Your mantra for the week: “God is the wind beneath my wings.”

 

Fighting poverty has always been in the agenda of the country’s administration. But of course, no one has been able to solve it because everyone tries to change outer conditions—not knowing that poverty is really a state of consciousness.

 

This kind of consciousness is made up of people who believe that being poor is a virtue, as in, “Blessed are the poor,” and that the rich are just plain materialistic. There are also people who have accepted the idea that life means suffering and that the more they suffer, the greater their reward in heaven because God loves the poor and, therefore, they will surely be compensated in the afterlife.

 

Why has the country, which is made up of mostly Christians of different sects, but all believing in Jesus, forgotten his statement, “I have come so you may live a life more abundant”?

 

Apparently this has not been emphasized by the Church. What you often hear is that it would be “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven.”

 

Metaphysical meaning

 

The Church has failed to explain that the eye of a needle is the description of the small gate to the city when the main gate has been closed. The rich man that the Bible speaks of simply means, metaphysically, a man who has made money or the material his God; that would make it difficult for him to enter the gates of heaven where he cannot bring his material riches because heaven is simply a state of mind and not a geographical place, like hell also is.

 

Even Saint John Paul said, “Hell is not a physical place … nor a punishment imposed externally by God.”

 

Until our religions teach abundance and prosperity, there will always be those living below the poverty line. Thank God for the RH Law because, nowadays, people can choose to use condoms or other alternative birth control systems to avoid scenarios prevalent among informal settlers—in which 12-year-old girls can be had in exchange for a free meal.

 

But suffering is not exclusive to the poor. You will also find it among the rich and the not-so-rich. They postpone making what they know is the right decision until they reach their “last suffer.” They seem to be addicted to suffering because it is God-given, and heaven can be attained only through suffering, forgetting what Jesus of Nazareth said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

 

Power of affirmation

 

If we could only educate people about the power of affirmations and the spoken word which Isaiah 55:11 emphasizes: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

 

How many people do you hear speak, “Ang hirap ng buhay ngayon. Puro problema at laging kulang ang pera (Life is so difficult. We have lots of problems, and there is always a lack of money).” This is their mantra, and they speak it not only 40 times, as in our mantra beads which we use for affirmations, and it becomes their habitual thinking, feeling and dialogue.

 

So, no matter what P-Noy and his administration do, even if the stock exchange reaches the 12,000 level, there will still be those who would be living below the poverty line.

 

When Tina Monzon-Palma says in the promo of her TV show, “Talkback,” that “the government should focus on poverty so that life in the Philippines could get better,” I agree. However, the only way to address this is to first change the consciousness from lack and limitation to one of abundance and surplus. Now, how can one effectively do this?

 

Let us find ways and means of changing people’s inner and outer dialogue to: “Ang sarap ng buhay ngayon dahil kung anumang hingin natin sa Diyos na nasa kalooban, nakukuha natin. Basta huwag lang natin kalilimutan na ang bawat iniisip na nararamdaman natin at lumalabas sa ating bibig, negatibo o positibo, o-oo ang Diyos at ’yun ang nangyayari sa buhay natin. Araw-araw paganda nang paganda ang aking buhay. Wala na akong takot dahil niligpit ko na lahat ng aking ‘baka’ at ‘eh kung,’ at kung anuman ang magagawa ko, gagawin ko nang buong kasipagan (Life is so wonderful. No matter what we ask from the God within, we get. But we must at all times remember that God always says yes to our every thought that we feel and speak, negative or positive, and that is what we experience in our lives. Every day and in every way my life gets better and better. I have put aside all my ‘what ifs,’ and whatever I decide to do I accomplish with diligence).”

 

Speaking for herself

 

Last Sunday one of the broadsheets headlined that the Binay family would not forgive its critics when the current Vice President becomes the President. This is according to one Binay daughter, Rep. Abigail Binay, although she said, “This is inaccurate. My statement was taken out of context. The transcript of the interview will show that I was speaking only for myself…”

 

This is still shocking coming from a congresswoman whose family occupies all levels of government except for the presidency, which my former schoolmate Jejomar Binay is aiming for. If he does not win, a lot of this will have to do with his children’s attitude and behavior, i.e. losing their temper when they should be keeping cool.

 

Remember the Dasmariñas Village gate incident, in which Mayor Junjun Binay flagrantly flaunted his authority while sister Senator Nancy was quietly watching with nary a word of objection to the drama.

 

Jojo, as we used to call him in school, was always cool and humble. I wonder where the above emotional outbursts and statements of unforgiveness come from?

 

How many Binay critics would survive in a Binay administration? We probably would be back to the martial law days, which would be so ironic considering that Jojo became officer in charge of Makati as a result of heading the parliament of the streets against the conjugal dictatorship.

 

I now see TV ads of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte; in certain social media surveys, he and Sen. Grace Poe are trending either way. It would really be nice to live in a society where you get the axe for heinous criminal acts.

 

Poe is fast becoming a favorite for the presidency since she announced that she would not be the running mate of anyone vying for the presidency. Duterte and Mar are now neck and neck in the surveys although still behind Binay and Poe.

 

Let us see how P-Noy’s endorsement will reflect on these present tabulations. Destiny has a way of playing its cards when it comes to the “Voice of the People.” As of now, I have an idea who will be blessed or burdened with this most desired position.

 

I wonder, if corruption could truly be eradicated 100 percent, would there be anyone interested in becoming president with a measly salary of $2,713.70 (P120,000) a month? Many networkers make much more with much less responsibility. Would you, dear reader, perhaps want to run for the presidency?

 

Solely for the dancing

 

Meanwhile, back in the Conde de Makati days… Nena de Leon, whom I fondly refer to as the “Pope,” makes it a point to finance a wedding between two people already living together who are still not married because they cannot afford a wedding.

 

“I cannot stand seeing people living in a state of sin… I am really a square—just take my husband for example… I know he probably has an Americanita hidden here and there, but I’ve never caught him… But mark my word, the moment I catch him, I will leave him … especially now.”

 

Why especially now? I asked.

 

“Well because now I no longer need sex,” she replied emphatically.

 

Two decades later, as a widow, she married her dance instructor. I am sure it was solely for the dancing.

 

If she were alive today, she probably would be having Masses said for my conversion because I advocate living-in for at least three months before anyone ties the knot. I believe the only way one can really get to know another person is by living under the same roof and sharing a bed.

 

That is not even an assurance that the marriage would be happy. But, at least, it eliminates the unexpected, unpleasant surprises one could get when one has not lived-in with that person.

 

In today’s world, virginity is no longer an issue for many and, therefore, the parents of the bride can no longer claim they are on the losing side.

 

How different

 

Next month, jazz balladeer Arthur Manuntag and wife Kathryn are finally getting married in Church after 25 years, with 60 principal sponsors.

 

When asked by one of his sponsors why he was getting married in church only now, he said, “It is only at present that I can afford to have a big wedding.” To which the government-official sponsor said, “Ha! Iba ka rin. Nung ako nagkapera gusto kong iwanan ang asawa ko (Huh! How different you are. When I got rich I wanted to leave my wife).”