Behind The Scenes

I was very much into the performing arts and the theater when I was in college. I considered it as one of my "passions" back then and I thought that I would end up doing something related to the arts for the rest of my life. My father, on the other hand, was not so thrilled about the idea. Aside from the late nights (and sometimes even until the wee hours of the morning) of endless rehearsals and practices for upcoming performances, and then all the traveling on top of actually attending my classes, he wasn't too excited for me in becoming a full time "artist." He told me to enjoy the theater while I can but he made it very clear right then and there that there's no point for me ending up as one of the many "starving" artists out there, he said. I understand now that he was only being practical and was thinking of what he thought was best for me, but at the same time that he was telling me all that, my heart and my mind were already rebelling against his advice. I thought I knew what I wanted and I thought I knew what I'd love to do with my life. But I didn't have a clue.

I was introduced into the world of theater through the courses I had to take in college. But the more appealing introduction came with my membership in a college performing arts group named "An Balangaw" or The Rainbow. It's where my love for theater, song and dance, performance and the arts in general did really take root. I loved the process of creating, writing, deliberating with the performers, the directing, designing, acting, and watching a piece of art on stage evolve right before my eyes. It almost seemed like working with something that is alive because a performance piece continues to change, mold and remold, and it takes on some of the adaptations from audiences' reactions as well as from the actors' contributions to the show.

My experience with theater was not with the classical plays by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson or Tennessee Williams, and neither did we do anything from the classical Greek tragedies or comedies, although studying and learning about them in the classroom was so much fun and educational. The group's forte was the local folklore, the Filipino music and dance, and the indigenous way of life and traditions of the people. The performers traveled around the Leyte-Samar area (in the Visayas or the central Philippines) to research and learn the various songs and poems, traditions and legends, the folk dances and musical compositions of the local people which have been passed down from generations to generations without any proper documentation. The whole experience served as an eye-opener for us "city folks."

I loved to perform back then. I enjoyed entertaining people with the songs, dances and the stories we gathered from our travels and research. This is one of the wonders of theater --what you see on stage is not the actual, whole picture of the total process on putting up a show. Almost 85% of what's in a performance happens behind the scenes. The research staff and the writers are the mind of the theater, the directors and the creative staff are the heart of a performance, and the props, stage design, costume, make-up and lighting people compose the skeleton or backbone of the show. The actors are the soul of the theater and the audience completes the whole package. Theater can never be successful if it's not a collaborative work. Each piece of the act will crumble without one and the other. 

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." -1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 25-27

Glory be to God for He designed His church as a collaboration or teamwork as well. As Christians, we are members of one Body. No matter what my role is in His body, my role is important. Without my small part in my local church, the whole piece will not function as effectively. I'm expected to do my work without any grumbling or envy, without any comparison to the roles played by other members of the church, and without any complaint. Unlike when I was younger when I used to "rebel" against my father's wishes for me, now as I mature I ought to listen and take good advice from my pastor and the leaders of my church on how to do things.

Just like in theater, the bulk of the work in a church is not readily visible. There are jobs done by most members that are not "advertised," like cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning and making sure the pews and the auditorium are ready for Sunday service, and maintaining the building structures. These are very important work and often times the people who do these remain unappreciated. As for me, I need to make sure that I do what I need to do and do my part in order for the members of our church to be honored and to rejoice in Christ. This time we are not in the theater. We are not performing. This is the real thing. This is highly important. Christians need to make it right or else answer to God Himself.

Sweet, Refreshing Waters from Clay Jars

One of my favorite childhood games was to play house. I miss the feeling of being cozy inside a miniature "house" with all the miniature home appliances, furniture, and the tiny toys we played with. Those miniature appliances and furniture were not the "real" stuff which kids can buy from toy stores these days. We made and built our own. They were made out of scrap wood, twigs, cardboard, newspaper, old plastic containers and tin cans, held together by rubber bands and strings.

I didn't play much with dolls when I was a kid but I do remember playing with my toy pots and pans, kitchen utensils and cooking wares. My favorites were the tiny cooking pots and pans made from terra cotta clay. They were just too cute and so adorable. I still remember how smooth they felt in my hand, how tiny they were yet the details and the similarities to the real thing were so amazing. I can actually cook with them using real fire we made with match sticks, paper and wood. I just had to dice up the "meat and vegetables" really tiny so it would fit into the tiny pots. And what are those "meat and veggies" you may ask? They were only make-believe. They were plants, leaves, flowers, stems, roots, grass, soil and pebbles we took from Mama's garden.

For some reason, clay pots for cooking are not very popular here in the States. When we say clay pots here, it usually means the ones used for gardening, like the flower pots. And if ever this cooking ware is available here, they are too expensive that most people can't afford them anyway. But cooking in clay pots is still one of the most popular choices in many parts of the world including the Philippines. These earthen wares are readily available everywhere in that country and they are not expensive at all. The fact that the good quality ones also last for a long, long time makes it even more a worthwhile purchase.

When I was younger, I used to visit my "Lola" (grandmother) in the province. Me and my brothers stayed with her during the summer months and what a grand vacation it always was! Those were some of the great days of my childhood. We were spoiled rotten by our grandma, grandaunts and cousins. Summertime spent in the countryside are the best. One of my cherished memories from those vacations with Lola is what I call now as the "lesson of the clay pot." Allow me to share with you that lesson:

On those summer vacations although we were spoiled by everyone, my brothers and I were still not exempt from doing a few household chores. One of my chores was to help my grandaunt fill-up the "daba" (palayok) or clay jar for drinking water. Thirty years ago, a faucet with clean, running water was unheard of in most parts of the Philippines. We had water wells and manual pumps from where we fetch our water for daily use. In some places, they have lakes and rivers where they do their laundry and all sorts of washing. In the big cities, there may be the chlorinated, running water from the faucet but I remember it was always a battle to fill-up even just a small pail. And I heard that it's still a battle up to now.

Anyway, I digressed. The clay jar I used to fill-up with water was in my grandaunt's kitchen. I remember asking her why we had to fill it up with water when we can just fill-up all the pitchers we had in the house? She explained that clay pots are the best water storage, ever. It makes water sparklingly cool in the summer when ice or refrigeration were hard to get by. And also it makes the water sweet-tasting, she said. As a child, that was pure magic to me. Cool, sweet, sparkling water without refrigeration? It's a miracle! As God is my witness, all she said is true. Water from clay pots are indeed refreshingly cool and sweet. It's one of the magical things I miss from my childhood.

Another fact I've learned about clay pots was that they leak. Clay is a porous material and so it's just natural for water to seep out in any way it can. That's why most of the clay pots available now in the market are most likely to be coated with some kind of a sealant to prevent the seepage. But I remember Lola telling me that this was "unnatural" and it may not be good for our health. We never know what type of sealant people apply on those pots. So we only used the natural ones regardless of the leak. We just place a basin under it and we continue to refill it everyday with fresh supply of water.

The lesson of the clay pot did not stop there. It continued on as I grew older.

"O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." -Isaiah 64:8 

"O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?" -Romans 9:20-24

In some of my Bible readings and quiet time with the Lord, He showed me additional "lessons of the clay pot." The Bible says that God is the Potter and we are the clay. He can mold us and use us for His purpose and glory if we only let Him. And just like the clay jars my family used to store water, humans also can't hold much "water" for long periods of time. We leak so bad. That's why we need the Holy Spirit to fill us up with His teachings from the Word everyday. We need to read the Bible to replenish the seepage that happens from our hearts and our souls. Since we are the clay, we need the Potter to mold us into the likeness of His own Son's character little by little each day. And for Him to fill us up with new supply of His tender mercies every morning.

We are just lowly clay pots in the hands of God and we can choose to remain empty and useless for the rest of our lives, just sitting in one corner being pretty like all the decorative ceramic jars available in home furnishings stores. Or, we can choose to be useful and be filled up for "cooking and storage." As we allow God to fill and re-fill us with His wisdom and power through the Holy Spirit, I'm sure we will produce sparkling, refreshing, sweet waters in His perfect time. It is my prayer that as God's "sweetened water" that I will be a blessing to others as He chooses.

Paper Towels

We don't have paper towels in the Philippines. I mean the big rolls, for "kitchen-use" type paper towels. But I'm not too sure about now since I've been away too long. And I say this not to be mean in any way nor to be offensive to my fellow Filipinos, it is just how I remember growing up in a house with 6 children and with extended family who occasionally visits us. We used washable, reusable rags for our everyday cleaning and wiping. I also remember cleaning our house the "old school" way --with soap and water, maybe a splash of chlorine bleach, using rags and brushes, down on our knees scrubbing all the grime and dirt away. It was hard, back-breaking work. And we did this regularly, like 3 to 4 times a week. And I thank my mother for all the training she provided her children while growing up because these kinds of skills do come in handy now that I have my own family to take care of and a home to clean and manage. I salute all the working moms who work full time and yet still maintain a spotlessly clean house. That's never a small feat. It's a miracle by itself.

It's funny how we live a long time without the need for some things yet after we discover that thing, we suddenly can't live without it! That's exactly what happened to me and with those paper towels. I can't live without them now. I have to have them at my house and in the office at all times. I can't do any cleaning without it. Rags are unheard of for me now. I'm so helpless without my paper towels.

Okay, okay I am exaggerating quite a bit. The world continues to turn even without paper towels. There are much more important things in life than having rolls of paper towels at home. But having them ready at hand, just in case of a spill or some sort of soiling, is the best way to go. Ahhh, the pleasures of modern living. We have machines to help us do our everyday chores, we have appliances to assist us with our everyday duties, and we have all types of luxury like having vehicles when our forefathers used to trudge several miles on foot. Now we have electricity and gas to keep us out of the dark and make us warm on cold wintry nights, and we do have those paper towels always ready to wipe off any mess and we just dispose of it after each use. Aren't you glad we are living at this day and age as against to living in the past? So why do we still complain a lot? Why aren't people any happier now as compared to our great-great grandparents? Why are the paper towels not enough to make life any grander than before?

Humans are so near and narrow-sighted that we easily forget the past and we always neglect to focus on the future. Paper towels are immediately available these days that they're almost considered as next to nothing. It's not one of the most valuable goods in the market. People are not lining up to buy them off the shelves. Paper towels are not even part of the stock market on which people can invest their money with the hope of multiplying their profits. It has no inherent value. The value of the paper towels is based only on the user's need, like mine. I can't live without it. It is valuable to me, but the world doesn't seem to think the same way. Gold is what's valuable. Diamonds are priceless. Money is the center of life. Money makes the world go round, they say. What I'm trying to drive at is this: people do what they want to do, people think what they'd like to think, and we value things that we want to value no matter what the reality is and what the truth really is.

God says that earthly wealth and riches are nothing in eternity but people still beat themselves up just to get "an ounce of gold" because for them that's what has real value. God says that storing up treasures here on earth is pointless but people still have vaults and coffers filled with goods that perish at the sound of His voice. We lose focus in a snap. We forget that life is too short to be focusing on things that have nothing to do with our eternal life. I do love my paper towels but I'm also glad that I can let go of them as easily as I want them because I know that I have the best "mess picker-upper" in the whole universe --my God. He forgives me for my big messes all the time and He purifies me from all unrighteousness. And He doesn't need any paper towels to do that.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." -Matthew 6:19-21

The Really, Really Good News

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." -Matthew 24:14

"And the gospel must first be published among all nations." -Mark 13:10


My routine each morning after I wake up is to (groggily) make some coffee, prepare a quick breakfast for my family, quickly bag some lunch for the three of us and then straighten out the kitchen a little before I prepare to leave for work. Usually, I have some spare time so I sit on the couch, sip my coffee in front of the TV and watch some morning news. Bad idea. That's always a bad idea. The last thing I want to do is to bombard my thoughts with a series of bad news coming in from all over the world first thing in the morning. But somehow, someway I always end up turning on that television and then torture myself with doses of depressing stories. And to think that that's only 10 to 15 minutes of my day. How much more if I watch TV all day long? I would be a total wreck!

As you'd probably know already (since I've mentioned it in my previous posts), I used to be a news reporter. Somehow I don't remember feeling so sad or too depressed about the stories we used to gather everyday. It was just normal work with some unusual stories sometimes but nothing too horrible that would make me feel gloomy for the rest of the day. I was happy with my job and it was one of my best experiences. But now it seems like the whole world has run amok! All I hear and see on TV are mostly bad news. Maybe I'm just getting too old for all these negative stuff.

I also think that maybe the digital age has a lot to do to contribute to the reason why it feels like there is just too much bad news everywhere and all the time. The world has really gone smaller. In split seconds, we get to know what's happening on the other side of the world at the same time we learn what's happening in our own neighborhood. In a flash, we can "bombard" ourselves with international breaking news while looking at what's happening at our own backyard. With a click, we get news and information within minutes which our great-grandparents normally would have gotten in days, weeks or even months.

It is so scary for me on how we get to see so much of the bad stuff but we never get to know the victories and the triumphs in people's lives. Surely there must be more than just bad news out there? Surely there must be some funny, heart-warming, great stories somewhere? Why do the news media particularly gobble up on the bad news mostly? Are we, the audience, really that addicted to such depressing and sad news? It seems like good news can never be in the headlines anymore these days.

Whenever I tell people that we don't have cable television in our home, the usual reaction I get is a combination of shock, surprise and disbelief. And I do understand the reaction. Cable is being portrayed and marketed as one of the basic necessity of human life. If you watch the cable companies' commercials, it seems like they are almost threatening people that if we don't get cable we are missing out on all the best things in life! What! No cable? You don't have sports channel every Sunday then! What! No cable? You don't know what's happening with all the reality shows of "real" people! What! No cable? You're so out of touch! Yup maybe so, but no thanks. For almost 7 years now with no cable, our family has survived. We are fine. I thank God we don't miss anything that we haven't seen in the first place. So I'm only guessing when I say that there are probably tons of bad news on cable television as well?

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not propagating the idea of the total eradication of bad news from TV, radio, newspaper or the internet. Not at all. I believe that a balanced news reporting calls for the inclusion of all the bad, the shocking, the horrible and all the real, unpleasant news out there. All I'm saying is and asking for is the "balanced" part. We do need some good, happy, uplifting, funny news as well, don't we? People are already down in the dumps with all the evil and wickedness going on around the world, the economy of almost every nation is at a whack, most families are losing their jobs and their homes, and there are just too many deaths and sicknesses going around, do you think we really need more bad news especially early in the morning?

"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." -Matthew 4:23 

"The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the GOSPEL preached to them." -Matthew 11:5 

"For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." -Romans 1:16


These Bible verses provide only a glimpse of what I call the real and true good news! And that's why it is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ because gospel literally means good news. I thank God for being the bearer of such great news for His people. His love is available to all those who need it at anytime. I thank Him for giving the best news of His salvation and His perfect will for man. There is no other joy that can fill our hearts except the one that can only come from Him and with His hope that makes us look beyond what we see at present. Once we experience the peace of the Holy Spirit that surpasses all understanding, all other substitutes cannot even compare. And praise to the Lord Jesus Christ for His perfect love which is beyond knowledge. And, as if there's even something more that can top all that, yet God truly desires to have a close, meaningdful relationship with me. With "bad news" me! That is what I call good news. No, make it the perfect genuine great news of all time.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." -John 3:16

Awesome Autumn

And so here it comes..... Autumn!

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

As I've already mentioned before, it is my second favorite season. It's one of the many great things God has allowed me to see and to personally experience. I thought I will only get to see it in pictures and through the movies. I am very thankful I get to live with it (even for short periods of time only) and that I get to see the awesome colors of autumn. 

Fall, as autumn is also "nicknamed," is a very mild season. The only way I can describe it for those who don't have the same opportunity as I do to experience it in person is that there is a certain "briskness" in the air --it's not too cold and not too warm. It's just perfectly right. It's like having an outdoor central air conditioning. With the crisp, cool air comes the changing of the colors of the foliage on trees and some shrubs. The primary colors of the season are of the deep, rich and bright kinds --from the hues of burgundy and reds, subtle golds and energetic yellows, bursting oranges, glowing purples and the deep mahogany and browns. It's so amazingly gorgeous! I can't get enough of it. Sadly, it's also one of the shortest seasons. Maybe this is the reason why it's so glorious and ever more so beautiful because we know that it's fleeting. One day we see the leaves turning red or yellow and then suddenly we see them on the ground just waiting to rot and to be covered by snow, sleet and ice for the next 4 to 5 months. Autumn is one fleeting beauty in its most magnificent. There is no other way I can put it.

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

With fall also comes a string of holidays and celebrations. To start off, some people in America (and the last time I checked in the news, even people from all over the world) "celebrate" halloween every last day of October. My family don't really consider it to be a part of the holidays since we don't celebrate halloween. For us, the "official" holiday celebrations begin in November for Thanksgiving. This is when there comes a series of small and large gatherings all throughout the holidays. Invitations are coming in from everywhere for people and families to get-together for parties, dinners, luncheons, afternoon teas, and even huge banquets, to celebrate the blessings of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and the New Year.

I'm so happy that my "birthday month" also falls on this wonderful fall season. It's so heart-warming to celebrate my natal day amidst so much splendor and flourish happening all over nature. Fall makes people feel so festive and yet cozy at the same time. Of course I know this is not just for me alone but I'd still like to count it as a part of my personal blessings. This is also the time for apple-picking, farm tours, pumpkin patch and petting zoo for the kids, hay rides and garden strolls for the kids-at-heart. There are also various festivals going on everywhere, all we have to do is to check the calendar of events for every town and city and then make plans to join any time we can.

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

On a somber note, we all grow old. There comes a time when we arrive at the "autumn" of our lives. I'd like to consider this period as the more fulfilling, most profound and the blissful time of my life. It should be the time when I'm already deeply rooted in my faith and my foundation in God. It's when there's nothing else I crave in life so bad that I have to lose sleep over it. I'd like to think that my family and I will already be secure in our love and our future, and that my relationships and friendships wouldn't be the shallow, meaningless ones anymore. Fall is rich and deep, intimate and cozy, pretty but with substance. I hope that the "autumn" of my life will resemble even just a tinge of that. 

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." -Galatians 6:9