Today is the anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986 in the Philippines. The event later on spawned the collapse of many Eastern Bloc communist countries through peaceful and massive display of people power, most notable of which was the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. Today, we see the same People Power phenomenon happening in Ukraine, Venezuela and Thailand.
The EDSA People Power was a time when grace trumped karma and natural human laws. Natural law says it is the survival of the strongest and the fittest. They will always lord it over the weak and the vulnerable. At EDSA, the weak and the powerless held sway. For the four days we were in EDSA, throngs of humble and simple folks kept vigil and stood up to the forces of might and oppression. The Spirit of God was abroad in the land and His presence was palpable among the people and in the unfolding of the events. He literally brought down the mighty from their thrones, exalted the humble,filled the hungry with good things and the rich and powerful He sent away empty.
The world is often driven by competition, comparison and control. It is a zero-sum game, played with a win-lose mentality. This approach to life has been shown time and again to be a recipe for disaster. And yet it remains to be a dominant thinking among many. Yet, we are not lacking in examples and experiences that show the opposite to be a more meaningful path. This is the path of Christ, the path of grace.
The natural law is about competition and the survival of the fittest. Grace is about love and generosity, even to the point of giving up one’s life for the sake of others. Christ eschewed comparisons. He said the first shall be last and it anyone wishes to be first he shall be last and the servant of all. In the end, we are not in control. God is. And it is in humble submission to is will that we come upon the fullness of life.
“Lord, teach me yours ways and show me the path of grace.”
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”
Mark 9:33-37