Let’s start this week’s column with “A prayer to mend what is broken:” “Heavenly Father, I call on You right now in a special way. It is through Your power that I was created. Every breath I take, every morning I wake, and every moment of every hour, I live under Your power. Father, I ask You now to touch me with that same power. For if You created me from nothing, You can certainly recreate me. Fill me with the healing power of Your spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in me. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells. Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damaged areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection. Let the warmth of Your healing love pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way You created it to function. And Father, restore me to full health in mind and body so that I may serve You the rest of my life. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
This near-sighted Ibaloy writer borrows the above title from one of actor and director Clint Eastwood’s famous movies during his “spaghetti western” period since it is so apt with what is happening right now as the entire world is fighting the coronavirus-disease-2019 (Covid-19) menace. It is unfortunately during trying times like this that humanity shows its good, bad, and truly ugly face. While we have individuals, groups, and organizations who unselfishly help others even at the risk of their lives during this difficult period, there are those who selfishly take advantage for personal gain and even others who sow misinformation and chaos just for the heck of it. There is good and evil everywhere, it seems.
Even with this reality of human frailty, I hope and pray that the innate good in all of us will prevail over our baser and uglier natures especially now that there is great suffering all over the world. If we can’t be part of the solution, let us try our best not to be part of the problem. We can help a lot in this fight against the Covid-19 by following strictly the advisories of our health officials like staying at home, practicing good hygiene, social distancing and the like. Now is not the time to be hardheaded or pasaway. Stay home and stay safe, everyone.
FYI: The Department of Education through the Youth Formation Division (YFD), is suspending the implementation of the Special Program of Employment for Students (SPES) batch 1 for high school and senior high school students scheduled to start on April 6. Meanwhile, the SPES for college students batch 2 will still commence from June to August. However, the possibility of a suspension may also apply if the Covid-19 outbreak continues, according to the Philippine Information-Cordillera.
Here’s “Abyss” by this near-sighted Ibaloy writer’s poetic twin Gabriel Baban Keith: “Staring at a/ Blank/ Sheet of/ Paper/ Like facing/ Death/In all its/ Wrinkled/ Glory/ I regurgitate words/ All over the/ Sheet’s shiny/ Surface/ Praying to make it/ Less menacing/ More intimate/ Friendly/ Like a mongrel/ Feasting/ On its own/ Vomit”
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May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ continue to bless and keep us all safe.
