In His Book

“Am I in your book?” asked one little boy in one of my book-signing events.  

“Well, your name is not in this book, but I am sure you will know that the obedient and delightful little boy I wrote about is just like you,” I replied, hoping he’d be satisfied with my answer. 

But he pressed on. “But when will my name be in your book?” 

“In my next book, promise, I will name one of the characters Dante.”    

“Yey!” He cheered, took his signed book and his dad’s hand, and skipped away. 

And so Dante is the name of the major character in Twin Blessings.* 

I never saw Dante again, but if ever he chances upon that book, he would remember my promise.  

ooo

That very same question was asked by the preacher in his message in one virtual worship service.   

“Are you in God’s book? Am I?” 

He then read what Scripture says, emphasizing every word:  

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them. 
(Psalm 139:16 NKJV) 

More than amazing! I’ve read that verse many times before and I never looked at it the way I did that morning. I shouted in my mind, I am in God’s book!  

Long before I was formed, God had me in mind. He had written my name in His book. And I didn’t have to request Him. 

The pastor explained further God’s promise: anyone who believes in God, in the redemptive grace of His Son Jesus, and in His Holy Spirit is in His book. 

What a reassurance, especially at this time of pandemic confusion and commotion and this politics of disunity and disharmony.    

He asked one other question before he ended his message: “Will you turn your thoughts to the God who turns His thoughts to you?”  

*

What's That Light?

For 10 miserable years, Lorenz was addicted to drugs. It started innocently—a few puffs of marijuana with friends during parties. But the urge to have more never left him. He got hooked. 

On year eight, he was into cocaine and lost everything he ever owned—his job, his home, his cars, his integrity, and his family (a wife and two children). 

In a seedy, dark apartment unit one night, he knelt in prayer, “God, I surrender. Do what you will with me.” Grace rushed in as a blinding light and illumined the phone before him. He picked up the phone to call his brother-in-law to come and get him.  

The next thing he knew, he was in a hospital room with his wife watching over him. That was the beginning of his painful journey to recovery—from detoxification to rehabilitation.  

In just over a year, he was welcomed back home. “The craving for drugs never left me,” he confessed, but in his struggle, he rediscovered his love for the arts and started painting. 

Lorenz hawked his works in tiangges (flea markets) and was surprised that young people were drawn to them. They asked him questions on how he did them. 

He’d reply by citing his past darkness and how he saw the light. Then he’d quote the verse written by prophet Isaiah (chapter 9, verse 2) during a dark period of Israel’s history, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” 

His young market could relate to Lorenz’s art because the images mirrored their own feelings and struggles.  

Amidst the darkness, may we see the light in our lives as Lorenz did, and reflect this light to others. 

Surrender

Crossword clue: “Wave the white flag.”  

Answer? Surrender. 

The white flag is a sign of truce that requests for negotiation. It also symbolizes surrender, since it is the weaker party which requests for negotiation. 

Have you ever felt like waving the white flag? When we are saddled with problems, giving up seems to be the easiest way out. 

In Scripture, Job, a faithful man of God, lived out the real and true meaning of the word surrender. He lost his children and wealth, then he was struck with painful and ugly sores over his entire body. His friends shunned him and he became a pariah; his good life was razed to the ground.    

Instead of encouraging Job to endure, his wife added to his pain by saying, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9 NLT). She thought God abandoned Job in his time of trouble.

The response of Job’s wife is similar to ours when everything seems to crumble. Job, however, rebukes her. He tells her that we are to accept all—both good and bad—from the Lord, trusting that His plan is best. 

In short, it is not waving the white flag, which is what we use to mean “I give up!" 

Surrender means offering and leaving our life and all that we have to God. 

Surrendering therefore is completely giving up our own will, so that our thoughts and deeds are placed in God’s care. 

James 5:10–11 (NLT) reminds us, “. . . We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance. . . Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.” 

Job gives us, despairing people, the clue: surrender our all to the rescuing grace of God. 

Let’s make a covenant with God today by singing the chorus of the hymn, All to Jesus I Surrender (written by Judson W. Van DeVenter [1855–1939], and put to music by Winfield S. Weeden):  

Planted and Re-Planted

Pastor Popoy was ecstatic when he was accepted to teach English in a Cambodian school. Fascinated  by the place and its people early on, he had already read as many books as he could find about Cambodian culture.  

His friends, however, were sad to see him go. The young pastor had been a dynamic leader in the youth group, where he was a role model. “The Lord has been using you here,” cried some of his wards. “Why leave?” 

“Remember Abraham?” he would reply. “The Lord asked him to leave his country to a place he never knew existed. As for me, I am going to a place I already know so well. God planted me here, and He will re-plant me there so I could produce lasting fruit for Him.” 

“The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.’” (Genesis 12:1 NLT) 

The youth need not have worried. After Pastor Popoy was gone, several members of the group rose to the occasion, and shared doing the work he left behind.   

Meanwhile, Pastor Popoy embraced his new job with purpose and excitement. In teaching the children English, he used Bible parables, stories, and heroes to illustrate concepts.  After the kids had learned enough English, he introduced them to Jesus.  

He and the Philippine youth group continued to communicate via social media, sending each other photos and narratives of how grace nurtured them in their growing work for the Lord. 

“You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.” (John 15:16) 

May we always aspire to produce lasting fruit wherever we go. 

Lower photo credit 

A PINK Panacea for the Basher Bug

The Flu Bug is as old as the hills. But the Basher Bug is new; it came with VP Leni's announcement to run for president. Unlike the Flu Bug that afflicts you physically and makes you miserable for, at most, a week, the Basher Bug afflicts your self-respect, your soul, your middle, and makes you miserable for months on end. 

Why? Because you don't know where it's coming from. No rhyme, no reason. As Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo, a noted historian and whose books/articles we love to read, said, bashing is a different kind of discourse.  

As a writer focused on the theme of grace, I am careful with the messages I write, especially online. I often agonize over misused words, misplaced commas, and grammatical lapses. Despite that, my posts (PINK campaign) were incessantly bashed—a new and noxious-to-the-nth-degree nightmare for me. 

Bashers are vile and vicious, spewing venom. They always pick a fight. They split hairs, claiming malice where there is none. They reply with fake news and expletives to make you feel dirty and small.  

I'd quickly block them, especially those with hidden profiles and shallow posts on their timeline.

But they are like bacteria, specifically the strains that double in size every 10 minutes and therefore produce more offspring than the combined weight of all organisms! They have a prodigious power of reproduction, because whoever hired them has an "unli" stash of cash.

These bacteria leave a gnawing feeling at the pit of the stomach and sometimes cause insomnia.  

But two days ago, while I was scrolling down my wall, this was re-uploaded by a kakampink. It was the one-letter reply of VP Leni's spokesperson, Atty. Barry Gutierrez III, to a cantankerous presidential candidate.

It shushed up the loquacious leech for good.

Immediately, I borrowed it as my reply to bashers. Eureka, it worked! 

Bashers/trolls don't know what to make of K. Is she agreeing? They stay quiet, as though tased. It has made blocking unnecessary. 

This one-letter-word capsule seems to have these ingredients: "I don't care." "Blab all you want." "It does not affect me." "Your comments are your baggage, not mine." "Wallow in your own blank blank blank." "C'est la vie." Plus, it has extra-strength Vitamin C, for courage to combat fake news and disinfomation. 

Well, what do you know!  Rx PINK panacea has slowed down my pulse rate. Dosage: as needed. It has allayed the toxic Basher Bug that used to bug/badger/bully/belittle/bait/bedevil me.  

Thank you, Dr. Barry.

On that note, I will cease writing PINK blogs. 

For now.

"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:27 NIV)

Wedding Vows

You must have attended many wedding ceremonies through the years, as I have. Then we have all witnessed how the traditional vows have evolved. 

They used to be sacrosanct classics. No wedding vow would be complete without these words—“to have and to to hold; to love and obey; in sickness or in health; for richer or poorer; and till death do us part.” 

In this multi-polar world today, wedding vows are as varied as websites and URLs.

But no matter how differently worded, wedding vows express undying love. It is that part of the ceremony where the betrothed couple uses profuse superlatives but never accused as mushy; and guests shed copious tears but never branded as sappy. 

Marriage vows express so much love they make one forget wars, disasters, political upheavals, and other depressing news around the world. 

One such vow made me laugh and cry at the same time—and to this day, even as the bride and groom  already have three children, I remember the words fondly. This was the wedding of Pastor Ralph, our associate pastor then (now an officiating minister), and Shiela, a teacher in our church’s school. They have many things in common, one of which is asthma.  

My eyes misted when Pastor Ralph promised his bride, “I will let you use the nebulizer first, and I would give you my last nebule.”  

Shiela vowed, “And I promise to laugh at your jokes . . .” 

Beneath and beyond the wit and humor, the couple expressed the covenant of loving someone above self. 

Our Savior—bleeding, tired, in pain, and ridiculed on the cross—showed us what Eternal Love is, till His very last breath. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NLT)  

 

From Him, we learned to love and to explicitly express it in wedding vows. 

Recalling my wedding vows now, I wonder, How have I demonstrated love through the years?  

Servant-Leader in PINK: TOTGA?

Servant-leader (or servant-leadership) is a term credited to Robert K. Greenleaf, who introduced the concept in his 1970 essay, The Servant as Leader. 

Much earlier, however, the world already recognized several inspiring leaders who exemplified this concept: Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela.

As a Christian, I believe that servant-leadership has its origins in Jesus, the embodiment of Hope and Grace, over 2,000 years ago. 

In “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” (Matthew 1:1-16 NLT), verse 16  reads, “The last will be first, and the first will be last.”

In Mark 10:42-45, Jesus told his disciples:  

“. . . whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

Tough (or impossible) act to follow?  

The good news is, this benchmark has been simplified since 1970 into various permutations for mortals in workplaces. Here’s one that, I feel, covers all aspects:  

Based on documents, Atty. Leni’s work ethic (in Angat Buhay, Office of the Vice President, for six years; her years as developmental lawyer prior to and during her stint in government) was guided by this template. 

Those who pored over the candidates’ platforms would know that VP Leni's eight-pronged program was the strategic statement and execution of the above. 

Integrity is for government officials to model, so the country's resources can be accounted for.  

A leader needs to listen to divergent groups to come up with projects and solutions to issues.     

People in government who do their job well must be recognized by the leader, not only to improve morale, but to reward competence. 

A leader must share his/her vision with her team so that the electorate will buy into the direction the government is taking. 

To fight injustices, a leader guides change.  

These qualities were reinforced during the launching on July 1 of the SEC-registered Angat Buhay Inc, devoted to helping  improve lives. Citizen Leni outlined four doable programs: 1) Health and Nutrition; 2) Education; 3) Disaster relief and rehabilitation; and 4) Community engagement. 

It's almost like a parallel "universe" except that: 

The government has all the resources for all projects, but are in danger of being siphoned off by corrupt beauracrats. 

In contrast, Angat Buhay depends on volunteers for logistics and money, every cent of which will be accounted for.  

This servant-leader in PINK is TOTGA (the one that got away), people say. That was also my belief when she lost the presidential election. Thirty-one million voters (per Comelec count) ignored the qualities of a servant-leader.    

With Angat Buhay, however, this lawyer and mother in PINK did not really get away. She is right here with us, working just as hard in a parallel, but better (although poorer in resources) "universe." 

For kakampinks, PINK symbolizes HOPE. I remain hopeful therefore that one day (maybe not in my lifetime), unenlightened voters will finally see the light—recognize and elect a candidate who lives by the values of a servant-leader.  

P.S.

And speaking of transparency, Leni's work for six years as VP is documented. 

PINK Alert! Troll Farms Go Berserk

Several blog posts ago, I wrote about rhodophobia, the fear of PINK. That was tame. 

This fear has become virulent and violent—fake news peddlers are running amok, especially after the launching of the Angat Buhay project on July 1.  

I would have thought (the normal human behavior) that the troll farms’ candidates, plus their alleged 31-million compatriots, would be dancing on the streets, shouting with glee, patting each other on the back for a job-well-done, being magnanimous “winners,” and working for unity, their solitary campaign promise. 

Instead, these nameless, faceless windbags have stepped-up their disinformation on practically all posts about Leni since the winners were proclaimed till now. While I agree that public officials need to be called out for their misconduct and mandate failure, I can't fathom why troll farms continue their massive slandering. Leni is no longer a government official and her VP post required no job but to stand by in case something happens to the president. And now as private citizen, she is continuing her project in the OVP, financed by volunteers and the private sector.   

Yet, they continue to vomit damning fakery like “did nothing as VP” “asking for Angat Buhay donations to fund her next presidential campaign" “Met with diatabelizers in the US” “NPA supporter” “Brainless” “$%^#+!@*!” and a lot more I dare not write for fear of falling into the pit of ungrace.  

One posted a scoffing message (let me try to make sense of it in English): “Kakampinks are a poor copy of us. We are united and we have the numbers. One post alone earns thousands of likes in minutes. Our vloggers have millions of followers.” 

Poor copy?! That would be comparing apples and oranges. 

Trolls are handsomely paid and therefore spend their time on the Net, their source of income. In an article in South China Morning Post (researched by Jonathan Ong), the president-elect admitted, "I hired a troll army, thousands and thousands." 

Kakampinks are all volunteers and go online only during our spare time; we have legitimate jobs or businesses. 

Trolls are provided with scripts or content, as evidenced by many sumilar cut-and-paste posts. 

Kakampinks write what they have in their heart. Nobody, not even Tony beloved, orders me what to write about. 

Trolls hide their profiles on socmed because they have multiple accounts; they go by aliases and borrowed photos.  

Kakampinks’ profiles are for all to read and our individual pages are openly PINK. 

Trolls do nothing but comment, using gutter language meant to divide and incite rebellion.  

Kakampinks speak their minds and do creative things. An endless number of songs, poems, presentations, art pieces, books, etc. by individuals and groups for the PINK campaign pepper the Net. 

So why the PINK alert? 

Disinformation by troll farms were mostly directed against Leni prior to the election, according to UP professor of journalism, Yvonne Chua. And now, in “victory,” these fake-news generators have become more vicious, more ferocious, and more dangerous than ever. I have been cursed and damned for my posts on helping with Angat Buhay. Let us not let our guard down. 

What can we do? 

For one, the announcement that a number of lawyers will take to court those spreading fake news is welcome news. 

We can likewise debunk lies and present the truth, always with proof. Those of us who have been praying for divine justice must press on. 

Together, we are a 15-million force that can help uplift the lives of our people by helping kakampinks in need and being as driven in working for the Angat Pinas, Inc. (Angat Buhay project) as we were during the campaign. 

Divine justice is a promise; it is forthcoming. 

"A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will perish." (Proverbs 19:9 NIV)

Photo credits: the images in the collage are borrowed from kakampinks' socmed posts.