2010-a year in review a bit early

so i just scrolled through my blog to what i wrote last year about my hopes and dreams for 2010....but again I always see how God has a different plan for me. yesterday, the NYC area was hit with a nasty rain and wind storm, but at the end there was a beautiful peaceful sky with clouds and the sun coming through during sunset....some rainbows were spotted in some areas....we had many storms similar to this throughout the year both literally and figuratively in 2010...so while the year has some 29 days left, i thought it was appropriate to write now after going through yesterday's storm.

the year started off on the right track with the theme of renewal. i witnessed a vietnamese girl in her 20s get baptized and this experience moved every cell in body...the acceptance of faith and that Christ is the one who saved us on the cross for our salvation....this raw faith, we lack as those who were 'born' into it from our parents. i am very lucky to be a christian however, I dont appreciate it or lose faith easily....it was an awesome way to start off the year....

Things turned left on Jan 7th, when we learned of the shootings in Naga Hammadi as people were leaving Christmas mass, followed by a shattering earthquake to hit the countries of Haiti and Chile....the month of January which started off as a theme of renewal, quickly turned into a huge unknown. I was overwhelmed by these events happening one after the other...more storms were to hit later on in the year between talks of wars, the Gulf oil leak, more persecution of Christians in the Middle East, and other events. This was the storm of the year in terms of current events.

On the home front, there is another storm brewing....the storm of busyness, and disconnection from each other. I had the opportunity to leave NY at three points to El Paso, St. Thomas/St. John and Spain. I met people in all three places which embodied one theme--Simplicity. El Paso is not exactly heaven on earth...it is the frontline on the war on the Mexican drug cartels...I was told not to go out at night...but in general life there is simple without the crime and the food was delicious. While visiting St. Thomas, I took a day tour of the island of St. John which is 60-70% uninhabited....our tour guide's name was Charlie. What a simple man....along the way he stopped at random trees and fed us fruits straight from the trees...nothing like what we have here in NYC...but what struck me the most was his happy and simple personality...as he drove us around, he blasted carribbean music, but listening carefully to it, it was Christian music...He praised God during his job and wanted to spread his joy to others....I was touched by this.... Then as you saw in my previous post on el sabor was my day in the mountains...again i saw simplicity. Coming back to NYC, I had a hard time adjusting because we dont enjoy life and the things God has given to us in a positive way. We have 200 ways of keeping in touch with our tech devices, but the words 'I'm busy' keep coming out....we lack love and simplicity in our lives. So by the end of the year, I've witnessed the breakdown of many friendships within the body of Christ...why is this? We're not touched by Christ's love as the convert was at the beginning of this year....we feel that in the rush of things that no one cares, so if no one cares, why should we care? I hope for 2011 it will be a year of not just renewal in Christ, that we are all touched in someway that awakens us to His love and His healing just like the lady in the Gospel of Luke was cured from bleeding just by the touch of His garb....We need to have that faith that if we want to be healed, we will be healed....

So at the end of the day, this year I believe was the turbulent storm year, I pray that next year is when the rainbows and the beautiful sunsets that bring peace, serenity and hope.

el sabor

sabor is the spanish word for flavor, and that pretty sums up my trip. but the thing that stuck with me was the day in a remote village learning about spanish cooking. this class though for me, was more about the flavor of not just of cooking, but for living a simple life. you see, this lady who owns this humble restaurant only cooked with ingredients from the current season....so we had artichokes, green and red peppers in the ingredients, and using their natural flavors, gave flavor to the bacalau and the rice and beef dish we ate. later on we had some tea and got to explore a small river..that was the town's 'beach'. i felt like i was in heaven....the very simple and basic things in life is what gave this small town flavor. i didn't have my phone, nor access to the computer but enjoyed the nature and the sound of the small river nearby. i didn't want to leave. i was so happy. i believe that's the flavor that we miss out on...the flavor of simplicity, whether if it's from using the natural ingredients, or just being in a natural space that God created for us.... God provides for us in so many ways. in this little remote town people are happy with their lives and dont have a reason to leave. fresh water comes from the mountains, food is provided from the ground....God provides. i think in the noisiness and busyness....we forget this concept of how God provides and we tend to rely on our own self to be able to function and that's why we are thirsting and we lack flavor. i will carry this peace and flavor that i gained as a piece of heaven in my heart....

laundry, pack, travel, unpack--repeat

it's been a long time, but for the past month i think i've done the title of this particular post about four times. i went to el paso for a week, came home for a day then headed to st. thomas, came back, went on a retreat, came home and now i just arrived in marabella, spain.

each of these destinations i can write a book about, but i guess thing i hate about going on vacation is the actual getting there. i had a bit of a nightmare getting to el paso, and about 16 hrs later, i arrived after getting up at the crack of dawn to find that my flight was cancelled. thankfully after quick thinking and desperation, american airlines got me to my destination, but the trip to el paso was almost as long as my trip to marabella, spain. why is getting to a particular destination have to be drama filled? thankfully the trip to st. thomas was without incident but again it's getting there....

i just arrived in the city of marabella, spain at the hotel 3pm local time....i left my house in ny 1pm the previous day and the only sleep i got was about 35 min waiting for a connecting flight in madrid....

here are some travel tips to make things less stressful:
1- try booking direct and if you have a flexible schedule, make sure you do so. this makes life so much easier...the connections drag things out and you end up spending money you don't have out of boredom.
2- make sure your carry-ons dont weigh a ton (like mine, i travel heavy unfortunately)
3- bring your own travel pillow and blankets....the airlines dont cut it and who knows if they actually wash them..(ew)
4- eat before your flight....airplane food is nasty and if you are traveling inter-Europe, some airlines (like Iberia and Air Europa) charge for you asking for a coke
5- plan for the unexpected....i have this 'you never know attitude'.
6- a good book or distraction....
7- have a camera handy...i just bought a new dslr (which will be a total separate blog to speak about)....you never know what interesting things you may or may not see....madrid airport had gorgeous ceilings but my lack of sleep inhibited me from enjoying it or taking pictures.
8- make a tentative plan of what you want to do before you...this makes life a little easier, so you're not clueless and waste time at your destination, sure i like to be spontenaous, but i hate to miss out on time where i can be enjoying a different culture...


i will blog soon about the places ive visited...el paso was the least exciting, yet one of the yummiest trips :) st thomas--took a piece of my heart and marabella...well spain is spain and i feel like im unlocking a beautiful mystery

hasta luego!

in the company of 720 persons

this past weekend i had the opportunity to attend the st. mark dc's passion retreat. this particular retreat has had a special place for me since these retreats were an awesome opportunity to get away, spend time with God and have fellowship with the good folks of DC. mid decade i stopped going because of grad school and just continual commitments. last year i decided to go and 400 people showed up and i was impressed by this...
then i showed up this year and i was told 720 were in attendance...and i freaked out. this wasnt my idea of a retreat but rather of a convention style. i was impressed again when abouna mentioned that it was time for quiet time, there was not one peep out of the 700 + people. no one spoke and everyone got to spend time with God. while the retreat/convention had a nice theme, great talks...i found myself overwhelmed with the amount of people there and found it difficult to withdraw into silent mode....many people who i knew were there and on sunday some had said that they didnt see me all weekend....i left this weekend feeling a little disappointed about this particular year because of all the people until last night when i sat down to reflect on the weekend.
1- this is the only retreat that has brought people from all of the the US, Canada, England, Germany, and Australia and other countries that I may not have been aware of....
2- people are hungry and thirsty to hear God's word and for a spiritual retreat
3- we are one big happy family in Christ....

with regards to number 2, ive been thinking about people in the graduate stage...many probably serve in their own churches and many don't and i believe this is often a forgotten group in the church that definitely needs service. the presence of 720 person showed that need for a spiritual retreat. i thank st. mark dc for organizing this and for inviting the world to crash on their church retreat for the grads. maybe this retreat will double in size again for next year, but for now we pray that God has planted the seed in His children...they all came for spiritual nourishment that may not be given in their own churches so i hope there are more spiritual activities and focus for our graduate youth who are now slowly starting to become the leaders of the church (just look at the priest ordinations).

be still and know that I am God

the title of this post comes from the psalms....this is the theme of my own experience this time around at the texas monastery in sandia, tx. i went with 32 rowdy people and to be honest i thought that this time would be miserable...i mean on the plane going there im surprised they didn't land the plane because the group was so noisy, but as we got there as a loud group, i did manage to get away and enjoy the stillness....i miss that stillness because so often here in nyc, we are on the constant go. it's that stillness where we hear God speaking to us instead of us always talking. the words of the Bible jump out, the prayers mean more because im just more focused....the first morning i sat in the cold attempting to do my quiet time and i watched the sunrise...another day i sat in the afternoon, also in the cold watching the stillness...i was reading the sermon on the mount that afternoon...and no matter how many times ive read the sermon on the mount, this time i felt God telling me how He wants me to conduct myself as a Christian. it's so easy to say that I am Christian, but if I'm not still, I often drown out God's voice rushing from point A to point B.

i miss that stillness and i long for it everyday since i got back...the last day we were there...the lake had this eerie stillness as if it was a painting, not a real lake...God is truly an author of beauty and He made this world in an amazing way with such detail and precision...I'm reminded again in the gospel of Matthew that God knows the numbers of hair on my head....this to the human brain--the thinking is very limited, but we tend to forget amidst the craziness that God is infinite. It takes getting out of our bubbles to realize that really it's God carrying us in the palm of His hand, not us trying to handle the world on our shoulders...it was peaceful and definitely life changing...

now i try to hold onto that stillness on a daily basis...so that I am once again reminded that God is so loving and infinite and is taking care of me....