I Live On A Ball

I am reading the third book of the Chronicles of Narnia, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", these days when my mind starts to boggle down reading Philosophy. There is this one curious episode in the story that really captured my attention. (By the way, the movie adaptation is coming soon.)

When the passengers of the Dawn Treader were nearing the edge of the world, they were asking what's at the rim. Would it be a chasm where their voyage would end plummeting down with the water? One of the Pevensie kids remarked that the world of Narnia would be different from our world. We live on a ball. At that statement, Caspian quipped wouldn't it be nice to live in a ball where people on the other side live upside down?

It's a funny episode but it's worth reflecting. If I live in the Philippines, certainly people living on the other side, say United States, would be living upside down! But the earth so, so big, it seems flat. We forget that it is round, and that the horizon is but a line that hides the other face of the earth.

Our way of thinking is all about perspective, and having a good one at that.

The Tree that Bore Much Fruit

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We remember the tree that witnessed the Sacrifice of the Lamb. We remember the tree where Love himself was nailed. We remember the tree that turned the world upside down.

The cross is a symbol of torture and pain. It is a morbid symbol. People, no criminals, were hanged in it and capital punishment was delivered on the cross. Yet, we Christians venerate the cross because we believe that it is through the cross that God showed mankind his highest act of love: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) It is no longer a symbol of pain. It has become a symbol of love.

It is unthinkable then for us who call ourselves Christians, to be ashamed of the cross. Are we not proud of the cross that won for us our victory, dignity, and salvation? Or are we too concerned with our Good Fridays that we forget the Easter Sunday that follows the cross?

The world will teach us to escape pain and suffering. Dash as you may, but running away is futile. Pain and suffering is inescapable. There will come a time when you have to face it. It is there as a passage of transcendence. It is in embracing our cross that we come to see the Truth and who we are in the light of the Truth.

In the cross, one may find abandonment, fear, rejection, and pain. But also through the cross one can witness the people who will stand by you until the end: the Father who is in Heaven, the parent(s) who will never abandon their child, and the friend who truly cares.

My Urban Adventure

GMA Skyline

At first it was unthinkable, unconquerable, and impossible. It was like facing giants and legions of soldiers charging at you. I thought I could not do it. I thought wrong.

I have to admit, I was shaken at the thought of going back to Canlubang alone. Passing through the Manila metropolis, along the tangled mesh of roads, passes, and streets that seem to have captured in its web the many tall and imposing buildings in whose feet the populace walk to and fro, all breathing the undeniably toxic atmosphere of city smog. I'm a lonely boy from the province of Cebu (which by the way is a metropolis too, but much less complicated) who thought it too much to wade through the sea of people, people he doesn't know, people who might hold him up, people who might just suddenly jump on him anytime, biding their time...

Ahh... the imagination of a cowardly, chaining an adventurous heart! But I was also on the challenge. Some people know that Keith Amodia has a side that befits a room in an intense psychiatric ward. With that side challenged, no once can stop it. I wasn't really conscious of what I was doing. My hand automatically took my backpack. My legs walked on their own. I was entranced by the urban adventure.

It wasn't scary afterall! I felt so free and independent walking the business avenue of Makati. The thrill of getting lost in the city made my heart beat faster. Adrenaline kept me at my guard against the elementals of the city... too much adrenaline, I was getting paranoid. I was simply high on the experience I did not feel the distance of the long walk.

I suddenly found myself facing the famous dragon, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. The dragon that embraced the heart of the metropolis. The dragon that embraced Philippine history. It is alive, vehicles zooming in its traffic veins. This is a rare sight. The cleric meets the dragon.

My bus ride along the Skyway

I took the bus. I jumped on one when I saw its signboard shouting "Calamba". It was a lucky coincidence. It fit perfectly on my ideal adventure of taking a ride the way ordinary people do. The bus wasn't airconditioned. It was crammed with ordinary people. I was ordinary once more. I have been going around Manila in a private van for too long. I felt one with the ordinary people around me. It felt good experiencing the traffic, the  sights, the stops and go's, and the wind that carries with it the smell of a motor engine. Discomfort! what a comfort!

When my feet touched down Mayapa, I felt fulfilled. I did a journey I thought was impossible. I had the courage to face the scare, and it wasn't so scary after all. I did it! I did it! It was an adventure. Now I have to continue it.