Surfing our TV set, i chanced upon a Doctor of Theology in one of my favorite channels talking about God's divinity in relation to a song she heard over a radio. My interest was aroused because the song she mentioned happened to be one of my favorites, "One of Us".
As properly-educated-appearing as possible she lengthily explained her personal evaluation of the song as something ridiculous. She even went to the extent of name-dropping a particular saint to back up her viewpoints. She broke my heart. "It is (indeed) a lonely faith" (Rev. Franco Mendiola, OFM. SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI IN THE YEAR 2000). And it is becoming lonelier and lonelier.
To give you an overview of the song may i offer you its chorus: "what if God was one of us/just a slob like one of us/just a stranger on a bus trying to make His way home". The full text of the song will further show you that the song is actually a desperate cry of loneliness from our ever growing estrangement from one another as children of God.
The problem i find very disturbing with our "educated few" is their seeming inability to connect anymore with the masses. In all probability they must have placed themselves somewhere above us. Yet they continually and consistently preach about going with the "signs of the times".
Back at where we were, the song. It got me to thinking further that maybe it did not appeal to her taste for music because the song's tune is jumpy. Normally, songs like this appeal more to extroverts, especially the people of sanguine personality.
After reading the book, PERSONALITY PLUS by Florence Littauer, i realized that our failure to know and understand these highly important facts regarding personality types could have also greatly influenced our indifference to one another. Back in my teen years, when i applied for a nunnery, nobody took me seriously. Maupay na la. Napalayas unta ak dayon. (It was just as well, I would have been kicked out immediately.)
In our culture with rigid behavioral dictates and expectations, people of my personality type find it very difficult to fit in. I got my share of different injustices such as blunt criticisms, maltreatments, unfair accusations, names, and what have you in my younger years. The society as a whole was harsh to me. I think I lost myself for the longest time then. I developed coping mechanisms to survive. We all do. But we cannot run away all the time.
What I am really driving about here is: let us just accept and respect one another. Let us take and treat everybody as just like us. There are a lot of things that we do not understand. We do not need to know deeply each one, if we do not like to. We just need to love, or however you may call our connectedness. I personally prefer to call it "love", for it is only love that we cannot get enough of. Let us consider each person, regardless of age, stature, etc., as our brother or sister. God does not have grandchildren. We must remember that to be always reminded of our equality.
Sarah Grand has a valid point when she said that, "Our opinion of people depends less upon what we see in them than upon what they make us see in ourselves." We will always be slobs, that's for sure. The only one thing that will be and remain important is our love for one another, no matter what and no matter when!
Love you dearly everyone! God bless all of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment