Reepicheep and parables of treasures

Will You visit us in our world?

I shall be watching you always.

How?

In your world, I have another name. You must learn to know me by it. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing Me here for little, you may know Me better there.

-Lucy to Aslan, Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I was reading my Bible last Sunday and came across two particular parables. The Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44) and Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46) both talked about men finding great treasures. In order to possess these treasures, they had to make the sacrifice of selling all they have just to purchase these treasures.

Evan dances with God

My brother wanted to borrow my Lord of the Rings DVD a few days ago. As I was looking through my closet, I came across a long-forgotten movie I had enjoyed a few years ago.

Sequel to the 2003 film Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty  is a comedy film released in 2007. Newly elected to the Congress, Evan Baxter (played by Steve Carell) on the eve of his first day in the job prayed that God will help him "change the world". He eventually found himself being tasked by God (played by Morgan Freeman) to build an ark as flood will come on Sept. 22. Mocked by others, Baxter eventually found himself saving animals and residents of his village from a flood when the dam broke because of its poor design and construction.

The script here is simply great. There were jokes that showed analogies from the Bible. Only a man with great understanding of Christ and the Bible could pull off such lines!

As I was watching the film again, I found myself teary-eyed towards the end of the movie. Everything turned out well for Evan. He may have looked stupid and weird but he still did it. As he was on a hiking trip with his family, God showed Himself to him:

marriages, babies and census

I was reading news from Yahoo! Philippines and I came across an article fed by wires agency Agence France Presse. The report, "Marriage going out of fashion in Philippines", used the recently released 2008 census from the National Statistics Office to point out that getting married is no longer as big of a deal as it was years ago.

According to the census, 1,784,316 live births were registered in the country in 2008, of which 37.5 percent were born out of wedlock. Meanwhile, a total of 486,514 marriages were registered the same year (press release here). Of the cases, 41 percent were celebrated through civil rites and 36.3 percent were commenced in Catholic churches (press release here).

A growing number of Filipinos now treat marriage as an option, rather than a requirement, for starting families, said Nene Baligad, a member of a unit of the National Statistics Office that licenses people who officiate weddings.

"Nowadays, some couples just live in and only get married after having four or five children," she told AFP.

"You can't really say it's for practical reasons, since you can be married on the cheap. It's more like, we Filipinos tend to follow what is in fashion."

What the article failed to argue however, is that a decrease in registered marriages does not necessarily mean couples more often opted to living together instead of actually getting married.

NSO's release on live births also included statistics on teenage mothers. A total of 186,527 babies were born to teenage mothers, a 7.64 percent increase from 2007. This figure side by side the number of illegitimate babies born in 2008 may also show the lack of knowledge and the problem with education.

If NSO has provided the trend by age, we may be able to provide more analysis.

Allow me to say, I am proud that we may be the only country who does not allow divorce. Of course, there are biblical perspectives as to why divorce should not be an option but I am more concerned with the mindset divorce policies encourage. But I am for the inclusion of sex education in classroom discussion. And the way the article has made the connection between marriage statistics and the divorce bill was not clearly woven out.

The Redeemer

from the album Pieces of a Real Heart
performed by Sanctus Real

Sometimes I just want to start over
Cause everything looks like a wreck
And I need the courage to carry on
Cause I can't see what's ahead

And there are places I've wished I could be
Battles I've wanted to win
Dreams that have slipped through my hands
I may never get back again

But I'm still a dreamer, a believer
I've lost my faith in so many things
But I still believe in You
Cause You can make anything new

Sometimes I just wish we could say
All the things that are easy to hear
Ignore the injustice we see
And explain every unanswered prayer

But I'd rather speak honestly
And wear a tattered heart on my sleeve
Cause in the middle of my broken dreams
Redemption is here

I don't have every answer in life
But I'm trusting You one day at a time
Cause You can make a weak heart stay alive forever
This is where Heaven and Earth collide

I lift my hands and give my life
This is how my weary heart stays alive

The Difference

by Grace Naessens

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish, I didn't have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me and grew heavier with each task;
Why doesn't God help me, I wondered; He answered, "You didn't ask."

I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn't show me - He said, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock;
God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.

Rizal, God and my country

In one unusual occasion, President Benigno Aquino III declared June 20 a national holiday in commemoration with the 150th birthday of the one of the country's most acclaimed heroes, Jose Rizal.

Rizal, the Philippines' National Hero, was born on June 19, 1861. He was highly recognized for being a reformist during the rule of the Spaniards in the 19th century. He, together with the Propaganda Movement whose members composed of Filipino expatriates in Europe, fought for the recognition of human rights in the Philippines and pushed for the legalization of Spanish and Filipino equality, among others.

Readings on Rizal also noted his notion of national identity similar to the anti-colonial sentiment. Filipinos are who they were before the Spaniards came in 1521. In his Annotations to Morga's Succesos de las Islas Filipinas, he documented Filipino native languages and the re-establishment of national identity based on trade, industry and craftsmanship.

But up until now, citizens of the Philippines ask themselves, who are we as a nation? Filipinos easily adapts to the changes in environment that it somehow compromises the idea of identity.

I believe

Just a few weeks ago, the Tony Awards for Best Musical for 2011 was awarded to The Book of Mormon, a religious satire which tells the tale of two Mormon missionaries bound to Uganda to share their scriptures.

During the Tony Awards, Andrew Rannells, who played the role of missionary Kevin Price, performed "I believe". In this song, Price reconfirms his mission, commits to God what he needs to achieve and confronts the General, a local warlord and talks him into converting to the religion.

While at one point, the musical somehow ridicules the religion, it also serves a perspective on faith and doubt that even non-Mormons could appreciate. "I believe" in itself already has a lot to offer.

Here's part of the lyrics that really touched me: (Access full lyrics here)

I must trust that my Lord is mightier

And always has my back.

Now I must be completely devout

I can't have even one shred of doubt...

You cannot just believe part way,

You have to believe in it all.

The problem is doubting the Lord's will

Instead of standing tall.

I believe that God has a plan for all of us.

I believe that plan involves me getting my own planet.

The Scriptures say that if you ask anything,

If you ask God Himself he'll know.

But you must ask Him without any doubt

And let your spirit grow...

At a time when God asks you to just believe in Him and in His plans for you, this is somehow a good song to contemplate with.

Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4