Third Secret of the Fatima

The revealed third secret of the Fatima came out in a local papers last Saturday. It's also being circulated through emails. I'm not a Catholic (well, I used to be one), but the prophecy, which is expected to be fulfilled within the present millenium, is something to ponder on and monitor. The three significant signs mentioned are:

1. A man in a very important position will be assassinated and this will provoke war.


2. A powerful army will dominate all through Europe and the Nuclear War will commence.


3. A powerful 8-hour earthquake.

There are other details indicated in the prophecy. It says, for instance, that:

"God will allow all natural phenomenon's like smoke,hail, cold, water, fire, floods, earthquakes, winds and inclement weather to slowly batter the planet. These things will come to pass before the year 2010."

Interestingly, concrete signs of global warming are currently piling up such as forest fires, rising sea levels, and warmer winters, among others. We should not forget, too, the continuing depletion of the ozone layer and, of course, the tsunami disaster in December 2004.

On the positive side, the message-- and the actual events unfolding before us-- is a call for repentance, a reminder of God's love and mercy, and of the power of prayer. If we don't believe the prophecy, at least we should take note of what's really happening to planet earth. In the first place, as the message states at the onset, "we never know when we will be leaving this world...."

Songs of the Bamboo

I decided to create a new blog which will serve as my tanka e-journal, entitled Songs of the Bamboo. For my first post, I'm featuring a tanka which I dedicate to my friends with whom I cruised with around four summers ago along the restful Loboc river in Bohol Island, where rare tarsiers thrive. A multi-awarded local film set in that island, entitled Panaghoy sa Suba (Call of the River) which was shown last December 2004, inspired me to write the poem.