As I write this, I’m enjoying a cup of steaming fat-free skim milk at Starbucks-Baguio. In between sips, I let spoonfuls of the luscious blueberry loaf melt inside my mouth. I fold my arms in protest against, and at the same time in appreciation of, the cool Baguio breeze.
In front of me is a relaxing, worry-free image: my wife, Liza, surfing the net on the laptop and checking on new posts on Face Book.
Ah! Once in a while, it feels good to go on a sabbatical. No Thursday deadlines for Blue-Sky Scenario, no daily pressure to write inspirational stuff, no Church choir practices on Fridays, no speaking engagements to Catholic communities on weekdays.
In other words, it’s a leave of absence from anything spiritual.
Just as I was having the grandest no-God vacation ever, a picture frame tacked on the corner of a wall in Starbucks catches my undivided attention. On the background is a smudged black and white image of a rainy day; on the foreground, these words:
“We all need some time to ourselves — just a few minutes a day to get reacquainted with the One who’s been there since the beginning.”
Huh? What’s this picture saying?
I take a second look at the image, making sure I got the words correctly.
We all need some time to ourselves… to get reacquainted with the One… who has been there since the beginning.
I call my time away from God as a “leave of absence,” a vacation. But not God. I try to get away from the daily grind, calling a time-out from everything, not realizing that He is actually reconnecting with me.
I try to squeeze in a day-off from God, but in His vocabulary, there is no such thing as day-off from me, or from any of us for that matter. Every minute, wherever we are, in whatever we do, He is with us. I guess that’s why people call Him…
EMMANUEL.
And He goes by that name, even in Starbucks.
Quote for the week:
If you are not as close to God
as you used to be, who moved?
~Author Unknown
In front of me is a relaxing, worry-free image: my wife, Liza, surfing the net on the laptop and checking on new posts on Face Book.
Ah! Once in a while, it feels good to go on a sabbatical. No Thursday deadlines for Blue-Sky Scenario, no daily pressure to write inspirational stuff, no Church choir practices on Fridays, no speaking engagements to Catholic communities on weekdays.
In other words, it’s a leave of absence from anything spiritual.
Just as I was having the grandest no-God vacation ever, a picture frame tacked on the corner of a wall in Starbucks catches my undivided attention. On the background is a smudged black and white image of a rainy day; on the foreground, these words:
“We all need some time to ourselves — just a few minutes a day to get reacquainted with the One who’s been there since the beginning.”
Huh? What’s this picture saying?
I take a second look at the image, making sure I got the words correctly.
We all need some time to ourselves… to get reacquainted with the One… who has been there since the beginning.
I call my time away from God as a “leave of absence,” a vacation. But not God. I try to get away from the daily grind, calling a time-out from everything, not realizing that He is actually reconnecting with me.
I try to squeeze in a day-off from God, but in His vocabulary, there is no such thing as day-off from me, or from any of us for that matter. Every minute, wherever we are, in whatever we do, He is with us. I guess that’s why people call Him…
EMMANUEL.
And He goes by that name, even in Starbucks.
Quote for the week:
If you are not as close to God
as you used to be, who moved?
~Author Unknown
