This is my official entry to Chris’ Inspirational Insights' blogversary contest.

What inspires me right now, aside from being a wife and a mother, is the thought that there are people out there who are willing to help others in need. A few days after our Nanay (mother) underwent coronary angiogram, an invasive, non-surgical procedure that shows how much of the heart arteries is blocked, we’ve made appeals to our friends and relatives for financial assistance for our Nanay’s heart bypass surgery. Many have responded to our call for help, and help is still coming. We’re hopeful that we can raise the amount needed for her surgery this month. The sooner that we’ll be able to reach our targeted amount, the better for our Nanay, because according to most doctors that we’ve talked to about her condition, she is now a walking time bomb, that is, she can suffer a heart attack anytime. The results of her coronary angiogram revealed 80 to 90% blockage in her heart arteries; three arteries are also affected. Our family is truly grateful for any help that we’ve received and still receiving. I believe in the goodness of the human heart now more than ever, and this thought is what inspires me right now.

This is the second weekend that I don’t have to worry about cleaning the house and ironing our clothes because we already found a new helper. It took us two months to finally decide to get someone from an agency. We’ve never done this before, but we’re so desperate, not to mention tired of not being able to experience a relaxing weekend since Christmas, because we have so many things to do in our house on Saturdays and Sundays.

When I had to squeeze my blogging into my already tight work and home schedule, I was brimming with ideas. What I don’t understand is now that I have a little more time to blog, I can’t seem to find a good topic to write about. Sigh! I think I need to go out more, leave my comfort zone, and do something different, in short, be more adventurous. I know interesting stories are just out there somewhere waiting to happen. I want to be there when they do. They’ll definitely make for good blog content. So go ahead, inspire me!

I was particularly struck by yesterday’s homily, which focused on the two types of sin: the sin of commission and the sin of omission. According to the priest, the sin of commission is when you commit a wrongdoing. The sin of omission, however, is when you fail to do a good deed that you should have done in the first place.

I think we are all guilty of this sin. How many times have we turned a blind eye to someone else’s need or cry for help on the pretext that we have enough problems of our own? The priest ended his sermon with the lines from Margaret Sangster’s poem “The Sin of Omission,” which captured that point quite succinctly.

Here’s the complete version of that poem. I hope you’d be enlightened as I was to do what is right not just when you feel like it, but all the time.

The Sin of Omission
by Margaret E. Sangster

It isn't the thing you do, dear;
It's the thing you leave undone,
That gives you a bit of heartache
At setting of the sun.

The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts to-night.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;

The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle and winsome tone,
Which you had no time nor thought for,
With troubles enough of your own.

Those little acts of kindness,
So easily out of mind;
Those chances to be angels
Which every one may find

They come in night and silence
Each chill, reproachful wraith
When hope is faint and flagging
And a blight has dropped on faith.

For life is all too short, dear,
And sorrow is all too great;
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late;

And it's not the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.

Sweet dreams,

sleep tight

Greet tomorrow

with delight.

Give your best,

don't hold back

Live and learn,

never slack.

Spread your wings,

soar up above

Hold on to dreams

and savor love.

Feel the warmth,

God's cup is full

Life is good and beautiful.