Tools of Personal Worship

Everyone has the need for enhancing devotion to worship. Most find it convenient and proper to be with others. Others can freely express themselves to God in their solitude. Whatever one's preference is, we have certain tools we use with which to channel praise to God Almighty.

The pure tones of the flute and the guitar -- especially in the silence of night -- compel my spirit to flow in sweet serenade to the Lord. I sometimes imagine how much time David must have spent tending his sheep. (Psalm 108:1,2) To set his heart going steadfast in the lonely darkness, he kept himself awake singing with his harp and lyre till the dawn came. All the while, he worshipped God.

The living vibrations of music can truly heal and strengthen the heart.

The Search for the Right Prayer

Is there a right prayer?

There must be; that prayer that touches God's heart to move. Pray for a ball to drop to the ground and it will. It is a right prayer, technically, but a useless one for God already decided a long time ago that the ball should drop.

So, does that mean we should not pray for our food to come today? Physical laws are not entirely like providential laws. We must, by virtue of what happened in Eden, labor with our hands -- with much sweat and effort -- to feed ourselves. If a ball did not fall, it would be by God's miraculous power. If we received money we did not labor for, it is no less by His great might and infinite mercy. Either way, God makes the final decision.

How we pray is a constant struggle of our spirit to ask that we may finally know what God truly and rightly wants and for us to grow toward that.

Ultimately, those who continue to search and who continue to pray, walk the path of righteousness. And that's what really matters.

Jamming with Kitchie Nadal and Roca Cruz at Camp Aguinaldo

Taken during the First Pisay "Play for Science" Golf Tournament Awards Night at AFP COC on 2006 July 27 at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, where Ms. Kitchie Nadal was the special guest performer. With us is her able manager, Ms. Roca Cruz. (Photo taken by Ms. Mari Arquiza, also a PSHS grad and one of the country's leading photographers of rock artists.)

The Devil and the Fly

The devil is like a fly. While someone cooks in the kitchen, someone else goes out of the door. Upon opening the screen door, a fly (attracted by the smell of the food cooking) comes in. The cook gets angry at the other person for opening the door. The other person tells the cook, it's the food that brought in the fly. So they start to argue and fight. All the while they forget that the only solution is to let the fly out or just swat it.