If You Were Mine

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The week went by fast and I made it through! Jeah! It's the weekend again and in eight days Spring season starts (March 20). At midnight tonight is the start of the daylight saving time here in the west coast. I am losing one hour of sleep :( Zzzzzz What happened to January and February? Both months went so amazingly fast. As a matter of fact, in a little more than a month from now I will be boarding the plane again heading to HongKong and to Kathmandu in Nepal where I will spend most of spring break vacation. I am excited to see the Himalayas and Mt. Everest and to witness and experience to a certain extent the life of Nepalese people. I am looking forward to a safe and experiential trip to Asia. As always, as with all my other trips in the past, I have been including this travel in my daily prayers and devotion, and this action has been always the reason why all my travels have been pleasant and safe. Of course, this is according to my life guiding principles. What's yours?

We cannot have all in this world...the past week was satisfying...all went according to "plan" both at work (students were good) and with my personal agenda (traveled back and forth to work safely, good swims and workouts, healthy food my mom offered me Friday night - the day I visit her after Friday work and workout) but, indeed, we cannot have all. As all know, the devastating 8.9 earthquake in Japan last Thursday 3.10.11 was the most outrageous news that has shaken, in my own opinion, the mind and heart of many people around the world. As I watched the news, my heart felt broken and helplessly felt how the people who were trapped and effected felt in the time of the hit. At that very moment, the only act I could do was to say a prayer for nature to calm down and to stop as well as a prayerful wish for the victims of these perils of nature.

The world has been shaken so well in the past year...earthquakes in Haiti in the Carribean, quakes in Chile in South America, quakes in New Zealand in the Pacific and now the most powerful quake since the last hundred years...the 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan in Asia. What does this mean? Where and when is the next one? Seismologists have been anticipating for at least an intensity seven earthquake could occur in California within the next 30 years. Who knows? As a christian, only God knows and as the song says "In His Time."

Is the world in trouble? I leave this question to you. As for me, we live in a troublesome world - both human-caused and nature-caused. There are times that heart, mind and body are in trouble and we have nowhere to go. As the song "If You Were Mine" says, "If you have a bad dream, I will jump inside...I will lead you home by your tiny hand...if you were mine." Despite of the troubles there is always someone who listens and who takes care! There is always a hope! There is always the Father as a stronghold to all encounters of life. As for other people, there are families and (true) friends who may be there on their sides in times of uncomfortable moments. I always think of a "great ending from a good start," on the contrary, I keep in mind that there could be instances in every person's life wherein a "horrible ending from a great beginning" may happen. The latter is an event that no one would like to experience. This is a reflective message I contemplated for the most part of the week. With regards to the earthquakes in Japan, there victims affected by the 8.9 earthquake, of course, who had great intentions and have had great beginnings in the different aspects in their life, who died, and others are still missing. Life is so fragile! As for me, spending it peacefully with others is always one of the noblest mantras...and I have no doubt about it!

What a powerful song "If You Were Mind" is. It has been my favorite song of the week since I downloaded it from iTune. I sound so cheesy...well, it's me...the cheesy man...hehehe. Seriously, this song of Fernando Ortega has full of meanings. As I listen to this song, synapses between the messages of the song and how the week went started to build a network and provided essential insightful thoughts on how to tackle the ups and the downs of life. There is always one who owns us. Life on Earth is not permanent but life with God is eternal.


If You Were Mine.....I would sing of Love in the blackest night...

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In the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador next to the endangered giant land tortoises. (Santa Cruz Island) Summer 2010