Sunday, October 29, 2006 Luab: So many things in life are fleeting! By Evelyn R. Luab Light Sunday
Youth and beauty are fleeting. My mom was one of the prettiest women during her time. She was once Miss Cebu. When my mom died at 60 years of age, she was all skin and bones. She succumbed to cancer of the tongue.
Strength, and litheness of body are fleeting, too. My father was an “I” man in tennis at Illinois University. Even when he was already in his late forties, he was playing with the Varian brothers, Lumain and once got to play against the Jose Elizalde tandem when I was in high school. When he died at the age of 89 he was so bereft of strength, he could hardly stand from his bed and he succumbed to pneumonia. (This ailment is a killer when one is old.)
Wealth can be fleeting, too. Once I had a very affluent aunt and uncle. However, their status changed when their four houses got razed to the ground. All their income vanished and since they didn’t believe in insurance, they could not rebuild their houses.
My maternal grandparents once owned a mine and several properties in Malangas, Zamboanga del Sur. For a while they were very, very wealthy. My grandfather was enticed to run for mayor. He got reelected till finally he got defeated at the polls. He decided to contest the election results and their wealth went down the drain.
Victory can even be fleeting. Boxers, tennis champs can attest to this fact. Once their peak is reached and they don’t know when to retire, they get defeated several times over, till they become tragic figures.
Adeptness at certain skills can also be fleeting. Most of the time a rising star can outshine the man at the top. Life is a wheel that rolls. Sometimes one is up and sometimes one is down.
Nothing tangible can last. It’s the things that come from within which last.
While youth and beauty fade, the beauty of developing character lasts. Time even enhances inner strength.
“Goodness” the kind exemplified by ordinary saints like Mother Theresa is the star that shines in the heavens. Compassion, tenderness, kindness spreads and is trumpeted by those touched by these virtues.
Strength, which comes from suffering is the pillar that does not topple. Many of us get scared, get lost, become despondent when suffering comes our way. However, when the crisis passes, we realize how strong we have become.
Cory Aquino was the silent, simple housewife of Ninoy Aquino. When Ninoy died, little did she deem that one day she would rise and become the president of the Philippines.
Our men in the Philippines turned their noses upwards thinking, “what could this lady do?” Well, she kept us together by her purity, her simple desire to be a good president.
I shall never forget the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay. His grades were posted along the corridors of the College of Engineering when I was still at U.P. Diliman. He had a lot of red marks (failures) but the “posting” was supposed to inspire those who had a hard time under such terrors as Prof. Bendaña, Prof. Joe de Castro, etc. We knew that even if one fails, one can still rise to be a great man.
Bigness of heart, sincerity and humility were the banners, Ramon Magsaysay waved as he walked with us. These non-measurable traits do last and are more important than mansions, sleek cars, diamonds or 3,000 pairs of shoes.
I envy couples who, hand in hand, go to daily mass. I see them kneel together, pray together and tenderly kiss each other during the “Peace be with you” part. I guess the non-tangible blessing I want from God is the silent, steady companionship of a spouse in adoration in the presence of an ever-loving God.
What is your non-tangible blessing? Would you rather have the measurable ones that fade?
