The worst of the typhoon Yolanda seems to be over by now. The sun is peeking out again. And now the daunting work of damage assessment, clean-up and rebuilding begins. It was awesome watching the raging storm through TV news footage last night. The storm first blew down dead leaves and branches from tress and then washed all the detritus away – cleaning up all the dirt to allow new life and growth to take place. In the city of Tacloban, the winds blew down rotting posts, crumbling concrete walls, rusty roofs, all that plastic and Styrofoam; and then the waters washed away all the debris into the rivers and on to the sea. It is nature’s way of cleaning up all the pollution people have made.
Nature is a self-regulating system. She makes adjustments when the system is in a disequilibrium. She cools things down when things get hot. She heats things up when they get too cold. She cleans up when things get dirty. and when the time and conditions are right, she allows new life to spring forth. Sometimes, she takes her time and tarry; and the adjustments and changes she makes may take ages. At other times, she is swift and furious and the changes take place in a jiffy. Of late, storms and other natural upheavals have been more severe, indications that Nature has more pollution to clean up and get rid of.
Prayers were offered yesterday in the face of Yolanda. Before the typhoon hit land, the prayers were for the storm to veer away and spare the Philippines or for the storm to just simply melt away. During the storm, prayers were for the safety and survival of those in her path. After the storm, prayers were mostly of thanksgiving for having survived the tempest and of having been spared of more severe damages. Would prayers really change the course of a storm or melt it away? I would not totally discount the possibility. But the rational answer is they don’t. Our prayers are more about ourselves. Through our prayers in the storm, we realize that we are not in control. God is. That this is a beautiful and sacred place we live in. We should take good care of it and not thrash it. That we should build things to last. We should not cut corners. That we are truly a community in the face of adversity.
Christ stormed the Temple to make people realize that they have turned a sacred place into a market place.
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’
John 2:13-22