mychristianityblog-blog

[mychristianityblog-blog]

MY First Blog By Nager N. Garcia

My first blog was a real disaster. I love to write but I think writing is not my forte. I mean, to tell you frankly, I am a novice in this endeavor. I just can’t control myself I really love to write. For years I tried to be one and time went by and here I am again trying. Sometimes I think about those who write as if when you are reading their work the characters are there in front of you alive. I wonder how they do it. The advent of computers had change writing tremendously! You need not open your thesaurus or your dictionary for the appropriate words you miss or forget. It is there and you will be surprised to discover new words you don’t even know before. Mind you, don’t ever do plagiarism your computer might have a program that can detect your illegal doings or others may have and you will be caught by those who read your illegal work. English is not the native language of the Philippines. The Americans instituted the English language as the only alternative the natives can understand each other. There are more than a thousand dialects in the Philippines. Sometimes even neighbors cannot understand each other. For more than three hundred years of Spanish rule, the Spanish language was taught only for the elites leaving the natives alien to each other divided and ruled. The Americans captured not only the entire Philippine territory from the Spanish rule in 1898 but also the hearts of the Filipinos through the English language. In fact all the Constitution of the Philippines since the Commonwealth was written in the English language. The adoption of Filipino natives of the English language has made the Philippines the only English speaking nation in the whole of Asia. Sad to say, however, that the great Philippine hero Dr. Jose Rizal once said, “ For those who forget to speak his own native language stink more than a rotten fish.” Anyway, to speak and write good English is not only an advantage to an average Filipino, it is also a status symbol. A good story of how the English language was strictly taught in the grade school before the 2nd World War was told by my father. ½ centavo fine for every dialect word spoken inside the school premises was strictly followed and observed by the pupils. One early morning a conversation ensued between a teacher and her pupils. Teacher: Why are you noise? Uh? Pupil 1: Miguel is very bad Mam, he threw me the scrub the floor. Pupil 2: He first hit me with the sweep the floor, teacher. Pupil 3: Yes Mam, I saw them quarrelling. Teacher: You are all bad. Pointing her finger to the pupils, she shouted. You, you and you, I will tie both of you in the flag ceremony. It is quite obvious but the conversation can be understood. This is a very good example of how the English language successfully integrated into the mainstream dialects of the Filipino society. The English language became the most sought after vocation of the elites and the grassroots before the war. It has produced the likes of Carlos P. Romulo, Joaquin, Claro M. Recto, Ferdinand E. Marcos and many others who were famous and renowned not only in the Philippines but also around the world. The English language is the official language strictly used in government meetings. A good story about a municipal councilor who was late in the municipal council meeting was asked by the presiding officer why he was late. The municipal councilor replied, “The road was so powder and last night I was in a distant village to coronize the queen.” There are countless stories laughable and amusing depicting the Filipinos encounter of the English language but these stories did not falter the Filipinos love to speak the language. One of the most famous was about a municipal mayor who was interviewed by a local radio newscaster. Newscaster: Are you busy mayor? Mayor: No, No. No, I am not the bise mayor, I am the mayor. Newscaster: What are your plans mayor? Mayor: Oh I plant camote, cassava, and vegetables. Newscaster: Sorry mayor, but regarding peace and order. Mayor: Yes I also plant peas but no order yet. Newscaster: That is not what I mean Mayor, regarding violence of your town (quite upset)? Mayor: Angrily replied, you news people I cannot understand. I cannot even play the guitar, how much more of violins. Laughable indeed but at least we are good enough than other countries struggling to grasp the need to learn and be understood internationally and around the world. The English language has evolved greatly through the years. Some foreign languages are incorporated and accepted as part of the language to the gusto of the country of origin. I like gusto as an example because it is more Filipino than Spanish. Ninja and Samurai are Japanese words but English speaking countries know what they meant. Truly, writing in English is a great challenge for small time writers like me. I might be the worst but at least I am trying to be the best. I don’t know how you will regard this piece of writing. But I will encourage the readers to try. Expose what is in your mind by writing and discover what a hidden talent you have. Writing anything under the sun is worth something in this age of the internet. Some people just want your work as theirs and love to pay. I don’t know what the heck are there in their minds doing that. There are good writers in the Philippines being exploited by these people and Filipino writers loved to be paid. I have a friend who can write an article of 1,500 words in just 30 minutes. He used to write eight articles a day and was being paid Php 18,000.00 a month! Are you nuts! Actually these pathetic writers do not know their work is being paid $ 20 per article or Php 8,000.00 per day or a staggering Php 240,000.00 a month. Very sad to note, these unfortunate writers were being exploited by their own Filipino counterparts who are IT experts who knew more about the internet than they do. Adding insult to injury, these Filipino writers are not secured in their struggle to survive in this very competitive world. They work without any contract. They don’t have social security and privileges. They work accordingly to met deadlines but are not being paid of their overtime work. They write according to the order of their clients even during holidays without extra compensation as required by law. I am glad I am a struggling writer. But I believe there are some who will like what I am writing. My words used may not that very appropriate or wrong word used or maybe misspelled but at least I delivered what I really wanted to convey to my readers. I am happy nobody wants to pay what I write about. At least it will remain mine and I love it! Can you write like this as a start? Oh common… just do it man !

[mychristianityblog-blog]

My Christianity

Since I was a child my father taught me the values of being a follower of Jesus Christ. In fact I used to clean our church every Sunday morning before the service. We are a member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) a Presbyterian affiliated church. My father taught me how to sing hymnals and most importantly how to pray. However, despite my father’s desire for me to become religious I regarded going to church boring and a real waste of time. I love to be with friends during Sundays and going to church averted my playing with them. We are nine siblings but I do not know why I am my father’s favorite to become religiously a Christian. You know I am really annoyed with old people snoring or napping during church services. I can observe their heads close to drop and sway only to suddenly stopped realizing they are inside the church and pretending they pay attention of the pastor’s lengthy stories of how Jesus died for our sins.

Actually, I have always my reservations about Christianity in the Philippines. Christianity for me is the greatest culture from the West that subjugated the culture of the Filipinos.  Historically, Christianity was forced by the Spaniards for the natives to follow. The apothegm “ by the cross or by the sword” ensued fear among the natives that they just do whatever the friars wanted them to do. They became extremely submissive and bow down to authority of the church. The church was more powerful than the known civil government during those times. I can still observe some churches trying to wrestle with local governments on issues like reproductive health and family planning. In the Philippines, it is always an advantage to be a member of a church with a large and plenteously voting membership. For the politicians, going against the church is a political blunder.

I happened to have a short conversation with a Hungarian tourist in an unknown bar in Cebu, a long time ago. I eagerly asked him what kind of government system they have in Hungary. I was surprised when he answered “ Catholicism”. He simply expounded, “ You know, your Catholicism in the Philippines is not like ours. It’s different”. I wonder if this is true. I have a brother in Norway and he gossiped about big churches in Europe without church goers. These churches are ministered mostly by Filipino priests who bowed to sacrifice for the sake of being an OFW rather than doing the boringness of priesthood in a place nobody are believers. Faces of statutes of Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary and the saints were being hammered and defaced accordingly to remind the people these were the sources of  corruption of the church. I also happened to talk with a Swedish national at Gonio’s vulcanizing shop I asked him about big and historical churches without churchgoers in their country. He told me, it is very true. He explained to me about human rights and respect of individual freedom. I was silent. No arguments.

Where is the Hungarian?

Some friends have told me I am a seeker, that I have yet to find my true church. I can still remember the religious gathering we have at Silliman University Scheide Farm way back my college days. The leader was a white American missionary fresh from the USA.  After his short introduction about himself, he was open for questioning. Of course, I asked the first question. “ Why are you here in the Philippines when more then 60% of Americans do not believe Jesus Christ ? My question received some unforgiving looks from my dorm mates and unexpected hush from the girls. He was stunned trying to explain but my follow up was more intriguing. Here you are trying to plant another church in the Philippines, are you not stupid not to observe churches established adjacent to each other? Filipinos are now becoming baffled with the growing number of churches established almost everywhere in the countryside. There is a famous street in the City of Iloilo where churches of different denomination lined adjacent to each other. One church reads, “ Satan I Rebuke You In the Name of Jesus Christ Church”. No wonder the Catholic Church is becoming stronger in the Philippines despite multitude of corruption issues of their priests and bishops. Only in the Philippines that becoming a priest is more lucrative than becoming a lawyer.

I am now a born again Christian member of Victory Church Dumaguete City. I love our church and I don’t like to mess a church service every Sunday. To tell you frankly, I have been to different churches in my lifetime and I do hope the Victory Church will be my final church in my walk with Jesus Christ before the end of my age. I was baptized UCCP when I was 18; became a Catholic when I was in Occidental Mindoro; married and solemnized in the PIC Church; I was baptized again as a member of the Ayungon Bible Church; and two years ago with the Victory Church in Dumaguete City. Becoming a true Christian is not easy. Walking with Christ is suffering with Him, sacrifice with Him, Honor Him and follow His final instructions while He was ascending to heaven. Acts 1:8 “ But you shall receive the power, after that the Holy Ghost shall come upon you and you shall be my witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea , and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

To be a true Christian and follower of Jesus we must Honor God and make Disciples.

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