Batoytoy in the City: Soul Searchers

Lenten season is a long holiday. It gives you time to fix your room, keep up with the bills, catalogue your belongings and enjoy your well-deserved break. Did I mention that sacrifices are extremely important this time? As the Lord suffered for us, walking his way down the rocky road without loafers and carrying the cross without shoulder pads and so do we need to put aside our comfort zone for a while. And besides being nailed to the cross is not a beautiful sight. I wonder if he ever got Tetanus shot prior to being fasten to a wood with the words INRI on top and being put to public shame. My heart cringes with that thought and the movie Passion of Christ is a manifestation of how deep His love for us.

And to show our love in return, my friends and I embarked on our journey that involved too much water. Days before the Holy week I suggested having Visita Iglesia as a way of sacrifice. I planned out the route and the churches we will be praying. Myk, Arlene and Totet agreed with the proposal. I searched on the internet the exact number of churches will be going to however there was no definite figure. So, I decided to make it eight to be lucky. It will also be our last hurrah together since Arlene will be going to Legaspi for several months to do marital duties and Myk will be reviewing for his bar exam. Totet and I will be left here in Davao. We will try to keep the memories alive. It’s like walking with only one leg.

The day started with an eating session. It turns out our meeting place, Merco, has its Lenten season promo. And besides with the route ahead, we need that extra calories to keep us up and atom. And Totet was also late period. Under the scourging heat of the sun we coursed through Davao City with the following churches in chronological order: St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, Holy Adoration Chapel, Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, Shrine Hills, San Pedro Cathedral, Our Lady of Fatima, Sta. Ana Parish and lastly, Redemptorist. I made a point that all churches will be documented however due to dehydration the last church was missed out. To even challenge ourselves, we did the station of the cross by foot from the Matina Gallera jeepney stop up to Shrine Church. Luckily, we did not look bulimic afterwards and our lips were still moist and our eyeball not sunken. Thanks to the funny antics of Arlene our journey was fun and memorable.

We started at nine thirty in the morning and I arrived home around three in the afternoon. It felt like having four yoga sessions, two spinning class and several work outs. In the end, it was all worth it more especially for first timers Totet and Arlene. Through movies, eating sessions, coffee breaks, story-telling and now soul searching, our bonding has gone deeper but not the Captain General Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Datu Sikatuna level (history refresher – blood compact). Soon, when they come back we will be having our next big project and that you’ll have to wait. For now, we will be living and creating memories individually. God bless us always.