WHEN OUR LIFE BECOMES SENSELESS

My column in Mindanao Daily News and BusinessWeek Mindanao

OPINION

By KLAUS DÖRING

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"In this world there are only two tragedies," said Oscar Wilde. "one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." This paradoxical proverb has often proved true.

Many people think that if they only had more money they would be happy. Howard Hughes was the world's richest man when he was only 45 years old. Twenty years later, at sixty five, he still had all his money but was probably the world's most miserable man. He had retreated from society, living in small dark rooms in different hotels and keeping all the sun out. He was dirty , his beard grew down to his waist, and his hair fell down his back. His fingernails were two inches long. His huge body had shrunk to nothing.

In today's pandemic times many people are also asking themselves about the meaning of life. I don't need to go into that any further here. Everyone knows. Everyone may experience it themselves or find it in their families and surroundings. Yes, the pandemic is far from over, even if there are the first openings and loosenings here and there.

"What is the point of life?" people are asking. You work hard, and many times someone else gets the credit. You struggle to be good, and evil people take advantage of you. You are in a great situation and accumulate money, and it just goes to spoiled fellow men and women. You seek pleasure, but it turns sour on you. And everyone - rich or poor, good or evil, meets the same end. We all die.

I found Ecclesiastes in my bible. A book for our time. Ecclesiastes strikes a responsive chord. No century has seen so much progress, and yet such despair. What is the purpose of life anyway? Is there any ultimate meaning? I even asked myself all these questions, since some people around me passed away during the last weeks.

A key phrase in this book, "under the sun", describes the world lived on one level, apart from God and without any belief in the afterlife. If you live on that level, you may well conclude that life is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes attracts extreme reactions. Novelist Thomas Wolfe said of it, "Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound."

It's really true. Please check it out and try to read it. And find out for yourself if life really seems so meaningless!
 

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter or visit my www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com .

When driven by unbelief and hatred

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

          YES, when one is driven by unbelief and hatred, he is likely

to fall into self-contradictions. This was illustrated in that gospel

episode where some of the crowd reacted to Christ’s driving away a

demon from a possessed person in this way: “By the power of Beelzebul,

the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” (Lk 11,15)

          Of course, Christ immediately corrected them by saying,

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house

will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how

will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I

drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom

do your own people drive them out?”

          Clearly, when one is driven by unbelief and hatred, his

reasoning can go off the rails, even the simplest of logic is thrown

out. We need to do everything to always strengthen our belief in God,

the very cause, origin and pattern of unity amid the vast and

increasing diversity and variety of elements we can have in this

world.

          Nowadays, we are seeing the intriguing phenomena of

asserting what is right and moral as wrong and immoral, and

vice-versa. What is clearly an expression of true freedom is now

called slavery, and vice-versa. What should clearly be considered as

taboo is now regarded as a human right. The forms of

self-contradictions go on and on.

          To correct this situation or, at least, to deal properly

with it, we need to take care and strengthen our belief and our

charity. We cannot take this duty for granted, especially now when the

world is sinking in confusion and error as it distances itself farther

from God.

            In many places in the world today, people are now

legalizing and inculturating outright immoralities and perversions,

rationalizing them as part of their human rights, their freedom, or as

a gesture of tolerance on a multiplicity of preferences, etc.

            This is a big challenge for all Christian believers who

want to be all-the-way consistent with their faith and with humanity

itself, for the issues at hand are not just a matter of a particular

religion but rather that of our common humanity.

            And the Christian faith is not meant only for a few. It is

for all, though it obviously is not meant to be imposed on everyone.

It has to be accepted knowingly, freely, lovingly, that is, with

charity.

          Instead of responding to evil with evil, hatred with hatred,

we should rather respond to evil with good, hatred with love. That way

we turn things around, rather than plunge into the spiral of evil and

hatred.

          This was specifically articulated by St. Paul in his Letter

to the Romans where he said: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be

careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is

possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do

not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for

it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On

the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty,

give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning

coals on his head.” (Rom 12,17-20)

          We have to try our best to erase whatever disbelief, doubt

or skepticism we can have as we consider this teaching, since most

likely, our first and spontaneous reaction to it would precisely be

those reactions.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Why are there Filipinos everywhere?

Abi Aquino

Weird how it is easier to open up to strangers..

There’s about 107 million of us now. Opportunities in this country however, not that many. Our economy is not something to be proud of either.

One of our official languages is English and we were educated on it from primary school, making most of us proficient in it.

Armed with the ability to communicate with most of the world, and the desperation to provide better lives to our families, a lot of Filipinos take their chances abroad to make a living. Most, if not all, succeed in their efforts to provide for their families, so it has become some sort of trend to do this for a lot of us.

Imagine, in Metro Manila (our capital), the minimum daily wage as of 2018 is 475 Philippine Pesos (Php). That is about 9 US dollars. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe this might be the minimum hourly rate in the US now. Quite the difference.

Apart from that, we’re known to be highly resilient and hardworking. We don’t mind doing grunt work or blue collar jobs, as long as we’re making a decent living. There’s a shortage of workers for these types of jobs in most first world countries and we’re more than happy to fill the gap.

Being away from people we love may make us depressed but it is overcome by the fact that we are making it possible for them to live fuller and more comfortable lives.

Say Hi to the Filipino if you see them, I’m sure they’d be happy to chat and tell you the story of how they came to whatever country you found them in.

The difficult and the impossible

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *


          WE have to learn how to deal with the difficult and the
impossible things in our life. Let’s remember that as long as we are
here on earth, we have to contend with all sorts of difficulties,
trials and temptations.


          And as if these are not enough, we also have to contend with
the truth of our faith that tells us that we are meant to pursue a
supernatural goal that definitely cannot be achieved simply with our
own human powers, no matter how excellent they are.


          The secret is always to go and to be with God who can make
the impossible possible. In all our affairs and situations in life, we
should always go to God to ask for his help and guidance, and to trust
his ways and his providence, even if the outcome of our prayers and
petitions appears unanswered, if not, contradicted.


          This should be the attitude to have. It’s an attitude that
can only indicate our unconditional faith and love for God who is
always in control of things, and at the same time can also leave us in
peace and joy even at the worst of the possibilities.


          Remember the Book of Ecclesiastes where it says that for
everything there is a season, “a time to be born, and a time to die; a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill,
and a time to heal…” But everything is under God’s control, and even
if we are capable of eternity, we just the same “cannot find out what
God has done from the beginning to the end.” (3,1ff) We just have to
trust him.


          We have to follow the example of the many characters in the
gospel who, feeling helpless in the many predicaments they were in,
earnestly rushed to Christ for some succor. They went to him unafraid
and unashamed and they got what they wanted.


          There is no denying that life always has more to offer to us
than what we can understand, let alone, cope. And they can come in all
shapes and sizes, good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant, likeable and
hateful. There are surprises and moments when we seem to rot in
expectation and still things we long for don’t come.


          In the face of all this, I believe the attitude to have and
the reaction to make is to be calm, pray hard, and while we do all we
can, we have to learn to live a certain sense of abandonment in the
hands of God.


          In those situations, I believe we just have to allow
ourselves to play in God’s game plan, in his abiding providence whose
designs are beyond reckoning, or are way beyond our comprehension and
appreciation.


          In this life, we need to develop a sportsman’s attitude,
since life is like a game. Yes, life is like a game, because we set
out to pursue a goal, we have to follow certain rules, we are given
some means, tools and instruments, we train and are primed to win and
do our best, but defeats can always come, and yet, we just have to
move on.


          We need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can
come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our
vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined
only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of
the spiritual and supernatural world.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Why are Filipino foods not that popular, even though most of them are good?

 

By Dayang C Marikit

I’m a Philippine history professor and my Quora account is mainly focused on promoting and educating people about the pre-colonial period. Below are some of my articles and as well as some informative videos.

I would like to inform people that “nothing is set in stone” because we are constantly gathering information and learning about our history, somethings may change in the future, but for now the things that I publish are the things that we currently perceive to “know about.”

Honestly as a Filipino, I love Filipino food, because I’m obviously used to it… yes, I know that a lot of people from other cultures may think of Filipino cuisine as an “acquired taste”… but I could also say the same thing about their cuisines. I’m not really fond of most foreign dishes aside from the most basic and most prevalent ones… Ex: Italian, Japanese, American, Middle Eastern, Indian, Spanish, Korean, Thai etc… Most of these foreign cuisines taste bizarre to me, unless they’ve been “Filipinized” to adapt to the Filipino palate.

• A lot of Filipinos would consider “authentic” American, Korean and Japanese food to be bland… those “authentic” American burgers gave me nightmares… while Italian, Indian, Spanish, Thai and Middle Eastern cuisines would be considered to have bizarre flavors, mostly due to their herbs... I also find most of those Italian cheeses to be unappetizing.
• Some Filipinos may argue in the comments that they like foreign cuisines because they love the food in __________________ restaurant. The thing is, most restaurants in the Philippines that offer “foreign cuisines” don’t actually serve authentic flavors. Most of them have altered the flavors of their dishes to adapt to the Filipino palate, so what you’re actually getting is the “Filipinized version” of foreign dishes.
• Lastly, to answer your question… the only reason why Filipino cuisine isn’t (“IN”) is because the country is not wealthy and influential. We could observe this phenomena with Korean cuisine. What did people actually know about Korean cuisine before the country became wealthy and popular?… (Nothing), most people would probably even find their dishes to taste quite bizarre. That’s the thing, when a country becomes more wealthy and influential, the more “acceptable” its culture becomes. For example, if Japan became poor, it’s culture including its cuisine would quickly go out of fashion, and in a few generations it would no longer be relevant outside of its own borders.

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By the way, let me address, Mr. Christopher Stanton’s answer.

• He claims that Filipino food is “horribly sweet”… but what he doesn’t realize that the dishes that he mentioned are either Spanish influences or Childhood comfort foods.
• Sweetened cured meats such as glazed Ham and Sausages came from the Spanish colonizers… I mean, who owned the sugar plantations in the Philippines when it was still a Spanish colony? and who could also afford to eat ham and sausages during those times?… definitely not the native peasants… so yes, it was the Spaniards who made these cured sweetened meats, it's just that these dishes eventually got carried on and incorporated into the general “Filipino culture.”

• On the other hand, “Filipino Spaghetti’ is not a formal dish… it’s childhood comfort food. I mean imagine what a child would cook of you left them to their own devices. Filipino spaghetti is sweet and has hotdogs for crying out loud… as a child I remember liking this flavor, but I don’t like it now... I personally find sweet flavors to be repulsive nowadays.
• For context Filipinos have a tradition of eating pancit/noodles during our birthday parties, this is to symbolize longevity, but due to American influence, a lot of Filipino kids wanted to replace their birthday noodles with birthday spaghetti, however they didn’t like the taste of the original tomato sauce, so parents made it sweeter… basically, the reason why Filipino spaghetti looks and tastes “childish” is because it’s actually geared towards young children. As the years have passed, these children have now grown up and some of them still crave this flavor, like I said Filipino spaghetti is treated like a “nostalgic childhood comfort food”… it’s not a “formal dish.”

Christopher Stanton

 · Answered April 19

Why are Filipino foods not that popular, even though most of them are good?

Why are Filipino foods not that popular, even though most of them are good? Have you ever tried Philippine-style spaghetti? How about longanisa sausage? Compared to American spaghetti or sausages their Pinoy cousins are horribly sweet. This is a deal-breaker for most Western diners who prefer savory m…

(more)

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To wrap these all up… authentic Filipino cuisine has a lot of salty and sour flavors, from ingredients like shrimp paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, tamarind and vinegar… our main cooking methods are also boiling and grilling because we love broth soups, stews, and grilled dishes, these methods are how we traditionally cook… so if a dish is fried, it’s either a Spanish/American influence or a recent development, I'm saying this because some people seem to think that Filipino food is very oily, when in reality those dishes are most likely foreign influences. I can't help but notice that some of the most "hated" Filipino dishes are actually the ones that are of Spanish and American origin… below are images of authentic Filipino cuisine.

Prayer keeps our love burning

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          IF we understand that prayer is what keeps us always in

contact with God who is the very essence of love, then we should

realize that we indeed need to pray all the time. Prayer should not be

understood merely as some spiritual exercise that we do only at

certain moments of the day.

          It has to be our very life itself. Everything in our life

should be an act of prayer, including our sleeping. Our very

consciousness, our breathing and heartbeat should be converted into

prayer.

          Obviously, we need some training for this. But it should be

a training that would enable us precisely to convert everything into

prayer. Even when we work, whether of the white-collar or blue-collar

type of work, whether intellectual or manual, etc., we should be

praying. That is to say, we should maintain our contact with God and

channel what he has, his will and his ways, in all our daily affairs.

          In that way we can reflect God’s love in all the situations,

circumstances, predicaments, challenges in our life, etc. This love,

of course, is concretely shown to us by Christ whose life and teaching

we should truly learn and assimilate. Not only is Christ showing or

teaching it to us. He is giving it to us by giving his own self,

especially in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, if we also

understand well the significance of the sacrament.

          When we pray, we are actually assuming the very mind and

heart of Christ who is the personification of prayer himself. His life

was fully offered to the Father, spending it entirely in obeying the

will of the Father who wants us to return to him, since we are his

image and likeness that was damaged by our sin.

          In other words, we can say that we are truly praying when we

would have the same sentiments of Christ. His desires, his mission,

his ways of doing things, especially in loving everyone, including the

enemies, his willingness to bear all our sins through his suffering

and death, should also be ours.

          So, if we want to be truly in love and to keep that love

burning, we need to be authentic persons of prayer. We need to be like

Christ, to be “alter Christus” (another Christ) if not “ipse Christus”

(Christ himself). And that is not a fantastic, baseless assertion,

because that is what is truly meant for us. There is no other formula

for love.

          We need to understand very well the intimate relation

between praying and loving, and between our loving and becoming

Christ-like. That is where true love can be found, and no other. We

may have to do a bit of explaining for this, but I think it is all

worthwhile to do so, especially these days when many people,

especially the young ones, have a very deficient understanding of

love.

          We have to reassure everyone that when we actually learn to

truly pray, we will enjoy the ideal condition of our life, and such

condition will remain so whatever the situation and circumstances of

our life would be or wherever our life would lead us.

          Prayer keeps us in contact with God who will empower us to

love truly. It would help us keep a right focus and sense of direction

and purpose of our life.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

What are things you should never say to a Filipino?

 

Bisaya

, https://barokandtakya.com

There are no things you should say to a Filipino. If you're using them as insults, just be warned that we'll get offended, and from there, it will be like water under the bridge in terms of reconciliation.

If there's one thing I've learned about Filipinos is that they tend to come back fighting with more life left among their bones than what they started with. Insults may hurt on the inside, but when Filipinos encounter such feedback, their face becomes surprisingly motionless, and we often consider our words before acting (or not). The sentiment comes from old wisdom passed down through generations, saying that all people deserve respect no matter how much disdain is thrown at them. It's said this action speaks louder than words, and this is one of the many traits we Filipinos are proud to show.

So if you're going to say something nasty about a Filipino, may I suggest reconsidering (but only once)? Remember: even if you're only joking around in good faith (because honestly, commenting on a person's race IS offensive), your choice of words will still reflect what you think about us. I know it's a difficult thing to reverse, but all the same, try and drop that habit.

Filipinos are friendly people if you give them a chance to be if you can't appreciate our culture, at least respect our right to have one. We're known for being loudmouthed and wacky, but when it comes down to it, we're not the worst race you'll ever encounter in your lifetime.

Think before you speak. Think again. And think some more before opening your mouth- something that's become a necessity because we tend to be loudmouthed and witty with words. Our heritage of wisdom is there to defend us, just like how our culture has supported us through the years.

As I conclude this message, I close in with a powerful Filipino proverb: "It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt."

Updating the story of Martha and Mary

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THERE’S a great need to update the story of Martha and Mary

(cfr. Lk 10,38-42) if only to relish once again the important lesson

it imparts to us, especially nowadays when we can do a lot of good

things and pursue high worldly ideals, and yet miss what is truly and

ultimately important and necessary for us.

          Yes, like Martha, we can be doing a lot of good things and

pursuing high temporal ideals, like efficiency, effectiveness,

profitability, etc., and yet miss the one thing necessary that Christ

told Martha.

          The precious lesson the story of the two sisters offers us

is that of seeing to it that everything that we do is always for the

glory of God. That motive should the first, last and constant

intention of all our thoughts, words and deeds. It should be not

dislodged by any other motive, no matter how legitimate in human terms

it is, and how urgent it is.

          Our thoughts, words and deeds would lose their real value

when they are not inspired by our love for God which should drive us

to do everything for God’s glory. Let’s remember what St. Paul said in

this regard: “Whether you eat or drink, or if you do anything, you

shall do everything for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31)

          The story of the two sisters reminds us that we have to give

priority to prayer in the sense that everything that we do, no matter

how mundane it is as long as it is honest, should be converted into

some form of prayer, that is, into a way of engaging with God, giving

him all the glory that is due him.

          The immediate basis for this truth is what Christ himself

said: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and

forfeits his soul?” (Mt 16,26) That’s because prayer is like the

breathing and the heartbeat of our spiritual organism, of our soul.

Just as we continue to breathe and just as our heart continues to beat

even while we are unconscious in our sleep, so should our prayer be.

          To be sure, this is possible and doable, because praying

does not even need a bodily organ for it to be done. It is a spiritual

operation that can transcend the use of our bodily faculties. It’s a

matter of attitude, of belief, which we can always have even if it is

not expressly articulated.

          As such, it can be done in any situation—while we are

working, playing, resting, etc. But it would be good that we spend

some time doing nothing other than praying, directly engaging God in a

loving conversation, because that would help us to be prayerful in all

our other activities and situations in life.

          We cannot deny that the world nowadays is getting deeply

immersed in worldly and temporal affairs, but often at the expense of

forgetting God. This is a terrible deal that we are having. All our

affairs and concerns should lead us to God or at least engage us with

him, not separate us from him.

          Let us always remember that it is God who will give us

everything, but we have to have the proper priorities. Let’s never

forget what he said: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his

righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33)

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com