When it rains, it really pours
When Filipinos nowadays would allow themselves to be caught in the center of calamities and disasters, made more unbearable by poverty and injustice, and further exacerbated by crimes, corruption and a sense of helplessness, then they have nothing else to hold on to but their faith, and the endless support of their family. When there is nothing else that seems to work for you and all the things you hope for and trusted have failed you in the most crucial moments, then, there is someone up there that will never abandon you even in the darkest part of your struggles. And there is a family that you could go home to and will accept you no matter what you have done or have failed to do to them.
The reason why in the Philippines, there is less incidence of suicide, and that the Filipinos are even rated as one of the happiest peoples in the world is largely because we have a strong faith in a Supreme Being that guides the destiny of men and nations. This faith has sustained the Filipinos from the earliest times of our Christianity and even before we were Christianized. Then, we are strengthened further by our family support system. Of course, we do have intra-family conflicts and bickerings but at the end of the day, we always hold on together. Faith and Family: these are the twin secrets of our peoples' strength and fortitude.
When it rains, it really pours. I told a story to the managers and supervisors of a Japanese-owned power plant company in San Manuel, Pangasinan, where I am currently conducting a seminar. It was about a very inept, lazy, and negligent employee who was dismissed by his employer for chronic absenteeism and excessive tardiness. He lost all retirement and separation benefits after working for the company for more than twenty years. Then, because his house electricity consumption was not paid for a number of months, the power firm disconnected his line. His house got burned due to neglect in the use of candle light. When it rains, it really pours.
That man still stood up despite all trials. Until his only son was arrested by the police for pushing shabu because he could no longer support the family with its daily needs. And to top it all, his wife of twenty two years abandoned him and eloped with his kumpadre who is an OFW. That was it. That ended his fortitude. The ruin in his family was beyond his endurance. He forthwith climb up to the top floor of the city's tallest building and jumped from the roof top. But he landed on the head of a very old and sick beggar and accidentally caused the old man's death. He ended up being charged with homicide through reckless imprudence. The judge told him: Next time, when you commit suicide, be careful. Indeed, when it rains, it really pours.
In prison, he found his God. He was baptized as a born again Christian. He is now a preacher, spreading hopes and faith among the poor in many urban poor colonies and squatter areas. His son has also joined his ministry and his wife has returned to his bosom repentant and converted. They are living in a new home, and he is comfortably employed as a caretaker of the properties of the judge who convicted him. God brought him to prison for a purpose. Now, his blessings come like rain that pours. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
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