Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Posted by PicasaAngels on earth
The photo is that of Maria Sharapova with the photo-art by Marco, who titles it 'Heavenly' (maria-sharapova.org) - in front of her, before the white line, are the words written forever: 'Angels do exist.' This reminds me of Jose Rizal when he was still studying at the Ateneo, when he wrote the poem 'The Intimate Alliance Between Religion And Good Education' (translation by Leon Ma Guerrero - I'll give you my own translation some other time). Let me quote the first stanza:

As the climbing ivy over lofty elm
Creeps tortuously, together the adornment
Of the verdant plain, embellishing
Each other and together growing.
But should the kindly elm refuse its aid
The ivy would important and friendless wither
So is Education to Religion
By spiritual alliance bound.
Through Religion, Education gains renown, and
Woe to the impious mind blindly spurning
The sapient teachings of Religion, this
Unpolluted fountainhead forsakes.

In his years of self-exile, why did Rizal forsake his Catholic religion? Because the Philippines was a riot of Catholicism - that's what he thought. He equated the theory and practice of the Spanish friars with Roman Catholicism itself. That was mistaking the trees for the forest. And because Europe was a riot of ideas, especially the ideas of Reformation. He left the Philippines because in the first place, he really was a freethinker and he wanted to be free.

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