My last blog was about an old lady (who had recently passed on) and her last new year’s resolution. It was life-changing for me to discover what she had realized in her sunset years.
It won’t be long now before my hands will be gnarled as hers were, and as she did, I stopped sometime ago making a new list of what to improve on in my life. I guess at the back of a senior’s mind is that, my world has shrunk, my faculties have weakened, there is nothing I can still resolve to do that would dramatically affect my circles.
The repetition of the word “new” in my title is intentional. There is something new about new year’s resolutions upon reaching a certain age. Mine started coming again last year when I got involved in the presidential run of Atty. Leni Robredo.
Before then, I had given up on public officials and the problems they bring—corruption, greed, and impunity, among them. But when she decided to run, I witnessed the enthusiasm of the youth (and those younger than I am). I jumped in. The passion and energy were catching.
They sucked me into working for a better-run Philippines, as symbolized by PINK, the campaign color they chose.
Since then, I had likewise carried PINK as the symbol for hope.
But my hope goes further than politics. It is based on Scripture, on what God said to the Israelites, who had become rebellious, “I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed.” Ezekiel 36:26 (The Message)
It isn’t I or anyone who has the power to change hearts. This I knew since my years in advertising. I dealt wth a motley group of characters (atheists, LGBT, polygamists, etc.), but unlike Chita, I never dared change their hearts, or wars could have erupted.
That’s probaly why I am a writer. Words can be read without the author arguing her point and losing control of her emotions.
That’s probably why, today, I have also embraced the role of a teacher in Sunday School among women. They are faith sisters by grace and fellow students of the Word—the wellspring of hope.
I’ve digressed.
My new new year’s resolutions are 10 verbs that have been affirmed by my involvement in the PINK campaign, and collectively taken as a Noun: Jesus.
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