When Angels Visit

After almost four hours of waiting in line, my name was called by the cashier.

“Quilloy, Erwin. Andyan ba?”

“Opo.”, I replied.

I sprang to my feet and happily, or should I say, excitingly I quickly went to the cashier’s window. I paid the fee for the renewal of my driver’s license, excluding the application fee, the card case, and the test drive fee which did not have a real car driving test (“pitik” in other word, or let’s just call it a fund raising activity of the office, no receipts, no complaints allowed).

Anyway, I almost forgot about that test drive fee, because I was too happy that I will be having my professional license after a short while. And as I expected, my name was again called from the ID releasing window. I felt blessed, and surely, I was happy. I logged my name and signed the paper for releasing and then left the licensing office.

I then made my way back my town. I rode a jeepney, a quite spacious one; luckily, there were only a few passengers. It was past twelve noon. I estimated the time that I will arrive at Los Baños, and thought of having a quick lunch, then go to my office for work, though half a day work. The jeep was traveling so fast, it was Vin Diesel driving the ten-second jeep. Of course I was exaggerating that one. But it was really traveling fast, taking advantage of the light traffic in that area of Pila to Bay. It took only a couple of minutes before we arrive at the boundary of Los Baños. Some passengers alighted the jeep upon arriving the town. Again, the jeep went on its way.

It was almost 12:30pm, and I was almost reaching my destination when I heard the manong driver saying to his “pahinante” (Filipino term for a driver’s co-pilot), “Pare nawawalan ata ng preno..”

“Bombahin mo nang maigi!”, the manong pahinante shouted.

I was staring at manong driver’s face through the rear view mirror. I saw his thin eyes giving some bizarre expression. Maybe he was panicking too.

Everyone in the jeep panicked upon hearing these very exciting, heart pumping, jaw dropping conversation of the manong driver and manong pahinante, except for me. Alright, alright, I panicked too. Now the jeep was suddenly in autopilot mode, no one knows if it will stop moving forward.

At that moment, I was able to prove (and experience too) Newton's First Law of Motion. It says, "Any object in motion will continue moving in that straight line unless acted upon by some external force." The jeepney was moving in that straight line (I think we have the same velocity too since I was inside it), and it won’t stop if nothing will hinder it from moving forward. Though, i still think it will soon stop as soon as we hit something along the way, or due to the gravitational pull of our dying planet (not an ideal scenario.. hehehe).

Back to the story: I heard the engine chuckling while the jeep was moving. “May engine break effect naman.”, I thought to myself. The engine's actuation will have its effect on the jeepney's speed. And as expected, the jeep slowed down and soon the engine was shut, leading to a full stop after a couple of seconds. I was able to breathe deeply at that instant. “Yehey! Buhay pa me!” (Nope, I did not say this, it was just at the back of my mind). It was really weird that it happened when I was almost about to disembark.

But thank God, nobody got hurt, thank God the traffic was light when it happened, thank God we were traveling slower as compared earlier. I was thankful; I guess it was not yet my time to leave. Maybe an angel of death came there to reap some poor souls, but apparently, God too sent His angels of light to protect us, causing some delays in the plan of sabotage of the evil one. If the malfunction occurred earlier when we were traveling ala “Fast and Furious”, I would not be able to use my newly acquired license. Sad… more than that, maybe this would mean goodbye cruel world, or I-mode forever and beyond.

As I left the jeep, I thought of my family, my loved ones, and those special to me. I realized that God has just given me another chance to see these people, to thank them and to give love to them. It was not my luck that saved me; nor I am one of those “masamang damo na ‘di mamatay-matay…”. I knew that it was God’s grace that extended my lifeline. And He has some reasons why He did that, maybe because, I have not yet fulfilled my mission here, that’s why. This was not the first time though.

So great, it was not yet my time to leave today, maybe tomorrow, perhaps, or some other day. Only God knows. Right now, I do feel blessed and loved by God. AMDG

Virtues - Faith

In a battle, he uses his weapons, not to hurt the enemies, but to keep the battle going. He fights and struggles until he sees that his enemy is exhausted. If his sword breaks, he will use that broken sword to continue the fight. If He loses his right arm, he will use his other arm to stay in the game. If he loses both of them, he will use his legs to thrive for survival. He believes that his enemies will soon reach their limits, and things will be clearer to them. He believes that they will see his persistence, his faith on them. He knows that he can lead his enemies to see things right without putting scratch on their foreheads.

Virtues - Obedience

He is chosen by God to be His servant, it is not him who chose God to be served. And he knows his mandate as a servant. He is to be obedient to his Master, although there are times that he falters. He has faith that his Master knows the best for him. And when his Master commands him to follow, he obeys it. When his Master asks him to surrender, he holds on to his faith and willingly yields to the will of the Master. When his Master asks him to let go of his strongholds, he lets go of these with the thought that the Master has something bigger for him, He has plans for him, plans of peace and prosperity.

Virtues - Persistence

He knows that he has to move, and grow. Regardless of the situation or obstructions along his way, he knows he has to achieve his objective. Surrender is not an option, unless commanded by the Great One. But as long as the drums are rolling, he knows that he has to continue the fight until he has won it, or until he is facing the ground. Nevertheless, he has to use the strength that was given to him wisely to last until the very end.

Virtues - Existence

Everyone is created for a purpose. They say that their life is going according to the purpose that was given to them. For some, they are still in the vicious process of seeking their own paths. Sometimes, or even most of the times, a knight has this struggle, his search for his purpose in life- the purpose of his existence.

Sometimes, he does not believe that he really exists. He too asks himself if his existence has an impact on this busy world. If the day would come that he needs to depart from this place, would anyone care? Though he has this dilemma, he does not stop seeking his objective. He has faith that the day would come that everything would fall into its proper place, according to the great mind of the Creator, then he would see his purpose fulfilled.

Virtues - Pain

Pain is part of life. Pain is an opportunity for growth. Pain is always there, it is real. A knight knows that pain is real. He knows the suffering caused by pain. He knows how hard it is to rise after taking a deep plunge into the painful realm. And so he does not want his friends to experience the same pain that he had gone through. He does not want them to feel the painful blows of the world. But he can only mend just a little bit of it. He believes that the best way that he can relieve the pain from his fellowmen is to help them carry their burdens, to share their pain.

Virtues - Experiences

Experience is the best teacher.

He believes in this saying. He knows that he learns from his experiences. But he knows that his experience alone would not suffice his needs for growth. And so he tries to go through the experiences of his comrades. He put his foot into their shoes. He lets each scene to be part of him. And he allows himself to be part of the picture. He sympathizes with them, and feels their pain, their joy, their freedom. He integrates these necessary details and writes them into his notebook. He knows that he can use this sometime later in his life. The knight in rusty armor keeps his notebook together with his shield and sword.

Virtues - Weakness

He may look strong and brave because he has survived numerous battles. But experience did not make his heart hard as stone. He still feels weary, and his faith crumbles sometimes. He hides his weak nature beneath his armor, his gloomy face behind his mask. He knows, deep inside, he is weak too, though not everyone seems to notice.

He acknowledges his penetrable nature. Blades can cut through him, arrows can pierce his body. He knows that he is vulnerable. Blood is flowing through his veins; a heart is pumping from within. Every time that his strength fails, he retreats and kneels down. He weeps at the foot of the Almighty. The Great One embraces and restores him; God lends him the strength that he needs to rise again.

Virtues - Sacrifices

In the middle of the sea, a captain and his crew was sailing. The water was calm, and the wind was low. The captain rested for a while until he was alarmed by one of his men.

"The wind is growing mad, captain!", the crew exclaimed.

The captain tried to maneuver his ship back to the shore. But the waves are getting bigger, thus making it harder for them to stir the ship. The captain noticed that the ship is hard to control with all that weight that the ship is carrying. He then decided to order his crew to throw all the heavy things from the ship into the sea. In doing so, he was able to drive the ship safely back to the shore.

The captain knows that he has to give up things, or a lot of things to keep his ship moving. And so is the knight in rusty armor, he knows that sacrifice is sometimes inevitable. It is helpful, so that he can move and go on with life.

Virtues - Needs

As human, there are things that we need for us to live and grow. There are also things that we want as we live and grow. But the knight in rusty armor knows the difference between his needs and his wants. He has a list of things that he wanted, he also has a list of things that he needed. But he knows which one is more important. Getting what he need is enough for him. He thanks the One who sufficed him with the things that is necessary for him to grow and live. Sometimes, he receives things from his "want-list", he becomes happier and more thankful to Him for the extra blessings.

Virtues - Joy

Often times, the knight in rusty armor behaves like a child. He plays with his sword, he holds it the other way around, not thinking that his hands would get cut. He throws his shield up in the air and tries to catch it before it touches the ground, though most of the time he fails to grab it on its way down. He wears his boots and run from end to end as fast as he can. He paints his mask with colors even without scraping the rusty metal parts. He smiles after seeing what he has done. He finds joy in those things.

Virtues - Care

A knight feels tired of fighting, often times. And so he goes off to a place far away from his so called home. He climbs to a higher spot to take a good picture of his surroundings, to get a better view of the people and nature. He loves people watching, analyzing every mood that each one sets. He tries to understand their thoughts from afar. He stays still for some time. He keeps silent until somebody else climbs to the place where he is sitting. The knight becomes delighted when someone asks him how he feels. He feels rejuvenated upon receiving such concern and care. He then decides to go down back home, with joy in his heart.

Bugs

I am a troubleshooter.
I am fond of debugging certain complications,
whether in real life situation, or technical electronic matters.
I am a troubleshooter.
It makes me feel good after I resolve the problems.
It gives me a lift after I obliterate the culprit.

I am a troubleshooter.
But I fail to shoot the trouble sometimes.
It makes me feel bad when tables turn 'round
when I, myself, is the culprit,
when I, myself is the complication.
when the troubleshooter is the troublemaker.

New

i find it hard to express a bit
and so my heart chose to stop its beat
to say such words to all my peers
and ask my dear ones how they feel

thus i have to leave most things
and start a new without a glitch
i thank the One who gave all these
sweet grace and blessings that i received.

Melody - A Short Story

Once there was a robin who loves flying. He travels from one place to another, in search for good memories. He gains more enthusiasm as he gazes upon the wonders of God’s creations. For several years, this was his mandate: to love and appreciate every little thing that he experiences in his journey.

One day, the robin’s attention was caught by the trees dancing with the wind. He was amazed and immediately, he dived from his flight to plunge into the rhythm. Eager to dance with the wind and the trees, the robin drew himself closer, so close that he fell in love with the dancing trees.

He flapped his wings gently as he swayed with the branches and the leaves. The robin stayed in flight for a while, enjoying the sweet moment, synchronizing every move so as to keep with the beat. Until one day, the wind suddenly changed its mood, varying its direction and from one way to another. A gust formed as the hands of the wind slammed its arms. The robin was very confused, as he did not anticipate this transition. “I just wanted to dance with the wind…”, he thought to himself. But the wind grew stronger, spitting wilder gusts in front on the robin’s eyes.

The branches of the trees tried to keep with the rhythm, swaying harder from end to end, much wilder this time. The robin did not notice the transition on the trees that once danced with him. Before his eyes could look into this monstrosity, he found his wings numbing. Instantly, he was accelerating due to the force of gravity.

Calm. Quiet. The surrounding was tranquil.The robin woke up from that terrible experience. He tried to move but he was to weak to stretch out his wings. It was then that he realized that his wings were broken. The essence of being an avian creature suddenly became void of its meaning. In spite of this, he did not lose hope. He dragged his wings as he continued to travel.

Just like the way he used to do, he appreciated every little thing that his eyes see, although at a different perspective. He cannot fly now. His journey continued, though much slower this time. In his voyage, he heard a faint but enchanting voice of someone singing nearby. The robin was tantalized, immediately, he followed the voice. It was getting clearer this time. To his surprise, he found a very beautiful princess. It was the most beautiful thing that he has seen, since the day after his accident.

The robin walked closer to the deity and gave a loud chirp. The princess saw the robin. Seeing the broken wings, she had pity on him. She took the robin home and remedied the wings. After treating the robin, she placed him in a cage. Every day, the princess gives him food and water to drink. Sometimes, she even sings for him. The robin was so happy to be treated this way, so glad that he would want to be in that cage for the rest of his life. The robin recovered from his accident, but he chose to be in that cage. He found himself happy in that situation. He was happy to see the princess each day. He was glad that the princess visits him and sings for him. That was his last memory with the princess.

The robin woke up one day and found his cage unlocked. He was confused to see the hinge of the cage hanging down. He tried to look around for the princess but failed to see her. The robin wondered why the princess would leave the cage open. He did not go out, but waited for the princess to return instead.

Weeks passed but there was no sign of princess in the room. The robin was persistent to wait, so he still stayed, still hoping that one day, he would hear the beautiful voice of the princess, the melody that the princess instilled in the robin’s heart. Each morning, the robin wakes up joyfully, hoping that his eyes would see the princess as he opens them, though he always fails to find her there. Still, he never loses hope, he draws more optimism instead. The passion in his heart overcomes the frustration that each day gives, still having that faith that one day, he would hear that sweet melody that he used to hear.

=END=