[REFLECTIONS] A lot of good will come out of this period

Cathy S. Babao

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[REFLECTIONS] A lot of good will come out of this period
There is goodness everywhere now even in the middle of great sadness. And there is so much faith and full dependence on the One who sees everything.

It’s a first in world history: an online Holy Week for millions of people, even in Vatican City, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rappler presents a series of reflections to help you, our reader, enter the spirit of Holy Week even in quarantine.

It’s really kind of hard to search for inspiration nowadays. You need to look so much harder than usual.

But there is always something that will inspire you amidst all the anger, noise, sadness, fear, and anxiety going on. Two things are important — one, you need to wake up each day with a determination to find it; and second, you need to allow yourself to take a pause and be open and mindful so that you can find it, or that it can come to you.

Today my inspiration came in the form of music. In the condominium complex where I live, a neighbor stands on his balcony and plays his saxophone every afternoon just as the sun is about to set. Can you imagine the kind of peace and wonder that brings? As the world comes to a close each day, there he is, playing his sax with much love and gusto, giving joy to all who hear him, sharing his gift unselfishly.

Each of us, we have something beautiful to give to the world, to the community, to others. It is in the giving of this self — of time, talent, and, if you are able to your resources. When we give unselfishly of our gifts, without expecting anything in return, that’s where the healing of the world begins.

I read something beautiful the other day, “From who will you be when the world starts again by Crystal Jackson”:

When the world starts turning again, when things seem ordinary once more — whatever that will mean, who will you be?
All you emerge unchanged, and get back to business as usual?

Or will you emerge with eyes on fire and
Warmth in your heart for the world around you.
Will you be kinder, smarter, stronger, and filled
With love? Will you choose the rest of your life
Or accept it happening to you?

Will you be who you are supposed to be?
Or will you, finally, be who you are.

I’ve always said, from the very beginning of this lockdown, that this period in our lives will bring us gifts. Gifts of different shapes and sizes. We will have realizations that would not have been made possible if we had not gone through this difficult and challenging time in our lives. Change will always begin with us, and hopefully we can bring and stick to those changes when we all emerge from this crisis.

A friend of mine asked me today, “Don’t you think that people will forget right away and the world will return to what it was?” I replied, I don’t think so. A pandemic affects people in big and small ways. The biggest impact will come if you lost a loved one to COVID-19. Your life after losing a parent, a spouse, a beloved friend, will definitely never be the same as it was before the pandemic hit our shores. If you are a health worker, more so a frontline, exposed to the ravages of death each day, risking your life like a soldier in battle — all these scenes will certainly impact your mental health, and your attitude and outlook on life moving forward. If you are a business owner and as it is we all know that the world is headed for a major global recession this year, how do you survive? How will possibly losing your business change you?

Still there is a lot of good that will come out of this period. We are seeing it now and I pray that this will continue. We see it in the kindness and generosity that we give one another. We see it in the patience and tolerance that has grown over these last few months. We feel it in the care that our doctors and nurses and other health workers untiringly provide for those who are sick, risking their very own lives so that others may live. We see it in industries pulling together to provide for those who need help the most. There is goodness everywhere now even in the middle of great sadness. And there is so much faith and full dependence on the One who sees everything. People who never prayed before have begun to pray. Those who do, have learned to pray even more.

We learn that nothing is really within our control. We learn that to survive we must feed our faith, and not our fears. We will become different people after this. Hopefully kinder, more compassionate. It’s chaos now, but clarity will come with much prayer and patience. And when all this is over, only by His grace, we will all begin again. – Rappler.com

Cathy S. Babao is a journalist, grief and transitions coach, and author. You may email her at storiesbykate@gmail.com 

 

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