La Union Provincial Library

Bibliography: pages 114-118.

Life can be astonishing, likewise predictable Life can be exciting, likewise boring Life can be solicitous; likewise perfunctory. Life can be certain; likewise irresolute Life can be full, likewise empty. Life can be vibrant, likewise dull. But what if someone or something weird or wonderful comes along to challenge the life one is used to? It could result to catastrophe, or it could be seen as providence. Man's life can be seen as sin. The researcher presents this in Chapter II. To be more positive in approaching the doctrine of sin, the researcher discusses man and creation in their original goodness. Thus, man's life can also be seen as providence. Man was never created in sin. The original plan of God was to have stewards over the work of creation. But this plan seemingly failed without man's cooperation or perhaps an abuse of freedom. The researcher discusses in this chapter the second account of creation, that is, the creation of man in the image and likeness of God. Sin enters into the picture as the consequence of The Fall Then, he presents the impact of some of the recent Church scandals and an overview of his own childhood experience
Chapter III discusses providence in the experience of evil and suffering. In a good world there is the existence of evil. But why is evil evident in man's day-to-day encounters? In the beginning, man has to understand that God infused in him the faculties of intellect and freewill. Man is aware that these faculties are a gift from God. This means that man is endowed with gifts yet remains fully dependent on God. This seeming dichotomy leads man to struggle in search for the sense of his humanity God created everything good yet evil exists in the world. He did not create evil. Hence, the existence of evil had emerged to be part of human existence,
Too much love kills it kills not physically but more so, spiritually and psychologically. On the one hand, too much firmness and too less love on a child means training him or her to always be utterly submissive. On the other hand, too much love and too less firmness on a child means training him or her to always be the center of the universe. The solution then is healthy balance between loving and being firm in raising children. The researcher goes back to his childhood experiences of love and at the same time of rejection. This time he looks at his patterns of behavior, especially of anger, self- blaming, and fear, and attempts to trace their roots. He critically goes back to his experiences of the abuse, of death, and of the lack of affirmation or rejection from people close to his heart. Lastly, the researcher assesses his curability or incurability by evaluating his behaviors and patterns as to where he is at healing from traumas of the past The first that the researcher looks into is his openness to the grace of God, then his venturing on the process of purgation, until finally he discovers healing through The Saint.

CHED-La Union Donation January 21, 2021