Classes were suspended, travels by ferry and plane were cancelled and the authorities were put on alert as the country braced for another powerful typhoon - Santi - a day before All Saints’ Day.
Having seen the devastation that Ondoy and Pepeng has brought to so many of our countrymen, I can see why people would tend to blame God. First of all, the magnitude of the tragedy is so massive that it’s reasonable to conclude that only someone like God could pull it off. Second, we all believe God is all-good, all-loving, all-merciful, and all-powerful. If he has all the power to control things — and if He loves us — why did he allow this to happen? So it’s easy to blame God for this. Personally, I am thankful to God. I was praying very hard during the height of Ondoy. I was pleading, “Oh God, I know I promised to be good before, but now I really mean it, okay? Please, God, make this freakin’ rain stop!” Thankfully, all I had to deal with was a mini river at the ground floor of our house and the chaotic streets before making it at work . But for a lot of people, their prayers weren’t answered. A good number lost their lives, and many, many more lost loved ones, homes, cars, and possessions. And a lot are still suffering right now. I’m sure these people prayed, too. But how come they got devastated? While I don’t subscribe to the “Blame God” movement, I don’t blame them if they’re saying, “How come God allowed this to happen?” In these moments of misery and despair, we’re left with so many unanswered questions. So the tendency is to blame it to the ultimate mystery: God. But let me throw a question to all those who are tempted to join the “Blame God” bandwagon: Why not blame Satan? Hey, isn’t Satan the master of all evil things? How come I don’t hear anyone saying, “Satan did this”? Why not, right? Hey, if you’re even entertaining the thought that the Good Lord may be behind all this, why is it so farfetched to consider that perhaps the Ultimate Bad Guy may have something to do with it? Just a thought.
But seriously, now, while I don’t have the answer to all those who are blaming God, I do know one thing: blaming will not get us anywhere. We can blame God, Bayani Fernando, President Arroyo, Erap, or Hayden Kho for this tragedy until Judgment Day. But really, what does it do? What do we get for blaming? Zero. Nada. Nothing. If anything, it just makes us more upset. Because even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that it was indeed God who did it, what are you going to do about it? Stop attending Sunday Mass? In the end, what does your blaming do? Will it bring back your loved one? Will it bring back your house to the way it was? Will it make your fuel-injected car start again? Nope.
Don’t blame anyone when there’s absolutely no certainty as to whom to blame. And even if someone is to blame … don’t blame. Either you do something about it by confronting that person, or fight back to protect your rights. Blaming is for sissies. Blaming is for all those who are too lazy to do anything about their situation.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Trick-or-Treat!
As the crowd of trick-or-treaters peaked late in the afternoon (pre-Halloween Party), I was just a passive participant in the colorful party that zoomed by every building in the community where I live. While the lobby and hall's of every building were trimmed in what I would call gothic cheer, I gave in to the demands of the season by simply getting several plastics full of treats and giving them away.
I sat by the door and give them all away, to little kids and tweeners, mommies and daddies too, who were dressed either as witches, superheroes, monsters or some famous candy bar. That was enough then. But then, like yawning, the whole activity became contagious and pretty soon I was like sprucing up our own Halloween décor, a little bit more with each passing year. I remembered the hideous masks my younger brothers had as little boys, the same ones they, used to frighten and torment the help and relatives alike. At a certain point, you just plain outgrow it, the way you would outgrow thumb-sucking or drinking milk from a feeding bottle.
Last week I actually asked someone where I could get gourds — to display around — but me-who-loves-to-do-the-grocering (I would go every other day if I had the time and come home after each visit with just as much stuff as the first day!) found and bought the next best thing which I found in SM Bicutan — a big pumpkin! I followed the instructions how to cut the head at an angle so I can put it back on snugly like a lid and scooped out enough flesh and all of the pumpkin seeds inside to create a neat space.. well, it was not that neat though.
Who knows what will I add next year?
I sat by the door and give them all away, to little kids and tweeners, mommies and daddies too, who were dressed either as witches, superheroes, monsters or some famous candy bar. That was enough then. But then, like yawning, the whole activity became contagious and pretty soon I was like sprucing up our own Halloween décor, a little bit more with each passing year. I remembered the hideous masks my younger brothers had as little boys, the same ones they, used to frighten and torment the help and relatives alike. At a certain point, you just plain outgrow it, the way you would outgrow thumb-sucking or drinking milk from a feeding bottle.
Last week I actually asked someone where I could get gourds — to display around — but me-who-loves-to-do-the-grocering (I would go every other day if I had the time and come home after each visit with just as much stuff as the first day!) found and bought the next best thing which I found in SM Bicutan — a big pumpkin! I followed the instructions how to cut the head at an angle so I can put it back on snugly like a lid and scooped out enough flesh and all of the pumpkin seeds inside to create a neat space.. well, it was not that neat though.Who knows what will I add next year?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
District 9 with Ondoy
The world can get crazy. The speed of events can run me to the ground. That’s how I sometimes feel at the end of the day. To make matters worse, there are times when the preoccupations of the last few hours stick in my mind and engage me almost ceaselessly long after they have transpired. Even in the privacy and solitude of my room, I am still in the thick of things. My mind won’t let go.
On the noon-time of Saturday, as floodwaters began to rise on the street, I started braving the knee to waist-high current to make it on my call time at work. Edsa Highway was in chaos with vehicles caught in heavy traffic as the water rose steadily and swiftly through the afternoon. It was like seeing “District 9″ (a movie we where forced to watch just so we have something to do in lieu of the cancelled Sagada trip due to a typhoon just weeks ago! *bitter mode*) coming into reality meaning mud and squalor. Despite the inconvenience and “what-might-have-beens, I’m still alive and made it on my duty (and my family I left home is safe and sound).
As I write this, radio and TV reports are filled with accounts of the flooding in different parts of the metropolis, Rizal Province and Central Luzon, with dramatic footage of rescues, frantic evacuations, and long nights spent cold, wet, hungry and desperately wondering how soon relief would come.
The very fact that the speed of our lives is faster than ever must all the more remind us to step on the brakes periodically in order to remain safe and sane. Tales of heroism and courage, tragedy and loss, and just plain survival will be told and re-told in the days to come. We have been tested by water and beseted by mud. But we have learned the really important lessons in life.
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