A Place Where All are Welcome, A Place That is Full of Love
God has revealed Himself to me a lot of times. With the definition of Revelation in Theology given by sir Carlo, which he simply says is God’s initiative of revealing himself to humanity, along with the discussion we’ve had earlier this day, I can safely say that indeed I have felt his presence and that I believe in Him. It has happened a lot of times that it is impossible for someone very human like me to remember it all. But I do remember that God has revealed Himself to me a lot of times every time I’m close to nature where I can see the beauty of his creations more clearly. I remember Him every time I go to bed, thanking Him that I made it through the day, and asking for His guidance for tomorrow. I remember Him every time I eat my meals, knowing that it is His blessings. In those things and more, God has revealed Himself to me. But if I would pick just one way that God has revealed Himself to me, I would gladly say that He revealed Himself to me the day I set my foot on Tuloy sa Don Bosco Village.
I might seem like the bubbly person in my group of friends, but believe me when I say that I’m the introverted one, especially when I was in grade school. I was not fond of going out with my friends as I feel like there has been a barrier between me and them since I was always that one friend that wasn’t always in the very special bonding moments since his parents doesn’t let him go. I became used to it that there are even times that I would even be the one to ask my mother not to let me come to where my friends asked me to go to with them. And it seemed like that until the month of March, 2015. Early Saturday morning, I was asked by my mother to buy one and a half kilos of rice which I did so. I went to the store and bought what I needed to buy. Going back home, I saw my friends assembled on a tricycle inside the basketball court. Curiosity got the best of me and so I went to the crowd to ask what’s going on. I found out that they were planning to go to Tuloy sa Don Bosco to play football. It is something that is not new to me since I already heard their stories a lot of times that they went there and that they won’t come back since the experience that they have there left their bodies aching and exhausted. I knew that it would be my chance to see and feel in my own eyes and body the stories that I envied so much. So, after bringing the rice grains back to our house, I asked my mother if I could go and play with my friends, but I did not tell her where we would go. It’s Saturday and I’m a kid so my mother let me, and so I went to Tuloy with my friends.
Going Inside the gate of Tuloy, I fell in love immediately with the ambiance it gives: very noisy with the other kids waiting for the coaches to fetch them from the gate, an opposite of the silence that deafens my ear when I’m alone inside the house; there were plants everywhere, very different from the wall-filled eskinitas in Sitio Masagana; the buildings were cemented, unlike the wooden homes in the squatter area I live in. It seems like haven in my eyes, and so I automatically fell in love with the place. As we went to the gym, we had been oriented by a coach, coach Rey, which taught us basic touches in football. We did ball-topping, side-to-side, did pumping, and such. A lot has happened and it wasn’t even lunch time.
That was the time when I felt something new. It’s like I have found something lost in me that I just realized was missing. I was a kid that doesn’t even know ow to take a joke. I was a boorish, over-sensitive, anti-social, dead serious kid. At that time, I thought that was fine because I always thought that I’m always right and that people that don’t agree with me just doesn’t understand. But when I went to Tuloy, I learned that, people make mistakes and that it is normal; that boorish and dead serious people don’t always seem to be the easiest people to talk to, and that it is okay to add a spice of humor in my life; that I should be thankful for what I have since there are people who had worse and still fully believe that they are blessed. Going to Tuloy made me excited in attending masses for I know that my friends are with me and together, we will be with God. Going to Tuloy made me excited to go home from school because I know that I need to get ready for training in the afternoon. Going to Tuloy made me look up to people whose jobs I once thought were shameful to have. Going to Tuloy made me realize that there is more to see in life than just the books and the blackboard. Tuloy has been my place of comfort every time I am anxious of things. In Tuloy, I found strength to go on with my life. Tuloy helped me make friends, make good habits, have a better mindset, and more. All of these that happened in Tuloy, I believe, are God’s way of revealing Himself to me.