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From my inbox. Definitely worth the read. :-)

Often we hear of negative comments about Filipinos. Now here is something positive about Filipinos...something very positive written by a foreigner named Steve Ray.

Steve Ray authored many best-selling books, among which are, "Crossing The Tiber" (his conversion story), "Upon This Rock" (on the papacy), and just recently "John's Gospel" (a comprehensive bible study guide and commentary).

Steve is also currently filming a 10-video series entitled, "Footprints of God". The first two videos are out: "Peter, Keeper of the Keys", and "Mary, Mother of God" (now available in the Philippines).

Steve Ray’s Open Letter to the Filipino People:

[This letter was published in all the major newspapers in the Philippines during one of our visits in 2001]

We stepped into the church and it was old and a bit dark. Mass had just begun and we sat toward the front. We didn t know what to expect here in Istanbul Turkey. I guess we expected it to be a somber Mass but quiet and somber it was not I thought I heard angels joyously singing behind me. The voices were rich, melodic and beautiful. What I discovered as I spun around to look did not surprise me because I had seen and heard the same thing in other churches around the world. It was not a choir of angels with feathered wings and halos but a group of delightful Filipino Catholics with smiles of delight and joy on their faces as they worshiped God and sang his praises.

I had seen this many times before in Rome, in Israel, in the United States and other countries. Filipinos have special traits and they are beautifully expressed as I gazed at the happy throng giving thanks to God. What are the special traits which characterize these happy people? I will share a few that I have noticed personal observations as I have traveled around the world, including visits to the Philippines.

First, there is a sense of community, of family. These Filipino Christians did not sit apart from each other in different isles. They sat together, closely. They didn t just sing quietly, mumbling, or simply mouthing the words. No, they raised their voices in harmony together as though they enjoyed the sense of unity and communion among them. They are family even if they are not related.

Second, they have an inner peace and joy which is rare in the world today. When most of the world s citizens are worried and fretful, I have found Filipinos to have joy and peace a deep sense of God’s love that overshadows them. They have problems too, and many in the Philippines have less material goods than others in the world, yet there is still a sense of happy trust in God and love of neighbor.

Third, there is a love for God and for his Son Jesus that is almost synonymous with the word Filipino. There is also something that Filipinos are famous for around the world their love for the Blessed Mother. Among the many Filipinos I have met the affectionate title for Mary I always hear from their lips is “Mama Mary”. For these gentle folks Mary is not just a theological idea, a historical person, or a statue in a church—Mary is the Mother of their Lord and their mother as well, their “mama”.

The Philippines is a Catholic nation—the only such nation in Asia—and this wonderful country exports missionaries around the world. They are not hired to be missionaries, not official workers of the church. No, they are workers and educators, doctors, nurses and housekeepers that go to other lands and travel to the far reaches of the earth and everywhere they go they take the joyous gospel of Jesus with them. They make a somber Mass joyful when they burst into song. They convict the pagan of sin as they always keep the love of Jesus and the Eucharist central in their lives.

My hope and prayer, while I am here in the Philippines sharing my conversion story from Baptist Protestant to Roman Catholic, is that the Filipino people will continue to keep these precious qualities. I pray that they will continue loving their families, loving the Catholic Church, reading the Bible, loving Jesus, his Mother and the Eucharist. As many other religions and sects try to persuade them to leave the Church, may God give the wisdom to defend the Catholic faith. As the world tempts them to sin and seek only money and fame and power, may God grant them the serenity to always remember that obedience to Christ and love for God is far more important than all the riches the world can offer. May the wonderful Filipino people continue to be a light of the Gospel to the whole world!

A first-grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, was having trouble with one of her students. The teacher asked, "Harry, what's your problem?"

Harry answered, "I'm too smart for the 1st grade. My sister is in the 3rd grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should be in the 3rd grade too!"

Ms. Brooks had had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.

While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal told Ms. Brooks he would give the boy a test. If he failed to answer any of his questions he was to go back to the 1st grade and behave. She agreed.

Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test.

Principal: "What is 3 x 3?"

Harry: "9."

Principal: "What is 6 x 6?"

Harry: "36."

And so it went with every question the principal thought a 3rd grader should know.

The principal looks at Ms. Brooks and tells her, "I think Harry can go to the 3rd grade."

Ms. Brooks says to the principal, "Let me ask him some questions."

The principal and Harry both agreed.

Ms. Brooks asks, "What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?"

Harry, after a moment: "Legs."

Ms. Brooks: "What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?"

The principal wondered why would she ask such a question!

Harry replied: "Pockets."

Ms. Brooks: "What does a dog do that a man steps into?"

Harry: "Pants."

Ms. Brooks: What starts with a C, ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains thin, whitish liquid?"

Harry: "Coconut."

The principal sat forward with his mouth hanging open.

Ms. Brooks: "What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft and sticky?"

The principal's eyes opened really wide and before he could stop the answer, Harry replied, "Bubble gum."

Ms. Brooks: "What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs?"

Harry: "Shake hands."

The principal was trembling.

Ms. Brooks: "What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'K' that means a lot of heat and excitement?"

Harry: "Firetruck."

The principal breathed a sigh of relief and told the teacher, "Put Harry in the fifth-grade, I got the last seven questions wrong......"

I got them wrong myself. :-)

I'm for charter change.

There, I said it.

More than a year ago I made a post stating my personal reasons why I think amending or revising our Constitution could actually be a good idea. Even up to the present, I still think charter change could do the Philippines as a whole a lot of good.

But not this way.

A couple of days ago the House of Representatives approved Resolution No. 197 (formerly Resolution No. 1450) which convenes Congress into an Constitutional Assemly ("Con-Ass") for the purpose of introducing Constitutional amendments or revisions.

And it did the same without the concurrence of the Senate, in blatant disregard of the bicameral nature of our legislature as provided for in the 1987 Constitution.

Congress was able to do this through sheer force of numbers. The vast majority of incumbent members of the House of Representatives are allied with the administration, enabling them to approve Resolution No. 197, railroading any opposition in their way.

This is democracy?

The essence of democracy is based on the premise the power ultimately resides in the people, and that the will of the majority takes precedence over the minority.

But what if the majority is supporting a totally illegal, unconstitutional, unethical, immoral act? Does the possession of majority support automatically convert something wrong into something right?

And besides, are the administration members of the House of Representatives representing the views of their constituents, or are they representing their own interests? We all know the answer to that now, do we?

This is nothing more than a clear-cut case of tyranny of the majority.

In my humble opinion, just because something is supported by the majority, it doesn't necessarily make something right. More so in this specific instance, as we see Congressmen with term limits resorting to underhanded techniques just for the sole purpose of prolonging their terms of office, again in utter disregard of the term limits imposed by the 1987 Constitution.

I find it utterly nauseating, the way politicians whimsically violate the rules, twisting everything around to make them appear as heroes, when it is nothing more but their own ambitions driving them.

Alas, that is how we Filipinos play politics. We play by the rules whenever they suit our purposes. When they don't, we change the rules.

In effect, it doesn't really matter what kind of government our country has, whether presidential, parliamentary, federal, etc. As long as we Filipinos lack the political maturity to play by the rules, we are not much different from spoiled children who throw tantrums (tantra?) just because we don't get something we want.

If there's ever a time for the people to speak out, I don't think there's any time more appropriate than now.

Just imagine, the root of this country's divisiveness has emanated from a Chief Executive whose credibility has taken a serious beating ever since doubts have been raised on whether she won the election fair and square. And now, her cohorts in the House want in on the action, discarding all the rules like spent rags in pursuit of perpetuating their grasp on power, all in the guise of amending our fundamental law, allegedly "for the good of the country".

For the good of the country my a**.

It all feels so strangely familiar.

You know what they say, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

And whether we realize or not, we're on the verge of being fooled for the second time.

I feel sorry for this country.

I even feel more sorry for my child, for living in a society bereft of integrity, morality and ethics.

Found this video of the MMORPG RAN Online (see previous post here) on YouTube.

If you're into this game, you'll like the video. :-)

Note:

Turn off the background audio first at the bottom of the page before clicking the play button.

Definitely NOT the place to pick up women.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s: These are interesting...

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend.

Another one from my inbox. Pretty interesting, don't you think? Thanks to Ysera for this one. :-)

Question: What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer: Princess Diana's death.

Question: How come?

Answer: An English princess with an Egyptian boyfriend crashes in a French tunnel, driving a German car with a Dutch engine, driven by a Belgian who was drunk on Scottish whisky, (check the bottle before you change the spelling) followed closely by Italian paparazzi, on Japanese motorcycles; treated by an American doctor, using Brazilian medicines.

This is sent to you from Morocco, using Bill Gates's (an American) technology and you're probably reading this on your computer that uses Taiwanese chips and a Korean monitor, assembled by Bangladeshi workers in a Singaporean plant, transported by Indian lousy-drivers, hijacked by Indonesians, unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen, and trucked to you by Mexicans...and now being read by a FILIPINO who should be working instead!

That, my friend, is Globalization.

From my inbox. No offense meant to any of the nationalities mentioned. As for me, I better get back to work. :-)

Wait a minute. It's a Sunday! :-)

Posted ads on some commercial lots my family is trying to sell on Sulit.com.ph.

In case anyone is interested, you can check them out below:

Commercial Lot for Sale - Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City
Commercial Lot for Sale - Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija

I can relate.

How can someone so wrong for you be so right for you at the same time?

'Nuf said.

Note:

Turn off the background audio first at the bottom of the page before clicking the play button.

Waltz
Hale

I hate the way you are, so mean to me by far.
The most frigid girl that I have ever known.
You speak loudly but, when I’m not around
You’ll be just like them; So shallow and obnoxious.

Please…
That’s enough, that’s enough
Please…
I’ve said this a million times before
And I’m sick

But all that I need, and all that i bleed,
And all that i care for,
Is you

You said that you’d call but time you’ll be at home.
But you never did; you said you did mean to.
Now I’m outraged. As if we’re engaged.
You made me realize I’m just your alibi.

Please…
That’s enough, that’s enough
Please…
I’ve said this a million times before
And I’m sick

But all that I need, and all that i bleed,
And all that i care for,
Is you

But all that I need, and all that i bleed,
And all that i care for,
Is you

I hate you.