Contemplation in Brief

"Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise. "

Sigmund Freud 

All my life, I've been searching for tenderness
Lifting my eyes above, to echo the loneliness
The rain has smoothly fell on my cheeks
Infusing the rupture, mending on the bricks

Once there was child, of smiles and cares
Unknowingly savors the moment it shares
Toward the winds of endless hopes
Toward the plays of gripping ropes

the resonance of the melody
humming in thy mind so profusely
unstopping the memory
in remembrance of the past's melancholy

Oh how the days have gone so fast
In the enchantment of each that never last
For why? all thy good things come to end
Alotting sighs and utterance trying to bend

The caress and the passion
To oblivion it came through
That in begging it will never cease
To deploy the ageless truth








~Mac

Blackberry Internet Services: to be banned in UAE

"For one cause or another, it has become necessary to impose restrictions upon the use of many commodities, including not a few of the necessities of life. "

-William Lyon Mackenzie King

(information on the blackberry issue were taken from news articles published in NYtimes.com and BreakingNews.com)


Two days back, i clicked on the tweet of Breaking News on twitter about UAE's banning of Blackberry Internet Services. Later that day i stumbled on NYTimes' article about the issue. Subsequently finding again that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is about to follow suit after UAE's lead in barring the internet services of the famous Blackberry Smartphone.

Yesterday, UAE is on #TT(trending topic) via twitter, spreading like wildfire on the heat of the issue regarding blackberry's services coming to a halt this October. The flare increased when rumors that KSA is going to do the same thing.

The main reason is about security concerns. Having a data plan and activating the Blackberry Internet Services for your Blackberry smartphone lets you enjoy the benefits of Blackberry Messenger, Email and other application clients dedicated only for Blackberry users. These services are exclusive and that the data passing through the cellular towers are then routed high-encryptedly in the networks of Research In Motion (the company for Blackberry). In effect, whoever is the carrier forwarding that data to RIM's server, they don't have much control over it.

All these hubbubs confronts the different angles of opinions in my behalf. Im afraid to be blunt on this but rationalizing the reasons on why they are shutting off the BB services is somewhat untechnically savvy on their side...

There must be a way to decrypt and intercept that highly encrypted data where Research In Motion is controlling over their servers. Giving up on the premise above is like saying dump your Blackberry phone in the garbage and levelling your IT guys to be incompetent.

Consumers are at the losing end in the first place upon implementation of this. With the blackberry internet services being disabled, it defeats the purpose of having a blackberry.

October is a long way to go, for sure they would come up with a brighter and more sensible idea on how to address the "i can't  eavesdrop" thingee.






~mAc

August wishes

"Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow 

it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, 

but all that had gone before. "

~Jacob August Riis 

August is the month of floods and rains in the Philippines. It's the month where umbrellas and raincoats are indispensable for everyone walking and travelling. In contrast, August is the month in northern hemisphere located countries (like some part of the US) where summer is at its peak. This is the eight month of the year in the Gregorian calendar. This is also the month where Edinburgh Festival in Scotland is celebrated - the largest cultural event in the world. Nevertheless, August for me marks the month of my natal day, somehow it's fulfilling to convey my thoughts of wishes and clamors and cravings.

Wishlists (nine tops)
- im planning to integrate a photo of the day in my Tipsterize blog which shall commence prolly on the 2nd week of the month.
- to have a blessed or somewhat consecrated w.s. on the week of my birthday
- to have a long talk with my mom and dad
- to have more followers on my blog and on twitter
- hell yeah! to see and pet a dog (been a while)
- to get my 3gs jailbroken with the iOS4
- that on the day of my bday, may it be passing smoothly and without hubbubs, where contentment and love floats all day and all night long
- to dance and sing in the rain (sounds absurd! i know this isnt going to happen for where i am seems impossible)
- last but not the least? to find the girl of my dreams (shocker! but then im not in love at the moment, it's been a while me evading that magical feelings of all)


So there you go, my top nine's desires to accomplish, wishes to dream and hopes to endure.






~mAc

The Art of Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it"

- Mark Twain

How would you react if you incidentally committed an ego-crushing sin to someone close to you?

Well, it could be on the extremes, the heated confrontation scenario or could be the cold treatment type ala "dead matter" handling. But both of the above would definitely lead to a snapping end of a friendship if not resolved properly.

Everyone of us is bound to committing mistakes, errors, faults and sins. From all the people we interact each day in our lives, it's undenying that mistakes do happen, incidentally or accidentally. Doing it incidentally or pre-meditated (in the sense that you know that it's wrong but you still enacted it) gets a much more higher rate of unforgiveness.

Forgiveness is somewhat pride-altering to most, some consider it as a challenge to overcome the bar of  hurt ego, unwanting to surrender or the fear of vanquishing disdain/scorn (cuz this feeling served 'em as a shield in retaliation for the severe damage inflicted in their feelings).

There are two parties involved in a quarrel or a dispute:
a. the offender
b. the victim

Normally, the victim would hate, despise (or whatever you wanna call it) the offender due to the inconvenience and wrongdoings he/she received.

And normally (again), the victim would then anticipate for an approach of reconciliation from the offender of which the victim could either do two things:
1. do not give a pardon
2. provide forgiveness

In contrast, the offender normally do not have the guts to enact an affair of reconciliation to the victim (it could be a plan in the mind only, but it's quite hard to put it into action) in an ASAP basis. And so the dispute is further delayed in resolution.

And the hardest part of it all on the side of the offender is to say the words "i'm sorry"... "please forgive me".  Hahaha! it's true as the song goes from Elton John.. "Sorry seems to be the hardest word".

Well, THE ABOVE SCENARIO is the usual and norm that is happening in the facts of life. However, i want to share to you a tenet i learned two decades back of which i'm still following whenever i'm confronted with this kinds of situations in life .. this i consider the art of forgiveness.

Given the two characters above, if i'm in the shoes of the offender, i won't wait an overnight to pass in expressing my thoughts of repentance. In short, immediately ask for forgiveness. State my case, accept my faults, declare my being sorry for what i've done and sincerely ask for compassion and forgiveness. (it's easier said than done, true! but if you make this a motivational habit, results are beneficial)

On the other hand, if i am in the shoes of the victim. (you might think this is insane) Normally i'd be the one to approach the offender, state and convey my feelings about the rudeness or inconvenience i received and aim for a closure and reconciliation of the dispute. Meaning, to mend whatever bad feelings has arisen, to maintain good relations, and in effect; offender spontaneously deliver his/her words of repentance and pleads for forgiveness.

While it's true that everyone of us has the right to decide whether to forgive or not to forgive; to break or mend a friendship; to extend virtues or totally cut the essence of bonding t'was once formed, ain't it easier and lighter if we go and dwell on the positive side? Not on resentment and despicability; not on remorse and hatred.... but on camaraderie and love.

Let me leave this famous quote to you... "to err is human, to forgive is divine"



~Othello

Iglesia Ni Cristo (96th Anniversary)

"Consider the momentous event in architecture when the wall parted and the column became"

~Loius Kahn

27th of July is no ordinary day for any member of the Church of Christ, a.k.a. Iglesia Ni Cristo which was reestablished in the Philippine archipelago back in 1914. Today, the church worldwide is commemorating on its 96th anniversary.

It was last year (2009) when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared July 27 as Iglesia Ni Cristo Day and every year thereafter signifying a special working holiday in the country in recognition to the founding of the church. This was signed into law via the Republic Act 9645.

Looking back and reminiscing on the church' humbly beginnings, the obvious was inevitable, persecution and maltreatment were so much rampant in the early days of the Church of Christ. T'was like you were being outcasted entirely must people know that you belong to this religion. Worship Services were stoned, despised, and bluntly speaking - most people would give a murderous remark as if to belong in the fold is an original sin.

However, members did not waver in their calling. Early members shrugged off the inequalities they get during that early stage. They never faltered to deliver and all the more they become steadfast in the church. Time is the greatest healer they say, and the generation of this age are now reaping the sacrifices, conviction, hope and unmatched beliefs of the pioneers of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, led by the late Bro. Felix Manalo.

Look at the church today! It's almost on its Centennial anniversary... and the glory it beheld is quite stunning and remarkable. Not only by its proliferation of magnificent & breath-taking chapels mushrooming around the isles of the Philippines but the core values it has continued to impart among the followers of the faithful.

It is indeed, unbelievable for the mundane on how this church has achieved on what it has right now. The titanic expansion of its growth, conquering the different continents of the earth is something ala- "more-than-meets-the-eye" concept. Wonders among wonders, this church keeps on inspiring lives, keeps on shedding the true light in this world of darkness and chaos.

I want to extend my deepest and heartfelt greetings to all the members of the Church of Christ in all the corners of universe. Anywhere you are, if you are reading this, keep the faith!

Glory be to God. Happy 96th Anniversary!!!

~mAc