In the old Waray tales, elders often spoke of the tikang han tamsi (flight of the bird). The bird does not argue with the storm; it simply rises above it, seeking calmer skies. Today, as our nation is engulfed in the kasaba han pulitika (political noise), perhaps we too must learn from the wisdom of the bird.
The political noise is now so loud that we need to veer away from the radiance of our screen and feel the world in its real colors, in its real sounds.
Waray elders often say: “An aringasa diri nagdadara hin pagkaon.” (Noise does not bring food.) This proverb reminds us that shouting politicians do not fill our tables; it is our own labor that sustain us.
Another saying: “An tawo nga maaram mamati, mas labaw pa kaysa han tawo nga maaram magyakan.” (The person who knows how to listen is greater than the one who only knows how to speak.) In a time of endless debates, listening—to nature, to family, to community—is the true act of wisdom.
Even algorithms in the social media bears so much political polarity that Filipinos had become soldiers of political propaganda and had been commenting on the narratives that favors one or other political camp.
We can never separate ourselves away from politics on a total way, but we can be intelligent discerning folks that filters content and allow sobriety, stillness and positive realities take over, take control of your life.
It was Seneca who said , we suffer more in our imaginations than in reality. As a rephrased version of that, we are lured by false and polarized political propaganda, that we forget our reality.
Let them fight, let them forward their political agenda, but for us, we must be prudent and be peacemakers. let us rise above the political noise!
Our morality depends on our spirituality
IT’S quite clear that the way we think, speak, react and behave in general is determined by the way we are. This is somehow encapsulated in that Latin expression: “agere sequitur esse” which means that how a thing acts, functions or behaves is fundamentally determined by what it is—its nature or essence. It means that actions reveal the inner nature of a being.
In short, we can say that our actions reflect our character. In our case, since we are not purely material beings but more of a spiritual one—given the fact that the spirit is one that gives life, not our bodily dimension—we can conclude that the quality of our behavior depends on the quality of our spirituality.
Yes, our Catholic teaching affirms that our morality is intrinsically dependent on our spirituality. That’s simply because, to put it bluntly, our moral life is not merely a set of rules but a response to God’s call. It’s a moral life that is rooted in faith, grace, and that call of God for us to be his image and likeness, i.e., to be holy as God himself is holy.
The morality that is proper to us can only be achieved if our human acts are ordered toward God by following his will. That is why, Christ who is the fullness of the revelation of God to us and who offers us “the way, the truth and the life,” clearly told his disciples and us that if we truly love him, we should keep his commandments. (cfr. Jn 14,15)
The “way, truth and life” Christ offers us provides us with all the means we need to keep our true identity and dignity as children of God. These are means that can tackle whatever conditions and circumstances we can find ourselves in, that can convert all situations, including the worst sufferings we can encounter in our life, into a path to be with God, to achieve the ultimate end of our life which is our holiness and redemption.
In other words, God is always with us, guiding us, protecting us, helping us in all our needs. That is what God’s providence is all about. We need to be aware of this basic truth of our life so we can live our life the way proper to our true identity as God’s children.
We have to be wary of certain questionable theories about human morality that would reduce it to mere utility, subjective preference, empirical observation or human autonomy. These theories cut our morality from its true source who is God and his law and grace. These theories fail to account for the spiritual dimension of the person we are, and would unavoidably lead to forms of relativism and the denial of intrinsic evils.
Thus, we can say that to have a good moral sense is none other than having an abiding awareness that all our human acts, starting with our thoughts and desires, and then our words and deeds, should be good in the sense that they ought to be inspired and oriented toward nothing less than love for God and for others.
That’s why St. Paul once said in his praise of charity (love of God): “If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
“And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
“And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing.” (1 Cor 13,1-3)