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 Sadly, the character of meekness, quietness, and gentleness has been unwittingly regarded as outdated and uninteresting by many.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!

Our Skydeck Experience

A repost. As originally published as a feature story in the centerfold of EV Mail News for the week of August 1-7, 2011.

http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-digital-issue-of-august-1-7-2011

The Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois is one of the tallest buildings in the world. In 2009, it changed its name to Willis Tower after it was bought by the Willis Group Holdings, Ltd. It was built in 1973 and was the tallest building in the world at that time until 1998, when it was surpassed by the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Willis Tower is still the tallest building in the United States today and it ranks the fifth tallest in the world.

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

So understandably, it's one of the most recognizable structures in the famous Chicago skyline. Towering at 1,450 feet and 110 stories high, it's difficult to miss this famous landmark. In 1982, the building antennas were added to the structure increasing its total height to 1,704 feet, and by the year 2000, one of those antennas was extended to a total of 1,729 feet.

After living in Chicago for more than 6 years now, my family and I finally decided to play "tourists" as we visited the Willis Tower for the first time on the Memorial Day weekend, a U.S. holiday. It was Sunday, May 29, and the day started out to be stormy, foggy, cold and gloomy. But since we've already decided to do our "outing" that day, we proceeded no matter what the weather was like.

We began our "field trip" at Chinatown in Chicago where we had a huge lunch of Korean fried rice, ox tail noodle soup, lemon grass fried chicken wings, fried whole snapper with sweet and sour sauce, and three different kinds of smoothies for our drinks. I had a green tea smoothie, my husband chose his favorite, "ube" or taro smoothie, and my son got the biggest mango smoothie I've ever seen in my life! It came in this gigantic champagne chute-like glass complete with the long stem. It was a sight to see. All our smoothies came with tapioca pearls, of course. After lunch, we were so full we were literally leaning, tummy side down. It was just too much. Remember, gluttony is a sin. I will make sure to think of that until my next meal!

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

Then we decided to drag ourselves to our next destination, the Chicago water taxi station from Chinatown to downtown Chicago. Downtown is nicknamed the "Loop" because of the loop-shaped train tracks circling the area. We went to the taxi pick-up station but because of the stormy weather, the water taxis were not operating on their full schedule that afternoon. We ended up taking the train instead.

After we got off the train, we had to walk a little bit going to the Willis Tower. I was already feeling butterflies in my stomach, anticipating the height and the experience we are about to have up there at 1,400 feet. And by the way, I'm a little scared of heights but just a little.

Then the weather started to let up, the gloom was beginning to fade. There was clear, cloudless sky and the rain finally stopped. By the time we got to the entrance of the building, we were happy that everything was falling into its perfect place. The weather was fine, the crowd was thin, and the line of people going up to the viewing place was short and quick. The viewing spot is at the 103rd floor of the building and it's fittingly called the "Skydeck."

When we arrived at the 103rd floor, it was already past 5 in the afternoon. It was the perfect time to go up since we could enjoy both times of the day. We get to see the view during the daytime when it's still light out and we get to wait to see the sunset later in the evening. I didn't realize though that we had to wait a little bit longer for the sunset that night because in the summer, days are much longer. Here in Chicago, at 8 in the evening, it still looks like it's 4 in the afternoon and the sun is still out in full force.

We took hundreds of pictures and we marveled at the sights and oohed at the great views. We were literally on top of the world. We can see up to four States from up there (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin). The cars, boats, trains and all moving vehicles down at the streets looked like matchbox cars. We couldn't even clearly see any people down there because they all looked like specks from where we are. It was such an amazing experience.

Then it was time to try out the famous or "infamous" Glass Ledge, however you want to refer to it. For me, it is infamous for its offering of a daunting "adventure." These all-glass, almost hanging ledges were opened to the public in 2009. It's like stepping on air or thin ice at 1,353 feet above the ground and 4.3 feet away from the walls of the structure. I was shaking when I made that first step into it but I had to do it for posterity's sake. I had to have at least one picture on that ledge but I couldn't even look down for more than 2 seconds because it was too scary! My husband and my son were just fearless. But I have to admit that it was also exciting.

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

Then we started to see the transformation of the skies and the whole city from day to night. Despite the gloomy start we had that day, we were rewarded with the most glorious sunset. The sky was changing colors every minute. From clear blue, to dark blue with tinges of yellow and orange, then a dramatic change to different shades of red, yellow, orange, gold, amber and purple. It was an unforgettable sight.

People were going crazy taking pictures before the sunset was over. Although people were moving about and getting around trying to get to the best spot for photos, I noticed that everyone was hushed. The sunset has literally taken our breath away. And at 1,400 feet, the sunset lasted much longer that it would have been on ground level. It was simply spectacular.

© Copyright, MMD Images, 2011

In perfect sync with the gorgeous sunset, the city also started to light up for the night. Fluorescent lamps, bulbs, street lights, spotlights, building lights, and vehicle lights started to illuminate the whole city and beyond. The famous Chicago skyline was starting to don its evening attire. It was an amazing transformation.

We stayed for a bit longer to enjoy the sight which was a whole world different from the daytime view we just saw more than a couple of hours ago. We were transfixed with awe. It was a perfect ending to a not-so-perfect start of our day. And then, it was time to go home. We were glad we got to do the "Skydeck experience" and to add another adventure into our stack of memories that we will remember and will surely last for a lifetime.

Restless in Chicago

A repost. As originally published by EV Mail News for the week of July 11-17, 2011.

http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-digital-issue-of-july-11-17-2011

I have my own personal version of Sleepless in Seattle, I call it "Restless in Chicago." No it's not another movie, it's not even a title of a funny home video. "Restless in Chicago" is just what I was when we first came to this beautiful city.

I was so restless primarily because I didn't have anything to do. This was after the fact that we've already settled down in our new apartment, we've taken all the necessary steps to get IDs, licenses, forms, etc., which were needed for our new life and we've already found our way around the city by walking, by car and public transportation. Then now what? Of course, there was the mundane task of looking for a job but other than that, I had my hands empty. I was literally freaking out!

This is part of life of an immigrant in America. Being a stranger in a new place, with no friends and sometimes even no family around to keep company. It's no wonder several of us become restless. I simply needed something to do, anything! I just wanted to be busy like when I was still in Tacloban. But wait, what was I busy with over there in the first place? I can't even seem to remember but I know I was busy!

Oh there was my job and with my extended family all over the place that was more than enough to keep my hands full. Then there were church ministries I volunteer for each week, group meetings to join, outings to plan. Also fiestas and carnivals to visit, birthdays and weddings to attend, trips to the barrios just because. Whew! No wonder I was busy.

Then here's life in America. Please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say because I do love my job. I'm so grateful God has provided me and my husband with regular, full-time work when thousands of others don't have any. I appreciate the fact that everyday when I wake up I have somewhere to go, where I'm expected to be and where I'm needed to do my job. I also like the fact that I'm able to pay my bills and help provide for my family.

I've never been a lazy worker. Even in the Philippines I worked since after I graduated from college until we left for Chicago. I know how it is to work hard. But even after working some 12 years in the Philippines, I've never seen a career and job-oriented society more than America. They pay us by the hour and it's normal for people here to have 2 to 3 jobs at one time and to work extended hours. Almost all our activities and plans with family and friends revolve around our work schedules. That's cool I guess, but all I'm saying is I've never seen it quite in that light before. To quote my husband, "In America, I'm working hard. In the Philippines, I was hardly working!"

Funny as he makes it to be, it's quite true. As part of the saying goes, "All work and no play..." makes people restless too. Americans are very hard-working people which is a good value to instill in our children but I do believe there must be some balance.

I agree that we all should work hard and laziness should not be tolerated but we must never neglect the time to unwind as well. Even Jesus Himself, retreated away from the crowds and away from His ministry with people to have some time alone. Time alone spent with God His Father, to commune with Him and to revive His human well-being. People tend to burn-out like candles, get frustrated and be uninspired after long hauls of just work, work and more work.

In the U.S., with all its greatness, employers are not required to give vacation or sick time to their employees, although I should point out that most of them do give it anyway. I've watched a feature report on TV here in Chicago where they talked about how Americans have to be forced almost to take a vacation as compared with our European counterparts.

The French take their vacations very seriously. Travel experts say not to plan to go to France in the summer months because all the streets will be deserted because the shopkeepers, restaurant owners and basically everybody is away on vacation. And it's not just for the weekend, it's for a full five weeks of pure relaxation! Heaven on earth. Or close to it.

In the Philippines, we may not take our bakasyon to such extreme like the French but we do have our own ways. We have the siesta, merienda and the suroy. We do the istambay and the pahuway like beautiful pieces of work. The Pinoys have perfected the "art" of doing absolutely nothing which for some people is completely impossible. I believe these things make life a bit easier on everybody. A little rest and a short nap actually go a long way, experts say. They even call it "power naps." 

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." -Psalms 46:10

Slowly I noticed that my restlessness was beginning to fade away as the days went by. As my job started to make me busy, school projects and home works were piling up and as I find new friends to have fellowship with, life began to "happen." I finally found my equilibrium.

I began to realize God was teaching me something personal as well. He wanted me to find His joy in whatever circumstance I'm in. He showed me Bible verses which helped me to understand that restlessness is not from Him. He wants me to be still before Him, to rest in Him and to accept His peace that surpasses all understanding.

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:7

"Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." -Psalms 4:4

Now I'm restless in Chicago no more (that's how they say it here) or anywhere it is I might happen to be someday or sometime in the future with God's perfect will.

Homesick

A repost. As originally published by EV Mail News for the week of June 20-26, 2011.
http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-digital-issue-of-june-20-26-2011

Moving to Chicago was an exciting time for our family. It felt like we were starting a new life all over again. A new beginning with endless possibilities. Everything was brand new -- the surroundings, the weather, the language, our church, our new jobs and a new school for our son.

And although we have been speaking English for most of our lives in the Philippines it's very different when spoken in a new place. It also felt like we were newlyweds again as we try to set up a new home. We were happy to be in a new place and we can't wait to explore our new town.

As exciting as it was, it was also a bit scary. Homesickness was something I've never understood because I haven't been away from home and from my parents and siblings before Chicago. We've traveled and vacationed in other places but we eventually came back home to stay.

The first year when we arrived in America was the hardest. I was so homesick that everything I touched seemed bland. It was like the opposite of King Midas and his golden touch but just as terrible! I missed my family, the environment and the culture I was so used to all my life and I even missed the pollution. That's when I truly grasped what the saying "There's nothing like home" really meant.

God has been so gracious and merciful all that time. He is true to His promise that He will never leave nor forsake me. He was my comfort and my peace during those moments of sleepless nights (primarily brought on by jet lag) and loneliness due to the physical absence of the people I love. I was so thankful I had my husband and my son with me during those trying times because without them I would have flagged down a 747 at the Chicago O'Hare airport just to go home to the Philippines in a heartbeat. It was an experience I don't want to go through ever again and it's something I wouldn't wish on anybody.

Yet here's the twist: I still remember how it felt like to be so homesick when we first came to Chicago and how we started making this new place our home. We tried to fit in, soak in the culture, do some of the Chicagoan ways and sometimes even emulate the way they talk. We found a church, gained new friends, work new jobs. Life was relatively stable again. Then it was time to go back home to the Philippines for a visit. Would you believe I was a little homesick for Chicago the first week I was in Manila? So true! Now my heart is divided in two because I have two wonderful homes. How more blessed can I be?

It's sad how we take some things for granted. Then we find out the hard way how special and important those things are to us once they're gone. It happens all the time yet we never learn. When I lived in the Philippines, I took my homeland for granted. All the beauty of its landscapes and the hills, the grandeur of its mountains and the waters and the magnificence of its flora and fauna! I'm ashamed to admit that although I've already traveled halfway across the world but I've never toured the Philippines yet. Such a disgrace!

Whenever I show my friends here in Chicago photos of my home country, they are in awe. They ask me why I had to leave to stay in metropolitan congested, crazy Chicago? Well, I know they only see half of the picture. They have to know the whole story for them to understand. For example, when they say that Chicago is congested they mean as compared to the countryside of America. They haven't seen Manila or Tacloban City yet.

There's another place which I'm homesick for and it's called heaven. Even though I don't fully understand yet why, what, and how I'm homesick for a place I've never been to before, of which I've no recollection and of which my mind can't fully grasp the totality of its truth but my heart and my soul know it for sure.

"For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding." -1 Chronicles 29:15

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." -1 Peter 2:11-12

There's no perfect place here on earth and there never will be. The grass on the other side of the fence will always look greener. The sun on the other side of the world will always seem brighter but it's not always the case. It's just a matter of perspective and how we make the most of what we have.

It's always fun and interesting to visit new places. To travel the world is an amazing way to enrich our outlook, to spend our vacations and to occupy ourselves at retirement but we have to go home sometime, somewhere, right? It's up to us which part of the world we will allow to make us homesick.

As for me, one thing is for sure, God has placed a void in people's hearts and souls that only heaven can fill. We were made for that place and for Him alone. But we were also given a choice since the beginning, and sadly, a lot of us choose the other way. Yes, we do get homesick for our earthly abode but all these are temporary. I know I was made for something permanent and eternal. I was made for heaven and my soul is homesick for it though fittingly, I can't prove it yet, I can only tell.

Stateside "Pinay"

A repost. As originally published by Eastern Visayas (EV) Mail News for the week of June 13-19, 2011.

http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-digital-issue-of-june-13-19-2011

Not a lot of people are familiar with the story of the bitter waters of Marah in the Bible (Exodus 15). On how the Lord Jehovah told Moses to throw in a tree branch into the waters to make it sweet. Also Naomi in the book of Ruth changed her name to Mara for she was bitter over the deaths of her husband and all her sons. In the end, God eventually gave her more blessings than what she had before. Biblically, Marah or Mara means bitter. There goes the origin of my name.

But by the grace of God and with His mercy and salvation He has made me "sweet" thus the name for this column: Sweetened Waters. It is my hope that as I open my heart and mind to all of you that you'll see that I'm not bitter about anything -- my past or anything that will happen to me now or in the future.

This column is actually one of the most exciting things that has happened to me in a long time. I love to write and I've been writing since I was in high school but I often wrote in secret. I had journals, diaries, poems, short stories, and even plays, which I've no idea where they might be now. Oftentimes I also talk to myself as I try to express some ideas before I put them on paper. I'm not crazy, I'm sure most of us talk to ourselves once in a while. It's perfectly normal, right?

I'd like to thank Tita Lalaine Jimenea for giving me this opportunity to write again. It's a dream come true for me and now it's more "official" because I can read it on print. I used to write news stories when I was working as a reporter for PRTV-12 in Tacloban City. It seemed like a hundred years ago.

I think writing for TV and writing for a newspaper are two different animals. Television is temporary and fleeting while newspaper writings are recorded in indelible ink and can be filed or stored for future reference. No one records TV newscasts, I don't think. Yet I'd also like to say that being a TV news reporter was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I wouldn't trade those two years of TV reporting for anything else.

As for this column, I'm so excited to share my thoughts with you readers, who can be thousands of miles away. As the title of this article suggests, I'm Filipino-American. I'm no longer an amerikanang hilaw! Some of the kids I grew up with used to tease me and I didn't understand it at that time.

I knew I was different compared with everybody else around me. I had fair skin, curly brown hair, I was tisay, I was mestiza and I've always felt bigger compared to the next girl. It made me feel awkward sometimes but I got used to it and also to being called a hilaw. But it didn't offend me. It hurt a bit because as children we don't quite understand a lot of things and I didn't understand how kids can be cruel sometimes.

When we moved to Chicago, I felt right at home. I saw a lot of people who look exactly like me. I wasn't a hilaw anymore! But I look more like a latina than an americana here in Chicago. A lot of people come up to me and speak Spanish at once and my standard reply is, "sorry, no habla español!"

I remember the first day I reported for work when a Puerto Rican lady came up to me and asked me if I was also Puerto Rican. I told her I was not and she said "What do you mean no? Of course you're Puerto Rican!" We're close friends now and we laugh everytime we look back to that day. She said she was so sure I was a latina and I was the one who was completely confused about my own heritage. Ha!

For all it's worth, I'm still a Pinay in heart, mind and soul. No matter how we look like or where we happen to live we can never deny our own true heritage and where we came from. We cannot escape our own culture, the traditions we grew up with, the food we are used to since the time we let go of milk and lugaw, and also the dialect we think and dream with.

I've never really thought much about it but an American friend asked me once what language do I think with? I'd guess not a lot of people have given much thought to this peculiar question either. So I started to "observe" myself thinking. Hah, surprise, surprise! I do think in my own native dialect!

Then of course there's family. As the saying goes: "Home is where the heart is." These are some of the reasons that make us people of our real nationality. And yes, I'm American but my character and my heart will always be Pinay, specifically a Waray-Waray.