Pearl Reflection

The CFC Pearl Anniversary week just concluded and we had 650 International delegates from 41 countries.  There were about 100,000 attendees during the anniversary day.  It was very inspiring to see brothers and sisters of different nationalities embracing one culture, the culture of Christ.  Couples for Christ is now 30 years old and in 114 countries worldwide.  We look forward to the next 30 years of community life and mission.  Here are some of my reflections:

1. In Reaching the Pearl year, the community also went through the same process of how a pearl is made. For a gem to come out, it had to go through many challenges, or in the pearls case an irritation process.  The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritate­s the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The man­tle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a pearl. from http://animals.howstuffworks.com/marine-life/question630.htm

Getting to 30 years is not an easy process. Yet, by God's grace he uses our challenges into the pearl of a community we see today.

2. We are brothers and sisters, regardless of race, nationality, and economic status.  As we immerse in the community, the love of Christ will be the language we speak.  We all share in the experience of His transforming love. 

3. The family is God's stronghold and the evil one will do everything to destroy it.  The work of strengthening family relationships to serve God and the poor is of great importance. In the words of Christopher West, "If one wants to take out the Church at large, one will first take out the Church in miniature."  The family is the domestic Church, the Church in miniature.  If we are to defend the Church, we must defend the family.  If we are to build a society of genuine justice, peace, harmony, and dignity we have to uphold to values and beliefs of the Church, starting with the family.  A Christ-centered society starts with a Christ-centered family.  Further Christopher West says, "the nucleus of the family is the love of man and woman."  This affirms the work of Couples for Christ in its 30 years of upholding the vocation of marriage and family life.

We now journey from Pearl to Gold.  A new generation arises, born from the love of the community's pioneers in mission.  Onward CFC!

    

The Real Deal

I was ordering a burrito at a mexican themed fast food. In the display picture, the burrito looked big. But when I got it, it looked like a turon (banana in crunchy wrap)! I was more amused than disappointed.
The world lures us to believing that riches, possessions, comfort, power, and fame are the biggest things that we can attain. Just look at the commercials and see how they influence the human behavior. But in truth, much of the worldly things we pursue and value are temporary. In the end, the biggest things that matter is the love we shared, the people we helped grow, and our faith in God. Just listen to eulogies.
Let us not spend our lifetime getting a raw deal. Let us receive the real deal, Jesus Christ.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

Cutting Off the Unnecessary

My 3 year old son Sev and I were getting a haircut. We were waiting for our turn and we observed the scene in the barber shop.
Why do we get our hair trimmed? For the obvious reason that our long hair is already obstructing our sense of order. Hair is less manageable when long (at least for most of us men) and affects our appearance. Hair is part of our growth, but we willingly cut it.
What are the things in our lives that have started to grow and is already obstructing God's sense of order? I can think of three:
a) Achievement that has grown into pride.
When we achieve, we have to start moving on to the next phase as soon as possible. Let us not get stuck in our previous glory. When we achieve, we give the glory back to God and do more. In this way, pride won't set in and is cut at its root.
b) Love that has grown into obsession.
When we love, there is freedom. Obsession imprisons us. It makes us addicted. Let us then evaluate if the things or people we love obsesses us or makes us free. We need to cut our obsessions and focus on the intent of genuine love.
c) Power that has grown into greed.
Power is the capacity to get things done. But the lure of power can also grow into compromising integrity because of greed and fame. We need to cut these temptations as our responsibility grows.

Like going to the barber, we cut out our pride, obsessions, and greed regularly. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available for us. Through regular confession, we are humbled and brought back to God's sense of order in our lives. Let us cut off the unnecessary and continue living in God's ways.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

The Wide View

It is important to be able to see things from the wide view,  to reach that point that we have understood the whole spectrum of what we are doing. It will take time, effort, sacrifice, and patience.  While we want things to get done already and see immediate results, the fruits of taking time to absorb and learn will be valuable for making quality decisions in the future.

It is good to have a Gestalt approach on situations. Gestalt is essence or shape of an entity's complete form (Wikipedia).  It also expresses that "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts." We can say that it is good to have an eagle's eye view first, seeing the whole landscape, and zooming in later on your target.  The tendency for most of us is to only bring forth our own agenda on the table and not consider the whole gamut of the present circumstance or our core values and beliefs.  The result will be misunderstanding and too much stress on non-priorities.  Seeing the forest first from a mountain top will help us find our way when we are in the forest towards our destination.  But it takes time, strength, and patience to reach a mountain top. It is tempting to go right into the forest.

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God (Luke 6:12).

So how do we see things from the wide-view? Here are some ideas.

Seek Prayer.  When we pray we are brought back to our center. When we are centered, we go to the core of our being, our souls.  When we are Christ-centered, then we are tapping into the most powerful source of strength and wisdom. Only Chirst can reveal to us the best for the situation we are in and the right decisions we have to make for our future. Meditating on the word of God will calm us and assure us of His promises. Maybe we have heard of the phrase, "pull yourself together." When there is panic and anxiety we have to pull ourselves together back to Christ and allow him to reveal the wide-view.

Seek Places. Being in another place will give us an appreciation of our circumstance. The new place will come to strike us with good analogies or simply learning why in those places certain ideas are successful.  This doesn't only pertain to going to other countries.  It can be doing something out of our routine or going to certain events that we know will enrich us.  The freshness will invigorate us and humble us.

Seek People.  Talk to people twice your age. Whether they are twice as young or twice as old. The seniors can give us a good summary of what they have learned. Their intent is always to advice us so we will not make the same mistakes.  The young ones remind us of our idealism, our excitement and passion for the future.  Both will give us the wide-view.  Here, what is needed is the humility to listen, respect their ideas, and contemplate on the right actions based on prayer.

Seek the Past. Those who can see far in the future are those who have dug deep in the past.  A good understanding of history will make our decisions sound. Thus, the Old Testament.  In order for peace to prevail in the present and future state, we have to learn from wars of the past.  Let us view it as part of our history, take the lessons with us, and apply what is best for the future.

The wide-view, the wholeness, the gestalt of things can fully be realized by a continuous connection to our God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth.  We pray that we are brought to see the fullness of His plan for our lives and our way of life so we can bring more and more people to Him.  For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God (Acts 20:27).

Temporary Residents

I went through US immigration today.  The officer asked the basic stuff; how long am I in the U.S. for and my purpose of travel.

This might be something we want to ask God as temporary residents of this earth:
Lord, how long am I here for? What is my purpose on earth?

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20)