Glimpse of Hope in Difficult Times

It is such heartwarming news to hear of the 40 boats participating in the three-day Christmas caravan to bring gifts for the soldiers around the vicinity of the Ayungin Shoal, at a time when the news seem to be otherwise filled with brutality one is brought to wonder where our sense of humanity has gone.This initiative organized by the Atin Ito Coalition in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is one of those things that come as a breath of fresh air to us all. The group intends to leave from Palawan on the 10th of December and sail toward the general vicinity of Ayungin Shoal, where the soldiers are stationed at the grounded BRP Sierra Madre.

With the Advent season just around the corner, we are once again reminded of how we are sustained by this sense of ultimate hope as we witness sordid realities in our midst. Throughout the first week of Advent, Christians everywhere are invited to reflect on the theme of hope, and Christ’s coming into a world in need of salvation. This brings me to look at the many ways in which such hope has carried me through the difficulties of life, in my own experiences as a member of the judiciary, and even in my own personal life as a family man.

These are hard times for the Philippines. We are assailed by societal issues on many fronts- poverty, unemployment, crime, drug abuse, the corruption of our youth by the media and by disinformation and misinformation, yet we will never be without hope. The participants of the 40 boats in the Aygin Shoal gift-giving show us how we can be bringers of hope for one another, so that we will always see glimpses of this hope in difficult times.

QUOTATION FOR THE WEEK:

“WE MUST ALWAYS ACCEPT THE FINITE DISAPPOINTMENT, BUT NEVER LOSE INFINITE HOPE”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE:

“PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD” - Psalm 42:11