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"Luli" moments

Luli is the low-key daughter of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who was irked because Edgar Padlan, a Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) officer allowed a foreigner to jump the line of passengers waiting to be checked in at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last November 01. According to her, the point is not because Padlan did not recognize her and gave her special accommodation as befitting a member of the First Family, but that there is a queue to which everyone must wait their turn, including her. There are many "Padlans" in this world, as there are many "Lulis" whose experiences and struggles attempt to change, no matter how incremental, the way we behave and conduct ourselves.

I had several "luli moments" in the span of just the past two days. Yesterday, while waiting for Fe Mangahas to fetch me for the showing of “The Road to Kalimugtong” at Magnet, I went to the Bank of Commerce to withdraw. There was a long queue but there were only three people on the first front seats which could sit at least ten. The woman at the back said the line has extended to the second row because the three people in the front seat did not make an effort to “move their ass”, so I was being asked to seat at the second row by the patient ones. Instead of doing this, I approached the guard who did not also care if the queuing was followed. As I was talking to him, the three people in the front row moved, to the relief of those in the second row, including me. It was already thirty minutes but we were not moving because two of those who just arrived went straight to the teller, sneaking their slips at the back of the vase with plastic flowers. The teller took the slips rapidly with her right hand, without moving her face away from the computer, which makes me conclude that her peripheral vision is working properly despite the impropriety of her actions. The woman seated to my right whose turn was overtaken by “the inserted” whispered, “How terrible that we have to queue and some people just cut in. The teller even tolerates it.” In answer, I told her, within hearing distance of all my other seatmates and hopefully the inserted ones, “Well, if you have enough self-respect, you would not do the same thing would you? It is just his level of consciousness.” When he finished, he motioned to the man seated to my left, who suddenly rose from his seat, got his money and departed. I suddenly realized “the departed” just stole my turn!

This happens often at the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) system. At one time, I lined up at one of the two exits to Shangrila Plaza and found that after the first two, the exit was no longer serviceable. I waved to the guard to call his attention but he just stood there fondling his rifle, so in desperation, we have to join the queue at the end of the one and only available exit. When the guard regained his wits, he called for someone to repair the other exits since the queue has reached his unconscious. One exit was repaired and those who belonged to our line moved to the other exit, which did not work again. Then they wanted to reclaim the space they have left. People shouted, “Line up, don’t insert yourselves!” to which they retorted, “This space belonged to us before we moved!”

That is not the end of it. Once you get inside the train, you would expect to be among women on the first two coaches reserves for “women, children and the elderly”, but you would be jostling with able-bodied men and male teenagers stealthily occupying spaces near the doors with their backs turned, women who cannot part with their boyfriends, mothers who insist to be accompanied by their male children, and males dressed like women who swear they are in fact “girls.”

These “luli” moments occur very often. It is a sign that our economic progress and our sense of community has not developed at the same pace. “Get ahead” has become a personal mantra and a national tradition, no matter what the cost. Or you get run over, just as proponents of Charter Change promised, until they got derailed by the Supreme Court. There is no Supreme Court in the streets, only people who want to get ahead and people who allow them. There is no arbiter for what is appropriate. In the end, we must find our own voices, act and contribute to the change we want to happen.

The Song of Mary and the Song of Hannah

Every last Monday of each month, the Urduja Collective, meets at Cyma Greek Taverna, graciously hosted by Marietta Goco. The Urduja Collective is a group of women leaders advocating spirituality in management and leadership, and also engaged in a continuous search and experience of God. In this second meeting, I was introduced to a new word, “Magnificat” which was explained briefly by Fe Mangahas as the announcement by some angel to Mary that she is pregnant with Jesus.

But what is really the Magnificat?

According to Wikipedia, the Magnificat (also known as the Song of Mary) is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. A canticle is a song or chant, especially a non-metrical hymn with words taken from a biblical text other than from the Book of Psalms. The canticle appears in Luke 1:46-55, and also appears in the Book of Odes, a liturgical collection of various odes drawn mainly from the Old Testament.

When Archangel Gabriel informed Mary that she was pregnant with Jesus, Mary responded by visiting her cousin Elizabeth. After Mary greeted Elizabeth, Elizabeth's unborn child (the future John the Baptist) moved in her womb, and when this was noticed, she sang the Magnificat in response. However, scholars, ancient manuscripts, and English translations of the Bible, differ on whether it was Mary who sung it, or whether it was Elizabeth.

I clicked on the Bible Gateway and found the Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55)

46And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47And my spirit
hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48For he hath regarded the low estate
of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me
blessed.
49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and
holy is his name.
50And his mercy is on them that fear him from
generation to generation.
51He hath shewed strength with his arm; he
hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52He hath
put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath
sent empty away.
54He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance
of his mercy;
55As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his
seed for ever.

Wikipedia also mentioned that according to textual scholars, the text is simply an abbreviated version of the Song of Hannah, from the Books of Samuel.

The Song of Hannah is a poem in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and is supposed to be a prayer delivered by Hannah, to give thanks to Yahweh for the birth of her son, Samuel. According to some contributors to the Classical Rabbinical literature, the first half of the poem was a prophecy on Samuel's later role as a prophet, that her great grandson would be a musician in the Jerusalem Temple, that Sennacherib would destroy the Kingdom of Israel and other prophecies.

Wikipedia also noted that most textual scholars believe it actually refers to the birth of Saul, with Samuel's name having been substituted awkwardly for Saul in the preceding narrative; the text is generally considered by biblical scholars to be more likely to have originally been a song of praise directed at a king than a prayer referring to the birth of a prophet. Its seemingly non-prayer-like nature was noticed by classical scholars, who believed that Hannah's prayer was silent and unrecorded, and that the Song of Hannah was what was said afterwards.

The song of Hannah is regarded by Judaism as the prime role model for how to pray, and is read on the first day of Rosh Hashanah as the haftarah. The poem has several features in common with the Magnificat, which was sang in early Christian circles. These common features include the themes, and the order in which they appear; many textual scholars believe that the Magnificat is essentially just a copy of the Song of Hannah, together with part of a previous prayer of Hannah referring to herself as a handmaiden.

The Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10)

The Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10)
1And Hannah prayed, and said,
My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is
enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
2There
is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any
rock like our God.
3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not
arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him
actions are weighed.
4The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they
that stumbled are girded with strength.
5They that were full have
hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the
barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave,
and bringeth up.
7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth
low, and lifteth up.
8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and
lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make
them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's,
and he hath set the world upon them.
9He will keep the feet of his
saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man
prevail.
10The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out
of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the
earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his
anointed.

Now, I know what it is, all I need to find out is how it relates to me.