Starting life at 80

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

(We would like to share this article by Bernie V. Lopez, a professor and writer, blogger and former columnist of the Inquirer. He is with Healing Ministry, ex-professor of Ateneo University, documentary producer-director (freelance, ex-ABS-CBN, ex-TVS Tokyo) and  ex-broadcaster of Radio Veritas. Check Facebook “Bernie V. Lopez Eastwind” / Pages “Eastwind Journeys and Journals” and “Mary Queen of Peace.)”
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The secret to life is in our stars, our destiny, hidden inside our hearts. We have to find it and unravel it. Eighty -year-old Kevin was so depressed, he wanted to commit suicide. But suddenly, his total darkness became a blinding light. This story is inspired by a character in real life.
    It was Christmas eve, the most dangerous time for people who were bored and lonely. Kevin started thinking of death. He started getting sick with imagined diseases. In total depression, wanting to die but not knowing how to, he took a walk in the nearby woods, contemplating suicide.
    He stumbled and sprained his ankle. Unable to walk, he lay on the grass, and for the first time, saw the panorama of the stars like a million diadems on soft black velvet. Suddenly, he realized that he took many beautiful things for granted, that life was worth living, and it was not too late to start life at 80. His entire life of emptiness and misery flashed back in a split second. He was sad how he had wasted his life. On that Christmas eve, a storm passed by Kevin’s heart to cleanse his soul.
    He screamed at the Lord in tears, “This is all your fault, Lord. You abandoned me. My misery is all your fault.” Suddenly, he realized that, for the first time in his life, he was praying for help. Suddenly, he felt the Lord’s warm embrace. A deep spiritual transformation descended on him. There was only himself and the world to blame. Only then did he realize, that he was still alive, that life was so precious, that life was what he made of it.
    Unable to walk, he was forced to sleep until morning on top of soft summer leaves. Resisting old age and weakness, he wandered aimlessly for two days, wondering what to do with himself. He bought bread in a bakery along the road. There, he saw a young lady sitting on the curb, crying. He brought her out to a nearby garden, and asked her to lie down on the grass. She meekly obeyed, no questions asked. Kevin lay beside her. They watched the clear star-studded evening sky for a whole ten minutes in silence. Her sobs stopped.
    SANDRA. My name is Sandra. Hey, look, a shooting star.
    KEVIN. I’m Kevin. I was ready to commit suicide two days ago, Sandra. The stars saved me. They made me feel alive.
    SANDRA. I have cancer. The doctor said I will die in six months.
    KEVIN. How nice. Plenty of time to start your life.
    SANDRA. What would you have me do?
    KEVIN. Give yourself to others, that’s the only way to die. Forget yourself in others.
    SANDRA. Oh, I see. I am not important. Everybody else around me is. All my life, I never see people that way. Sounds like a good plan. Yes, I will try it. Look, another shooting star.
    KEVIN. A shooting star, in all its grandeur, lives only for two seconds at most. You have six months. You have plenty of time.
    SANDRA. Thank you, Kevin. I will never forget you.
Kevin did not fully realize that the utter spiritual comfort he gave Sandra was the same spiritual comfort the Lord gave to him, only five times more. It was a boomerang. It was not just a spontaneous thing that came out of him. It was the Holy Spirit in action, the answer to his prayers. Now he knew what to do. He resolved to begin a life for the Lord and for others. It was not too late. It was only then did he really begin his life. He found his youth in his old age after eight decades of emptiness.
    An idea flashed. With his last savings, he built a kitchen named “SOUP FOR THE SOUL”, inviting other old people. Every day, they came, about 50 of them, men and women in rags, many homeless, a noisy bunch who began to discover their youth in their old age in each other. When his money was running out after two months, he told the sad news to all that he had to close the kitchen. Rebecca, a 78-year-old feisty woman, stood up.
    REBECCA. No way. We will raise the money.
    They had a big rowdy meeting. Everybody was screaming. In the midst of the pandemonium, a beautiful young lady alighted from a black limousine and approached them. All were silent.
    SANDRA. Hi, Kevin. I can see your making a mess of your life. Kitchen mess, that is. I’ve searched high and low for you. I hired two detectives.
    KEVIN. Sandra, it’s so nice to see you so alive. Let me see, it has been 12 months since we met, right?
    SANDRA. Eighteen, Kevin. I did not die after six months because if you live for others, you don’t easily die. You have first do something for the Lord. You taught me the secret to life, Kevin.
    KEVIN. It’s no secret. It’s just that we are mostly blind because we often refuse to see.
    REBECCA. Hey, Sandra, you know what …….
    SANDRA. Hush, grandma. I know. The soup may ran out, but not the love we all share.
    Sandra winked. She wrote a cheque and gave it to Rebecca, whose eyes popped out. She passed it on until it reached Kevin. Everyone screamed. Soup for the Soul was alive and well. It became immortal and would never die. Somehow the Lord planned its finances, not Kevin, not Sandra, not anyone.
    SANDRA. Tell me, Kevin, do you lie down on the grass with these people?
    KEVIN. No grass around here. Anyway, we don’t need shooting stars. We look to another star which does not ‘shoot’, the one that guided three kings to Baby Jesus.
    SANDRA. You are shooting stars to each other, right? The secret to life is in our stars, Kevin.
    KEVIN. Right, hidden inside us. God bless your pretty soul, Sandra. Merry Christmas.
    The mob screamed a ‘Merry Christmas’ in unison that shattered the silent night. In an instant, like a brilliant shooting star, Sandra was gone.