By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
He would always be there freshly bathed at 5:00 a.m. Always deep in prayer with the rosary. He was the Caucasian priest of the Roman Catholic church at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. It would take him more than an hour to complete his prayers and other early morning spiritual activities.
The reason I chanced upon that sincere priest about three times was my having volunteered in 1987 to handle a court case there. Still learning the ropes of the trade being the youngest lawyer in the company, I was quite eager to see how things would go in my maiden handling of a court case. With a beginner’s eagerness, I could have raised my hand for any case anywhere in the world. The most practical company air-conditioned bus I could take would pass by there at around 5:00 a.m. There was no better schedule that would assure I would not be late in court.
Solano then was still a no man’s land during the wee hours. There were no fast foods or any other business already open during those still drowsy hours. Probinsyang probinsya. So I would pass the time to wait for daylight trading stories with the balot vendor by the highway with his flickering gas lamp, or go to the church across the road. That was how I strayed into the benign spiritual sight of the foreigner priest in earnest prayer.
It was the best place also to do my early morning meditation or what passed as one for it was always difficult to concentrate right after a tiring seven-hour bus ride.
That benign sight of the praying priest hurtled me back in time about 50 years ago. I quit college then to go as an under study of an Indian Ananda Marga Yoga Society monk. I wanted to know what life, or the world or the universe was really all about. I thought it was like the movies. Vivid in my mind was the supposed Buddhist disciple in the Kungfu TV series (that predated lightning fast Bruce Lee) spouting absolute wisdom like “Work is also a prayer.”
The monk and I went on a trip around the Visayas and some parts of Mindanao. Indeed, it was real spiritual immersion. Of waking up at about 5:00 in the morning or earlier to take a bath and do 30 minutes to more than an hour of meditation primed first by spiritual songs. Thereafter would be a good dose of spiritual readings or study and discussions. The routine went on for about a month.
When I came back home with a newfound knowledge and experience I chanced upon the Bible on Jesus’ sermon on the mount. The lessons there, particularly, on spiritual surrender came so clearly—in an in-your-face manner.
Yes, to have that spiritual realization needs some immersion every now and then and daily meditation or extended deep prayer at the break of dawn and at night, resulting in happiness or a great feeling every time. Indeed, God is worth the discipline, the time and effort.
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