Sermon on the Riverside

Today is first work day of the year. Struggled to wake up at 8AM, came to office past 9AM in assumption that I was already late. I was the third person who came in, been waiting outside the office for 30 minutes because the doorbell was broken and the phones were in voice mail. Worked on typesetting an English Book of Hope to Tagalog, still missing some resources. Fasting at lunchtime, we shared testimonies of how God has been faithful to everyone in the team. It was an encourager and an eye-opener, how despite the challenges and trials each one of us went through, the fact that God is the same faithful and loving God yesterday, today and forever does not change. 30 minutes to 4, Kuya Rodel rallies the team to go to Marikina Riverside Park for early dinner. It's only 30 minutes drive from the office. It was my first time to go there. The park is clean in a sense that it's all nature. No wonder it's hailed as the cleanest city in the Philippines. The river was literally full of janitor fish, the only existing fish in Marikina River because they wiped out other fish population after some pet owner threw his janitor fish in the river some decade ago.

Dinner. Kuya Rodel took us to a riverside grill. The food was OK and abundant for a cheap price. We were 13 in all. Each of us paid P90 full and satisfied. We feasted on sisig, maya-maya sa miso, grilled pusit, pork barbeque, grilled tilapia, green mangoes with onions and bagoong, and Sprite... Then at the end of dinner as we prepare to leave, a homeless boy suddenly approached our table to ask for scraps. In an unexpected response some of the team, Kuya Rodel and Kuya James offered the boy to give him full dinner. There were still left-overs from our dinner, so they ordered rice for Arsenio, the boy's name shortly after chatting with him. He ate beside me, where Kuya James was. Obviously he was very hungry and managed to down 3 cups of rice. He was homeless, sleeps and wanders in the park, dirty, only finished third grade in elementary, hardly knows how to read - sitting beside me. I was stunned. Stunned meaning I didn't know how to react in a neutral sense. I didn't know how to speak to him naturally, human to human, without feeling an inch of disregard and even hypocrisy. Earlier they were teasing me that I'm not used to eating food such as these, meaning I'm some picky rich guy or something which is totally not true. It was a guilt feeling even if I hardly moved in my chair, thinking how I would fail to even see and initiate contact with this kid in a deeply involved way. Clearly it was a dealing of the heart. I was humbled by their goodness and they couldn't care less what other people would say. They even made an effort to share Jesus to him, that Jesus loves him, and even sincerely offered to take him home for a bath. It was a slap in my face. What a lesson God has taught me today.

After that, we walked around, Kuya Rodel dropped me and Kuya James at MRT Station and rode home.