August 23, 2008
Click! Click!
Having an insomnia attack right now and so I am in posting mode. The husband is providing his usual sounds effects (read: snoring) and every 10 minutes or so this commercial about a male enhancement pill comes on TV. While waiting for sleep to take over, I am sharing some pictures from our trip to St. Louis last July.
1) A glimpse of the Gateway Arch on the left and the Mississippi River
on the right. 2) Blue sky, rising temperature - you gotta love summer.
1) The Arch beckons. 2) Wonderful architectural detail in one of the museums.
1) The girl from the mountains and her horse-drawn carriage. But where's
her knight in shining armor? 2) Fed and happy at Pappy's.
1) Yes, that's his official job title. 2) Downtown St. Louis at night.
Okay, sleep cometh!
So crucify me
I have come to realize that being Filipino and being Catholic can be lethal. We are so used to being the "dominant religious force" in the Philippines that we feel it is incumbent upon us to get into other people's business when it comes to matters of the faith. And we bring this attitude with us wherever we go.
I have an acquaintance who for the longest time has been inviting me to go to Mass with her. I've no problem with that. You can invite me to watch the moon and I will try to consider it. Anyway, I have turned her down every single time because... Just because. Heck, do I really need a reason? Now before you all label me as a heretic, I am Catholic. Although not the kind who would wipe statues clean with a handkerchief, walk on my knees on Holy Week or feel obligated to be in a church to communicate with my God.
To continue, this acquaintance asked me if I ever go to church. By that she meant the Catholic church. I said no, not in a long time, but that occasionally I attend services at my husband's church. "Oh, and what church is that?" she asks. I told her Kevin is Adventist. Almost instantly, she gives me "the look," the kind that says I have betrayed my faith. She tells me that act - going to another church - constitutes abandoning my religion. "You have to choose," she proclaims. "Do I have to?" I counter, trying to maintain the conversation as friendly as possible. She declares it is how things should be. "Why? Does that mean I have jeopardized my chances of entering the pearly gates of heaven?" I answer with a smile. She didn't like my kind of humor and walked out. I have a feeling there won't be forthcoming invitations from her in a while. Oh well.
After almost two years of living in this country, I have discovered the guilty pleasure of having the freedom to believe in anything - and not be ostracized for it. Or you can bring your sentiments to the public forum and not be doused with holy water. When Pope Benedict came to visit the US early this year, I found myself riding the train with a group of protesters armed with slogans denouncing the Catholic church's seeming inaction on the sexual abuses committed by the clergy. "Don't hide the rapists," one placard said. Wow, you don't see that often in the Philippines, if at all.
This is not to say I'll go ahead and worship a tree. It's just refreshing that out here it is okay to be not part of the mainstream. And you don't have to explain that either.