An elderly advice: Simple living at Asin Hot Springs, Tuba, Benguet

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Roger D. Sinot

Age of Confusion- We have everything a machine age can provide, and yet boredom and unhappiness have reached an all-time high and our morals have plunged on an all-time low as to a social rating.

"What happened to the people these days? Many of them act as if policemen are their enemies," wondered a policeman mauled by the crowd. The young officer said when interviewed by a news reporter: "when other hoodlums tried to take away my prisoner, members of the crowd held my arms and one took my gun, some even joined in the assault. Nobody tried to help me!"

He was shown on TV being brought to a hospital on a stretcher. His cheek was bloody from an ugly wound, and he was in pain from a savage kick in the groin. His nose was broken after being stomped on by a teenager's steel-toe boot.

The attitude towards the officers and the government officials is so frightening as witnessed in our daily news. That takes a special tactical patrol force, fully armed to disperse the taunting, dangerous mobs who try to interfere with the work of the police. The authority said, "the police cannot fight crime and the public at the same time."

There are many contributing causes to the rioting and crime wave in our country. Probably one of the contributing factors is poverty. But another contributing element is found in the home.

Much of todays' disrespect for authority stems from disorganized or indifferent family life. Young people reflect the attitudes of their parents. Even though people want law and order, peace and security, an increasingly vocal minority is revolutionary in attitude.

"Until the attitude of the government, the family, the home, the church, the courts become predominantly "righteous", our democratic form of government is in danger of being thrown. What is the answer to these problems? How righteous is our society at its core? We have cured our hunger and quenched our thirst with the desire for money, security, fame and success.

St. Augustine wrote "two verbs that built two empires, the verb to have and the verb to be. The first is empire of things, materials, possessions and power. The second is an empire of the spirit and things that last."

In Matthew 5:6, Christ expresses a crucial, central truth when he spoke these words: "Happy are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." He addressed them to the multitude. The important  question was what were they hungry for?

I say," It pays to live a simple life, simple living. Take a little of everything," according to my cousin March Fianza. Let us live our life to the fullest.

A favorite song my mother used to sing goes..." I'm satisfied with just a cottage below, a little of silver, a little of gold". So my fellow readers, live a simple and righteous life. Don't worry, be happy. Let us not be mob followers. A sage teaches us to distinguish what is right from wrong and live within our bounds. This is simple living. All we are saying is act naturally.

Happy trails everyone and all!