A Pastoral Prayer

I was assigned to say the pastoral prayer at church for the Divine service program last month. It’s not my first time but this was my first time to compose the prayer with my own words. Previously, I would copy and paste prayers from other sources. This time, I thought to create one myself.

I got a lot of inspiration from the Book of Psalms and other books in the Bible. Pastoral prayers from other pastors also served as guidelines for this prayer.

Our gracious and loving heavenly Father. We come to you today with praise and adoration. Our hearts shout joyful praises to You. Our lips sing about the glory of your name. Our hands clap to your wonderful works.

We can’t see you O God, but you gave us Pure Light to witness your Creation.
We can’t feel you O God, but you gave us a Flowing Fountain to experience your Love.
We can’t touch you O God, but you gave us the Mighty Wind to carry the plea of our Voices.

Now hear our voice as we kneel before you and as we cry for help.
We are surrounded by suffering.
We are surrounded by pain.
We are surrounded by temptations.
We are surrounded by enemies.

We are overwhelmed by the troubles we face everyday.
We have been foolish.
We have been defiant.
And we have sinned.

Our eyes weep and our hearts bleed in shame for what we have done.
We cannot hide our sins from you.
And in this quiet moment, we individually confess our sins to you.

Save us, O God.
Save the students who struggle in school. Send us your wisdom.
Save the sick among us and those who are in pain. Send us your healing touch.
Save the families who struggle with money. Send us your rich blessings.
Save the relationships who are in conflict. Conflict among leaders, conflict among families, conflict among couples, conflict among parents and their children, and conflict among neighbors. Send us the peace and understanding to reconcile.
Save each and everyone of us.

Listen to our prayers, Lord.
Rescue us by your Saving Power.
Cleanse us with your Unblemished Blood.
Renew us through your Infinite Mercy.

We now have the victory over all our troubles, for You have won the battles against our enemies.

And with our new strength, we commit ourselves to serve You.
Send us in the great vineyard to help finish the work you have commissioned us to do.

And when the harvest is done, we will stand among the faithful who are ready to meet You on your Second Coming.

We finally pray for Pastor Bryan Tolentino as he brings Your message for us this morning. May the Holy Sprit prepare our hearts and minds for the Spiritual Food that will be served to us today.

These we humbly ask in the name of Jesus, Your Son and Our Savior, Amen.

Doctor’s Notice

My friend visited us yesterday. He is now a doctor.

I was having a bad case of diarrhea. My stomach was really painful. I feel bloated and I was in a gloomy mood.

I asked him how would I know if I am getting better or getting worse.

His reply was straightforward. “If you are still alive in three days, then you should still be OK.”

Today, is my second day of diarrhea.

I have one more day left.

Thank you, world.

Spotify Free vs Premium

I have been using Spotify. I love the selection of playlists where similar songs are being played one after the other. I can select a playlist by Mood, by Artists, by Genre and even by Year.

But I have been using the Free option until now. I still don’t find the need to upgrade to a Premium account.

The big difference between the Free and the Premium is the presence of ads. Spotify would interrupt with its own ads or from an ad from a brand.

It does get annoying. It can be frustrating too.

But I grew up listening to radio stations where ads are part of the program. The ads can sometimes be longer than the songs itself. The songs are not even to my liking. I have to be patient to hear a really good song. Or I can move the tuning several times.

So a few ads from Spotify doesn’t bother me. I am used to that. Choosing a playlist is already a treat. It feels like a premium service. I am not asking for more. That is why I keep them free.

There are many Products and Apps that offer premium service for a fee. But if I still find reasons to believe that the best things in life are those things that are Free.

Pass it on

I love reading books. But whenever I buy one I no longer keep them. Either I give them or lend them to someone else.

If I read a book and keep it, there is little chance that I will get the same book and read it again. I might never touch it again. It will just be on the shelf gathering dust.

But if I give it away or lend it to another reader, the book will have a new life.

The book has inspired me and it will inspire another.

Lucky is that book to have served its purpose more than once.

Cry

I want to cry. I want to let go of the disappointments and the frustrations.

But I have never really cried for a long time. Maybe because I have become stronger. Or I have already experienced my greatest pain. Now, it’s foolish to waste a tear.

There is really no happy person.
Just people who are strong to hide the pain.

I’m not ready for this

I just finished my shower in the gym. I was fixing my things and drying my feet when a younger man called my attention.

“Manong, imo na gamit ang nabilin?”

What?! He called me MA-NONG?

Manong means older brother. It’s a term we call our older brothers. But generally, it can be used to respectfully address someone older than you.

If he called me nong, which is just a shortcut for manong, I won’t be bothered. I use it to any stranger.

Or since it’s a gym, maybe we can call each other pare, instead. Or ‘pre, migs, part. Even bro.

Yet, he chose to call me manong. As in MA-NONG!

And there was something in his voice, probably his tone, or maybe the way he carefully said every syllable that made me feel older than I already am.

Fine. I just turned 40. But I am not ready to be called manong by a stranger.

Last Weigh-In 2018

I always take my weight before going to Bacolod. It’s sort of a checkpoint everytime I go home for the holidays.

Through my weigh-ins, I have noticed in that I usually gain one kilo a week in Bacolod. Thus, my goal is to make sure that I keep my weight when I get back from Bacolod in January. Or even lower it.

My last weigh-in is 71.8 kilograms.

Last year, I only gained 1.2 kilograms. I watched my food intake and ate more salad. Rice was kept at minimum whenever possible.

This year, I will sign up or a gym in Bacolod and continue with my training for the 21K race that I signed up for February 2019. These activities should keep my weight down.

Watch for my weigh-in update next year.

Can you afford Luxury?

Collins defines luxury goods as “things which are not necessary, but which give you pleasure or make your life more comfortable.”

I have my eyes on buying some luxury items like watches, shoes and bags.

I can probably save for it but how will it affect my finances in the long run? At what point can I say that I can already afford it?

Quennie attended a financial seminar and the speaker had a criteria when it comes to buying luxury goods.

If you can afford 10 times of that luxury item, then it means you can afford to buy that item.

That’s a difficult criteria yet a very sound advice.

Buy that 20,000 limited edition shoes if you have 200,000.

Buy that 100,000 smartphone if you have 1,000,000.

Buy that 400,000 designer bag if you have 4,000,000.

Buy that 800,000 luxury watch if you have 8,000,000.

It is only when you have 10 times the money can you truly say that you can afford luxury.

This criteria can discourage others from buying luxury goods and consider buying a cheaper and more practical alternative. There is nothing wrong with that.

Or the criteria can encourage others to work harder and find ways to reach their financial goals.

Today, as I list the luxury items I would love to buy someday, I’m starting to think that maybe Quennie didn’t really heard this criteria from a seminar. She probably just made it up herself. Hehehe…

But it is a very good financial advice that we follow.

Coming Home for Stress

I always look forward to going back to Negros for December.

It’s a place where I can rest.
A place where I can plan.
A place where I can relax.
A place where I can reflect.

But it is not really a stress-free environment. There is one thing about Negros that gets me stressed out.
It’s the FOOD.

If I am not careful, I can gain 1 kilo per week whenever I am in Negros. It’s a big setback after all the runs and workouts I have done in Manila. I have lost about 5 kilos so far but I can easily gain it back in one month.

I am already getting stressed just thinking how I can avoid the food in the coming weeks.

See you tomorrow, Negros.

A reason not to smile

They say that it takes 43 muscles to frown while it takes just 17 muscles to smile.

This means that it takes more energy and more effort to frown. To smile, then, is better.

But what’s worst and more tiring than a frown is forcing yourself to smile because people expects you to be happy.

A waste.
A tragedy.