Gone too soon?

August 21, 1983. Ninoy Aquino returned to the Philippines with his firm belief and faith in God and the Filipino people.

Defying warnings that he could be killed upon his return, these were the words from an undaunted Ninoy:

“If it’s my fate to die by an assassin’s bullet, so be it.”

“I will never be able to forgive myself if I will have to live with the knowledge that I could have done something and I did not do anything.

“We must not only preserve yesterday's heritage fight for today's ephemeral interests, but die if need be, for tomorrow's hopes.

“A time comes in a man's life when he must prefer a meaningful death to a meaningless life.”

And his unforgettable message:

“I have weighed all the virtues and faults of the Filipinos, and I have come to the conclusion that the Filipino is worth dying for.”

A man who loved God, his country and his people, Ninoy Aquino was killed by a hired assassin soon as his feet landed on the ground of his beloved Philippines. His death in exchange for the toppling of a dictator.

Millions took to the streets and lamented: “why take Ninoy, oh Lord? Why take Ninoy too soon?”

Did God take home a good man like Ninoy too soon? From our perspective, yes. But from way up there, perhaps our loss but heaven’s gain?

From Ninoy himself, perhaps this message to us? “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:19)

Would Cory Aquino, the reluctant housewife who became president after the dictator fled out of the country and Ninoy’s widow, who joined the Lord on August 1, 2009, also speak to us the same words?

“No, I am not gone too soon. Instead, “He brought me out into a wide open place; he delivered me because he was pleased with me.”

Filipinos again grieved when Jesse Robredo, a simple but exemplary, inspirational local government official who turned Naga around and who could have been this country’s president, figured in a plane crash August 18 of 2012. Providentially, his remains were found three days after, on the same date of Ninoy Aquino’s death anniversary --August 21.

 “Why, why did God take a good person too soon?” we Filipinos cried once again.

Like Cory and Ninoy before him, would Jesse Robredo also have the same rejoinder --would he have told us “I asked the Lord where would its waters glide. To troubled seas I dread?” (Streams in the Desert, August 21 reflection).

And like Cory and Ninoy before him, would Jesse share the same words? “He delighted in me so He brought me out into a spacious place.”

With our curiosity now at a heightened level, we ask as Madame Guyon asked “And what is this spacious, wide open space?” (Streams in the Desert, August 21 reflection).

And Ninoy, Cory, and Jesse chorus: “What can it be but God Himself- God brought us back into Himself.”

For sure, Gina Lopez (who died of cancer last August 19, 2019) with her big, big smile would chime in and join their choir!

After singing her favorite song, “I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky..” can you imagine and hear her proclaiming not only the same Psalm (18:19) “He brought me out into a wide open place; he delivered me because he was pleased with me”- but affirming most exultantly that God carried her “on eagle’s wings and brought her unto Himself? “(Exod. 19:4).

For their genuine love for God, our people, our country, God brought back Ninoy, Cory, Jesse, and Gina unto himself, in his perfect time.