Pages: Ligo Na U, Lapit Na Me

Kung hindi lang dahil sa isa sa mga mentor ko ang pumuri nang wagas sa pagsasapelikula nito, hindi ko talaga ito babasahin. Bago lumabas ang pelikula, hindi naman siya naging patok. Bukod pa rito, tunog jejemon ang mismong pamagat ng aklat, at para sa isang taong nagnanais magkaroon ng koleksyon ng mga mahuhusay na akda sa Filipino, parang aksaya lamang ito ng pera at panahon.

Sa pagbuklat ko ng nobelang ito, natuklasan kong tama pala talaga ako. Walang pa-deep, walang pilosopikal, walang pampakilig. Isa lamang itong karaniwang nobelang "coming of age," tungkol sa isang lalakeng ayaw umamin na siya'y in love, isang babaeng walang talagang pakialam sa love, at sa isang tila pag-iibigang walang pinangakong kasiyahan kundi ang pagtambay sa coffee shop at pagkakama ng isa't isa. Sa huli, isa itong nobela ng wagas na pag-ibig na nauwi sa kasawian, subalit isang kasawiang mananatili bilang isang bahagi ng buhay na kailangang magpatuloy at ipagpatuloy.

Subalit higit na mahalaga ba ang tanong ng pagiging kayo, kung ang pagmamahal ay nakikita sa bawat maliit na sandali?

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Ito pala ang trailer ng pelikula:

Ponder Points: Servire, Dare, Amare

"Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Authentic service breaks out of the economy of exchange. To serve is not in view of gaining power or opportunity to stand above everyone else. It is to wholly give yourself wholly and willfully to everyone whom your presence will be of great help, to the tasks and responsibilities you are called to accomplish, to the community who expects from you because they trust you and you know that you can do great things. To serve is to actually do justice to your own existence, to bring it to its supposed fullness, a fullness that goes inward and not outward. To serve, ultimately, is to provide opportunities to love, to actually be without counting the rewards, the benefits, and the cost. To actually be taken aback by those people whom you are called to live and die for.

Thus, we are called to disrupt the economy, to show that life is not all about doing in view of something received. To orient ourselves towards service, towards giving ourselves in a thoughtful manner, even in times we are perceived to be villains trying to push others to do better or to exist for a greater purpose, is to say that happiness lies not in the things that we expect to get, but in the things we expect ourselves to give.

Indeed, service makes us a gift for others, a gift that the One who Fully Served to everyone whom He calls to be gifts as well.