Category Archives: Assistance

Third Thoughts

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 12, 2024, Carson City- So often, when faced with novel situations, the mind goes through several gyrations-like the “lassie” in the nursery rhyme, who went “this way and that”. It can be confusing to onlookers, but it is frequently the only way a person can figure out the best way to work through the situation. Second thoughts can be overruled by third thoughts, as is the case with my dearest, right now.

So it is, with K and me, with regard to the possibility of my moving to be closer to her, in late Spring of next year. Some discussions will take place, through messaging, over the next three months, and in-person, when I next go back to the Philippines, in February. Stay tuned, and nothing is carved in stone.

I went to visit with the family of a long-time friend, who passed on while I was in Manila, last month. They spoke a lot about her earlier life and about their sibling’s adoption, so many years ago. They are showing cohesion as a family, a tribute to all the work their parents did to keep things together. Constant consultation kept peace in the house, when there were differing opinions.

While I was driving up here from Beatty, earlier today, I got a Bluetooth call from a friend who wanted to discuss a long-standing issue between him and another friend. The conversation revealed deeper issues than the matter being raised, and I urged the friend to be bold and reach out, in an unobtrusive manner to the person viewed as causing the problem.

Second thoughts often lead to third thoughts, and to resolution.

A Sane and Intelligent Patriotism

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 11,2024-

“Let there be no misgivings as to the animating purpose of the world-wide Law of Baha’u’llah. Far from aiming at the subversion of the existing foundations of society, it seeks to broaden its basis, to remold its institutions in a manner consonant with the needs of an ever-changing world. It can conflict with no legitimate allegiances, nor can it undermine essential loyalties. Its purpose is neither to stifle the flame of a sane and intelligent patriotism in men’s hearts, nor to abolish the system of national autonomy so essential if the evils of excessive centralization are to be avoided.”- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, pgs 41-42.

Relatively few people, deep down, are hateful towards their families. There are always disagreements and sometimes outright quarrels, but let an outsider attack a member of the brood, and the wagons will circle.

Go up the chain, towards community, state and nation-and the same process will play out. There are nations where the populace is restive, and outwardly disdainful of their government. Let someone from outside the group try and enter the fray, however, and there will be a united front.

Our feelings towards our families, communities, states/provinces/prefectures/oblasts, and our nations are each a reflection of how we see ourselves. An emotionally and physically healthy person has positive self-regard, love of family and healthy appreciation for, with a degree of loyalty towards, her/his surroundings. It is second nature for a human being to defend self; for parents to stand up for children, and vice versa; for siblings, and even cousins, to band together; for neighbours to support one another, in time of need; and for the citizens of a nation to defend their homeland.

In this day, it is also imperative for the human race to stand together, in the best interests of our species as a whole. This does not mean militarizing against a still-ephemeral race, or races, of extraterrestrials. It means coming together to devise solutions to threats against our collective existence. Some are the results of natural cycles and others are wrought by human activity. We are a vast multitude of imperfect beings. Every one of us has made mistakes, and many of those errors have had ill effects on others, besides ourselves. Collectively, by dint of excessive self-centered behaviour or just in the course of trying to live an ordered life, we have exacerbated, ramped up the effects of a natural increase in global temperatures-yes, that global warming. It would happen anyway, because it’s a natural cycle, but our actions, as a species, have made it worse.

So, what is a sane and intelligent patriotism? To me, it is simply a love for all the units to which one belongs, a willingness to band together with others, and to work, tirelessly, for the good of the homeland. Our homeland, in addition to our nation, is Planet Earth.

“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens”-Baha’u’llah, Lawh-i-Maqsud (Tablet of Intention)

Tomorrow in America……

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 5, 2024- Tomorrow in America, there will still be country music, R &B and all manner of pop and rock. The Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras will still tune up and play. Basketball and hockey games will proceed, in their scheduled venues. Pro Football players will be practicing, anticipating the next games. Stores and restaurants will open, as usual.

Tomorrow in America, Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Ariana Grande will still be singing. So will Lee Greenwood, Travis Tritt and John Rich. The stock markets will be open, going up or down as they see fit. People will gather in coffee houses, and will talk with friends, or work their laptops or put their thoughts down on paper.

Tomorrow in America, Tim Walz will go back to governing Minnesota. JD Vance will return to representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate. Kamala Harris will resume her Vice Presidential duties, while Donald Trump may go out and play 9 holes, or maybe 12. Their supporters will ponder what to do with all that signage, and those who sported political t-shirts and sweat shirts will put them in storage. Candidates for lesser posts will either head back to their day jobs, or go to their attorneys’ offices, to draw up litigation. Elon Musk will go back to making cars and space shuttles.

Tomorrow in America, we ordinary citizens will focus on our loved ones, and on what is right in front of us. I will rise between 5-6, get myself together and communicate with my Lord, then with my beloved (before she has to go to sleep, on the other side of the Pacific). I will head up to the top of Mingus Mountain and down a bit, to Jerome. There, I will spend time pondering gems and minerals, symbols of the beauty that will outlast most of the living things on Earth. I will reflect on the greatness of this nation, which has not gone away. I will reflect on the wonders of this planet, which will not go away for another billion years or so, if then.

Tomorrow in America, life will go on.

A Tanay Excursion-Part II

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 26, 2024, Manila- With a successful extraction from the muddy road behind us, the five adventurers took to more settled sites-the joys of central Tanay. First off was a fairly new church, Padre Pio Chapel. Here, the ladies indulged in another pose. Kathy could pose forever, and it would not get old.

Tres amigas, at Padre Pio Chapel, Tanay

We got directions from there to a chicken restaurant, Mang Inasal, in Tanay Town Center, where we enjoyed chicken inasal- grilled breast or leg. I covered this part of the meal. K bought us all Halo Halo, a treat that layers shaved us and frozen condensed milk, with bits of fruit.

Following that delectable capstone to today’s journey, we headed over to San Ildfeonso de Toledo Catholic Church, built in 1563. There, we watched a procession of clergy and parishioners, quite common in the Philippines, following Sunday evening Mass.

Procession outside San Ildefonso de Toledo Church, Tanay
Courtyard of San Ildefonso de Toledo Church

After the procession cleared, we made our way over to Tanay Wawa Park, where a small lighthouse stands on the north side of the brackish Laguna de Bay Lake, actually an inlet of Manila Bay. The lake itself is a rich fishing haven, with sea grass and water lilies in abundance, adding a relaxing air to the park.

Wawa, a thriving fishing village, south of Tanay (Above and below)
Tilapia, freshly caught: To buy or not to buy. K and I concluded that lack of a cooler was a problem.
We were satisfied with the decision.
After talking with the fisherfolk, and my climbing the steps up to the top of Tanay Wawa Lighthouse, we headed back towards Manila-but not before stopping at Opus Mall, one of Pasig City’s most opulent. There, a “personal need” became the pretext for more photos. You have to know, I am a willing photographer.

Thus ended one of the sweetest days of this journey.

After Effects

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 25, 2024, Manila- Today produces a short and sweet note. The lingering effects of Typhoon Kristine have left museums shuttered, due to staff being asked not to travel and parks closed for maintenance, due to debris everywhere and fallen trees. So, I got to hang out and catalogue my photographs from Ayala Museum and Dumaguete.

Kathy has organized one last outing for this visit, to a town northeast of here, in a mountainous region. That will happen tomorrow, and four other ladies will join us. Group outings have long been a Filipino tradition and I have seen only joy and laughter coming from groups that travel in this way. We’ve had some great times together, both last year and this. I will do whatever I can to make sure this continues.

The after effects of love and kindness are more love and kindness. Those of hardness and distancing are either more hardness and distancing, or a mature soul saying “Enough” and showing the way to a kinder, gentler way of dealing with each other. The after effects of a persistent, but humble way of generosity and caring are a gradual softening of the resistance put up by someone who has suffered much in the past.

These are just some of the thoughts that run through my mind, on this lazy day after the latest typhoon.

Typhoon

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Posted by on in Assistance, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 24, 2024, Manila- I rode the Light Rail to United Nations Station and walked over to the museum complex, thinking I would visit those floors at the Natural History and nearby Fine Arts, that I had missed last time. A tricycle driver told me everything was closed. This made sense-more sense than this one heading out in the rain, even though my umbrella did its job. The national government took care of its workers and sent all non-essential staff home early.

Typhoon Kristine is here, and is dumping heavy rain, so that the streets are rivers, for the second time this visit. I have checked in with the residents of the Baha’i Center and advised them to shelter upstairs. Here at Ola! Hostel, we are all on the second floor or above, and even the staff are on a mezzanine level, safe from flooding. Kathy and her sons are on an upper floor of their building, so no worries about them. Somehow, the street people will also survive. This is de rigueur for them and most will take to fire escapes or hunker in lobbies of large buildings, including car parks-or in one of the 7-11s or Lawton’s Convenience Marts, which are open 24 hours a day.

Severe weather is just part of experiencing a place, and if I follow my current plan, typhoons will be a routine part of my life, in a year or so, just as hurricanes, monsoonal rains, blizzards and dust storms have all been, elsewhere. By 11 p.m., the rain is expected to subside and tomorrow will come, gray and damp, but without the flooding. We are all okay.

Sky Way

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 23, 2024, Manila- The area between the entrance to Terminal 3 and the taxi stands, at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, is rife with touts, every one of whom wants to charge double or triple the fare charged by metered taxis, or even GRAB (Uber-type) vehicles. I have learned to walk straight ahead, saying “Excuse me!”, in a firm tone. The lady who mocked, saying “Get out of way!”, was a GRAB imposter, who still wanted twice the fare. I told her no, and went over to the meter booth.

The driver took me to Ola! Hostel, via the Skyway, for which the passenger (rightfully, in my view) pays the toll of 35 PhP (Philippine pesos) on top of the fare. It is a much nicer drive, with little slow downs and, at lunch time anyway, no gridlock. I arrived at Ola! seventeen minutes after leaving NAIA.

It has just been that sort of day. I was very warmly welcomed back to the hostel, and to the Baha’i Center, in late afternoon. My darling had news of her own: She has landed the job that she had sought, before last week’s loss of a dear Baha’i community member and this past weekend’s art gallery opening ( by K’s good friend), which I missed for the sake of connecting with an old friend from Mesa, AZ, who now lives in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.

She will be busy for several months, and that’s a good thing. I will also be busy, once I get back to Home Base I. There is a lot going on, just before the election and immediately afterward. November and December promise to pass with lightning speed. Through all of it, I will be encouraging Kathy, every day. I will see her again in February, during a short visit here, that will focus on a few important tasks.

Picking up on the ways to navigate this sometimes chaotic, but vibrant, society is coming to me organically. There are aspects that will also be very useful in the months to come, back in the United States.

Two Songs

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 20, 2024, Manila- One of the segments of the Shadow Play, at Ayala Museum’s 50th anniversary celebration, features a love song that was very popular in the Philippines in the 1990s: “Closer You and I”, by Gino Padilla. When this song was played, I noticed K looked wistful and was gazing straight ahead, as she softly sang along.

Of course, our mutual friends teased me about this, but I thought: “What if this had been the song that she and her late husband regarded as theirs?” It would have been around the time of their wedding, or shortly afterward. So, it is perfectly reasonable, and affirming, that she would be transported back to that time in their life together.

Penny and I also had a song, that she chose: “Just the Two of Us”, by Bill Withers and Grover Washington, Jr. The message certainly reflected our mutual sentiments and views on love and marriage. Like Gino’s tune, it is timeless.

We go through life and experience so many friendships, some fleeting, but others that endure a lot of ups and downs, and never fade. Someone back in the U.S. wondered as to which category my present friendship with Kathy falls. Well, we don’t know. Time will tell, and it won’t be for lack of effort by either of us, if it does turn out to be of short duration. There are far too many factors-social, pecuniary and emotional, that could propel it either way. It also won’t have been a waste of time. This has been a beautiful five weeks, with one more to go, and has certainly brought my self-confidence and feelings about self, to a much higher level.

Here are some scenes from yesterday’s visit to Ayala Museum.

Work by Fernando Zobel, a Spanish-Filipino painter (above and below)
Zobel appealed to my palate, with this piece.

AMPlify was the third session we attended. It was a performance by Manila Symphony Orchestra, whose legacy was mentioned in the last post.

Here is a view of the Symphony.

We then went to spend some time in the permanent exhibits of the Ayala. Here are some scenes of Filipino history and culture.

Filipino dress, through the centuries.
Abaca fiber, commonly used in Filipino textiles
This pot somewhat resembles one that we brought back from the Arcade, a few days ago.
Images of the Sarimanok, a legendary bird of Mindanao.
This panel is from an historic church in Cebu.

Every element of the museum, telling the story of a proud, often marginalized people; every song that appeals to the human heart; every note played by accomplished musicians, working in harmony-all of this is underscored by the most basic of all elements: love, illustrated by cohesion.

Foundation of Gold

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 19,2024, Manila- Many know that the islands of the Malay Archipelago, from Singapore, south and east to Timor and Halmahera, then north to Batanes, had structured, hierarchical societies, based on a chiefly class, prior to the arrival of European traders and colonialists. Relatively few know that these societies were an outgrowth of the successful use of metallurgy, and that the metal most commonly in demand was gold.

The Spanish, Portuguese, British, French and Dutch all had designs on countries which produced a wealth of spices. It was only when the colonialists settled down a bit, and made friends with some of the indigenous people, that they found there was gold to be had. As was their wont, the traders, adventurers and soldiers took the precious metal for themselves, under the guise of “for King and Country”. The rest is known to most of the world.

The Malay people, from their western outpost, in Madagascar in the far west to Taiwan and the Korean island of Jeju, in the north, are related linguistically and culturally to the Micronesian and Polynesian people of Oceania. Various features of Malay people, especially those indigenous to the Philippines, are outlined in exhibits now showing at Ayala Museum, in the southeast corner of Makati, Metro Manila. The foundation of their culture being the mining, smelting and wearing of gold is a point made most deftly.

The golden nature of the Filipino personality, though, is what has outlasted the mineral reserves, to which the Spanish conquistadors and Chinese pirates helped themselves copiously, over several centuries. Filipinos stand their ground, of course, and do not go about their lives foolishly-though anyone navigating the northeast side of Makati on Friday night would wonder about that, as the taxi driver ferrying me to my hostel, after my day with Kathy, could certainly attest. (There was no one to be found, among the drivers, who was obeying traffic signals.)

I was delighted, though, to rejoin her and two other friends this afternoon, at Ayala Museum, experiencing various sensory performances, from a Shadow Play with romantic songs playing in the background to a delightful performance by Manila Symphony Orchestra, which is Asia’s oldest. It was founded in 1926, by Alexander Lippay, and has not skipped a beat (pun intended) ever since. MSO even served as a vehicle of the Resistance, during Japanese occupation. The military governor, not wanting to look like a rube, reportedly attended classical music performances, but missed the message embedded in the program, that the Filipino spirit was alive and well.

The diorama of Philippine history is an area of the museum that would probably take me several hours to properly take in. I may get back there to do just that, on this visit. Otherwise, it’ll wait until February. (Yes, I am skipping out on chilly Prescott, for two weeks in 2/25. Certain matters will need my attention here, at that time.)

Life has taken me to many places of pure gold. I am especially glad for this latest.

Walking In Sync

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 15, 2024, Manila- Planning for the replacement of the defunct refrigerator in the Regional Baha’i Center of south Luzon, I sat in the Center’s common area, composing a message to the caretaker, who was out and about. I would take measurements of the empty box and walk over to the store where appliances are sold. There, I would look at the items on offer, with a specific style and model in mind. It will meet the needs of the kitchen staff, and not take up any more space than the old one. That would take up my day.

When my friend showed up, unexpectedly, I had an extra person’s perspective on which to draw, and she was more than glad to have me go along on her mission, which involved going in the same general direction. Doing anything with K means the world to me, so off we went, stopping at a catering restaurant and figuring out the menu for an event, tomorrow, that she is in charge of planning. We went over the menu, jotted down items that seemed appropriate, and decided on a good mix of foods.

Crossing the street, the next order of business was looking at 3-5 refrigerator models. We have tentatively settled on one, which will be recommended to the committee for final selection. That matter will be finalized tomorrow or Thursday.

Next up was an activity familiar to many-grocery shopping. We carefully looked at several items and price-checked, using the store’s in-aisle scanner. Kathy knows how to find the best deals, and so it happened, today. The items will also be used for tomorrow’s event.

We went back to the Center, and after some time spent socializing with a visitor from another part of Luzon, four of us set to work, putting plates in plastic holders and wrapping them in thin bags. I told K, last week, that I was happy doing even the most mundane of activities with her-and so she took me up on it today. We spent the afternoon walking in sync.

This is what makes the world go around.