The language in heaven

Singing the “Gozos” (Batobalani sa Gugma) during the novena masses to the Santo Niño, and being riveted each time people sway their hands to the chorus (kanamo malooy ka unta nga kanimo nangilaba), I had wondered, at some point during one of the masses, what the language in heaven could be—and if it isn’t one of the major languages of mankind, what it must sound like. The power of the song, sung in Bisaya, to collectively move our spirits and connect with God convinced me for awhile that it must be Cebuano. Imagine, cherubim and seraphim singing heavenly hymns Bisdak-style? Yet, it could just be my unswerving sense of regionalism speaking.

The thought provoked other questions I have about the great unknown (there are lesser unknowns that I soon considered in what has since become a long list of questions and prayers).

Will God allow us to see everything, the truth in its entirety, right after we die, or after the world ends? Will the whole truth (walang labis, walang kulang; wala’y gipuno, wala’y gitangtang) flash before our eyes before we proceed with our much higher calling, our ultimate purpose, which is to praise and glorify Him for all eternity?

From time to time thereafter, I’d whisper a prayer to God, in the hope that he’d give us that before we’d all move on. Although from what I’ve learned in religion class, my folks, and from homilies at church, the truths of this world are nothing compared to the divine bliss that’s to preoccupy our souls when in heaven, so it might be pointless after all. Still, I remain adamant in praying for it.

Don’t you think it’s only fair to know the answers to the greatest mysteries of our time? Who killed JFK? What was the motive? Who was behind the assassination of Ninoy? Was FPJ really cheated? Are UFOs real? Who are the true killers in the Vizconde massacre?

How about the greatest mysteries in our lives? Did she really cheat on me? Did he lie? Who is my real father? Did she really love me? Like me? What would have happened if I didn’t leave? What would’ve happened if I said how I felt? What if I didn’t take up Nursing? Did he show up at the train station? (Ah, the what-ifs!)

This insatiable craving for knowledge, for answers, that makes us feel ever-so-compelled to want to know everything, can very well be a longing of the flesh, a desire devoid of the divine, distant and desolate from what is holy. The soul, after all, seeks only nourishment from He who provides it, and not the false truths being peddled by our earthly dwelling.

Whatever the case may be, I’m sure God, in his infinite power, can make all of it possible—the answers to all that is unknown to us in a click. Conversely, God, in his infinite wisdom, might also think it as totally unnecessary, a gratuitous excess baggage en route to eternity, where far better things await us.

Come to think of it, wondering what language they speak up there could be another manifestation of the same aforementioned earthly curiosity, totally immaterial to the cause of our salvation. But hey, could you blame a guy for asking? Aren’t you a tad curious too?

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Tonight on The Bottomline with Boy Abunda: Eight months after his failed bid for the Senate, defeated senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla bares his insights and realizations on the elections and his defeat, the current political climate, and his fearless forecasts for 2013 and 2016, all in a tell-all interview.

Watch it after Banana Split on ABS-CBN. Replay telecast on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), Sunday, 1:30 pm. 

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