If I Die Today...

... I'm sure I'm not ready; 99% not ready.

I still have to see the world.
I still have to do everything in my Bucket List.
I still have to do something significant to change the world.
I still have to run for president (needs to be immortal to do this).

This is just a thought that struck me today; a thought I entertained as I passed by my usual route to office, finding myself in the middle of armed bank security personnel along Paseo de Roxas. Armored cars were ready for an apparent transfer of humongous sum of money (just assuming considering it's the bank's headquarters). What if the same group that made the heist in Greenbelt 5 suddenly appears? There will be gunfires. People will scramble for their lives. And I'll be there, standing numbly with a bullet on my chest. My life will flash before my eyes.

And then silence.

That same silence will overcome me as I face Heaven's gate; I'll be unable to say anything, anything good. Was I good? It is easy to say that I'm good but then it is just me. If I have the chance to look down and see my own wake, what would the people there have to say? Would they be crying? Would they feel that it has been a loss? Would they say: "He was good."?

I reckon all the good words we can say to a person can only be uttered earnestly on eulogies. I mean, words that never crossed anybody's mind when that person is living, or words we held back. Maybe because words are cheap and that action speaks louder than words. Words are cheap in this temporal world because we made it that way. We grew up with words to our whimsical disposal. When we lose someone dear to us, the only thing we can give are words but then, these are real words -- the sum of all the love for that person who'll not be here to hear those words.

If I die today (yes, even if I'm not ready -- aren't we all?) and someone whispers "he was good" even in the faintest of heartbeat yet heartfelt, it shall be enough.

Action maybe louder but words are eternal.

GMT +8 Manila, Philippines

Death Has Lost Its Victory

It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead.

Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die,
but they will be raised to live forever.
Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory.
They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.
They are buried as natural human bodies,
but they will be raised as spiritual bodies.
For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”
But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.
What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth,
while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
Earthly people are like the earthly man,
and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.
Just as we are now like the earthly man,
we will someday be like the heavenly man.

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters,
is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.
These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret.

We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye,
when the last trumpet is blown.
For when the trumpet sounds,
those who have died will be raised to live forever.
And we who are living will also be transformed.
For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die;
our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed
into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
But thank God!
He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.


1 Corinthians 15:42-57

GMT +8 Manila, Philippines

My Day's Wisdom # 1

"Don't get mesmerized by magic;
be inspired by a miracle."

I woke up this morning with this wisdom in mind. I don't know why.
There were no prior events that may have lead to this.
There was no dream prior to my waking.
It's just one of those things that just strike you
when one is crossing that fuzzy area
separating reality from reverie;
so as miracle from magic minus the fuzziness. :)

GMT +8 Manila, Philippines