Gifts from the Holy Land: Seeing with my heart’s eyes
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses…” – Acts 1:8 “The Spirit calls us to share our faith with…
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Nicole David Yalong’s thousand blooms, conscious parenting of twins
“Purposeful giving is not as apt to deplete one’s resources. It belongs to that natural order of giving that seems to renew itself even in the act of depletion. The…
From cultural absence to cultural presence: Why Asian American studies matter to me
by Ashlee Monton [Writer’s note: Once a year, an essay competition is held at CSUN, amongst Asian American Studies and Education majors, as part of an endowment set up by Prosy…
Appreciating and preserving nature’s wildflowers and snow-capped mountains
“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into…
Mothers and daughters: A legacy of intuitive leadership
“When you are your whole self/ intact with body, mind and soul/The divine spirit of work flows through your being/Just close your eyes and listen in deep silence/And you shall…
Truth, civility and independence
“My mother was very strong about my doing well in school and living up to my potential. Two things were important to her and she repeated them endlessly. One was…
‘America Adjacent’: The play’s lessons on light and love
“THE man who is ‘fighting for his rights’ is working in the wrong way. The only way to be sure that we get our ‘rights’ in life is, to ‘plug…
Hope for Change to Remove Power-Abusive Weeds in Institutions
“By ensuring that no one in government has too much power, the Constitution helps protect ordinary Americans every day against abuse of power by those in authority.” – Chief Justice…
No one is above the law — not even Catholic priests
[Editor’s note: The original version of this column, published in the Asian Journal in March 2016, has been updated to reflect 2019 changes.] Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee Year…
No one is above the law
“It is more proper that law should govern than any one of its citizens.” – Aristotle On Feb. 21, 2019, The Rachel Maddow Show’s team uncovered a telegram sent by…
The power of kindness: Four types of people
“Think of a person who faces the world without knowing his capabilities and limitations – someone with misguided notions about himself, who dreams of being powerful, rich, and admired for…
The lies of two minds’
“‘I’ convinced ‘myself.’ The I that did the convincing was the one who needed desperately to justify the entire experience, to make it sane and right and okay and approved….
Lessons learned from the first annual AANHPI Educators Summit in SoCal
“We never know how our small activities will affect others through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this exquisitely connected world, it’s never a question of ‘critical mass.’ It’s…
Part III: Truth in an ecosystem of free will and moral responsibility
“Truth entices us there on the frontier between fact and interpretation, and we strive for honesty in representing what is entrusted to us. We combine that honesty with a humility…
Truth in an ecosystem of free will and moral responsibility
(Part II of III series) “Truth entices us there on the frontier between fact and interpretation, and we strive for honesty in representing what is entrusted to us. We combine…
Truth in an ecosystem of free will and moral responsibility
“A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom…
Top Rhizomes stories in 2018
I submitted 52 pieces for my weekly Rhizomes column in the Asian Journal. These pieces, excerpted below, resonated with AJ’s readers and also on social media. It is interesting to…
Luchie San Luis Quemuel: Her reflections of God’s gilded miracles in her life
“MAY you have all that you need, because the sharing of gifts is our exercise of security in the abundance the Almighty gives us constantly. May you constantly find reasons…
Sitting in the chair of privilege
“Life is a battle – you must enter into it fully, and do what needs to be done. You cannot shrink from your duty. Life presents difficult, sometimes horrendous situations,…
Jose Antonio Vargas: From Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist to an American author and immigration reform advocate
“My mother wanted to give me a better life, so she sent me thousands of miles away to live with her parents in America — my grandfather (Lolo in Tagalog)…
Olivia Quido-Co’s journey of humility
“’BRING the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw…
Immigrants are pieces of American history
“Once you know the truth, you can’t ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now.” — Sue Monk Kidd Desirree…
Zion’s gleaming yellow cottonwoods on Veterans Day: Light of unspeakable richness
“Never shall I forget my baptism in the font. It happened in January, a resurrection day for many a plant and for me I suddenly…. overflowed with light…Light of unspeakable…
“Documented,” the film: The truth of a son’s struggle to be reunited with his mother in the context of a broken immigration system
[Editor’s note: This column was originally published in 2014 but has been updated and republished in light of recent immigration conversations in the U.S.] “Immigration is by definition a gesture…
Are there leaders with integrity left in America? (Part II of women can change America series)
“This ‘one nation, indivisible’ is deeply divided along political, economic, racial and religious lines. And despite our historic dream of being “a light unto the nations,” the gaps between us…
How women can change America
(Part I of II) “You can’t be what you can’t see.” – Marian Wright Edelman “If they see it, they can be it.” – Geena Davis, March 19, 2015 at…
‘The Coming of Good Winds’: Their paintings and the guiding principles of Ronald Cortez, Danny Doce and Master Jessie Mariñas
“We used to be able to manage with the belief that the physical art object was the end product of art, and the process of art was everything that went…
Abraham Ferrer: Using art to influence culture and building communities
“WHICHEVER way they choose, an observer must apply some skills of their own to the experience, just as the artist must apply their skills and experience to creating the work…
A young Fil-Am sexual assault survivor’s journey
[Writer’s note: This was published in May 2018 in the Asian Journal’s Los Angeles weekend edition, but the recently concluded, controversial associate justice confirmation hearings on Brett Kavanaugh makes this…
Rick Rocamora’s moral courage and visual voice of witnessing human wrongs to human rights
“Every life is a wonderful story worthy of being told. Every life is a work of art, and if it does not seem so, perhaps it is only necessary to…