Tremor (Poetry)

As suddenly as it began, it stopped

Without any warning, it just attacked

A murmur, a wee tremor, a flutter

My heart will tremble, what’s this, I wonder?

Survive Through Love

My Dear Readers, I recently finished watching the Korean drama entitled Bride of the Water God or Bride of Habaek (http://asianwiki.com/The_Bride_of_Habaek), starring  Nam Joo-Hyuk (http://asianwiki.com/Nam_Joo-Hyuk) and Shin Se-Kyung (http://asianwiki.com/Shin_Se-Kyung).
This is a story about a divine being, the Lord of the Land of Water, born to become King, reigning over the Land of rhe Sky, Land of the Water and the Land of Earth.in the character of Nam Joo-Hyuk, who was sent on a mission on Earth to find the sacred stone safeguarded by other minor gods Moora, Bi Ryeum and Joo Dong, with the help of the Descendant of the Servants of the Gods in the character of Shin Se-Kyung.

Predictably, the main male character, Habaek, fell in love with the main female character, Yoon So Ah.  A Korean love story would not be complete without a love triangle, so there were two love triangles that ensued: one between Habaek (God of Water), Moora (Goddess of Water), and Bi Ryeum (God of Sky) and the other between Yoon So Ah the Servant, Habaek, and the God of Fire, Shin Ju Ye,  who happened to be a half-God, half-human, starring Im Joo Hwan (.http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Im_Joo_Hwan).

The story revolved on Habaek’s completing two missions:  FIRST, find the sacred stone the minor gods kept in safekeeping on earth. The problem was, it got lost and the God of Earth, Joo Dong, is nowhere to be found. The first mission was accomplished when they did found Joo Dong, but at this point, Habaek was already reluctant to leave So Ah. So Ah had to let him go and he had to go back to be proclaimed King of all the Lands.  SECOND, he is to find the reason why the sacred stone had to be kept on earth.  The second mission made Habaek come back to earth and meet So Ah again, in order “to love properly”. They both knew Habaek needs to leave again to claim his birthright as King but this time around they will spend the time together to properly love each other while Habaek search for the answer to his second mission. On the last two chapters, So Ah found out that on the night she tried to kill herself, her father witnessed it and tried to save her, dying in the process with Joo Dong’s tablet which can grant Servant’s wishes. The gods tried to take him out of the river but only So Ah could do so. Habaek sacrificed his one grace which would have to be used to go back to his kingdom to give So Ah the strength and breath to swim down the depths of the river to retrieve her father’s body protected by the tablet from being ruined. But by doing so, he was also able to find the answer to the second mission, and that is, if a God can’t save even the one person most dear to him he is not worthy to be called King. So Ah would have also sacrificed the one wish the Servant’s tablet can grant on wishing Habaek’s return to his kingdom if the High Priest had not appeared on time to tell them Habaek can return even without So Ah’s wish. 

In the end, So Ah’s wish was for Habaek to stay and live with her as long as she is alive.

Oops! Had I already revealed the entire story?  Oh, but don’t you worry, watching the entire drama is still much more fun despite all that. Must watch the kissing scenes between the two main characters.  Be ready to fall in love with Nam Joo-Hyuk! 😉

There are actually two lines from this drama that caught my attention but on today’s post I choose the last line as shown on the photo above.

“People can survive anything with the strength they have but life would be better with love.” – Habaek, Yoon So Ah.

Indeed, inherent in us, humans, is the strength to survive anything as long as our mind is willing to fight for our survival. Life is full of trials and hardships, but we have the strength to face and surpass them. And what makes the ordeal much easier is when.there is love amidst it all.

Each day as I took this journey called life, I had to groan at how heavy the burden I had to carry along, I had to sigh to see every member of my family suffer along with me, but what keeps me stronger and more willing to take each step is the knowledge that I love this family more than life and that I know I’m loved as well.

The Visit (Poetry)

(Dedicated to my Father-in-law)

It’s been a while since we last met

But fate must have already set

This date for us to meet again

Good memories we must retain.

Looking forward for the next year

Hoping you’ll pass by again here

Bringing with you jovial spirit

We’ll miss you ’til your next visit.

If The Devil Is Man’s Creation

My  Dear Readers, with a long weekend to enjoy here in Philippines, I had spent it on some creative hand-sewing that has taken a bit of my concentration in writing thus the delay of posting this article.  Hmm, must discipline myself more to stick to my schedule, right?

Anyway, today, let me share with you another quote I chanced along while watching Criminal Minds (http://asianwiki.com/Criminal_Minds_(Korean_Drama) starring my favorite actor Lee Joon–Gi (http://asianwiki.com/Lee_Joon-Gi), a quote from Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher whose literary works explore human psychology during the troubled times of 19th-century Russia and engage in various realistic philosophical and religious themes.

As a born Christian, I was taught by my mother things about God, the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary and about evil things Satan has caused to mankind. As I was growing up, I attended catechism, and even read the Bible from cover to cover when I had to stop schooling for one year to undergo surgery. From such, I learned about the existence of Satan or Lucifer or the devil.

What I meant to say is that, from time immemorial, we knew of the existence of the devil as much as we knew of the existence of God. Whatever we see or feel that encompasses what we understood or classify as evil is caused by or wrought of the devil. 

With this quote from Fyodor Dostoyevsky, it can make us realize that if the devil does not exist, and we, humans, only made it up, meaning putting a specific name to which we find or consider as evil, the devil will indeed probably look like a human.

Despite what we might have read in the Bible, specifically from Ezekiel 28:12, that Lucifer is said to be the “seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” we can only attribute to it something our human mind can decipher, that is, based on that description he might look like this…

But if we wish to reiterate especially to small kids how evil Satan or Lucifer is, he will probably look just like an ugly man would with horns and tail.

Whatever the real face and looks of the devil, what we should remember is that he can take on forms and images we least expect.  He might look like a lamb but act as a wolf.  He might look innocent as a sheep but cunning as a fox.  Most, of all, he can be just like any human.

Euphoria (Poetry)

A feeling of intense excitement or delight,

The biggest smile on my face is such a rare sight

Quite comparable to an incandescent light

I wish I can stay that way all day and all night.

Is Conviction a Foe or Ally of Truth?

Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies. – Friedrich Nietzsche

This week I am following an ongoing Korean drama series entitled Criminal Minds which mind you features one of my favorite Korean actors, Lee Joon-Gi.

This drama  focuses on a group of highly-trained profilers in the fictional National Crime Investigation (NCI) team who tries to profile and track down criminals to solve cases.

When we say profiling, by the way, it means “the recording and analysis of a person’s psychological and behavioral characteristics, so as to assess or predict their capabilities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a subgroup of people.” (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/profiling)

Anyway, while watching it, the above-stated quote came up and sparked my interest and imagination.

So, our topic today is about conviction.  What does conviction mean?

Conviction means a strong belief or opinion or the feeling of being sure that what you believe or say is true.

If conviction is such, how then it becomes a dangerous foe of truth rather than an ally?

Let us site an easy example how this line of thinking must have come about.

For example, in common household products we use, detergent powder for one, let’s say I have been using this one product for several years and strongly believe that this product is the best ever product by far. Even when surveys or vast promotions occur, since I firmly believe that the product I have been using is the best, I probably will insist on what I believe and deny whatever evidence other people will present.

On that example, you can probably see where and when conviction can become a threat to what is true. Can you picture out how much more dangerous can it be if on a larger scale?

A person who firmly believes he is not doing a grave mistake despite of it being morally wrong will continue to commit the same mistake over and over again despite the fact or truth that it is wrong, for he had convinced himself he has abide by his own beliefs.

This must be how those committing crimes from petty theft to plunder have convinced themselves to do what they do so as not to buckle down at the prick of their conscience.

That is when conviction becomes the truth’s foe rather than an ally. That is, when we let ourselves be blinded by our wrong beliefs to the point of denying the truth despite of it glaring at us like the sun at midnoon hour.

To My Beloved Daughter (Poetry)

(Sorry for the delay in the publication. This should have been posted on Wednesday. Having problems with internet connection. Huhuhu!!! Belated Happy Birthday, Nak!)

Into this harsh world I brought you
With a hope of a bright future

Between me and my love so true

And the children we’ll have for sure.

You knew how hard we toiled and tried

All throughout the years of your life

But no matter how much we strived

We cannot escape lots of strife.

It sometimes feels like we have failed

In our endeavors, promises

But we hope you do understand

And work hard for your own success.

To you, my daughter, all my love

And all the best wishes I give

May God bless you and keep you safe

Success be yours through all the years!

Truth as Wide as the Sky

“You can never cover the sky with your palm.” – Prince Jin Seong/Lee Yeok, Queen for Seven Days Korean Drama

Queen for Seven.Days is a story about two brothers fighting for the throne to the Kingdom of Joseon due ro rhe evil manipulations and machinations  of state councilors who wished to have their tight hold over the leader of the nation, as well as a poignant love story of a couple who chose to part for each to live and love each other for a long period of time.

From the many memorable dialogues this drama series had, one of the lines which caught my heart and imagination is the above-quoted line.  Prince Jin Seong uttered these words during one of the altercations between him and his older brother who was the King when the latter was trying to subdue him with the ever-present thought that the younger brother (Prince Jin Seong) is out to take the throne from him, knowing that their father, the former king, wanted him to abdicate the throne to his younger brother once he had already come of age.

This quote, “you can never cover the sky with your palm” is, of course, a metaphor which means that one can never really hide the truth.  

As how it is not possible to cover the sky with your palm, unless you delude yourself that you are able to by covering your eyes instead, just as when we try to deny the glaring truth by trying to close our eyes to it or by trying to look the other way when we see something that should not be but feel we have no power or the right to be involved in, but still deep in our heart and if we let our conscience prevail, we know we can never totally evade or deny reality.

“The truth will always prevail” is another way to say it, but sad to say, no matter how wide the sky, most people nowadays will choose to cover their eyes with their palm rather than meet the glare of the sun and be blinded or burned, for often the truth can be as blinding or as hot as the sun and many peole will rather settle for half-truths or little white lies than to know or accept reality, they will be willing to become a racing horse let loose on a track with its eyes covered with blinkers or blinders.  

If you are honest enough, can you ever say to yourself, you had never ever tried to cover the sky with your palm?

Laughter (Poetry)

Why do you evade me lately,

A glimpse of it is quite costly?

Even a shadow of a smile

Is nary from here to a mile.

Why is it so hard to keep you,

Though I yearn it, I feel so blue?

Every time I feel I had it

It will disappear like a mist.

Will there come a good time again

For reason to let it happen?

When can I have a real good laugh

‘Stead of worrying about stuff?

Oh, God, take me out of this gloom

Let laughter in my life blossom

Like a flower that sadly died

From its forlorn state be revived.