An Ecology Prayer

An Ecology Prayer 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches QC

On-the-spot painting and verse by Dr. Abe V. Rotor

When my days are done, 

let me lie down to sleep 

on sweet breeze and 

in the shade of trees

I planted in youth; 

and if this were my last,

make, make others live 

to carry on the torch,

while my dust falls 

to where new life begins –

even only an atom 

that I shall be -

let me be with you 

dear Mother Earth. ~

Letters to our Children, second of a series

There are many young people who get spoiled because they fall victims to this triad:

• Too much can lead to over protection, 
• Over protection stifles the mind, and
• A mind that is not challenged takes things for granted

Dr Abe V Rotor
We are writing you after your recollection.  What a strange arrangement. Shouldn't parents write or send gifts to their children on the day of celebration?  We can imagine how you sat down there alone while your classmates were reading their parents' letters, or opening the gifts they received.

This fault can be easily dismissed because people who are bound by love and respect easily find forgiveness.  Lest we forget however, that the very things that bind people could be the same things that can break them apart.  

We have known many a pampered child fail in life.  We have read true stories of friendship gone sour.  What an irony that the very things that set progress could be the very cause of destruction.  So with the cause of break up in friendship, in love, brotherhood, peace.

Taking things for granted on the other hand, can generate similar catastrophic results.  Why many an accident happened from taking things for granted.  A conflagration can be traced to a single matchstick.

What we are telling you is a lesson which we want you to reflect upon, on post recollection. There are many young people who get spoiled because they fall victims to this triad of factors:

• Too much can can lead to over protection, 
• Over protection stifles the mind, and
• A mind that is not challenged takes things for granted

You may be brilliant, but you may not be using this gift well. You may be loved, but you may not be aware that you are not reciprocating properly. You may find the world exciting, but not challenging. You may have many friends but friendship may lead you out of your path of success. You may have many things at fingertip command but you may be passive.  
You will realize as you grow up that failure in life is hidden behind too much of the good life. Rich countries, it is true, provide the good life, but look at the new generation pampered by it. And if we think that nobody is poor in a rich country why is it that there are millions of impoverished people in the US.  How can a genius professor turn into a world terrorist?
On the other hand, how can Helen Keller see the world clearer that most of us who are not blnd? How did honest Abe Lincoln pass the bar when he virtually did not attend law school, and became president of the US? Why did Augustine renounce his rich inheritance just to live a monk's life?

In your post recollection, get a whole sheet of paper. Draw a vertical line at the center and list down on the left column people you know who made it in life the hard way. On the right column, list down people you know who did not make it because they became willing victims of the triad syndrome, 

Where do you place yourself?

Think deep and write your resolution. 

Love,

Papa and Mama 

To Anna Christina, 15 

January 24, 1998

Lake in a Lake

Dr Abe V Rotor

Laguna de Bay, Los Baños, Laguna

Once I asked:

why did you secede 

from the womb 

and hands 

that raised you?

As I pondered 

on Daedalus of Crete 

and the prodigal son;

your clear waters 

reflected a face 

no other than my own.

I threw a pebble 

and ripples broke away 

from the question.

Light in the Woods, 1995 Megabooks 

Vortex - Eye of a Storm

Vortex - Eye of a Storm

Dr Abe V Rotor

    

Vortex - Eye of a Storm in acrylic, AV Rotor

Beware of the beautiful with fangs of fire;

like the eye of a storm and a woman's ire ~

Edge of the Sea and Childhood

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Palo, Leyte

The fringe of the land, the edge of the sea,

     swells and recedes in calm and in rage,

telling a saga or make-believe story

     of child becoming man page by page. ~

A simple remedy for diarrhea - a fistful of sugar + a pinch of salt + a jug of water. ^

A simple remedy for diarrhea

 A fistful of sugar + a pinch of salt + a jug of water.

Researched by Dr Abe V Rotor

Diarrhea claims the lives of 3 million people, with nearly 2 million of them children under five years old. Yet a simple and inexpensive treatment can prevent many of those deaths.

Here is a simple formula for oral rehydration therapy (ORT): a fistful of sugar + a pinch of salt + a jug of water. This old home remedy is now recognized by the WHO and UNICEF of the United Nations (UN-WHO) which recently reported that it has saved some 40 million lives. This home grown remedy hopes to further demote diarrhea from its present status as the second leading cause of death among children, to an ordinary ailment that can be readily prevented or treated.

According to WHO/UNICEF, ORT should begin at home with home fluids or home-prepared sugar and salt solution at the first sign of diarrhea to prevent dehydration (loss of body fluid). Feeding should be continued at all times.

However, once the patient is dehydrated, the regimen should be switched to official preparation usually in pre-measured sachets that are ready to be mixed with water. The formula is commercially sold or supplied by local government and relief agencies like WHO and UNICEF. In 1996 alone UNICEF distributed 500 million sachets to over 60 developing nations.

Everyone experiences at certain times symptoms that may be associated with diarrhea, such as too much drinking of alcohol, intolerance to wheat protein (gluten) or lactose (milk), or chronic symptom to food poisoning. It is also associated with anemic condition, pancreatic disorder, and radiation treatment (chemotherapy) ~

Trapping frogs is fun

Trapping frogs is fun

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Proudly, a bountiful catch; dried frogs.

It was fun to trap frogs when I was a kid. I would dig holes in the field, around one and one-half feet deep, at harvest time. Here the frogs seek shelter in these holes because frogs need water and a cool place. Insects that fall in to the hole also attract them. Early in the morning I would do my rounds, harvesting the trapped frogs.

Frogs are a favorite dish among Ilocanos especially before the age of pesticides. The frog is skinned, its entrails removed, and cooked with tomato, onion and achuete (Bixa orellana) to make the menu deliciously bright yellow orange. Dried frogs is also a specialty.