HINDSIGHT

HINDSIGHT

By Ray Alan T. Drilon

On hindsight the successful impeachment of CJ Corona may have a chilling effect upon the High Court Magistrates, who until lately, have been comfortable in their Ivory Tower, imperious in their mighty chairs handing down Judgments which could make or unmake the lives or fortune of puny man.

The lofty office of our Magistrates, may be high, but lonely. Perhaps because they sit above and cloistered, they have become too distant, detached, cold,  and confidently  secure  in the position they hold and in the power they wield. Could it be that in this pedestal they have grown exceedingly steep in their own sense of righteousness? 

Our Jurists are supposed to be impervious to any kind of influence, and are not swayed by any kind of views, sentiments, even popular opinion, except their own, or, what the law says, or, what their interpretation of the law is. They are supreme and final in their pronouncements. Their word becomes law.

The impeachment of no less than the Chief Justice of the High Court, pricks the bubble. It gives a very strong signal that the Brethren’s  Ivory Tower is, vulnerable, after all.

I have mixed feelings, though, about this.

Impeachment indeed is the built-in constitutional mechanism to check on the excesses of the Judiciary’s high and the mighty. And yet it is a double edged sword, for when the great Solons of the land, decided to scale the Bretheren’s Ivory Tower and traverse its hallowed halls,  deposing the Chief of Magistrates, could it be possible that they might have unwittingly chipped away the weakest point in the Ivory Tower’s foundation, which is its untrammeled independence.

The great Solons indeed have shown that the power of impeachment is their mighty tool to cast down erring kings and chiefs. They have used it and shown that the system works. Did it imbue them with the grand feeling to sit as Judges of the Judge?  Or was it because they were called out not to be judges but as guardians of righteousness. I hope it is the latter.

This is the reason why this power is entrusted to the wise. The law makers of the land are presumed to be wise, for if this power be held and wielded with an evil eye, where would the Blind Lady Justice be? 

On the lighter side, the common people’s exhilaration in seeing how an abstract concept like “impeachment” could at least be understood as it played out in this drama is a unique learning experience.     

God Bless our country and people. 

Worship

As the day winds up and the sun begins to set, I’m glad I rose early, meditated upon God’s word, and prayed that my eternal and loving Father would prepare my heart to meet and worship Him in the church where I was raised and born into His family. 

As the Psalmist said there is gladness in going into the  House of the Lord. Sunday wouldn’t be right in my household if we miss worship on the Lord’s day.

Some of my friends are just plainly curious while others are perplexed why I refuse all social invitations on the day of worship.   Some of them are Christians others are not.  I always tell them that when one stands up for the cause of Christ he should not be wishy-washy about his commitment to his faith.

Christians are called upon to glorify God. In every situation our spiritual service of worship requires that we present our bodies  to God as living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to Him, which is our worship. We have to be present. It is hardly possible to do this if I go to places of leisure or pleasure instead of His House, or simply send my wife to say Hi! to God for me . Spending time with our Creator is a serious business. If we are afraid or hate to miss an appointment with the boss or a business  associate, I am always puzzled why some Christians couldn’t care less if they miss or are even late for their meeting with God.  Think about it.

My Struggle Against Anxiety

I have been suffering from chronic attacks of anxiety for which I refuse any medication. My lifetime struggle against anxiety begins in the mind which imagines dreadful things of foreboding doom. Tension, edginess worry and fear have been constant companions. Uncontrollable intrusive thoughts of disaster, trouble, and misfortune would overwhelm me with dread.

     

Anxiety is slightly different from fear, in the sense that the cause is vague, and none-specific. One may know the object of his fear but the anxious person is frightened or worried by feelings of dread or uneasiness as a reaction to a perceived stressful situation. This psychological condition could bring about physical symptoms affecting one’s health. About 25 per cent of the world’s population are anxiety sufferers.

When I became a Christian I discovered that the  Bible has a lot to teach about this general malaise.   

John Piper sharply observed: "if it is right to feel grief and anguish at some loss, then it would seem right also to be anxious about the possibility of that loss."

It is normal to be affected by life’s distressing events. I have come to deal with this problem by trusting God’s promises and assurance.

The words of St. Paul to the Philippians could far surpass any professional counseling:  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:6-7)

Nothing more could be uplifting by meditating upon these words. They are more effective than any pill or medication. Like medicine the words are healing to the anxious soul. They come in four separate prescriptions but may be taken in a single dose. These are: Praying, Asking, Thanking, and Presenting to God all of our cares and anxious thoughts. The effect is Peace, which no one can really explain.

The great Apostle has revealed to us the secret of overcoming worry and anxiety. It is faith in a Powerful God who is far bigger than any of our concerns. “The beginning of true faith.” said George Mueller, “is the end of anxiety.”

The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to this issue today.

He said,  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

³⁴"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day."(Matthew 6:24-34)

“The implication of the message” of Jesus,  writes Richard Beaton,  “is that much of what matters to us today, the material aspects of our lives ought not to be taken seriously and can be completely entrusted to God who cares for us.”

If instead  of worrying, we have confidence and faith in God’s provision then we need not worry about worldly cares. Deep and strong attachment to worldly pleasures, possessions, or position and desperate grasping at one’s life are usually the marks of the anxious and faithless person. A life of simple faith produces a detachment which drives away worry and anxiety. Our Lord calls our attention to look at the birds of the air or the lesser creatures in the forest. He provides for all their necessities and they neither worry a bit. They simply trust in the bounteous grace of their Creator.

The command not to worry does not mean careless abandon or to be thoughtless about anything. The implication is not to be passively idle or apathetic to the concerns of life. Our Lord is not teaching that we stop from planning or working. As the Lord declares in the Gospel of Mathew, to be not anxious about our life, means to keep away from faithless  anxious thoughts fearful apprehension about possible danger or misfortune. Christ is saying if we trust God we will not worry. God is all there is. He is the Giver of life and we can entrust our lives to Him. He promised to take care of us, even as He cares for the lesser creatures, under any and in all circumstances. He positively declares that absolutely nothing, not even death can ever separate us from His love.(Romans 8:38-39)   

The Anxiety Cure

I have been suffering from chronic attacks of anxiety for which I refuse any medication. John Piper posed the following question: "if it is right to feel grief and anguish at some loss, then it would seem right also to be anxious about the possibility of that loss."

I always find comfort in the words of St. Paul to the Philippians : “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:6-7)

Nothing more could be uplifting by meditating upon these words. They are more effective than any pill or medication. They are medicine. They come in four separate prescriptions but taken in a single dose. These are Praying, Asking, Thanking, and Presenting to God all of your cares and anxious thoughts. The effect is Peace, which no one can really explain. 

Lawyers' Speak

The ability of lawyers to confound, confuse, and bedazzle the layman with their language has been the subject of anecdotes and hilarious comments. Lawyers indeed talk legalese because such is their nature. Only lawyers understand lawyer’s speak, and that is the secret of how they make money. You have to hire them to untangle the vague, incomprehensible, and perplexing entwining knot where you may find yourself enmeshed. They are the skilled champions who carry a man’s cause or burden. In the field of law the Attorney is like fish in the water, as much as the Doctor and the Priest in their own field.

Shakespeare in Hamlet wrote:

Why may not be this skull of the lawyer?

Where now be his quiddities, his quillets,

His cases, his tenures, and his tricks?

My Hurry Sickness

My wife tells me I am too excessively focused on time, that the watch and the clock have become my hard taskmasters. She resents it when I remind her that she is slowing me down for an appointment, because she takes a long time to dress and make up herself in front of the mirror unmindful that we are running late. I suffer extreme anxiety when I couldn't be at the appointed time, and worst, if trying to catch a plane or ferry ride. I worry excessively about schedules, deadlines, and appointments, oppressed by the urgency of the moment. She tells me I'm suffering from hurry sickness, and much too high strung in keeping time that I should do something about it. She's right, today I will throw out the three wall clocks which have been sternly watching my going and coming, and tomorrow I couldn't care less if I miss the business hours where I am suppose to  pick up the beauty kit she's been asking me to bring. I'm slowing down.   

WIVES' TUG OF WAR

In lighter moments during weekend breaks, in between workdays, I would visit the group of seniors, who have nothing better to do but loaf around and talk about everything,  in the same usual spot where they  congregate drinking the home made ginger brew and  munching unsweetened loaves, at the break of dawn.   

They have become my hiking buddies, self-proclaimed advisers, and teasers, though most of them preferred to sit than hike. Officially I’m simply an honorary member, of this group of elders, because  my present age still disqualifies me, though, hopefully, my induction isn’t very far.

The topic of conversation, when I arrived, was the tug of war for the remains of the famous Filipino politician,  between the women of his life.

It is only in the Philippines where the mortal remains of a man is regarded as an object of prime  importance, that taking possession of it is a symbol of legitimate authority to the possessor, where two or three wives are quarreling to get hold of the cadaver.   

Since I had a lot of absences in the caucuses of the group, my penalty was to be silent during the discussion of this interesting topic and to pay the fine by sponsoring the next round of snacks and ginger brew.

The wisdom of the old was evident in the way the talk was progressing.

One elder defended the poltician as the consummate Filipino macho male, who true to form, should not be blamed if he collected an array of women or women went after him. At least, this elder says, he left this world in stylish controversy, making himself all the more famous in death than in life.

Another elder begged to differ. He said, trouble often follows the household of a man who has plenty of women. He said that a man should remain faithful to his wife for life, for this is the true measure  of a man. In this way he doesn’t leave problems for the living when he dies, and would not be turning in his grave because his death left a trail of perplexing court cases involving angry women fighting over the  physical possession of his inert body which would be buried to the ground anyway.

Turning to me, the oldest of the group asked of my opinion. I said, I have none, besides, I said the unwritten rule of this organization bars me to speak, so I raised the cup of ginger brew and made a toast to all the girls I’ve loved before.