Today is the Feast Day of St. Augustine, the patron saint of my city (Cagayan de Oro). Allow me to be a little nostalgic then. This was something I wrote for a class with Doreen Fernandez (God bless her soul).
Miracles
I missed it before, I didn’t miss it this time around. Maybe you missed it yourself. It’s just a word. Oftentimes unnoticed. Glanced over. Not minded. But it’s there. Please read the passage above and see if you find it.
Many Stories
I have yet to meet someone who did not enjoy a good story. Stories call to us, to the deepest part of ourselves where not even the blinding lights of the city and the deafening sounds of technology can penetrate. Even in the Philippines where the book sales are so low compared to the literate population (and where according to author Jessica Zafra authors are considered bestsellers if they can sell a mere 3000 books), there is great appreciation for a good story and for a story told well. The ability to tell stories, to capture a moment in lived experience or in one’s imagination and to be able to recreate it to another is something innately human. Everyone has a story and every story is precious. In fact, stories have their sacred place in the history of every culture all over the world.
Balloon
Imagine you are a flatlander, that is, someone who lives on a flat, two-dimensional surface, as ants do. A triangle on this surface will not be seen by you as a triangle. If you walk along its sides, you will only see three segments connecting each other at three sharp corners. Similarly, a sphere that crosses your universe will only be recognized by you as a circle, well, not even a circle since all you'll ever see will be a smooth curving line with no corners.
You Are Not the Messiah
Over the weekend, I brought along my family with me to Tagaytay where I gave a one and a half day retreat. During one of the breaks in the sessions, I took my three year old daughter Robelle for a stroll around the sprawling grounds of the venue.
Love and Time
Thus, I rejoice with the first gift that is my beloved’s arrival—her existence and time. That she exists, and that she exists in this time, not the past nor the future, but is thrown together, simultaneous, co-incidental with me.
The second gift is her second arrival and that is our crossing of paths—that she not only existed and not only existed in this time, but that also she existed and she existed in the exact time and space as I was.
The Legacy of the Two Aquinos
Today, Corazon Aquino, eleventh President of the Republic of the Philippines, first female President of the Philippines and of Asia, the Woman who took over the Presidency after a 20-year dictatorship, the wife of national hero Ninoy Aquino, mother of five, Mother of the nation, will be sent to her final resting place.
prayersofapilgrim.com 