AVERNES, France—It must have been a day in July 1976. My three-year-old sister Jenni was in the kitchen in our home in Santa Ana, Manila, having a fit. I was nine. Our brother, Kuya Nonoy, was 12. We were with our mother in the living room, waiting for Jenni’s temper tantrum to pass. She was on the...
Category: Life
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On a street in Brooklyn, prayer demonstrates power
NEW YORK CITY—It was May 11 and I had to be at the acupuncturist’s clinic by 2 p.m. I left Manhattan and headed to Brooklyn at 1:15 p.m. I was by myself. I usually travel with my friend but she ran into train delays from where she was coming, and we decided to meet at...
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I remember my other mother
In a recent phone conversation with my mom, she mentioned my nanny, who lived with our family for almost 60 years before passing away in 2014. I told my mom—she is based in the United States; we speak daily—that we were both lucky to have been cared for by a remarkable woman who loved us...
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In Payatas, the Church helps widows and orphans pick up the pieces
The women are all business inside a tailoring shop a stone’s throw from Ina ng Lupang Pangako church in Payatas, Quezon City. They work on fabrics and sewing machines to produce bags of all shapes and sizes—totes, “ecobags,” shoe bags, envelope bags, lunch bags, laundry bags. For six days of work a week, they take...
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Scientists say the soul doesn’t die and returns to the universe
The existence of the soul, and whether it is immortal or not, has polarized great thinkers from both the philosophic-theological and scientific camps. The “physicalists” (those who hold that everything about us, from consciousness to higher rationality, can be explained by biochemical processes) are quick to say that the phenomenon of consciousness does not emanate...
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Let us embrace the 4 Ls of life
The Four Ls of life are: to Live, Learn, Love, and Laugh. They embody a good, godly, and happy life. From my own life’s “wandering and wondering,” I’ve reached one profound realization: Rather than loathe the present disappointments or be anxious about the future, it is more meaningful to just experience life, learn and grow...
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‘Pasyon’ and ‘Semana Santa’ when I was young
AVERNES, France—When I moved to France in 2005, I didn’t expect anything closely resembling the practices of the Semana Santa of my childhood in the Philippines. But without fail, every year in March or April, as though set off by an internal spiritual clock, I hear familiar strains of pasyon in my head. Once, my...
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How decluttering helps ease mind and heart
Who wouldn’t want a house that’s free of clutter? Why not dispose of the things that have been gathering dust and eating up space for years and years? Easier said than done, of course, because what might be clutter for others is a trove of special memories for you. Many of us have heard of...
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The essentials that matter most
In Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic book, “The Little Prince,” a pilot whose aircraft is forced down in the Sahara meets a little prince from another planet who seeks the secret of what is important in life. At one point, the prince meets a fox who promises the gift of that secret and reveals it when...
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My understanding of economics
High prices often confront us. Government is trying to control inflation, which is increasing beyond its desired levels—an ideal of about 2% annually but currently is about 9%. Why do prices increase and why do they drop? Why do things appreciate and increase in value over time? Why do they depreciate? Market forces, we are...
