Some years ago, I listened to a CD called, "20 Speeches That Changed A Nation". It was a list of 20 Speeches that changed, made and molded our country into what it is now. In homage to that, and borrowing from that idea, I am featuring 10 Videos that I think best represent, or show us what this country is all about. This one is by no means a definitive list. But I have tried my best to get a good sampling from all over.
Lessons Learned from the RH Bill War
The Reproductive Health Bill has divided our nation into two factions (with a third faction of those who passively--or actively--don't really care about it). This is unprecedented. In the past, the factions were drawn around political and even cultural lines. The EDSA Revolution was about anti-Marcos civilians (of which a vast majority was a Cardinal Sin-led Catholic Church) and troops against a pro-Marcos military.
Parshat Ki Tisa 5772
Water is essential to life on earth. Water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and makes up 55%-78% of the human body. Without food and water, humans will last for only 3-5 days. Clean water is a basic requirement to sustain human, plant, and animal life and ensure the healthy functioning of all the world’s ecosystems.
Don’t Be Surprised!
When we get to heaven, there will be three surprises: First, we will be surprised by the people that we find there, many of whom we surely had not expected to see. The second surprise is that we will be surprised by the people who are absent--the ones we did expect to see but are not there. The third surprise, of course, will be that we are there ourselves.
Family Matters
I remember being struck by a song in a popular children’s video I was watching with my daughter. The song was about families and how we have different kinds (there was one where the dad was “far away”, one where the head was the grandma, etc.). The main theme of the song was for us to accept that families now come in “all different sizes and different kinds”. Some families have both parents; others live in a single parent household; some live with a caregiver. And in all instances, you are still a complete family. The song made me realize that we now live in a very different world from when there was typically a Father, a Mother and Two Children.
Forgiveness
It is easy to check how much taller we've grown or how many more wrinkles and gray hair we have and how much weight we've gained over the years. But it's a little bit more tricky when we want to check how far we've come in terms of our-as one writer calls it-"inner landscape." I've found that rereading journal entries, old letters and old college and high school compositions is a good way to look at emotional and psychological photographs of ourselves.
Whisperer
Fans do it with celebrities. If you've never been a fan, or if your theology tilts more on the sophisticated side, you might never really understand why people line up to the Nazareno and wipe a part of the image with their handkerchief. A few days ago, I found myself in such an unsophisticated state, lining up with people to touch the worn and darkened mantle at the foot of our Lady of Manaoag.
Mustard Seed Revolutions
The past few months, we were witnesses to protests and upheavals in the Middle East. As with all revolutions, its seeds were planted years ago when democracy was curtailed and dictators and the military took power. But the trigger for this series of upheavals can be traced back to Dec 17, 2010, when a young jobless graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after police confiscated the fruit and vegetables he was selling from a street stall. He had been unemployed for a long time and when the police stopped him from earning a living, he burned himself out of frustration and in protest. This event sparked widespread demonstrations in Tunisia. The Tunisian President went on television days later to promise more jobs. But it was too little too late.
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