Let me just share this blog post I have read which talks about a student whom the writer claimed to be Albert Einstein. Regardless if it’s true or not, just focus on the story and really reflect on it. May it open your eyes into something more important than reason, and that is God’s love.

Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"


"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."



To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name — Albert Einstein.

I have read a tweet from EWTN news talking about a missionary priest who noticed a change in the spirituality of the people of Japan after the huge catastrophe that happened to their land. It’s sad to know that we have to experience one huge blow before we can feel God’s presence but nevertheless it’s a huge blessing for us too. Let’s just face it with love and humility.

Father Olmes Milani, a missionary priest living in Tokyo, says he has noticed new signs of faith in a largely non-religious society, one month after the deadly March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.

“The catastrophe which struck the country has awoken consciences and spiritual needs and values,” said Fr. Milani, a priest of the Scalabrinian missionary congregation. He told Fides news that he had seen “an evident return to prayer and spiritual values, in a society which would normally be considered materialistic and focused on production and profit.”

Research indicates that only around 15 percent of Japanese citizens formally adhere to any faith. But in the wake of the natural disasters, now known to have killed at least 13,400 people, Fr. Milani has observed a change. Besides those “stopping to pray in Shinto and Buddhists temples,” he has also noticed that “in our Catholic churches, there is an influx of non-Catholics that stop to pray.”

Fr. Milani said the people's prayers were primarily for emergency workers and disaster victims in need of relief. However, beyond these immediate needs, he also sees the potential for a deeper change in Japanese society.

Read more: http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/World.php?id=3011#ixzz1JdgWYgYj

Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9), when palm branches were placed in His path, before His arrest on Holy Thursday and His Crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent, and the week in which Christians celebrate the mystery of their salvation through Christ's Death and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Beginning in the fourth century in Jerusalem, Palm Sunday was marked by a procession of the faithful carrying palm branches, representing the Jews who celebrated Christ's entrance into Jerusalem. In the early centuries, the procession began on the Mount of the Ascension and proceeded to the Church of the Holy Cross.

As the practice spread throughout the Christian world by the ninth century, the procession would begin in each church with the blessing of palms, proceed outside the church, and then return to the church for the reading of the Passion according to the Gospel of Matthew. The faithful would continue to hold the palms during the reading of the Passion. In this way, they would recall that many of the same people who greeted Christ with shouts of joy on Palm Sunday would call for His Death on Good Friday-a powerful reminder of our own weakness and the sinfulness that causes us to reject Christ.

In different parts of the Christian world, particularly where palms were historically hard to obtain, branches of other bushes and trees were used, including olive, box elder, spruce, and various willows. Perhaps best known is the Slavic custom of using pussy willows, which are among the earliest of plants to bud out in the spring.

The faithful have traditionally decorated their houses with the palms from Palm Sunday, and, in many countries, a custom developed of weaving the palms into crosses that were placed on home altars or other places of prayer. Since the palms have been blessed, they should not simply be discarded; rather, the faithful return them to their local parish in the weeks before Lent, to be burned and used as the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Source: http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Palm_Sunday.htm

Hachiko is not a person. He is a dog (a male one). And what’s special about this dog is the loyalty he gave to his master. Originally happened in the 1920’s the story of this amazing creature has reached the 21st century and still touched the lives of many people, including mine.

Last Friday, I watched the American version starred by Richard Gere. I watched it twice and twice I cried. Well I am not gonna write the entire details of the story (I want you to watch it). But for a little background, it’s about a dog, an Akita breed that in one way or another developed a certain bond with his master.

Hachiko always goes with his master on the town’s train station before he goes to work and in the afternoon he would wait for the arrival of his master on the same spot near the station. He would always do that for a long period of time. Until one day a tragedy happened.

While Hachiko’s master was still at work (he was a professor), he had a cardiac arrest and eventually died. Hachiko did not know what happened (or perhaps he did, he’s a dog and we don’t know what’s on their minds). So, he continued to wait for his master on the same spot and on the same time for the next 9 or so years, until he was found dead.

I don’t know what to call that but for me it’s definitely love. It’s a love that transcends beyond the physical aspects of every creature. No matter who and what we are, when true love plays its part, there will be no boundaries, regardless of the race, the nation and even religion. I hope we will all learn from the story of Hachiko.

Let love transcend beyond where we are right now. When all men in this world do the same thing, that will become the word I invented, the Hachiko effect.

Starmart 4:30 AM…

Still talking to my sweet hot coffee…

Though I was not able to watch the movie from beginning to end, I can relate to Hancock.

He is a man with superhuman abilities, pretty much like the superheroes we admire when we were still young. But what makes Hancock different is that he is not respected in his town as a savior. In fact, he is despised by everybody.

His lair is not a fancy mansion with underground facilities complete with gadgets and equipments like Bruce Wayne’s. His home is on the streets. He destroys things out of clumsiness or maybe because he is intoxicated with alcohol.

He was even put to jail and rehabilitation. What kind of superhero is that? He has special powers but he made himself look stupid in front of people. He does not live the way he should.

But I cannot blame Hancock for being one. He is a damaged man. He had amnesia because he protected the woman she loved a few years back (when Frankenstein was a box-office hit). His love for that woman paved the way for his memory to be erased and life destroyed.

And the rest is history, he entered the new millennium being marked as a**hole. That is until he finally met his beloved by accident. Of course, he didn’t remember her because of memory loss. And the story started there.

At the end of the movie, a surprising revelation happened. The woman whom Hancock loved was also a superhuman. They have this “curse”. Every time these people fall in love with each other and be near with one another, they lose their powers. They become weak. But the moment they go on separate ways, far from each other they become stronger and more powerful.

How sad.

I guess Hancock and I are the same. Maybe the answer to all of these is to go away, far from the person I care for. It’s painful. But at least, she’ll become stronger because of my absence.

At least, my only reason for being happy is the fact that it was not an imaginary love.

It was genuine.

It was true.

Sigh.

5:30 AM…

Starmart , it’s a place I also call sanctuary.

It’s quiet. It’s peaceful especially in this time of day.

I am alone with my best friend. Sad to say, he is no human. He’s a super hot sweet black coffee; at least, that’s what’s written on the machine.

I look at the glass wall as I wait for the sunrise. People start to get thick as the morning breaks. They are happy; they seem to be hopeful on what’s going to happen to their lives today.

Strange, I feel the opposite. As the sun slowly rises, my life drifts away together with it, and then, sadness. For the 10th or so times, I found myself crying again. I feel like dying. I am perfectly healthy. I don’t have any illnesses but it’s as though I have Cancer of a rare type which is taking every bit of my life as the time ticks.

Thankfully, my coffee gives me warmth amidst the cold air that surrounds me.

The very day I was supposed to be born again became the day I died. I tried to fix things with all the effort I could do, but it wasn’t enough. I have collected the pieces of my life only to be scattered again.

Ouch!

The end does not justify the means.

I had my own reasons. But nobody has the courage to listen, or even try to lend their ears. Nobody believes me. It’s my fault. I started it all. Maybe this is karma, and whoever invented this word, I hate him. I am suffering down to my bones. I don’t know where to start again. I don’t know what to do. The only place that gives me solace is the sanctuary where I am sitting right now.

But until somebody dares to listen, it will be me and my cup of coffee.

It’s just amazing to know how our neighborhood becomes so addicted with my mother’s ice candy. It’s a dessert (though some children make it their breakfast or lunch or dinner. Believe me) made of some secret ingredient (milo and sugar) and placed inside plastic wrappers and then allow it to freeze.

One morning I woke up late because, I was tired. In my dream, I was also lying down and suddenly, somebody from the door shouted “bakal!! Bakal!!*” I was so tired so I ignored the little voice. I slept. And after about thirty minutes, I woke up and was surprised because the voice I heard a while ago was not a dream after all; the poor child was standing (still saying “bakal!!”) at the place where the voice in my dream was coming. And after a split second, a stampede occurred; she wasn’t the only one who was standing there. I found out that an army of young selfish little aliens were waiting for me to appear on the door which was a signal for them to attack our house and buy lots of ice candies. Am I exaggerating? Well, if you were in my place at that time, you would. I was deprived of my right to go to the restroom and do my thing, make a coffee and even pray! Because of the event, I forgot everything. And for the next hour I was busy going in and out of the house catering to the young aliens.

After the chaos, when I was finally left alone, I sat and I remembered the child who stood at the door for 30 minutes or maybe more. She did not stop shouting until I woke up and get what she wanted, the desire of her young heart, the refreshing, sweet and delicious ice candy.

And again, I learned an important lesson in life, persistence. When we ask for something, when we need something, when we desire for something, we should pray without stopping or losing hope. Don’t stop praying and asking for what you need. I remember this woman in one of Jesus’ story who wanted justice; she never gave up knocking on the judge’s door until she was given what she needed. I saw this image on the little girl, though I was a bit irritated and annoyed, I appreciated what she thought me (isn’t it funny? The children are teaching the adults nowadays). Never give up when you need something.

So guys, ask for your Ice candy now, and remember, don’t give up.

Enjoy! : )

God Bless.