Faith and courage

Last week’s events are full of defining moments in this nation’s life. Each one of them definitely has an impact on those directly or indirectly involved or affected. The many faces caught by the cameras clearly show the sufferings, hardships, pain and grief wrought by one of the worst calamities ever to hit the very center of this country where the character of all its inhabitants is clearly reflected. And definitely one of the striking features of that character which shines brightly is the smiling faces of people in the midst of crisis.

How indeed can Filipinos manage to smile in the midst of pains, sufferings and difficulties? This is the question foremost in the minds of the American soldiers who came here on a humanitarian mission for the victims, as reported in media. They seem to be baffled by this particular sight. Maybe other foreigners who may have come across such phenomenon are also wondering.

Actually, most Filipinos have gotten used to these kinds of crises: killer earthquakes hit our country in the late sixties and in 1990; in 1992 Mt. Pinatubo erupted causing so much death and destruction; in the early seventies floods of the same magnitude as that brought by Ondoy also occurred, which was even used by Marcos as one of reasons for declaring martial law; just a few years back, people in Quezon and in Leyte became victims of landslides that claimed the lives of so many of their kinsmen; only recently people in Botolan, Zambales also had the same experience that the people in Metro Manila are undergoing now. In almost all these catastrophes and disasters, the smiling faces of victims are familiar sights.

Indeed even after every fire gutting their houses and all their belongings or killing some of their relatives, or after every fatal vehicular accidents one can still see traces of smile on the relatives of victims or on the surviving victims themselves. We even manage to endure and control our resentment over the many anomalies and corruption in our government by just weaving jokes around them. During the EDSA people power I, the smiling faces of nuns and Filipino women praying the rosary and throwing flowers silenced the tanks and won the hearts of the Marcos military.

Americans and other foreigners may really wonder on this Filipino character. It may really have minuses and may seem so odd and unnatural. But on the whole, it is something wonderful and good to behold. It boldly and clearly defines the Filipinos’ great and abiding FAITH in God Almighty; that God will see us through and deliver us from all these sufferings; that all these crises and difficulties in life are actually graces from God because they are the only way for us to reach eternal joy as shown by the Paschal mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. Truly there can be no Easter Sunday without Good Friday; there can be no glorious resurrection without the agony and pain of suffering and death. This is the Christian Faith that shines so brightly and strongly on the smiling faces of the victims in last week’s disastrous and heart rending events.

Another manifestation of that great and abiding faith is the text messages that began circulating just as the news came out that the other stronger super typhoon Pepeng will also hit the country. The message contains a prayer asking God to spare those still reeling from the damaging effects of the last typhoon from this new super typhoon. And true enough because of this deep and abiding faith, that prayer was answered. The typhoon skirted Metro Manila! Surely the entire nation’s prayer and faith will also help people in the northern tip of the country cope and survive the new typhoon battering them.

Another Filipino trait obviously arising out of their strong and deep faith in God is COURAGE. With deep faith, Filipinos are able to emulate Christ’s loving and caring attitude towards their neighbors. This is the attitude of most people during the last typhoon that gave them the courage to forget their own safety and to risk their lives just to help others in dire straits.

So many inspiring tales of bravery and heroism have surfaced: stories of how the more fortunate ones came to the immediate rescue of people in disaster areas and in extreme danger of losing their lives; stories of individual acts of self sacrifice to save the lives of many others to the extent of giving up their own lives; accounts of non-victims and even victims donating whatever they still have or simply helping in the packing and distribution of relief goods; reports of residents in villages and communities least affected by the typhoon, of members of NGOs and civic organizations temporarily forgetting the comforts of their homes, braving rains and risking lives in order to conduct their own relief operations in areas where victims have not yet been provided with relief goods; and most of all, the narratives of the hardest hit victims who can still display that admirable courage to go on with their lives despite their harrowing and tragic experiences. These and many other untold stories best depict the Filipinos’ courage so evident in last week’s excruciating events.

Obviously we Filipinos found this courage because of our solidarity with our countrymen; because “as we learn what it means to focus on the needs of others, we find greater fulfillment in God Himself who meets our every needs. Only when we seek the things of Christ can we find abiding joy.”

Faith and courage of the Filipinos undoubtedly enabled this nation to survive all the crises and moral degradations that have happened all these years. And these are the same virtues that will enable this nation to finally get back on the road towards peace, progress and prosperity.

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