Life is…

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I see life as a big puzzle board upon which pieces and clues of a difficult and unending riddle is scattered. In our attempt to solve this riddle, we look everywhere for clues — in the challenges that come our way, in the people that join us in our journey, in the roads we take, in the humps that deter us in our travel. But the greatest clue, I think, is inside us. The pieces of the puzzle are there, hidden in the contents of our hearts and in the strength of our faith, for in this puzzle, we are an important piece, a significant clue, and an indispensable player, all rolled into one.

 

As to the answer, I believe it had always been given: God. God in his many manifestations. The problem lies in our failure to accept His significance, in our inability to recognize Him among the clues we stumble upon. So we tend to reject Him, disprove Him, validate Him. We tend to choose the seemingly easier road, only to eventually realize that life would have been more meaningful if we simply embraced and accepted Him.

 

//Sherma E. Benosa; 11 June 2008; 9:57am

 

(c) 2008 Sherma E. Benosa. All rights reserved.

 

Truth versus Deceit

 

We all profess to love truth, to prefer it over lies. But can why does it hurt when we are faced with the truth? Why do we often choose to turn our back on it?

 

When will we dare look at it in its entirety, without the veils that cover our eyes?

 

Ah, truth and its incomparable beauty.  I wish we, humans, don’t see only that which we want to see.

 

The Two Faces of Pride

Pride is a beautiful thing. It is the resumé that logs one’s achievements and feats; the mirror that helps one to see his worth as a person, as a human being. It is the essence that comes to life with the awareness that, like everyone else, one is worthy… that one has his own talents, capabilities, and potentials. It is that which ushers in self-esteem; for in its honorable sense, pride is self-esteem, and self-esteem is pride.

It is only when it is twisted that pride becomes an ugly face, much like a pretty countenance that ceases to be a sight to behold when contorted. When one becomes too self-absorbed; when one forgets to acknowledge other people’s achievements and feats; when one fails to realize that like him, the others are also worthy, pride loses its beauty. Self-esteem transforms and becomes self-centered, and pride takes the form of arrogance and conceit.

Photo taken at Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya

//Sherma E. Benosa; August 2007.

 

 

Genuine Love, As Seen Through My Lens

Love is that which continues to shine even when everything has turned gray; the only thing on earth that is capable of upholding the right, and righting the wrong. It is the home that closes its door to envy, deception and betrayal; the arm that embraces truth, and the heart that pumps out compassion.

 

It is the mist that kisses away human troubles and pains, the rainbow that inspires redemption. Calm like the sunset, it is lovelier than Venus, and more powerful than Zeus. It is like the clouds we see across the summer sky — light, because it carries no grudge.

 

[Inspired by LoveWillBringUsTogether’s Love Is…?  post, which is a discussion about the kind of love that “exists independently of our own self and can enter into us but is much, much more than we can contain entirely” as LWBUT puts it.]

[Photo taken in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. September 2006.]

 

//Sherma E. Benosa;

21 May 2008; 1:17am

 

 

 

 

 

Us, Defined

 

The question of who we are is not sufficiently answered by our curriculum vitae, for although it gives a good idea of our superficial aspect, it leaves out the more essential things about us.

 

The best thing that can tell us who we are, in my opinion, is what we do when we think we are alone, for it is then that we put down our guards and cast off our masks.

 

(Note: First clause of the above pho-thought was first posted in iluko.com (4/28/2008 5:55:30 PM) The post had been: What define us are the things we do no ammotayo nga awan sabali a mangkitkita kadatayo.)

 

Fallen Leaf

It has lived its life; it has accomplished its mission. So now, it has fallen to the ground to give way to another leaf, another life.  No, it’s not a sign of defeat, it’s to show respect to a Higher Being, to the One who designed all these.  

This pho-thought (photo.graphic thought) is based on my essay “If Life Were Like Reading a Novel.” Read it HERE.

Heart without Love

Is there such a thing as a heart without love? What would it be like? Here’s my take:

No, I don’t think there is such a thing.

Clean Slate

There are times when we stop ourselves from doing the things we ought to do for fear of making mistakes, of smearing a clean slate. Bu really, our life is a blank journal on which we must write. A journal that contains nothing is not a journal, just a blank space that did not serve its purpose — it would have been a life had it been lived.

 

//Sherma E. Benosa

09 May 2008; 11:35am

 

An Open Letter to Humanity

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We often wonder about the why’s of life, especially when we are in the middle of a tribulation, whether or not it is of our own doing. We wonder why we have to go through things, why we must suffer, why life sometimes must be bleak, why things we think we can do better without happen.

 

I’ve asked the same questions, too. And below are the answers I’ve come up with. I hope they make sense.

 

 

//Sherma E. Benosa

29 December 2007; 11:10am

 

Ode to the Soul

I’ve written a lot about anything, for everyone, but this is the first time I wrote something for my soul. I hope she likes it.

//Sherma E. Benosa

12 April 2008; 3:02pm