Chronicles of the Daily Grind

while waiting last night for the last full show of valkyrie at powerplant mall, we decided to stop by fully booked. my passion for books flared once more especially as i engage and exchange conversations with two other book lovers: fr. gigi and fr. marty.

here are some of the books i've been wanting to read and eventually be a part of my collection:











they're really expensive books.
i hope somebody gives me any of these on my birthday.
just wishing anyway!

Labels: book review, interesting, study

Posted by brodiz at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

currently reading...

sun tzu's the art of war, edited and with a foreword by james clavell.


it's one of the oldest books in military strategy. yet beyond the pages of these chinese military tactics are gems of wisdom applicable to wherever you are -- designed for handling conflicts. one can actually wage a war without getting into the battle.

advices may be archaic, but its relevance will be based on one's personal experience. insights afterall are personal.

Labels: book review, insights, interesting

Posted by brodiz at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments

our world revolves on numbers. how much we earn? how big is our waistline? psychologists study a person through tests and data: his IQ or EQ, his degree of neurosis, extraversion, tendencies for a borderline personality disorder. managers rely on quantitative facts as determined by the volumes of sales, the indices and graphs. architects and engineers value the precision of measurements, the strength of materials. chemists and nuclear physicists would die for a molecular component. athletes and sports enthusiasts gauge skill or level performances by game statistics.

we live in a world where measurement is the real thing, a value in itself. it generates standards. it proposes limits. it concretizes the abstract. to this effect, man becomes the object of measurement itself. amidts eternity there is time, amidst the vast expanse, there is a bounded space, amidst freedom there are rules. even in morality, there is measurement. its value cannot be denied.

but how far can man measure? scriptures warns us that "the measure with which we measure will be measured out to you" (mark 4:24). while we rely on these numbers and standards, while we value this scheme, there is something beyond in the human person worth affirming.

in man, as one puts it, there are two worlds: the world we can measure with line and rule, and the world that we feel with our hearts and imagination. this is the intricacy of the human person. but our consciousness points us to "this" one world. this is when and where we find ourselves in confusion, in fear, in inadequacy. we stand between two polarities: from numbers and rules to the farthest pole of the "unlimited." as a result, man sees within him this conflict. how could man reach the heights of the ideal when he is grounded from the real. realizing the gap, man starts to feel confused. he starts to tremble and feel fear within as he find himself inadequate of the visions of the ideal he is trying to reach from the reality he is grounded.

after the long struggle and deep reflections, man experiences enlightenment in his plight. a change of paradigm is discovered as the key.

it is not the situation, but the human person that matters most.

a certain marianne williamson unlocks this chest of gem -- a going out of the cave:

"our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. it is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. we ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? actually, who are you not to be? you are a child of God. your playing small doesn't serve the world. there's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. we are all meant to shine, as children do. we are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. it's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. as we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Posted by brodiz at 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments