Jousting Faces Doom

Illustration taken from genuinetourist.wordpress.com

Hovers in empty room

Feels silence in gloom

Bid crisis in loom

Jousting faces doom

Like a gap of seam

Yearn to make a scream

Full of thoughts in ream

With no one to lean

Self steeled from dread

In a strip of shred

Pulled in good stead

Brings forth doubt in thread

Dances like a stag

Hit and make a tag

Hears no word but brag

From headpiece of rag

Drown from hearts aflame

In four corners of frame

Hears no sounds but blame

Of souls in stalls of lame

"JOUSTING FACES DOOM"

written by Azeweht

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.

Japan: The Momentous Tragic Event

Photo was taken from himho.com

Photo was taken form thedailybeast.com

While Middle East is on the verge of tremor due to series of revolts that preceded violence causing the death of many activists for a rally of anti-government movement, the world fixed eyes suddenly was interrupted by a momentous tragic event in north-eastern Asia when Japan was hit by a sequence of earthquakes with an 8.9 magnitude at its maximum while generating a 30 feet big waves of tsunami.

Instead of a terrorized “Day of Rage” awaited current event, I was stunned with disastrous happening going on in Japan as I turned on the television to watch news updates. Witnessed how the big tidal waves enveloped the land space of the country on the videos presented, made real goose bumps. 

I never had a second thought when I contacted my family in the Philippines as I heard that the entire Pacific had been put on alert as well for an aftershock effects without even verifying in which specific area first just to check on them and to inform them as well that I am safe that the demonstration here in Riyadh had failed to materialize.

Status updates on facebook and twitter, blogs, comments from other social networking sites really struck me as well and made me asked “what the hell is going on?!” The environmental catastrophic event seemed to be more alarming than terrorists’ attack or activists’ revolution. 

Would it be a way of the environment to get even with its inhabitants? Or just the nature’s way to balance itself through changing its formation. Moreover, this natural disaster had taken away thousands people’s lives and had caused serious damaged to infrastructures and other properties. 

Meanwhile, the United States, Philippines and other countries extended their assistance including other organization like Red Cross, and though, Japan being one of the richest countries would definitely have a hard time getting up after being hit by this disastrous calamity.

The video I took from Youtube showing the catastrophic event in Japan on March 11

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.

Grab a Japanese Writing Poster Print from Amazon.
Click on the icon for more details.

When "DAY OF RAGE" Failed to Stage!

Photo was taken in front of Coral Hotel near the Mosque and Al-Rajhi Bank opposite of Al-Jazeera Mall in Sulaimanya, Riyadh City

No doubt that this Day of Rage won’t go on stage here in Riyadh City, while others were marching on protests from the other sides of the Middle East. The main city of Saudi Arabia seemed to back off and loosened up when security forces went on tight clogging some highways causing severe traffic on their strict check points. 

When I tried to google on what’s new about the planned “Day of Rage,” I have read that the King have released 10, 000 armed forces in defense against those who are planning for revolt in any form. The rules and orders declared by King  Abdullah seemed to be working out and were strictly being followed and implemented in the kingdom and Saudi nationals wholly feared the officers guarding the community when the king has declared to stop any form of movements against the government at any cause.

Meanwhile, while the planned revolt seemed to fail in Riyadh, hundreds of people bravely pushed through in some province like Al-Qatif consisting mostly of Shi'ites to outcry their yearning for a change in the government system. Shi'ites, I learned from a friend that they are another sect of Muslims perceiving Quran’s teaching in another way experiencing mostly of discrimination against Sunni comprising the majority of Muslims. On the other hand, Arabs have witnessed more protests across the Middle East like Kuwait, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and in some parts of Bahrain.  (Check this out at Aljazeera.net)

Then later from the news, the king has declared salary increased for the Saudi Nationals to prevent them further from going rage and the Absolute Monarchy government seemed to have a great advantage when country's peace and orderliness is being maintained, though, lots of disadvantages can as well be enumerated.

Here are the photos of some streets in Sulaimanya near Olaya in Riyadh City which I have taken from the time of scheduled revolution after Salah on March 11.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.

 

Grab this iPhone 4 Black and iPhone 4 case from Amazon. For more details please click on the icon.

At the Cross

Jesus on the Cross - Photo taken from another website

The Filipino Catholic Church has started the Lent season last Wednesday, 9th of March which they called as "Ash Wednesday." I am not very well-versed with the catholic rituals, so I asked my friend how they are actually celebrating it, and though, I am from another religion, I am aware of what is meant by this Season. The season of Lent spans for 40 weekdays or 45 days all beginning on Ash Wednesday and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter.

Traditionally, lent has been marked by fasting, meditation and alms giving. There are foods which they are not allowed to eat in particular days during fasting like meat, alcohol, sweets and the like. Some Catholics are strictly following this tradition while others are focusing on doing some charitable works like sharing of clothes, foods, money, etc to some institutions or for those who needs it. Moreover, this season is the season for penance, repentance and this is the actual celebration of God's redemption through Christ's death and resurrection. 

The true meaning of lent is most likely rooted on God’s love that because of His unconditional love, He permitted His only Son, Jesus to die on the cross of Calvary to pay all our sins so that everyone may have ever lasting life. This is a season of preparation for the day when the Son of God was crucified to save us all from sin.

John 3: 16  (New international version)

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The question is-- why did God allow this to happen? Why there is a need for Jesus to get crucified, then died and resurrected. It may sounds like confusing but the answer is because all of us have sinned so God the Father allowed His Son to die for us all to live.

Romans 3 23-26: (New International Version)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Another question is why it had to be Jesus? The answer is-- since we are all sinners as we inherited sins from Adam and Eve, from our origin, we are not free from it. All of us did not qualify and no one can ever meet the standards of God so there is a need for pure and holy one who had never sinned to become a sacrifice to wash away all our sins. Man is the one who had sinned so only man as a human is the only one who can be a sacrifice to save every human being from the hands of the enemy, so Christ Jesus came into the picture as a Messiah who was born as a man to save us all.

John 14:6 (New International Version)

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

After the resurrection and after Jesus paid all our sins, it does not mean that we are all now save and safe. The story does not end there so here comes the next question of what is our role  after or what is our response with all the sacrifices of Christ? From here, the process of “SALVATION” is being highlighted, that for us to be saved we have to repent and then accept Jesus as our personal Savior. The moment we become a believer of Christ, we became Christian and that comes with a role of living the Christian way.

John 3:17-21 (New International Version)

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

This Lenten Season is the season of LOVE and Sacrifices. A season that would always remind us about the unconditional love of God, how He sacrificed His Son, Jesus to wash away all our sins with His own blood. A season that gives us more reasons to find more time to talk to God and be more thankful of the chance of having the second life together with Him.  Let us all wait for the Lord to come and allow Him to take over with our lives as we follow His divine purpose.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License 

Get this wireless reading device from Amazon,.
For more details please click on the image.

Saudi Arabia: Revolution of Yearning on March 11th

Photo taken from the article "Saudi Arabia Facebook Group Calls For Protests" of The Huffington Post

I was awakened suddenly while in a deep sleep by a long distance call from the Philippines late in the afternoon the other day. I got lucky when my phone didn't die even for 3 days after I bought it as I replaced the old one that I overcharged and no longer functioning. It was my mother calling me, her voice sounds  like she was anxious and quite disturbed. She was getting scared and worried about the turmoil and war over here in the Middle East and though the riot has begun already from the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia when it all started from Tunisia and Egypt after they overthrew their leaders to step down from their positions who ruled the country for several years through demonstrations and rallies, it seems like every country is trying to mimic what these two countries did after the United Nations applied some international western interventions. There it all started the protests and it spread like a virus from the nearby country like Libya and Bahrain which happens to be in the same political conflicts where their leaders rule for decades but only, this time, particularly in Libya, it is becoming more bloody and violent as their strong willed leaders are not willing to give up the posts.

This political conflict has created major effects not only in terms of the worldwide economy but also it has taken the risk of the lives of the people particularly of the overseas workers. The Philippine government and other countries provided assistance to take their citizens home, though there are some Filipinos who are refusing to go back in the country, specifically those who are in the medical field believing that they are safe and won’t get hurt by other nationalities. Moreover, the Overseas Worker Welfare Administrations extends their assistance through a program to displace OFWs by giving them 10,000php each.

I always sympathize those people whenever I watch the news, especially those Overseas Filipino Workers or expatriates who have their families with them who were trapped in the middle of the crisis as they risk their lives in danger. But not more than a week ago when I got a friend who stated that same thing could also happen here in Saudi Arabia. I was in doubt at first, because I witnessed how Saudi nationals welcomed King Abdullah, their ruler after having  medical treatment abroad for a few months and everyone celebrated his come back and in return the king has declared one public holiday nationwide, for Saudi and non-Saudi. So how could they revolt against their claimed good king when they are all happy at the moment seeing him back.

"This is a video from Youtube showing how they have welcomed King Abdullah in Riyadh City"

On the contrary, I was surprised when I heard from the news that Saudi is as well planning a revolt against the kingdom on the 11^th of March. It's a protest to outcry for women's rights and freedom, and the release of political prisoners. I don’t know exactly what they are fighting for but I don’t like what they are planning and what is exactly happening here.

"While here is another video from Fox News stating about the plan for a call of rage on the 11th of March initiated by Saudi nationals via social media."

 

There may be skepticism as whether they have the ability to demonstrate but the rumor has just begun. I just pray that the price will be worth it and no one will get hurt after the occurrence of such event and I hope for a peaceful rally in case they can get organize on the 11^th of March.Whether it will take place or not, everyone has to be prepared for it!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.

Tug-of-war

Illustrated by ecartoonman from Flicker

In a disturbing silent war

Provokes unwanted tug-of-war

Marked the birth of antagonists

From the neighborhood of conflicts

Stirs up, calls forth rivalry

Exacerbates the word “envy”

That breaks the chain of unity

With a mind full of jealousy

It's a part of humanity

But that is truly unhealthy

No space for congeniality

Dispirits solidarity

It withstands true integrity

With mind that covets eagerly

Reflects rotten mentality

That really desires wrongfully

It defies one's humility

And it lifts superiority

Oversights nationality

Demotes one's personality

No progress, no prosperity

Disheartens one's ability

Dismays responsibility

That exalts “crab mentality"

"TUG-OF-WAR"

written by Azeweht

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.

The Battle Cry

The angel falls

When devil reigns

Evil remains

While good one fades

Weakness rules

Strength defeated

Life overshadowed

By the thoughts of death

The internal battle

No one can hear

A real fight from within

Can hardly bear

A crushing pain

Started to gain

Weighted beneath

The empty soul

Pain sinking in

Anguish gets in

Breaks the heart

Loses the soul

From flesh and blood

It all remains

Bloodshed like tears

It falls like rain

The battle cry

Fought from within

Where mind and heart

Comes in between

One may prevail

Other may fail

It ends with thoughts

Of which will win?!

"THE BATTLE CRY" 

written by Azeweht

on August 01, 2010

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License. 

Crippled Soul

 A Soul in Bandage, 1985 (photo was taken from another website)

From stabbed wounds

Marked scarred wounds

Marked the crippled ways

Of the crippled souls

From the crippled souls

Marked twisted minds

With crippled thoughts

Of the stone cold hearts

In a stagnant situation

It stored undelivered thoughts

Unfilled with unity and love

Suppressed happiness and joy

It's a true confession

Like a tragic combination

In state of confusion

Of the unstable condition

It's the different tastes

Of sour and bitterness

It created the masks

Of fake smiles and laughter

Like any open wounds

With no blood circulation

Covered with bandages

Of foul smelling discharges

With a crepe bandage

It hides how it looks

It hides the true color

Of a non-healing wound

But each recurring wound

Comes with a chronic pain

Of the heart with a hole

Longed for a better cure

"CRIPPLED SOUL"

written by Azeweht 

on August 04, 2010

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.

One Best Role

Baher, Al-khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

 From the distinct portion of life

There can be found an obscure path

Where some people lose their path

While others dream come to life

Where everyone is a maker

Of each and every life’s chapter

That calls for a great real journey

Of a never ending story

And from the endless road

Creates an endless role

 That defines who you are

And not for what you are

But there is one unique story,

It comes with the best role,

With the main best goal

That is "to God be the glory"

"ONE BEST ROLE" 

written by Azewent

on August 04, 2010






This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.

Soul Searching

Photo taken by "Archie" during the KKUHCF Anniversary Special in Al-khobar

"For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it."

  Matthew 16: 25       

Photo taken by "Archie" during the KKUHCF Anniversary Special in Al-khobar

I felt somewhat wrecked and lost as I tried to seek for myself but I ended up being miserable like the prodigal son searching for the way going back home. I found myself in loneliness, instead, and my soul was full of emptiness. When I got my post away from home, I felt like it’s almost over and nothing good will ever happen. With a culture that was different wherein Christian Religion was not allowed to practice, I even wondered why God sent me to a distant place where I would be led far away or even separated from Him. But then again, I can’t question His will and what He really wants to happen. I just entrusted Him my life, instead.

I never hesitated as the road of opportunity abroad was becoming narrowed due to some changes in the Nursing trends, after such production of large amount of population of Nurses, some ended up not practicing their profession due to a limited post within the country, itself, so I had no choice but to take this chance thinking that this was the only way out for survival.

The thought of being lost in another country had changed when I found more reasons to enjoy my stay. I felt so much relieved after I encountered someone whom I believed God used as an instrument to help me find what I have been missing. The moment she invited me for a church when she was going for a service, I never hesitated to come even coming from  a night shift just to attend and feel once again the presence of God. I was already searching back then and was just waiting for the right time and right person to ask  for, where I can find what I have been looking for. From here, once again, I felt that I can’t be lost with God that no matter what happen and wherever I am, I would always end up going back in His arms again.

With Ate Wheng, the person God used for me to find the missing piece!

These are the people who made my life in Riyadh brighter than ever. 

These photos were taken during the Anniversary Special of King of Kings of the Utmost Heaven Christ Fellowship which was held in Baher, Al-khobar on December 3-4, 2009. This was our first day where I had so much fun bonding with my newly found Christian family taking pictures, participating in group games, eating Filipino foods, exchanging gifts while enjoying the beautiful and very relaxing venue of the resort.

Our first night in Al-khobar. Though it was cold cause it's winter, still everyone decided to stay outside to experience the fresh air along the seashore while drinking coffee and tea, and enjoying the sweetness of Krispy Kreme doughnuts as we watched REVELATION and some group presentations!

This is our second day in Al-khobar, enjoying the sunrise which remind us all that life is full of hope, and it symbolizes new life, new beginning and each new day is a blessing which we have to thankful about. =)

Just maximizing our time before leaving Baher Resort, enjoying the remaining moment that have and the chance to be together as one Christian family. ^_^

With all these experiences, it has made me realized that God really works even if we don't... that He always find ways for us to go back home especially at times when we are lost...and more often than not, He make things happen when we least expect it.


This experience reminds me of some Bible Verses:


From the American Standard Version:

"My Father, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." 

John 10:29

"For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it."

Matthew 16:25      

*Most of the photos uploaded from photobucket were taken by Archie using Canon SLR.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License.