Real God

According to space.com the size of the universe is at least 165 billion light-years wide. One light-year is equal to just under ten million kilometers [or exactly 9,460,730,472,580.8 km]. Can you imagine how big is that? And can you also imagine how small we are? Hmm.. 

This fact popped a 'God question' in my mind. Assuming that there are other life forms [with civilizations] in other parts of the universe or in the 'other universes', do you think they also have gods there? If they have, do you think you and 'them' worship the same god? Do you think 'your' God created them? Or maybe 'they' [other life forms] believe that 'their' god created them and not your god. Hmmm... Well these questions are not really meant to find answers. They are meant to make one realize something.  

What about in Earth [our world]? Today there are looooots of gods that we [or maybe I] know of. Some of these gods have their own religion. And there are some [I guess majority of] religions who think that their god is the 'true god.' or real god. Example, religion A thinks that their god created the universe and is the true god. Religion B on the other hand thinks [aslo] that their god created us and the universe. These religions just contradict each other. Their gods, beliefs, stories[myths], traditions contradict each other. Now these contradictions just shows that all religions [w/ supernatural god or gods] are all wrong. Simply because they consider each other as wrong and false.

So who then is the real god? Which creation story is true? Which beliefs are right and wrong? Who should one believe? Well of course a religion or perhaps your religion would say that your religion has the true god and creator right? But other religion would just disagree with that. Remember, they also have faith just like you. 

(in)Finity

Here I am again sitting in front of the computer killing the time. The same old thing I did yesterday and the day before yesterday. My life at the mean time has become very routinary. I wake up, eat, open the computer, eat, bike, watch DVDs and so on until I wake up again the following day and do the same things I did yesterday. Although I am still looking for a job right now and waiting for the employers to call me [heck, what is taking them so long]. But aside from that, I think there is almost nothing.

I remember when I was in college there was really something new almost everyday. Report in this subject, quiz on that, party here, Sabado nights there, or food trip somewhere. During that time I go to sleep almost everynight feeling very excited for tomorrow. But now, nah, there is almost nothing in stored. I try to do new things like learning something new or read a book or increase my chess rating or [try to]enter in a relationship and some other things to add some color in my life. I estabished new goals and new objectives for me to follow to keep me excited about tomorrow. But as long as I achieved these goals I find myself again looking for another goal or objective. Back again to square one. This only shows that nothing in life is infinite. Everything is finite.

Everything in life is indeed finite. I mean everything. I cant really think of anything that could satisfy me or man forever. Everything has its end. Love, power, friendship, other kinds of relationship, life. And I am not just the one who is facing this [sad but true] reality but all of us. You may think that my life is much duller[or sadder] than yours but you would still end up back in square one after some time just like everyone of us or even much worse[and sad] you would still end up dead no matter how hard you try. Everthing has its limits. Man just jumps from one objective/goal to another and then finds himself again looking for another goal/objective to accomplish. This makes life boring. No wonder why the primitive man created the idea of the "Absolute Thou" [I hope you get this. Clue: I try to avoid the three letter word because it is kinda sensitive.] Man hopes for the infinite and the limitless in the 'absolute thou'. However, no one really proved that this 'absolute thou' will last forever or that we would be also infinite with the absolute thou. I mean look at Zeus and the other Greek gods. Maybe this is just an 'absolute hope'.

So what can we do about this sad reality that everything is just finite? The sad thing is that we cant really do anything to make things[including life] infinite or limitless. No matter what we do, all we have would end or in case of life, we would all end up dead. That is the way I see it. Because of this, I think we must really not waste every thing we have. We must not waste our time and energy and resources to unproductive things and activities. We can only live once and we must not waste time and energy to these things. I'd really like to elaborate more on what kind of 'unproductive things' I am talking about but I guess it is much better not to. Next, we must not also waste every opportunity. I mean we must grab every opportunity we encounter. Dont be afraid and take risks [I really learned this the hard way]. Again we can only live once and we must not let beautiful things pass us by.

Thank you and until next time,

Jobo

Beach

Your voice is like the gentle breeze
Soft, relaxing, and addictive
It takes away my stress

Your eyes is like the horizon
Endless, infinite, and ceaseless
It makes me gaze at you everytime

Your beauty is like the sunrise
Perfect, beautiful,and attractive
It paints my imagination with vibrant colors

But your words are like the crashing waves
Loud, hard, and adamantile
It washes away my dreams

Let us support Reproductive Health Bill (HB 4110)

This bill will [in my opinion] make our society much better place to live in. This bill encourages equality and equity, the right to development, the right to reproductive health, the right to education and the right to choose and make decisions for themselves. 

I really condemn those group/s who are against this bill. These groups [maybe 'this group'] do not have the right to control the lives of others. They must let the people choose what to do with their bodies and of course with their lives.   

Read and learn more about this bill here. 

And please sign here for your support on the bill. 

Comfort Zones

“To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gust and scramble through as well as I can.” I got this quote [and the idea of this topic]from the blog of my Tita. 

This is really true. We cannot really know what will happen in life if we will not try and take risks. We cannot avoid risks and we must face them or else [in my opinion] we cannot live life to the fullest. As my teacher in Philosophy told us "You must go out of your comfort zones" . We must go out of our comfort zones in order to know and live life well. I think that being passive and not taking risks is a very cowardly act. Staying inside our comfort zones only shows that we are afraid of life and that we are afraid of making mistakes. But making mistakes will just make us a better person and we cannot really avoid it[I think]. I am not saying though that we must 'always' make mistakes. What I am saying is that we must not be afraid of them. 

We must go out and face life head on. 

Emotional Rants

Dear Blog,

I am really really really angry right now. I am super [to the nth power] angry. I am angry of what happened last week. And I am angry with myself. I am now at stage two of the Kubler-Ross model, which is the anger stage. I skipped stage one [denial stage] because others say it is unproductive [w/c I also think it is]. I am also planning to skip stage three because of the same reason. Hehehe. I like being in this stage, the anger stage. My favorite part is the part wherein I get to let  out of what I feel. I like beating out my punching bag until my hands ache. I like to write it all out until I can't think anything to write. These two are very therapeutic. 

Now why am I angry? I am angry because I tend to screw things up. I am angry because I got easily carried away. I am angry because I have difficulty controlling my emotions. I am angry because I am a little bit paranoid. I can't really blame something or someone. I can't also blame her. I mean what can I expect? I am no Brad Pitt. I can only blame myself here. Although there are parts in the situation wherein I should blame something/someone/her, but all that could have not happened if it was because of my stupid ability to screw things up. I could've waited until the right time. I could've waited until it becomes "hinog" [ripe]. I could've followed simple textbook rules. But what can I say? This thing called...., [you know what I'm talking about], clouded my judgment and reasoning. This really makes me a hypocrite because I tend to criticize others about how bad their judgment and reasonings are and yet here I am. 

I can now sense  that she [unfortunately this 'she' will remain nameless ;p] thinks that I am getting a little bit crazy/weird. Am I really crazy? Ofcourse I am. I am thinking of her when I should not be thinking of her. I am texting her when I should not be texting her. I even get distracted in some things that I do. Lucky me I'm already done with my studies. Also I am showing to the world my weakness, my thumbscew here and I am talking to my blog for pete's sake. Now that's really crazy. LOL. I can sense that people will just feel "corniness" when they would read this yet I continue to write. I can also sense the "ilang-ness" stage coming in both of us. How I wish I could just re-write this not-so-well-written chapter of my life. 

Well I guess this is just how life and love is. There are ups and downs. Positives and negatives. His and lows. Good and bad. Rain and shine. Yin and Yang. I'll just have to face this head on. I mean look at 'my' bright side. Other people are in much trouble than I am. Right? Other people are in much deeper shit. Others even live in unfortunate places while I sit here in this comfy chair. I'm still fortunate and thankful because I know that I still have a little bit of chance. Although "very little chance" is close to impossible but it is still possible [just ask any mathematician/statistician about this]. I am still hopeful. I'll just have to think clearly and avoid making stupid mistakes next time because life is short, we can only live once, and there's no turning back in life.  [This last part sounds like stage five of the Kubler-Ross model. Hehehe]

Thank you and until in my next rants,

Jobo

To My Reader/s

Dear Reader/s,

As you can notice, some of the contents of this blog are quite offensive to your beliefs or maybe to you. So read at your own risk. I also apologize if I offended someone or some group because of what I wrote in my previous [selected] entries. Unfortunately I have to continue that kind of writing next time [maybe not in the next post] because I just can't help myself criticize others who are blinded by supernaturalism. 

An ex-classmate told me that I may risk being labeled as "bad/evil" because of what I write about or because of criticizing some group. He also told me to publish some of my [offensive] writings anonymously to avoid that risk. But I really do not care. It does not follow that if I disagree with 'them', I could already be considered as evil/bad. C'mon. Am I evil for not agreeing with you? Am I evil for believing what I do? Am I evil for not being like you?  

Thank you and until next time,

Jobo

Saints

Saints are those who follow Jesus Christ and live their lives according to his teaching. Catholics use the term narrowly to refer to especially holy men and women who, through extraordinary lives of virtue, have already entered Heaven. For Catholics, they consider saints as holy. They pray [and I think they even worship] saints. I remember when I was still in high school[and some classes in college], we always include in our prayers some number of saints. For example we pray, "Saint _______ pray for us" . They pray to the saints like gods [even if Catholics deny that they are not gods]. 

The Catholic Community Forum lists some 5120 saints with some of them has areas of responsibility [like abdominal pains, abuse victims, anorexia, arms dealers, to name a few].  This make the Catholic Church look like a polytheist church. Saint believers really believes that Saints have some sort of power that could help improve their lives. WTH?!

Oh poor Saint believers. What's the point in believing in such imaginary and powerless saints? How could they believe in these quacks? How can they put their trusts and faiths and lives to these powerless and imaginary saints? Are they really that blinded? How can they not realize that saints are just imaginary and powerless?

The illusion that Saints have power/s can't really do any good especially to those who are in need of help. Instead of getting real help from real qualified people [like police or doctor] some saint believers would just pray to their saints. And they would end up worse or dead. Also believing in Saints would give them an idea that someone so powerful is by their side to help them in times of need when in reality there is none. These would just make the saint believers dependent on these powerless and imaginary saints. And that is bad because this makes them lazy. 

Sorry if I offended some of your beliefs but just think of what I said and open your eyes and be realistic. And btw, if you think that I am wrong, just tell me and show to me that saints have power/s. I'd like to see it. :D

Thank you and until next time,

Jobo  

Love Quotes From Freethinkers

I got these from the Filipino Freethinkers forum at Yahoo Group. Enjoy!

"Reason is nothing less than the guardian of love".
--Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of 
Reason 

"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already 
three parts dead." 
--Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals (1929) ch. 19

Love is the magician, the enchanter,
That changes worthless things to joy,
And makes right royal kings and queens of common clay.
Love is the perfume of that wondrous flower, the heart;
And without that sacred passion,
That divine swoon, we are less than beasts;
But with love, earth is heaven, and we are gods." 
-- Robert Green Ingersoll's famous recitation, "Love"

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. 
--Albert Einstein 

Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have, so to speak, 
pawned apart of their narcissism.
-- Sigmund Freud

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of 
human existence. 
-- Eric Fromm

"Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost." 
---Milan Kundera (Unbearable Lightness Of Being)

"I do understand what love is, and that is one of the reasons I can 
never again be a Christian. Love is not self denial. Love is not 
blood and suffering. Love is not murdering your son to appease your 
own vanity. Love is not hatred or wrath, consigning billions of 
people to eternal torture because they have offended your ego or 
disobeyed your rules. Love is not obedience, conformity, or 
submission. It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon 
authority, punishment, or reward. True love is respect and 
admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, 
unafraid human being." 
--Dan Barker

I like the last qoute the most. That really caught my attention. :D 

I Wish

I wish I could wake up one day 

And all the pain I feel would be gone

The thought of you with someone

The biting reality that I can't be with you

The words that closed the door to your heart

These are just too painful and too difficult to grasp.. 

That I wish I could just fast forward to a more hopeful chapter in my life

Or rewind to re-write this painful chapter

Maybe I wish I never met you

Or maybe I wish I never fall for you

But maybe not 

I wish you would know 

That nobody in this world feels the way I do to you

That my feelings for you are so strong and pure

That my world revolves around you

And that I would do anything for love, for you

I wish I could tell all these to you

And that you would realize that I'm worthy to be with you

I wish that you would give me hope 

And the chance to be with you

Wish, this is all I can do

Random thoughts [feb 10, 2009]

1.) Do we really have control in our lives? I always thought that we all have free will and that because of this we control our lives. I always thought that life [at least mine] have absolute freedom. This free will also comes with great responsibility. But lately, I realized that there are some things that we can't control. Although I am not saying that free will is just an illusion but there are things in life that we can't just control. Yes, we have free will but there are really instances in life that we cant control. There are some things in life that we can't force to happen. We don't have full control of it. 

2.) I am a hypocrite. Why? Hmm.. I always encourage/teach/preach[maybe] other people [especially religious ones]to use their heads and be rational and think. And I really hate people who are irrational. But I am slowly realizing that I am also becoming irrational. The L thing is making me do it. I mean I cant even think straight. What the hell. I am not blaming someone or something here. I can only blame myself here.

3.) Mystics claim that they are very spiritual beings. Based from what I know, these people are in higher level of spirituality. Are they really sure of what they believe? I think that to these people, they don't want to know the truth. They just want the mystery to remain a mystery. And also, how can they say that a thing or being [like God] is mysterious or unknowable yet they are cock sure that it exist? It is contradicting. 

4.) The rich are getting richer. Poor getting poorer. Can you imagine how much money the telecommunication companies earn every day with all that texts and calls? It is a big big big money. The money of the consumers of these companies are[base on my opinion] like being stolen by the telecommunication companies. They should at least make texting free. LOL.

Again, imagine. Imagine the religious leaders we have today. I just wont mention any names. I am not talking about the Catholic Church here but also protestants. The leaders of these churches are so damn rich. They have body guards and mansions and cars. And wonder where they get the money to buy these things? Hmm.. Of course from their followers. How about the life of their followers? Does the followers have good life? Not from what I see. Some of their followers still even live in a 'barong2x' while their religious leaders are relaxing in their mansions. 

5.) Last thought. To be honest, I think going to a community and serve is much better thing to do than going to church every Sunday. Or at least the Church would help the needy in our country instead of constructing big and beautiful churches. Imagine the money spent in expensive construction materials. That money could be spent in helping the needy by giving them food or teaching the needy livelihood. And also imagine the trees that are being cut down just to build a church. That tree could be used as paper for children who write in leaves/ground. 

For me, the beautification of the church is not that important. It is the deeds and the actions that are important. 

Thank you and until next time,

Jobo

Faith

According to Wikipedia faith "is a belief, professedly without proof (i.e. above an acceptable standard of evidence). It is the confident belief in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing." Basically, faith is believing without evidence. Now, is having faith bad?

I think it depends. It depends on what kind of faith one have. There is nothing wrong in having a reasonable faith. There is nothing wrong to believe that you will be dropped safely in Roxas if you take a Toril-Roxas jeep or a taxi. Me believing that North Korea exist even though I have not been there is still reasonable. I may not have been to North Korea but it is already universally known that North Korea exist or there are countries around North Korea that would tell us that NK exist. There are instances that believing in something without evidence is not that irrational. Like believing that my 'ka-text' is a human and not a dog or that I am really texting my friend and not some one else. These beliefs are not irrational because they are directly supported by evidences[scientific] and logic.

However having blind faith is a different thing. Believing that you can catch a bullet or that you are bullet proof is stupidity. Believing that you will enter the gate of heaven when you die in a suicide bombing will not only kill yourself but also kill other innocent people is also stupid and irrational. This is blind faith. Having a very strong belief in some thing with no evidence [or implicit faith/fideism] is irrational. That kind of faith is bad and that it could cause complications in one's life.

All I can say is that one should base its beliefs on scientific inquiry and reason. Not just on mere faith alone. If you have faith then make it sure that it is supported by scientific evidence and logic.

Rain

Rain, thunder!

Loud as a gatling gun

Always makes me wonder

Why this makes me feel easy

As the rain drops in the roof like a water fall

My activities become limited

But my imagination becomes limitless

Taking me to places only found in dreams

The loud and annoying sound forces me to concentrate

It washes negative thoughts like the rain does to dust

The cool wind calms my stressed body

Like a demon hosed down with holy water

Rain, thunder!

Hope this will last forever

Ironic

A traffic jam when youre already late

A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break

Its like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

Its meeting the girl of my dreams

And then she's already with somebody else

Isnt it ironic...Dont you think? A little too ironic. 

Well this is just some of the lines of the song Ironic by Alanis Morisette. Life indeed is [sometimes, or for some, most of the times] ironic. Yesterday, I think I felt what Alanis Morisette felt when she wrote the song above. So I thought about it last night. Why life is so ironic? 

I'm not really quite sure as to how life is ironic. I'm not quite sure if what I thought was sound or right but I think it is. I think that people dont expect things to happen or that the end results are contrary to their plans/expectations because they screw things up. I mean we all have free will and we control our lives. Right? Some people [like me] just made the wrong decision or chose the bad option that is why the end result is contrary to their[my] plans. Simple as that I think. A man can use another route wherein there is much less traffic yet that man chose a route wherein the traffic was heavy. Or I could've ask her earlier than anybody else but I chose not to because I chickened out. 

I mean we control our lives and we must also be responsible for it. 

Think!

“If we must die, let us die sober, and not drunk with lies.” -Bertrand Russell

I agree with this. I really dont like people who just accept things as they are without knowing what is 'really' the truth and without asking questions. These people just swallow what is given unto them without any recourse to knowledge and reason. How can they be satisfied with that? Why can't they use their minds and think? These people would rather die than ask themselves "why??".  

Ode to Joy

My world stops everytime I see you

As if you are the only being that exist

Roses would bloom as you enter the room

You are like the sunshine that gives life 

to these roses

Joy is what I get when I think of you

Of all the beautiful things that I could possibly think of

(aromas, sunset, flowers)

You are the most beautiful of them all

Random Stories [about me lately]

When I woke up and opened the computer this morning, I really don't have anything in mind to write. I cant really think of any thing not-so-serious to write. What I have in my mind right now are quite serious and controversial stuffs. So while I was surfing the net for some interesting things to write I got this idea of writing random things and/or stories about me. To break the ice, let me present to you some random stories that happened to me lately. 

1.) Last October I applied to ABC Company [not the real name. i changed the name] and after like 2 months they informed me that they will conduct an interview. I prepared and read articles about interviews and the possible questions to ask during interviews. I felt confident and prepared. But when the interview started I got nervous and I freaked out because the HR guy really threw unexpected questions to me. I really dint expect what he asked although I know that I should know those answers. I just wanted the interview to end but the HR guy just seemed to continue pressing me a lot. LOL. But then it just ended. I think they wont bother to call me again unless the other applicants did worse than me. LOL. Well at least I learned a lot from that experience. 

2.) Last Sunday I talked to a friend[very gorgeous friend to be exact]  on my cellphone. I called her because I have nothing to do that night and I just simply want to talk to her and that I have enough load. While talking, I forgot that I was just using my CP and not the landline. We talked as if my CP have unlimited load. Although I was aware that I had 320+ of load but I was not aware that it would somehow be gone/consumed in just minutes. Our conversation ended at the middle of a very good topic. Damn. I was so "bitin" and I did not even told her the a very important thing that I want to tell her that time. And aside from that feeling of "bitin-ness", my 320+ load was gone just like a bubble that pops. LOL. But I think that its still worth it. 

[nah, again me being irrational]

3.) My mom gives me 300/500 CP load almost every month. So she expects me to have load. Last Monday she told me to text Papa and tell him that the phone is ready for him to call us. I told her "Ma, wala na baya koy load" ["Ma, I don't have enough load"]. She replied "Bag-o ra gani tika gi-tagaan ug 500 load last month!" ["But I just gave you 500 load last month!"]. [See story #2 why i dont have load] I just stared at her and smiled a little. And then she smiled back and told me that I was just kidding. LOL. I am a joker in our house and I like to joke around to my sis and mom. That time my mom thought that I was just joking around. She did not know that I was really serious that I don't have enough load. And until now she still thinks that I have load. I hope she wont tell me to call her or Papa. LOL. 

4.) I have season 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of That 70's Show. Some of it though were borrowed by my friends. I just finished season 6 of That 70's Show [again] and I'll start season 7 soon [again]. I watched this whole series [all of them] for 3 or 4 times now. Still this show makes me laugh. 

5.) Last Tuesday after I ate dinner I went out and walked around outside our house with my mp3 player. I do this almost every after dinner of almost every night. While walking outside and feeling the cool wind with my mp3 player, I [again] imagined that I was in a music video. LOL. I mean the music was just great and I just cant stop myself but imagine that I was the one who sung that song. LOL. Music really takes me high. It's like a drug. While I was doing this, I did not notice that my cute-neighbor-nurse pass by at our house. She saw me singing this unknown song, waving my hands[like a rapper in a music video], with my face looking stupid. When I noticed that she was looking at me she just smiled[or maybe laughed] and looked away. Duh. Another classic embarassing moment.  

So these are just some few stories about me. I'll post stories like this again next time if I have nothing to write. Until next time. 

25 Random Things About Me

I got this idea from Facebook. Since I am bored and nothing in mind to write yet so here's my 25 random things about me :D 

1. i have no job

2. i love to sleeeeeeeepp

3. i like to talk about religion,faith, philosophy, and science

4. i really like some one right now

5. i am right now planning something for that some one above for valentines day

6. in that plan above, i have plan A and plan B but i have no sub plans for plan A [yet]

7. i hate people who knock at our doors to spread some The Word

8. i am watching again my That 70's Show [seasons 3,4,5,6 & 7] series for the nth time this time

9. i want angel locsin as my date this valentine if my plans to that 'some one' will not happen ["libre lang mangarap" as the song goes. lol]

10. i box 3 times a week

11. i stopped playing chess for a while

12. i am jumping from one goal to another [boring]

13. one of my favorite movies is Dead Poets Society

14. i am lazy but i like to work hard

15. i have a very cynical attitude

16. every time some one taps my back, i would just think that 'ah, that's just corporate politics'.

17. i have lots of ideas in my mind

18. i want and love to write but i suck in writing

19. i really need a job coz i need money so that i could make a move

20. i want a high, or at least, good paying job with not so difficult tasks

21. i write poems but i dont want people to read it

22. i love to see people who cant defend their faith

23. i want to be Michael Scofield

24. i like to talk to intellectual people

25.i am torpe

Purpose

Why are we here? What is our purpose here? These are some of the most basic questions we ask regarding purpose. 

According to Rick Warren [a theologian] in his book the Purpose  Driven Life, we should not look within ourselves, but rather the starting place  must be with God and his eternal purposes for each life. Real meaning and significance comes from understanding and fulfilling God’s purposes for putting us on earth. Now, Rick Warren clearly explains God's purposes for each of us and these are: a.)first purpose is to offer real worship b.) second purpose is to enjoy real fellowship c.)  third purpose is to learn real discipleship d.) fourth purpose is to practice real ministry e.) fifth purpose is to live out real evangelism. 

So if according to Rick Warren man's purpose is to please God, then what is God's purpose? Now, when we talk about purpose, we always ask "What is our purpose in life?" and "Why are we here?". It is always about ourselves. But what about God's purpose? What is God's purpose? Why do he exist? I'd like to quote something from a forum and this was posted by a Johnny®..

"If God exists for His own pleasure, then this is selfish. It makes it look as if God created us merely to have some living toys to play with. Isn’t there some principle that God looks up to? Something to admire, adore, and worship? Is God consigned for eternity to sit there and amuse Himself with the worship of others? Or to worship Himself? What’s the point?" 

Pretty strong questions there and I think no one knows the answer for that. Maybe theists/atheists/agnostics have their own answer to that. [I think believers would just reply something like "No one can understand God" or "No one must question God!". lol ] 

Now to continue.. 

I really dont like the idea of Rick Warren about the purpose of man's life. This kinda sounds like "essence precedes existence" to me. Life should not be like that [essence precedes existence] because if we, humans, would have an essence before we exist then we are just the same with other things like a glass or a chair. A glass or a chair already have a purpose/essence even when they are not yet created. This purpose/essence exist in the mind of the creator of the glass/chair. If that's the case then we are just like them. Instead life should be "existence precedes essence". Man must exist first then man would find his/her own essence/purpose in life. Man must define himself. Meaning man is defined only insofar as he acts and must be responsible for his actions. I believe that there is no such predetermined essence to be found in man. Essence[or purpose] must be defined by man through how he/she creates/lives his/her life. 

Now that is how life should be! 

Having absolute freedom and having responsibilty. 

Power of Prayer

Yesterday I saw an advertisement on the TV about a new show or a new telenovela of some sort. On that show/telenovela there is this kid who is very unfortunate and having a very bad life. The ad showed the kid praying and asking for some help from God. The kid was crying and was really praying for God for some assistance or guidance. I wonder if there was really someone who is listening to the kid's prayer. I wonder if the life of that kid would get any better just by praying. Hmmm...

I read that every Sunday in Britain, entire congregations prayed publicly for the royal family. Shouldn't they, therefore, be unusually fit, compared with the rest of us, who are prayed for only by our nearest and dearest?* Also I heard and read about the Great Prayer Experiment [GPE] that was held in Britain funded by the Templeton Foundation [this foundation spent $2.4 million on that experiment]. The objective of the experiment was to know/test whether praying for patients would help them recover. Unfortunately, the results of GPE tells us that praying had no effect on complication-free recovery [from coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in the case of the experiment]. But according to the Bible, specifically Matthew 7:7, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:24, John 14:12-14, Matthew 18:19 and James 5:15-16, that God would bless those who would seek and believe in him, then how come my prayers[to heal all cancer patients, to improve our nation, to heal autistics, world peace, and many more] when I was a kid were not answered by God? Howcome the royal family are not that fit considering that they are being prayed for every Sunday by their people? The GPE results?  

 

For some time in my life, I really tried to find answers to questions about praying [and ofcourse about God]. I read, study, and understand[I hope] the Bible. I also listened attentively to Sunday school teachers[when i still attend SS classes] and on the sermons of our pastor. I also listened attentively on the lecures of my Philosophy and Theology teachers when I was still in college and read books and articles about religion and faith. I think and think and think and read. But the answers that I found  and my thinking mind tells me that praying cant do any good. I really tried to pray but it dint do good. The Church[or the theist side] dint really satisfied my thinking mind. I really do think and believe that prayers cant do anything to any situation or to the situation of the kid in my intro or to the health of the royal family or the condition of the sick patients. If you disagree on me on this then you can try for yourself a praying experiment. Pray that God [which is omnipotent and loving] would heal all cancer patients. If there is no effect then my statement stands.  :D  The more the Church or any authority would tell me to just pray and have faith and wait for the blessings to come, the more I dont. The more that I try to believe in praying, the more I think it is irrational. I believe that what is needed is action.

I believe that the only person or being that could get the things that you want in life is just you. If you want love, you find love. If you want success you work for it. If you want knowledge you think for it. Just waiting for things to come and be passive will not really give you what you want. You must take action and be proactive. :D Again, the only person or being that could help you in life is just you. Face all life's problems head on. Dont just depend on some sort of powerless and passive system or thinking or something like that. 

*Got this info from Richard Dawkin's book

Being in love

My heart is like a grave yard where I bury my pains each time she dont reply?!  What the heck, I dont really want to feel like this because it feels kinda corny [but true]. 

What the hell. I think Cupid shot me with his arrow again. I really dont like to be in love because it really makes my reasoning and judgment unclear. I dont want to be irrational and people become irrational when in love. Some people cant eat or sleep. Some people would end up having unwanted baby. Some would loose their concentration in work/studies. In my case, there are times that I have trouble getting into sleep because the object of my desire always crawls in my mind. I may feel a little bit serious about her now but I think that this would be something that I would laugh about in the future.  

Another thing I dont like about being in love is that it involves taking risks. As of now I dont really appreciate taking risks. Why take risks if you can get win-win? Rejection really sucks. But i agree that it is worth taking the risk. It's just I just can forsee the pain one[or I] would feel when rejected or busted. No one would like to feel that one. 

But despite the negative effects of being inlove, [and based on my experience and based on movies about love], I believe that it is still better to love and fall down than to have never loved at all. I guess its just a matter of me having courage and not to chicken out to tell what i feel. 

[credit to the original author/poet of the first line. sorry for editing it and sorry for forgetting your name :D]