I have been experiencing trying times for the last couple of weeks. My aunt always tells me that I have it better than most people and so many people in the are suffering so much more and that I should be thankful that I do not have a problem like the theirs.

We went out to get some groceries this evening and as I was looking out of the car, I could see so many children in bare feet running about unmindful of the cars whizzing by. I also saw a woman, heavy with child and, carrying a few months old baby in her arms walking aimlessly in the streets, beggars abound. Amidst the towering skyscrapers and billboards and the big stores and the number of private vehicles that crowd the city, the picture of poverty provide a stark contrast.

If the country's economy is doing so well as our government would have as believe, then why are so many people starving? Why are so many families without decent homes? Why are so many children out in the streets and not in schools and why are so many who are in schools not able to read and write? Why are so many professionals or even so many of our country men so bent on leaving the country? Like they cannot get out of this place fast enough. It would seem that Filipinos have to get out of their country to be able to provide for their families. And yet, there are so many jobs available in this country, only that very few people are qualified.

Now I have become carried away here where my intention was not to make this social nor political. These ramblings having been spurned out of the bad days that I have been having which looks like its not about to end. An apt comparison would be a storm that seems to not one to leave a certain area but keeps on circling it wreaking more havoc to the already ravaged surroundings.

I wonder if those people whose present is miserable with no sign of a future, those people with an incurable diseases or lingering illnesses, those wives who are being beaten by their husbands, those people who are forced to eat from garbage to survive, those people who are living with a disability and all those other malaise. I wonder, do they even feel the presence of God in their lives or do they think that He has forgotten all about them?

We are told oftentimes that thses are God's way of testing us, the strength of our faith. How in the world could one possibly pray when all one feels is hunger?How can one believe when after all one's efforts all that one has worked for is taken away in one fell swoop? While those who steal, deal, killand cheat prosper or just get away with it? Where is the justice in all this ?

I do not have a clue.