Acoustic Night at Punta Villa Resort 

My Nephews Asked Me About God

I’ve read some forwarded emails about kids’ comments and questions about God. I found them all amusing but inwardly thought that some very creative writers must have cooked them up. I realized today, however, how endearing and innocent children actually are when they talk about God.

I was scouring the food court of Shang with my nephew Miko (now 5 years old! How fast time flies), looking for his favorite buko juice, when he asked me a question out of the blue. “Tita Ella, why is God on the cross?” This caught me off-guard. I do not have a direct hand in the Christian formation of my nephews as I leave it to their parents and teachers to do that. I am happy to be their playmate, driver, and yaya but I’m the type of Tita who returns the babies to their mommies for nappy change and avoids having to answer earth-shaking questions as much as possible. J I do not feel qualified to teach them these things because in the past, I gave them very complicated answers and received a lecture from their father (my Kuya) about it. Somehow my being “active” in Lingkod have made my friends think that I’d make the perfect godmother and they’ve passed on to me difficult, and sometimes amusing, questions their kids have asked about religion. I’ve always felt inadequate and unarmed for those questions.

I looked at Miko who was holding my hand and waiting for an intelligent answer. I replied, “It was Jesus who was on the cross, baby, and he did that to show us all that God is more powerful than the cross and death and all kinds of pain.”

He asked, “But how is God stronger than the cross? How is he strong?” Time for quick thinking, Ella, and I thought of speaking in a language my Cartoon-Network-raised nephew would appreciate. “God is very strong, He’s the most powerful person of all! Did you know that Jesus healed the sick? He made the blind see. He cured the lepers (oh no, I thought next thing I’d have to explain leprosy, but he let that pass. Something else caught his attention). And one time, He walked on water!”

“Jesus can walk on water? Can He make us walk on water???”, I could see that his interest was picking. “Yes, of course! St. Peter was also able to walk on water.” Thankfully, I stopped myself from adding that San Pedro also sank after removing his eyes from the Lord and that I could relate to that experience big time, otherwise my brother would complain that I’ve planted too many grownup things in the boy’s head without explaining them properly. “Above the water and not under???” He asked again in disbelief. “Yup!” I replied, so proud once more of Jesus my Hero.

Then he turned to me, “Can Jesus make me fly?” Now that was a familiar question! As I was growing up reading about The New Mutants and The X-Men, I asked God also why He didn’t allow me to fly, which to me was the coolest power aside from reading minds. Today when I think of Heaven I imagine myself flying too. But to a five-year old, I needed a simpler answer which I wasn’t sure I had. I said, “Well I think Jesus CAN make us fly, but He’d only do that if He thought it would be for our own good.”

“Why are you asking me these things?” I questioned him while I was paying for the buko juice which we finally found at the other end of the food court. “Because I saw the movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and I was very afraid…” Now that movie was definitely not kid-friendly! I loved it and wrote about it last April but it was not something I would recommend for kids.

“Miko, don’t worry, diba in the ending Jesus was alive again without blood in his body and He was able to rise up?” I got worried how those bloody images affected him. I made a mental note to beg, borrow or even buy a Children’s Illustrated Bible or Bible Encyclopedia for him and his Kuya Luigi. They would have to learn the bible stories the way I appreciated them when I was their age – using beautiful pictures. I also had single aunts who were Catechists and who patiently explained the bible stories to me. The wheel has indeed turned… am I that single aunt now? Well this isn’t the sharing for that issue, haha.

Miko whispered, “I wasn’t very afraid, Tita Ella. I didn’t finish the whole movie. I just saw parts of it. But I remember that Jesus cut off the soldier's ear.”

"Noo, it was St. Peter who cut off the man's ear, and Jesus put it back. Like magic." I attempted to explain. With that we returned to the table to join our family. Miko happily told his kuya that I told him that Jesus could walk on water.

Luigi (the 7-year-old) asked me, “Diba God is the father of Jesus?” Fresh from the NLTC, I wanted to attempt to have a scholarly answer to this but of course realized that I was not qualified to echo Dr. Jake’s lecture on the Trinity; neither was my listener interested in that. “Yes, God is the Father of Jesus. But He’s also Our Father. He’s our Big Father in Heaven!” I triumphantly replied.

“And diba, Tita, Jesus is two thousand and four years old?” Hmmm, tough one, as I was tempted to have a long answer, but to simplify our lives, I simply said, “Yes.”

The ever-competitive Miko asked, “And also God?” I smiled. “No, I think God is much older than Jesus.”

Luigi asked, “How much older? Is God two thousand and seven years old?” This elicited laughter from his parents, my parents, and even the kids themselves.

I had run out of answers. I remember Jake said that Jesus was there from the beginning with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit! How do I explain Him to my nephews? I’ve given the Holy Spirit talks in the CLP but there was no way I could re-tell that for children. Could I wash my hands off that topic too, or would my conscience nag me when the time comes to teach them what I believe to be true? Should I just wait for my own children (which was my mindset before) so I could shape their young minds into the faith that’s growing deep in my heart?

I pray that I could somehow contribute to my nephews’ love for God but as to how, I would have to learn. Meanwhile they remind me of my own questions and how they have evolved through the years. I have discovered that my mind is not enough to contain all there is to know about God and I’m glad for the priests, nuns (whom I refer to as my spiritual aunts and uncles), and Lingkod elders who are around to answer my questions in a language I can understand.

Post-Movie Marathon Thoughts

If my life were made into a movie, it would have '80's music in its soundtrack.

I saw "Before Sunset" with my parents at the Shang Cineplex today. There were two other couples who looked like senior citizens in the movie house with us. Less than twenty people came to see the 1:20 p.m. showing. I learned that at the next showing, three of my friends watched without planning to bump into each other and they ended up having coffee afterwards. I would have loved to join them, but I was on driver duty. Besides, it's a Sunday - Family Day. I spend time with friends six days a week already.

I think it's great to bump into people we know at unexpected places and to be free to have coffee or tea with them afterwards. In my life-movie I would drive around the city and go on with my day running into good friends at the drug store, the gas station, and even at church. I wouldn't run into the people with whom I would rather not see, of course. I would only be with the people I love to talk to and spend time with. Of course that movie is never going to be made but I like to plan about it sometimes.

My mom didn't like "Before Sunset" as much as my father and I did. The movie revolved around two characters who did not stop talking and it thrilled us to follow their conversations and drink in the nuances in their lines. They could not stop talking about the one night they spent nine years ago, along with religion, politics, and every other topic under the sun. That looked like the perfect relationship to me, with the perfect romantic background - Paris. I love to talk and I love to listen. I can only be with a person who would love to listen to me and who would make so much sense, or make me laugh so hard, that I could spend the rest of my life listening to him. He is already part of my make-believe movie, you bet.

I must have inherited my father's passion for books and movies. A few hours after we got home, I played "50 First Dates" on DVD. This movie is about a girl who impaired her short-term memory and who had her dad, brother, boyfriend, doctor and the rest of her little island creating a comfortable life for her. I enjoyed how Adam Sandler's character made Drew Barrymore fall in love with him all over again every single day. What a totally Hollywood concept.

Upon reflection, I realized the contrast in the two movies. The first one was about all the little details that the lovers could not forget and that made them long for each other all those years that they were apart. Between the two of them, they wrote a book, a song, and two journals about their memorable night. The second movie was about how love could create a memory deeper than what medical science could predict, for the girl might have been incapable of remembering her boyfriend/fiancee/husband but everyday she is able to realize how deeply she has fallen for him, even without her memories. She was able to paint his portrait from a memory that she did not know she had, deep in her heart.

So where is love stored in our brain? I dug into my own memories of love, and chose to close them one by one immediately after.

I'd rather make up my own movie not based on memories, but on dreams. What was it the girl from "Before Sunset" said? Memories are not forever, they change as long as we live to change them. Something like that.

I'm a girl with a good memory, a computer and an Internet connection. Regarding those memories I'd rather forget, I could still change them, with or without the other characters in my life. All I have to do is write....

GMMACQ BLs and BWMs

NCM at NLTC 2004

To Submit and/or To Bear Fruit

From Psalm 1:

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1, I learned during my Day of Prayer at the start of year 2004, was for me. Yes it contains the word "yield", which means to submit and/or to bear fruit and which I know is God's Word for me. Verse 3 assures me that I shall yield fruit in due season and in all that I do, I shall prosper.

Busyness during the year made me forget about this Psalm. Sometime August, I began to feel a restlessness that would not go away, and after hearing Psalm 1 again during the September anniversary prayer meeting, I felt assured once more that the Lord is speaking to me.

Then I started blogging and called this My Process of Yielding. I wrote about my plans and dreams here. I planned and dreamed some more until I went to Iloilo for eight days, where I laid everything before the Lord, for Him to show me which path to take. I asked Him what my Life Purpose or Mission was.

The sense that I got was Jeremiah 17:7-8, the theme for the conference, which was cross-referenced in Psalm 1. It's beginning to make sense.

Is it any easier to yield? Unfortunately, no. But at least I'm getting a clearer picture of where I'm headed. It's a long process.

To submit, yes, but to bear fruit in the end: this is my call. This is my hope.

Yield is the Word

yield (from Dictionary. Com)

v. tr.
1.

a. To give forth by or as if by a natural process, especially by cultivation: a field that yields many bushels of corn.

b. To furnish as return for effort or investment; be productive of: an investment that yields high percentages.

2.
a. To give over possession of, as in deference or defeat; surrender.
b. To give up (an advantage, for example) to another; concede.

v. intr.
1.
a. To give forth a natural product; be productive.
b. To produce a return for effort or investment: bonds that yield well.

2.
a. To give up, as in defeat; surrender or submit.
b. To give way to pressure or force: The door yielded to a gentle push.
c. To give way to argument, persuasion, influence, or entreaty.
d. To give up one's place, as to one that is superior: yielded to the chairperson.

Last Day of the NLTC in Iloilo 

I'm Leaving for Iloilo, Will be Back October 24! 

The Kulets at Museo Pambata