The Pleasures of Life

The Pleasures of Life

We here identify the two kinds of pleasures in life.

The different levels of good feelings we experience.

Of jubilation and elation raising us to certain highs. 

The first are those we perceive with our tactile senses.

The visual wonders of Nature our avid eyes feast on.

Rich smell an expensive perfume teases our noses with.

 

The coterie of  exotic tastes that food leave in our palates.

Soft touches and intimate caresses our bodies delight in.

The lilting music that fills the ears with joy and memories.

And the second kind are those that are  felt more otherly.

Pleasurable ebullience lodged in deeper recesses of being.

Like the exaltation of having sacrificed for our fellowmen.

 

Of utter delights for having built things seen and appreciated.

Of other human creation like books, letters and poems written.

Or those craftily generated from the fertile minds of man.

Of reverential delights for having sown altruistic acts.

Of many more partaking of such nature and selflessness.

And thus ennoble our very nature and godly purposes.

While the first ones are fleeting, temporal and temporary.

The second kind is more lasting and more cerebral.

And transcends the temporal nature of our humanity. .

The Air We Breathe

 Those who study and gaze at the stars and heavens tell us that the one constant we can find in our firmament is the air we breathe.  The basic molecules in the air are the same they were for a very long time. Thus they dreamily opine that the very air we breathe could be the same one as breathed in or exhaled by those who came before us.  

Like an Einstein?  Why not.  After all, we air-breathing mammals use air like it is literally going out of business.  How many times do we breathe in and out each day?  In my advanced stage, I can only hold without breathing for under 2 minutes. 

Not knowing enough of the current pandemic scourge, what is to say that it is not in the very air we are now breathing?  That maybe the situation is that some of us simply are susceptible, or some are infective, or others resistant?

The last global pandemic (the Spanish flu in 1918) killed millions around the globe.  Is the virus that caused it gone?  No scientist is claiming that.  And it holds true for the other viruses that have plagued man in all of recorded history.

So?

If so, no amount of preparation, however detailed, minute or grand, could guarantee that each of us could not get it.

 Let us just all be sensible.  As sensible as we each individually understand and could prevent it.  As they say, only God knows.

 Or said differently, not to agonize too much over future ills or problems, sufficient are the problems of the present.

Our Apostolate Amid The Frailty of Man

 My daily devotionals brought me to the Gospel of St. John, Chapter14, Verse17:

"If thou wilt know the truth, believe in Me." (Christ said.)

Deep down, we all seek peace and truth.  But how do we know where to find peace and seek the truth?  Christ always demands, to get those things from Him.  Not from men, but Him alone, for He is Truth.

Yes, because men can be mistaken or misinformed, or worse have ill-intent or inclined to spread untruth.

And this includes all men, including those held as responsible and truthful, or held reverently by people because of their position or office.

Men are still men!  And thus, still flawed.

Thus, even with the Papacy, we say the Pope is infallible only when he teaches matters of faith and morals, and ex cathedra;  but he is not impeccable, and thus could be wrong in other matters.  

Maybe like putting trust, confidence, or support in people who are purportedly upright and righteous.  In matters like those, his judgment is just as good as any, any person who has studied certain matters and has acquired expertise in such matters.  And admittedly, our reality has proved this to be so and true.

Thus, it is incumbent upon each one of us to search for truth in all places, even in unlikely places, since during these times, truth has become harder to discover and discern.

We cannot anymore be satisfied with getting our dose of truth from our familiar and comfortable places, but to stretch our search beyond that.  And to get tired and dirty searching for it.

And as familiarly intoned, get out of your comfort zones!

 But we of course know that truth is one and indivisible. There are no sides to truth, but there are other sides other than truth.

  As we can see, all this contributes to the confusion, dread, and fears that we witness in the world today. Adding the many dreadful manifestations that we somehow find commonality with everybody else in the world today.

In the early days of our Church, the devout exercises of our Faith to pursue our personal sanctification were considered more than sufficient and we then expected God to do the rest. Thus, in the Church there was a proliferation of monasteries, religious orders, and other institutions promoting monastic life. All geared at very ascetic practices to purify the soul.

But in imitation of Christ, we are also tasked with apostolic duties, to preach the gospels and spread the truth to all. More than just a passive exercise of our Faith, we need to actively pursue this apostolate.

The search for truth is simply a leg of our journey. Having acquired it, there is the need to spread it to the rest of the world. We cannot stand idly by when we see untruth spread like wildfire in the world.

If we are privileged to have learned it, it behooves then for us to pass it around.

The Paris Olympic Games

 

Agonizingly being reminded of the raucous ceremonies and the various games of the current  Olympic games In Paris.   One may sense that maybe it is about time to revisit and restudy the traditionally noble purposes of the Games.  Because even the typically celebratory opening ceremonies have come under heavy fire from many sources.

The Games were supposed to promote inspiration and emulation  but may now be instead rearing the ugly heads of division and derision.  And sadly this attitude prevails even among the medal winners, and not just among the many losers who are all going home empty-handed. 

 

Now it appears that getting medals other than gold is actually losing, most especially if the competitors are "expected" to grab the highest trophy.

What happened to giving air and venue to man's passionate drives for excellence and the innate nobility of fair competition that formed part of the ethos of the Games?  That one's mere membership and participation are honors enough to value throughout one's life, earning the time-honored title of Olympian?

Now, one has to always land at the top of the heap to maintain fame and status.  Once you get older and thus made less perfect, out goes all the laurels. And worse, the next phase for the participants leads them to the money trails, for which  many are off and running in pursuit.  It even starts with the melt value of the medals themselves.

We appear to have lost our collective marbles as a species.

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So instead of the traditional mandate to: "Let the games begin", let us instead utter: 

Let us try something else.  This is getting boring. And crass.

And on another note.  This time the awarding of medals for the winners.

 It is customary to witness the gold medal recipient to immediately bite into it, ostensibly to seek affirmation that the medal is indeed made of the precious metal.

No such luck, and but we cannot say that it has been so  over all those years.  Though we can surmise that the medals are most probably made of the same stuff as they were years ago.  Just realized there may be written standards set even on the metal composition and weight of Olympic medals.

Anyway as it stands, this is what we witnessed  from the last Olympics, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics medals that were handed out to exultant winners. This data we gathered because the Japanese authorities made particular attention to the creation of their medals.

From some rough estimates made by me here are the lowdowns.

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The three medals, gold, silver, and bronze weigh from 450grams to maybe 556grams, or about half a kilo on average, with gold weighing the most.  

The gold medal is essentially made of silver with maybe 6 grams of gold, good enough to be used for plating.  The silver medal true to its name is made up of pure silver.  And bronze of brass and zinc, so not much intrinsic value.  Based on this and the prevailing prices of precious metals, a gold medal might now command a price of a thousand dollars, selling the gold and silver content in it, and silver maybe about a little above 500 dollars.  Never mind the bronze medal.

Getting any idea where this is going?

The revered and time-seasoned Olympic Games idolized by the world have always been about excellence in sport and symbolism.  Rank the best performers with their shown performances in competition and award them medals for their sterling  accomplishments, the ranking and composition of the medals clearly symbolism for us to revere and behold.  Nothing denoting the awarding of financial awards to winners.

How things have changed though the Games have steadfastly remained the same.  Immediately upon winning financial windfalls are factored in like these too could compete in another contest, this time in value and size. 

Winning athletes are expected to start following the money trails, in hot pursuit of their "just rewards".  The world would appear disappointed if the winners lose out in this other contest.

And we fear that the world is more concerned and interested in this other contest.

Nature and Desires

 Nature and Desires

Many of us do get it. 

That the holy books do say this.  

Your earthy life is so very short.  

Do not waste a minute of it.

Question is can we plumb what it means.

They do add to statements like the above. 

They do continue to say and admonish.

Unreasoning nature wants more. 

A lot more than what is necessary.

 

To become the master of our destiny, 

we rid ourselves of all inordinate desires.  

Learn to live with less and more for eternity.

Remembering desires are not just things

 but include all the pleasant allures life offers.

Depression

 DEPRESSION

 The insidious malady called depression came to mind, 

when  two very noted personalities we read were said to be suffering from it.  

One  a very young world-renowned lady athlete,  

while the other a former president of the Philippines in his 60's.  

The latter had since passed on.

Over the years we had heard so much about this condition 

But kept a safe distance of the topic paying only nodding attention. 

But now we are told that the world has seen its prevalence. 

And with large numbers in agony, we give it its due attention

 It is a very real, consumptive, and debilitating ailment.

 

Worse, it could also be career-ending and life-threatening.  

Necessitating professionals specialized in such conditions.

We had  nonchalantly associated depression with loneliness, or melancholy. 

Not giving it the gravity that it deserved.

 Now medical professionals labor and toil to do something.  

Many of us also went through such forlorn periods of feeling very low, 

at times we did not even want to get out of our beds to face the world.

I remember my own episodes when I was still single and unemployed.  

But somehow we out-grew it though not that the condition has deserted us for life, 

but somehow we have been able to lessen not only its gravity but its frequency.  

Somehow also we learned to tackle with it, each in our own ways.  

Maybe the resolution being  when we turned to a higher power 

and lodged the providence of our health and safety in that kind of faith.

Still as mere mortals with very limited knowledge and understanding 

of such an insidious and almost invisible enemy, 

We surrender our ignorance and abide our trust on others.

To those educated as  better equipped.

We should resolve to continue our own searches for truths about it. 

And thus they ought not be stifled, neglected, or even dismissed by others.  

We can only be better persons if we are curious about its ramifications.

In the midst of all this, may it also be incumbent that as a species, 

we duly acknowledge that we  have changed a lot, 

occasioned by a civilization that has gotten more and more complicated.

Worsened by our having to live in very close quarters with so diverse peoples

 with very diverse ideas.

It could be likened to what is happening in the US since the last several years. 

And happening to younger and more educated people. 

They are angrier, more and more intolerant, and very hateful. 

And appearing quite ill-equipped to handle challenges in daily life. 

Thus, we see this erupting in violence and other forms of miscreant behavior.

What Civilization Brings to Man

 What Civilization Brings to Man

Many fault civilization and the civilized living it brings as a bane to the lot of humanity.  In this vein many gush with justified awe at the crude and coarse living of many in the poverty-stricken places in the world.

It is not uncommon for fresh eyes witnessing new experiences for the first time to regard them with prideful wonderment and appreciation. 

And be generous in their plaudits.

However in the fullness of time and after seeing, or witnessing, or even living the life that exudes from these same dreary experiences, their stark and maybe drab realities will undoubtedly peep out to bring the viewer back to earth.

And a more realistic and more reasonable assessment of life in the midst of such coarse and crude environment will no doubt be discovered. 

Allowing one to repaint the whole canvas with righteous colors.

With colors true enough for one to accept that living in more modern, more orderly, and hygienic surroundings would redound better to the population.

That is what civilization brings to the table for humanity. 

In spite of the fact that yes, order and efficiency may appear too predictable and thus boring, and yes, be also less radiant in local colors. 

But we know that modernization is for the good of all humanity

Hollywood and Bust

Once upon a time, we trooped in droves to darkened movie theaters and expectantly turned to Hollywood for entertainment and artistry.  These creations eventually latched on to us to become treasured ageless classics artfully depicting  people and events  worthy to aspire for and emulate.  

And to this day, we hearken back by repeatedly watching them in the darkened comforts of our homes coming from the newfangled devices we have acquired.  And re-living the missed thrills and emotions evoked from them.

Now what do we get as almost daily fare for our entertainment from Hollywood?  

Movies that feed on our eternal childhood fantasies, as immortalized in the comic books of the past, now made even more escapist and unreal as quickly as evolving technologies could churn them out.  CGI gone wild and beyond!  The new blockbusters are simply “adaptations” of comic book heroes of our youth and beyond, as scary and unreal as they can be made to act and look.

Where are the countless creative minds of the past?

Are we now forever shunted to our childhood daydreams, like mature adults refusing to grow up and face our gruesome realities?  Escapism lived to the utmost?

Or is Hollywood simply turning on the money machine via surefire  blockbusters?

And the crowding viewers do not disappoint.

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As a kid, I was an avid consumer and collector of comic books of superheroes, lapping up any and all items where their images were emblazoned. I devoured  anything and everything my little grubby hands could reach, though admittedly there were not too many of those items around. But to this day I fancy myself as possessing as much trivia about them as the next guy, or next kid.

I even resorted to drawing them on paper and collecting those, too.

But we understood there was always going to be a point of satiation. And indeed, we woke up one day, and found our interests having shifted to other more mundane things.

That is our usual expectation of life. Moving on to things that matter more.

Hollywood, please take note. It is not always about the money.

Ever wondered why they are called comic books? And not fictional books, fantasy books, or even, dime books? Maybe, because somebody is laughing all the way to the bank?

Seriously, because at some point, most or all of them were part of the “funny pages” of the typical newspaper.

Now it is serious business.

The Walls Within

There are many walls in our lives.  

We see walls in our houses, separating different uses of living spaces.  

We see walls in the houses of our neighbors, isolating their privacy from the public.

We see walls most everywhere, all designed to separate, to keep apart, to protect.

But we can declare that these are walls that do not separate us in alienation and estrangement from the rest of humanity.

But there are walls that do. These are the walls in our minds.  The walls that we willingly or unwittingly build  that put us at odds with the rest of the world. The walls that tend to alienate and make us indifferent of others.

Many believe that solitude is akin to creating walls. But this is not necessarily so.  For many solitude opens to a greater and kinder world, devoid of constricting walls.  Like walls of indifference, hostility, enmity, discrimination, and yes, arrogance. 

Many ardently believe that in solitude one is most attuned to the rest of the world. We are most aligned to our humanity when we do live in the world, but not to be of this world.

Those walls we need to break.  The walls within.

A FRESH MORNING REFLECTION

Nobody, not even God, begrudges a reasonable desire to  freshen our lagging spirit with a change in scenery.   We are simply cautioned against their too free use for it is easy for them to lead one astray

What is needed more for our own good is really a renewal of good intentions and noble motives for serving higher causes.

What is the lasting good for continually seeking new sights?  Doesn’t that pursuit simply distract us from our nobler purposes?

Desire only enough to improve the quality of our lasting good works and our lives.

Worthy thoughts to have as we wake up each morning of the rest of our lives.

This reflection is about something more direct and straight forward.

The temporal nature of man is a big burden he carries all his life, seeping into the very marrows of his existence.

Thus when he begins to address his impending mortality, he initiates the process of accepting and preparing for it. One then finds in most instances that man continues to cater to this fleeting nature with the plans and resolutions he makes.

Thus he is wont to declare, that because he is close to the end of the road, he needs to take life easy, enjoy new sights and experiences, take leisurely trips, bond more with friends and relations, etc. A common thread in all this is that they all partake of the temporal nature of man.

Remember what the Scriptural admonition for death is? Remember the incident about the man who wanted salvation and so asked Christ what he needed to do with his life knowing it would be taken away from him at an undetermined time?  The answer was curt and succinct. Live your life like you would live the last day of your life.

Implying that the inevitability and urgency require that one focuses on spiritual matters that lead to eternal salvation.

Our late father was one person who was gifted with unique insights into the higher purposes of man. Thus, years prior to his passing he had tried as much as he could to shed himself of the trappings and frailties of this life. Devoting instead his efforts to things that transcended this temporal existence.

But he was also a frustrated man. Having wished and worked so much for more of life, he felt that fortune and ease had escaped him.

The lesson left behind for us to learn is the delicate balance we need to put between spiritual matters and the  alluring things that this life dangles before and offers us. As man, we need to steadily straddle between the two. Except that after this life, only the other remains.

This will be a constant struggle throughout our entire lives.

Observing The World About Us

During bouts of sleeplessness or idle times, one scans through social media groups to pass the time.

And invariably one inherits the feelings of helplessness and depression.

For what we read are mostly a litany of the things that are observed as being wrong, most everywhere our heads are turned.

Do we need to be constantly and incessantly reminded?

Do we really need to know all the wrinkles we can observe in and around our surroundings?

Isn’t it sufficient especially after all these times to keep those in mind and accept them as there?

But then start unobtrusively doing whatever little things we may be able to do both individually and collectively.

In our lifetime and beyond, most of these things observed will still be with us.

There is nothing humanly possible to remove all of them.

As one problem is resolved, another one pops up. Life is meant to be like this.

So judge rather the efforts expended than the problems solved.

There is no going around that.

Much like we are admonished, lighting that solitary candle rather than loudly cursing the darkness may be more cleansing.

CONVERSATIONS WITH SELF

Understandably these twilight years bring diminished capabilities and mobility, resulting in almost bunker-like existence.  Shrinking one's world and ken even more as days are piled under, with attention laser-focused on eternity in general, but day-to-day living in particular. 

Thus, we are not even in the midst of family life.  We are simply alone, an old man with his wife by his side eking out solitary existence.  The rest of the family now on their own with their own families and concerns. 

Moments like these when one begins to converse with one self rather than with other people. They are our Says-I-To-Me moments, with your consciousness on one side and your still-thriving mind on the other.

In these instances you quickly learn introspection and reflection if you have not already.  One begins to ask profound questions about oneself.  In the shortened drive to eternity, what are your purposes in life?  However late-term they may be, what are they and how may they be pursued and accomplished?

Though short and straightforward the question may be, no easy answers can be deduced.  Best then to just go through all the things one does and see where they lead if they make sense at all.  Brainstorming is always a good start.

In the rush to eternity, what have I been doing and for what reasons?

In no particular order then, here are the things and chores that had occupied my time as we speak.

With great preparation and financial effort, I have been able to publish a book of almost 500 pages.  So much so that a second volume is in the works.  Is my purpose as an author then?  Anyway, I am now a registered author and my book now has a unique  ISBN number  assigned to it.

During my grade school I had always had a predilection for doing sketches, starting early with imitating caricatures in comic books, newspapers, and magazines.  I can recall the first time I did it and felt proud of my sketchy work.  I had imitated the caricature of then Phil. President Elpidio Quirino whose default caricature was that of a big-nosed and heavy-set man sitting on a padded seat with one heavily bandaged foot raised on an ottoman.  The guy suffered from a bad case of gout.  I imitated that sketch and even got an admiring nod from my taciturn mother who in turn relayed such joyful discovery to relatives.  And to this day in some kind of compulsion, I continue to do sketches, this time specializing in busts of famous and notable personalities.  I probably have accumulated a collection of about 400 pieces.  Am I an illustrator then, slavishly pursuing that path till the end? In this regard, I also am both a numismatist and philately collector, accumulating about 2000 pieces of coins from various countries.  Being an avid Elvis Presley fan, I can also boast of a modest collection of memorabilia comprising mostly of books and MP3 files.

I was an employee for about 37 years, and earned my essential living being one.  Was able to raise family and provide for our retirement years.  In hindsight,  I do put value on what I did as such and am grateful for what it afforded us as a family.  Clearly it was pursued with earnest as a necessity, and not because I liked doing it.  As a matter fact, I can confess that I was only too eager and happy when employment stopped.  Now it is regarded simply as a past phase of my life.  Nothing less, nothing more.

Indeed, right after employment I wasted no time looking for the path to self-employment or entrepreneurship.  Commenced earlier even before retirement by getting license as a real estate agent.  And engaging formally in the business for at least 3 years, the initial validity period of my license as i recall.  And after that, secured another state license as personal financial analyst which served me well personally.  Then in a very serious way, the IT bug got me, and I could not help myself learning as much as I could digest about it.  So did a lot of serious self-study to secure license as a network and sysadmin technician.  Our eventual return to the old homeland cut short any attempt  of securing that license, though with regard to subject knowledge I had gone through the wringer of learning and researching.  And I considered myself as ready as I could get.

It was back to the old homeland when the entrepreneurship bug caught me.  Started with planting high-value crops on rented agricultural  land.  And eventually buying some plots with agriculture in mind.  Also went into real estate investments, with residential apartments and commercial spaces for rent. Established 2 bakery sites, and a water-refilling station.  And even tried a piggery fattening business. 

And now in a tad grandiose way, established a resort/retreat patterned as a farmhouse model with lodgings available and spaces and structures available also for functions and events.  And in the works will be an inn for more accommodations.  And by the way, we also had much earlier started a coffee orchard with about 2000 trees, which are now fruit-bearing.  At least two harvest seasons have been had.  We also have little fishpond, seeded with tilapia and catfish. We also plant flowers for show and for sale, too. So is entrepreneurship the purpose for this existence?  Definitely, we are in the thick of it with construction projects still ongoing.  So indeed we are into entrepreneurship.

On another front, this time using social media as tool, I have engaged in what I call my truth-telling advocacy, especially because nowadays fake news and deliberate misinformation are so prevalent in the institutions we have long regarded as trustworthy and reliable.  But have now gone to the dark side.  So I spend considerable time, disseminating and dispensing truth where I find it, and assist to make known the emerging personalities who are also committed to the same task.  And for this, I consider myself a citizen journalist, tasked with a very noble and admirable purpose worthy of effort and maybe, worth dying for.

With all these confusing choices, what reasonable deduction can one draw in reply to the initial question?

I can't say.  So maybe best to just let things slide.  Let the chips fall where they may.

But then even holy books warn that one cannot run away from oneself.  So always best to confront and resolve.

So if that be the case then let me pursue all of the above for all men.  And continue on with what are being done.

Amen.

In The Nature of Man

The deep-longing desires for permanency, perpetuity, and preservation are I do believe innate in man, encoded deeply enough as to be part of his DNA.

It is in the very nature of Man to create, pro-create, build and preserve.  Not to destroy and lay waste, both his creation and himself.  Thus, we find generally no logic or justication in suicide-bombing, or even just suicide.  Or for that matter any act the default result of which is one's own demise without a decidedly greater cause.  Thus, we can justify greater love than this when a man gives his life for his friend.

I myself shudder at the thought of any destruction, whether real or make-believe.  I hate watching movies where things are blasted away like buildings or cars, or even the most petty of things.  But I beam in pride and glory at the sight of things being built and becoming reality.

We are hardwired toward creation and self-preservation.  Though at times this gets short-circuited along the way, and thus in our insanity  temporarily  set aside.

In a nuclear war nobody wins because everything is destroyed.  All potential combatants know and understand this.  Everybody is resigned and committed to this eventuality in the event of any nuclear exchange between two opposing nuclear powers.  There are no two ways about it.

Ergo, the country or people who are most committed to create and preserve are the least likely to start a nuclear war.  And vice-versa.

Some Unforgotten Childhood Chore

 

                                                                                      

Living with a large family allows an accumulation of memories that tarry on and refuse to go way.

This is one such hardy memory that had kept me anxious during  my last afternoon nap.

Living and growing up with my large family in that old house along Del Mar and Victoria Sts, I had chores like any other siblings, though in hindsight I wonder why I felt undue brunt on many of them, being only the 5th child in a brood of nine.

On the ground floor of that very cramped house, tucked between my parents' bedroom and the bathroom facility was a small enclosure called the kuwartito.  It was intended as the help's quarters, right next door to their tiny and dark bathroom facility.  The room was also limited in space by the fact that it was partly under the stairwell leading to the 2nd floor.  That throwaway space was used to store odd stuff - like tires, clothing and rags, cardboard, etc.  As if that these were not enough, there was built another compartment made of wood and amakan and situated flushed to the outside wall.  It was at least 5 feet high and maybe 2 square meters, with a small opening on the top..  It was used as storage of palay.

The story of the source of the  palay merits another separate account. For now, let us proceed to the chore.  In effect, the palay was our household inventory and supply for the rice that we needed each day for our meals.  Every time our supply of rice would run low, the family dipped into that supply.

My chore was to load palay to two big jute sacks, using the kerosene "taro" to scoop palay from the enclosure into the 2 sacks.  This was one "prickly" chore since exposure to the palay made one very itchy all over, aggravated by the intolerable heat in that very cramped space. But it had to be done.

The sacks were then loaded to a tartanilla and delivered for milling to  Buhayco rice mill somewhere along Real St. near its intersection with either Gomez or Luzon Sts. One retrieved one sack of milled rice for the two sacks brought. Then back to the house. And this chore was repeated as the need arose.

Initially none of us young kids in the house raised any question about the source of the palay. .As I got older, certain things began to add up, and not because we started asking questions.  But simply because one added to another.

One very vivid recollection I have as a kid  is of a trip we made to a place in Opol, riding in a relative's  shiny Ford sedan.  Our uncle and aunt who were our next door neighbors, brought some of us siblings together with their only son for the trip.  It was to be  a day long trip, where food was brought and handled by a helper who came along for the ride.

The trip was among other things memorable because of the number of times we had to disembark during the entire trip.  Not that the car was not reliable, but because it was determined that the precaution was critical for our protection.

First, from the house in Victoria driving to Carmen, we had to disembark as the car negotiated the steep downgrade leading to the makeshift ferry docked near the City Hall.  The old bridge bombed during the last year was not restored yet.  And then on the disembarking procedure was repeated for every bridge all the way to Opol.  Can't remember how many.  But understandably it had to be done since all the bridges then were made from coconut trunks that were not considered reliable.  So each time we disembarked, we walked behind the car as it negotiated the bridge, then back inside on the other side.  This was the routine.

We reached Opol and were thrilled to see irrigation canals running parallel and vertical to the highway, with clear and cool waters flowing noisily.  We were told that they were fit to soak in, which we did without a moment's delay.

Later, we learned that our uncle and aunt were visiting their basakan in Opol and that our parents also had theirs in the same location.

Back to the house, on occasion we would get visits from a soft-spoken and kindly old man named Iyo Unque.  And we would overhear conversations about palay production and how much we could expect.  Pretty soon sacks of palay would arrive and they would be unloaded into our little stash..

Th equation therefore as best as I could figure out was  that Iyo Inque took care of planting and harvesting palay from basakan owned by my parents, and the production was shared between the two parties.

So ends a clear enough exposition of one particular arrangement consenting people had during those times.  Arrangements that ostensibly benefited all parties concerned.

One last lingering thought on the whole thing. I can only imagine the rat problem we were initiating because of that palay storage right on the ground floor where it is very accessible.  And so to this day the scourge of that little neighborhood  is, you guessed right, the rat problem.

Short Disparate Thoughts Collated

Risking War 

At this point of the game, or war in this instance, the elemental question to ask is: How does the world deal with a troubled man drunk with grand designs, without fully satisfying his blood lust? As a kid, I recall that when a mad-dog roams, we simply scamper for safety anywhere and wait for somebody to end the dog's miseries. At this point nobody is daring enough, or maybe, reckless enough to risk a nuclear holocaust. God help us. Can we say that it is common in wars that the more deadly damages are not done by military superiors on the ground? That they are made by politicians and pundits in the background, who make clueless, reckless, and what have you decisions/opinions in utter abandon? Unable or unwilling to realize the dire consequences of their inane actions? And why not? They are very rarely killed in battle. There is very little attrition in their numbers. 

Lost Hope at the Height of the Pandemic In every real and virtual way, the Corona Virus has taken over the world. It has become all too powerful and omnipotent. It is there wherever we turn, in every which way our ken is directed. It has preoccupied our waking hours and beyond. Even our reveries may already be dealing with its deadly results. It has become the “crown of thorns” of the world. And what is more, it is indiscriminate. It destroys not only the good things humanity has made possible, but even the evils men do are not spared from it. Like Noah’s time, everything in the world is being levelled. It might as well be the end of creation. Hard to imagine that this nemesis so small and insignificant could possess such unimaginable destructive powers. But we recall God did create the entire universe out of nothing. To dust and nothing is our conceivable end. Best to accept and welcome it. On this our salvation hinges and is to be found.

Should we be alarmed?  Other than the fear of contracting the virus.

Climate change extremists ought to be celebrating because the result of coronavirus is pushing the world toward their version of nirvana.

Global travel or movement of population and goods  has already been greatly curtailed.  Economic activities in many countries have been greatly reduced, and thus their deleterious effects on the environment have been immediately curtailed.

As reported, emissions in China greatly dissipated because of shutdowns. Countless peoples are just staying home idle and not productively engaged.

 

In other words, worldwide production has been deflated to levels to slowly becoming comparable to earlier and cruder times.  Aggravated no less by the utter dependence of the rest of the world with China, who is now responsible and accountable for many manufacturing output, ranging from the most basic to those highly technological. And this will continue as the virus spreads and infects more.

Let us see, how long the world can continue to exist the way it has been existing if this trend prolongs.

In faraway Cagayan de Oro, there are several well-patronized discount stores selling mostly Chinese goods.   Well patronized because of very affordable prices, and with products ranging from light bulbs to all sort of tools for carpentry, automotive repairs, gardening, etc.

My favorite is one named Novo, which is very accessible right in the heart of the poblacion.  Plus, I hold a discount card purchased with initial discounts made on purchases.

 

At the cashier’s counter yesterday Sunday, I mindlessly remarked about the spreading virus not thinking that all their products came from China.   The cashier nonchalantly intoned that yes they too were mindful and careful.  And that their store has already stopped import shipments.

So pretty soon, can we expect their shelves to be empty?

And more.  In distant Alae, the wife purchased pears in one fruit stand by the highway.   This definitely is no local fruit.  Where do you think it came from?

 

Trump Derangement Syndrome One More Time Excerpted from the Nation, an avidly liberal newsmagazine: 

 ‘Do you consider Donald Trump to be an aspiring authoritarian? There are certainly demagogic aspects of his behavior: disregard for institutional limits of his own authority, disregard for democratic norms and human rights, bullying and threatening political opponents, scapegoating of the vulnerable, mischaracterizing opposition to his plans as treachery, and a seeming indifference to understanding the US Constitution. But it’s also important to recognize the broader authoritarian currents in the American polity that put him in power.’ 

 Funny, but I thought the author above was describing largely the administration of Barack Obama, rather than the fledging administration of Trump which has barely warmed its seat. I believe this just goes to show that it is easy to make a case against anybody, by simply throwing around statements and claims that appear to bolster a given hypothesis or premise. All this to support the current reality of protests. When in fact the reason for the protests can simply be attributed to this. 

 During the time of Obama, the opposition accepted its defeat readily, and planned and waited for its turn during the succeeding election cycles. This time around, the losers simply cannot accept its utter defeat, and thus will do everything even before the inauguration to delegitimize or destabilize the new administration. Shades of things happening locally, too. 

 These organized protests have nothing much to do with what the current administration is doing. As a matter of fact, Trump is simply trying to fulfill his campaign promises. So why no protests during the campaigns when all his plans had already been made public? Why no claims of him being authoritarian then? 

 Aquinas to the Rescue In these dreadful times around the globe in both free and not so free countries, we are reminded of simple truths about the FREEDOM of our Creator and his creatures, particularly man. Here to remind us are words from the preeminent voice of Christian philosophy, Thomas Aquinas. Thomist philosophy pervades the teachings of the Catholic Church.

  “There is an inherent absurdity in the notion that omnipotence by sharing its goodness through creation lost something of its power and all of its freedom. We have managed to swallow this indigestible morsel on the human level in our own times. 

 It has been seriously argued that the State which is man’s creation for political life automatically supersedes its creator. The radically revolutionary argue that the state devours a man; THE MERELY LIBERAL, THAT IT ABSORBS HIM. 

 In either case, he is small change compared to the state. To accept this same humiliation on a cosmic scale is to replace the fact of creation and divinity’s perfection with a Frankenstein myth of total universality. God’s creation towers over His creation and ultimately destroys Him. 

The enlarged proportion of the tale do not diminish its childishness. Common sense would put aside this pettishness and look squarely at the obvious question: what can God do in the world?

Another brother crossed the bar

                          JOSE V. NERI

                   Born June 19, 1938

                 Died January 10, 2023

               

For man crossing the bar is one imperative nobody in this world escapes from. Still, every time, we give pause to ponder on such passing.  The uniqueness and significance of any one such event reminding us of the ultimate care the Creator showers on each person, down to the pettiness of knowing and keeping in existence each strand of hair he possesses.

In keeping then with such tradition, I mark and set aside time to delve on the life of my brother who just crossed the bar.

In the stillness and quietude of my brother's life,  we can discern many instances when he showed and understood the nobility of life and the filial care we each should have of every other of our kind.

Without noise of words, he showed in his own unobtrusive ways and loud actions that he truly believed these very basic premises, though at times because of our flawed nature, he may have fallen short in his interpretation and in his guidance.

Early in his life he had discovered and nurtured the idea of service to humanity.  In school, he showed not only serious demeanor in his study but also in extra-curricular activities such as serving Mass and teaching catechism to youths in the city.

As no surprise then, right after graduation from high school, Dodong joined the Society of Jesus with a group of his classmates, starting the pursuit of their vocation at the novitiate in Novaliches, Manila.  He stayed there for about 2 years.

As far as we could gather his leaving was a cooperative decision between himself and the society.  It was the common decision that since he did not possess enough of the vocation to pursue it to its end  that rather he would be more fulfilled and suited for some other career in life.

And this he did, and decided instead to pursue the study of medicine, which even then revealed his deep conviction in service to humanity.

From pursuing a vocation tasked with the saving of souls, he would instead choose a profession that would pursue preserving and saving the human body.

The study of medicine was a long and arduous one even for a very passionate and dedicated person like Dodong.  Many challenges stood in his way.  First and foremost was financial, thus most times he had to be a part time medical student taking on employment on the side.

But his sacrifices paid off, finally finishing all studies by 1972. It was the onset of Martial Law in deeply-troubled Philippines, so Dodong decided to travel to the US.  And there he would stay till his retirement, again running through a gauntlet of countless challenges presented not only under the new environment, but even with the very practice of the profession that he had sacrificed for in his old homeland.   But persevering, he overcame them all, practicing pediatrics in the State of Michigan for many years. Then retiring after age caught up with him.  But in all those intervening years enjoying the manifold blessings of his adopted country, he ever missed any opportunity to help and assist  family members who were left behind.

He came back to his homeland almost 5 years ago before his death, registering a life lived to the full measure and more.

About Depression and Gay Marriage

 Depression

In the last 2 months, many of us have read about the medical condition called depression, because at least two very noted personalities we read are said to be suffering from it.  One is a very young world-renowned lady athlete and the other a former president of the Philippines in his 60's.  The latter died a week or so ago.

Over the years we have heard so much about this condition which used to not get much attention.  But now we are told it is a very serious condition and must be given much importance.  It is not only a very real, consumptive, and debilitating ailment but could also be career-ending and even life-threatening.  And for many necessitating the engagement of professionals specialized in such conditions.

Growing up we typically and nonchalantly associated depression with loneliness, sadness, or even melancholy. So we did not really give it the gravity that medical professionals now have invested in the condition.  After all, most if not all of us went through such forlorn periods of feeling very low, to a point that at times we did not even want to get out of our beds to face the world.

I remember my own episodes when I was still single and unemployed.  But somehow we out-grew it. Not that the condition has deserted us for life, but somehow we have been able to lessen not only its gravity but its frequency.  And somehow also we learned to tackle with it, each in our own ways.  For many, maybe the resolution is when we turned to a higher power and lodged the providence of our health and safety in that kind of faith.

Still as mere mortals with very limited knowledge and understanding of such an insidious and almost invisible enemy, we have to surrender our ignorance and rely trust on others who are better equipped. 

 Still, we should resolve to continue our own searches for truths about it. And thus they ought not be stifled, neglected, or even dismissed by others.  We can only be better persons if we are curious about its ramifications.

Gay Marriage

This issue is so loaded with heavy paradoxes, one wonders how it continues to float.

Many supporters of the ruling are beaming with almost unexplained bliss and pride, like heaven has been opened to them. 

No problem there.  Man is known to welcome temporal bounty like there Is no tomorrow, or like it is the be-all and end-all of existence.

Yet the cause of happiness can be explained in such a manner as to show the resultant over-celebration as undeserved because the decision was far from convincing, though still historic.  Far from being unanimous, a 9-man court of the US all appointed for life by the US president, religiously divided into 6 Catholics and 3 Jews, voted 5-4 to grant equal status to gay marriages with traditional marriages the latter strongly espoused and supported by all religions, like Catholicism and Judaism.  And if I may add, equal only with regard to enjoyment of benefits dispensed by the Federal bureaucracy.  They could not have ruled about its cultural and religious ramifications, because after all that would be obviously beyond the purview of this court.

Anyway, the hairline decision came because 2 Catholic court members decided to break away from traditional teaching of their religion.  Kennedy many say was simply being true to form, taking sides away from traditional or classical truths espoused by the citizenry.  The other, Sotomayor, most likely because she is most liberal having been appointed by the current administration, to represent two minorities, women and Hispanic.

The more impactful thing here is that because of the role of the US in the world, this will open the floodgates for the rest of the world with regard to this issue.  A paradox indeed, germinated by an unconvincing decision riddled with dissension not only from the court’s own members, but also the citizenry.  Mind you, amid the recent trends as reflected by survey polls which show people favoring gay marriages in the majority, not only in the US but in the rest of the world.

As a species we continue to be an enigma.

To Rage and Rant Sometimes

 Sliding in a comment edgewise

Do we love our own voices very much, that when we post on Facebook we expect an echo chamber to follow, one that is loud and unambiguous  as our sign of self-affirmation?

Let it be said  though that that may sound good for many people, many may also find that unfair to expect.

This corner lets it be known then that the posts found here are not for that purpose.  That it is not expected for those who happen to visit to affirm or agree on the statements made.

One can disagree.

A self-indictment

The Filipino gene pool appears to have become so contaminated and diluted so that now those so-called malefactors that we constantly see and read about have become the models and exemplars of our society and politics.

And we see and listen to them ensconced high in society and politics, spout motherhood statements about good and profound things for society and the polity, and many of us are easily taken in by the hypocrisy and absurdity which every right-thinking individual ought to readily recognize as falsity.

But these same people go about their maleficent ways, none the worse and instead enjoy dubious renown and respect, most everybody else quite oblivious of where reality stands.  Or maybe they do, but the lard is too deep a siren call to ignore. 

Who to blame?

We all are, not just them.  As a matter of observation, these same people probably sleep better than the ordinary harangued citizen trying to make both ends meet.   Maybe constantly ready to break into a smile, with nary a tinge of conscience remorse.

We are now beyond language to resolve this highly metastasized cancer. Drastic collective action appears the only remedy

Always For The Greater Good

We humans do make conscious choices about the lives of other humans, though we accept the unassailable truth that each human life is precious, priceless, and that only God can take it away.  

And it is thus the ingrained responsibility of each human to exhaust all means to preserve any one human life, at all times without exception. 

 We know we are even averse to “rationing out” limited medical care resources primarily because we value human life as sacrosanct and no one life can be sacrificed in the altar of expediency.  But in reality, we do ration out limited resources.

Even in the rationalization of capital punishment, we gingerly tiptoe around it and justify it in our limited logical ways.   While we legally sanction capital punishment, it is not because we are justified in taking human life, but only because doing so is for the greater good.  Preserving life by taking away another!

Thus there is sufficient historical data to rely on when making choices about whether we aim to sacrifice some people so the greater good can be achieved.  Continue with strict lock-down regimes and risk destruction or collapse of the entire economy?  Or take calculated chances and focus on trying to preserve economic integrity and health?

The greater good always takes precedence.

Ode To Life

 Free verses flowing from a mind in idle gear, on a Sunday morn:

Ode To Life: Playing Mindlessly With The Words Plaguing Our Life

Do we have enough living in our life?

That is a most basic life-long question.

If it is not lived on our idea of what life ought to be, 

Can we continue to say that we are still living life?

In other words, if we live against our concept of life,

Are we still okay to refer to that living as living a life?

If death is forever in our mind as we struggle to live,

Are we said to be living life, rather than living death?

In dotage, we are apt to say we are tired with living,

Could we say that we are still living, with a purpose?

Is life an empty vessel where we store daily our living of it, 

Or could it be simply a veritable storehouse of living stuff?

Why are we admonished that to live a most useful life, 

We ought to turn our backs and begin to die from life?

Isn’t it very funny that we are blessed with our precious life, 

But we are always reminded that our fate is not in this life?

A constant reminder is that Christ is the Way of Life in this world,

Yet His tenets are fraught with thoughts of death from this world.

Truly, there are many lessons to learn from the living of life, 

All mostly requiring our wrenching ourselves away from life.

Oh, the woes and perils of living a life!