JK : GOD WORKING IN AND THROUGH PEOPLE

 

"See you in court."

After saying those intimidating words, the professor ended our meeting with a firm handshake. The meeting was about my daughter, Jan Kristy.

Twenty years before, right after Kristy was born, my wife and I got scared stiff when the Directress of Sisters of Mercy Hospital, the head nurse, and the obstetrician came into our room and broke the not-so-good news -- our baby got jaundice. It is an indication of ABO blood type incompatibility complication: my wife's antibodies being incompatible with Kristy's blood antigen. Knowing full well the sensitivity of the circumstance, the obstetrician delicately explained to us the implication of such medical condition. Having counted Kristy's ten fingers the first time I saw her, I thought everything was already fine -- until I heard the heartbreaking news.

Later, walking on the hospital's open space, I sensed the sluggishness of the surrounding seemed to weep for the heaviness of our hearts – it's Good Friday. My wife and I, though both baptized Catholics, at that time, were in a period of what Bertrand Russell cried out as "searching for something beyond what the world contains... something infinite... the beatific vision, God. I do not find it, I do not think it is to be found, but the love of it is my life." We found a clearer picture of "it" after we met Pastor Ernie and his wife Fe – and that's another story.

For over a week, a nurse pricked daily the soft sole of Kristy's little foot for blood which I took to another hospital with a laboratory for the blood test. Her jaundice finally disappeared leaving a seemingly mangled little foot.

We named her Jan Kristy as inspired by John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

The draining experience embedded so deep inside me that it would trigger, now and then, a typical dad's how-dare-you-do-that-to-my-baby indignation, particularly at that time, toward the professor who harassed Kristy with veiled sexual intention in quite a few incidents.

In that particular meeting with the professor, I talked about the situation and hinted during our polite conversation for him to simply apologize for what had happened, so we could just then lay aside the whole matter. Unfortunately, our meeting got so heated that, in the end, he boldly said those intimidating words: "See you in court." As a last ditch effort, I wrote the school's president a letter about the situation, but never heard a word from him.

Standing up to a big and powerful institution in legal clash, my wife and I knew full well it would be harsh and costly. In the first instance, we consulted right away a lawyer-friend Ed who helped us, pro-bono, in making out the bigger picture. All at once, I thought of a David versus Goliath court battle. Consequently, we decided to sell our family car to cough up for the expected exorbitant legal fees.

It was grueling for Kristy and Harvey, her boyfriend. When something of value was at risk, like Kristy's graduation, understandably, one would be in a dilemma and would think twice to do anything about the case. Standing up for her, Harvey persuaded her to stick it out.

During one family meeting in our Couples for Christ community, I shared with them about Kristy's case. After the meeting, Bro Judi mentioned to me in passing a similar case where the complaint was forwarded to Malacanang since the Commission on Higher Education was attached to the Office of the President. He added that another brother-lawyer was working in the President's Legal Office. The advice was manna from heaven. It took only one plain letter signed by Kristy addressed to President GMA's office and saved for us stack of hard-earned money.

Later, we received in a mail a thick volume of documents from the Legal Office of the President about the case. Subsequently, we learned that the school installed a new president, the professor vanished, a reorganization resulted, and the school changed its name – God's invisible hands at work.

My Dear Reader: "God is not looking for people to work for Him, but people who let Him work mightily in and through them." (John Piper)

 

WHAT DO I SEE? LOOKING AT THINGS DIFFERENTLY WITH SPIRITUAL EYEGLASSES

To enrich your experience in reading this article, please view the video clip below before you go on. You may focus only on 1:36 to 1:41 pertinent scene with the voice-over: "She glances at an available taxi passing by then at Paul pondering her choice."

You may pause for a moment to reflect.

            I watched the full movie many years ago and what caught my eye was this scene: just before the wife went up to the stranger's apartment, an available taxi passed by. She saw, but ignored it. Hailing it could have made the difference - she could have not gotten that book where she could find the stranger's phone numbers. The consequence at the end of the movie was grim.

The sight of a passing available taxi could be a writer's intent in crossing out, that instant, the wife's ready excuse: "I couldn't get a ride."

What I see is a God-sent taxi to give the wife the last chance to escape the temptation. "God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide A WAY OUT so that you can endure it." (1 Cor 10:13, emphasis mine)

During my corporate heydays, I treated some VIP guests for dinner to pave the way for a smooth relationship between our two companies. After dinner, the top guest whispered to me where we could drink ice-cold beers - a coded message for the standard after-dinner good time – women and beers. Not only a family, but I also have a community where I walk the talk.

"Where's Your way out?" I kept on asking myself in my mind. Right before we left the diner, I'd gotten a stomach ache so awful that I told my top guest about it and for them to go ahead with his plan along with my own guys. Was it the food or a self-induced effect? I got no idea, but, for sure, it's not a lie.

What do I see in the Covid-19 pandemic?

People in India are reacting with awe at the sight of the Himalayan mountain range, now visible for the first time due to reduced air pollution caused by the country's coronavirus lockdown: industries shut down, cars came off the road and airlines canceled flights.

People in Italy are also reacting with awe at the sight of jellyfish swimming in the crystal-clear waters of Venice canals, due to the Covid-19 lockdown that cleared up boats; dolphins and swans are returning to the coast with cruise ships docked due to lockdown.

The journal Nature reported that amid the sweeping Covid-19 lockdowns, the humanity's noisiest operations virtually grounded to halt like trains and industrial machineries that, in effect, plunged planet Earth vibrations, according to scientists, by 30 to 50 percent since WHO first declared the Covid-19 pandemic.

The above three awesome phenomena are only among the many that may not have yet been reported. M. Scott Peck, M.D., author of The Road Less Traveled book wrote:

"I know that grace is real. There is a pattern to these highly improbable events almost all seemed to have a beneficial outcome. I had stumbled upon a synonym for grace: serendipity."

What do I see in our country?

The Family

"The mere thought that the pandemic gave way for me to have quality time with my kids is consolation enough." These words by a parent have encapsulated the good by-product of Covid-19 pandemic to family unity.

The Church

One bone of contention that has divided Pinoys of "the only Christian country in Asia" has been the feast ritual of the Black Nazarene.

Pros: "It renews my faith in being Filipino and the faith of the masses."

Cons: "Senseless practice of having thousands of people scramble to touch this image and hope for a better life."

Covid-19 canceled the feast ritual on the spot – an astounding phenomenon that stamped out one facet of the lingering PH divisiveness, so pointless, that despite the many attempts in the past, not one high official of the Catholic Church had achieved what Covid-19 pulled off instantly.

The Future

Question: Why did God give PH, the "Light of Asia" (Pope John Paul II prayer) a ruler who insulted Pope Francis and called God stupid?

Answer: "[God] PUNISHED [His people] by delivering them to their attackers..." (2 Kings 17:20, emphasis mine); "When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers." (John Calvin). Cardinal Sin affirmed Calvin's assertion with Marcos and his Martial Law as Exhibit A. Thus, to punish, God has given PH such kind of ruler today.

Why? 1 in 4 Pinoys is below the poverty line. PH, for being the "Light of Asia," has angered God as He was with Sodom that "DID NOT HELP THE POOR." (Ezekiel 16:49, emphasis mine)

What will happen in the next election? If God is still angry, He will give us another Punisher. Time Magazine's cover of our ruler's image labeled as "The Punisher" has captured the whole essence of this insight.

Covid-19 as Catalyst

Covid-19 pandemic has been purifying Pinoys as God's people. If God's anger turns into mercy, on the day of the election, with Pinoys blaming our ruler for their pandemic suffering, PH will have a new ruler, not another punisher, but a restorer.

My Dear Reader, only when you are wearing a pair of "spiritual eyeglasses" while reading this article will you see what I do see in a movie clip, in Covid-19, in our family, in our church, in our future, and in God's message to our nation today.

 

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Original photo from:blog.safetyglassesusa.com/5-ways-to-celebrate-healthy-vision-month/

Aesthetics by Dionne

Technicals by Lroy

SEVENTY-SEVEN TIMES

 

In the heat of the corporate rat race, God popped up - and I lost my race.

Entering the race, where we would compete with each other for money and power, I thought I was equipped enough as a National State Scholar graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree in Mindanao State University. More than two dozen racers at the starting line included a summa and a magna cumlaude, and a handful of cumlaude graduates from various prestigious engineering schools in the country. Romy, my fellow graduate, cracked a joke: "Will the company recognize my award – Most Behaved Graduate?"

Just as my curriculum vitae appeared second class, so too my civil engineering course seemed to be a square peg in a round hole in the National Steel Corporation manufacturing plant. Having a hunch of a gloomy prospect ahead, there and then, I committed myself by boosting my race car's horsepower and made up my mind in making headway through the wide managerial road instead of the narrow specialist route.

For the next four years, I boosted my credentials with three postgraduate studies: Master of Business Management in Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Diploma in Research and Development Management in University of the Philippines-Los Banos, and Master Program of Management Studies in the Institute of Certified Professional Managers (ICPM) in Virginia, USA. ICPM conducted the class online (a precursor of what's happening today) by sending me 20 management books. At my own pace, I read the first book, from cover to cover, answered a set of more than a hundred questions, and then sent the set of my answers to ICPM. Then, I read the second book, and so on, until I read the whole 20 books in 3 months, and ultimately received a highly sought-after international ICPM certificate. Being one of the three only in the whole country who completed the course, showed how I was too determined in boosting my race car's horsepower.

At the end of one phase of the race, something irregular happened: all racers sped away without me due to some technicality – the rules changed – by my boss who seemed to have not liked me since the first time he saw my face. That first time was when I won a logo design contest. While I was presenting the blue logo's significance like "true blue" for loyalty, or "blue ribbon" for the best, or "blue blood" for royalty, suddenly, my boss cut in: "How about a 'blue baby'?"

A total reorganization and mass promotion took place in the company and my boss ruled me out. Let me turn my metaphor to basketball: Even if I had played, at that time, like LeBron, my coach just benched me because he didn't like me. Period. That's the root of the rule change in the middle of the race.

Most feared throughout the plant, my boss didn't like me because I was different from the other guys. I didn't laugh at his jokes. I walked away from the crowd getting a load of his wisdom at company time's expense. He surely could have noticed me -- a different person -- in my eyes, in my words, and in my actions. And he was right – I was different because God had touched me that changed a whole lot of my life. But, for being different, the price I paid was high – no promotion and no brand-new company car. My horsepower booster – postgraduate achievements -- were no match to my boss' mighty wand.

I complained to Him, like the Israelites who complained about the lack of food and water in the desert: "Isn't this unfair? I do your business, but I lost my race." The most discomfiting picture I was seeing in my mind's eyes, at that time, while lamenting my plight: I am driving an assembled utility vehicle while the rest are driving their brand-new cars.

Meanwhile, my wife was working in the bank when, out of the blue, a car dealer dropped by and offered her a special car sale promo, so unbelievably attractive, that she took it straight away. When she got home, she broke to me the amazing news: our brand-new car. As she told me about the details – a teeny-weeny down payment, all paper works to be done by the sales rep, and I could drive the brand-new car home in a week or two – I was tongue-tied. Holding back my tears, I was talking to Him in my mind, "Lord, you too feel how I'd been hurt. Thank you." A few days later, while they were driving their brand-new cars, I was also driving mine.

As I hit the keys in composing this article, a wondrous event in the past has kept on flashing in my mind. My wife and I, with our small kid, attended a party hosted by Nancy, my wife's officemate. There, I saw my boss - and throughout our stay, I felt too restless with my stomach in knots. Raining hard at parting time, Nancy made sure everyone had a safe ride home. We found ourselves inside one SUV -- with my boss and his wife – that ran out of the seat for our kid. To my surprise, my boss held our kid and let him sit on his lap while kiddie-chatting to comfort him. Thinking of this one touching picture, as I wrap up this article, wipes off every inch of my righteous indignation toward my late boss.

Peter: Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?

Jesus: I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Dear Reader, I still have seventy-six acts of forgiveness left to spare. How about you?

 

 

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Aesthetics by Dionne

Technicals by Lroy

Original Photo from https://tinyurl.com/ratraces

DAY, THE WORLD IS WAITING

"It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away."

Softly singing in good spirits this familiar song, I polished off with thorough editing the final copy of my maiden article for my newly-launched blog ATABAY. I called my daughter Dionne Arae, a techie, who has been responsible for the creative aspects of my blog. A late sleeper and riser, she was moving at a snail's pace. I felt she was taking it so easy that I had to call her again, this time, intently resorting to hyperbole.

"Day, the world is waiting." (Day is my daughter's pet name)

Though not meant to be taken literally, like any hyperbole, the statement appears to be shafts of sunlight breaking the clouds to reveal a clear blue sky.

Today, I could not imagine that I would ever utter the statement for my little piece of writing. I could not imagine that writing love letters to the world through my blog could evolve from my writing love letters to my wife in the past. I can still recall, many years ago, I turned my hand to writing earnestly when my wife had to go out-of-town for a half-a-year corporate work trip, leaving our home with me taking care of our kids for the first time. Mulling over our home without her for an extended time, I figured out a "devil," prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I dared say the "devil" would not rough up the kids because of their "guardian angel" nanny. But, foreshadowing the out-of-sight-out-of-mind alarm bells, I pondered, the "devil" could thrash our marriage.

A timely chat with my brother Rolly on his tips on how to handle a long-distance relationship was manna from heaven. (At that time, the cell phone could still be on the drawing board.) His formula: Write one love letter a day. Compile and send 7 love letters a week. The other end does the same. The net effect: both "see" each other every day.

What could I write in one particular love letter after a month of writing every day? Not seeing each other face-to-face after a month, we would find that this dry and trite line "I have rice and fried chicken tonight" could conjure up a good deal of vision of each other in our boundless imagination. I gave writing my best shot when all my kids got scabies, an itchy, highly contagious skin disease – turning each of my love letters during that exhausting period into a personal narrative essay. My lowest point in that writing experience was when my wife missed for the first time in sending her one love letter to me - imagine the Whys and What Ifs racking my brains that day.

Yesterday, after I clicked and published the first article in my blog, I clicked again to put up a link and posted my maiden article with a good message to the world. The link was deleted at one "giant country" of our cyber world, not for its content, but because of the internet "turf war." Without a link, I can only share my good message by copy-paste-post crude method from my end. From viewers/readers' end, they can read my good message by typing https://atabay-atpb.blogspot.com on their address bar and click -- pinning my hopes on this pipe dream: "If you build they will come."

This hassle is like smuggling Bibles into one "giant country" in our real world that takes many forms: in a handbag where Bible is presumed a personal copy, or across the border using multiple entry visas hauling Bibles in backpacks and suitcases, or by the sea using a custom-built submersible barge.

Amid this present dreary situation, I read the Bible and found this reassuring passage:

"[H]e has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power." (1 Thes 1:4-5).

After reading this passage, I recall again the lyrics of a song: "It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away."

Dear Reader, now I know what's behind my words that will take your heart away.

 

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Aesthetics by January

Technicals by Lroy

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

To write or not to write, that's the question I'd been dealing with after I got off from over two decades of blood, sweat, and tears in the corporate world. It's not as existential a question as Hamlet's "To be or not to be" since I love writing. But, where would I write? The answer: my blog – I am launching today.

Two days ago, brooding over a banner for my blog, I have narrowed my short-list to two names. The first name -- I Write, Therefore I Think (smacks of Descarte's "I think, therefore I am") -- will give a clue to a reader that what he or she is going to read is a result of a complex process of Thinking. Just as M. Scott Peck, the author of the The Road Less Traveled spelled out that, "thinking is difficult ... Complex... Laborious... painstaking process," so too Donald M. Murray in his book Write to Learn, amplified that "writing is the most disciplined form of thinking."

The second name -- Spiritual Eyeglasses -- will give a reader, at a glance, an inkling of what he or she is going to read: an article with a tint of spirituality. Surely, secular readers will pose a big challenge for me in creating a "catchy" lead sentence or paragraph for each article, to "catch" their attention,  provoke them to read more, and hopefully, inspire them to read the whole article ultimately.

Wavering in choosing between the two names, all of a sudden, I recalled an editorial I had written many years ago in a maiden issue of an old little magazine I have kept in my file. This editorial is serendipitous, being a Sunday, today.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Rubbing my eyes, I got off the bed and looked at the clock. It's 4:45 in the morning. When I opened the door, I found my five-year-old boy standing still and soaked wet. I put him in fresh pajamas and laid him down to sleep.

I tried to get back to sleep, but I couldn't. I just couldn't shake off Art's idea about a proposed novel name that would unfurl the banner of our new magazine.

"How about Bidlisiw?" Lilius suggested on one occasion.

"I saw a magazine with that name," Lee mentioned, and added, "Why not Dan-ag?"

In a moment, I was thinking about its hyphen as a potential problem.

I looked at the clock again. It's 5:00 a.m. sharp. I opened my Cebuano Bible and was lead the way to Juan 4:6 and read:

"Atua didto ang atabay ni Jacob, ug milingkod si Jesus tapad sa atabay sanglit gikapoy man siya sa panaw."

Praise the Lord! That's it! ATABAY! That's the name! The Jacob's well. In this well, Jesus said to a Samaritan woman:

"Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up in eternal life."

ATABAY. What an inspired name! What a beautiful promise! I phoned Art that morning and told him about my inspired reading. We collected our thoughts on the word ATABAY and pondered on its meaning.

To rural folks, ATABAY nourishes life. It's a spot where we come together to draw water for our daily needs. To some, ATABAY refreshes hopes. It's a refuge, where a mother whispers a prayer or two for the next meal of her seven children; or where a small child throws a mickey-mouse coin in the well and wishes for a new toy. To others, ATABAY measures love. It overflows when we love and serve the Lord. Otherwise, it will run dry.

[My editorial concluded with a promise that ATABAY would quench the spiritual thirst of anyone who reads the magazine. It was its first and last issue; that's another story.]

After reading the editorial, I uttered the same exclamation: Praise the Lord! That's it -- ATABAY -- that's my blog's name. The suffix ATBP (and many more) I added to the name to mean that, now and then, before I write, I will take off my "spiritual eyeglasses" to see things from a secular point of view.

I look forward to charm, not a "fast reader" who can't put down a good book, but a "slow reader," who after reading a line, or a paragraph, or a page, puts down a great book and reflect.

I'm not naïve. In this day and age of hi-tech social media crazes like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram, what does an old-fashioned writer, like me, have in order to compete for viewer/reader attention? The answer is embedded in the lyrics of a Bee Gees' song:

"It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away."

Dear Reader, I promise you, like my above editorial, my words in my ATABAY blog will nourish your soul, refresh your hopes, and overflow you with love.