RECENT unexpected deaths and the season has made me look closer at people around and wonder: Are we ready to go?
Blame that on the hurried exit of two friends, we didn’t even know they were sick. And it’s not as if they got run over by an airplane or what. They left because of an ailment, leaving friends agape.
Last week it was Van. This week it was Bans. They even have to rhyme making sure that it’ll take time before I pick my jaw from the floor.
Christina Banluta Suba left before we could even meet up again for the holidays. Having spent years in conflict areas working with international organizations, Bans was our source of stories of how UN works on the ground, the restricted life they sometimes have to live, and the updates on our individual lives all packed into one night. That’s how it is with friends working abroad. One gathering is already a precious gift of time as there will always be family obligations to fulfill.
There was supposed to be one in a still unspecified date, since Bans was already in the Philippines for the holidays. Fate said, no, as she did not survive the complications of the malaria she contracted in Africa. And life goes on.
Lucky is Bans, she served humanity as a profession, she must have collected loads of stickers/stamps for a forever planner in heaven. Rest in peace, Bans.
How about us here working regular jobs? Have we even taught our children compassion? Or are they also capable of stuffing and killing a cat in a microwave oven just to rack up engagement on social media? Had we even reminded kids about Narcissus and narcissism? Or are we enjoying it because they have perfected posing and puckering up their lips for the camera, fanning dreams of a Miss Universe title?
And then there are the Ampatuans and the reminder of how getting drunk with political power can push the greedy to actions unimaginable... although, personally, those two kids who microwaved a cat are of the same stripe as this family who ordered the massacre of 58. But we’re digressing.
This is about compassion and the limited time we have on Earth. Live compassion everyday because it brings a better world for us, our children, and cats (and dogs and cows and horses and Old MacDonald). Let’s strive to have our compassion tickets stamped everyday, never mind that 2020 planner designed to make us spend a lot for expensive coffee and nothing for humanity.
Merry Christmas.