THE BOND OF MAN AND GOD

Life or our existence in this world is full of questions. It is a test of our faith — of something we see, or something we don’t and yet we believe in.

Analyzing human and God is in itself a complicated matter. More so, the analytical mind of man enables him or her to continuously search for answers about his or her existence, even to explore about the mysteries of his or her being.

The factors surrounding human’s existence, however, is as vast as the universe he lives in. There are events in a person’s life that are beyond human comprehension. Thus comes a puzzle whether there is an outside force controlling these events.

Who is the creator of this universe? What is the nature of man and what is the relationship of man and God? These questions are common to philosophy, religion and science and they have explored these issues from their own view points. The concepts of human and God are so interwoven that we cannot study them separately.

Most philosophers agree from the fact that the life of human person is different from the life of animals. The human person is different not only because of his or her being rational but also because he or she has this centrality of actions. And this centrality is what we call love. Love is the core of human life. But love itself is not the total fulfillment of a person. Despite having this core, there is this reality that there are still something missing in human life and also there still are some events which cannot be controlled by human power.

There are things like war, injustice, crime, evil which rule in this world. Among these things, death is the greatest of all. We know from the fact and observation that no human person is exempted in experiencing death as the history of human person will tell us. In death, a person reaches the limit of his or her life.

Now, human person searches this missing piece of his or her life and he or she finds it to the Absolute Being or God.

To explain the human and his relationship with God has always been the object of man’s searching and satisfaction-seeking mind. This is human’s intuitive desire that seeks and finds satisfaction in postulating a super human or agencies as the cause or causes of the inexplicable events in the world.

Realizing that in this world, there were so many things that they were unable to overcome, humans began to develop the feeling that there must have been something more powerful beyond their selves existing in this world and Universe. Because the laws of nature bind everything, they tried to learn and seek their cause. From what they got they believed that all of us came from something powerful called God.

In the hope to the Absolute Being, human person then accepts that there is darkness which is part of his or her present life. But he does not accept that it all in this world. He knows that there is a wisdom in it which is greater than in this world he exists in.

Now, we come to the question, is God really existing or is it only made by our limitedness? I read one article about a debate on the existence of a God or Absolute Being. In the conclusion, I was bothered by the answer of the believer.

He said he would rather gamble believing that God really exists even if in the end, it is otherwise. Then, that man loses nothing. But, if he didn’t believe that God really exists but in the end, it was proven He really does, then he loses everything.

Are we like the man who would gamble on the existence of God? Is God really just a product of our mind? If God is only a cover up of our limitedness, we then will not have this dissatisfaction of our essence. We then will be contented of what we now have and not a thing to explore the meaning of our limitedness. Experience will tell us that human person has this drive to seek something greater than him or her that we may call God. God may give this drive to you to realize that He exists.

DEATH: A FESTIVE OCCASION

Death generally is associated with concepts such as darkness, pain, separation, sadness, and fear of the unknown. Most people are mourning because of the lost of their beloved. If we will try to go deeper on death, what is death all about? What are the attitudes of people regarding death? Why do most people hate to talk about death?

Why are we sad when one of our beloved died? Most of you might say that it is an obvious reason that you lost your beloved, but is it really a lost for the dead person or a gain?

In the following paragraph we will try to reflect on the following: First, death and life are not separate from one another. Second, death is understood not as a singular event, but as a continuous phenomenon of being. Third, death is deeply and uniquely personal, as our potentiality for being.

A person in the world has lots of possibilities – possibilities to be and to do something. With it we can say that a person is still incomplete. Why? It is because he or she did not yet obtain the ultimate possibility of a person that is death. In death, a person achieves the possibility of not-having-possibilities. When a person dies, he or she stops being in the world where he or she gets the possibilities. He or she then receives his or her final possibility, the possibility of death.

Death and life are not separated. When a person is thrown into the world, as Heidegger puts it, death is already with the person. From the start, the person is already determined to go towards the path of death. No one can avoid death. It is within us.

Death is not just a single event that happens but a continuous phenomenon of being. It is not the ordinary idea of people that death is a closing stage in a person’s life. They usually think of death as simply a part of the many stages of their lives. It is not related in anyway to the other events in a person. However, the truth is that our life is like a stage play where death is not only the concluding part but the whole conflict of the play. It is not just the passing away but it is our being towards end.

Death is deeply and uniquely personal. My death is different from yours. Your death is different from another person. You may think that the kind of death of one is the same as the kind of death of others. One example would be murder. You may simplify their death by concluding that they all basically, were killed and that makes their death the same. However, the death of a person is different from the death of others since the situation is very different. It is not only because of the time or place, but also the effect and manner of death of a person. Moreover, a person’s outlook of his or her death is different from the rest. It is deeply personal and unique.

Before the death of the grandfather of Alyssa, my friend, we visited him in the hospital. Upon our arrival, I heard from one of her relatives saying that the old man will soon die. Another relative reacted on that opinion saying it is not proper to talk about it. Looking at the old man, I asked myself if the he knows that he is dying. Before we left the hospital, I got the answer to that question. I saw the old man smiling. Is it a smile of acceptance or a smile to put aside the concept of death? Either way he knows that his death is near.

Given the universal nature of death and its tremendous impact on our world, you might think that the process of death would be of fundamental interest to each of us, every day. You might think that death would be a reality for which we would want to account from the start — to know it, to understand it, to address it head on.

But people of today are weakening — prefer to ignore death if at all possible. When they are not busy living, as if death were not going to happen, they create philosophies that make them feel better about death. They are afraid to face the reality that all will die be one rich or poor, young or old because it is the extreme possibility a being.

Death brings us to the face to face to the ultimate condition of being – that we will all die, someday. Some people face this with disgust. Some do not even face this, but run away from this like one of the relatives of my friend.

We must not hide from the reality that someday we too will die. We need to look at death as a festive occasion, in we rejoice for finally achieving the wholeness of our being; since only in death can we achieve our ultimate possibility, the possibility of not having possibilities.

THE MAGIC WAND OF DIVINE LOVE

What comes in our mind whenever we hear the phrase “Divine Love?” Have you ever experienced the feeling of fear? How does it feel experiencing the presence of Divine Love?

Looking at the sky on a clear night, we see some stars brighter than the others. The brightest ones are first-magnitude stars, as astronomers classify them. Then next to the brightest are second-magnitude, and so on. The unaided human eye can see stars as faint as fifth magnitude.

There are levels of brightness, so to speak, in our spiritual experience, too. We go around, day by day, in an ordinary level of awareness, thinking of God from time to time, thinking of a divine thought from time to time, but with no great focus or sincerity or insight or receptivity. Our ordinary stream of conscious life is fifth-magnitude experience with God. We believe in God, but there is no consciousness of any interaction between the divine love and our own mind.

Here we can now ask, how do then people feel the presence of the divine love? Most of us may say that fear strikes most. But why is it fear and not happiness? If it is the divine love, we must be happy but it is like a paradox that we feel.

To explain the feeling of fear, allow me to relate an experience. I have a friend who was a lost sheep. She stopped believing in the divine love. One day, she called me in the middle of the night. I asked her why she sounded fearful and she told me that she dreamt of a shadow that can be hardly seen because of the extreme light told her that she must turn her back in her old ways. She told me that she was perspiring and feeling cold when she woke up. I cannot say that God spoke to her but analyzing the story, we can say that it is because of our wicked ways that we feel fear whenever we experience the divine love.

Despite the fear, God still manifests His love and pulling us closer to Him. This doing of God is a joyful experience. There is that inner joy within us despite the fear that overshadowed it. Why? It is because we respond to this call of the presence of the divine love. At the end, the inner joy will always prevail.

As we turn to God in a deeper focus, in deep need, in great sincerity, we feel His presence stronger. As we wait after making our prayer to let His answer come to consciousness, we may sense some enhancement of awareness of truth, beauty, and goodness. Our spontaneous sense is that such awareness is a gift from God.

The experience of divine love can bless us at any moment. It does not need to be a high magnitude experience to be heartening, touching, encouraging. At the same time, divine love is an experience that culminates a process of growth.

Listen to your conscience. It's the voice of God. It guides you about making the right choice which God wants you to follow.

We may have sinned. But our God is a forgiving God. If we repent sincerely, He welcomes us anytime. We just have to begin a new life with Him and He will lead us to the right path.

Divine love doesn't need to be in big magnitude in order to be felt. It happens everyday in our life from the time of conception until our death up to the life eternity with our Creator.

Despite the gravity of our sin, we need not fear if we want to surrender our life to Him. That's how the magic of divine love works. Then, some mysterious ways, as if with the magic wand of divine love working, everything else will fall in its right place.

SHORT STORY: A LETTER FROM THE HEART

“Have you been crying?” Deanna asked as Landon stepped onto the back deck, carrying both the picture and video of Theresa. In his confusion, he had forgotten to leave it in the bedroom.

Landon felt embarrassed and wiped his eyes as Deanna put down the newspaper and rose from her seat. Though she was in the house for this past week, she never saw Landon cry.

“Are you okay? Are you still thinking of what had happened?” She bumped into one of the chairs as she reached out and took Landon’s hand.

Landon shook his head, “Yes, nothing could be more painful in my life than losing her... and I don’t know what to do now.”

“It is indeed a painful thing for me as her mother too but do you think Theresa would be happy seeing you like that?” Deanna’s free hand gestured compulsively as she asked the question.

“I know... but I couldn’t help it.” Landon paused in a moment, “Life is so unfair. Of all people, why her? Why should it happen to my Theresa?”

Landon wiped his eyes and walked over to the wrought-iron table where Deanna had been sitting. Still feeling heated of what happened, he did his best to compose himself.

Deanna looked up at Landon and her eyes too were watering. It wasn’t just him, after all.

“Life... is not unfair.” Deanna finally said “It’s part of our life to die. Death is one of our possibilities of being human. No one can escape it.”

Sam woke up from his sleep and was crying so Deanna went back to the room to see if he is okay while Landon went for a jog in the beach.

When Landon reached the beach, he saw the usual spot where he and Theresa always go every afternoon to see the sunset. Looking at the place he remembers their last conversation.

“Landon, can you promise me that you would take care of Sam especially when I’m gone?” Theresa asked while reaching for Landon’s hand.

“Don’t say anything like that. You will be well. You will surpass that,” Landon said.

“Please don’t be sad. My leukemia has been profound now. Before you came into my life, I prayed that I will get well for I still wanted to do my dreams but now that I have you and sam, I am happy and ready to face death,” she said in return.

“Please don’t say such things. I know you will live,” he commented.

“Landon, my love, my sickness is now at the peak. It’s already a miracle that I lasted this long. I want you to go on taking care of Sam. Teach him be a good man as you are,” she said.

Seeing that it was time for him to go back home, Landon started to jog. When he was on his way, questions, numerous questions bothered him like what is the meaning of his life now that Theresa is gone?

When Landon passed by the park, he saw a couple in a bench, laughing and holding hands. He reminisced the time when he proposed to Theresa.

“Where are we going?” Theresa asked.

“You have to trust me with this one,” Landon replied.

When they reached the place, Theresa was amazed by it. It was a garden filled with different kinds of flowers like roses, stargazer, and tulips. Looking forward, she saw a small table for two and beside it, there were two men playing the guitar and the other, the violin. It was a perfect place where Theresa always dreamed about to experience.

Theresa hugged Landon tight and said “Thank you, it’s all I dream about.” After saying the words she kissed him in his cheeks.

After the dinner with the music being played, Landon stood up from his chair and knelt before Theresa and said “When you came into my life, my body is calling myself to free myself from within. I was being invited to get out from the selfish “I” of my existence. My love for you is strong. The whole of I wanted you to be part of me. If this love of mine is just a dream of happiness, I would wish not to wake up from it.” Landon paused for a moment.

He reached for something in his pocket and said “You might ask why I chose you and not some other? It is because you are lovable, and you are lovable because you are you. I see a certain value in you, and I wanted to enhance and be part of that value. You are the one who gives meaning to my existence, to my being. I wanted you to be as you are now to me, to be part of my life forever.” Slowly, Landon opened his palm and said “Theresa, would you be the missing piece of my life? Would you marry me?”

Tears fell down from her eyes. Theresa could not talk but hugged Landon and kissed him in the lips. Before the second time their lips touch, she said “Yes!”

When Landon reached the house, he saw how lonely and silent it was unlike when Theresa was still around. He immediately went straight to his room and took a shower.

After showering he went to the room of Sam. He saw that he is again sleeping in the arms of his grandmother. Deanna showed a body gesture to Landon signaling to take a rest but he went to the kitchen and got a bottle of beer.

When he was in his room looking for the photos of Theresa, he found an envelop addressed to him. He laid the letter on the desk. His throat ached, making it difficult to breathe. The overhead light was making a strange prism of his unbidden tears. He reached for some tissue and rubbed his eyes. Composing himself, he started to read it.

My Darling,

I beg your forgiveness that I could not give you this letter personally. My body is weak now. I happily accept now my death for I am assured that you, my darling will take care of Sam. I know that it will be hard for you to accept my end but I want you to remember that my love for you is unconditional. It could not be stopped even by death. It is a love which is endless.

I am thankful that you give light to the meaning of my love. You taught me that love is union under the condition of preserving my integrity, my individuality. Love is my active power, a power which breaks through the walls which separate me from you, which unites me with you; love makes me overcome the sense of isolation and separateness of this sickness.

When you loved me, I experience a feeling of joy coupled with a sense of security from my illness. The feeling of my joy is my sense of being valuable, of being accepted and consented to. I no longer feel the fear of death and the anxiety of trying to be someone else. I experience an exhilarating sense of freedom. At the same time I feel secure, secure because you participate in my subjectivity such that I no longer walk alone in the world but that I walk together with you.

Ironically, I am in the same position as you are during my agony. I know that my bad health keeps me from doing my job well to be a mother and a wife to Sam and to you. I feel guilty about it and thinking of how will you do when I will not be around anymore but as my death comes closer, I understand that I can be at peace. I found out that in accepting death as my possibility, I free myself. I am delivered from being lost in my possibilities. I would like you to accept my possibility of dying if not you keep freedom away from me.

Now, I am assured that even without me, you would do well because I saw your loving care to our son by doing the things which I could not do.

Right now, I don’t think you are ready to face my possibility of dying but my darling, remember that I would always be here next to you. I may not be present with you with my body but my love will. 

Of course, I only wish you one thing. That is, I would like you not to think of my death as the end but as a celebration that the agony of my being is done.

My darling, thank you for coming into my life and giving joy in my sufferings. Thank you for the memories I will cherish forever. But most of all, thank you for showing me that there will come a time when I can be assured of your bright future, Sam and you, even when I will be gone.

I love you,

Theresa

For a second, he started reading the first part of the letter and went straight to Sam’s room. Deanna saw him crying while holding the letter. He asked for Sam and holds him into his arms and kissed him.

BEST FRIEND: PEARL OF MY LIFE

She was actually harder to describe than I thought it would be. To get started, I checked the dictionary that stated a friend is "a person who knows and likes another, a person who favors and supports and a person who belongs to the same side or group."

By these definitions I have hundreds, maybe thousands, of friends, but I truly believe it goes beyond these definitions. A friend must do much more than like you. To me, a friend is someone who knows all about you and likes you anyway. Being a friend means more than recognizing that no one is perfect, it means accepting it.

I have lots of friends but there’s only one whom I consider possessing the above qualities. She is of the same age as I am. She was my former classmate in elementary. We were not that close yet. I knew her but not that intimate.

When I studied in high school Seminary, we did not have the chance to talk. We saw each other in streets, church and in their school but we did not have any break to chat. But everything changed during our last year in high school. Before graduating, I had the opportunity to get her number. We shared what happened in the past three years and eventually as time passed by, we became best friends.

She was one of the reasons why I continued my vocation. I was attracted to her persistence of answering God’s call. She made me realize how deep my relation to God is. She was firm in her decision of entering the convent and I was stimulated by it. She taught me to pause for a while and reflect on my situation.

In our college life, we remained intact with each other but when we were in our second year, we totally lost our communication. She left to study in other place leaving no notice of any kind. I was dismayed of what happened but still hopeful to find a way to talk to her.

Nearing the summer break, I got her number from one of our friends. The first time we talked after a year, she explained to me that she tried to tell me she was going to Caloocan City. She even tried to get my new number but failed to do so. We shared lot of things that we left untouched during the year of misery.

She is my best friend, a special person in my life. We may not have the possibility to go out yet but I know that she is my friend for a friend is someone you trust to be with him or her when you are at your weakest and most vulnerable. You always get your strength from a friend. Friends are people who, no matter how painful it is to see, are willing to be with you when you are so helpless and weak. If you would trust your life to her, and vice versa, you are friends. It is not about whether she is trustworthy, or whether she is friendly. It is the actual act of trust that is the basis of friendship.

I miss my best friend now. I realized how grateful I am to have her as my best friend. She would always be my best friend until the end. She is my inspiration, my guide. If God will give me the kismet to choose among my memories to remain with me forever with no doubt it is the memory of her being my best friend.

The more than three years that she spent her life with me as best friends were indeed memorable. I know that when it will be the time for her to decide to embark on a new journey of her life, I will feel a pinch in my heart. I have a special friend now but her memory will forever linger in mind. She is and will always be—one of the great treasures in my life.

Perhaps, God created special friends like Sherlyn to remind us that no man is an island. She is a reminder that we need one another, not necessarily as lovers, but in a very special way where we could become better persons, explore our potentials, overcome our fears, and reach for our goals in life.

THE GREATES LOVE OF ALL

In the song, "Greatest Love Of All," Whitney Houston assert that the greatest love of all is to love yourself.

“Learning to love yourself.It is the greatest love of all.”

In contrast, the Sacred Scripture has a different idea about love, especially what constitutes the greatest love. The Bible expresses that the love of God is great and beyond understanding. God's love is compared to the height of the heavens above the earth and even beyond. Jesus defined the greatest love, as recorded in the gospel of John: “Greater love has no one than this that He lay down his life for his friends.[1]”

God can love us in any way even deeper and more complete than we even imagine. Before going further, let us try to reflect first on the following questions namely, what is love? Where does love come from? What is the greatest love of all? How is the love of God shown?

The true meaning of love has been corrupted in the common usage of our languages and societies. Most often, love is confused with infatuation that jubilant, "high" feeling we get when we "fall in love." This kind of "love" is something that lasts typically less than a year, and unless replaced by true love, results in broken relationships. The term “love” has been often used and misrepresented. When we say love, we speak of a wide range of subject. It can either be love of friends, love of country, love of work, love of family, love of partner, love of neighbor, and love of God.

The Sacred Scripture indicates that love is from God. In fact, it says "God is love." Love is one of the primary characteristics of God. Likewise, God has endowed us with the capacity for love. This capacity for love is one of the ways in which we are created in the image of God.

God’s love is fundamental for our lives. Our love is usually conditional and based upon how other people behave toward us. This kind of love is based upon familiarity and direct interaction. We love based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. In contrast, God’s love is an unconditional love. It is not based on feelings or emotions. It is born from within Him, not from what He finds in us. St. John says it like this: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” Does He love us because of our kindness? Is it because of our great faith? Is it because of our goodness that He loved us? No, He loves us because of His goodness, kindness, and great faith. He loves us because he wanted so and not because we love Him.

God loves you simply because He has chosen to do so. God proved His love by sacrificing His own son for us. Jesus is the symbol of that greatest love of all. Jesus fulfilled this greatest love by dying for us so that we could be forgiven of all our sins and have fellowship with God.

God’s love is something that is not only seen but felt by the heart. It doesn’t have exact explanation. All we need to understand it is an open mind that sees the message through people and events in our daily lives and an open heart to comprehend the message across.

[1] John 15:13

IS GOD REAL?

Many religions now are engaged with debates like in the Philippines argue who is the true if not the best religion. Only one I do not hear engaging in debate and that is Roman Catholic. Now I had read an article about a debate of a Catholic pastor and famous writer, Rick Warren and a famous atheist named Sam Harris. Now the debate lies on the question: Does God exist?

To start with, the debate was excellent. They tackle lots of topics from God’s existence to Humanity. There are also some intriguing questions that a believer and atheist can ask themselves. I was impress on Sam Harris that he can really defend his argument unlike Rick Warren not so because he is sometimes changing the topics instead of defending. Some of the excellent questions were the following: Do you believe on Creation? Do you think that religiously motivated good works are actually harmful? Is the soul of one person being in jeopardy because he has rejected Jesus Christ? But of course above all is the question Is God real?

One of the better questions that struck me is the question when you are born in a different country will you might different religion or even becoming an atheist? In our present day, we become a Muslim, Catholic or an Atheist because we grew up of it. If we were not baptized as a Catholic during our childhood, do you think we are still a Catholic even up to this time? Maybe not, but what important is that you made your choice of staying on what you believe on not because you were raise as a Catholic or something but because you trust on your belief.

At the end of the debate, I was kind of unsatisfied because I wanted more from the debaters to tackle more deep topics that will intrigued me to asked many things. It was also disappointing that only Rick Warren gave the last thought. And to his last words, I was still displeased, “We’re both betting. He’s betting he’s right. I’m betting my life that Jesus was not a liar. If I’m right, he’s lost everything. I’m not willing to make that gamble”, for belief on one thing is not a gamble. It’s never been that way. Belief is something you trust on and not to think for the sake that you just hold on to so not to lost if it is true.

PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION ON THE PROBLEM OF UNBELIEF

Do you believe in god? Does god exist? If god exists, is he an obstacle to human? These are just some few questions being answered in the history of humanity. We can observe that faith is always included to mans’ business or issues. Yes, it is a great issue in a way it attracts men to debate whether to believe or not.

When we talk about unbelief, we come up with the idea of an atheist. There are the ones who are famous if not the most common example. Most believers think of an atheist as someone not virtuous. They think that being an atheist means living in hell. Likewise, some atheists think that god is a barrier to mans’ life. Who is correct? Well, I can not tell but let’s examine them. Some atheist especially the humanist consider god as a shackle to mans’ improvement by means of thinking that he is the reason why people do this and do that. We lower ourselves to uplift god or he is giving us problems in life to solve rather than enjoying our life.

While some believers think that their faith is firm in a way they do not want to accept the possibility that their belief can be a mistake. They even try to cover up for the mistakes like saying that “error has no rights” or commonly by covering their ears.

Belief is different from knowledge. Knowledge is with certainty there is a period on it while belief is something, by its nature, falsifiable. So we can not say that our belief is strong. Unless we are talking about knowledge not belief for something strong is something that does not need improvement or to further expand but belief must expand to broaden its range.

They are actually different level or types of atheist. We must not be mistaken of who they are for sometimes other atheist are more christianly or more virtuous than us. Is it? Yes, hard to accept but some act manlier than those who are so-called Christians by name. They do good things for other people for the sake of humanity.

We must not take those problems of unbelief negatively instead we must accept it to improve faith or belief for everything has an equivalent doubt. To do this we must first be humble not self-satisfied as they say, “Only those who are humble has the room for progress.”

MOTHER: A JEWEL IN OUR HOME

What is a mother? What makes a mother the best? Mothers look differently from other women. We ordinarily define a mother as a woman who has children to take care of.

From the first sign of life inside her womb, her big role begins. From birth to death, from sunrise to sundown, in sickness and in health, she plays her role well, looking at her children’s well being, acting as their guardian angel.

I remember a small gift we gave our mother during one Mother’s Day celebration many years back. It has a message that reads:

Mother
Where would I be without you,
How could I stand tall, were it not for my
Mother’s loving care
I would likely be nowhere at all.

But what makes them so especial?

A mother is dedicated. I think with few exceptions, no one is more dedicated than a mother. One thing that amazes me about mothers that I have known is the level of dedication they show towards their family and children especially some of the single mothers like my own mother. A mother works hard for the upkeep of her family. Single mothers work twice because of the absence of their husbands. My mother works hard everyday just to give us comfortable life. She goes home late in the evening and yet upon arriving, continues her works, sleeps late and still rises early to go to office. I cannot ask for more from my mother. She is so dedicated in her responsibilities. My mother and other mothers deserve a bundle of credit. Raising kids is tougher than it normally looks.

A mother is strong. Toughness does not only mean physical. A mother is tough inside. When you become a mother for the first time that is the time you start to realize your true inner strength. I do not know how much my mother can carry through, but I am sure it took some fortitude to squeeze out three kids. I do not think any woman realizes her true strength until she becomes a mother. You have another life to look after and it is not about you anymore. My mother is one of the strongest people I know – spiritually and emotionally. She carried on with grace when many people would give up or cop out. She is pretty strong physically too, for her age and although she had some real health problems and illnesses, she is still quite active but her biggest strength is her character.

Mothers are known to be strong spiritually and emotionally. Why? In the Philippines, mothers are the ones convincing other members of the family to celebrate Holy Eucharist on Sunday. They are also the ones who fill the church during weekdays. They are religious as the Spaniards taught them to be. They are also strong emotionally. In the family, mothers are the ones who can control their emotions. Mothers are the ones setting the tone if the emotions of the other members of the family are out of control. Mothers are the ones softening it. She is the one who stops any quarrel among her children. Mothers have amazing amount of strength for many reasons, the strength that fulfils the multi tasks; the strength to keep on going through sleepless nights, the strength to face the challenges of raising children and the strength to be a career woman, cook, housecleaner, seamstress, chauffeur, nurse, tutor, counselor, and wife. My mother is incredibly a strong woman. Despite the many hardships she faced she never gave up and always strived to be the best person she could be. We were very lucky to have her as a mother.

A mother is humorous. The funniest member of a family is the mother. A mother cracks jokes. My mother always changes the mode of the home by making jokes. We laugh with gusto whenever she makes jokes. Children always want the joke of their mothers. It may be common or not, but there is something that makes it humorous. I love to listen to mothers who are telling stories. They do not only tell stories. From what I heard, they also insert jokes. They entertain people with their words. In a house, the mother is always the one entertaining the guests. They are really icebreakers.

A mother is compassionate. Mothers give to others even what is supposed to be theirs. My mother did not coddle us, and did not let us make any excuses for ourselves. I may not know much about parenthood, but I do know that being a mother means not always being your kid's best friend, but being strict once in a while. Teaching your kids to squeeze once in a while is a valuable lesson. My mother is pretty compassionate. Many times, she makes me see someone else’s side when I get too judgmental. She always helps the down and out or unfortunate even when they may not be very thankful to her. She is still kind-hearted even to those who put her down during her young age. She still lends them money if they ask her some. She helps them when they are in trouble. This is my mother; she cared about others above herself.

A mother is a warrior. A warrior is a protector of the people. Like a warrior, a mother creates a safe place for a child to be comforted. We, children, feel that the safest place is being with our mothers. Even a baby recognizes this safest place for him or her through his or her mothers’ arm where the baby sleeps well. We feel safe with our mother even when we grow old and have problems. When in trouble, the very person that we look for is our mother. The touch of the mother removes the pain of a wound. She is a doctor. She heals every sickness there is that her child has, she watches her child every second. She sometimes does not sleep just to check the condition of her child. I often see mothers visiting their sick sons in the seminary. They do not even wait to finish whatever they are doing when they hear that their son is ill. They are like warriors who secure their children from harm.

A mother is beautiful. By becoming a mother, a woman is nearly assured of one thing for the rest of her life. There will always be someone who thinks she is beautiful. Every child thinks that his or her mother is pretty. Their looks are undeniable, and their vanities have become a running gag in a family. Some people think that the meaning of beauty is wearing high heels and a mini-skirt, but beauty can be emulated via many things. A woman can be beautiful trying to raise a man, a woman can be beautiful trying to make money out of a coin or telling her child their a gift and not a burden – they made that choice to have them after all. It is not just an external thing. It is internal, too. My mother is a beautiful lady. She is beautiful inside as well as outside. She has the most beautiful smile and a wonderful laugh. I was blessed with a beautiful mother; in fact all the mothers are beautiful to their children. The beauty of a mother is not with the clothes she wears. It is not the skin she has. We can see the beauty of a mother through her eyes where it is connected to her heart. It is her loving care to her family that makes her beautiful.

A mother is pure. When we talk about purity, we come out at once with the idea that babies are the only ones who are pure. But purity does not only connote having no sin. Mothers for me are pure. They are pure in a sense that they do not tell their children that one thing is wrong if they are doing it. The greatest example here is our Mother Mary. She taught Christ how to live in harmony and become an example not only to her son but to others also. She is pure not because she has no sin but because she is an example to all. My mother is pure. She lives a life for a model for us her children. She does not teach something which is against the will of God. As one poem says: “And that is why in this world there could not be another who could fulfill God's purpose as completely as a MOTHER.[1]” It is their heart that makes them pure, a heart of gold.

A mother is influential. No one is more close to us than that of our mother. We obey what our mothers say. We accept advices of our mothers and even the sayings are acknowledged. A word of a mother can make a difference. In reality and movies, a mother has great influence to her powerful sons or daughters. Their words are important. A man listens more to his mother rather than his wife for his mother had influence d him so much. As a quote says, “A man loves his sweetheart the most; his wife the best, but his mother the longest.[2]” When a mother dies, it is very hard to accept. Memories of care and love will strike one’s life. Her teachings will live forever to her children. It always amazes me the great influence of a mother to a child.

In the seminary, one of the most influential people in the life of a seminarian is that of his mother. A mother is very supportive to the vocation of her son. As I observe, most of the visitors of the seminarians are their mothers. They always want their sons to become priest. One of the priests said that he became priest not because only of his own calling but because of his mother’s influence. Mothers are really influential to their children’s decision. Whoever will try to convince a child, mothers will win.

A mother is wise. We sometimes say that wisdom comes with age and experience. My mother is very wise, and so are many mothers I know. We can all learn much from listening to our mothers. They taught us since we were babies. They tried several times to teach us our first word. And most of the baby’s first word is that of the name of the mother. They educated us before we enter schools and up to the time we are studying in schools, they still help us in our assignment. They become our private tutor when we are lagging behind. Mothers have a stronger connection to the earth. They know what nurturing is all about, and they intuitively know how foolish it is to abuse the eco-system and march off to war when it is not an absolute necessity. I wish more World Leaders were mothers. My mother like other mothers has a way at looking at things that always make everything easier to deal with. She always manages to stay calm and reasonable. She always looks at the world with understanding and compassion which sometimes I have trouble doing. Mothers are really wise.

A mother loves lifetime. No one can explain the depth of love of a mother. We say that it has no beginning or no end. The love of a mother is so much precious. We children sometimes think that we are not loved by our mother when they whip us. But at the back of it, a mother never wants to hurt her son. If necessary she does not want to hit her son. It is more painful for a mother to hit her son. I always smile when I see a mother trying to hit her son but she is only forced to do such. The love of a mother cannot be destroyed or can be taken away by others. A mothers’ love is a life long commitment.

The love of a mother is full of dreams, pains and pleasure. It is full of dreams because a mother always thinks of the future of her sons or daughters. A mother’s love is full of pain because a mother accepts all the pain just to relieve her son from other pains. A mother will accept all just for her children. A mother’s love is full of pleasure because a mother always shows her children that they are in comfort. She never lets her children feel that they are in hardship. The love of a mother can never be compared to others. It is a love of lifetime.

Most of us neglect the importance of a mother. We are blind of the reality that the works of a mother is difficult. We can even say how much we appreciate their loving care. Let this be a lesson to us all. Let us not then close our eyes to see the importance of mothers in our life.

We sometimes see that the works of a mother is so much easy but we are actually wrong. They just act as if it is easy but at the back of it, it’s not. We cannot do what they are doing.

In the seminary for instance, we see most of the time mothers who attend our school gatherings. This helps in building confidence of their seminarian sons as well as a moral booster. Mothers are the best. They are dedicated, strong, compassionate, humorous, pure and influential.

Despite the things they do, they are still pure and beautiful. Let us then show our gratitude to our mothers by saying how much we love them for the only thing that will gladden the heart of a mother is the phrase “I love you” coming from her sons or daughters.

In our prayers, let us not forget to pray for our mothers, too for her unconditional love. That is one great thing to do because she is and will always be—one of the great treasures in life; a jewel in our home.

Bibliography

[1] Http://www.fathershands.com/Whatisamother/
[2] Http://mothersday.about.com/od/entertainment/a/motherhood_quot.htm

PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH ON THE PROBLEM OF THE ONE AND THE MANY

I. Introduction

In the History of Philosophy, we can view that many were trying to answer problems and one of it is the problem of the one and the many. What is this problem of the one and the many? We can relate here how beings are alike and yet are different. For example, James and John are beings. Now with the problem of the one and the many, how come James and John are the same and yet they are also different.

It is fitting to begin with Ancient Greek Philosophy, which originated from the correct realization that there must be One that is common to and connect the Many.

The early Greek philosophers primarily concerned with the problem of the one and the many. They simply stated the problem involves explaining the infinity of things in the universe. We can see that many separate things can be related to single; unifying thing (the One) was some material substance, like water, or air. Later Greek philosophers would conceive of this one thing as something more abstract, like number.

The Problem of the One and the Many is at the very foundation of all human knowledge. It is a problem that has been known for many thousands of years without solution. It is surprising that it is now accepted by many that we can never solve the Problem of the One and the Many, thus we can never directly know what exists, what reality is (what we are).


II. Statement of the Problem

There is one (1) main problem that the researcher seeks to answer in the endeavor namely: How can Reality or Being be one at the same time many?

To understand more the problem presented, it is sub-divided into different questions:
1. How did the problem of the one and the many begun?
2. Who are the philosophers involve in the problem?
3. What are their (philosophers) solutions to the problem?
4. How did they come out with their (philosophers) solutions?
5. What is the difficulty of their solutions?

III. Definition of Terms

Being – is the most abstract of all terms, for it means everything that is; as such Reality is a synonym for Being.[1]

One – refers to the similarity of beings.

Many – refers to the differences.

Monism (from greek μονοσ - monos - one) – is a term that describes any philosophy that denies that there are many separate beings in the universe.[2]

Radical monism – denies all multiplicity and diversity in being as illusion.[3]

Mitigated Monism – does not admit real diversity, but only as modes or parts of a single all-bracing being or substance, not as distinct in their own right with their own autonomous existence.[4]

Pluralism – is the theory that reality is not one or two but many. Pluralism stands in contrast with monism.[5]

Essence – is the attribute (or set of attributes) that make an object or substance what it fundamentally is, and that it has necessary, in contrast with accident, properties that the object or substance has contingently and without which the substance could have existed.[6]

Existence – For Thomists, existence is the act of being as contrasted with essence.[7]

IV. Methodology

This work is primarily a philosophical reflection and exposition of the solutions to the problem of the one and the many. The researcher went through series of research in library and in internet to gather adequate resources and data in order to present in a comprehensive and a careful manner the solutions to the questions stated in the statement of question.

V. Body

Our common experience tells us that we live in a world of many real beings. I am only one of those beings. These beings can be understood according to their different natures, and they come into being and go out of being.

We sometimes compare ourselves with others. We either look for our similarity or our differences. But what we will tackle about the similarity or unity and multiplicity is much different from our everyday concepts.

The problem of the one and the many originated with the Greek philosophers who tried to answer where the world is made of? The first among Ancient Greek philosophers is Thales. He opens out the problem of the one and the many with his novel inquiry concerning the nature of the things. “What is everything made of, or what kind of ‘stuff’ goes into the composition of things?[8]” With this question, we can see clearly that Thales agree that there are different kinds of things and yet he believe that there is the One that all things are similar.

Thales recognizes that the world is not just what it appears to be and asks about its fundamental nature. Change is apparent. Thales asks about the nature of that which endures change.

What is the nature of the underlying substance that goes through changes? The question here raises a metaphysical issue and does so in a way that invites rational investigation rather than mere speculation or appeal to myth and the supernatural. Is his idea must be taken seriously? Yes, although his concept is only in the chrysalis state, the idea: everything is one must be taken seriously. From it, the other philosophers develop the answers of the problem.

Like Thales, his contemporaries and fellow Greek Pre-Socratic philosophers, Anaximander and Anaximines believed that there is the one that all things are similar. But these philosophers have different concept of the One. These philosophers did not really think of the problem of the one and the many but their importance is that they come out with the idea of a thing which beings are similar.

Among the Pre-Socratic philosophers, Heraclitus and Parmenides were the great figure with the problem. They tried to answer the question with their observation and logical argument. Heraclitus answered the problem with his chief idea that “all things in flux.[9]” He defined reality as in constant change. He said that all things change and has no similarity. He tries to answer the problem from his observation. To illustrate his idea, you get two stone and try to observe both. You may notice that the two stones are different from each other. Heraclitus found change itself to be the only thing that was permanent. The search for a permanent material substratum is illusory, he thought.

Parmenides rejects Heraclitus and agrees with Xenophanes on the unity and no changeability of all being. Being is everywhere indivisible and the same, motionless and unchangeable. Reason gives us the only true idea of the world as unchanging being. The senses mislead us in presenting the world as manifold and changing. This view demands an “error theory”, an explanation of the ordinary person’s apparent experience of change and diversity. In our ordinary experience of the world, our senses erroneously place Not-Being on a-par with being. We get our perceptions of individual things by representing them as separated by void. But in reality, there is no Not-Being. He denies the reality of change.

For Parmenides, change is impossible. The very notion is incoherent. This is not just an assumption that Parmenides makes. Nor is it based on observation. Rather, it is the conclusion of a strictly deductive argument, from more basic premises. And it is not only the startling conclusion Parmenides draws. He also holds that there is no coming into existence, or ceasing to exist.

“According to traditional interpretation, Parmenides goes even further, denying that there is such a thing as plurality. On this view, Parmenides denies that there are many things, maintaining instead that only one thing exists.[10]”

This interpretation was no longer universal accepted but still common. It is not clear but they believe that Parmenides thought that this one thing is.

The atomists, such as Democritus (c. 460-360 BC), Leucippus, and Lucretius, did not say that there was one being, but that there was really only one kind of being, the atom (ατομοσ, atomos, individisible).[11]

The atomists like the other pre-Socratic philosophers such as Parmenides and Heraclitus were monist. The atomists use the atoms to answer the problem of the one and the many wherein beings are made up of atom, “small lumps of stuff which may be logically analyzable into parts.[12]” The beings now are one in the case of they are made up of atoms and to explain the differences is that the atoms are in constant movement in different direction.

The pre-Socratic philosophers can be considered as monist or more specifically radical monist. Among them, Parmenides was the major figure of radical monist in the period.
Plotinus, a contemporary of Aristotle, tried to answer the problem of the one and the many with his two-act theory and the doctrine of procession or reversion. In his two-act theory he presented two arguments:

“Two aspects to all things: an ‘inner act’ and an ‘outer act’. The inner act is the substance or essence of the thing. The outer act is a distinct entity; an image or likeness of the inner act.[13]”

In the first argument, he presented the one as the inner act and the many as outer act. For example, the heat is the essence of fire (its inner act) and the heat that flows out from fire (its outer act). We can see that there are different structures or shapes of fire which he calls the outer act.

“Each hypostasis is the complete cause of the next lower one. The lower one emanates from the higher as the outer act of the higher. This accounts only for the existence or "matter" of the lower level.[14]”

This matter is then informed, and the lower hypostasis comes into being, through the act of contemplating the higher one. The characteristics, procession and reversion are non-temporal events. Procession is necessary, not deliberate and not diminishing.
In his two-act theory, his idea is not well accepted but his importance or contribution to the problem was that through his idea the great philosophers develop his idea into a more convincing one.
Let us then move further to a modern philosopher, Spinoza. He defines reality as:

There simply is no other reality than reality as mathematically described: anything which presents itself as "reality" - but which is not mathematically "capturable" - is simply illusion.[15]

From his definition of reality, Spinoza develops a radical monism. As we shall see, his monism will exclude "ordinary reality" as illusory. While this saves him from the Cartesian problem of explaining relation, it is hardly more satisfactory as a philosophy. Those of you with some history of philosophy background might compare Spinoza in this way to Parmenides.
Baruch Spinoza is like Parmenides in his solution. He is also consider a monist but quite different with Parmenides. He is a mitigated monist. He considers the diversity as modes of the one substance or reality.

Another solution to the problem is that of Baruch Spinoza. He contended that everything that exists in nature is one Reality (substance) and there is only one set of rules governing the whole of the reality which surrounds us and of which we are part. This reality that he is talking is God and he concluded that the rest are just modes of the Substance.

The most popular solution is that of Thomas Aquinas. We can also include here the concept of Aristotle where it is the basis of Thomas. Thomas answers the problem with his Essence and Existence. In his concept, the one is the existence. We are beings and beings exist therefore we all exist. What unites us is our act of existence and what differentiates us is limiting essence. It is like a stair, the whole stair is the act of existence, what differentiates is the level on each stair. One is different from other level.

The difficulty of the solution of Thomas is the distinction of existence and essence. Much of the philosophers after him have criticized his theory. They would not accept that the existence and essence has a real distinction for the existence makes essence real.

The different solution discuss are just a glimpse of the problem of the one and the many. We can not disregard the Ancient Greek philosophers for their contribution to the problem. Yes, their answers are not satisfactory but from their answers were became the basis of the great philosophers to the problem of the one and the many. Among the solutions above, the most regarded as the popular and question by many is the solution of Thomas Aquinas. He did not actual formulated new idea but he base it to that of Aristotle. He somewhat further elaborates it.

The essence and existence are the best way to explore the content of the intuition of being. Their outside meanings are easy to grasp. Essence is what a thing is, and existence is that it is or that it exists, and what a thing is not the same as that it is. There are two distinct attitudes of mind involved, one when we name something and the other when we assert that it exists.
We distinguish one thing from another and even oppose one thing to another. An elephant is not a carrot, and we don't expect anyone to confuse the two. But we rarely if ever stop and consider the ultimate nature of the “whats” we are constantly making use of.

The problem of the one and the many influence much of other philosophical and theological thoughts. It illuminates the existence of God like what St. Thomas did and it further develops some major philosophical questions.

We may want either answer the problem with radical monism like the Ancient Greek philosophers did, with mitigated monism like Baruch Spinoza did, or with pluralism either radical or mitigated. The problem of the one and the many is one of the most controversial issues in metaphysics from it the other sub-topics in metaphysics exist like God and evil.

VII. Conclusion

In the problem of the One and the Many, Philosophies are monistic, dualistic or pluralistic, and no one point of view has been able to eliminate the appeal of the other positions to some philosophers. This is the difference or division that cut across the classical types of philosophy.

The problem of the one and the many is a question which all the philosophers both from East and West tried to answer. And through our own experiences, we can clearly see that Being is both one and many. All beings are one in the act of existence and they only differ from their essence.

Perhaps, the problem of the one and the many is the central and most important theme of all traditional philosohy.

[1] http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Metaphysics-One-Many-Infinite-Finite.htm.%20March%206, 2007
[2] http://www.hyoomik.com/phi205/pluralism.htm.%20March%207, 2007
[3] W. Norris Clarke, Sj, “Central Problems of Metaphysics” (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University, 2001) p.10.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Harold H. Titus, “Living Issues in Philosophy” (New York: American Book Company, 1953) p. 485
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essence.%20March%207, 2007
[7] Harold H. Titus, “Living Issues in Philosophy” (New York: American Book Company, 1953) p. 480
[8] Ibid. p. 310
[9] http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2b.htm.%20March%209, 2007

[10] http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/parm1.htm.%20March%207, 2007
[11] http://www.hyoomik.com/phi205/pluralism.htm.%20March%207, 2007
[12] A.H. Armstrong, Introduction to Ancient History of Philosophy (Rowman & Little Pub. Inc, 1981) p. 18
[13] http://ls.poly.edu/~jbain/mms/handouts/mmsplotinus.htm.%20March%208, 2007
[14] Ibid.
[15] http://www.drury.edu/ess/history/modern/spinoza.html.%20March%2010, 2007