Light

Every time I see a lighted candle, I am always reminded of this song entitled One Little Candle. We still sing it during masses  now and then.

♫♪♫It is better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark.
Better far that you light just one little candle,
All you need is a tiny spark.
If we’d all say a prayer that the world would be free,
A wonderful dawn of a new day we’d see…
And if everyone lit just one little candle,
What a bright world this would be♫♪♫

Have you ever watched a flickering candle and thought of so many things?  Tomorrow, we celebrate All Saints Day here and it happens to be a Sunday which is a blessing. It’s been my mom’s tradition that every year that we celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day, we offer masses for our dear departed and pray the rosary specifically for them.  We make an offering at the altar, a complete meal sometimes and let the candles burn overnight near our front door. The following day, mom buries the food in one corner of the garden as soon as she wakes up and say a prayer that the saints and our dear relatives would keep watch over us.

In our province in Pangasinan, mom would invite neighbors to pray the rosary with them then prepare simple snacks (mostly coffee and rice cakes or bread) that they would share after prayers. I have continued the tradition, the only difference is, the ritual is just within our home with family members participating or whoever is available to pray with us. I usually buy kakanin and cook pasta or pancit.  The thing is, you should not taste those snacks set on the table until after you have finished praying.

Josef and I attended anticipated mass tonight because early tomorrow we would go to the wet market to buy ingredients for the two occasions that we are celebrating.  All Saints and All Souls days used to be  regular holidays in the Philippines and I think they are commemorated by every Catholic worldwide but for the past few years, November 2 is now taken off the holiday calendar..  All our departed close relatives were  buried in the province so I just make time to visit the cemetery whenever I get the chance to go home.

Do you celebrate Halloween? Do your kids look forward to trick or treating? What’s with the pumpkin?

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Journeys

Sometimes, happiness is found in the smallest details of people’s lives. The untrodden path may seem daunting at the start, but it’s when you are brave enough to follow the trail that gives life meaning, it’s when you stumble along the way that you’ll really know that the end of the road is a beautiful load of surprises.

Sometimes, life alters for the best.

Vista

Tanay.

I remember the date I took this shot, it was exactly three weeks since I finished my six cycles of chemotherapy, a litmus test if I may say.   Our destination was  Tanay, Rizal, a good one  and a half hour trip from our place in Cainta.   We were in convoy with our good neighbors Jom and Jane and their kids.  Along the way, there  were occasional jeepneys full of passengers up to the roof , otherwise, we were in tandem, admiring the scenic view and making oohs and aahs as we passed by some cloud formations along the mountain top making you feel like you are touching heaven.  A few minutes before we reached the town of Tanay, Jom told us to roll down our windows and savor the nippy morning air,  and the light morning breeze gently playing with the bamboo trees along the way. To smell the clean, fresh air, what bliss!

I love what nature brings, a lovely vista of fluffy white clouds, green countryside untouched by human hands, the sun shining on your face, the surprise of seeing wild flowers around and the thrill of discovering that you can endure the descent and the climb back to civilization.

The blue mountain range you see from afar  is the Sierra Madre. The Sierra Madre is the longest mountain range in the Philippines. In the north, the range starts in the province of Cagayan  and ends in the south in the province of Quezon.

A Prayer For You

Windows

When you begin to see the outside world, life gets real.

Life

Sometimes –

the hurts linger

and the pain is like an open wound

that throbs.

But life gleams –

and it alters the horizon.

Though the shadows lurk still

the beauty of the day begins.

And there is a ray of hope

for those who still believe

that dreams come true.

Infinite

I love the sea although  it was quite sometime since I visited one. Gazing at the distant horizon, I am always in awe of the one great Hand who created it. There is always that feeling of peace inside my sometimes troubled heart every time  I see something like this.

And William Blake described it beautifully  when he said:  “To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”