Of Sewer and Excrement
“I was reading an article on BBC about how archeologists are extensively studying the remains at Pompeii, an ancient Roman City buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They are starting to study how the Romans lived 2,000 years ago. The most useful part of the study was found on the largest excrement ever unearthed in the Roman world. The archeologists says the sewer helps them understand the lifestyle at that time, what they eat and even there health and jobs. They even called it unprecedented! Well, indeed it is! Imagine finding the lifestyle of people living thousand years ago in an excrement.
Isn’t it ironic that sometimes the only way to solve the riddle of life is through the lowly excrement! Nothing is wasted indeed, even the considered dirtiest place like a sewer can hold an answer to so many questions. Life is like that, the lowest and indescribably sewer like situation has its use too. Our hurts, pains, feelings of betrayal, losses, our seemingly unending excrement, our sewer life, can actually be useful. When we learn to face our excrement, unearth our sewers and faithfully reflect upon it, we can actually get the most astonishing discovery. The discovery of our very self! The vulnerable yet indomitable self! Nothing is wasted!” -Kuya Gelo
Redemption
Fly
"You have to learn to fly if you want to go to heaven." -Father John
Narnia
"Creatures, I give you yourselves…I give you forever the land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself. The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also. Treat them gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts. For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. Do not so." -Aslan, The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
"…that is why all the rest are now a horror to [the Witch]. That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after." -Aslan, The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
-The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
Thrill
This I think, is one little part of what Christ meant by saying that a thing will not really live unless it first dies..It is simply no good trying to keep any thrill: that is the very worst thing you can do. Let the thrill go—let it die away—go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follows—and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time. But if you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be bored, a disillusioned person for the rest of your life. It is because so few people understand this that you find many middle-aged men and women maundering about their lost youth, at the very age when new horizons ought to be appearing and new doors opening all around them." -C.S. Lewis
"There’s gotta be more to life
Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me." -Stacie Orrico
30 EXTRAORDINARY THINGS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
1. A baby is taking its first few steps without falling.
2. Two people somewhere in the world, are falling in love.
3. Somewhere, someone is admiring a breathtaking sunrise, and somewhere else, a surreal sunset.
4. A soldier of sorts is diligently fighting the fight so you don’t have to
5. Someone who suffered from a severe injury last year is back on their feet.
6. A small group of people are building something that will soon make the impossible possible.
7. Somewhere on Earth a double rainbow is stretched from one end of the horizon to the other.
8. One of the next Billboard-chart-topping musical artists is patiently rehearsing in her garage.
9. A piece of literature is being written that will eventually change your perspective on life.
10. A friend is helping a friend rise above thoughts of suicide.
11. People of various religious backgrounds are in temples, churches, mosques and other places of worship praying, wholeheartedly, for world peace.
12. An elderly couple is celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
13. Two best friends are laughing so hard that they aren’t even making any noise.
14. A firefighter is running into a burning building to rescue a perfect stranger.
15. Someone in your hometown genuinely wants to be your friend.
16. A new mom is lying in a hospital bed and holding her baby twins for the very first time.
17. Someone is taking a shower and singing happily at the top of their lungs.
18. There is someone out there who smiles when they think of a specific moment they once shared with you.
19. An alcoholic just celebrated one full year of sobriety.
20. Volunteers in major cities all over the world are working at homeless shelters caring for those who are less fortunate than themselves.
21. A high school athlete just broke their own personal record.
22. Two teenagers just received their very first kiss ever from each other.
23. Someone is hugging a friend who desperately needs it.
24. Someone just placed their spare change in the charity collection cup at the grocery store.
25. A small group of friends are sitting around a table sharing funny stories and cheerfully reminiscing about the good old days.
26. Honest people are working for various government entities to help protect your basic human rights and civil liberties.
27. An emergency room surgeon is in the middle of saving his patient’s life.
28. Someone is holding the door open for the person behind them.
29. Someone out there is missing you and looking forward to your next visit.
30. We are reminded that extraordinary things happen to ordinary people, and that there is beauty and wonder in everyday life.
Miracles
2010
2010 was an interesting year. And I cannot praise God enough for it.
Seeing as 2008-2009 were probably some of the best years of my life (those were the years that I first truly met Him), God made 2010 a year of tearing down.
Wow, wow, wow, stop! You must be thinking: “Gabe, why the negativity?!” But I’m not being negative at all. :) I’m being truthful and honest, and I don’t think 2010 could have been done in any other way in God’s grand plan for my life. Certain routines and connections in some of my closest friendships were “torn down” you could say, but in all honesty I see why God did that, and it took me a year and a half to figure that out haha!
But enough about all that, I just really praise God for 2010 as much as I have for 2009, 2008, and so on. The thing about losing something of yours, about why certain things like our best friends, our girlfriends/boyfriends, or our achievements and successes, are taken away from us is because we sometimes forget that we still need to grow and expand. Like a crop that has already been producing a certain fruit, sometimes it’s time that we start learning new things in life that God wants to show us. The crop is “uprooted”, “plowed”, and prepared for a new seed. And what kind of fruit this newly improved crop will produce and what kind of tastes and nutrients it will bring are a mystery that only God’s timing can tell. But for sure, that new fruit will be better than the last.
2010 has taught me so much in its process, and I can say that I have gained so many new closer friendships with people I never knew I would and I have strengthened so many other relationships that I had, unfortunately, never really taken the consideration to before.
2010 taught me what hate, jealousy and expectations really were and what they could do to a person and the relationships around them. What they could do to your relationship with God.
2010 taught me what it meant when they said that faith took more than just your emotions, but your reasons as well. It taught me what it really meant when God said, “offer ALL that you are to Me.”
2010 taught me a whole lot more about forgiveness. About how forgiveness is not forgetting, how forgiveness is not ceasing to feel the pain, and about how forgiveness is not a onetime event.
2010 taught me about God’s other most gracious F gift other than forgiveness: Freewill. It taught me what God meant when He said, “You have the choice.”
2010 taught me what “Let go and Let God” really meant.
And finally…
2010 taught me, and started me on this journey, of finding my true self.
I think 2011 will be a year for that, and maybe a couple more years for that as well. Who knows! But in the end, I know I’m still learning and growing, even with these “2010 taught me’s,” I’m still going to be learning more about them too. I feel like there’s a lot to keep up, but I know God has my back.
Anyway, Happy New Years everyone! God bless and take care!
Love your brother in Christ,
Gabriel
Promises.
PS. To future self: Ha, you read your old 2010 post. How different do you feel? ;)
Praise God.
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
by Max Ehrmann
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year”
"Legendary quotes blown away into the blue;
We say what we want but it’s the opposite of what we do.
We could all be happy if we really wanted to.
But — “if I’m not being happy… then, well, why should you?”
Selfishness kills you,
Selflessness builds you.
So do what you want but make sure you’re still true.
We forget about how Jesus died for what we used to do;
We still sin every day but He still loves you.
Caught up in the act of doing what we do;
We party, smoke, blaze and we get drunk too.
Getting home late, past our curfew.
What happened to family, love, and virtues?
We live every day without thinking it through;
Our ultimate goals in which we want to pursue.
So take these words and put it into your view;
"I'M OKAY!" I can see past your lies — it’s like they’re see-through.
Just sit back with your family and have some fondue,
This time of year is when God comes to the rescue."
-Kim Nguyen
Loving yourself. Part 2
Sometimes I get in those moments when I see something so amazing, so creative, so imaginative and instead of raking up that motivation and inspiration, I take the opposite direction.
We all know it, discouragement.
These people, in the perfect and blessed environment doing what they love in… well… what we see as perfect and blessed.
The usual thoughts of “oh man, they’re so good………………” or “wow… some people just get all the talent….” or “I suck.” and also “I don’t even want to do this anymore…” and even “I think I lost the passion to (insert talent)…” and even as far and selfish and ungrateful as “Why didn’t you bless me with that, God?” BAM.
Sometimes, when the environment is right like in a dance studio, a classroom, a field, a gym, etc. its easy to get sucked into that environment and forget the rest of the world.
Think about it, say you have a lot of dancer friends? Well obviously then dance is a huge impact in your life and may seem like the only thing that you need to be good at to get that happiness, that attention and love, that circle of friends. This could go for anything: academics, sports, instruments, singing, art, drama, writing, leadership, certain personalities, ANYTHING!
In the end, no matter where you are in the world, whatever environment you are brought up in or live in will have a huge influence on determining what you admire and value.
…And so, with that perfect environment, its easy to get sucked into that one specific one and forget the world. The more your eyes are closed the easier it is for lies like discouragement to seep in and set their place. But, God gave you eyes for a reason. And not just for the physical reasons.
Look around you, and look at all the friends God has blessed you with. Each with their own talent to share, their own passion to inspire others, their own views and ideas to open doors, and their own life to love others. There are so many people with passions of all kinds and talents of all levels that it seems impossible that one talent or skill is the determining factor of whether you can be happy or not in this lifetime.
God has truly blessed His people with mysteries and wonders to shape and shock the world and in the end, no matter what you say, WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED.
Everything that we are, everything that we have been, and everything that we are to be is a gift from God.
So take it in. Cherish that. Like blessed Mary may we always say “YES” to His gifts.
Love yourself. God loves you. Is that not enough? Could you dare to say that it’s not?
But it’s okay, like anything, it takes time. Sometimes our minds know the answers but it’ll take however long it takes for your heart to set it in. For others, long, and for some not. We are all on the same road.
Different stories, same roots.
Passion
"It's not a passion anymore if you're willing to sacrifice friendship and values. At that point it's an addiction. Be hungry, not gluttonous." -Keone Madrid
Moving Towards a Goal
He has a dream
"Warning: this is going to be long :)
Sometimes I feel like my heart is so full that it’s going to consume my entire abdomen. My chest swells and I feel like a giant hand is inside there in a fist, and it’s slowly opening itself until it’s fully extended. Like the fingers are so straight that the sinews going from it’s palms to web to fingernails are stretched to the point of almost snapping. And every time I breathe it’s like I’m overwhelmed with silent joy. I don’t know what to call it, inspiration, passion, blood pressure, but I do know that movement in there is there pushing me toward something beautiful.
Recently I took a trip to Washington D.C. in the midst of listening to the new John Legend & The Roots album called Wake Up! Walking around the capitol of this country, around these giant monuments, these enormous tributes to things that have happened, you can’t help but reflect. Combining that with John Legend’s almost angelic voice drifting old activist lyrics through my mind, I felt the overwhelming expansion in my chest, that familiar feeling, and I felt it pushing me. There’s so much in my head that has swum upward from my heart lately. So many thoughts and ideas that I feel like are stuck in my brain right now treading water. I need to get them out and I’ll try my best to tie them all together because to me they all swim together in harmony.
In D.C. we walked around the new WWII monument, looking at the names of countries and cities that fought, certain ones struck me, Colorado, California, the Philippines, all for personal reasons. We kept walking, up to the stairs of Lincoln monument, where I came across the picture I took. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous words “I have a dream,” were engraved on one of the steps. By chance it was still in the shade and some water had stayed inside its crevices, leaving those historic words I have a dreamstaring at me from the ground. I felt like I was the first person to ever see those words carved into the steps, I was so excited to discover them there. Somehow they sort of planted themselves on my shoulders and followed me from that moment, even until now as I sit and write this. We continued, We took pictures of Lincoln, the Washington monument across the water, and the Korean War memorial. It was really heavy by the time we got to the Vietnam War memorial, something about seeing all the names of the people who lost their lives made them more real, then thinking about their families, and thinking about the countless Vietnamese people and their families and the losses they experienced. With each step two thoughts kept nagging me. This country is so young, yet so many bad things have happened, so many people have sacrificed there lives, have fought to be treated right, and thinking about the pain and suffering made tears well up in my eyes. Yet at the same time, I heard in my head that even though yes, bad has happened, that historically not that long ago our country was still segregated. Look how much has changed with each generation. I was teaching that weekend at a workshop run by a Filipino-American and a Spanish-Chinese-American, the instructors were African-Americans, and then me, a Caucasian-Filipino-American. As sentimental as it is, I couldn’t help but tell MLK Jr. in my thoughts that his dream was real. That it was happening, it wasn’t finished, but it is real. Now my question to us, being young people now: to our generation, what will we do.
Now this brings me to 2 main things I want to say. One is dance. If you are reading this blog, there’s a 97% chance that you’re a dancer. You know how it feels to run through your sneakers until there a hole in them, you love it when you wake up the morning after a tough rehearsal and you feel like you got run over by a truck, your heart beats to be on a stage. I cannot describe how much dance means to us dancers. I don’t believe any of us can accurately make another understand, only to know that someone who isn’t passionate about dance is probably passionate about something else and can relate on that level. Even if you see dance as a hobby in your life, or maybe it competes with other things for your time, you know that love and how deep it can go. For me dancing is a blessing, it is a gift that God gave us in the world and put it on some of our hearts and in our bodies to desire to do. That’s my belief and I am so grateful and thankful for it whether I keep dancing for another 50 years or for another week. Dance is a gorgeous thing not just to watch, but what you can do with it.
In September, a friend and great leader in the dance community, Melissa Adao, threw her 2nd Annual Outreach Through Dance’s Dance for a Wish show. Her charity show works with the San Diego chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation to help grant wishes for children in need. Not only does this show help give light to a child’s life and family, but she has the wish child participate in the show. This year Emely, a sweet 4-year-old ball of energy who has gone through more medical treatment than most adults, came to rehearsals, tech, took pictures with the cast, and came out for the bow at the end of both shows. I know for me, other dancers at the show, and maybe even the audience, we felt humbled, motivated, and had our eyes opened to the potential of our gifts. Outreach Through Dance brought together all those people who love dance to do something good for someone else. That was more rewarding than any trophy, youtube views, compliments, money; you name it. And I know we all gotta work, we all gotta survive, and I don’t want to make you feel guilty for not giving away all your money and time to charity. I believe in the resources that God provides for us and that we are to use them wisely. But what I do want to ask is how are you using what you’ve been given? Do you use it only for yourself? Or do you include others?
We are a new generation in dance. So much has changed (that is an entirely different blog haha), but out of change can come good. Movement Lifestyle is one of my resources, you reading this is a chance to say something worthwhile. As a person, I have so much to work on, but let’s do this together. How can we do good with what we have? I want to encourage our community toward togetherness. So often I travel somewhere and I hear about rivalries between studios, between crews, and even animosity between styles, but where does that get us? Nowhere. It’s sad to hear that there are students who want to take class, but are prevented from learning because a leader (and that is very disappointing) is telling them not to go because it supports the rival studio, crew, etc. You need to let down that pride, let down those barriers, and let people grow together. When you do, when people can get over differences, we can work together to make our particular kind of dance more legitimate, but also to do something amazing in the world. If we all did a little bit, what could we do? It’s nice to think about it, to be moved, to be inspired, to pray about something, to write about it, but it’s another to do it.
In light of all of this, the holidays are coming up. I might be being a Westerner to think that people identify with the “holiday spirit,” and I don’t want to assume that anyone believes in anything or celebrates anything. I am nostalgic about Christmas, but I do think a good amount of people relegate the winter months with a sense of giving and peace toward our fellow man. This is my challenge for all of us. If you felt anything reading this blog, if the words touched you or made you feel like getting up out of your chair and doing something good, then act on it. Give to somebody this year that you normally wouldn’t. Be creative, use the gifts that you have to benefit someone else. Here’s an idea for people in SD: Cye Bongolos, a young dancer here is throwing a charity show, Thank You for the Music, on November 12 to raise money for VH1’s Save the Music Foundation to keep music programs in school. All the info is on facebook, go and you’ll be helping another person who may be making the music your children end up dancing to. Here’s a link to the fb page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128396210514867&ref=ts If you’re a person of faith: Keone and I are going to participate in Operation Christmas Child put on by Samaritan’s Purse where people pack shoeboxes with gifts and they are delivered to children in poverty all over the world. Last year they delivered 8 million boxes to children in over 100 countries and had countless opportunities to share the gospel. Go tohttp://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/ for more info. You could even let down your pride or fear and reach a hand out to someone, someone at your rival studio, someone who you has hurt you and you haven’t forgiven, someone you forgot to tell how much you appreciate what they do. There are so many ways, runners run races to raise money for all sorts of causes, I know our dance community can spread that love that we feel from dance, that power of unity that it has, and use it to make this world even more beautiful.
So what will you do? Whether you take some change out of your wallet and put it in a little plastic bin for breast cancer, or you hold your tongue and don’t assume things about people you don’t know and instead bother to find out, or you start a huge campaign to help people far away who don’t know what it’s like to drink a cold glass of clean water, let’s do it. We can all contribute. If you’re reading this now, you are given enough in your life to have eyes to read this, a hand to click a mouse or hold a phone, and an education that enables you to read. Let’s do something guys. That beautiful dream that MLK Jr. had, I think that dream was from God. And I believe that God gave us each other so that we can come together to do amazing things.
Heart,
Mari"
Unity
"Just as Philosophy unites Religion and Science, Faith unites the Heart and the Mind."
"You have to choose to be happy. Don’t sit back and expect outside forces or God to stimulate your emotions all the time. Just as you choose God, then you choose love, you choose hope, you choose faith, you choose happiness.
Fight the good fight. Offer ALL that you are to Him. Offer everything that you are to Him. Don’t give him pieces like just your heart, or just your mind, or just your body, because He wants ALL of you. Not part of you.
That is faith, uniting all that you are, and giving it up to Him.
Uniting the rules, uniting the freedom, uniting the self."
“Once you master the rules, you can be free.”
"God wants unity, not uniformity." -Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life
"…Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in Him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; He raises us to what He is." -1 Corinthians 10:15-18
