Absolute

Nope, this isn't a plug for a distilled water brand. I just blurted out that word during a Bible-sharing session earlier and thought it would be a good title for today's entry.

Happy New Year everyone! It's 2004! Isn't it great that despite all the things we go through day in, day out, after 365 or 366 days, we are given the chance to start fresh?

Talking of fresh starts, I hope you watch this space every Monday. I have decided that during each Monday of this year, I will post something inspiring (a quote or a prayer perhaps) to start our weeks right. Most likely, it will be something I read or picked up somewhere -- and if inspiration strikes, at times, it may even be original.

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Am copying that off my desk calendar. Let us face the new year with hope and great expectation. As we believe, so shall it be...

And now for a few Bible verses from our sharing earlier:

(From Matthew 9:16-17) - "No one patches up an old coat with a piece of new cloth, for the new patch will shrink and make an even bigger hole in the coat. Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, for the skins will burst, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured in fresh wineskins, and both will keep in good condition."

(From Hebrews 11:1) - "To have faith is to be sure of things we hope for, to be certain of things we cannot see."

As the song goes: "Bagong taon ay magbagong buhay." We sing that song every year and singing it regularly doesn't seem to make the objective any easier. Then again, that is no reason to stop trying altogether. I was asked by my boss what I understood by the first verse and I replied by saying that in our desire to follow God, it has to be ABSOLUTE. Total commitment. Difficult yes - but still worth the effort. Perhaps we feel dried up like prunes sometimes but remember that you and I, just like wine, are being perfected as we age...

And so, even if things don't seem to be turning out as we hope, we see with eyes of faith. We walk by faith, not by sight.

So have an absolutely wonderful new year! I know we will all be blessed!

Overheard: PGMA's campaign is bannering K4 (an offshoot of F4, I suppose.). I've read/heard various meanings from Koalisyon ng Karanasan at Kaunlaran sa Kinabukasan to Koalisyon sa Katapatan at Karanasan at Kinabukasan. My favorite though is DZBB's Eagle whom I heard saying: K4 ako. K4-nando Poe. Ha3. Politics is truly entertaining - if you don't take it seriously.