A Tribute To A Dear Mother

'The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother'
                                                                    ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

I love my nanay. She is one woman I adored a lot! She has all my respect and admiration. She is a no ordinary person. She is my mother!

I am so glad and privileged  having our great mother still with us in this mortal journey. Though kinda frail as the years keep taking some serious toll on her health, I could sense how proud she is watching  the family, she and my late father started, branching out. I am sure, with a sharp memory at her age, she could still keep track of her greatgrandchildren! She is a picture of a 'self-accomplished' woman, emulated by many as a 'mother like no other'. 

My nanay, though may be considered as 'uneducated' in today's standard,  is not an unintelligent person. She possesses a sharp vision (literally, after the removal her cataracts) which she shared with my father. That vision was for the future of her children, who were born into this earth with nothing but their parental love. To us her children, she was the beacon which carries the light as we  navigated through our waters in conquering ignorance and uncertainty. And today, she stands as our guiding post, a spring of inspiration as we  continue to walk though life with our respective families.

My nanay's bio may well be worth  making it through the story board of a tear-jerking movie. Born and raised by a single mother, she was orphaned at an early age. She was left under the care of an uncle until about her early teens and was later on moved to live with another uncle until she was 16. Her growing up years was characteristically arduous, and it did not get any better living during theWorld War II. These unwelcome predicaments though turned her into a strong woman as she developed tenacity and resilience - strengths which made her through life's difficulties and adversities.

She got married at age 16, after a whirlwind romance which ended up in an altar date in a war time. Just as she gained independence from her uncle's ward, her life transitioned into a more complicated one when they started a family. Babies came.. one, another one, then another one....after another one, ten total! In my present situation, I could not imagine raising ten kids, nurturing them to become responsible individuals, and  help securing for their future. They did. I came a little later in the family pipeline, six siblings before me. Life was not easy for me. Must be extremely difficult for my parents!

The abyssmal situation we're in could not bring down our family any further. When  one hits the rock bottom, there's no other way but up!   Nanay went through a kind of life she did not want us to experience. This was her vision,  one which she shared and worked out along with our father. Not an easy one! Hardships, sacrifices, sweat, tears and ,yes,  tons of persistence and resilience- these spiced up the road our family trekked. To many, it is a road less traveled. If anyone in our family lacked the strength and the tenacity to endure, one could've broken loose and be bound to continual poverty.  And we could have not done it all without the generosity of so many people who believed in my parents' vision and did see our strong determination to succeed.

Truth to reckon, our nanay's earthly journey is like a late afternoon sun. Sooner or later, sunset will come. I find it so rewarding having her with us until this time. I know she's rightfully seated on the pinnacle of her life. The bittersweet memories of the arduously tortuous good-old-days in her ascent to the summit are awe-inspiring. We draw so much inspiration from them, and we are always proud to share them with anybody.

To my dear nanay, this one is for you as you welcome and celebrate another year of your life! Yours is a life well-lived! Happy Birthday!!

Signs Of The Time

Just very lately, birds falling from the skies in Beebe, Arkansas just about after new year's day was first reported. Then similar cases of astonishing birds dying and falling were reported in Louisiana, spreading to Kentucy, Texas and even about halfway across the globe, in Sweden  and Italy, and reportedly  somewhere over in Australia. This mysterious incidence of birds kill, dubbed as 'aflockalypse', puzzled biologists and ornithologists. At about the same time, massive tilapia fish kill  (about 150 tons) was reported in Vietnam and about 40,000 crabs were washed up in the shorelines of England!

Incidents of massive death (i.e fish kills, bird falling) did occur in the past. Scientists thought that 'trauma caused by fireworks' during the new years eve revelry or damage due to 'high-altitude hail', among others, may be the culprit. The search for the explanation for these incidence, however, is far from over. However, some people out there, among them the 'self-proclaimed prophets' are quick to say that these mysterious events are few indicators of the second coming of the Lord. One 'prophet' boldly said that the death of the birds is caused by the current repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy in the military which displeased the Lord.

In Australia, a massive flooding in areas as big as the state of Texas, has caused deaths and extensive damage to the area. Power supplies were out and communication system knocked out in some areas. Strong water currents brought down bridges, washing away sidewalks and kept people isolated. Severe flooding was also reported in  Bangladesh. Here at home, monstrous snowstorms came one after the other, causing power outages in area where snow accumulated to massive amounts that knocked down power lines and caused loss of some lives.

It would be a small wonder that these events could be attributed as one of the signs of the time.

Several reasons could be cited to possibly cause deaths of birds - bad weather, high tension line collisions, electrocutions, diseases caused by parasite infestation or bacterial infection to name a few. Indeed, this could be a sign of the time. That natural selection is going on, as it has been since life begun.

Cataclysmic events are part of the daily affairs of the earth. Vocanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes and, yes, floodings. The increasing global climate is thought to be the major trigger of the flooding And scientists warn that this could just be a prelude to the future. Natural calamities are one  set of agents that can, likewise, lead to natural selection.

Viewed from either the mystical or the natural vantage points, these events can be considerably argued as signs of the times. To me, they represent part of the continuing process of natural selection, which is the major driving force of evolution!

As the Years Keep Coming

I came into this earth filled with nothing. Completely unclothed, unlearned, helpless! Also, completely dependent on other people.  All through the past 50 years of my life, I learned to live as the years kept coming. I learned that life is not fair. Life is, at times, a wonderful and beautiful bliss. Other times, it is filled with brazen and ruthless indignations. 'Life is what we make it', a friend told me when, at one time, I was wallowing in self pity. True, indeed! But not all the time. Historically, life endured catastrophes of seismic proportions before humans walked on the face of this planet. And the string of cataclysmic events will continue the daunting task of natural selection, either they are nature's unwelcome wrath or as consequence of human's rampant and selfish indiscretions.

So while there was no instruction manual that came with my birth, I learned to live my life, thanks to the evolution of parental instinct - the care of the young. I know my parents would hate me and label me  ingrate for equating the attention and the love they showered upon me to instinct. For it is all instinct, only an exaggerated type!

And then cultures and traditions evolved, becoming more complex with  human evolution. Their origins were quite ambiguous. Many of them based on early human imaginings and perceptions about what, later on, seemed to be ordinary events in nature. Some of them are evolutionary legacy bequeathed by those who came before us. Deities, superstitions, myths all popular in the not-so-distant past have continued to contaminate some of the cultures and traditions that were handed down to our present generation. There is an apparent admixture of  truths, half-truths and myths in the social environment I grew up. I must admit, with a brain like an empty memory computer, my brain took all of what'd been fed on me  as truths - sinker, hook and line. No questions asked. By then, my cerebral cortex was not completely ready to sort out those that make sense from those that don't! And these endlessly continued to inundate my innocent brain as the years kept coming.

Belief systems are part of the traditions humans continue to hold. There is a parade of gods listed in the Roman and Greek mythology books. Fancy celebrations were held and lavish offerings were offered to honor their sacredness. And there is the God of the bible, Allah of the Qu'ran, or some Higher Beings in other religions. Growing up, I started to grasp faith, to a point that I grappled to it so tightly,  and into believing that God is the great provider of everything! There was a time I was deeply indoctrinated that I felt the inner peace and harmony within myself. Ahh the god gene at work! Heaven on earth! But that was ephemeral. My brain, later, was engaged in some higher order functions and questions started queuing up. Time has come to pass the ' faith does not give answers but it just stops me from asking questions' mode.  And I can no longer take the 'God works in mysterious ways' end of it.

Logic and critical thinking, two attributes that positioned man on top of the animal kingdom. Two mental faculties that emancipated man from the empowering clout of ignorance. I hate to say this but I am inclined to believe that 'Ignorance of nature gave birth to gods. The knowledge of nature is calculated to destroy them'. For a long time, the Catholic Church advocated the earth-centered universe, that the earth is only about 10,000 years old, that the species is immutable. Things have changed. Science has provided and will continue to provide logical expanations to events in nature,  events used  to be considered mysterious in the past. Mysterious events may continue to appear or be reported but that does not mean they really are mysterious. For nature is light years away ahead of the human intellect. And so, the explanations will come in due time. Long before scientists were able to combine genes from different species, nature was already engaged in genetic engineering! With the loads of new information endlessly surfacing, I thought I need to re-examine my faith and the belief system I am in. And this I will do as the years  keep coming.

Goodbye 2010 and Welcome 2011!

Two thousand ten (2010) has just faded to history. Here I am, trying to bring back to mind the highlights of the year gone by and how it influenced, in anyway, my life, socially, spiritually,  and professionally. It is kinda hard to remember the events as they unfolded, especially if each day just seemed to be not unlike any other passing day.

Thanks to social networking apps like facebook, I got the chance to reconnect with a lot of people- relatives, former students, former classmates and friends from the world over. It feels great to get some updates from them, after years of temporal separation. Nothing was even sweeter than the opportunity to visit my younger sister and her family in Toronto, Canada, after eleven long years. In Toronto, I met new relatives who were warm and gracious. I also got the chance to visit few old friends. I accompanied my wife to her faculty development meeting in San Diego, CA.  While in there, I got the chance to visit fellow Plaridelians around the area, met their extended families, and experienced their warm hospitality. More hometown (Plaridelian) friends we were connected to when my family spent the Christmas holidays in Houston. Our visit with them was very pleasant and memorable as we made more friends in the parties we went to. In addition, we got the chance to swing by a family in Houston we knew so well back to my post-doc days in Kansas State University. Of course, our facebook friends list gets longer. Late this year, when I was about to turn 50, I developed strong interest in blogging. Blogging has become an outlet for me to express opinions, all of my own. I looked forward to having a blog published every week.

My spiritual life took a topsy-turvy turn as the year was unfolding. As it seems now, my belief system is sitting on a shaky ground. Recently, I've been reading the atheist's views as I have been in continuous search of the rationality of faith and reason. I know this sounds eccentric and weird. My take is... as I get older, I become more inclined in the mechanistic rather than vitalistic point of view of things. All through the years, I've fed myself enough with information related to spirituality. Now is the time to explore the other side. Many things just don't make sense. And these are just  left to 'the god of the gap' to be a piece and at peace with sense and sensibility. Being informed requires a second look at things (practices, beliefs, etc) that have been held for a long time. The powerful human intellect has unearthed volumes of novel  information which never existed when traditional belief systems flourished back to the days. It gives new meaning to the saying 'examine your conscience'.

On the professional note, 2010 was a highly productive year for me as a teacher. Two semesters and two summer sessions of teaching gave me the opportunity to reach out and mentor to about 300 sudents. Teaching as a job is a lifetime vocation. It requires being abreast knowing the tricks of dealing effectively with the millennials. As such, I was privileged to attend a professional development on teaching excellence and leadership. I find it quite delightful and gratifying  as a teacher, to be able to inspire a few students among so many who just want to get  high grades without exerting some efforts on their part. And I get this clue when these few students wish to take more of my classes and from the rumors that spread around the  campus student world. Of course, I take so much pride hearing from my students from the not-so-distant past,  some now famed medical doctors, college professors, high school teachers, or somebody respected in their chosen professions - all telling me I was a bit part, no matter how small, of who they are now. From them I draw the inspiration which energizes my proclivity to continue to teach and inspire few students at a time.

Overall, 2010 was a wonderful year! 

I am person of the present. I take lessons from yesterday to make my today a little better. I could care less about the details for  tomorrow. For no one knows what the future holds. 

For 2011, I will just embrace what each day brings...

Happy New Year everyone!

   

Faith and Reason

Hot item in the news of late is the repeal of the 17-year old 'Dont Ask Dont Tell (DADT)' military policy. After few attempts to pass the legislature, it finally made  through both the US Congress and US Senate. It's just a matter of time that the law will be finally penned by the US President. 

Going over the readers' reaction to the news projects the impression that bigotry still exists in the modern US society. I once thought the US is one of the world's most tolerant countries, where everyone regardless of race, creed, religion and sexual orientation are treated equally. A country which sticks to the belief that all men are created equal. I heard about equal opportunity to employment all, and that nobody would be disqualified based on race, creed, religion and sexuality. The American Disability Act ensures that nobody, even with those crippling disability, should be discriminated.

The DADT is one policy that runs to the contrary. And the repeal of such policy depicts so clearly the existence of  polarity which divides among us. This is a welcome development to many  in the military who hide their actual sexual identity in the closet as they continue to relentlessly render service to the nation. Being able to express themselves openly now, if not soon, while doing the same heroic act of being in war's  front line does not, without any doubt, matter  to them. Infact, being under their skin will allow them to carry out their duties more effectively as they never harbor any fear of suspicion and persecution.

What's more mindboggling to me,  are the raucous reactions of the self-righteous holier-than-thou folks who seem to harbor a lot of personal insecurities and  issues about their own sexuality. They are so biased against against gays and lesbians, and are apt and quick to render their judgment, all in the name of ethics, morality, and yes, of god! These are people who think they are all morally-upright, immaculate, infallible and  who think themselves as god. For they speak of god to advance their vindictive and self-righteous evil invectives.

Bigots are not necessary the uneducated, unintelligent. There are many highly placed and 'supposedly' highly respected individuals.  They use ( or more appropriately abuse) their god to unjustly condemn peoples' acts and convictions. A well known religious figure thought the tsunami in Thailand as god's wrath for breakdown of morality in the area. And the earthquake in Haiti was a consequential curse of the pact between 'Haitians and the devil.

Two weeks ago,  some Americans mourned the loss of Elizabeth Edwards. She was known to be an outspoken figure, supporting the legalization of same-sex marriages (not only unions) and health care that covers abortion in America. During her wake,  an anti-gay church group assembled together with hand-held placards and boards containing hateful messages. 

Religion or spirituality brings the good among so many. Too much of it is a poison. Extremists do not care about killing many people , for doing so pleases their god and will have them eternally rewarded. There are religious snobs among us, who put themselves wrongly in the shoes of their god. They act swiftly to judge and condemn others while glorifying in their wishful thinking that they render their god a great favor!

Nobody has the wisdom and genius to fully comprehend what and how god (whoever he is ; Buddha, Allah, Yahweh) thinks and wants.  So many words were put into god's mouth. If god would have his way, he would sue these people for libel!!! The sad thing is that, these people claim to be his!

Shifting Gears

Christmas is upon us! Just like in the past Christmases, people are busy preparing for this great holiday. Halls and malls are decked ostentatiously. Christmas carols, old and new, fill the air. Glittering lights trim houses and  trees.  Busy shoppers  trooping the malls, checking their lists not once but twice. Parties..Exchanging gifts, cheers and  goodwill.

Christmastime is the  time spent by Christians to commemorate the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ! Accordingly, the message of the baby boy's birth in a manger is humility and  simplicity. But apparently, two thousand years after the 'supposed' first Christmas, the real essence of celebration is warped around commercialism and materialism, and the main celebrator is obscured by the white-bearded red-suited overweight sleigh riding fellow. Ask the kids whom they associate Christmas with. Santa is the sure  answer!

Okay.okay..   ' Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year'... says the lyric of a song. 


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I don't want to sound like a 'Grinch' who stole Christmas. For I am not one. But  I'd just like to share some interesting facts about Christmas.


 1. According to written accounts, the period known to be Christmas , has been celebrated long before the birth of Jesus Christ! December 25 was the celebration of the Italic god Saturn and the rebirth of the sun god, a pagan celebration! All the symbols associated with Christmas - evergeen tree, wreath, mistletoe, holly have roots traced to mythologies. Christmas is a pagan celebration adopted by Christians!
2. According to the Scriptures, Jesus Christ was born in late summer or early fall, sometime in September; definitely not in December.

3. During Christmas, parents give the impression to their young kids that Santa Claus exists. This runs counter to the value that parents should tell the truth. Unfortunately, even a high end department store in their store ad,  encourages people to BELEIVE in Santa.

4. Reindeers don't and can't fly!


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Some events in Christmas are at odds with science.

1. The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear a child.  Angels are supernatural beings taking human forms but with wings in addition to the arms (as depicted to us). The existence of angels, along with the centaurs or spinx,  entails a major  revision of human anatomy textbooks.


2. The birth of a child by a virgin. Science calls it parthenogenesis, when a egg develops into an embryo without fertilization. It occurs in few reptiles, amphibians and some lower forms of animals. But it has never been reported to occur in humans naturally.


3. Granted that parthenogenesis occurs in humans, the baby that will be born is a girl as genetically,  the egg contains the  female chromosome. 


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This may sound a lttle eccentric. But are we not interested about the truth? For we know that 'the truth will set us free'. Truth from which vantage point of view -  biblical or scientific? We know science and religion dont mix, they are always at odds which each other. Few scientists are trying to harmonize and connect these two poles together, but an unthinkably unfathomable divide does still exist. Charles Darwin, after piecing together the snippets of data he collected from a five-year voyage of the HMS Beagle, saw an intellectual  storm brewing. He was born religious from a religious family and was married to woman with a strong conviction and unquestionable faith. The theory he formulated, he knew, was going against a strong current of his, his families' and his community's belief system, among others, the immutability of the species.  Darwin was as confused as everybody else,  being raised a Christian and exposed to the teachings in his youth and drawing a conclusion from the natural world, that is far on the contrary to the belief systems he knew and practiced. The inconsistency, he noted, unfolded right before his eyes,  on the materials he collected from mother nature. 

Apparently, the truth people are seeking, is dependent on either personal conviction or logical philosophy. Sound data, facts and figures will always lead to the truth, one which governs the natural world.

Is their supernatural truth? or spiritual truth?  The world used to be filled with myths and superstition. But little by little, the rational human intelligence has debunked and demystified a lot of them, and made  sense of what's going on. Such allows us to winnow and narrow down which 'truths' are worth believing. The scientific method, as it stands now, is the best way of knowing the  unknown. It may not be the only way! Its endless capacity, ironically, is limited only to the natural world. And so science can neither confirm nor deny that supernatural or spiritual truth exists. 

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And so it's Christmas once again! The miracle of Christmas for so long I held so close in my heart! This was 'truth' to me for a long time. That Jesus Christ was the reason for the season!

But time changes..The meaning of miracle has become so loose,  so cheap, and it loses its real meaning. It has become associated with anything looked at beyond mediocrity. The miracle of the Hudson River. The Chilean Miners Rescue. And a lot more! These 'miracles' were  acted out of human ingenuity. Some extraordinary feats made possible because of modern day technology. 

Well, I love Christmas! It still is the most wonderful time of the year! It's just that it has a different meaning to me now.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Our Genes, Our Destiny!

Greg was on top of his world. He had the looks which compares fairly well with the leading men in the silver screen or in the boob tube. His agility, strength and prowess were envied by many tennis enthusiasts in their high school, who tried to beat him in court over and over again but failed. Inside the classroom, he always stood out in solving challenging problems in Calculus, and he impressed his speech class by the eloquence and wits he put into the delivery of his talks. He was the ‘Casanova’, the  apple of every lady’s eyes in campus. He seemed to have all the best qualities for a ‘perfect’ man. He graduated  top of his class. And yet despite of these, he still set his feet on the ground.

Twenty five years after, Greg’s high school classmates were gathered together in a  high school reunion as the silver jubilarians.  Excitement filled the atmosphere as the  jubilarians put forth  their best. A showcase of how the quarter-of-a century changed the lives of  the alumni was flamboyant.  Dramatic and full of surprises, this best describes how people got into the huge event. Many got in tagging their families along. Some came singly. As the crowd was getting thicker, the huge arena was filled with so much snafus, guffaws and perfunctory musings. This is on top of the voice over announcements aired now and then, and the music played non-stop. A lot of catching up, family introductions, reminiscing the nostalgic good-old-high school days, and yes, reliving the gossips.

The program was about to start and everyone was craning their neck scanning for Greg amidst the crowd. He was nowhere. Then a wheelchair-bound man wheeled in. He exhibited uncontrollable jerky movements. His personality was changed.  Everyone who knew him was shocked and in total disbelief!! Greg with a late-onset genetic disease called Huntington’s chorea!

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There's a gene for everything. Pretty face, smooth skin, cute dimple? there are genes for that! Tall, dark and handsome? there are genes for that! Red hair? there's a gene for that! Good at Calculus? there's a math gene. Funny? cranky? feisty? there are genes for that. A god gene for the spiritual!  Breast cancer? diabetes? there are genes for that. And there are countless  other genes that may prematurely curtail our mortal journey 

Our genes are the ultimate puppetters of our lives. We may be blessed  by the good genes or cursed by the bad. Our genes make us who we are as a biological entity! They make us special and one-of-a-kind! Our genes is nature's endowment, randomly and endlessly mixed in a haphazard game of chance. We have no control over our genes. We can not choose our genes. We are what we got!  And so, we live (and die) under our genes' bliss or mercy. 

Our genes do not behave like robots. Though some of them selfish, they don't work with  extreme exclusivity. Our genes pick up clues from the environment; from what we eat, we drink, we breath or from what we were exposed to while we buried ourselves inside our mother's womb, . Together, they make the person we are! The conditioning and programming of our genes  started shortly after our beginnings, after mom and dad were having the times of their love. 

We  have a  constant love-and-hate relationship with our genes. Just as we love some traits which make us a so proud about ourselves, we  feel  inept with some. Our genes foretell our future, but we know not what's in store for us. At some points in our life, some of our genes may bring us to the pedestal. But somewhere down the road,  other genes may pull us down to the dark abyss. 

Our lives, being controlled by our genes, makes us feel so powerless and lame. No matter how powerful the individual is! Cancer. Huntington's chorea. Parkinson's disease.  Sickle cell anemia.  There are genes for these! And these genes play no favorites. They know no boundaries. They don't care if one is young or old; rich or poor! They are totally indifferent!

Just as no one can go against nature, we can do nothing against our genes!