‘Hope that even if today you wake up amid the total destruction of a typhoon, the fact that you and your family are all alive and well means that there will be a tomorrow and a day after tomorrow and a day after the day after that.’
IN a matter of hours millions of children across the Philippines will be eagerly watching the clock, waiting for the hour hand to mark midnight which would signal the opening of gifts and the celebration of a feast – no matter how modest.
It will be a heartwarming moment for millions of Filipino families, the stroke of midnight.
But thousands will be unable to join the celebration because of Typhoon Odette, the wet blanket over this year’s celebrations. To them, we extend our prayers, and the modest help we are able to give through the many organizations offering support in cash or in kind. It will be poor consolation, but the experience of the Yolanda victims should be proof enough that sooner, if not later, the scars of Odette will be all that she will be remembered by.
While the pain of loss will remain, we will pick up from where we have fallen and march on.
As wags love to say, for as long as there is life, there is hope. And for as long as there is hope, darkness and gloom soon give way to light.
As a lapsed Catholic I have many times over (maybe too many times over hehe) quipped that we are marking on December 25th a Christian celebration of the birth of a Jew on a day that was special to pagans who believed in the Sun-God. It is well-established by science, I think, that the historical Jesus could not have been born in December: but the biblical Jesus was given this birth date to make it easier for pagans to switch allegiance from their old religious traditions to the Christian one.
What is the use of a religion anyway if it fails to take root on the consciousness of a people? Even if, when necessary, some twists and turns have to be incorporated into the myths that comprise the foundations of that religion.
It must be age, but as the years have gone by and Christmas carols no longer send shivers down my spine (the way going to piss does!) what I have learned to accept are not the myths that are perpetrated from generation to generation to keep the religion alive, but the value these myths bring to the believers, lapsed or otherwise.
That value is hope. Hope that even if today you wake up amid the total destruction of a typhoon, the fact that you and your family are all alive and well means that there will be a tomorrow and a day after tomorrow and a day after the day after that. Hope that even if a loved one is not well, only two things can happen – his lot will improve because it is the will of God, or he will find his rest because that too is the will of God. Hope that if this year was a challenging one, the next will be a better one, and if this year was a good one then next year will be a great one! Hope that if you did wrong this year, you have next year to make up for it. Hope that with hard work the dreams of today will be the reality of tomorrow.
There are so many imponderables in life and we can go crazy trying to figure them all out.
And all the more when what we are trying to comprehend is why we had to suffer a defeat or hardship, some loss or some tragedy. That’s where religion and faith and celebrations of Christmas Eve come in. That’s where the hope that they represent become most relevant and most valuable.
And so even a lapsed Catholic like me would still like to wish everyone a blessed Christmas: may your lives continue to be filled with hope about tomorrow being a new, and better, and brighter day.
For yourself and your loved ones.
Stay safe everyone as you celebrate the season.
Personal: Happy birthday Punong Barangay Ernesto Villaluz of Barangay Anabu 2-F, Imus, Cavite; Punong Barangay Wilfredo Ramos of Barangay Pasong Buaya 1, Imus, Cavite; Kapitan Flaviano Taniola of Barangay Mayapa, Calamba, Laguna; Kapitan Delfon de Claro of Barangay Bucal, Calamba, Laguna; Kagawad Paul Perez of Barangay Uno, Calamba, Laguna; SK Chairman Christian Burgos of Barangay Palo Alto, Calamba, Laguna; Mama Gloria Resmundo Eltagonde; Amiel Gallardo; Percy Landayan and Franco Sotto; Mercy Cayanan; Joseph Ignacio; Shobe Ceballos; Emily Rose Aguila; Daisy Raro; Mark Pantoja happy birthday Mark at ganon din kay Dakki Angeles, happy happy birthday at happy birthday kina pareng Emmanuel Viceral ang pagbati mula kay Willie Pasalla Coronel; Xyleena C. Rogelio; happy birthday kahapon kina Kisha Mae Ais Concon; Dr. Anthony Tamayo pinagbabati ni Lara; Victoria Lacamora; Daisy Daluz
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