A Day for Him

I may be one whom you might label as a Christian with a twist. Let me explain what I mean.

I am someone whose faith in Jesus Christ is without remiss. I am capable of defending my belief in wisdom that comes from Him. Needless to say, the rest that don't fit His overwhelming love and forgiveness are most likely interpretations of other people, myself included.

Anyway, today with had a Bible study with brothers Marvin, joel and Art together with our auspicious Kathy Mueller. We were at Matthew 15:21-28, and the topic was recognition as well as acceptance is indeed the ticket to the promised paradise. I agree as I agree with Acts 16: 30-31. Then our discussion.

Christ is the epiphany of love and forgiveness. He sacrificed his human form so humanity would be saved; He had forgiven all of our sins. I was thinking of the Muslims, the Chinese and everyone else would had not had the privilege of knowing Him. My heart tells me He would not abandon them. Let me give you a couple of examples I had put forward on our discussion.

Would a brother from Islam who has a good and forgiving heart, and might have even saved a handful of Christians from persecution go to hell because he is not Christian? History tells us that the war between our religions had been going on, even until today, for as long as we could remember? It probably started for a very good reason. But then is then and now is now, and we should really listen to what history tells us. Nothing ... absolutely nothing good can ever come out of war. It is plain and simple the instrument of the Fallen Angel, The Morning Star.

How about the young couple in a rural countryside in some backwater settlement in a hard-to-reach place in China? They've always lived in their community and have learned valuable skills which were used to help the other members of their community. They were good people with such love for humanity ... even those who had taken advantage of their goodness. Unfortunately, the wife gave a still birth. No baptism, no last sacrament ... the soul of this child is doomed in hell forever. I don't think so.

His magnanimous consideration will assure these people their places in paradise. But this is only how I think. In the end, it is really He who would sit in judgment of our souls. Although, I do His bidding and say my prayers of thanks and forgiveness, I cannot assure myself of the glory he so long promised us. I leave my life in His hands.

And a while before our discussion came to a finish, I had to share with them a much taken-for-granted miracle right before our very eyes. Brother Marvin was, at that moment, explaining a true story about a man with a large family who called on God and pray what he should do to believe in Him. The miracle was the wonderous flight of a flock of doves circling the immediate vicinity with their aerial acrobat and perfect synchronicity. I couldn't hide a smile of admiration, and if I would look at myself away from where I was staring out of the window, I would say that I looked childish and naive. I'm sure that given enough time to explain, ornithologist would be able to articulate the complex process of communication and tilt of tail feathers, etc. But in the end, the definite truth is God made them fly the way they were flying at that moment. Our unrelentless quest for reasons and knowledge is but a wave of His hand. In short, it's His will.

another day, another ordeal

not really a nice, inviting title for the first post. it was just that it's the last weekend of the winter holidays, and i start work on monday. i wasn't able to go to the corner cafe (again) and on top of that, i received a really disturbing phone call. all of which happened last night.

i even sent an email to the pinoys sa china mailing list, quoted as follow:

Earlier tonight, I received a phone call from one of our kabayans here in Changchun informing me of another Pinoy in trouble. He asked me if he could give my number to the Russian girlfriend of our kapatid stating that she should be able to explain more in details of what happened.

Well, I've already talked to Lisa, the Russian girl and student, but it was hard to get much of what went on with much of "do you understand?" after every event. I asked her to email me her account of what happened, and while waiting for that particular email to arrive, perhaps someone on this mailing list knew about this.

What I understood was:

Ronald used to work for Tiansu but moved away to another company while moonlighting as a DJ in San Marco. This company he hooked up with promised him a visa. The company apparently haven't paid him for two months, and he asked for his passport. The company said that he needed to pay 10,000 Renminbi and since he didn't have enough money, he paid by working.

When the company called him to get his passport, there were the police waiting to arrest him. He was working illegally, without a visa for a year. He needed to be deported, and as far as I know, he is locked in a cell.

I have no idea what I can do to help. I can forward this incident to our embassy in Beijing, and hope that they are able to extend any help to this poor guy.

So, this is another reminder to everyone. If it is possible, keep your passports in your persons and the company does not have the right to keep it. We all understand that it is a form of guarantee for them, but that is so unprofessional for both - an unwanted element of distrust. In some ways, I do not blame these companies, but we need to look after our welfare as well. And
on top of everything, we need to build our reputation as Filipinos who can be trusted ... to do professional work, to behave in a civil way, to cooperate for mutual benefit, etc.

and just before eleven p.m., lisa called again instructing me not to call the embassy if i don't get another phone call from her, obviously signaling that everything will be alright. and nothing. so it makes me wonder ...