I was sitting at the patio kaninang late afternoon. Thought that I could get a wisp of fresh air.. as relief from the heat of the day. Super hot talaga. But nada...no wind, not even the slightest breeze blew. Disappointed ako sobra.
So I decided to get back into the house and get my cool relief inside.
But a familiar voice called out to me from the street....
"Len, musta?" (Hi, Len!)
Yeah, a neighbor five houses away apparently heading back home with purchases from the wet market talipapa.
"Grabe ang init noh!?" (Hot, ain't it!?)
I smiled back at her in agreement and added ..
"Mukhang 'sarap ang ulam natin mamya ah!!" (Heyy that looks like a good meal tonight!)
"Paborito nila.. sinigang na bangus." (Their favorite..)
"O sya, maka-uwi na, magluluto pa'ko. Usap tayo uli." (Gotta go, cookin'. Chat later.)
"Sigue..babay!" (Okay..bye!)
Mundane things, right? These things and a million others more make up the day or each day of our lives. They come easy as brushing your teeth in the morning or... driving the car or riding the bus to work and school... doing the laundry... marketing... cooking and washing the dishes... later sitting down in the living room for the evening news on tv. They are ordinary, repetitive, maybe boring, dull yet necessary things of our daily lives.
You'd think that we all get to do this. Well, not really. You see, right now someone or many out there may not be enjoying the normal things normal people do. There's no food on the table, no shelter over their heads, they can't afford to buy much needed medicines, they walk to school crossing rivers hills and valleys, they have no shoes nor a jacket to keep them warm from the chilly cold, or umbrellas to shield them from the fierce heat of the sun... and so much more!
If you could hear them pray, this you will know: you will feel their heart wrenching pain and the heartbreaking burdens of their tiny world. Silent tears for help etched deeply in the heart. Prayers shooting up to the heavens and beyond to the Mighty Throne.
Now don't ask me why these things happen to people. Humans can't answer that. Suffice it to say that .... God's thoughts are not our thoughts -- His ways not our ways. But He answers prayers ... but not in ways we may want it answered.
And yes they ache for these tiny comforts in our day .... these are the things we call ordinary in our ordinary regular taken-for-granted mundane everyday world.
Let's join them with our prayers. God bless you!
