The broad daylight comes

Prodding you and me to act out our role on the stage of life

To eke out a living for a family of many

And pray that we do our role well until the end of day.

If there is but one single thing I will do today

It is to choose to wake up, move or sway the body

Fulfilling what the Divine Providence has meant us to be

Not to sit idle but to swing with life’s pendulum!

So that when twilight comes and darkness covers the earth once again

We are rewarded by sleep’s warm embrace

Replenishing our bodies’ depleted energies

For tomorrow waits a repeat performance of our roles on life’s stage.

And if sleep keeps us in his tight embrace forever,

We rest content that even just for today

We walked the talk; we laughed and cried, we stood and clapped!

We lived and moved and had our being.

Waking up on a Saturday morning without the constant pain on my right shoulder is enough reason for me to be thankful.  It’s the first Saturday of the month, a day I chose to pray for the eternal repose of the souls of my late parents, so I went to attend the 8:30 mass at our local church.  The attendees were mostly seniors.  I listen to the pastor’s sermon, but my mind was preoccupied with things I should have done and will still do for the week.  Even inside God’s house, I was still thinking about the world!  So, when I heard the pastor say, “It is time for us to put God first in our life…” I felt like a thunderbolt has struck me.

How many times have I put God my priority?  To be honest, I have not even made any attempt recently to make Him the first.  I always put him in the back burner, and he was lucky if I even remember him in between my waking and sleeping hours this past three weeks!  You see even inside the church, I was still thinking about unfinished paperwork and the virtual trainings I have yet to complete.  I had gotten used to thinking, “I am so busy! I do not have time for anything!”  I have told this lie to myself so many times that I am convinced it is true.  

Don’t I really have time for anything and for God?  If God were to speak to me now, he would probably ask the following questions:  How long do you spent time sipping your coffee every day?  How long do you spend time reading the New York Times and Washington Post full of tragedies?  How long do you spend time Googling business for sale that you will not buy anyway? How long do you spend time finding out if your unwanted callers are scammers?  How long do you spend time buying some stuff from the store that you will return anyway because you do not like it?  How long do you spent time browsing over some media posts that do not have anything to do with you and that could potentially impair your psyche?  There are more questions probably, and I would beg God to stop because I know I am guilty.  

Has my busyness made me really happy?  Has it brought peace in my heart?  I realized that chasing worldly things does not make you happy.  Your job can give you some form of stability. Your friends can give you momentary company. Your family can give you moral and financial support.  Your education can give you some form of pride and achievement.  Your connections can give you some opportunities.   Your travels can give you knowledge of the world.  But all these things do not guarantee your happiness… that happiness that bring you peace.

            When an Act of God happens likes this Covid_19 pandemic, people of all walks of life – the poor and the affluent, the educated and the uneducated, the healthy and the infirm are all affected.  Nobody can spare himself or herself from a tragedy like this one.   The pandemic proved the truth about our predicament as human beings – that we are but a speck in this universe.  As explicitly written by an Asian Asin band,

                 “Kaya wala kang dapat ipagmayabang    (That is why don’t take pride on anything)
                  Na ikaw ar mautak at maraming alam   (That you have brains and so much knowledge)
                  Dahil kung susuriin at ating iisipin          (Because if we think and reflect upon it)
                  Katulad ng lahat ikaw ay tuldok rin."      (You are no different - you too are but a speck)

Like so many of you, my pre-Covid_19 life was hectic. The regimen was predictable – to rise at six in the morning and retire at eleven p.m. This repeats five days a week. It does not mean I rest on weekends. There’s so much work for so little a time.

Although I like what I do, I was so overwhelmed with the volume of work that my nerves were stiffening and my blood pressure was shooting up. I was feeling so stressed out that I wanted to take a week of medical leave. Well, I did not have to because Covid_19 pandemic came.

Thinking the pandemic will last for just a few days or may be a week, I was thankful that I will have enough time to recuperate. I did not have any idea that this deadly Covid_19 will force me to social distance or shelter-in-place for weeks on end. As days and weeks pass by, my feeling of gratitude for this unexpected ‘time of rest’ turned into fear of the uncertain future.

I was afraid of getting infected with the virus. I was afraid of my family’s catching it. I was afraid of losing someone to it. I was afraid for those who contracted it. And I was devastated watching patients in the hospitals being put under ventilators and not surviving. Fear ruled my life for eight weeks.

Then I realized that my fears will eat me up faster than the Coronavirus. I had to change my attitude and do something to bring peace to my fragile, anxious soul.

To make this change happen, I had to envision a place where I could be at peace. My brain brought me to that small town I grew up in – a small, quiet place to be. It’s home. It had an old church, some few stores, many vegetable gardens, kind neighbors, and caring families. Remembering my childhood home helped me get organized and do the following:

• attend religious service online every morning
• cut grass and do gardening in the backyard
• appreciate the sunrise and sunset
• watch African bees fly over blades of grass
• harvest peach fruits
• separate biodegradable from the non-biodegradable materials
• read and write
• learn composting
• pray for the dead but more for the living

I did and will continue doing the above activities without any company. I discovered this inner peace just watching bees and butterflies in my backyard, cutting grass and harvesting some peach fruits, reading The Confessions of Saint Augustine, or watching my kitchen glow as the sun rays penetrate through the windows. Most of all, by ending my day in prayer to thank the Almighty for the life He has given me today, I feel peace and joy.

How about you? How are you coping with this pandemic?

We journey through triadic path in our earthly life
The straight one, the winding road, and the steep ravine
There is no escaping the journey via each one
For we all are destined by His Great Design.

The well-paved, straight road offers us ease and convenience
We go through it fast with little assistance
No bumps on the road, no blocks, no hindrance
The Lord just asks us to prostrate and give thanks.

Life moves on to the winding, zig-zag road
We step on the brake, holding tight and refusing to let go
But when the brake is broken and nothing else to hold on to
We call and surrender, “Please Jesus take the wheel!”

We are all a project in the making
And everyday is a chance to surrender
To let go of the material world, of unkind words, and of one’s ego
Easy to scribble these words but hard to do

I surrender and pray even just for today
Be with me, Dear Jesus, I am still halfway in this journey
O, but ahead of me I see the steep ravine,
Please carry me in your palm O God most divine!

My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!

Yes, you are. During this pandemic, you probably have done many acts of kindness for somebody especially at home. You might have babysat your younger siblings, you might have prepared meals every single day during those days of quarantine, you might have run errands for the family, or you might have helped your kids with their online assignments. Being your brother or sister’s keeper means doing something, no matter how small, for the good of that person.

On social media, I have seen many ways by which people help one another, but I am struck by a particular group of people whose acts of kindness is beyond measure. This group are the farmers of Benguet, Province who are the number one producers of vegetables in the Philippines. They supply the entire Northern Philippines, if not the entire country, with their produce. So, you can imagine that the amount of produce they sell are not what you see in small town farmer’s markets. They produce truckloads of cabbages, carrots, potatoes, celery, chayote, and many other vegetables. Due to the two-month COVID_19 lockdown imposed by their local government, the farmers could not sell their vegetables to the public. Besides, there were no businessmen traveling from the lowlands and other neighboring towns to buy their produce.

While these farmers could have chosen to let their produce rot in their gardens, they chose to feed their entire province.

Realizing the pandemic is longterm and knowing their produce will go to waste, these farmers decided to distribute them to families in their neighborhoods. Although many people in this province have agriculture as their means of livelihood, not all of them till the land. So, every single family needed some supplies of vegetables, and the farmers whose harvests were plentiful gave to these families generously.

But the farmers did not stop after doing local distribution. They had more to give, and they could reach to more families, so they decided to take their produce to neighboring towns. Then they coordinated with their local government who helped them take their produce to the city where hundreds of families were in need of food supplies. These farmers did all these for free.

After spending money to grow those vegetables and hoping to be able to sell them at a good price, provide for their own families, and probably have extra cash to buy needed materials for the next crop, these farmers were met with a pandemic they could not do something about. But no matter their losses, these farmers, through their generosity and acts of kindness, showed us the best in humanity.

They were indeed their brother and sister’s keepers.

The experts tell us that we can go back to work when the curve flattens. It is May 6, 2020, and that is not happening. The number of deaths is steadily increasing. As of today, the country lost 73,000 American lives to COVID_19, but despite this sad state, political leaders are encouraging citizens to go back to work. Many healthcare officials however are against this early opening. Given conflicting views, people are confused which way to follow. The fact is that no matter what political leaders and healthcare officials say, it is your life at stake. It is imperative that you take the reins.

Be aware of the severity of the situation by reading for yourself updates about the Coronavirus and listening to healthcare experts. In this pandemic, the medical experts have the upper hand. By training and practice, they have knowledge about diseases in general. COVID_19 may be a new disease, but medical practitioners know better than most us. They have spent most of their lives learning about diseases – their causes and treatments. For the sake of your family, believe the doctors and healthcare officials.

If you still have resources or food to sustain your family for a month or two, and your employer is not forcing you to go back to work, then stay home. And even if your employer decides to open business but gives you the choice to shelter-in-place, choose what you know is best for the safety of your family. While at home, be creative to augment your resources. For example, to make sure your supplies will last you for a longer period of time, avoid wasting food and do not be too particular about food. Be content with what you have right now. This is a time when every single one of us needs to make some sacrifices in order for our families to survive.

If your work is categorized as essential, and you really need to go out everyday, take necessary precautions and observe all the protocols to protect yourself. I heard a Frontliner say that when she gets home, she takes off all her uniforms, gloves, clothes, etc. in the garage, goes straight to the bathroom to take a bath, makes sure she observes social-distance even after cleaning herself, and she does this everyday to protect her family.

When leaders do not lead us the way they should, we need to make the right decisions for ourselves and our families. Choose health. Choose life.

Today is April 17, 2020. The CNN news shows 37,000 deaths caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. This number that is increasing everyday is scary. I used to watch television without a care for anything, but what I am seeing now on screen is a nightmare. What happened to the world in a span of just four weeks?

I am not a medical person, and I do not fully understand the origin and treatment of this Coronavirus. All I know is that this COVID_19 has disrupted my everyday routine. It has put all my appointments on hold. It has prompted me to join a throng of people panic-buying for basic goods. But most of all, it is slowly draining my mental energies as I continue reading and thinking about what its doing to people all over the country. Although I refuse to dwell on fear even when I am aware it has seeped through me because I think about my own children and what the future holds for them, I want to focus on what this COVID_19 has taught me so far.

First, this COVID_19 taught me not only to wash my hands carefully but also to fold them in prayer. I find the directive to wash hands with soap and water really basic and doctors do not need to repeat hand-washing a hundred times to their patients. But these past weeks, hand-washing is the topic of not only doctors and nurses, but people from all walks of life: professors in universities, grocery managers, school teachers, CEOs, food handlers, journalists, television personalities, virtual science lessons, and so on. Tired of washing my hands many times a day, I realized that there is one thing I could do to rest them. It’s putting my palm together and saying a prayer. I thought that if this virus is so mysterious that nobody knows what the cure is, maybe there is an extraordinary being more powerful than scientists and doctors who can defeat this virus.

Second, I learned that the things we take for granted are really important. Who would ever think toilet papers would one day become the subject matter of a university e-mail? It was real. An e-mail received by a friend was about free bathroom tissues being distributed by the university to those who need them. It’s really a different time when something as simple as toilet papers is no longer the business of not only janitors and custodians but university presidents as well. During the first week of COVID_19, I drove to the only Sam’s Club store in the area to buy a pack of toilet paper. I had the prime membership card which usually allows me to enter the store at seven in the morning. But to my surprise this time, I had to get in line to get into the store. And no, it was not a short line. There were probably more than a hundred people before me. I remember that the store personnel was letting in 20 people at a time, and there were five batches who already went in. After an hour and thirty minutes wait, my batch of 20 was finally let in. Inside the store, there was another long line of people waiting to buy bathroom tissue. When it was finally my turn, the supply ran out, and I was told to try to come back the following day. I left the store thinking not just how precious toilet papers are nowadays but how much I have neglected to see the importance of the little stuff in life.

One of the things the Center for Disease and Control directed people to do to minimize the spread of Coronavirus is to shelter-in place. This literally means to stay home. Staying home sounds like long, lazy, restful mornings. For those who had been yearning to take a break from stressful days at work, COVID_19 has allowed for that rest. For many whose lives are ruled by the clock, COVID-19 minimized, if not totally, shut down the clock for them. For those who are eager to leave their homes to be busy, earn money, or build their names, COVID_19 has put a halt on their plans. You get it – this COVID_19 has made us stop what we are doing. It has made us realize something is more important than our work, our position, our desire for promotion, or our lofty plans. Perhaps, we have failed to spend time with the most important people in our lives. COVID_19 has taught us to cook and eat together, to talk and listen to each other, to comfort and just be there for each other. In other words, to put our family back together.

COVID_19 has taken away today those who were healthy yesterday. It has claimed way too many lives in just four weeks. It has challenged our scientists and medical professionals to find solutions, prevention, and treatment to no avail. It has pushed our community leaders to find ways to contain the problem by issuing directives for social distancing. It has shaken tens of thousands of families who are mourning the loss of a parent, a brother, a sister, a friend, a wife, a husband, a son, a daughter, and so on. And the suffering does not stop there. Families are starting to feel the economic ramification of this problem. Many have lost their jobs and are not sure how to sustain their families in the coming months. Many are afraid of the uncertain future. Whether you are rich or poor, strong or frail, popular or unknown, COVID_19 has shown that we are on equal footing with one another. Not even Prince Charles, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, or Chris Cuomo – nobody is spared by this pandemic. COVID_19 has effectively showed us our helplessness, our nothingness.

Everyday that we are awake, we give thanks. We thank the Creator of this universe for allowing us to breathe today, and we beg Him for one more day. One more day to live. One more week to be with our family. One more chance to accept that we cannot control our lives. That we are nothing.

One last chance to say, “Dear God, have mercy!”