O believer, what a glorious assurance this verse is! What confidence I have because “the way that I take” – this way of trials and tears, however winding, hidden, or tangled – “He knows”! When the “furnace is heated seven times hotter than usual” (Daniel 3:19), I can know He still lights my way. There is an Almighty Guide who knows and directs my steps, whether they lead to the bitter water at the well of Marah or to the joy and refreshment of the Oasis at Elim (Exodus 15:13,27)

The way is dark to the Egyptians yet has its own Pillar of cloud and file for God’s Israel. The furnace may be hot, but not only can I trust the hand that lights the fire, I can also have the assurance thhe fire will not consume but only refine. And when the refining process is complete, not a moment too soon or too late, ” I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

When I feel God is the farthest away, He is often the nearest to me. “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way” (Psalms 142:3). Do we know of another who shines brighter than the most radiant sunlight, who meets us in our room with the first waking light, who has an infinitely tender and compassionate watchfulness over us throughout our day, and who “knows the way that we take?”

The world, during a time of adversity, speaks of “providence” with a total lack of understanding. They dethrone God, who is the living, guiding Sovereign of the universe, to some inanimate, dead abstraction. What they call “providence” they see as occurances of fate, reducing God from His position as our acting powerful, and personal Jehovah.

The pain would be removed from many an agonizing trial if only I could see what Job saw during his time of severe affliction, when all earthly hope lay dashed at his feet. He saw nothing but the hand of God – God’s hand behind the swords of the Sabeans who attacked his servants and cattle, and behind the devastating lightning; God’s hand giving wings to the mighty desert winds, which swept away his children; and God’s hand in the dreadful silence of his shattered home.

Thus, seeing God in everything, Job could say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the Name of the Lord be prased” (Job 1:21). Yet his faith reached its zenith when this once-powerful prince of the desert “sat among the ases” (Job 2:8) and still could say, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (Job 13:15) -  J.R. Macduff

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Based on the book Extravagant Worship that Darlene Zschech authored herself, she has been part of the Hillsong Church praise team since 1986, has led the Worship and Creative Arts Department since 1996, and is co-producer of Hillsong Music Australia’s highly successful albums. While she’s always writing new praise and worship songs, she’s best known for “Shout to the Lord,” sung around the world. Darlene Zschech and her husband, Mark, and their daughters make their home in Sydney Australia.

If you notice Darlene singing in front of huge attendees in their numerous concerts, Darlene is not performing for people, but worshiping her Maker and Master, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don Moen, another Christian Artist and Songwriter himself said “God is using Darlene to impact the way people worship all around the world. My family and I have been impacted by her ministry and her passion for the presence of God. More than a gifted songwriter and singer, Darlene is a true leader who is passionate about worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth and is committed to raising up others all around the world to do the same. Darlene is real, transparent, and vulnerable as a worship leader, but more important, she is the same person when she is not in front of thousands.”

Darlene Zschech, like her surname which is a rare word (I even asked wikipedia with the exact spelling and meaning), is a rare Christian Specie if I may say so. Sorry for the word but she’s really rare of a kind – beautiful, talented, excellent in what she does, leader, etc.

Michael W. Smith also said “Darlene’s passion for the Lord and for worshiping Him is clearly heard through her music and song.”

“When I first began singing Darlene’s songs, I knew there was a very unusual anointing on her, but I was not prepared for how impressed I would be when I personally withnessed her leading worship.” added Dr. R. T. Kendal of Westminster Chapel.

Martin Smith of the Group Delirious? also stated “Everywhere you go around the world, someone, somewhere, will be singing one of the Darlene’s songs. They have touched the church in an incredible way and have become anthems for this generation for revivalists.”

Being observant myself, I’ve seen a lot of worship leaders in many different churches in the locality tried to mimic Darlene Zschech – how she handle the microphone; her gestures in the stage while performing; her smiles; including the way she blinks her eyes. And with all what I have seen, I was trying to pray the prayer of the Lord while hanging in the Cross of Calvary “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing,” as I started to conclude that they might be committing the crime of idolatry .

Brian Houston, Senior Pastor in Hillsong Church Australia proudly stated “I love what God has done in Darlene’s life so far and I know He has so much more in store for her. Yet what truly blesses me is that she is the same person whether she is on and off the platform. She remains the same gracious, humble woman whose heart has always been to worship and glorify God.”

“Darlene’s passion, spirit, and music have captured the hearts of millions of worshipers around the world. However, as a personal friend, I’ve been able to see her as a wife, mother, pastor, and leader. Darlene’s humility, insight, and experience will help you unlock the door to the secret place.” Alvin Slaughter, Music Minister and Concert Artist.

In such a time as this, we need more Darlene Zschech in our world – spirit filled christian artist, songwriter, and singer, mother, leader, and more importantly Extravagant Worshipper.

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One way or another, I wish life provides the same certainty or that God would answer every question and doubt. All these years, I get myself bombarded with WHYs and I am struck of how time and again the Lord would not answer me. It drives me to insanity because no matter how much time I would wait there seems to be no vivid answers for the trials and tribulations I or even the humanity encounter.

I would read news about the hunger and clean-water shortage in Darfur, how Zimbabwe falls into the dark era of political manipulation of its President, President Robert Mugabe, therefore, throwing the economy into disarray leading the people to starvation, not to mention the pitfalls of unemployment in Iceland and/or throughout the world down to the corruption of high and small government officials in the Philippines not minding its effect to the citizenry.

True enough that some griefs are man-made and answers can be easily known through change amongst the people themselves but how about heartbreaking circumstances that suddenly pops-out from nowhere and hit us? Situations that we feared of happening, truth is we even do anything we can under our power to avoid it, yet it came and continuously haunting and taunting us everyday for years that neither facing nor overcoming this fear isn’t even enough for an answer. You ask why and cry a bucket of tears, you feel pain in the chest and maybe even turn the world upside down just to get an answer however, in the end all you get is silence.

A leader in the church once gave a sermon saying “God is a God of process. There’s no easy answer nor an easy way out. You have to go through the process to learn the value of what you are going through. And in the end you will be more than satisfied with the result.” I have believed this in a while until I reached the point of not believing any of it anymore. I guessed my heart grown weary of waiting. I’ve grown colder even to the point of questioning God’s real existence. I couldn’t find the right heart no matter I try. I couldn’t find the Spirit no matter how i search. I’ve made a pact on myself to persevere to have my faith back on tract, read my bible everyday but to no avail i failed.

My heart is as hard as a stone and as cold as the winter wind. I’ve lost the heart of attending the sunday service because no matter how warm the people are in that place and no matter how beautiful the sermon is and was eloquently delivered there seemed nothing to melt my heart until this afternoon, I was browsing the net trying to look for a picture of an eidelweiss and what i searched was rather a scripture. It’s Hebrew 12: 1-3, which says “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith…”. After this, i was motivated to look and write a lot more of scriptures and stick them on my desktop screen (my unused computer set beside me) and the last verse i saw was Gal.6:9 with my eyes focus on … DO NOT GIVE UP.

I realized, sometimes not asking why is the best thing to do. Why? Because it is then that we are truly surrendering everything to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. There are indeed circumstances that are beyond our understanding and the control are out of our hands. Asking why can never help instead it leads us to asking more whys and the disbelief and doubt that accompany it will also never end.

When no answer seems significant SURRENDER IT TO JESUS
… and do not ask WHY. (”,)

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Laziness is one of 5 major hindrances in pursuing excellence.

The Lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

“If a man is lazy, The rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks. Proverbs 10:18

It is not hard to know whether a person is diligent or not. Just go to there house and observe. You will notice that the diligent person is the one who actively participate in household chores and is able to do what is not told him/her to do.

“We do not want you you become lazy” Hebrew 6:12

“Consider the ant, you lazy bum. Watch its ways, and become wise.” Proverbs 6:6

“Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.” Proverbs 10:26

“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat.” Proverbs 13:4

“The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.” Proverbs 20:4

The ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer; Proverbs 30:25

Life in the Promised Land is not easy simply because God does want us to be diligent and responsible citizens of the land. “Life is what you make it!” a quotation says. Extra ordinary people are those willing to go the extra mile. They want the feeling of somebody being able to do something beyond the ordinary. These people hate  “game of chance” because they believe that they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them. They are having difficulty  seeing time breaks while working in their offices because they want productivity and output. Such people are worthy to get promotions because they can be trusted with a small things.

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We are serving a God of Excellence and so we must also be known and characterized by excellence.

“If anything is excellent and praiseworthy, think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

I am a regular web surfer, and I found out that there has been many books published plus articles in the internet with the same title – In pursuit of excellence.  Why? Maybe because excellence is now of its utmost importance in life. It has become an industry, a product that many people have made businesses of, and an industry around.

If we want to be an instrument of expanding God’s Kingdom through excellence, we must not only be spiritually but physically fit as well. The basics of taking care our body must be followed i.e. regular exercise, good sleep, right food at the right time, and ofcourse not letting ourselves having unnecessary anger through unforgiveness resulting to unnecessary acid in our heart.

How does the bible describe excellence during the old testament? “She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” Proverbs 31:17.

We represent God’s Kingdom in the small world where we belong. If we are professionals and business men and women, in our offices; if we are students, in our schools; etc. And we must be in good shape to pursue excellence. We may have the highest nobility of dreams and visions, but we can only achieve a little if we are in poor health disallowing our body not to move vigorously. Our body is our limit.

“The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” Matthew 26:41.

Look at the pharaohs of the ancient Egypt. They were almost God on earth. They had power over life and death of throngs of people. But lots of mummies were x-rayed and found-out that the causes of their death were appendicitis and tooth infections. Many leaders of our society including those from the corporate world and christian ministries are skilled and genius. They could move the world upside down. But when they become ill, they become helpless and they are not able to pursue their quest for excellence – not only for themselves but also for their people. Surely we can not change our congenital situations but we can improve them by way of doing regular exercise, having good diet, and wholesome lifestyle.

Stewardship is seen in us if we are taking efforts to take care of our body. Sure enough, we might reach the twilight of life without being aware of it – 60, 70, 80 years or even more. But if we are sickly and ill, those years will only be wasted in bed of sickness resulting to mediocre life.

Yes, God is our Healer, but isn’t better for us to be busy in doing something else than busy praying for our healing?  Sad but true, there are thousands of individuals who are busy queuing in many healing crusades but lack the wisdom that God can heal us naturally – following the laws of nature, scientifically- technological advances in medical industry. Divine healing is one but prevention is better than cure as they say.

In order to be excellent, we must be in good health so that we are in good shape in battling the enemy of God’s Kingdom. And we will surely be winners in our own endeavors because we followed God’s commands to take care  of His temple – our body.

In Pursuit of Excellence, Be Physically Fit!
Part 1 of 5 Series of Teachings
Copyrights 2009 www.buffetofwisdom.com
Manila, Philippines

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The Fame and glory of Cedar Trees

Cedar trees in the mountains of Lebanon are known to be the pride of all other trees. These trees wrestled many years with cold north winds! And during summer, cedar trees must withstand the scorching heat of the sun during the day while the night has caused its soft leaves to glisten with drops of dew. Birds have built their nests in its branches, and weary travelers and wandering shepherds have rested in its shade from the midday heat or taken shelter from the raging storms. Majestic trees isn’t it? Yet the purpose of cedar trees during the time of great king Solomon does not stop their. With their fame and glory, these trees more often fall victim to woodman’s ax for demolition.

Broken Down Cedar Trees

Why demolish this distinctive “Tree of God?” we might cry out. And we might be tempted to exclaim with prophet Zechariah, “Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen…” (Zech. 11:2), as if inviting the sympathy of every less-majestic plant, invoke anger and rally in streets of Ayala or EDSA for protest.

What happened to the Gigantic Tree?

We should not be so quick to complain but should follow the gigantic tree as the workmen of “Hiram king of Tyre” (2 Chron. 2:3) take it down to the mountainside. From there we should see it being sailed on rafts along the blue water of the Mediterranean. And finally, we should behold it being placed as a glorious and polished beam in the temple of God. And as we contemplate its final destination, seeing it in the Holy of Hollies as a jewel in the diadem of the almighty King, can we honestly complain that this “crown jewel of Lebanon” was cut down, removed from the forest, and placed in such a noble setting? The cedar had once stood majestically in nature’s sanctuary, but the “the glory of this present house will be greater that the glory of the former house” (Haggai 2:9).

People like us

So many people are oftentimes like these cedar trees of old! God’s axes of trials and discipline have stripped us bare, and yet we can see no reason for such harsh and difficult circumstances.  But God has a noble goal and purpose in mind: to place us as everlasting pillars and rafters in His heavenly Zion. And He says to us, “You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God” (Isa. 62:3)

Testimony of my wife

My wife is a nurse by profession. She was enjoying her work as a Senior Staff Nurse in one of the major hospitals in Manila when suddenly their was a need for her to let go of her work because we saw it fitting at that time.  Her mother needed attention because she was sick diagnosed with breast cancer and we have our second baby. We planned it as short term solution.  In other words, she’ll go back to work when the situation is back to normal. Her mother died after almost a year and of course our second baby already grew to a point where my wife could leave her to a babysitter with minimal supervision so that she could go back to work.  Our long term plan then was to apply for immigration either in Canada or Australia. I am an IT Specialist and she is a nurse so we thought that we will qualify to be immigrants. And we did! But something is happening every time we take moves . There was a time that she was for an interview to work in the U.S. but our eldest was brought to the O.R. for endoscopic procedure because she apparently has gastric ailment which causes her to throw up blood.  There were many inconveniences that should have stopped her from applying but she’s dying to go abroad and she would do almost anything just to have her dreams. But something along the way happened again, she was preparing all her documents for possible Ireland employment when suddenly she experienced a terrible stomach pain that brought her to the operating room for an ‘explore lap’ because of ruptured appendix.  She was hospitalized November 2004. Her application was then rearranged and plans were moved the following year,She was supposed to leave the country April 2005 if requirements were filed, but before she could take her move for the supposed application she got pregnant, February of 2005.

Her dream for us to live outside the country will perhaps stay a dream because she got pregnant for our 3rd baby coupled with an event that she hated and prayed not to happen – I was promoted to pastoral level and assigned to pastor a starting church in the community. She doesn’t want me to become a pastor. “Being a music head would be enough.  Don’t go beyond that,” she told me many times. “Why Lord? All these things that are happening in my life are  all against with what I am praying to you.” She  didn’t only complain, but demonstrated her anger to God by withdrawing from others,  she hated our district pastor,  she hated those who resigned from pastoring,  she hated all the pastors and brethren who congratulated her for being  the newest pastor’s wife in the community.  All the more she became  my worst persecutor. She persecuted me in almost everything, she condemned my service to God.  She hated me and wanted my life to be in complete misery because i take heed to the call of the Lord.Living with her became nearly impossible. Everyday, I would see her crying and wishes  to die because she said,God never loved me at all, He always do everything that is against my will.  She mourned about it for long as if she lost another member of the family. Her pregnancy was never easy for her because she was diagnosed with placenta previa totalis. She was put on CBR-complete bed rest for the whole 9 months of her pregnancy. She said that God is literally sanctioning her,  her activity is very much limited from barely taking a bath and going to the comfort room. Everything is served to her otherwise she’ll go into profuse bleeding.  She was confined in the hospital twice because of her stiff-necked beliefs.  She believed that she’s strong and can manage to work a bit.  But her boredom grew and on the 4th month of  her pregnancy she was admitted in the hospital. Her doctor told her that she’ll be for O.R.  for Polypectomy and she agreed  with thought of getting rid of that pregnancy. But i disagreed because i feared of losing our baby. We consulted a specialist from other hospital and i was justified with the decision that i’ve made. Touching her uterus will eventually cause bleeding and we are going to lose our baby.  Thanks be to God! He saved her.  He knows what’s best for us. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways are better than our ways. One day, another thing happened through one friend’s call. It was a terrible call. She reported that i was flirting with someone else,  in the church?!?Brought with so much tension and doubts, my wife asked for a divorce, once,twice, thrice, every day seems to be in tribulation.  Every call is asked,every text message is investigated. She’s acting as if she wanted to kill me and her hatred to the girl was etched to her bones down to her soul, that has  given her nightmares after nightmares. But God in all His goodness and faithfulness remains to be very true of his Word.  He knows everything that’s best for us.For what the Devil has devised against us, can be God’s intention for our own good. Day by day little by little, God’s intervention has manifested. Through that situation the unloving and inconsiderate wife experienced a rebirth. She turned to be exactly the opposite. God brought  her heart back to me.  And though she admits that there are times she’s still skeptic, it’s good to know that her hands are up for God.  As she always say, who am I that i would hinder the will of God.

Years of struggles had passed and significant changes happened, and as of this writing, it’s been more than years and haven’t heard her complaining that much. Each time she sees our daughter, our baby, she would pick her up and hug her the tightiest ever. Thanking God for blessing us with a wonderful and loving baby.Saying, God always know what he’s doing. For now, she’s a full time homemaker-enjoying the company of our 3 year old daughter. We may not have everything but we do not regret staying here in our country because we started appreciating the importance of being God’s ministers plus we have a church community, people who dearly love and serve our God not expectant of anything in return. people you can always count on. They are the kind of people worth staying for.

God’s plan is surely for our betterment, and not to harm us. (Jer. 29:11).

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I just want to humbly publish this email about  an Interview with Rick Warren which was sent to me by a longtime friend, Edna E. Novido. And I hope and pray that this email-turned-article would be an eye opener to all reader-visitors of this website especially to those who are truth seeker.

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, ‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for..

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD..

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One time I asked my father while riding in a bus as we go back home to our province from Manila: Why is it that God did not make everything flat – no hills, no mountain trails, etc. so that everything will be easy and simple? Vehicles could run fast and more of our energy will be saved. My father intelligently answered, “Son, if everything is flat, life would be boring. If there are no mountains, we do not have protection over typhoons and their will be no rain that we desperately need to plant rice. No rain, no water means no life at all.”

We need mountains and hilly lands so that life would be challenging yet exciting. Yes, it’s is true that a hike through mountain trails is no easy task, and doing so daily would be almost unthinkable and unbearable at best for most of us.  I admire children in many parts of our country – the Philippines – because they do hiking everyday on their way to school, negotiating the hilly countryside looks just like a walk in the park. Why? They are empowered by their steely self-determination to gain knowledge with the hope to improve their lives in the end.

Self-Determination Defined

Self-determination is defined as free choice of one’s own acts without external compulsion; and especially as the freedom of the people of a given territory to determine their own political status or independence from their current state. In other words, it is the right of the people of a certain nation to decide how they want to be governed without the influence of any other country. The latter is a complex concept with conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination.

Determination Quotes

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” Gail Devers

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”  Calvin Coolidge

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Resilient Tree

Filipinos are likened to a bamboo tree. A bambo tree is tall and thin but flexible enough that even if it bows to the wind blows, it remains standing. I grew up in the province, I could attest that bamboo trees are really resilient to withstand strong wind blows that other trees can’t.

Like bamboo tree, resiliency enable us to always rise despite the many blows of trials we have to endure. And we come out from the trials stronger, always triumphant in the end.

Resilience Defined

Resilience in psychology is the positive capacity of people to cope with stress and catastrophe. It is also used to indicate a characteristic of resistance to future negative events. In this sense “resilience” corresponds to cumulative “protective factors” and is used in opposition to cumulative “risk factors”. The phrase “risk and resilience”‘ in this area of study is quite common. Commonly used terms, which are essentially synonymous within psychology, are “resilience”, “psychological resilience”, “emotional resilience”, “hardiness”, and “resourcefulness”.

Resilience is defined as a dynamic process that individuals exhibit positive behavioral adaptation when they encounter significant adversity or trauma. Resilience is a two-dimensional construct concerning the exposure of adversity and the positive adjustment outcomes of that adversity. Adversity refers to any risks associated with negative life conditions that are statistically related to adjustment difficulties, such as poverty, children of schizophrenic mothers, or experiences of the 9/11 attacks. Positive adaptation, on the other hand, is considered in a demonstration of manifested behaviour on social competence or success at meeting any particular tasks at a specific life stage, such as the absence of psychiatric distress after the September 11th terrorism attacks on the United States.

Description of Resilience

Resilience can be described by viewing:   1. good outcomes regardless of high-risk status,   2. constant competence under stress, and   3. recovery from trauma.

Resilient people are expected to adapt successfully even though they experience risk factors that are against good development. Risk factors are related to poor or negative outcomes. For example, poverty, low socioeconomic status, and mothers with schizophrenia are coupled with lower academic achievement and more emotional or behavioral problems. Risk factors may be cumulative, carrying additive and exponential risks when they co-occur.When these risk factors happen, according to a study conducted on children,resilient children are capable of resulting in no behavioral problems and developing well. Additionally, they are more active and socially responsive. These positive outcomes are attributed to some protective factors, such as good parenting or positive school experiences.

Resilient spirit

Farmers, like many Filipinos and most of the people in Asian continent, understood the meaning of resilience. Farmers who face a brewing storm, reinforcing their humble hut with bamboo posts reflects a readiness to endure the wrath of nature, confident and secure of a better tomorrow.

In the midst of world economic crisis, there are countries, like Philippines and India, identified to be resilient  because of strong and flexible economic fundamentals. Well,  it maybe true as of this writing, but if people embrace the spirit of resiliency, we will see our individual country not totally devastated with the wind blows of recession.

We must embody the spirit of resiliency as we pursue our dreams by seizing every opportunities which in the end, propel us to financial freedom.

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Kambas ng Lipunan or Canvas of Society is a documentary film done by Joey Velasco. It’s a revealing true story of 12 street children from different areas of Manila, Philippines. They acted as the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ’s last supper during His earthly ministry at least in the portrait only. Take note, that the film is about the life’s story of the 12 young kids but the portrait speaks a different message to me. As I watched the film being narrated by Joey Velasco himself, it indirectly rebuke many of us who only think of ourselves the most. Sometimes we are presuming that these people deserve the kind of life they have now because they are lazy and doing nothing. I think, it’s easy to say it especially if one doesn’t have the experience to live in a squatter area even for a while only.

I remember one time when Preacher Bro. Eddie Villanueva said in one of his speeches during his presidential campaign on 2004 national election, paraphrasing “Filipinos are naturally gifted, talented, and hard working. But because of lack of opportunities mainly caused by economic downturn in our country, many remain poor.” I think that statement is true in a way.

Kambas ng Lipunan or Canvas of Society by Joey Velasco must be promoted to schools and universities so that students of all levels including teachers will know that poverty is a serious disease in our society. Surely even Jesus Christ did not allow any of His disciples suffer the fate of the 12 kids having nothing in life: shelter, education, and more importantly food in the table.

Personally, Kambas ng Lipunan or Canvas of Society is  a documentary film that touched my heart, and I even cried because I realized that I am so much blessed regardless of the little that I have and having a simple life still.

It’s true that Joey Velasco left so many questions unanswered, but to me, answers will be coming from individuals who have the heart of helping the needy.

Watch the video and see for yourself:

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