Yousof

Keywords : perspective, coincidence, suffering, journey

I joined the two ship captains: Capt. Chua & Capt. Wong to visit Youssef. He was involved in an accident 2 days ago. The car he was in turned turtletop when it was hit by an Indian driver. After the bbq at his house a fortnight ago we arranged to meet for dinner last night and when he didn’t show up, we were told by his Taiwanese wife of the news.

Youssef had bandages wrapped all over him and his left arm hanging by a sling over his neck. He is a funny and intelligent man. That’s my opinion. When we entered his house. After the greetings and the back-patting, the first thing he said was : “This is normel. Bad things usually happen to gudth peeple”. Isnt that intelligent?

Maybe not yet until you hear him add : “God gave me this accident”. Ahhh. to be able to see the finger of God in everything!

One thing unique about this country is that people talk openly about God the way we talk openly about sex. Here God-talk is no different from talking about the weather or my chicken soup for lunch or the iphone my friend just bought. We see people praying their ‘rosary’ beads openly without shame or embarassment. It’s just something very normal. Back from where I came from in Manila , especially among the male community, God-talk is oftentimes anathema. Yousef will be instantly avoided and labeled as a weird and pitiful human. Instead, people there talk about sex most of the time without getting tired of repeating themselves--young and old, rich or poor alike. And those who do are considered interesting and very intelligent human beings. Those who think and talk about God are weak and has pea-sized brains...I love paradoxes because this world doesnt seem to run out of them.

What Yousef, a devout muslim, meant really in his last statement i gather was: “Nothing happens in our life by chance and coincidence”. The friends that we meet…The families and relations that we have…The spouse who we marry…The places that we go to. The jobs that we hold and the work we do...even the number of hair strands that falls off our heads...

Isnt that intelligence?

We were offered warm and aromatic chinese tea. I took a sip and savoured it. We continued to chat.

Yousef finally adds one more of his deeper insights: “Godth gives troubles and problems to those he love more”. Another paradox.

Well maybe if that is not intelligence, it certainly is ‘holiness’. It is the ability to see things without the usual clutter that often blind our eyes. A clarity of vision and understanding that transcends the visible...the ability to see that which is beyond the here and now and toward eternity.

Nothing is new under the sun. In the 6^th century, a brilliant and highly intelligent and interesting man called Gregory the Great said something similar:

“The present life is but a road by which we advance to our homeland. Because of this, by a secret judgement we are subjected to frequent disturbance so that we do not have more love for the journey than for the destination. Some travelers, whenever they see pleasant fields by the road, contrive to linger there and thus they deviate from the route undertaken in the journey. As long as they are charmed by the beauty of the journey, their steps are slowed. It is for this reason that the Lord makes the path through this world rough for his chosen ones who are on their way toward him. This is so that none may take pleasure in this world’s rest or find refreshment in the beauty of the journey and thus prefer to continue the journey for a long time rather than to arrive quickly. It is also to prevent one who finds delight in the journey from forgetting what it was about the homeland that had enkindled his desire.”