Back on the grind…

The Christmas songs have all been stopped from playing on the radio and in our malls.  All the holiday decorations are being put down and kept back to the different storage areas.  I also took down our lantern from the window, and while I was tempted like in the previous years (when I just let it stay until March!) – but just simply followed suit and brought it down.

Life is going back to its normal everyday grind.  Even the Manila traffic had eased up a bit – and then the following day, it was back to a bumper to bumper situation.  That is the regular traffic scene here.  One day it flows like unhindered river waters, then the next, it is clogged like any arteries of a person who does not care about his health.

The other morning at about 3AM as I was getting ready to sleep. My phone sounded off as it received an sms.  I looked at it and the first sentence alone gave me the idea that it was not supposed to be sent to me.  Initially, the message was not addressed to me – but because I care for this person, I think the message was serendipitously sent to me so that I may be able to pray for his situation.

“I could not send any New Year greetings because it wasn’t a happy one for us…” and there were some more details given elaborating the sentiment.

I waited a couple of days before I responded and gave him my empathy for what they went through during the Christmas season.  It was like walking through the railroad tracks. On the either side of the railways were awesome celebratory events and the people I know and care about. And the other side were people who were lonely and hurting and felt really isolated during the season. 

Well, we are back on the grind.  Activities are being lined up in dizzying manner.  New decade! New hopes and new beginnings.  But I must also realize that there are people who are not ready for new beginnings.  They would rather keep the old, routinary things – and even die to these things.  Let the younger people have a go at these new and exciting things!

Classes are back.  Work and services are back (but the government employees still have to receive their christmas bonus!!!) all of the nitty-gritty details of life returning to its normalcy state are upon us.

But I pray that something else is also present in our lives as we head back to the grind.

I pray that we have been imbued by the freshness of hope.

We all need it.  We all could benefit from a strong injection of hope in our lives.  Young, old, rich and poor, influential and marginalized… we all need hope.  And the freshness of this hope is not guaranteed simply because we have a new year upon us.

It is predicated upon the faithfulness of the ONE who is faithful to all of us.  Not because of who we are nor what we have done.  His faithfulness is simply because of WHO HE IS.

Yes, we are back on the grind….

But I pray that we are all geared up and saddled with hope.