Abot Na Ang Langit

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
- Kahlil Gibran

My friend Reyster Langit passed away today. He was only 33 years old.


He was a schoolmate and friend of mine at De La Salle University where we both took our Communication Arts course. I think of him, and i think of my years back in college where life was so much simpler then than I know it to be now. Funny how when we were young and carefree we would laugh at the adults for saying that we have it easy still. And now that I am an adult myself, i realize that they were right. Nothing compares to life "in the real world", so they used to call it. Back then, my biggest worries were homework, my "porma" for the day, getting my crush to notice me and getting at least a 2.0 in my grade for any CommArts subject. Now my concerns vary from securing my family's future, keeping the business up and running, taking care of my son's health and security, and keeping my marriage strong. And as the years go by, I am faced by more and more realities of life that I have been protected from by my parents during my growing up years. Tragedies such as sickness, poverty, danger posed by evil elements, and the eventuality of death, are what we grown-ups now have to deal with. 12 years ago, the possibility of death anytime soon or even in a decade or so, would never have crossed my mind. For some reason, young people think that they are invincible and immortal. I thought to myself then, these things only happen to OTHER people -- people who are not my family, who aren't my friends, who i see in movies and TV shows. But not to me. Nor my family. Nor my friends.

The sad reality is, this is what life is. Because life here is but a temporary stopover in the journey towards our eternal life with our Creator. And i have had to face the trauma and loss and sadness of all these ever since I declared myself an adult. I have seen friends and really close family members come and go in my lifetime. All for different reasons. And now, we lost Reyster as well. Or at least, that's how we view it. Our loss is the Lord's gain. And I would like to think that Reyster is now resting in the Lord's arms, free from the pain and suffering that he went through.

So Reyster, if you're out there reading this (from heaven's internet cafe, maybe?), thanks for the short but memorable time we spent us college friends. I will only have fun and pleasant memories...

Thanks for the occasional car rides home when I had to commute late or during the rainy season...

Thanks for letting me and my group use your home for our video projects (Reyster was generous enough to open his home as location for our numerous film projects)...

Thanks for your generous contribution to media and society, your invaluable work has touched innumerable lives here and abroad, and will continue to still...

To his wife Kit, his child and the rest of his family.... my deepest condolences.