I propose that we look at the lyrics and listen to the sound of Maria’s music up close as if these were Kabisig’s -

 

How do you solve a problem like Kabisig?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Kabisig?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A joke!

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell Kabisig
Many a thing Kabisig ought to understand
But how do you make Kabisig stay And listen to all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Kabisig?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

 

It appears it's a thing of beauty . . . not a problem . . . we have in our hands – a beautiful moving cloud we cannot catch nor pin down . . .

a beautiful wave kissing our shore we cannot keep as it gracefully dances back to sea . . . a beautiful moonbeam fleetingly lighting our palms and switly roving to make other hands shine as well.

 

Cooperation is a universal idea. It serves us best as we share it with all others instead of keeping its benefits all to ourselves. Not too many people know that John Wesley left an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of the early advocates of Co-operativism –

 

In 1844, twenty-eight working people founded the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society . . . From the mutual efforts of those humble workers grew an idea that today serves the needs of over 720 million members world-wide. The year 1844 represents the birth of the modern co-operative movement . . . Rochdale, although historically a small town, holds an important role in the development of the Industrial Age in Britain . . . John Wesley visited the town in 1749 and spoke at the Wesleyan Chapel on Toad Lane. To the seekers of heavenly salvation Wesley urged such earthly practices as “buying one of another-helping each other in business,” and to “gain all they can, and to save all they can and to give all they can.” The Methodists and the Rochdale Pioneers later mastered both practices.

(David J. Thompson, Weavers of Dreams, 1994)

It is indeed a great Methodist heritage –

 

It was one of those "social action" Methodist churches. First, it was a school for poor children, operated eleven hours daily. The church was a site of a "house of mercy" where board and room were given for destitute widows, unwanted orphans, and blind people. A dispensary also operated out of the church, offering free services of a pharmacist and a surgeon to some 100 needy people every month. Another phase of the church social program was a savings bank. Church members could deposit their money, knowing it would be used to help poverty-stricken families facing financial crisis. It was a kind of credit union.  In the church was a thriving book store. This socially conscious Methodist church was also a place of worship. Hundreds of people came on Sunday and during the week to hear the Gospel  preached, to sing God's praises, to pray, to study the Bible, and to fellowship with other Christians. Last but not least, the church provided living quarters for a traveling preacher named John Wesley. Between itinerant preaching missions he lives in the church as did his aging mother. It was the world's first Methodist church, established by John Wesley himself.”

 (Charles Keysor, Our Methodist Heritage, emphasis added)

 

or, using another metaphor

 

It appears it's a powertool . . . not a problem . . . we have in our hands -  “What do you have there in your hand?” the Lord asked him. And he replied, “A shepherd’s rod.” “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So he threw it down—and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it! Then the Lord told him, “Grab it by the tail!” He did, and it became a rod in his hand again! “Do that and they will believe you!” the Lord told him. “Then they will realize that Jehovah, the God of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has really appeared to you. (Exodus 4:2-5)

 

The Co-op Idea is a perfect system in an imperfect world. Our task at aimp-kabisig community MPC is to

 

know it . . . make it known . . . make it work . . .

It is a powertool placed in a poor man’s hand!

 

John and Charles Wesley's concern for the poor is well-known . . . Sixty-five percent of Methodist class members worked in jobs (when they had jobs) where the pay was below the poverty line. Nevertheless, they brought their penny a week to assist those who were in even more desperate straits than themselves. The poor ministered to the poor, mutually sharing in the 'works of mercy,' which the Wesleys were convinced were means of grace. They knew that an encounter with the love of God is inseparable from the care of others.

(Richard P. Heitzenrater, The Poor and The People Called Methodists, Kingswood Books, 2002)

 

HOW DO WE SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE KABISIG?

 

Let us make KABISIG a friend . . . Let us make KABISIG a lifestyle . . . Let us make KABISIG a way of discipleship!

 

"This one thing let us do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are ahead, let us press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14); crying unto him day and night, till we also are "delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious freedom of the children of God!" (Romans 8:21) 

John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection