Man On A Street

The Sanskrits say the soul forgets his past lives during reincarnation. Which can mean to forget past cares is a requirement to go on living. Interesting community -- I'm at the Jolibee restaurant beside the University of San Carlos Cebu main campus... Everybody is busy... Do they remember who San Carlos was? [Borromeo -- says an old friend with the same last name.]  Do they remember the role the religous orders played in the shaping of history since Sumer? Do they remember why girls in the school used to wear skirts and long sleeved blouses? (Ask the more conservative religious orders the same.) Magic. The early peoples painted themselves to attune with the spirit world. Ancient kings attired themselves to look like gods. Costume and makeup is magic. Magic is a big ingredient in the workings of political power. Black tie please. Oh, in contrast, Jesus wore a plain woolen robe. Lest we forget. It's ok to forget past cares. But not the lessons we need to learn. In this life or t...

Spanish courtyard of the Basilica de Sto. Niño de Cebu. In the heat of the afternoon, the splashing of the cherub fountain drowns other sounds. Inside, funereal silence among the kneelers... A long line waiting to touch and wipe and kiss the bullet-proof glass of the "original" Holy Child image. I love moments like this. I wonder what it was like in the Basilica de San Marduk de Babilonia. "The root of many tragedies is man's capacity to adore."

With its bundle of nerves, the growing fetus is like an erection. If so, then the fetal state is an extension of sexual bliss. The "Eden" state. If so, abortion may well be the greatest sacrilege: The most excruciating pain at the most joyous moment in living memory.