This should have been done a long time ago. Back in high school, I had always earned high grades in themed writing. Some teachers even kept my work saying that they were keeping them as “samples” for future classes. It always made me feel proud.
Then another teacher came along and introduced the concept of a “Reflection Notebook” – a simple notebook made special because of all the writing that went into it. I took that to heart. I wrote poetry, various one-liners and just about anything that came to mind. And what made this exercise good was the fact that no matter what I wrote, my notebook would always come back with a scribbled note from my teacher telling me how “natural I was” and how “real I expressed myself”. From then on, I wrote what I felt.
Then in college I suddenly came out of my shell (yeah sure, dramatic, I know – but that’s the only way I can describe it.) I became active in church organizations and I realized that I could express myself more through other people. I was head of the Parish Youth Council and head of a Catholic Youth Fraternity, and I “used” my gift of self-expression to win people over and to get work done. I soon realized the power of words – words used wisely and expressed properly. I then started to speak in public by giving talks in Life in the Spirit Seminars and in meetings with either Youth or Elder Leaders of the Parish.
And then, in 1993, I discovered Singles for Christ – and then Singles for Christ (SFC) discovered me – and I was speaking at Christian Life Programs (CLP) around the country. Everytime I delivered a talk, I always learned something new – a lot of them from the talks I delivered – even more from the people I talked to “after” the talks (both members of the community and those attending the CLPs) – but mostly from the time I spent travelling from one place to another.
Yes, most of these thoughts – “Tiny Thoughts” – came to me while I was on the road: standing in a bus full of people in Bataan; rolling down (literally) the golf course of Camp John Hay; riding on top of a jeepney while on the mountain trails in Davao; riding on the back of a motorcycle in areas not accessible by four-wheeled vehicles; on one of the many flights to or from one province or country to another; on ships, motorized “bancas”, scooters, tricycles, carabaos, horses – or just plain on foot.
And they came at all times of the day and night: early morning before the sun rises to the wee hours of the next day; while commuting or driving; in meetings (YES! In meetings!), over coffee with a friend or two, while bowling, while listening to my wife read her wedding vows at the altar, when I first picked up my daughter… the list goes on!
I wrote my first book in 1993. My love for the Eucharist moved me to write about the Holy Mass – and write about it I did: my reflections on different parts of the Mass, the words spoken at Mass, the gestures and all. For me the Mass is one great gathering of dancers and singers and artists of all races and cultures – moving in one, harmonious, melodic manner. It was a magnificent dance that called the spectator to become part of the dance – and I just had to write how I felt about it. Bishop Teodoro Bacani – an elementary school classmate of my mother – gave up some of his time to edit the manuscript. “This should have been written by your Parish Priest”, he said. I never did get it published.
But my thoughts – my “Tiny Thoughts”. The Lord saw it fit to give me these thoughts at the most opportune times, and I have used these thoughts in counseling many and in many a counseling.
“My thoughts are not your thoughts…” says the Lord, and “what you receive for free you must give for free”.
And so I share them with you now.
Take one thought at a time. Read through it. Ponder it. And then live it the way you believe the Lord wants you to live it.
It worked for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment