Excerpt: Aleph (Part II)

Photo Credit: Alric Mondragon

Not everything in life is a long train with tickets available to all. - Paulo Coelho

Here are some parts of the book that gained my attention:

-We think that a computer is full of photos and images that provide a real window on the world, but the fact is that behind what you see on the screen, there is nothing but a succession of zeros and ones, what programmers call binary language. p168

-A warrior in search of his dreams must take his inspiration from what he actually does and not from what he imagines himself doing. p192

-Not everything in life is a long train with tickets available to all. p195

-Only a fool makes threats, and only another fool feels threatened. p200

-A life without a cause is a life without effect. p203

-Only someone who can say 'I love you' is capable of saying 'I forgive you.' p204

-The most sophisticated things in the world are precisely those within the reach of everyone. p212

-Love is made up of choices. p213

-"Be blessed. And just as you are transforming your own life, may you transform the lives of those around you." - the shaman p227

-A hunter always knows what to expect - eat or be eaten.  p227

-"Is it possible to deviate from the path God has made? Yes, but its always a mistake.
Is it possible to avoid pain? Yes, but you'll never learn anything.
Is it possible to know something without ever having experienced it? Yes, but it will never truly be part of you". p239

-Sometimes you have to travel a long way to find what is near. p255

-Time passes while we live. p260

-Someone, one day, will light the sacred fire for you. p261

-Music isn't a succession of notes. It's the constant movement of a note between sound and silence.

-No one who truly loves someone would destroy them or themselves. p263

-Love will conquer hatred. p266

See previous Excerpt: Aleph (Part I)

a morning walk on the beach...

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14)

The sky is dimmed as I walk by myself barefooted in the clay-like sand.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air.
Nature's soothing sounds filled the surroundings like music.
The rushing waves of the ocean brought peace to my mind.
The melody of the chirping birds humming in delight.

I stared at the blue sky feeling a profound gratitude.
through nature, I connected with my God.
With arms stretched upward, I received His loving embrace.
And that was a meaningful morning walk on the beach.

How to be Really Really Really Happy ☺

 At the end of the day, if God does not even smile at me...my whole life will be totally meaningless. - Bo Sanchez

A collection of simple, funny and inspiring short stories from the author's life experiences. Indeed, God is everywhere. Be really really really happy! =)

Some beautiful passages I've quoted from the book:

-God's love. All we needed was a touch. But He decided to give us more. On the first Good Friday ever, He opened His arms on the Cross. And that was the greatest embrace of all time. p18

-"Without trials in life, I would begin to love this world and forget my God." p20

-In His eyes you are beautiful. More than you can imagine. p25

-Go ahead. Sing to Your Divine Beloved. Love Him with your imperfect love. p28

-All human suffering will one day end. p33

-God wants to be a loving Dad in your life. p43

-On that very Christmas Day, My only Son became a human, a helpless infant - so that He could save you...p44

-Because our eyes will gaze upon Jesus forever, our faces and hearts will become like Him, the most beautiful Person in this entire universe. p48

-God allows loneliness in our lives to drive us home. It is very painful journey, but the pain urges one to continue walking. p55

"I thought you were Jesus. You look so much like your Friend." p63

-At the end of the day, if God does not even smile at me...my whole life will be totally meaningless. p68

-He sees beyond our failures and grasps our glorious future. p75

-"In your emptiness, you will have more room for Me." p83

-I've discovered what life is all about. It's about generously giving our lives to God and to others - and forgetting oneself in the process. p84

-"For what you give to Me, I give back to you - multiplied over." p86

-God always win the battle of generosity. p87

-There is only one thing that will never die: His love for you. In the end, His love for you is the most beautiful thing this universe has ever known. And that will last forever. p91

-Many of the people who persistently see the wrong in others do so because they subconsciously can't stand the wrong that they themselves do. p120

-God thinks about you 24 hours a day, non-stop. p135

-No matter how small, do what God tells you to do. Do not underestimate  the Power of One. p136

-God is always love. We are always loved. And love will always be our life, forever. p144

A Father's Love Letter

My Child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish youwith all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus.John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is… Will you be my child? John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

Used by permission Father Heart Communications ©1999-2011 FathersLoveLetter.com

Manual of the Warrior of Light

 

This is the story of a village- boy who meets a mysterious woman at the beach who talks to  him about the bells ringing from a temple beneath the sea. Years later, the same mysterious  woman asks him to write about the Warrior of Light.

What is a Warrior of Light? The boy asks the woman. The woman replies that a Warrior of Light is one who understands the miracle of life, one who fights for his dreams and one who follows his dreams to reach his destiny. The boy is asked to write down the life lessons of the Warrior of Light.

This is my favorite of all Paulo Coelho's books. Every page is a lesson waiting to be learned. It defines the reader. Are you also a warrior? Then, just hang on 'til you can hear the bells of a drowned temple beneath the ocean ring.

Some of my favorite lines from the book:

There are two types of prayer:

In the first type, the person asks for certain things to happen and attemps to tell God what he should do. This does not allow the Creator either time of space in which to act. God- who knows perfectly well what is best for each of us - will continue to do as he sees fit. And the person praying is left with the impression that his prayer went unanswered.

In the second type, the person may not understand the Almighty's intentions, but he allows his life to develop according to his Creator's plans. He asks to be spared suffering, he asks for the joy in the Good Fight, but he never forgets to add: "Thy will be done."

This is how the Warrior of the Light chooses to pray.

*****
The warrior of light studies the two columns on either side of the door he is trying to open.
One is called Fear and the other is called Desire.

The warrior looks at the column of Fear and on it is written:
'You are entering a dangerous, unfamiliar world where everything you have learned up until now will prove useless.'

The warrior looks at the column of Desire and on it is written:
'You are about to leave a familiar world wherein are stored all the things you ever wanted and for which you struggled long and hard.'

The warrior smiles because nothing frightens him and nothing holds him.
With the confidence of one who knows what he wants, he opens the door.

*****
A warrior of light knows that certain moments repeat themselves. He often finds himself faced by the same problems and situations, and seeing these difficult situations return, he grows depressed, thinking that he is incapable of making any progress in life.

'I've been through all this before,' he says to his heart.
'Yes, you have been through all this before,' replies his heart.
'But you have never been beyond it.'

Then the warrior realizes that these repeated experiences have but one aim: to teach him what he does not want to learn.

a silver barrette

“A boy and a girl were insanely in love with each other,” my mother’s voice was saying. “They decided to become engaged. And that’s when presents are always exchanged.

The boy was poor–his only worthwhile possession was a watch he’d inherited from his grandfather. Thinking about his sweetheart’s lovely hair, he decided to sell the watch in order to buy her a silver barrette.

The girl had no money herself to buy him a present. She went to the shop of the most successful merchant in the town and sold him her hair. With the money, she bought a gold watchband for her lover.

When they met on the day of the engagement party, she gave him the wristband for a watch he had sold, and he gave her the barrette for the hair she no longer had”

― Extracts from By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho

Prayer of Forgiveness

Photo by: Nz Ecochick

Extracts from Aleph by Paulo Coelho (p155 - 157)

Hilial is speaking softly, but the acoustics in the church are so perfect that everything she says seems to reach every corner.

"I forgive the tears I was made to shed,
I forgive the pain and the disappointments,
I forgive the betrayals and lies,
I forgive the slanders and intrigues,
I forgive the hatred and the persecution,
I forgive the blows that hurt me,
I forgive the wrecked dreams,
I forgive the stillborn hopes,
I forgive the hostility and jealousy,
I forgive the indifference and ill will,
I forgive the injustices carried out by others in the name of justice,
I forgive the anger and the cruelty,
I forgive the neglect and contempt,
I forgive the world and all its evils.”

She closes her eyes again and raises her face heavenward.

“I also forgive myself.  May the misfortunes of the past no longer way on my heart.  Instead of pain and resentment, I choose understanding and compassion.  Instead of rebellion, I choose the music from my violin.  Instead of grief, I choose forgetting.  Instead of vengeance, I choose victory."

"I will be capable of loving, regardless of whether I am loved in return,
of giving, even when I have nothing,
of working happily, even in the  midst of difficulties,
Of holding out my hand, even when I feel utterly alone and abandoned,
Of drying my tears, even while I weep,
Of believing, even when no one believes in me."

Be like the flowing river...

Photo Credit: Grazel Gorriceta

Be like the flowing river,
Silent in the night.
Be not afraid of the dark,
If there are stars in the sky, reflect them back.
If there are clouds in the sky,
Remember clouds, like the river, are water,
So gladly reflect them too,
In your own tranquil depths.
                                             --Manuel Bandeira

Love - 1 Corinthians 13

But the greatest of these is love. 

 ¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

 ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

New International Version (NIV)

Excerpt: Aleph (Part I)

Life is the train, not the station. - Paulo Coelho

Aleph - the point at which everything is in the same place at the same time.

-If I believe I will win, then victory will believe in me. p30

-Words are tears that have been written down. Tears are words that need to be shed. Without them, joy loses all it's brilliance and sadness has no end. p35

-We always tend to value what comes from afar, never recognizing the beauty around us. p40

-No two journeys along the path are alike.p41

-If we seek something, that same thing is seeking us. p46

-Routine has nothing to do with repetition. To become really good at anything, you have to practice and repeat, practice and repeat until the technique becomes intuitive. 

-Inhale deeply and ask for all the blessings in the air to enter your body and fill every cell. Then exhale slowly, projecting happiness and peace around you. p54

-To live is to experience things, not sit around pondering the meaning of life. p62

-By forgiving we show wisdom and intelligence. p65

-If you spend too much time trying to find out what is good or bad about someone else, you'll forget your own soul and end up exhausted and defeated by the energy you have wasted in judging others.p67

-If the world seems to be at peace, that's because it is. p82

-Words are life set down on paper.p83

-No one can learn to love by following a manual, and no one can learn to write by following a course.p83

-Writing is,above all,about discovering myself. 

-Don't be intimidated by other people's opinion.Only mediocrity is sure of itself, so take risks and do what you really want to do.p83

-The important things that stay are the moments spent listening to people singing, telling stories, enjoying life.p84

-The small Aleph always appears by chance. You're walking down a street or you sit down somewhere and suddenly the whole Universe is there.p97

-The second Aleph also happens by chance when two people whom Destiny has chosen for a specific mission meet in the right place. 

-Those who once knew love will find each other again.p98

-Life is the train, not the station.p100

-Dreamers can never be tamed.p105

-Love is always stronger.p107

-forgiveness works only if you accept it. p107

-Visit your soul; don't visit your past. p117

-God is always close to us, whether we pray to Him or not. p128

-If you don't get up early, you'll never see the sun rise. If you don't pray, God may be near, but you won't feel His presence. 

-People meet when they need to meet. p129

-Train your heart. That is the discipline every warrior needs. If you can control your heart, then you will defeat your opponent. p134

-If you conquer yourself, then you will conquer the world. p135

-Sometimes fear is necessary in order that we can finally find peace. p150

-Remember that there is another court in Heaven, and that court will demand to know how you carried out God's wishes here on Earth.

continue reading.. Excerpt: Aleph (Part II)

what you can do for the homeless

He Cares Foundation is a Christian non-profit organization that helps extremely poor street children in Metro Manila. (read more about He Cares Mission..)

The Vision:  With God's grace, together we can make this all happen!  We can build a home for the homeless! 

These are some of the photos I took during our visit in their places. Help us build a home for them. I pray that this blog will reach thousands of readers. Be part of God's plan. Join us! 

Website: He Cares Foundation

9 Mines St. Visayas Avenue, Quezon City

e-mail us at hecaresfoundation@gmail.com; hecaresblog@gmail.com

 

Watch this video for Donate a Brick Program.

See you! God bless!