By Klaus Döring
I wrote this piece on a Sunday. After going to church — of course.
Every day is different. Every one of us is different. Mondays to Saturdays are usually working days for most of us. Sunday is a day to unwind, rewind, relax, to breathe out and to belch out the heavy burdens we are carrying during the other days. Family day. For many others, Sundays are also working days. People fill up streets, parks, beaches, and shopping malls. Eateries, restaurants, discos, and pub houses make good money on Sundays.
It is the day of money. The loss of some is the gain of others. Sunday is an enjoyable day. Sure, but it can also be a dangerous day. Sunday is for most of us the day when people come together and a certain spirit of freedom and merriment pervades during the whole day. Try to avoid jostling and quarreling with one another and rubbing our shoulders against others! Try it and you will see how difficult it is. Many times, misunderstandings and unnecessary discussions destroy this most blessed and holy day. What a pity!
Why don’t we look for the many advantages that this day offers us? No, instead of this, we lose control of ourselves, our senses, and especially our tongue. We incite, hurt, and divide the people around us and we divide ourselves from them. We use our tongue as the most dangerous part of our body and as an instrument of destruction, distrust, and suspicion that brings us to total isolation and non-communication. Our tongues fuel gossip. Instead of praising and giving honor and appreciation, we use this day, turning it into the day of the jackal.
You might read this on Monday or Tuesday or any other weekday. Remember: Sunday is a day for others, and only secondly for me. Sunday is the day of the Lord — but not only if and when we might have time left over. Yes, we have enough time to go to church from Monday to Saturday! The unnecessary excuses for Mondays through Saturdays don’t count today. We also have other plans for today: visit or cheer up our family, visit people who are staying in the hospital. Let’s try to continue reading a book. Join cooking lessons or get back to the old guitar or piano.
Maybe this coming Sunday evening, you will utter the groan: “That’s it. SAYANG! Tomorrow is Monday again! HAY NAKU!” Maybe you won’t feel well, but the desire to be of service again on Monday provides enough reserves of strength. And the satisfaction and the fulfillment are beyond measure.
Let’s celebrate this coming Sunday in a good mood and with those people around who want to do the same with us. It will be Pentecost.
***
Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn or X-Twitter or visit www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com.
