A Spiritual Pause in the middle of the Metro

This afternoon (of June 5, 2009), I did something I never did before... or at least hd not done in a long… long time. What may that be? Simple, I entered a church – and not just any church, mind you – but Santo Domingo Church to just sit down, relfect and - you could say, reflect / connect with God. Was this a planned visit? Nope, not really. Circumstances just brought me here – now isn’t that great?

“What’s so great about visiting a church” one might ask? Simple, I was able to find a very quiet and peaceful sanctuary amidst the hustle and bustle of the Metro – and I did not have to go to a Spa or drive for hours away from said Metro to escape to a beach resort. I had time to spare, was in the neighborhood, simply went inside Santo Domingo... and realized how peaceful it was.

Okay, so I’m starting this at the middle – let me backtrack to explain how I ended up here. It happened to be a day when I had to accompany Barbie to a training she had scheduled – by that, I mean she happens to be the speaker/resource person. This particular training was happening in Quezon City, specifically near the Banaue and Quezon Avenue area, for those of you familiar with the place - you would know that this place is a very busy place in terms of traffic.

Now, since she can’t drive yet, and she needed to get to the location – after which, when said training was done, she would need to get out from said location… I had to drive for her. This is, I’m not too familiar with said place, though it is located along Quezon Avenue, which means I had a general idea of how to get there.

As I said earlier, this is a very busy place - that means that there would be a great many public transportation option available to Barbie – though whether she could get one fast was still a question to be answered. As I was driving for her, she need not have had to think about all these; besides, I was around and had nothings scheduled that day, so off we went.

Now the question was… what do I do while she’s busy? I basically had to wait for four hours. The natural tendency would be to look for a fast food, preferably, one that wasn’t too noisy, and hopefully, one with WiFi so I could use my laptop and surf the net. But not being familiar to the place (I said that, right?), I did not know where the closest Starbucks or Seattle’s Best was, relative to where I brought Barbie.

So I did what most red-blooded Filipino male would do – drive around and seek said places (asking directions being so... uncool). Not that I did not know where certain Starbucks were – but I did not want to be far from Barbie’s location either.

Well… after a few rounds around the block in search of such a place – likewise getting the ley of the land, I could not find any of these coffee shops. I did see one or two - but aside from the fact that they were not well recognized brands, parking was tricky and a challenge to find… it being relatively lunchtime by then.

Then I thought, hey… since Santo Domingo was just near, why not stop there – at least, I was assured of having parking… after all, who would crowd into a church yard when there were no scheduled masses? And so I maneuvered to Santo Domingo church’s parking, entered and parked = after all, I could plan my next moves while in said parking location.

I also had a secondary reason for this... Banaue has a 'not too safe for cars' reputation - whether unfair or well deserves, I did not bother to consider such merits. I was just worried enough to not want to park anywhere near Banaue lest I lose one or both side mirrors. I thought, it would really be a brazen move should someone try to target me car while parked in the Santo Domingo church parking lot, and was banking on that point of safety when I was parking.

Soon as I entered and parked, I struck a mini-conversation with the parking attendant who without knowing, gave me information I had suspected a while ago… see, the rain had been heavy the past two – maybe three nights, and with these rains came flash floods… and as I looked around while driving, I could not help but notice that many establishments had their businesses raised in relation with the roads – which to me meant that these places experienced floods. Lucky for me, it was a sunny day today – in contrast to days gone by – sunny, yet windy… which meant the noontime sun’s heat was hardly felt. So, it looks like no rain today, or at least, not in the same volume – and with that, no floods. Good.

It was then that I proceeded to the church. I mean, I could not recall if I had visited Santo Domingo before - for sure, I did, but it wasn't really for spiritual reasons - rather more political. After all, Santo Domingo seemed a focal point for popular political uprisings... among others, it was where Ninoy Aquino's funeral mass was held, it was where many thanksgiving masses by Cory Aquino were mostly held. So it was not just the religious significance that caught my curiosity, but the historical implications of the location as well.

I entered through the front, and as I did, I immediately noticed the vastness of the church – it was indeed long, large and wide. It was also very quiet – with a scattering of devotees in it’s pews. I proceeded to it’s midpoint, found a relatively windy spot, near one of the church's side entrances, and sat down.

Now, as I said, I had not done this in a long time… in fact, I could recall visiting our school chapel ever so often while I was in Grade (primary and intermediate) School, maybe not as much in High School, and hardly at all in College. Apparently there seemed to be a progression of less visits – though I would be quick to say, I did go to mass almost religiously… meaning I never skipped a Sunday, though I might have skipped the Holidays of obligations. I guess, it simply meant that as I grew older, I 'needed' to visit less often.

Going back to Santo Domingo… as I sat, I started meditating about how my life was… realizing or reminding myself of a few personal goals not being met. As they are rather personal, I’ll just keep them vague here, and just continue… So I was meditating… I then knelt down and started praying/communicating (with God of course), and the very first thing I said was “Thank You…” I thanked God for letting me discover this place of peace and quiet… where i was seated, I could not hear the outside traffic of cars, buses and jeepneys jockeying for position in Quezon Avenue – it was really quiet, and I could actually concentrate / meditate.

I literally poured out my heart… (mentally, of course) and actually had a few tears rolling down my cheeks as I did so. Yes, it was that serious. I, of course, prayed for a better life, and then thanked him for what I had, the things I was doing right - and one more time before I got up, I thanked God again for this unplanned, very peaceful visit.

Now, this was not a short meditation either. I’m not one to kneel too long – after all, it’s not the most comfortable position I know… but I believe – that very afternoon, I cold have knelt for an hour or more – if needed. That said, I think I was kneeling for about 20 to 30 minutes… long in my book, trust me on that. So why was I able to do just that? Again, I would have to point to the environment of peace, comfort and yes… even with little people around, the spirituality that I could feel in the place.

Now, maybe it was just because I did not do such a thing for a long time, that I might have been very recipient of the surrounding… but I had gone to visit the Greenhills shopping center chapel last weekend during a non-mass moment – so I don’t think it was due to any length of time for not having visited a chapel or church.

Maybe it was, indeed, Santo Domingo church – I mean, the fact that this was a historic church in our not too long political landscape, was not lost to me either. This was, after all the favorite gathering of Cory Aquino, Cardinal Sin and many more dignitaries… you know, the states-people type, not the traditional politicians (or trapos for short). I was probably feeling the vibe of such a place having been an important part fo recent history. Maybe if I stayed long enough I would feel the same passion and commitment these people had - by tapping into the same spiritual font of strength that they had tapped.

I could have stayed much longer, but decided I wanted to look around some more.

I then visited the adoration chapel, prayed a bit – then decided htat this wasn't a daily occurrence, and had to write about this experience, to then be shared later in my blogs. Should you be reading these words now, you know I did just that.

So that’s basically it. I found a place to pause - even if just for a while. A place where I needed to commune, to re-energize, to reassess. Oh yeah… and I’ve actually eaten up almost two hours just visiting Santo Domingo.

I'm currently by the side garden as I type this article - sweating a bit due to the weather – though it seems that even that little problem is being addressed by the shower I now see, feel (laptop is relatively safe – for now) and smell (the wet grass – that is).

Should I do this again? Meaning the visit and spiritual renewal? Definitely… though it may not necessarily be in Santo Domingo, but the meditation, reflection and communication did help. Like a Spa, I felt a renewal, or replenishment of my spiritual self… maybe more so than going to mass at times – which may tend to be crowded, noisy and less spiritual as we’d like it to be. Not that I’m advocating stopping people from going to mass – no way… I’m just saying that I rarely found churches this peaceful, and it was a very welcome pause from all the hustles of city living.

In movies, I wonder why there are some people who go to visit the church when there was no mass – and I normally related these people with the desperate… those really in need, due to a crisis or an illness. Well… this afternoon’s experience was an eye-opener. Not everyone need go just because of trouble – but it is a nice place to hang… maybe there are no parlors, no fast foods, no movie or game joint… but if there were, then the peace I felt – the one I liked – the one that let me commune… that would not have been there.

Oh boy… now were really seeing rain – hope it does not last too long. I’m ending this now – not for fear of flooding… nah. It’s because I’ve said what I had to say.

Now I’m energized… until the next time. Oh, and try it some time too. Just visit - specially if you feel the need to get away from it all. You need not get away too far. Go visit your church, or any church for that matter. Give God some time for a one-on-one with you. Who knows? You could find that 'peace' too.

By the way, pictures here are courtesy of my Nokia N70, since I had not brought my Canon Camera... not bad either. Imagine that, I can literally blog on the go wiht just my notebook and cell phone.