How they know that there is God, Part 3

There must be God/And I know

That He heard me right/Because

You look at me as though I’m beautiful

…I never dreamed someone

Like you could love someone like me — from I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me, theme song of the 1976 supernatural horror film Carrie directed by Brian de Palma, based on Stephen King’s 1974 epistolary novel of the same title, and starring Sissy Spacek.

This is Part III of this corner’s annual Lenten forum as a nod to the season’s reflective mood.

From the respondents’ answers, I suppose you and I and other faithful can pick up a thought or two.

What about you, how do you know that there is God?

1. Sen. Migz Zubiri: I have never doubted the existence of God nor His presence in my everyday life. At the same time, I’ve also gone through a number of experiences, both challenging and uplifting, where I truly felt the hand of God at work. Many small miracles that cannot be explained nor considered coincidences but as blessings from the Almighty.

One instance where I was fortunate enough to be a witness to His presence is when I was visiting the Grotto at Our Lady of Lourdes with my wife 10 years ago. As Marian devotees, we distinctly remember praying in the cathedral and thinking, “Wouldn’t it be nice to see a cross in the sky?,” wondering if God was listening to us. To our delight and surprise, as we walked out of the cathedral, we looked up and there in the sky were two intersecting straight lines of clouds, in an otherwise clear sky forming a perfect cross!! Truly a small miracle indeed.

I’ve come to realize that no amount of work and planning can make something happen if it’s not God’s will. I’ve also been able to enjoy the blessings of God through a happy and healthy family and several answered prayers that have made me promise to Him that we should all share His blessings.

2. Former Sen. Bong Revilla: I am sure there is God. He is the source of my strength. My faith in Him sustains me in these hard times. I face all the hardships and challenges in my life knowing I am with Him. I trust in His justice and the promise of a better tomorrow.

He keeps my family strong and looks after them while I am away. He takes care of my father while I cannot be beside him.

God is real. Everything is good in His time.

3. Jessica Soho: Look at the beauty all around us and know that God is real. I am the recipient of many answered prayers; how can I not believe that there is God? I treasure each day as a gift and testament that God lives in each of us, in all of us and all around us.

4. Dr. Joven Cuanang: There is God in the way the brain is intricately structured and exquisitely programmed to create order and balance in every thought and action that a human being is innately capable of doing.

5. Bong Go (Special Assistant to Pres. DU30): There are things happening around us that are beyond human comprehension and power. There are also miracles that touch our lives and transform the core of our being. These can only mean that there is an omnipresent being watching over us. As for me, I have my share of answered prayers. In my heart, I have no doubt that there is God.

6. Brillante Mendoza: Because I’m alive and I experience a miracle each day when I wake up.

7. MTRCB Chief Rachel Arenas: I know there is God just by seeing and marveling at the wonders of nature and all His creation. No matter how modern and scientific knowledge and discovery have advanced, we have to admit that much of our life on earth still remain a mystery. Such mystery can only be attributed to God’s Hand and His divine wisdom and power.

8. Matteo Guidicelli: Things happen when you least expect them. I know and believe that it’s all Him. I don’t need anyone to tell me or explain to me. I have faith and I believe in Him.

9. Cory Quirino: While God’s physical presence may not be seen by one’s eyes, He manifests in people’s lives in amazing ways. One of them is through miracles. To me, He was visible through my rescue in 1995 by the PNP of Calauag, Quezon, when I was kidnapped by armed robbers in Lumban, Laguna. With no possible opportunity to escape, the impossible happened.

The car which we rode in crashed into a coconut tree in Labo, Camarines Norte. Forced to secure another transport, a van with the sticker Couples for Christ stopped to assist us. If it weren’t for that near-fatal accident, I would not have gone to a little hospital by the roadside where I was able to tell the resident doctor about my plight.

Within minutes, the police set up a roadblock. Finally, I was liberated. During my captivity, while in Quezon National Park where my driver was shot, I learned the true meaning of prayerful surrender. I said, “Lord, You gave me life and only You can take it. These criminals have no power over me.”

It was at that point when I heard a voice whisper in my left ear, “Blood of Christ cover me and deliver me from danger.” Without question, I prayed every minute until my eventual rescue.

Today, no personal challenge ever fazes me. It simply means that God is re-organizing my life for the better. Our God is a God of miracles. Believe and so shall it be. Miracles do happen to those who believe. To God I owe my second life.

10. Pinky Tobiano (Philanthropist): Because He gave me hope despite all my pains. He made me rise above and be stronger.

11. Ferdie Lavin (of the National Bureau of Investigation): When my prayers are answered, I know there is Him. When I am able to get home safely from every operation, I know He was with me in my job.

12. Celebrity lawyer Lorna Kapunan: When you gaze at the stars, marvel at the sunset, smell the flowers, listen to the grass grow and get hugged daily by your kids, you know there is God who made them all! And when things go wrong and you see hunger, death, killings, grief, suffering — you pray to your God and have faith that He/She is in control.

13. Lawyer-educator Adel Tamano: I know there is God because of my children. Once in a while, I see a glimpse of the divine in them, more so when they were very young.

14. Former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada: It’s all about faith. Faith is believing without seeing. I believe that there is God.

15. Celebrity lawyer Kat Legarda: I know that there’s God because I have grandchildren whose beauty reflects Him.

16. Dr. Lily Lim (Pediatrician): I know that there is God from my peer group and neighbors because my parents are Buddhists.

17. Susan Enriquez: I know that there is God because of stories we heard every day, especially miracle stories.

18. Dr. Pia Achacoso (Orthodontist): God has been by my side from the day I was born, as I was given 30 percent chance of surviving my first 24 hours here on earth. My mom prayed to God to let me live, and the rest is history.

19. Ricky Lee: Because I exist.

20. Ryan Agoncillo: I know that there is God because every morning I have something to be thankful for. I wake up next to my wife and my kids.

21. Dr. Nellie Yu (Dermatologist): I don’t know how I know that there is because of my undying faith in God.

22. Sen. Loren Legarda: I feel God’s presence in the sun’s rays, in the raindrops, in the verdant trees. I feel His goodness in the bounty of nature. I feel His presence in my solitude. I am grateful that we are blessed by His goodness.

23. Immigration lawyer Jemela Nettles: I just know! I know there is God because He is ever present in my life. As a child, I knew there’s God because my parents told me so. They taught me to thank God for all His blessings, to ask God for forgiveness for my shortcomings, and to ask God whatever I need. As I grow older, my faith in the living presence of God goes beyond what I was told. He lives in me. What would I be without Him? I’ve been through a lot of challenges. I know that I survived and thrived because He carried me. How do I know that there is God? I just know!

24. Northern Samar Gov. Jose “Jun” Ong Jr.: There must be God responsible for an egg and sperm to unite and grow into a human being inside the womb of a mother…and this is true in all other animals.

25. Arnold Clavio: Actually, I just know…I can feel His presence…I can feel His love…how He takes care of me and my loved ones…And I will always remember John 20:29: Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. ”

26. Tirso Cruz III: As a Born-again Christian, and based on the Bible which is the Word of God, by faith I believe there is God who created me and everything in this world.

27. Former actress Nina Zaldua-Raymundo: Everything else shows that there is a true living God within us. When we need the ultimate in compassion and realization of His caring and true concern, it is His love that wipes away each tear and brings new hope to our hurting heart and soul. God is never far away. He lives in our hearts.

God helps us to face the many purification and temptations as we walk through life. He is our shield against this harsh world, our lives are a lot easier knowing God is on our side.

He gave His life for us. He gives comfort in the most personal moments whether in troubled or triumphant situations. Anything and everything is made possible because God makes it so.

28. Ofelia “Ophie” Isorena (Nursery teacher, Twinkle Toes Academy, Kamias, Quezon City): When I started teaching toddlers and loving what I’m doing, I know that He is there. God gave me this mission to guide these kids to be better persons and bring them closer to Him.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected].)