiences, draw my attention?
- What aspects of that time repel me?
- What moments from that time speak to me of my deeper desires?
- What things feel out of place, uninteresting?
- Ask yourself, When did I notice God during this time? What felt like a time of God's absence?
- As some answers to these questions arise, notice what this tells you about the future. How is it that God is calling you into being? Toward what actions, activities, or attributws is God drawing you?
- Repeat this prayer at regular intervals in order to see how God is working in your life.
A Healthy Way through the Lenten Season
“What eating practices should I change?”
If there is one season when one should start changing for a healthier lifestyle, I think it should be during this Lent. Lent is a season of fasting and prayer, and fasting, I believe, should be done in consideration of the holistic renewal of a person—not only spiritually but also physically. One way or the other, the field medicine have proven that fasting has a lot of physical benefits.
Sure, there are different kinds of fasting, but for the sake of this post, I will concentrate on my personal commitment to a healthier eating habits this Lent and beyond.
See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food. –Genesis 1:29
since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? (Thus he declared all foods clean.) –Mark 7:19
Forget about soda. I am not really a fun of soda, I drink some occasionally but even though I know that there no nutritional value in it, I still drink. This time, I want to do do away with it. Instead, drink more water and homemade fresh fruit juices.
Chips and curls, and french fries. I believe I can live without these food except for occasional cravings. Oh my French fries, it is even ranked as one of the unhealtiest food but sometimes I am still tempted to eat, I hope I can resist.
Less meat, more fish. I am trying so hard. I am not a meat lover but when I am in school, most of the menu are meat and there’s no way I can eat something different. But at home, I make sure to cook more fish, even though my husband likes pork and beef a lot. Well, he has no choice but to eat my cooking; and later on, I know both of us will be healthier.
Increase vegetable and fruit intake. Again, I have to make a lot of effort for this especially for fruits. Fruits are very expensive but I think it really needs a budget. I am just glad the some green leafy vegetables grow in our front and back yards and anytime I want to eat, I can just go outside and pick.
Look more outside, not inside the refrigerator. I need to look more in our yard for food instead of the refrigerator. Vegetables are still healthier!
On another note, I have started reading the book “Food, Fitness, and Faith for Women.” It is with high hopes that I can keep with this healthy habits within 21 days. Because a study said that if you can do things for 21 days straight, there is a great probability that you can do it in the following days. So let me try and I promise to let you know if my improvement.
The Lord’s Prayer: An Ash Wednesday Reflection
When I was younger, it felt weird to see people going to school or office with imposed cross made of ashes in their forehead. I didn’t seem to be cool and it was meaningless for me. I know it was Ash Wednesday and it is a yearly service where my Roman Catholic friends and other people go to. Then after that, they are longer allowed to eat meat on Fridays until Easter. But what is Ash Wednesday anyway? It was so insignificant. We never celebrated it in our local church. My parents could not even explain to me. So all the while I had this idea in my head that Ash Wednesday is a pagan practice.
I think it was only in 2007 when I first attended an Ash Wednesday service. I was accompanying a friend. It was then when that I fully understand the reason and I gladly submitted myself and had my forehead imposed with cross made of ashes.
“Ash Wednesday emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our mortality and confess our sin before God within the community of faith. The form and content of the service focus on the dual themes of sin and death in the light of God’s redeeming love in Jesus Christ” (From United Methodist Book of Worship). The ashes are used as a symbol of our immortality and repentance, and having your forehead imposed with ashes is a sign of participating in the acts of repentance and reconciliation.
If you are wondering where the ashes came from, it is traditional to save the palms during Palm Sunday the previous year, then burn them for the ashes. Other churches, creatively in their services, asked the congregation to write their sins in a piece of paper then brought to the altar to be burned together with the palms.
By the sweat of your face you shall it bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, you are dust, and to dust you shall return. –Genesis 3:19 (NRSV)
The Beginning of the 40-day Journey
Ash Wednesday also marks the 40 days, not counting Sundays, until the Resurrection Sunday or Easter. This 40 days is called the Lenten Season in the Christian Calendar. This is the time for repentance, prayer and reflection. (And sometimes a time when most people are kind, patient, and forgiving.)
Today’s reading on the 40-Day Lenten Journey is Matthew 6:9-15, which is the prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s Prayer.
This is really a wonderful prayer to begin this season. Even if it seem to be just one of the memorized prayers in the congregation, The Lord’s Prayer has gained a great significance in my life. Many times when I am distressed, I just pray it slowly and repeatedly until comfort and discernment comes.
Jesus, in this prayer, taught the disciples to pray about practical needs: daily bread, debt forgiveness, and protection from temptation. So when I don’t know what to ask in prayer, I just go on and recite The Lord’s Prayer until words are formed. I deeply assured with Jesus’s words, “…for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Prayer seem to be the easiest spiritual discipline that a Christian could do, but when did you actually prayer?
Let us begin with The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from evil one.
(For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory now and forever.) Amen.
40 Days Lenten Journey
This Lenten Season, I will be using the following chart to journey throughout the 40 days (February 22 to April 8, except Sundays). I made this for Discipleship Resources-Philippines and shared it with some people with the hope of journeying together as individuals and even with their congregations. Feel free to download and use it. Let us share the essence of Christ's suffering for the salvation of the world.
This is the season for prayer, repentance, reflection, practicing spiritual disciplines, and for living out our faith. My hope is that this 40 days will change my life.
When You're Running Out of Time
If there is equality among human beings, it is with "time." We are equally given 24 hours a day. Imagine if you have a boss who gives you a per diem of $84,000 but at the end of the day, you need to give him back everything you have not spent. What would you do? Of course, you may do everything in your power and spend all the money. Well, you have such a boss and his name is Time. Everyday, you are given 84,000 seconds but at the end of the day, Time gets everything. You will not be able to re-live anything unspent.
But what if time already become the currency, when you need to buy time in order to live?
I watched the movie In Time (directed and produced by Andrew Niccol, starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, released in October 2011) on the plan en route to the US. I was thrilled with the idea that time is the currency but like in the current world where people kill for money, people in that future world kill others to buy them sometime to live.
By 2161, humans are given only 25 years to live but by genetic alteration, one stops aging at 25 but needs to earn time to continue living. If you have more time, you are rich and can live even a century and immortality could even be possible. Time is transferrable and could be shared among individuals. Any available time one has is displayed in an implant on the lower arm. Transferring time is as easy as holding one's hand. When that time display reaches zero, the person dies instantly. In that world, time made the world so much unequal.
The society is divided into classes and each class live in a certain time zones. Crossing time zones is not prohibited but if you are poor, that is the last thing you want to do. When you cross a time zone, you need to deposit at least one month of your time. As you approach the richest city, the amount of time you have to pay increases. The rich rules the world and they have the power to loan time to people and take it back with interest. They also have the power to increase the costs of living. Their goal is to make more time and become richer while the poor, working so hard becomes poorer and run out of time.
So what if you know the exact time of your death and you can even watch the clock ticks on your arms? What an agony that is! But that could even be beneficial, at least you will know how much time left for you to do things you could have done before or do things you really wanted to. At least you and your family could prepare, contrary if the doctor pronounced that you still have six months to live yet you don't know the exact time. It could be sooner.
It made me even more realized that time is really precious. Even though I cannot see my living time ticks, I know that I should spend and invest time wisely. Time might be running out... even as I write this. There were instances that I could have wanted a longer day, or an additional day in the week but agonizing with those does not add time to my life but living time is subtracted every second, every ticking of the clock. Time flies so easily, indeed.
So what would you do to ensure that you will not run out of time?
But what if time already become the currency, when you need to buy time in order to live?
I watched the movie In Time (directed and produced by Andrew Niccol, starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, released in October 2011) on the plan en route to the US. I was thrilled with the idea that time is the currency but like in the current world where people kill for money, people in that future world kill others to buy them sometime to live. By 2161, humans are given only 25 years to live but by genetic alteration, one stops aging at 25 but needs to earn time to continue living. If you have more time, you are rich and can live even a century and immortality could even be possible. Time is transferrable and could be shared among individuals. Any available time one has is displayed in an implant on the lower arm. Transferring time is as easy as holding one's hand. When that time display reaches zero, the person dies instantly. In that world, time made the world so much unequal.
The society is divided into classes and each class live in a certain time zones. Crossing time zones is not prohibited but if you are poor, that is the last thing you want to do. When you cross a time zone, you need to deposit at least one month of your time. As you approach the richest city, the amount of time you have to pay increases. The rich rules the world and they have the power to loan time to people and take it back with interest. They also have the power to increase the costs of living. Their goal is to make more time and become richer while the poor, working so hard becomes poorer and run out of time.
So what if you know the exact time of your death and you can even watch the clock ticks on your arms? What an agony that is! But that could even be beneficial, at least you will know how much time left for you to do things you could have done before or do things you really wanted to. At least you and your family could prepare, contrary if the doctor pronounced that you still have six months to live yet you don't know the exact time. It could be sooner.
It made me even more realized that time is really precious. Even though I cannot see my living time ticks, I know that I should spend and invest time wisely. Time might be running out... even as I write this. There were instances that I could have wanted a longer day, or an additional day in the week but agonizing with those does not add time to my life but living time is subtracted every second, every ticking of the clock. Time flies so easily, indeed.
So what would you do to ensure that you will not run out of time?
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