Random Questions and Answers from a book called The Common Ground*
What’s your very first memory?
I guess I would have to be less then two years old then. I was lying on my back, holding my milk bottle, and I was looking sideways, seeing the bars of my crib.
One early memory – I remember this in an odd sort of way. It was as if this was the very first day I was fully conscious, aware of my surrounding. You how it feels walking right in the middle of a movie where you are bewildered and you don’t understand what’s going on? That was I felt. Something just opened, and I am suddenly aware of where and who I am. I would be around 3, I guess. I wake up from a sleep, I had an IV stuck in my arm, and from my bed, I see my younger sister surrounded by nurses and she was reciting a poem.
Do you remember a special moment with one of your parents?
I was just finishing college by then. My father fetched me from the airport. My elder sister had to get married because she was pregnant. I was the one who broke the news to my dad over the phone. And that was the first time we saw each other face to face. We talked. I told him everything’s going to be fine. The man my sister was going to marry was a fine man, etc. This was the first adult talk I had with my dad, man to man so to speak.
Tell me a discovery about yourself- at anytime in your life – that surprise you
This would have to be a few years ago when I and the group I was working with became the subject of a controversy resulting from a misunderstanding. A close personal friend lashed out on me, told vile things about me, and was simply horrible. The surprising thing I have discovered about myself is how I was able to operate detached from the hysteria and the malice – that although I was the one personally attacked, I felt it was being done to another person. My own way of handling a crisis perhaps, it may not be quite healthy, but I was able to keep my head above level, and dealt with the issue calmly. I don’t know if it was a wrong way to handle a problem, and I may have suffered from its effects, but at that time, I believe it was self-preservation.
What legacy you’ll pass on from your parents to others?
This may sound trite and clichéd but my parents were people-helper. I want to be like that. And I guess in my line of work, I am a people-helper.
What’s something worth waiting for in life?
A dream. An ambition. The opportunity to travel.
A simple thing that brings you pleasure
Books. Coffee. Movies. Conversations. Laughter.
A moment of real loneliness
The first few months I was in Baguio City as I was beginning my Doctor of Theology program. I was in a strange city, no friends, no family. And the city was cold. I would around the campus late in the evening. I lost 40 pounds in my first 6 months there, only to gain it all back, and more the next 6 months.
What makes you feel young?
The prospect of something new, an adventure
A special moment to you (perhaps one that no one else knew about at the time)
The first time someone held a birthday party for me who was not a relative or a family. This was way back in my first pastoral work at Davao International Baptist Church. The meal was simple, but it was in my honor, and I could not find enough works to show my appreciation to my host.
What takes your breath away
Moments of great beauty
Burying a friend
First intimation of mortality was when I was 9 years old when a childhood friend suddenly died. I felt a great sadness then.
Name a vile thing
Betrayal. A lie.
When I say “holding hands,” what first comes to mind
Early in the morning, the dew still on the grass, fog just lifting up, and my elder sister and myself are walking to school, holding hands. She in her pink uniform, and I would be in my white t-shirt and olive green shorts.
Once on a rainy afternoon...
My younger sister, and brother and myself sat around a book, and from a single picture I told them a story of heart-breaking sadness that we all ended up crying. This was the time I discovered I have a way with words, and have a fertile imagination.
Failing
I have a great fear of failing. Perhaps from being such a bad student when I was in highschool.
I felt I have failed as a pastor when I was just starting out at Davao International Baptist Church. Up to now, or until recently, they (some of the members) still have the power to make me feel that way. But I realized, whatever failure I might have had was not entirely my fault. Of course some of it are mine, but I can’t take all the credit for the fiascos. Besides, the grace of God has abounded where I have failed.
Your greatest regret
I should have prayed for my grandmother when she was still in the hospital. Of course I prayed for her many times, but to pray for her while she was there lying on the hospital bed. I was never able to do that.
Something that shines
The dull sheen of the cover of a new book is mesmerizing
Tell me about an awkward moment with a parent
My mother circumcising me at age 11
What is art without merit?
Art that does not communicate, or its message has been overcome by the medium that is supposed to convey that message. Even the ugliest of art, if it is able to communicate, speak to the heart, then it has merit.
* Remar Sutton and Mary Abbot Waite, The Common Ground, New York: British American Publishing House, 1992
What’s your very first memory?
I guess I would have to be less then two years old then. I was lying on my back, holding my milk bottle, and I was looking sideways, seeing the bars of my crib.
One early memory – I remember this in an odd sort of way. It was as if this was the very first day I was fully conscious, aware of my surrounding. You how it feels walking right in the middle of a movie where you are bewildered and you don’t understand what’s going on? That was I felt. Something just opened, and I am suddenly aware of where and who I am. I would be around 3, I guess. I wake up from a sleep, I had an IV stuck in my arm, and from my bed, I see my younger sister surrounded by nurses and she was reciting a poem.
Do you remember a special moment with one of your parents?
I was just finishing college by then. My father fetched me from the airport. My elder sister had to get married because she was pregnant. I was the one who broke the news to my dad over the phone. And that was the first time we saw each other face to face. We talked. I told him everything’s going to be fine. The man my sister was going to marry was a fine man, etc. This was the first adult talk I had with my dad, man to man so to speak.
Tell me a discovery about yourself- at anytime in your life – that surprise you
This would have to be a few years ago when I and the group I was working with became the subject of a controversy resulting from a misunderstanding. A close personal friend lashed out on me, told vile things about me, and was simply horrible. The surprising thing I have discovered about myself is how I was able to operate detached from the hysteria and the malice – that although I was the one personally attacked, I felt it was being done to another person. My own way of handling a crisis perhaps, it may not be quite healthy, but I was able to keep my head above level, and dealt with the issue calmly. I don’t know if it was a wrong way to handle a problem, and I may have suffered from its effects, but at that time, I believe it was self-preservation.
What legacy you’ll pass on from your parents to others?
This may sound trite and clichéd but my parents were people-helper. I want to be like that. And I guess in my line of work, I am a people-helper.
What’s something worth waiting for in life?
A dream. An ambition. The opportunity to travel.
A simple thing that brings you pleasure
Books. Coffee. Movies. Conversations. Laughter.
A moment of real loneliness
The first few months I was in Baguio City as I was beginning my Doctor of Theology program. I was in a strange city, no friends, no family. And the city was cold. I would around the campus late in the evening. I lost 40 pounds in my first 6 months there, only to gain it all back, and more the next 6 months.
What makes you feel young?
The prospect of something new, an adventure
A special moment to you (perhaps one that no one else knew about at the time)
The first time someone held a birthday party for me who was not a relative or a family. This was way back in my first pastoral work at Davao International Baptist Church. The meal was simple, but it was in my honor, and I could not find enough works to show my appreciation to my host.
What takes your breath away
Moments of great beauty
Burying a friend
First intimation of mortality was when I was 9 years old when a childhood friend suddenly died. I felt a great sadness then.
Name a vile thing
Betrayal. A lie.
When I say “holding hands,” what first comes to mind
Early in the morning, the dew still on the grass, fog just lifting up, and my elder sister and myself are walking to school, holding hands. She in her pink uniform, and I would be in my white t-shirt and olive green shorts.
Once on a rainy afternoon...
My younger sister, and brother and myself sat around a book, and from a single picture I told them a story of heart-breaking sadness that we all ended up crying. This was the time I discovered I have a way with words, and have a fertile imagination.
Failing
I have a great fear of failing. Perhaps from being such a bad student when I was in highschool.
I felt I have failed as a pastor when I was just starting out at Davao International Baptist Church. Up to now, or until recently, they (some of the members) still have the power to make me feel that way. But I realized, whatever failure I might have had was not entirely my fault. Of course some of it are mine, but I can’t take all the credit for the fiascos. Besides, the grace of God has abounded where I have failed.
Your greatest regret
I should have prayed for my grandmother when she was still in the hospital. Of course I prayed for her many times, but to pray for her while she was there lying on the hospital bed. I was never able to do that.
Something that shines
The dull sheen of the cover of a new book is mesmerizing
Tell me about an awkward moment with a parent
My mother circumcising me at age 11
What is art without merit?
Art that does not communicate, or its message has been overcome by the medium that is supposed to convey that message. Even the ugliest of art, if it is able to communicate, speak to the heart, then it has merit.
* Remar Sutton and Mary Abbot Waite, The Common Ground, New York: British American Publishing House, 1992
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My mother circumcising me at age 11"
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