RELATIVELY....

It wasn't a shock at all. Shock is relative. I hung up the phone after having received a news this morning-- a news I expected to come anytime since around Christmas when we first heard he was sick. He, his wife and one grandchild (Arby) always joined us for Christmas lunch over at my dad's house. Last Christmas, we only had his wife and Arby for lunch, bearing the news that my uncle was terminally ill and had become too weak to leave the house. This morning, uncle Benigno died of multiple organ failure due to his lingering illness.

I have very few memories of uncle Benigno. I heard a lot about his many failed endeavors, unsuccessful ventures, and his problems with his kids over family dinners. My dad had two brothers- one died a few years earlier from Cirrhosis of the liver for drinking too much. I honestly don't remember a time he was sober. He had a business, but was always mediocre in running it. He didn't have kids either. My dad has two sisters (both alive and well!, thank God!) who are a little more successful in their exploits than their brothers! My dad's cousins are even more successful than the rest of the family. But then again, success is relative.

He had four adult children and a couple grandkids. Unfortunately, I never grew close to my cousins, nor to him. For some reason, they have distanced themselves from us since they became members of the Iglesia ni Kristo. In one of my three or four talks with my uncle, I asked if he'd ever get in trouble with his Church for celebrating Christmas, as we know, the Iglesia ni Kristo does not celebrate Christmas. He said, "I'm not celebrating Christmas, I'm having lunch with relatives." I was cool with that answer. I asked why his kids never came with him for Christmas lunch, he said, "Well, they don't want to celebrate Christmas with the family!"

At any rate, he was my uncle-- my dad's younger brother. The family has lost him. My dad shared the Gospel with him a number of times but I do not know if he ever accepted the message. I could only hope he did. He had become staunch in his religious conviction. People in my dad's side of the family are quite staunch when it comes to religious conviction- whatever they may be: Catholic, Buddhist, Iglesia ni Kristo. My mom's side, beginning with (of course) my mom sharing the Gospel with my grandma and receiving it, all her sisters have become Christians and are active members of a local Assembly of God congregation in their city.


I pray that the rest of my extended family will receive Christ as Lord and Savior in the coming days.