A Prayer for Peace

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
 Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
 where there is injury, pardon; 
where there is doubt, faith;
 where there is despair, hope; 
where there is darkness, light;
 where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

A Day Well Spent

Optimal October 2,2017

11:55pm

Today is one of those days I wish I had 5 hours more.

So many things in my to do list that barely got even a dent.

Hmmmm…do I declare it a wasted day?

Hearing the girls singing with much gusto in the next room after our goodnights seems to be something good!

The little one telling me about her wish…with a but at the beginning…”only if it is according to God’s will” wants to have a complete set of  Frozen( the Movie) dolls.

Tells me she got her priorities on track.

Marina dutifully reminding her sister to obey first before complaining because it is part of the commandments to children…warms my heart and cools my almost always impatient top.

A day well spent is when both the pursuits of academics are balanced off with the condition of the heart and the requirements of the home and all the members in it. Common and individual goals hand in hand, not letting go or giving up on any.

I have learned to use one word instructions than to give long winding instructions after the 3^rd attempt to make them do what I am asking them.

The advise is working! Hurrah!

So, yes, even if it was a challenge to count my blessings to number ten…I declare it was a day well spent!

The small note on my bed from small fingers is evidence to such wonderful blessings that keep my arms full every time we need our hugs.

So…I should not take my TO DO LIST so seriously…after all, if I want to earn my angel wings…I have to take my temporal accomplishments with a grain of salt…and not take my stature as a leader or a teacher too heavily..

Like angels…they can fly because they do not have much ego or pride to weigh them down too much.

OPTIMUS PRIME I AM

Optimal October

10:55pm

I was about to check my white board on the adjective I put for my October schedule diary, but, I hesitated.

Optimal popped out as I began typing this blog.

Sounds like Optimus Prime…hmmm.

Optimal it is.

Highly favorable.

Desirable!

Yes!

I claim this month to be the most auspicious month ever!

Indeed, this is a month of positive transformations!

Thank you God!

Thank you!

Tonight, I want to focus my thoughts on the following challenging lines:

…when we separate, we confuse. When we simply distinguish, we clarify. And when we clarify, we can integrate.(J.Jason)

I am pulling it out from the context that I read it.

Let me see if I can arrive at a pleasant understanding of it.

When we separate we confuse.

When we distinguish we clarify.

When we clarify, we can integrate.

Can these concepts be applied to any idea or situations?

Let us see.

Recently, a person close to me said, we are like oil and water. We cannot mix.

That being so…it does not mean that we have to be at odds or butt heads all the time. We can agree to complement and enrich each other’s lives.

We can agree to disagree if we can…but simply avoid hot button issues where we know where each other stands.

We have to avoid rubbing each other the wrong way, for by now, we know how the other ticks.

Thus, the best way that we can enrich each other is to be there for each other when one needs our help.

We should always be there to help.

Nothing more or less than the intent to help.

Not on how we want to help…but how the person needs our help.

Trouble often arises when we dictate on the person in need of our help how we wish to help.

Sometimes, our help is not needed actually…but just our listening ear or presence.

Thus, when people need money from me…it is either, I give what I am ready to lose…or really explain my financial situation and tell the person this is how I can help.

If it is not taken or appreciated…then, I dust of my hands and pray for the other person.

Usually, spiritual gifts are most noble and effective.

Sometimes, cannot be seen at once…but in the long run more helpful.

CLARIFYING our capacity to help and then INTEGRATING in our thoughts and hearts the person’s need that with prayer and best wishes and hopes, everything will fall into place.

At times, the tendency to exclude or remove from our midst or thoughts or intents the person who needs our help…is a very comfortable place for us…out of sight, out of mind.

But, when we share in the person’s situation by praying for it earnestly and wholeheartedly…we can safely say that we have integrated his/her life at the most vulnerable point with our own journey.

Easier said…than done.

But with the right attitude and intent…not impossible.

Exclusion is when we absolutely separate one from another like oil and water. It can sometimes justify our tendency to be minimalists. Integration is when we understand that one is distinct from the other but they are nevertheless reconcilable and is actually ordered to one another. They are meant to complement and enrich one another. (J.Jason)