There were other student and alumni volunteers who showed up, who also braved the cold murky water at midnight inside the campus.īut inasmuch as we can ration all, however, it is not enough to fill everyone. It started with the students who first thought of sending food items to fellow students they know, but I asked them if only we could collect for everyone instead. Not much, but enough to fill an empty stomach. So that is why I reached out to social media and solicit donations for food. After all, as a faculty you are partly accountable to your students. I can't just watch and wait for them to go out.

But at least friendlier than Sendong, it has lesser deaths and casualties.

And what I thought of around 300 to 500 people trapped, it turned out be in thousands.Īnd a flashback - it's like Sendong again. I can't simply watch, and my students including some colleagues were also there practically starving. The people back at the campus of University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines were definitely hungrier than me, not to mention some are already cold and wet.Īt this point, sharing status updates, albeit relatively important, is becoming irrelevant. The longing for food and the thirst that yearns for water somehow opened my senses. I could have left and went home, but one thing that prompted my senses - I was hungry. In times of natural calamities or disasters, not only one's management skills are tested - but also common sense and delicadeza. Reports said that rescue teams were on their way, but because of impassable accessibility it took a long time to arrive. Perhaps it's a stronger flood since 2012.ĬM Recto Avenue was no better it turned again to a menacing river. I was able to pass through, but it took some time to reach to the overpass, since the water's current was strong. As soon my class ended, it prompted me to leave by all means - even wading through the flood and make myself wet. In about an hour and a half, the floodwater has reached at the breast-level, and at some point, to the neck. I suspect this celebration left us all feeling a bit better about simply being human.The fact that the City Council declared a State of Calamity the first hour of Tuesday, January 17, should be a tell-tale sign that the rainfall and floodwater are not merely a force of nature - it meant to teach us a memorable lesson. It made me feel that I could stand more easily on the broken hill that is life. I had been gifted with a ticket and felt privileged to be there. Maybe it was just me, but I had the feeling listening to this song that we were more united as an audience than we had been all night.Īfter a rousing finale, we said our goodbyes and walked away. Trying to figure things all out alone inside our heads is more than we can bear. We all need to connect with something greater than ourselves. The mystery we are living will always be more than our minds can grasp. If it be your will spoke to us about navigating our way through a world that is fraught with uncertainty and suffering. Not to be afraid to open ourselves to places that scare us, because it is only when we touch these places that the “light gets in”.

This is why he is our man.Īnd in the closing moments of this musical feast, he reminded us to make space for the sacred in ourselves. And because we trust him to be our guide, we follow him.

But with rhythm and poetry and passion, his music can also surprise, upend and lift us. Worn out LPs of his music have no doubt calmed and soothed many a lonely heart in flats and bedsits. Leonard may be associated with sombre dirges, but in fact he is a lot of fun and never takes himself too seriously: “I said to Hank Williams: How lonely does it get? Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet.” He can touch our deepest sorrows and our deepest joys. But here we were with our hearts blown open, drinking in every note, joined together by a prayer that seemed to speak both to us and for us. Our hearts have been calcified by one too many betrayals and by our collective drift towards a more secular philosophy. We are generally weary and wary of anything that smacks of religion. I wondered what he was touching in all of us that captivated our attention so completely. This song is a prayer that could take its place among the Psalms as naturally as in any folk rock canon.

Simply being human