sing, sing a song...

Something I’ve noticed about the Philippines is they love to sing. You’d be surprised but every few feet there’s another karaoke joint with someone eagerly holding a mic as if their next big break is just around the corner. I’ve certainly learned there’s little that stops Filipinos from belting out a tune. During the first few months, I fell asleep to some rough renditions of Richard Marx’s, “Hold On to the Night.” The dogs outside howled along at no extra charge. Sometimes I think to myself, how will I ever get a good night’s sleep without it when I get back home? Basically, I’ve come to notice it’s rare you go anywhere without hearing a song.

Recently I was walking through Talaba and I realized that even there, a tune hangs in the air. I wonder what it is that can cause someone to sing in the middle of such hardship and I’m reminded of Paul. This entire idea seems so unreal to me, no matter how many times I hear this story. It’s like we are capable to somehow choose to do the opposite of what we feel even when we don’t feel it. Sounds simple when I write it out like that, and yet I admit when I don’t feel like singing, I clearly don’t sing. But looking at life here it seems there is always something to sing about. This whole concept is a hard one and yet it seems to repeat for me. I constantly see moments where I want to give into what I’m feeling, to justify it somehow, and yet I’m learning here that feelings as well as thoughts and actions must be submitted to God.

Likewise I’ve always had a hard time “considering it pure joy when you fall into various trials,” as Paul encourages. I mean sure it’s easy and often that we quote this verse, still, living it seems so far beyond my reach. I certainly have much growing to do in this area, but when I hear the song of the poor I think perhaps there is indeed something to sing about.