The Mysteries of Life

The mystery of life fascinates me always. The glorious dawn, the setting sun, the graceful butterflies, the dancing trees, and the mysterious moon make me wonder why they are what they are now. The fact that I can always see them makes me think that they are following a certain routine everyday. But, this thought always vanishes in my mind because of another fact that nothing is permanent in this world except change. That’s why I compared life to a rosary. The rosary has many mysteries: The joyful, sorrowful, light, and glorious mysteries, just as life has mysteries. But unlike the rosary, life has an ocean of mysteries. Among them are the mysteries of love, birth, death, sorrow, and happiness.

These five mysteries of life can be clearly seen in the movie “Life is Beautiful”. Love was in the air when Guido first laid eyes on Dora. There was still love when Dora gave birth to their son. They became very happy with each other. But because of the appearance of another mystery, sorrow, the supposed to be a happy ending became a nightmare for both of them. Later on, death met Guido when he tried to save Dora and his son. All of the five mysteries of life are evident in the movie, but the most wonderful and the most mysterious of all these mysteries is the first mystery, the mystery of love.



I have read so many books and I have watched so many movies, yet only the villains believed that love is a weak emotion. In fact, they really believed that love is the weakest among all the emotions, and they became stupid fools because of that. Love is the most powerful force that ever set foot in this weird world. It is present from the breaking of the day until the setting of the sun. It was there when you first saw the light, and it will still be there after you have seen the light. In fact, love is the main reason why we are here talking, and laughing, and crying. It is the reason why most people continued to live even though they have nothing to live for. It is also the main reason why Dora and her son, Joshua, continued to live even though their lives were in real danger. It is also the reason why Guido died protecting his family.



When I first saw the movie, I was persuaded to do the same thing done by Guido to his family, to sacrifice for their sake. It was his selfless love that moved me to change myself; from a self-centered black sheep to a selfless lamb. Even in his hard times and persecutions, he managed to outwit the Nazis to save first his son and his wife, and then himself. Unfortunately, he only saved his family. He had lacked the time to save himself, and he didn’t care. The only important thing to him in this world is his family. He would risk himself just to keep them safe. This is the human value that we should have in order for us to be worthy in front of the Lord.

However, I was a little bit disappointed at the ending. I was expecting that both Guido and Dora will die. This should make the audience cry their heart out. Also, I like tragic endings. But if Dora was meant to live, I would like Guido to defy death and live again with his wife and his son. In this way, they would live happily ever after, just as a story goes. All I want is a very tragic ending or a very happy ending.

All in all, it was a very beautiful movie. It speaks of the love of a father and husband to his son and his wife. It shows the world that nothing is more powerful than love. With it, you can do things that you didn’t expect to do yourself. Without it, you couldn’t live. Also, I was deeply moved that Guido did every way to save his family. The funny thing is that he actually did everything that he didn’t have the time to save himself.



Life, indeed, is a rosary. Sometimes, you feel that you are on top of the world. Then suddenly, the world fell down on top of you, and you can’t understand how or why it happened. Sometimes, you are blessed with good fortune, then another moment, it is taken away from you, and you don’t know who took it from you. That’s why we should live every moment of our lives in its fullness. We don’t know “what lies beyond that river bend”, sang Pocahontas. We should seize the day. If you won’t, then you will regret it.

Memoirs of Love

When anybody talks about love, I often recollect the love stories of the Greeks. The love stories of the Greeks were the romantic tales about the love and passion between Greek gods and goddesses, and mortals and immortals. What I really like about their stories is that a Greek, may he be a god or a mortal, frequently wears his heart on his sleeves. That’s why when they love, expect them to swim seas on stormy nights, traverse the worlds separating them from their sweethearts, or adore voluptuous sculptures.

I’ll never forget the stories of Hero and Leander, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Pygmalion and Galatea. Their stories were unique, fascinating, and out of the ordinary. Swimming on stormy nights is fascinating. Traversing the underworld is really out of the ordinary. Loving a statue is…a little bit…“unique” (and a little absurd, of course, who ever heard of a man falling in love with a female statue?). I couldn’t find anyone who reads their stories and not finding them worthy of note. That’s why I really adore Greek love stories.

Why am I talking about these things? Well, if you can notice, they display a distinct characteristic of love. Swimming against the forces of nature, navigating unknown regions, and adoring a piece of art in the name of love all conclude that love knows no boundaries. The forces of nature can’t stop love. Different worlds can’t impede love. Elemental dissimilarities can’t hinder love. Love is inexorable. Therefore, love recognizes no boundaries.

Love simply doesn’t recognize limitations when they see one. As much as this thought freaks ordinary mortals like us, this statement is very true and very evident in Greek stories. One of the stories that display this feature is the story of Hero and Leander, which I had vaguely mentioned in the previous paragraphs. This story is one of the many narratives that depict the liberty of love. The love that is displayed in this story was limitless and free. To prove this, let’s delve into their story:

Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite in Sestus. When she met Leander, a youth of a town in the opposite shores of Sestus, things were never the same again for both of them. Every night, Leander would swim across to her, guided by the light of a torch Hero always set blazing on the top of a tower (when I said every night, I really mean every single night). Nothing would really stop Leander from coming to Hero, even storms. So, anyone at this point could conclude that love really knows no boundaries.

Love really recognizes no limitations. No forces of nature can ever separate two soul mates. If a body of water sets them apart, they’ll really cross it. If a storm gets in their way, they’ll really traverse through it just to be with one another. In the name of love, they would really be willing to swim a hundred miles and face a thousand Ondoys, Pepengs, and Quedans if these are what it takes to be together again. Hence, love certainly knows no boundaries.

Love simply doesn’t recognize limitations when they see one. This statement may sound ridiculous to us; but, for two lovebirds, it’s a fact. A story that tells us this much is the story about Orpheus and Eurydice. These two lovebirds can enlighten us about this whole fact thing. Let’s take a peek at their story:

Orpheus was a forlorn musician before Eurydice ever met him. When they did come across each other, everything then began to fall in place. When they were married, they were a match from heaven. But directly after their wedding, Eurydice was bitten by a poisonous snake and immediately died (of course, if you were bitten by a snake like that, you can’t expect to live to tell the tale). Anyway, Orpheus went back to being alone and forsaken. Only now, he was determined to get his Eurydice back from the dead. And so, he went to the underworld and tried to convince Hades and Persephone to resurrect Eurydice…Well, if you can believe that, then there you have it, the evidence of a love that clearly knows no boundaries.

Love really recognizes no limitations. Even the worlds that separate these two lovebirds can’t keep them apart. You can’t really expect them to resist being distant from one another. “It is difficult to keep love imprisoned”, as the story of Cupid and Psyche quote. However far his sweetheart dwells, he would certainly follow her there. So, it would really go to the extent of going to the underworld if one of them happens to “cross over”. Therefore, love truly knows no boundaries.

Love simply doesn’t recognize limitations when they see one. This one last and final love story really explains this idea clearly. This story is the story of Pygmalion and Galatea. Their love story perhaps is the most interesting and the most bizarre story among the other stories that I have included here. Why I have said so, let’s find out:

Pygmalion was a gifted young sculptor and a woman-hater. In fact, he was determined never to get married. But, he chose to pour all his talents in sculpting… (guess what)…a woman (now this is weird). Either he was insane or the sculpture he made turned out to be exquisitely gorgeous, he fell in love with her after he sculpted her (can you believe that?). He even showered her with gifts young women loved to have (he’s really insane). But however absurd that was, he loved her like a man would love a real woman. Nevertheless, we can really conclude here that love knows no boundaries.

Love really recognizes no limitations…At this point, you could already understand this assertion. But for the sake of documentation (and for coherence, of course—it’s hard to end this way), I would prefer to wrap up my ideas formally… (now, where will I start?) By knowing the story of Pygmalion and Galatea, we could perceive that love truly knows no boundaries. It won’t matter if you are in love with an effigy or with something worse than that. For love, it won’t make a difference at all. That’s why I have asserted that love doesn’t really recognize boundaries.

If you are patient enough to read a lot of Greek love stories, you would notice that almost all of them speak of how boundless love is. Love can really occur between Titans and Olympians, gods and goddesses, higher deities and nymphs, and mortals and immortals. Who would ever forget Zeus taking a lot of mistresses behind Hera’s watchful eyes? Or of Apollo chasing a lot of young mortal women? Who would really forget the cyclops Polyphemus falling madly in love with the stunning sea nymph Galatea? (not the Galatea of Pygmalion) Or of the sea-god Glaucus forever adoring the nymph-monster Scylla? All of them proved that it won’t count whether you are a god or not, a mortal or an immortal, or a nymph or a monster. What counts is that you truly love each other. So, love really knows no boundaries.

Love really recognizes no limitations (how many times did I mention this by the way?). It is very clear from what I have presented to you that love really goes beyond its limits (there I go again). Love is not limited by the bodies of water that separates two lovers. It is not restricted to the two of them living in two separate worlds; nor is it held back to two different beings. It is also apparent from the examples that I have laid before that it won’t matter whether you are living in opposite shores, or dwelling in separate worlds, or falling in love with a different creature. Thus, love is unlimited and boundless.

Now we go to the very last paragraph of my composition. I just would like to tell you that if you ever demand further evidences about my assertion, just read a lot of Greek love stories and you would find your answers there. Meanwhile, I would end this composition with a bow and an overused statement, “Love knows no boundaries”…

The Company People

Every company has an order of positions. These positions range from the highest to the lowest. The highest positions of a company are the main officers, namely the president and his vice, the board members, and the board of committees. The next positions are the employees. The last positions are the maintenance staff, which is composed of janitors and sweepers. These positions may differ from each other, but they are of equal importance. So, a company really needs an order of positions in order for it to progress.

Grazie and Graziela

Each person is unique. Even the twins, Grazie and Graziela, have characteristics that distinguish them from one another. Graziela is tall; Grazie is taller. The latter likes to wear her hair in ponytail; the former wants her hair down and flowing. Moreover, Grazie is pretty and simple; Graziela is gorgeous and elegant. If you can notice, their characteristics make them poles apart even though they are twins. That is why every individual is exclusive.

My Three Laws of Spiritual Motion

All of my life was governed by these 3 laws: my Law of Inertia, my Law of Acceleration, and my Law of Interaction. Sounds like the 3 laws of motion, isn’t it? But, no. It’s not Newton’s laws of motion; it’s MY laws of SPIRITUAL motion. These laws that I had created years ago and perfected last month have been of great help for me since then. These laws, which are all appropriately named for the messages each of them contain, constantly remind me to look at the problems I encounter with a knowing mind and a positive outlook on life. These laws also contain facts in life that can’t easily be denied. They became my guide as I continue my way to the top. That is why I let my life be governed by these laws. I can’t imagine my life without them.


Now, let me introduce my first law of spiritual motion, which is my Law of Inertia. My law of inertia states that I have to resist unbalanced forces if I want to continue moving, since a body in motion will continue to do so unless a force is acted upon it. Meaning, I have to mentally fight off problems from getting under my skin in order for me to get on with life, since these problems can either alter one’s steady course or end one’s serene journey. I have to be wary not to let my problems get the most of me, because if they do, I will get panicked and I might do something that can alter my optimistic view of life. That’s why I have to keep them a distance away from me.

How can I maintain my motion if I am persistently bombarded with a lot of them? The answer lies in my second law of spiritual motion which is my Law of Acceleration. My law of acceleration states that I have to accelerate more if there is an increase of the unbalanced force. The greater the force of the problem, the greater should be my acceleration. In other words, I have to bear in mind that the only way I can beat these troubles is to overpower their force. Therefore, I have to accelerate forward despite of all the distractions in order for me to maintain my motion.

So that I could carry out the second law and continue the first law, I created the third and last law of spiritual motion, which is my Law of Interaction. My law of interaction states that I have to keep on resisting and accelerating because every obstacle has an equal yet oppositely directed force, which is the solution itself. I will eventually stumble on it if I persist on resisting the problems and accelerating forward. That’s why I have to keep these things up if I want to get on with life.

If you’ll look closely, you would surely see that what I am saying all along is that the problems we face should be dealt with a calm head, a persistent heart, and an affirmative action. A calm head is needed so that we can resist our problems. A persistent heart is a necessity so that we can accelerate forward. An affirmative action is essential so that we can continue resisting and accelerating. Therefore, these 3 laws of mine that have been guiding me through all these years can also be your guide as you go through yours.

The Countess : A Victim of Revenge

" The Countess " is a novel written by Catherine Coulter. It is a Gothic novel masquerading as a regency, for the setting is in late 1800's in Europe. This means that the characters are dukes and duchesses, counts and countesses, and knights and damsels. The novel is a kind of a regency romance. It is the love story between a young woman who married an old earl and the earl's handsome young nephew who was regarded as the heir of the earl.

Andrea Jameson, because of her father, grew up hating all young men. So, when her grandfather who raised her up died, she agreed to a bargain with an old widowed earl who promises her all the protection and comfort she needs without touching her. That means that they are only married by name and nothing else. But as she moved to live in the mansion of Lawrence, her new husband, she discovered long-ago secrets buried in the house. This includes the tale of Caroline, the previous mistress of Lawrence who believed to have jumped out of insanity at the top of the tower, and the mysterious Black room which was obviously painted with black and of which an evil force seems to dwell. At the midst of these secrets, she discovered that someone wanted her dead. So, when John, the handsome young nephew of her husband, offered help and protection, she agreed. She was so frightened that moment. As the threats for her life come and go, John fell in love with her, and to her dismay, she found herself falling in love with him, a feeling forbidden for someone like her, a wife and a man-hater. The mystery deepened when her father whom she hoped to be dead wrote to her saying to get out of the house. Because of her willingness to solve the mystery, she declined to leave. Days after that, she discovered that the one who threatened her life was Lawrence, her husband. Instead of leaving, she stayed in the mansion, for she found her father's letter in his room. It was already too late when she decided to leave. That was when she learned the whole truth. All along, she was the bait to make her father appear to rescue her. According to her father, who was held prisoner like her, he loved Caroline when the latter became the mistress of Lawrence. When Lawrence realized this, he murdered Caroline. Now, Lawrence wanted to kill him for what he did. As Lawrence moved, Andrea and John stopped him and managed to unarm his men. As a result, Lawrence died and Andrea and John married months later.

The theme of the novel is revenge. If a man accidentally or intentionally despised a man, the latter would certainly come back and punish the former for what he had done. This is what happened to Lawrence. Because of his anger to Andrea's father, he was able to kill Caroline and threaten the lives of Andrea and his father. Therefore, revenge is never good, and it doesn't have a better effect either.

Christmas Geometry

Gifts come in different shapes and sizes.

Some are square, while others are round.

Just like gifts, people have geometric patterns, too. There are well-rounded people. They are intellectually and physically active. They engaged in many activities like singing, dancing, sports, reading and the like.

Other people are square. They are the introvert or silent types. They enjoy being alone writing poetry or simply listening to music.

How many shapes and sizes can you form with lines? Infinite! Likewise, with people. Each person is a unique creature of God endowed with different personalities, talents and skills.

What is so special about all our differences?

The intersecting lines, the point of connection between lines are special! It means that despite our diversity, we can still form bonding relationships with others through love and understanding. That is the special message of Christmas!

Taken from Children's Story and Activity Book No. 26