Evelyn R. Luab
Columns
The Feast of our Mother of Perpetual Help
NO man in self-sufficient. There always comes a time in our lives when help comes when we need it most and that makes all the difference.
Seniors sensitively grasp situations better
I remember that only recently my eldest daughter told my middle daughter this: “Watch mommy. She is getting out of the pool. I think she is upset about something! Oh my gosh! Why are old people so sensitive?” Then she added to her sister: ”When I get to be that sensitive, bang me on the head!”
Simplicity and pleasure
PRETTY soon, I will celebrate one year of living my independence away from my comfort zone. Disposing most of my earthly belongings, I left all that was safe and familiar as I decided to leave behind my employees, who took care of me and my children, who wanted me to live with them. I wanted to live far from the city. My close friends told me I was making the wrong move. But now being able to wake up to the stillness of Mother Nature has told me that I made the right decision.
Our needs over our wants
ELECTIONS are finally over and now we can concentrate on what has to be done. I am happy that many of us went to the polls in spite of the long hours many had to suffer in order to stand in line. Being a senior citizen has its advantages. My actual voting time only took five minutes but climbing up three flights of steps at Philippine Normal College (now Cebu Normal University) was horrible for one who suffers from osteoarthritis. It took me several stops before I reached precinct No. 0223A.
Friendship is a two-way street
FRIENDSHIP cannot and must not be a one-way street. Many of us are givers and a lesser number are takers. I’m sure a great number of people share this experience.
We who are givers are sometimes pushed to a corner, cleverly manipulated by a friend into doing something we do not want to do. Many times we are bombarded with cunning manipulations which, while sly, can be so transparent. We see through a ruse that redounds on the taker’s comfort, his or her laziness and total disregard for our dignity as a person.
The struggle to love one another
GOD has spoken to us many times in the Scriptures about love. The hardest order that sticks in my mind is “Love one another as I have loved you.”
After 25 minutes of meditation last April 27, Fr. Martin Tobin CSsR read the Gospel of John where this command was recorded. When Fr. Martin reads or says anything from the Scriptures, the words come from his heart and anyone who hears the words knows and feels the weight of the word of God.
The need to belong
I once saw a movie whose title I’ve forgotten but I remember that Donald Sutherland had the lead role. He was one of the psychiatrists of a juvenile correctional institution. To make a long story short, Donald had to take care of a teenager who came from a broken home, whose mother had married someone else, and whose father did not love him. The boy’s only link to family was an older brother who was such a bad influence on the young boy that things grew from bad to worse.
We need to see the Rainbows
I’VE been living alone for six months now and I do have enough privacy for reflections. Last April 19 and 20, I had the most beautiful of surprises.
The value of complete attention
COMMON decency, politeness, require that one responds to any person who talks by giving him our complete attention. Because of my having been an English teacher for around 20 years, my ears are attuned to words that come my way. My being a mother of five daughters, plus being a grandma to nine people of varied ages, has given me a lot of practice in the beauty of listening. At seminars, public forums, at Masses, I listen to speakers even if they are not that good. Many times, prepared talks have enough meat in them even if the speaker is not adept at public speaking.
Done for good
I’VE been very open about my great respect for the Redemptorist community here in Cebu. I love the church and what it stands for.
While I have been living in Talamban for six months now, I still am one of thousands who seek comfort within the walls where such Disciples of Christ in the great Order of Melchizedik walk.
