Delay is not necessarily denial
In the early part of June this year I wrote an article about being all packed but having nowhere to go. This came about when a scheduled trip to
Life and our walk with God has taught us well that when things take an unexpected turn, God usually has different plans. As it turned out, the postponement prevented a rude transition from little school to big school for our daughter. I on the other hand came into much needed work which I certainly welcomed more than an uneasy vacation.
Unless something else happens, I expect to be “freeze dried” somewhere in
Once again we get to experience God’s lesson that “Delay is not necessarily denial”. For many months we prayed for the “vacation” and even after it was unceremoniously postponed, we kept on praying. It had nothing to do with our level of goodness or how deserving we were. We simply believed that praying works. So we believed and we prayed. How can someone who hears everything, knows everything and is everywhere possibly ignore what you say everyday? Yes people. Prayer works! Go ask Citizen Erap.
PARDON ME…
The sudden announcement of a full presidential pardon for Erap was not a surprise, it was just surprisingly fast. But then everything that had to do with the attempted impeachment of Erap, his removal from office, his arrest and public humiliation and detention were also done with “Indecent Haste”.
Now we hear from the under-studies of EDSA 2 that his pardon was a perversion of justice because he never spent a single day in Bilibid, he did not exhibit repentance nor did he ever manifest a spiritual renewal. To top it all they claim he was not qualified for pardon because he was impeached.
When then Congressman Manny Villar, supported by the crowd, acted in haste to submit to the Senate the Impeachment of Joseph Estrada, they all acted like the battle had been won. When the Impeachment case was being heard in the Senate, the prosecutors acted hastily by staging a walkout when the defense refused to open two envelopes.
The walkout stopped the impeachment from being carried out. So if any one should be blamed for giving Erap a way out of Prison, it should be the Senators who led the walk out. If Erap’s critics want to complete the package they should also blame Justice Davide for allowing an actual miscarriage of justice since Erap never got his chance. Now they reap what they sowed. By denying Erap the justice he was entitled to, the same act now denies his critics the justice they demand.
One of the comments that caught my attention talked about the pardon not being right because Erap never even went to “Bilibid” which was the old name of the State Penitentiary.
The name “Bilibid” has long been replaced by “Muntinlupa” because of the town’s name but also because the name represented severe punishment, isolation, and condemnation. I guess it sort of reflected badly on society to have such a cruel place and pictured the people as vindictive or vengeful.
When you look up the names “Alcatraz”, “Gulag” or “Sing Sing”, the description for such places will ultimately draw up cruel, barbaric, inhuman, sever and violent. Unfortunately that seems to conform to the state of mind of Erap’s enemies. They really wanted to see Erap behind real bars in a real jail and not just a jail but the state penitentiary for common criminals.
We have yet to learn that we are also judged in the way we punish our leaders elected or otherwise. In the more developed or “civilized” society they leave just enough measure of respect at least in honor of a title once held or as a sign of respect and sensitivity for the supporters or followers of a disgraced leader. Perhaps this is the reason why we remain so divided as a nation, because we have yet to learn to be merciful if not sensitive to others.
Unfortunately those who demanded punishment so severe seemed to come only from two kinds of backgrounds. One was vindictive and unforgiving. The other was from a desire for recognition or a need to have some publicly recognizable achievement.
Perhaps this is the reason why our Lord Jesus Christ was a strong endorser of Mercy. I guess the reason we are instructed to visit those in prison is in order to make us better understand the concept of what imprisonment or detention can do to a person. Not just to give others hope and encouragement but to give us a view of what our sense of justice can also do to others.
Bilibid remains tucked away in the distance far removed from our reality because we too are afraid of its truth. The unforgiven and the unforgiving clinging to the raw brutality of a system that is not about justice but about revenge.
The saddest commentary I heard was the claim that Erap had not undergone a spiritual renewal which supposedly is part of the legalistic expectations from a truly penitent prisoner. Must one carry a wooden cross, scourge his back with rosary beads and join weekly retreats to be perceived as having undergone a spiritual renewal? His critics seem to forget that the religious were equally vigorous in condemning him to the point of making him lose much of his religiosity.
The irony is that Erap probably deferred to God’s will, honored God and spoke more about God in the last six years than all his vocal critics did together. In four years of weekly bible studies, Erap learned about tithing, adultery, God’s will, the books of the Bible and his favorite…False Prophets. He even went through the best selling titles such as “The Purpose Driven Life” which the author himself sent to Erap. He also learned about “Joel Osteens’ “Your Best Life Now”.
Far from being the penitent prisoner, Erap understood the importance about keeping the brave face, the righteous indignation, as well as the need to take the good that comes in life and to move on.
Citizen Estrada has not yet undergone the full transformation from Saul to Paul. But neither have any of us. Perhaps that is the reason they call it Mercy. Because it is undeserved yet God gave it.
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