THE LONG LOST SONG

One afternoon, ten years ago, I heard a song over the radio.  It was not a familiar love song but the first time I heard it, I immediately fell in love with it.  Ika nga, "Love at first sound."  Hehehehe!

But I missed the title of the song.  And since then, I started haunting the song or should I say, the song  haunted me?

I tried guessing the title of the song but I kept on failing.  Nobody could tell  about it from all the people I asked.  I even sang the few lines that I remember just to help the people I am asking if they know the song but to no avail.  I tried to catch in youtube but I failed.  I tried consulting google but it did not help.

The saddest part is, I never heard of the song again.  My hope in finding the so elusive song diminished but my love for the song did not.

My hope came into fulfillment last year.  after ten years, somebody was able to tell me the title of the song.  At last I found the song or should I say, the song found me.  I was so happy to finally find it and so amazed that the title best describes what I did to the song for ten years, FINDING IT.  Mas lalo kong na-appreciate ang song dahil it exactly tells my longing to find it.  Hehehehe

I listened to it again and again.  The melody is so simple but the lyrics is so romantic and poetic, just like love, just like lovers.

I am making a post of this song because it is one of my favorite, if not my favorite song.  Now, please do listen to the song and tell me if it is worth finding:-) I bet you will fall in love again upon hearing this song!

FRIENEMIES!(Blocked, Blocked and Away!)

I have realized that Facebook is indeed for friendship.  It is to establish friendship and to stabilize existing ones.  To others, Facebook has become also a platform to gain "frienemies"(friends turning to enemies). That is, making friends expressed their rant against each other through their shout outs until their friendship totally ruined. Parinigan kung parinig.  I am learning to avoid using my Facebook account other than to build friendship.

I am not choosy with whom to accept friend's request on Facebook.  Who knows? I might get a genuine friend from it.  And I did.  I am planning to post about that topic next time.  

Going back to shout out, my wife told me that somebody posted a shout out implying his disappointment to my reappointment in the church.  I missed the said "shout out" that my wife was talking about.  To verify what my wife was saying, I looked at the account of this person and viola, there,were his two shout out implying about my reappointment sa church.  Obviously, he was not happy with the news.  

Well, I respect his opinion.  I cannot please everybody especially him and the other who share with his sentiments.  I am sorry that my best was not good enough for him and for them. But as far as the "official recommendation" of the church, it is for my retention.  But there are people who could not accept that there are people who love me for who I am so they cannot do anything about it, except, POSTING A SHOUT OUT in Facebook.

His first shout out says that magtitiis na naman daw sila.  That means, while I am staying in the church, they are to endure.

The next shout out is, mabuti pa raw sa Facebook visible.  He is implying that I am not visible in the church.

Upon seeing these shout outs, the fighter in me would like to post a counter shout out.  And had I let my feelings prevail, I will post these:

"NAGTITIIS KA PALA, E BAKIT HINDI KA UMALIS? BAKA NGA MAS MARAMI ANG MATUWA KAPAG UMALIS KA DAHIL AKO MAN AY NAGTITIIS DIN SA YO!"  

Oo, alam ko, ALL CAPS AND BOLD letters ang ginamit ko.  Hahahahahahaha!  

Sa second shout out niya naman, this is what I can say.  Siya ang madalas wala sa mga activities ng church.  And I am happy for his absence kasi binabastos niya naman ako nang hindi pagpansin sa akin.  Tapos nagrereklamo siya kapag hindi niya ako nakikita.  Hahahahahahaha! Siguro dahil wala siyang nababastos.

Pero mabuti na lang ay napigilan ko ang sarili ko.  Pero ang asawa ko ay hindi.  Nagparinig din pala siya sa Facebook in my defense.  Thank you and i love you Mahal!

Mabuti na lang nagtimpi ako kahit nga nasasaktan din ako.  Do people really think that they have the right to say whatever they think and feel even if it will hurt somebody? And do church members think that they can criticize their pastor and ignore the value of their position.  Man, you are barking at somebody whom you call "your" pastor.  That is, if you really know the meaning of the word, pastor.  Yes, pastors as people are not perfect but pastor as an office deserves a great degree of respect!

When our former bishop was allegedly involved in wrongdoing, I kept my mouth shut.  I did not join the trend of making him the center of gossip, malicious jokes and condemnation.  While other churches are divided on the issue, my church was clueless to what is happening.  I made it a non-issue not because I am tolerant of our bishop but because I do not know who is really telling the truth.  And most of all, I respect the office of the bishop.

Going back to the shout out issue, naisip ko  na I cannot stoop down to his level.  Ayaw kong maging NEGASTAR Sharon Cuneta na pumapatol sa mga taong hindi naman kapatul-patol.  Hahahahahahaha!

Hindi ako sumagot sa first shout out niya.  Ganon din sa pangalawa.  Pero may ginawa naman ako para hindi na ako masaktan at ma-tempt pa na sagutin siya.  Nope, hindi ko siya in-unfriend.  I BLOCKED HIM!  Hahahahahaha!  That means, neither I nor him can see each other on Facebook.  I also delete him to my Yahoo Messenger.  Why?  Again, I don't want to make "patol".  Kung siya, hindi niya naiisip ang mga implications ng mga shout outs niya, he can shout his lungs out!  Pero ako, BLOCKED, BLOCKED AND AWAY ang peg! Hahahahahaha!

Ngayon, pati sa Facebook hindi niya na talaga ako makikita.  Ika nga ng GMA, think before you click para hindi tayo ma-BLOCKED, BLOCKED AND AWAY.  Hahahahahahaha!

BENIPISYO AT SAKRIPISYO

Isang araw, nagkausap kami ng isang pastor tungkol sa isang member niya na may issues tungkol  sa mga benefits na natatanggap ng mga pastor sa kasalukuyan.  Tama naman ang kanyang isipan na malaki na nga ang ipinagkaiba ng financial support at allowances ng mga pastor noon kumpara sa ngayon.  Take myself as an example.

Aside from my basic salary, the church gives me the following:

1. Living allowance

2.  Transportation allowance

2.  Representation allowance

The church also provides for my:

1. Housing

2. Water

3. Electricity.  There is a ceiling in this one though.

4. Telephone

5. Internet Connection

Sa dating church ko naman na pinanggalingan ay may ganito pang mga allowances na binibigay:

1.Children allowance usually given one time during school enrollment.

2. Book allowance

3. Clothing allowance

4.  Communication allowance (Cellphone load)

Siyempre, dagdag mo pa diyan ang mga love gifts na suddenly ay ibinibigay ng mga members kapag sila sa akin ay:

1. Natutuwa.

2. Naawa.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I must say na I am considered to be one of the highest paid Pastor in our district as far as church standard of financial support is concerned.  Kaya naman, lapitin din ako ng mga solicitations at sentro rin ako ng usapan ng mga pastor kapag financial support ang pinag-uusapan.  I am grateful with this priviledge.  The only issue I have with the unending talk about my salary is people only see kung magkano ang pumapasok sa akin pero hindi nila kinukuwenta kung magkano rin ang lumalabas.  Sa laki ng aking pamilya, himala na lang ng Panginoon kung paano kami nakakasurvived.  Thank you very much to my angels!

Hindi ko makalimutan ang narinig ko sa isang Pastor na aming naging tagapasalita.  Ika niya, "Ang ibinibigay ng mga manggagawa ay hindi lang oras o talento.  BUHAY ang inilalaan ng mga manggagawa when they accepted their calling."   Kaya ang kuwentahan mo sila ng oras sa paggawa ay isang malaking kahangalan.

Sa totoo lang, upon hearing him, hindi ko naiwasang maiyak kasi nasabi niya nang totoo at buong-buo ang gustong ipahayag ng puso ko.  Feeling ko, naging spokeperson siya ng lahat ng mga church workers na katulad ko.

When I entered sa ministry, wala sa isip ko ang pagpapayaman.  Ang alam ko lang ay tinawag ako ng Diyos sa ganitong gawain.  At tiyak ako na ganon din ang isipan ng marami  kundi man ng lahat ng mga pumasok sa ministry. Malinaw yata itong naipahayag nang isang kanta na may ganitong mga letra:

Kung ako'y mag-aasawa, mag-aasawa, mag-aasawa

Kung ako'y mag-aasawa, ayaw ko ng pastor.

May bahay hindi sa kanya.

May kotse hindi sa kanya.

May pera pang offering pa.

Kung ako'y mag-aasawa, ayaw ko ng pastor.

Mabuti na lang hindi ito kinanta ng aking asawa at naging asawa.  Kung hindi, hindi ako nakapag-asawa.  Hahahahahaha!  Tinawag din kasi sila na maging asawa ng pastor.  At dahil diyan, saludo ako sa kanila.

The essence of the said song is still true to me and to many church workers around.  We seldom own properties.  During the early days, it seems intriguing if the pastor owns a thing.

Going back sa member noong Pastor na nakausap ko.  Ganito raw ang sinabi ng nasabing miyembro, "Sa dami ng benepisyo ng pastor sa kasalukuyan, hindi  na raw maituturing na sakripisyo ang pagpapastor."

Agad ko naman sinabi sa Pastor na ito, "Sabihin mo sa miyembro mo na sakripisyo pa rin ang pagpapastor kahit marami siyang benepisyo lalo na sa pagkakaroon ng miyembrong KURIPOT na katulad mo."

Ano ba yan, hindi pa ako nadedestino sa church na iyon ay may makakaaway na yata akong miyembro.  Hahahahahahahaha!

NANG MAGUNAW ANG AKING MUNDO

Last week nagpunta ako sa Globe Center para magbayad ng aking monthly bill.  Around two months na ang kailangan kong bayaran.  Nagtagal lang ang pagbabayad ko dahil mismong ang Globe ang nagpadala ng sulat telling subscribers that they are doing something with their system and so, receiving bill through mail would be delayed. I did not wait anymore for the said mail, I went to Globe Center near us.

When I asked for my bill, my world crumbles when I learned how much I  have to pay!  Bakit naman hindi mawiwindang ang mundo ko? Sabihan  ba naman ako na ang kailangan kong bayaran ay Php 9k + sa monthly plan na Php 599.  Bakit umabot nang ganito kalaki ang bill ko?

Last April nagrenew ako ng contract ng aking plan.  From plan 999 that covers an unlimited internet access and a consumable amount of Php400 for call and text ay nagdowngrade ako ng plan 599 that gives me an unlimited call and text to Globe and Touch Mobile.

Tumigil ang pag-inog ng mundo ko that time habang walang namang patid sa pag-ikot ang aking ulo sa pag-iisip kung bakit ganung kalaki ang bill ko.  I then asked the cashier for a hard copy of my bill to give me an idea of the breakdown of my usage.  Nang naibigay na there was a long list of calls that I did the last two months.  But there should be no issue about it dahil unli call nga ang plan ko sa Globe at TM.  Tinanong ko ang cashier kung under what plan ba ako nakasubscribed.  And his answer gave light to my "gamundong" bill.  I was still enrolled to plan 999.  Haist!

When I got home, I immediately dialed their hotline but I could not go through their customer service representative (CSR) kasi sobrang busy ang line.  After many attempts I decided to postpone calling them the following day.  Afternoon the next day when I finally had a transaction with their CSR.  After my lengthy explanation and seemingly our heated discusssion, he said that he will adjust my bill.  Hindi ko gaanong masundan ang kanyang sinasabi  about the adjusted bill.  He was telling me of Php 4k adjusted bill.  Malaki pa rin para sa two months bill yun para sa akin.  What more kung may dagdag pa for another  month?  I was only thinking of Php 2k including the charge on my text to other networks.

Actually, last April, the CSR that I talked to assured me that in one day or two, my plan will already downgraded.  But I was wrong because of the CSR's incompetence.  At hindi lang yun ang na-experienced kong incompetence nila.  I was supposed to get the new mobile phone that comes along with my new plan on the date the CSR told me.  I supposed to go to SM Valenzuela on the date that I was told.  When the time came that I need to get the unit, I was told that    the request was not processed yet.  Mabuti na lang flexible ang schedule ko at isang sakay lang ako sa SM Valenzuela.  Kumusta naman ang mga taong malalayo at kailangan mag leave para lang makapunta sa service center nila? That day pa naman ay bitbit ko ang aking dalawang anak na pinakain ko ng lunch before we go to Globe.  That means, gumastos ako ng malaki para sa purpose na yun, only to be told na maghintay na lang uli.

Going back to the bill issue, the CSR asked me to wait again and again and again for two minutes or more.  But I do not have the luxury of time so I told him if he will just call me back as soon he is finished with all the adjustments to my bills.  He assured me that he will give me a ring onced done.  That was Wednesday last week and Wednesday again tomorrow but until now I have not received a return call.

At dahil diyan, nagpasya na lang akong magprepaid ng Globe. You might be asking me to try Smart.  Well, I also have subscription to Smart of unlitext to Smart, Talk and Text and Sun for Php 345 a month.  I did that to make me connected to all networks.

What will happen to my Globe subscription? I will let them do the effort of  reaching me to clear my bill.  They should not expect that people have all the time to spare for their incompetence. I also have work to be done.

Of course, prepaid subscription has its own discomfort pero mas magugunaw talaga ang mundo mo sa incompetence ng mga CSR ng mga taga Globe na nakausap ko.

JUST ANOTHER ENTRY

I am about to sleep and have already taken a bath.  But there is one thing I remembered clearly from yesterday.  One of my readers was asking me to write again.  Nangyari kasi na parang once a month na lang ang pagpost ko ng entry for the last two months.

She sounded sincere in praising me for my post, "binabasa ko talaga ang blog mo pastor."  Natuwa naman ako nang sabihin pa niya ang tungkol sa last entry ko.  "Ang ganda talaga pastor," sabi na naman niya.

That made me decide na bumalik uli sa pagsusulat kaya eto ako ngayon sa harap ng netbook ng wife ko.  Sira kasi ang netbook ko.  But just like those who stopped doing what they used to do, "nanganganay" na naman ako.  Marami akong drafts pero wala pa rin akong drive na tapusin ang mga ito.  Wala pa rin akong ganang magsulat.  Hindi ko pa rin alam kung ano ang isusulat ko.  Yun nga huling dalawang entries ko e parang "mema" lang.  Mema post lang. Hahahahahaha!

What I did was to review some of my posts.  In fairness, naaliw rin ako sa sariling mga posts ko.  Hehehehehe!  Gusto ko na ngang i-follow ang sarili ko.  hahahahaha! Puwede ba yun?

Meron pala talagang ganun no?  Yung tingin mo minsan you are not making sense anymore.  Only to find out that there are people whom you have inspired pala.  Kagaya rin yan ng pagstay sa isang profession gaya ng pagpapastor.  It is the people who believe in you that make you decide to stay.

I think I have to stop here.  Inaantok na talaga ako.  Thankful ako at least I have done JUST ANOTHER ENTRY to my blog. Hindi na lang parang monthly period ang pagbo-blog ko na buwanan ang dalaw.  Para na ngayon siyang suweldo na kinsenas at katapusan.  Hehehehehe!

Hanggang sa muli.  Lastly, thank you very much Ela Alba for keeping my spirit high!:-)

HIS APPOINTMENT!

Allow me to share with you some of  the messages I have been receiving since Thursday last week:

"GOD's am ptr arnel.  Welcome back po.  Hope u had an enjoyable vacation.  It is our joy to keep you in our prayers. ...  That your walk with God will result to Christlikeness, that you be filled with God's wisdom, grace with understanding & kept safe from all harm 7 sickness.  Praying for you not just happiness but pure joy 7 love not just wealth but God's abundance & favor, not just silence but GOD's peace.  A powerful CY,2013-2014 ahead of us po!" - from one influential member

"Thank u & congrats 4 being our pastor again gud am."  - from one of my angels

"Yehey mabuhay c pastor arnel s Grace uli." - from one of my angels

"Yipee!" - Amen Learn Vasquez

"Is it congratulation or ???? Hahahaha!" - Donna Bari Vasquez

"That calls for a celebration!" -  one band member from our church

"Pastor, congrtulations po dito pa rin kayo.  Isang taon uli tayong magsasama." - from the sidewalk vendor near the gate of our church.  

Needless to say, I will be serving in my present church appointment for another year.  What makes the extension of my appointment a celebration is the fact that in recent years, I am the first pastor who stayed longer than four years.  What makes it a challenge is the reality that there are some who would like me out. Hehehehe!

What makes it a good thing is my faith that  my retention   is GOD's will.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I LEAVE?

These days I am into deep thinking.  I am thinking of the following:

• Should I leave my calling as a pastor?  Yap, you read me right.  I am thinking of leaving the ministry.  This is not the only time I think of it.  Many times I did.  I do actually.  But this time, it is like what I said, a deep thought.  I know that God called me to the ministry.  I am just wondering somehow that God can call me to another ministry.  
• Should I stay in the ministry but leave the church where I am appointed right now?