Is There A Spiritual Dimension To Our Country's Predicament?
Is There A Spiritual Dimension To Our Country's Predicament?... Newspaper Article 06/25/08
There seems to be no end to the miseries of our people with the latest typhoon Frank which has claimed the lives of many aggravating an already worsening sense of despair/hopelessness in our country. Indeed, it has been reported that with these God-sent disasters coupled with the rising cost of basic commodities like rice and fuel, whether artificial or brought about by dwindling supply and increased demand, more and more of the Filipino people have all but given up and want to get out of the country, much like a sinking Sulpicio Line ship. Is there a spiritual dimension to our present predicament?Chapter 28 of Deuteronomy states…"If you do not hearken to the voice of the Lord, your God, and are not careful to observe all His commandments which I enjoin on you today, all these curses shall come upon you (28:15)…the Lord will put a curse on you, defeat and frustration in every enterprise you undertake (28:20)…You will be oppressed and robbed continually with no one to help you (28:29)…Your sons and daughters will be given to a foreign nation while you look on and grieve for them in constant helplessness (28:32)…A people whom you do not know will consume the fruit of your soil and of all your labor. You shall never cease to be exploited and oppressed all your life (28:33)…The alien residing among you will rise higher and higher above you while you sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, not you to him. He will become the head, you the tail (28:43-44)". Isn’t it coincidental to note that these circumstances aptly describes some of the present state of our country’s current affairs? For example, Filipino families are torn apart because the parents, if only to provide for the needs/better future to their young children, have to go abroad and work as maids/caregivers and other self-demeaning jobs, constantly exposed to physical dangers, sexual/emotional abuse, despite of the fact that many, if not most, are college graduates. Young men and women, due to sheer poverty, are being forced to prostitute themselves for measly change/bag of fish. The bountiful natural resources of our country are left virtually untapped for centuries due to sheer absence of peace and order in the remote areas of the country. Aliens are in virtual control of the banking system, retail trade and practically the entire economy. With utter poverty aggravated by a growing drug menace plaguing a number of its people, there is such a low regard for precious lives that many would kill or maim another for the pitiful bounty of a cell phone or even a case of beer.
Indeed, in Deuteronomy 30, it is written…"Here then, I have today set before you, life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving Him and walking in His ways, and keeping His commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous and the Lord God will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. If however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen… I tell you now that you will certainly perish…I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse…" To make matters worse, President Manuel Quezon, historically known as the father of Philippine independence, unwittingly uttered this rather fiery statement… "I’d rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos rather than have a government run like heaven by the Americans." Remarkably, his very words became quite prophetic. Sadly enough, many Filipinos who profess to be Christians are not keenly aware that we are descendants of Abraham, heirs to the promises of blessings, prosperity and abundance in case of obedience/fidelity to God and His statutes as well as the curses in cases of unfaithfulness. As written in Galatians 3:27 and 29…"For all of you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Him…And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise." Let us pray that the Filipino people especially its political/religious leaders, fully understand and heed the ramifications of these biblical exhortations/warnings if only to provide a much-needed blue-print of what is needed to wrest our nation and its people from the precipice of ultimate disaster and chaos to the promised land of plenty, abundance and peace…Di ba?
Atty. Ramoncito "Bro. Mon" Ocampo, a licensed lawyer in CA. specializing in immigration/family law, is an elder-disciple of the EL Shaddai DWXI-PPFI Catholic Charismatic group and also the President of Bangon! Bagong Pilipinas (BBP), an advocacy/movement for the moral, economic and political transformation of the Filipino people. For details, log on to www.globalhello/bpp.com or BBP.1010@yahoo.com.