Never Forgotten
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. ---------- Kahlil Gibran
For Eric, because it's his 17th death anniversary today.
Did you hear your pamangkins sing Eric?They sang a prayer for you and lighted candles for you.
We love you and we miss you.
We'll see you, dear brother, at our journey's end.
Light of the World
Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way “mysteries of light”. Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom.... Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus. ..... Pope John Paul II
THE LUMINOUS MYSTERY
I learned this from my son when I reviewed him last night for his religion class exam. I honestly didn't know there is already a fourth mystery to The Holy Rosary. He very patiently gave me a lengthy explanation as to how this came to be, bless him.
To my cousin and her hubby far away, our prayers are with you.
Night Away from Home
Last week, my son got invited to a leadership training seminar at school. Am immensely proud of him, and happy that he was one of the few picked. But the invitation was for an overnight stay at the school, and he's never been away from home that long without me as alalay. But he was excited, and I knew he'd gain a lot from the experience. Heart heavy, I signed my consent.
I packed his bags, his baon. I brought him to the venue.
Hand in hand, we entered the room full of kids from grades 3 and 4. He didn't see any familiar face and I could feel his reluctance to be left alone there. I wanted to tell him that he can change his mind, and he can come home with me, but I couldn't. I didn't. So I let him go.
When I got home, I wanted to burst into tears. The house was so quiet. Not seeing him there sprawled on the sofa watching his cartoons made me want to scream. It was all I could do not to go to school and bring him back home with me. I tried to calm down. I'd see him tomorrow, I consoled myself.
Past 10PM, I still couldn't sleep. I was waiting to hear from him. I pored over his photo albums, cried, and cried some more. He's just a baby! He's still too young to manage on his own. He needs me.
But I know he'd manage. I know he's not a baby anymore. And I know he'd need me, but I know he'd survive on his own.
But oh, how I miss him so!
When he texted, "Mama, tulog na ako," I breathed a sigh of relief. I tried to get some sleep.
5:15AM, he texted again, "Mama, gising na." I smiled to myself. He thought of me, and it was enough.
I began counting the hours till I see him again while saying a silent prayer, "Please Lord, please don't let this happen often. Let him be my baby for a few more years."
He again texted, "I love you Ma."
And I cried, boy did I cry.
He's growing up fast. And while it's too fast for my liking, it still is great seeing him take on challenges and try out new things. And my heart swells with pride each time he conquers something.
Sunduan time. It was raining so hard, and streets were already getting flooded. I didn't mind. I saw him at the school gate, waving at me. Seeing his dear face, my life's complete again. With any luck, it'd be months before another something like this happens again. I hugged him tight.
On the way home, he tells me, "Mama, our group's going camping next."
Waaaahhhh!!!
Where'd the Sun Go?
My son loves shrimp tempura. So almost every week, he'd have this for baon. I'd buy 1/4 kilo of shrimp---or get from my mom's freezer when sweldo is still days away:-) ---and cook it at 5 in the morning.
Last night, I asked him, "So did you enjoy your baon?"
He said, "Naku mama, the minute I opened my lunch box, the lights went out. It's as if the sun disappeared from the sky."
Eh? I didn't quite understand the response.
He explained, "My classmates swarmed me para humingi! Dumilim bigla sa table ko nga e! They totally blocked the light!"
Reminds me of his chicken strips last year...
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. ---------- Kahlil Gibran
