I settled with myself that I was going to sleep early tonight and then wake up tomorrow, working as if it was 2025 already.
I guess I have other plans. Or, rather, I want to get some more writing done, some more out of my mind and into a post… just so that I have that much done before the clock actually turns 12 and we’re suddenly in a new year.
There was a time that I thought that this wouldn’t mean much to me. I mean, there was a time that I was apparently forcing myself to think that December 31 was one day, and the next day, January 1, was just another day. I was downplaying the apparent ‘hype’ that a new year would bring.
There was also a time that I went WAY earlier than I plan on doing tomorrow – starting the new year before New Year’s Day, or, yeah, working as if it was 2025 while we were still in 2024. My own version of time travelling, I guess. Only, yeah, as I mentioned, I wouldn’t start on the last couple of days of the year – there was a time that I would greet everyone a Happy New Year as early as December 01.
Not really sure what’s behind me wanting to write right now, if any of this or a combination of it is a factor to why I’m just going on and on with word after word after word. It’s just, well, it’s just going.
Maybe a lot of it has to do with me wanting to hit 400000 words to end 2024, before anything I write after that being passed over to count as my writing for 2025. Maybe I’m just taking on that challenge, while also thinking about addressing backlog at the same time.
Maybe it’s also me trying to make up for all the slacking I’ve been doing for, oh, 2 to 3 weeks now. I’ve been sloppy with my mental game, my physical consistency and my food intake. I’ve been slacking off and not putting in the daily burpees, the daily thousands of steps. I’ve been very indiscriminate as to what I put inside my gut, when I eat, and how often I eat. Finally, I couldn’t care less about if I’ve been reading, writing, or praying. Actually, I’ve been noticing how I’ve been holding the phone a little more often than I’d like, insisting that YouTube – Yes, a video, and not merely Spotify music – would be playing as I set myself to do chores as short as 30 seconds at a time.
So it’s backlog, it’s me taking on a self-imposed challenge, and it’s also me getting back at myself for sabotaging myself.
With that being said, let’s just freaking go.
I’ve set off to write more about what pictures I’ve previously intended to take part in what I attempted to post at the end of November, as a homage to all that’s been going on for that marvelous month. Sure, I’m being biased about November being, as the old movie title suggests, ‘Sweet’, but rest assured I will get to the other months, if I have time.
I’ve already touched base on the wonderful experience I had at before, during and after our time with Incognito at New Frontier Theatre in Cubao last November 10. I’ve also written about how, through this year, I’ve been moved to work on just simply taking pictures and be happy with what I take with my old reliable Fujifilm X-T1, and the phones I happen to have.
Here I have another set of photos, which just places emphasis on all the gatherings I’ve involved myself in, since the beginning of November.
One of our close family friends, and possibly even distant relatives passed away in November. Auntie Ursula was a mainstay in one of the more prominent schools here in the city I live in, and needless to say, countless students and employees, both former and current, rallied to pay their respects and to support the bereaved family.
Of course, there were many who spoke out in support – by way of posts in social media, during the wake, and/or until the last minute during the burial mass. What stuck to me to this day, and will probably keep on going for a long time in my head, was something one of her cherished grandchildren mentioned: That, in her memory, we all ought to ‘keep the laughter going‘. Even when you were in a crowded room, and even if you didn’t see her, if Auntie Ursula laughed, you would know – heck, the entire room would know. I thank God for the encouragement she gave countless people, her no-nonsense approach to discipline and consistent good behavior – it’s certainly seen in her grandchildren, particularly those from her (also late) youngest son.
To keep the laughter going is to go beyond mere cracking of jokes, but to support one another. To keep the laughter going is to assist heavy-laden friends and relatives, bearing their burdens and, ultimately, lightening the load so much that everyone goes their separate way with that less of a load on their shoulders. We miss Auntie Ursula.
But here’s the thing. As soon as Auntie Ursula’s body was eventually buried, we heard word that another relative passed away – and the difference between Auntie Ursula’s and Uncle Fred’s wake was very distinct. A lot of people came to remember Auntie Ursula – there were significantly less people in Uncle Fred’s wake and burial.
Am I saying that one was better than the other, in terms of funerals, people who came, and so on? Absolutely not. For I saw something else in Uncle Fred’s wake.
Because there were less people around, there was more time for everyone to get to know each other. Sure, Auntie Ursula’s school community was already close-knit, but in Uncle Fred’s passing, it was guaranteed that we would go our separate ways knowing each other and appreciating each other that much more. We were to ‘keep the laughter going‘ because Auntie Ursula said so, but Uncle Fred reminded us to establish the relationships, and to keep the relationships intact and thriving.
Sure, it’s the same with any other wake and burial. We have a bittersweet reunion of sorts.
In all this I’m reminded of how, when we do pass on ourselves, it doesn’t matter how much we leave in the bank, or how much land we leave our family… I mean, that’s probably a given for a majority of us already, but I’m also going on record to say that the impact we leave with others, beyond the physical ‘blessings’ and the mere motivation, encouragement, and so on – that probably shouldn’t take priority in our bucket lists either.
Before you go ahead and compose a violent reaction to what I just said, what I’m really wanting to say here is that we would do our best by saying what matters most is how we testified Christ and His finished work to everyone we had the chance to influence or impact. And this is not pressure for us to evangelize to everyone we know, knew and will know, more than it is just a reminder for all of us – well, if I’m honest, for me – that we would do well to represent our Savior in a positive light, to as many people as possible.
I’m reminded of what we talked about with a good friend of mine. I mean, I’m sure I mentioned this earlier. We talked about how I came to the conclusion that our aspirations, visions, and purpose as individuals in the body of Christ would be to do our best in everything, for the benefit of the most number of people, to the ultimate glory of our God.
And if that sounds like such a lofty command, it wouldn’t sound so imperative and/or burdensome if we realize that Christ gave all of Himself up, from His divinity down to His flesh and blood, that ALL who would hear and believe would be saved, to the glory of His Father. We’re duly reminded through the passing of our dear Auntie Ursula and Uncle Fred, of the futility of grafting and constructing our own legacy, and the everlasting, absolutely infinite prospect of our living our the only legacy that matters – that of our good Savior, Jesus Christ.
There were other gatherings. There was, as I’ve talked about in the past, the Certified Voice Artist Program, or CVAP. Months ago I began seeing how good friend of mine (who I used to work with in a local call center) was suddenly posting videos and pictures of how he was dubbing commercials and just really speaking his natural voice to, say, promote products, or to be the voice of a certain cartoon character.
I became curious as to how he got into that sort of work opportunity. After getting details from him, I reached out to the appropriate folks – and we started, along with my batchmates, last November; in fact, it was the day before the Incognito concert that we had our first weekly online session.
My first thoughts about the entire project were leaning towards the negative. I remember genuinely thinking to myself, ‘what in the world am I getting into here?‘ And now that I think about it, it’s just that I wasn’t used to such enthusiasm.
I’m not going to get into much detail, but I will just share that if you find yourself in a position to lead, when nobody else wants to, then you do your best in it. This means logistics, work delegation, follow-up, proper communication, follow-up, coordination, and follow-up. Did I mention following up?
It also helps that you have someone around to help you by way of just kicking you to get started already. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of being motivated, further amplified by folks who were doing the opposite – nagging. Again, not going into detail on that.
CVAP for me was an exercise in leadership, just as much as it was an opportunity for me to discover my voice. I appreciated how we could all come together online, without ever seeing each other face to face – and not only were we collaborating, but we coordinated, with each part contributing their absolute best, to produce a competent product.
Finally, I’m thankful for the people I’ve met, and the friends I’ve made in the process. I wish them well, and I pray that we help each other beyond the confines of this one-time program, in the future.
One last gathering I’d like to talk about is HairAsia 2024. A fellow Pastor of mine was leaving to work abroad and to be with his family, and he was going to be away for a long time. His passion happens to be hairdressing and everything concerning a salon, and I always made it a point to go to him to get my hair trimmed; it was also an opportunity for us to pray together and to have coffee and catch up.
Anyway, like I said, his time was limited, but he made it a point to go to the annual HairAsia expo in Manila… and since he knew that a relative of mine was just getting started with a salon she was given responsibility over, he graciously offered to have us join him this one time, before he flew out.
After a quick trip to Pasay, then a couple of jeepney rides, we made it to the World Trade Center. I wasn’t necessarily as fascinated as the rest of the folks I was with, but I did see, just as much as I saw in CVAP, how enthusiastic and passionate people can get over things like voice acting, and here, salon stuff. If there was a crowd, it consisted mostly of salon owners (or people sent by salon owners) buying products in bulk, because their huge discounts only applied during the actual one-day event.
Of course, it wasn’t just about the booths – there were seminars at the entrance showcasing new hair style trends, colors to consider for 2025, and so on. And in the main hall, we happened to arrive as a hairdressing contest was ongoing. What I thought was funny about it was that it wasn’t about the hair – the stylists went to equally great efforts to dress up their models to ‘match’ the model’s hair style.
I’m thankful also, because as we bought products of our own, and as we were leaving, we happened upon someone who said he was looking for a contact from the city we happened to be from – the story was, they used to have a stall there until the people they coordinated with decided to migrate abroad as well, and they didn’t have a backup or continuity plan. He gave us his pitch, left us his card, and, well, we’re still praying about if or when we’d take on his offer.
By the way, my pastor friend is happily enjoying the holidays with his family. I wish him well, and I pray that the light of the Gospel shines IN him in introspection, just as much as it’ll clearly shine FROM him, as a temporary stranger in a strange land.
What am I deriving from all of this? Well, I’m just reminded of how enthusiastic Jesus was in saving us. Oftentimes we imagine Him, as the media would have us imagine Him – enduring the whips and the cross, with slight nuances of regret or reluctance to take on what He did for us. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve read how He was frustrated, even angry at times – we’ve read of how He wept, and how He also felt his heart ‘full of sorrow, to the point of death‘ in Gethsemane.
But I dare consider that through all of this, Jesus Christ was, at the very least, focused in His mission of reconciliation. The Berean Standard Bible Version of Hebrews 12:2 reads: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
He was focused at the very least, but I’m imagining that He was enthusiastic and excited – for the joy set before Him. What was this joy? You, and me. He was so excited to reconcile us to God, so enthusiastic in saving us – Willing to suffer the most excruciating and humiliating of deaths, if it only meant that we would call God our Father, as He did.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have our hobbies and passions. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be enthusiastic about anything else. What I AM saying is that we HAVE passion, and we HAVE such a potent enthusiasm, coming from the passionate Christ enthusiastically finishing His work, resulting in our absolute salvation and sweet reconciliation!
The passion and enthusiasm of Christ is not the fruit, but the ROOT of all our other endeavors – whether our passion is to create wealth, to impact others, to make the most of our voice, and/or to make people beautiful, well, we in the body of Christ have the valuable opportunity and privilege to propel ourselves into these things FROM His passionate, enthusiastic finished work.
We love to quote what is apparently only the first part of 1 Corinthians 15:10: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.
When we look at the rest of the verse,
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me
we could say I do what I do, and I do it hard (present, focused, enthusiastically, passionately) ALSO by the grace of God.
What a wonderful reminder! Christ is our Savior, our Source, and our Foundation. We are who we are because of Him. We do what we do because of what He did for us – Our best, for the most number of people, for the maximum glory of the Father.
I think this is a good place to end this. I’m not sure if I have any other pictures to play catch-up on, but this is a big chunk of what happened in November. I may not have gone into a lot of detail, but, well, I believe we covered a majority of what was of value.
Until the next post, which I pray comes soon, God bless you.
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