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When an accident magnify God’s magnificence
by: Angela Alsie Borromeo
11 June 2008
“It was God’s rebuke on me!”
That line came out of 60-year old Sonny Ortega’s mouth as the morning dews beg to dampen his dry eyes.
Bro. Sonny, who resides in Parañaque and baptized on Oct. 20, 2006, in an interview with Kaanib.net shared his inspiring realization about the importance of keeping one’s vows with God and why it is not a good habit to postpone good deeds you plan to do.
He recounted: As that weekend approaches, Bro. Sonny set in his heart he will attend the Thanksgiving in their locale that Saturday.
Saturday came. He woke up early and was supposed to go for a quick shower before heading to their locale. As he passed by his work area, where he does welding and grinding, he decided not to proceed at the locale.
He decided instead to complete the pending “welding work.” So he turned on the welding machine and continued his work. But in an unexpected way, the Carborundum (coated abrasive product line for production needs in grinding) broke and the blade slipped off the old man’s face and blood immediately gushed down his face.
He was rushed to the Parañaque Doctors’ Hospital by his wife and son. Although deeply pained physically because of the accident, he thought the incident is God’s way to teach him something. He felt remorse that over the day he previously set to give thanks to God, he considered his personal work instead.
At the hospital scene, he told Kaanib.net how mentally aware he was then about the physical and spiritual pain he underwent. He described the spiritual anguish that teared his heart apart. He said in his mind, he was blaming himself why he became disobedient.
He even insisted that he wants to see his scared face but his doctor would not let him. But he won over the doctor to see his condition who let him place his three fingers inside the damaged surface of his face. He was horrified to know the serious injury he get.
There were so many “It should have been… ” lines from Bro. Sonny’s physician who said that if the blade make its way into his face a little deeper, it will cause three serious effects on Bro. Sonny. First his saliva control will be totally lost, second he could no longer talk, and third, and most severe, the soft bone near the palate would be affected and can lead to CANCER. He can just utter to point out God’s magnificence and loving kindness!
Cleaning his wounds in his face took the doctors more than seven hours. After the treatment, Bro. Sonny was brought home. Healing the wound took him almost two weeks but for him, the scar was alive, shouting the wonders of God’s work.
The incident inspired Bro. Sonny to write the flowing emotions he has inside in the form of poetry. We have reprinted the poem below -
Sa Lahat Ng Gawain sa Dios Ang Unahin
1.
Isang Pangyayari, di ko malilimotan
Ika-lima ng Enero , araw na nagdaan
Sabado noon, hook-up ng kapatiran,
Binalewala ko di ko dinalohan
(There is an incident that I couldn’t forget
It was fifth of January then
It was Saturday, congregational hook-up
I Ignored and did not attend)
2.
Ako’y nagka-sala lubos na nagkulang
Sa hindi ko pag-tupad ,sa utos Niyang banal
Ako’y Kaniyang pinalo, at pinaalalahanan
Ito’y marapat lamang, sa aking pagsuway
(I sinned and had a great short-coming
In disobeying to His holy commandment
He rebuked me, and warned me
This is just right for my transgression)
3.
Patawad po Ama, hiling ko’y patawad
Una kong ginawa ang sarili kong lakad.
Na dapat ay unahin, Iyong kalooban
Ito ang nanyari, ako ay nasaktan.
(Forgive me Father, I ask for forgiveness
I prioritized my personal walk
I should have put You on top of my priorities
This happened, I got hurt)
4.
Ang pilat na ito, sa mukha ko’y nalagay.
Tanda ng paalala, sa aking pag-suway
Sana’y huwag maulit, mga pagkukulang,
Patnubay mo Ama, aking kailangan.
(This scar was placed on my face
A sign for me to be reminded of my transgression
I hope that this won’t happen again, my short-comings
I need guidance from You Father)
5.
Salamat po Ama, marami pong salamat
Sa Iyong pa-alaala, ako ay namulat
Di dapat bale-walain, Iyong mga tuntunin.
Dapat na unahin, sa lahat ng gawain.
(Thank You God, Thank You very much
For your reminder to me, my eyes were opened
I should have not ignored Your by-laws
I should have fulfilled it first over anything else)
6.
Ito’y paalala, ng Ama sa atin
Huwag bale-walain, aral Niya’t tuntunin
Bago ang lahat sa lahat,
Dios ang Unahin
(This is Our Father’s tip off to all of us
We should not pay no heed to his words and regulations
Before anything else,
We should prioritize God)
In the end, he realized how different it is now compared before when it was no big deal if he missed a Church gathering but the incident taught him why being conscious about the importance of congregating. He valued the gathering above among all the other tasks he has to do. With this, it cannot be more true today how the magnitude of God’s power and kindness is manifested through seemingly absurd or bad accidents or incidents.
Another thing though, he was able to realize that learning comes from experience, and experience may be used by the Almighty to let man realize God's magnificence.
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