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BY RHODA GARZON CAMPILLAN
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ONE OF my favorite Disney animated films is Aladdin. I like this movie because of the Genie of the Lamp.
In the film, the Genie could grant three wishes. Ali (the lead character) at first wished to be a prince so that Princess Jasmine will fall in love with him. His second wish was for the Genie to save his life. His last wish was to set the Genie free.
If you are going to dig deeper into Ali’s wishes, you will notice that two of these are for his own personal gain. His last wish, however, is selfless. He had the chance to ask for his own personal prosperity but he chose to make others happy – he chose to lift up the Genie’s spirit.
This Christmas season, we sometimes find ourselves wishing for good things to come to us. If only we have a friend like the Genie we could also ask for things that will make us and others happy. Human, as we are, we always want something for our own selves and we forget that there are others who need our good wishes the most. We choose to be blind because the truth is we are selfish.
This Christmas, I have a lot of wishes. First, I wish for world peace. I always read on the news sad images of violence and criminality around us. Murder, violence, illegal drug trade, war, corruption, among others. Nations fight against nations. Father fights against son and vice versa. The world is enveloped with darkness. I feel very sad even if I am not the victim.
Every night and every Sunday, I pray for world peace. I pray that everyone will be enlightened and their hearts will be touched by Jesus. I pray that they will choose to love instead of hate. I pray that this Christmas people will find peace in their hearts.
Second, I wish for the conversion of all sinners. I am not exempted from this because I am also a sinner who needs mercy and grace. I do not want to sound righteous but I am constantly wishing that all of us sinners will find God in our lives; that we refuse to do bad and instead channel our energies to do good.
As humans, we find it hard to combat temptation. However, we need to strengthen our spirit to fight evil around us. God wants us to seek his mercy so that our lives will be free of burdens and hate.
Third, I wish for the enlightenment of our leaders. Almost always we are not satisfied with how our leaders run our country. We always expect them to do better. I pray that our leaders will choose to do right and consider over and above the welfare of the citizens. I pray that they will forego their selfish desires. I pray that they will not be tempted to be corrupt. I pray they will be the kind of leaders every Filipino wishes to have.
Fourth, I wish for the healing of the sick. I have seen how my mother endures the pain of chemotherapy. It crushes my heart to witness people suffering from ailments.
When I was a TV news reporter, I saw countless cases of mothers crying and asking help for the healing of their children. They sought the help of media organizations to fund the medication of their children. They were hopeless and desperate and my heart bled for them.
I remember the story of the sick widow in the Bible. She had high hopes that she would be healed. She believed in her heart that she would be free from her ailments if she could touch even just the hem of Jesus’ clothes.
She got her wish when she braved the sea of crowd surrounding Jesus. She touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and she was healed. Jesus told her her faith healed her. I pray that those losing hope to be free from their diseases will hold on to their faith.
Fifth, I wish that 2017 will be a good year for all of us. I hope that as we embark on another new beginning, we will not forget the lessons of the past year. Let us all use this to improve ourselves.
We must not forget to do good to others, after all we only live once; we might as well put this life to good use.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to one and all./PN
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