Does It Hurt?

One sunny afternoon, I was watching two kites flying while I was floating leisurely on the water at the beach. The summer breeze gently carried off the kites while the two boys at the distance tugged at the strings once in a while. The little pressure made the kites soared higher and higher above the coconut tree tops. As the boy of the black kite failed to pull the string, the kite slowly came down to the ground, while the blue one soared higher as its master took meticulous attention by applying the right amount of pressure on the string. Sometimes God has to pull us back a little to make us soar higher to fulfill His plans. The tugging hurts, but the pressure is needed to drive us closer to Him. His ways are strange but perfect. He is always on time. His rapt attention is on every detail of our existence. When at times we go slack and careless, He draws nearer. God sees to it that we walk on the right path, calling our attention His way. Oftentimes we resent the process and wrestle with Him and ran away. There were times that we didn’t want anything to do with Him. During storms and trials that we go through, we doubt His existence. But what we think does not change the fact that He is God, and we are puny little humans. Some talented, gifted individuals mock His existence. They think that they are smarter because of their little abilities and meager knowledge compared to their Creator. Others boast of their power and their wealth forgetting the truth that they were mere stewards of those privileges. Do you hurt today? Do you think that your Master pulled you a little harder this time? Wait and know that He knows what is best for you.

Patience

There was once man who asked his friend to pray to God that he would possess the virtue of patience. The friend prayed to God as the young man was listening. He said, “God, please give my friend problems today and tomorrow and more to come.” The young man was shocked and said, “why are you praying that way? “ and his friend said, “ That’s the only way for you to learn patience.” What makes us patient? A day can hardly be perfect. Big problems and small ones seem to be part of our daily web. We don’t have to find them, they come like rain or even as strong as a storm. It is hard to welcome them, but whether we like it or not they seem to be intertwined in our lives like light and shadows. Some catch you in the middle of the day, like you were just so happy you received your bonus, and here you have a cart full of groceries. You are standing in a long queue of people in a grocery store, and suddenly the cashier ran out of change and goes to another cashier. She stays there a moment longer, unmindful of the others waiting, and while they are exchanging money, they also exchange their life stories. You couldn’t tell whether it is your stomach growling or your temper. Everyday, you have to wait for a public transportation to go to work. Finally an easy ride comes (sometimes not so easy to ride)and no one moves to give you a space but you have to literally crawl to the farthest seat between the knees of other passengers. Those who were ahead of you wanted to have an easy access to the door when they go out so no one cared if you were having a hard time. It is rare to find those who are well-bred individuals who move and shorten your ordeal. Then you wish that at least there should be notices plastered in all public utility vehicles reminding people of good manners and a little bit of kindness. Motorists have the same problems with others like them, our egos and selfishness surface when we are exposed to challenging real-life experiences. Other grueling circumstance is when you are tested during a long and tedious process of procuring documents in public or private offices and you had to read minds why it takes so long. When typhoons come you had to get used to floods and brownouts. These are irritants that stretch our patience to its limits. You had to pat your back if you survive the day without cursing someone. But Thomas Jefferson says that “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” Patience is a virtue because it is sometimes impossible to attain.

Those Angry Birds

Have you heard of Angry Birds? If you have not, then you lost touch of the kid’s world. A little boy was crying last week because his mama had enough of angry birds stuff. When the concept of angry bird was created in 2009 by a Finnish computer game developer, they decided that these wingless birds without visible legs should have an enemy. The time of swine flu epidemic made the hungry green pigs as the reasonable opponent to steal the eggs of these birds. The game was a hit. It generated millions of downloads in short times. Angry birds can be a clock, stickers, school bags, stuff toys, you name it, its success is all over the world. The game is so exciting and available anywhere or in anything even with your handheld phones. It became an obsession to kids and adults alike. These hungry green pigs has ice, wood and stones as their hideouts where the angry birds chase them with special powers according to their colors. The blue ones can split into three birds, the black is the suicide bomber and the white bird can drop explosive eggs. And the war goes on as addicted players go higher in each level. Like these video games, some of us want to create excitement in this mundane life by creating opponents. Those who are blessed with health, wealth, faithful spouses and good children like to venture into higher level of excitement like looking at the other side of the fence for greener pastures. To some people, good life can be boring. A little taste here and there isn’t bad enough until one morning, these little wingless creatures become so angry and all hell breaks loose. Many kids and even adults like this game not only because it is fun, but because of what these creatures represent philosophically. Annihilating those pigs is a form of emotional release that one can’t do physically. Whether we like it or not there are many hungry green pigs in our lives. Some people create them for us or we have created them ourselves. Avoiding these pigs is not an option for these angry birds, they hunt them, even if it will cost them their own lives to retrieve those eggs. As a gamer, the game should not be over. The hunt is insatiable. The excitement is mounting until dawn. But unlike those angry birds we can’t remain angry forever. For married people, marriage is a union of two forgivers. To be angry is like hoarding poison inside us, that finally corrodes our system. Annihilating our enemies will only create more enemies. There will always be hungry green pigs in our lives, but we can’t drop bombs like those angry birds all the time.

Keep it Up!

Every morning as I tend my garden, I always find a spider web. The rain pours and wash down my tiny friend. But moments later the spider comes up and weaves another. These tiny creatures defy all kinds of obstacles like natural calamities or human interventions. The male machos go through elaborate ritual dances with exact web vibrations to win their ladies even if it meant that they will become their succulent meal. Spiders can be patient and cruel. Spiders were here before you and I were born. They are relentless builders. Nothing seems to stop them in starting all over again. Their web building must have been done millions of times. Most garden spiders are harmless to people. Other types are poisonous. Most of them have eight eyes and eight legs. Unlike many other living things, spiders have no ears, but the apparent lack of hearing is being compensated by the hairs in their legs that feels the lightest vibration in their webs. They wait patiently for their unsuspecting prey to touch their sticky silken prison cell. They have no formal jaws, so the poor trapped fly is being liquified by an enzyme to suit their taste. These true blue-blooded areneae, of the arachnid order have elaborate courtship to prevent the male from being eaten by the ladies before fertilization. The male dances to create a precise pattern of vibrations in the web as part of the ritual. Finally as the male wins the female and the mating starts, few males survived after the mating process. Oddly enough, some male spiders co-operate in being eaten by impaling themselves in the females' fangs. Sad as it seems to us humans, the spiders continue to proliferate this way. Today even their venom which are poisonous to humans are under study if they can be used as non-pollutant pesticide. Spider silk genes have been inserted into mammals and plants for purposes of creating a silk factory. Spider silk has the lightness and strength of elasticity that is highly regarded as superior silk. Spiderman may come to reality one day. But I'm not sure if he will come as a superhero or a producer of spider silk. If spiders can start all over again and again, we humans have many more chances than the spiders. We are gifted with five senses. Unlike most spiders that has a short life span of one to two years, except for the tarantulas that can live up to 25 years, we humans have more years to live. Our only problem is how to live those years.

Unwanted

Unwanted His mother didn't want him to be born. His father deserted him. He could have stomped his feet, wailed, and be mad at the whole world. But this man carries around a smiling face, a singing heart, and a guitar that chases your blues away. He strums his guitar with incomplete fingers, and praise God with his music. He said he has all the reasons to be joyful. Despite being an unwanted baby, he knows that Jesus loves him so much that He died for his sake. This truth makes him see the world through a kaleidoscope of colors. He preaches God's goodness in his life and give others love that he had missed. Meeting this man made cancer so puny. Are you lonely? Do you feel that you have been set aside from all the rest to suffer a terrible fate? You are not alone. There are more lonely people today than ever before. Despite modern technology and gadgets as play toys, there is still a deep void within humans that only God can fill. Life is a series of stages that mold us. How we respond to certain situation depends on how strong our foundation within. Psychologists say that an infant who was abandoned by the very people who should have given him care and love will have difficulty in trusting the world. But this man turned his misfortune into a blessing,knowing that he was unwanted as a baby, all he wished was to love others.

ART AT THE PLAZA

Art at the Plaza, a summer art workshop will start on April 17 to May 17 at Hotel Florentina Rovira, Road, Dumaguete city. The diversity of this workshop is unique in itself as students are allowed to explore art in different mediums. Three visual artists, Wing del Prado, Sharon Dadang and Muffet Villegas will teach sketching, drawing, painting, pottery, sculpting and Fun art in different forms to interested students with ages from 8 to adult. Beginners and advance lessons will be offered in respective categories. The art workshop is a combined talents of Wing del Prado, who is a painting major from the College of Holy Spirit and had further studies in Parsons School of Design in New York . She had a one man show on miniature paintings at Peninsula Hotel. Wing has worked in Advertising Agency at Ace Compton Manila and had apprentice at Ace Compton New York. She will teach fun art in different forms. Sharon Dadang, is a painter, sculptor, teacher, facilitator and organizer of various events which include art exhibits, church based community teambuilding and a staunch peace advocate among others. Sharon has participated in various art exhibitions in 1993 up to the present. She was also a part time faculty of Silliman University College of Performing Arts. The team includes Muffet Villegas, a painter ,illustrator, writer and teacher who has been exhibiting her paintings for more than three decades now, locally and abroad. She recently held her 8th solo art exhibit with the theme “ Light and Shadows” at the Spanish Heritage in Dumaguete City. Art at the Plaza accepts registration on a first come first serve basis. Please call tel. no. 422-0827 for inquiries.

The Awesome God

Moonlight Mass Romance

The moonlight is enough to trigger their primitive instincts to reproduce. They may not have brains or eyes to see, but their whole beings become active and attuned to the pale blue light that make them romantic. The next thing that happens is a spectacle that many would love to see. Soon, the wide expanse of the silvery sea is covered with vast slicks of new life. Sperms and eggs are slowly pushed from the corals' mouths. How the right sperm ends up with the right egg is more complicated to solve.
The way corals reproduce is an amazing mystery even to this age of high technology.The pale blue light coming from the moon triggers a mass romance, causing acres of corals to spawn in perfect harmony after an October full moon.
Scientists say that corals possess this ancient protein known as cryptochromes, a gene in the coral's DNA that can detect moonlight. This gene is also present in other mammals, some insects and even humans. Studies show that it has an important role in our body clock , in terms of doing the right thing at the right time.

Last week, before the summer ends,I had another chance to get a glimpse of these primitive animals in their sanctuary. This is an added attraction to Antulang Beach Resort, where my husband and I spent our weekend together with writers and artists.
Most of us enjoyed activities like cruising, kayaking, snorkeling, horseback riding and painting on the spot. Distinguished writers like Krip Yuson, and multiple Palanca awardee writer Ian Casocot and writing fellows from Manila were also present. Lito Aro, Susan canoy and myself, met Simo, the " manananggot" a very interesting subject to paint.
Juanito Lee, Japi Villegas Lee,Annabelle Lee Adriano and husband Edu Adriano together with their daughter, the youngest budding poet and writer Suyen were perfect hosts.

Just below the rocks and the cliff are the white sand and clear green waters. A few hundred meters away, between the world famous diving site of Apo island and Antulang is an awesome collection of underwater treasures. A bed of multicolored corals where rainbow colored fishes frolic and hide. Our snorkeling guide, Marcelo Palon or Loi Loi, the butler took Susan and me to the corals.
The corals' wide array of colors lying on the ocean's bed are all found in God's painting palette. They grow so slowly, weaving intricate designs that goes beyond man's imagination. A wide cluster of them look like thousands of fingers reaching out for humans who are invading their privacy. Others look like thin fiery fans waving goodbyes. They are in all kinds of shapes and colors. Their intriguing hues range from cool colors like blues to the warmest colors like fiery orange.
Spending time with nature and knowing how living things are coping with life strengthens my faith that God is in control of everything. He knows exactly my body clock. Our time is written on His hand. He thought about us, and made us wonderfully, including these corals.

Goodbye as the hardest words

Saying Goodbye
Running a race and watching others fall one by one can be scary. Because this race is not about reaching the finish line but by running still... and running more...days, weeks and years. This is about buying time, and if possible, missing the finish line.
Life can be so wonderful, we don't want it to end. Loved ones and friends are treasures that we can't simply leave behind. But sad to say we are all made of dust, and to dust we shall return.

Science had made new discoveries. From cloning to finding a new planet which is earth like in size. They have challenged death itself, by prolonging people's lives through machines. But it remains as a challenge to conquer death itself, except to those who believe in the atoning death of Christ.

I have not really faced the reality of physical death until I had breast cancer. I thought life on earth is forever and it will never end. But visiting hospitals and sitting among others who have cancers too, it was like sitting on a death row.

I learned few days ago that my friend died after battling with cancer for a few months. Many have been praying and interceding for her as we have stayed connected with her husband while she was confined in one of the hospitals in Manila. But despite of pleadings and tears, she had to go. She was a christian believer and she loved serving the Lord. Rene is back to her real home now, although we will be missing her a lot.

Physical death is a sad part of human existence. Yet it is part of life. Many people avoid this topic, although this is one of the two things that are certain in life. Death and taxes.

As I face my own mortality, saying goodbye to those whom I love is the hardest word to say. It is like leaving a home you have grown to love. So many familiar faces and so much memories to leave behind.

But we can't live here forever, can we? We are all squatters in this world. Just like the grass in the fields, we are here today and gone tomorrow. No matter how much we drink anti-aging drugs and applying anti- aging lotions on our skin, we all face but one destiny.

But death for believers in Christ is not saying goodbye. It is about seeing you later, because we believe in life after death. It is the beginning of another journey where there is no more pain, and no more needles.

For us who believe in the atoning death of Christ on the cross, life is like a small dot and after that is an endless line called eternity, where there is no illness, nor death to separate us from our first love, who is God.

A Memory

The Gift of Time
“The cicadas are singing intensely because they have only few weeks to live. They have to make most of their time.” My mother said to me as she thoughtfully looks out of her window.
My mother’s name is Rosita. Her soft snowy white hair is covering a portion of her intelligent face, which sometimes becomes puffy with all the medicines she’s taking. It is late afternoon and the cicadas are singing among the trees in my mother’s garden. The sound is deafening but they bring so many beautiful childhood memories for both of us. I come to visit her often in her modest home close to mine, which is surrounded with mangoes, coconuts, and other fruit bearing trees which she and my father planted when he was alive.
Today, she is sick, and my brother Carlos and I care for her.
She came back three months ago after spending four years under my sister’s care in California. Her health is failing now at the age of 81, but she insists to do her gardening despite of her kidney problems. This wonderful woman taught me how to paint at the age of three, and showed me many important things in life that I will always treasure.
Our mornings during childhood were always beautiful because she woke all of her four children with butterfly kisses. She retired many years ago after teaching grade school for more than thirty years. Her beautiful mind is now fading. She forgets everything you said in a few minutes and she asks the same question over and over again.
She remembers the past so vividly that I can paint her childhood in my mind. And today, she teaches me about this beautiful insect that can be found also in other countries like Australia and North America.
The cicadas sleep for about 17 years under the ground and live for only about four weeks above the ground and in the trees. They emerge for the first week, sing and mate for two weeks, and the last week is spent for laying eggs and dying.
Most of the cicadas don’t last that long, since the birds love them too, yet in those few weeks of life, these patient creatures have accomplished their purpose.
In my curiosity, I also found out that since the mothers won’t be there to take care of their young called nymphs, God made these “Nymphs” sleep through adulthood , more or less 13 to 17 years under the ground until they emerge again and live for less than a month. Yet their short existence never seemed to bother them. They sing songs and serenade their mates with the highest pitch possible.
Their life is too short for them to complain. The sounds are produced by the male adults as a mating call and also to distract the birds from eating them. The males will sing to the top of their tymbals, or a pair of ribbed membranes at the base of the abdomen and produce an intense noise beyond 120 dB , which can reach the pain threshold of the human ear at a close range. Other small species of cicadas produce higher pitch songs that it is beyond the range of our hearing.
What is more amazing is that the producer of this noise is protected by its own sound. The cicadas organs for hearing called the tympana, automatically closes so that it won’t be deafened by its own noise.
Experts are still researching on the mechanisms involved regarding the singing apparatus of the cicadas.
Our God made an amazing universe, that our human mind cannot fully comprehend. He reminds us once again that time is a gift. How long we live is not as important as how much we have lived.
“…you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”-James 4:14

TIME

By Muffet Dolar Villegas

Time, The Great Equalizer

“Lost yesterday,somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever.” Horace Mann wrote.
Time is the greatest equalizer. Everyone has 24 hours, no more and no less. Time lost is gone forever.
Hibiscus or gumamelas or Antulang are beautiful and fleeting. Those which bloom today are gone tomorrow. I collect these flowers with different hues and watch them bloom in just a single day. So to preserve them, I take pictures and paint them forever on canvas or acid free paper.
One of the greatest lessons I learned in life with cancer is that time is a beautiful gift. Most people I met, who have been through this ordeal, seems to have an extraordinary zest for life.
I can’t forget my friend and classmate inside the chemotherapy room, Gingging, who would come inside the room, brimming with smile, thin, bald but beautiful. She wore nothing on her head. She was proud that she was bald and lovely. Her enthusiasm was contagious. She would ask the nurses to find a vein somewhere else , to give her room to move her arm and hand.
She taught me that if I want to draw or paint while having chemotherapy (so she can watch and learn,) I can ask them to free my hand and find for veins somewhere else to use for intravenous. It worked for the first few sessions, but later the good sturdy veins ran out as more sessions continued.
Sometimes at the end of a session, she would become weak, and closed her eyes, most of us do, feeling the intensity of the different chemicals flowing inside our veins.
Most of us wanted our time to go slow, but at the same time we wanted the treatment to be over.
Finally it was, and now we take one day at a time. The precious hair came back, but some of us continue to count the days and wait for that day when remission is over and life ends as it was expected.
Shall we live longer to wait for death?
Shall we not welcome each day with joy in our hearts, not regret, but enthusiasm? In psalms 118 it says, This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Each day is short, so let us love everyday, or take time for someone.
I was touched with what Kojak wrote about his father last week, When his dying dad offered his blue eyes for someone to use. It was a beautiful heart with beautiful blue eyes. I love your column. I get encouraged everytime I read them.

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Stay Plugged In

Stay Plugged In

I found the story of the cinder and the lamp in one of our old devotionals that is very interesting as I face more challenges in life.

Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “A cold cinder and a burning lamp started out one day to see what they could find. The cinder came back and wrote in its journal that the world was dark. It did not find a place wherever it went in which there was light. Everywhere was darkness. The lamp when it came back, wrote in its journal, ‘wherever I went it was light. I did not find any darkness in my journey. The whole world was light.’ What was the difference? The lamp carried light with it and illumined everything about it. The dead cinder carried no light, and found none.”

Every day is a journey. Sometimes we wake up in a sunny day and in other times the sky is gray. Good days are when the doctor says you are on remission and bad days are when you are back to the same white walls. How can you rejoice if you are dying or you can’t hold your job? How can you smile if you lost a baby or someone you love was figured in an accident? Believe it or not, our emotions may depend on our circumstances.The pain we carry around spreads like a contagious disease.

It is easier to be a cinder rather than a lamp. It is easy to find faults of people and situations and inflict pain rather than praise, to grumble rather than to give thanks.

If you are a boss, you find relief by releasing your anger and frustrations to your employees and make them feel like you. Misery loves company.

Parents can make their children feel inadequate, always short of their expectations, pushing them to their limits to make up for their own failures they had made in the past.

If you have parents, there is always someone to be blamed why you have shortcomings. It has to be their responsibility not yours.

It takes a higher challenge to be a lamp. Can you rise above the circumstance or beyond the ordinary self? Can you see the flowers beyond the rain? Do you find diamonds in the mud? Have you given up hope to a seemingly hopeless situation?

To be a lamp is to be plugged in all the time to the ultimate source of light and love. His lamp never goes out even in the strongest of storms. His love is constant no matter who you are. Your sense and purpose is not determined by others but how God fits you in an intricate design He has made.

The moment you unplug yourselves from that connection, you die inside. A day becomes a long stretch of barren land, with no tree in sight. You are alone.

Every single day has its own purpose and rewards. Stay plugged in.

Priorities

Priorities
It was difficult to tell whether he was aware that he would die in a few months or not. His doctor said that the extent of metastases to his other organs was massive. But his calmness and hopefulness baffled his family. They wanted to tell him about the truth. His last wishes meant a lot to them. But the consequence might be more fatal than death itself. Depression might pull him down and the precious few months will turn into nothingness.
How do you talk about death? How do you break the news and allow it to sink and never be afraid? Who would dare to break the news? Are you brave enough?
This is a common dilemma to those who have encountered the big C. Others die without even knowing that they had cancer. Others simply didn’t want to know, or even cared.
It is easy to ask someone what clothes is she going to wear when she attends a birthday party. But choosing a dress that leave the last impression to her family and friends forever is another story. Most answers might be “That’s the least of my worry.” But what if she does? What if she wanted something special to make a meaningful exit? What if she had set aside many things that she had wanted to do in life thinking that there will always be time for that? What if she had waited for the right moment to tell her husband how much he had made her life complete? What if she had reserved some praises for her children, words like, “I thank God that He gave me wonderful children who made me very happy and proud?”
There is nothing wrong with hoping and praying and bargaining with God for more years… but sometimes His answer is Yes and sometimes No. We all live in a borrowed time. We live by His grace.
Five years ago, I was confronted with my own mortality when I had invasive breast cancer. Surgeries and chemotherapies followed. There were good days and dark moments. My oncologist gave me a hint that preparing a video of myself would be helpful to my family to preserve memories.
I reflected upon it thinking that to be prepared at all times wont alter God’s appointed time. I always believed that God’s plan is perfect. His purpose is always good. Death can be a taboo to humanity, but for those who hope in the salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, death is just a beginning of an eternity.

Which is More Important?

Priorities
It was difficult to tell whether he was aware that he would die in a few months or not. His doctor said that the extent of metastases to his other organs was massive. But his calmness and hopefulness baffled his family. They wanted to tell him about the truth. His last wishes meant a lot to them. But the consequence might be more fatal than death itself. Depression might pull him down and the precious few months will turn into nothingness.
How do you talk about death? How do you break the news and allow it to sink and never be afraid? Who would dare to break the news? Are you brave enough?
This is a common dilemma to those who have encountered the big C. Others die without even knowing that they had cancer. Others simply didn’t want to know, or even cared.
It is easy to ask someone what clothes is she going to wear when she attends a birthday party. But choosing a dress that leave the last impression to her family and friends forever is another story. Most answers might be “That’s the least of my worry.” But what if she does? What if she wanted something special to make a meaningful exit? What if she had set aside many things that she had wanted to do in life thinking that there will always be time for that? What if she had waited for the right moment to tell her husband how much he had made her life complete? What if she had reserved some praises for her children, words like, “I thank God that He gave me wonderful children who made me very happy and proud?”
There is nothing wrong with hoping and praying and bargaining with God for more years… but sometimes His answer is Yes and sometimes No. We all live in a borrowed time. We live by His grace.
Five years ago, I was confronted with my own mortality when I had invasive breast cancer. Surgeries and chemotherapies followed. There were good days and dark moments. My oncologist gave me a hint that preparing a video of myself would be helpful to my family to preserve memories.
I reflected upon it thinking that to be prepared at all times wont alter God’s appointed time. I always believed that God’s plan is perfect. His purpose is always good. Death can be a taboo to humanity, but for those who hope in the salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, death is just a beginning of an eternity.
I started my compilation, and painted more big canvasses to leave something like a legacy to my family. I created blogs and websites for my paintings and other artists who like to include their works. I documented my paintings and poems in keynote presentation to keep those who would attend my vigil from getting bored. My daughter Magenta is also my closest friend. We have talked about future plans that maybe weird to those who consider death as morbid. I need someone in my family who is brave and has an open mind about issues like that. To prepare is not about losing faith, but respecting God’s own plan.
I began to teach passionately, telling my students how blessed they are and how wonderful to be alive, and today is special, not to be wasted, but cherished, for it will never come back. I wanted to impart knowledge without holding back.
I didn’t even notice that my youngest son wanted more of my company in watching TV than seeing me in front of my easel or teaching. To him, what matters most is the family’s togetherness, counting days to have a trip to the mall, spend time with relatives, visit the farm, eat spaghetti together or simply being complete as a family.
Facing the reality of life and death as a matter of natural cycle is not easy. But it makes a lot of difference when we make the most of our time while it lasts. When I forget my priorities, my family reminds me that I can be replaced easily as a teacher, but not as a wife and mother.

Antulang redux - KRIPOTKIN By Alfred A. Yuson | The Philippine Star Lifestyle Features Arts and Culture

Antulang redux - KRIPOTKIN By Alfred A. Yuson | The Philippine Star Lifestyle Features Arts and Culture

Faith in God helps artist fight cancer

Faith in God helps artist fight cancer

Where is God?

A Journey through Cancer
By Muffet Dolar Villegas
July 19,2009
When God is Silent
I met many hurting people through this journey. Husbands who lost their wives with cancer, children who lost their fathers who had lung cancer, widowed wives, grieving parents whose children died of leukemia.
A husband who just lost his beloved wife, kept on repeating to himself, “She’s gone…my wife is not coming back. She’s dead. I can’t see her forever.” And yet when he walks to familiar streets and turns to many corners, he sees her. The memory seems to live forever. Everything and everyone reminds him of her. The emotional pain is unbearable. The distance is unfathomable. The why is endless. To him, nothing is ever going to be the same again.
Where is God, is He listening?
When God is silent, we grope for answers. Sometimes we get angry, in other times we just crumble and we want to die too.
A man whose wife has been bedridden for months could not let her go. Her pain was numbed by morphine after morphine. Her body weak and most of the times she was not lucid. She did not want to die, not because she didn’t want the pain to end but she did not want her loved ones to grieve. So she hung on. Her tired body craved for rest, but she had to cling to dear life.
He looked at her. Sadness gripped his heart as he stared at Her emaciated body which was only a shadow of her few months ago. She was dying. He knew. But he wanted her to fight. If there is a glimmer of hope in her heart he knew she would be well again. God will heal. He will. But … the next morning, she drew her last breath. He was devastated.
He turned to God. He begged Him, and He seemed to be silent. Where are you, God?
It is hard to trust when there seems to be nothing beyond the horizon. When the silver lining has turned to gray. Where Is God?
When God is silent, He listens to our heartbeats. He listens intently with His heart. He holds us so close, that when the moment comes, He wants us to be still and know that He is God. Life ‘s end is just a beginning of another journey.
Can we trust God that when He is silent, He still holds us in the palm of His hand, in sickness and in sorrow, in life and in death?

Your Muscles

A Journey
By Muffet Dolar Villegas
May 25,2008

MOVE THOSE MUSCLES



As the dawn breaks, a handful of early risers hike along our boulevard to catch the sea breeze and do regular exercise. The tired balut vendors at night are slowly replaced by wide eyed, brisk walking regulars who barely missed their daily routine. At noontime, the boulevard is an oasis where people seek refuge from the heat.
A mixture of different culture from the east and the west thrive in this side of Dumaguete city where food is as varied as the people who linger and finally stay.
Families love to watch the sea and the moonlight at dusk while eating tempura, peanuts, pizza or chicken barbecue. Others prefer fine dining in restaurants with international cuisines fronting the shores.
The boulevard never sleeps. During late evenings, some lonely souls are waiting for someone to come along. This has become part of the scenery even on hot humid nights and cool stormy weather. For what purpose, its between them and God.
As the century old acacia trees form canopy laces against the reddish gold horizon, the boulevard comes alive with people from all walks of life, all ages, moving, walking, jogging back and forth.
Exercise is a healthy habit. New research shows that exercise can help protect girls from breast cancer especially when they start exercising as early as 12 to 22 years old. Middle aged women are also advised to get physically active to lower the risk of the disease.
Lauran Neergaard, wrote that those who start exercising at an early age really pays off.
Researchers found that women who are physically active as teens and young adults are less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than those who lead sedentary or inactive lifestyle, according to the report released recently in the Journal of National Cancer Institute in the United States.
Dr. Graham Colditz of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said that sustained physical activity from a young age through adult years is the best way to get a maximum benefit.
Colditz cautioned that “This is not the extreme athlete.” The report said that three hours and fifteen minutes of running or any vigorous exercise a week can lower the risk of breast cancer and for those who are less athletic, 13 hours a week of walking,”
There are factors that we cannot change like our genes and our environment. Lifestyle is a choice. Exersice takes a lot of willpower. And the hardest part is to start.
Come and move those muscles. Let’s take a walk at the boulevard or bike along the rugged mountains going to Lake Balinsasayao, the twin lakes, or swim in the blue green waters with powdery white sand in other parts of the islands.
Forget those piles of documents you have to read or edit, or stories you need to write. Your computer can sit all day long and won’t miss you a bit as you take a day off in paradise. God made this beautiful world especially for you. The best day is now.