Skep's Place: Musings, Poems, and Acrostics from an Octogenarian Blogger

By Skep de Peralta

This book is a collection of daily thoughts, poems, and acrostics, as written at Skep de Peraltas blog. Eighty-plus years of living contribute to his words of wisdom and creative thoughts. Family, love, politics, science, religion and many other topics are covered over 4 years worth of writings, which will hopefully inspire both the young and old to express themselves creatively through writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514405451

Skep de Peralta

Skep de Peralta is a retired Filipino lawyer and teacher who is now an avid blogger in his spry 80’s. He now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, using his blog as a means to share his thoughts, poems, and beloved acrostics. This is a collection of his blog posts from 2011 to 2015 for all to enjoy.

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Copyright © 2015 by Skep de Peralta.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2015914835

ISBN:   Hardcover      978-1-5144-0543-7

            Softcover        978-1-5144-0544-4

            eBook              978-1-5144-0545-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 09/29/2015

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Stephen’s Hawking’s U-Turn

Switch God On

Epiphany

Alternate Universes

Thought, Imagination, Insight

Who Is Christ’s Follower?

Stardust

Imperfect Perspectives

How To Eliminate Your Enemies

You Be The Advocate

Be Not Too Proud, Manthing—

The Middle East Phenomenon

Who To Lean On

Adm (Circa ’50 - ’57)

Jihadist

Tempus Fugit, E.t.

A Lenten Thought

Easter

The Hand Of God (A Layman’s Perspective)

Let’s Do It

A Plea For Moderation

Gratitude In The Face Of Adversity

Gising Bayan

Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite

The Victory Sign

Magbalikbayan

Eternally Yours

Kapag Diyos Ang Gabay

A Soldier’s Song To His Beloved

A Million Earths

View From A Hilltop

Hanggang Hukay

Another Eden

Ritorna Vincitor

Where God Is

Ben Franklin’s Adage

To Bon

To Tony V.

A Gambling Man’s Consolation Prize

Govern For The Living

Time To Grow Up

Lies

God, Have Mercy

Imagination

A Golfer’s Invictus

Stultification

(A Comment On The World Economy)

To President Obama

Stupefaction

A Wish, A Dream, A Choice

Ah, Great Mystery Of Life

Solitude

Insight

Premonitions

Humanity

Perseverance

Humility

Hubris

Sanctity

Serenata

Renewal

I Enjoy It

Trust In God

God Is First

Hyperbole

Close To God

Success

Perspectives

Gullibility

Gratitude

Compassion

Theology

Multiverse

Injustice

Providence

The Virgin Mary’s Assumption Revisited

Pnoy Aquino

Stupidity

Beautiful

Bucayab

The Holy Grail

Hold Your Temper

Immortality

The Playing Field

Al Qaeda, Awake!

Thy Will Be Done

Audacity

Preemptive Action

Magnificence

The Twin Towers

Deja Vu

Global Economy

Religion

Find The Truth

The Big Bang (A Revised Version)

Futility (Re- The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict)

Pariah

Hillary

Warblers I (A List Of Red); Warblers Ii (Real Warblers)

(Truth) Scavengers

Demy’s Complaint

Wreckage

A Longer Life Span

Who To Blame

Weather, Weather,Lang.

Jay Leno

Bathala

We Need You, God

Propensity Vs. Potentiality

Stray Sheep

Vox Populi (A Prophetic Acrostic)

Note To A Poker Player

Arran Aka Orion

Mystery

A Human Soul

Interfaith

Hone Your Skills

Various ‘Centric’ Perceptions

No Saint

Surmise I & Ii

Artistry

Austerity (Memo For Uncle Sam)

A Politician’s Formula For Success

Hoodwinked

A 5-Line Prayer For Fr. Guido

A Human Error

Terrorists

Go Back To God

Time To Re-Focus

A Scattering Of Tys At Thanksgiving

Jesus Christ

Happiness

Whetstone

Right Of Way

Tranquillity

Indolence

Adversity

Nativity

Taize

Two To Tango

The Black Nazarene

Scuttlebutt

Tomorrow

I Beg To Differ

Gravity

Awakening

Chameleons

My Two Cents Worth

A Thank You Note

Our Father

Ash Wednesday Reminder

Puppets, Don’t Be…

Imagine

Subservience

Charisma

A Random Thought

Credulity

Fragility

Baobab

Strength

Conduit

Penitent

Fly High

Bad Weed

Obsessions

Discovery

Don’t Get Me Wrong

Ephemeron

Traveller

Religion

God’s Bounty

Lucky Guy

Like Gods

Carefree Days

Rely On God

Warfare

Acrostics

Catch Up

Percipience

Attached

Idiocy

Miracles

Lone Tree

Supernovae

Point Of View

God’s Song

Miracles Happen

Gaiety Is Ok

Badinage

Blue Eagle

Easy Money

Idolatry

To Cronies - Say No

I Accept

Conjecture

Soul Mate

Like A Dream

Glimpse

1.) Droppings

2.) Droppings

3.) Droppings

Homo Sapiens

Puerile

For Jigs

Vincithur

A Small Cup

Live And Let Live

1. Amalgam

2. Amalgam

Leapfrog

The Internet

3,) Amalgam

Aurora

Jellyfish

Doubtful

Affinity

Pawnshop

Kaleidoscope

1. Burlesque

2. Burlesque

Bulwark

Bulwarks

Polyglot

Symbiosis

Sycophant

Humility (A Prognostication)

The Presidency

Silence

Insights

Simplicity

Nostalgia

Apocalypse

September Song

Conjecture

Skepticism

Barack Obama

Self-Reliance

Escape

Belief Can Be True

Warning

Dishonor (T0:___________________)

Affordability

Masticate

The Arab Spring

Nonchalance

Transmuted

Smile

Try Again

Adversity

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Laughable

Sweethearts’ Haven

Interlude

Abysmal

A Sorry State

God’s Gift

Chutzpah

Falsity

Forward

Pathetic

Vlad The Impaler

Probability

On This Rock

Of Little Faith

A Second Term (A Memo To The President)

Blue Shafts

Continue

Devilish

Charm

Wisdom

Conscience (Memo For The I. & The P,)

Thanksgiving

Health Tips

Breathe Deeply

Histrion

Transcience

Uncertainty

Just Because

Tesla

Poverty

Uncle Sam

Altruism

Newtown

Merry Christmas To All

Unaware Of God

Take Care

An Abyss Looms

Influenza

Humility

Angsts

C R Y S T A L

To Florida

Harmony

You Are Deathless

Gutless (Memo For Sen. B.)

Sacrilege

Pope Francis

Pointless

Laughter

Umbrage

Phantasm

Dogleg Course

Big Loser (Memo For The Boston Bombers)

Big Winner

Predilections

Ignorance

Travesty (I.)

Travesty (Ii.)

An Open Secret

So Be It

So Be It

So Be It

Infidels

At Eighty

Failure

Subalterns

Transparency

Quandary

Untrustworthy

Mea Culpa

Human Being

Unbelief

In God Do Trust

Baffffled

Jesus Christ

Illegals

Artistry

Nigglers

Sharia

(On The Zimmerman Case) Rage

Phony

Persuasion

Aphorism

Dark Energy

Gestalt

Occultations

No Shame

Shame On Us

Sempre Libera

Oscillations

Enigma

Carpe Diem

Ignorance

Inexorable

Borglum (On The Syrian Problem)

World Peace

World Peace

Catchphrases

Beware

Division

Seti

Tragedy

Dinosaurs…?

Apologia

Identified

Health Coverages

Dogmatic

Twilight

Tomorrow

Lament

Secrets

Nostalgia

Intaglio

Let Us Live

A Dream Of Blue

Son Of God

Monsters

Baggage

Tryst

Thought

Incandescent

Bully

(A Memo For A Master In Brinkmanship}

Mystery

Caricature

Simplicity

Castigated

(Memo For The Conservatives)

Mighty Man

To Be Godlike

Scandal

Bend Your Will

Onslaught

Memory

Imperfect

Flawless

Ignominy

Magical

Stupidity

Quagmire

Quandary (A Memo For President Obama)

Accessible

Drowning Uncle Sam

Beleaguered

Transparent

Christmastime

A Cut Above

Chrysalis

Atheism

Be A Centrist

Nanny State

An Obit & Prayer For Uncle Milo

Certainty

Rigmarole

Time Heals

Compassion

Suggestion

Obsessions

Initiative

Complaint

The Proofs

Transformed??

Tidepools

Transformed!!

Accept

Truth

Caveat Homo Sap

Gilgamesh

Please

Abstract

Subtlety

Filipinas

Again

Adrenalized

Piranhas

Compulsion

Fellowship

Trojan

Obiter Dictum

Awesome

Transfigure

Ossified

Apologia (Re The Benghazi Brouhaha)

Childhood

Osmosis

Poetry

One (Lost) God

One World

Tolerance

Imperishable

Misinformed

Delusions

Namby Pamby

Metamorphosis

Tiger Woods

Discovery

Today We Are One

Cycles

Hedonism

Scarecrows

Dubai

Dare To Defy

One Dollar

Who Is The Boss

Spoofs

Couplets

Mnemonic

Easter Morning

Rebirth

An Acrostic On Fenny’s Passing

Twisted

Spread The Word

Immortal

Let Us Be

(1.) Serpents

(2.) Serpents

Religion

Mother’s Day

Uncle Sam

Traveller

Let’s Go

Appearances

God Knows

Jubilant

Undaunted

Awake

Why Not Now?

Arpeggio

Chartula

Pithy

Pyrite

Piety

Charisse

One Gift

Serpents

Our Father

Deus Vult

Satan’s Role

Omnipresence

Shame

No Man Is An Island

Inutile

Love The Game

Baloney

Hamas

Peace Be With You

Uncle Sam

Vern

Homo Saps

Gratitude

Smidgen

Saboteur

Jagoff

Aim For Peace

Outlaw All Wars

Pitiable

Justice

Cataclysm

A Suspicion

Knuckleheads

Thought

Laggard

Just The Facts

Buffoons

Harbinger (Memo For Isil, Et Al.)

Hybrid

Robin Williams

Omniscience

God Is Great

Omnipotence

Endure And Prosper (Health Tips Rephrased.)

Temporal (A Memo For President Obama)

Eternal

Silencers (Another Memo For President Obama)

Logical

Tenderfoot

Triumphant

Melissa & Jigs (A Message To My Son And Future Daughter-In-Law)

Soul Mates (A Thank You Note To Rhonda & Jun)

We Wish You The Best (To Melissa & Jigs)

Incoherent (1)

Incoherent (2)

Know God

Take Time

Constancy (To Jun & Rhonda…)

Iambic

Glory To God

Israel

Diversity

Count Your Blessings

Sad Cat (1)

Sad Cat (2)

The Big Bang

Eternal Cycles

Planet Earth

Laissez Faire

To Gwen Gee (On Completion Of Her Earthly Sojourn Last 11/18/14.)

Compromise

Theatricals

A Theory (1.)

A Theory (2- An Expatiated Version)

Have A Heart

Inquiry

Hilarious

?Penury?

Deceivers

Perhaps

Ethereal One

Christmastime

God’s Temple

Insanity

Dawdle

(Another Piece Addressed To Myself.)

Uncle Sam Opines

You Are Rich

Insatiable

Humility

Figure It Out

We Are All God’s Chidren

Let Go Of The Old Ways

(A Memo For Some Proselytizers)

Inspite Of You

(Another Memo For Mr. President)

Is It Fiction?

Bias (A Note To B.o.)

Therefore Stop Now

I Give You My Power

Goof

Effrontery (A Note For Uncle Sam).

Skuldoggery

Skirmish

Cowards

Too Late

Apologia (1)

Apologia (2)

Apologia (3)

Apologia (4)

Retribution

Anguish

Ataxia

(To A ‘Jihadist’):— Ask God

Ogre (Dot) Gov

Hillary

J.b.’S Retort

Predicament

Cheers

Water Wisdom

Belief (A Note To B.o. With Query)

Symphony (An Easter Harbinger)

Bouquet

Big Favor

A Conspiracy

Sybarite

Essence

Bare Your Chest

Retribution

Strategy

Stupidity

Grant Us Peace

Wormhole

The Will Of God

Why Not Love?

STEPHEN’S HAWKING’S U-TURN

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

After 30 years of trying to defend his proposition that information is irretrievable once it is caught in a black hole, Hawking now concedes that he is mistaken. Information is not lost, the reason being that there are alternate worlds where no black holes exist. I guess he assumes that information embedded in the subatomic structure of matter somehow continues to be present in these alternate or parallel worlds where there are no black holes. My own quarks, gluons, etc. therefore cannot be lost even when my human structure disintegrates. If he is right, these lines in this space will never be destroyed even when I am gone from this cosmos… Thought is a form of energy - I think much akin to divine energy. And even physical scientists maintain energy cannot be destroyed. Yet it has also been shown or at least theorized that every particle of matter has its corresponding anti-matter, and that when these two collide they disintegrate each other. The question that comes to mind is where then did that supposedly ‘indestructible’ energy go? Perhaps, God too has a sort of container or bin where the subatomic components of matter, like broken pieces of clay vessels, are recycled, remolded, reformed for possible re-use (or in respect to some of us, for further re-training, repolishing and testing in ‘bootcamp’ Planet Earth or in some other more appropriate dimension somewhere in His Infinite Multiverse…) Speculation at this time is futile. Better minds may formulate newer theories in the future. Despite my manifestly non-scientific methodology, I can only hope that the energy I’ve expended here in these ponderings could also be shown to be not entirely incorrect and was not a total waste of time.

by Skep/vdeperalta

SWITCH GOD ON

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Switch on that ‘God’ button inside your head;

Will with all your might, that His Light may spread

Into every nerve, corpuscle, and cell.

Thank God and believe soon you will be well.

Christ gave you the potent power to heal;

Heal yourself NOW, for that power is REAL!

God has always been with and within you,

Only your doubt keeps Him hidden from view;

Do switch Him on, reconnect, and renew…

Open Christ’s gift, let it blaze in your mind,

Nevermore shall you be helpless and blind!

by Skep

EPIPHANY

Thursday, March 03, 2011

This acrostic is an elaboration on the Mayan doomsday date - December 21st, 2012.

Make believe this is a message from an enlighened extraterrestrial…

E P I P H A N Y

Earthlings, awake! Act now before it is too late!

Procrastinate and your world may disintegrate,

If viral and nuclear arms you can not abate;

Pollution too can cause your species’ extinction,

Have you no more shield against your sun’s radiation?

Annihilation could be your sad conclusion;

Next year, mankind is prophesied to have an Epiphany…

You may at last, in devastation, find peace and harmony!

by Skep/vdeperalta

ALTERNATE UNIVERSES

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

It seems most cosmologists now agree there must be alternate or parallel universes, for this could explain why gravity appears to be dissipated or weak. The gravitational force spreads through a multiverse before reaching us, hence we can easily walk, jump, etc., instead of becoming immovable and stuck to the surface of our planet. This theory reminds me of the many mansions that God has prepared for us. I surmise that a Just and All-Knowing God has indeed prepared a place for each of us, i.e., for every non-local subatomic particle that constitutes each and every human being on earth. A Timeless Judge renders swift justice. and the reason God created many ‘mansions’ is not merely to reward the righteous but more importantly to render unto the less deserving their just deserts. I would like to think that cruel tyrants, dictators, and their ilk need not have to shuffle off their mortal coils before their non-local subatomic particles are sent to their proper places:—to the vile dust from whence (they) sprung, unwept, unhonored, and unsung. Sic semper tyrranis!

THOUGHT, IMAGINATION, INSIGHT

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

I understand the equation E=MC² was arrived at by Albert Einstein while imagining what would happen if mass or matter could attain the speed of light. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and it seems there is nothing that could travel faster than the subatomic photon particle. Reducing mass evidently reduces the influence or force of gravity, thus light does travel quite fast—yet it has been demonstrated that light still could be slowed or bent by gravity, such as when it passes close to an object having a huge or strong gravitational force. Now, I am unaware of any scientist holding the theory that anything could travel faster than the speed of light. But indeed there is, or there are:- Human thought, our imagination, our insights oftentimes outdistance and fly faster than light. In fact, distance is meaningless to us for we can think and imagine beyond the rim of our galaxy, beyond Arcturus, Andromeda, beyond the edge of our universe as fast and as easy as we wish. By way of amending Rene Descartes’ proposition:- I think, and faster than the speed of light, my thoughts instantly reach my Transcendent God!

by Skep/vdeperalta

WHO IS CHRIST’S FOLLOWER?

Monday, March 14, 2011

You are supposed to turn the other cheek when somebody strikes you on one side of your face. Honestly, I am unaware of anybody who has that extraordinary courage or lack of common sense to proffer both sides of his physiognomy to abuse or physical injury. In this dog-eat-dog, me-first world, a true Christian must indeed be an uncommon human being whose trust in God is absolutely unwavering and unconditional. Are you that rara avis?

STARDUST

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Scientists claim all matter in this universe was formed out of the Big Bang - that huge explosion from an inconceivably dense ‘singularity’, and that therefore we can correctly state that all our material components, i.e., our blood, our hair, skin, bones, even our brain matter - all came from stardust. That steak and fries we are eating, the coffee we are sipping, the beer we are guzzling, this wonderful, beautiful. yet sometimes harsh, ever-evolving world around us, and (come to think of it) that misguided and/or brainwashed human being who seeks to do us harm—all creatures great and small, friends and enemies alike —we are all of the same origin—stardust! Isn’t it time for us then to appreciate our close bonds with each other, with our neighbor, even with complete strangers? We need to look into the inmost components of our being and be able to admit that indeed we are part and parcel of Almighty God’s creation; hence, instead of killing fellow human beings with IEDs, nuclear weapons, or deadly viruses, we ought to treat with kindness, respect, perhaps with a bit more understanding and compassion our kin, our brothers from the stars.

****

IMPERFECT PERSPECTIVES

Saturday, March 19, 2011

There is only One God. We have, however, many religions with appparently differing perspectives as to what we mean by ‘One’… If we concede that we are all imperfect beings, perhaps we could tolerate and understand why peoples even of the same faith or religion continue to engage in conflict against each other. What is the difference between the Muslims in Benghazi and those supporting Gaddafi in Tripoli? And what seems to be the insurmountable barrier between the Shi’ites and the Sunnis? Why are there so many Protestant sects with slightly different biblical interpretations from those of the Roman Catholics’? Most of these ‘organized’ religions hold the view that you could not be ‘saved’,unless you are one of their members (not only one converted to their faith but a contributing member as well.) This last mentioned qualification appears to be of paramount importance to Manalo’s Iglesia ni Cristo, a sect founded in the late 19th or early 20th century in the Philippines. If my memory serves me right, Iglesia ni Cristo’s founder sent his son to school at the Ateneo. I am almost certain that the current leader or head of the Iglesia was exposed to the Scholastic Philosophy teachings of the Jesuits.I do not think he could personally subscribe to the view that only his contributing converts could be ‘saved’… How about our ancestors and all the billions of humans who lived and died before Erdie Manalo and who never even heard of the Iglesia ni Cristo? I am compelled to go back to my first premise:- We are all imperfect beings with differing biases, skills, defects, levels of education, conditions of environment, culture, financial status. etc. Thus, we live as best we can with whatever creed