Altar Servers as Robots

Few years ago, I was one of those boys you see in Sunday masses at your local church assisting the priest during mass. Yes, I was an altar boy, and I was (I think) good at doing it. I trained some boys in our parish to serve the right way, and also taught them the meanings and explanations of every action they do in a Liturgical ceremony.

What normal people see in mass.

I actively served in the church for about six or seven years, but I had to stop because I was about to start college. The time demanded from me was enough to take the spot of my church activities, and for the first time in around 7 years, I began to attend mass sitting in the pews in front of the altar, rather than staying right beside it. It was sitting in the pews that I begin to notice all the time the altar servers serving in the sanctuary. Even in other parishes, I tend to watch out for their mistakes

In every mass I attend, I always tend to put a percentage of my attention to the altar server assisting the priest in mass. I always look out for some mistakes, even the little ones, and say something negative inside my head like “Ano ba yan, bakit hindi niya…bla bla bla”, “ang engot naman nito, pucha”.

Yeah, I know, what I’m doing is bad, but you can’t blame someone for thinking of things like this especially if that someone knows something. I realized that altar servers, like priests, needs training. Although the diocese holds mandatory seminars annually for people who serve in the mass, there are parishes that have altar servers who are not well trained.

Serving the altar is an easy job if one would only look at the actions associated with it, but people often disregard the liturgical meanings of these actions. The effect here is a parish having altar servers functioning on pure actions, no meaning in what they do or whatsoever. Hence, the title of this entry.

What I see... sometimes.

Altar servers are human beings, not robots. It is not enough for an “Altar Server” to go up the altar, assist the priest in the Liturgy and genuflect at the end. It takes more than that.

Like what I said before in one of the meetings back then, you can’t just walk in front of a kid and ask him to serve in the altar, nor approach a parent to volunteer his son to wear a sutana and assist the priest. Again, it takes more than that. One must know the rationale of liturgical actions. It loses its meaning if an altar server doesn’t know this and I believe he fails his purpose of being there.

The Meaning of that funny Squirrel in Ice Age

Comic Relief characters are almost always present in every film that has been created. Writers have probably seen the value in them making the movie more catchy and entertaining to the viewers. Even in books and their movie adaptations, authors and directors has found a way to sneak in a character in the plot that provides laughter to the audience. These characters are often successful in what they do – making the viewers smile. It somehow lessens the seriousness of the whole movie and makes it more entertaining.

One movie in particular contained a comic relief character that was really successful in making this happen. Viewers in the cinema burst out in laughter every time this character comes up and its role never bored anyone. Unlike many comic relief characters, only a few (almost nobody) people know of his name, but I’m pretty sure everyone who was able to see at least one Ice Age film is familiar with him. The creators of the film name him as “Scrat”; he is that funny little “Saber-toothed Squirrel” who often puts his life in danger for the sake of a single acorn that he was never able to eat.

"ACORN!!!" - Scrat the Squirrel

Many viewers see Scrat as a very funny character. He has his own separate storyline from the main plot progressing. It’s a very simple one actually, his story is all about his pursuit to get his acorn to either bury it or carry it around, but fate always finds its way to separate the acorn from his arms. With his determination to take hold of that acorn again, he goes through a lot of dangers and often risks his life for the sake of him being reunited with it again.

For some of you people who have read my previous blog entry regarding mosquitoes (Mosquitoes as Models for Love), you’ve probably realized that I tend to over-think things, thus resulting to weird and sometimes non-sense analysis of ordinary things and instances in life. So you’ve probably guessed what I was able to find out through this harmless little saber-toothed squirrel from a movie. Yes, it is all about love (again). Oh joy.

It never does.

This entry would again be talking about love… but a special kind of love. It’s the love with a capital “L”. So it’s Love, and NOT love (get it?). So going back to the squirrel, many people may or may not consider this analysis as valid, but who cares? I did say that everything in this blog will be about ME and what goes on in my head, didn’t I?

So where am I getting at
with the squirrel thing?

I come to realize in one of my random reflections that Scrat the Squirrel and the acorn can be somehow related to the life of a Christian and the Love of God for humanity.

How?

We are the acorns and God is the squirrel. We often separate ourselves from God and not minding His efforts to reach us all the time. We fall to sin, temptations and bad habits, but God always do His efforts to reach us, just as the Scrat the Squirrel never let go and always reaches for his acorn. Sometimes, we do take refuge to God’s arms and stays there for some time, but oftentimes, we fall back to our old ways and disunite with Him again; and just like the squirrel, He comes for us again… and again… and again. This is how the Love of God works. He Loves us so much that He is willing to sacrifice anything to get us back. Hence, the Mystery of Incarnation.

I don’t want to get too theological on this entry, but I just want to make my point and realization across that a valid analogy exist within the acorn and Scrat the squirrel. Again, we are acorns, frequently separating from God, and God, with all his might, would be willing to exert every effort to get us back.

The question lies: are we doing OUR own efforts to get back to Him? Or are we just going to fall to our old and sinful ways, separated from Him and no effort to get back just like an acorn?

It’s your choice… be human, or be an acorn.

Mosquitoes as Models for Love

"A little bite won't hurt" - Harry the Mosquito

If there is one insect that many people hate, it must be mosquitoes. I mean, who wouldn’t? They’re annoying and they fly around in places you don’t want them to be. Aside from that, they practically have caused millions of deaths (and increasing) all over the world. Like vampires, they feed on blood and takes pleasure in feasting on innocent animals and human beings. Who knows? Probably in the future we’d all be mosquitoes with thin silk-like wings flying around and hungry for blood. You must admit, we’ve all been preys of this pesky little insect.

I am actually part of the statistics that has already been sick of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (the more advanced and deadly version of Dengue Fever), and I’m telling you, it is not a good feeling. But on the bright side of things, I did feel special and loved when I was confined in the hospital while complaining about my troubled joints, stomach aches, headache, bleeding nose, and paranoid of my dropping platelet count. My parents couldn’t bear to see me suffering like that, not to mention that my fever hit above 40⁰C, had hallucinations of a guy taking a shit on top of our dog cage, and a seizure that panicked everyone in our house (including my dad who apparently carried me like a sack of rice and threw me in the shower – which worked in stopping the seizure by the way). After recovering from Dengue, I felt somehow relieved knowing that I can no longer have it at least for the first two or three strains.

"Just the perfect brew!"

It took me quite a while to reflect on why this illness exists, or rather why mosquitoes exist. Could God have created something that can cause deaths and illnesses to His people? If God so Loved the world and the people living in it, why did He create mosquitoes knowing that it would only bring harm to us?

Neither science nor religion may have an explanation for this query, but somehow I do. Coming up with an analogy that explains a certain phenomenon doesn’t pop out of my head like popcorn inside a microwave. It took me quite a long reflection on this one while looking at the sky and not minding the time.

I realized that mosquitoes probably exist for a reason, a reason that many people may not be able to realize.

Now to the cheesy part

In a way, it’s really nice to know that they exist. It’s also nice to know that they love blood and that it is the only way that they can survive. Mosquitoes loves blood so much that they are not mindful of the dangers they face and that they are willing to offer their lives for it.

Now these small creatures should be a model for us human beings when it comes to love… because the way we love should somehow resemble the love of a mosquito to blood.

Why not?

Whenever a mosquito attempts to extract blood from us human beings, they are aware of the dangers they face. They know that their presence on our skin can trigger an impulse from their victim; hence, there is a big possibility that their victim could swat and kill them. Aside from that, they linger around in areas where humans are more likely to be found (e.g. bedroom, kitchen) and humans would make use of every given opportunity to use anti-mosquito sprays to kill them, thus putting an end to their lives.

You see what I mean?

In some cases (like my mom for instance), people would actually chase down a mosquito and wouldn’t stop until he/she sees this tiny little bug blood dead in the palm. Nevertheless, this doesn't stop any mosquito from doing what they love to do, which is to find a pray, extract blood and fly away – as simple as that.¹

Love is in the air
... literally.

Now our love should be like the love of mosquitoes to blood. Real love is supposed to be like that... we must be willing to offer our lives for it. Yes, just as mosquitoes are willing to do so for blood.

As I’ve said in one of my previous blog entries "How Everything Can Be Related to Love", everything around us can somehow indeed be related to love (hence, the title). It is just a matter of time and reflection that we get to appreciate the value of things such as the existence of mosquitoes.

Maybe this is the reason why God created such beings. Probably mosquitoes are there as God's way of teaching us a lesson on what love should be like, an unconditional one, the kind of love wherein a person having it could actually offer his life as a sacrifice for the well-being of another, the kind of love perfect for every person, the kind of love that we're supposed to have.

I dare say that if every single person just acted like mosquitoes, the world WOULD be a better place to live in.

¹ I do NOT wish to question the philosophical fact that only human beings are the only creatures that has rationality. This entry is just an analogy on the purpose of the existence of mosquitoes and it does not in any way impose any form of objectivity, as this is a very subjective analysis by the author – which is me.

More than just a flashy move - Springing the Cards*

 *a not-so-expert advice on how to differentiate yourself from failed magician wannabes and an auxiliary move that can be included when you introduce yourself to your spectator.

Your most boring friend from high school will be turning 21 this weekend and you were invited to his not-so-exciting-party-thrown-in-the-backyard. Knowing how boring he is, you speculated that the party would be pretty boring as well, but you’re equally bored with your life so you decided to go not because it’s an exciting and fun-filled party, but because you just want to see your old buddies whom you fantasize your hot high school teachers with back in the good ol’ days when you were still struggling with puberty.

As expected, the party was boring. Yeah sure, people were drinking, the music was on, everyone was chatting with one another and the house helpers are filling up the ice bucket once in a while. To an eyeshot, it’s going pretty well, but you realized that there is something missing. Something that can make this party memorable to everyone. You then had a flashback of your birthday party back when you were six when your parents hired some freakishly looking clown to lively up things a bit and performed some magic tricks that everyone seemed to be all interested in (even the adults). At that very moment, you recalled the magic trick that your ever-so-cool Tito Boy (an uncle named “Boy”) had taught you the last time he got drunk. You performed the magic trick to your friends, everyone thought it was cool, you performed some more, then a few of your friends who knows a trick or two showed some of their tricks. The next thing you know, everyone is sharing their own experiences with magic or with a magician. The End.

So what’s my point?

My point is that everyone has already seen a magic trick performed at least once in their lives. Magic, or “Illusions” as we’re supposed to call it, is an avocation that everyone is naturally interested in (at least that’s what I know), and every time you execute a magic trick to someone, it wouldn’t be uncommon for your spectator/audience to recall a magic trick that has been performed to them. More often than not, they may even mention or remember a magic trick they’ve seen on TV in some episode of David Blaine, Mindfreak or what have you. What I’m saying is that magic is a very widespread art, people see it on TV, in the malls, amusement parks, circuses, sometimes even in the streets. The influence that it has results in to the increase of people knowing some tricks and performing them even without due practice.

Failed performances and crappy executions from magician/magic enthusiast wannabes contribute to the growing unwanted image of magicians from the spectators (we can call them consumers). It is just a matter of differentiating yourself from these people whenever you perform. Hence, the card spring. Tada!

I am a highly braggy magic enthusiast. Whenever I perform, I always make it clear to my audience that I am not like your Tito Boy doing some old magic trick to please the little nephews, or the guy you’re dating that showed you a lame-but-somewhat-amazing trick to flirt with you. No. I always make it clear that I am a guy who’s taking this art seriously, practicing more than 5 hours a day (or less. Haha), reading Ed Marlo and Harry Lorayne books that was published sometime in the early 20^th century, and has never left home without a deck of cards in his pocket. Nevertheless, in order for me to communicate this message across to my audience, it would be best (and cool) to do it WITHOUT saying it, so I spring the cards to their faces.

What I look like without my head.

Springing cards is classified under Card Flourishes, the type of shit that the magic twin gods Dan and Dave Buck loves to do. You often see these feats in casinos being done by card dealers just to show off that they’re damn good with cards and you can’t cheat with them watching you. What people often fail to realize is that it’s more than just a flashy move.

Jay Sankey called it “The Real Deal” and explained that this is the perfect opener for any magician. It is not just a flashy move that shows how good you are with cards. It shows that YOU are a REAL magician who knows not just a trick or two, but knows A LOT. (Sankey, 2006)

"Rather than saying, 'Hey, I'm a magician'...
nothing says 'Hey, I'm a REAL magician'
like the spring." - Jay Sankey

The very act of springing the cards from hand to hand introduces you to your audience – springing cards IS an introduction. It gives them an idea that this 3-5 minute performance from a complete stranger is not a waste of time… but rather a privilege.

Nevertheless, with the type of world that we are in and with technology making the access to information as easy as heating up food in the microwave, what used to be a well-guarded secret that was hidden from average individuals is now quickly getting exposed, and more and more magic tricks are being revealed and taught to the public especially to people whom what I may call “unworthy” to be called magicians or magic enthusiasts. 

As what one of my college professors in my course has taught me, “Differentiation is the KEY” and I believe that this can also be applied in the art of magic. REAL magicians/enthusiasts should differentiate themselves. You can be creative and do it in a way you want it to be done OR you can simply spring the cards – a way of using this cherry on top as a batter to your routine.

How everything can be related to love

As the title suggests, every single thing in this life of ours can be somehow related to love. Yes, even the most ordinary of things. My friends can somehow relate to what I’m saying as they themselves may have experienced (or rather became victims of) my only joy I have in social networking sites, which is to (1) either to reverse whatever they post or (2) connect everything they say with love. Focusing more on my second “joy”, we can indeed relate everything with love.

The reason for our very existence is love, the reason for us having to choose whether to wear black or green on a Monday morning to work/school is all because of love. We are as we speak, lavishing one of the greatest gifts of God to humankind, Human Freedom. God could have made us robots dancing as He pulled the strings, but again, He gave us the power to choose… all because of Love, more specifically, His genuine Love for all of us.

Since freedom, as I’ve explained, is one of the gifts of Love, everything we do is a product of Love. The logic is quite simple to understand, but people may not pay too much attention to it as it is in our nature to ignore some of the things that are common to us. What follows is the conclusion of the logic that what we see, experience, touch, taste, or whatever the human senses can give to us are consequences of the concept that love evidently exists everywhere.

A more simple explanation of how love can be related to everything can be based from a more religious point of view. Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical letter is entitled Deus Caritas Est, in English, “God is Love”. If we reckon the characteristics of God, one of it would be His omnipresence. So he is everywhere and since our current pope said that He is indeed Love, so it must be that Love is also everywhere. So there you go. No explanations needed, just plain faith.

Yes, I do have a copy of it.

So to reiterate, EVERYTHING IS ALL ABOUT LOVE… and I dare to exaggerate on it (as you will see in SOME of my future posts).

Behold!

For some reason, I wanted to return to blogging... and so I did. My "other" blog focused solely on religion, Christianity, and whatever there is about being religious, which is not really that bad, but I generated a lot of haters. You can access that blog here if you want to read some of my posts there (which are a lot really) but I doubt if I'm going to update them anymore.


So for now, this new blog of mine will be self-centered. It will always be about ME, how I think, MY opinions, MY analysis and whatever noun there may be that can fit after a "my". Don't worry, I won't be plagiarizing any work. If you I think I did, it will be unintentional.


So in line with the "first post tradition", let me introduce myself. I am Rodrigo Ang Escobar, currently 19 years old, living somewhere beside the infamous Marikina River. I'm a proud owner of German Shepherds (yes, that's with an "s"). Currently, I am a student student taking up Communications and majoring in Integrated Marketing Communications. I'm also an amateur magician focusing on close-up magic.


On "an attempt to brainwash you"


One of the troubles for me in making this blog is thinking of a catchy name to name it. It has come to my attention (and realization) that what I have been trying to do in the cyber world (sometimes even in real life) is trying to influence the people I interact with. I always try to make them listen to my bullshit even if sometimes it doesn't make sense. Probably in the future I'd be posting crap here in my blog some things that may not be considered by human beings as something that is sensible, but yet again as I have said, this blog will be all about me. 


"oh that is nice" is one of my expressions that (again) does not make any sense sometimes. I say it practically all the time even at instances that doesn't require it. Again, I couldn't think of a catchy name for a URL, so I made use of my dumbfounded expression.


The background, which is a collage of card suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clovers) is an expression of my love for my unique skill to be able to perform magic tricks. As for the colors... uhmmm... I just thought it looked nice and not girly.


To have an idea on what to expect in this blog, read the blog description above. I think I wrote there all the possible topics that I may be able to write some time in the future.


Thank you.