“Don’t waste your time writing about our situation or suggesting what should be done. Government officials don’t read.”
“Stop wasting your time. Stop writing and go to the people and empower them, show them how to have a better life, use your know how in agriculture, plants and hog raising.”
The statements above are comments and expressions of frustration from well-meaning friends. While they read the articles in this space, they see no point in using it to get the government’s attention to the reality on the ground.
The sentiment is as good as my intentions may be, trying to get positive responses from officials of the PBBM administration is like talking to an immovable structure or the proverbial brick wall.
The analogy I can make would be that of a person who is sick, wants to be cured, takes the medicines but does not get better and then realizes that the medicines are fake, adulterated or not meant to cure.
Does that automatically mean that we simply give up all hope of getting better? Of course not. We recall from experience what worked, why it worked or we go in search of something or someone who might have a better solution or the cure.
In terms of government officials and politicians, even the Bible tells us in Isaiah 6:9 that there will be people who will be deaf and blind to reality. “And he said, ‘Go tell this people: keep on hearing but do not understand; keep on seeing but do not perceive.’”
“Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
Sometimes the cure may be in the form of correcting a behavior, belief or activity that is detrimental to our health, society or public interest. Whether you eat the wrong stuff or tolerate the wrong policies, we all know what needs to stop or be regulated.
The Bible has something to say about such a responsibility or being our brother’s keeper. Many people avoid getting involved or standing up against issues by saying “it’s not my place to get involved” or “it does not concern me, so I won’t” or “what’s the point?”
That is until you read a passage in the Bible that is “rarely quoted – rarely read” concerning social and spiritual responsibility for others. In the Book of Ezekiel 3:17-19 God says:
“Son of Man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me.
“When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
“Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
This passage spells out our responsibility and accountability. Between Isaiah and Ezekiel, it is clear that we have no guarantee that our efforts will be rewarded by positive action or response. But that is not an excuse to do or say or write nothing about an issue.
If you claim or consider yourself a Christian, a Catholic or a Bible believing person, then you signed up for this responsibility.
I am not a physician nor am I an expert in governance, engineering, divinity or finance. But does that automatically disqualify me from expressing or suggesting something that I have seen works?
Being ignored or dismissed as irrelevant can bother many people, particularly in this day and age that is fueled by how many “clicks” and “likes” they get on social media. It is part of our human nature to want to be recognized.
I am reminded of the emotional scene between Rocky and his son where he said, “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.”
I recently saw a clip of the hit TV series “Lioness” where the daughters of the lead character asked their mother to quit her job fighting terrorists, believing that if she walked away from it all, the bad people would stop going after her and the family.
Her response was a gem. “It doesn’t work like that. Evil doesn’t stop being evil when we surrender to it. It just gets more evil.” Another version is, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
We can’t all be superheroes or crime fighting characters, but I have always believed that God gives each of us a platform and skills that, when dedicated and used in obedience to God and not just our imagination, we can each make a difference in society and people’s lives.
Allow me to close with a positive reminder from Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:40: “And the king will say to them, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
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E-mail: utalk2ctalk@gmail.com