daily dose

Suffering and Baking A Cake

2007-07-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

In the old days, I’d like to watch my mother bake a cake. She would get all the ingredients ready – the flour, sugar, chocolate powder, eggs, shortening, and baking powder. There I stood just next to her watching her every movement. Sometimes, though, when she was not looking, I would dip my fingers into the powder or the baking power, and licked them. Of course, the taste was terrible. In itself, each of these ingredients is not savory to the taste buds. But when mixed together and put in the oven at the right temperature and time, the product of mixing these ingredients together is to die for.

Suffering and pain can be compared with swallowing these ingredients individually and raw. They are distasteful and can probably send you the toilet afterwards. However, in God’s hands, these problems, whatever that causes our heart to ache, becomes an invaluable product after stirring and mixing and put it in a special oven at the right temperature and time. Sometimes, we are impatient and want to taste the product thinking that it must be ready. Of course, if we take the unfinished product out of the oven, we would know the result. So it is with our life, sometimes we desperately seek for a quick fix solution. The result would be similar to tasting the unfinished cake that we take out of the oven.

In the right time though, when everything is done according to God’s sovereign will in our life and we are steadfast in trusting Him in midst of our problems, the result of all the pain and suffering that we experienced will make us strong, just like the aroma and delicious taste of the finished cake.

Love's Many Faces

2007-07-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

let the rain fall once again,
and let it drench my tired heart
with love to ease the pain.
let the archer swing his bow,
let be me the arrow to catch
the shooting start that will soon fade

Love's Warmth

2007-07-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

Whether iron, tin or copper,
My warmth is sufficient,
To liquefy even the hardest of metals,
Because the glow that my heart kindles
Has grown into a fire forever within.

The Gate at the End of A Relationship

2007-06-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

Each and every one of our relationships must come to an end – sooner or later. Whether, it is done naturally through passing away of the loved ones or through other means that separate two apart. Along the way, the relationship has its own battles, joys and strives. There are smiles and laughs, tears and sorrows. There are broken promises, faithful companionship and joyful journey together. Some can last a lifetime while others are only short lived.

Whatever it may bring us, don’t try to kid ourselves with the thought that we can do as we please all the while; for someday, our journey together will bring us to a gate – a gate at the end of a relationship. Whether we like it or not, the gate will open for us, and we will go on our separate ways. Here at this gate, we will have to face the consequences of what we have done along the way.

So, remember what has your friend been to you, what have her smile and companionship brought to you. Let’s act on the square and do what is right. So at the gate at the end of the relationship, surely you will receive the reward. Here at this gate, you will be able to look at her straight in the eye and let your voice with sincerity right :”good bye, my friend, good bye my love,” as on your own separate ways you go.

The Little Seed

2007-06-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

In the beginning, I could never tell how you were going to be. But the sower knew exactly what he was doing. To me, it was just like dropping a seed in the ground and watching it disappear before your very eyes. And yet, this is how you started your new life - as a seed in a fertile soil. It grew and became a small shoot in the abundance of love and joy. Discipline, commitment and compassion became inseparable with your upbringing. In time, your small shoot soared to the sky.

You started to take deeper roots in the ground. And there, I watched you grew and grew. You were planted in the grounds of the spring of the living water, so there was no difficulty for you of finding this precious source of life. And you were a thirsty little one. You drank and drank and drank the water from the spring..

At times, I watched you struggling in the midst of tempest. It was so heart rendering seeing you trying to make a valiant attempt to survive. But your determination was beyond expectation.

So the small shoot grew taller and bigger. With the growth, the leaves sprouted. Time would come when you would be ready for pruning. You would be called the Great Shady Tree, because of your many branches and lush leaves. In time, you would provide shelter for the wayfarers who wanted to rest in their journey home. They would take cover under you from the relentless storm and the scorching sunlight.

You were nurtured with all kinds of fertilizers – love, faith, hope, discipline, virtue and responsibility. Your branches grew bigger and stronger by the day. You became the strongest of all trees. And yet you were willing to sacrifice yourself for many. You were willing to let them cut your branches off to build a place of refuge for the wanderers. But, they did not stay away from you; in fact, they wanted to be as close to you as possible because of your distinguished and prominent shade.

While they were taking shelter under you, they found the spring of water that welled from within the grounds where you stood – the real cause of your growth. The same water from the spring that had given you life would also do the same to them.

When they cut back parts of you, you were silent. You were prepared to go through all the pruning, so that you could be in better shape and be fruitful. That’s right, you wanted to be fruitful – bearing sweet, savory, and nutritious fruits.

That’s what you were, just a little seed. But that little seed has now transformed into a shady fruitful big old tree. Now, you stand sturdy, majestic and magnificent. You bear fruits as well as provide wood from your branches, and shelter for the weary. You whisper the secret in each of the breeze that comes upon you so that other trees can learn something from you. Secret of your success : the spring of the living water.

Make Us A Bridge Builder

2007-06-20T00:29:00.000-07:00

God, give us men! a time like this demands - men of valor who stand between the gap to usher in love from one side to the other. And God, I pray, I may be one.

God, give us men! a time like this demands - men of integrity who build bridge across so others can trek the same path and arrive at that place where peace and joy abound. And God, I pray, I may be one.

God, give us men! a time like this demands - men of great heart and ready hands who willingly become vessels of blessings so that others can embark on their journey to a place where their aches and pains are administered to with the balm of healing. And God, I pray, I may be one.

God, I pray that I may be one of those :
who show their love by their actions who trample self beneath them and serve others in public duty who love the truth and pass it onto others : Men of light and loyal breeding who take the extra steps and make the extra efforts in order that the bridge may be built.

God, give us bridge builders! Men of skill and purest intention who possess a strong desire to work to the end until that last brick is placed properly in order that the bridge may be completed ? a bridge of hope, faith and love. And God, I pray, I may be one.

Longing

2007-06-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

I have ceased to look any further
For things or people I tried to fill my life with
I used to think they would make me better
But I learned it was all just a myth

My deep yearning could not be appeased
By things or people such as these
The only One who could satisfy:
My Maker, so my heart and soul now testify

The Skeptic

2007-06-15T03:04:00.000-07:00

He is the one who is not sure of anything. He claims that he does not know and yet he is not certain whether he really does not know. He thinks he may know something, but he really is not sure if he knows. He is known as the ultimate anxious doubter.

The skeptic maintains that there is really no altruism in the world and that every one acts out of selfish motives, or maybe, he says. So, if he sees something good is being done by somebody else, he questions the action. Even if he himself is the one who does the action, he doubts for there are hidden motives that he believes that are yet to be uncovered from within him. Yes, he is the ultimate anxious doubter, the skeptic.

The skeptic maintains that there is no knowledge that could be known for certain. He questions the moral and religious truths. He says every truth is relative and nothing indeed is absolute. Therefore, he suspends judgment on just about anything. He seeks for a complete calmness of the soul by maintaining skepticism. He does not believe in you, he does not believe in himself. But it’s ok, he does not really believe in himself either, so he may believe in you or me after all.

Think

2007-06-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

Think about our mind. Yours and mine! Think about the complexity – the unfathomable complexity of a living supercomputer that consists of billions of neurons, just like computer chips. Imagine having a hundred billion of these computer chips inside our head!

Think about our mind. Yours and mine! Marvel at the unimaginable complexity of it all! These neurons – a hundred billions in number – try to make connections with each other and there are one quadrillion of these connections in each brain! It rivals the number of stars and galaxies in the universe by sending messages at a speed of less than one-thousandth of a second.

So next time, you are working at your computer, take a moment to think about the living computers you possess within your brain. These fabulous living machines are not limited by electricity and are always turned on whether you are awake or asleep and you need no manuals to crank it!

It is You!

2007-06-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for people around you that are the kind of people you like, you do not need to get out of town to do it and start a long quest for nice folks. You will find that people everywhere are the same – meaning that they are different from you. You will never find them, so you might as well discontinue your search. No one can meet our highest expectation. There is no one character around that will suit the person of our dreams.

If you are looking for people around you that are the kind of people you like, you will simply have to look again around you for those people are already there with you. But you have to firstly change your attitude. Real people are no where near the substances of dreams and fairy tales. So, while you are looking around you, just shed that attitude that you can only be happy if you meet those people in your dreams, for your neighbor can make you happy, too, once your can accept his flaws. So, it is not the people around you, it is you!