WHY ARE ROSES RED?

A Journey through Cancer
By Muffet Dolar Villegas
April 4,2008

Why are the Roses Red?

God has made everything beautiful in its time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)

Have you ever been asked by a child, “Why are the roses red?” Or, “Why is the sky blue?”
Under the clear blue April skies are gardens and hills teeming with vibrant hues. Hibiscus in different colors are in full bloom all year round but appear brighter and more generous during summer.
The radiant yellow, red, pink and orange colors of heleconias which abound our city and nearby towns are treasured by tourists.
This morning, I painted the lilies in the pond in front of Greyhound 101 FM radio where I work. The pale yellows, light pink, magenta and purple petals bloom profusely as they greet the morning light.

We are surrounded by colors everyday, especially during summer. But do we know where does color come from?
Most objects get their colors from the light shining on them. They absorb some wavelengths of light and reflect others or in simple terms, the colors that we see are the mixture of what they like to absorb and what they discard.
Light is needed to see an object, except when the object has light itself. Without the light, the object is black. Why is the object black? Because it absorbs the light and it gives nothing back.
According to internet sources, “the real magic of color happens within us. We perceive different wavelengths of light as corresponding to different colors, and when you add together all the colors that an object reflect in the correct proportions, you get the color we see for that object.”
Therefore, without us, who are observers, those reflected wavelengths of light are no more than mere reflections. The source said that a great deal of our color perception is psychological. The wavelengths reflected or absorbed with our own interpretations are the colors we see in a tree with lush green leaves and other things.
I use colors in my palette often and I marvel at the One who is the author of light, flowers, trees, oceans and everything around us. God made all these beautiful things, but their beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
Colors are not colors without us. Everyday you wake up, think of an array of colors you love to see and you will see them in their most vibrant hues.

ROLLERCOASTER RIDE!

A Journey through cancer
By Muffet Dolar Villegas
March 30,2008
God and Me in a Rollercoaster Ride

It has been three years of riding in a roller coaster world of cancer with God. If others are eager to know their lotto numbers result, cancer warriors are dying to know their number in the cancer marker range. I’m not good in numbers and always had difficulty in math and statistics, but now, numbers became very important to me. Our life seems to be measured by numbers.
I just received my latest breast cancer marker result and its within normal range of 5 inside the laboratory of Cebu cancer Institute. I was happy like a child, telling my husband that we had to celebrate and thank God for answered prayers.
But the next day, other results of scans were not good, like my uterus needs more follow up scans within few days time. There will be more challenges to face in the coming months. I like to be depressed and cry, which I did for a short time, but I know God is healing me. Nothing can change that.
The life of a cancer warrior is like riding in a roller coaster. Days and weeks can fly so fast that you can’t keep track of them, in other times they crawl, especially during various medical treatment and you want the days to be over. In darkest nights you feel like you are falling, just falling endlessly. You try to hang on, grasp anything or hold on to anything but your hands are merely grasping in the air. You laugh today and cry tomorrow. There were tears mingled with laughters.
In the hallways and clinics and treatment rooms, a mixture of emotions were written in many faces. Colorful bandanas wrapped my friends’ bald heads. Absent eyelashes seemed to make us shy, not really wanting to meet scrutinizing eyes. But deep within us, our hearts are crying out for hope and love, and faith that moves mountains.
There are many things I want to do, that if life is really that short, may I know which is most precious to please my God?
I always love to play over my radio program that song by Gorge Strait entitled, “I saw God today”. Actually, God’s fingerprints are all over us and around us. We see Him in flowers and all the beautiful things He made. You can touch Him through that little baby you are holding. Life is a gift. You want to know if God is real? His greatest miracle is you.
Life of a cancer warrior maybe tough, but the real excitement is living each day filled with His miracles and graces. You can see God everyday. He is everywhere. You can see Him in each flower that blooms, in every moonrise, sunrise and sunsets. He leaves His fingerprints in every thing.