The Most Blessed Man Alive

Once in a while you meet a person who deeply inspires you. He does so by being an example of how it is to live life the way it should be lived.

I encountered one such person today. His name is AG.

AG is an artist. He loves music and dabbles in painting. But his greatest gift is in photography. I first met him when he was fresh out of college and was still trying to figure out what to do with his life. He would have a gig here and there, simply enjoying himself in the process.

I last saw a couple of years ago. It was to be married that day and I invited him to take pictures. I already hired a photographer who would take all the “usual” shots. So I asked him to take all the unconventional pictures that he wanted and and be as creative as he could.

Back then, I did not have much time to speak with him. But from what I heard, he was working for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). His job? To document the lives of whales by taking pictures of them. Wow!

This is a person who knows how to live life, I told myself. He has discovered his passion and found a job that allowed him to “indulge” in it. Working must not feel like working at all. This made me envy him a bit.

I am a physician and a lot of times, work feels like work. More so during that time when I was doing my residency training. The work hours were inhumane. I was extremely busy with doing rounds and seeing patients. The busyness of it all prevented me from taking time to realize how blessed I was.

I felt that AG was in a good place because he was doing what he loved doing most.

I was wrong, however, when I assumed that taking pictures was the one thing that gave him greatest happiness. Or gut-level joy as some would call it. It turned out that there was something else he loved doing more…

Two years had passed when I met my friend again. We had a common acquaintance who asked me to see patients at an area where some urban poor had been relocated.

It was quite a drive to the site. I had to pass through unpaved mountainous roads to get there. When I finally arrived, I was welcomed by someone named Mike. The rest of the team had not arrived so I had time for a short chat with my host.

Mike is one of the leaders of a non-profit organization called He Cares. They have two sites and this one caters to of a group of impoverished people relocated from the city. I learned that they have numerous programs for the poor but their livelihood program was the one that impressed me most.

They were training people to create marvelous ironwork. Mike showed me a few — beautifully handcrafted picture frames, abstract statues, unique lamps, and exquisite decors. They sell these to mall-based stores with most of the profit going back to the poor.

My conversation with Mike ended when AG and the others arrived. It was getting late in the morning so we soon drove to the housing project and I started seeing some patients. When all the patients had gone, I finally had time to catch up with AG.

We talked about a lot of things. I remembered seeing an article written about his work in a newspaper. Some of his photographs were showcased in that article and I asked him about the one where lightning struck the ground. I was amazed at how close he was to that potentially fatal bolt of electricity.

Later into the conversation, he related that he doesn’t spend much time taking pictures these days. A lot of his time is spent doing volunteer work for He Cares with the rest going to another church-based organization in a far-flung province. He told me how he finds so much joy in doing these things. He gets more pleasure in interacting with the poorest of the poor than playing around with his lenses.

When asked how he makes a living, he told me that he gets no money from either organization. All of his income, he gets from taking pictures. And it’s not a lot since he spends only about a fifth of his time in photography.

When he earns more than he needs, he gives the rest of his money to feeding the poor at He Cares. I looked at him more closely. He looks does look leaner, perhaps because of the meals he occasionally skips. But he also looks a lot happier. And there’s an inexplicable glow surrounding him.

It was time for my drive home but I could barely focus my eyes on the road. They were clouded with tears. My encounter with AG affected me in such a profound way.

Very few people can just turn their backs from the lures of this world and pursue the work of God with complete abandon. But those who do find joy like no other. It was then that I realized how blessed AG is.