Another phase in my life has just started. I now live miles away from my relatives and I know I have to be strong.
As far as I can remember, I have lived in 10 different locations for the past 15 years. I felt I was like a leaf that was constantly being blown by the wind. I have made few friends and acquaintances from the internet and from the real world. Some have failed me and most just did not care. I thought that I could depend on them but I was wrong. I came to realize that in the end, it will always be me and my son.
I reside now in my parent’s house but my parents are in the US. It has been a long time since I felt I was home. The house is not big, but I love every nook and corner of the said abode. Sadly, most of our things inside the house has been robbed and vandalized, since no one lived in it for 9 years.
It is good to be home at last. I now remember who I was and where I came from…
There are so many words that define what a servant is. The root word of "servant" is serve. It means "to tend to; to attend; to work; to perform a duty or task". The word "Service" means "work done by one person or group that benefits another".
I am proud that we are tagged by Tsip Chao, a columnist of Hongkong, as a nation of servants. The Philippines is the only country that has been tagged that way and I do not think, in any way, that it is bad for us Filipinos. Serving people is a holy calling. Some think that servants are lowly people, but they are not. It takes a lot of patience and understanding to serve others.
All of us in one way or the other can be regarded as servants. Office workers, call center agents, doctors, nurses, vice presidents and CEOs of multinational companies, are all servants. You may wonder how that is possible, but when you analyze thoroughly each and every profession, the main goal of everyone is to satisfy people of the higher stature. The entrepreneur's aim is to give his patrons what they want and that is a way of serving others. So, it is suffice to say that the entrepreneur is also a servant.
We, Filipinos should not be so onion skinned. We are the ones who belittle ourselves. We just read somewhere that there is a columnist who called our country "nation of servants" and we just reacted negatively. Why not react in a positive way?
Mostly, rich people here in the Philippines have house helpers or "Katulong" at home. There are the nannies (Some even have 1 nanny for each of their kids. So, if there are 4 kids in the family, there are 4 nannies as well!), drivers, cooks and laundrywoman, who are employed by affluent Filipino families. They are hired to ease the burden of household concerns.
If some Filipinos do not want to be called servants, does that mean they regard their servants (who are also Filipinos) as lowly humans?
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Celebrating Holy Week is just as huge as celebrating Christmas here in the Philippines.
The Philippines is the only so-called "Catholic country" in the Southeast Asia. 80% of the Filipinos are Roman Catholics, thus, most Filipinos believe that by doing penitents and sacrifices, their sins would be lessened, if not, erased. Catholics do not eat chicken, pork or beef at this time of year. They eat vegetables and fish only.
For those who do not know, the Holy Week in the Philippines is very bloody also... There are certain rituals which they think could be the solution to cleanse their sins. Mostly, male Filipinos do this because it was handed down to us from generations to generations. My father once did this gory ritual. And the ritual I am referring to was the "Flagging of oneself". In our province in Bulacan, it is called "Hampas Dugo" or Spank Blood.
I was only 6 years old when my father decided to underwent this penitence in our province. I cried and told my father not to do it, but then, he insisted saying that this procedure could "make him clean" of his "original sins" and "mortal sins". As a Roman Catholic then also, my mother didn't object.
I was really puzzled as to why should a person hurt himself so that his sins would be forgiven by God.
As my father was walking on the streets barefooted, with a white cloth covering his face, his back was very sore and bloodied. Prior to that, a man wounded my father's back with a sharp object so that blood could ooze from his back. I did not get to see this and I did not want to. My father was holding a rope and at the end of the rope was 24pieces of thick bamboo chips, and he used these to flag himself on his back, where his wounds were! I could not bear to look at what he was doing to himself and so I ran inside my grandmother's house.
It took him 2 hours to round the village with his fellow flagellants. And after showing the village what they had done to themselves, they ran to the nearest river and they took a bath there.
I did not stop crying until I saw him feeling relaxed, inside the house of my grandma. My sister taunted and laughed at me saying that I was such a crybaby and coward.
My father narrated that at first, when he flagged himself, the wound hurt so much but as time passed, it did not hurt anymore because it became numb already. He did this sacrifice only once, but I guess, some of his other "co-flagellants" still do this every Holy Week.
Up to now, the scars on his back are still visible.
I have been wanting to post this song, "Is There Something", for quite some time now but it was only this month when someone had uploaded this song on youtube.
I never knew Christopher Cross, not until 5 years ago, although he had been in the US music industry for like 2 decades now, I guess. When I heard for the first time one of his greatest hits, "Think of Laura", it sounded so soothing to the ears that it made me feel relaxed, even though it was a sad song. From then on, I became a fan of his.
Christopher Cross has this great charismatic singing voice that sounds like he is singing a lullaby always. My favorite songs of his are (not in any particular order) 1. Sailing 2. Swept Away 3. Think of Laura 4. Never Be The Same
Lately I see clouds of sorrow in your eyes Some deep sadness you can never quite disguise Now I'm scared to ask what it's leading to But I'm more afraid of not asking you
Is there something that you want to tell me Is there something that I ought to know Are we something that's still worth fighting for Or should I simply let you go Is there something I can do to reach you Are we something more than history I'll find some way to convince you to stay If you just tell me honestly Is there something left of you and me
You've got secrets you've been keeping for too long And I'm going crazy acting like there's nothing wrong I can taste the truth every time we kiss And I can't go on At least not like this
I don't want to lose you But what's the use of holding on I don't really have you If the feeling's gone
Is there something I can do to reach you Are we something more than history If there's no way to convince you to stay And be the way we used to be Then there's something that I want to tell you And I want you to believe it's true We had something that I'll never forget Even if I wanted to 'Cause part of me will always be with you
