Good seeds; weed
seeds
20 July 2014
Today’s
reading reminds us to be patient with weeds. “‘Master, did you not sow good
seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has
done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He
replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with
them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to
the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:27-30)
Dr.
Jose Rizal, in his Liham sa Mga Kadalagahan sa Malolos, adverted to this sacred
scripture in his conclusion: “Matupad nawá ang inyong nasang matuto at harí na
ñgang sa halaman ñg karunuñgan ay huwag makapitas ñg buñgang bubut, kundí ang
kikitili'y piliin, pagisipin muná, lasapin bago lunukin, sapagka't sa balat ñg
lupá lahat ay haluan, at di bihirang magtanim ang kaaway ng damong pansirá,
kasama sa binhí sa gitná ñg linang.” (May your desire to educate yourself be
fulfilled and may you in the garden of learning harvest not bitter unripe
fruit, but take only what you consciously choose, think about it first, sample
and test before swallowing, because on the surface of the earth all is mixed,
and it is not infrequent that the enemy sows weed seeds amongst the good seeds
in the middle of the prepared field.)
These
teachings are relevant, fellow sovereign Filipino citizens, in our contemporary
atmosphere where small, loud, well-financed, and strategically positioned
fronts of vested interests are calling for extra-constitutional means to
address national problems. EDSA 1 was historic and important; we, the people,
had to take matters directly in our hands (albeit triggered by an internal
rebellion within the ruling circles) because our patience had been exhausted by
that “never-ending injustice and oppression” of Marcos Alibaba rule. We have
since freely and fully adopted our 1987 Constitution, by which rules we have
sovereignly agreed to play, to keep our democracy and our republic stable and
prosperous.
Now,
there are suggestions peddled by some corners of the ruling elite and “those
who think they know better than us and would like to be the rulers” – and their
loud mouthpieces - to do away with our Constitution and form a National
Transformation Council to take over national governance from now to an unknown
date, without stating the over-arching system of oppression and injustice that
constitute the very extraordinary circumstances warranting direct action by the
people, except their personal crusade against the current administration, not
acknowledging the untrammelled freedoms that are guaranteed to all in this
democracy, allowing them to be so abusive and deprecatory in their language.
Without
allowing ourselves (particularly our AFP) to be pulled hither and thither by
the concealed or sugar-coated hooks of all active parties, especially the contending
anti- and pro-Aquino forces, let’s be patient with all these, think about their
“sabog-tanim” ideas, sample and test them, and when harvest time comes again in
2016, let’s do the sovereign separation and further strengthen our democracy
and our republic by choosing leaders with moral integrity and vision… so as to
make stronger a just and humane society, as well as to fortify a Government
that embodies our ideals and aspirations, promotes our common good, conserves
and develops our patrimony, and secures to ourselves and our posterity, the
blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of
truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace. (cf Preamble, 1987
Constitution).
