Catholic Horse

One day while he was at the track playing the ponies and all but losing his shirt, Mitch noticed a priest who stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one of the horses lining up for the 4th race.

Lo and behold, that horse - a very long shot - won the race! Before the next race, as the horses began lining up, Mitch watched with interest as the old priest step onto the track. Sure enough, as the 5th race horses came to the starting gate the priest made a blessing on the forehead of one of the horses.

Mitch made a beeline for a betting window and placed a small bet on the horse. Again, even though it was another long shot, the horse the priest had blessed won the race. Mitch collected his winnings, and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest would bless for the 6th race. The priest again blessed a horse. Mitch bet big on it, and it won. Mitch was elated.

As the races continued the priest kept blessing long shot horses, and each one ended up coming in first. By and by, Mitch was pulling in some serious money.

By the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were going to come true. He made a quick dash to the ATM, withdrew all his savings, and awaited the priest's blessing that would tell him which horse to bet on.

True to his pattern, the priest stepped onto the track for the last race and blessed the forehead of an old nag that was the longest shot of the day. Mitch also observed the priest blessing the eyes, ears, and hooves of the old nag. Mitch knew he had a winner and bet every cent he owned on the old nag.

He then watched dumbfounded as the old nag come in dead last. Mitch, in a state of shock, made his way down to the track area where the priest was.

Confronting the old priest he demanded, 'Father! What happened? All day long you blessed horses and they all won. Then in the last race, the horse you blessed lost by a Kentucky mile. Now, thanks to you I've lost every cent of my savings - all of it!'

The priest nodded wisely and with sympathy. 'Son,' he said, 'that's the problem with you Protestants, you can't tell the difference between a simple blessing and last rites!'

-Eab


A story to remind us not to depend on gambling to earn a living. Work hard and God will bless your needs with great abundance.

Disclaimer: Not to offend anyone or any non-Catholic believers. This is just a story told with a lesson to learn.

Sriracha

Sa wa dee ka...

In Sriracha now. The previous blog was written before I left, so it was scheduled to be posted today. Thailand is famous for its food and fruits. Here are some of them:

Stalls by the sea selling fresh lok-lok seafood and dishes.

Sotong the size bigger than my friend's palm.

Papaya salad - som tam. RM8.

Pig's neck - kho mu yang. RM 6 only.

Tom yam shrimp - tom yam kung. RM15.

Thai's best fish - krapung. RM20.

That's for now. Need to get back to dinner at 7pm (it's 8pm in Malaysia). Hungry and tired, lacking sleep. One more week to go. :)

Away

While you are reading this, I am away for a South East Asia gathering somewhere outside Malaysia. It's a hectic August for me, with my schedule fully packed and more to come, finding empty slots in my planner.

Being away from home without guardians outside Malaysia is a first-time for me. I am no traveller, and my survival skills can be rated top from below. But yea, leaving it all in God's hands. :)

So.. how are you doing back home? :)

I'll try to find time to share my experience during my absence, and hopefully you will learn something too!

Sharing is caring, indirectly gaining.

H1N1

Everyone seems to be talking about it. Death toll rises daily, number of those infected is also increasing rapidly. Precationary steps must be taken to hopefully prevent the continuing spread of the deadly virus attacking the lungs.

Many schools were closed in Malaysia. Increasing number of higher learning institutions can be seen, and more and more people are getting worried? for once.

Travelling is a no-no. Going to public crowded areas is not encouraged. Masks are recommended. Perhaps getting a flu shot should be considered.

Why the sudden chaos anyway? How and why did it happen or spread in the very first place? I shiver to think of someone I know, or someone close to me lying in bed at the hospital quarantined. Such cold atmosphere, feeling all so lonely and rejected. I feel sorry for those whose family members were affected, those who left before us because of this pandemic.

What is the reason behind all these tears and sorrow, grief and mourning, worries and fears?

I might be exposing myself to such danger, but I pray all will be fine. Little do I want those around me to experience such downturn in their lives. All the same, always be careful I would say. Know your limits and take care of yourself, for no one else can do better than you yourself.

I suppose it's time to look at ourselves and think for others for once; for before you know it, I might be here today but gone tomorrow. At least live the best for today, now that the world is turning in such direction.

Have no regrets. :)

Weekend Work

The weekend was spent with an inter-campus camp. The camp was actually running well on Sat until I got phone calls from the office and under unavoidable circumstances, I had to rush down from camp site to do the work. Skipped lunch, worked full hours straight and rushed. Pressured, watched, supervised; rushed back to camp site after the 5 hour strain. Had taize prayers that night and went straight to bed after that. Never in my life had I been so tired. Even ASC was not that bad. This time it felt like I ran the whole ASC for 1 whole month.

Sunday. Finished camp. Came down rushed to office. It was 3pm and I stayed there till 1130pm. You may ask "Is that necessary?" I can't seem to find the right explanation for that. To say it is, I'm half-hearted. To say it's not, then what's with all the rush?

This morning, Monday - got it all done. But there was a story behind. I was at the tip of finishing everything, when the computer jammed. It just lagged and stopped responding. I thought perhaps I worked a bit too fast so waited for the lag to stop. But it didn't, instead it remained frozen. Switched it off, and it restarted. But it stopped at the loading page. And never moved for the next half an hour. It was 1030am and I had to get things done by 11am.

I was losing myself then. Didn't know what to do, was so worried about the work which I saved inside the computer only, not externally. And I went to dad and he came over and saw to things. Switched it off. Waited. He prayed over the computer, and it restarted. And all went well after that. No documents missing. The power of prayer.

Perhaps you reading this might not feel the real stress in handling such situations at the very last minute. Perhaps this does not apply to you. Perhaps this might even be a funny joke to you.

But all I can say is; despite the hecticness, the pressure, everything, God makes sure you are fit for it. He won't give you something you can't handle; he just wants you to take the extra step to do it for him. In my case, sacrifice. At the very last minute, this morning say - I was so tired from lacking of sleep after camp and burning midnight oil in the office, yet he kept me fit enough to just finish everything, and this afternoon I rested since all's done. He plans your path, and as long as you are willing to submit to him and face the waves that come alongside it, all plans will unfold nicely.

That's my weekend story. For camp story, perhaps another day. A busy week ahead, but I'll make time, hopefully. :)

Why do we shout when in anger?

A spiritual story by Unknown.

A saint who was visiting river to take bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his disciples smiled and asked, 'Why do people shout in anger shout at each other?'

Disciples thought for a while, then one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout.'

'But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner,' asked the saint.

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples. Finally the saint explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either non-existent or very small...'

The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

He looked at his disciples and said, 'So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return. They may end up in divorce courts, for instance.'

Upcoming

The document's out. Preparations must be done. Thought it was not right to do it that way, so we did it another way yet now it was consented to do the former. ...what a waste.

Anyway, upcoming events!

Ever wondered why sometimes we get soooo excited about a certain event coming up very very soon, and when the event date comes nearer by just a week, you tend to lose those anxiety and excitement? I suppose that happens when you have too much to look forward to, till you forget which one to be more excited about. And it's happening.

It seems rather a tasteless feeling that things and people fail you one after another. As people would always say, give them another chance. Yea. Another chance. And another, and another, and another... so that you'll be given chances too, when it hits back on you one day. Ah... the counter-attack.

All the same, :) I suppose smiling is still top on my list. It gets very annoying that you know the other side of being on one side of yourself. Doubt if you get what I mean, but it's so hard to think of the fuller half cup at times. Sometimes I wish to just pour everything away and start refilling once more. It frusts when you try to go against your own human self, knowing better of the spiritual self. Ahh..

With all these upcoming events, I've been thinking whether I'm up for it. Whether I'm really into it now, as I awaited its arrival weeks and months ago. I don't know why all these were planned, but somehow I contradict myself lately. Perhaps leaving it up to God would be the best decision, yet at the same time to do some personal thinking as well. :S

GiveMeOnePureAndHolyPassion - song of my day. thoughts of my heart. cries of my soul.