A thing of beauty

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

---John Keats
(1795-1821)

Ode to my brother

You are like a familiar song,
filled with tender memories
flowing in my veins.

Although we are far apart,
we are close at heart,
Close in dreams, close in blood.

A Nocturne, a love song for Jesus.

[Because the Honey milk tea is keeping me awake, and because my heart is filled with sweet thoughts from the Bread-break meeting.]

The Son of God, my true Beloved,
Conquered Sin, Satan and Death for me.
Oh valour act! unfailing love,
That melts my iron heart into
A fountain of golden joy.

Oh Son of man…
My heart is Thine.
Reign in me,
And rejoice exceedingly
In Thy holy dwelling place,
My home with Thee.

Holy Sonnet XV

Wilt thou love God, as He thee? then digest,
My Soule, this wholsome meditation,
How God the Spirit, by Angels waited on
In heaven, doth make His Temple in thy brest.
The Father having begot a Sonne most blest,
And still begetting, (for He ne'r begonne)
Hath deign'd to chuse thee by adoption,
Coheire to His glory, and Sabbaths endlesse rest;
And as a robb'd man, which by search doth finde
His stolne stuffe sold, must lose or buy it againe;
The Sonne of glory came downe, and was slaine,
Us whom He had made, and Satan stolne, to unbinde.
'Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.

---John Donne

Kandom note: He is my inspiration

Do not worry

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or
‘What shall we drink?’ or
‘What shall we wear?’
For after all these things the Gentiles seek.
For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

(Matthew 6:25-34)

The ever expanding universe

While I was sitting in the bus, a phrase came into my mind which lead me into an epiphany.

"The whole universe is moving, and we are moving too."
--Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)
Jesuit priest-scientist.

The idea that the universe is expanding faster than the speed of light simply blows my mind. New matter is created every second. And we are also moving forward with the whole universe. This thought reminded me that God is moving forward with His plan, and that we are moving forward with Him too.

Like the expanding universe, our inner man, created in the image of God, can have an infinite potential to expand in goodness and love. We were created for Him and by Him; surely we must be the best creation. This is the value of man.

Azul y Blanco

Happy Birthday, El Salvador!!

Four years ago, I was in my last independence day assembly, holding the Honduran flag while the boys in my class cross-dressed and danced a folk dance. Little did I know that it would be my last time celebrating Independence day in my beloved country.

I miss that kind of stuff.

Amor Eterno

Podrá nublarse el sol eternamente;
Podrá secarse en un instante el mar;
Podrá romperse el eje de la tierra
Como un débil cristal.
¡todo sucederá! Podrá la muerte
Cubrirme con su fúnebre crespón;
Pero jamás en mí podrá apagarse
La llama de tu amor.

---Gustavo Aldolfo Bécquer

Kandom note: I used to hate reading his poetry in Spanish class (9th grade). But I know find his poetry quiet good now.

Colossians 3:13

Bearing with one another,
and forgiving one another,
if anyone has a complaint against another;
even as Christ forgave you,
so you also must do.

Never give up

This video left me in tears. I am so touched by the love of Abba.

Psalm 139:17-18

Dear you,

I think of you all the time.
Of all the things in this universe,
I choose to think of you...
Of how your day went,
Of all your wants and needs,
You.
I love to think of you...
Of how your hair falls in your face.
Of how you greeted Me this morning
Of how you smiled when you looked at the sky.
These thoughts bring me so much joy,
I cannot describe.
You are adorable. I cannot stop thinking about you.
I love you.

Yours,


God.

Father-Daughter love

How precious that Abba gave me a father on earth to experience fatherly love.

After missioning and hearing so many sad stories about broken families, I realized how blessed I am to have such a good father. Even though my dad hasn't believed yet, he is a very good father. I was always well-fed, loved and cared throughout my childhood. He worked hard to provide the best for my brother and me. He was always there to mediate between my fights with my brother and mom. Even though there may be language barriers, my relationship with my dad has been relatively good.

I love to hear stories about his past. I guess that's why I'm so interested about history. He would tell me how he got arrested by the communist because they suspected him to be a capitalist. Or how he tried to swim his way to Hong Kong to get away from the poverty and misery in communist China. He would also entertain me with stories about people he met. He is hilarious. And he is also the most politically incorrect person I know. He would bluntly blurt out racist, random remarks about people. I crack up whenever he says "peasant."

I really hope that he will believe in God. He has a lot of doubts and wrong concepts in his mind but he believes that there is a God. Please keep praying for my dad so that he can accept Jesus into his life.