The Biggest Race I Never Ran
by Oliver Carlos
In my alma mater UPLB, we have a unique holiday, Loyalty Day. It’s every October 10. Every year on that date, there’s no work and no classes. It’s not a national holiday, and no other UP campus celebrate on that day. Before the pandemic, Loyalty Day celebrations featured parades, garden shows, alumni homecoming parties, and a fun run.
Loyalty Day originated in 1918, when the UPLB ROTC cadets volunteered to go to Europe and fight the Germans during World War 1. These were 16 and 17-year old male students of the university. They would be wearing US Army uniforms and fight under the American flag. We were an American colony during those years. However, the war ended a month later, and these volunteers never got to see any combat. But nonetheless, their bravery and loyalty were commended by the Americans, and so every October 10 was set as a day to commemorate their act.
The year 2018 was a special year because that’s the 100th anniversary of the volunteerism of those brave ROTC cadets. So I decided to participate in this once-in-a-life time fun run. Since I was now residing in Cabuyao, I just coordinated with my sister Joan, who was a UPLB professor, to register me in that sporting event. She paid for my registration fee (it’s a fundraising event that’s why the fee was hefty), and got me my running jersey. She would give it to me on the morning of the race. She also registered herself in the fun run.
I was so excited to compete in that 5k fun run. It’s not everyday that a 100th anniversary will come along, so for me, this would be the biggest race I would be running in my lifetime. The race was set to start at 5 AM, so I made arrangements with my sister to sleep at her place the night before the race. October 10, 2018 was the 2nd Wednesday of the month. I marked that date on my calendar.
On Friday night, October 5, at around 11 PM, my sister called me on my phone. She asked me, “Where are you? I’m about to sleep. I need to lock the front door.” I didn’t get it. “What are you talking about?” I replied. Then she snapped back, “Tomorrow’s the big race. I need to sleep now so I can get up early.”
Only then that I realized that the date of the race wasn’t exactly on October 10! I didn’t read the e-poster carefully and thoroughly. They made it 4 days early, and I missed the schedule! I just assumed that it’s going to be 5 AM of October 10, without really checking out the exact date. My preparations weren’t enough. I should have secured every detail of the big event.
This experience is similar to a parable told by Jesus in Matthew 25:1–13 (NLT). In Jewish weddings, several bridesmaids holding lamps would serve as escorts to a bridegroom. In the parable, the 10 bridesmaids waited so long for the arrival of the bridegroom. They all had lamps to escort the VIP, but only 5 of them had extra oil for their lamps. In modern times, its’ like bringing a flashlight or cellphones on a vigil, but some didn’t bring along extra batteries or chargers. Therefore, the 5 ladies who didn’t prepare well got locked out of the wedding. Here’s verses 10–13:
“Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ So you too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.”
In my Loyalty Day story, I was aware of the big event, I prepared for it, but I didn’t prepare well enough. The result is I missed the big event that I was dreaming of. Same goes in real life. Most, if not all people know that Jesus is coming back soon, but they may not be preparing well enough. Prepare for Jesus’ return by repenting from your sins, and walking into the new life he’s leading you. Don’t be locked out of eternal life, accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior now, before he comes back.
