Why I Think Tequila and Salt Isn't 100% True

I recently posted a forwarded email, Tequila and Salt. I thought it was nice, but have to say that I disagree with it's statement that it is 100% true for the following reasons:

1. I think that only insecure or jealous people hate someone because they want to be just like them. I think I've known people who didn't like me or tried to put me down cause they thought there was something about me that they wanted, and that's too bad cause everyone has good and bad points, and I didn't think I was better... For me, I usually like people very much when I want to be like them in some way.

2. People do hate for reasons other than wanting to be like someone else combined with being jealous or insecure. I find that when someone often puts me down to my face and/or behind my back (and even causes others to snob me who don't even know me at all) when all I've done is try to be nice, and this goes on for a long time in spite of the efforts I make to befriend him/her, I start to want to avoid him/her and, in some cases, feel hatred towards that person in spite of my efforts not to. It's terrible to hate, but it's very hard to figure out how to hate the sin but love the sinner in such situations:-(. I'm still working on that. Another reason I would be tempted to hate would be if someone were to wrong me many times and never try to make things right or be sorry or care at all or even see that they've done wrong. You who are reading this can probably think of reasons you would be tempted to hate.

3. Sorry, but I'm not a Tequila fan. If you want to bring some over when life hands you lemons, go ahead. Otherwise, just bring the lemons and we can put salt onto them and eat them:-).

Merry Christmas!

a fern tree

I received this in one of those emails that people keep sending on. I think it's kind of nice.

Tequila and Salt

This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could read it every day. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

So.........If you are a loving friend, send this to everyone. And always remember.... when life hands you Lemons, ask for Tequila and Salt and call me over! Good friends are like stars........ You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

'Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another.'
I would rather have one rose and a kind word from a friend while I'm here than a whole truck load when I'm gone.
....Don't you know the phrase 'stop and smell the flowers'?

Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keep You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only God keeps You Going

We were in an earthquake while waiting for our food at a restaurant on top of SM Baguio. It didn't do any damage as far as I know, but, because of the 7 point earthquake that killed about 5000 in 1991, all of the students immediately suspended school for the rest of the day, and the streets became very crowded.

at SM Baguio

They are three of our Japanese friends. We had a great time visiting with them and eating Japanese food.

The Age of Innocence

The Age of Innocence (unabridged) by Edith Wharton. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1997. [ED. Glenn Mott. Dover Thrift Editions]

This book was originally published in 1920.

Two ideas stand out to me from reading this book:

1) This is a story of a man who got married to someone that he realized was exactly the same as everyone else in New York society when he met her cousin, the Countess Olenska. He fell in love with the countess because, as in the end, he said of her, “Lovely? I don’t know. She was different” (230).

His son replied, “Ah—there you have it! That’s what it always comes to, doesn’t it? When she comes, she’s different—and one doesn’t know why” (230-231).

When I read that, it occurred to me that the reason I fell in love with the man that I married was because I felt that he was different, and different in a good way. I still feel that way about him, and have always thought that even if my feelings for him fade or die, I’ll still like him because of who he is: he’s different.

2) This is also the story of the same man who found joy and self-respect after he choose to give up the countess and be faithful to his wife and children. Though he had also had to live with the regret of marrying someone who kept his horizons narrow because of her own blindness to the possibilities in life (and lack of imagination and the inability to grow as a person), and of never again seeing the woman he thought was different and felt passionately about, he had really mourned for his wife later in life when she passed away. It seems that he had developed a love for her by choosing to love her. His thought ultimately was, “Their long years together had shown him that it did not so much matter if marriage was a dull duty, as long as it kept the dignity of a duty: lapsing from that, it became a mere battle of ugly appetites” (225).

This idea is also given in John 15:10-11:

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”