"Narnia" is Our Life Story Told

Finally, after how many months of waiting, I have seen The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Saw it with Nats yesterday afternoon in the hospital while he was waiting between operations. It is probably no surprise to most people by now that this movie is unashamedly Christian, with the central character of Aslan, Narnia's true king, being the allegorical counterpart of Jesus Christ.

How effective was Narnia in this indirect portrayal? Let's just say goosebumps riddled my arms the entire length of the movie. The movie was well worth the wait also because it poignantly told the tale of every Christian individual's life, as if beautifully executing the product of C. S. Lewis' imagination and faith on the big screen was not enough to capture the audience's attention--and affection.

Take for instance Peter and Lucy, the eldest and the youngest Pevensie siblings, respectively. These two represent the Christian I've always wanted to be: Lucy is the sweet little innocent, always trusting, always hoping, always letting the goodness of her heart lead the way of her actions--very much like the newly-baptized soul still unclouded and untarnished by the harshness and temptations of the world...

the sweet little innocent: Lucy











Peter, on the other hand is the magnificent warrior, always ready to stand and fight for what is right no matter the consequence, always responsible for his actions, always fair and always good to and watching out for the good of others. I see Peter in our brave missionaries, pastors and ministers who are always courageous in talking about Christ and living Christ-like lives. We all want to be Peter all our lives, but our weak resolve unfortunately gets in the way.

the warrior in the child: Peter







I see myself most in Susan, the second eldest, and Edmund, the second youngest. Susan starts out as a smart but cold and dispassionate girl whose intelligence has gotten the better of the gentleness of her heart. Edmund appeared to be hopelessly selfish throughout the entire movie--even in the novel it seemed his self-centeredness and pride was without redemption up to the very end. Edmund's redemption is the perfect example of how sufficient God's amazing grace is to cover all our weaknesses and all our sins. The image of Susan finally warming up to Lucy in the latter half of the movie demonstrate perfectly how this same grace changes people if only by faith they come to trust and live for Him.

I am part Susan and part Edmund. Susan reforms early on, choosing the way of faith and hope through allegiance to Aslan. Edmund, however, takes quite a longer time to turn around. The moment he does however, Aslan, to whom Edmund came back in the picture below, didn't waste a minute and took him back faster than one can say "prodigal son".

once cold now gentle: Susan











the prodigal forgiven: Edmund







In the end, however, as I mentioned in a previous post, all roads lead back to Aslan. He is the be-all and end-all of this movie. If any light shone on the Pevensie siblings in the course of the story, it's for the purpose of illuminating how Aslan has changed them, how he has given them hope and courage, and, finally how he has laid down his life for them so that they may inherit his kingdom. Now, if this isn't enough of an allegory of our lives as Christians, I don't know what is.

Praise Theme Christmas 2005

Scrapbook that Chrizelle made for the Praise Theme... ano naman kayang mga bagay-bagay ang ilalagay namin dito this year? Dapat pala before pa, gumawa na kami nito. Sobrang dami nang nangyari for the group in the many years we've been together. This year promises more in store, with the National Convention in Tagaytay and the Worship Camp in December. Can't Stop Praising talaga... which reminds me, kailan na kaya mareresked ang concert namin? Hmmm...
(for all the photos, go to my yahoophotos here, then go to the folder "Praise Theme Christmas")

Through the years... This is the photo collage kuya wayne made for the group that he posted on his friendster site. Of course this is not complete, madami pang members na wala dito... still, it makes for a nice group pic.

once again, sienna plays host sa Praise Theme Christmas party. yearly tradition na ata ito. yearly din, hindi ako nakakastay ng late dahil sa layo!! :( anyway, thanks sienna! thanks din kay tito manny na binulabog namin! (sienna, ate abbie with kyle, chrizelle, ayen)

no important reason for this picture... just to say that this pic was taken by baby KYLE!!! ang galing na niya di ba???

ang mga dakilang cook: wayne and lyndon

Kuya DAVID! sabi nila i-special mention daw kita pag pinost ko ang picture ng spaghetti ni kuya wayne. bakit kaya? miss mo na ba to? wala ba nito sa canada? mwehehehe. by the way, hindi ata naman naubos... :( puro girls kasi kami kagabi eh.

Rina with "junior" Praise Theme girls, Aliyah and Kyle (na nagsisimangot, mana sa tatay wayne at ninong nats!)

the Praise Theme girls

so many girls, so little time.... joke! we're all JA's "big sisters" (ate aileen, ate sienna, ate rina).

no, he is not an apparition. tunay na nandyan si JA sa picture na yan. i just don't know if he's trying to be an angel or Casper.

Praise Theme girlalettes...

with best friend ate abbie na nauntog sa doorknob dahil sa kaka-smile

ano kaya ang tinatago ni lyndon sa loob ng shirt niya para sa exchange gift?... sino kayang mapalad ang makakakuha nun? hmmm...

ang mga kaawa-awang nilalang na nakakuha ng low-fat milk ni lyndon... NATS, nestle product yan ha!

Yeyet's Birthday at Stir Crazy

with the birthday girl, Yeyet (girl next to me... yes, she's kind of drunk na)! actually dunno how old she is now. i'm estimating 35. but look at her: it doesn't show! leah, another SGV-turned-magnus-veteran (hehehe) is next to Yeyet. then there's Sheila, Edward (who worked with me on the aboiiz project and who's super mabait) who also co-owns this place with another friend, Romer.

more ex-magnus people... pio at my right is one of the good friends i made in magnus since i started on my first day, SAP project manager and MM expert (naks) and funny guy in a deadpan way. shiela at my left i just met that night and she was super nice and sweet, i think she's still with magnus. reynald sitting in front is with his girlfriend (or wife?), we worked together in the aboitiz project just before i left the company.

as always, if there's a party and Yeyet is around, I have to sing. during our SGV days, we sang together, but since this is her birthday, I sang to her. had little choice on what to sing... here I am waiting for mr. guitar man (sorry didnt get his name) to tell me when i come in.

with Geron, the guy I owe these pictures to. nice guy... nakahanap na kaya siya ng nice girl? hmmm... hindi ko natanong ah.

Grown-Up Christmas List

Bought Christmas gifts tonight… of course it’s inevitable that while buying, you tend to think of things you want to get for yourself. Surprisingly, for me, that is, my wish-list-thinking ventured toward requests that were less material in nature.

• Flowers
• A good, hearty laugh
• Blue skies
• 12 extra hours every day to read all my books and finish all my research
• The power to forget
• The discipline to remember
• Well-deserved R&R for Nats
• Godly sense and caring sensibilities for my sister
• Peace of mind for my parents

And of course let us not forget: world peace. ;-p But really… what the world needs is hope, I think, more than peace. On the more mundane side, however, I have to say that all I want for Christmas is books. Lots of books. Which books? Maybe these ones...

• The History Of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Screwtape Letters (Hardbound)
• Christ The Lord: Out Of Egypt by Anne Rice
• The complete Lemony Snickett’s Series Of Unfortunate Events… (so far)
• The Reformation by Diarmaid Mcculloch
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• The World Is Flat: A Brief History Of The Twenty-First Century by Thomas Friedman
• Where God Was Born: A Journey By Land To The Roots Of Religion by Bruce Feiler (author of Walking The Bible, 2001)

This is not to say that I'm asking for these things, okay? Just kinda thought about gift-giving today and, well, it's these things that popped into my head. If however any if you out there have any inclination to share your blessings with me, then by all means friend, spread some holiday cheer!

24 deg outside, 39 deg inside

i'm sick with fever. the 24 deg-celsius temperature in manila is the one to blame. my friend says there is a cold front in the country now. it's raining outside, not so hard though. but i got drizzled on this afternoon running to and from the registrar and the cashier as i processed my certificate of graduation (done with my masters--woohoo!) and transcript of records to submit to NUS (on to PhD??? only God knows.) I've been waiting for cooler temps like this to finally figure in my side of asia and now that it's here, i end up with a fever, wrapped in a thick blanket and curled up on the bed, bituin sympathetically snoring (an oxymoron?) at my feet. drats. just another addition to the body of evidence proving i'm never ever contented with what i have. ;p

other thoughts on this cold, wet, and sick (if only for myself) day:

1. book i'm reading - After The Apple: Women in the Bible-Timeless Stories of Love, Lust and Longing
2. song lyrics that keep repeating in my head - "This is the time when I decide what's inside of me, this is the time when I decide what I believe" from Jill Phillips
3. color I would love to be looking at now - Orange
4. cartoon character I hoped would be here with me right now - little simba or wushu
5. movie i want to watch - (still) chicken little
6. flavor of ice cream i wish i were eating - chocolate
7. what i wish i would be doing tomorrow instead of holding class at UP (to my students--don't take this personally, ha...) - sit on the white sands of Boracay, bask in the sun, and wait all day for the sunset

Alrighty, then. Enough dreaming when awake--might as well head to sleep to dream (Fiona Apple). Better turn in now if I want to make it to class tomorrow... (Lord help me though another 6 hour marathon). Here's to a good night's sleep to all tonight. And, more importantly, to a brighter day when we get up in a few hours--sunshine or no sunshine.

"Better days are on the way, my friend, just a ways on down the line, i believe that just around the bend, everything's gonna be fine... (from Point of Grace)."

Sunday at UP

Took some pictures of UP on the way home from the alumni homecoming last Sunday. I don't know why I did. I just felt like recording something of the moment--we've been preparing for this event since July and finally it was over last Sunday so maybe I just felt like stopping and looking at the University without stressed-out eyes. I only took pictures of a small part of UP, though... don't expect a full album of photos here. Just my college and the massive sunken garden in front of it.

Anyway, so this is the mango-colored College of Business Administration... newly-landscaped courtesy of an enterprising alumni.

the UP Sunken Garden in a flurry of activity as seen from the CBA building

Typical UP Sunken Garden activities... at least two different soccer games, picnics, jogging/brisk-walking around the oval, taho vendors, kids on dates (whether secret or not)... very typical.

The same things happen on weekdays, by the way. Some bands hold concerts here, and a percussion group practices on Wednesday afternoons. On December 14, I hear there's gonna be fireworks. I've seen a professor frisbee-throwing here with his girlfriend when I was still in college. Have yet to see a wedding though. And a wedding shoot.

a portion of the university oval at sunset, sunday afternoon.

Another view of the sunken garden from the university oval. My college is behind the geometrically-predisposed, maroon-roofed, yellow-legged shed thingie at the left side of the pic.

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer Editorial : Tarnishing the gold
First posted 01:08am (Mla time) Dec 03, 2005

Note: This article was published on Page A14 of the December 3, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

PRIME Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand made waves by complaining about cheating in the Southeast Asian Games. Although he did not specifically mention the Philippines, Thaksin said he was "concerned" that the obsession with winning was getting in the way of sportsmanship.

He had nobody fooled; he was obviously reacting to a remark attributed to the head of the Thai Olympic Committee who complained that it was impossible for countries like Thailand to win in the Manila Games because Filipinos were manipulating the result. A storm of protest ensued, and with it, counter-accusations about the lack of sportsmanship (and allegations of dubious decisions by judges in sports events) of the Thais. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was stung into ordering an "investigation," Filipino officials defended our teams and the country was seemingly united,
for once, in condemnation of the Thais.

In the end, Charouk Arirachakaran, secretary general of Thailand's Olympic Committee, issued an apology, while insisting that he never said "it is hard to win at the Games since the hosts are cheating." The quote supposedly came from statements he made to the press in Bacolod City, but the Thai sports official insists it was impossible for him to have said that, because he has yet to go there (which leaves dangling the question of how the Associated Press got the quote). Thaksin apparently simply took his cue from the press reports and without bothering to talk to Thai sports officials went ahead to slam the Philippines because that was the patriotic thing to do. It is not just Filipinos, after all, who excuse failure by pinning the blame on outsiders. Other Asians do it, too.

Obviously the lesson here is not that Filipinos per se are viewed as cheats, or that Asians are congenitally predisposed to viewing every defeat as the result of someone's having cheated (regardless of the location), but rather that the Thai prime minister could assume that everyone would view it as understandable that Philippine sports officials could be charged with cheating with impunity, because-well, simply look at their President, was what the Thai prime minister was really suggesting.

Therein lies the scandal and there lies the offensiveness of the Thai leader's remarks. That is not the Asian way, or the Asean way, and most certainly, it is not the diplomatic and responsible way to handle anything, including sports.

Indeed in the heat of the moment, when the competition is at its most intense, sportsmanship can end up by the wayside. That is what judges and the rules are for. If victory is sweet, defeat, though bittersweet, can be ennobling. An example is the case of Eduardo Buenavista, disqualified for running into the path of a competitor in the 5,000-meter race. Having been stripped of his medal, his reaction was magnificent: "That's the way it was, I ended up hitting him, after all. Well, I'll just go back to training, so that next time, I can reclaim the prize." No whining, blaming-just pure sportsmanship.

Thaksin should have kept to his "self-imposed" isolation from the media and left politics out of the Southeast Asian Games. Instead, he has made himself the Raul Gonzalez of Thailand. Left to themselves, the participants and officials have handled controversies and questions concerning the games with professionalism and integrity. The host country has deprived its athletes of medals, when the rules have been broken. And even the controversial Thai sports official, it must be added, didn't let a lot of time pass, before clarifying matters and apologizing for hurting the feelings of Filipinos.

This isn't to say that Philippine sports doesn't have its defects. Thaksin did have a point in saying the obsession with victory has diverted attention from what is the true purpose of international sports events: to promote clean and civilized competition; to promote international goodwill; to channel patriotism in a direction that exalts individual countries but also contributes to ties of affection between the citizens of those countries.

Life... It's Bigger

A patient died on Nats' operating table today. Well, technically the patient was not yet being operated on by Nats because she died after the anesthesia was administered. Nats had not yet started his operation when her condition became worse. Nats said her condition was on the really dangerous side already and that she had a weak heart too.

Nats was, to say the least, quite affected by it. It was the first time a patient died on his operating table and he has already said before that that's the one thing he's afraid of. Although Nats' operation on the patient (she was referred to Nats by the Internal Medicine department because they wanted Nats to cut off her hand which was suffering from an infection which worsened her heart condition) had not yet started when she died, still he feels the burden.

He said they still tried to revive the patient after her (heart) arrest and that they succeeded in reviving her. After they revived her, however, they couldn't do anything more. This, he said, was the most difficult time throughout the entire thing, the fact that they couldn't do anything more--but sit back and wait. They couldn't continue the operation until she was stable. The only other scenario where they can do something about her is when she dies--sadly, that's the truth about the medical profession. You can only do so much.

Nats had no other choice but to wait--wait for the patient to stabilize or to die. Nats said he literally sat there beside her, waiting and observing. What a terrible thing to be subject to, huh? It's no wonder doctors have a tendency to their patients more like "cases", i.e. too objective, not enough sensitivity. There's way too much emotional turmoil involved with each patient, and with so many patients with such serious cases (Nats' hospital, the UP Philippine General Hospital, being a public and charity-driven hospital, only gets the worst kinds of cases to make the best use of limited resources), getting emotionally involved will undoubtedly drain the strength out of any physician, no matter how generous and caring.

And so, after two hours of waiting, the patient died. It was very sad to hear Nats talk about it. Things like these, when they happen, they make you forget about all the petty worries in your own life. These past few days have been really really stressful for me, and I'm talking about shedding tears when I'm alone, feeling really down even when the sun was shining real hard and seemed to be trying to cheer me up... you think you have it hard, but when the reality of how life is short hits you like the way Nats' little story for the day hit me... how small all my worries and sadnesses looked compared to the tragedy met by his patient's family!

The patient was a woman and a mother and Nats had to explain things to her family. It was really difficult for Nats to talk to her daughter, who, sadly, arrived a little bit too late--the mom already died when she got to PGH. Nats had to be strong in order to explain to the daughter everything that happened. The daughter was very gracious about it, he said. She even thanked him for doing everything even if the truth was that time was indeed already running out on her mom. To be gracious in the middle of such a huge loss... that's courage... that's real strength.

Life really is short and precious. Sometimes we forget how fleeting our moments are simply because we are so busy living in them. God uses dark episodes like this to show us how we should treasure each day He has given us. To show us that maybe the little disappointments that come our way are not as devastating as we believe they are. To show us that there is more to life than this... whatever "this" is.