that Old Man walking in ...

         

jan 15 to 19. these were the days when he visited us, the Philippines, especially, Tacloban, those who were hit hardest, battered, devastated, lost family, belongings, and Hope, by that super typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda here.

he was an old man who walked in, but, it is said "the eyes are the windows of the soul", and his eyes betrayed him. he is timeless.

Divinity is ageless.

he is Pope Francisco or Pope Francis. he is head of the Roman Catholic faithful the world over. I am not here to discuss Office or Authority. I am here to tell what came to pass.

throngs of people lined up the streets he is to pass. multitudes gathered in the places he went to. braved the rains, the winds, the cold, the arduous wait of his arrival. just so to be included in the sweep of his Divine Eyes. just to be encompassed in the wave of his hands.

he brought Mercy, Compassion, Love, Hope, Light.  his smile gave warmth.  his Presence gave Inner Joy.  his Silence, Inner Peace.

i was not among the multitudes who were physically present at the places he went to. i just followed his sojourn here on television. watching him even on TV made me feel awfully blessed for reasons I know not what.  i can  only imagine what the.physically present ones felt when he was there with them. i am pretty sure each one received the gift due him or her.

they say Holy Persons do this.  make people trust in Divinity again.

i just hope we can sustain this blessed feeling even after his feet got off from Philippine soil when he enplaned back to Rome on jan 19.

that new kid walking in

hmmm .... interesting! strange indeed even! my previous post was dated jan 6.  I noted there that encounter between the old man 2014 and this kid 2015. there was this " passing of the baton ", the transference of world events from old, tired, feeble hands to new, fresh, eager hands.

and then, that glance, the one-time eye contact, between the two. the old man's wishful stare said it all -- " do better than me, kid! "

now, here's the kid, his name's 2015, just a few days old, the date is jan 7, a day after i returned to blog, the whole world got stunned -- the Charlie Hebdo killings !!

is the kid starting on the wrong foot? 

this massacre has spawned negative feelings, hatred, to be more specific. hate is birthed from both sides -- those that condemn this violence by men against fellow men and those that justify this, reasoning that the killings has been provoked.

i will not dwell on the event details. the Internet got loads of information.

i am just curious. i hope the kid remembers the glance, that eye-contact, when the old man passed him by,

i hope the message is well understood ...

that old man walking out

from the corner of my eye, I saw him. the old man. he was leaning heavily on his cane. he was walking slowly but purposefully. his steps were sure. his back was so bent from the weight of some unseen huge burden.  he had his head bowed. although his head was hooded, strands of his long, unkempt, white hair still managed to flow out from under the hood. I was guessing he was bearded as well. long, pale-white beard. a regular Merlinesque old guy.

where's he going? 

of course, he's on his way out.  out from our lives. his name's 2014, by the way, and he's just twelve months old, but, look at him -- he's tired, he's beat, he' sad.   he feels, he knows there were more bad things than good things that happened during his sojourn with us.

more devastating calamities, super typhoons, record-breaking climate changes,

more unwarranted deaths, more unwanted births,

more instances of man's inhumanity to man,

more hate than love, 

more turmoil than peace.

i saw when he cast this furtive glance at this little kid by the wayside. so innocent looking, so full of promise. his name's 2015. 

" do better than me, kid! " 

that's what that fleeting glance told. it was but a moment's eye contact. the old guy allowed himself to disappear in the confusion of the fireworks's mesmerizing lights and the deafening roar of firecrackers.

it is my hope that the little kid understood.  it is my fervent prayer.