What Do We Do With Our Sufferings?

CEBU, Philippines - The sheer destruction and unimaginable scope of relief and rebuilding needs in the aftermath of the recent earthquake and typhoon that visited our country demands a coming together of various individuals, groups, sectors, and regions.

When disasters visit they wreck havoc and disrupt lives. They also open up fresh opportunities to rearrange our ways of doing things and of working with one another and of building a new Philippines.

But we have choices to make for such shared suffering can either bring out the best or the worst in us. Fear and panic is a contagion but so is faith, hope and love. Shall our sufferings make us a better people, creating more networks of care and compassion – making us more human – or shall they make us less human?

Our unbending spirit and faith, in the words of one media personality, teaches the whole world how to live. The spontaneous and organized relief efforts of individuals, families, and groups in the country and from the international community is a feast of hope! Humanity's heart beats as one as we reach out to victims. Yet, in truth, is it not our own hope that is ignited when we do so? And when foreigners show concern and pour massive help does it not somehow also reflect the world's appreciation for the work of our OFWs? All these bring out the best in all of us.

The worst are not those who scavenged for food for survival, not even the looters, though this is unacceptable behavior. The worst are those who take advantage of people's sufferings, from leaders who initiate the blaming game to some businessmen who hoard and speculate. The worst are those who exploit people's misery for political advancement and who bring political colors in the relief effort. The worst are those who may already be thinking of schemes to siphon off resources intended for victims.

How about government workers who hinder the outpouring of compassion by ordinary citizens and groups by their unwelcoming stance brought about by the spirit of turfing, compliance-only mentality, bureaucratic red tape that makes them inflexible, and an NIH (not invented here) mentality thinking they have a monopoly of goodness and competence? All these show in faces and action that do not inspire hope.

We need to change our mindsets and ways of doing things. We need to move fast in creating new, life-giving cycles. Let us not waste our suffering as we work towards a "new heavens and new earth" (Revelation).

Dili nato usikan ang atong pagbangutan! (FREEMAN)