The good old days

These verses were "forwarded" to me by a very good friend, Boy Montelibano. I apologize for stealing the thoughts of someone else. But, for the old timer, they are very good thoughts! They really portray the mind and heart of many a senior citizen. Here they are!

Black And White

(Under age 40? You won’t understand.)

You could hardly see for all the snow.
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set.
"Good night, David. Good night, Chet."

Depending on the channel you tuned,
You got Rob and Laura - or Ward and June.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.

I Love Lucy, the Real McCoys,
Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver Boys,
Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,
Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane.

Father Knows Best, Patty Duke,
Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too,
Donna Reed on Thursday night!
Life looked better in black and white.

I wanna go back to black and white.
Everything always turned out right.
Simple people, simple lives.
Good guys always won the fights.

Now nothing is the way it seems,
In living color on the TV screens.
Too many murders, too many fights.
I wanna go back to black and white.

In God they trusted, alone they slept.
A promise made was a promise kept.
They never cussed or broke their vow,
They’d never make the networks now.

But if I could, I’d rather be
In a TV town in ’53.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.

I’d trade all the channels on the satellite,
If I could just turn back the clock tonight
To when everybody knew wrong from right.
Life was better in black and white!

And, as a kind of throw back to those good old days, there will be a Vocation Seminar on Sunday, July 24, 2005 at the Garage, Sonolux Complex, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City. It will run from 8 am to 5 p.m.

No cost. No charge. It is an effort to help young men to make up their minds on how they will live this one life that God has given them.

Other seminars consider investments. The advantages of investing your money in real estate, or in transportation, or in banking, or in an eatery, or in show business. But this seminar considers the essential investment: you! How do you want to invest your life? What do you want to do, for the rest of your days, in this stormy, troubled world?

It is meant for male college students, and for young professionals. For those who are at least considering the possibility of becoming a priest, or a brother, in a religious order.

It will feature how to go about making up your mind, how to discern your vocation, how to discover what God wants you to do. Then the actual life of the priest, or of the Brother. The Apostolic Works that are open to you. The stages of formation. How long the studies take, and exactly what they involve.

There is no consideration of money here, except in its relation to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. This seminar centers on the investment of the most precious thing in all the world, God’s masterpiece, the human person. Body and soul. Mind, heart and will. The investment of the only thing you really own: yourself.

For further information, phone 426-6101, local 3408. Or e-mail to: [email protected]. Or visit website www.jesuits.ph.

The universal desire of our people to get back to the peace and quiet of days gone by is surfacing in many ways. Bishop

Dinualdo Gutierrez, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace has issued "A call for Sobriety and Non-Violence in the Face of the Present Political Turmoil."

His voice, of course, represents only the Social Action Network of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. It is not the official statement of the CBCP. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines will hold their Plenary Assembly at Pius XII Catholic Center, from July 9 through July 11, after which they might issue a formal, official statement of the CBCP.

Still, this Call for Sobriety is a very clear expression of the mind of Bishop Gutierrez, whose expertise is Social Action, Justice and Peace. He says, among other things:

"President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has made public admission of her voice on the taped conversation with a Comelec official, has apologized and has asked forgiveness from the Filipino people for a lapse of judgment!

"Let him (*her) who has no sin cast the first stone (John 8:7).

"There is a widespread epidemic of unsolicited advice and opinion overload.

"We appeal for sobriety, for prayer, for moments of reflection and discernment. In this, the year dedicated to the Holy Eucharist and Mother Mary, let us take time out to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and pray the Prayer for the Eucharistic and Marian Year.

"Let us organize prayer brigades in our barangay chapels during these times.

"We strongly call for national solidarity and respect for our Constitution and governance system. Let us allow the Executive to govern. Let us trust Congress to play its part in putting in place the needed legislative reforms. And let us give the Judiciary its rightful role in the interpretation of the law.

"Let us not allow ourselves to be used as instruments of destabilization. Violence breeds more violence. Peace is our only way forward."

Boy Montelibano wants to go back to the peaceful, beautiful days of Black and White. The Jesuits in The Garage are trying to promote clean, clear decisions and peace of soul. Bishop Gutierrez wants sobriety and non-violence; he wants an end to our present political turmoil.

And that has been the principal thrust of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference for the last two years: Reconciliation, Unity and Peace.

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STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING!

On Smart, text RESCUE to 326.

On Globe, text RESCUE 1 TO 2978.