There Is Nothing New, Everything Is Normal
Am I kidding you? No!
In Ecclesiastes 1:9, Solomon said nothing is new under the sun, implying that what has happened in the past will happen again in the future. But this cannot be true, diba? Kasi, with all the knowledge we have acquired and the scientific advancements we have achieved, surely we can prevent past calamities from happening again.
Calamities come from two different sources. They can happen because of natural forces like earthquakes, typhoons, droughts, pestilence, etc. But do you know that these phenomena never meant to hurt us, kaso lang people sometimes are in their way. The super typhoons in Luzon are calamities to those in the north, but not to those in the south. The earthquakes that devastated some places in Mindanao was just news to those who live in the north.
But some calamities are man-made, just like the 1997 Asian Economic Collapse and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. They happened because of man’s greed and people’s desire to get rich quickly at the expense of everyone else.
How about the pandemic we are in, did it happen because of man’s greed or natural forces? Neither! Instead, I believe it is because of our foolish ways. Our misguided idea that we can control nature and the way we live, because of the knowledge we have acquired and the scientific advancements that we have achieved has led humanity to this point. What do I mean?
When we exploit the earth's resources for our financial gain, we destroy the balance of nature and allow pests to multiply. For example, the population of rats in the field is now out of control because when people cut their trees, they drove the animal who eats them away. When we do not rest our soil where we grow our crops and the facilities where we raise livestock for the sake of profit, we produce poor food quality because of the chemicals and vaccines we need to control diseases. Thus, making us more susceptible to viruses like corona. When we congest the cities so that we can enjoy the finer things in life, we produce an unmanageable amount of waste where harmful organisms breed and spread. Metro Manila and Cebu are the most affected by this pandemic because of this reason.
Why did I say that everything is normal? Because it is normal for organisms, like viruses, to multiply and spread if we give them the right environment to flourish. Lockdown nanaman sa Metro Manila, and people are angry that the government has failed to control the virus. But at some point, we have to accept that the government will never be able to control COVID 19 and win the battle against it. Even if a vaccine comes out for it, there will be another virus that will plague us. Unless we change our ways.
I believe there is a way to prevent this pandemic from coming again in the future. But it is not through the knowledge we have acquired and the scientific advancements we have achieved; instead, it is by respecting the Lord's ways and the laws of the earth He created. We can create a better normal if we shift our focus from exploiting the planet for our selfish gains to taking good care of the earth so that it can take good care of us in return.
I insist! There is nothing new, and everything is normal. Part 3
