The Least We Could Do Now

This has been a catastrophic start of October for us Filipinos. Typhoon Ondoy has definately made its mark to the hearts of the Filipinos. It targeted the majority of Metro Manila washing away many lives. While people were still suffering from Ondoy, typhoon Pepeng already entered the country. Houses has been rampaged, cars were ruined, properties dumped, business transactions were interrupted, schools closed, many have lost material possessions because of the typhoon. Hundreds have lost their lives in their struggle for survival. What's even more painful is that a lot have lost their lives saving other people's lives. Mother nature sure was harsh these past few weeks.

Why is this happening to us? What do we do now? How are we going to start over again? When do we get back what we've already lost? Who should be responsible for all these?

These things don't just happen. Events happen for a reason (well, i believe, not for the reason people talk about on Facebook and Twitter). Maybe this is a wake up call. This is a call for us to realize that everything here is just temporary. We must bear in mind that our possessions won't last forever, same with our lives (and we are all aware of this, right?). We are all well aware that we will all eventually lose everything and die.

I know this idea had been stressed a thousand times before because, apparently, we don't seem to live by it because we don't seem to understand what it means to live by it:

The least we could do now is to be truly GRATEFUL.

To be truly grateful is:

* to accept that everything is not truly ours but God's

* to be truly thankful and appreciative of all the temporary possessions lent to us

* to truly care for all that we temporarily own

* to love all that has been shared with us

* to acknowledge God's love

We all have one God. The world may be comprised of different religions and cultures, but I truly believe that we all worship the same God. Now, its the same God who loves us that blesses us with what He thinks we need. He challenges us to seek for wisdom and courage so we'd be able to understand what he truly wants for us. If only we recognize how much we have and h0w blessed we already are to be granted this chance: this chance of a life.

Rick Warren believes, as he wrote in his book, The Purpose Driven Life, that life is three things: Life is a test, a trust, and a temporary assignment:

Life is a TEST. We should be grateful for the challenges. If we believe that all pains, hardships, and sufferings are just tests, we will never complain about life and the unpredictable. We are constantly being tested to be better, stronger persons; like pencils needed to be constantly sharpened to be used (by God).

Life is a TRUST. We should be grateful for the faith God has in us. We won't be granted with life if God does not trust we could pull it off. We have been entrusted with this temporary life to make great things for Him and so it is just that we take the best care we could give it and everything that comes with it. We are now being called to take care of the gifts we might have taken for granted: for nature and all its life-giving resources, for our fellowmen, their lives, and their same importance.

Life is a TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT. I have been talking about the non-permanence of everything and our existence here on earth. I hope we recognize that this life of ours is a temporary assignment: one that has been assigned for a great purpose, one that has been for His Glory. We are all missionaries. We should be grateful that we are all instruments for the fulfillment of His dreams for all of us.

The very least we could do now is to be truly grateful for all there is. We must be grateful for all that is left of us. We must be grateful for the tiniest possession that we have. We must be grateful that our country is united in pursuit of the nation's well-being. We must be grateful that many even bother to care. We must be grateful for the time efforts of other people to make our lives be even more meaningful. We must be grateful that we are able to be of help to others in need. We must be grateful for the littlest things we could do and share.

I have blogged about how I've experienced and realized how gratitude really works in bad times. Now is our chance to experience what gratitude can give us. Let us take this chance of a lifetime to be ever grateful. ^_^