The Rains of July

July is a contradiction. The rains are fierce and the sun sometimes fought it by shining fiercer. The Roman Senate named it 'Julius', in honor of Caesar who was assassinated in a plot hatched by a group of 60 senators, including Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus. As Caesar entered the Senate, he was stabbed 23 times. After Ceasar was assassinated, Rome experienced another 13 years of civil war.

Why is July so synonymous with conflict and revolution?. Is it because July is usually the hottest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere while its winter months in the Southern Hemisphere? Or is it because the climate is mild in most of the Southern Hemisphere, while its cold and rainy in South America?

There are lot of wars that happened in July. Battle of the Somme that resulted in the start of World War I on July 1, 1916. The Japanese and Chinese troops clashed, beginning the struggle that became World War II, July 7, 1937. Second Battle of the Marne in World War I began, July 15, 1918.Scientists set off the first atomic bomb, Alamogordo, N. Mex., July 16, 1945.

What will you bring us July this time for our beloved Philippines? The newly elected politicians will again occupy their offices and start spitting one another. They will again feast on their pork barrel and commissions while millions of Filipinos are starving. Will you July visit the halls of congress and Malacañang and remind them that your rain are poisonous and deathly. Will you please July sing a song for them:

Just after the death of the Filipinos,
And before they are buried in their poverty,
There comes a July season
When politicians,pork barrels and commissions all aglow.
They may feast right now
But judgment day will be ours.


ALC

Need to Grow

Everybody needs to grow. The universe keeps on expanding, the trees keeps on growing, the ozone layer continues to thinned out and our nails keep on growing even though we cut it every week. It is nature for a person to examine himself and ask if everything grows or stagnates. Indeed a life examined is a life worth living. But what avenue of life we need to examined?
1. Our Relationship . Everything in this planet will change even the persons around us. The challenge then is to grow our relationship with one another by strengthening and solidifying it daily. Positive relationship coming from mutual trust and respect are basic to achieve this. ASK: Am I contributing in making our relationship to grow positively?.
2. Our Dreams . Mark Twain is right. Let us sail our boats away from the ports and discover. Every tree around us have a dream of growing big even though they can not speak we can see it. Humans should be more of a dreamer than the tree because we are equipped with brain. Let us dream and dream big!
3. Our influence . This is two-sides of a coin. There are alcoholics who can influence their children to drink alcohol early. We focus on the other side. We influence for good. Kindness to friends and strangers, love of the poor and helpless, we have 24 hours to influence one another. Only our effort is needed. My father used to say that he wants to die that even the undertaker will say sorry. I did NOT understand it first. Now that I am old enough and having my own children I analyzed that dying is easy but people remembering you for a legacy is very hard to forget. I will also meet my undertaker in the future and am also wish him to say .....sorry to my children.

ALC

Fathers Day

To be a father is difficult. You will have a responsibility to feed, clothed, give shelter, provide education and guide your children. The minor things such as telling bed time stories, eat out at the mall I tell you may reached hundred times but you do it in order to make your presence felt.
Those father who take it easy I admire but I am also guessing if their children remember them as a good one. My late father was a government employee doing blue collar works such as welding. From him I learn the value of persistence and sticking to what I believe in. When he died, I was only fresh out of college and as the eldest I took over his position including sending my brothers to school.
Today I have a two children of my own whom I try to mould as a good, patriotic and independent minded Filipinos. They say that good fruits came from good roots. I hope I am on the right path.