The
Wemmicks were small wooden people. These little wooden people were carved by a
woodworker named "Eli." Eli's workshop sat on a hill overlooking the
Wemmick Village. Every one of the Wemmicks were different. Some had big noses,
others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats,
others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the
same village.
All
day long, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing. They gave each other
stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star
stickers and a box of dull gray dot stickers. Up and down the
streets all over the city, people could be seen sticking gold stars or gray
dots onto each other. The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint,
always got shiny gold stars! But if the wood was rough or the paint was
chipped, the Wemmicks gave dull gray dots. The talented ones got stars, too.
Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes.
Still others knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them
shiny gold stars! Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a
star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another
star.
There
were many other Wemmicks though that could do very little. They got dull gray
dots! There was one little Wemmick and his name was "Punchinello." He
tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the
others would gather 'round and give him dull gray dots. Sometimes when he fell,
it would scar his wood, so the people would give him more gray dots. He would
try to explain why he fell and, in doing so, he would say something really
silly. Then the Wemmicks would give him some more dots!!!
After
a while, Punchinello had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside. He was
afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or step in the water,
and then people would give him more dull gray dots. In fact, he had so many
gray dots that some people would come up and just give him one without any
reason! "He deserves lots of dots," they would say. The wooden people
would agree with one another. "He's not a good wooden person," they
would say. After a while Punchinello believed them. "I am not a good
Wemmick!" he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around
other Wemmicks who had a lot of gray dots. At least he felt better around them.
One
day, Punchinello met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no
dull gray dots and did not have any shiny golden stars either. She was a wooden
Wemmick and her name was "Lucia." It wasn't that people didn't try to
give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick to her!!! Some
admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But
it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they
would give her a dot. But they would not stick either!!!
"That's
the way I want to be!" thought Punchinello. "I don't want anyone's
marks!" So he asked the "stickerless" Wemmick how she did it.
"It's easy," Lucia replied. "Every day I go see Eli."
Punchinello asked,"Eli? Who is Eli?" She replied "Yes, Eli, He
is the woodcarver. I sit in His workshop and spend time with Him." He
asked Lucia,"Why do you do that?" Lucia told him, "Why don't you
find out for yourself? Go up the hill and visit with Him. He's there!" And
with that, the sweet little Wemmick named Lucia turned and skipped away.
"But
He won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out to her. Lucia didn't hear
him, as she was too far away. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window
and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other gold
stars and gray dots. "It's just not right," he muttered to himself.
Then he resolved to go see Eli after all. Punchinello walked up the narrow path
to the top of the hill and stepped into the big Woodcarver Shop. His little
wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was.
He had to stretch on his tippy-toes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer
was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard and thought to himself,
"I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his
name. "Punchinello?" said this voice, so deep and strong. Just then
Punchinello stopped. The voice said, "Punchinello, oh how good it is of
you to come! Let me have a look at you."
Punchinello
slowly turned around and looked at the large bearded craftsman and said,
"Sir, you know my name?" "Of course I do. I made you," Eli
said. All of a sudden, Eli stooped down and picked little Punchinello up and
set him on the workbench. "Hmmmmm," the Maker spoke thoughtfully as
he inspected the gray circles all over him, "Looks like you've been given
some bad marks." Punchinello explained,"Oh, Eli, I didn't mean to;
really I didn't!!! I really tried hard not to." The Maker said, "Oh,
you don't have to defend yourself to me, my child. I don't care what the other
Wemmicks think." Punchinello asked, "Really? You don't?" Then
Eli said, "No and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or
dots? They are Wemmicks just like you. What they think really doesn't matter at
all, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special."
Punchinello laughed, "Oh, me special? How can I be special? I can't walk
fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. I make silly mistakes all the time and
I am not a beautiful Wemmick like some of the others. How could I matter to
you?" Eli looked at Punchinello and put his hands on those little wooden
shoulders of his and spoke very slowly, "Because Punchinello... you are mine. That's why you matter to
me." Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this before or say
anything so nice, much less his Maker! He didn't know what to say!
"Punchinello,
every day I've been waiting and hoping you would come to see me," Eli
explained. Punchinello looked up at him and said, "I came because I met a
sweet Wemmick girl who had no marks." Eli said, "I know. Lucia told
me about you." So Punchinello asked, "Why don't the stickers stay on
Lucia?" Eli said, "Because she
has decided that what I think is more important than what anyone else thinks.
The stickers only stick if you let them." Punchinello looked puzzled
and said, "What?" Eli said,
"Yes, the stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust My
love, the less you will care about those stickers." But Punchinello
said, "I'm not sure I really understand. What you are saying?" The
maker said, "You will, but it will take some time. You've got a lot of
marks. So for now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much
I care about you." Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the
floor. "Now remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door. "You ARE special because I made you, and I don't make
mistakes."
Punchinello
didn't stop, but in his heart he thought, "I think He really means
it." And each time he remembered what Eli told him and each time he went
to visit and talk with Eli, one of Punchinello's dots would fall off. They kept
falling off and soon they were all gone!!!
So
like Punchinello, we must remember one thing: "Man looks on the outward
appearance, but God looks on the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)
(source:http://www.inspirationalstories.com/2/226.html)
In this gospel reading we hear the story of Blind Batimaeus begging for Jesus’ attention and mercy so that he would be healed from his blindness. It is good to be mindful of the situation of this lowly beggar. He was sitting at the roadside…jaon ra tawon sa kilid nan dayan nagpungko. Mura kabahin sa mga tawo na tagtawag na “marginalized person”. Sauna sa gagmay pa kita, tagtudloan kita na kun magsuyat gani jaon gajod ton margin. An margin bagan way labot na sa tibuok na papel, art-art ra kibali dakan plastado ato pagsuyat sanan gana tan-awon. Dili na nato suyatan an margin kay jaon naman sa kilid, waya nay labot kibali hampan dili sab maradjaw na jaon na sa kilid an suyat. 
