Concerts at the Park

A repost. As originally published on EV Mail News for the week of August 15-21, 2011.
http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-digital-issue-of-august-15-21-2011


One of the many reasons why I fell in love with Chicago is its "obsession" with having well-maintained, beautiful and accessible public parks everywhere in the city. The fact that I can sit down and relax at these parks with no one to bother me and with free concerts to go with it's simply perfect.

I love the clear skies, the ample grass to stretch out on and the clean air. Summers are extra special in Chicago because we only get to enjoy this season for at least four months in a year. Thousands of tourists flock to the Windy City to participate in the endless enjoyment of activities. The park alone is more than enough for me.

I'm very thankful that I work near the Millennium Park, one of the newest, sleekest and most modern parks in the city. Located in the heart of downtown "Loop," it's bustling with energy and people. Did I already mention the free concerts? How I love those too!

There are classical, the opera, the symphony orchestra performances, there's jazz, African and Latin American music, and these are only few of the wide array of choices in concerts we have here each week. To top it all, we get to enjoy these wonderful events until later into the night since daylight is much longer in summer. People are still out enjoying their picnics, outdoor gatherings, or just simply lounging around even at 8 in the evening.

And let me tell you about these concerts and performances at the park. They are never mediocre. The artists and the musicians are the crème de la crème. The orchestra and the bands are the best in the industry. They may not possess the celebrity status afforded to those who are popular in Hollywood and yet to the hundreds of concert-goers in the park and for those who know what good music is, these performers are "rock stars."

Every show and each performance is teeming with skill, talent and heart. It's impossible for the audience not to be moved by such talent and vigor in front of them. No matter that it's for free. Still, these are world-class performances and a display of extraordinary talents.

My "backyard" and my "lunch room" in the Millennium Park, as I call it, is just a block away from my office. Every break time I get, I go straight to the park and find me a bench to sit, relax, eat my lunch, read my book, watch people, or just simply enjoy a gorgeous Chicago weather. Most of the time, it gets so difficult to go back to work after an hour of pure lunch bliss. Oh well, I just tell myself that I get to do it again the next day and until summer is over.

It's a tremendous feeling to be able to appreciate the beauty of creation in nature. I've never felt like this before especially when I was younger. I felt I was invincible back then and that I can never do anything wrong. I was so selfish it makes me want to slap my teenage self right now. I also used to think 40 years old was old! But now, 65 years old is looking pretty good.

This new-found appreciation I have for all blessings might be stemming out of "getting older syndrome" but how I wish I've always felt this way. It's almost unbearable to think of all those wasted years when I didn't see life with these "renewed" and "grateful" eyes. Even the simple chirping of birds, the soft rain, the trees and the flowers, a nice weather, and especially on sunny days, they all make me so glad and thankful to be alive.

Am I turning into a wimp and a sentimental dreamer? I hope not. I guess I'm only beginning to realize how much I've missed by not appreciating and loving every moment of life. The Bible says all God's works and creation are marvelous. All that comes from Him is good. So there's no reason for me not to regard those things with a positive attitude.

"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." -Romans 1:19-21

Now, when I look at nature and enjoy all of God's creation, I'd like to believe that I see God's face. It may not be a literal face but I know that He has His "stamp" on it, and most especially, He has His image in all of humanity. And how do I know this for sure? Because He says so in the Scriptures. He created man in His own image and through all things that He has made, people have absolutely no reason nor any excuse to say that we can't know that He exists.

I may be turning into a "wimp" in the eyes of some people but I wouldn't trade these real, heart-warming feelings of appreciation, contentment and thankfulness that God has allowed me to experience. I might be a wimp but I'd rather be a blessed, contented wimp than an ungrateful, thankless one. And maybe, just maybe, my appreciation and enjoyment of all simple things might be contagious.

Is Meekness Obsolete?

A repost. As originally published on EV Mail News for the weeks of August 8-14, 2011 & September 5-11, 2011.

http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-digital-issue-of-august-8-14-2011

http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-digital-issue-september-5-11-2011

I'm not the ladylike type of girl. I wish I were and I've always hoped that I can act and speak the same way those ladies used to do during the Victorian era, directly out of the Jane Austen novels. I'm allowed to dream, aren't I? But dream it will remain because I was not brought up that way and I guess it boils down to personality as well. If you know me personally, you know I can never be the timid, quiet one. As my Dad love to say, we are of the Marcos clan, being loud is normal for us. Ha! 

And I love the phrase blessed quietness. I first read it in a devotional booklet I have by Mrs. Debbie Jenkins. I wanted that character for myself. Yes, it is hard and it is not particularly popular especially in these modern times when women are encouraged to speak up and to speak out, to be vocal about our feelings and our opinions.

Our society has now become very opinionated. Sadly, the character of meekness, quietness, and gentleness has been unwittingly regarded as outdated and uninteresting by many. The digital age also helps to stoke the fire of unrest and noise. People are always on the run, with the gotta-be-busy mentality, and somehow we feel inadequate if there is nothing to do or say. I'm a victim of those thoughts myself. Maybe that's why I began blogging recently.

To be "meek" according to the dictionary is to be patient, long-suffering, or to be submissive in disposition or nature; and to be humble. The dictionary also doesn't fail to add that this word is already obsolete. And that it's an obsolete word for gentle and kind. 

Wait, what? When exactly did this happen? When does a word become obsolete? According to my Bible, meekness is not at all obsolete! It is still being talked about in churches, in preaching at the pulpits, and by serious Christians all over the world. And since I'm at it, I might as well add that it is weird for me to say "serious Christian" because the Bible says in so many passages, that not unless you're serious about your faith, you're not a Christian at all.

"Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger." -Zephaniah 2:3

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." -Galatians 5:22-23

The above mentioned verse is one of the most compelling reasons why I'm personally convinced that the Bible is God's infallible Word. What man would ever think up of these things? It's absolutely against every fiber of our human being to have all these --a godly love, joy (as opposed to happiness), peace that surpasses all understanding, to be long-suffering, and to be always gentle, always good, always faithful, to be meek, and to have temperance (that's self-control; self-restraint). It's simply impossible! And whoever claims to be all these, all the time, is lying.

"If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." -1 John 1:10

I know what you're thinking right now and believe me, I don't mean to "preach." I'm writing these stuff more for myself than for anybody else because this meekness topic seems so elusive to me. It is just one tough cookie!

Daily life in Chicago can be tough sometimes, especially for the young and the teenagers. Chicago is one very segregated city. I don't say this to condemn the place because I've already come to love this city as my own, but it's a well-known fact. There is a north side and a south side in Chicago. And I don't mean just for directions. They are two different "worlds" of the city.

We even have two separate baseball teams coming from both "sides," competing with each other. I do understand that this is only a part of a "friendly" spat between teams and the fans to pump up some good old excitement over sports, but there are a few who gets too serious about it. For an avid sports fan, meekness is not necessarily a priority in mind.

The local news report also has daily stories of gang activities in the city. These are not the infamous mafias or the Al Capone/John Dillinger-type of gangs which made Chicago "famous" in the yesteryear. These are kids and teenagers who have too much idle time in their hands. They go into all-out "wars" in the streets and with various types of initiations that involve knives, guns and blood.

The saddest part of all this, it's the innocent bystanders who get hurt in the "crossfires" all the time. I watch mothers of innocent victims wailing on TV, shaking their fists at whoever has done these horrendous things. I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through. I would make a wild guess but I don't think meekness would be anywhere near their thoughts during these times. I know it is hard. I would say it is even unimaginable to remain godly when we see evil things happen all around us, if only I have not personally witnessed people do it despite of wickedness.

This is why God encourages us to have constant fellowship with believers because it's from other people's lives and testimony that we witness the "impossible" becomes possible. It's by sharing our lives with the church (which according to the Bible is not the building but all the living saints and believers collectively) that we see and know that God is mightily at work.

It's with other people's meekness and long-suffering, their peace and their faith in the midst of troubles and pain, that I can fully reconcile what my Bible says and how God shows that He is always true to His Word. Meekness might be one tough cookie but it sure is not obsolete!