Christ is REAL

Sendong definitely took a toll on our Christmas here in Cagayan de Oro. Thousands of lives were perished and it happened a week prior to Christmas day. It was devastating and merciless. I couldn't have imagined people trying to get a goodnight sleep and just washed away by strong blows of river water. I couldn't imagine it for myself or my kid nonetheless. While the government are blaming each other for this catastrophe, the reality is that it happened and the lives lost cannot be redeemed.

I was watching CNN the other day and it was a segment wherein their field journalists were having a forum. Basically, they were talking about their experiences and lessons learned from a worse case scenario ranging from a Middle East War to a Natural Disaster. Each of them had significant realizations to share and truly because their job entailed telling the world the story, they couldn't help but feel for the victims of these calamities and conflicts.

One reporter said, and i believed it stuck to me this whole time that in "Conflicts" it is easier to point a finger at someone who is responsible for the deaths of many individuals. For example, Gadafi, a communist leader and known to be brutal person, it is easy to put the blame for him for all the misfortunes his people are experiencing. When you see a person holding a gun, it is easier to be mad at that person because you know that he made lives of other people really terrible. But, when it comes to natural disasters, there is no one to blame. He said you really can't point a finger at anyone. It's like God is putting His finger on that area as if saying this is happening to you, and you can't do anything to alter it but just witness.

I think what he said was so profound and that sometimes you question why it happened where it happened. What happened to CDO was certainly out of anyone's hands. It is useless to blame God or to be mad at him because you can't punish Him for what happened. He is without a doubt, beyond our powers that if He lets these calamities happen to us, then it does. We are still helpless compared to Him. I almost feel like we are nothing compared to nature's wrath.

We are alive because we have a purpose in life. No matter how simple it is or it will be, our life is a gift. It's nothing more than a gift. A borrowed one, a temporary fix so that we can witness how wonderful God is and how powerful He can be.

Christmas I believe lets us realize and recall that Christ is the reason we are celebrating. He is real. He lives in us and the people around us. Certainly, He wants us to always remember that. Finding joy this season is indeed challenging especially to the directly affected Kagay-anons but I hope even in the slightest moment, they will still find joy in spite and despite of. Life still has to move on.