To Be Led Astray

I just got back from a Holy Week vacation in my mother's hometown. A 5-day hiatus in a place where Mother Nature envelops you completely, made it easier for me to rejuvenate and think a  whole lot about life. The usual musings came to mind, like: "How is the person I'm missing? Can he be missing me, too?" or "Can I survive 3rd year med school?" or "Shall I buy that thing that will benefit me but will have risks of its own, too?" And the list goes on and on. But what occupied a lot of my brain space came into mind while I was observing the hundreds of people doing the usual rituals of the season. While I saw how much their devotion was as they sang their hearts out to melodies about the Virgin or the passion of Christ, I began to ask myself, "Do all these people really know what they're doing? Or are they just doing all these because it's a tradition, something handed down by their forefathers?"

As this thought arrested my head, sudden gush of sadness came over me. I said to myself, "Poor, poor people. Nobody has ever told them the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ. They have been taught doctrines, canons, rules, regulations but never really knew what the Bible is talking about. They have been led astray by men who think they are of God. A 30-minute talk is not enough when you want to share passionately about God's true message and yet, they spend it on a sermon that either talks about their personal lives, about some popular bill waiting to be passed or another sports icon like Manny Pacquiao."

What made me even sadder was the fact that I was just an audience to all the lies. Though I knew the truth and deep in my heart I was burning with desire to preach, I felt very much afraid. I was afraid of what my family will think of me; afraid that I might say the wrong words; afraid that they won't listen to me; afraid that I will be making a fool out of myself; and afraid to fight a tradition that has been there for how many generations.

As I stood there disappointed with myself for not being able to win souls for Christ, the chanting that they did brought me into some kind of trance. And in that moment I began to pray to Him and said, "Father God, I'm sorry for not being able to spread your word and your immense love for us this time. I do not have the courage yet, and I don't know if I will ever have that kind of courage at all. But Lord, I know that though I cannot make it on my own, with You I can be able to somehow touch lives and help lead them back to You. I do not know how I will be able to do this, but use me as You will."

And after that short prayer, I opened my eyes and felt relieved. Maybe today I wasn't saving souls but I will definitely do that one day...soon. First, I have to prepare myself so as to withstand the perilous and overwhelming battles that is to come for me. And use the gift of writing to articulate the things that I won't be able to speak out loud. With my little contribution, I hope to glorify Him and hopefully be in the New Jerusalem when He comes. Amen.

Sophie's All Grown Up --- Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus

Who's Sophie, you ask? Well, she's my alter ego. Wait! Now before you go on thinking, "Woah...Lovely has Multiple Personality Disorder?", I'm just a normal person who happens to call her thinking brain by a girl's name which almost means wisdom. I'm not crazy; just because I have a healthy relationship with my head does not make me any less human than you who's reading my blog. :)

So, back to my title. Yes, indeed...my Sophie is all grown up. Gone are the days of her being ruled by emotions which clouded her reasoning skills. And boy am I sure relieved with all these changes that's going on with her. It was not an easy road at alllllll...but it was worth it. Every bit of information, every bit of clarity is worth all the pain and confusion we had to go through. Praise God! 

I don't really know if maturity really goes with age...or whether being 24 will do something inside your brain that would cause a spark to light that fuse and make you start thinking real deep about life and your purpose. Whatever made mine work though I attribute it all to God. I guess when you're ready to receive life's lessons, you will figure out things that were murky before. And when you ultimately acknowledge that everything has a season in time, you realize that things in this world need not be taken too seriously for all of these will just fade away. (If the words are somewhat familiar, they're from Ecclesiastes which is my most favorite book in the  Bible. And yes, I do read the Bible now! ;p) 

One of my passions has always been writing and this blog will be an avenue for me to share what God has given me. 

Today, I will talk about my discovery of a book we have heard about (often so) but never got the chance to read. I'm talking about John Gray's "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". It gives an interesting take on the differences of men and women and believe me, it is a must-read, not only for those in relationships but even for the singles out there who'd just like to get an idea of how the opposite sex is wired. It's totally hilarious and attacks a serious and controversial issue in a really non-threatening manner. It will not only give you knowledge about your mate, it will also explain your own eccentricities as well (and boy do I have a lot of them...haha...).

The greatest lesson I learned from the book is that MEN AND WOMEN ARE JUST TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Period.

In Mars the primary need was TRUST, whereas in VENUS, the need to be CARED for was essential. Men are like RUBBERBANDS and will undergo cycles of wanting to go INSIDE their CAVES, not because they don't love their woman any less, but because they just HAVE to. And we, Venusians don't get this because in our planet, we are a 24/7 FOUNTAIN of LOVE. We want to talk about problems because it feels good talking about them, not that we're looking for an instant solution to them. Women are like WAVES; at our PEAKS we are so loving, determined, bubbly, confident, but when we have our LOWS, we become the needy, insecure, mistrusting and uncaring bitch who men really hate! (Maybe it's attributable to our hormones?) 

And that's where problems in relationships come in: Miscommunication. Men and women who do not understand that what the other person is exemplifying is just normal, will get confused, pick a fight even with just a simple thing, and will ultimately jeopardize the relationship. Believe me, this has happened to me and I had to go through hell and back because I took everything soooo seriously. Now that I know that there is more to life than nitpicking, I truthfully feel relieved and capable of loving again! ;) 

Plus, what I'm really psyched about after reading this book was that it led me to my most favorite Bible verse, something which I'm trying to live each day with my Saviour's help. This is from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 --> ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

I believe that when we begin to accept that this other being is wholly different from us, we learn to be patient, to be forgiving, to trust and to love unconditionally. A lesson I have learned and will relearn for the rest of my life. 

They say, great things come from small packages. But in this case, it came from one ebook I downloaded over the internet (thank you person who uploaded this book). I hope you could go over this work and hopefully you'd find something in it that would be a blessing to you like it did mine.