iBelong

[07:35 Quezon Ave]

It was musky and steamy (even sticky) inside the MRT train. And ironically, I was wearing a thick, black jacket (I was too lazy to take it off and it was too crowded inside the train, so I forced my self to believe). It's as if the air-conditioning system suddenly caught fire and was releasing deadly hot fumes rather than the cool dry wind it was supposed to discharge.  I was in agony. 

I had dizzy spells (I drank too much coffee that morning) and my feet felt like giving-up under my weight (I'm a 170 lbs., 5' 5" bulldozer you know. You do the math and you'd know I'm not small, especially down the waist).  I had my 30 minutes walk and I  perspired a lot. I tried focusing on the book I'm reading (Book of Psalms 31:1) but I could not make myself absorb the passages I was reading. I needed distraction to, at least, flush-out the idea that I was actually in a spa and the train suddenly turned into a Sauna. That is when I found something amusing. 

It was a couple, a few seats away from where I was standing. Both of them wore matching green shiny jackets looking rich in their Levi's jeans. The guy looked-like a cut-out from a modeling magazine and the girl looked well-off in her well pressed white shirt, or was it because she was playing with her iPad? Yes, that 9.56 x 7.47 x .5 inch black, high-end tablet of pure awesomeness. Yes, an iPad in the middle of the crowded train, filled with strangers, all dying to lay their hands in one of these beauties. Yes, I wanted one for myself but I can't afford one now. I just hope no thief sneaked-in our train and found the iPad interesting. 

I looked at their jackets and I understood then why these people had the guts to expose such precious things. Their jackets had a logo: A white star surrounded with embossed letters spelling the name of their university, capitalized and bold: De La Salle University. "Mayaman.." I blurted out. 

I had a sudden vision that if iPads were invented at least 100,000 years ago, God would have written His commandments on an one.  And at that idea, I imagined Moses holding the iPad, stretching his arms above his head, while the sinful Israelites covered the whole thing taking pictures and videos off the scene from their mobile phones. That was a crazy idea.

I took my eyes off that shiny black thing and tried looking at the people who was still marveling at the costly little machinery. There was another college student wearing casual clothing. She had eye glasses and she was carrying a plastic bag of pandesal. She looked rather ordinary until I looked closely. Her ID tangled from her neck with a maroon and green lanyard and my respect for her leaped as I read the name of the university she belonged to--University of the Philippines. "Matalino..." I said to myself.

Green archer and Fighting Maroon. Suddenly I became too eager to search the place for a touch of blue. There's a San Beda pin, a Letran jacket and finally, I saw a lanyard hanging from the neck of a well-groomed employee with his blue long sleeves completing the list of the top universities in the country: Blue Eagle. "Mayaman na matalino pa." I murmured. "Buti nalang ako, Thomasian. Magaling." I added.

Back when I sported a ridiculous haircut and I proudly wore the black, gold and white colors of my university (UST), I took the university rivalries with utmost seriousness that I decided to join my university's cheering squad. I loved the excitement whenever our team defeated the other team or when our cheers became so explosive that the other team could not take it, so they would sing along to our most famous cheer with the matching hand motion: "Go USTe! Go USTe! Go USTe! Go go go go!" It was heaven! It was really the best way to win friends from the different schools, but more so, enemies.

I love UP. I serve at the UP Campus Feast mission and I love the crowd there. But I have to admit that back when I was still part of the cheering squad of UST, I hated maroon so much because it reminded me of UP, our arch rival. I hated seeing UP Ikot jeepneys, I hated the oblation, I hated the people who came from UP and I even hated my friends. Thank God I grew-up from that nightmare.

I love Ateneo, my dream school. I also love La Salle ( I have tons of friends who graduated from Taft and Lipa). But I'm head-over-heels, madly, deeply in love with my university. For me, it's the best! I love the Thomasian life. I would even wear my university jacket for longer periods of time, skipping laundry for weeks on end just so I could flaunt my being a Thomasian. I belong to one of the best universities and I'm a proud Thomasian.

I wanted to give glory to UST by doing good whenever I could (especially when I wore the school jackets), may it be commuting or ordering a food in a fast food chain. It would give me great joy if somebody would tell me, "ang bait naman ng mga Tomasino" or "Buti pa mga Thomasian magagalang." But three years after graduation, I have forgotten most of these memories: the fanaticism, the excitement, the thrill. I am still a proud Thomasian, yes, but more than that, I am a proud Christian. 

I took my jacket off. The heat overwhelmed me already. And as I was taking it off, the lady seated in front of me looked at the thing that dangled in my neck and after months of wearing it, I looked at it, a crucifix. I suddenly realized the true reason why I wear this. I wear this crucifix because I belong to God. I wear this crucifix because I want people to know that I do great things because I have a great God. I wear this crucifix because I am proud of my God and that I am doing everything to make Him proud. This is the reason why I'm so eager to give God glory with my life, through my service and love. This crucifix reminds me that I have a mission, that I have to proclaim His righteousness, that I have to be a blessing to the world. Suddenly, I felt this aching desire to hear someone say, "God is good!" that "You're such a blessing Rex and I thank God for your presence."

"One by one, people will say, 'I belong to the Lord.' They will come to join the people of Israel. They will mark the name of the Lord in their arms and call themselves one of God's people." (Isaiah 44:5)

I belong to God, nothing can stand in my way; nothing can harm me and all that I do shall be for His greater glory. 

May God's love remind you that you belong to Him, 

Rex Van Carlo E. Mollo

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam