Saturday, June 30, 2012

Life After Peace Corps - The Storm


It came with no warning, suddenly, outside my living room window; everything was flying, spinning, and whirling.  A silvery zigzag lightning ignited the evening sky. Soon a deep low rolling sound became audible, followed by a loud crashing sound of thunder.  Few seconds later, a gray curtain of rain plashed down. 

As the storm intensified, I heard rattling sound coming out from my bedroom.  One of the windows was half open, so I went in to shut it.  Almost immediately, I heard a loud thump, like a flying bullet, an object hit the window, and the next thing I knew, my hand was bleeding, blood gashing down and I found myself standing next to a shattered window with disbelief. 

Inside the room, broken glasses were scattered all over the bed and floor, fragments of picture frames, plants and ornaments were lying every where. Leaves, twigs and dirt continued flying through the hole of that broken window.  The scene was chaotic and unreal!  For a short moment, I thought I was watching a 3D movie and all the flying, blowing were just 3D hallucination effect.  .

When I finally calmed down, I begun to comprehend what had just happened.  The giant tree next to our building fell and one of its boughs flew through my window.  Its biggest limp was still dangerously dangling outside my bedroom window.  No one answered the emergency number when I called.  I kept dialing the number over and over, but in vain.  Finally, I heard Eddie’s voice; our maintenance guy was running up and down the stairs.  I opened my door and stopped him.  He looked overwhelmed but was still kind enough to inspect my window.  He promised by next week, my window would be fixed.  Then, he looked at me and murmured something about how luck I was…..

Next morning, I found out my upstairs neighbor’s ceiling collapsed in the mid of the storm, her apartment was completely destroyed and water was still dripping to her carpet.  I felt so bad for her and realized how fortunate I was indeed. 

Now the storm is over and the sky is clear, but I still remember that dreading deep low tones of thunders reverberating in darkness, how helpless and fragile I felt when I stood facing that broken window alone….

l still enjoy watching a thunder storm intensified, am in awe of its extravagant grandeur, but now, I come to respect it... more than ever!.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Life After Peace Corps


In Search of its Being

Years, I questioned the existence of God.  Lately, I begin to sense its being, and the feeling grows stronger each day.  It is when I am with nature I feel its existence.  Walking in a wood, climbing a high mountain, hiking in a virgin forest or looking out to a valley from a high peak, I profoundly sense its presence. 


I truly believe if I meet God, it will be at a place that is full of flowers, trees, waterfalls, mountains and meadows. It may be on a bright sunny day, or a gloomy stormy night, no matter….

As of today, I have not yet met him, but if I continue to follow the path, it will eventually lead me to him. 

For me, God is Nature and Nature is God.