The Long Way Up

A subtle invitation Longed for, accepted, embraced Little morsels of hope Forming mosaics of a future anticipated Every flourish swirling outward Conveying dormant fancies now awakened Every brush stroke sweeping inward Collecting vibrations from a heart invigorated Two fortnights breeze by my window Lifetimes encapsulated, placed on the ledge Perhaps a friendly pigeon will make haste Carry me to my Dear within the year Love, the multifaceted Muse Crept in slowly and grew fiercely Linger longer please Even if only on a sil

I entered 2019 with a very promising direction and a new-found relationship from God. Without warning, the forces of darkness worked immediately to sow fear, anxiety and confusion into what should have been unhindered bliss and rejoicing in the Lord. It wasn't until I felt that my back was pushed against a wall that a holy anger for the devil's minions arose from within me, prompting me to speak God's promises back to Him, and rebuke the enemies surrounding me and my girlfriend. As I prayed over her and myself, I felt God's Spirit finally taking hold of our hearts, setting our souls at peace, and the demons of fear, anxiety and confusion, rendered powerless by the Name of Jesus. This ten-year-old blog entry still strongly resonates with me, and I feel like this is a reminder for me to keep bathing my life, and my relationship with my girlfriend, in prayer, faith declarations, and Bible scriptures. God's word is powerful! - - - - - Raise Your V...

My girlfriend gave me a book on writing prompts for Christmas, knowing that I write, just as she does. Today, I was able to take time to stretch some writing muscles with the first of the many prompts in the book, 'A Year of Creative Writing Prompts' . The first five-minute challenge was to write around the word 'peaches' . This is the result. Not quite orange, neither yellow I took a bite; it made me mellow I'm not much of a fruity fellow But for peaches? I'll always say "hello!" Get it fresh from the market Or from the many aisles of Target Outside the grocery, vendors park it Or in a lovely dress, girl, work it! Mix it with the fluffiness of cream See it in vivid, colorful dreams Put in a pie, or a single-hued ream Splash it on a suit, or hinted at the seams There's quite a lot to say about peaches Of softness, sweetness, joy -- it teaches One taste, and flavor boundaries it breaches Alluring tint...

Pitch black. Groggy. Disoriented. Jimmy came to his senses, but wasn't so sure what had happened prior to this, or what was going on at this particular moment. He felt dizzy; his head heavy from something... he had no immediate recollection of. He tried to open his eyes; but couldn't see anything. "Oh God! Eyesight! Have I lost my eyesight!?"  Jimmy started to panic but did his best to push the fear down, and assess his situation. He tried to reach for his eyes but felt his hands restrained. "Hands tied? Oh God!" he thought. At the time, he wasn't as concerned of the fact that both his hands were tied; he was more focused on his apparent lack of vision. He blinked several times trying to get a glimpse of... anything. Nothing! He tried again, hoping that his constant eyelid movement would somehow activate his sight. He blinked a few times more; he felt his eyelids and lashes brushing against something. "Blindfold?" He tested his t...

I find it so amazing that some of the spiritual insights I got from the Lord from a decade ago still resonate (loudly and strongly) with me to this day; perfectly speaking into the current season of my life. God's Word is indeed timeless! - - - - - REST from January 11, 2008 "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him... Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him." [Psalm 62: 1, 5] There has been so much striving in my life. Striving to overcome sin. Striving to resist the devil and take authority over him. Striving to get more blessings from God. Striving to become a better Christian. Striving for more anointing. Striving to grow. Striving to be closer to the Father. Over the past four years of my life I went through many seasons in the Spirit that exposed me to these areas in my life where I strived instead of finding rest in the Lord. There's always been this part of me that wants to do all I can to acc...

A decade, not long enough to search Add six years and healing to your hurts Put distance between you and the friend Insistent that that's that to the end At one glance, just thinking of those times Of night lives, partnering in those crimes Another, conversations matter Of  dreams, of lives, of hearts that shattered Apart, away, admitting nothing Aloof, abreast, not seeking something The years that came and the years that went They were years in isolation spent Until in flight and trips reunite An absent flame was there to ignite And spark to spark to trigger and more The journeys taken opened a door So, step by step, with bated pacing From friend to more, with hesitating With careful strokes, organic progress A heart revealed; a lover's ingress And now we're here expecting something Beyond ourselves, anticipating A day, a step, adventure looming A seed is sown; forever blooming

Here's another article I dug up from one of my really old blogs. This is an eleven-year-old essay but the contemplation pertaining to the topic at hand has never left the inner recesses of my mind. - - - - - Half way through 2007 [my] Pastor Joe [DiSarno] preached about the qualities of God's love. Agape love looks so different from man's concept of love. Agape thinks more about the welfare of others than the welfare of self. Agape gives more than it takes. Agape is more than just feelings. As Pastor Joe spoke on the matter over a period of a few weeks, I began to think that agape -- unconditional love -- is such a tall order. It's the kind that is not based on feelings. It's the kind that's always extravagant. It's the kind that's always willing to make sacrifices. At the end of this series of sermons, two questions came to mind: who can measure up to such high standards, and can I measure up to such high standards? The answers? Well,...

There are only two factors that remain constant in this life: CHANGE . And GOD . No matter how hard we try to avoid either, we will always collide with one or both. No matter how hard we deny these two truths, we will always find ourselves surrendering to them -- willingly or otherwise. Regardless of race, culture, political view, economic standing and religious affiliation, change and God will permeate and dominate every aspect of our human existence. IF WE LET THEM! CHANGE is inevitable . Like the seasons in nature, which take their turn coming and going -- winter, spring, summer, fall -- change may happen without asking our permission or taking into account our personal preferences. Change may often happen in cyclical fashion with a certain degree of predictability. All we can really do is prepare for them in anticipation of their arrival, and walk through them and make adjustments in response to the length of their stay. We can't escape change. CHANGE is indisp...

FONDLY This is to say that I want to play dress-up with you someday THINKING OF YOU This is to say that I want to see something beautiful blossom between us HELLO FRIEND This is to say that I want to go through the windows of opportunity that life opens up for us WHAT'S UP? This is to say that I want to someday conquer the world with you HEARTFELT This is to say that perhaps we could help each other get past the dead things in our lives HEY THERE! This is to say that this was the trigger that set it all in motion for me . . . You know what these are for. It's just better articulated now.

You cannot walk on until you take the first step You can't dive deep without first taking a breath You cannot set sail until you paddle and row You can't drive fast if you've nowhere to go You cannot climb heights if you're weighed down by fear You can't fully rejoice until you've shed some tears You cannot embrace until you've shaken the hand You can't have a harvest without working the land You cannot be free until you break off the chains You can't be familiar without facing the strange You cannot take a sip until you lift the cup You can't continue if you've not had enough You cannot fly kites without resisting the winds You can't truly lose until you know you can't win You cannot perspire without breaking a sweat You can't really bleed until you've got nothing left

I stalk people on social media every now and again. Last night, I was perusing the older posts on a friend's blog and caught a glimpse of the changes in her tone of writing, life priorities and outlook in general. Upon telling her of my stalkery behavior, she later on mentioned that she herself has noticed her growth over the years as documented by her voluminous posts. Today, I decided to start reviewing my really old posts from another blog. I only did a light browsing through the titles of former entries and the first paragraph previews, but I could already see the vast difference between the old me and the now me. There was an overabundance of naivete and legalism peppered all over my writings... but at the same time an obscured depth of understanding of biblical truth. This is one of the blog entries I found from around ten years ago... and found it quite amusing. - - - - -  I was having lunch at the office cafeteria the other day when I overheard so...

You can choose a lot of things in your life. From the time you are able to form your own thoughts and make decisions for yourself, you can pretty much exercise your right to abide by your preferences -- in clothing, in food, in friendships, in employment, in entertainment, in leisure, in religion, in political affiliation, and so on and so forth. Life, however, reserves the right to make some choices on your behalf and deals you with certain givens that you do not have a say in. One such given is the family that you are born into. Another is the country wherein that happens. In my entire life, there have been moments where I wished, perhaps prayed, to have never been born in the Philippines... and to have never become a Filipino at all. That's as honest as I can be about this subject matter. These thoughts came to me when I was much younger, more inexperienced about life, and reacting to my country of birth and nationality without the benefit of intellect and time. I was e...

Scribble, scribble Write and dribble Words constructed Thoughts to nibble Dancing, gliding Pattern-tracing Leaving footprints Letters racing Etching shadows Long and narrow Volumes spoken Deep and shallow Leave a little Jot and tittle Brittle concepts Form epistles Stash a mouthful Thoughtful, hopeful Lawful insights Awful, woeful Script a tenet Then it builds up Craft a sonnet Son, it adds up Sign a statement Statesmen state them List enlistments Troopers hate them Record details Wholesale, retail Bittersweet ales Potent telltales Compose in prose What no one knows With pen propose What says a rose To life you sprung Your ballpoint stung The scribbled ink Your strength unsung - - - - - Today's writing prompt was to describe an inanimate object coming to life and what it does after that.

An exchange of thoughts and opinions. A shared laughter or a smile. An affirmation displayed through a listening ear or a pat on the back. These are some of the gestures that convey reception and relationship, which comprise the core need of a human being: to feel and be connected with another one and with one another. Whether between a parent and a child, a husband and a wife,  siblings and friends, or even with perfect strangers, people have an innate desire to form relationships where they can find acceptance, forge trust, feel safe, and foster happiness. Can I get a connection? The world has become not only a small place in the last few decades, but it has also become a busy one with too much to do with what little time its people have. As if a typical 9-to-5, five-day-a-week work weren't enough to keep us humans occupied, we had to go and add sports, hobbies, travel, and other pursuits into the mix. Because of this, making deep and meaningful connections with pe...

Fathers have been endued by God with a powerful impact on the life of their children, whether they realize it, admit it, own up to it or not. This is especially true during the formative years of children (I would say from conception to ten) when most everything kids experience early on in life is presented to them by -- and filtered through the involvement of -- their fathers. When a father abdicates his parental role, the chances of a young person finding a wayward path in life is exponentially increased, since the main guiding force in their life becomes physically or emotionally absent. However, when fathers take up their paternal mantle of loving, mentoring, validating, and directing their sons and daughters, the chances of children finding their purpose in life, learning to spread their proverbial wings, and soaring high despite the adversities of life is dramatically amplified. Even with pronounced flaws and inherent human weaknesses, a man who musters enough courage and ...