Darker Brown

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I’m back. I’m darker brown now! This dumb web host is being slow again! I may move soon!

Index 6

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The sixth index page is up. Like the picture? That’s the view of Manila from my sixth-floor apartment window — doctored a bit.

A saddening note: “Well…I’ll be blogged” is gone. I hardly knew her, and I’ll miss her writing. I did want to email Dani, but I could never find her email address on her page before. Now that she’s given it, I’ll send her a message tomorrow about how much I appreciated her Christian insights and stories.

Bye for now, everyone. Church choir’s going to break to Laguna for a swimming outing, where I will sun myself to a darker shade of brown.

Rats and the Dalai Lama

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For some strange reason, this is one of the most depressing news items I’ve ever read in my life. I already feel bad for Tiff that she dreams about nothing but work. Rats, too?

The Dalai Lama condemns religious conversions to Christianity and Islam? “I always believe it’s safer and better and reasonable to keep one’s own tradition or belief,” he says. I wonder how he feels about Hindus who proselytize Christians?

Imagine, if you will, oh great Dalai Lama, a God who no longer requires a system of rituals and traditions to cleanse us of our sin. We no longer need to bathe in an icy river, or deliberately divest our lives of worldliness, or struggle to clear our minds to purify ourselves and attain the ultimate; because the ultimate Himself has already come to meet us personally. In His mercy and love he has given us Himself as His Son, who by His sacrifice purifies us from the stain of the world.

We Christians need not wash ourselves in an earthly river to cleanse ourselves of sin; already we have been washed in a stream of living water: God Himself, who freely gives us his grace and puts us in robes white as snow. Is this deceptive enticement, or God’s revealed truth? If it is the latter, then we cannot be faulted desiring to share it with the world! It is the ultimate truth, by which we are redeemed, and we are commanded, even compelled by the love in our hearts, to spread it.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!” (Romans 10.11)

Nailguns and Wasabi

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This poor, poor guy. Sawing off your own hand is horrible enough, and nail-gunning yourself in the head doesn’t help any, even to end the agony.

Wasabi toothpaste, anyone? I get my wasabi from squeezable tubes; I’d better be careful which one I buy when this comes out. You never know what you’re putting on your sashimi … or your toothbrush.

The Borrowed Scanner

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I have a scanner! It’s an old Artec photo scanner from my brother, and not too classy, but certainly more than enough for my needs. You can look forward to more photos next week. And index6.shtml is now in the works. (I never realized how quickly you can slap together a layout when the copy is already set and all you have to do is INCLUDE it. :)

Click Mo Mukha Mo

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I’m back from my blog break. Yay! I’ve been linked by Click Mo Mukha Mo! :) Ang bait-bait mo naman. At gwapo pa. Hwek hwek hwek hwek! :P

By the way, here’s a warning to you Japanese food lovers: Watch your chopsticks manners!

I’ve taken to reading stuff from Crosswalk for Christian perspectives and resources, and I found something interesting: Did you know that Jodi Benson, of Little Mermaid fame, is an evangelical Christian? Not just that, but she’s doing voices in a new biblical Joseph movie by Dreamworks. Pretty cool.

I am currently being blown away by the Flash work at Turtleshell.

Farewell to EDSA 2

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Just one more melodramatic post on this topic …

I can’t find words to describe how exhilarating it was to stand on the Edsa-Ortigas flyover today, with ******* and her folks, to watch President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo get sworn into office at the Edsa shrine. We had a perfect view of all the the famous politicians and personalities of the uprising.

The crowd gave a joyous yell when Chief Justice Hilario Davide appeared on stage with his arms raised as if in triumph. As Gloria began to recite the words of the oath, despite the standard formula, the mass of people at EDSA again and again broke into cheers of joy. “I, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill my duties as President of the Philippines.”

With each word, we felt the utter momentousness of the event sweep over us. We stood on the threshold of hope and change, witnessing history as it happened before our eyes. I hope the Philippines never forgets the lessons it has learned from EDSA 2001. Lord guide us.

(Unless another major political crisis breaks out, this will be my last blog entry for a while: maybe a few days, so I can take a break from being constantly online for news and updates. Then I’m back to my normal workaday blogging. But maybe with more political tidbits. Why doesn’t someone sign my guestbook so I know you’re reading all this!)

:)

The right thing?

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Did we do the right thing? I think we did. Today the Philippines removed an incompetent, corrupt, bumbling President whose only redeeming trait was a witty charm with which to deceive the poor, swayable masses. Already, investors are regaining confidence in our country now that we have an experienced economist and politician in power.

Hopefully we’ll soon see an influx of income and investment to boost our economy and start providing jobs and opportunities for the poor who were deceived by Erap’s popularity.

Hopefully the average Filipino has learned enough politics from the impeachment process and People Power II to be able to properly vote on issues and values rather than popularity and empty promises.

Hopefully this will set an example for future politicians to uphold a standard of intelligence and morality, rather than pander to the lowest common denominator.

Hopefully justice will be served to those whose greed and corruption were so far beyond bounds that they failed to consider the welfare of the people and the nation.

We did the right thing. Let’s hope we CONTINUE to do the right thing, even after the crowds have dispersed and the euphoria has settled. Mabuhay po ang Pilipinas, salamat sa Diyos.

Gloria Inaugurated

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Well, looks like it’s over.

I’ve just returned from EDSA, where I witnessed a grand historical event: the swearing into office of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the EDSA Shrine, to the cheers of a huge crowd of Filipino rallyists.

Erap Estrada, deserted by the public majority, the military, his cabinet, and his political supporters, mustered up what little dignity he had remaining and left Malacañang Palace peacefully this afternoon, headed for his residence in North Greenhills, San Juan. His condition is a formal resignation effective only on Wednesday, until which time he will remain President; and he questions the legitimacy of GMA’s oath of office. These matters, however, are “moot and academic” to most of the government and to the public. The legal basis: The Supreme Court has declared the Presidency vacant and administered the constitutional succesor’s oath of office. Legally, GMA is now the President of the Republic, though she has conceded to a smooth, graceful transition. By Wednesday, hopefully without any additional interference, all doubts will be laid to rest as to who heads the Philippine government.

Erap says he does not plan to leave the country, despite the assurance that justice will be served to him. He may face prosecution on the same charges of corruption, bribery, and plunder.

The crowds are dispersing, the turmoil is dying down, and the economy is picking up; but there’s still a lot of doubt in the air. Gloria is not a popular choice for the presidency, and political dissension and polarization still haunt the people. She will now have to get to work, appointing Cabinet members, selecting a Vice-President, and making good on her promises to clean up Philippine politics and defeat poverty.

But Erap has been ousted, peacefully and without widespread bloodshed or a military uprising. In that, the People Power Revolution of 2001 was successful. Today the Philippines welcomes this new millenium with a much better outlook on the future than it had two weeks ago.

Praise God. He has delivered us, and given us hope. Praise God.