A-ha.

03Dec08

Ever had a moment wherein something in the very familiar all of a sudden strikes you, and you just tilt your head, and look again?

*****

Driving down a familiar road,
contours of your face emerge
complemented by night
and light
from passing streetlamps
renew my
view.

I see you
again
and again.

- MPN 11/24/08


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The Servant Song

14Sep08

Last Saturday morning found Lex and I at the Gesu, at the ordination to the Diaconate of his good friend and mentor, (now Reverend) Frank (he’s the one to the far right in the photo above c/o Bro. Ceci).

It was my first time to witness an ordination, and the atmosphere was one of celebration–rather different from that of a graduation.  The joy that permeated the place, I felt, came more from the open embrace of the people present there to these nine young men who have chosen these extraordinary lives.  Finding out bits and pieces about them, left me pretty amazed at just how much love they have, and at their desire to share this with as many as possible.  What amazes me even more is how they have chosen to live these lives, and as such, (I’m assuming) derive happiness from self-offering in this manner.

I suppose it was quite fitting then, that it was the first time I noticed the crucifix at the Gesu, the one that hangs above the altar.  As crucifixes go, Jesus is nailed to the cross.  But instead of his head hanging down, this one’s had Jesus’ face looking up to the heavens.  The first thing that came to mind for me was the Oblation, and the same pose of arms outstretched, eyes to the heavens.  The complete offering of the self.

I kept the missalette of the ordination, because there was this one song whose lyrics resonates for me.

The Servant Song (R. Gillard)

Will you let me be your servant?
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on this journey.
We are trav’llers on the road.
We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ light for you in the night-time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow ’til we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven, we shall find such harmony,
borne of all we’ve known together of Christ’s love and agony.

I was also surprised to see a lone religious in a forest-green sutana, snapping away at the whole affair.  The lone Lasallian Brother in the midst of Jesuits was Brother Ceci Hojilla!  :-)   Even if he didn’t remember me, I do have fond, grade five memories of hanging out at his office, and the stories he shared during our recollection that year.  He was there as a guest of one of the newly-ordained dudes, Robbie Sian, a La Salle graduate, turned UP Med doctor, turned Jesuit deacon.  It was amusing to see a spot of (very) deep green that morning, I wonder how he felt entering the Ateneo campus, greeted by the larger than life-sized standees of the Ateneo basketball team.  Hehe.  There was an even more amusing exchange when I introduced him to Lex.

Bro. Ceci: Is she (being) good?

Lex: Surprised (I think), just smiles and nods his head (you did nod, didn’t you, hon? :-| ).

Bro. Ceci: (laughs) Kung hindi, isauli mo na sa La Salle! (more laughter)

Well, I found it funny (within the whole context of the Ateneo-La Salle dichotomy).  But whatever school-loyalty differences that existed that morning served only to make the affair more interesting, and more remarkable, in fact.  Vocation definitely falls far greater, and beyond school rivalry lines.  :-)

To view more photos from that morning, hop over to Brother Ceci’s Multiply site!


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Take a wish…

01Sep08

(of someone else’s, that is) and make it come true.  :-)

Instead of spending on tokens for the guests to their wedding, my brother and his fiancee decided to give their budget for tokens to the Make A Wish Foundation, and helped make the wish of 15-year-old Christian come true (the donation got him his wish of a PS2!).

Ain’t that cooler than giving away event tokens which more often than not sit around and collect dust?  So they’re giving away those cards above instead, which Make A Wish sent them, in order to inform their guests that they’re part of the happiness the wedding couple has shared with a child, in whose life they have made quite a big difference.

I think they selected this specific organization to support, because Shar (my brother’s fiancee) volunteers there.  :-)   Nice gesture, noh?


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+63

30Aug08

I’ve always believed that creativity was an inherent trait among Filipinos.  Be it from the creativity exercised in the visual arts, to the creativity with which the tongue twists and turns tales to extricate oneself from sticky situations (in school, on the road faced with blue or yellow-clad men in uniform, or in thinking of excuses as to the seemingly sorry state of certain aspects of our lives–yes, it’s all in the mind).

Be it in whatever form (apart from the agility with which certain criminal minds operate, harhar), creativity is always to be celebrated, and encouraged.  Just recently, a bunch of creative mavens banded together to eke out a niche on the worldwide web to serve as a showcase of Philippine creativity.  Ta-dah!  We have Plus63.net, where one can find anything from gems in the Fine Arts and Fashion categories, to Performance Arts and Architecture.

With Idea!s Creative Director Dan Matutina, Grafik Salad team members Niel Quisaba and Val Villar, and Leandro Mercurio at the helm, with good friend and Idea!ist Dang Sering in the crew, Plus63 is sure to resound pride in our homegrown talent over the net’s creative waves.

Yahoo!  :-)


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Staying in poems.

08Jul08

I wrote a couple of poems when I stayed in last Friday night.  The reason why I write gains more depth the more I come to terms with my swirling thoughts and emotions.  It’s how I make sense and make peace.  :-)

Thank you to my muse (in more ways than inspiration).

*****

On Thinking Too Much

There’s a pebble in my shoe
that tries not to be too loud.

At first,
I caught it giggling.

Then it started to gossip.

Then it grew tired, and started to sigh.

“Excuse me,” I said.
“What are you doing there?”

It looked at me.

Thumped,
sighed,
and buried
itself even
deeper.

I followed it,
trying to find out
where it came from,
and how
to remove it.

It burrowed in the sole
of my shoe,
I couldn’t find it.

I was walking,
limping,
unsteady.

I grew tired.

And stopped.
Inhaled.
Removed my shoes.

And ran.

- MPN 2008


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In the Spotlight

01Jul08

Some of the PKN Manila vol. 1 slideshows were featured on the Slideshare website!


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Tambay lang muna.

01Jul08

This morning, as I was off to work, one of my neighbors asked me, “Papasok ka na sa opisina?”

Looking at myself, cap, slippers, wildly colorful blouse and college-days pants, I realized I didn’t quite look like your regular office drone.  And thinking about the office, and my teammates (I can’t bring myself to call the gang officemates, somehow), and how homey and relaxed the office is, I said something like, “Going to the office is just an excuse to hang out.  So we don’t actually go to work, we just go to the office to make tambay.”

Hehe.


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Who says…

25Jun08

…that breeding is something you’re born with?  Check out Peewee, the classiest askal a.k.a. mongrel I’ve ever seen.  Whenever I see her, she’s sitting with her front paws crossed before her, her head held regally high.  When I took this shot, she noticed me posturing in the distance, and she snobbishly turned her head away.  Hehe.


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And they were five.

24Jun08

Five albums in all, with about sixty photos in each (with the exception of the last album) is what kept me busy last Sunday evening.  Going through all the photos brought back a rush of very happy memories.  Check them out here: Album 1, Album 2, Album 3, Album 4, Album 5.


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Rainy day writing

22Jun08

Staying in today (because of the storm outside), I took to writing a letter to one of my host parents in CT.  It just struck me how different writing with a pen is from typing on a keyboard.  Of course, the act of writing (and on a pretty notecard, no less) would be more deliberate.  I noticed how I would carefully form my thoughts and words before putting them down on paper.  And seeing the trail of words, with their loops (I’ve got a loopy, script-like print) and twists seems to spur on even more lines.  I found myself reaching the end of the notecard without having said much, but having two well-formed paragraphs of musings.  I find it amazing that we have all of these half-formed thoughts floating in our heads, and that bleeding them out with ink (ew, that doesn’t make such a pretty scene), and reading them seems to help us acquaint ourselves further with–well, ourselves.  I could go on and on about what’s happened, with the everyday updates of commonplace (and sometimes not so) existence.  But I have to admit I haven’t been paying much attention to the little burning thoughts that dance around and cast shadows in my mind.  Penning words feels like a good release.   Now I look forward to writing more notes.  :-)


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