Declamation No. 11 (Jn.

9:1-12)

A Blind Friend

“Tomas, Tomas, Tomas… hurry up! Packing your things”

(tomas packing his things)

“Oh yes! Peter, you’re just so excited…

A Blind Beggar

(1st person)
I heard the sounds of footsteps…
Chatting people around my side, murmuring along the way…
A chirping bird … tweet, tweet, tweet…
Crawling rat behind me…
A meow of a kitten… meow, meow, meow
Bark of an angry dog… bark, bark, bark
Rushing car and buses… beep, beep, beep
Rainfall drops … and even the tears falling in my eyes… I heard it… (crying)

I wish I could see.

I was born blind... I don’t know how to imagine, I really don’t know how beautiful the world is…
I heard people talking “Was this man’s blindness the result of his sin, or that of his parents?”

(2nd person)
For them, these are the only two options; no others come to their minds. Their premise is
apparent: sickness is the result of sin. Like Job’s friends, they seem to reason: “This man is
suffering, and it must be due to sin. Such sin is either that of the man himself, or of his parents.”

“Who sinned, this man or his parents?” he hears one of the bystanders.

I wonder if the blind man has ever asked himself this question.

The sound of footsteps is heard by this blind beggar. And then he hears an even more
encouraging clue—the footsteps cease, nearby. He has been seen! He knows it.

It suddenly reminds me Jesus brings light to a beggar man. A man who had been blind from
birth.

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this
man or his parents?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the acts
of God may be revealed through what happens to him.

We must perform the deeds of the one who sent me as long as it is daytime. Night is coming
when no one can work.
 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Having said this, he spat on the ground and made some mud with the saliva. He smeared the
mud on the blind man’s eyes and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam”.

So the blind man went away and washed, and came back seeing.

Blindness has been a great inspiration to me, and watching people like them has greatly
enhanced my appreciation.

Some people pass by them as though they are not there, as though they do not exist. The people
never interact socially, never nod, never say “Hello” or “Thanks” or “Pardon me.” The outcasts
simply don’t exist, or so it appears from the way others relate to them. It is nearly the same with
the blind and with beggars. The simple fact is that the blind are, without question and without
exception, beggars. There are so few laws…if any, which prescribe and protect the rights of the
blind. … The blind are almost completely ignored.

But being BLIND is such a grateful gift, a more easy way to SALVATION.

Having said all this, I hope a blind beggar like him will realize how fortunate he was… accepting
the truth of being blind. Aside it’s an easy way to salvation; it can lead many, many people to be
saved, only if, they have the chance to meet someone like him or any incapable, widow, orphans
… And have mercy, share their blessings and lend an open arms and a helping hand … more will
have chance.

God that cannot lie, promised!… He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and
that which he hath given will he pay him again.

For sure, right time will come… promised will be granted!

(1st person)
Yes! I should be proud of…
It was such a lucky and great opportunity for me, to be a simple instrument of human salvation
… as long as I obeyed God’s law and commandment… as long as I lived with God’s grace and
mercy. I must be thankful … I much cherish all blessings I have.

I’ve been blind for all of my life but I am THANKFUL.

Thanks be to God!

- End-
 THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT OF SOLOMON

There were two harlots stand before the King Solomon to settle an argument. And the one
woman said, “Oh my Lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while
she was with me in the house. And it happened, three days after, she also had a baby. We were
together, no one butthe two of us in the house. And the son of this woman died at night, because
she laid on it.”

Then she got up in the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid
her dead child in my arms and took my son to her side. When I got up in the morning to give my
child suck, and it was dead!” I looked at him and I saw, it wasn’t the child that I had borne.

The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours!” But the
first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours and the living one is mine!” And the king said,
“Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.” And the king said, “Divide the
living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.” Then, the woman
who really was the mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, said, "Oh no, my
lord! Give her the child--please do not kill him!"But the other woman said, "He will be neither
yours nor mine; but divide him!” Then the king said, "Do not kill him, but give the baby to the
woman who wants him to live, she is the mother of it!"

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the
king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
 THE WOMAN AT THE WELL (John 4:4-42)

I am a woman. A woman of no distinction and of little importance. I am a woman of no

reputation, save that which is bad. You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances though
you don’t really take the time to look at me, or, even get to know me. For to be known is to be
loved, and to be loved is to be known and, otherwise, what’s the point of doing either one of
them in the first place?

I want to be known, I want someone to look at my face and not just see two eyes, a nose, a
mouth, and two ears but to see all that I am and could be. All my hopes, loves, and fears but
that’s too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for so I don’t. Not anymore. Now I keep to
myself, and by that I mean the pain that keeps me in my own private jail. The pain that has
brought me here, at midday, to this well.

To ask for drink is no bog request, but to ask it of me, a woman unclean, ashamed, used and
abused, an outcast, a failure, a disappointment, a sinner. No drink passing from these hands to
your lips could ever be refreshing, only condemning, as I’m sure y ou condemn me now, but you
don’t.

You’re a man of no distinction, though of the utmost importance. A man with little reputation, at
least so far. You whisper and tell me to myface what all those glances have been about, and you
take the time to really look at me but don’t need to get to know me. For to be known is to be
loved, and to be loved is to be known… and you know me. You actually know me. All of me and
everything about me. Every thought inside… every hurt stored up, every hope, ebery dread from
my past and my future. All I am and I can be, you tell me everything. You tell me about me.

And that which is spoken by another would bring hate and condemnation. Coming from you it
brings love, grace, mercy, hope, and salvation. I’ve heard one to come who would save a
miserable person like me, and here in my presence you say, “I am He.”

For to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known. And He saw me… He saw me
not only with His eyes, He saw me with His heart.

Let me run back to town; this is way too much for just me. There are others-brothers, sisters,
lovers, haters, the good and the bad, sinners and saints who should hear what you told me, who
should see what you have shown me, who should taste what gave me, who should feel how you
frgave me.

And they all need this too. We all do. We need it for our own.
 THE ONE

Way back times I do remember, people just like me as you, follows the commandments
and every traditions of our parents, “mano po” taught by the Priesthood, I say Amen, good day
Father, some though comes to ask, for thelove of God give Tithes, tho shalt not steel from the
Lord, be save and have the everlasting life. Pastors pass by have cup pf coffee and sell pamphlets
for a peso or two. Mankind with all his arrogance wants to prove that he has the kind of
knowledge and understanding that will enable him to do everything, almost everything. But woe
unto him! He forgot that there is God, the God Almighty whose power and glory transcends all
human understanding and knowledge. He is the most powerful force behind everything, He is the
only one whom we can hold unto. So what we have to do? Forget ourselves and live behind our
haughtiness, our pride. Reconcile with God. This is the most significant step that we can make in
our lives. Tis is the mission of all them wanted us to be close to God.
Who dares comes close to him? Is he the one? Or the others? Many, but are confusing. How can
we so sure, reconcile with God through them?

As I bend knees and prayed to God,please send the answer to my questions, answer my
prayers, I beg thee, suddenly heard out of the crowd “san mo mababasa ang sinasabi mo?!
Basahin mo! Captured my instensed I was shocked! But a mere surprise, a man shouting for the
truth, bible being used in exchange of money, God’s word is being abused through religions?!
Abreath taking but knowledgeable speaker, mr. Soriano…. Bro. Eli, Bro. Eli Soriano
In my desire ti know him I did the research of his life and with my eyes filling up with tears
reading the verses manifested to hs life

1 corinthians 4:11-13- even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thrist, and are naked, and
are buffeted, and have no certain dweillig place; and labor, working with our own hands: being
reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the
filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day

2 Corinthians 6:4-10
But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in
afflictions, in necessities, in distressesIn stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in
watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy
Ghost, by love unfeigned By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of
righteousness on the right hand and on the leftBy honor and dishonor, by evil report and good
report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we
live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many
rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

And yes indeed a man of God, through him, yes I am sure salvation is at hand
 The First Woman
(Genesis 2:21 -3:24 )

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his
ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man,
made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.Therefore shall
a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was more
subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:But of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall
ye touch it, lest ye die.And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did
eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of
the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the
trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I
commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be
with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this
that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above
every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto
Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of
which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam
called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife
did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man
is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of
the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the Garden of
Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the
east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way
of the tree of life.
 SAMSON

Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there and harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the
Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the
gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, in the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And
Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two
posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the
top of an hill that is before Hebron.

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was
Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein
his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict
him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson,
Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be
weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which
had not been dried and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in
the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a
thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I
pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes
that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes,
and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers
in wait abiding in the chamber. And he breaks them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto
Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And
he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it with the
pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went
away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

And she said unto him, how canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou
hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to
pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a rasor upon mine head; for I have
been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I
shall become weak, and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart,
she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all
his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. And she
made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven
locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times
before, and shake myself.

And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out
his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the
prison house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. Then the lords of
the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice:
for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him,
they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer
of our country, which slew many of us.

And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may
make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they
set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may
feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men
and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three
thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and
strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my
two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it
was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die
with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon
all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he
slew in his life. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought
him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he
judged Israel twenty years.