i wasn't feeling well yesterday.. but i thought staying home would make me
bluer than blue.. so i decided to have a quick visit to the doctor and then
pooff! i decided to go to
quiapo church. since i have never been there, i asked a friend for the directions, and
lucky me i found my way so easily (it's actually the first time i felt the directions were easy.. hehe)..
welcoming me was (of course) the great facade of the church.. it may look like your ordinary church but just the sight of it gave me the feeling that it's a lot special to a lot of people. i noticed at once that it also seemed to be a very busy place..but what amazed me more was the sight of a lot of people inside the church knowing that its a weekday.. i therefore concluded that there are no ordinary days in this church.. the church was packed with everyday or regular church-goers and tourists.. it was for me a lovely sight to witness..
i then proceeded to say my prayers. old people say that we are granted one wish every time we have our very first visit to a church. i took the liberty to whisper-shout my prayer to the heavens and hoped excitedly that it will be granted in time. while doing this though, i also noticed a lot of people going to the altar on their knees.. my feelings were a mixture of wonder and helplessness.. wonder in the sense that there are so many of them doing it and wonder on what their prayers were all about. at the same time, i also felt helpless in a sense that most of them are quite old enough to be grandparents but are working their way down the altar on their knees..
hindi ako mapakali habang tinitingnan sila.. bigla akong natigil sa aking dasal.. naisip ko, ano kaya ang pinagdarasal nila.. sa ginuguhit ng mga mukha nila, ramdam kong mabigat ang kanilang dinadala.. nagtataka ako na sa edad nilang iyon, parang pasan nila ang daigdig... sa kabilang dako, naisip ko, tama bang hingin ko pa sa langit ang kahilingan ko habang nakikita silang naglalakad paluhod sa altar? mas ninais ko na lang na ibulong sa langit na pakinggan ang kanilang dasal, saka na lang siguro yung kahilingan ko..
i just remembered their faces again a while ago that's why i decided to write about it today. i remembered
Rice Queen and
Brave Heart saying that i am one of heaven's favorite because my prayers are answered (the most part actually).. on the other hand, i would like to believe that heaven has its own ways of answering our prayers, we just really have to have an open and listening heart to know what they are..
i then offered mass in thanksgiving to my great family and friends, and a special intention for the
2011 graduating batch of Pooh Corner.. :)
knocking on heaven's door..
030211wednesday
the exhibit lasted for about an hour and a half.. i went out of the place thinking of those who donated their bodies for it and those whose body were unclaimed.. what exactly were they thinking to do that? what happens to their spirits and their souls? was dr. hagen's purpose for polymer preservation or plastination of the human bodies merely because of intellectual pursuits?.. hmm... i actually was not able to comprehend my own thoughts too.. well, i may say, philosophy, religion and science may be coming in different hemispheres if we will dry to dig in with these points..
