Parlor Game Certification

On 24th May we celebrated the Feast of Mary Help of Christians... the religious service like the Mass and the Procession was optional (religious tolerance and sensistivity reasons)... problem is they all like to participate. Perhaps a Marian festivity always generates much interest not because of religion but rather it personifies and celebrates motherhood - something which we all dearly adhere to regardless of social status, nationality/race/color, or creed.

Afterwards we had some games to cap off the day. Every student has to complete six parlor games to be able to get their prize. In short they have to show that they're "parlor-game certified."

The answer's not "wrong" only "incorrect"

Cultural sensitivity is something we should really, really strive for (that means anywhere we are). I'm so used to correcting my students in terms of: "Oh that's good, that's bad. This one is correct and the other is wrong. And that one is really intelligent and the other seems stupid."
Little did I realize that they were using a different set of English vocabulary from mine, like... "this answer is not so good, the other is incorrect, and that last one is not clever at all."
I thought we were speaking the same language until I realized that we were using different words to express the same thing.... so I reflected on this and found out the reason.

Laurence Mills wrote something like this: "Buddhists try to avoid the use of 'good' or 'bad' and prefer to talk instead of the categories of 'wholesome'and 'unwholesome' in terms of actions and their consequences."

From hindsight I think this is because in the buddhist philosophy (very much like the Christian one) only actions which are willfull, conscious, and deliberate leads to 'karma' - meaning potentially productive of a future result. Hence could be termed as good or evil.
But the innocent mistake of my student for example, is unintentional and thus bears no future result in the future. Even though I am the teacher I think my students have taught me the importance of kindness through choice of words through this little episode.

When I was younger a teacher of mine once quoted to me a line: "Little acts of kindness, little words of love, help to make earth happy like the heaven above." Mercy and compassion do make sense. It's definitely a way of getting up there to You!

Something funny happened on my way out of school

Today I picked up from our school my much-awaited and long-overdue MBA diploma and transcript. It took longer than usual because they have added documentary requirements like High School diploma/document (Form 137 in the Philippines). Problem is… the high school I went to is now buried in lahar together with all the documents. The irony was that I couldn’t prove that I studied and finished my high school studies in a school of which I later became its HS principal.

As I was driving our van out through a narrow exit passage, there was this coed student who was trying to fit in her motorcycle to park in a small space along the turn. As a result I hit its back side and damaged the park lights. Here in Cambodia with a little incident like this, everybody becomes curious. Before you could spell “hello” a big crowd has gathered around the poor motorcycle and the girl. The girl was probably more shocked of the crowd rather than of the incident.

I parked my car a few meters from the “accident” and approached the girl for the “negotiation process.” Along with the curious onlookers we surveyed the damage to the park lights. I asked the girl how much I could offer to settle in order for her to buy a new set. The shy girl was more confused than ever because it was probably her first time to be put on a “limelight.” In the end, I gave her $5 so that she could replace the park lights. And a smile lit everyone’s faces. Luckily, I was among I was among cool headed and kind persons. But if are a foreigner amongst a rowdy group, you’ll have to shell out $20 on a situation like this. So that’s how I got to "flee the crime scene."

I remember now that You have two friends Micah (6:8) and Ezekiel (18:23) and they once wrote on what to do in a situation like this: “to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk (drive) humbly!" Hope I learned my lesson.