for everyone |
(nostradamus)
Cassius was wrong, the fault, dear Brutus, lies in our stars (with apologies to Shakespeare) – Ever since our college English Literature professor made us memorize some of Shakespeare’s classic quotations, I have wittingly or unwittingly tried to live by those immortal lines cunningly whispered by Cassius to Brutus - “the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars (or our fate or destiny) but in ourselves that we are underlings…” (Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar,” Act I, Scene II).
Now, I’m not rightly sure anymore. Indeed, after living on this planet for all of 7 decades, I now believe and accept all of what life has dished out on and for me. For good or ill, this is my fate, my destiny, and nothing I can or will do will change any of that. All I ever need to do now is to learn to live with that and be happy… or, live and be miserable ever after.
Let’s face it – there are just too many things absolutely beyond our control. To begin with, we did not choose our parents. We cannot all be born with silver or golden spoons in our mouths, direct descendants of Queen Elizabeth or children of some concubine of an oil-rich sultan. If geography is crucial, why, for heaven's sake, did we have to be born in one of some 7,000 tiny islands scattered in an ocean so inappropriately named Pacific, with very dismal prospects for any commercially viable oil deposits, and at a particular time in its millennia of existence when most of its people are living in abject poverty?
Take a little detail like the so-called Independence Day of the Philippines (July 4, 1946) which we all grew up celebrating. Why did our smart politicians at the time insist that the U.S.A. grant us independence right then and there as provided in the so-called Tydings-McDuffie Act? Did they not realize that the country and its people had just gone through a world war and virtually all existing infrastructures, businesses and industries razed to the ground? Haven’t they ever heard of the most basic collatilla in all contracts – that in case of war, great conflagration, earthquakes or other natural disasters or calamities, it is most reasonable to “suspend” contractual obligations or declare some kind of moratorium – to allow the parties concerned to get back on their feet? There, I’ve just managed to utter a legal and political mouthful.
The Philippines could have remained a commonwealth or trust territory of the USA (like Puerto Rico or the Marianas) until we got back on our feet and our basic infrastructures restored or rehabilitated. Then, we need not have to line up and fall all over each other desperately applying for a US visitor’s visa. We would all be automatically considered citizens or “nationals” of the once-great USA.
My parents were born and lived in Sta. Rita, Pampanga at about the time when flu and cholera were decimating millions of people all over the world. Many of my aunts and uncles whom we never got to see died during those pandemics. Who was to say who was going to live or die? Why had they not invented amoxicillin sooner? Or for that matter, President Quezon with all of the resources and medical attention available to him at the time should never have died of tuberculosis.
During the so-called “Liberation” after WWII when hundreds of American war planes (B29s) rained our country with bombs in an operation graphically called “carpet-bombing,” we found ourselves seeking shelter on the slopes of the Baguio Cathedral with thousands of other families. Those American planes mercilessly and indiscriminately dropped bombs on virtually every square meter of space. Who or which of us got to live or die during those bombings is one of the great mysteries I am still trying to figure out until now.
Even as I write, without wishing to sound too fatalistic, who was to know that mega-stars like Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Alexis Arguello and Karl Malden would all die within a week of each other? Farrah was 62, Michael 51, Alexis about the same, and Malden, 97. Christ died at 33.
Who could have known or predicted that a housewife named CORY would someday become president of our country?
Those who insist that “we are the captains of our ships, the masters of our fate…” cannot really be serious, or simply do not know what they are talking about. Why was I born in the 20th century and not during the Middle Ages at the height of the Black Plague? If I had my choice, I would have preferred to be born a Jew, preferably in the time of King Herod so I would not have had to save some money to visit the Holy Land, and then allowed to live for 2,000 years more so I could tell you more authoritatively and graphically about this man called Jesus.
If we are to be honest with ourselves, let’s admit that we don’t really know nor can we ever have the answers to these mysteries. Let me correct that. Some of us do claim to know the answer. Or pretend they know. They make it their business to know. For lack of a better term, many of them are called fortune-tellers, clairvoyants, soothsayers, medicine men, shamans, priests or even prophets. Some claim to be able to read and interpret tarot cards, tea leaves, dreams, the movements of the stars in the galaxies. People don’t seem to know nor care about the difference between an astronomer and an astrologist. The church itself frowns on superstition. The people in the transcendental business want a monopoly on the right to anything mysterious. It’s also known as professional jealousy.
But one thing is certain. For all of their money and resources, many highly successful persons are highly superstitious. They have too much at stake already and need to protect their substantial accumulation of wealth and power. So, some of the greatest names in history have had professional fortune-tellers, soothsayers and clairvoyants on retainer. Why do you think Julius Caesar was well aware of the Ides of March? Napoleon, Francois de Mitterand, Ronald Reagan, Marcos, just to name a few, kept their own favorite Merlin.
You see, most of these great, rich and famous men, if they were to be honest with themselves, all had to admit sooner or later that it was not so much brain or brawn that got them to where they have found themselves. Deep in their heart of hearts they know that they just simply happen to be at the right place at the right time – pure, unadulterated luck or good fortune. That's why they are superstitious.
Gamblers and professional athletes, stockbrokers and risk takers are all highly superstitious. The Chinese who are as old as civilization itself are another superstitious bunch. The term feng shui is known the world over. For that matter, all of the greatest civilizations we have so far known spent a lot of time and money studying the stars and galaxies and their purported effect on lives and fortunes.
The weathermen, now more politely referred to as meteorologists, rely mostly on the movements of the moon and the stars as our superstitious ancestors did, except that they claim their techniques are more scientific. As challenging and fascinating as their jobs must be, they are wrong most of the time. They predicted the great Indonesian tsunami a full week after the devastation. So it was with hurricane Katrina. Hence, the weather bureau is often referred to as a “non-prophet” organization.
It also helps to explain why many people simply wipe their hankies on a statue of the crucified Christ instead of attending mass.
In brief, if somebody other than Nostradamus could have told me exactly when the Twin Towers of Manhattan would be attacked or that the western side of the northern shore of Banda Aceh, Indonesia would be struck by a tsunami right after Christmas, 2004 where some 228,948 people would be killed, I might consider paying him/her his/her usual fee for the winning combination for the next Super Lotto.
In the meantime, I think I’ll stick to the one who claimed to be the Son of God, and told us once if he told us a thousand times:
- “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and rust doth corrupt …” Mt. 6:20
- “Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns…”
- “Consider the lilies of the fields, they neither toil nor spin…”
- “Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful ... Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shallfind; knock, and it shall … Lk 12:29. Incidentally, he also predicted when he was going to die … and live again . Now, that’s my kind of prophet.– Bro. James Lansang
Even at 45 degrees celsius, I could not help but take-off my hat to you James, not the brother of John, but the XVD whose wisdom could have been used by the SVD in its worldwide missionary work.
Indeed, my hot greetings to every XVD from the beautiful city of Riyadh, KSA where the worldwide financial crisis failed to make its presence felt. |
Tnx, Bro. Ed. Glad to hear you seem to be doing fine in Riyadh. Isn't it such a wondrous mystery that all those capital cities in the Middle East have blossomed into the new wonders of the world, built with black gold or petro-dollars and providing jobs to thousands from impoverished countries.
Take care. Send money. |
The list of your magna opera, Kuya, is getting longer.
"Nanay" Socorro Ramos, in her column "Ask Nanay" suggests: If you are interested in self-publishing, you can talk to Ellen Brodit of Atlas Publishing. She can be reached at 9129652 or email atlas.prinitng@yahoo.com. Or, if you are interested in talking to a publisher, you can talk to Karina Bolasco or Gwenn Galvez of Anvil Publishing: 6378840 or thru email: publishing@anvilpublishing.com. Kuya, we are certain, you will be published, your opera should be published, so that many more souls, Pinoy or otherwise, will be touched. Having been empowered by The Almighty with that rare and special gift of the pen, we believe that you are in the position to empower others as well thru your writings. Ano pa hinihintay mo, Kuya? Upuan at pagusapan na natin ito ng masinsinan. Kailan? Di ko maalala kung sino nagsabi: It's a crime not to feed the mind, and if i may add, the spirit, with good food. Kuya, marami ang uhaw at gutom sa pagkaing magbibigay lakas at sigla sa isip at kaluluwa. Ang mga panulat mo ay dapat maipamahagi para magpalakas at magpasigla sa maraming nagugutom at nauuhaw. |
Pa-bukolin natin, Kuya, dahil ukol.
Bagaman may ugnayan ang EZ2, at ang iba pang mga loteryang produkto namin na inyong tinatayaan, sa mahusay nyong hinabi at sinulat sa pinakahuli ninyong obra maestra, sa pakiwari ko, mas madaling masusumpungan ang suerte at tyak mananalo ka ng jackpot, kung hahakbang tayo patungo sa publishing haws sa mga darating na araw. |
elmersarmiento wrote on Jul 7, '09
Randomness explains our fate. We are picked at random: who are lucky, who are not. Due to our Christian faith, we look forward to an everlasting life in heaven.
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butchcelestial wrote on Jul 7, '09, edited on Jul 7, '09
. . . . . Our all-knowing God knows all but he is also kind enough to respect our free will. It is our choices early on that make or break our 'fate' but then He is also 'Our Father' who gives generously the grace we need when we repent, change our lives and follow Him. You are right, of course about 'everlasting life in heaven'. |
We are picked at random: who are lucky, who are not. 
elmersarmiento wrote on Jul 7, '09
Oh, by the way, it's still a mystery to me why kamikaze pilots chose to wear helmets.
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Some questions, Elmer:
1.Who did/does the picking, Elmer? 2.What about those who were/are not as "lucky" to have "embraced" the Christian faith? 3.That those who did/do not know and/or did/do not believe in Christ have no everlasting life in heaven to look forward to? 4. You really believe "Randomness explains our fate"? 5. Kung ganun, kung baga, "pinaglalaruan" lang tayong lahat by whoever was/is in charge? |
butchcelestial wrote on Jul 7, '09
. . . . . it to hold on to whatever remaining brain they still have or else they could not fly the plane . . . . . hehehehe . . . . . sorry . . . . |
elmersarmiento wrote on Jul 8, '09
Hi Kaka, thank you for at least reading and putting some sense to an immature opinion of mine. I really don't know the answers to your questions. But yes, like Forrest Gump, I believe that life is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you gonna get. But hard work and perseverance (or just plain showing up) increases the chance of success.
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JC is THE PROPHET, indeed! The one and only true prophet.
He gives us glimpses of the Divine Mind who planned everything to its minutest detail. His ways are ever incomprehensible, humanly speaking. But with the gift of intelligence and freewill, by the grace of God, realize what we are and should be. Divine Conceptualization (in human parlance - our potentails) to Actualization. Our very existence is even by human standards,is but a nanonanonanosec ad infinitum spark of the whole creation. Seemingly beyond all human logic. But that's the way it is. Who can comprehend God's infinite mind (Psalms, Ecclesiastes). The Divine Plan, much less per se, is never laid out before our eyes. It's for us to discover, to know ourselves (remember this is NOT instant, it's a process, an evolution), to ALIGN our stars with creation (ultimately in the context of God's plan), to achieve our goal, our fate, our destiny. Think about it biblically, existentially, |
wow. we're going philosophical and theological with this topic. this is what i like to see: the xvd's putting their academic inputs into discussion without fear of being kicked-out by superiors in case they go beyond the acceptable views and doctrines of the church. i was wondering where in the xvd world is my fellow marxian student named charles aguila. i am sure there's a lot of good views he can share us from the dialectical materialism's point of view.
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