Look for the (PINK) Star

An 85-year-old lady was asked by her daughter what her plan was for the PINK parol (star lanterns) hanging from their tree after Comelec announced the election results.  

“Leave them there. If they fade, replace them. So when things go bad, people will know we stood for what is right,” she replied. 

That, in sum, was one FB post of a kakampink, which my friend Joan forwarded to me with this message, “This made me think of your book, Look for the Star." 

Yes, the similarity is uncanny. 

Look for the Star is about hope—hope for an intemperate son to come back home where the big star, a metaphor for love, awaits unconditionally. In our Bible, the magi followed the star of Bethlehem which led them to the Hope of mankind. 

This book (published by Hiyas of OMF Lit and illustrated by Beth Parrocha-Doctolero) was awarded the ASEAN Grand Prize in a children’s book competition in Singapore by judges of different nationalities. Hope resonates with everyone, no matter where he comes from.  

Before Joan sent me this post, we had already taken down our PINK stars (over 50 of them in all sizes, hanging from trees around our house).  Mulling over the 85-year-old woman’s stand, I teared up (as I often do these days; please indulge me), and decided to hang one star again, “so if things go wrong, people will know we stood for what is right.”   

 When we first ordered bulk materials for campaign giveaways, we told the delivery boy, “Just look for the house with PINK stars.” 

He complained, “Almost all houses in your village have PINK stars!” Hope was ablaze then.   

But hope seems to hide now after a heartbreaking loss. Only the PINK stars in photos remind us that HOPE has not left.  

In Look for the Star, there was no way a delinquent boy would return home after many years. But his parents never took the star down, till he found his way back.   

By grace, hope is found in the heart of people who will never take the star down, because they don't give up. Believing they are on the side of good, they know that one day, the unenlightened, waylaid sons will look for the star. 

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)