Harry Potter and the Missing Handbag

It's been an interesting week so far.

On Monday night, I was able to see the much-awaited Harry Potter movie through the kindness of three of my colleagues who split my ticket fee among themselves so that I could join them. We arrived at Megamall early to save a 7:45 pm screening, and with a handful of minutes to spare, we decided to eat first at the SM food court.

Securing our food at Bodhis, the vegetarian restaurant, friend Z asks me: "Do you still have money to go home?" at which I give a tentative yes as I pay for my meal on the counter. A peso slips into a salad bowl as I hand out my money to the cashier lady, was really sorry...I wasn't really feeling well that night, as though every physical act took effort, I was getting down with a cold or flu or something.

Still I carried my stuff along with the tray heavily into our table.

We huddled to eat, sharing my humongous serving of veggie meat with my good brothers. With 10 minutes to spare, we decide to leave, about the same time I notice that my bag is missing.

I thought they were actually playing a prank on me. But seeing there weren't any trace of laughter in their faces, I immediately felt as if all energy drained out of me. It's amazing how one's possessions can "magically" disappear.

After getting over the initial surprise or shock with a glass of water. I immediately tried to search for it, retracing my steps from the food counter to the table, a few meters away. I placed my bag on the floor along with my friends' backpacks. How could it get lost?

The bag contained my wallet, cell phone, a journal, a blank notebook, a book barely read etc. I almost pity the one who got it because he or she will not get anything monetary from there, aside from my phone, except that my thoughts were priceless... hehehe, I really wanted my notebooks back.

So we reported it to the security guard on the vicinity and were brought to the Security Office near Power books. I filed a statement. At which point, my friends sends messages to him, her, or it with pleas to return the bag in a desperate appeal to emotion, pity or guilt.

Consequently, we missed the quarter to 8 screening. At which point I surrendered the whole thing in faith and accepted it. And so life went on. We watched Harry Potter since we already bought the tickets and I didn't want to spoil the night for them.

Funny how the movie ended with Luna Lovegood saying something close to home: "Things have a way of getting back to you, though not in the way you expect it."

Well,I hope so.

***
I have resigned that fact to heaven. The past weeks I have been learning lessons on the impermanence of things and the value of non-attachments. It's easier to let go of things when you're not attached to them. I guess I am not so attached to things as to people, since I really do value my relationships. Applying detachment to people, takes on a whole different meaning. But I believe it is possible to love others without holding on to them, much like an open palm, always receiving but also ready and willing to let go. Difficult and scary but necessary. It's quite liberating to love in this way, it's freeing. Sometimes we do need to let go of people and things that hold us back from following God's will in our lives...It's hard to sacrifice our own "Isaacs" but we must always remember that God is always enough for us,should be more than enough. And that He takes first place in our hearts.

Given my simple loss, I think of the profound loss of many others. I remember Tito Augie de Vera's death, Jose's father, whose passing came suddenly just a week ago. I guess, what made it easier for his family to accept is that he lived a full life, having brought up his children in the best way that he could, seeing them in a good place before he left. That's a beautiful way to sleep away. The very last thing we must relinquish is our very breath. Life is always a process of letting go. And yet this somber thought should not take the fun out of living life. We must live life to the fullest and love to the fullest since any time we could go.

The first step to letting go is I guess accepting reality as it is. I have learned that to surrender means learning to accept how things are and not as how we would like them to be. And maybe in accepting, we open the door to better things.

***
As always, God remains with us even when every thing else fades away. This fact has been such a powerful truth in my life. That God is always loving. When something is taken away, it is always replaced with something better. In a way, this makes letting go much easier to bear.

Last night, I received a call from a travel publication inviting me for an interview. They've been texting me that day, but no reply I guess ;p so they called home. How amazing is that. I feel that I have roots for home and yet I have always been a wanderer. I really cannot be chained to a desk. I love to travel and though I have been around the country, there remains so much beauty to see in the Philippines alone. I can't wait to see the rest of the world. I know God will fulfill this dream in His perfect time.

So I spoke today with their kind managing director and she said she needed a fulltime writer. She seemed genuinely interested in me. Onboard, "the one" will have to travel every weekend to different places in the country and around the region. I mean, it's almost too much to resist! I feel passionate about spreading and promoting the beauty of the Philippines as well.

But I feel my heart is anchored in GK. I am hoping they would take me as a contributor. Pray for me?

As with all things, I leave everything to God's hands. He knows what's best for you and me. The key to surrender is to Trust. Letting go doesn't seem so scary when we know God is more than able to handle it for us. I hope for a better future in His grace! I wish the same for you.