Life advice from songs for the dead

Ejusa, a development worker for 12 years, has helped farming and fishing communities in Visayas and Mindanao improve their way of life. (CDN PHOTO/VICTOR ANTHONY V. SILVA)

For the past three decades, development worker Norbert Ejusa sang in countless weddings, wakes, and  Sunday Masses.

On these special occasions, Ejusa said the songs that left a lasting impression on his life were those dedicated to the dead.

“I feel different whenever I sing in the presence of  the deceased. Songs for the dead carry so much meaning, a message waiting to be discovered,” he told Cebu Daily News.

While dirges are commonly sung in requiem Masses, Ejusa sings contemporary worship songs that speak of life, death, and everything in between.

One of his personal favorites is the Filipino song “Sino Ako (Hiram sa Diyos),” popularized by artist Jamie Rivera.
The lyrics of the song go:

“Hiram sa Diyos ang aking buhay
Ikaw at akoy tanging handog lamang
Di ko ninais na akoy isilang
Ngunit salamat dahil may buhay.

(My life is borrowed from the Lord
You and I are but mere offerings
It was not my desire to be born
But I am thankful, still, for this life).”

Oftentimes, Ejusa said, he would cry in the middle of a performance because of the emotional connection   with  grieving families.

Lessons

He said the lyrics have  bits and pieces of life advice,with valuable lessons..

“Most of the songs are a reminder that our lives are not our own,” Ejusa said, and that everyone has to  face death one day.

“That is why we need to be prepared,” he said.

Ejusa said music and lyrics have served as his guide in life, spurring him on to do what he believes God has set out for him to do.

Recruited

At 16 years old, he joined the choir of his local church and eventually became active in the Carmelites’ youth ministry in Escalante, Negros Occidental.

He started singing  after high school and was recruited by a priest who saw talent in him.

Aside from being part of the choir, he  wrote  church songs.

Ejusa moved to Cebu in 1989 and became a Redemptorist missionary, sidelining as a singer for different occasions on top of giving pre-marriage and pre-baptism seminars.

Gift

Ejusa said he would always quote from songs for the dead and use them as inspiration during his lectures.

At times when he sings in weddings, he gets paid P500 to P1,000 and sometimes nothing  at all during vigil wakes.

He said  he doesn’t mind the compensation for as long as he is able to offer his talent to the Lord.

“I sing because this is a gift from God and I’m giving it back to Him,” said Ejusa.

Ejusa is affiliated with Church-based non-government organization Visayas Mindanao Regional Office for Development (VIMROD) of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI).

Motivated

In the last 12 years, the NGO worker helped farming and fishing communities across Visayas and Mindanao implement projects like water systems.

If he has free time, he  still accepts invitations from friends for him to sing. Last month Ejusa sang in a wedding and a requiem.

Years of singing and development work has reinforced his belief that  it pays to put the Lord first in one’s life.

“As long as I move, while I am still alive, I will offer my life to the Lord, especially in the service of the poor,” he said.