The rogue in our delusional hearts flee
from the intentional pursuit
of the Messiah's love.
Bookends
His earthly life was bracketed by a cave and a cross.
His eternal existence causes all such parenthesis to advance His glorious will.
I am safe forever.
Digital Sketch: David Talaguit
Dissonance
The story of Christmas follows a dissonant thread.
Untimely edict from Augustus Caesar forcing Mary and Joseph to travel 90 miles to Bethlehem on her final trimester.
No available room for child delivery for the One who created every space in our universe.
Born in an animal feeding trough, pungent hay included.
Yet, the divine script followed careful fiat.
The prophet Micah declared the little town of Bethlehem as the preordained birthplace.
The life of the Redeemer will reflect the unavailability of heart response.
The angels gave the shepherds a unique sign to locate the new-born Messiah: in a manger.
Dissonance is not the final word.
Resonance inks our redemption.
Sketch: David Talaguit
Etched
Spiritual graffiti feeds our preoccupation.
An unexamined existence marks much waste.
Go to the fount and secure your hold.
Sola Scriptura.
Wings
My grandfather bought me my first wingtips.
My father unclipped me to soar.
My daughters fly from this divine largesse.
NYC Mercedes Benz Fashion Week
True North
Our identity finds its true origin in Christ alone.
People, places, and events crowd out this reality.
The blur only dissipates when grace and mercy is taken in full measure.
Kara Bianca = Pure Joy
Si Lola at Si Apo
Grandmother and Granddaughter.
Precious grace in between.
Roots, trunk, and fruits.
Nika with Lola Carolina
Trajectory
The wild plethora of goals can be truly confusing.
We find ourselves being pulled in divergent directions by forces too invisible to spot.
I need to constantly reorient my stroke to its primary course.
Point
The core of marriage involves a witness.
Holy Scripture articulates it as mystery.
The one-flesh union of man and woman points back, present, and forward to Christ's supreme love for the Church.
December 1988 / The Philippine Plaza Garden
History
We celebrate anniversaries in order to remember.
These past 10,226.79 days with my bride glance back to God's story of grace.
I do not merit what Christ has given me.
His love for me is indescribably wonderful!
Maria Danielle / Loving You 28 Years Today
Muscle Memory
The aim of the shooter relies primarily on the goal.
The basketball has no choice but in when the rim and trigger are synchronized.
Life is lived well within God's purview.
Corner Shot
28
In two days I look back twenty-eight years and find a string of unremitting joy.
"I'm here."
Those two words spun my universe into coherence.
I praise Jesus Christ for enabling us to love in accord with His heart. Thank you, my bride, for your gracious affection through these years.
Hurry
I was once told that hurriedness is not from the devil ....
It is the devil!
Umm ... I must seize the day with calm.
Public
Faith is best observed in the sidewalks.
Hidden but boisterous.
Sweet yet strong.
Acapella Praise / Manel: alto fortissimo at Richardson Park
Sip
Obedience is an acquired taste.
Joy beckons the aftermath.
Holy addiction prevails.
Extra Shot / Expressive Joy
Uncommon Grace
The blessing of marriage is most staggering.
My daily rendezvous with my bride provides a constant window of remembrance. This union takes me to the central location of God's sovereign providence.
I am so underserving of what I had been granted.
If it were not for grace, I should have been kept in my cataclysmic self-consumption.
One Flesh / Emeka & Nika Ihedigbo
道場 Dojo
The location of battle is most furious within my soul.
I always lose each time I hurl my strike.
It is only when I turn the fight over to my True Sensei do I experience gain.
Daddy
The incredible intimacy that we have in Christ declares a truth that goes beyond rationality.
When my daughter refers to me as "Daddy," there's a kind of sweet rush that affirms our wonderful relations as father-child.
The incarnation of Jesus beckons me to go strong in claiming a deeper reality when I cry out Abba Father!
I am overwhelmed by this gentle rain.
Daddy & Bee
Grandé
The inventory of our personal faith gets revealed during currents of distress. I have often been baffled by the awkward ineptness of how I deal with my propensity to miss the mark.
In basketball games, the proud shooter pumps his chest and triggers the sky with zest. I have never seen a player ritualizing his miss with such candor. We look at our foibles with disdain and quickly provide an egress. We run away quickly from the evidence of our sins.
There is however, something deep and glorious about missing a shot.
Every sin, reminds us of the cross of Christ. Every mark we miss, reveals the grand gift of our Redeemer to drink of the unfathomable grace that drips His constant measure of mercy for all our times of lack.
Oh, the deep and wide reservoir of Christ's unmerited loyalty!
Logos
Thy Word
is
my Lamp.
