American inspirational writer and best-selling author Dennis Wholey once said, “Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you’re a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you’re a vegetarian.” While the world doesn’t really have any personality, purpose or plan, this adage anthropomorphizes it as if it has personal characteristics. The “bull”—or the world—does not distinguish between a vegetarian and a steak eater. The bull will attack any person, in the same way that the world will bring challenges to a good or bad person. What this analogy attempts to teach us is that life’s troubles do not discriminate between good or bad people.
Good and bad people, in both Israel and in the Gaza Strip, have recently been in open attack by the “bull.” Missiles and rockets have crossed paths and destroyed homes and communities. After several days of cross-border fighting, no signs of abatement are in sight, with several countries supporting one or the other. This civil unrest saw Jewish and Arab groups attacking each other with much hatred, quite similar to, but not as violent, the way Christians and Muslims were ruthlessly battling each other during the medieval times.
The latest Israel-Palestine conflict seems to find its proximate cause in the Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The bigger picture, however, involves the Palestinians’ frustration in their territorial aspiration for an independent state in recent years, including United States’ recognition of disputed Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Collateral damage is inevitable. Man has yet to invent missiles and rockets that can distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. As pandemonium breaks loose in the Middle East, the “bull” in this part of the world is also wreaking havoc, on the good and the bad. Some Filipinos have to contend with hungry stomachs, with barely anything to eat the next day. Some are taking care of ailing children. Hospitalization for some seems to be an expensive and far-fetched idea. The labor force is beset with unemployment concerns, while business owners face bankruptcy issues and forced closures. Collectively and figuratively, this coronavirus has swarmed all over the country for more than a year now like “air raids” of missiles and rockets—hitting good and bad people indiscriminately. Hence, all kinds of quarantine measures have been adopted, all of which practically tell us to “run and hide” in our respective bomb shelters—our homes! In our homes, we should feel safer and more secure. Whatever structure we have, though not as formidable as Israel’s iron curtain that can neutralize Hamas’ rockets from the sky, minimizes the unwanted entry of the virus in our bodies. This “stay-at-home” policy provides an atmosphere of protection similar to how bomb shelters protect people, now and then.
The people of Israel are used to bomb shelters, reflecting the nation’s collective siege mentality. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently reminded his countrymen that, 70 years ago, around 6 million Jews were taken to slaughter; 60 years ago, the Jews had no country and no army; 35 years ago, the Jews fought and won against the three most powerful armies in the Middle East. His fighting words were—“We built our little ‘Empire’ from nothing. Who’s Hamas to scare me…and look at us, The slaves of Egypt, The People of Moses, The Nation of the Bible, We are still here.”
While Israel’s true bomb shelter is the Heavenly Creator, Hamas will likely have its counterpart as well. Incidentally, there is convergence in these “bomb shelters,” biblically speaking, as Jews, Muslims, and even Christians recognize that Ishmael (ancestor of Muhammad) and Isaac (ancestor of Jesus Christ) both came from Abraham—“For I have made you the father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5). I am in no position and have little knowledge to intelligently discuss the eventual divergence in these faiths. All I know is that as both sides will exchange missiles and rockets, they have their respective beliefs to make them feel protected in this battle. As this recent upsurge in faith-based violence is also deeply rooted in territorial claims from the very distant past, these rival forces can literally build fallout shelters in any safe and enclosed space, whether in Gaza or in Israel. Unless there will be a ground war, the victor in this missiles and rockets exchange can be determined by the extent of how their “bomb shelters” are fortified, literally and figuratively.
In my own personal front, I am fortunately relieved and convinced that I have only one bomb shelter that I consider as a super-fortress. My God, as seen in the life of Jesus Christ, is my solid rock of protection, impenetrable, unlike Israel’s missile defense system (iron curtain) that has allowed 10 percent of Hamas rockets to hit their targets. Beset with numerous trials at work in my 34 years of working for government and in the private sector, I was bombarded into desperation and found refuge only when I discovered and cultivated a personal relationship with Him.
Like the nation of Israel, we go through a series of challenges that somehow eventually lead us to victory. It is a matter of mental orientation, taking to heart where our rest and strength against life’s challenges are really anchored. In the Bible, Psalms 18:2 is truly inspiring: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Let’s be reminded where our real peace should be fastened. Amid these “air raids” in our lives, we can always count on our Almighty God as our “bomb shelter.” With Him, we should stay put and be at peace. No amount of missiles and rockets can harm us. As my good friend Pastor Hiram Pangilinan succinctly stated in his book Discovering Jesus, “…you can only find that life as you remain in Jesus. He is Life Himself and the source of it too.”
Many avenues of safety or comfort or remedy have been tried and tested in many wars. Yet, oftentimes, inner peace within each person appears blurry. For those stuck in the middle of the crossfire in Israel and for those battling the virus and the accompanying trials that go with it, there just seems to be no rest. No matter the duration of the missiles and rockets exchange or the extended quarantine in this country, only one bomb shelter can truly bring us protection. In the Bible, Psalms 23:4 tells us, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Perhaps this is where Prime Minister Netanyahu takes his confidence from when he boldly said: “Who is Hamas to scare me?”
Let the bull rage upon us—both good and bad people, believers or non-believers. Anytime and anywhere, at least in my case, I am never in harm’s way as I have my ever-reliable and impenetrable bomb shelter. In your case, where is your bomb shelter?