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Monday, October 11, 2004
Speak out: The God in us
By JOSEPH M. DABON
Hermag Subd., Basak, Mandaue City
ENLIGHTENED perspectives can come in a flash. Too short to notice, it can be gone in a flash–unless one is wired for it. In which case, it can be an experience so remarkable to last a lifetime. I had one of those as I sat in front of a row of four or five tables, arranged end-to-end, brimming with food that never seem to run out. With a smile imperceptible to others, I understood the multiplication of the five loaves of bread and the two small fish.
In the beginning, God created us in His own image—to be good and to do good; to love Him as well as the others. And we still are. Unfortunately, our long walk from there to here got rerouted, sidetracked, dead-ended and/or bottomed-out by deep chasms of differing choices and levels of intellect or application of it. Regardless of the length of our journey, severity of our trials, the punishments to our bodies and our souls, our inherent trait to be good and to do good, to love and be loved remains intact. Taking them out and putting to good use is easy for a few, difficult for most, while the rest are just too plumb lazy or so far out in the scale of indifference or evil to even try or care.
Those belonging to the second group can take a lesson from the ants–no load is big, heavy or difficult enough if shared and done for a need. In the case of people, the need to bring out the good in us, out of love. The opportunity presented itself when, as part of the auxiliary group, my wife and I took part in the Marriage Encounter No. 48 of the Bukas-loob ng Diyos held on Sept. 17-19 at the Family Retreat House in Lahug, Cebu City. Our roles were not much–just to make sure that the 17 participating couples and three religious persons were set in the path of discovering the God within each of them.
For a brief moment in our lives, as well as the other members of our group, we found pleasure in seating the participants so they may find love between each other—again; served them food that they may find pleasure in serving each other as well. We perspired and we huffed and puffed but, above all, we had smiles on our lips, happiness painted all over our faces of having served others, even for a very short time, for the love of it.
Lulls can be the beginning of idleness or a point from which to raise oneself to a higher level of consciousness or both. I don’t know which was I engaged in as I sat before that row of tables brimming with food, detached from anything, everything, anybody and everybody but for my heart and soul taking in a panorama of activities borne out of love. Nevertheless, my mind wandered off, as it always does, into the land of the mysterious and posed something for all of us to ponder:
If, through the efforts of a few, food can become available to many, wouldn’t it be nice if the same effort goes beyond the bodily needs and span our moral and spiritual needs as well? The times dictate that it should.
(October 11, 2004 issue)
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