Steering the wheel? Not me!
The statement "God works in mysterious ways" may be considered cliche but it was so true for me yesterday and today.
One of my favorite prayers which I admittedly have not been able to pray often (as I have been recently often guilty of being remiss in nourishing my faith and my soul) is the Prayer of Jabez which goes:
That you would bless me indeed!
And enlarge my territory
and that your hand be with me
to keep my from doing evil
so I may not cause pain.
That prayer, for me, embodies how I want to live my life doing the daily grind. Simply put, the prayer asks God to create new opportunities to be able to live my life as a testament to God's love, i.e. to do good works (hence enlarge the territory), of course, with God's guidance because even in the best intentions, our weaknesses as human could drive us to serve our selfish intentions and consequently cause pain or hurt to others by putting our own interests above others.
I am very grateful that, inspite of my shortcomings to Him, he gave me a mere tap on the shoulder to remind me that, "hey, you seem to be forgetting about me!" Come to think of it, he's been showering me with so much blessings. This is not to say that I have perfect life, it is just that he has given me the gift of seeing through his blessing in a haystack of challenges. My mom was recently diagnosed to have stones in her kidney but lo and behold, her ultrasound results yesterday showed that the stones in her renal pelvis (which were the ones most difficult to remove) are completely gone! Of course, there are still stones somewhere else but they have either shrunk or remained the same which is still good because it means her diet modification, water and buco therapy plus her 6 caps dose of Sambong daily are all working perfectly. I actually have a doctor friend who has been helping my mom recover and he is a blessing to us actually because he has been generously sharing his gift of healing to us, a rare gift which, I think, he has not yet recognized and fully realized. Our friendship with him is actually a disguised blessing in itself and as with my other friends, I am glad to have made the choice of the path of friendship inspite of and despite of previous circumstances.
Going back to the tap on the shoulder I was talking about, I was on my way home from work last night and was making much effort to get some sleep in the car because I felt cold and felt like I needed to wee wee. Still, I thought I could still wait till we get home to rush to the toilet. After less than an hour, I suddenly was jolted awake when my driver suddenly stepped on the break, causing me to hit my forehead on the padded headrest of the front passenger seat (didn't hurt a bit, actually). I saw that we were a few meters away from the intersection of Araneta Avenue and Quezon Avenue, the traffic light was still green and our right front side bumped the right rear bumber of a Toyota Altis. I also later realized that a taxi also bumped us from behind. I remember my driver explaining that the car in front suddenly stopped that's why we bumped him. MMDA traffic officers and a policeman arrived, pictures were taken and we headed to the Balintawak police station to get a police report. I found all our police officers and MMDA personnel nice and professional. Thankfully, the owner of the car (who is a Nestle employee) was cool. In fact, it was my driver who was a bit edgy, trying to persuade all of us that he stepped on the brakes, DIDN'T hit the car initially and was bumped by the taxi causing us to bump the car in front. Hmn... Honestly, I took his word for it and supported his statement before PO3 Pagtalunan (yep, that's his surname) BUT after reflecting over it several minutes later, I realized that his res gestae should be considered, in which case, it seems that he was too near the car and hit it when it suddenly stopped and not after we were hit by the taxi. Discussing it with my mom, we realized that even if the story of my driver was correct, the taxi didn't have comprehensive insurance and we could only ask them to pay for the repairs (which were really negligible) or the participation fee if our insurance would answer for it. In any case, the poor taxi driver will have to pay for it. He wasn't arrogant afterall so I thought what's a few thousand pesos? Not that I can afford it, it's just that, I can earn that money easier than him and there is really no point making life harder for him. I am actually thankful to God that that incident last night provided me with a test which I may have initially failed (by supporting my driver before the police and not letting the taxin driver off the hook right there and then) but now have realized how to correctly address. Me and my mom have decided to shoulder the cost of having the repairs done, not because we have spare cash (which we actually don't have) but because that burden will be lighter on us rather than on the taxi driver.
While at the police station, I got the chance to have a little chit chat with PO3 Pagtalunan who strikes me as a respectable policeman (it's really nice to meet one). I noticed that their 1 square meter detention cell had two prisoners inside and so I asked what are they being detained for. He told me that they have violated Quezon City's Anti-Barker Ordinance and since they didn't have money, they can't pay the bail (which, based on the Bail Bond Guide should be P1,000). And of course, since they don'thave money, they do not have a lawyer to process their papers so they can be released or at least transferred to the city jail. PO3 Pagtalunan said they actually make them clean the station and pay them with meals just to help them. I volunteered to give him the number of the U.P. Office of Legal Aid (OLA) so they can get a lawyer for free to help them with their release papers. For all we know, they might have already served a substantial amount of their penalties just by their detention at the police station. I once handled a case in OLA involving Q.C.'s Anti-Tattoo Ordinance which penalizes having a tattoo of the gangs (i.e., Oxo Sigue-Sigue, Sputnik, etc.) endemic in the City Jail. My client was a gay dance instructor and he has an Oxo tattoo I think because he was previously arrested for vagrancy and stayed for a month inside the Q.C. City Jail. Since he was gay, he was forced to join one of the gangs for protection, hence the tattoo. It is because of that tattoo that he was arrested the second time. We in OLA actually filed a Petition with the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City to have that Anti-Tattoo Ordinance declared as unconstitutional but since the case was not finished by the time I graduated, I do not know now what happened with it. And I thought the Anti-Tattoo Ordiance was absurd until I heard of the Anti-Barker Ordinance of Q.C. again! I am astounded that there is an ordinance in Q.C. which prohibits working as a barker. FYI, a barker is that person who calls on passengers to ride a jeepney, shouting the routes of the jeepney hence the term (i.e. "Dulo, dulo!" or "UP Campus!"). Why is this activity prohibited utterly escapes me and I cannot fathom what goes on in the minds of Q.C. Councilors (the Anti-Tattoo Ordinance was enacted in the 1970s while I do not have information when the Anti-Barker Ordinance was enacted) for them to enact this ordinance. Being a barker is a decent way to make a living afterall.
Incidentally, by way of example and as a matter of comparison, the Pasig City Council has an ordinance prohibiting tow trucks NOT authorized by the City Council from conducting towing operations within Pasig City. Now that is a sensible ordiance because the MMDA accredited tow trucks are proliferating the Ortigas area harassing motorists, issuing traffic violation receipts when in fact, the MMDA has not police power which authorizes them to issue TVRs and apprehend motorists without express authority from the city government.
Incidentally, I immediately asked for the CR upon arrival at the police station. I was directed to one which was not as slimy as expected. Despite not having tiles on the walls and having a mere tiny bowl (buhos system), it was relatively clean as it was well-lighted and it had water supply, a pail and a dipper. Problem was, as my hunch told me, there was a fat lizard which welcomed me immediately upon entering the toilet. I let out a screem and hastily went out of the toilet even before I could use it. The police station helper was quite alarmed why I was shrieking and was evidently amused to find out it was because I was terribly afraid of lizards. Needless to say, I was able to use the toilet only upon arriving home. Sob!
Anyway, I am so pleased to discover the past few months that the practising virtues feels good and feels right. Experiencing compassion, forgiveness and the like are "incapable of pecuniary estimation". It feels good because contrary to what you might expect, we are surrounded by circumstances which make it difficult to choose to do what is right. I do not want to sound self-righteous. I am only writing this to, at the very least, encourage others to do what is right, no matter how difficult it may intially seem to be because it feels good. In the light of the current political atmosphere where you have, on one hand, leaders seems to be inclined to distort right from wrong and put their interests above the people, and on the other hand, young activists who, in the pursuit of right, threaded the path of wrong and stooped down the level of those they detest such as in the case of the UP students who are members of Stand-Up (a break away group from SAMASA) and the LFS who pelted General Esperon with rotten eggs when the general was invited to attend a symposium sponsored by the Association of Political Science Majors (APSM). Their actions are deplorable and essentially, lamentable. They opted to live their lives according to Hammurabi ("an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth") rather than Christ's teachings that if a stone is thrown your way, throw back bread.
This morning, I found myself hearing mass at our office chapel. It is indeed wonderful how heeding his call when tapped made me end up being led by Him by the hand. God is good.
One of my favorite prayers which I admittedly have not been able to pray often (as I have been recently often guilty of being remiss in nourishing my faith and my soul) is the Prayer of Jabez which goes:
That you would bless me indeed!
And enlarge my territory
and that your hand be with me
to keep my from doing evil
so I may not cause pain.
That prayer, for me, embodies how I want to live my life doing the daily grind. Simply put, the prayer asks God to create new opportunities to be able to live my life as a testament to God's love, i.e. to do good works (hence enlarge the territory), of course, with God's guidance because even in the best intentions, our weaknesses as human could drive us to serve our selfish intentions and consequently cause pain or hurt to others by putting our own interests above others.
I am very grateful that, inspite of my shortcomings to Him, he gave me a mere tap on the shoulder to remind me that, "hey, you seem to be forgetting about me!" Come to think of it, he's been showering me with so much blessings. This is not to say that I have perfect life, it is just that he has given me the gift of seeing through his blessing in a haystack of challenges. My mom was recently diagnosed to have stones in her kidney but lo and behold, her ultrasound results yesterday showed that the stones in her renal pelvis (which were the ones most difficult to remove) are completely gone! Of course, there are still stones somewhere else but they have either shrunk or remained the same which is still good because it means her diet modification, water and buco therapy plus her 6 caps dose of Sambong daily are all working perfectly. I actually have a doctor friend who has been helping my mom recover and he is a blessing to us actually because he has been generously sharing his gift of healing to us, a rare gift which, I think, he has not yet recognized and fully realized. Our friendship with him is actually a disguised blessing in itself and as with my other friends, I am glad to have made the choice of the path of friendship inspite of and despite of previous circumstances.
Going back to the tap on the shoulder I was talking about, I was on my way home from work last night and was making much effort to get some sleep in the car because I felt cold and felt like I needed to wee wee. Still, I thought I could still wait till we get home to rush to the toilet. After less than an hour, I suddenly was jolted awake when my driver suddenly stepped on the break, causing me to hit my forehead on the padded headrest of the front passenger seat (didn't hurt a bit, actually). I saw that we were a few meters away from the intersection of Araneta Avenue and Quezon Avenue, the traffic light was still green and our right front side bumped the right rear bumber of a Toyota Altis. I also later realized that a taxi also bumped us from behind. I remember my driver explaining that the car in front suddenly stopped that's why we bumped him. MMDA traffic officers and a policeman arrived, pictures were taken and we headed to the Balintawak police station to get a police report. I found all our police officers and MMDA personnel nice and professional. Thankfully, the owner of the car (who is a Nestle employee) was cool. In fact, it was my driver who was a bit edgy, trying to persuade all of us that he stepped on the brakes, DIDN'T hit the car initially and was bumped by the taxi causing us to bump the car in front. Hmn... Honestly, I took his word for it and supported his statement before PO3 Pagtalunan (yep, that's his surname) BUT after reflecting over it several minutes later, I realized that his res gestae should be considered, in which case, it seems that he was too near the car and hit it when it suddenly stopped and not after we were hit by the taxi. Discussing it with my mom, we realized that even if the story of my driver was correct, the taxi didn't have comprehensive insurance and we could only ask them to pay for the repairs (which were really negligible) or the participation fee if our insurance would answer for it. In any case, the poor taxi driver will have to pay for it. He wasn't arrogant afterall so I thought what's a few thousand pesos? Not that I can afford it, it's just that, I can earn that money easier than him and there is really no point making life harder for him. I am actually thankful to God that that incident last night provided me with a test which I may have initially failed (by supporting my driver before the police and not letting the taxin driver off the hook right there and then) but now have realized how to correctly address. Me and my mom have decided to shoulder the cost of having the repairs done, not because we have spare cash (which we actually don't have) but because that burden will be lighter on us rather than on the taxi driver.
While at the police station, I got the chance to have a little chit chat with PO3 Pagtalunan who strikes me as a respectable policeman (it's really nice to meet one). I noticed that their 1 square meter detention cell had two prisoners inside and so I asked what are they being detained for. He told me that they have violated Quezon City's Anti-Barker Ordinance and since they didn't have money, they can't pay the bail (which, based on the Bail Bond Guide should be P1,000). And of course, since they don'thave money, they do not have a lawyer to process their papers so they can be released or at least transferred to the city jail. PO3 Pagtalunan said they actually make them clean the station and pay them with meals just to help them. I volunteered to give him the number of the U.P. Office of Legal Aid (OLA) so they can get a lawyer for free to help them with their release papers. For all we know, they might have already served a substantial amount of their penalties just by their detention at the police station. I once handled a case in OLA involving Q.C.'s Anti-Tattoo Ordinance which penalizes having a tattoo of the gangs (i.e., Oxo Sigue-Sigue, Sputnik, etc.) endemic in the City Jail. My client was a gay dance instructor and he has an Oxo tattoo I think because he was previously arrested for vagrancy and stayed for a month inside the Q.C. City Jail. Since he was gay, he was forced to join one of the gangs for protection, hence the tattoo. It is because of that tattoo that he was arrested the second time. We in OLA actually filed a Petition with the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City to have that Anti-Tattoo Ordinance declared as unconstitutional but since the case was not finished by the time I graduated, I do not know now what happened with it. And I thought the Anti-Tattoo Ordiance was absurd until I heard of the Anti-Barker Ordinance of Q.C. again! I am astounded that there is an ordinance in Q.C. which prohibits working as a barker. FYI, a barker is that person who calls on passengers to ride a jeepney, shouting the routes of the jeepney hence the term (i.e. "Dulo, dulo!" or "UP Campus!"). Why is this activity prohibited utterly escapes me and I cannot fathom what goes on in the minds of Q.C. Councilors (the Anti-Tattoo Ordinance was enacted in the 1970s while I do not have information when the Anti-Barker Ordinance was enacted) for them to enact this ordinance. Being a barker is a decent way to make a living afterall.
Incidentally, by way of example and as a matter of comparison, the Pasig City Council has an ordinance prohibiting tow trucks NOT authorized by the City Council from conducting towing operations within Pasig City. Now that is a sensible ordiance because the MMDA accredited tow trucks are proliferating the Ortigas area harassing motorists, issuing traffic violation receipts when in fact, the MMDA has not police power which authorizes them to issue TVRs and apprehend motorists without express authority from the city government.
Incidentally, I immediately asked for the CR upon arrival at the police station. I was directed to one which was not as slimy as expected. Despite not having tiles on the walls and having a mere tiny bowl (buhos system), it was relatively clean as it was well-lighted and it had water supply, a pail and a dipper. Problem was, as my hunch told me, there was a fat lizard which welcomed me immediately upon entering the toilet. I let out a screem and hastily went out of the toilet even before I could use it. The police station helper was quite alarmed why I was shrieking and was evidently amused to find out it was because I was terribly afraid of lizards. Needless to say, I was able to use the toilet only upon arriving home. Sob!
Anyway, I am so pleased to discover the past few months that the practising virtues feels good and feels right. Experiencing compassion, forgiveness and the like are "incapable of pecuniary estimation". It feels good because contrary to what you might expect, we are surrounded by circumstances which make it difficult to choose to do what is right. I do not want to sound self-righteous. I am only writing this to, at the very least, encourage others to do what is right, no matter how difficult it may intially seem to be because it feels good. In the light of the current political atmosphere where you have, on one hand, leaders seems to be inclined to distort right from wrong and put their interests above the people, and on the other hand, young activists who, in the pursuit of right, threaded the path of wrong and stooped down the level of those they detest such as in the case of the UP students who are members of Stand-Up (a break away group from SAMASA) and the LFS who pelted General Esperon with rotten eggs when the general was invited to attend a symposium sponsored by the Association of Political Science Majors (APSM). Their actions are deplorable and essentially, lamentable. They opted to live their lives according to Hammurabi ("an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth") rather than Christ's teachings that if a stone is thrown your way, throw back bread.
This morning, I found myself hearing mass at our office chapel. It is indeed wonderful how heeding his call when tapped made me end up being led by Him by the hand. God is good.
Labels: Prayer
posted by wernicke @ 10:50:00 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home