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Hatred has a long shelf life. Once it enters the human heart, it’s hard to get it out. It breeds destruction, discouragement, and hopelessness. If we are to save the planet, we must be bathed in forgiveness. This is the thesis of a psychologist who has been working with victims and intends to teach the principles of “Catholic yoga” in troubled places like Belfast or the Holy Land.
Forgiveness has the power to change the lives, both of the victim and of the offender. At a personal level, it implies also forgetting the offense. Because forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note, torn in two and burned up, so that it never can be shown against the wrongdoer.
Where there is no recognition of wrongdoing, or where there is no remorse and atonement, there is no duty to forgive. The offense will likely be repeated, if not by the same person, by others who are emboldened by the community’s lack of will to enforce its laws. But, more to the point, even where remorse compels forgiveness, the wrongdoing is not erased.
Peacemaking is an arduous, slow and delicate process. Whoever wants to be involved must be prepared to advance step by step. There are some tips to help peaceworkers.
Widely-known in India as a peacemaker, Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil has been working tirelessly mediating conflicts for the last 15 years. He assures that peace is possible, but he doesn’t pretend that it is an easy or a straight path: “There have been heartbreaking moments: much fatigue, no results; enormous amount of effort, total failure. But we continue; we trust in the Lord. There have been encouraging moments, too, when, for instance, a Muslim group said: “We came only because Archbishop Thomas invited us to this peace meeting”; or when some of my Presbyterian or Baptist friends would quote from my writings on peace saying: “As ‘our’ Archbishop suggests.”
“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” (Psalm 92:12). The Lebanese cedar is mentioned over 70 times in the Bible, usually as a sign of might and majesty. And so are other trees. Without reference to the natural world, common to all cultures and traditions, humans would remain speechless. Because we always think through symbols, analogies and metaphors.
Forests are the lungs of the planet, and much more: they provide rain, food and shelter, regulate
the climate and protect farmland, are guardians of Earth’s biodiversity and natural medicine stocks,
but are also a source of cultural and spiritual inspiration. Just look at the Bible: the “tree of life” plays a pivotal role in the beginning, at the Garden of Eden, and at the end, in the New Jerusalem. Specially in this International Year of the Forest, proclaimed by the United Nations, it is our duty, as human beings and Christians, to think about how humanity is relentlessly destroying the green gift of God and how to protect it, for our own good and for the sake of future generations.
Amidst the many human dramas the urban slum dwellers face, you’ll find also in them many virtues and a tradition of sharing that has much to teach to the rest of Filipino society. And, when organized,
the people power of the poor can have an important role in changing the country’s politics.
Incomes in the Philippines are so unequally distributed that the richest 1% has at least as much income as the poorest 30%. The phrase, at least, must be stressed since incomes from criminal and/or corrupt activities – the incomes that most deserve to be redistributed to the poor – would certainly be concealed from interviewers of the government’s income survey.
It is good for Filipinos to imagine that they are taking a visitor around, and the Visitor is none other than Jesus Christ. Bring Him to Payatas to see the scrawny figures of scavengers – children, as well
as men and women – scrounging through mountains of garbage. Let Him hear the story of the trash-fall of some 20 years ago, when a mountain of garbage collapsed on the huts of scavengers living beneath it: more than 200 bodies recovered and many still unaccounted for. Then take the Visitor to an upscale subdivision to see the massive homes and manicured lawns and swimming pools.
