Homograph, jumbled, anagram. I don't know what you call these but it's definitely a word play -- words that when transposed create different meanings.


Eat to live, live to eat.



Play fair, fair play.



Learn to play, play to learn.



If you fancy it, you can download these graphics. I created them using Adobe Illustrator.

All must have heard the parable of the Prodigal Son. It inspired a painting, was adapted as a stage play, made into music and written about in a lot of books.

But who, may I ask, have heard of the Other Son?

He has the following traits.

He follows rules and is considered good.

He does everything that is told of him -- even goes an extra mile to have things done.

He is the type of person you would love having around because he never complains.

Almost perfect except for one downside: He keeps count.

We sometimes think that way. Whenever we do good, we expect to be repaid with kindness. Whenever we go an extra mile, we expect gratitude.

God, in some ways, are like our parents. They seem to love more our siblings who have lesser in life. Sometimes, we feel we are left out.

But ask any parents and they will say that they love their children equally. The more with God who is full of love and understanding.

He said; You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

Let's be happy whenever a brother is lifted up from his sorry state. Let's count ourselves lucky for not having to go through difficulties in life before realising where peace truly rests.

God is with us. In all of us: everytime we ask for forgiveness; everytime we do His holy will.

Prayer: Help us, Lord, to be humble for forgiveness when we sin; quick to forgive when sinned against.

Halaw sa pinarangalang akda ni Carlos M Piocos III na pinamagatang Guerra Cantos. Ang sumusunod na talata ay sinipi mula sa 2010 Carlos Palanca Awards Memorial Awards for Literature.

Mahal kong Panginoon:
...
Kung inyong mamarapatin,
maaari ko bang halikan ang dulo ng iyong kamay
at sahurin ng aking labi ang dugo sa dulo ng inyong daliri?
Pamumulaklakin ninyo ang matang-sugat
sa gitna ng inyong palad sa loob ng aking bibig...
Basahin ang buong tula dito.

Huli man, ito ay pagpupugay sa ating wika ngayong buwan ng Agosto.

I've been hearing this bible story since I was a child, and it's only now that I came to realize how striking the story is.

Nothing grieves me more than seeing a mother in sorrow for her child. And here is a Canaanite woman asking help for her daughter (ang babaeng possessed, as my friend always kiddingly say). Jesus' reply was a bit harsh: She's not a Israelite, I won't help her, and even harsher in the next line pertaining to the woman as a dog.

But the woman was persistent: I am maybe a dog but I would settle for the crumbs for my daughter.

And Jesus' heart melted. Mine, too.

So let's start melting Jesus' heart by following the example of this woman.

One, she is a loving mother who would do anything for her daughter, even beg!

Two, she is persistent. Makulit!

Three, she's not perturbed by insults and would even wrestle her opinion through for her daughter's sake.

I believe that's what God wants from us when we ask Him something.

It should be borne out of love.

We should be willing to fight for it.

We should know why we want it and would be ready to reason with God why we deserve it.

Here's a story in real life: My niece asked me to buy her new shoes. I said no, she doesn't need it. She persisted. She showed me her old shoes. I said it's still working. She said it will be for the next three months and by then I will be back abroad and she has no one to ask money from. I said I will send the money after three months. She said I can give it to her now so she can buy the shoes, but she won't wear it until the old shoes are worn out. Her reasons were endless until I finally gave in but I reminded her what we agreed upon: she has to study harder and she can only use the new shoes after three months.

Prayer: Lord, bless us with the spirit of contentment. And if in case we start badgering you with what we want, please turn deaf on us unless of course we could wrestle with You in justifying why we want it. But You know better than us, so Thy will be done, Lord.

With what's going around us -- the economic slide of the Western world, thuggery in London, our apathetic reaction to the famine in the horn of Africa, and our even more catatonic reactions to the Libyan and Syrian crises -- I ask where is the world leading to?

My answer: somewhere not better than where we are now.

Lust and envy, that's why.

So simple yet so true: the world is in turmoil because its citizens covet that which is not their's.

Confession: I have a friend whom I resent for no reason. I hate everything he does and regard his opinion as 'too worldly' whereas mine is 'wisdomly savvy'...until a painful realisation ensues: I envy him.

The reason I hate him is because he is everything I wanted to be. I wanted what he has. Where he is extrovertly active -- enjoying the company of people, joining various endeavours and reaping its rewards through awards and accollades -- I am introvertly living in a shell of self-centeredness.

Nothing has changed yet (I'm an old dog learning new 'lessons') but, a pace at a time, I'm slowly learning to accept the differences in people. Others have more because they have more responsibilities. Others have little, and although they too have responsibilities, it's to a smaller sphere.

I believe that beautiful, rich, powerful people sleep less soundlier than simple people like I.

I shouldn't envy. Instead I should ask God to give me that which is lacking in me.

I heard this from Ophra: Be careful of what you pray for because it may come true, which brings me to what James said about asking and receiving.

I sometimes call myself Imee because my prayers are centered to what I want, what I need, what I hope for for myself, what I dream to achieve. And my motives? So that I would feel and be 'better' than others.

I have stopped praying for what I want because, a sinner that I am, God has remained faithful and giving to me. In fact He has never failed in giving me what I truly need -- the basic things: a shelter, a job, family and friends, and a growing faith in Him.

Let's count ourselves blessed than other people. We have jobs and are able to help our family with our earnings. Our family is not in one of the shelters in Somalia waiting for help to come.

Prayer: May we count ourselves blessed with what we have, and may we share what we have to our needy brothers -- unconditionally, whole-heartedly with joy, and if at all possible, without anyone knowing it.

[You may want to call it as a turnaround from the usual nothingness that I post in this blog. For quite a long time, I hope to 'live' whatever is that I profess to believe in. Although I'm failing big time most of the time, I believe in the proverbial line that says it's not the fall, it's the rising up that counts.

And so this may be a start of -- but in no way means I will not post nothingness anymore -- my personal attestments to the powers of the Word. I'm not a saint; I'm a sinner trying to find His ways in this world.]