Heart-Print

For quite sometime now I have been casually wearing a light gray round-neck t-shirt.

I like its soft cotton cloth that fits me just perfectly and the general comfort I feel every time I wear it.

But going unnoticed to me for quite some time already was the ostensive printing in front that says “Property of JESUS eternally”.

Oops.

As soon as I became aware of this print-content, I immediately became consciously worried about the times I have worn it, hopefully not on occasions when my behavior would have not been fit nor even was a tiny bit representative of its message. It is a shame to be in that ironic position. It would have been like an environmentalist seen throwing trashes into a living river or a police in uniform red-handedly caught committing a crime. My bad.

Come to think of it. More than what we can visually bannered ourselves to be, it is what we believe ourselves to be that will eventually be seen and recognized by those people around us. We can profess ourselves to be Christians but if Christ is not really inside us, then we are only fooling ourselves. If we declare that we love others yet hardly lift a finger, spare a minute, or even affirmed other persons in need, then who are we kidding? We can hang a make-believe halo over our head to be seen by all, but only the hidden halo over our good deeds gets the merit of grace in heaven.

I am a Catholic and it gives me embarrassment in myself that, in the not so distant past, I was questioning some Catholic doctrines and traditions without really exerting effort to research, read and comprehend them. I just based my opinions on my uninformed understanding and on flippant hearsays and that was it. Yes, I was a typical bumper-sticker Catholic before and only the grace of God keeps shaking me back to a deep longing to discover the depth and richness of Catholicism. Just like most Catholics, I have a long, long and really long way to go and I will most certainly not finish them all during my lifetime. But if this transitional spiritual venture means learning to appreciate more the beauty of being in the one, holy, catholic (meaning “universal”) and apostolic church of God (CCC 811-848), then I will embrace it wholeheartedly and practice it with piety and fortitude, full of hope and energized by prayer.

We simply can not afford to be a nominal Catholic anymore, that is a Catholic by name alone.

Because not like my t-shirt printing, our faith has been printed by God in each one of our hearts.

We must learn to respond to its calling, to learn it, to live it, to love it and to share it to others as well.

God bless.

Intrinsic

It was one of days when being a childhood fan of “The Price is Right” game show would have been put into good used. I stared closely at the exquisite antique looking wooden vase at the entrance door of a bedroom.

It all started when my colleagues and I were invited by one of the factory owner to have a barbecue-party in his house. The house located in one of the plush subdivisions just outside the city of Guangzhou. And knowing China for vertical habitats for its people, it was easy to surmise that owning such a single detached 3-floored house inside a 500 meter square lot should have cost him a fortune.

“Oh, around 4 million yuan,” James, the rich owner, replied when curiosity got the better of me.

My gosh, that would be 28 million pesos. I nearly fainted but was only prevailed upon by my determined self not to break a thing inside or else risk losing my months of salary to repay it. He invited us for a quick tour around. We gladly obliged lest we get lost inside by ourselves. Just kidding, he provided each of us with our own maps for direction. Still kidding.

And then came the trivia. There it is resting on top of a shoulder-high podium under a single spotlight that reflects the light on its shiny surface. There is the vase.

James asked us how much we think it is worth. I recalled, at the back of my mind, all the expensive decorations and adornments that I have seen so far inside his property after which I concluded only one thing in mind. It should cost lot.

Smugly I quipped, “Uhm…at least 8,000 yuan.” (That’s about 56,000 pesos)

To which he replied with a grin,”200 yuan from a Guangzhou local shop.” (That’s a reasonable price equivalent of 1,400 pesos)

Another true story on a different time and on the other side of the globe, one Susan McCullen of Nashville Tennessee, made a discovery amongst smashed and thrown items on a trash bin. She saw a golden edge of a frame and pulled out an interesting watercolor artwork. Curious at her find, she checked and found out that it was made by a New Orleans artist in 1907 called the Felucca Capri which the artist priced at $75 nearly a century ago. It eventually was sold for more than $8,000 (360,000 pesos) on an auction site.

What do these two contrasting situations teach us?

The obvious.

The beautifully crafted vase is still less worthy even if surrounded with precious things and put inside a very expensive area for display. On the other hand, the artwork surrounded by trashes was worth much more than the impressions it made to passers-by.

How many rich persons have we often heard or read about who confessed to feeling empty and worthless despite the glittering golds at their disposal? Then how many poor persons do we know who are able to sleep well and are in constant smile with positive outlook in their lives despite working hard to even just get the next decent meal for their family.

Their true values were in their individual selves.

Not from things beside them.

Not from materials in front of them.

Definitely not what surrounds them.

Nothing external.

Their individual worth comes within.

Uninfluenced.

Unchanged.

Intrinsic.

Now for a little refresher, please take a look at the person in your mirror.

So how much do you think that person in the mirror is worth?

Not quite sure yet?

Take Romans 5:8 – “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

We are priceless in His eyes and are worth dying for in order to be saved.

We are treasures, not trash.

Wealth, not waste

Gold cache, not garbage

Expensive silver, not litter.

Isn’t it about time we live according to our true worth as well?

God bless.

The Fruits of Believing

It has been two weeks since the Los Angeles Lakers were crowned the 2009 NBA champions.

Rewinding to the pivotal Game 4 of their series with the Orlando Magic, Derek Fisher, the Lakers returning veteran guard, were hitting bricks and posts throughout the game, including 5 misses out of 5 tries from the 3 point area. And this was not a one-time game low for him. All through the play-offs, he was oftentimes criticized for being too old or too slow against younger opposing guards. Critics pounced on him every time his guarded opponent scores while he endlessly seems to struggle on his side of the court. Nothing was working for him in the past weeks or so.

Actually, his critics are quite right in their thinking.
Let us consider his shooting statistics in the previous 3 games.

Game 1 : 4 shots in 6 attempts for 9 points
Game 2 : 4 shots in 9 attempts for 12 points
Game 3 : 4 shots in 9 attempts for 9 points

Not a reliable veteran’s proud moments.
More like a struggle, a slump in any basketball afficionado’s dictionary.

And then came the dying seconds of Game 4 where his team was down by 3 points. He pulled up for his sixth three-point attempt of the game and the ball swished the net. The game went overtime. In the closing seconds of overtime, he went up again for another three point attempt that swished the net again, giving his team the lead which propelled them to their third win and the enviable position of going up 3-1 in their Best of 7 series. Game 5, afterwards, proved to be the culmination of their years of team re-building and their quest for the world trophy.

When interviewed how he did it, Derek Fisher, has only a few words to say. “Faith and confidence. My team-mates believe in me. My coach believe in me.”, his tired yet over-joy voice went. “I like to step into those threes and even though I wasn’t making them earlier, I felt like I can do that.”, as he mused what was going on inside his head at the time of making the first shot.

Derek Fisher’s Game 4 statistics: 5 shots out of 11 attempts for 12 points.

If you ask me, it is still not a reliable veteran’s shining moment.
But he redeemed himself with 2 memorable shots of the series.

He believed in himself.
His team-mates believed in him.
His coach believed in him.

And so he reaped the fruit of believing.
He now joins his team on top of the basketball world, again, for his career fourth time.

To see is to believe. Nope.
To believe is to see it through.

May we all keep on believing in ourselves to be good, to do good and to be for good.
The fruit of this belief is better and more lasting than any known basketball dynasty.
The fruit of this belief is eternity.

God bless.