By REV. LUNA DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come.” — Psalms 22:1

Responses to questions of Cathryn Taylor of Australia
Second of six parts
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2. Can you tell a personal story that explains your understanding of how God relates to people in suffering – your own suffering or someone close to you?

Our country at the moment is still mourning over the death of Secretary Jesse M. Robredo of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). He died of plane crash accident off the shores of the Province of Masbate few weeks ago. Sec. Robredo is one of the best, if not the best cabinet secretary, we ever had, so far. He exhibited in his life and works what we mean by genuine servant leadership. Some would call his leadership style as “Tsinelas (slippers) leadership,” because of wearing slippers and casual clothes instead of formal attire while at work with people, even in supposedly formal gatherings, reflective of the kind of person he is.

I never had the chance to meet Secretary Robredo in person, but all the people whom I talked with about him and all the reports and write ups I read concerning him have only one thing to say: he is a good person – simple, humble, approachable, kind and compassionate, especially to the poor and oppressed. He is the kind of leader our country badly needs in this trying time. His untimely death is a great tragedy for the whole nation, indeed. Thousands of people from all walks of life – rich and poor – came over for his state funeral, many of them in their slippers. This would show the extent of people whom he touched with his life. They turned the funeral into a festival of faith and hope.

Many are saying that his death is God’s will, but I emphatically say: NO! Not everything that happens in this world is God’s will. God’s will for us is always for our good. I don’t believe that a good and loving God wills that a good man like Secretary Robredo would die in a plane crash accident. I do believe God also mourns with us; God also weeps with us. Prophet Ezekiel said that God doesn’t want even an evil person to die, but to repent and live (cf. Ezek. 18:23).

Secretary Robredo’s tragic death points to us first of all how limited we are as human beings. We are not perfect, even if we claim that we have conquered and tamed the natural world; that we can fly like birds. Accidents do happen. And even good people like Secretary Robredo are not exempted from this human tragedy. Suffering is not only meant for evil people; it is also meant for good people who are faithful to God. But if and when we suffer because of our faithfulness to God, we do realize that God suffers with us. This is one of the realizations of Job in his experience of suffering.

And the good news is that God can turn our tragedies into blessings. Secretary Robredo’s death may be tragic, but the Robredo Family also claimed they have been blessed not only by his life but also by his death. The great number of people who had come to comfort them enabled them to rise above their grief and inspired them no end to keep alive the Secretary’s legacy in life. In fact, the whole nation had been blessed by his death.

We can say that Secretary Robredo was able to accomplish in death what he was not able to accomplish in life: his tragic death had caught the attention of the whole nation to the truth that it is possible to serve the people genuinely, especially the poor and oppressed through the instrumentalities of the government without being tainted by corruption. Besides, his death focused the attention of the whole nation to the kind of leadership needed in order for our country to move forward in the right path. And hopefully, we, especially our leaders, could learn our lesson no matter how painful it may be. # nordis.net

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