We are in a state of national emergency because of fear: GMA’s fear of losing power and being held liable for everything she has worked so hard to bury these past months. But others still offer hope, like Professor Randy David, who consistently exudes calm and confidence. Men of integrity are never short on courage. Intimidation is not their weapon of choice.
A friend sent this recently: "What is the shortest distance between two people? Truth." I believe it is also the space between courage and fear. People who stand in truth and are clear about it can face the world calmly. Truth spawns courage. One is easily overwhelmed by external noise: arrest, decree, sedition, rebellion, emergency. But that long, clear breath that comes from being on the side of truth is a calming force. Peace resides where there is nothing to hide.
The person who juggles lies will probably attest that the day of admission, though difficult, gave him back the fullness of breath. Teenage girls have been known to keep their pregnancies undetected through the sheer effort of protecting their secret. The minute the big secret is out, their tummies swell to their natural baby-carrying size. People suffer all kinds of ailments when they are stuck in a web of deceit and are healed when they decide to let light into body, soul and spirit again. The truth does set you free. It is the only thing that will. It also gives you tremendous strength to face whatever life throws at you.
Lies cause your soul to contract. They disable you from living fully and joyfully in yourself. You navigate the world in fear–fear of being found out, judged and made to face the consequences of your actions. People with a healthy conscience are happy to right a wrong by taking responsibility for their misdeeds and losing what must be sacrificed to regain their moral muscle. Those who have traded their souls, however, are doomed to walk the path of fear. It rules them and they hurl it cruelly at the world.
A friend related how furious she was when she received a text last weekend asking Cory and others at Edsa to please think of the economy and our children. The texter was basically asking Cory Aquino to go home and shut up. When I think about the country and our children, I go beyond the economy. I think about the moral infrastructure that will support and ensure it.
We must stop thinking that the long-term health of the economy is separate from who we are as a people. The economy will not flourish if those who vow to protect our interests rob us blind instead–decade after decade after decade. It will not flourish if we continue to allow it. Our farmers will not survive if the fertilizer fund is used elsewhere. Like I said last week, that which is rotten will never bear fruit. It is not the Band-Aid that heals the wound but the regeneration of healthy cells beneath it. If we are not a morally strong nation, we will never regain the kind of democracy or progressive and robust economy we so love to talk about. The straightest path towards a moral life is through truth-telling and truth-living. It is the only way our nation can heal and move on.
If we understand the importance of truth, not just in government, but in our very lives, we would naturally find the courage to stand up to anyone who seeks to suppress it. We would gag if someone even suggested that we stop fighting for truth because it’s upsetting the economy. We cannot go on like this. Edsa 1 and 2 failed because the change did not penetrate to the level of the individual.
Courage means living and protecting truth. I don’t see it in the power-grabbers who continue to mar the political landscape with their posturing. All I see there is arrogance and greed. I won’t accept that. But I also don’t support those who seek "peace" even at the cost of the Filipino soul. I see true courage in those who openly and bravely continue to ask for change in government and society, not for themselves, but for others.
No amount of praying will save us from our own moral sloth. The truth must be willed, lived, protected and fought for. It must be the number one law in every institution, beginning with the family. We serve humanity when we serve truth. If we all lived by this, the Filipino would never have to face the kind of fragmentation that breaks us today. We could boldly face anyone who dares suppress the truth, whether he is in the neighborhood sari-sari store, our bedroom, classroom, or office; whether he is the highest-ranking government official. If we held the truth to be the spiritual force it is, we would have the right and the power to face the world with courage and love. Only then can a true and living democracy be ours.
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