1 plus 1 equals anything
Let us see if you have studied well this year. Please answer the following questions:
1. If there are three bananas and you take away two, how many do you have?
Answer: Two bananas. Why? because you took two bananas!
2. Bible quiz: How many animals of each sex did Moses take on the ark?
Answer: None. Why? Because Moses was not in the ark. It was Noah.
Last question: Do you know that there is a law that a man living in Iloilo cannot be buried in Manila? So why can’t a man living in Iloilo be buried in Manila?
Answer: Because he is still living, he is still alive.
I don’t know how your mind works but I am old enough and have experiences sufficient enough to say that things don’t turn out as expected most of the times. And things don’t turn out as planned. Irregardless of how much control I made, despite the detailed planning that was prepared, and in spite of the many and meticulous attention to details, most of the things that turned out for the better in my work in formation were not in the script. I don’t know why, but I have to say this, miracles do happen and divine intervention is a natural occurrence as natural and as sure as the sun rises in the morning and sets at dusk.
Mark this very well, especially you who have been assigned the task of leading the community. There are things in this world that simply defy logic and careful calculation. Despite the fact that mathematics and music are exact sciences, the world we are in is beyond the exactness of arithmetic and logarithms and the precise tone of the middle do. The world is simply beyond those logical plots and expected results. And in an academic environment where truth is pursued with rigor, the way things are in the world can simply be dumbfounding.
An adulterer is caught. Any logical Jew at the time of Jesus would say that that is the end of her. Like all logic of cause and effect she has to suffer the consequences of the law. She must be stoned to death. She must be for that is the law.
But unluckily it did not turn out that way as expected. The pronouncement of Jesus as to who is without sin cast the first stone was greeted with silence by the by-standers, and in a little while the silent walking away of those too eager to cast the first stone, and lastly by the silent awe of a woman standing hoping and even probably getting ready to die. Something went wrong in the logic of things. Something went wrong in the way causes bring out effects. Forgiveness was easily acquired and forgiveness too easily given. What about consequences? What about good psychology? Do that to your high school seminarian, just simply and easily let him go after every crime he commits and you will be rearing an irresponsible kid and an irresponsible citizen and priest of the future?
And that’s not all. What about those who came late in the vineyard, who worked only for an hour and was given the same wage as those who worked for 8 hours. What is this? Isn’t this injustice? And go ahead tell that to every seminarian you find, and there will be chaos when throughout the year they will do whatever they want, transgress every rule there is in the book and be irresponsible in their formation. And on the eleventh hour, which is more or less three days before evaluation, they would simply ask forgiveness and be easily forgiven. This is not the way things are, but they happen, they happen.
But as you can see, there are things that defy logic, there are events that don’t come up to the expected conclusion, and there are happenings whose unexpected, unforeseen and unpredicted ending, simply jerks us from our seats in bewilderment and sometimes in horror.
It has been like this for a year, the year which I can only describe as a year of 1 plus 1 equals anything, a year when miscalculations turned out well, a year when stupidities turned out favorably, when sin became grace, when hate became the founding principle of real friendship, when distrust became the basis for reliance and faith.
I am not privy to how every diad developed. But I have seen some which did not exactly start as love at first sight, grow mature and intimate.
I cannot say this of every class nor am I all-knowing as to how each class came to be as they are now. But I have seen some who have made great strides in relationships from a friendship of convenience to a friendship which really mattered, to a friendship that makes meaningful and most of the time hurtful interventions to individual members.
I cannot say this to everybody since it is quite obvious to most of you but despite its disagreeable label and the bias that must have been developed since its conception, and the bias that must have been contributed by the very person who gives it, I have seen people value their IC’s, individuals taking responsibility for their formation, fulfilling our agreements and making great strides to their development as a human person. They defy logic. They defy the natural consequences of cause equals effect, of a bully, moody, highly erratic and equally eccentric IC director and a clientele who has become responsible, more mature, more human. I don’t know how I can make you believe that, but I tell you there are things that simply defy logical assumptions and conclusions which make biases and prejudices and prejudgments laughable if not outright contrary to reality.
I am just a simple priest and I have not really taken my theological studies seriously in the past, though I assure you I have passed each one of them. But most of the times, life, which is the arena of God’s grace, teaches us things beyond our understanding, things beyond our expectations and things beyond our reason. I don’t know what to do with this realization but I assure you I still wouldn’t come to mass without preparing my homily and I would still prepare my lessons the night before, and I would still go through my decisions over and over again and not just leave them to my moods and sudden inspiration.
But with this realization I must leave enough room for God to maneuver and enough flexibility for me to adjust to his promptings. Yes we plan but we give God enough room to maneuver and give ourselves enough flexibility to adjust to him and his promptings. This is probably what hope, means, for placed in a very precarious situation we cannot but hope on the goodness of another. This is the hope of that woman ready to be stoned. This was the hope of Isaiah when he declared that God will do something new, something totally different. This is the hope of the sinner Saul who became Paul who considered everything that he ever did as rubbish, all rubbish and all nothing but trash, and who in turn relied so much in the mercy of God, in a God who can make sins like scarlet, white as wool, in a God who defies logic and human expectations. This is the reason why we can only say with the Psalmist – The Lord has done great things for us. We are filled with joy. This is my conclusion for this year of surprises: The Lord has done great things for us. We are filled with joy.
What was the name of the president of the Philippines in the year 2000?
Answer: The name of the president of the Philippines in 2000 is the same as it is now in 2004. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, unless I missed the news which said that she changed her name somewhere in between.
Don’t trust what you think as obvious. Don’t be too trusting in what you may initially perceive as obvious. Don’t be too trusting in reason. God works in mysterious ways.
1. If there are three bananas and you take away two, how many do you have?
Answer: Two bananas. Why? because you took two bananas!
2. Bible quiz: How many animals of each sex did Moses take on the ark?
Answer: None. Why? Because Moses was not in the ark. It was Noah.
Last question: Do you know that there is a law that a man living in Iloilo cannot be buried in Manila? So why can’t a man living in Iloilo be buried in Manila?
Answer: Because he is still living, he is still alive.
I don’t know how your mind works but I am old enough and have experiences sufficient enough to say that things don’t turn out as expected most of the times. And things don’t turn out as planned. Irregardless of how much control I made, despite the detailed planning that was prepared, and in spite of the many and meticulous attention to details, most of the things that turned out for the better in my work in formation were not in the script. I don’t know why, but I have to say this, miracles do happen and divine intervention is a natural occurrence as natural and as sure as the sun rises in the morning and sets at dusk.
Mark this very well, especially you who have been assigned the task of leading the community. There are things in this world that simply defy logic and careful calculation. Despite the fact that mathematics and music are exact sciences, the world we are in is beyond the exactness of arithmetic and logarithms and the precise tone of the middle do. The world is simply beyond those logical plots and expected results. And in an academic environment where truth is pursued with rigor, the way things are in the world can simply be dumbfounding.
An adulterer is caught. Any logical Jew at the time of Jesus would say that that is the end of her. Like all logic of cause and effect she has to suffer the consequences of the law. She must be stoned to death. She must be for that is the law.
But unluckily it did not turn out that way as expected. The pronouncement of Jesus as to who is without sin cast the first stone was greeted with silence by the by-standers, and in a little while the silent walking away of those too eager to cast the first stone, and lastly by the silent awe of a woman standing hoping and even probably getting ready to die. Something went wrong in the logic of things. Something went wrong in the way causes bring out effects. Forgiveness was easily acquired and forgiveness too easily given. What about consequences? What about good psychology? Do that to your high school seminarian, just simply and easily let him go after every crime he commits and you will be rearing an irresponsible kid and an irresponsible citizen and priest of the future?
And that’s not all. What about those who came late in the vineyard, who worked only for an hour and was given the same wage as those who worked for 8 hours. What is this? Isn’t this injustice? And go ahead tell that to every seminarian you find, and there will be chaos when throughout the year they will do whatever they want, transgress every rule there is in the book and be irresponsible in their formation. And on the eleventh hour, which is more or less three days before evaluation, they would simply ask forgiveness and be easily forgiven. This is not the way things are, but they happen, they happen.
But as you can see, there are things that defy logic, there are events that don’t come up to the expected conclusion, and there are happenings whose unexpected, unforeseen and unpredicted ending, simply jerks us from our seats in bewilderment and sometimes in horror.
It has been like this for a year, the year which I can only describe as a year of 1 plus 1 equals anything, a year when miscalculations turned out well, a year when stupidities turned out favorably, when sin became grace, when hate became the founding principle of real friendship, when distrust became the basis for reliance and faith.
I am not privy to how every diad developed. But I have seen some which did not exactly start as love at first sight, grow mature and intimate.
I cannot say this of every class nor am I all-knowing as to how each class came to be as they are now. But I have seen some who have made great strides in relationships from a friendship of convenience to a friendship which really mattered, to a friendship that makes meaningful and most of the time hurtful interventions to individual members.
I cannot say this to everybody since it is quite obvious to most of you but despite its disagreeable label and the bias that must have been developed since its conception, and the bias that must have been contributed by the very person who gives it, I have seen people value their IC’s, individuals taking responsibility for their formation, fulfilling our agreements and making great strides to their development as a human person. They defy logic. They defy the natural consequences of cause equals effect, of a bully, moody, highly erratic and equally eccentric IC director and a clientele who has become responsible, more mature, more human. I don’t know how I can make you believe that, but I tell you there are things that simply defy logical assumptions and conclusions which make biases and prejudices and prejudgments laughable if not outright contrary to reality.
I am just a simple priest and I have not really taken my theological studies seriously in the past, though I assure you I have passed each one of them. But most of the times, life, which is the arena of God’s grace, teaches us things beyond our understanding, things beyond our expectations and things beyond our reason. I don’t know what to do with this realization but I assure you I still wouldn’t come to mass without preparing my homily and I would still prepare my lessons the night before, and I would still go through my decisions over and over again and not just leave them to my moods and sudden inspiration.
But with this realization I must leave enough room for God to maneuver and enough flexibility for me to adjust to his promptings. Yes we plan but we give God enough room to maneuver and give ourselves enough flexibility to adjust to him and his promptings. This is probably what hope, means, for placed in a very precarious situation we cannot but hope on the goodness of another. This is the hope of that woman ready to be stoned. This was the hope of Isaiah when he declared that God will do something new, something totally different. This is the hope of the sinner Saul who became Paul who considered everything that he ever did as rubbish, all rubbish and all nothing but trash, and who in turn relied so much in the mercy of God, in a God who can make sins like scarlet, white as wool, in a God who defies logic and human expectations. This is the reason why we can only say with the Psalmist – The Lord has done great things for us. We are filled with joy. This is my conclusion for this year of surprises: The Lord has done great things for us. We are filled with joy.
What was the name of the president of the Philippines in the year 2000?
Answer: The name of the president of the Philippines in 2000 is the same as it is now in 2004. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, unless I missed the news which said that she changed her name somewhere in between.
Don’t trust what you think as obvious. Don’t be too trusting in what you may initially perceive as obvious. Don’t be too trusting in reason. God works in mysterious ways.
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