Say Cheese!

'Say Cheese!' is simply a photographer's instruction just before taking a picture, in order to make people smile. A word with a long 'e' needs drawing back our lips, baring our teeth in a grimace, which is simply the pop-in reason for using it. 

It's hard to make people smile, that a 1940-ambassador disclosed some kind of formula to capture that desired smile, to make you look pleasant no matter what you're thinking.


As I was processing my thoughts for the past days, I suddenly paused because of this: I can't remember if had read something about smiling in the Bible. Laughter, joy and the like yes, I've read about that. But smiling, just smiling? Nothing yet.


So, in a heartbeat, this curious blogger searched for the word. I do not intend to make an exhaustive Biblical study of these passages this time. But for just a quick, immediate grasp of its context, I included the surrounding verses. :)

Job 9:26-28 (NIV)

They skim past like boats of papyrus,

like eagles swooping down on their prey.

If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,

I will change my expression, and smile,'

I still dread all my sufferings, 

for I know you will not hold me innocent.

Job 29:23-25 (NIV)

They waited for me as for showers

and drank in my words as the spring rain.

When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;

the light of my face was precious to them.

I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;

I dwelt as a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners.

To those who are familiar with the story of Job, you know that that smile means and weighs --- a lot. To those who aren't, it's not too late. You can grab your Bible. Have a read. :)

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A smile, I believe, does not from the outside-in, but from the inside-out. 

A smile from the outside-in can be deceiving. A smile from the inside-out is genuine.

We can smile on the outside, but really broken in the inside. Then eventually blame other people for not feeling us - that smile is really not meant to shine. It's a false smile.

On the other hand, our outside circumstances may be broken and fallen, but the inside of us is at peace as we lift our cares to God. We smile. We shine. People see. That's God's grace on our face. That's a genuine smile. 

Jesus shines with our smiles!

So, photos can be taken even without 'saying cheese' - and still can capture that desired smile.

Try it. :)

On Pinholes & Silver Linings

It was April 18, 2003 to be exact, when our Small Group Leader/Facilitator handed me this note card:

Hi! Take time to gaze at the sky tonight. Stars are like pinholes of heaven. Imagine one day, God will take out the dark sky & heaven's glory will burst out on you. Perfect. We will be transformed! Have a great time here in KC. ~ Ate Grace 

We were then on our one month leadership camp, Kawayan Camp [KC] in Cebu. The campsite, being in a faraway mountainside province, is really perfect for stargazing. 

I read the note with a smile, "Tonight will be perfect." And true enough, those pinholes did not fail me.

"Stars are like pinholes of heaven." --- indeed!

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On the other side, at 0:44 ~

~ "You've got to face the cloud to find the silver lining..."  

It was in this song I've heard of that word the first time.


Since I love to write, my ears are kind of drawn, attentive and sharp to newly-heard words, words that fall soft on the ears. So, I e-flipped some pages and checked the word out.


A silver lining is...

• a sign of hope in an unfortunate or gloomy situation; a bright prospect
• a comforting or hopeful aspect of an otherwise desperate or unhappy situation
• an element of hope or redeeming quality in an otherwise bad situation
• and is associated with this ---

Every cloud has a silver lining.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

This quarter welcomed me quite differently. Most of the days were bleak. Making major decisions come frequently & somewhat demanding. Loneliness keeps on creeping in. It's overwhelming to welcome them all at once. But I opened myself to a season such as this with tranquility, silence, quietness but with firm confidence in the Lord.


As I wrap up my week tonight, I just want to keep looking up --- towards the sky, towards the heavens. It maybe dark, but my faith and hope are still up. Though vast is the darkness, still there are pinholes, still there are silver linings. Still there are streaks, beams and rays of light trying to make its way out to be seen. 


As I look forward to eternity with a smile, indeed on that Day, God will take out the dark sky and His light will burst out on all of us.


Thank You for the pinholes and silver linings. A reminder of hope in our bleakest, and in our darkest.

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

That I would see the goodness of the LORD

In the land of the living."

Psalm 27:13 (NKJV) 

A Toast to Life

This has been my dilemma:


When I don't talk or write about her, they'd say I've forgotten her.
But when I do, they'd say I've never recovered yet.


Whatever.
Whatever they say is all right with me. 
They may say whatever they like of these.


As for me, this I do as a toast to life. A toast to a life once witnessed, a life once shared and a life that will ever be loved. Happy thoughts!

Disclaimer: I don't drink. This is but a picture for this post. ;)

This day marks the 18th year of Mama having went Home. And I want to remember and thank the Lord for the full 37 years she had lived. Her life may be short, but that's really it. She's in her fullest. It was really her time to go.


As I look back, I smile how Mama so firmly taught us the basics of life. I still remember them so well. She taught the basics, life skills followed afterwards.


I understand how words on some posts can be so limited. And this post falls here. The urge to write is not really here at this moment, but I just don't want to miss this date. Thank you for bearing with me. :)


Thank you Lord for Mama's full years.
A celebration and a toast for a life well-lived.
Cheers!

And the Praying Mantis Prayed

If I am going to ride with the belief that we have this so-called 'past life', I'd say I was a praying mantis. I was a praying mantis in a sense that (1) I love color green and, (2) I dance like one. :)


I will help you picture it out. Watch this:

That was a perfect picture of me. My brain seem uncoordinated with my arms, legs and body. Both feet were left. Elbows everywhere, here and there. Grace and poise, totally nowhere. 


But, thanks to this comment: "Why can't you dance like your sister?"


I wasn't hurt --- at all. It didn't matter to me. I just grinned. I know myself. I know what I can & can't do, and I won't push myself into doing something that I don't really like. Well, if they can't bear with my dancing, better pull me out from the rehearsal.


After a few years, there was a turn.


Behind closed doors, this mantis asked, "Lord, what can I do for you? I can't sing or dance and doesn't seem to have any talent. I don't know."


Sing? I can't have that confidence to sing in front of a crowd. I think I never will.
Dance? Hmm, maybe. At least I won't be holding microphones --- which is one of my fears. But the problem is, I can't dance.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

And this praying mantis prayed, 

"Lord, teach me to dance. My dancing will only be for You."

There was no thunderous voice after that prayer. She just knows that after that day, she was so inspired and excited to go home to play on a music and dance to it --- behind closed doors. She was not mindful anymore of how she moves. She just danced her heart away before her Dance Instructor.


Discovery came little by little: what her body can do, explored its capability and flexibility.


Each afternoon became an opportunity to building up disciplines in warming up the body, discovering personal techniques in spinning, turning, lifting arms and legs. No one knows about it but the Dance Instructor and the praying mantis. Eventually, dancing became a part of her.


After 4 years of dancing behind closed doors, an opportunity came by surprise. Left without a choice, this mantis had to dance in an auditorium. 

With a heart pounding so hard, a throat  that's starting to get dry, the mantis gathered up herself and prayed and said: 

"This is it, Lord. Let's do this. This is for You."

Then there was this spotlight. The auditorium was very quiet, you can almost hear a pin drop.

It was the praying mantis' first dance. She danced to this song and danced her heart away like nobody's watching. It was a free-spirited dance offered to the Dance Instructor to Whom the mantis prayed that she may be able to dance. And the mantis was never the same again.

One dance came after the other, always with her ever-faithful Dance Instructor. 


The praying mantis admits that she is not the best worship dancer in the world. She is a work in progress. She is still learning and discovering. One thing she strongly knows she has --- the heart to the dance for the audience of One.


And you know what? This praying mantis still prays.

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GUIDANCE: GOD, YOU AND I DANCE

When I meditated on the word Guidance, 

I kept seeing " dance" at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.

The movement doesn't flow with the music, 

and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, 

both bodies begin to flow with the music.

One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back

or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.

It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness, 

and attentiveness from one person

and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.

When I saw "G" I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i".

"God, "u" and "i" dance."

God, you, and I dance.

http://www.originalpoetry.com/guidance-god-you-and-i-dance

Ministry Of Silence

"You know something? That still, small voice will never shout." 

Chuck Swindoll excellently nailed this down when he penned his article, Quietness in my all-time favorite devotional journal, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life.


It has been in my full awareness that the Lord operates in a realm so opposed to men's expectations and 'boxes'. His Word tells about it. His works prove it. People's testimonies relive it. 

• Who would have thought that the widow's only jar of little oil will be able to fill all the other empty jars brought to her by her sons? (2 Kings 4:1-7)
• Who would have accurately calculated that the little boy's lunch of 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread will be able to feed 5,000 men [women and children not included]? (Matthew 14:13-21)
• Too many to mention.

See, our pea-brain can't comprehend and measure His thoughts and ways!


But at times, when His ways 'may seem' predictable to us, guess what? He still catches us by surprise. His thoughts and ways may be different and far from ours, but it doesn't change the fact that the Lord so wants us to know His heart, and to reveal Himself to us. He is great. He is awesome. He is marvelous, but He is also an ever-personal, loving God. Let us take the tone a bit low and journey with me in His "Ministry of Silence".

1 Kings 19:9-12

(NIV1984, italics mine)

And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." 

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper...

This passage has never failed to minister to me. As I happen to turn the Word to this account on different times and occasions, it is always fresh and new.


Our world out there is already busy and noisy. The Lord will not barge Himself in there. Our place is already filled with blahs and rants. He won't communicate using the same thing. The LORD is still, meek and silent in His voice and His ways. He wants us to do just the same. Give in. Lay down our defenses to the One who knows us deep within.


The world demands us to speak and communicate with words. But in the Lord's eyes, it is in the silence He ministers the strongest. 


It is in the silence He gives us dreams, pours out strength, showers peace to prepare us for the journeys ahead.


Can't find God in the wind, earthquake and fire? Take a moment to look around and look for a silent spot. I bet He's there.

"You know something? That still, small voice will never shout."

You are right, Chuck. And it has been consistent all this time. 

* This post is also inspired by this song. Click here.