Angels and Demons

Dan Brown, one of the most accomplished storytellers of the 21st century, is also the author of some of the most poorly constructed opening sentences in publishing history. To wit:

Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery.

Physicist Leonardo Vetra smelled burning flesh, and he knew it was his own.

Death, in this forsaken place, could come in countless forms. Geologist Charles Brophy had endured the savage splendor of this terrain for years, and yet nothing could prepare him for a fate as barbarous and unnatural as the one about to befall him.

As linguist Geoffrey K. Pullum noted before in his highly informative and snarkily entertaining post , "The simple fact is that if you are ever mentioned on page 1 of a Dan Brown novel you will be mentioned with an anarthrous occupational nominal premodifier ('Renowned linguist Geoff Pullum staggered across the savage splendor of the forsaken Santa Cruz campus, struggling to remove the knife plunged unnaturally into his back by a barbarous millionaire novelist'), and you will have died a painful and horrible death by page 2, along with several curiously ill-chosen clichés and mangled idioms."

In literature, one can judge the worthiness of novels by the artistry and economy of their opening sentences. Who can forget, for example, the profound simplicity with which Gabriel Garcia Marquez begins Love in the Time of Cholera? "It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love."

But what is true of literature is not quite true when one considers public perception: truly, he who laughs last, laughs last. And it is with the full, bitter regret of scented almonds that I lament the painful and horrible beating that the Filipino people has taken due to the brutal inhumanity of the perpetrators of the massacre in Maguindanao.

The sublime artistry with which Manny Pacquiao dispatched Miguel Cotto? Forgotten.

The overwhelming generosity of spirit with which Efren Penaflorida shares the best of himself and by extension, the Filipino people, with the urban poor? It's almost as if Penaflorida's courageous selflessness never happened.

Instead, we are left with the grim reminder that man is a killer angel, whose sometime, lamentable descent into barbarism stems from a fatal misunderstanding of Hamlet's observation:

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god!

It is only when we act as if we are gods that we cease to be human.

We lament what happened in Maguindanao. But let us remember what also happens whenever we recall that our lot in life is not simply to be the authors of tragedies. Mother Theresa once said, "Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired." This guy does not tire. Neither should we. Hope floats. And with hope, truth.




Photo Credits:

Picture comes courtesy of Gulf News

Celebrating Faith: International Week 2009

My brother-in-law Bodie and I are heading to the British Embassy tomorrow to apply for our UK visas so we can attend International Week 2009 at Holy Trinity Brompton. As many of my longtime readers know, I have been involved with the Alpha Course for quite some time now, and thanks largely to the tireless work of our Lord's laborers, we have made tremendous gains in the Philippines.

Recently, Dr. Benie A. Sy gleefully recounted to me over the phone Archbishop Antonio Ledesma's moving meditation on the need for reevangelization and dialogue amongst Christians in Mindanao. I had not finished luxuriating in this very positive development when Pastor Grace Santos called me to express her joy at the way the Alpha Course has brought many people to know Christ in her church. She had just visited Benie in Mindanao, and reaffirmed her commitment to our Lord's work through the Alpha Course.

It's almost enough to make me want to celebrate with a cold one. From the looks of things, I'll be happily recreating the picture above (taken in 2007) with friends in London this year.

God is good!

Worship Central Mindanao 2009

My best friend, fellow ministry worker, and the only member of the Worship Central Mindanao Team to be officially recognized as both a proper noun and a verb, Ralph Lumo, shares his wonderful experiences in both Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon:

Worship is a form of communication with God. This is only possible when one is open to having a relationship with Him. Its expression is through song, music and exultation.

During National Director John Borra’s last visit to Mindanao, he brought with him Magoo del Mundo of Worship Central and members of the Building Bridges Band in order to conduct worship seminars at Malaybalay City, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro City.

Arriving in Malaybalay at mid-day, the band conducted a seminar for the Youth Alpha members and Adult Alpha. After singing songs of praise and worship and a brief introduction on worship, the band then split the group according to their musical interests.

1. Micah del Mundo conducted a vocals workshop
2. Brian Abenejo tutored piano and keyboard players
3. Pee-wee Vivas taught those who played (or were interested in) guitars
4. Randell Garcia mentored the drummer.

By late afternoon, the hills of Impalambong echoed with voices and sounds of praise and it was with heavy hearts that the group had to depart for the next leg of the seminar.

After coming back from a successful trip to Malaybalay, Bukidnon; the Building Bridges Band were psyched to continue their efforts and proceeded to conduct the second of a series of worship seminars.

The whole day seminar and workshop was held at the Alpha Regional Office and Training Center. There were over 50 participants from different groups and parishes namely: Kahayag sa Diyos community, San Antonio de Padua Parish, People of God community, as well as members from various local bands and music groups.

Like all Alpha activities, we began the day with prayer and worship. The Training Center could barely contain the outpouring of praise and it seemed that the entire building was shaking to its very foundation.

As the group settled down, Magoo shared his knowledge and experience of worship. It was clear from the questions and reactions that there is almost a universal theme both with the positive aspects generated by worship and the negative perception regarding some of the more modern instruments being used by the younger generation of worship leaders: worship should always lead us to praise God.

For the workshop, the band once again divided the group according to their musical interests. It was quite clear that the participants who came from different parishes and communities were excited. Several brought their own instruments. All were eager to learn from the lively facilitators, as well as willing to share their experience in worship. Because of the number of bass players in attendance, Magoo had to teach a workshop with the bass.

Late in the afternoon, the participants all gathered together as the Building Bridges Band showed them how the different aspects of prayer, music, and band dynamics discussed earlier come together in worship. To cap a very fruitful exchange, everyone sang their hearts out in worship as another day ended, this time with new understanding and knowledge, the promise of new and exciting things to come.

A Heap of Thanks!

I am sorry for the lack of activity in this blog of late. I just completed a wonderful trip to Mindanao, where we conducted Worship Central seminars in Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro and a medical mission in Barangay 23, Cagayan de Oro. Many thanks to Dr. Benie A. Sy, Atty. Olet Cabrera, the Regional Alpha Office, the ever-enthusiastic Alpha volunteers from Bukidnon, and the indefatigable Bgy. Captain Joshua James Frias. Don't worry, I'll be able to detail our adventures online once I've dealt with the work that has piled up in my absence.

In the meantime, allow me to share one of the fruits of my Mindanao trip, via my ministry buddies:



More often than not, the clarity of the message, the purity of the intention, and sheer beauty of the execution of great art helps me understand how all things on God's green earth can be an opportunity for sanctity. Thanks guys!