My grandfather passed a couple of years ago, and in honor of him I wear Hawaiian shirts on Fridays (Aloha!), and I am going to try to dedicate 1 post a year to celebrate “Apo.” This post doesn’t count, because I wanted to bring him up to explain why I do what I do here on this little space of the intarwebbernets.
Why the sudden need to feel I have to justify What I’m Sayin‘?
Well, blame it on an old friend who asked:
Do you want to humble yourself and be part of a blogging community, or do you want to simply be the center of attention in your own universe?
I started to comment, but felt it starting to get a bit long so I decided to post it here instead.
I can answer yes to both of these pieces to the question:
- I love this blogging community, without comments, tweets of posts, or retweets it would seriously be numbingly stupid to blog.
- Sure, I know I can be narcissistic (I have my big ‘ole face on the right!) and who doesn’t want to be the center of attention?
For that 2nd part, let me clarify. I love being the center of attention, when the focus is not on me but what I might be saying, and hopefully what I’m saying is provoking your thoughts to seek Him.
A larger part of me answers this question outside of what my friend is asking here, and this is where I bring in “Apo.” When he passed away, my father told me he found Apo’s bible with notes scattered all about. This bible is ancient, I don’t even know how old it is but since he lived to be 96…ish, I wouldn’t be surprised if the bible was older than my father.
What I imagined as my father read through these notes, is that he got to know his father on such a different level other than just “father.” He learned about my grandfather as he learned his most important life lessons in adulthood. He got to see Apo first-hand getting those “Aha!” moments when reading certain verses, and then preaching about those moments. In turn my father got to tell his children, and grandchildren all about these notes for the many years prior to us ever even knowing him, or ever hearing him speak.
We never saw his notes for the sermons, and barely got to look at the notes in the bible which were almost impossible to read due to the wear and tear.
So this is one of the bigger reasons why I blog. I am so grateful for technology, that there is a way to have something documented for generations to read. I think it will be very important to be able to scribe my journey through these years to see and share how much I’ve grown and learned. More importantly, my hope is that my grandchildren can look back at these posts and get to learn a little bit about the triumphs and trials of their grandfather. Hopefully it may help them in their journey as well.
I know another Father who left little notes for us to learn about Him, actually a collection of many books. He definitely was the inspiration for this, but His story is much better than mine.
Ben,
Our faith, our story as sons of God has always been relational and generational.
This is a beautiful post, Ben. No kidding.
I want one day for my grandchildren to take possession of my personal Bible and see what I have written in those once-empty spaces between paragraphs, on the inside cover, on the sides of the pages, etc.
You said:
“I love being the center of attention, when the focus is not on me but what I might be saying, and hopefully what I’m saying is provoking your thoughts to seek Him.”
And there it is.
Nicely said, Ben Nunes. Nicely said, indeed. You only confirm the fact that I am not wasting my time by following you and considering you to be an e-brother.
When reading your words of transparency and candor, how can I think otherwise?
Ben,
By the way…
Yes. His Story is indeed much better than yours or mine or any of ours. But He has loved us enough to write it upon our hearts through the promises and benefits of the New Covenant.
May we all be able to do that with our children. Just like our Dad has done with us.
I always love it when a fellow e-bro or even another blogger sparks an idea for a post. I even like it more when I can provide the same inspiration for somebody else.
Thanks for the inspiration on this one, Donald.
Great idea Ben. There is power in words. The words you have written about your grandfather are a testament of both, him and HIs God. Thanks for sharing that with us.
I love Hawaiian shirts.
By the way, I think our Father’s letters (books) are so perfectly written and so intimate. If we only spent more time reading them instead of carrying them around. Well put Ben.
Amen, and I’m not even partial to hard-copy vs a bible app, as long as there’s a place for His word to be shared, and also a place to take notes (which most have nowadays).
Dude, I never thought of blogging as a way to pass down words and experiences to my family. What a great perspective.
Your Apo’s bible sounds like quite a treasure. I’m really glad he “blogged”. 🙂
It’s not an original great idea, just a great idea executed 🙂
Amazing, Ben.
I think about this too as I write: both on my blog and in my bible.
What will my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren know of me when I pass? Will these blogs stay in our family? Will I leave a legacy that they can cherish? Will my struggles and victories with God encourage them? Will my answers help them to avoid some of my mistakes?
Only God knows.
Thank you for reminding me why I do this.
Key word there: Legacy.
What I’m excited about is thinking that I am leaving that good, positive legacy behind, but it is also unfortunate that we will really never know here on earth what kind legacy we left until we are gone.
I guess that’s where our faith comes in…
Apo lived for the “generations to come.” and all about leaving a legacy. I didn’t understand the Legacy until I saw it expressed in you, your brother, and your sister. The truth is, we never know what kind of a Legacy we leave behind until we are gone. Apo wanted to leave the very best to his children and did not want them to be followers, but Leaders of their people – ESPECIALLY their families. You have done well, and you are doing well, in living the Legacy before your children….my grandchildren, Apo’s great grandchildren…..and the “generations to come.”
He’s proud of what ALL OF YOU are doing…..and he would humbly bow his head and thank his Father….pretty awesome when he had no earthly father himself.
He did want to leave the very best, and it’s now that I see just how much (outside of any and all filipino jokes) he’s actually left.
You and me, both, son.
I’m fascinated by old documents, books and art. It’s so amazing to see the handiwork and share the thoughts of people who may have composed them even before I was born. One of the most awesome experiences like that for me was seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls a couple of years ago.
The power of the written word to survive and influence generations is so incredible. What an honor and responsibility to be part of that!
I had a chance to see those when I lived in Nor-Cal, but I opted to rollerblade around Golden Gate park instead. Oh, yeah I was like 17.
I’ve always make it sure that I have read each and every posts you had, I’ve learned lessons and messages from those posts you made..but this time I wasn’t able to control my self to leave a message…Apo will always be here in our hearts…Thank you, it makes me learn more about our family…God Bless you more so you can brighten us more often by simply reading…Keep it up,my regards to all of you!!!
Cristy,
This is amazing that you commented here, I’m so very glad that you get to learn about your family here, and I’m even more grateful that you are able to learn a thing or two outside of that.
Thank you for reading, and please don’t hesitate to comment 🙂 Your words are very welcome here!
Thank you…
awesome! I love to read about generations of faith, and the legacy that he even passed down to you. such an encouragement.
ps. I don’t think I own a Hawaiian shirt. May have to go get one. 🙂