Yes, He is everywhere

I have a severe bout of flu and for the past two days my aching body has been telling me to take some time off and rest. I feel a little better since I’ve been taking my meds. Hopefully tomorrow or the day after that I’ll be back to my normal self.

(The figurine my friend found in a pile of trash)

A friend mentioned in his Facebook account that he found a figurine of the child Jesus. He saw it in a pile of trash and even accidentally kicked it while he was walking home. He was so happy that he managed to salvage such a precious item. It reminded me of the wooden cross that I found floating while I was having an afternoon swim in Boracay about ten years ago. The wooden cross is now on our family altar.

Last night I was walking to the bus station when a boy walked up to me selling sampaguita. He kept on pestering me to buy the flowers but I told him that persuading me would not work. He walked away. Before walking down the bridge that leads to the bus station, I saw the boy again. He was tucking in his little brother. Then it hit me: this kid is already carrying the world in his shoulders. I wanted to approach the boy, but I felt so sorry for him that I simply continued to walk and rode a bus.

Going back to my friend, he took home the figurine. I don’t know if the original owner threw it away on purpose or by accident. Whatever the case may be, the figurine managed to find its way to have a new owner and it is now in my friend’s hands. In cases like this, some people would call it serendipity. Others would even go to the extent of calling it a miracle.

Everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason why my friend, of all the people who passed by that pile of garbage, was the one who found the figurine and only he can figure what that reason is. For me, I believe the reason why I saw my friend’s post concerning the salvaged figurine is this: to remind me that even in the lowliest of all places, even in a pile of garbage we all deem useless and done with, God is there. He is there in the beautifully decorated altar. He is there in the squatter’s area breaking bread with the poor.

Today is the feast of the Presentation. Barely a month old, Jesus was presented to the temple in accordance with the law that every male shall be consecrated to the Lord. Simeon, a righteous and devout man, took Jesus into his arms and uttered the Nunc Dimittis (Latin for “now you dismiss” or commonly known as “Simeon’s Canticle:). From Simeon’s song we can come to a conclusion that the Lord, as early as being a month old, is already carrying the world in his shoulders. His mission is to be “a light for revelation for the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

A friend asked me where could he find God. Obviously, my first answer was “In the Church.” But I realized that the Church is His first place of manifestation. Once we go out, we’ll see Him everywhere.

The little boy selling sampaguita, the baby Jesus presented to the temple and the salvaged figurine. They are all clear manifestations to me that He is present everywhere and in everyone. Just like good old Simeon, all we have to do is to patiently wait and open our eyes. For all you know, He is the little kid knocking on your car’s window.