Cheesy but True
by Oliver Carlos
I’m not really a big fan of romantic films. What I truly love to watch are historical films. One such film I’ve recent watched was Jerrold Tarog’s “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral.” It’s about Gen. Gregorio Del Pilar’s last few months before he died a hero’s death in the Battle of Tirad Pass during the Filipino-American War. I’ve been follower of Tarog since his pilot film “Heneral Luna” rocked the cinemas. The Goyo film is the second of a trilogy. The young director and I come from the same school, UP Rural High School. I’m a few years older than him.
One part of the Goyo movie I really liked was the non-fictional love story inter-twined therein. The film showed how romantic the real Goyo was. I like the scene when Del Pilar asked Remedios Nable Jose to look up to the sky one starry night in 1899. The 24-year old General pointed to a particularly bright star and asked the 17-year old Pangasinense girl to look at it always after he had left Dagupan, because he would be doing the same and thinking of her. Goyo said, “that star would be ours, and ours alone!”
Days later, Goyo died in Ilocos Sur while defending Tirad Pass. But Remedios went on to live a very long life. She was able to see the Philippines transform from a nation without electricity, to a bustling country with automobiles, airplanes, television, and colored photography. She was able to listen to the music of Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In 1965, she granted an interview to a magazine. She told the journalist much of the stories about Goyo and her that we know today, including the “look at that star” story. Remedios was 83 years old at that time.
In the Bible, we read about another love story and some romantic words that would really touch the hearts of the listeners. God has so great a love for his people and he wanted them to know it. Through the prophet Isaiah, God conveyed his message:
“ Look up into the heavens! Who created all these stars? As a shepherd leads his sheep, calling each by its pet name, and counts them to see that none are lost or strayed, so God does with stars and planets!”
“…How can you say that the Lord doesn’t see your troubles and isn’t being fair? Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary?”
“…He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:26–31, TLB):
In the passage we read, God is also telling us to look up to the sky and see the stars. He is saying to us that his love for us is so great. He takes care of the planets and stars just like a shepherd takes care of his flock. But the most mind-blowing fact is that God takes care of us more than how he takes care of the stars.
The psalmist in Psalm 8:3–4 (GNT) couldn’t imagine such great love his God has for him. He wrote:
“When I look at the sky, which you have made,
at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places —
what are human beings, that you think of them;
mere mortals, that you care for them?”
So whenever you are down-trodden, just go out and look at the night sky. Remember that there is someone who hanged those stars up there to remind you that he loves you.
