Gaudz sees with eyes of faith
Have you ever encountered a life situation that is somewhat mysterious? An experience raising a question that seems to have no answer?
Have
you ever found yourself in a situation where you pinned your hope only on your Faith in
God?
A VERY TRYING TIME
Last
April 2022, I brought my younger brother to the Dr. Paulino J. Garcia
Memorial Research and Medical Center (PJG) in Cabanatuan City for medical
attention. He had many health issues.
He
had high blood sugar. He was anemic. His hemoglobin was low. He had urinary
tract infection (UTI). His blood pressure was 90/60.
Due
to the above condition, he collapsed a number of times hitting his head on the ground.
What
alarmed me most was his not being able to move his body, could not eat and had
to be personally attended to in every activity he had to do.
Laboratory
tests were done and results of the CT scan showed there was bleeding in his
brain and needed to be operated.
The
Hospital has very strict policy on visitors and persons attending to the needs of patients. Only one person is
allowed for every patient leaving my brother only to the care of his 17-year old
daughter while I stayed at the waiting area outside of the hospital compound
provided for visitors.
I
was very much worried then and prayed almost nonstop. I remember during the
time the operation was being performed on him by the neurosurgeon, I said the rosary
as I walked along all four streets surrounding the vast PJG compound. That was
past midnight when I could not sleep a wink due to anxiety.
After
the operation, his daughter was asked to stay at the waiting area where I was staying as my brother would be placed at the ICU for three days
leaving me even more anxious.
I
brought my novena booklet with me and made a novena to the Sacred Heart for
nine consecutive hours. I solemnly prayed that my brother’s operation be
successful and to bless and guide the neurosurgeon and other medical personnel
attending to my brother.
Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center
WANING ENERGY
Staying
at the waiting area thinking about a loved one placed at the ICU could drain
one emotionally as well as physically. But I had to take care of myself, too.
As my physical energy was waning and needed replenishment, I went out of the
waiting area to have my lunch.
I
found a canteen on Quimson Street in the vicinity of PJG. I ordered my favorite
sinigang na bangus and a ripe banana for my dessert.
When
I was done eating and about to pay for what I had ordered, the cashier told me
that it had already been paid by the guy who had just left the canteen.
Greatly
astounded, I asked her who that guy was. She said she didn’t know and that she
thought he was my companion.
Lest
it later turn out to be some kind of a prank, I insisted on paying. But her two
food servers confirmed my order had, indeed, already been paid by that guy they
thought was a friend of mine.
I
told them I am not from Cabanatuan and have no known friend in that city. I
insisted on paying but they refused to accept my money since my order had
already been paid and that that would be alright with them.
Trying
to further convince me, the ladies rationalized that I might have had done
similar good thing in the past and that I was then rewarded for my generosity by
someone I didn’t know.
Being
a religious person and likewise believing in what they reasoned out, I was
convinced. So, I just asked the ladies if they knew the guy and if they had any
idea where I could find him so I could at least thank him. They told me they didn’t know him but that he’s
probably in his mid-20s and that he oftentimes takes his lunch at their canteen.
They further stated that he works at a computer store beside a tailoring shop
just before the highway as they pointed to that direction.
ACTS OF GENEROSITY
As
the ladies’ words were still ringing in my ears, I tried to reach back. What
act of kindness had I done in the past that deserves a reward such as this?
I am basically a good person and have remained good despite some cruel people's distorted opinion of myself. There are countless instances that can attest to that.
Upon request, I
tutored many students in our neighborhood and helped many schoolmates of all year levels make their school assignments. When I was already working, I helped many find jobs and lent money to those who needed same not even asking them to pay me back. Not only did I help them find jobs but even offered my place where they could temporarily stay while in a place far away from their homes.
HOSPITAL RELEASE
After
the very successful operation (Thank God! And thanks to Dr. Charlene Mercado, the Neurosurgeon--we love you, Doc!) and having been confined in the hospital for nearly a month, my
brother finally got out of the hospital but scheduled to come back the
following month for the follow up checkup and removal of the staples on his scalp.
We
had zero billing. Many thanks to former Congresswoman Josie Manuel-Joson who fortunately called me on my phone the moment we stepped on the hospital ground not knowing we were there. That helped ease the burden of my stress-laden heart.
Ma’am
Josie is a good friend of mine and a former classmate (our valedictorian) in grade school, and
whose staff helped facilitate in the processing of my brother’s Philhealth. Many
commented that had the operation been done at a private hospital, it would have
cost us million pesos. What’s more, the thought of having someone I can turn to
on a trying moment like this helped diminish my anxiety.
FOLLOW UP CHECKUP
As scheduled, on
May 31, we went back to the PJG for my brother’s follow up checkup. There
were many patients on the hallway waiting for their respective doctors.
As
we waited for the neurosurgeon, and as if to provide the necessary segue to the mystery
I was trying to solve, I happened to sit beside a young guy who likewise was
there for the same purpose as mine. To beat boredom, I talked with him. I asked
him who the patient he was with. He said it was his aunt whom he accompanied
for medical checkup. He said they are from Cabanatuan.
He
asked me from where we are to which I replied from Gapan.
When
he mentioned that he works at a computer store beside a tailoring shop on Quimson
Street, I asked him if he’s familiar with the canteen on Quimson Street near
the hospital. He said yes and that he oftentimes takes his lunch there.
I
took that opportunity to narrate to him my story and asked him if he has a
co-worker who is in his mid-20s and who mistakenly paid for my meal. He said
he’s 20 years old but wasn’t the one I was referring to. But he confirmed his
co-employees usually take their lunch in the said canteen. He further said that
there was only one employee in their store who matches the age of the mystery
guy and that he must be 23 years old.
I
requested him to ask that guy if he was the one who paid for my lunch so I
could thank him. And I left my number to him.
A
couple of days later, in a phone conversation with him, he told me that he
asked his co-employee if he was the right person I was talking about but that his
co-employee said he could no longer remember the incident.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Darniel Piad. That was what the young guy said was the name
of the only person working in their computer shop matching the age of the
person who paid for my meal.
The
last name sounds familiar. Suddenly, an incident of long ago went to a replay in my head.
During
my teens, as I was taking a bath in the river, I rescued a young lady from
drowning. That act of heroism saved someone’s life. The young lady’s name was Nilda
Piad. And I was able to document that incident. Please click this link: AN UNTOLD STORY OF HEROISM.
Darniel Piad. He has the same surname as Nilda's.
And all the letters of Nilda’s first name could be found in
the former’s first name.
It
may seem illogical and absurd, but I tried to connect that incident of long ago
to what the ladies in the canteen told me—that I “might have had done some acts
of goodness in the past and now rewarded for that”.
Paying for the less-than-a-hundred-peso meal I ordered may be but a trifling thing. But the experience
was so full of meaning to me for not only did it replenish my waning physical
energy then but, more importantly, it nourished my spirit.
But, so
as to spare myself from having some kind of intrusive thoughts and thinking too much about
an incident that raised questions providing no answer, I meditated on the words our Theology teacher had taught and imparted with us.
She
said, there are times that we have to see things with the eyes of faith. Or
words to that effect. And that we have to reflect and ask ourselves what it is that the Lord wants to convey to us; what He is telling us by way of incidents
coming our way.
Yes, for things that offer no explanation, we just have to see them with the eyes of faith. God works in mysterious ways!
There
are biblical passages that will complement what our teacher had taught us.
Matthew
25:35-36 states, “…I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house. I was naked and
you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you went to
see me.”
In
Matthew 25:40, the Lord also said, “…Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this
to one of the least, to my brothers, you did this to me.”
We do not see God. But we feel Him.
We
feel Him in life situations and occurrences that inspire us... inspire
us to do good.
We
“see” Him in life situations and occurrences that further strengthen our faith. We see Him
through the eyes of Faith.
