May I share with you a love story?
A true love story.
This happened recently.
In March 16, 1521, when Magellan came to the Philippines…
Just kidding.
Let me skip a few centuries and fast forward to 1910… (“Recent” is relative.)
This is the love story of Tomas and Magdalena.
Tomas fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Magdalena. (If this happened today, they’d be called Tom and Maggie.)
Magdalena’s father was a full-blooded Spaniard.
Being half-Spanish, she was a mestiza. And her family spoke only Spanish.
Tomas was the total opposite. He was a brown-skinned fellow who couldn’t speak a single word of Spanish.
Perhaps that’s an exaggeration. He spoke the few words that we know. Like Pastillas de Leche. Agua Oxenada. And of course, Poso Negro.
But he was in love. And he decided to pursue her no matter what. Even if he didn’t know how to speak in Spanish, he decided that he’d just say the three words he knew.
When he knocked on the door of her house, it was Magdalena’s father who opened the door. He almost died.
The old man said, “Buenos dias, Tomas.”
Tomas swallowed hard and said with a trembling voice, “Si.” (Okay, he knew four words.)
The father pointed to the couch and said, “Sienta.”
Tomas said again, “Si.”
Magdalena’s father then asked the young man, “Que quieres comer?” (Meaning: What do you want to eat?).
Tomas didn’t understand a thing he was saying. So he just smiled and muttered, “Pastillas de Leche”.
The older man wondered why Tomas was so specific about what he wanted to eat. He then asked him, “Que quieres beber?” (Meaning: What do you want to drink?).
Tomas was again totally lost. He blurted out the second word he knew. “Agua Oxenada”.
Magdalena’s father scratched his head, wondering what kind of bafoon he was talking to. He asked, “Donde vives?” (Meaning: Where do you live?)
Of course, he had to say the last word he had in his vocabulary. “Poso Negro.”
I’m exaggerating.
What really happened was Magdalena’s parents told her, “Tomas isn’t one of us. From now on, Tomas cannot enter into this house ever again.” During that time, a parents’ word was the final word.
Poor Tomas. Broken-hearted, he went to Hongkong to work in a PNB branch there. He wanted to forget the pain of losing Magdalena forever.
A Marriage To Another Man
A new suitor comes into the picture: Pablo.
Pablo was a Doctor. More importantly, he was mestizo and spoke Spanish. And he was accepted by Magdalena’s parents right away.
And in a few months, Magdalena married Pablo.
But soon, Magdalena woke up to a very harsh reality. She discovered that her husband Pablo was a hopeless womanizer. He would have many, many affairs. His infidelities would wound her heart again and again.
And after 13 years of a very painful marriage, tragedy struck.
One day, Pablo was in his clinic. And a man barged into the door. In his hand was a long knife. And he screamed, “I will kill you!”
Pablo recognized the man. He was the husband of one of his patients–a woman he was courting.
Pablo ran to the streets. But he wasn’t fast enough. In a busy intersection in Manila, Pablo was stabbed to death.
This crime appeared in the newspapers at that time…
Love Is Sweeter The Second Time Around
A few days later, Tomas was in Hongkong reading the newspapers. He read about the stabbing and said, “Poor guy.” He looked at the name of the man who was killed–and it sounded familiar.
Suddenly, he realized who the man was.
And he packed his bags!
Even after 13 long years, he was never able to forgot Magdalena. He took the next ship back to Manila.
Straight from the port, Tomas went straight to the house of Magdalena.
On that fateful morning, Magdalena couldn’t believe her eyes when she opened the door. It was like a scene from the movie of Bea and John Lloyd.
Imagine it. Framed in the doorway was a familiar figure. It looked like… Tomas! At that moment, time stopped. Everything became a blur. Was it really him? The sunlight was behind him. Magdalena looked closer. For a long time, no one spoke.
Finally, Magdalena said, “Tomas?”
Tomas smiled and said, “Magdalena…”
There in front of her, on her doorsteps, was a man she once loved many, many years ago.
But for Tomas, it was very different.
He had never stopped loving her.
So he courted her again and serenaded her again.
And he won her heart.
One year after, they got married.
They only had one child.
And they named her Pilar.
Pilar grew up, got married and had 6 children.
And named the 6th child, “Bo”.
Grandpa Tomas Is A Little Bit Insane
If you’re single, I’m not talking to you.
I don’t want you to be like my grandpa Tomas.
If your beloved chose someone else, move on.
You see, my Lolo was a little bit insane. Who would wait for 13 years when the person you love chose someone else, married someone else, and had a life of her own? (Magdalena had one child with Pablo.)
But I’m not speaking to singles. I’m speaking to everyone.
Because my grandpa Tomas reminds me of God.
God is also a little bit insane.
How many times have you rejected God? (I know I’ve rejected his call many times.) How many times did you choose someone or something else? Sin? Materialism? Pride? Addiction?
Yet God doesn’t walk out on you.
He doesn’t abandon you.
He never says, “If you don’t like me, I don’t like you too.”
Instead, God waits.
And He won’t stop waiting.
He waits until you allow Him to love you.
He waits until we allow Him to become a Hero for us.
God Is Your Hero
Remember our definition of “hero”?
Someone who loves somebody more than himself.
Friend, that’s a perfect description of who God is.
God loves you more than He loves Himself. That’s why He ended up on a cross–for you.
God is your hero.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
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