You Can't Win 'Em All

2nd Season Basketball Tournament

[Synergizers] Our team's five-game winning streak (one win is courtesy of the Happee team who already backed out from the tournament) has just ended earlier this evening; thanks to you Wild Buddies! Eheh. A 41-point margin is somewhat devastating on our part, but please allow me to excuse our team from this shame for the reason that two of our starting five players were not able to play. Oh well, a lose is still a lose, no excuses. But the Wild Buddies are a seasoned team; they have joined several tournaments already as a team. Imagine them playing against our young team which was just formed for the sake of this competition. Tsk tsk. Okay, I know. No excuses.

We still have three games remaining and we must win a couple of those games for a guaranteed slot in the semis round, fingers crossed. I'll post another update at the end of the elimination round.

By the way, Matadors also lost against DMS tonight (Season 1 Championship rivals). I miss playing with my old team. Hope they also get to join the semi-finals, and eventually meet them at the Championship round. Eheh.

Until then.

Maktub!

What's In A Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
William Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

According to Mosignor Moraleda, the celebrant of the mass I attended this evening, there are three names that we carry as we live.

One is the 'name' we inherited from our predecessors. It is the name that our parents inherited from their parents, which will then be handed down to us the moment we are born. It is the name to which we belong in the sea of people here on earth.

The next one is the 'name' given to us by our parents. It is the name by which we are called by others. It is the identity that we are superficially known for; the one that somewhat makes us unique from the rest of the world.

And the last one is the 'name' that we will leave to our children or to our loved ones. It is the name that speaks for what we have done while we were living. It is the name that matters the most. The same name may have been bequeathed to us by our predecessors, and we may have the same name as others have, but the name that we have made out of such names will be the one that will be remembered long after we have departed this world.

The name founded on love is the only name that will matter before the Lord.

And so I quote Stephan Grellet's words:

“I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

How about you? What's with your name?

Maktub!

Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Guilt Feelings

[Monday ; 4:25 pm.] While rushing down the street on my motorcycle to beat an enrolment deadline, I accidentally hit someone. A girl crossing the pedestrian lane got me stunned when she suddenly appeared right in front of my somewhat fast-moving vehicle. Good thing, I was able to depress the brakes strong and timely enough to keep myself from fatally injuring an innocent student. After the untoward incident, the girl, without saying anything or even looking at me, immediately walked towards the other side of the road where a number of people are standing by and waiting for a ride. While walking away, I was left asking her if she is alright. When no response was given to me, I parked on the streetside at once, got off my bike and looked for her in the crowd. When I couldn't find her, my guilt feelings grew stronger. Upon asking a couple of witnesses as to where she went, that was the only time when I learned that she already rode a passenger jeepney. Clueless about her condition and terribly feeling guilty, I just thanked God for saving the both of us from severe injury. And with nothing else to do, I then drove to school.

To the victim of my reckless imprudence, whoever you are, I'm so sorry my dear. I pray that no injury or trauma was caused to you by my carelessness. :(

Lessons learned: That even if you are already in the right place, you can still be in deep shit if you are there at the wrong time. That, from now on, I should drive prudently for the next untoward incident might be a disastrous and fatal one. And lastly, that God is really good.

Again, I praise and thank you dear God!

Maktub!

Saintly Shower

November 1, 2008 is a wet, flooded and muddy All Saints' Day at Bicol Memorial Park, Legazpi City. The rain poured down heavily for a couple of hours, causing a lot of people who usually spend time with their dearly departed ones until midnight or morning the following day to go home early.

As soon as we arrived at the cemetery, we placed several bouquets of flowers at the tombstone or tomb marker, lit some candles, offered prayers and recited the rosary for the eternal repose of the soul of our beloved deads, especially the soul of Papa. After a couple of minutes, the sky slowly darkened, drizzle followed and eventually started raining cats and dogs. Armed with an umbrella, I attended a mass celebration at 7 pm under the rain. The priest anchored his sermon to the verse of Matthew 16:26 which says:

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?".

He also mentioned that even if we spend 24 hours at the cemetery, offer lots of flowers and lit a dozen of candles, they will all be inutile and of no good if we can't say a prayer for the souls of our dearly departed ones. It struck me and made me realize that yeah, we spend time at the cemetery but spend only several minutes in prayer. What a shame. Sigh! Although the rain halts once in a while, it didn't completely died down until around 8:30 pm; but still, drizzle periodically poured down throughout the night. Minutes later, we drove home to avoid being caught by another downpour. Besides, we can always pray at home!

Maktub!