things just couldn't get any better.
there i was with longtime friends, overlooking the thankfully unlit bay of manila. since almost everyone in our barkada had families of their own, it was rare to gather once again for a boys' night out. the difficult thing was convincing their respective wives that we would only go to wholesome and family-friendly hangouts. the next difficult thing was convincing my friends to abide by this promise.
question: what do highschool buddies talk about when they meet up years after graduating from highschool?
why, highschool life of course.
somehow telling the same jokes (that we all heard a thousand times before) and talking about the same stories (in which we were all present when they happened anyway) was enough to make us laugh, turn red and bang the table several times.
the stories were unending. my peers, relentless. everybody had an event to share or an incident to recall. from painful basketball games and sun-drenched C.A.T.'s to near-drowning moments in the swimming pool and aimless bat-swinging on the baseball field. from theatrical english-lit presentations and morale boosting interschool victories to those nerve-wracking highschool dances and the more-often-than-not unsupervised soirees.
each story was throbbing with character, passion and life. no one stayed in the back seat for long. everyone took turns driving our bus down memory lane.
it was such a ride that we never noticed that time -along with several platefuls of juicy oysters, had gone by. in the end, when the stories had been told, when the laughter had died down and the oysters relocated to our bellies, we all gave a collective sigh -- in celebration and thanksgiving.
sigh.
life is so much more meaningful when you have friends.
but here's a secret. our lives can be more meaningful. it's when we realize that all along, all our lives, God wishes to be our friend. more than a King, and a mighty Ruler, God is our Friend.
sounds insane? not really. look up john 15:15-17 to see what i mean.
we are not His servants, but His friends. go on, talk to Him as you would any true friend. He'll be sure to listen to you. in time, you will realize that He has been speaking to you all your life.
heaven is where we'll share stories, jokes and undoubtedly the freshest oysters with our Lord and Friend.
sigh.
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apart from commenting on the content of this blog entry, feel free to share your stories of friendship with your barkada's or even the Lord's. how and why is friendship important in your life?
15 comments:
Sir, I really like your sense of humor. It shows in your writings and discussions in class.we're Friends of God~~~hehe
no matter how much i would like to take the angsty, solitary teenager's perspective and say that i would be just fine without friends, i won't because if there is one thing i am sure of, it's that i would die of stupid disease without my friends to sate my intellectual hunger.
just last friday, two of my high school glee club friends, one from a higher batch and another just about to graduate, paid me an impromptu visit at home. why? because they were bored and i'm good conversation. i was not about to complain.
the older one, who was taking up nursing, gave us a SEX 101- a crash course on sex, you might say. it was totally medical, of course (yeah, right). i got her to watch a little bit of my brothers' porn (the undergrad turned away and began singing broadway songs). they finally left at around three in the morning after two bowls of dry koko krunch, three glasses of milk, and countless slices of chocolate cake.
anyway, i felt incredibly lonely afterwards and would have grieved their departure had i not fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillows.
friends are great.
Darn Seung Jae. He beat me in posting first! :(
I love my friends! They're my family. Senior year was my favorite year because of them.
Every lunch time, we would play games kids play like langit lupa or ice ice water or even invented games like kampanerang kuba. We acted like kids but we did our responsibilities. We pull each other up and motivate each other to be better. They're not those people that are there when it's gimmick time, they're the ones that text you when you're on your way to school and tell you they miss you.
I miss my barkada. Corp, this comment's for you. Love & miss you guys. :)
hi! just wanted to share something i remembered about one of my friends. It was Christmas day, a few years ago and I was feeling down for many reasons and one of my best friends called me up to greet me. I told her how I felt and she told me a story which has changed my perspective in life. It was uplifting and I cannot begin to explain how important our friends are. They really do care. =)
The story is quite long, but i'll post it anyway. IF YOU HAVE TIME, PLEASE READ IT. It might just change your life.
Three Trees
Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."
Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."
Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."
After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.
When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.
The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.
The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.
The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.
-Ana Lopez
thanks for the compliment seung jae.
i appreciate everyone's candor and honesty as shown in your posts/replies.
keep them coming.
have a great weekend everyone! :)
I treasure my friends a lot, especially my barkada, they mean so much to me. There are three of us, one of them is my friend since grade 1 and the other is since 2hd yr hs. We never expect that our friendship would last this long and that we would be this close to each other. And now that we're in college, our friendship wouldn't definitely end that easily. We always meet up weekly at our favorite hang-out, Starbucks! We can chat for hours and hours and still fail to finish our stories. We laugh until our stomach hurt so bad and until the old lady stares at us because of the noise we make! We also always talk about our future plans, like studying other language, cooking, going out of the country or starting up a business! I guess they're really a big part of my future and when we say "Friends Forever!", it will be. ^_^
-MJ Reyes
"heaven is where we'll share stories, jokes and undoubtedly the freshest oysters with our Lord and Friend."
-- very very nice and it made me realize that heaven is so much more than "a place".
friends? just can't live without them. really.. =p
oh btw it's me, mytch sy. hehe.
aaww sir. I miss my high school friends. we were together for about 12years and now, ako lang naiwan sa taft. :( i miss them so much.
-Joeanne Pelo
oh my.. how i love my high school days! me and my barkada always hang out every friday night and play basketball on weekends.. now, we seldom see each other. we're becoming busy these days.
my barkada are my "utol". we never leave each other in good times and bad times. i don't know how to live without them. they make life interesting to me.
when we get to see each other we felt like we don't want to go home and spend more time sharing own stories and jokes. haha.. i miss my friends!!!!!
Highschool days. There, you'll find the most amusing people, down to the worst kind. I know my reaction's late sir, but I can't help making a commet. :)
I just miss those days where we'd sit back, relax, chill and have fun. Can't imagine na in time, i'd see those h.s. friends having their own family. hahaha. Now i'm in college, i kept a vast defrayal in my consignment. I rarely see them, or i refuse (sometimes). I don't know, but perhaps, i just embraced independence too much. Well, at least, i still have my bestfriend around. (woooh. My Girlfriend).. She's making it all filled up. But at the end of th day, as i sit here infront of my pd and read about your entry... those memories and funny faces came back... *FLASHBACK* (black and white)... huhu.. Yeah, i miss them. And how i wish i had that moment too. Soon, perhaps.. When they already have families of their own.
i think highschool life is great and the bonding of friends back then are more close. even though all my friends are from different collages and everybody is very busy, we make it a point to meet at least once a year.
-james ong
High school life was fun. Pero i guess college is better. My friends in high school are really different from my college friends kaya nga masaya eh kasi di magkakapareho so bago lagi un environment. Like un highschool friends ko normally sila un mga party people ganun so sila mga kasama ko sa clubbing. Then college friends naman un mga simple gimmicks and basta simple lang. Pero other than un mga differences na un masaya un feeling na may mga kaibigan ka talagang trusted mo. KAsi para sakin better na un konti lang friends ko pero lahat un trusted instead na sobrang dami nga pero plastican lang kayo. I think im not making sense anymore? haha kaya ayun!
Alexander Terol
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