THESE days it is difficult to be inspired by what is happening around us.
At the home front, there remain challenges to governance that we thought would be gone by now. The change that we envisioned seems to be slow in coming. Whatever change is happening—and we certainly did not imagine these drastic ones—seems to challenge our long-held beliefs that human life is sacred and that everybody, rich or poor, is entitled to sufficient process before judgment.
Those who govern and those who are governed are also wracked by a continuing fascination with scandal. It is one that has prevented us from seeing what the real issues are. It has kept us from following these issues to their logical end, once their entertainment value wanes.
And then, we fall trap to the convenience of binary thinking. One is either a loyal, unquestioning supporter or a virulent critic. There appears to be no middle ground, no room for criticism of the constructive kind, and no opportunity to collaborate on issues we agree on while enjoying the freedom to protest when needed.
Looking out into the world does not bring much comfort, either. Everywhere there is a trail of hatred and violence, one that threatens to be at our doorstep at the slightest provocation. Christmas markets, where ordinary citizens can experience the simple joys of the holidays, are attacked. Killings are carried out with impunity, even in highly public events. In other countries, displacement is the main theme, and the word “normal” does not carry the same reassuring meaning it does for the rest of us.
Elsewhere, governments and global organizations are in a deadlock, arguing over events and questioning each other’s ascendancy.
Finally, the threat of accelerated global warming looms, bringing with it the specter of more frequent and more erratic weather patterns that threaten to wipe out households and entire communities.
Despite all these, why still wish each other a Merry Christmas?
To be sure, being merry may be a tad too extravagant these days. It might be enough that we acknowledge what we already have and are thankful that we are not in any worse place. For example, whatever we can say about our current events, there is no denying all this is a consequence of a functioning, albeit imperfect, democracy—something we must guard with zeal.
We continue to be happy today because we are hopeful of better times ahead. Filipinos after all are famous for seeing the good, even the hilarious, in the worst situations. This is not a ridiculous penchant to find perverse happiness, per se. It is rather the rare ability to believe better times are ahead and that they are worth waiting it out for.
In the meantime, we go back to the spirit of solidarity that has held this nation together, in varying degrees of success, over the years. Troubled or stable, weak or strong, Filipinos have a common aspiration that stems from the shared experience over decades—nay, centuries.
It is difficult to hope, yes but not impossible. Without a contemplation of the good that may come tomorrow as a result of what we do today, and without the acknowledgment that we are essentially the same despite our variances, there would be no meaning in existing from day to day.
