Monday, January 5, 2009

My Brother's Keeper

IT’S NOT A STAR that had been shining brightly but the countless rocket-propelled grenades and mortars that had been blazing up in the sky that made the 12 days of Christmas celebration very remarkable this time. What had been offered were not gold, frankincense and myrrh but (a clear indication of) greed, hatred, and wrath, instead!

Who would have thought that Gaza, a place which is 72.42 kilometres southwest of Bethlehem, will be filled with cries of “Ceasefire!” nowadays; a word that is almost synonymous from what had been sung during that cold, starry night when the child Jesus was born! “Peace on earth...!” the angels that had come down from heaven said; and the same words are still being desperately uttered by the whole world 2,008 years later.

As of this writing, 512 Palestinians and 5 Israelis have died, plus the other 40 Israelis have been wounded since the start of the attack last December 27, 2008. But this count seems to be negligible or even nothing for each of the opposing groups to stop the battle—which is believed to have started since the time of Ishmael and Isaac in the Old Testament. I have the impression that the present day descendants of Ishmael and Isaac are completely ignoring or simply have forgotten the Biblical fact that they share the same ancestor with the birthday boy Jesus, which is Abraham. They also have different religious and/or political conviction thus, creating another great complication... I would still say, however, that this is a rivalry between the two families of the same ancestry.

Nobody can tell whether the current number of casualties in the Gaza Strip violence could or couldn't outnumber the count of those boys (2 years old and below) who were slaughtered under the orders of King Herod by the time he realized that the wise men had tricked him. Yet I can tell that the majority, if not all of the victims of both hostilities were undeniably innocent.

Honestly, I can neither formulate the best truce nor come up with an ultimate solution that would be very effective to end this ancient feud between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

I admit that the current situation in the south-eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea is a wake-up call for me, my younger brother and our youngest sister (this is another story, so just read between or even beyond the line). Definitely, the three of us cannot tell if father Abraham is also our great grand ancestor but, certainly, we can say that Adam is our great, great, great... grandfather. This genealogy is very simple yet it speaks of a very meaningful ‘message’ not only for me and my siblings but for the whole world, as well; a very beautiful ‘message’ of the lyrics of that song sang by the angels more than two millennia ago. To love one another, including my enemies, is easier said than done but this time I am again reminded that I am truly my brother’s or my sister’s keeper.


24 comments:

yAnaH said...

it is sad.
lots of people losing their lives and getting hurt all for nothing.
now i remembered the reason why ht new year celebration here was cancelled.. they thought it best that we shouldnt be celebrating when our brothers and sisters out there were miserable. some are dying.. some our hurting.. the others crying... crying to be saved...

PRAYER...

im offering prayer for them,....

Kosa said...

wow.. nosebleeding post!
comment ako mamaya...
papasada muna..lols

Anonymous said...

Sad truth, how can an ordinary being like me can help? PRAY i guess...

Oh Peace, where are you? come to the world please!

eMPi said...

Nosebleed nga... hehehe

anyway, it is so sad talaga na maraming namamatay dahil sa mga taong sakim at greedy... kahit pa tinuturing natin ang lugar na banal pero may mga tao pa rin na sadyang gagawa ng way para manggulo... ang mga pangyayari ito ay beginning na magkakagulo ang na mundo... sana naman hindi!

Lets Pray!!!

Kosa said...

lahat tayo nananawagan at nauuhaw sa isang mapayapang daigdig...
sa ating munting paraan makakatulong tayo na makuha at makamit yun... pero kung yung mga taong kasangkot mismo ang ayaw magbigayan at magtulungan, hayaan nyu silang mag-ubusan ng lahi dun!

tutal nagsisiksikan na ang masasamang tao sa mundo, yaan at tanggapin na natin na may magsasakripisyo talaga... sa kabilang banda... masaya ka nman dyan doc di ba?
pray nalang tayu parepareho!
at manawagan ng
WORLD PEACE

RJ said...

YANAH
MEOW
MARCOPAOLO
Salamat sa pagdalaw rito sa CMQUill! PEACE. o",)


KOSA
Nagtanong ka, "sa kabilang banda... masaya ka nman dyan doc di ba?"

Anong gusto mong sagot, katotohanan o kasinungalingan?
Ganito nalang: 80% masaya, 15% nahihirapan/naiinis, 5% malungkot.

Ayos ang punto mo ah, nagulat ako pero tama ka nga, kung ayaw nilang paawat, hayaan na natin silang mag-ubusan ng lahi. Medyo ayaw rin kasing makinig, ano? Nakakapagod na rin, ang mahalaga tayo mahal natin ang ating kapwa. PEACE!

PaJAY said...

pinanood ko nung byernes ang "The DAy the earth stood still"...at pinakita dun na dapat na ngang Magbago ang mga tao at kung hinde ay gugunaw ang sanlibutan..

palala ng palala ang gulo sa mundo kaya simulan na lang natin sa sarili natin ang pagbabago kung dapat.sa bandang huli ,atlis nagawa natin ang ating parte para ma save ang mundo....

Magdasal tayo Doc...

NIce post...

Anonymous said...

All confict in this world, since time immemorial, only got two reasons. It's all about land (territory) and resources. Religion, culture and other differences are only created so aggresors may have a pretext in starting a war and grab what ever interest they want that the other side possess. Such is human nature in general. Ugly yet it exist.

Nanaybelen said...

Ang tagal na alitan at giyera na yan noon pang kay arafat at marami ng namamatay na Palistino. Naawa nga ako sa mga Palistinian.

Nagtataka ako hindi naman nauubos ang lahi nang mga Palistino samantalang noon pang giyera na yan at araw araw marami na ang namamatay. napanood ko ang isang araw ay marami pa rin. (curious Lang).

lucas said...

nabalitaan ko nga tong bombing sa Gaza..hays..very sad...we're all humans and yet we cannot seem to co-exist in this world..hays...

Ishna Probinsyana said...

Nakakalungkot talaga na madaming namamatay dahil sa mga kaguluhan. :(

Hindi ko na din maintindihan kung bakit nga ba talaga nagkakagulo. San ba nagsimula ang lahat? Hay. Sana naman matapos na ang mga ganyan. :)

RedLan said...

Patuloy pa rin ang giyera sa Gaza. May mga pinoy na hindi nilikas. Walang tigil na kaguluhan. Kelan magkatotoo ang peace on earth. Mahirap ang sitwasyon. Idaan na lang sa dasal.

Anonymous said...

:( ... :((

Anonymous said...

:) ... :D (for the concluding sentence)

Admin said...

Maraming ganyang tao ngayon.... How sad konti na lang tayo... :(

hehe :)

Chubskulit Rose said...

Yeah that is so sad.. may all who died rest in peace..

nasa land of the morning calm nga pala kami ngayon (reply to you ? about our location)...

Anonymous said...

I hope that it would end soon!

Anonymous said...

all we can do is to pray for them..

Kosa said...

lols.. kinuwenta pa eh.. sige i-convert mo nalang all in all. Happy naman di ba? lols

taena doc my icoconfess ako sayu kapag ngsalubong tayo sa Ym nxt time.. yun sana yung sasabihin ko sayu nung.. kelan na nga ba yun? di ko na maalala.. basta

siuge sige kitakits

Anonymous said...

yeah, this is really sad.

The Gaza Strip has been the centre of crises for the longest time. Hanggang ngayon, hindi ko alam ang stand ko dito.

I hate Hamas but no matter how difficult, Israel should have tried harder to come up with a decision other than war. Pero given its history, mahirap nga.

One thing is for sure, though, I condemn war. Kawawa kasi ang mga naiipit na civilians.

abe mulong caracas said...

di natin alam kung hanggang saan at hanggang kelan...

pero sana malapit na ang katapusan!

RedLan said...

Uy RJ. Take your time although I missed to read news about you lately. Ako ganyan rin, dami nasa isip pero hindi ko alam kung panu umpisahan lalo na kapag may nagba-bother na ibang bagay sa utak ko. Hintay lang kami dito. Yung manok art hindi ko pa nagawa pero gawin ko yan kapag maluwag na ang sked ko. Siguro in due time.

Nebz said...

Congrats, RJ. Engrossing pagkakasulat mo. Heartful.

Kagabi I was watching BBC World and I realized na sadyang mababaw ang dahilan ng away nila: Pride.

Ayaw magbigayan sa isa't isa.

Human nature n nga ba sya: that whenever we are wronged, we retaliate?, that if anyone is not with us, he is against us?

Nakakalungkot. Wala na silang nakikitang paraan sa kapayapaan kundi ang magpatayan.

RJ said...

SA LAHAT NG MGA NAG-COMMENT
Hindi ko na masasagot isa-isa ang mga puna ninyo. Bawat isa kasi sa 'tin ay may sariling opinyon at kuro-kuro tungkol sa bagay na ito. Kaya hindi ko na dadagdagan pa, o di kaya'y pupunahin pa ang inyong mga sinabi.

Salamat sa pagbabasa! Kitakits! o",)