Surprising Grace

This poem was penned by Agustina Hartini, an FCJ sister living and teaching in Ende, Flores (Indonesia), and translated by Audrey.   Finally I realise: that life is not like a river Bringing water continually to lower ground, flowing and flowing. It is actually a climb: the higher you climb, The stronger the wind, the colder the air – But at dawn, beauty without compare. As I climb, I search for your banner I measure the length and breadth of your path I guess at the colour of your clothes I count the number of your followers – And I find nothing, other than your footprints. ***** Akhirnya aku tersadar, bahwa hidup tidak seperti sungai yang terus membawa air ke tempat yang rendah, mengalir dan mengalir saja. Ternyata hidup adalah pendakian, semakin tinggi mendaki, semakin terasa angin menerpa, semakin dingin terasa, namun diawal hari ditemukan keindahan tiada tara. Dalam pendakian ini, Aku mencari bendera panjimu Aku mengukur leba...

Here I am again at the airport in Manila, waiting to fly back to Singapore for a visit. Being here again reminds me of the times I have been here before. The first, while on the way home for a visit after my first 6 months in Manila living with the sisters -- a time of much fear and struggle as I found myself bereft of all the externals that had seemed to make up my life before. The second, a year later, on the way to start my novitiate in Indonesia -- a more hopeful time when I was sad to leave the roots I had begun to grow here, but looking forward to a new adventure. The airport has changed. Back on my first visit it had just been ranked the worst airport in the world, but now this terminal has undergone a facelift. While the outside still looks the same, the inside is now modern and bright. I can't help but think that it is a metaphor for my own changing -- inside. I haven't had many of the common external milestones by which to measure progress -- a job promotio...

A young adult I know was sharing with me the other day a little about her search for a fulfilling job, which hasn't materialized yet. As we parted she said with some emotion, "I will be 30 in a few years, and I still don't know what I'm doing with my life!" I don't know about you, but I recognised that sense of longing and frustration at seemingly not knowing one's place in the world, and my heart went out to her. For some reason many of us grow up expecting that our lives will be settled at a certain age... but in reality I wonder if that feeling of uncertainty about one's life direction ever conclusively goes away for anyone. In my own experience (being now on the other side of 30) it varies in intensity at different stages of life... the young adult years being a vulnerable time (and mid-life, I hear!). In any case, in this world where change is the only constant, perhaps it is also inevitable - and right - that we are continually invited to qu...

Over my holidays I read Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials", a gripping fantasy epic spanning more than a few worlds. The protagonist, Lyra, is a little girl of twelve who comes from a world where the souls of people appear as animals who are their faithful companions. She joins creatures as disparate as witches, angels and dwarf-like Gallivespians on flying grasshoppers who gather their forces to oppose the church and its Magisterium -- and -- to kill God. I had heard this series described before as an atheist tract, so I was surprised at how much its themes resonated with me. In the story, the being known as "the Authority" or "God" was the first angel created who, by deception and force, and through the agency of the church, subdued and placed all living beings under his authority. Through the ages, then, “God” and the church have stamped out all freedom, independence, joy, truthfulness and good feelings from the world. If this is really wh...

Our guest writer this week, Paola Terroni, a religious sister in the Society of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ), reflects on her ministry with the poor in Manila. My ministry is the coordination of the FCJ Learning and Development Center in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Manila, Philippines.  The people I work with live in very basic small dwellings next to one of the main rubbish dumps of Metro Manila.  There is high unemployment, and many people survive by scavenging what they can from the dumpsite and selling it.  Others have casual construction work, or are jeepney or tricycle drivers. Some people are fortunate enough to have good permanent work outside the area, but they are few. I love my work in the FCJ Center.  In spite of great poverty and hardship there is a wonderful spirit of joy and hope around.  The Center offers a variety of services; a weekly clinic, educational programs for women, children and young people including computer, leader...

A while ago I had the opportunity to spend some time with my family in Cambodia, where we explored the ancient temples of Siem Reap, of which Angkor Wat is perhaps the most famous. Those amazing stone edifices were built around a millennium ago, when the Khmer people were practising the Hindu religion, and later became Buddhist temples as the people's beliefs evolved. Wandering around those stone hallways, admiring the intricate carvings in the walls and arches, awestruck at the magnificent towers that lifted one's heart to worship, I felt a great curiosity about the ancient people who had built these shrines to the divine. Who were they? What were the stories that they had etched into the stone, and how had those stories influenced their lives and identity? At the same time, I felt an unexpected oneness with them in their yearning for the transcendent, their search for meaning in the mysterious universe they found themselves in, in the inexplicable joys and sorrows of...

This post was written on Saturday, 15 September 2018. A woman in Baggao, Philippines, where typhoon Mangkhut made landfall with winds of 205 km/h. ( Source ) As I write this, supertyphoon Mangkhut – what they say is the strongest typhoon of the year – is passing to the north of us. We have been expecting it for a while now – the weather these few days has been still, heavy and foreboding – and last night when we were asleep the rains and winds started. While we are not directly in the path of the storm, the power of the winds lashing the trees and houses is still awesome to behold. It also inspires fear. It strips away the illusion we usually have of control, and exposes our fundamental vulnerability before nature. My prayer this morning as I listened to the wind was a very uncomfortable one. I was uncomfortably aware that I was sitting safe and dry in a sturdy house with plenty of provisions to ride out the storm, but that countless other people in the same city were huddled ...