Mariano Carrasco TWO weeks ago, I was subjected to dialysis—the medical process whereby blood is processed and cleansed by a wondrous machine when the kidneys malfunction. After almost 20 years of sleeplessness and uncontrolled high blood pressure I knew bad things would be coming. First, my gall bladder (warehouse of the bile) got stones, got infected, and had to be removed, so the bile that would break down my fat and cholesterol would have to come directly from the liver which produce them—in droplets. Then came the heart attack accompanying my pneumonia. I was revived and rescuscitated. I came back to life, knowing that I had been dead for some seconds. Now, I’m here, on dialysis, and searching for kidney donors. Incidentally, I learned that I had only one kidney since birth when ultrasound was done for the gall bladder operation. I feel like I’m living on borrowed time, though we really all are. I don’t want to be pessimistic and would not want to spray unto others a dark thought. But now, at this point in my life, praying has definitely become very helpful. Praying to God does give me strength and the will to hope, though in the end, I must declare that I have placed myself in the hands of God. His will I shall follow. I have started to ask forgiveness from people I’ve sinned against or may have hurt, and through this piece I want to apologize to all of them. Of course, being a Roman Catholic, I will find time soon to go to the Confessional, a thing I haven’t done for years now. Knowing that I could leave this life soon or anytime now makes all things worldly unimportant. Ambition, desire, property, money, grudges, conflicts, even politics, they all seem insignificant. At this point, I just want to express goodwill and love to everyone, to my wife, children, mother, friends and everyone. May we have peace on earth and good will to all men. And I thank God the Almighty for the blessings he gave us, and for the life he lent me.  (Mariano B. Carrasco os a lawyer based in Cagayan de Oro.)