Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tuesdays with P.A.?

I once read a book called Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. It spoke of a man who was slowly dying of a terminal illness and he asked a former student (Mitch) to do his biography. The major lesson of the book is that at all stages of our lives, we will need people.

The other day, I was suffering from muscle spasms on my left arm. I've been having muscle spasms on my arms lately. In my line of work, it is expected as we use our hands all the time. It is our worthiest part of the body. Another colleague from another section commented before that if we should ever break a fall, we should never use our hands because that would mean we couldn't work.

If you are wondering what we do, we are text processors. We treat text all day long on the computer, bashing out corrections, dictations, proofreading, etc. Mainly, we use our hands as an extension of our brain.

So back to my aching left arm. I love working with my hands and it pains me to not have the use of both of them. Imagine trying to go to the loo (or toilet) with only one hand? If you are Filipino, you need both to clean yourself. One holding the dipper (or tabo) and the other ... well may be you already know what it would do.

It was difficult enough to try to put up my pants by myself after using the toilet, let alone, trying to prepare food with only your right hand. I was very thankful that my roommate helped me open a packet of youghourt and assist me in eating it. Otherwise, I would have gone to sleep hungry.

This brings me back to Morrie's Tuesdays with Mitch recounting how at every stage of our lives, we need people. This is so true. No matter how independent you think you are, at one stage in your life, there is bound to be an occasion where you would need another person to help you, whether to hold the elevator door open as you get in, give you a hand if you fall in the middle of the street, lift your heavy luggage so it can fit into the overhead cabin and many more. No matter how mundane the task, when you're unable to to accomplish it because you don't have all your faculties with you, it becomes a Herculean effort.

It is a humbling experience to be needy and all the more when you don't have all your faculties around you. I am thankful that God has given me good and kind people around me so that if I can't move my left arm to help myself, He would give me a human representation of His hands to help me.

And for this, I am truly thankful to Him, who not only gives me His hands but His life so that I may live.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Sacred Tuesday

Last Sunday, I attended a retreat that said to protect that quiet time with Jesus because it is the time you communicate with Him. I must admit, I have been remiss in having quiet time with Him or even with myself for the longest time. It is so easy to get caught up in the running and routines of the day that the only memory you have is waking up and sleeping - in between seems like a blur like you were on auto pilot.

An opportunity presented itself when Tuesdays opened up for me and it became my sacred time. My roommate Boots said that I had not written for a while and that it was talent wasted and since my Tuesdays was my freest day, I should make it my quiet time. I confess that I have not written here or anywhere else. A year ago, I was a prolific writer with two to three entries per day and now, I have been a desert of words. I've missed it and even feel scared to write. I also neglected that sacred hour before bed to commune with God and read His Word.

I have left my craft untended for too long. And it wasn't easy to get this time to write. I had just decided to have and it almost didn't come true. I had a meeting today but it was rescheduled for Wednesday and I already had another training on Wednesday sot that would mean I was double-booked. I had forgotten that there was another meeting I was supposed to attend today but after consultation with a friend, I was reminded that I should guard my quiet time and I did. So I decided to stay at home and try to sit down and have that moment where I can just let go and let God. Part of that exercise is writing here because it is here where I've written most of God's messages and where I can see the stirrings of my heart and mind on virtual paper. It almost didn't happen as we had a visitor who came unannounced. It was a blessing in disguise as our friend brought us dinner meaning neither of us had to cook and I could have my quiet time soon. After dinner, lo and behold, I find myself in the kitchen looking at my plants and watering them. I couldn't sit down. I told myself that I need to get cracking at my keyboard if I were to write anything at all. It is so easy to get carried away.

So on Tuesdays when my time with God becomes sacred, I also take time to unleash the passion that God gave me. To paraphrase Boots, I will let the paper bleed from love of its pen. She said that when paper is written on, it is true love as it lends its pristine self to be penetrated by the pen.

Today, blood is spilt and transfers from pen to paper and in communion they give birth to magical words that tell of the Wanderer's Tales.