WHILE waiting for my order at a fast-food resto, one of the kids at the next table was using the resto’s beeper as a toy. He would spin it and ask, “Kinsay guapo?” And when the beeper’s number “pointed” at him, he and his friends laughed. The game’s questions went on and on: “Kinsay pangit?” “Kinsay bright?” “Kinsay buotan?”
It didn’t matter where the beeper’s number was “pointing” at—other customers or no one—the kids would always laugh. Simple joys. They could easily find ways to have fun.
My kind of fun is dropping by a mall’s fast-food outlet if the resto where the berks agreed to have lunch is also located at the same mall. This is my way of avoiding traffic which may result in unnecessary stress as I want to reach the lunch venue on time. By arriving at the mall early, I’m not pressed for time, and I can walk around like I’m namamasyal sa Luneta.
This requires waking up early, which is not a challenge for the young once since we seem to need less sleep. I used to wonder why my parents were already awake even before 5 am. Wonder no more—I have reached that point of waking up early, no matter what time I slept the night before.
A friend was shocked when I replied to her message at dawn: “You’re already awake?!” I used to be the friend whose earliest waking moment was 10 am. I had this imaginary “Do Not Disturb” sign on my door, landline, and mobile phone.
She was more shocked when I shared that I pray the Rosary and novenas upon waking up at that ungodly hour: “You’re praying novenas now?!”
She was the friend whom Mama asked to please make me go back to hearing Sunday Mass. This was in the late ‘80s when I was too busy drinking on Saturday nights and nursing hangovers on Sunday mornings.
I attended Catholic schools from Grade 4 to college. For several years—Grade 4, college, and the CPA review—I stayed at ladies’ dorms run by nuns. So, the Rosary and Masses were always part of my existence.
It was Mama who taught me how to pray and even lead the Rosary when I was a little girl. That’s how I was able to memorize all the prayers. Except there are times now when senior moments take over. And I still couldn’t memorize the Luminous Mystery.
The Rosary is a form of meditation. It relaxes me and prepares me for the day ahead. Every challenge then becomes a mind-over-matter episode.
The Mass, Rosary, and Novenas are all about faith and hope. When we are hoping for a better tomorrow, when we say, Puhon, we are actually practicing faith.
And I guess there’s faith when the prettiest girl in a group expects the beeper’s number to “point” at her when the question is, Who’s the fairest of them all?
Faith, hope, and charity are known as the “three theological virtues.” But please don’t ask me to explain that because my mind always wandered during Religion classes.
