By: Noelle Contess Y.Paz

Traffic, pollution, trash everywhere… the common sight you could see in Metro Manila. I’ve been here in Manila for almost my whole life and these things blow my head off.  Sometimes, all I could do is dream about a certain place wherein I could see the beauty of God’s creation.  I thought that dream will never come true until one day, Kuya Jaylord  asked me and Joel to accompany him and his family to their province in Quezon.  I got very excited because I will have again a chance to travel. We left Manila on June 17 at 6:00 pm and we traveled for almost 5 hours until we reached Infanta, Quezon, where we stayed for that night. The following morning, we again traveled for 2 hours by boat until we reached Panukulan, Quezon. There, we stayed for 2 days. Because it’s their fiesta, I got the chance to watch an amateur boxing match and I really enjoyed it. Honestly, it was my first time to attend a fiesta.

After 2 days of stay at Panukulan, Kuya Jay decided to take us to their island. We rode a tricycle and then a boat until we reached their island. When I saw the island, i remembered my dream about a place where there is no pollution. “This is it” I told myself.  The people take very good care of their environment and they are responsible enough not to throw trash in the sea. There are many trees and the air is really fresh.

Because of our trip to Quezon, I realized many things. Including the responsibility of the people in taking care of the things, including the nature that God has given them. I really thank God for giving me the opportunity to travel and for making me realize many things.

By Jade Angelo Gascon
Executive Assistant, OEWF Ministry

While on my way to office, I received a text message from a friend inquiring about my opinion on the importance of dreams to a person’s life. Answering the question would inevitably lead to a cheesy climax but answering it was, nonetheless, important. Very important, perhaps.

So I replied back: “Dreams are important. Life stops when dreaming stops. But we must be careful not to be too engrossed with it for we might forsake the enjoyment of today in the name of tomorrow. God uses our now to mold us fit for the future we dream.”

I don’t know if it sounded more Neil Gaiman than Charo Santos. But I’ve been reading Sandman graphic novel volumes lately so I hope Mr. Gaiman inspired that reply in a sense.

I hardly remember my dreams. The moment I wake up is the moment they die. One thing I don’t like about dreams is their Batman-ish phantom in a rude manner of elusiveness. They tell you stories, play with you, dance with you, zoom past skyscrapers with you; but when the alarm clock outshouts them, they just vanish without warning.

Neither rivalrous siblings nor a royal nymphomaniac detered Joseph the Dreamer from transcending dreamland

But there are dreams we remember long. And they are the ones we make. Not by our sly subconscious, but by ourselves when we’re deliberately awake.

The dream to accomplish something, a dream for dad and mom, visions of success, and plenty more for our children. These dreams are born when we are most alive. We mightily birth them because for them we intend to stay alive. If wrestle with the impossible we must, wildly wrestle with it we shall. Especially when dreams are from God.

God-given dreams are cosmic images that exist in our hearts to inspire our minds and bodies to move in the direction that would glorify Him. His glory is our dreams’ purpose. Our dreams are just third-grade draft sketches of the oil-painted Da Vinci masterpiece—Dan Brown aside—His glory shall show when we finally see them happening before our eyes.

Dreaming is fantastic. Dreaming awake is prophetic. Especially when it is urged by Him who is the very purpose we are alive.

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