On How a Clumsy Guy met a Beautiful Volunteer

Last Sunday, after having my haircut, I went to the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage to attend the mass.

During the communion, I saw Anna, the beautiful volunteer of Marcellin Homes from Germany, and I decided to greet her after the mass.

I personally don’t know her that much and I just met her once during a dinner last Friday.

So after the mass outside the church, while facing her in a short distance, I waived my hand while looking at her.

It seems that she didn’t recognize me since I did not mention her name.

Maybe she was thinking, “Who is this geek waving his hand on me?”

Maybe she didn’t really noticed me waving my hand.

When I saw her companion, whom I don’t know personally, I just chickened out of my way towards the church gate.

If Anna was someone whom I truly know well, then I would have shouted at the voice that might scandalize the churchgoers and waved my hands more enthusiastically.

What I did was clumsy.

That’s the introvert in me winning the day.

The day I danced in front of the crowd

I participated in a Fun Walk yesterday morning sponsored by a school.

While cooling down, I did something terrible and shameful and I’m not embarrassed to share: I danced in front of the crowd!

It’s not because I am a brilliant dancer; it’s the other way around.

I’m not even in the stage but people are looking at me.

It’s not because I am famous but because I am quite known in the school.

(Note: I’m a Marist Brother novice)

People are looking at me because I look terrible when I dance!

The students said “Go Kuya Allen!” and the teachers even called me “The Best in Hataw” (in this context, hataw means Beat It!).

If I did that in high school, I wouldn’t dance like that or even run away and hide.

What did the experience taught me?

I realized that not being able to dance well is part of my imperfection. It’s not my talent.

I am not a good dancer, so what?I don’t need to be someone else.

I just need to be myself.

Well at least I made people smile with my talent-less antics.

Currently Reading: The Imitation of Christ

One evening, I was just fixing books in our house (I’m just a guest) when I saw the name Thomas Kempis. It’s The Imitation of Christ! To my delight, I grabbed swiftly. It’s like the same reflex when want to slap a mosquito or I play a chess blitz game. That’s how fast my impulse is when I saw it. I can’t really describe how much excited I am that moment. My heart is beating fast. Maybe it’s the rush of emotions that I associated with it.

I first learned about it from the spiritual reflections of St. Therese of Lisieux. Hoping that it will have the same stirring to my soul, I’m set to finish it from this month of August until I go back to our novitiate (convent) this October.

So far, I just read three chapters in Book 1 and some skimming on some parts but I’m not rushing. That’s how to read a spiritual book. Take your time, reflect, read again, and write or talk about it. If you happen to know or heard about it, I don’t guarantee that you’ll like it. Written during the Vatican I times, I can see the context when it was written so some of the reflections are new and sometimes even alien to me. But no matter how new or striking the reflections are to me, it never fails to make my heart warm and inspired.

I’m not recommending you to read this book but I encourage you to do so.