How many of you remember hearing the church bell ring in your place, every 6 p.m.?
In our hometown, Loay, Bohol, once we heard the bells, we stopped to pray the Angelus. The bells were our daily reminders to pray together. The bells also signaled it was time for us to rush back home, to say goodbye to our friends, and to rejoin our family for prayers, dinner, and bonding time.
Today, at 8 p.m., all throughout our country, church bells will ring, candles will be lit, and prayers offered for "40 days for the victims of the war against illegal drugs and the Marawi City siege."
From today until November 1, we will daily be reminded to join in the spiritual movement for the Lord to heal our land. Our divided people and nation so badly and urgently need God's healing and timely intervention.
Will this spiritual campaign be our version of the battle of Jericho in Joshua 6:20? The passage says "When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city."
Against walls of division, injustice, tyranny, and untruths, will church bells, candles, and prayers help crumble hearts of stone, make eyes see, and lead us all back to God's way and His truth?
Last Thursday, September 21, we saw various faces of our people. The genuine protesters chose their own protest venues and their own creative ways to protest. Their focused on issues, their goal: A better country for all. They decided to be heard, seen, and stand up along with other genuine protesters.
"Never again to Martial Law" was a consistent theme heard throughout the genuine protests. Not yet millions in number but the protesters are increasing in size and participants coming from more varied sectors. The elderly and the children were there, the women, men, and the other gender as well.
Their message very clear, captured by this FB repost: "I am a Filipino. I am not yellow. I am not red. I am not blue. I am a Filipino. I am law-abiding. I am a concerned citizen. I am moral. I value life. I value human rights. I value human dignity. I welcome change. I want stability. I desire progress. But not at all costs. The least should not be marginalized. The least should not be excluded. The least should not be discriminated. I am a Filipino. I know my nation's history. I am a product of my nation's history. I am my nation's history. I am pro-unity but not pro-complacency. I am pro-solidarity but not pro-blind conformity. I am pro-peace but not pro-passivity. I stand for truth, for fairness, for justice. I stand for freedom, for democracy, for liberty. I am a Filipino."
The daily church bells, prayers, and candles also send this clear message: "God is our Lord and our Protector. We are all God's children. We believe that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We are our brother's keeper. We affirm His greatest commandments – "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself."
It took more than a decade for our people to unite to pray, to protest, and to finally topple together the dictatorship and Martial Law. We pray God will bless our nation with genuine change towards His way, His truth, His life sooner.