SUNDAY REFLECTION
By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

Many colors of religions exist in our midst. We are being deluged with different views of life, of the spirit. The Catholic Church which is too rigid in her approach to one’s being religious and that is attending its rituals every Sunday, reciting prayers monotonously and in routine, and talking to God indirectly through priests has caused many people to seek other paths. So now we have so many nativistic-style worship: Ang Dating Daan, Oras ng Himala, Mike Velarde’s El Shaddai, Brother Eddie Villanueva’s Jesus is Lord Movement, and many, many more. A foreign-inspired group is The Evangelical Ark Mission International headed by a Nigerian, Tony Marioghae. They have drawn many Filipino women and men to their wings because of their down-to-earth treatment of problems, both individual and social. In every group whose worship I have attended I always find a reference to political leaders, for them to care for the people’s welfare and not their own. Thus relevance to the times is the underlying theme of the latter groups.

Yet I cannot help but be shocked that sometimes the Bible can be used by some pastors to hit at those who have staunch political beliefs, who have their own views of society. Instead of making the worship place pristine, free from political clutter, they bring in the scams of politics, make them go up the stage and try to appear as religious as the people attending there. This is I think a desecration of the meaning of worship.

Worship means service to God, a time for reflection on one’s existence on earth and how relations with oneself, with others, and with the earth is according to the wisdom and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible. Instead, sometimes, we have been treated to a political feast, a kind of cursillo of these politicians whose stints can hardly be called spiritual but even be labeled anti-human.

Look at this former MMDA chairman now running for vice president. What did he do during his time? He polluted the streets with his ill-designed foul-smelling toilets for men and made the men feel grand that they could still urinate in public but in style. Instead of building toilets underground where people, both women and men could go down and urinate in clinically clean toilets, he put up urinals for everyone to see in pink colors.

What else did he do? He put up signs on the streets, “Bawal tumawid dito, nakamamatay.” Thus now, the Commonwealth Avenue is declared a death zone because of so many road accidents occurring then. Ironically, the victims are the ones being charged and labeled ignorant of the laws. Why, in the sixties, the signs we would see are: “Pedestrians crossing, slow down,” or “Children crossing, slow down.” Now the people have to race with the cars and vehicles whose drivers drive with impunity. I was nearly run over one time by an oncoming jeep while crossing a pedestrian lane, imagine! That concept that vehicle drivers are the kings of the roads has seeped into the minds of the under-educated drivers that they have the only right to the use of the roads and in their sweet time.

Now tell me, does this candidate deserve a minute of my attention after what he had done to bastardize metroManila? No, Sir, no Madam. He deserves to take a sabbatical leave and give more love to his overly self-sacrificing and intelligent wife. Or maybe give her a break and let her be with a more people-oriented partner.

In a former worship place I had attended, a pastor even started mentioning dogs in his homily – in allusion probably to media watchdogs – as I am from media and used to have a column then, criticizing election cheating. While reciting the homily, he would look down, probably feeling guilty that he is misusing the place of worship for something earthly, even hellish, instead of divine.

The worst I have heard is this reference to a Biblical woman so called unclean because she was menstruating and had touched Jesus Christ as a wish to have her sins washed away. Of all situations about sinning, a reference had to be made of this particular section of the Bible making it highly suspect that the one giving the sermon was hitting at someone in the audience. In effect it became a judgment time for one’s “sins” of choosing to protect one’s freedom in political thinking.

Now where is that soulful character of attendees of worship? Where are the so-called sons and daughters of God there? No, criticism of the powers-that-be is a no-no in religious organizations.

A place of worship where there is no freedom to think, speak and act for all – both women and men – is bound to fail and would lose its attendees. It will only gather the conservatives, those who favour the status quo, of being recognized in the worship place, albeit how narrow, for fear of expanding their spheres of influence, of treading new grounds where they would wager for chances for social recognition,.

Yet members of the group suffer from individual problems not taken care of by the worship leader– like one having an alcoholic husband, another having a domineering and oppressive employer, and others from spouses who hardly have time to give them that caring and loving attention so necessary for keeping the relationship alive because of their businesses or other concerns. The personal is only touched upon in reference to sins that are mostly for cleansing the souls of men – like going to prostitution dens, etc.

Yes, despite the proliferation of these religious groups, there is a corresponding bigger presence of nightclubs with young women offering their physical bodies as come-ons to customers by the doors. It is as if worship could always be done every Sunday and then Monday to Friday is freedom from the spiritual shackles of the Biblical teachings.

No, worship has to be something else. Worship should remain as worship, as a study and reflection on the teachings of the Bible, specifically of Christ, as they relate to one’s life, without being judgmental. Worship should gather people in order to celebrate life that God has given us and point to the way we must give order and joy to every minute of it while interacting with other travelers in this life. May be this is all very cerebral, but then, if I can experience it and others I know can, why can’t worship organizations do the same?

No one, no organization has the sole prerogative to speak about how life should be led, nor to be judged of one’s acts. Everyone has the right to judge only oneself, and not others unless the situation were legal in character, meaning to say there has been a violation of societal order. But I accept prophecies – showing how life should be, how everyone should become, in order that the eyes and hands of God shall remain more kindly at us all throughout our lifetime, in order that God may continue to protect us from those who would harm us, help and guide us in our day-to-day lives so that we may reflect and live according to Christian teachings, and thus guarantee our place in heaven among angels and non-sinners all.

Now the question: should all political leaders be spiritually-attuned? Can an atheist not be a good leader? Must one be a theist in order to be leader? At the moment, many are saying that due to the highly corrupt situation we are in, then a need arises to have spiritual leaders, those who are sensitive to the physical life and the inner life, or the other-worldly. In other words, leaders must be geared towards being reflective all the time if their acts conform to Christian and other spiritual values that glorify God and humanity.

We must remember that the People’s Republic of China shuns all talks of religion, yet it is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. The Soviet Union was also one before it broke up and yet it achieved its objective of raising with the west in modernizing her society. In other words, religion has and had nothing to do with how society was being run.

We could probably leave this hanging and let the people provide their own opinions on this matter. As for now, I prefer having a small space wherever I can and reflect on my own life, without anyone telling me, “Hey I am holier than you are.”