Kairos

Genesis 2:24 says—“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh ”. I am sure that you’re very familiar with the above passage. After all, this is one of the most widely used versesfor weddings, isn’t it? Today I just want to share with you how the Lord used circumstances in my life for me to understand more what being “one-flesh” is all about. Since I got married on 2002, I’d never been apart from my husband - until last year (2006) when medical emergencies with my parents necessitated my travel to the Philippines several times… alone! I first thought that it would not be such a big deal. But boy was I wrong. Leaving my husband for the first time was much more difficult than I thought it would be…. I was crying from Miami all the way to HongKong! It was embarrassing, but there was nothing I could do to hold back the tears. Sounds corny, but my heart just ached for him! Being without my husband really felt that a part ...

I feel like I am Peter in the bible... not the one who is walking on water, but the one who is sinking in the water. A tropical depression is once again brewing in the horizon of my life and I can only hope and pray that this will not become a full-fledged hurricane. (Do you think I've lived in South Florida long enough? LOL) Seriously though, looks like the stormy weather in my life is far from over. My father has yet again another health issue that we need to deal with ASAP. If you recall in my previous blogs, I have mentioned that blood clotted on his heels and ankles which caused those part of his feet to be swollen. This has started shortly before my mother passed away. My father has seen his doctor once since then, who just gave him antibiotics to take. Well, the swelling has not subsided at all and instead has gotten worse, causing the skin to break out. To make a long story short - I took my father to the Orthopedic surgeon today who then told us that my father needs an op...

Even before the outrage over the Desperate Housewives' racial slur on Philippine medical schools could even subside, another American TV show made a very objectionable comment about the Philippines. In my opinion, this is even worse than what was said in Desperate Housewives in that, the disrespect was towards one of the Philippines' former lady Presidents. As you can see in the video clip above from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a segment which was supposed to answer the question, "Is America ready for a woman President?" was featured. In it is our former President Corazon (Cory) Aquino's photo (along with 3 other women leaders from other countries) was shown with a word "SLUT" written across it, and the voice over saying "Corazon Aquino faced down dictators".... What is wrong with American TV shows? And most especially, why is the Philippines suddenly becoming the topic of these very lowly and unpalatable jokes? True, Jon Stewart's sh...

Yes, I am referring to ABC's popular TV show, Desperate Housewives. This show has recently made headlines here in my country and has elicited a lot of angry reactions. Apparently on its premier episode on 9/30/07, a racial slur was said against the Filipino medical doctors. In the scene, Susan (Teri Hatcher) was told by her doctor that she might be hitting the menopausal stage, to which she replied " wait, before we proceed, let me take a look at those diplomas. I just want to make sure that it doesn't come from med schools like, the Philippines!" Wow, what a totally inconsiderate, ignorant, hateful, racially discriminating remark! And with the media coverage that Isaiah Washington got when he said something about gays, Michael Richards against the African-Americans, and Rosie O'Donnell saying something stupid about the Asian-Americans (Chinese, to be specific), I am surprised that this type of derogatory remark has made it through the screenwriters, producers, ac...

The dreaded time came so very fast-- my Mother's funeral. September 30, 2007 was the hardest day of my life. I sobbed as men carried my Mother's coffin out of the house. This would be the last time that she would enter or exit the house, ever. The funeral march began at 1:30PM. Joseph and I, along with my family and friends marched behind the hearse carrying my mother's coffin on the way to the (Catholic) church. We were walking in the middle of the roadway and proceeded at a snail's pace. Along the way, people passing us tossed peso coins (by the hearse) from their vehicles. This is a Filipino practice that has folkloric origins to it. People here believe that it is bad luck to pass by a funeral march while driving, and that tossing coins would break the curse and prevent the vehicle from having any accidents on the road. At the church, we found out that we were the 3rd in line. There was another funeral mass going on inside, and another one waiting before us. Somehow,...