Arran aka Orion

My Uncle Zaling's* version of the Orion myth is as follows: Arran was a giant or titan whose obsession was chasing after beautiful maidens. One moonlit night he chanced upon a nymph taking a bath by the river. Arran attempted to serenade the maiden but he was not a good singer. The nymph instead took flight, and Arran promptly chased after her. It seems both had magical powers for the nymph flew up to the firmament where you can still see her with her sisters in constellation Pleiades. Arran also got stuck in the sky, and he is now known as Orion. The imprint of Orion's feet can be seen in the map of South East Asia. Before he jumped to the sky, his right foot struck La Union in the northern province of Luzon while his left the island of Formosa. Perhaps, the young stalwarts of northern Luzon owe their main pre-occupation (chasing lovely ladies) to the footprint left by Arran aka Orion.

*Uncle Zaling is Rizalino de Peralta, USAFFE veteran, a survivor of the Death March. He was awarded the Purple Heart for the wounds he suffered from a grenade thrown after him as he rolled down a steep slope in making his escape from the Death March to Capas.

(Below was my adieu to To Uncle Zaling in acrostic):-
Return, Uncle, to our Maker's Heavenly Place;
It has been, for you, a rather long pilgrimage.
Zones of war and bomb blasts shall have no more menace.
At last you are free from you shrapnel-tortured cage...
Leave all frightful mem'ries of bloody battles fought.
In our Lord God have trust - for better or for worse.
Note that you may now travel with the speed of thought.
Off to Orion--Explore God's vast universe!

Deign to whisper in our dreams your timely advice;
Excuse us mortals but we'll miss you now and then.

Pray that we'll be safe, healthy, and a bit more wise...
Eventually, altho' we know not how nor when,
Rivulets will reach the Ocean, so we shall meet
Again! There amongst an angelic gathering
Loved ones with and you and I shall one another greet,
Thanking as well our Lord God with much rejoicing
As we live on in bliss with His Love unceasing!

Note to a Poker Player

            There are all kinds of players in a poker game.  Some have very few chips, while others have a lot. Nations involved in the game of international affairs are like poker players.  It would seem that those holding high cards (like aces/exotic weaponry) are still playing politesse. But there are moments  when being overly cautious is no longer timely nor the right thing to do. You know you have a strong hand. Uncle Sam, call the bluffer's bluff.  Show your winning hand!

VOX POPULI ( A Prophetic Acrostic)

                  Voicing their protests in anger,
                  Old pensioners could not believe
                 'Xanado' is gone forever.
                  Previously pampered, they now grieve
                  Outside government offices
                  Pleading and screaming in tumult;
                  Unfulfilled pension promises
                  Push the elderly to revolt.
                 "In hoc (vox populi), vinces."

            (Injustice to the old and dying is an incurable injury.!)

STRAY SHEEP

              Sometimes I stray to see if yonder fields
              Truly offer greener, tastier yields;
              Regretfully, up close I find them bare,
              A locust swarm has already been there.
              You, too, from the beaten path may wander--
              So many conflicting views to ponder...
              How self-centered was your first perspective?
              Expand your vision, be world sensitive;
              Explore the whole Cosmos and you will find
              Pure Spirit, God Himself, inside your mind!

(There are varying levels of perspectives:- infantile,
  parental, familial, tribal, national, global, cosmic, etc.
  One who has sensed that he is indeed part of God's Cosmos
  can not for long be a 'stray sheep'.)

Propensity vs. Potentiality

          The word 'propensity'is often associated with something bad, while 'potentiality' more with what is good. In fact, that which triggers or activates either of these two capabilities is our 'will'. We choose to do it.
        Unfortunately, human will is also influenced by other factors, i.e., our survival instinct, hunger, envy, peer pride, lack of faith in a Just and Merciful God, sometimes pure bias, hate, superstition or ignorance There are many forks or branches that we could survey on Life's road. The path that offers the least resistance oftentimes is what we select to follow. We have propensities that, if given free rein, could make us worse than the Devil. Let us rather choose to explore the full extent of our potentialities, for human nature imbued with a firm, unsullied will can make us even "higher than angels."
         Incidentally, eaglets trying to learn to fly fall to the ground several times. But they try and try again.  And soon, they can with ease soar to the skies. (Some blue eagles I know have gone through the same routine.)

We Need You, God

                When the going gets tough
                 Every crossing is rough;
                 No calm weather in sight,
                 Each week a typhoon's might
                 Enters our country's isles,
                 Drowning lowlands for miles.
                 Young crops unharvested,
                 Old dikes devastated.
                 Unscathed, only a lucky few...
                 Grieve not, Pinoys will start anew.
                 Overdue halcyon days, please come soon;
                 Drive away storm clouds and our wet monsoon!


           (This acrostic was blown in by the recent typhoons in the Philippines.)
           

BATHALA

                        By whatever name God, our Lord Almighty,  is called,
                        A pilgrim would know, and yet he may soon be appalled
                        To find that so many of our brethren are still blind.
                        How can our Creator be supposed to have driven
                        Apart rivalling faiths or religions of mankind?
                        Lost from the host of names that to God man has given -
                        A true Reverence for Him...  May we be forgiven!



              (One who worships Allah should not invoke his God to justify killing
                one who worships Jehovah. God by any name is Father of all.)