ROSES AND LOLLIPOPS
Dear Brother Knights,
That’s from the song with the same title. Puppy love, first
love, answered love, that’s what it’s all about. It may also be about teardrops
and unrequited love. It’s also a nice reminder to move our paradigm to more
hopeful and positive out look. After all like medicine love is nothing but
hope.
Ah! But more appropriately lollipops are for Kuya Nitoy, the
man in whose shoulders the hopeful beginnings of our council lay and shepherded
us throughout the years. The night of our installation made even more apparent
his presence. The tread of the night was never lost. The music was soothing; he
was there to keep the night moving all the way to the entry of DD Joe Carduce;
and of course, lollipops for Kuya Tony and Kuya Manny for a lively program. And
one more lollipop for Kuya Butch for all his work that paced the night in the
right tempo. For the Knights who silently helped behind the scene especially
Kuya Chito and Kuya Cen, Kudos!
And a big bunch of roses for all the ladies who graced the
occasion and supported us all the way, it was a nice evening if only for the
presence of long lost friends.
The last few meetings, I was feeling the Council looking for
a sense of direction, trying to see which way the wind blows. What is our main
interest? What can we focus on to get our bearings? Here again comes my mentor,
Kuya Nitoy. The reading materials he gave were a discovery. It strengthened my
resolve that our Governing Council must focused on the good of the order, care
for the family with more involvement in the benefits derived from our insurance
program, protecting our future with an organized Columbian Squires.
The family is first and the programs to make it happen are
in the hands of Kuya Manny. To him both roses and lollipops!
A need common to the Knights is a sense of achievement. A
real sense of achievement is more than the meetings and discussions we go
through month after month. It is the ability to measure in real terms what the
Council has done and what more to do. I saw our pride with the yearly Christmas
tree that enlivens the season in our Parish, more important, the help it gives
for the charity work we do. I saw how the corporate Mass we sponsor unites the
families of the Council renewing our faith with the Lord, I saw the friendship
we build with the fellowship we attended, limited as they may be, and of
course, the involvement of the Knights with the Parish Council and the help we
extended to make sure elections are clean since after all one of the pillars of
the Knights of Columbus is love of country. Lollipops for Kuya Augie!
A bunch of Lollipops for Kuya Paul because as Deputy Grand
Knight he will have to make sure we continue carry together the pillars of the
Knights of Columbus.
Joy Gonzales writing on her column, “Worthless Wisdom,”
(it’s a paradox seeing how her thoughts are so incisive) said, “Author and
lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The
purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a
four-year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had
recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the
old man’s yard, climbed into his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked
what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, ‘nothing, I just help
him cry.”
It is nice to feel appreciated; when people tell you it was
worth their time being part of the small things we do. A touch, a nod, a smile,
a song of praise, even a tear drop, and these little things add up. Soon they
will fill the barrel. And then….Glory Halleluiah!
Maybe that’s all we have to do!
GK Rudy Ibanez
