Dealing with the unavoidable fallouts

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

 

HOW should we handle the inevitable fallouts of our new situation these days? I suppose the quick answer is not to mind them so much and to just move on. But such an attitude is definitely easier said than done. Not tackling this particular issue properly would be like the ostrich burying its head under the sand in the face of some danger.

We cannot deny that given the continuing crisis caused by this notorious COVID pandemic, many of us are at a loss as to how to deal with this predicament’s adverse side effects, consequences and implications.

Of course, we try to be resilient, looking for more ways of how to cope with the new situation. But for sure we cannot avoid having to deal with fallouts that pose new problems, difficulties, challenges.

We need, first of all, to identify as clearly as possible these fallouts in the different aspects of our life—personal, spiritual, moral, family, professional, financial, social, etc. This is important because we tend to gloss over them, preferring to give knee-jerk reactions to problems rather than well-studied ones. As a result, we are likely to put ourselves in a greater, more formidable bind.

We already have heard that many people nowadays are falling into some mental and emotional conditions because of this pandemic. Others are wasting time simply brooding, feeling depressed and unable to do anything.

Many are trapped in some distractions, like games and even pornography on the internet, as their way of escaping from boredom. Worse, there are reports of a growing number of people, especially the young, going into occult practices and witchcraft that are marketed on social media.

There seems to be a trend to escape the reality of things and to create some kind of fantasy world instead. As the anguish caused by the fallouts grows, the trend to escapism also grows, until one gets swallowed up by a completely unreal world, setting him up for a very bad, even fatal, fall.

We need to realize that in all these fallouts, the one basic, indispensable thing to do is obviously to go back to God, growing and sharpening our faith and hope. We have to realize that we are nothing and completely helpless without God. We have to overcome the thought that with our own powers alone, we can handle all these problems.

God takes care of everything. And he has reassured us that while we will always have some trouble in the world, he already has overcome them. (cfr. Jn 16,33) We need to see the wisdom of these divine and redemptive words, finding why indeed God can do so. Obviously, we have to learn how to have some faith-based sporting spirit, one that includes the capacity to suffer the way Christ suffered.

With God, we would know that these fallouts are given, allowed or tolerated by God because we can make something good out of them. They can occasion a greater and more realistic understanding of our condition in this life as well as the development of more virtues or the refining, polishing and maturing of the virtues that we already have.

With God, we would realize that these fallouts are actually a blessing rather than a curse, another golden opportunity for greatness rather than a setback and a punishment!

 

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com