The Ignatian Perspective - Original Version

IgnatianSFTrip0009tracy Summer Bloom THE IGNATIAN PERSPECTIVE ...to make a difference let your life's footprints mark the way for others to follow. However, be prepared to be made a fool for Christ. RESPICE AD FINEM

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Musings: when letting the mind run free and wild



The current Pope started his Papacy with great fanfare and expectations, and at the beginning he did not disappoint.  The essay below spoke of those first months of his tenure.

a’ Kempis (of Imitation of Christ renown) repeatedly reminded his readers not to play favorites with the saints and holy men of the Church.  It is sufficient for our purposes to acknowledge and be inspired by their exemplary lives lived in the service and worship of God.  Remember we have a very jealous God that will not countenance any competition with regard to worship.

In the case of the current Pope, many of us may have to re-think our thoughts about him, especially with regard to his holiness and righteousness.

And this might reveal how we ought to regard him based on what is impliedly coming from him.  Many devotees who have gotten near him and have been blessed by him have reported that in return and in parting the Pope is wont to offer the request that we also pray for him.  And many have been dumbfounded by this reaction.

But it is quite obvious.  Many come to him to ask for his blessings and prayer.  In return his parting word is his subtle way of telling these people that they are in the same boat with him, subject to the same flaws and vicissitudes.  Thus, if we ask for prayer and blessing from a fellow human, then we ought to return that favor by also praying for him.

As simple as that.


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                                                                       911 DIRGE


Words rush out of our mouths, like cascading river.

Never forget, never forget this horrible day.

Almost mindless and robot-like we continue to roar.

Always remind, always remember this fateful day.


Memory should be permanently ingrained in our minds.

Death and destruction wrought on a hapless nation.

When all it did was lived its daily life, unheeding.

Unmindful and not wishing anyone any ill will.


But we pause to ask: Why so, did it deserve its fate?

Did it inflict harm to its own, and thus feel remorse?

But no such thing happened, or is inferred as such.

Its reply to this revealed the nation's raw intent.


The loud answer shouted out what the real reason was.

Not to forget and forgive for retribution is coming.

And indeed such came in haste and in succession.

And the world has not forgotten nor will it forget.


Yet we continue our chants, never forget, never forget.

And we drone in cadence, each time the day draws nigh.

Yet we continue in our merry ways, unheeding the signs.

The signs that will bring the same dreaded aftermath.


The country continues to install rulers reflecting that.

The words from  mouths not synching what is in the heart.

Rendering then the yearly exercise pointless as can be?

So then we be quiet and proceed in our wayward ways?


Fate be the anointed guide and decider of the future grim.

At least we act true to what we have become as humanity.

Unheeding to old ideals that ought rule our daily lives.

To say Amen so long as we are aligned to kin and kith.



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                                                         Ways of Winning and Losing


Listened to both post-game interviews of the 2 good-looking losers in the semi-finals of the WTA US Open.

They did appear humbled by the 2 smiling and light-hearted victors, who appeared enjoying themselves not only with their many wins, but being thrust into the wild and noisy world stage.

When asked about their losses, one like throwing up her arms conceded that the youngster could not do anything wrong in her game.  The other said because she did not play her best.  Why not because the other players showed better than their best?  C'mon.

Also, they thought the youngsters won because they were fearless and had nothing to lose.

Huh?  Were they not that young before?  Maybe just 5-6 years ago?

A youngster pushed into that lion's den and having no fears?  Nothing to lose?  Most of us would not be able to control the shaking in our legs and bodies.


Saturday, September 18, 2021

Hello

 Just a word of hello!

Monday, October 15, 2012

From Diary: The Lonely Voyager (October 4, 2012)




Today I embark on that now regular trip back to the adopted country which has also become the country of allegiance.  Actually, one of two that somehow got fused in what may be viewed as paradoxical, though easily explainable.  Where one has pledged obeisance to two disparate countries at the same time.  But that is the reality albeit in some stealthy and underhanded way, and one that works so long as they say that never the twain shall meet.  In fine, this is typical example how dual citizenship is made possible.

The strenuous trip of over 16 hours has to be made for some imperative reasons.   I and the wife take our turns attending to this chore.

 Back to the trip.  So I am finding myself in between flights, one domestic and the other all the way across the wide expanse of the Pacific to beautiful and cool San Francisco by the bay; thus giving me time to spare and to lend my thoughts out of the ether to something a bit more permanent and lasting.

For some easily discernible reason which needs not be divulged, I have to travel solo in this and previous trips, leaving the wife to care for manifold concerns in the old homeland.  And by design then, this and previous trips have been lonely ventures, with forlorn thoughts for companion and solace.

But for one quite at home with solitude and prone to conversing with oneself, I must confess the ordeal is actually a relief proffered  by unavoidable circumstances.  As a matter of fact, it affords the manifold opportunities to introspect, retrospect, and reflect on more profound things of life, like maybe the inevitability of one’s mortality.  One finds this exercise quite useful and necessary especially as one steadily and surely approaches the twilight of one’s years.

So here I am lodged on a swivel chair beside a table equipped with a bunch of electrical convenient outlets, at the premier international airport of the old country waiting for a flight that leaves in a couple of hours. Plugging away at my trusty companion, my laptop.

I am sifting through the many varied concerns both trip related and those that typically beset the thinking serious man as he travels through life.  It makes for a confusing maze of unrelated odds and ends that crave for attention and priority. 

Being an inveterate note-taker, I need not worry about missing some of them due to failing memory, most of the thoughts having been written down, sorted out, categorized, and highlighted.  It is then a matter of going through each one, in the order of importance and gravity.

But that will not be the topic of this scribbling.  Rather this will be about the knotty problems of politics, both in the old homeland and in the adopted country. In a twist of fated destiny, politics is on heightened mode in both places.   In the old homeland the year 2013 is designated as the election cycle for both local and national government positions, except for the presidency.  And as always, politics is not only contentious and very melodramatic and also very shallow and pretentious, but more morosely it is also very dirty in many respects.  Thus the ominous cloud of physical violence is ever present and hovering, a skin-crawling eventuality that threatens everyone’s safety. 

 

And the US is of course in its own painful throes of electing a new president.  And this corner definitely wishes that indeed a new president is elected, given the unarguably very disastrous performance of the current one.

All this knotty thinking has given me a double-treat headache, given how much of a worry wart I am about the overall state of both countries.  After all one wishes well for the places where one lives. On all levels that I have been exposed to, whether as personal experiences or learned from reading or listening to media and the Internet, I can extract so many glaring failures of governance.  Sufficient for one to experience sleepless nights, and bouts of extreme frustration and loss of faith in people, and the system.

It appears as ever that man is destined to suffer in this world, regardless of  how everybody else think differently.  That no amount of good intentions and noble actions can stem the surging tide that is pushing man to the path of perdition and misery.  As we read in the classical good books, man is bound to suffer and that is his lot.  That there is no escaping that.  So might as well prepare for that, designing plans and attitudes with that in mind.

Thus many of us have resigned to the reality hhat life is not intended to be enjoyed, but suffered through.  We have been destined not to gather peace and happiness but to go through tribulations and crosses.   

Perish the thoughts then that because life is short, we ought to pursue whatever little fleeting enjoyment we can derive from it.  Like, plan for those dearly-craved-for vacations and fancy trips to witness grand sights and interesting people never before experienced.  Gather as much pleasant memories while the candle of light still burns.  For when life is no more,  everything is gone.

But if once life is gone and everything else is gone, why bother?  Isn’t there wisdom then in the Biblical saying that we should not gather material treasures that fade with time, but instead gather those that will last for eternity?

For indeed what has happened to the enjoyments and the pleasant experiences of the last happy trip? The momentous once-in-a-lifetime vacation taken with special friends and family?  The historic meeting with cherished acquaintances separated by so many decades?  Even the thrills and smiles of yesterday?  They probably have lost their novelty and before long  will be consigned to the unattended corners of our mind and life.

 

At most, we ought to seek only for contentment or some degree of satisfaction that we have tried hard to live a good life. A simple and uncluttered life.  A life of constant challenges and countless occasions of begin-again moments.

 

The real measure being in the dogged determination and passion of the attempts, rather than the grandiosity of the results.

 

 

 

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

On Returning To The Old Homeland


Many Filipino expats show uneasy ambivalence in their plans to return for good to the old homeland, with good justifiable reasons. However, here are a few thoughts that could help in addressing the issue.

If one is simply planning an abbreviated visit, then it is quite easy not to mind the many “quirks” one finds there, or maybe even laugh them off.

But once one starts living there and experiences these things on a daily basis and as part of one’s daily existence, then it becomes a different thing, especially for those of us who have been exposed to and have soaked in the nice living environments in other more advanced communities.

One has to have a heart of stone, calloused emotions, or even very deaf ears not to be affected by those pesky things around that need correction or improvement. If so, then frustrations and/or anger could easily take over. Or one gets prone to intuitively express unsolicited vocal criticisms at the very least. If not more, like wanting to exhibit the itchy urge to try to do something about them.

For others, retreating in isolation to their own private little worlds is an escape option – their own beach-side or mountain-top hideaways, or hidden nooks and crannies in some remote barrio or town, etc. Insulated from the rest of the world.

Anyway, coming back to stay for many of those planning to will not be that cut and dried, believe you me. It will involve a lot of discovery or re-discovery, if you will, and making attitudinal adjustments in case the desire to stay put is strong.

Sorry to appear so grim and gloomy in my personal perspective, but I believe it is best to be forewarned and prepared.

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