an oratio imperata
The General Luna Street of my yesteryears was a fine sight. I should know, I went to a school along that stretch (in two schools actually). I think I have traversed that road for who knows, probably thousands of times, and it was always refreshing – pine trees at the center and fire trees on the sidewalks. In the past, when my usual route from Oton passes through that stretch, the tree-filled avenue created in me different emotions – the thrill of finally reaching the city, the excitement of meeting friends and classmates or the dread of facing exams in school (I was still cramming in the car), including the tension that every kid felt when one was almost there just in time for the flag ceremony until you hit a snag caused by an early morning traffic along that stretch – the tension of being so near yet so far.
But passing General Luna was almost always a pleasure. The trees were a beautiful sight to behold and the air (there were no airconditioners then) was different. Now, little by little, the trees are gone and it’s fast becoming a concrete jungle. Some pine trees died out and so did the fire trees. They replaced these with trees that were not as majestic as the pine and not as beautiful as the fire tree in bloom. Yellow bells could not compare and so were the acacia mangiums. During Christmas when they put up their christmas decor I would feel terribly upset whenever they trimmed down those trees to their barest minimum so that the decors could be seen. It was appalling of course (the decor, I mean, and the trees should have done good hiding them) and I would be tempted for days on end to write the mayor reminding him that parols (especially lousy ones) are made by fools like you and me, but only God can make a tree!
Now they have cut most of these to make way for “progress” and General Luna will never be the same again. Now it’s just one of those concrete jungles complete with dangling chaotic “vines” from leafless trees courtesy of our power and telephone companies. When they approved the coal-fired power plant in the midst of the city I wasn’t surprised at all. The environmental record of this city despite garnering three clean and green awards has been dismal in the race towards becoming progressive and cosmopolitan. Could we have provided other alternatives where environmental policies do not block progress and vice versa? Probably, but frankly I don’t know, at least not definitely, for if I did, I will be running for mayor or congressman. So I presume that those who are running know how. Hopefully. But I’ve been to cities where one could sense that there was at least a deliberate move and a concerted effort to “marry” the two – progress and environment.
I am writing this observation because with this issue we are printing out the Oratio Imperata asking for rain. The bishops, knowing the gravity of our situation, have asked us to pray for rain. It is an imperata (the root of the English word imperative), that is, mandated, asked, commanded or ordered. Well I think there is no need to convince us of the threat and therefore I believe there is no need for us to be ordered to pray. For one, MIWD does not have enough water supply already even when officially summer has not yet begun. Etik, our driver, has to ask for four containers of water a day in the cathedral so that he could take a bath, and self interest dictates that I should give – you don’t want to ride on a car with a driver who does not take a bath during these hot days. And speaking of hot days a government agency on television has asked people not to go out under the heat of the sun between 9 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon and if it cannot be avoided at all, at least, it advised, one should not expose oneself for more than 20 minutes . . . and put lots of sun block too. And as I said, it is not summer yet, officially, that is.
And so here we are again wondering what our world has become. Extreme weather is upon us - too hot and also too wet. Can prayer help? O yes, but only if we do something to help ourselves. And no, I am not of one mind with the secretary who said that we should blame God and not the administration for the brownouts in Mindanao. I think that is an exaggeration if not completely false. But I think we would be no different if we just simply rely on an Oratio Imperata.
But passing General Luna was almost always a pleasure. The trees were a beautiful sight to behold and the air (there were no airconditioners then) was different. Now, little by little, the trees are gone and it’s fast becoming a concrete jungle. Some pine trees died out and so did the fire trees. They replaced these with trees that were not as majestic as the pine and not as beautiful as the fire tree in bloom. Yellow bells could not compare and so were the acacia mangiums. During Christmas when they put up their christmas decor I would feel terribly upset whenever they trimmed down those trees to their barest minimum so that the decors could be seen. It was appalling of course (the decor, I mean, and the trees should have done good hiding them) and I would be tempted for days on end to write the mayor reminding him that parols (especially lousy ones) are made by fools like you and me, but only God can make a tree!
Now they have cut most of these to make way for “progress” and General Luna will never be the same again. Now it’s just one of those concrete jungles complete with dangling chaotic “vines” from leafless trees courtesy of our power and telephone companies. When they approved the coal-fired power plant in the midst of the city I wasn’t surprised at all. The environmental record of this city despite garnering three clean and green awards has been dismal in the race towards becoming progressive and cosmopolitan. Could we have provided other alternatives where environmental policies do not block progress and vice versa? Probably, but frankly I don’t know, at least not definitely, for if I did, I will be running for mayor or congressman. So I presume that those who are running know how. Hopefully. But I’ve been to cities where one could sense that there was at least a deliberate move and a concerted effort to “marry” the two – progress and environment.
I am writing this observation because with this issue we are printing out the Oratio Imperata asking for rain. The bishops, knowing the gravity of our situation, have asked us to pray for rain. It is an imperata (the root of the English word imperative), that is, mandated, asked, commanded or ordered. Well I think there is no need to convince us of the threat and therefore I believe there is no need for us to be ordered to pray. For one, MIWD does not have enough water supply already even when officially summer has not yet begun. Etik, our driver, has to ask for four containers of water a day in the cathedral so that he could take a bath, and self interest dictates that I should give – you don’t want to ride on a car with a driver who does not take a bath during these hot days. And speaking of hot days a government agency on television has asked people not to go out under the heat of the sun between 9 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon and if it cannot be avoided at all, at least, it advised, one should not expose oneself for more than 20 minutes . . . and put lots of sun block too. And as I said, it is not summer yet, officially, that is.
And so here we are again wondering what our world has become. Extreme weather is upon us - too hot and also too wet. Can prayer help? O yes, but only if we do something to help ourselves. And no, I am not of one mind with the secretary who said that we should blame God and not the administration for the brownouts in Mindanao. I think that is an exaggeration if not completely false. But I think we would be no different if we just simply rely on an Oratio Imperata.
Comments