TINY SPACE

Our four-year old tent has always been our mobile home every time I and Peter spend the Holy Week in Camiguin Island. We both love the thrill of a nomadic-like, adventurous and fun life in the island during such season. Setting up a tent in various places around the island night after night is extraordinarily marvelous. Seeing the place mushroomed with the tourists’ tents makes it even more exciting.

We couldn’t deny how we enjoy with the natural amenities in Camiguin Island. The tremendously therapeutic Ardent Hot Spring is absolutely irresistible. The majestic White Island has a very overpowering allure. The Katigbawasan Falls is very spectacular. The Sto. Nino Cold Spring has extremely cold water that makes us forget the stuffy and sweaty summertime. The Sunken Cemetery and Old Church have both historical and tourism value in the place where we don’t fail to visit. These are just some of those beautiful spots that Camiguinons can call their own………….their pride where the people keep on coming back for.

Yes, we’re having fun in the island but, we still manage to pay respect to the holiness of the occasion. In fact, we spend every Holy Week in the island primarily to keep our promise (Panaad). To have fun is merely the secondary objective. Going to the church for prayers, confession and doing via crucis in Walkway are our means of expressing how we value the essence of “Semana Santa” . Besides, we also read spiritual books , meditate and reflect in our tent.

In the tiny space of our tent, I take advantage of the chance to read, reflect and scribble down my thoughts. One major reality that stirs up my mind is how the crowd in the island ignores and forgets the meaning of Holy Week. A lot of tourists have defined it as long hiatus, exciting family vacation and pure fun only. Well, I guess, there is nothing wrong with having fun on this season. But, it would have been better if in a little way, they spend brief, yet, quiet moments to collect their thoughts…………..perhaps in between their tour around the island, they could have pressed the rewind and forward buttons in their minds to recap their mistakes in the past, repent those bad deeds and never to repeat them in the future. And most importantly, Holy Week is the week of prayers……..a kind of prayer that never requires anyone not to resort to fun activities at all……………but just a simple and silent prayer that could be done even in a tiny space inside a camper’s tent………………a prayer from the heart……………a prayer that makes one forgive and forgiven…………………a prayer that can cleanse and heal one’s soul …………..a prayer that brings out one’s positivities ………..a prayer that makes one a better person and be of service to others………… a prayer that includes not just one’s self but everybody else……………….this is the kind of prayer I have every Holy Week in the tiny space of our tent in Camiguin Island.

Regarding my hubby, I’m sure he has a different means of his own………….still in the tiny space of our tent.

In that tiny space, we have done a lot of beautiful things that our souls need………..reflect, meditate, pray, repent and change……………….we see things beyond the usual fun…………and we transcend………….