Well Done, My Child!

When the casket of the late President Corazon C. Aquino was brought out of the Manila Cathedral, the people stood up, cheered and applauded.
My daughter, Darl asked me, why are they cheering? Why are they clapping their hands? It’s supposed to be sad because it is a funeral.

I asked her: Is it not that after your presentation in the general assembly, your schoolmates would clap their hands if they liked your performance? It is just like that. The people are cheering to say that President Cory did well in her lifetime. She lived a good life, she performed very well. She deserved to be applauded.

As I explained to her, I was asking myself in my mind: Cel, if ever you will die right this very moment, do you think people attending your burial will give you applause? More importantly, will God be proud of you? I remember that years ago, I said something in an article that I wrote, that at the end of my life, I imagine God welcoming me with the tight embrace I so wanted to feel, and He will tell me: Well done my child, I am proud of you.

It was a wake up call again for me (I received a lot of wake up calls in my entire life already). I know that my passion lies in writing. I know that a lot of people were inspired by just reading my articles every week. I know that some had even compiled the articles I have written. I know first-hand that people were grateful that I helped them in their burdens.

But I just stopped. Even with the awareness that I promised my readers that I will continue sending them God’s message of love every week, I just walked out of my ministry. Even with the awareness, that I made a pact with God to write as often as I can, I just stopped in 2005.

And yet everyday, my mind is running wild with a lot of ideas of what to write, but then I just let it all pass. Hundreds of them in the entire 4 years that I stopped writing! Mind you, even when I heard God whispering to me: Cel, write it down, write that idea down…I would not listen.

Yet somehow, at the core of my being, I know, I have to go back. The open invitation from God is just right there in the corner, waiting to be accepted. I just need a strong hard push.

In those years, I received blessings which I know, I should write about but I did not move. And then there came the final push as if the Lord already raised His voice to tell me to get up from my deep slumber and go back to my calling.

His voice was loud enough. I received trials. Excruciatingly painful trials that I know I have to write about. In between sobs, I smiled for God knows me well. Writing heals me of my woundedness.

And so last year, I wrote an article entitled My Epitaph. It was supposed to be a comeback article. Unfortunately, it was the first and the last for that year. I guess the realities of my life already caught up on me that my mind and heart went numb. It was totally dried up of ideas. I was groping. As if a part of me had been taken away, I no longer know how to write. It took a while to finally find myself again.

And so, here I am, asking myself in shame…Will God be proud of me if I am to die now? Did I use my life well to bless other people just as I have promised Him? Did I use the only talent I confidently knew I have to bring Him glory?

I just broke down in tears…So ashamed of myself…

Now you know the reason why I have this Quiet Corner again.

So what am I trying to say?

If you are one person who is moved by the life of the late President Aquino, do not just let it be a passing emotion. Ask yourself the very same question I asked myself. Will God meet us in the gates of heaven with comments like: “Not bad, my child” or “Well done my child, you make me proud.”

We really do not have to do extraordinary things. Things that will move heaven and earth because not all of us are given the opportunity and the resources to be extraordinary, like the famous people that we look up to. But then, in our own simple way, we can do something to bless the world everyday.

If you are a mother or a father, then be the best mother or father to your children…If you are a husband, then be the best husband to your wife. If you are a student, then be the best student you can be…If you are just at home, then do something in the house that will make the people living with you feel blessed…If you work in the City Hall or in any government office, or you are a teacher, a lawyer, a baker, a businessman, a banker, a nun, a priest, or a choir member. If you are anybody…the world never runs out of good things to do in order for us to be a blessing to the people around us.

More importantly, if you are someone, slump in the dark corner of the earth, miserable and buried deep down in shame not knowing how to even start working in God’s favour. Then act now, stand up, start doing the right thing, start planting the good seeds and work to please God. Everybody, let me repeat that, EVERYBODY, have the right to start anew.

To end this, I ask you to pray. Pray that God willingly shows you the best way to live your life, in order to be a blessing, in order to work for God.
As one poet would put it: We only live once, but if we live it right, once is enough. God bless you!