What an unnerving 7 days! It started with an earthquake on Monday, followed by hurricane & flooding, and capped by a 24-hour brownout yesterday afternoon. Coming from killer earthquake, flood & typhoon-prone Philippines and after having experienced many East Coast hurricanes in our present home for 16 years, Gie and I were completely prepared for Irene by cooking lots of food and storing plenty of bottled water, votive candles and flashlight batteries. Armed with our rosary beads, we started our prayer vigil (it always worked for us...never had a tree down considering that we're surrounded by 16 huge to large & medium-sized trees) early on Saturday before attending the 5:30pm Mass in our church, followed by a sumptuous dinner with my sister, brother-in-law and cousin who also prepared a humongous meal.
Praise God!...not a single tree was uprooted because by the time Irene came to us she lost most of her gusty winds and breezed like a whimper but with an outpouring of devastating rain. And, thanks to Mama Mary, not a drop of water seeped into our basement and we also did not lose any power. In fact, at past 3pm on Sunday, the sun started peeking out from the clouds and I was ready to invite Gie to get out of the house and visit some of our friends. Unfortunately, the wind started to blow again and then, all of a sudden, we had power outage while both of our phones were about to give up.
At night time, we lost power on both phones. It was dark in the whole neighborhood except for our Indian neighbor across the street to our right who was using a generator. Three hours later, still, there was no electricity, no TV, no Internet, no radio and no contact to the outside world. At 12 midnight, we finished all our prayers. Gie & I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I got up and grabbed a beer in the fridge, picked up my laptap and opened Microsoft Word. And, the first thing that came out of my mind was...the end of the world!
Now, the incorrigible optimist in me couldn't fathom end times either in a negative or shortest possible way, simply because I already have a mental picture (similar to both of our parents) of Gie & I renewing our marriage vows in celebration of our golden anniversary with family and friends, children and grandchildren, twenty years from now. And, as I kept staring at the blank electronic page, it dawned on me that if Jesus had to come down and wipe out the face of the earth and establish His new kingdom, it wouldn't be so bad, after all. Why? Here are the top 20 hypothetical (I'm not ready yet!) reasons for me, namely: I
20. Don't have to wake up every morning wondering where to find my next real estate sale;
19. Don't have to keep up with new technology and social media;
18. Don't have to laugh at funny but offensive jokes, shows and movies;
17. Don't have to be with people who are full of themselves and have no obvious talents other than to show off and be negative;
16. Don't have to witness people treating animals like persons and vice-versa;
15. Don't have to fear the power of the media, governments, financial markets and war machines;
14. Don't have to read about killers, murderers, abortionists, narcissists, seducers and abusers of this world;
13. Don't have to love everybody including those who treat me like an enemy, the egotistically unlovable and all of the above;
12. Don't have to put up with malicious gossipers and rumor-mongers who are motivated by envy and pride;
11. Don't have to compete with borderline materialistic zealots and extremists in bringing people closer to Christ;
10. Don't have to waste my time arguing with atheists or evangelizing to non-believers;
9. Don't have to keep inviting and reminding friends, parishioners, brothers and sisters to come to the prayer meeting, healing service and choir practice;
8. Don't have to fight the daily temptations of the flesh, the world and the devil;
7. Get to witness not just the leveling but total elimination of the playing field between the rich and the poor;
6. Get to see the evil ones being reduced to smithereens;
5. Get to watch the holy ones being given their just rewards;
4. Get to be freed from experiencing any more pain and suffering in this world;
3. Get to be reunited with my parents, family and friends who have gone before me;
2. Get to be with my beloved children who live hectic lives, all the time, instead of just holidays and special occasions; and
1. Ultimately, I am able to behold, contemplate and praise for all eternity, with Mary and all the angels and saints, the Highest Good...Father, Son and the Holy Spirit!
Praise God!...not a single tree was uprooted because by the time Irene came to us she lost most of her gusty winds and breezed like a whimper but with an outpouring of devastating rain. And, thanks to Mama Mary, not a drop of water seeped into our basement and we also did not lose any power. In fact, at past 3pm on Sunday, the sun started peeking out from the clouds and I was ready to invite Gie to get out of the house and visit some of our friends. Unfortunately, the wind started to blow again and then, all of a sudden, we had power outage while both of our phones were about to give up.
At night time, we lost power on both phones. It was dark in the whole neighborhood except for our Indian neighbor across the street to our right who was using a generator. Three hours later, still, there was no electricity, no TV, no Internet, no radio and no contact to the outside world. At 12 midnight, we finished all our prayers. Gie & I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I got up and grabbed a beer in the fridge, picked up my laptap and opened Microsoft Word. And, the first thing that came out of my mind was...the end of the world!
Now, the incorrigible optimist in me couldn't fathom end times either in a negative or shortest possible way, simply because I already have a mental picture (similar to both of our parents) of Gie & I renewing our marriage vows in celebration of our golden anniversary with family and friends, children and grandchildren, twenty years from now. And, as I kept staring at the blank electronic page, it dawned on me that if Jesus had to come down and wipe out the face of the earth and establish His new kingdom, it wouldn't be so bad, after all. Why? Here are the top 20 hypothetical (I'm not ready yet!) reasons for me, namely: I
20. Don't have to wake up every morning wondering where to find my next real estate sale;
19. Don't have to keep up with new technology and social media;
18. Don't have to laugh at funny but offensive jokes, shows and movies;
17. Don't have to be with people who are full of themselves and have no obvious talents other than to show off and be negative;
16. Don't have to witness people treating animals like persons and vice-versa;
15. Don't have to fear the power of the media, governments, financial markets and war machines;
14. Don't have to read about killers, murderers, abortionists, narcissists, seducers and abusers of this world;
13. Don't have to love everybody including those who treat me like an enemy, the egotistically unlovable and all of the above;
12. Don't have to put up with malicious gossipers and rumor-mongers who are motivated by envy and pride;
11. Don't have to compete with borderline materialistic zealots and extremists in bringing people closer to Christ;
10. Don't have to waste my time arguing with atheists or evangelizing to non-believers;
9. Don't have to keep inviting and reminding friends, parishioners, brothers and sisters to come to the prayer meeting, healing service and choir practice;
8. Don't have to fight the daily temptations of the flesh, the world and the devil;
7. Get to witness not just the leveling but total elimination of the playing field between the rich and the poor;
6. Get to see the evil ones being reduced to smithereens;
5. Get to watch the holy ones being given their just rewards;
4. Get to be freed from experiencing any more pain and suffering in this world;
3. Get to be reunited with my parents, family and friends who have gone before me;
2. Get to be with my beloved children who live hectic lives, all the time, instead of just holidays and special occasions; and
1. Ultimately, I am able to behold, contemplate and praise for all eternity, with Mary and all the angels and saints, the Highest Good...Father, Son and the Holy Spirit!
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