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Sunday, December 9, 2012

What Would You Do This Christmas?

Luke 3:10-14

10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

The pastor threw this question to the congregation, "What would you do this Christmas?".  He told us, the answer might be very easy for us... but how about for those who were badly affected by Typhoon Pablo?  The answer wouldn't be as easy...

For those typhoon victims that were left homeless, jobless and worse, who lost their family members, what would Christmas be for them?  Would they even have the time to pause and think about it, when they don't even have food to eat, a warm place to stay, and a family to return to.  But through the effort of various sectors to help them, there might be some spark of the Christmas spirit, though little, can bring back hope to one's heart.

But that's just the least we can do for them, that would temporarily aid their burden.  More we can help prevent such awful disaster from happening again if we just do our part and be responsible to our environment and fellow countrymen.  We can't stop typhoons but we can definitely lessen it's effect.  With hundreds of lives sacrificed, hundreds more still missing and thousands injured and affected, it wouldn't take someone from Compostela Valley to see what caused the devastation that worsen the effect of typhoon Pablo.  Flash flood with mud, rocks and huge piles of logs rushed down from the mountains, even the best swimmer would not survive that. 


bagged bodies recovered from debris brought by the typhoon.
(photo taken from zimbio.com)
What's done is done.  Hope we learned from what had happened.  Now, even areas not known to be visited by typhoons are no longer safe.  Worst, our mountains had lost their capability to hold and lessen the force of ravaging flood and mud brought by the typhoon.  The rampant logging, deforestation and mining, we all brought it to ourselves.  It's not too late and it's not irreversible.  But the government cannot fix this problem alone, the cooperation of our citizen is needed.  We still can log but not to the extent that we clear our forest, we just take what is enough and needed.  Then we replace what we cut and let the forest recover.  We still can mine, but not too long and extensive in one place.  The mountains also need to recover.  Just picture this out, what do you think would happen if a mountain with cut-down trees and bombarded with holes would be poured with huge amount of water?  It would definitely spell "disaster".

For now, victims are crying for any help they can get, that too much hunger and thirst even let them forget to mourn for their lost loved ones.  I know we will continue to help them and someday they will be back on their feet again.  But then, what will stop a similar tragedy from happening again?  Not unless we do something significant about it.  We might be looking for a miracle, but nothing is impossible... May the Lord guide us all.  Yahweh bless.

16 comments:

  1. pray for the families that were affected and hope they can get their life back.

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  2. The first thing to do is definitely pray for them and rather than spending lavishly on your Noche Buena, why not share them to others by donating.. that's the true Christmas spirit! :)

    Cheers~!

    - Justin -
    The World According To Me

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  3. my sympathy to the every families affected by devastating typhoon. this is now the best time to give our hand and share our blessings

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  4. We should always help if we have extra even a little could make a person happy.

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  5. I think we've suffered more than enough from typhoons the past few years, it's high time we take care of the environment and yet prioritize infrastructure that can aid in preventing harsh impacts of calamities.

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  6. well-said piece. Past is past, nothing we can do about it. But we can go look to a brighter tomorrow. What must we do then. first, hold on to your faith. Second Be the good Samaritan as always. And lastly, Love our mother Earth, its the only home we have.

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  7. typhoon victims plus the kids that were killed at connecticut are such bad news alredy. so how can we really celebrate xmas. lets pray for the families.

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  8. The human spirit is resilient. We will come out stronger after this calamity.

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  9. It's no way for any family to spend Christmas. I can't even begin to imagine how it would be to have a Christmas where I literally have nothing and minus loved ones - forever. Heart-breaking. I'm going to do what little I can and participate on an event the Manila running community is holding before Christmas in order to raise funds and goods for the victims of Pablo.

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  10. Phenomenons,like strong typhoons, are inevitable but we can lessen the effect if we do our part as responsible human, and of course, on choosing the right leaders to help us.

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  11. It's very awkward to celebrate Christmas knowing what had happened in the recent typhoon. Best we can do to ease their pain or help them recover quickly is to give what they need and of course Prayers.

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  12. grabe. Sana maka recover sila agad sa dinanas nilang trahedya.

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  13. Rather having parties left and right, why not donate some to those who need more. My mom's company decided not to push through with their party and instead, contribute to the victims in Mindanao.

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  14. I believe na makakabangon pa tayong lahat after what happened. Hindi man tayo nasalanta ng bagyo tulad ng iba na nasa Mindanao, affceted din naman tayo. It hurts to see the victims suffer :(

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  15. While we are celebrating Christmas, let us always remember those who couldn't celebrate it with much joy.

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  16. I am with you on your thoughts about the disaster in Mindanao caused by typhoon pablo . and i believe also it is not too late to act and correct the mistakes we have done. The government can't take all this, but it also revealed that they have done nothing at all to prevent this at the first place. I just pray that we learned in this experience. in the mean time we appeal for any help that people could extend to our brothers and sisters in the affected area .

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