Back to "Normal"

Well, it's been a few days since the president lifted the National State of Emergency and things are getting back to normal. As of this writing, I have successfully driven past a number of military camps on the way to church without seeing much out of the ordinary (for Manila!). According to the government, the immediate threat to the current administration has been contained. Life goes on...

Now we're back to the "normal" inconveniences of life here:

1. People ring your doorbell 4 times in a span of 8 seconds just to make sure to are hurrying yourself over to answer the door.

2. Furniture you buy at the store to be delivered may be damaged in transit and need to be repaired (no warranties or help from the store of course).

3. Oh, and driving here brings new meaning to the term "bumper to bumper." i.e. your bumpers DO touch each other on occasion and if there is space, a two lane steet can become four. Perhaps I'm just bitter because a taxi hit my van the other day. Grrrrr.... Of course he just left. He's probably already in trouble with the company that owns the taxi. Very minor damage to by bumper. His partially came off.

That's Manila living for ya. I guess there is a lesson in all this: when there is a huge crisis, you're focused on your personal safety and stuff. After that has past, it's the little things in life that become the biggest deals in the world to you (like how many times someone rings your doorbell). The problem of evil will be with us until Jesus takes over this place, BUT it's interesting to note that we can always find something to point to complain about. So we pray for much grace to endure the day-to-day struggles. And yes, we do a lot of praying here...