On My Father's Wings

If you were with me now
I'd find myself in you
If you were with me now
Your the only one who knew
All the things we planned to do

I want to live my life
The way you said I would
With courage as my light
Fighting for what's right
Like you made me believe I could

And I will fly on my father's wings
To places I have never been
There is so much I've never seen
And I can feel his heartbeat still
And I will do great things
On my father's wings

This world I'll never see
My dreams that just won't be
This horse's stride
with one days ride
Will have covered more
distance than me

But I will fly on my father's wings
To places I have never been
There is so much I've never seen
And I can feel his heartbeat still
And I will do great things
On my father's wings

Someday with his spirit to guide me
And his memory beside me
I will be free to

Fly on my father's wings
To places I have never been
There is so much I've never seen
And I can feel his heartbeat still
And I will do great things
On my father's wings
On my father's wings

This song is from the animated movie entitled The Quest for Camelot. I haven't seen the movie yet but the song itself tells me of something. It is such so powerful that it inspired me to write this. Well, aside from the memory of my father flashing back, this song also my song to my Father God.

Salt Isn't Just for Dishes

I now receive the benefit of being an avid follower of NASA projects - I won a t-shirt and a discount card at a local bookstore through my favorite radio station OK FM. Yesterday, after coming home from office I tuned in to 97.1 and heard of the promo. The DJ asked a question about the red thing that flew over Mayon Volcano last Sunday. Immediately I thought it was Atlantis. Though my second thought was that it was NoKor's nuke... hehehe... Alright, you might say I am again talking bad words here, but to those who can relate, STS-125 just finished its mission and Atlantis is now back here on Earth. STS-125's mission was to repair the aging Hubble Telescope. It launched some days after Expedition 19 of Kazakstan and the second shuttle to leave Earth this year after Discovery for STS-119. I am sorry though for the DJ cause I wrongfully answered him when he asked me is Challenger was the one that exploded in 1995. I think it was even during the time of Reagan. And I mumbled Discovery instead of saying Columbia when he asked what's the other shuttle that blasted after take off. My bad.

Artist Sketch of Aquarius, photo courtesy of NASA.

When I visited NASA's website again, I found out another thing about our planet. Many of us are aware of the present situation of Mother Earth with world wide movements on Global Warming. Studies are spearheaded on how to improve the condition of the planet and every government and even the UN is doing their part to lessen the impact of the global warming. Organizations are united in saying that the present global warming is caused by men and that a reversal of what we have done to the planet for over a millenium is the best remedy. But NASA scientists found out that aside from the Ozone layer, carbon emissions, and other warming factors, the salinity of the oceans and seas may contribute to the present environmental crisis. They theorized that salinity affects the density of the sea water thereby affecting its movement (curren) thus affecting the atmospheric condition. (SEE Meteorology)

In order for NASA to monitor the salinity of sea water which is said to have increased gradually overtime, they need to launch an unmanned satellite orbiter equipped with radio recievers and other high-end equipment. They coined the orbiter Aquarius, a SAC-D spacecraft.

For more info on this hit this.

How Do Blind People Take Pictures

When I hear about blind musicians, I am simply astonished. A blind painter would really get me off my feet. But a blind photographer is simply surreal.

See some of the works of blind photographers below and you can find the complete compilation here.

Well at some point I was skeptical about people with impaired sight to be on the line which greatly needs the human sense. But there is nothing impossible to a loving and persevered person so I said to myself that I was just wrong with my thinking.

Kurt Weston - Peering Through the Darkness, courtesy of UCR/California Museum of Photography


Bruce Hall - Frenetics, courtesy of UCR/California Museum of Photography

Evgen Bavcar - The Flow of Time, courtesy of UCR/California Museum of Photography

These photographers are indeed talented in their field. Despite their physical limitations, they still managed to do what they wanted to do. Maybe, these things laid in front of them are challenges that they take to show the world that regardless of weaknesses if we persevere, believe, and love, nothing can never be done.

Dear Mama

I am proud that you are my mama. I know it's hard for you to let me and my sisters go with our own ways but the love and grace of God is always with you. No matter what happen, I will always be your only son. You have made me into a man that God intends me to be. Thanks for everything you gave me. Now, I understand, that what makes a mom like you is a son (child) that is me. I love you so much.

And Happy Mothers' Day too to all the mom around the world and to my two sisters, Ate Wen and Ate Jo... You deserve all the love in the world.

Jake: A Friend from Miami

I met a new friend from Miami, Fla. just few days ago. His name is Jake Barreth, 28 years old, and a Worship Pastor. I met him right here in Blogger.com when one night here at the office, I run through several blogs randomly. Then I found out that this guy is a worship leader at a church in Miami. Honestly, I was not really supposed to let you know about him but I was moved by one of his posts. It's about the music men, actually, street performers from around the world. The video was tweeted to him by friend. You can view the post here.

Jake is part of the pioneering church known as the Life Church in Miami. The church was conceived two years ago and last year they began holding services at a mall in Miami, in a theater specifically. I was touched by the fact that God is really moving not just in my life but as well as other lives around the world. And for our case with Jake, as he have said, we are half way around the globe apart yet been connected with a single purpose - to proclaim the Good News in our humblest ways we can.

I posted a comment on one of his posts and I get a reply - something that is too unusual for a blogger like me. He said that he would be so happy to recieve pictures that I have. He liked the pictures I posted here.

But as I was saying, I have decided to make this post because of the video. Yes, I was moved by it... I am so fond of music, whatever genre it is. But music today is no more than what the heart speaks or what really it should be about. Simply, it has been too commercialized already. However, the producers of the video that Jake posted have something in mind that really is worth admiring.

I imagined what if Pilipino producers would try to do it here in the Philippines. We also have street performers that are way talented as those in the video. How about a song that will put the Pilipino people again on the flame? How about a calling for political transformation? How about a gospel song of renewal and coming back to the Lord?

I regard the video that Jake posted to have made a great impact on me and I will carry on in my life - forever.

Thanks Jake for sharing the video.

Faith is a Matter of Choice and Conscience

In my Xanga site, I have posted a statement of Dr. Jose P. Rizal regarding faith. But my supporting verses were something like in a different context. I found the other version of that article and it was actually a school project of my girlfriend's sister Ola.

"We are entirely in accord in admitting the existence of God. How can I doubt his when I am convinced of mine. Who so recognizes the effect recognizes the cause. To doubt God is to doubt one's own conscience, and in consequence, it would be to doubt everything; and then what is life for? Now then, my faith in God, if the result of a ratiocination may be called faith, is blind, blind in the sense of knowing nothing. I neither believe nor disbelieve the qualities which many attribute to him; before theologians' and philosophers' definitions and lucubrations of this ineffable and inscrutable being I find myself smiling. Faced with the conviction of seeing myself confronting the supreme Problem, which confused voices seek to explain to me, I cannot but reply: 'It could be; but the God that I foreknow is far more grand, far more good: Plus Supra!...I believe in (revelation); but not in revelation or revelations which each religion or religions claim to possess. Examining them impartially, comparing them and scrutinizing them, one cannot avoid discerning the human 'fingernail' and the stamp of the time in which they were written... No, let us not make God in our image, poor inhabitants that we are of a distant planet lost in infinite space. However, brilliant and sublime our intelligence may be, it is scarcely more than a small spark which shines and in an instant is extinguished, and it alone can give us no idea of that blaze, that conflagration, that ocean of light. I believe in revelation, but in that living revelation which surrounds us on every side, in that voice, mighty, eternal, unceasing, incorruptible, clear, distinct, universal as is the being from whom it proceeds, in that revelation which speaks to us and penetrates us from the moment we are born until we die. What books can better reveal to us the goodness of God, his love, his providence, his eternity, his glory, his wisdom? 'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork'." – Jose Rizal


We are faced with very frightening issues these days and this had to regard several aspects of our lives as Pilipinos and Christians. The degradation of the morality of Pilipinos and values has been one of the reasons why our country is considerably one of the worst in the world. In the count, we are just past Pakistan with 1 point as the most corrupt country in the world. What have happened to our values? What came of the teachings of our forefathers? What has the church done with these surfacing problems these days?

Our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal has laid his faith. He was a Christian though branded to be heretic by the friars. We can say even that Dr. Jose P. Rizal was never a politician. In fact, he was a philosopher, a 19th century Pilipino apologetic Christian. He never condemned the King of Spain nor has accused the Spain because of the situations of the Pilipinos in the Philippines during his time. Rather he was a constant critic of the Friars ruling over the Philippines. He was against the corrupt practices of the Friars before. He was never so happy about the abusive acts the Friars did thwarting their conscience and reverting Biblical principles of faith just to make their plans succeed.

Yes. Jose P. Rizal is a reminder that just like in his days; we are also experiencing a dilemma. We have shattered our conscience and our faiths have been blinded by nothing less than personal greed and the destructive desire of power. We are entangled by the lies set for us by the society, by ourselves, and those powerful factions that we let in our lives.

We need faith to proceed. We still need God to succeed. Dr. Rizal has made it clear in his statement and he affirmed his belief. Though this is actually a personal exclamation from a personal point of view, it create rather a communal effect; that if all Pilipinos think the same way, weighing theology as something not to use to control people but to set them free.

Maybe today we can never point out the problem to be with the government or with the church, maybe the problem is lying inside of us, maybe we have corrupted faith and blur conscience, thus we are left with no choice but to pile up problems adding one after another.

But it’s good Dr. Jose Rizal still educates us even today and reminds us of the role of God and our faith in him in the success of country. Yes he is right when saying: “No, let us not make God in our image, poor inhabitants that we are of a distant planet lost in infinite space. However, brilliant and sublime our intelligence may be, it is scarcely more than a small spark which shines and in an instant is extinguished, and it alone can give us no idea of that blaze, that conflagration, that ocean of light.”
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joseph glenn c. austero jr. 10/06/08