Accents
My kind of invocation
The remark was not so loud but I heard it clear enough on the way back to my seat after delivering the first number on the Christmas Program of the Fil-Am Association here in South Carolina: "That was an invocation like no other." Call it a conceit in me, but I took what the fellow said as a compliment.
In the first place, unlike Press Secretary Jesus Dureza of the Arroyo administration, I didn't do a "perhaps"; didn't invoke God to extend Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's term "perhaps" beyond 2010. When his invocation stirred a tempest in the teapot, Dureza conveniently said he was only relying on the Almighty's sense of humor. Of course, it is public knowledge by now that Dureza's invocation was but a foreshadow of ominous schemes now obtaining in the Philippine Congress especially in the Lower House or the House of Representatives that teem with Arroyo's minions.
My "invocation like no other" did draw from the Supreme Being's sense of humor as you will note at the end. It runs thus:
"Let us put ourselves in the presence of the Supreme Being, Yahweh, Allah, Jesus Christ, the Divine, the Omnipotent, you name him or her—and it would be so all right.
"Let us implore the Supreme Being for guidance as we walk the pathways of our life. Even as we can see the mud in those paths, we are endowed with an ever greater capacity and sensitivity to see, hear, and experience 'sermons on stones, books in running brooks, and good in everything,' just as poetry [Shakespeare's] would have it.
"Even us we face this abundance before us, let us not forget the desperate, the dispossessed, the disempowered in the shacks beside Manila's railroad tracks or in the hovels of Calcutta and Africa. May the Divine fortify us in the fight against poverty and hunger, against racial prejudices, intolerance, and injustice. May the Divine make us continue to grow in compassion, continue to make a difference no matter how small.
"Make us live little Danika's line [Danika is our granddaughter] in their school program that Christmas is sharing, giving, and caring. May the Supreme Being bless this food that will nourish us in pursuit of St. Paul's eternal verities: faith, hope, and love.
"And finally, let us draw from the Supreme Being's sense of humor as we enjoy the camaraderie and proceed to the next number in tonight's affair: gorge on the delectable, delicious, lip-smacking concoctions for stomach development. Amen to all that. Amen. Amen. Amen." Switching from the solemn to the cheerful, I concluded with a big smile.
Rudy and I flew in from California Dec. 3, and with jetlag still upon me, I had to scrawl down lines for a meaningful invocation on short notice, which I read instead of delivering impromptu. It induced comments from my sharpest critics, the hubby and daughter Randy Raissa. "Great job, Mommy," Randy said, she who is sharp in seeing both mud and star-like things. Rudy, the human rights activist, had two thumbs up, having felt in the invocation undercurrents of their mission in ILAC or the Iloilo Legal Assistance Center, i.e., the uplift of the poor and powerless, the exploited and the oppressed. (Seriously, this is another subject that calls for a lengthy exposition)
The audience before me was a mix of races of different religious denominations that I wanted to be ecumenical, encompassing, all-embracing. I wanted the invocation to bring everyone to a common ground of our shared humanity. It was an assignment from an icon of the association, the one and only Eileen Buckalew nee Roque. Eileen it was who walked way beyond the extra mile toward a highly successful affair that went on beautifully as printed thus: Fil-Am Association 6th Annual Christmas Pot Luck Party Sun., Dec. 7, 2008. Venue of the party was the swanky Port Royal Beach House in Hilton Head, a famous island resort in South Carolina. Kababayans inthe home country would be happy to know that three information tables were meticulously and artistically set up to feature the three regions of Perlas ng Silanganan, the Pearl of the Orient Seas: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. And the loose leaf on Filipino Trivia, excerpted from thepinoy.com, was a master stroke from dear Eileen.
Because the next day was school day for our granddaughter Danika, we left midway of the gathering, immediately after the performance of Philippine folk dances by Welma Horn and the Sun City dancers. Gracious and graceful Welma was a storehouse of time and talent, sharing her expertise with an all-white contingent—you thought you're watching Bayanihan performers imported from the home country. Talaga? Talaga!
We sang Ang Pasko ay Sumapit. The song has become the Filipinos' national Christmas anthem and had almost everyone standing and singing. As always, it brought to mind memories of past Christmases that evoke the old, quaint feeling of mingled sadness and happiness that makes one so human—you cry and pray and laugh. Most probably, Bing Crosby's I'm dreaming of a white Christmas impacts on the same measure the people in winterland.
We missed the Tinikling number of the Buckalew brother-sister team, Ian and Caitlin; missed too the rest of the merrymakings and gift-swapping. We were so gladdened meeting up with the old dependables, however short: Richard Cuanang, Naty and Vanessa Orr, Alvin Arcayan, Linda and Greg Patron, Teddy Caasi. Ellier Gervero, Mayette and Serge Chua, and the rest of the Pinoys, half Pinoys, Americans, half Americans, et al., who contributed to an enjoyable evening in one tiny spot of the global village.
(E-mail: lagoc@hargray.com)