i was once asked by a friend of mine on how long did chuck (my boyfriend) courted me? Then it occured to me that, though in our culture, courtship is something important, i realized that chuck never did court me. that minute i re-asses why did my boyfriend for seven years did not court me? was i that aggressive? am i sending the 'wrong' kind of messages towards the male species? After a few minutes i figured out that it's been so long since i was single that i have already forgotten the principles i am living for, when i was in the 'dating arena'. one funny thing that i remembered back then is the issue on 'ligaw', once there was a friend of mine who labels her self as somebody 'mega conservative' so conservative that she let's a guy court her for 4 years (all through out our college years) and that includes the common dating rituals (eg. hatid sa bahay, sundo sa bahay, libreng lunch, snack, minsan pati barkada niya, flowers, chocolates and of course tons and tons of 'papuri' from the guy e.g ang ganda mo, bagay sa iyo earrings mo and the likes). finally i had the perfect oppurtunity to ask her why that long? why four years? and then she answered with out blinking 'because we want to get to know each other'. yeah right! like that's gonna happen! hah! get to know each other better, come on! that is the most hillarious statement i have heard that year. let's try to disect this matter so that we can understand it better. point number one. 'ligaw' literally means ligaw, mislead. every guy you know will mislead you on this stage because he would only put his best foot forward so that you would give your 'matamis na oo'. it's like allowing him to lure you. hah! talk about submission. point number two. flowers. flowers. more flowers! i asked a couple of people what does flowers mean? what does it signify? they said it represents sweetness, love and the best part is the color and the type of flower has meanings too. if you try to disect this you would ask your self, is there a book that contains all of this? like da vinci code or something? now here is my wrath, flowers are the reproductive organs of all plants. if that is the case men are giving the women they claim to love or like 'vaginas' of plants. iw. gross. point number three. chocolates! who doesn't want it? but the thing is chocolates has endorphines or happy hormones that takes effect when you eat it. *thesame reason why when your sad people would advice you to eat choco ice cream so that you will feel good) so, while eating you will be thinking of the guy who gave it to you, thus, you will feel good about the guy. shucks! now, you question me on what to ask for a guy? nothing. women are intelligent. we don't have to be lured into relationships. don't even begin to think that i am cheap (and so what if i am?), it is just that i truly believe that if the guy was delivered by Christ into your life, no amount of luring, no type/kind or color of flower, no brand of chocolate is needed to prove to a woman that you will do her good, that she will grow in all aspects of her life and that you will walk hand and hand facing God. why do you have to complicate your life by taking charge and being the captain of the team who would go out and look for the guy whom you think, in your judgement would 'complete you'.why settle for somebody who is presently there when you can have somebody who has the 'best quality'. and don't even begin to tell me that is impossible, it is not, with god nothing is impossible. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. (and i am talking, again, about GOD)If you can't even begin to comprehend these verse i dont think your ready to fall in love yet.
One bad thing about finding your passion at an early age is that it EXPENDS you. Now here is the good part, in the country like the Philippines, education if an opportunity, it is never a right. What I fear is for these kids is to continually live in a lie that they are in school to get their diplomas. Hell NO. Students are not in school for the diploma they are in school because they need to learn. And I mean NEED. Nursing students for example are very open about the fact that they took nursing as a course because they want to go abroad…now that is motivation (try to recite this in a very sarcastic mood) This is daunting, for months I have been having problems with my students, I am having the biggest predicament of butchering their old beliefs and assisting them in rebuilding a new one, which includes nationalism, obedience, humility, inquisitiveness and industry. All my life I wanted to be an effective teacher but now I realize that for me to be an exceptional one- I must be challenged. I must be motivated. I must be provoked. I wish that I would be.
In my case, teaching is definitely my passion but what pains me is the fact that it is but the HARDEST thing to do in the universe.
I, in fact sometimes wish that I would just be a average, normal, mediocre professor. When I say average, normal, mediocre, you know the type, the ones who gets in and out of the classroom with no strings attached.
A teacher who does not care if the student in front of her would pass or fail and worst an Educator who does not give a hell care on the fact that the effort being exerted by these kids cannot and will never be represented by numbers.
Let me elaborate my pains as a teacher-
This semester.
A well-known author and apologist, C. S. Lewis is best known by the public as the author of the seven volume series 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.
Narnia is an imaginary world visited by children from this world. Obviously Lewis has two major reason in writing Narnia: to entertain the readers and to suggest parallelism of the Christian faith.
CS Lewis has been successful in using fiction to open peoples' hearts in accepting Christ as their Savior because he first entertains the audience with a wonderful story. The Chronicles tell of the different adventures of English children as they visit the kingdom of Narnia and then talks about their love for the lion Aslan.
Aslan, is the "the son of the Emperor over Sea," can be compared to this Jesus Christ.
Lewis during his childhood always favored fairy tales and fantasies and as an adult, he came to a decision to write one. And so began The Chronicles of Narnia. Instead of planning to write a fictional book that succeeded in using apologetics, it is quite obvious that Lewis presented the "facet" of Christianity "as with Aslan”.
I have read in one interview with Walter Hooper (C. S. Lewis' biographer) he describes Lewis as being the most religious man he ever met. For this reason, no matter what Lewis wrote, his religion would greatly impact all of his works. If religion would be the correct term to use.
Even though Christian symbolism can be found in The Chronicles, I believe that Lewis recognized the importance of getting "past those watchful eyes" these are people who are not open to the beliefs of Christianity because they were told they should believe it.
But how should Lewis go about getting past those who are not open to the idea of Christianity? He believed that the best way to do this was to present it in a fictional world, a world in which it would be easier to accept.
The readers grows to love Aslan and everything that he symbolizes; in fact they love him so much that they might begin wishing for someone like Aslan in this world. After finding this love for Aslan, they will ideally transfer that love to Christ when presented with the Gospel later in life.
That saddest part is that The Chronicles of Narnia are successful because many readers do not realize the resemblance of Aslan to Jesus Christ.
Even though Christian themes are present, the Chronicles are NOT dependent on them. For this reason, "the Narnian stories have been so successful in getting into the bloodstream of the secular world".
But what I remember strongly about Lewis is this article in a magazine about a girl asking what is Aslan’s real name was, Lewis answered her with this-
‘As to Aslan's real name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who -
1. Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas.
2. Said he was the son of the great Emperor.
3. Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people.
4. Came to life again.
5. Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb....
Don't you really know His real name. Think it over and let me know your answer!’[*].
When Lewis' readers realize who is Aslan in the real world, they will find out that his true name is Jesus Christ.
And when this happens, Lewis is successful at opening a person's heart to accepting Christianity.
C. S. Lewis has been credited in writing some of the most well-known books on Christian apologetics, also he has been successful in writing fictional books, books that are appealing to both Christians and non-Christians.
Although there are many debates as to whether Lewis should use fairy tales to share the Gospel, it is evident that he is successful in doing so because of his strengths as a good story teller.
[*] Dorsett, Lyle W. and Marjorie Lamp Mead, eds. C. S. Lewis Letters to Children. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985.
You are what you wear is perhaps the biggest lie I have ever heard. An alarming thought cross through my mind as I rode the PVP liner last.
I have long been observing a lot of people wearing items of Ernesto Guevara dela Serna, Che Guevara for the common people, the funny thingjust hit me. After his deceitful death in 1967 Che has obdurately refuse to fade in the night. Instead the man became an icon- a symbol of irony.
These days his enchanting revolutionary image- beret, fully clad, bearded and blazingly defiant eyes has made into a million shirts, caps, pendants, mugs and other items for everyday commerce.
The irony comes in with this concept, the once capitalisms arch-foes is now one of its most successful product, and Mr. dela Serna just like Marilyn, Elvis and the Sex Pistols has become pop culture shorthand.
I am just really sad that most young people today wear him as though they really ‘bought’ him. I just feel that they would have at least demonstrated an effort to get to know the man who was a very conflicted figure in world history. But that is how this generation works. All for image.
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few
Finally after years of hibernation here I am again posting…
To be honest, I grew tired of blogs.
First, almost everybody has one.
Second, people tend to use to reflect their self consumption.
Third and the biggest reason why I stopped is because I get misinterpreted.
Actually di lang naman sa blog, even in real life.
They look at me as though I am different (in an eerie way).
I grew tired of the reaction and I was fed up. So I decided to stop writing my point of views and just let my blog rot.
Then a friend of mine told me that he saw my guestbook and it has a bunch of good comment, I’ve read it and good was the under statement of the year. It was sincere.
Then I grasp the real thought of the phrase ‘against the flow’. While the rest of the world approves of rudeness, shrewdness and neglect-
I disagree.
While the world approves of messianic complex, premarital sex, alcohol, drugs and cult-ship-
I disapprove.
While MTV exploits the concept of classical conditioning-
I have been battling subconscious yet superficial realities being pioneered by these monsters!
The only reason why I am misunderstood is because my standard is not the WORLDS standard.
In a world where excuses is like dung, in a society where people construct the reality of dire as something excellent, in a place where words like sincere, honest, humble and grounded lost its meaning, It is hard to live. It’s so hard to keep on striving for people/students to believe into something when they choose to just succumb to everything peripheral.
But just like what Angela Monet said those who danced where thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.
So what’s my point? Im going to write again
Why was I unreachable these past few days?
Because I was busy playing trivia.
But in reality I am quite not so convince on the phrase ‘playing trivia’.
While playing trivia my thirst for knowledge is quenched.
Most of my friends find this peculiar. For them something trivial is just a waste of brain space and time.
I on the other hand disagree.
Most people sees trivia as a term trivia is widely used to refer to tidbits of unimportant information, but it can also mean general knowledge. How can a piece of history be unimportant? How can we consider a person who had made a major discovery that will improve our way of living be treated with less worth. Hmmm…
If this is the way we treat trivia it does reflect our way of living.
How many students whom I know go to school not to learn but to get their diploma? I can give them fancy papers with the word diploma if they want it so much.
How many parents whom I know encourage their children to take a course with the sole purpose of pressing them to go abroad just because it is what the media said is the trend.
No wonder the country is a mess.
Not only do we not recognize our national identity we also try to give a placebo on our understanding on the notion of triviality.
