Acts of God?!?!? As I see it…

Typhoon Ondoy or Ketsana as its international name, has already claimed many lives and left thousands homeless.

We all have innumerable reasons for the causes of this calamity but when there is nothing left to blame, we blame GOD! The wrath of God? Why did God do this? Wow! What an excuse!!!

So I sit here and ask, why would a merciful and loving God allow all these things to happen? Having gone around during the height of the typhoon… people were drowning, screams could be heard from the roofs of their homes, hopelessly pleading to be saved… homes crumbling amidst the raging waters.

People kept saying this is the worst calamity for the past 50 years. Let me invite you to join me in my journey back in time, 50 years ago….

50 years ago I was a freshman in an exclusive Jesuit School for boys, eloped and got married to the same woman I am still married to today. Now, the ratio of failed marriages is higher than successful ones.

50 years ago I lived near the stream, swam and bathe there and caught fishes; now the stream is called a creek. It gives off a disturbingly foul stench. It’s dingy, murky and garbage infested with rats.

50 years ago the dollar rate was P4.00 to a dollar; now it is P48.00 pesos to a dollar.

50 years ago the birds were still in abundance, chirping amidst our flora and fauna; now they are startlingly gone.

50 years ago the forest was still so lush and overflowing with natural resources & wildlife, trees and plants providing us with food and shelter; now our forests are so deluded from the unabated illegal logging and slash and burn activities of the upland dwellers.

50 years ago there were less vehicles and pollution was unfamiliar; but now, even on a clear day, we can’t even see through the smog in the city and is even affecting our health.

We know the problems of population explosion, modern science, technology, commercialism, industrialization and the lack of our involvement in protecting the environment has brought us to where we are today. Today, the “Acts of God” clause is now popularly used by insurance companies to negate their responsibility of damages caused by natural calamities. We also know the solutions, but why do we refuse to do something and make our lives so complicated?

It is more convenient to simply say, “Acts of God”. We wash our hands from accepting the reality of life, look at ourselves and accept the truth. WE ARE TO BLAME. We are destroying the beauty of God’s creation and mankind.

I wish I was back 50 years ago, when life was simple; however, it is never too late, there is still HOPE.

For we have ONE LIFE, ONE WORLD, ONE GOD. Let’s make the best out of it.