Unexpected Gift - Unexpected Gratefulness

Got an early phone call from somebody who needs an interpreter. Somebody will be delivering a baby soon and she need an interpreter.

I was told that a Filipina in the area had been working as interpreter and she told me to give her number to her. I am in contact with this Filipina through Facebook so i send the number to her and just leave them to talk.

In the afternoon, while preparing for my mass, I was informed that somebody is looking for me. She introduced herself and said thank you for the help and handed me a box of goodies.

Unexpected gift - unexpected goodness - unexpectedly delicious

A walk to remember

It was a fine day and I have been looking forward for a long walk in Tanesashi beach beach area here in Hachinohe. I brought onigi and a bottled water with my and drive to the  area. The parking area was already full of cars but i manage to find a good place.

Since I always love the beach I said to myself that I would one day walk the beach area near my place. I walked for an hour taking my time to appreciate the rock formations, the sound the waves and the fresh breeze that the gentle weather gave that day. I reach an area where there is beach for swimming and met some young guys enjoying the winter cold sea. Their laugher is priceless. 

my best shot

My thoughts on the Parable of the Good Samaritan

My theological training is shaped by see-judge-act pattern of theologizing. See- Judge-Act is asking us to see or review concrete situations, form judgement  in the light of a guiding principle (the Gospel values) and thirdly,  decides what in the circumstances can and should be done to the situation based on the guiding principles. See-Judge-Act does not only engages us to think rather to act on a concrete situation using the values of the Gospel.

Reading through the parable of the Good Samaritan, I could see that the emphasis of the story is not only on helping us determine whom we are to view as our neighbour and to whom we are to show our love, rather it teaches us how to concretely respond to the situation with compassion. Seeing through the responses of the priest, levite and the Samaritan, we could see that the samaritan response show this three fold aspect of theologising by seeing ("he saw him") ,  "moved with pity" and he took action to express his compassion and assist the injured man. The sequence of seeing, having compassion and acting is common in the gospel. In Luke's Gospel, when Jesus saw the "woman weeping at the death of her only son, he had compassion for her and brought her son to life" ( Lk. 7:13) This is likewise seen in the story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15:20, when the father "saw" his son from afar…..he had compassion for him. And he ran and embraced him."  

The parable of the good Samaritan then encourages us to act with compassion on the people especially those who are in need, those that need care and those who forgiveness. The call to love God and to love others as we love ourselves is not only a law that written in the Bible or this is thought in our catechism classes, rather this is a law that is written in our hearts. It is a law that is part of our being human and as sons and daughters of God.  that is why i don't see any reason why are we cannot fulfil this law.

The Pain of life, is pure Salt

Sharing this beautiful story of how we cope up with pain 

The old Master instructed the unhappy young lady to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the Master asked. “Very bad” Said the lady.

The Master then asked the young lady to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young lady’s chin, the Master asked, “How does it taste?” “Good!” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the Master. “No,” said the young lady.

The Master said, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the ‘pain’ depends on the container we put it into.

So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things…..

“Stop being a glass. Become a lake!”

Holiness and Truth

"Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you. " Mt. 7:6


"What can pearls and narrow gates teach us about God's truth and holiness? In the ancient world pearls were of very great value and were even considered priceless. They were worn as prized jewels to make a person appear more beautiful and magnificent to behold. Holiness, likewise, is a very precious jewel that radiates the beauty of God's truth, goodness, and glory. God offers us the precious gift of his holiness so that we may radiate the splendor of his truth and goodness in the way we think, speak, act, and treat others. We can reject or ignore this great gift, or worse yet, we can drag it through the mud of sinful behavior or throw it away completely. "

Are we radiating the goodness of God that is instill in us? 

TIME......

Time.....

Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.

Samuel Ullman 

Spiritual, Feelings, Become

Frustration do come. Dealing with it is another problem. Ignore? that's easy. Facing it with anger? No. Not my style. 

 People are like glasses, they are easily broken, fragile. Open minded. I have too much of that. Maybe it's high time to talk face to face. I cannot just go on like this, and I cannot let you go on like this. 

“Excessive caution destroys the soul and the heart, because living is an act of courage, and an act of courage is always an act of love.” 

― Paulo Coelho

It's love that binds us, not hate not misunderstanding . And time will come we just accept each others differences and live with. 

Last Night Thoughs

So Much

So much to think, so much many things to do. losing ones mind to the humdrums of everyday. waking up, eating, sleeping,. what a life. Until one day one something happen and all that you believe perfect and true just crumble right in front of you. Lost. 

What make sense now?

What is has meaning?

Let go. Ignore.  So much to think, So many things to do.