Across the past: Conquering Ancient Fears

The Dragon Flies Again

Across the past
Across the sky
Across the sea
Across space
Across time

I fly once more
To visit my home
In this my homeland
To revisit my youth
To review my early journey

And conquer my fears
And heed my calling
And face my destiny
And seek the answers
To questions left unanswered


This is the poem I wrote at Manila’s departure lounge on June 1 as we waited for our flight to Cebu, the first leg of our trip to the Visayas. From Cebu, I, my sisters and other relatives would proceed to Bohol and then, finally, to our native province, Negros Oriental. We planned to spend some time in Dumaguete City where all of us siblings studied as kids and then visit our father’s hometown, Siaton, 50 kilometers southwest of Dumaguete.

Yes, it had taken 46 years before I could visit these two towns -- virtual arenas of my past as a child and as a young student. I had travelled back and forth to Mindanao and most islands in the Visayas, including the Occidental side of Negros. This was when I still worked in a bank in Makati. Even Cebu and Bohol I visited several times; but those were the only times I got really close to the old province.

It had also taken me about 25 years to take the courage to ride a plane again. In the interim, I had developed a lot of other phobias — claustro (enclosed places), acro (heights), elevato (a combination of the first two inside a lift, my term), agora (crowded places), cinemato (perhaps, a mixture of claustro and fear of the darkness inside a movie-house), seismo (earthquakes) and even transpo (if fearing a bus ride can be called that). Name it, I had it all it seemed.

But, thank God, I overcame most of them one by one although I do have some apprehensions about many other things. Coming out of my shell and moving around again after about ten years of reclusive living in Baguio helped to rebuild and refresh my mind, my heart and my spirit.

I tell these things to give courage to those who may have the same fears. My cousin who works with trauma victims told me that I was one of the “lucky few” for, in most cases, the fears remain and even get worse.

Writing books and songs, and singing them, of course, certainly saved me from total ruin from a heartbreaking experience. We all know the one thing that can break the heart – love. But love is also the remedy for a broken heart. The love of God and of the people who truly care for us. Even when we don’t feel like loving anyone in return, we find comfort in the fact, for instance, that our mother will always love us no matter what happens. And so many others out there who may not express or show it, but come to our lives bringing the sunshine of refreshment into our lives.

Travelling back to our hometown was not just a much-needed, long-overdue vacation. It reinforced filial love that extended to other relatives whom we had not seen and heard of for decades. It also allowed us to meet new relatives (second generation) and friends who went out of their way to make us feel welcome and accepted as part of their homes and families. Likewise, it opened up vistas I never thought existed when I was a child. Think of Valencia’s forest, Siaton’s Balanan Lake, Tayasan’s Calag-calag reefs and Sibulan’s Balinsasayaw Twin Lakes – sparkling gems on an emerald island waiting for tropical dreamers. But that’s another story.

Why we have to travel to some far places when right here in our country we can find such abundance of friendship and fellowship (not to mention fantastic places) is puzzling. Yes, we see beautiful sights and exciting cultural experiences in many places. But those foreign places do not really belong to us; neither do we belong to them. As the modern diaspora-nation, this may be hard to re-instill among our people who have come to belong to other nations and cultures as well. But I have discovered the value of looking more closely into what made me what I am now. Let me mention just a few things.

As a small boy, I developed this terrible fear of the dark. Stories of ghosts, vampires and “sigbins” (a Visayan-invented kangaroo-like elemental creature) kept me awake many nights and prevented me from venturing five feet away from my parents or any of my older siblings in the dark. Looking back now, my recent fears may have arisen from this early penchant to believe in unreal things. Worries, we call them now, which can take a life of their own and become monsters who inhabit our minds and souls as if wanting to rule over us.

The proper way to erase such fears, I learned while in college, rests in Apostle Paul’s advice in Phil. 4:4: “...whatsoever things are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.” But the world is so powerful and wins us over to the side of unreal things. Harry Potter may be cute; but behind his charming aura is an ancient cultic invitation to visit the world of tormented spirits. Hollywood does this best: lift us to heights of fantasy where we desire to stay and forget the real world or bring us down to the pits of darkness where evil spirits fight for supremacy and, oftentimes, do win over our own gullibility by taking much of our time and diverting our attention.

How did I develop fear of the dark? From other, mostly older, people who told stories about unreal things that dwell in the night. Before your kids end up with the same fears, it would be good to avoid such un-bedtime stories. Yes, the worse that might happen is for kids to develop fear of darkness. The worst is for them to fall in love with witchcraft and other cultic practices. In between, some even believe that such stories are allusions to the Christian spiritual warfare. But do we really think that those who make tons of money making people appreciate the cuteness of witches and vampires have any desire to teach Christians a few tricks on battling evil? No, for all we know, they are using these stories and films to soften our fear of or disdain for their real power to destroy our minds and our souls.

There is something in the darkness of our carnal minds we must genuinely fear: the devil. He makes his darkness appear like light to entice us. Ironically, he removes our fear of visually horrible things in order to remove our fear (or apprehension) of the “more terrifying” spiritual fear (of divine judgment) that God wants us to have. A healthy kind of spiritual fear leads to freedom; but the devil enslaves us through deceptive means.

We said “ancient cultic invitation” because the very same stories I heard as a kid (which took away my joy and freedom as a young person) were concocted by those who may have found those stories thrilling and worth telling in real terms. The basis of their stories, as in most myths, may have been real or hallucinatory. In our scientific modern world, such stories can easily be dispersed logically or psychologically. Still, with Hollywood raking in mesmerized minds into its bosom, how do remove this ancient influence from our midst? For the limitless power of the mind can only be made effective when we “think on the true and excellent things”, not the false and depraved things. They divert us from leading truly godly lives. “As a man thinks, so is he,” Marcus Aurelius wrote.

In short, my naive childhood fears came because of ignorance of the realities of the spiritual world. There are wicked spirits and benign spirits. Whoever wins your attention as a child or succeeds in molding your character determines who you are as an adult. Beware then of youthful or naive fears, they could (and will) grow on you during those dark moments.

There are real -- that is, visible things -- that do cause fear in us. Like the ancients who trembled at the sight of wild animals, we quiver likewise at the sight of fearful things or beings. This second case came to my attention when I realized that many of my early fears arose from people who had such strong personalities. One of them is my mother whose hands were swift to discipline me with a hanger or a belt as a boy. Today, she still retains that authoritative voice and glare when she finds me questioning her views. The others were my teachers in elementary who were mostly stern and, sometimes, unsmiling women. My favorite was my sixth-grade, mestiza teacher at Piapi Elementary School, Mrs. Edna Paralejas, who was as beautiful and as stately as Gloria Romero. She was also charming but she knew how to keep us in our places. The main reason I learned to fear her, in spite of her disarming personality, was the fact that she was from Silliman University and, unlike us, spoke very fluent English. She had authority and finesse written all over her. She would embody every other discriminating and intimidating teacher I would have in high school and college – mostly my English teachers: Mrs. Vea, Mrs. Gonzales, Miss Morillo and Mrs. Benitez, my college-speech teacher. (The rest of my male professors at UP College of Engineering, as hard as they tried to, were not as intimidating as the complex courses themselves.)

Corollary to that, I realized those stalwart female teachers did not only develop a fear of authority in me but also real fear for girls or women. Many of us high-school mates, in fact, recently discovered we were mostly “torpes” (we had fear of girls, if not courting them or telling them what we felt can be called a fear). Perhaps, we all had stern mothers or teachers who stunted our confidence when it came to dealing with the opposite sex. Whatever it might have been, I still carry with me this defensive wall against women who may not necessarily intend to cause fear but do create that feeling. The good Lord filled us with such strong emotions; we do not know when and whom to love or fear properly. Or maybe, it’s just me.

Be that as it may, what I found out when I finally visited Mrs. Paralejas after 46 years (she is more than 70 years old now) was that I no longer had the youthful fear I had when she was my teacher. Not because she is smaller than me now or that she has a more wrinkled face than me and that she no longer has the movie-star aura she used to have, but because she looks like my late grandmother who was so doting to me and kept smiling at me. She was no longer the person set on teaching me proper grammar or pushing me to excel with that serious voice and look. She was like a friend, no, a child buddy, who just wanted to talk about simple things. It was a restful conversation, not a stressful classroom lesson with thirty other kids around. When I gave her a copy of my latest book, she gave out a big smile that reflected my own joy in having had such a great teacher who prepared me to be what I am now. Perfect love -- and real joy and peace, as well -- is the absence of fear. There it is: the Lord’s “easy” answer to this emotional dilemma!

Yes, I also got to fly again after more than two decades; but the return flight was something else. Never had I had a more turbulent ride. I was glad I rode with my cousin Susan Monte de Ramos-Soldwisch’s husband, Bill, who knew how to cheer up a phobic person like me, especially at those moments when the plane was rolling and pitching around like a flip-flop on a raging river. During my first flight, I had taken videos of the islands and seas between Luzon and Cebu. Weather was perfect! On that return flight from Dumaguete, however, all I saw were gray clouds and tiny rivulets of rain through the window.

All my fears of sigbins, strict teachers, pretty girls, thunder and earthquakes disappeared in the face of a storm’s tail buffeting our plane. This was the Mother of all fears, the most ancient of all fears – the fear or sting of death that the devil succeeded in planting in humans hearts early on. I was not facing my fear of flight. I was actually flying in a plane that was juggling me around, strong and long enough to make my heart sink to its lowest point. Singing the old hymn “Peace Be Still” helped a lot, like it had done many times before. But I can’t help thinking that I was singing “Nearer, My God, to Thee” instead of that song! Even after we touched down, I did not dare sigh in relief until I got out of the plane. The thought of a terrorist’s bomb exploding before we deplaned did come to mind!

It turned out that a typhoon that had just left the country was sucking winds and rains over Manila. After we landed, I heard that all outgoing fights were canceled. Faith is the victory – this is so true over death and even over not-so-funny phobias.

The one remaining real fear I had to face was flooding in the magnitude of Ondoy. (How I envy the people during Noah’s time who had no fear of flooding! Ignorance is bliss indeed.) The taxi driver promised he would take me home through the floods, of course, for the right price. I was hungry, sleepy, tired, heavy-laden and fear-wracked at that point, so I had to pay up about a third of my plane fare for a cab ride. At one point, the driver had to stop and think if he could cross a flooded bridge over a creek. He kept his promise. Being in a plane crash or drowning in a creek was a possibility that did come to me (or in my belly, at least, as my cousin Susan said) that day; but they were after all the same old fears or worries at work given more real manifestations.

My life-long education in handling fears took a rest for a while when I got home, happy and dry. Twenty-three days after I had left, I was back in my room that remained as cluttered as I had left it, but with more dust to clean. I was in no hurry to clean up. Besides, mud from a possible Ondoy 2 could have come that night. At that point, it was just a stray thought, not fear of floods.

Vacations are truly fun when you get to see old and new persons and places. But the best vacations are those that also let you see the old and new persons and places in your own heart.


For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. -2 Tim. 1:7


(Photo above: Aerial shot of Bicol, showing majestic Mayon Volcano, below the wingtip, Burias Island and Ragay Gulf in between. Taken by Paolo Enteria.)

On Tithing, Receiving, Serving and Giving

Much has been said about the issue of bishops receiving or using money from the government. Before the issue finally dies down and swept into oblivion like so many other issues involving ministers or churches, let us take a quick look at what is really expected of leaders of the Christian flocks everywhere.

As much as I respect the opinions of fellow Christians on the matter of tithing or giving, it is necessary to look into the issue from the perspective of the apostles of the Lord Jesus. And no other personality would provide us a clearer picture of what it is and how it should be done than Apostle Paul.

First off, the word “tithe” or “tithing” (giving 10% of one’s income) is nowhere mentioned in the New Testament as a teaching or as a requirement for believers. The few verses available are allusions to the old Mosaic law given to Jews. This is an important point for it settles, once and for all, the basic difference between what tithing (in particular) is all about and what giving (in general) is all about. Tithing was necessary to support the Levitical priesthood. But with the fulfillment and eventual removal of the Mosaic system (including the priesthood) through Christ’s ministry, such a teaching or practice no longer holds. It was a command of Moses to the Jews only. Being Gentiles, I don't see how we should be compelled to follow it. Unless, we require men to be circumcised as well.

What remains now then is giving. Tithing is out. Or, it was never a command given to Gentiles. (Please check out Acts 15.) So, what is Paul’s teaching and attitude on giving? Can we consider it the final word on the matter?

In Acts 20:17-35, Paul calls for the elders or bishops from Ephesus and tells them how he had conducted himself before all, namely:

1. With humility
2. With suffering from persecution
3. With diligent teaching to the end of his life
4. With innocence

With such a virtuous stance no one then and now could question, he then warns them against the coming wolves. (As a prophet as well, Paul gives a warning to tell the early disciples and us future disciples of what was going to happen. That it did happen is no longer a question. It is just a matter of looking for wolves in sheep’s clothes.) He then commends the leaders to God's grace and leaves them his most ardent and revolutionary teaching on serving and giving, the one ministry that most religious groups are big on (but not necessarily in that order of importance). But what he tells them is so contrary to what is practiced and believed now. It is so obvious that I wonder why so many preachers do not teach this, to wit:

1. “Do not covet people's money or clothes.” (I could almost hear him say, "Do not covet anyone's SUV or Lotto profits.")
2. “I provided for my own needs and those of others. In this way, we must support the weak.” (He does not say: by asking for tithes or donations or alms from among your flocks. Remember, he was talking to bishops not mere disciples.)
3. Finally, quoting Christ, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Surprise!)

How consistent is this statement of the Lord with the stance that Christians should give tithes to support the weak or, as a modern adjunct, to support the work of the Lord? If Paul told bishops to give rather than receive, why do we require people to give tithes to bishops or pastors then? We failed to see this: The leaders are supposed to give, not the followers. Who is more blessed now, the giver (the people) or the recipients (elders or churches)? Spiritually, we give and are blessed. Materially, we receive and are helped. Churches today are materially helped, not spiritually blessed, sad to say. That explains our penchant for nice, expensive church-buildings or monoliths that house our assemblies while the poor live in shanties and starve.

Just look around and see who live in comfort and contentment from the income of the weak and poor and you will see how Paul’s teaching on serving and giving has been totally inverted. No, the funds have been diverted! The weak continue to suffer while the strong bask in glorious wealth. Who live in palaces and nice houses of prayer and meditation? Who ride in cool cars and vans in pursuit of serving the weak and poor? And whose money is it that props up the government’s lotto or sweepstakes if not of the poor, in general? The rich do not bet to become richer, although many do. The poor who make up more than 60% of the population do. Do the Math and you will readily see how a single person can win PhP300 Million in a few weeks while the rest continue to hold on to the same dream until they die.

The government takes and gives. That is its job. That is what taxes are supposed to be. But taking money and giving it to a few people through sheer luck is a wilderness gambit. ("I bet You, Jesus, You won't die if you jump from this cliff." Or, you can bet your life you can become rich.) Ask why Las Vegas can make the desert bloom and shine. Mammon controls such games and those who play it serve the god of this world. Of course, the government also takes and gives to deserving people. It comes, however, from being confused about taxes and pot-money.

As Christians, we are compelled to give – but, to the needy and the weak, not to the strong, learned and powerful, like some pastors, priests and bishops. They must lead by the example set by Paul. It is not too late to learn to do the proper way. In some cases, deserving teachers and elders may need support. But as it is, the exception has become the rule.

In short, why don't we just follow the example of Paul and forget about a dubious command supposedly given to the churches? And why covet that which we clearly see to be what the weak and needy gave in order to get what they need? That does not only make us covetous but vile as well for condoning laziness and greed.

Humility, perseverance, diligence and innocence, as in the case of Paul, are pre-requisites to the genuine ability to give to others who need help. Who can be like Paul and work with his own hands from such a standpoint in order to serve and to give to others? Who can follow his desire to preach the Gospel free-of-charge?


(Painting above: "The Widow's Mite" by James Christensen)

Infallibility: Truth or Fiction?

Infallibility – a word definitely invented and appropriated by humans. Only God is perfect and infallible. For humans to claim even a semblance of such infinite virtue is not only presumptuous but arrogant as well. God did give the keys (plural, take note) to His kingdom; but He gave them to all twelve apostles, not one. And the same keys anyone can receive as well by faith in Christ to unlock the door to the same kingdom, for that is the will of God. (I Cor. 4:1: “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.”)

The Roman Catholic Church bases its teaching on papal infallibility on the supposed position granted to Peter as the first pope and Supreme Pontiff (an unbiblical concept and office). Their claim is anchored on the statement of Jesus that upon Peter (Petros, a masculine name in Greek meaning stone) the kingdom of God would be established. However, Christ was clearly referring to petra (a feminine noun meaning rock), which was Peter’s good confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That truth – hence, upon Christ (The Rock), not Peter (a stone) – is the solid foundation of the Kingdom. Notice that Peter confessed Christ as He really was – Son of the living God. In return, Jesus confessed Simon (the unsteady) as He wanted him to become -- a firm believer, the new Peter. His new status brought about by his transforming faith in Jesus qualified him to receive the keys to God’s kingdom (keys to open the mysteries of Heaven), something the rest of the apostles could have equally received and did receive, as Paul attested. There is no talk whatsoever about any office or special rank Peter alone received at that moment or later on.

If so, Christ is the first and only pope (father) we should recognize. But He Himself said the Father in Heaven is greater than Him and that is why He left and took His place beside the Father in Heaven. Peter as a pope is as wild a conclusion as saying Marcos is a genuine hero or BB Gandanghari (Rustom Padilla) is a real woman.

How could we miss this simple fact and the obvious fact that Peter denied Christ three times and again denied Him before the Gentiles later on. This does not mean that Peter remained weak for he became a strong defender and preacher of the Gospel of Christ. Upon his and the rest of the apostles’ teachings, the assemblies of the first-century Christians were founded. (Acts 2:4-14 records the fact that all the 12 apostles were speaking foreign tongues through the Holy Spirit. Only Peter stood up to answer the crucial question: What is happening?) As messengers, they merely proclaimed Christ’s message through their words and works as the Holy Spirit enabled them. How could unlearned peasants and mere publicans have overturned the world otherwise? How could they have gotten the ability to uproot centuries of erroneous pagan beliefs and immoral living without Heaven’s direct interference? Please read the Book of Acts again and see how everything was all but the work of the Holy Spirit accomplished through fallible people. (Remember Ananias and Sapphira?) Even the so-called council in Jerusalem in Acts 15 merely echoes previous general pronouncements Moses declared against idolatry, dietary impurity and immorality. Nothing new at all was added. But many ensuing councils under the Roman and Greek Churches would loosen the strong fabric of genuine apostolic doctrines. At that point, the Roman Church slowly became both an ecclesiastical and a political entity.

Beyond the miraculous manifestations of divine power, the apostles had wisdom to rule over believers without the trappings of political, economic and military rule. By divine precept, there was a plurality of leadership in the early assemblies, not a hierarchy under one head. One pretentious head is, in fact, a dangerous formula for dictatorship while many humble heads are a safeguard against abuse of power. Remember how the Israelites angered God by asking for a king (so they could be like the tribes around them) when they already had a plethora of judges? And was God not their King?

How then can a divine kingdom be founded upon one unsteady person (Lord, save me for I am drowning! Matt. 14:30) who merely derived power through the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit? True, Peter healed the sick and raised the dead. But so did Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. In that regard, they were equal in rank, so why was Paul never claimed by the Romans (the first Gentile convert was a Roman centurion) as a pope as well? Because Peter was an “original” apostle whereas Paul was “born out of time”? Upon a dubious interpretation of a verse, the whole Roman Catholic Church hinges its claim to Christ’s throne on Earth which does not exist. Why? Because He reigns in Heaven. Hence, a claim to an earthly throne is all that the pope has. Politics is its real weapon; religion is its mask. How obvious is this?

Any sincere student of history will see through the dark chapters of the Roman Church’s rule and see how far it stands in harmony with Christ’s infallible quality, or even the excellent nature of the apostles’ deeds. In fact, if Apostle Paul were to be the real paragon for popes, every pope would have worked for his own keep in order to support himself and his co-workers and not expect to be supported by millions of souls throughout the world with alms big and small that make their the way to what is probably the wealthiest bank in the world -- the one in Vatican. (Infallible and rich: how favored can one person be?) For Paul vowed not to be a burden (as long as he was able to do it physically) to anyone and worked as a tentmaker. It is one thing to work as an evangelist and expect to be paid for doing so and another thing to work for a pay and then preach the Gospel free-of-charge. That was Paul’s way. He was not infallible (“I am the chief of sinners.” I Tim. 1:15); but he was less fallible than Peter as an apostle. Even when he was ready to be poured out finally, he never set himself at par with God’s perfect status (“Not that I have . . . already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Phil. 3:12)

In terms of numbers, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, would technically have a greater claim to a papal seat than Peter who preached mainly to the Jews. It was he who established the churches in Asia and later on over a big part of Europe though his missionary journeys. Peter supposedly died in Rome, giving him greater right to the seat being claimed by the Roman Catholic Church. But Paul apparently did more to encourage the believers in Rome and other parts of the Roman and Hellenistic world as seen through his letters, his travels and his travails. It was he who appealed once to Caesar as a Roman citizen himself and defended the faith in Rome. That he lived to be an old man and, perhaps, also as a martyr like Peter makes him as qualified to be pope as much as Peter. So, why is he not recognized as a pope? Is it because two popes could not rule at the same time, as seen from Rome’s obvious historical disdain for the Patriarch of Constantinople and the teachings of the Greek Orthodox Church? Who knows what motives people have to distort history and the truth?

The truth is that there was no such office to talk or argue about. Peter, Paul or John were mere messengers, not supreme heads of any organization, least of all, that of a sovereign state. The pope in Rome, like Queen Elizabeth, sits on a titular throne whose roots go back to the Roman Empire, not to Kind David, from whom Christ descended. Peter, the lowly, unlearned (not ignorant) fisherman is the stepping stone used to claim Christ’s glory for a religion that falls short of the first-century model of purity and simplicity. Open your minds to history’s irrefutable lessons. See the disparities between first-century Christianity and many modern-day churches, not just Catholic. Better still, why submit to defective modern versions when the original model only awaits our simple faith and compliance. (Please visit this blog.)

What do we mean then when we say the assemblies were founded on the teachings of the apostles? Does it mean they founded a formal organization or a religious group? If hiding in an upper room to evade persecution from Jewish leaders is the way to go about it, then they must have. If worshiping in catacombs can be seen as a convenient way of espousing a religion, then they were far from being very effective.

After many years of persecution by Roman emperors, it was Constantine, a Roman emperor himself, who took Christianity and made it into a formal religion, changing entirely the character of the original foundation the apostles built.

There were obvious benefits to the believers when persecution stopped and a washed-down form of Christianity became officially acceptable. For the entrance of pagan teachings and practices diluted the purity of the early assemblies. Councils conducted both by the Greek and Roman branches of the Catholic Church introduced new doctrines not consistent with the teachings of Christ and the apostles. The formalistic conduct of the original pure and simple rites of the early assemblies became a rule. The Mass took over the love-feasts or agapes they held spontaneously and daily in their homes (Acts 2:42). A priesthood patterned after the Levitical model arose (even though Christ taught that every believer was a priest in the eyes of God, worthy to offer his or her body as a living sacrifice, our acceptable spiritual service --nothing more, nothing less, Romans 12:1). A formal, global hierarchy under one head took over the simple plurality of pastors or bishops overseeing (not lording it over) the lives of believers in various cities.

Christ knew what would happen if humans were given power and authority that is why He claimed “all power and authority” having been granted to Him by Heaven just before He ascended. He never gave part of that to anyone or any group of people. Least of all, His apostles whom He knew to be helpless without the Holy Spirit empowering them spiritually and not politically or legally. He did say that “greater works” than He had done the apostles would also perform. Obviously, He was referring to miraculous acts and the unlimited spiritual progress of the kingdom till now, not political, military or financial progress as the Catholic Church has obtained for herself in the past and much of it in the present.

Papal infallibility’s claim to religious correctness is a dead giveaway to the false and pretentious progress of the Roman Church. It was she who went through a painful reformation in Europe, not the Greek branch, for its excesses under profligate and “infallible” popes. Our very own hero, Jose Rizal, died in the hands of the Spanish rulers through the evil machinations of the friars. If Galileo could be forgiven for espousing a scientific fact, why cannot Rizal be officially “pardoned” or reinstituted for exposing truths about the friars? (Silencing Galileo and killing Rizal are only two of many clear proofs of the religiously intolerant nature of the Roman Church.) Because Rizal rightly recognized and taught against a religion that in reality makes slaves of us instead of setting us totally free. (Donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios.) To uphold Rizal’s teachings would mean rejecting erroneous Catholic teachings. He remains an enemy to Catholicism and to many priests. And yet, they treat him like a friend for the sake of display. Across almost every Catholic Church in every town in the Philippines, Rizal’s statue stands in the plaza maintained by the government. But in Dumaguete City, for some reason, he seems to face away from where the church stands. This shows that even Rizal’s statue still knows how to look the other way.

Catholic priests would conveniently qualify the pope’s infallibility by limiting it to his professions as Supreme Pontiff on matters of faith and of morals. This despotic qualification holds all Catholics captive to any and all pronouncements of the pope. Hidden behind this dogma, however, is the tendency to add or to subtract from the plain teachings of Christ, for the very position he claims is an invented office, as we already said. In fact, as an example, cardinals and archbishops (obviously with papal permission and as a matter of conscience, hence, of morals) can justify the use of money from lottery or gambling for its religious purposes. This, therefore, excuses from sanction his or other priests’ arbitrary actions. Another case is that they allow marital annulment but not divorce. This is like saying, “Whatever I say is right and whatever else I may indirectly allow is also right.” Such sophistry they have perfected as their trademark. Only the truly discerning can see through the hocus-pocus.

We would easily believe that the pope is infallible if he chose his archbishops, bishops and priests such that they would at least be half as infallible as he is. But, no, the fact that the branches can be as corrupt as the trunk simply means the teaching on infallibility is a hollow, dead and sapless stump full of termites.

The only time any person can be considered technically as infallible (not in error but not necessarily free of sin) is when he or she proclaims eternal truths revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. An example would be Peter’s confession that Christ is the Son of God. Another would be that Christ reigns in Heaven and that he will return to judge the living and the dead. These are basic and universal truths. But to say something that is and has not been revealed to the apostles and the gospel writers is “adding” to God’s word (a grievous offense and subject to divine condemnation). Such invented doctrines divide people and cause dissensions – something we are going through now. We must, however, contend for the purity of God’s word.

When Christ prayed in Gethsemane for the apostles, He said, “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:14-19 - With highlighting) To be sanctified is to be made holy or whole. Our teachings and faith can only be complete through the revealed word of God given to the twelve apostles, not theological inventions or misinterpretations pronounced by false teachers and other wannabes.

Catholics, in general, are sincere believers. But the teaching on infallibility is one matter that even non-believers will find hard to follow into its logical conclusion. Why believers would believe a lie is certainly amazing. The “father of all lies” is still very much alive and gathering harvest everywhere.



Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? (Gal. 4:16)

Rudiments of Marriage

With the ongoing public debate on the RH/RP Bill, it might be good to review marriage as God conceived it. This, of course, we can derive from a reading of Genesis and the Gospels which give us a clear, fundamental picture of marriage.

Much of the confusing arguments thrown about in media, in courts and in churches come from people’s misconceptions regarding the origin of marriage. When institutions enforce inordinate marital laws, society gets caught in the proverbial Gordian knot. Today, the moral and economic health of our nation will depend upon our unravelling this knot for us to experience the freedom and prosperity that God wanted us to have in the first place.

When marriages end up becoming mere playgrounds for the perverts and the depraved, it is time to get serious. Let us then review the Rudiments of Marriage:

A – Marriage is an ACT of God.

God established and defined marriage in the beginning. He “made them male and female” and made them “one flesh”. No, in reality, He made them first “one flesh” (one kind of flesh) in the person of Adam from whom Eve was taken. Having formed Eve from Adam’s flesh, God “made them one” (one united flesh) in marriage. Thus, He declared them to be husband and wife. There, the simple definition of marriage from the Author of Life Himself.

One man. One woman. One flesh. One union. Can there be anything more elegant than that?

Today, people pervert the equation: One man. One man. One flesh.... Bang! It blows the mind of God and sensible people. But people don’t know any better and violate the Law of Marriage, making it into a mere act of humans.

B – Marriage BEGINS with the physical union of man and woman.

One flesh, at the start, then there were two different flesh forms (male and female). God meant the two to be reunited -- a physical and loving union. Adam and Eve loved each other. Their union was uniquely and directly physical since Eve came from Adam. They became husband and wife when they consummated and celebrated their entrance in marriage.

Since all of us came from the union of Adam and Eve, we can consider ourselves of the same flesh nature. We also have the privilege to enter marriage.

It is important to see and understand that the pattern of Adam and Eve is our only model for marriage. They entered their union by the physical act of coming together as “one flesh”. The act of God was to make male and female out of one flesh and joining them in marriage. The act of humans in subsequent marriages is to unite in the same manner. That is marriage the way it should be seen and done. From the beginning till the end of time.

In short, the wedding or the pronouncement by any institution does not establish the union. It is two persons following the law and word of God and keeping that union pure before Him.

C – CLEAVING to one another

What God has joined together, let no one separate. But why do we have laws that allow separation? Because we have taken over God’s authority. We change the equation, distort and extend it to satisfy inordinate carnal desires.

To cleave means to be joined with. The initial intense desire must remain, as much as possible. It is a responsibility of married people as well as of society to keep that union everlasting. Of course, this is hard to attain in our fast-changing times. But if it was generally possible in the past to remain married till death, why can’t we do it again? So many reasons to remain one and only excuses not to.

D – DISSOLUTION of marriage is through death or divorce.

Only God can separate what He united. Through death of a spouse, He allows a person to marry again. Or when one becomes unfaithful by uniting with another. Why?

Since marriage is a union between two bodies, a married person who joins with another different body destroys the original union. 1 + 1 = 1, is the formula. But we have changed it into (1 + 1) + 1 = 2. There are now two unions, one from God and one from humans. One holy, one evil. But people still do it! Why? Because they are driven by their carnal desires, not by the Spirit of God.

From the previous illustration, we can see how population explodes and society’s morals disappear. Why? Because people abuse the privilege. Hence, (1 + 1) + 1 + (1 + 1) + 1 + 1 = 5. Both husband and wife have other partners at the same time. But wait, even the young have made their own equation, thus: (1 + 1) + 1 + 1 = 3. What?

Let us make it clear that two who are joined in the sexual act enter marriage as defined by God. Male and female, in the beginning, remember? Even if you are only 13, once you unite with someone, the union is established. Same flesh, same act, producing the same union. You are bound to keep that union or suffer the consequences of entering an adulterous union. But, of course, people have found ways to go around God’s laws.

Now we have “legal separation” because “there was no marriage in the first place”. That is like saying, God made a mistake in defining marriage and, therefore, we can allow two persons to be free to marry again. Divorce -- legal or not, right or wrong -- has become a prized status which brings big profit to many. But the law of God remains and will make us accountable in the end.

Friends, hope you learned something new from an old teaching. So, when you go and multiply, make sure you use the right equation. We don’t want anyone losing the soul for not knowing and understanding the simple Alphabet and Arithmetic of Marriage.

(Painting above: "Tampuhan" (Lovers' Spat) by Juan Luna)

How Jesus Died (Inside the Centurion’s Mind)

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:44)


The heart of a war-hardened Roman centurion remained loyal to the divine Caesar. His mind sought only to fulfill his duty to his emperor, his country, his soldiers and his family. Centuries of imperial rule and military wisdom had created this ancient machine capable of conquering nations and subduing rebellion over almost the entire world. Pax Romana reigned because of him.

When Jesus Christ began preaching, Judea was a far-flung colony ruled by a Roman governor in alliance with the Jewish Sanhedrin, a council of leaders faithful to Moses’ Law and extremely zealous for its many invented traditions. The link between the foreign Caesar and the local rulers produced a delicate balance which worked effectively to quell unrest and to maintain economic benefit for the colonizer through taxes. Both parties, keeping a safe distance from one another, gladly fulfilled each other’s role while keeping the people tractable, safe and productive. Between the two, the Praetorian Guard, under the governor’s command, played a vital role as a strong bridge.

A centurion, in reality, had command over two hundred to about a thousand soldiers. Today, he would be equal to a colonel in terms of command and dignity. He served both as mother and father to his soldiers – training them, inspiring them, fighting with them, laughing and mourning with them, eating and sleeping with them in camp and even dying with them in the battlefield. The road a soldier-leader trod upon to earn his spurs was paved with unending struggle, pain and dedication. The physical strength, mental acuity and emotional alertness required of him allowed little room for error and excuses. Mens sana in corpore sano (sound mind in sound body) – a Roman maxim -- found its pedestal in the centurion’s life.

The unnamed centurion had heard of Jesus since He began teaching in Judea with a band of followers -- former fishermen, tax collectors and ordinary folks. It was his duty to find out what was happening. Some of the soldiers he sent to observe told him of a man who baptized people and Jesus in Jordan River. The centurion remembered his soldiers saying that they even got a “washing down” from the leather-bound, ascetic prophet: Do not abuse your power. Do not get money from the people.

“Who is the leader of the movement then: the baptizer or this Jesus?” The centurion had asked then.

“Well, the baptizer wanted to be baptized but he ended up baptizing this Jesus instead,” was the answer.

Quite a humble person, this Jesus, the centurion had thought.

For about three years, the centurion had heard many things about this Jesus, also called the Son of Man, Messiah or the Prophet. He heard about his teachings of a coming kingdom, about forgiveness and loving your enemies, about praying and about a resurrection. The miracles – now, those were amazing reports -- even led him to see for himself whether this Jesus was for real.

Disguising himself as a visiting merchant, he decided to see for himself one Sabbath when not many people were in the streets. To his great amazement, he saw Jesus heal a man who had been born blind.

Great Jupiter! This man is indeed very powerful. Who is he? Where is he from?

That night, he had a hard time sleeping. Never in the history of Rome or anywhere else had that happened. But being the literate and smart person that he was, he wanted more proof before putting any trust upon this teacher-healer. He also needed to be unattached in order to focus on keeping the crowds who followed Jesus from becoming unruly.

Still, he wanted to know more about this Jesus. He had an unhindered view to a historic and revolutionary event and he did not want to miss whatever good it offered. Besides, it was his duty to keep this Jesus and the excited people within his scope. Also, he needed to keep Jesus from harm in case the Jewish leaders thought of eliminating him unlawfully. Either way, he kept the guard and gave relevant reports to the governor regarding the rising events.

“This Jesus, although he doesn’t seem intent on starting it, may be the source of trouble for all,” he told his soldiers. “Stay alert!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey, the centurion provided security in the streets of the city. But since it was his duty to keep a close watch over the band of followers, he stayed close and kept even wider eyes and ears than his soldiers. He gathered reports of what Jesus said in the temple through the stories told by some Jewish “friends” (Spies, we would call them. Romans were not allowed inside the temple, you see. He knew the Jewish leaders had also planted spies among Jesus’ followers.) He heard how Jesus toppled the tables and how he lashed at the Pharisees and Scribes. The Sanhedrin almost had to call Roman soldiers in just to prevent the people from causing any more vandalism. Fortunately, only Jesus showed violent behavior.

Surely, this man is motivated by some kind of ultimate goal for him to defy the Sanhedrin as he does, thought the centurion.

He now wondered what was the final goal of this Jesus? Did he want to ultimately take control over the temple? Was he merely testing the Sanhedrin’s ability to resist Him and the people? Where would he get his weapons to accomplish that? He had tasked his soldiers to search the homes of some of Jesus’ disciples many times in the past. But they found none.

By all counts, this man is a man of peace. He does not know the ways of war like I do. Taking over the temple or the city would require training a big army. But with the Roman legions guarding the province and the city, it would be an impossible task.

So, why is he doing nothing but teach in the temple and in the surrounding towns? For three years, he has not varied his habits. Yet, more and more people are coming to him. And now that he has made a triumphant entry in Jerusalem, he has not said anything to the people that would come close to rousing them to take over the temple or the city.

His claim that he is the Son of God has divided this nation. The leaders hate him; but the people love him. Could he have supernatural power to overthrow Rome and Judea by calling on God’s angels? Their prophet Moses overthrew a great nation before without an army; perhaps, this Prophet will do it again.

This man is very mysterious and very dangerous.

The centurion made a report of the recent events and made an effort to explain to the Roman governor that he had not seen anything like this Jesus or his movement. His recommendation, therefore, was to reinforce the security in the city as Passover was arriving and more people had come to celebrate. It might be that Jesus was waiting for more people to make his final move, whatever it was.

The order arrived one morning at the centurion’s house from the governor for soldiers to assist the Sanhedrin in the arrest of Jesus that night.

So, this is how it will all end? The centurion felt the despair and helplessness. Or perhaps, he has an army trained somewhere and would come at the right moment to begin the uprising. But until then, I have nothing to work on.

That night, they came and arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was half hoping that Jesus and his followers would put up a fight; but only one follower did, cutting off a soldier’s ear in the process. But Jesus rebuked the man and even healed the soldier’s wound. The soldiers confiscated a couple of swords and clubs, nothing more.

This man is not putting up a fight. What is he doing? Maybe he wants a more dramatic revolt. We will have to wait.

The centurion waited in vain. Before the Sanhedrin, before the Roman governor and before Herod in Galilee, Jesus did not defend himself. No rescue from any army -- of humans or of angels -- came. When the Jews cried to have him crucified, not even the governor could save him. The centurion, feeling frustrated, accepted his orders from both quarters.

When the governor ordered Jesus to be flogged, he let his soldiers do the job. He felt exhausted and went home to take some rest. Watching another flogging would have been senseless.

Anyway, this is not what I had hoped would happen to this man. Ah, a drink and a bath will clear my mind. Even in battle, such small luxuries can do great wonders. And in this war of politics and religion, a soldier neither wins nor loses. One merely carries on.

Upon his return, however, the soldiers were scourging Jesus with wild abandon.

“The order was to scourge him, not kill him,” he yelled at them.

How can these people laugh at their own cruelty?

He could not look into the eyes of the bleeding man. The crown of thorns and the robe around his lacerated body made him appear neither as a dignified king nor a respectable man by any trace. The laughter he heard around him at this pitiable spectacle seemed to hurt him almost as much as the wounds of Jesus.

After the governor turned over Jesus to the Jews to be crucified, the fate of Jesus fell entirely into the hands of the centurion.

This man has not caused any trouble; but he is being punished and sentenced to die. I envy the governor; he could wash his hands of this man’s blood. Mine are already stained by it.

But he had a task to do and ordered the soldiers to proceed with the sentence. When they arrived at Calvary, he had Jesus nailed and raised on a cross between two thieves.

This is the worst order I ever had to follow in my life, the centurion mused as he watched while people cheered every pound of the hammer on the nails. Yet, the condemned hardly cried in pain. It was nine in the morning.

People who were passing by mocked him. The soldiers were gambling over his cloak. One of the thieves hanging beside him cursed him. The Jewish elders dared him to come down and prove He was the Messiah.

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” the centurion heard Jesus cry out.

The Roman laws which I serve and his own laws have condemned him; but my own heart cannot even condemn him. And yet, he will not condemn anyone. What great love this man has!

At noon, a black darkness covered the entire land. It seemed like the Sun itself stopped shining for there were no clouds; not even the stars or the moon appeared. Light itself seemed to refuse to shed its presence upon the scene. Torches were brought in by the soldiers for they could not move within the gloom.

What kind of man is this that even Nature grieves at his suffering? I have seen both courage and fear in the faces of men who died in battle. My comrades who bled and died in my arms defied death and the enemy and cried out for more blood. But this man refuses to fight, forgives his enemies and brings sorrow even to a man like me who has stared at death so many times. He... he is all alone in his agony and, yet, it is I who feels abandoned.

“I thirst!” came the cry from the cross. Upon hearing this, a soldier gave him wine vinegar mixed with myrrh and soaked in a sponge. But Jesus did not drink.

“Enough! We have mocked him long enough. Let him die with dignity,” said the centurion.

He thirsts for something else. Whatever it is, we have no power to give it to him.

“It is finished,” Jesus spoke.

The centurion felt the end was near. He had been standing several paces from the cross and had remained there to see everything that transpired. He had forgotten about his duty to Caesar, to his country, his soldiers and his family. The only obligation he had at that moment was to the man on the cross. This time, he spoke to Jesus from his heart.

You were placed under my command, for me to observe, to control, to protect, to scourge and now to crucify. In my tour of duty in your land, I have seen many die on a cross – yes, under my command. Men who deserved to die. I know you do not deserve this. But you wanted this. That I know now. For what purpose? I do not know.

In Rome, we have a hero who was bound to a rock for stealing fire from heaven and giving it to humans. I see now that even as you approach death, Prometheus that you are, even the light dies with you. It is my privilege to see a man whom we Romans would call a true hero of the people. No, we would call you a god! For that, I give you honor.

The centurion took off his helmet, unsheathed his sword and stood it on the ground.

“Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit!”

With such a piercing cry, Jesus died. It startled every one. Even the land shook with such a force that the centurion fell on the ground. In the lingering darkness, he stayed down kneeling and supporting himself on his sword. People were screaming and trembling. No one, not even the mockers who had gathered like vultures uttered a word. Only the centurion’s clear voice rose above the rumbling ground and fearful cries.

“Vere filius dei erat iste!” (Truly, this man was the Son of God!)

It took a while before the chaos subsided. The darkness dispelled in a moment and the soldiers took enough courage to gather back around the cross at the centurion’s call. It was three in the afternoon.

It was a custom for executioners to make sure that those who were crucified were dead before they were brought down. The centurion hesitated to give the command when it was Jesus’ turn for he had a glimmer of hope that he would still be alive.

Perhaps, it is his way of surviving this great injustice. Wouldn’t that be a great vindication for the innocent? The governor, who understands our laws more than I do, believes so.

“Sir, we have to do this,” asked the soldier ready to plunge the spear into Jesus’ heart.

“What‘s another wound to a dead man?” The centurion waved his hand and walked away.

The centurion went home that day pondering. He had proven something to be true and still had some hope remaining that that truth would last long enough for others to see. He only had to nurture that hope.


Today, many do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He lives and reigns in Heaven. Many others do not even believe He ever lived at all. One man witnessed how Jesus died -- and believed.


(Painting above: "The Roman Centurion" by Nathan Greene)

The Parable of the Last Doll

Many appreciate those lovely Russian “nesting dolls”, very popular as gift items. The original “Matryoshka” doll set, carved from wood in 1890, is shown at left. The smallest doll is a baby while the largest is a mother holding a rooster. All the inner six dolls are girls, except for one boy.

If I were to make a set, I would probably begin with the smallest doll. Easiest to hardest, which works well with crammers or late-bloomers like me. But anyone could just as well begin from top to bottom. It would depend on one’s fancy or bias. Either way, the last doll would certainly be, to the maker, the most cherished. One would eventually have learned enough from mistakes that the last doll would be perfectly and lovingly done.

And you thought looking at or handling those dolls was all there was to the doll set. Sure, we all love opening up the big mama or papa doll and down to the smallest family member, lining them up and counting them. Putting them all back together is just as delightful. The magical feeling actually mimics Nature’s many processes. Hence, through it we become part of the artistic or creative process of discovery and synthesis.

Physicists and cosmologists explain the origin of the Universe through a similar fashion. They say that in the first three minutes of the Big Bang, hydrogen and helium nuclei were already stable. 700, 000 years later, much of the H and He available (together making up more than 99% of all the elements in the Universe) were already formed. The Big Bang Theory somehow provides scientific proof of the Genesis claim that God created the Universe from the tiny atom particle to the galaxies and beyond. From down up. Within our bodies, in fact, are the components that God carved out first – water made up of hydrogen atoms (the same material needed by stars to produce light) and oxygen, carbon and iron. And many more.

This small-to-big process is also apparent in many things around us. The Solar System parallels the structure of the atom. The river system, from its tributaries to its distributaries, is similar to a tree's root and branch systems (not to mention the human circulatory system). A mother gives birth to a daughter who will give birth to another girl and so on. Males are, in an indirect way, bearers of seeds that produce the tiny babies of the world. The laws of creation and reproduction came about because a wise, all-knowing Creator put such obvious order in His handiwork.

Everything then is part a whole and the whole derives its essence from the parts.

So, if God made the tiny and the big, how did He do it? That is, what did He use to form all things, whether finite or infinite?

To answer this, we will have to reverse the process. From the big to the small and beyond? What!!?

Before anyone could carve a tiny “babushka” doll, one would have to get wood. Obviously. But in God’s case, what did He have before He made the tiny hydrogen atom? Yes, He had protons, neutrons and electrons. Or even tinier energy particles than those. But wait? What was the source of all those particles? Scientists will probably not agree; but there was nothing before there was something. The logic works; but it defies logic. Faith has to take over from this point.

Inside the last tiny doll is nothing. While the Universe continues to expand at speeds beyond our imagination, the purpose of God to bring back all things to the beginning will not be thwarted. As people build gigantic structures, they actually behave like God – not so unlike the people of Babel who built a tower in order to challenge God. As nations go about coalescing to form a global nation under a global government, they actually think the way God does – to bring all people under His mighty rule. And yet, they are not able to do so because they go about it in their own selfish and wicked ways.

What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? One can succeed in building the biggest doll set but it will be the same dull doll as the tiniest doll, in shape and in essence. The biggest business company will still make use of the same formulas that made it a success in the beginning – for good or ill. A trillion dollars will seem like a million dollars to a convicted drug-dealer who needs only five dollars to pay for his last meal before his execution. Correction, he or she gets the meal free of charge. The world is worthless compared to the value of the soul.

In the beginning was the Word. There was nothing first. The Word brought everything into existence.

When Christ said that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted, we understand His way for us. He who denies himself will gain life. When we become nothing to this world, we will receive everything. The meek will inherit the Earth. His mission on Earth then was to reverse the process of Creation and create the New Creation. Having seen how humans have failed to appreciate His gift of life and abundance in a perfect Universe, He decided to call us to look into the last doll – into our spirit which He created lovingly and perfectly in His own Divine Image.

Crush a tiny babushka doll and you will end up with a mess of wood. Vaporize it and you will have disassembled atoms. You reverse the Big Bang and you get the Big Yawn into Oblivion. Nothingness.

In the beginning, there was nothing – no matter, no space, no time. And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.

Today, that light has been covered and hidden deep inside the last doll. Whoever uncovers the light will have life eternal.


(Photo above taken from Wikipedia.com.)

Earthquakes: An Act of God?

When the M7.7 earthquake hit Luzon in July 1990, an Evangelical preacher said it was a quirk of nature. That is, neither God nor humans had anything to do with it. Such a fatalistic view somehow excuses our inability to do anything to prevent it from happening and destroying everything in its path. Likewise, it somehow releases God from any moral responsibility in causing death to hundreds of people. As if God needed a judge to absolve Him.

Today, after the devastation wrought by the Sendai M9 quake and tsunami, some are saying earthquakes and their corresponding tsunamis are an “act of God”. Meaning, together with shaking the Earth and causing the ocean to rampage inland as well, God causes the death of thousands of people caught in the wakes of these gigantic force-generators. Or maybe, it is just our way of saying we do not really understand God or life at all. Still, we can’t avoid imagining God as if He were a mean brat pouring hot water over helpless ants scrambling on the ground.

Two different views of one and the same supposedly natural phenomenon: one makes God indifferent, the other makes Him answerable for all the suffering we see splashed on TV every minute or so.

Do these views give us the real pictures and the truth? Are we then helpless and worthless creatures blown here and there, buffeted to and fro by the heartless forces of Nature or by a whimsical God ?

Haiti, Chile, Christchurch, Sendai and so many other places have tasted the blind “quirkness” of Nature or the indiscriminate “act” of God. Christian or not, rich or poor, nations suffer the same devastation from some of life’s inscrutable realities.

How are we to make sense of these cruel events?

Let us lay down principles that will hopefully make this difficult question more within our grasp.

First, when God created the Universe, He put perfect order into it. (Everything was “good” in the eyes of God.) Whether it came out of a Big Bang or not, it now proceeds according to His laws – laws which we now ascribe as the characteristics of Nature. Adam came after all things were already made and working according to the Grand Universal Design. We can be sure that God gave him a lecture on how the cosmos worked and how the Earth played its role in it. Without this assumption, we would make of God and Adam two indifferent beings with nothing to converse about except for laying down rules. (“OK, Adam, here are the rules: blah blah blah….” “Yes, Father. Yes, Father. Yes, Father.” Sounds like something we would hear happening today in some circles.)

Second, somewhere along the line, Adam caused things to go haywire. That led God to rewire the whole Universe in order to make things difficult, apparently, for Adam and the rest of us. Sounds so simplistic but we might as well see it as kids do; for in the eyes of God, we are truly kids at play. The way Adam and Eve misused their blessings proved it. The way we continue to misuse Nature proves it.

Third, how things work today has come as a result of God’s rewiring the Universe to show us humans how we must not forget that divine law and order still apply in spite of our belief to the contrary. The fact that God has patiently waited for humans to learn this lesson also shows His love for us His wayward children. Noah’s Flood was a prime example of how God totally changed the playing field so He could begin afresh with good seeds, human or otherwise. And He did it not without waiting for 120 years to give a chance to those who turned their backs on Him. Failing that, He destroyed then rebuilt the Earth and made it even a more habitable place for more people but not without its misgivings. If God has to adjust to our wild and rebellious ways, we humans must also learn to adapt to His firm and unchanging ways. Somewhere in between, we can learn to live with God and with one another in our God-given planet Earth. Easier said than done.

Fourth, in rebuilding the Earth, God ended up making it less conducive for long life to be experienced. He had foreseen how people would become more sinful and made it a place where He could easily instill discipline and judgment when people needed it. The stories of Sodom and Gomorrah and of Moses in Egypt prove this point. When we hear people reaching the age of 100 or more, we wonder if they are exceptional quirks or they exemplify a state that once was the rule. Eat your hearts out! Methuselah really did live to 969. Unwittingly, even scientists name the elusive long-life gene after him—not the myth but the real historical person.

Finally, the present spate of disasters is simply in keeping with what God has been doing for millennia. Nature is God’s tool to make people recognize His power and authority – even for those who think that God is a myth Himself. The many calamities and disasters that come and go prove that sin still abounds and God’s judgment still applies. There are those who believe and there are those who do not believe. That does not stop God from doing what He had been doing for centuries and which He had made known to humans long before they forgot. Then, in the end, we will know who holds the Truth.

In short, Nature is not quirky. It behaves according to God’s plan -- Plan B, that is. Disasters are, in essence, acts of God which He accomplishes through Nature. Yet, He does so in relation to what humans do. In spite of having made the Earth less livable than Paradise, it does not mean that God has no way of making us live in abundance and contentment through His provision and protection.

Nothing happens by accident, not even disasters of such magnitudes that rattle and dazzle our senses. The best we can come up with is to say that such disasters are “just or justified acts of God”. In cursing the Earth because of sin, He was and is justified in placing it under a less orderly or less comfortable manner for humans. Greater pain in childbirth, sweating in order to feed ourselves, getting sick and eventually dying. All these are products of human frailty, not of divine cruelty. Of human disobedience, not divine helplessness.

But even disasters can be “loving acts of God” as well, especially when they lead people to turn back to God. Nevertheless, many find it hard to accept that considering that many of the victims do not even believe in God in the first place. Thousands of Chinese, Japanese or Haitians who died in those earthquakes may have lived all their lives not knowing the true living God other nations commonly worship. How can we tell those people what they suffered was brought about by love? It is so easy to say then that in their case, they received the justice of God. But then again, even believers could be placed in the same lot. Like Job, who suffered much though he was upright.

God’s love and justice, inscrutable as they are, do not apply haphazardly like tsunami waters carrying infants and adults alike. If there is order in the Universe, there is also order in God’s righteous laws and rule. When He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross, it was a “loving act” for it allowed sinners to be saved by the pure sacrifice of a perfect being. Yet, it was also a “just act” in that it punished the sins of many through the same sacrificial offering of Jesus. Christ took our pains and our sins and died doing so. The Father, thus, punished His own Son on our behalf. And He did it through wicked people whom He loved and forgave. That prime act in human history merged both justice and love in one supreme plan designed to undo the work of sin and death upon humans.

Who suffered and died that justice and salvation might be established and proclaimed? Jesus Christ. Yet, so many still do not see the value of that turning point in history as the final solution that God would want us to apply in our lives. Our refusal to do so keeps bringing us back to the ancient times when people preferred to walk in the wilderness instead of entering the Promised Land.

Today, justice and salvation are being applied through God’s handiwork in the lives of people. He does it through human societies recognizing His sovereignty and, thereby, applying His rule and grace in small and great ways. When a criminal is put in prison, that is divine justice at work. When a worthy politician wins an election that is divine grace at work. When nations rise up against dictators, that is divine justice being expressed. When they are freed from bondage, God’s mercy applies. All these events – big and small -- make God’s presence known and felt. So, why can’t disasters do likewise?

Hence, when earthquakes occur today, we can be sure that God is not asleep but is working to shake us up from our complacency and forgetfulness. Ironically, suffering and death can be great stimuli for people to awaken to spiritual realities. And yet, we wonder if people are truly paying more attention to God when He gets their attention through disasters. After a while, people go back to their normal wanton ways because they never learn to appreciate God, His creation and His ways.

To bring out more clearly how people often miss God’s role in the midst of disasters, let us consider a paradoxical reality exhibited by the tragic Sendai Tsunami. It is clear that Japan was prepared for the M9 earthquake in cultural and infrastructural terms. In general, only minor damages, casualties and social disruption, if there were any at all, were reported immediately after the temblor. It was the tsunami surge that wrought havoc to the coastal areas which killed thousands and led to the present threat of a global radioactive exposure from the Fukushima nuclear reactors.

Water from the sea caused the tragic death of about 8,000 people in Japan. And as we said, God did not originally design the Earth to behave that way but rebuilt it to behave, in response to human behavior, in ways that allows Him to deal with humans for their benefit (“loving act”) or for their discipline (“just act”) and eventual salvation. Paradoxically, it is now water that is badly needed in order to cool down the overheated reactors of Fukushima.* The first case showed how water kills; the second, how it can save. (In the same way that the Great Flood waters killed and also saved.) The first is a result of human inability to live perfectly within God’s laws and the second a result of human inability to completely control Nature. This may sound like a theological cop-out to many. Nevertheless, it shows us how we continue to put ourselves in harm’s way when we only seek to satisfy our all-too-human thoughts and fail to incorporate divine realities in our ways.

The historical record shows that humans did have technical expertise in ancient times which allowed communities to attain control of Nature’s forces. For example, some of the unearthed iron tools used by those so-called “crude” people are so advanced we cannot even duplicate their metallurgy today. The medical practices and tools of the ancient Romans remain in use in modern hospitals. The pyramids amaze us no end but they were in pursuit of the most elusive goal of humanity: eternal life. Today’s social and technological progress could mesmerize many into thinking that we have had it all figured out. Until Nature messes up all that we have labored hard to achieve. And, we are back on the muddy ground asking ourselves what happened and thinking what we did to deserve all the pain and anguish. We weep and we wonder. We struggle to cope and we somehow overcome. For what? Simply to die eventually? No, God gives us the opportunity to understand and accept once and for all the INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF LIFE. And that kind of life can only come from God.

In essence, we see only death and suffering in disasters; but God sees and wants us all to see as well His love when He disciplines us humans. Disasters can be our only window to genuine life.

*With all the technological know-how Japan has, they failed to design the reactors such that cooling water could be conveyed by gravitation during power disruptions. As it is, they have to pump water using generators, hose it using fire trucks or pour it from helicopters.

(Painting above: "The Deluge" by Francis Danby, 1840)

Clarifying the RH/RP Bill Issue

Is it possible to clarify a most complex issue as the RH Bill (now the RP Bill for Responsible Parenthood)? When priests, politicians, P-noy and plain Pinoys passionately defend each possible view on the issue, what hopes do we have to see the real grain of the matter?

Reproduction is a matter meant to be practiced and understood by adults or the mature alone, ideally speaking. But has it always been that way? Ancient societies and tribes gave their children to marry at 14 or even earlier than that. What made the marriage successful in most cases was that the whole family or community came to the aid and support of the couple. (And so it is in our times but with a lot of ramifications.) Certainly, there were rules, duties and even taboos required of the partners and of society itself. Laws and traditions pertaining to the union kept its sanctity and value in the minds of all.

In some strange cases, the parents took care of the infants born to the marriage until such time the teenage parents were old enough to do it themselves and for their children in turn. Uncannily, this pictures exactly what has happened to many teenage pregnancies today! What was socially right and un-shamefully normative before has now become socially wrong but shamelessly normative in our era. (There is no shame in teenage pregnancy, per se. Usually, it is the wrong values we measure it with that make it seem shameful.)

Reproduction, we assume, was a regular, natural and uncontrolled duty of a woman in those early marital practices, as long as she was physically able to perform it. Or was it? We mentioned in an earlier article (read article here) that the ancients did not lack for medical knowledge in contraceptives and abortifacients. With modern medicine, however, our grasp of the physiological nature of the sexual act and reproduction has crossbred with shifting values that try to define morality solely in terms of religious (that is, canonical) principles while negating general spiritual, physiological, historical and philosophical principles. (Constitutional principles may count a lot in this controversy; but is not politics or human laws just another form of “religious” attachment to legalities that try to bind people to a moral order based on external control and not to a way of life bound by a free and clear conscience as produced, protected and guaranteed by our Creator and Savior? Besides, are not canonical laws, in general, mere opinions of men presented as laws of God Himself?)

Some have the notion of separating the Church and the State due to such issues as this that divide people two-way, religiously and politically. But Christ prayed to the Father in the Garden to make us ONE “even as the Father and the Son are one.” That desire to separate Church and State, therefore, runs fully opposite the solemn desire of the dying Savior. Why? For it tries to divide one group of people from another, one rule by some people from another, one belief of a group from those of other groups. We separate two things only when they are divisible or are not one in purpose, principle and practice. And since the Church (Roman Catholic or not) and the State are deemed by many to have different or irreconcilable missions and methods in many instances (though not in reality and as designed by Heaven), we can never unite them. Hence, the divisiveness spawned by this issue and many others. And the division applies among “church” people themselves and even within religious groups and political parties.

Subsequently, in the wake of many Catholics walking out during Mass on the reading of the CBCP pastoral letter against the RP Bill, we see a rising discontent among Catholics and a patent resolve among priests to sanction disobedience. The strengthening of the spirit of those who want to be free to make a conscientious decision will be met by the flexing of ecclesiastical muscles in order to make people behave like meek lambs. This is a dangerous development that does not augur well for our nation at this time. Yet, it is a necessary step toward liberating many from the shackles of intolerance and ignorance that have bound our nation’s soul for centuries.

How do we discern then what the Lord truly wants us to believe or where He wants us to stand in this issue when the Tower of Babel has become smaller than the ivory towers we have built for ourselves in our religious denominations, our legal institutions and in our personal domains?

This issue is but a symptom of the larger division that has arisen from our departure from the basic teachings of the Lord Jesus, particularly in the Sermon of the Mount. What can that Sermon teach us regarding the RP Bill issue? Is there a message there for us, perhaps, to resolve this proverbially thorny and ostensibly horny issue?

The main argument against contraceptives raised is the capital offense of murder against unborn infants. Yet, murder, as condemned by Christ in Matt. 5:21,22, arises from the hatred we hold in our hearts against others. Preventing conception is certainly not motivated by hatred for children but by love for one’s spouse, one’s family and oneself. Abortion is murder, clearly and obviously, for it not only exhibits cruelty for a living being but disdain for a woman’s dignity and one’s own dignity. But preventing conception is nowhere near that realm. We hope people will be honest and humble enough to concede this clear point.

The other argument is that of proliferating immorality and adultery with the use of contraceptives. But in the Lord’s Sermon, the sin occurs in the heart even before the physical act itself. No law allowing contraceptives will diminish the force of Christ’s teaching. People may now commit adultery without legal rubber in between; but it will not make them moral or upright to use legal rubber later on. The best contraceptive for adultery is a heart with a spiritual shield – a rubber shield can only be effective for preventing physical birth and disease. Our failure to teach and to exemplify the pure Christian life has caused much of the present moral decay.

The final argument worth mentioning is that the poor, through our government, are being used to propagate a global plan to control the use of the Earth’s resources. Now, this may apply to countries that do not have enough natural resources to support their population. But we, as a nation, have all we need, except the political will and the moral motivation to distribute the vast wealth we have – wealth that is not in the hands of the people but in the hands of those who hold power, whether political or religious. If we want true obedience to God, let us (the leaders, first and foremost, and the people will follow with gladness) seek first to deny ourselves the pleasures of this world and to share the fatness of the land and our pockets and not keep it to ourselves. A certain amount of population control will help improve the lot of many of our people; but that is not the main solution to our many problems.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom in heaven." (Matt 5:3)

God’s ultimate desire is to hand over the kingdom in Heaven (i.e., God's rule over humans) to the poor, as the Lord meaningfully opened His great Sermon. And here we are, keeping the power to ourselves (claiming what God alone deserves to have) and keeping the wealth from the poor (claiming what the poor also deserve to have). There must be an eternal weight of divine punishment commensurate to this grievous offense.

Sadly, two extremes of immorality prevail in our land today. They remain to be the real roots to our society’s accelerating descent to physical and moral decay.

As we have seen, a social structure once existed to preserve moral order within and outside of the family. Today, we barely have a moral structure to uphold social order in all levels. The family is the first victim in the growing sexual immorality. Total abandonment of once strong moral values has overtaken society and with a lot of help from the greedy Media. For instance, how TV networks utilize the young and the beautiful to enhance profits has eroded respect for the purity and the sanctity of the human body and responsible practice of marriage, sex and reproduction. This insidious practice escapes even the most discerning among our leaders and business-people and is allowed to spawn in out midst. Billboards advertise not commercial products but seduction, lust and lewdness. The bigger and more tempting the ad, the bigger the greed. Those who buy are those who give in to their own human frailty. What we hear now is not the “sound of silence” but the “scream of sex”! And our best bet or defense is to stuff our ears and other organs with rubber. (When a billboard blatantly invites us to “return to temptation” with images of lewd sex-partners towering above our heads and we do nothing to stop it, Mammon has truly succeeded to rule in our lives. Are we so helpless against these voyeur advertisers?)

The other extreme is the villain of spiritual pride. A case of people imposing a false morality, hypocrisy or imputing guilt where there is none. More than that, claiming authority that has not been granted and will never be granted.

The Pharisees murdered Christ. Today, they still rule, control and even deceive people through a dead and wooden image of Christ – a tool they use to show a semblance of piety but only ends in perpetuating idolatry and spiritual bondage. How can truth and righteousness reign then in a nation under such a system which continues to crucify Him, entomb Him and use His glory to claim power for themselves? How can a nation tied to images and rites of the dying Christ be eventually and effectively free to reign with Him (He in Heaven, Christians on Earth – for His “will to be done”) with full spiritual power? A dying “Christian” nation is a shame to the true living Lord.

This issue ultimately is a test of moral authority. The immorality and corruption that we are trying to prevent or correct politically or theologically are the very indictment of our loss of moral authority. The issue is not birth control but self-control and spiritual control. Against such, there is neither law nor judgment.

What we have or what we are is a divided nation that will not desire to be one. What we have or what we are is a Christian nation that has no desire to follow Christ as one. What we have or what we are is a nation that is so culturally and materially blessed but does not know that it is blessed and does not know how and by Whom it has been blessed. A nation dies for lack of genuine knowledge.

“That they may be one even as We are one.”

Is Christ one with the Father in Heaven? Is He with the Father in Heaven now? Who does He rule then? Either the resurrected and reigning Christ truly lives in our hearts and causing us to live triumphant lives now and to transform the face of the Earth with our deeds and ideas or we are victims of a corrupted faith.

With or without the RP Bill enacted into law, a Christian will still find himself or herself busy fighting the forces of evil in our midst. Our fear that evil will abound with the RP law is much too late, for evil already abounds. We might be surprised to realize that we are part of the evil that we fear might arise.

Are we truly defending the youth and the unborn with our stand in this issue? Shall we bequeath them with peace and unity that we can and must establish now or are they going to fight and die for it still?

What we do and say now will determine what the next generation will do and say in the future.


(Painting above: "Easter Morning" by He Qi.)

Was Jesus Christ an Environmentalist?

What a silly title for an article! No, it’s a silly question, in the first place. For how could the Designer and Creator of the whole Universe not be one? That is, if we define an environmentalist as one who is concerned with preserving and conserving the Earth’s resources to sustain human societies that can provide equitable means of livelihood and opportunities for wholistic development.

Jump to the Book of Revelation (v. 11:18) and we find that among those reserved for God’s wrath are those “who destroy the Earth”. Who could those be? Why would God have such anger that He would take vengeance by “destroying” them?

If you search the Bible, there are only two cases where the phrase “destroy the Earth” is mentioned. The first was accomplished by God through the Great Flood and the second is this one accomplished by humans. God has all the right to do whatever He desires upon His own Creation but not so humans. These are those who murder people whole-scale – not just a few individuals at a time but populations and even generations. That gives us a clear reason for the future judgment, one we would do well to heed.

You destroy the Earth, you destroy life. You destroy the environment, you destroy the web of life -- or what we call the ecosystem that supports life on this planet.
But why do people not fear such a dire outcome of their wanton ways? Why do illegal loggers, destructive miners, greedy fishing companies, polluting manufacturers, selfish big-farmers and nuclear-testing, war-freak leaders continue to participate in the murder of Nature?

Sins bring about judgment. Whom God wishes to utterly destroy, He makes first totally blind (usually through money or power) to their wicked ways until it is too late. The ten plagues unleashed by God through Moses upon Egypt was a prime case of multiple environmental destruction directed upon a proud leader of a nation who defied the authority of God and His messenger. The polluted rivers, the sickened animals, the widespread pestilence, the cataclysmic meteorological carnage and the death of an entire generation that accompanied the release of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery, provide us with a picture of a future divine act that will target Earth-Destroyers.

Those few families and individuals who use or manage natural resources without considering the future generations who will take over the use of those God-given gifts must awaken to the call of the people, if not of Heaven. Perhaps, if they understood this “green” character of Jesus or, at least, feared the gravity of their misdeeds, they might earnestly try to save not just their own souls but also the lives of those thousands they destroy and will destroy along with Nature’s resources. These new slave-owners enrich themselves at the expense of Nature and God’s people. They are God’s enemies and allies of Satan.

He who made Paradise also gave humans precious life and bliss. To benefit from such divine love and providence without a corresponding love and service to others removes our privilege to be called children of God that we all truly are. Did not Jesus say that the “meek shall inherit the Earth”?

Picture our fishermen, farmers and tribal people dispossessed of their natural and ancestral sources of livelihood – no, their very homes and playgrounds – by selfish businesspeople and sometimes even by governments. They have no arms and money to fight against the powerful managers of Nature. All they have is their dignity, their historical rights and their hopes of bequeathing their children and future generations what they themselves received from God since the beginning. All they have is meekness to oppose the mighty, powerful and wealthy Nature-owners/destroyers of today. How then shall God grant them the Earth if God will not destroy the destroyers? The problem is so simple that even the solution stares at us like a wide-eyed child asking for candy.

Where are the forests that provide us everything we need to survive (more than 80% already gone after mindless logging began during the Spanish Era and accelerated in the early 1900’s under the American administration*)? Where are the many mountain springs that water the luscious plants and refresh the various animals and birds that dwell in these islands? Where are the clean rivers and seas the ancient people used to get their daily sustenance from? Where are the fish and corals that once lined and defended our coasts and our lives from poverty? All these will soon be gone in a matter of decades if we continue with our negligent ways.

And we will continue to do so because the nation’s managers and their cohorts have pawned the future of the nation to the banks and corporations that have lent us money to spur our country’s development. And since the only way we can repay our debts is to give in to the creditors’ demands to develop (that is, exploit and despoil our natural resources) in the manner they have dictated upon us for many years, we will continue in our spiralling downfall into environmental decay.

Together with the meek, the mighty will suffer their ignoble end with Nature’s demise. As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 9:3: “This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.” Many of them may think that the destruction of our islands will not affect their continents far away. Think again! What they began to destroy decades ago will cease to provide them with what made them affluent. What they conquered and could not resist them will fall with them. But guess who will rise up for the ashes?

Yes, how will the meek inherit the Earth eventually?

That is for God to accomplish in His own good time. If He allows the wicked to remain wicked still, He can also allow the holy to be holy still. If He can create the Earth and make it as perfect as Paradise, he can do so again and grant it to those he desires. A New Earth: That is the only hope believers have in this life. It is the only hope this so-called Christian nation has whatsoever.

And so, a fair warning to Earth-Destroyers: Beware of God’s coming judgment. You may escape the many noisy environmentalists-activists lurking around you today; but you will not escape God and His angels who see your grievous deeds in the daylight and during the night.

Christians can only teach and warn people; but Christ, the Environmentalist-Judge, can send people to eternal punishment. Remember, no matter how rich or powerful a person may think or feel he or she is, that is nothing compared to what Jesus Christ has. All authority in Heaven and on Earth is in His hands. His judgment will not be thwarted by lawbreakers.

Today (as of this writing) may be December 26; but Christ was not born yesterday. He is eternal and the same yesterday, today and forever. When He returns, we will see Him and receive according to what we have done.


May 2011 be a bright beacon to all that will constantly remind us that Jesus Christ reigns in Heaven with love, righteousness and power over the Earth and all of Creation. Give Him the glory!


*Robin Broad with John Cavanagh, Plundering Paradise (Berkeley & LA: University of California Press, 1993), p.32.