Looking at this tiny
shred of faith, I realized how frail I am.
Under the cerulean heaven of a peaceful afternoon, I found
myself wandering along the streets of Intramuros, seeking for someone or
something that can give me enough inspiration to grow and burgeon anon. I was
not alone that day – I was surrounded by a lot of people with different stories
say. Some of them bear enthralling tales of raptures with them while relishing
that peaceful afternoon. Some of them want to rupture in tears as they recall
the drastic events that they were forced to embrace in order to live. All of
them are interesting people but, somehow, the soul that I have searching for
was not around because that person who has the heart that can make me vide the
beauty of living in this temporary paradise was really hard to find.
I was losing hope when I sat down at the rough stairs in
front of the Manila Cathedral. The rain was beginning to fall. I asked the
cotton-like clouds above: “Is it a blessing or a curse?” And I got the heaven’s
reply when I saw a thin, old man selling colorful rosaries with his underarm
crutches in use.
Opportunities are like shooting stars. It may disappear in just a blink of an
eye without even waving goodbye. I hurriedly crossed the street and rushed to
the place where he is. From a distance, I discerned him gazing at me with his
eyes scintillating like evening stars and with his broad smile as wide as the
endless sky. I opened up the conversation and watched the story of his life as
it unfurls before the two wide open eyes of my soul.
Mang Nonoy is the face of millions of people who disregard
their illnesses only to provide food for their families. He is a rosary vendor
near the Manila Cathedral and has been doing such job there since 1979. He
travels everyday from Montalban, Rizal to Intramuros, Manila. According to him,
a lot of tourists are going in and out of the walled city that is why a lot of
buyers are also there. Most of his buyers are foreigners and balikbayans. Some
students and Filipinos who are having tours there also purchase rosaries from
him. At first, he sells different kinds of products depending on what is “in”,
and then he finally made up his mind to focus only in selling rosaries with
different colors and styles. He made most of those rosaries by buying beads
from Cebu, Manila and other places where it was cheap while some of them were
made by those prisoners who are starting to face another sunrise in their lives
after those long windswept nights.
He is a kind and loving father, a hard-working and
passionate husband of his spouse who is a factory worker. He does not care
about his being lame and all he aims to do is to help his wife in raising their
four children. Three of his those children are studying that is why he really
needs to earn money because he knows that education is the only treasure he can
give them because he, himself, came from a very poor family and he has no
properties that he can leave them when he dies. All of his wishes, reveries,
hopes and even pipedreams revolve around his deepest dream and that is to see
them successful in their lives. Sickness will never be a hindrance for him to
fight valiantly against windswept moments and virulent things. If it was for
his children, he knows no pain, no hunger and no disability. His love for his
family supersedes the brightness of the eye in the sky amid the summer days.
The heat of the sun can only burn his skin but it can never turn his altruistic
emotion for them into ashes.
For more than three decades of selling, he has witnessed the
special events as well as the changes that occurred within the said city. He
cheerfully told me his thoughts and feelings when he saw Sharon Cuneta and
Gabby Concepcion’s wedding. He also expressed his delight everytime he sees
famous personalities in the Manila Cathedral. The way I see it, he perceive
these things as boons from the angels above – things that entertains him when
he is working.
We continued our conversation. I learned a lot of things
from him such as the beauty of acceptance, love, bravery, perseverance,
determination and selflessness. But of all his advices about life, what I like
the most was the perception that he shared to me.
“Lahat ng bagay ay mahirap, kailangan lang ng tiyaga,” he
stated.
With what he said, I recalled all the moments in my life
when I succumbed without having fighting as one of my choices. I realized how
numbskull I am to make giving up, for so many times, as my only option. He, a
man who was enfeeble by a disability, knows how to run and race with those
passing cars and walking people for the sake of his family while those without
illnesses loves complaining to God and shunning their tests from the angels
above. Somehow, it was a sad reality that those who are healthy, has more than
enough and owns an almost perfect life are the ones who are flimsy, longing for
a lot of things and seeing the Earth as a forest of swizz.
The world is replete with incessant happiness and
conspicuous mirth but a lot of us can never be sated because of fear and
pessimism.
Everytime I see this little piece of faith, I fathom how
weak I am for shedding tears for petty things and accusing life as unfair
because of inane reasons. And I remember him, Mang Nonoy, who taught me how to
open my eyes to the fact that I got a lot of blessings to embrace and so many
things to learn. Yes, he is the soul that I want. Anyone can be an inspiration
– both rich and poor. It is not the status that determines the person who can
bring sunshine into your life but the heart he owns inside of him.
Each time I vide the rosary I bought from him, I perceive
the sun rising from the East and the rainbow that comes after the rain — I
discern the reality that I can always be a fighter, I can always squelch every
obstacle in this race called life. Yes, I see heaven everytime he enters my
mind – I find the kingdom of God that promises a life of glowing bliss.
[2012]
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