Thank You

As I busied myself planting seeds of hope in the garden
My elemental neighbor let off out of her verdant abode
An aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a rich scent of cheese bread
To remind the farmer of taking time off
To attend to the needs of watering life for life's growth
Of cultivating hope for hope's fruition
That she may remain as always
The stewardess of Ea
Patroness of nature's bounty
Mythic sign of the unseen works of the Great Artisan
Whose Word she echoes through the sunbird's chirping
Among the guava grooves.

Her faint song soothed the gardener's weary heart
Now grateful that hope resurrects amidst the ruins and haunting sighs
Though the tombstones are juxtaposed closed to each other.

Good Night, My God

Psalm 91

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High
and abide in the shade of the Almighty
Say to the Lord: "My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!"
It is he who will free you from the snare
of the fowler who seeks to destroy you;
He will conceal you with His pinions
and under his wings you will find refuge.
You will not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day,
Nor the plague that prowls in the darkness
nor the scourge that lays waste at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand fall at your right,
You, it will never approach;
his faithfulness is buckler and shield.
Your eyes have only to look
to see how the wicked are repaid.
You who have said: "Lord, my refuge!"
and have made the Most High your dwelling.
Upon you no evil shall fall,
no plague approach where you dwell.
For you has he commanded his angels,
to keep you in all your ways.
They shall bear you upon their hands
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
On the lion and the viper you will tread
and trample the young lion and the dragon.
Since you cling to me in love, I will free you;
protect you for you know my name.
When you call I shall answer: "I am with you."
I will save you in distress and give you glory.
With length of life I will content you;I shall let you see my saving power.

Doxology (bow)

Praise the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit
both now and forever,
The God who is, who was, and is to come
at the end of the ages.

Defining Becoming as Being

How one defines something which is in flux? Has anyone tried?

What is the sound of the clap of one hand?, a disciple was asked by his master. He got slap when he failed to answer and that was it. He had an awakening. He just knew what is the sound of the clap of one hand.

But what about becoming? Well, let me define it today--It is a motorcycle parking by the road. I am however afraid that it might be different tomorrow.

The Meaning of Life and the Constancy of the Jal-o

A philosopher opted to spend seven years by the Jal-o with a hook, a line and a sinker to contemplate on the meaning of life. On his seventh year, he chanced upon a beautiful lass doing laundry by the bank of the river who asked him what he's been doing all those years.
"Oh, fishing." he answered, and added to keep the conversation going. "I wanted to know what life really is."
"And have you got the answer?"
"Yes," he answered. "Life is like the Jal-o."
"That's nice," she responded. "But can you explain it to me more clearly how is that that life is like the Jal-o?"
"Ah," he finally replied after some thought. "I really don't want to argue with you. And maybe you're right. Perhaps, life is not like the Jal-o after all."

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: The Book that I Should Have Finished but Failed

I love books. I love books that delve on values most especially. Thirteen of my favorites, i.e., something that I've read more than three times and cared enough to hand out as gifts or lend to my friends are as follows:

1. First You Have to Row a Little Boat: Reflections on Life and Living
by Richard Bode;
2. Availability: The Problem and the Gift by Robert J. Wicks
3. The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck
4. Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander by Thomas Merton
5. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
6. Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus
7. The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
8. Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher 
9. Myth of Sisyphus, and Other Essays by Albert Camus
10. Jesus Before Christianity by Albert Nolan
11. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
12. Voices of Silence: The Lives of Trappists Today by Frank Bianco
13. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum 

There should be number 14 but I am undecided what title and whose authorship I want to include. But one thing I am certain about and something that keeps on pestering even my subconscious mind--that I should have collected, cared to finish reading and to reread again and again Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I first encountered a copy of it while perusing Sartre's works as I attempted to posit that human fulfillment is possible (or tacit) in a Sartrean weltanschuung. I was engrossed of finding my way down the nauseatic lane that I did not pursue the experience of asking myself the question of what is good and what is not. I was dismissive that such rhetorical questions are just nuisance to finding at the end of the road the answers to the great questions of life. So now though late it might be, I set myself to be asked after Pheadrus:

"And what is good, Phaedrus, and what is not good--Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?"