Many
people these days, including myself, use what is called a GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation device or application. However, way before this system even came
into place, I have always relied on [and what I am now dubbing as] the “GBS” – that is, the Guided
By the [Holy] Spirit – navigation
system!
Last
Saturday, my biblical apostolate assignment was one of those times when I had
to depend a lot on the GBS. It was quite
an adventure!
For
those who know me and my "challenged" sense of direction, you can
imagine that I would need very specific directions every time I would have to
drive to a place that was foreign to me. Thank goodness for the coming of Waze (a GPS app that you can install on your smartphone) into our lives – my driving
anxieties have significantly decreased and I have been able to get around even
if my best friend (who usually navigates) isn't in the car with me, and without
having to call my "human GPS" (my brother) for directions whenever I
would get lost.
Initially,
I was assigned to the Two Hearts of Jesus
and Mary Chapel in La Salle Dasmariñas.
I was confident it would not be hard to find, especially with the use of
Waze. However, a few days before
Saturday, I was informed that the venue had been changed and it was now going
to be in Mary Euphrasia Parish. I immediately went online to look for directions,
but couldn't seem to locate it exactly on Google Maps! So I asked my friend, who was one of the
organizers of the bible study program, to please send me directions. Uh oh.
Her text felt [to me, at least] like clues to a puzzle:
DBB area E,
dasma. Arnd pliparan. Umc hosp lasalle.
pasok ng (enter)
summerwind.
Hmmm. No worries, my GBS is always ready and on stand-by!
On
the day of the bible study, that was scheduled for 8:00 am, I left our home in
Alabang at around 6:30 to give enough allowance for what I felt was going to be
like a treasure hunt up ahead. Armed with
a fully charged mobile phone and power bank, and of course the Come Holy Spirit prayer, I set out, resolved
to hold on to that initial confidence I had – in spite the change of
venue. Waze took me through the familiar
Daang Hari, the not-so-familiar Molino Road and then to some smaller unknown roads that
finally led to La Salle Dasma.
Phase I: achieve! Time check: around
7:20 am (I think). Okay,
from here on, it was GBS mode!
A
priest friend (who was recently assigned to Molino) told me that once I got to
the area of La Salle, I could just ask around for this Parish. So ask around I did! I stopped maybe 7 or 8 times asking
pedestrians, shop owners and tricycle drivers for help – I asked if they knew either
Mary Euphrasia Parish (none of them did) or “summerwind” (they knew this more). I had to u-turn a few times along the way as
some directions didn’t turn out right. I
felt my time “allowance” slowly slipping away.
With only about 15 minutes to go before 8:00 am, I tried calling my
friend, the organizer, to let her know that I was still looking for the place
and maybe to ask for some help. However,
I couldn’t reach her! I then started to
feel a teeny bit of that familiar “navigation anxiety” starting to creep in – but
I dismissed it immediately. I just knew that my GBS wouldn’t fail me… I was going to find the venue, and I would find it
just in time. I finally came upon Summerwind
Village 4.
Phase II: achieve! Time check: 7:45 am.
Now
given my “clues” – I would have thought that the guy collecting “toll” at the
gate of Summerwind would already know where the Parish was… but he didn’t! Hmmm, so what to ask next? I asked him if he knew where “DBB-area E”
was. He was a little iffy but he said I should
go further down the road and ask around there.
After making a u-turn to exit the village, I caught a glimpse of a man
standing at the corner whose t-shirt had big, bold HEBREW characters printed on
his back! (What were the chances?? - for those who don't know me, I studied Biblical Hebrew a few years back and am currently aspiring to study it further). Seeing this, I grinned from ear to ear, taking
it as a sign from God that I was on the right track! (I wish I had taken a
photo of the man, but at that moment, I was just in awe).
So
on I went, rolling down my window every few meters to ask anyone I could along
the way. NONE of them were familiar with
the name of the parish, but some of them said that there was a church “doon
banda” (somewhere there). Then I came upon a T-road… hmm… now
what? Well, my mother would always say
to choose right over left (and hey, mothers know best right?), so I turned
right. A few hundred meters down this
chosen path, I saw a sign painted on a wall that said “Area-E”! Aha! I was getting warmer… and warmer… I could feel that I was close to my destination. The GBS was on a roll!
The
next person I asked finally said that there was a church just up ahead on the
left and that I wouldn’t miss it (but he still didn’t know the name). For a split second, I found myself thinking, But it could very well be any other church! But once again, I quickly dismissed the
thought, centering myself once more in the confidence that I had placed on the
Holy Spirit. After a few more meters, I caught a glimpse of a cross, then the
church building and finally the archway over the gate that read: Parokya ng Sta. Maria Euphrasia (Parish of St. Mary Euphrasia).
Phase III: achieve! Destination
reached. Time check: 7:55 am.
Seeing
that archway made my heart leap for joy… and I think it did a few somesaults
too! I was just IN AWE. Hallelujiah!!! Thank you Lord! Thank you GBS!
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”
– Zechariah 4:6
* * *
The journey to Maria Euphrasia Parish indeed felt like a treasure hunt and the new group of eager students of the Word whom I met there, were my new-found treasures! I told them about my mini-adventure on the way there... how I really felt the Holy Spirit guiding me and how I knew for sure that He would be with us throughout our study. (Teaching in Tagalog is always a "GBS experience" for me!)
This was my first “turn” in teaching this newly formed cluster of BEC leaders and members from about 9 different parishes of the Diocese of Imus, and it would be an experience I will always remember. I am already looking forward to next month's teaching!
(Gospel
Strucks post on the lesson I taught that day coming soon).
* * *
Post-driving adventure
reflection:
The
GBS system has been a faithful companion throughout most of my life, but especially
after learning more about living a life in the Spirit through the LSS (Life in
the Spirit Seminar) that I attended 15 years ago. And certainly not just for my travels on the
road… but along the road of life itself.
Through big and small decisions – like in discerning whether to leave my
job or in deciding where to park my car – the GBS has been an awesome navigator that I will
always be grateful for.
Of
course, there have been many, many, maaaany times when my GBS “signal” would be
a little (or a lot!) fuzzy and I would find myself not “flowing” with the
Spirit. That’s when I know that I need
to stop and do a check-up on my prayer life – because sometimes, in the
busyness of things, prayer ends up in the back seat. And when that happens, the GBS can never
function properly!
What
to do in times like this? Just like the
GPS (or any other gadget), sometimes all it takes is a quick reboot or restart. We refocus, reconnect with God and make sure
that prayer comes first before anything else.
End
of sharing.
