The Words of the Rizalino Family
|
|
The Words of the Rizalino Family |
Lower than Servant of Servant Position, the point of total non-existence. Is there such a thing? I started thinking about this during the mid eighties. Doing mission alone gives you plenty of opportunities to be with yourself most of the time and when you are alone, weird realizations sometimes visit your mind. I stop reading anything other than DP, True Father's Speeches and Bible when I joined the Church, that's about 12 to 15 years, I cannot exactly count the years. Sometimes you will have a chance to read newspapers and magazines but most of the time members are reading the books that I mentioned, especially if you happened to be one of Bro. Celso SocTalaba's prodigy. Having this kind of reading habit your mind will be conditioned to think in only one direction, how to cultivate your Godly personality everyday. That is probably the very reason why our detractors are telling that we walk like zombies, one of the best description they use against us during the not so early days.
One evening I read True Father telling members to become a servant of servant. Go out and serve the people He said, do home church and serve, he didn't mention guide but serve. Me and my partner is in a week long out of town fundraising mission in Mindanao, we thought it would only take us two days to dispose everything but I took us one week to sell all the candies that we personally made. Imagine selling burned peanut brittle, dark and bitter as a charcoal, so we end up selling the candies for a week with only one pair of shirt and a piece of underwear.
Selling candies in places only in your wildest dream exist and wearing jeans coated with thick dust and uncomfortable underwear and smelly t-shirt, this is literally a servant of servant world. With my mind so simple, I'm only 18 at that time, I took this adventure gladly and humorously. So I walked under the very heat of the sun, you can literally see the cement road emitting heat, with plenty of denials and rejections, inspiring myself to go on whispering servant of servant, I want to become a servant of servant. One time while doing this, inspiring myself, whispering, a voice suddenly blurted that says "you can do more than that." I stop and glance around but no one is around, I was so terrified, so terrified that I cannot sell anymore. I mentioned the story to my partner but he is so tired even to listen for just a minute.
For many days I read and search the DP and True Father's speeches for an answer but I cannot find anything to clarify the words that I've heard. What is "you can do better than that" is there such a thing better than the servant and servant position. Then a sudden realization came while I am doing a very delicate mission. I was assigned to augment Sis Faith pioneering mission in Cagayan De Oro City. I was in Manila at that time, 84 or 85, assigned as a Christmas card designer. One night Mr. Murotani called me saying that there is a serious problem in one of the center in Mindanao, he knew that I am not afraid to do mission there and he asked me if I can do it again.
The problem center is Cagayan de Oro, Sis Faith is the new central figure with only two brothers, there are so many good student members and we cannot afford to close the center. Mr. Murotani instructed me seriously, he said my mission is very easy that is to obey the central figure, just obey, obey, obey and obey. It's nice, indeed very nice, my mission is very simple, just obey, well I don't have problem with that, I have been doing this procedure for four years in the Military Training before I became a member of the Church. So from being a servant of servant I became a follower of the servant of servant, you should see sister faith during those times to understand what I am saying. Hallo to Mr. Batino, we both learned how to give DP lectures under brother Celso.
I arrive in Cagayan de Oro center around noon, Sister Faith is waiting and told me without hesitation to acclimatize myself with the area and while doing that I can carry a bag of candies and sell. I was so shock, what a reception I told to myself. Mr. Murotani's invisible figure immediately appeared in front of me and reminded me of the magic words JUST OBEY. So to speak, from then on I fundraise almost everyday, I became workaholic literally. However other than fundraising, I gradually realized, my mission is actually more difficult than that.
There are two young Luzon brothers that I should properly deal with, one an ilocano from Isabela and a Kapangpangan from Pampanga. Since I was born and grew up in Marikina, though I have a kapangpangan and an ilocano in my blood, I consider myself as a Tagalog in culture and ways of life. These two young brothers, just few months younger than me, have a quite peculiar attitude and they don't like each other very much. In other words, you cannot bring them together doing mission in one area at the same time, if we have to it should be together with Sister Faith. So actually I was sent to bridge the gap, my mission is how to make these two brothers stay and become relevant. In other words, I serve as a common denominator of the two. So I did fundraising with one and do with the other in the other days, I'm serving two servant of the servant of servant at the same time, it is weird but what I'm telling is true. It explain the words YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!
This is a unique situation, in order for the mission to survive and become successful I need to love and serve both of them. Another very interesting story, one time Sister Faith brought along these brothers in her area, Pagadian City. She is beginning to reestablish her relationships with her family and relatives. They were there for few days visiting and doing fundraising and when they got back to the center these two brothers received and brought along nice new clothes but none for me, no hurt feeling and no complain though. I also did my 7 days fast in Cagayan de Oro. I heard that many of our brothers and sisters did their 7-day fasting with lots of meditation inside the prayer room, that is alright, better than go out and eat something secretly. Sister Faith did it to me differently. While fasting I am also doing fundraising, foodraising and lecturing, I should also sit together with everybody during eating time, Mr. Murotani's guidance of JUST OBEY truly serves me well.
Servant of the servant of servant? So how is that? If we see our brothers and sisters doing servant of servant mission then we can go down and serve them. It is very simple, go down and serve those people who are doing servant and servant mission, without complain and with gratitude. A total non existence.
I am very fortunate that I was given a lot of opportunities to learn and apply this realization, in the pioneering mission, while I am sewing martial arts uniform, while I am cleaning and guarding the headquarters and in some other missions only my heart knows. The key is to believe that you don't exist, you don't need to be recognize and you will work without complain. Silently working and persevering. I gain a lot from these realizations and practice hope you will learn it too. Once we truly understand and felt it will remain in our heart forever.
Sincerely,
Bro Lino