Picture of our dog Jewel

Sunset at North Shore, Hawaii

The above texts were made using the Clipping Task tool in Photoshop

Two weeks ago somebody called from the Philippines to promote a long distance phone service. I was shocked and  quite disoriented at the same time  as thoughts came racing in my mind: what the heck is this about? who gave him my number? who is this guy?

Well, it turned out that an acquaintance of mind gave him my number without my permission. As it turned out, for every referral she can make, she will get a percentage  of the total bill  on the  long distance charges to the Philippines. Anyway, I ended up talking about nearly 30 minutes to this guy who would not accept no as an answer. Honestly, I really thought it was an invasion of my privacy.

Well, have you heard of Owtel.com?  This guy from the Philippines is still making my cell phone busy. Thanks to caller id, I don’t have to deal with him anymore. But really, giving your friend’s phone number without her consent? Even when I was still in Cebu, I don’t give out other people’s phone numbers without asking their permission first. I really think it is rude and disrespectful.

Below is a follow up letter to Renie in response to his ideas about Christianism. Just a short background, he claimed himself to be an aethiest. I could sense his passions and I thought, what a waste. So I decided to write another letter.

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By the way, God has not forsaken the Philippines. It is the people that have forsaken God. Instead of embracing God’s goodness, they chose to embrace evil. I hope you will choose the path that God had laid out for you. Don’t confuse faith in God with religion. God did not establish religion. The people did. And for a long time, it has been a tool used to oppress people.

Condemn religion and its ugly head, if you must. Expose the evils lurking within our churches. The more you do it, the more you will realize that God has been made a victim by these evil people. That people have lost their faith in God because these instruments of darkness have clouded the people’s minds by doing despicable acts in HIS name.

It does not matter where you live Renie. May it be America, Africa, China or Philippines. You cannot escape the battle between good and evil. (nor the unity of opposites for that matter) You just have to do the best you can to tilt the balance of power in God’s favor.

People in the US have their own sets of problems. There is still homelessness, poverty, etc. Everywhere you go in this world, problems exist. The intensity might vary from one place to another, but they are there. And believe it or not, if you see these things, it will make you appreciate your own country. So don’t consider yourself unfortunate that you are living in the Philippines. Instead of feeling sorry, we should think of how to make things better in our country. It might be an uphill struggle, but somebody has to start it. America did not become a powerful country overnight. It has endured years of civil wars to come this far. We might be way behind, and we don’t learn our lessons well, but I know if we start loving our own country instead of cursing it to the dogs, we will get there.

Please think about it. Thanks.

I have been trying to update myself with what is going in Cebu by reading my friend’s blogs. I happened to read this particular comment below:

“Ooooh!!! Talking about bribing God! You know why Marcos got away with their loot? Because Marcos built the St. Basil Church in Los Angeles! RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF LOS ANGELES’ FINANCIAL DISTRICT!!!!

DAMN, YOU JESUS CHRIST!!! GET UP AND BOOGIE!!!!! SHOW THE CORRUPT YOUR FIRE AND BRIMSTONE!!! I don’t care if you use your power of cruel and unusual punishment on the corrupt BUT USE IT ONLY ON THE CORRUPT not the defenseless children, old, infirm, pregnant women and other defenseless innocent people.

Cardinal Mahoney of Archdiocese of Los Angeles was mauled by a parishioner because of Cardinal Mahoney’s protecting the CHILD MOLESTING PRIESTS!!! Fortunately, the mauler was not apprehended.”

As a Christian I responded with a lengthy letter. Having been in his situation many years ago, I thought I would share an idea or two. Well, actually lots of ideas.

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Hi Renie,

I am actually glad that you are very aware of what is going on around you: the sufferings of the people, corruption, poverty and did you say there are pickpockets in Sto. Nino church now? Wow!

By this, I can tell that you are not a self-centered person and on the contrary, despite your hateful words, you actually care. I had the opportunity to rub elbows with the rich and poor alike in the past, and let me tell you, you will be surprised at how people react to the same situations: it ranges from sympathy to indifference. It takes a lot of emotions to be able to feel other people’s sufferings and a lot of your time to nit-pick every bad thing that happens on a day-to-day basis. And I tell you, there are worse events happening in some other parts of the world right now.

So where is God? Why is He letting bad things happen to good people, especially the “defenseless children, old, infirm, pregnant women and other defenseless innocent people”? And why is it that bad, corrupt people are more successful, have more money and living more comfortably? Well, I have asked these questions myself before. And it is true; it is not easy to find God in this unbalanced equation. I can’t blame anybody who thinks God does not exist based on these harsh realities. That was exactly my conclusion too, well, many years ago.

But do you know what is ironic, it was actually during my atheism days that I found God. The oddest place, don’t you think? You see, atheists believe all change as the product of a constant conflict between opposites arising from the internal contradictions inherent in all things. In you and me, for example, life and death is in constant battle. Our body has armies fighting constantly against the germs, virus or bacteria. The result of this contradictions, determines our health. And we will not know what life is if there is no death.

Around us are a lot of contradictions or opposites, too: poverty and affluence, sadness and joy, hunger and satisfaction, rich and poor, good and bad, and the list goes on and on. And this constant contradiction of opposites is the reason why changes are occurring around us, the reason why civilization has come this far, the reason why saints like Sister Theresa rose up to the challenge, or heroes like Jose Rizal shed their blood.

How can we appreciate or know the light if we did not know darkness, joy if we did not know sadness, etc. (well, you get my point, right?). This is the reality that we must accept. One cannot live without the other. And it is inherent. It is there, scientifically, since the beginning of time. To know good we must know bad. So evil is a necessary ingredient to the whole contradiction so we would know what is good. To some people, this will sound unfair but the truth is, this is science and a fact we have to live with and use to our advantage.

Sounds depressing? Well, actually understanding these things is just the beginning. And once you did, things actually get more interesting. That is why I said earlier that I am glad you are so aware of the things around you. It is good since there is nothing left for you to do except to exercise your power of choice. Instead of spending so much emotions on counting the bad things and corrupt people around us, we should embrace these harsh but necessary components of our society so we can plan how to make things better.

This may sound ironic, but without them or conflict in general, opportunities will be lost for people to become good and do good deeds. Thanks to them and the ongoing contradictions, heroes and saints are born, technology is continually perfected, systems are strengthened, security is intensified, things are discovered, people are always thinking how to make lives better, people have learned the importance of helping one another and the importance of good government, etc. In other words, life has become more interesting and we continue to evolve into a more advance civilization. (Not the cavemen that we once were or did they say we evolved from a bunch of monkeys?!)

Some countries, like the US, have already gone past these facts and have moved on. By the way, the US dollars have the words “In God We Trust” printed on them. And if you watch National Geographic or Discovery Channel in your cable (Or you can visit their website), you will be surprised that a lot of scientists openly declare their belief in God, too. There has been so much talk about exploring the unknown or what is beyond this universe in the science community that scientist have long started their quest to find a suitable planet to live in when the time comes that our sun will die down. And can you believe that some people have actually bought a piece of land in the moon?

Well, but in the Philippines, we are still stuck with the name-calling and mud slinging. You are fortunate that you are there and these opportunities are around you. It is all up to you now. You can choose to just talk about it, act upon it or do nothing about it. Life is all about choices, Renie. But whatever it is that you choose to do, keep your fire burning. This world needs people like you. The Philippines needs people like you. Somebody has to tell the truth and knock some sense into our politics and culture. But I hope when you do, it would not be out of anger or hatred but out of love for our country and the people.

I feel for the Philippines and the Filipinos and just like Lucy, I am doing what I can do to help. Every little act of kindness creates a big ripple. And it is scientific. Trust me, you will be surprised to find God as you go on with this journey. And since you are a smart person, it will be sooner than you thought.

Let me end by saying that I have personally experienced the powers of a prayer. And long before Templeton had its research, a lot of people have already testified that miracles had happened in their lives because of their prayers. Everybody dies Renie, whether you pray or not. And if you pray, there could only be two answers: Yes or No. And there are times you will receive a NO. So it is not that God did not answer your prayer, He just answered NO and it is up to you to think why the things you have prayed for are not granted so you can do something about it. In my own experience NO had made me a better person than the YES answer that I received for my prayers.

I thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts and experiences with you. It has been a long time since I wrote something this long. And it is very comforting to know that people who care about other people (like you and Lucy) exist. I would not mind meeting you and Lucy the next time I visit the Philippines. It would be truly interesting indeed. ☺

Happy New Year and thanks Bong for being tolerant!

My friend Rose from Cebu just got married to a Filipino based in Hawaii. I remember while I was still working with IPI, we attended the watercolor class of Kimsoy Yap along with Matz and Emily in the Cebu Arts of Academy. We really had fun especially that once in a while we got to travel to do on-location painting sessions.

I still remember that one time, we drove to Pit-os, cross the river and settled ourselves near the banks of the river. Not even an hour to our painting session, we heard a loud churning thunder further up ahead the river and were surprised to see the waters steadily rose until the rocks we sat on were covered with bubbly foam of debris.  We have to hurriedly gather our materials and seek higher grounds to avoid the flash flood that rushed without warning. We waited for the waters to settle down and after what seemed to be eternity, it finally came to a level where we can safely walk in without being carried away by the current. It was still knee-deep, though and in the middle, the current still posed danger.

It was funny because the locals saw our plight as a business opportunity. They offered to carry us across the river back to the waiting jeepney for a fee. Our situation (I thought at that time) called for desperate measures so we gladly accepted the offer and paid them. The funny part was that our art teacher, Kimsoy Yap ( who was in his 50’s? or 60’s?) was also carried across.

When Rose and I met for the first time in Hawaii after she got married, we immediately reminisced those times we had in Cebu. The first thing she told me was that she missed having fun. Since she arrived in Hawaii, all she did was work in their family store, go home and do some chores. I really don’t blame her. An out-going person like Rose would definitely find it hard to adjust. I went through the same experience. But almost always, we adapt and learn to settle in order to survive. But we sure miss Cebu.

Aloha and welcome to my blog! Aloha means hello in Hawaiian. If you look in your world map, you will see a group of tiny dots in the middle of the Pacific ocean called the Hawaiian islands, one of which is home to one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

But I am not Hawaiian. I was born and raised in Cebu City, Philippines, another group of islands near the equator. I moved to Hawaii on the year 2000 to start a family. I have now a 7 year old girl and a dog named Jewel. I miss my friends back in the Philippines a lot.

By profession, I am a graphic artist (or trying to be one) and a web designer. I do print layouts too. This blog will also  contain helpful tutorials on Photoshop among other stuffs and some of my works. I hope I can share what I know to aspiring graphic artists like me.

Thanks for stopping by.

Mahalo and Mabuhay!

Evan