Acoustic and unplugged

Filipinos are not very good at listening and they do not take dire warnings seriously. It has nothing to do with being light hearted or being a joyful people. The sad, honest truth is we simply do not listen especially when it comes to warnings and cautions. I suspect that we all share the genes of a people in constant denial.

For the most part, it is said that we take signs and warnings as that; just a warning. Some have even said that we see warning signs as nothing more than suggestions, much like “overpricers” who don’t believe in the term “suggested retail price.” Unfortunately our failure to heed signs, believe and obey laws usually comes at a price. At the very least our choice to be deaf or to be blind results in mass inconvenience, arrests, penalties and in the extreme has caused so many people their very lives.

During Typhoon Ondoy, many people did not believe or listen to the radio or the newscast concerning the potential flooding or the need to evacuate. Even highly educated individuals who belong to the upper class refused to believe that Ondoy would not only flood their homes two floors up, but would even render them helpless and stranded on rooftops. They relied on what they imagined to be and not what the experts and the scientists had concluded belatedly: that there would be flooding.

Of course it wasn’t the first time it happened and it was not the last. There were great floods before and Yolanda certainly came later and showed what a flood of biblical proportion is like. In fact Filipinos would best explain why so many people got wiped out during Noah’s time.  So why am I writing about our cultural fault and inability to listen, or about floods, signs and warnings?

Well, it just occurred to me in the quiet refuge of my “farm” that today thousands of people will be multi-tasking, scampering and attempting to process several things in one go while hoping to beat the mad rush out of the office, the traffic and get out of the city or the country. Yes, today officially marks the Holy Week exodus. The irony is that what used to be a time to shift from the busy to the holy, from the productive to the reflective has now turned Holy into nothing more than Holidays void of anything holy.

Out of 365 days in a year, Holy Week would be the five or seven days most Filipinos get a chance to seriously reflect on the faith they subscribe to, how they have walked their talk, or lived their lives as believers. For practical purposes Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and Easter Sunday are the five days in a year when we are presented scenes, stories and case studies from the passion and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus our Lord. Each day as recounted in the New Testament scriptures has modern day equivalents and relevance at home, in the workplace, and in our individual lives. In a way it is the unofficial time of the year when we are suppose to do a spiritual inventory, a performance evaluation, and even strategic planning of our spiritual goals.

But for many, today and tomorrow will be a day of last minute shopping, planning, packing and coming up with a whole lot of excuses for why we have to be out of the office, drop appointments or out of reach. Today and tomorrow many Pinoys will be on the road, on the move, all taking a holiday without any holy content or context. To be brutal about it, for many it will be a time of self-centering, self pampering and certainly no self-denial, no sacrifice, unless not getting drunk or getting into a fight on Good Friday qualifies as sacrifice in your books.

This week, many Filipinos will trade one form of busyness for another. From the busyness of work they will make themselves busy cleaning closets or busying themselves with fun. Some might even say that cleaning up the house and doing the dirty work will be their form of sacrifice. Somehow we have found ways to make things work to our advantage.

But is it to our advantage? Yes, people will get a break, but more often than not they end up needing a vacation because of their vacation. They come home needing to work harder because they’re now several thousands poorer from all the money they spent. Yes, they got a great tan that might turn into a sunburn in a day or two or snake-like peeling skin in a week. Hey I’m all for going on a vacation and as employees you get 15 days, not to mention the extras over the longest Christmas season in the world.  But in terms of what Holy Week is all about, how many Catholics or Christians really set aside the time for meditation, reflection, assessment, evaluation and spiritual planning?  How many of us return from the Holy Week with our spirits centered, restored and rededicated to follow the examples of Jesus Christ?

The reason I titled this article Acoustic and Unplugged is because I know from experience and observation that people who listen to too many distractions, the amplified noise of the workplace, of events or activities end up hearing mostly noise. In fact there is an appropriate biblical verse from the Book of Matthew Chapter 13 verses 13 to 15:

“Though seeing they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “You will ever be hearing but never understanding; you will ever be seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them.”

The idea of going acoustic and unplugged in modern day music is based on the observation that going back to the simplicity and original form brings us to what the real sound and music is. Going acoustic and unplugged this Holy Week may lead you to hear what the real message that God has for you. Take a time out and listen, take a time out and read His word. That may be all the healing you need. God bless you.