“Sing joyfully...the Lord, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear...Fear not...be not discouraged.” - Zephaniah 3:24-16
In 2018, I prayed God would grant my wish to go on this Nordic trip. My younger son had left to work in Norway middle of that year. I wanted our small solo parent family (my two sons and I) to still be together for the Christmas holiday.
“Be specific with your prayers”, we would always be reminded in teachings. So specific me had been badgering God at my daily mass routine with the tiniest details about all my travel concerns. I wanted a stress-free perfectly perfect holiday. But it got to the point I became anxious about nothing going wrong that I developed fears for myself and my family. It became so bad that every time one of us would go out, I had insane fears of bad things happening. My chest would constrict from the anxiety.
Then
a few days before our departure, my Caring Group sister, Beng, posted a
reflection in our chat group. A line from it struck me: “Lord, Your Word says
You desire to prosper us and not to harm us.” It was then I realized that the
fear gripping me was an oppression from the evil one. Suddenly, the anxieties
just vanished. And even if there were last minute stress-inducing hitches, here
we were, together as a family, listening to “Simbang gabi simula ng pasko,
sa puso ng lahing Pilipino...” in a church with a snow-covered courtyard.
It was indeed a reason to sing, for God was, is and always will be in our
midst.
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| St. Olav Katolske Domkirke |
Let me backtrack a bit to how our Nordic trip began.
When I travel to other countries, it takes time to register that I’m stepping out of the airport to a foreign land. As we drive to wherever we’re staying, I have to spot the difference between the Philippines and the country I’m visiting. Only when I see the dissimilarity do I feel that I’m really in a different place. I’ve been to other Asian countries, to North America and Australia but despite being in different continents, that experience never changed. Obviously, the seasons had something to do with it. I’ve only traveled during spring, summer and fall (yes, it still took time and travelling quite a bit to see leaves turning yellow in the US and Australia).
But
as we landed at the Oslo Lufthavn, it already hit me that I was in alien
territory. Whizzing past the plane window were grounds covered with snow and
trees glistening white – a scene I will definitely not see in the Philippines.
At already past 10 in the morning, the sun was just beginning to dance around
in its light-yellow gown.
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| First glimpse of snow from the train window |
Another I’m-in-a-different-continent experience was the early dusk (just after lunch) that descended upon us as we walked to the Oslo Central Station to buy transport passes and sim cards.
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| Oslo Subway Station |
In the early evening, after dashing through the snow (well, walking briskly through snow flurries would better describe it), we got to St. Olav Katolske Domkirke (I guess that means Catholic Church). Our arrival in Oslo was a Sunday and what better way to end our first day than with a mass. It was a heartwarming experience!
My son, who is working in Oslo, did say that in the church where he attends mass, there were many Filipinos. True enough, I heard Tagalog being spoken as we entered. And the lady beside me requested, “Ate, paki reserve naman ng upuan ko. May kakausapin lang ako.” (“Sister, please reserve my seat. I just have to talk to someone.”)
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| Kababayans in St. Olav |
What I did not expect was that about 90% of the full-packed church were our kababayans (countrymen). But more incredible was that the choir burst into song at the priest’s entrance with the very festive “Simbang Gabi” (a traditional Filipino Christmas carol). So far from home, yet I was blessed to still attend our traditional simbang gabi (night mass), the 9-day novena before Christmas. It was something I thought I’d miss because of our family’s Nordic trip to spend the holidays with my younger son.
Capping our first Nordic Freeze day was dinner at the Pink Fish in the Oslo Subway Station eating…what else but…salmon salad, salmon burger and salmon bowl. We definitely were not in Manila anymore.
