THE BARBER AND THE HOUSEKEEPER
“…God then replied … ‘Since you have not asked for riches, treasures and glory, nor for the life of those who hate you, nor even for a long life for yourself, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge…wisdom and knowledge are given you.” (2Chronicles 1:10-12a)
My father hardly finished Grade Two! Well, his mother was overprotective of him. Father was very sickly at the time he was going to school. He developed boils all over his body. Grandmother went to a well-known quack doctor, who minus anesthesia did all sorts of “fountain-like lesions” on the arm and leg of my father so that the abscess could flow out naturally. My father narrated to me how the quack doctor tied his arm and leg, and then lighted a tobacco and when it was burning right enough, he pressed it hard on the infected areas. Naturally, my father groaned in pain. Then the wounds were covered with pieces of clean white cloth taken from worn-out shirts. In a few days, lo and behold, the fountain of pus would emit from the abscess! My father would then be relieved of the pain. (To this day he lives with those scars.) Some days later, he would suffer from another kind of sickness similar to meningitis. Grandmother took pity of him and said that he would rather have my father around the house rather than lose him. And so, he ordered him to stop going to school.
Grandmother though unschooled was an educated woman. My father fondly recalls how she read volumes and volumes of books. Father never really understood how my grandmother learned to read, as she was unschooled. Father himself took a good liking to reading. He devoured the books he inherited from grandmother. Way back in his early schooldays, he already discovered his gift of intelligence. He proudly told me that at the start of school year, his teacher would give him and his classmates books to study for the entire school year. But a few months later, my father would ask for more from his teacher as he had already finished reading the books. One time, the teacher either jokingly or seriously told him, “Go home now, Hilario, I have nothing more to teach you!”
Father had special gifts. God gave him wisdom and eloquence in speech. But when he grew old enough to realize having such gifts, he resented grandmother’s decision for him to stop going to school. He said that he would have gone a long way…like being a lawyer (he never lost in any debate on matters of faith!), or being a priest (he mastered Scriptures…memorizing the book, chapter and verse number!). Instead, he ended up with razors and scissors. He became a barber by profession.
Father met mother during the outbreak of World War II. His family evacuated in my mother’s place because they were their nearest kin. At that time my mother just came from the Benedictine convent where she was working. A few years back, my maternal grandmother thought it was wise for girls to finish only the elementary level. My maternal grandfather agreed in the belief that women should be home-keepers as soon as they got married. And to my mother’s dismay, she was asked to quit when she was in first year high school. The Benedictine nun who witnessed my mother’s virtues and academic excellence when she was studying requested her to work at the convent. Thus, my mother obliged. She devoted much of her time to prayer as she was assigned to prepare the altar for the daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist. She also warmly received the ‘internas’ of the convent. She had been enjoying her work when the war broke. She had to leave the convent and go home. It was during this time that father took refuge in mother’s house. Sooner than later, both thought that the future was bleak and they found consolation with each other. They developed a liking for each other and so they decided to get married. Thus the barber and the home-keeper started their own family. Both had no material riches and treasures. They had only the hand of God. And God gave them real treasures – wisdom and fortitude to “keep going even when the going gets rough”!
“…God then replied … ‘Since you have not asked for riches, treasures and glory, nor for the life of those who hate you, nor even for a long life for yourself, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge…wisdom and knowledge are given you.” (2Chronicles 1:10-12a)
My father hardly finished Grade Two! Well, his mother was overprotective of him. Father was very sickly at the time he was going to school. He developed boils all over his body. Grandmother went to a well-known quack doctor, who minus anesthesia did all sorts of “fountain-like lesions” on the arm and leg of my father so that the abscess could flow out naturally. My father narrated to me how the quack doctor tied his arm and leg, and then lighted a tobacco and when it was burning right enough, he pressed it hard on the infected areas. Naturally, my father groaned in pain. Then the wounds were covered with pieces of clean white cloth taken from worn-out shirts. In a few days, lo and behold, the fountain of pus would emit from the abscess! My father would then be relieved of the pain. (To this day he lives with those scars.) Some days later, he would suffer from another kind of sickness similar to meningitis. Grandmother took pity of him and said that he would rather have my father around the house rather than lose him. And so, he ordered him to stop going to school.
Grandmother though unschooled was an educated woman. My father fondly recalls how she read volumes and volumes of books. Father never really understood how my grandmother learned to read, as she was unschooled. Father himself took a good liking to reading. He devoured the books he inherited from grandmother. Way back in his early schooldays, he already discovered his gift of intelligence. He proudly told me that at the start of school year, his teacher would give him and his classmates books to study for the entire school year. But a few months later, my father would ask for more from his teacher as he had already finished reading the books. One time, the teacher either jokingly or seriously told him, “Go home now, Hilario, I have nothing more to teach you!”
Father had special gifts. God gave him wisdom and eloquence in speech. But when he grew old enough to realize having such gifts, he resented grandmother’s decision for him to stop going to school. He said that he would have gone a long way…like being a lawyer (he never lost in any debate on matters of faith!), or being a priest (he mastered Scriptures…memorizing the book, chapter and verse number!). Instead, he ended up with razors and scissors. He became a barber by profession.
Father met mother during the outbreak of World War II. His family evacuated in my mother’s place because they were their nearest kin. At that time my mother just came from the Benedictine convent where she was working. A few years back, my maternal grandmother thought it was wise for girls to finish only the elementary level. My maternal grandfather agreed in the belief that women should be home-keepers as soon as they got married. And to my mother’s dismay, she was asked to quit when she was in first year high school. The Benedictine nun who witnessed my mother’s virtues and academic excellence when she was studying requested her to work at the convent. Thus, my mother obliged. She devoted much of her time to prayer as she was assigned to prepare the altar for the daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist. She also warmly received the ‘internas’ of the convent. She had been enjoying her work when the war broke. She had to leave the convent and go home. It was during this time that father took refuge in mother’s house. Sooner than later, both thought that the future was bleak and they found consolation with each other. They developed a liking for each other and so they decided to get married. Thus the barber and the home-keeper started their own family. Both had no material riches and treasures. They had only the hand of God. And God gave them real treasures – wisdom and fortitude to “keep going even when the going gets rough”!