YOLANDA: A Decade After
It was a decade ago,
that Haiyan (international name of the locally named typhoon, Yolanda) ruined
our islands. We may exclaim, tempus
fugit. Certainly the passing of time has made a lot of difference in the
ravaged places. And yet, there are things which time and space has not
affected. And that is a realization of God’s goodness and providence that is
always there all along.
This piece of reflection,
certainly would not do justice to what God has done. Indeed, I cannot think of
any tribute that would do it justice, lest I would not do anything to offer
some form of an homage to God. And so, with fear and trembling, I offer some
few reflections.
The Salvation of the Just Comes from the Lord!
The more I think about
this verse, the more it becomes more real as it has been confirmed by the super
typhoon Yolanda. I do not mean to say, that those who did not survive were not
beloved by the Lord. What the verse says, is salvation which is a greater
matter than survival. Survival gets you
through another day, unscathed, however, salvation brings one to eternity,
undeserved.
Salvation is a gracious
act by the Lord. He alone can save and none other. It is an operation of the
Trinity in the whole of creation. None of us deserves salvation, everyone
deserves condemnation. The revelation is that - God wills the salvation of all.
And so it happened. FIAT.
Let
there be light was spoken on the very first day of creation. Let there be
salvation was the first word spoken on the very first day of the NEW CREATION. Providentially,
the NEW CREATION is revealed on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the
LORD.
Providentially, the
hand of God was revealed by the destruction and reconstruction wrought about by
YOLANDA. And so, here begins my story:
I was not an
eye-witness of the event. I was not there in my body, but was there in spirit. This
is a claim hard to prove using mundane categories. Be that as it may – I was
there in spirit. Again a bold claim which only a spiritual person would
understand.
It was early in the
morning (of Nov. 09, if I am not mistaken) that I heard the news of the
devastation that occur. The one this that truly keep me unsettled was the
isolation from everything, all lines of communications were effectively shut
all at once. No contacts whatsoever from my loved ones and close relatives. It
was grim if not dark and at best uncertain.
How did I manage to
calm myself down? First, it was pure grace that I was able to get through. The
pain of having no idea what was happening and why. I may have been sure of one
thing, now that everyone out of the devastated islands, is clueless, everyone’s
guess is as good as another and it doesn’t look promising. We were holding on
to dear faith and hope, that our love for our dearest would make everything
alright and well.
I have no one to tell
me of any news - good or bad. The one thing that assured me was my faith –
again. I thank the Good Lord for it has not failed me. I know deep inside that God wants salvation
for everyone and that they survived, despite the odd that my Nanay Nita, my
sister Evangeline and her whole family (Kuya Jemuel with Inday Stephanie and
Brench) were living so close to the bay that was swallowed up by the tsunami
like storm surge. By the way, there was also another family nearby close to me
– my youngest sister Mylene and her family of 3 very young sons, a daughter and
her husband who hails from Palo. They were not close to the sea about a hundred
or so meters but were pretty close to the river about fifty meters.
Some days after I
managed to visit them, I could not recognize the place. It was as if everything
was out of place. Imagine, all natural and man-made-calamities struck together
all at once namely: an earthquake, a flood, a tsunami, a fire, a bomb- this was
the total wreck of the super typhoon. It was more than a mess! I have spent quite
some time in Baras and Banog in Palo and I am familiar with the place, but
after the super typhoon, we found it difficult to locate the house of my
sister, although one can see right through the streets and the sea. There was
an unfortunate clearing all around – trees were down, not to mention the
electric posts, some houses were leveled to the ground etc. The landmarks that
give us direction and right bearing were simply absent. Mind you the visit was made during the day,
how much more difficult it was to navigate at night.
And yet, despite all of
this the Lord words of the Lord saying: The
Salvation of the Just Comes from the Lord! was my surest guide.
I can do all things through him who
strengthens me!
This is another realization that I have had during the
ordeal. In my mind, everything was just too much, but then I believe all is
surmountable. It was sheer grace that makes everything possible. Without this
grace, I would have been thrown to insanity as the psychological torments
increase by the day. Indeed, this was a great grace from God and the Blessed
Mother’s intercession.
The
peace, the voice, the calm ... I know this is a particular gift of God to me.
I hear some voices that must be subjected to my conscience, to the WORD of GOD,
and the competent Church authorities. These voices are not absolute in
themselves and yet during that time and in other times of crisis it helped me
through. It constantly and consistently assured me that God is enough and I
have to be disturbed at nothing. The prayer of St. Therese of Jesus found in
her breviary became my very own.
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
The most surprising
thing is that; among all the people I was first to be skeptical regarding these
voices. This is the reason why; I do not share this with others. It would be a
lie to share something which ultimately I did not consider to be true. This is
a mystery to me up to this moment. Why do I not put faith to these voices?
I am not certain if
ending this reflection prematurely is opportune. The memory of the calamity and
the survivors is with me after a decade. As I have mentioned in the beginning,
this hardly does anything to God’s mercy and justice. Let this be an unworthy
homage nevertheless. Praise the Lord for
He is good, for His mercy endures forever (Psalm 100:5).
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