Think about it
Why God sends us earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis?
By Jun Velasco
AS we go to press, many parts of the world are in a state of shock, confusion and angst.
The international wires and our television footages stab our hearts with graphic portraits of death, suffering and devastation brought about by Nature’s fury.
Hardly had we wondered at the thousands of unfortunate Buddhists in Myanmar — known for their tranquil nature — slain by angry sea waves than another swath of deaths have felled thousands of people in Godless China at the height of a deadly earthquake. This was followed by a deadly cyclone in Northern Luzon that, at press time, has already killed more than 21 people, destroyed thousands of private and public buildings, rice crops and marine life never experienced in living memory.
This world is never the same again, no doubt.
We are baffled. We are disillusioned. We are weeping. What’s happening to our country, General?
Before the tsunami in Myanmar, the military government mercilessly pounced on the peace-loving Buddhists. What followed the holocaust in Godless China was the darkness that descended on some parts of the Philippines.
We picked these faces of anguish to reflect on our current discourse on love of country, as the National Hero has so taught us because we see a fine line between hurt Mother Nature and man’s corrupt and base ways. The hero has encouraged agriculture and care for the environment, but many of our present officials are behind the so-called contract farming and debauchery of nature. We know a lot of them who hire goons to maim and kill well-meaning guardians of our nation’s wealth the greatest of who are the young, “the hope of the fatherland.”
It matters not if you give sound ideas on how to advocate a friendly environment but you turn a deaf ear on illegal cutting of timber, constructing thousands of fish pens or shooting schools of tuna being lucrative business.
Greed goes all the way to closing our eyes on the little corrupt acts like cheating on our income tax, fixed weighing scales, lying on our colleagues, shortchanging our employers, putting one over a partner in a business deal, having two or three paramours while professing fidelity to the spouse.
It happens everyday. We need not go to the big league to see how adroitly we have allowed ourselves to be a part of a grand scheme to gnaw at the vitals of the ideal society we always praise in formal speech.
We return, we go back to the National Hero for a refresher. Or else, all this dream of becoming his follower and fan would be a nightmare.
Let’s ponder this little thought. Or we shall never understand why in spite of our prayers, our best intentions and our golden advocacies, God still sends us earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis.
This Bagumbayan, May, 2008
(Readers may reach columnist at junmv@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/think-about-it/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)
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