synthesis of the lord's teachings 1

good friday
solemnity of the annunciation
25 march 2016

last march 9, when i met my good friend and support group buddy choncho after about a month of hiatus, among the things i told him was that i noticed (or more accurately, i was forced to) i started SYNTHESIZING my life principles (occasioned by my volunteering to give a retreat in a bicol seminary on sexuality and spirituality). 

during my lowest moment in life, i started to enumerate my life principles as a way of making sense out of my brokenness and go give me a handle of pulling me out of the quagmire of life (oh, i only thought of that now as i was writing! actually, i thought initially of a two-inch metal tube planted at the bottom of a well to pull oneself out a pit like the one we had in our original house in bicol where my elder brother as a child went down to explore, but got frightened when the fish started to bit him and just went back using the metal tube he was anchored on!). and, i came up with 200+ slides!

trained in philosophy, i naturally incline towards KEY CONCEPTS that underlie my lectures which i call "LIFE PRINCIPLES." (again, i recall the first subject we teach in the phd program in guidance 301 epistemology of guidance! it is supposed to give the students an underlying or overarching handle or "lens" in categorizing different historical and philosophical trends as they go through the different subject areas of the discipline.

(these parenthetical remarks reflect what we call in dream interpretation and psychoanalysis as the "association" method. it's also part of my being OC = obsessive-compulsive. :-))

and so, as of the moment, i have reduced my so-called "life (and teaching & psychotherapy) principles" to a manageable six!

this blog is dedicated to those synthesized life principles. and the first one is: the SUPREMACY and CENTRALITY OF GOD!

enter choncho: he shared that fr. nil guillemette, sj commented on march 4 (friday, 3rd week of lent) precisely on the SYNTHESIS of the Lord's teachings.
(i am proud to say that i was able to influence chonch to also start reading the daily gospel and commentary using the bible diary which was started by the claretian missionaries in the philippines. incidentally, for this year, i am using the SVD or divine word missionaries version and he, the CMF or claretian version.)

(... to be continued in "synthesis of the lord's teachings 2)