Thursday, December 28, 2006 Magsaysay: What's for Christmas future? By Jo Magsaysay whatever
I REALLY don’t know what I’m trying to do, what I want to say. Just that the idea is germinating and percolating in my mind. I know the answers should be uplifting, about God’s will, about trusting Him, about knowing what’s best.
But I am so flippant and glib. I don’t want to be boring, flat, ho-hum or worse, to sound irreverent, even blasphemous. I'm certain, though, that these nagging thoughts have occurred to countless others. So let me run the risk of being a mouthpiece to give vent to all these …
With Scrooge in my mind. A flurry of images. A garble of statements. Questions, begging for answers. If you will, please answer. Tell me!
***
Summit called off. Typhoon? Kuno. Terrorist threat? Kuno. Like terror-stricken Bush alarms….Weapons of mass destruction. Bah! Humbug!
Typhoon devastates Bicol Region. Thousands homeless. Hundreds die. An old woman, blinking tears, clutches debris, looks around the rubble of her shack, lifts up her eyes heavenward. "Bakit?’ It’s Christmas!
A man, stoic, the mudslide in Legaspi swallowing the landscape in the background. We have no more home. We have nothing to eat. My children are hungry. No water. No light. No sugar. No coffee. ‘Paano?’ It’s Christmas!
Human rights rage. Against Con-Con. Against Cha-Cha. Against Con-Ass. Kick ass? Kiss ass? Bah! Humbug!
Glenda Barreto, the official caterer for the Summit contracted to supply food. Prepared, cooked, packed, deep-froze, and crated to Cebu. (Frozen food can last even one year if there is no power fluctuation). Bah! Humbug!
A contract worker, emotionless, related her ordeal in Kuwait. Her recruiter contracted her as domestic helper, recruited men, numberless men who "used" her numberless times.
A teen-aged student raped by her school teacher.
A five-year old girl molested and ravished by the next door neighbor.
A woman dragging her 13-year old daughter peddled her in the street to a foreigner. ‘Virgin, sir!Virgin!"
A priest accused of lascivious conduct during confession by a group of young students during a Life in the Spirit Seminar.
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US?
I cannot find the answers. Bah! Humbug! Maybe you have them? It is Christmas Past. It is Christmas Present. What is Christmas future?
Someone precious to me comes to my rescue and alleviates my doubt, soothes my pain, gives a balm to wipe away my cynicism with these profoundly astute kernels of wisdom…
***
When things get tough and the sailing gets rough, faith in God doesn’t get us around trouble, it simply gets us through it. When we relinquish all our doubts and fears and worries, we will feel unrivalled peace in the total assurance that God is in full control. God has a plan and a purpose for each of us and a specific way and perfect time to bring it to pass.
Much of our frustration and misery comes from either not believing that fact, or believing it but being determined to do things our own way and in our own time, determined to exalt our own will and timing above God's.
According to Isaiah 55:8, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways. We want what feels good right now, but God has something far greater in mind. We are constantly trying to figure out something we do not understand or trying to make something happen now that is not happening yet. It seems as if we are always trying, but believers are supposed to believe!
"Why, God, why?" and "When, God, when?" can be two statements that keep us frustrated and prevent us from enjoying peace. Many times we do not understand what God is doing. But that is what trust is all about. We need to learn to let God be God in our lives. Give Him the reins. He knows what He is doing.
All we need to do is entrust everything to God who judges fairly and deals righteously. A leap of faith simply means that we deposit ourselves in His hands and watch what He can do!
