Maundy Thursday at the Desert

Today, the whole Christendom is celebrating Maundy or Holy Thursday. It is just another ordinary day here at the desert. In fact, being the first day of the month and a weekend, it is going to be busy day - beating deadlines for reports, projects, etc... a far cry from the holidays I've always enjoyed back home.

Eid Mubarak! Eid Al Adha Greeting

Eid Mubarak to all Desert Aquaforce readers! It literally means a "Blessed Festival"and can be paraphrased as "May your religious holiday be blessed." It's a way of saying "Happy Eid" at the time of the Islamic Eid holidays. It is a phrase of greetings that is said among Muslims to congratulate each other on holidays. The appropriate answer when someone greets you is, "Allah yubarak feek!"(May Allah bless you also!) This phrase can be applied to both Eid al-Fitr (Ramadan/Fasting) and Eid al-Adha (Hajj/Sacrifice).

Today, the whole Islam world celebrates Eid Al Adha. It is one of the special festivals of Muslims and it is also known as the festival of sacrifice. On this festival Muslims sacrifice their domestic animals like goat, sheep, cow, camel etc. This sacrifice made by Muslims is a symbol of sacrifice made by prophet Abraham - commemorating his willingness to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God.

Christians believe that the son brought by Abraham to be sacrificed was Isaac, his son through Sarah. Islams on the otherhand, believe that it was Abraham's son Ismael through Hagar that was brought by Abraham.

The Quran says that Muslims should understand that the sacrifice itself, as practiced by them, has nothing to do with atoning for their sins or using the blood to wash theirselves from sin. This is a misunderstanding by those of previous generations: "It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him." (Qur'an 22:37)

The symbolism is in the attitude - a willingness to make sacrifices in the Muslims' lives in order to stay on the Straight Path. Each of them makes small sacrifices, giving up things that are fun or important to them. A true Muslim, as they claim is one who submits his or herself completely to the Lord, is willing to follow Allah's commands completely and obediently. It is this strength of heart, purity in faith, and willing obedience that the Lord desires from them.

What we Christians Believe In Differs in the Seed...

God promised to bless Abraham by making of him a great nation, and by blessing the entire world though his seed. When a famine occurred in Canaan, Abram went to Egypt. Fearing he might be killed and his still beautiful wife might be taken in marriage, Abram passed off his wife Sarai as his sister. This put at risk the promised “seed,” which would come through Abram and Sarai. Pharaoh took Sarai into his harem, but God prevented a consummation of this “marriage.” Pharaoh learned that Sarai was Abram’s wife and rebuked him, escorting him back to the land of Canaan.

After Abram and Lot were separated and Lot was taken captive, Abram went to his rescue. After Lot’s successful recovery, Abram met Melchizedek, a mysterious king to whom Abram offered a tithe. Reiterating His covenant with Abram and promising him a son, Abraham believed God’s promise, and his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness.

As the years passed, Abram and Sarai became concerned, since no son had yet been given them by God. They decided that it was only necessary for Abram to father the child and that Hagar could serve as the mother of the child, in Sarai’s place. At age 86, through Hagar, Abram and Sarah had a son, Ishmael. This son as what we believe in was not the “son of promise,” but God would care for the land as He had said. At age 99, 24 years after God first promised a “seed” for Abraham, God reaffirmed His covenant with Abram and Sarai. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. The next year, God promised, they would have a son. God commanded Abraham to be circumcised and to circumcise all the males in his household. Circumcision was to be a sign of God’s (Abrahamic) covenant for all generations to come. Thus, years after he was declared to be righteous, on the basis of his faith Abraham was circumcised.

Abraham and Sarah had Isaac. Sacrificing this son of promise was the greatest test of Abraham’s life, but it revealed that Abraham had finally come to trust in God as the One able to give life to the dead. It was at this situation that God proved Himself to Abraham as Jehovah Jireh - God will provide!

We Choose Peace In Taking the Other Road...

but "The Road not Taken" will always be at the other crossroad...

"The Road Not Taken"
A poem by Robert Frost
published in 1915 in his collection Mountain Interval

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

According to Wikipedia, the poem has two recognized interpretations. One is a more literal interpretation which most readers see it to be - inspirational, a paean to individualism and to non conformism, while the other is more ironic - critics typically view the poem this way because instead of regret and personal myth-making, it is rationalizing our decisions. Frost himself warned about this poem - "You have to be careful of that one; it's a tricky poem – very tricky."

I am not going to a make a critical analysis of the poem (I'll leave that to the English Literature guys from the academe... ) because whether it is literal or ironic, the two roads we faced today were exactly opposite to each other but would have led to the ultimate goal that the OFW wants to achieve - RESPECT!

OFWs have had differing opinions on how to deal with the problem. The other group chooses the road of peace - peace talks and treaties, truce and ceasefire while this corner and some August 31 celebrants (another semantics for OFW because of today's Philippine celebration) believed in waging war, in the use of tomahawks and howitzers, in imposing blog-embargo and boycotts, and for a military-care, to borrow the words of our militia.

There was no more time left... decision had to be immediate because we were at the crossroad. The initial conditions for an interim 'peace' entered into by the peacekeepers was complied with by the fatigued and somnolent fighter. An act which we construed as just a defensive scheme for fear of the consequence of the blog-war declaration... We wanted a retraction and an apology for that malicious and irresponsible blog-post but it never happened, yet we are still hopeful for it to be posted soon.

Which road then should we go - is it this way or that way? One road had foot trails and leaf-covered path and the other road had almost-forgotten-trails, swampy where you could hear the deafening sound of croaking frogs echoing throughout the forest.

Thus, whether or not the condition complied with was acceptable to all, we had to stand by the word that our peacekeepers gave because it bespeaks of who we are - we respect the stand of others, we respect ourselves and we put our hand where our mouth is! We may have made mistakes and lapses in our judgment but we're willing to exhaust all means to attain peace... always ready to admit and make amends if necessary for the best interest of all through a fair process, playing fairly and squarely the rules of engagement!

There were no heated arguments on how to deal with it... There were no strategic plannings and brainstorming... The crossroad that was like a chimera where the pros and cons were one by one weighed in a justice scale was the same crossroad that became a witness to the spontaneous unity of the diversities of the OFWs.

The decision to temporarily take the road of peace was carried out... a decision that was determined by the OFWs' priorities - our beliefs, our guiding principles, and our stand and conviction on the issue. It was our character that became the umpire in making the call, even if it was not the easy and the more popular choice. It was a decision for the good of the OFWs, a decision for our families, and for peace to reign in the whole of bloggywood. A decision befitting the 31st of August Philippine celebration commemorating the victory of our (modern-day) heroes.

What happened to the road not taken?

It's still there... it will be at the other crossroad of our journey. The tomahawks and the howitzers have not been buried and cached. All the weapons are still in a firing position and are all the time ready to be fired when faced with any external threat.

God forbid that it will happen again but if it did the Manifesto of what we believe in shall once again be put at the forefront. We will act by what we believe in and we will never allow anyone to attack, malign, insult, abuse and exploit the state of affairs of the OFW.

Other Related Posts:
Lord CM's Blog War: Sana'y kaya pang pigilin
Pope's Prepare To Be A Hero (Edited)
Kenji's Dear Arvin De La Pena, Lessons 101 For You
Bizjoker's No Sorry, That's Not Right?

The Grave Is Empty - Come and See!

He is not here, for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay!

Campbell Morgan said that the resurrection is the most stupendous, supernatural miracle that the world has ever known. It supersedes everything else - because if He is not risen from the dead then everything else collapses!


The meaning of Easter is that God loves us and cares for us, desiring only the best and highest good for us. He's the God of peace, love and joy. He's the source of every good and perfect gift. The greatest gift God can give us is His Son, Jesus Christ. In Him, God's grace and love are extended to us to meet all our needs.


Easter begins in our hearts when we receive God's Son, Jesus Christ by faith. May His Life in us be the reason for our Easter celebration!


The Lord has risen indeed and because He lives, we can face tomorrow!


Happy Easter to All!

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Some Easter Symbols

Easter Eggs, which represent new life, have been a symbol of spring since ancient times. Christians adopted the egg as an Easter symbol because of the relationship between Easter and the renewal of life. But the Pagan connection here should not be dismissed. Ishtar was the goddess of fertility and reproduction. Exchanging and eating Easter eggs is a popular custom in many countries. In most cases, chicken eggs are used. The eggs are hard-boiled and dyed in various colors and patterns. Many countries have their own traditional patterns.

Easter Bunny -The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have its origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. And were made of pastry and sugar. The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.

Easter Lilies are used to decorate churches and homes. The large, pure white blossoms remind Christians of the pure new life that comes to them through the Resurrection of Jesus. The lily is also the sign of the Resurrection.

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The Glory of Easter

My wife Christine, who's on vacation to the US since April 6 had the opportunity to watch the largest and most spectacular passion play, brought to life through exciting drama, song and pageantry, at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Orange County, California. A cast of over 100 volunteer actors, supported by professionals playing the lead roles of Jesus, Pilate, Mary Magdalene, Herod, Mary and more, were together as they recreate the story of passion week including the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus cleansing the temple, the Last Supper, the trial, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Utilizing the latest in special effects, the Easter pageant is famous for its lifelike recreation of earthquakes, thunder storms and lightening inside the all-glass building. Flying angels soar overhead while live animals parade down the aisles. The passion play is an exciting interpretation of the week that changed the course of history forever. The Glory of Easter is being shown from April 2 through April 12, 2009.

It is Finished!

It is Finished!
The Greatest Words Ever Uttered By the Greatest Man That Ever Lived...

We see in these three words the consummation
of all the Old Testament truth and the germination of all New Testament truth.

The work had been done, redemption had been won,
the war was over without a fight. It is finished!

The provision has been made, the foundation has been laid,
He paid the ransom due, to make way for me and you. It is finished!

Photo Credit - Barry Dean

The cross was just two pieces of dead wood... a helpless Man was nailed to it... Yet, it is mightier than than all the powers of the world!

Thank you for the cross, Lord. Thank you for the price you paid to demonstrate God's eternal love for us, to atone for our sins, and free us from the powers of evil and the fear of death.