Category Archives: Matters of Faith

Fever, Pitched

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Posted by on in Assistance, Family, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 6, 2023- Penny’s graduation photo, circa 2006, appeared on one of my social media pages, a few days ago. I keep going back to it, as comments have come in. So, it was no surprise when I got the message “This stubborn fever is going to break, tonight.” When I awoke, this morning, the fever was indeed gone and a residue of sweat confirmed the break.

I am now relieved of the need to call off my two work assignments, tomorrow and Wednesday. Today proceeded, slowly on my part, but with a number of small tasks, from writing my mother to locating a couple of missing purchase cards, being accomplished. The lesson remains, though, that jumping right back into community life after a long journey is not a good idea. It stemmed more from guilt, on my part, and I see that no friends have fallen away, after I had to spend the weekend largely sequestered. So, as I said earlier, any future travels will be followed by a day or two of rest, whether “needed” or not.

Penny’s photo with me is also a lovely reminder of the eternity of our tie. I did not retain her social media presence, once the anniversary of her passing had come and gone. Those who believe in maintaining tribute pages will likely offer push back on this, but a tribute page is mainly for the solace of loved ones left behind. We know she is in a good place and does not need tugs on this side of the veil. That,at least for me, is solace enough.

The Anchor Is Still In Place

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

November 2, 2023- The landlord was right there, as I approached the driveway, so I pulled around and up the south side of the horseshoe. He had done some work on the back door to Home Base, but went on to other tasks, so I could bring everything inside. After an exchange of pleasantries, and my reminding him to deposit the rent check, it was time for a rest.

The western end of the Pacific Rim feels like home, the way Jeju does-and San Diego, Grapevine, Santa Fe, Vancouver Island, Cortez, Bisbee, Philadelphia, Chicagoland, Mishawaka, Cape Breton, the North Shore of Massachusetts, a dozen places across the South-and here, Home Base Prescott, my anchor.

The difference in temperature is palpable-Manila was gorgeously warm and Prescott is, well, stimulating. I put the Korean comforter on my bed, and there it will stay until March or April. The human temperature, though, is warm all over. I was welcomed in Banning-at Sunset Motel and at Gramma’s Country Kitchen, my go-to spot for a delectable meal when passing through the Inland Empire, along I-10. I had no need to stop anywhere else, save getting gas in Coachella- where it is below $5 a gallon, once again. Once in Prescott, I picked up the mail, and attended a Red Cross monthly meeting. We will do smoke detector installations, later this month, and on other occasions, towards Spring. Then, it was time for a long evening’s rest.

So here I am, thinking of the Filipino/as who make my southwest Pacific anchor strong: Demure, soft-spoken Norlie, dedicated Ylona, fun-loving, intellectual and energetic Kathy, diligent firecracker Arlene, the singing waiter and cook at Sky Pad, the kind and sweet-faced laundress of Santa Ana and all those hotel staffers and drivers who went the extra mile for me. I have only scratched the surface of that unique nation, and have promised Norlie and Kathy that I will be back, for more extensive efforts, in 2025, in-between long-delayed time in Europe and northeast Asia. Perhaps N’s beloved will be there, by then, and a group of us can visit other islands, and parts of Luzon together.

Here I am, prepping for the activities that lie ahead this month, including the now traditional week in Grapevine and thereabouts, the teaching work, the Farmers Market winter hours and installing fire alarms in the northwest AZ town of Kingman.

Here I am, feeling anchored and appreciated.

Expanding Home, Day 20: The World at Mall of Asia

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

October 29, 2023, Manila- The crowds were terraced, the way northern Luzon’s rice fields are. Everyone was focused on the setting sun, and there was a fair quiet-no blaring cell phone music, with the implied message-“Everyone look at meeeeeeee!” Selfies, of course, abounded and I took one or two of my two remaining hosts.

We were at Mall of Asia (aka MOA) so that the ladies could check out business opportunities, at Franchise Asia’s 2023 International Expo-Manila. “Fun. Friendship. Franchising” was the theme, and the world of chain businesses was here in force. Everyone from Subway and Pizza Hut to Macao Imperial Tea and South Korea’s Kim Soon Rye’s Boneless Chicken were present, and swarmed by would-be entrepreneurs. My two friends took a few brochures and are leaning towards one of them. You will know which one, when they make their mark.

Mall of Asia’s Exposition Center

After the exposition walkabout, we headed towards the other main attraction, perched over Manila Bay.

Impending sunset (Above and below)

As the sun is slowly setting on my first solo visit to southeast Asia, I look forward to seeing both my friends’ success and visits with others in the provinces, en route from Europe to Korea and Japan, two years hence. We celebrated this visit with a dinner at Jolibee, the Philippines’ premier addition to the world of comfort food. An occasional chicken sandwich never hurt anyone.

How the day began: Our Sunday devotional

Expanding Home, Day 19: Counting Upwards

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Education, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 28, 2023, Manila- Although you didn’t ask, I will tell you anyway: With not much going on today, I busied myself in learning how to count by ones, then by tens and thousands,in Tagalog.
Here is the chart for which you have all been waiting!

One Isa; Two Dalawa; Three Tatlo; Four Apat; Five Lihma;

Six Anim; Seven Pito; Eight Wahlo; Nine Seeyam; Ten Sampu

Twenty Dalawangpu; Thirty Tatlumpu; Forty Apatnapu; Fifty Limampu;

Sixty Animnapu Seventy Pitumpu Eighty Walumpu Ninety Siyamnapu

Hundred Isang Daan Thousand Isang Libo Ten Thousand Sampung Libo

Hundred Thousand Isang Daan Libo Million Isang Milyon Billion Isang Bilyon

Some other essentials: Hello is……Hello! Goodbye is Paalam. Please is Pakiusap. Thank you is Salamat po. Excuse me is Pasensya na po. Yes is Oo. No is Hindi. No thank you is Hindi salamat. How are you? is Kamusta? Pleased to meet you is Nagagalak ako na makilala kaed.

Of course, most Filipinos know at least a fair amount of English, but like people anywhere, they appreciate an effort by visitors to speak the language of their heart. It is unfortunate, in my view, that salamat is being replaced by Thank you, but that is the trend, here in Manila, at least.

To keep up a visual of the Baha’i National Center, here is the dignified Seat of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the Philippines.

Meeting Room of National Spiritual Assembly, Manila (Above and below)

Expanding Home, Day 15: Patience, Please

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 24, 2023, Manila- Today was a day of rest for my hosts. It began with another member of the community questioning my reasons for being here-indicating that I was limiting myself to an area where not all that much was going on. My response was to just sit tight and let the message process. After a while, I got further information from one of my hosts, that there was the initial expectation that I would be blazing about the country, with some days in one spot and some in another.

Now I could reply: . This is not my last visit to the Philippines. In fact, when honouring the end of World War II, (God willing, and provided WW III hasn’t started in the meantime), two years hence, it will make the most sense for me to go from Europe to east Asia, rather than returning to the U.S. and leaving again after only a month at Home Base. That will give more time for the provincial activities the community member wants to see.

My Korean friends were fond of saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, though their context was more along the lines of excusing an extended lack of effort. In my case, I would excuse being overextended, but there is no sense in making excuses. 2025 will be what it is, and I am just glad to be here to listen to my hosts and offer assistance where I can, in terms of encouraging healing where it is needed, and connecting friends who live in the same part of the country, but who did not know one another, until a day or two ago. Networking has always been important in my life, and is as much a reason why I have traveled almost incessantly, since I was seven years old. (Going to different areas of Saugus was as big a deal then, as going to different parts of North America, and beyond, is now). It is all about connections.

I am happy to report that the community member has come to understand my mindset and has adjusted expectations. I hope and trust that others will do the same, as this decade plays out-and if immediate family needs arise,those will always take precedence.

Expanding Home, Day 14, Part 1: Intramuros

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Education, Entertainment, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 23, 2023, Manila- The four of us arrived in “Old Manila”, by taxi, and by vote of 3-0, with this one abstaining, out of being totally at a loss, we headed to Manila Cathedral. En route, we were stopped, briefly, by an elderly beggar, who ended up going on to a group of men, who gave him two boiled eggs. That is something I will always gladly do, if I have food to share. Money? Nah.

Manila Cathedral has been visited by several Popes, most recently Francis I. We found it sparsely occupied, and in need of some repairs, but worth visiting, nonetheless, because of its historical value.

The Manila Cathedral, from the east.
History of Manila Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Friezes of the Passion of Jesus the Christ, fronted by a sculpture of Mother Mary
Interior of Manila Cathedral

Chinese merchants were allowed into Intramuros, during daylight hours. Spanish law required them to leave at sunset. One merchant left this inscription, just outside the gated heart of Intramuros.

Partial inscription at north door to Intramuros
The guided tour to the interior rooms of Intramuros is not offered on Mondays. The scene above does show the substance of this magnificent complex.
Wrought iron gate, to inner garden of Intramuros.
Peak inside a “closed” room of Intramuros
Inner garden of Intramuros
Function room at White Knight Hotel, Intramuros
Hallway of White Knight Hotel
Fern and orchid garden, Intramuros
My three kind guides, and the moss-covered well
The rainbow-stone interior of the well at Intramuros
Silver Grand Mirror, outside Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant, Intramuros
After innumerable selfies of my friends, we continued to San Agustin Church. Here is the patron of the church.
Interior of San Agustin Church, Intramuros
Sanctuary and lectern, San Agustin Church
Here are some views of the wall itself (above and following)
Atop the wall around Old Manila
The long rampart
Outside the wall
Set cannons, in wall portals
The full tableau of Spanish defenses, atop the wall.

Once we left the wall’s ramparts, it was time to pay respects to the Philippine national hero.

Expanding Home, Day 13: Two Family Circles

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 22, 2023, Paranaque- Traffic in Manila, on Sunday, is about what one would expect: Vehicles can actually move at more than 23 kmh. I got to the Baha’i National Center, in the Santa Ana section of Manila, in less than an hour. I was the first visitor to arrive, and was again warmly greeted by the residents. After a fashion, nearly fifteen other people showed for the devotional, we shared prayers, news from around the Philippines and refreshments. A feisty child alternated between boisterousness and reverence. Several of the Regional Council members were in and out of their own meeting, to dovetail with participating in the devotional.

Gathering at Baha’i National Center of the Philippines, Santa Ana, Manila

It all felt like a gathering at Home Base. It felt like home, and so it will be for the week ahead, especially once I transfer to University College Residences, the redundantly-named, but compact and ecologically-state of the art accommodations, a stone’s-throw from the Center. The ladies who live at the Center, serving as hosts and caretakers, are like younger sisters. The young man who is serving in the Philippine Navy is a mirror of my Navy-veteran son. The parents of the rambunctious little boy could be one of my nephews and nieces-in-law, whose son has gone from unruliness to morphing into a sensitive little man, compassionate about animal welfare and the well-being of his grandfather. The universality of the Baha’i Faith is always borne out by its members, as ordinary, and as flawed, as we sometimes are. It is borne out, as well, by our adherence to the principle: The Oneness of Mankind.

There is something of that, too, in how I have come to see the little community of Airplane Village, the collection of shops, restaurants, small hotels and a bar, that sit opposite the huge operation that is Terminal One, the primary International Terminal of Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The terminal itself has the feel of a family operation. In going back and forth between hotel and the terminal’s ATM (the Philippines is largely, mostly, a cash economy) I have come to be a familiar face to the gate guards and security people-in a good way. They have shown me the shortcuts to and from AV, and are not concerned about checking my passport each and every time I enter the facility.

Going back and forth between Airplane Village and Santa Ana’s Barangay 176, the past few days, is also a mirror of my larger life-somehow managing to fit in at Home Base, with my biological family and with people who make up extended family-across North America and now, in a real sense, across the ocean.

The Earth itself is becoming one big home.

Expanding Home, Day 12: A Toe In The Water

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 21, 2023, Paranaque- The driver seemed near the end of his rope: “How can you be staying someplace, and not know the address?” The equally flustered passenger was asking self the same question, but all the e-mails from the hotel gave a phone number and e-mail address, but no physical location. The gate guard at the airport knew the answer-“Sir, the rider cannot know the street address, because there is only a general location. Kindly drive around the edge of the terminal and turn left. You will both see a familiar face: Colonel Sanders. There is where the hotel is.” Driver followed the directions, the passenger sighed to self, paid the driver and went off to enjoy an evening of professional karaoke singers, playing all the hits they knew. It was a fine Saturday night, after all.

I spent the better part of the day with three or four Filipino Baha’is, at the National Center/South Luzon Regional Office. We also scouted my residence for the coming week, which is close to the office and will allow me to establish the bonds that are as much my goal for this journey, as the visit, three days ago, with my sponsored youth was. I will thus have put a toe in the water, figuratively speaking. By the end of my time here, the Philippines will seem as much like home as Arizona, California, New Mexico, Colorado,Carson City, Texas, Pennsylvania, New England, Atlantic Canada, the Pacific Northwest, Brittany and South Korea. Home is definitely expanding.

I was not always certain that I would take to the tropics, the same way that my temperate mindset has reveled in lands with four seasons. It is, however, more a sense of the heart being touched by the gentleness, overall, of people here-much as the First Nations peoples and the farm folk around North America, and the Celts of Brittany, have won that heart. Truth be known, I barely feel the intense heat. Sunscreen and a good hat take care of the physical aspect. I am, otherwise, mainly attending to conversations, some of them fairly deep, with both the Baha’i friends and people I have met here and in Bicol.

What this means for the years immediately ahead remains to be seen. Family will always be my primary responsibility, after service to Baha’u’llah. Being told, though, that I am always welcome here, means a lot.

Philippine Baha’i National Center-Main Library
Entrance to Baha’i National Center of the Philippines, Santa Ana District, near Manila

Shani

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 8, 2023- Her smiling countenance is what we have left of her, at least for the time being. It is a sweet smile, and yes, it’s framed by a scantily-clad physique-but so what? SO WHAT? If that is the “crime” that led grown men abduct her, throw her in a truck, strip her naked and have women spit at her, while she was either unconscious or dead, it speaks volumes about the nature of the individuals and groups who are manipulating the Arabs of Palestine-specifically the long-marginalized, “rats in a cage” Arabs of Gaza.

We all know what deprived animals do when they are trapped and cornered. How much worse it is, for human beings-and when their own neighbours, their own chosen leaders, are the ones primarily entrapping them-as a means of stoking hatred towards a selected enemy-who responds in kind. Thus a few women in an unknown village, somewhere in Gaza, spat at the body of a young woman-who was unconscious or dead. Thus were girls, not much younger than she, made to watch-and be put on notice by their elders-that this is what happens to those who disobey the ulama, the imams, the Supreme Leader.

I am slated to leave for another part of the world, in less than a week. Some of my loved ones have urged me to reconsider, given the current situation in Southwest Asia. It is a fair request, and I am keeping a close watch on the situation. This journey, like all my travels on public conveyances, is insured to the hilt. If the situation escalates-which it may, and those sympathetic to the terrorists strike in the part of the world where I am headed, then I am prepared to stay in bounds, spend a few days in San Diego and San Francisco, and come back to live the dream. If the situation stays as it is presently-which it also may, I will take one leg of the flight at a time, and check updates, while in San Diego, then in San Francisco, then in T’aipei, to say nothing of being constantly vigilant, while in the Philippines.

Back to the matter of Shani Louk: She was at a music festival, in the Negev Desert, when she was abducted, taken to Gaza, stripped bare and paraded around a village like a slab of meat. There is little difference between this act, and all the other abductions, killings-on both sides of the border and torture-on both sides of the border AND the brutal attacks at a concert in Manchester, England, in May, 2017-except in the degree of death and destruction. There is little difference in the intent of the terror-mongers in southwest Israel and that of the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States-except in the degree of death and destruction.

Like the girls who were made to watch someone, not much older than they, be rendered unconscious, stripped of her clothing and paraded around, in total deshabille, their mothers’ and aunts’ sputum dripping from her body, we can only wonder how the human race got into this mess. Like the survivors of the Holocaust of 1943-45, forced to watch as their family members were herded onto rail cars and sent to “the showers”, never to return, we can only recoil in horror, as it happens again-albeit to a smaller group-so far. Like the innocent people of Gaza, the West Bank and the State of Israel, whose sole crime is living among those who exist by inhaling the stench of neurotically-achieved power, we can only redouble our own resolve to bring those tottering remnants of Byzantine folly to their just retribution. Extremism has begotten extremism-and it’s high time the gauntlet came down.

May Shani Louk be brought home to her mother.

“What ARE You?”

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 5, 2023- So asked the little boy, as he tried to wiggle out of his car seat, with the door open, while he waited for his mother to return to the car. I saw my immediate task as making sure he did not manage to fall out of the car. So, my short answer was that I was a helper, whose job was to keep the children safe. That gave him something to ponder-and Mom came back a minute or so later.

Exactly what any of us are, is more spiritual than physical. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. The physical body is a vessel, that lets us practice and develop spiritual attributes and resist, shed, those limitations borne of insecurity: Lust, greed, fear, rage, insincerity, envy-all that keep us down.

I am, essentially, a spirit living the life of a male human-and glad for every bit of it. That’s how I see myself. How the child mentioned above might see me is an entirely different matter-and based on my Dad’s contention that what people think of me is none of my business, a superfluous one at that. I would safeguard him, or any other child, as the need arises.

It’s been a good week.