Living in the presence of one another

As Typhoon Santi is soon to make landfall in the Philippines coast on this all-saints weekend, our staff have headed home early to beat the weather and traffic.   The ferries (to Mindoro) have stopped running as of this 6 a.m. morning due to a signal two (out of four) being in effect although there were no winds yet blowing.   Pray for our team members previously affected by Typhoon Ondoy back a month ago–before most of us never thought too much about typhoons coming but now, we are paying attention.  Hopefully, there will not be a re-traumatizing of many in the city on this weekend when the cemeteries are full of people grieving and remembering their loved ones.  Here is a little about the day of the dead and a video link as well if you are interested

A friend pointed me to the following reflection by Dr. Melba Maggay on her experience during Ondoy.  Following is an excerpt from which I picked the title of this post.  Ate Melba speaks with a prophetic voice to the issues of our day and when she speaks or writes, I listen.  I think you will enjoy (and perhaps squirm a little?) as you read her full comments.

“I asked God what all this means for me. So far, the one thing clear is that I am being asked to share in the ‘fellowship of his suffering’, in that great mystery of solidarity where the sorrow and degradation of one human being is the sorrow and degradation of all. Whether we are aware of it or not, we live in the presence of one another. The presence of the vast poor among us says as much about the rest of us as the kind of government we live under.

In a small way, I now know what it must be like for those who are swept to the margins, forced to live precariously in cities with no thought nor place for them, squatting dangerously along esteros, river banks and other waterways. Comfortable people tend to see them as obstructions, clogging our life systems. The truth is that it is a horrendous scandal that so many have nowhere else to go.”