Bad news and Good News

Life is a quick succession of bad news and good news.

It doesn't take brain surgery to figure this out. One simply has to wake up in the morning and a surprise can either startle you or make your sparkle.

This week, I sparkled just thinking of the much-postponed meeting with an old friend whom I see only on Facebook. We made time for coffee. During our non-stop chat, she startled me with the news that her husband's cancer, on remission for many years, has recurred and soon he will go through chemo. 

Later in the day, I sparkled bumping into a friend in a hotel lobby. She looked much better than when she lost her son a few months earlier. After some pleasantries, she startled me with what had happened to her husband—he was diagnosed with liver cancer and is recuperating from surgery.

In the midst of these, I sparkled with the arrival of Captain America (my one and only grandson) from the US, with the ending of another school term, with the final proof of my Oh, Mateo! 13 book (to be launched at the International Book Fair), and with the forthcoming release of my new inspirational book, Solo Flight, co-authored with Teacher Francie Castaneda-Lacanilao.

Then I was startled by a text message that my friend Baby R. is now at the ICU of Asian Hospital and the prognosis is bad.

Another friend, Malou, made me sparkle when she called out of the blue inviting me for coffee and laughter.

Just yesterday, I was startled with the news that a co-teacher, the culinary chef in our school, quietly passed away after only two weeks in the hospital. Despite the collective prayers for healing of probably the whole university, God took him anyway, and so we moved into collective mourning.

Tomorrow, my brother Earl and his wife, Tess, will arrive from Australia! I will sparkle big time. 

Although we can't change the quick succession of events, there is a quick fix to how we react to them: God.

We must first thank Him for startlers and sparklers, then ask Him for calm, comfort, cheer, and most of all, understanding of why things are the way they are.

I am borrowing a prayer today posted by my friend Aleks on Facebook. Pray with me? 

"God give us grace to see our need of grace; give us grace to ask for grace; give us grace to receive grace; give us grace to use the grace we received." Amen