Simply A Blessed Blogosphere Year...

“People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.”

- St. Augustine (354 - 430)

Exactly 12 months ago, on 11th May, 2010, I, a pilgrim, simply a nobody in this world, took courage and posted my very first journal on this newly created blog.  Today, this anniversary posting will carry the same familiar quotation as denoted above.

This is the place in the Blogosphere universe where I simply jot down my humble thoughts so that I can hear and listen to myself better, to proclaim God in my life, to wonder - putting down into words, as simple that I possibly can, thoughts that otherwise, might have just drifted or fade away.


The web media platform simply facilitated the sharing of my thoughts with many others who journey the same; bringing a kind of solidarity to this community of pilgrims - sharing God's gifts manifested in our lives.


I was particularly careful to ensure that I do not lose sight of this fundamental objective.  If not, I might become self indulgently addicted to blogging, for the sake of blogging.  Instead, I try to become more aware of my life’s journey – my simple ‘being’, reflecting on these quietly in my heart rather than merely ‘existing-to-blog’ or even ‘blogging-to-exist’ – the ‘doing’.


Sometimes, when there are just no words in my heart, I will pray and all you will find is just a scriptural verse, a tune, a quote, a book, a poem or just a relevant clip; at other times, simply a pure and full filling of emptiness...of pure silence.


As crazy as it might sound, after this one year journey, I have been able to see my life with more clarity and hope, through the experiential lenses of “SimplyQuiet’.

I am just a pilgrim, a sojourner through life…no name to identify me, no title to distinguish me, no origin as I see all of us as one people of the world, one humanity.  I am no smart-aleck trying to ‘lecture’ others on the ‘how-to’ of living.  This simple pseudonym is preserved because, although I blog to listen to myself, by the grace of God, I pray that He uses me as His humble instrument to be a reflection to others, a mirror to shine His light to brighten the paths of many other travelers through life...to inspire in any small way.  All glory to God, Alleluia!


For the past year, God has blessed this site with the ‘presence’ of many visitors (or ‘searchers’) from around the world; for this, I find much solidarity and hope.  This number is minute as compared with the mega millions of internet hits (in mere hours and days!) to President Barack Obama’s speech on the brutal killing of unarmed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.  But then, we must acknowledge that this is the sad state of the world we live in today - cruel, vengeful, barbaric, noisy, distracting, seductive, sexual, conspiring, destructive…so-called values which the bulk of the world promulgates…‘values’ (or search words) which optimizes search engines’ traffic.  This world seems tired of faith...tired of God.

“the world of the media can sometimes seem indifferent and even hostile to Christian faith and morality…”  (Pope John Paul II, Message for the 35th World Communications Day)

Amongst the many visitors of this blog over the past year, there are so far, 14 ‘followers’ who are constantly kept updated of this humble community; a phenomenon as far as I am concern because of the overwhelming existence of ‘similar’, ‘bigger’, if not, more ‘commercial’ blog sites out there in the blogosphere.  I am continually sustained and encouraged by these ‘friends’ who gives me strength and inspiration to continue…  For the many who have left a word of hope and inspiration, my sincere prayers, love and gratitude goes out to you.

My topics of reflections are simple but definitely not unique to the blogosphere; what I am committed to share is a genuine part of myself, my feelings, my frustrations and my weaknesses…my own unique journey through life back home.  I believe, in that sense, there’s only one real ‘me’ on the world-wide-web (hopefully)!

“The Church sees these media as ‘gifts of God’ which, in accordance with his providential design, unite men in brotherhood and so help them to cooperate with his plan for their salvation.” (Pope Pius XII's 1957 encyclical letter, Communio et Progressio)

My ultimate hope for this blog is that the number of followers and audience of this blog can multiply many folds, so that, one day, we truly become a community of pilgrims journeying as ONE human race back home…encouraging, lifting, supporting each other along the way.

Thank you, fellow pilgrims, wherever you may be, for a blessed year on Blogosphere!  May God continue to touch you gently with the message of the Gospel through SimplyQuiet!

“…For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself.  But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them…”

(Acts 5:38-39, NAB)

Life's a Symphony

Here’s something I came across from Anthony De Mello, he shares:

“Happiness is enoughness.” The secret is to be content with what comes our way, rejecting nothing and hankering for nothing. The great virtue of contentedness. To take things as they are and to imitate the birds in the sky and the lilies on the field.”

I am reminded of a friend who is down with terminal cancer. A fellow pilgrim who has been blogging (http://upekah.blogspot.com) - sharing the journey with others and perhaps, to keep one’s own hope alive, find daily strength, purpose to go on. When one carries such a dis-ease, which does not discriminate, one must be brave to walk the lonely path, struggling with having to heal oneself and remaining strong for the loved ones. Yes, life can be harsh and unfair… the quiet can be deafening...

Tony goes on to share, “A classical symphony. The perfect experience. A symphony has no purpose, no meaning. There is also no clinging to it and no hastening it. One does not wait till the end to enjoy it, but takes in every note, every chord as it comes and lets it go to welcome the next in uninterrupted flow. Any attempt to stop the performance, any “attachment” to a single note, will ruin the symphony…. The less the attachment, the greater the love.”

Sometimes in life, we fool ourselves to think that we have found the perfect note or keep on pushing ourselves to find that perfect note; not realizing that life, in all its richness offers us a variety of notes, which, at the end of it all, becomes a great symphony. A symphony, only if we drop all attachments, possessions, presuppositions, clinging, unforgiveness. The less the attachments, the more we love, the more we live life to the fullest, the more we live in the present, the more we are healed; savoring just the chord of today - not worrying about tomorrow's note.

We all have to end this life one day but right now, my friend may be the luckier person, by the grace of God, to savor every chord that comes along and hopefully be the symphony that will inspire others to listen so as to be able to play out their own - a symphony that I pray, will last a little while longer, by the merciful grace of God.

Tony goes on to say, "Yield to the currents of life...unencumbered by baggage." We must learn to travel light as this pilgrimage journey can be long and the gate narrow.


"How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!"
- Gospel According to Saint Matthew, Douay-Rheims Bible