This is the best time to walk around University of the Philippines Diliman Campus – the time between the final exams of the students and the Holy Week. I was greeted by these serenity last Saturday.
Acacia trees manning the road
I love trees. Trees are always serene and calming. They make me stop thinking. They make me go back to my default mode.
It's obvious who can endure the summer heat
Yes, it’s time to prepare oneself for the Holy Week.
To simplify means to make less complex or complicated. Hence to simplify one’s life is to make it less complicated and perhaps easier to live. How do we do this? Let’s take a lesson from mathematics. In mathematics to simplify an algebraic expression is to perform the indicated operation. For example, in 9(2x+1)/3 – x, the indicated operations are division, multiplication, addition, and subtraction. The simplifying process is only complete when the expression is in its most basic form. I believe that in math and in life, the simplifying process is done by going through the same operation of subtraction, addition, division and multiplication.
To simplify one’s life does not only involve subtraction or removing unnecessary baggage, disordered attachments, and excesses. This is only part of the process. To simplify one’s life also involve addition – increasing our knowledge about ourselves, opening our hearts and minds to life-giving relationships, increasing the depth of our intimacy with God, etc.
To simplify one’s life also involves division and multiplication. We should learn to celebrate life. Our joys, our hopes, our faith have to multiply so that they will touch the lives of as many people as possible. However this can only happen if we are willing to share ourselves, continually allow ourselves to be broken for others like Jesus does in the Eucharist.
Yes, the simplifying process is an on-going process. It does not only happen during the lenten season of the Church or of our lives but also during Advent, Christmas, Easter, and even in Ordinary time.
When I was younger I have always noticed that I am slower than most of my classmates in terms of reacting and responding to people. I found this a little bit strange at first because my mind seem to work a bit faster for other things. I remember in college in one of our rare recollections, our facilitator asked us to choose between a horse and a turtle as symbol of our personality. Knowing myself to be really slow in matters of relating, I chose the turtle. Those who wrote horse were asked to stay on one side of the room and those who wrote turtle on the other side. In the group of 85 college students, I was the only one standing on the other side. To make the story short I was diagnosed as an introvert, an overly thinking person, lacking in empathy. And if I was dead serious in really becoming a teacher (I will be graduating in three months time), I better work double time in these aspects for more than anything else a good teacher is one who can quickly empathize with students. I was doomed, all because of a turtle. What saved me from not joining the graduation because of this verdict were Socrates’ “KNOW THYSELF” from my literature class and the 50 centavos istampita that my friend in high school gave me – “God grant me the serenity to accept …” These two dictum guided my spirit for a considerable length of years until it felt they were not enough.
When I was thrown in the world of work I met two types of workers: those who work and rest and those who work and work. Those who work and rest lack food for their body. But they were happy. Their soul sustained their body. Those who work and work were more privileged. They also seem to know who they are, they know what they want and they know how to get it. But they were not as happy as the first group of workers. They suffer for lack of food for the soul. They had forgotten that the soul needs sustenance – rest, silence, and connection with its creator. There’s where my feeling of emptiness is coming from. Simply knowing and accepting oneself is not enough. It needs to grow towards the Other with whom it belongs. This can happen only when one has time for prayer, for reflecting and recollecting. This realization has guided my soul in its journey for a considerable length of years until it felt there was something missing.
Knowing and accepting oneself are important but not enough. In the language of mathematics they are necessary but not sufficient conditions. Knowing oneself in Him is to know our identity but even this is not enough if it is not shared, if it is not witnessed, if that identity does not inform our behavior*. Fullness of life is attained only through un-knowing, through emptying of oneself for those He loves like He did for us. Only by the grace of God will I get fully to this stage.
Note:
*”Identity informs behavior”. This is St. Paul’s ethics according to Sr. Bernie Dianzon, FSP. Her book Glimpses is a must read for all of us.
I like the film “The Blind Side” even if I don’t understand American football. It’s light and heart-warming, perfect for weekend evening viewing. I find the story inspiring because there’s a lot of positive values weaved around it – love, faith, trust, kindness, generosity, gentleness, respect, perseverance, etc. Yes, it’s weaved around the story and not screaming at your face. You don’t know what would be making you smile and feel good for the next few days. That’s what I love about it. Of course, the film would have been more powerful if the story also built the character of the Tuohy family, especially that of the character of Leigh Anne Tuohy played by Sandra Bullock – what made them extraordinary people. In fact, that’s the unbelievable part in the story and not Mike Oher’s athletic ability. But then, that’s why Sandra B’s there. Her superb performance made the otherwise fairy tale story and potentially boring story-telling really real and believable.
If not for the american football and the actors and actresses, I would never think the film was made in America. The director was not tempted to capitalize on football scenes. Not a thing was sensationalized. He made it ordinary enough like it could happen to any Mike Oher and that there’s a lot of Touhy’s in the neighborhood.
We all have a blind side whether or not we are Tuohy or Oher. That’s why God made sure we have a family. That’s why God sends us people to be friends with. They protect our blind side. We protect theirs.
Enjoy the film.
Thank you to whoever wrote this poem. Above all thank you to the Gardener for welcoming my dear auntie in His garden.
God saw you getting tired,
When cure was not to be.
So he wrapped His arms around you,
And whispered, “Come to Me”.
You didn’t deserve what you went through,
So He gave you rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful,
He only picks the best.
And when I saw you sleeping,
So peaceful and free from pain,
I could not wish you back
To suffer that again.
Reflections and rumblings 