The first time I saw Lauds and Vespers (nicknames: Ping and Pong) at the pet shop, I knew in my heart that I had to adopt them. After Kobe, bro. A’s turtle, was turtlenap, I have kept looking to get a new one for the Brevs to take care of. Now WE have two! But you may ask, “Why among all the cute animals in the pet shop did I choose Ping and Pong? Besides, they are a reminder of sluggishness.”
Well, that is primarily the reason why we have to see them all the time. They remind us that they are the ones who have the right to slow down –not us! But aside from that image they are known of, it is quite a wonder how they teach us about life. Remember our kindergarten stories about the Monkey and the Turtle? They may seem slow but they are wise.
After we got Ping and Pong their turtle bowl, we rushed to the church for our Vespers. As we were about to start our prayers, I saw them lifting their heads as high as they could. I thought, “Wow! Could it be that they knew they were inside the chapel and that they were also praying?” When I took them home, I got them out of the bowl and I saw them actually run. They are not as slow as we expected them to be. While I enjoyed playfully watching them, it amazed me on how they would suddenly stop, lift their heads, and then walk again.
Most of the time we are so preoccupied with a lot of things that we tend to rush everything just for the sake of completion. The complexity of our times calls us to do so much that it seems like everything is just too fast that we are running out of time. Other times, we feel we are too slow that we are unable to accomplish anything. Nevertheless, no matter what our pace may be, Ping and Pong teach us never to forget to raise our heads and simply praise God for whatever circumstance we are in. For only in acclaiming the Alpha and Omega are we able to reach our destination – maybe slowly...but surely.
