The pilgrimage continues

I first worked with the Taize Community in the early 90s.  I have the privilege of working with them in the Manila Pilgrimage of Trust.  Thanks to the Brothers, I got to know Manila broadly and had the glimpse of the iron city.

Years after, another pilgrimage was held in Don Bosco, Makati. I came as a pilgrim and a volunteer in the actual meeting.

It was a reunion of sorts and a way to reconnect with the inner voice.  Indeed, the way to peace is through trust and reconciliation.

My thoughts on Dialog Mindanao (Visayas)

I celebrated EDSA I in Bacolod during the Dialog Mindanao Consultation for the Visayas at St La Salle Campus. Some 300 delegates from West, Central and East Visayas converged for the gathering.

I went out of curiosity and boredom (administrative requirements sapped my energy in those days). I ws curious on how the 300 delegates from different polarities could be made to sit and talk about "mindanao" and how the Visayas people would be of much help we shall be to the complication called Mindanao. I wondered on how much Visayas and how much dialogue could truly take place in a five-hour maximum deliberation.

I was bored out of my work as the run of the mill decisions and works were almost over. The school will just have to go through with what needs to be done. Also, as I was teaching political science, listening to how experts would treat sovereignty and territory in a Mindanao Dialogue might be refreshing...

The dialogue proved better than expected. The people talked and shared their concerns. Notably absent though are the Muslim brothers and sisters that we have in the Visayas It looks like we only have one representative. Another, the government representative or speaker did not truly elaborate much on the government agenda. It appeared that she was quite casual about the entire affair. However, trying to read between the lines, the dialog is not truly taking sides it is a show of force for Mindanao to finally sign the peace accord that lasted for centuries.

What was very convincing and moving was the speech of the MILF representative. It was done eloquently, with much preparation and moving examples enough to hold the audience in awe. Yes, the audience was truly taken by his presentation.

Notably absent in tht affair was the members of the peace process on the government panel. Yes, so much cards were laid on the table but for what? For whose use? I rest my trust and confidence in Mr. Villanueva and the secretariate to produce a very good document out of the proceedings. But then, pages of papers can't equate the spirit and the will of the people present in that time...

Kalinaw!

When the waves lick the shore

The shore:

I am always wet
lambasted by the waves unceasingly
I get caressed by waters of long time ago
reunited by all those waters intertwined by ages
Boredom sets me to a kill
But freedom -that of embracing the journey done
Just of being there, a solid wall at the corner

The water:
Of different forms, tempers and sight, I move on
I voice out all my angst
The waves and tides do it all
Unceasingly I drift
The destination is so uncertain...
The destination I might not appreciate.
I'll simply be there...

All for nationalism

I planned to write about a line that I read somewhere in reaction to a friend's graduation picture-- "and now, service to the country?" Reading that comment froze my state of being for a day. Yes, I forgot when I've uttered that line last but for the young people commenting on a simple graduation picture, it was very natural for them to claim service to the motherland.

I long for the time when in my country, we would also be able to do the same... people of all 'kinds' would ask these without fail and in utter sincerity.

This led me to ask... have I served enough?

Mea culpa

(ode to the world of unbelief)


For not loving you enough
For projecting my unreasonable standards
Perhaps for not listening

For not taking the pains of making me understood
For burrowing into the excuses called ‘to do’

For the long absence and the unjust presence
I was with my world burrowed deep inside Alice’s tunnel
Sucked into the vortex of angst and darkness

Am still drowning into the stinky smell of sulphur
My lungs shrivel and innards shrink

When the cancer of pain strikes
and the universe collides to stop it
my vision gets foiled
my senses numb

So I whispered to the dam keeper
To let it be. Nature will find a way.
I’ll surrender.

Salamat po!

I may not always be in touch with you… or, I may always be at your back, trying to

get things done… or, I may be too straight, harsh and direct at pointless matters around us… or, I may be too oblivious at what is going on because a deadline is in the offing.

But I still have to say this over and over and over again: thank you for the journey. I will soon be five months down under!

It is a journey of faith coming over to Melbourne… I am sure it must also be for you when you invited and welcomed me over too!

Thank you for:
Welcoming me
Listening and making me feel like home
Understanding and simply accompanying
The laughs and the cries
Believing and trusting
Challenging
Bearing with my erratic working habit
The space and venues for silence
Feeding and showing me around…
Updating and encouraging me…


(I refuse to mention names for fear of missing out important ones.)

Let me borrow the words of St. Paul, “I thank my God, each time I think of you… and when I pray for you, I pray with joy…”

Down the road,
Kins

Happy New Year!

A friend emailed me earlier today saying:

"Best Wishes for 2747 Karen New Year!

Best Wishes all of you. Unfortunately, we Karen Could not celebrate Karen New Year in Thailand and Burma in Thailand King's sister pass away and no body can happy the whole
month, no celebration, no event. In Burma Malitary do not allowed. we can have very small and few people can participate. Anyway, hope for the best for the Karen future!"

Their New Year will only be tomorrow, January 8th but their situation prevents them from really celebrating. Most of the Karens are refugees. They live in a 'borrowed' land...

Just like to most of us, living in a borrowed land, phase, dream and situation, we try to hope that tomorrow and the new year will bring something that finally, we claim our own.

Blocked

For two hours, I did not face the computer monitor today. I did something else and that was stamping 500 envelopes with 'postage paid in Australia'. I just wanted to put my mind to rest.
I find it very helpful to do some diversion. It kept me focused on my work.

Others may call this 'blocking' thoughts and actions to encourage creativity and productiveness. I really wonder if this is also the same tactic that the police did when they blocked the Sumilao farmers in going to Malacanang? What higher things did the palace residents have in mind?

When one walks for thousands of kilometers, braving all the heat, rain, aches and pains, would it not be considered 'Christian' to at least, receive them? Or, is it not just another time when the nativity story was relieved? This time, the palace residents wanted to play innkeepers. They really did their part very well, highly militarized and apt for the times.

I just wanted to play 'student' --rereading the story, reflecting, criticizing....

by the 'spires'

i didn't appreciate much of the architectural grandeur that you showed while walking past by at you. it was when i shivered at the blow of the wind that i forced myself to seek for sun... you are no ordinary structure just like the rest of the people i listened to...

but i still seek for the warmth and the soul that you can certainly offer. please don't allow the hardening of more hearts and the concreting of more goals. it is okay if we slip and get disturbed by pebbles along the way... just make us feel alive, breathing, struggling...

by then, you won't become another ordinary skyline feature and a landmark to behold...

Engaged Individual

There are those that make waves without making an effort. I did my share last year. A single signature changed their outlook on my name and my stances. It was when I affixed my signature on a manifesto and signed it as "ENGAGED INDIVIDUAL"...

Until now, a lot of friends would still greet me with an unusual “hi! Engaged individual!”

WHAT IS THAT? Engagement is often used when we mean to tie the knot. They sarcastically assumed the hilarity of people congratulating me and inviting themselves to my 'wedding'... But, still, many squarely looked at me and asked for the real meaning of the word. I advised them to look into the meaning of engagement and that is how I want to be as an individual. --bereft of structures or even institutions, I still continue to hold on to my beliefs no matter what.

The gun even needs to be engaged before the shooting to the target. At that time, to my recall, my body was truly so shoot up to engagement. But the signature still stands. I still would like to believe that engagement is the key for one not to forget. For vigilance to stay and people to be reminded of…

The Ordinary

In my current world and 'life' we tend to work for the ordinary people but we keep in mind that our output should not be less than the ordinary. The ordinary people deserves more than what has least been delivered to them. They deserve all the attention that we have in the service.

These created tensions and a countless worries on my part. At times, I wondered how the masses also appreciated and valued the work we do. I know for a fact that very few people cared on what measures we make or approve. It takes a lot of time for the impact of our work to sink in and stir public support or uproar.Another 'ordinary' created a lot of excited and elicited much of attention last week. At least in my island, people were so much up to it. It was the installation of the local ordinary of our Diocese. The only line that caught me so much during his canonical possession was “and now the Ordinary is walking to his Cathedral”. It is an ordinary that is formally addressed as His Excellency…

This thought struck me too much. Greatness by a lot of people was attained because they were so ordinary. Jesus for one drew multitudes of crowds because he is an ordinary doing something excellently. How can this ‘greatness’ be translated into the delivery of services to the people? How can this sensitivity be transferred to many systems and institutions that shout so much of mechanical services and pale much in terms of human heart? (I am not exempted from this righteous question)

These contradictions led me to look into the present Advent. While many people wait for the countless parties and lavish gifts that they have to give away, countless peoples are waiting in vain. They wait in hope for the impossibility to be gone. May joblessness be taken away and the suffering be erased. May the mothers of the disappeared be reunited with their lost sons and/or daughters. When would despair face the transformation of bliss and joy?

Boredom

When boredom strikes, I put myself to a stop. I can't go anywhere. I turn to autopilot mode.

Questions come and I welcome them. I became busy at the thought of what to answer.

And then, I became busy again. The boredom is left untouched. It awaits for another state.

Boredom became a love-hate relationship on my part. I came to detest the state of knowing not what to do ---of being suspended on air.