Think about it
A world in conflict
By Jun Velasco
THERE’S a love-hate wave in the air.
It’s almost Valentines Day, a day — or better, a night when hearts become warmer and our thoughts remember tender moments with the loved one.
Whoever invented Valenine’s Day deserves our salute because his “baby” can transform a gruelling day into a love-filled paradise, however fleeting.
A love-filled memory is forever, says the poet. Indulge in it for a while. You’ve heard ths once before: “it’s better to have loved and lost than never top have loved at all.”
That Blend 45 TV ad “a kiss is like coffee, strong, hot and sweet” should make you smile when you wake up each morning.
Alas, we have a world that’s not exactly what we want.
Switch on the TV set and get a massive dose of a world in conflict in the news.
On our fabled isles, one of the bravest guys, former Defense Sec. Angie Reyes, was the first casualty of the hate-wave.
The public is divided on how to deal with him, a hero or a coward. Even the Catholic Church has relaxed its policy on suicide cases… and the Philippine government has allowed the former general’s remains to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
This is all for the good because the nation has been wracked and wearied by protracted conflict, even with what we’ve hoped for with the ascension of a new government.
So are we in for a breather after Angie Reyes’ burial?
Not exactly, for we see a calm before the storm, literally and figuratively. While the Senate investigators seems to look chastened by his death, Angie was only one of the big fishes on calvary road. There are many others, and some of the probers have hinted they won’t stop “till the end.”
These days, we are greeted by graphic portraits of death from all over due to man. And the climate, note what has swooped down on Jeddah, now a city of floating cars and debris where a flood rose to the chest level.
What exactly would this “novel” thing — flood – mean to the people? And yes, the thousands of Filipinos – the OFWs– trappe there?
Our old pal Jun Cobarrubias in the National Press Club e-mailed us his account of pitiful Filipino OCWs camping under a bridge, deportation centers, and Philippine consulate offices that did not want to help our beleaguered countrymen.
It’s a nightmare, he said.
In the US, 2-meter high ice brought about by snowstorm has been making lives miserable. Swivel your eyes to South America, to Australia and, oh yes, many southern parts of the Phiippines where, to their shock, instead of summer, what they have these days are rains, floods, death!
As if that was not enough, our friend Prof. Jimmy Licaucos told us, “all these bizarre climatic changes are due to the ongoing planetary movements that would climax on November l2, 20l2.”
But in our heart, we’d rather call on the Great Architect of the Universe to spare everyone from harm, even as we pray to his all-loving Love.
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LOVE NOTES: Feb.14 is meaningful to those who believe in love.. treasure memories to the end, familiar with the pain of parting, knowing that love and pain in quiet and heroic silence ensures real and everlasting joy. Reflect on 1 Corinthians 13 – “Love suffereth long, and is kind, does not behave unseemly, seeketh not her own, beareth all things, endureth all things.” And this, “Love could touch us one time but could last a lifetime.”
Happy Valentines!
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