Balsam

                                                  (photo: Manila Bulletin)

Another promise, another seed
Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed
And all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined,,,
                                                                             (Muse, Uprising)

Refugees are getting sick in evacuation areas. Children are having skin rashes and some elderly are getting weak. Worse, decent bathrooms could not be used by the hundreds who got displaced by the conflict in Marawi. Some critics noticed the uneven percentage of attention given to the war compared to the well-being of the so-called bakwit. They say that staggering resources were spent in the offensive than in keeping the people caught in the crossfire alive.

According to reports from the local leaders, there were also people who ate cardboard and blankets just to stay alive...

Generous and empathetic as we are, Filipinos went outside of the comfort zones and extended their time and efforts in gathering relief goods. Some doctors went near the war zone to extend their services for humanitarian reasons. Groups of friends raise funds to be sent to Marawi to be of help for the suffering. There are those who forget themselves for the common good...

Still the darkness looms and won't allow light to dominate. Recently, we saw how a policeman beat an alleged drunk with a rattan stick. His seething anger is all over the social media and one could not help but to cower every time he beats the hell out of the "suspect". Also, officers of the Bureau of Customs and the BIR were caught red-handed in extortion...

Indeed, social macrocosm could be difficult to fathom. It seems that there is a continuum of the battle between good and evil. Literature dating back in time allows us to see the clash of the gods in Olympus. In the bible, we read leaders oppressing a generation for power. We hear about family feuds in the news and a lot would enjoy asking who is the "kalaban" in the latest telenovela.

So what is there to ponder? It is always one's role with his journey on the space where he is situated. Is he a hero; an anti-hero; a villain or simply a supporting cast on the play called INDIFFERENCE?

The situation in that part of Mindanao must make our eyes wide open to the things we can and can not greatly affect. Concerted efforts of allowing the light to envelope us like halos drive the darkness away. It may sound impossible but there is always hope and it would be nice to try. Our individual actions to make little things in order might radiate to ease others' sufferings.

Might as well continue to be aware. The concepts, ideas, thoughts and insights are syntheses of ones existence. Meaningful actions could become agents of change and even a simple balsam to the pains of the inflicted.

There is always a start.

Wonder

You squirmed on your seat. The visuals depicted war: children crying as decapitated bodies decorate the background. Women trembling hugging their babies rushing to nowhere while debris exploding like ugly fireworks...The scenes were staged, filmed. But the surreal images played like a vision in your head. These images were real somewhere in Mindanao!

Then, a voice sliced the silence: I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then, I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learned that inside every one of them, there will always be both... so quipped Diana Prince.

You continued to fidget on the cushioned seat. You realized the truth on her ideas. For how could one stage a war without enhancing his own darkness? There has always been a Cain in all of us! But then, the musings continued to deepen your thoughts: Why linger on the dark side when goodness could heal and evil begets evil?

For years now, you often juxtapose good and evil within. People could be the culprit or the hero; the predator or the prey; the black or the ethereal. You understand that it is difficult to carry out a life without anchoring oneself to something. This is when the self-understanding must be enhanced. What direction are you going to take? What is the mission of your being and becoming? Without these, there is always a longing, a danger to be taken over by the basic instincts of being an animal or the prevalence of egotism.

Daily, you see people battling their own wars. The parents become individual heroes as they toil hard for their families. The children also sweated out their best in their educational endeavors and the young adults contribute to the development of their communities. But there are also those who make their homes as dysfunctional as it could be. There are students who take their studies for granted....And instead of molding their communities, some young adults are the harbingers of destruction themselves!

But who are you to dictate people? They have the rights to live their lives. They have the freedom to chart the meaning of their existence. There could be a room for being righteous but what if your "right" is wrong to them? That is the reason why we as human beings must meet on a common ground. There must be a universal platform that connects us all.

On the technical side of the film, you sometimes feel that there are loopholes in the storytelling, You were not so familiar with the background of Diana Prince like that of many other super heroes... Her naivete and the quick movements that could be considered as a hybrid between technology and mythology could oftentimes become difficult to merge. But these technicalities seem to be clouded by the main theme of the story: war is anti-people.

Your mind has then gone astray. Probably the flick has its box-office success since the theme is meaningful to the people here. There is war being waged in Marawi and the viewers seem to hope that a hero would stop the killings and oppression. Her sincere concern to the women and children trapped in war reverberates in the hearts of many and her powers seem to be the only solution to stop the escalating side effects of the deaths and bombings.

Your eyes then became glazed. Like a zombie, you thirsted for what this woman of wonder is trying to infer in your mind: The choice to  be good or evil is in each of the persons to make for themselves.

And that was the time when you found that common ground you were thinking about when she said these lines:

It's about what you believe. And I believe in love. Only love will truly save the world...Something NO HERO will ever defeat.

Imprints

                                             

I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals

                    - Imagine Dragons (Radioactive)

There was a heaviness in my heart as the names and ranks of the fallen soldiers were mentioned on national television one by one. As the faces were flashed onscreen, I felt the pain and loss of the children, wives and parents of the heroes. Why is it that they have to die for the sake of ideals? Are these beliefs more important than lives of human beings?

The blitz of the state-of-the-art mall seemed to become jaded as the news that Marawi was under siege was announced. The president then proclaimed martial law in Mindanao that I fumbled for my phone to alarm my brother who went home ahead of me. Did he brought with him his ID? Things like these covered the mind even if I was surrounded with happy faces.

Then, images on TV started to be aired. People scurrying around like terrified rats and the escalating number of fatalities were newscast... Social media sites were then flooded with a myriad of emotions and reactions. But blaming the authorities and posting stupendous comments won't solve anything. They could not even heal the pained hearts of those people who lost their loved ones.

Maute, a terrorist group claiming to be affiliated to the Isis, raised hell against the Christians to invade and proclaim their religious convictions. One would then try finding answers on this ideological askew. Their highest "being" is glorified through death and oppression? The sight of debris and the sounds of bombs and gunshots are beautiful to their aesthetically-deprived minds? Where could one situate himself in such chaos?

This situation should allow us to go deeper in reflection. If such scenarios prevail, what is the use of the education that we toiled so much? Would the moisturizers we dab on our skins, the hair serum, the multi-vitamins count? You see, we are doing the minute things in our daily existence count since we see meaning in our lives. The services that we could offer to our small communities like our families and work place are things we see as essential things in our different journeys. So, why should our freedom be curtailed by ideologies which could not be considered as universal?

Bigotry is not welcomed by me. I adhere to the belief that each of us is free to believe in things we find authentic and meaningful. But such beliefs must not be insisted on others since adults have their own ways of learning based on their convictions. Besides, democracy is in the air that we breathe. But then again, these convictions must not violate universal values like respect and human dignity. The rotting bodies on the streets of Marawi had spirits in them nourished by love and affection from their loved ones yet the extremists allowed this reality to be placed under the barrels of their guns and glorified their god.

So what then? Deep in me there is an urge to tell my friends and those who understand me that our concerted efforts to strengthen the inner person is important. We could be instruments in cascading these strengths to the small communities that we belong. Our influence could be small but the belief that love, affection, respect and inner peace could be radiated to others which could make ripples of such outcomes will probably leave positive imprints.

Inside my bedroom is silent. Save for the usual hum of the old air-conditioning system, the thought of trembling and cowering in fear due to the impending threats of an air strike is unnerving. Let me then proceed to the next town and allow that undernourished kid to eat pizza which is alien to him. This power, I think, has more meaning than the power I would feel when I smash the religious images inside a church to smithereens.


(.

Imprints

                                      (photo: dzrhnews.com)

I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals

                    - Imagine Dragons (Radioactive)

There was a heaviness in my heart as the names and ranks of the fallen soldiers were mentioned on national television one by one. As the faces were flashed onscreen, I felt the pain and loss of the children, wives and parents of the heroes. Why is it that they have to die for the sake of ideals? Are these beliefs more important than lives of human beings?

The blitz of the state-of-the-art mall seemed to become jaded as the news that Marawi was under siege was announced. The president then proclaimed martial law in Mindanao that I fumbled for my phone to alarm my brother who went home ahead of me. Did he brought with him his ID? Things like these covered the mind even if I was surrounded with happy faces.

Then, images on TV started to be aired. People scurrying around like terrified rats and the escalating number of fatalities were newscast... Social media sites were then flooded with a myriad of emotions and reactions. But blaming the authorities and posting stupendous comments won't solve anything. They could not even heal the pained hearts of those people who lost their loved ones.

Maute, a terrorist group claiming to be affiliated to the Isis, raised hell against the Christians to invade and proclaim their religious convictions. One would then try finding answers on this ideological askew. Their highest "being" is glorified through death and oppression? The sight of debris and the sounds of bombs and gunshots are beautiful to their aesthetically-deprived minds? Where could one situate himself in such chaos?

This situation should allow us to go deeper in reflection. If such scenarios prevail, what is the use of the education that we toiled so much? Would the moisturizers we dab on our skins, the hair serum, the multi-vitamins count? You see, we are doing the minute things in our daily existence count since we see meaning in our lives. The services that we could offer to our small communities like our families and work place are things we see as essential things in our different journeys. So, why should our freedom be curtailed by ideologies which could not be considered as universal?

Bigotry is not welcomed by me. I adhere to the belief that each of us is free to believe in things we find authentic and meaningful. But such beliefs must not be insisted on others since adults have their own ways of learning based on their convictions. Besides, democracy is in the air that we breathe. But then again, these convictions must not violate universal values like respect and human dignity. The rotting bodies on the streets of Marawi had spirits in them nourished by love and affection from their loved ones yet the extremists allowed this reality to be placed under the barrels of their guns and glorified their god.

So what then? Deep in me there is an urge to tell my friends and those who understand me that our concerted efforts to strengthen the inner person is important. We could be instruments in cascading these strengths to the small communities that we belong. Our influence could be small but the belief that love, affection, respect and inner peace could be radiated to others which could make ripples of such outcomes will probably leave positive imprints.

Inside my bedroom is silent. Save for the usual hum of the old air-conditioning system, the thought of trembling and cowering in fear due to the impending threats of an air strike is unnerving. Let me then proceed to the next town and allow that undernourished kid to eat pizza which is alien to him. This power, I think, has more meaning than the power I would feel when I smash the religious images inside a church to smithereens.