Mummified

By Alex P. Vidal 

“The genius of impeachment lay in the fact that it could punish the man without punishing the office.” – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

THE better term to describe the impeachment case filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio should be “mummified.”

Since it has been “archived” in the senate, mummified should be more acceptable since it was never “dismissed” or cremated.

In the first place, it was not yet killed, thus there could be no cremation yet.

The term mummified most commonly refers to ancient Egyptian mummies, where elaborate embalming processes were used, but mummification can also occur naturally in various environments.

It’s a body, either human or animal, that has been preserved through natural or intentional methods, preventing decomposition.

If the impeachment case is now “being preserved,” it can still be “revived” if the Supreme Court will reverse its unanimous decision declaring it null and void ab initio now that the House of Representatives has filed a motion for reconsideration (MR).

Why can’t we just relax, wait and place our guns back in the holsters?

There’s nothing to celebrate yet on the part of Team Duterte until the fat lady sings.

There’s nothing to mourn yet on the part of those itching to hold the vice president accountable for the mysterious disappearances of her offices’ (Office of the Vice President and Department of Education) millions if not billions worth of intelligence funds, among other alleged serious malfeasances.

Relax lang. As the Tagalog saying goes, bilog ang bola.

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The 35-year-old Filipino male tourist killed after being hit by a cab driven by an 80-year-old driver in Hong Kong recently is a classic example of the often repeated saying that life is temporary and can be taken away anytime any place without any warning.

The victim had just checked out from hotel and was walking casually when the wayward cab suddenly smashed him, the impact pinned his body against a cemented wall before he fell like a log.

He could have died instantly. Just like that. Like a thief in the night, death will snatch away our life in the blink of an eye.

“To put life’s temporariness into perspective, what are some other non-permanent things?” asked Nate Stevens.

He explained the following: The waiting room in a hospital is temporary. Our time at an airport terminal is also temporary.

Although depending on cancelations, that form of temporary might be a little longer than expected, but it’s still a temporary stay.

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Stevens pointed to trips to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as temporary. Vacations are also temporary. Although we enjoy them, we don’t expect to stay on vacation our entire earthly existence. We realize that at some point we have to go home.

What do we do while at these temporary places? When we’re in the waiting room at the hospital, we listen for our names. When the doctor or nurse arrives, we don’t want to miss them when they call for us.

When we’re at the airport, we also listen for our boarding and departure information. We listen to avoid missing the flight.

At the DMV we listen for them to call our name or assigned number. While on vacations, we may not be actively listening for someone to call us.

But we are available to family and friends in case of an emergency. During all these temporary states, we walk, sit, worry, maybe sleep, and sometimes have an occasional snack.

Of course, while on vacation, we eat too much but that’s another story. The point is, our focus is temporary, not a long-term investment of our time.

Just like all these temporary situations, this earthly life is temporary. We realize that sooner or later we must face death. But quite often we act like this earth is permanent.

We act like we’re going to be here forever. We accumulate things, we put down deep roots, we fix up our surroundings. And yet we would never do that in a waiting room, an airport terminal, at the DMV, or while on vacation.

As proof of this life’s temporary status, sooner or later, our bodies will stop functioning and life as we know it will cease to exist. But instead of thinking of them as temporary, we pamper them and set our hearts on anything and everything we desire like it was a permanent situation. That is like fixing up a rental.

He quoted that the Bible that tells us we are to number our days (Psalm 90:12). It says our earthly life is like vanishing vapor (James 4:14), dissipating smoke (Psalm 102:3), a passing shadow (Psalm 144:4). Hebrews 9:27 says death is every person’s unavoidable appointment.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)