Her Sweet Voice

On Friday 13 July, I attended the 5-minutes of Fame competition at Westfield, Henderson, Auckland.  I meant to give moral support to KIS, a vocal trio consisting of Kayth Ina and Shaine, who appeared in some of TawagAwit events.  The girls gave their all-out best singing, complete with choreography. The crowd reacted positively to their performance with a more than warm applause. Another contestant, an 8-year old Kiwi boy in an attractive white suit and hat gave a captivating interpretative dance of Michael Jackson’s “Come Together”, truly a winning performance.

When the judges announced the winners, I felt negative vibes as the audience simply walked away, disappointed at the results, neither of the crowd favorites won.  While the technical people were packing up things, quite a number of people encircled the 8-year old congratulating him for his awesome performance.

Ferdie Esclamado, the father of Ina, told the girls that one should take loss in stride.  He said, “If you gave your best, you can stand tall, even if you were judged unfairly.”

Life can at times be unfair.  Yet there are those who accept suffering without complaining. One of the members in TawagAwit was diagnosed with cancer. She has lost her hair, and told us of the pain as a result of the treatment.  Yet, she finds time to attend the practices and the singing of offerings during masses.  She is able to laugh at jokes; and as I heard her singing, her sweet voice exuded praise and love for God. She sees no unfairness in God.

Every day I pray for the healing of Sis Elvie. To all who think that life is unfair, listen. “Do not be afraid for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:1-2) Be confident for “(w)eeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm30:5)