The Worse Typhoon

So there's a storm again?

By now everyone has been stunned by how Typhoon Maring hit the country. It's not because the storm is the strongest we had experience. We have had stronger winds and heavier rains way before. The effects of this one, though, is huge, especially those in Southern Luzon.

I know I have posted a similar blog along this line. But here I am again. I just can't help it. Something about the strong rains make me think along this frequency.

My heart goes out to those affected, especially those who are wanting for the comfort of a home. And I'm not just talking about the less fortunate. Even decent middle class folks are affected by this storm.

But my greater thought is not in this storm. It's on a worse tragedy. One affecting almost everyone, except for a few unscrupulous politicians and their minions. It's this pork barrel scandal in the news.

And just like Maring, the greatest collateral damage hits the middle to low income citizens of the country.

It's not a new story. In fact, it was so old I feel sometimes that we have become numb by it. But when you come to think of it by yourself, it's the worst feeling, especially since almost everyone is a taxpayer. It's so bad you want to puke out of your guts.

It's a storm that can't be exorcised, no, not for a while. Unless a radical change in government will happen. A radical change that will address the system of corruption. A system that is already instituted, that is already in-culturized.

So let the storms come. We actually have worse.

Simply Immortal

The song, I Dreamed a Dream, is perhaps the saddest, and the most tragic song I heard in my entire life. It hit the very core of sadness and despair that can happen to any man, or woman for that matter. The fact that it is one of the songs in Les Miserables makes you understand why.

The story of Les Miserables is a story full of tragedy. And that precisely is the source of its appeal in its translations, first to literature, then to the arts through the theatre, and now through film. When it was made a play, the songs and the production made it even more powerful. And now in film, Les Mis will be even more unforgetabble, as what is immortal as it is, will now even be immortalized for generations to come.

To say the least, the movie did justice to the original play. Despite its reel limitations and its unavoidable commercialisitc nature, you can see the effort to be faithful to the spirit of the theatre. It has succeeded in drawing the right emotions as with the play. The movie should not be comparable to the play, however. It is a new perspective of appreciating the original Victor Hugo masterpiece.

In the end, despite all the tragic plots of the story, the main message of Les Mis is the hope and love that comes out, and that triumphs, despite the environment of despair. And this is what the story wants you to know, the hope and the love involving the characters and their individual battles, not the tragedies themselves. This is encapsulated in the final statement of both Fantine and Jean Valjean in the movie, "to love another person, is to see the face of God."

The tragedies provide the drama that made the production appealing. But it is the message of hope and love that makes Les Mis simply immortal.

Not just a Tiger's Tale

I watched the movie at the Eastwood Mall. I have to pick a good cinema with 3D in order to enjoy the full cinematic effects of the film. But it turned out, The Life of Pi is more than its promise of special effects.

It was profound. And I pity the kids three seats away from me who went to see the movie merely for the 3D experience. Astoundingly, they were attentive. I guess the effects were enough for them to sit through 2 hours, despite the long dialogues of the film. But as expected, it was the story the impressed me. And when one of the characters said that at the end of the story, you will believe in God, I was hooked.

Actually, it's not the belief in God that was the point. It's simply the phenomonon of belief. Belief is man's struggle to make sense of an experience too incredible to describe. At the positive end, too ecstatic to put into words. At the negative end, too traumatic to give the details.

And so our minds create its own meaning, using images around us, in order to make sense. And making sense is what the journey is about. Whatever journey that is, survival, growth, spiritual, of life itself.

The Life of Pi is one of those movies that you're still going to talk about after watching it over a cup of coffee. It has no conclusions. Only questions. And challenges us to take on a perspective of belief that we may have not taken before.

And that is, a belief that realizes itself on its own by undertaking a journey. And not a belief imposed on us by any organized religion.

Gun control. What's it about?

There is so much talk about gun control. No, it's not a new issue. It's as old when the first license for guns was released to the public. But here we go again with the media hype.

It's just that an innocent child was killed by some senseless New Year's Eve shooting, on top of some news about a police encounter with some gun for hires, and a senseless mass shooting by some nut, that the issue of gun control is again at the news front.

But with the resurfacing of an old issue, no new solution is being proposed. In an effort to make their lives easier, PNP is proposing for a total gun ban. It seems to be a good idea in the face of these senseless killings. But isn't it a simplistic solution?

Some media people was quick to condemn the Catholic Church for its stand on reproductive health. Because it is an absolute stand. A total ban on contraceptives. Yet, the same principles were not being applied in this issue. They want a total ban.

It's because of these things that some media people, along with others that are inconsistent with their stand on different issues that underlie the same principles, that makes me wanna be critical on all these news and views. And sometimes conclude that those saying these are simply... Out of their minds.

The fact is, gun control is not about guns. It is about control. And more so, s proposal on it is being simplistic about the solution. The PNP should know better than come up with a simplistic proposal. That we all know, some of their ranks will violate anyway.

Am I not right about my last statement?

An appeal to bishops and priests

I just came from Simbang Gabi and I am enjoying it. It's not just the beautiful church lights and the heavenly singing of the choir that was so inspiring. It's the whole liturgical experience. Perhaps this old age kicking in that I'm more excited about the Simbang Gabi than going to the malls this holiday. I don't truly appreciate the traffic, difficult parking, and the hordes of shoppers in a mall.

I look forward to Simbang Gabi again. Tomorrow, the last of the 9, is the culmination. It should be the most exciting liturgical celebration for Christmas.

But I'm a little bit apprehensive. The last thing I want to hear in what I expect to be an inspiring and spiritual celebration of the Christmas season, is another apologetics against the RH Bill. Be it in homily form, or a pastoral letter, I've had enough hearing about the subject within the Holy Mass. In the Mass I attended, the priest mentioned a little of it. Thank God he did not elaborate.

I think the bishops and some priests are given enough media mileage to be able to say what they believe is needed and necessary against the RH Bill. Let the Mass be for the real spirit of the season, the birth of Christ, which we want to feel in our hears, through the liturgy.

So I am appealing to priests and bishops who will celebrate the Holy Mass tomorrow, Christmas Eve. Please spare us from any mention of the RH Bill, or anything connected to it, the state of our Congress, or what will happen after the law is signed. Your laity watches the news and reads the papers. We are all informed.

Through the liturgy, we feel the Spirit of Newborn Jesus. Please don't corrupt it with the RH Bill issue.

The 40th Chirstmas

This year, I will have 40 Christmases. And how time flies to see that the world now is different from where it was back then. A lot of things has happened in my life. I can look back at it with eyes of nostalgia. So many what ifs. So many should have beens. So many…

Regrets?

Probably. Having regrets are part of being human. All of us have so many. But dealing with it… Now that's where your humanity comes in. Humanity with spirit.

Attitude towards regret is a choice. It can either lead to despair, or push you to maximize every moment the future will bring.

I choose the latter. For our time is so short and the world needs us to be better. We can build the world 40 years from now and see it as different. Just like how I see the world today in reference to 40 years back.

And when that time comes, I can look back at this moment and smile.

No more regrets. I made the right choice.

Let go of the rope as Bruce Wayne did

Just when I thought that "The Dark Knight Rises" is just another Friday night relaxing movie event, I came out of the movie house shaking my head. Christopher Nolan has did it again. It's a great movie. I even thought it's not one for the kids. The plot is too profound that you wouldn't understand it if you're just there to enjoy. Comparably, The Avengers movie became like a cartoon after this.

One thing great about Nolan's portrayal of the Dark Knight is it's sheer realism. It's like it's happening in real life. No matter how action packed it is, it puts the audience in the middle until you feel the emotions. The hate of Bane, the sympathy for Bruce Wayne, the curiosity for Catwoman, even understanding where Alfred is coming from with his departure. But of all the great scenes of the movie, one that left its mark is when Bruce is in the prison pit.

To say that Bruce's coming back to life, after being broken by Bane, is dramatic is an understatement. But the struggle is nevertheless inspiring, culminated by his finally coming out of the mouth of the pit to escape. Before his success, he attempted many times to climb, but repeatedly he failed. He was almost at the end of his hopes when a prisoner-sage told him one final secret: let go of the rope.

Climbing with the rope as done repeatedly by Bruce in his attempts seems the "normal" thing to do. But it was not the element to succeed. Before him only one successfully escaped the pit, a child, who climbed without the rope. And when Bruce Wayne did climb the mouth of the pit without the rope, he succeeded.

Trainers and consultants can have a field day relating this lesson to a lot of dimension in real life. But for me, it's simple. A rope represents all your security and comfort zones. If you want to achieve something great, you have to let it go. So much so that you have put your very life on the line for the success of your goal. And if you don't, the only option is death. When you let go of the rope, there are no comfort zones. You either succeed or die. This was Bruce Wayne's only choices. And when he learned to embrace that, he succeeded.

Simple lesson, but darkly profound in real life like the Batman is.