The Things We Take for Granted

The Things We Take for Granted

Ah, the things we take for granted. We always take for granted that we have food on the table, tap water, electricity, Internet connection, refrigerator, car and public transport vehicles.

We always take for granted that there are farms that produce our food on the table, that we have money to buy food, that we have multiple options in a given day or week, from 'samgyup' to Dubai chewy cookie with kataifi, that we can always have our food fresh or frozen, that we can stock up on canned goods and other items at our convenience, that there are 2/7 convenience stores, that we can withdraw cash conveniently from the nearest ATM, that we can buy the nursing baby's special formula milk at all, and diapers too, that we have cheap generic maintenance medicines, that we can take care of our sick and ailing family members in comfort.

We don't expand much thought on the fact that we can get whatever we want at our fingertips, from the items we are salivating over at Lazada or Shoppee to the day's viral dance routines and the silliest and most hilarious memes or latest showbiz gossip and controversy. We don't give much importance to the fact that we have Uber and Grab Food, and we can PM or DM our relative in Spain at the flick of a button any time of the day or have a video call with someone in Saudi Arabia the same way via Messenger or Viber.

We don't reckon that much that we can travel around the country and the world with such ease.

We don't think much about these things, presuming they are our birthright.

At this age, we can no longer imagine a world without oil and gas.

We've been too complacent. We've been sleeping too much on the fact that all of this could come crashing down one day at an instant with the sudden closure of a body of water -- a mere strait -- that we haven't heard about.

Who knew that the Strait of Hormuz could be blockaded by a country which technically doesn't own it, and the whole world could be plunged into darkness and famine combined, and at the same time too?

The regrets come much too late. How we wish we had gone solar or at least hybrid on fuel and energy source ten, twenty years ago! What were our options then? Wind, sure. Geothermal, check. Hydroelectric, yes we have it to an extent. Nuclear, possible, but scary because risky, dangerous. Can't we use ocean or river currents as well? I think we use coal too, but I am not sure where we are procuring it, and besides it is not considered green or clean energy.

Solar would have been the most accessible, although too pricey for a typical household who has the foresight but would have to shell out half a million pesos for the installation.

No thanks to the sudden closure, we are facing the very real prospect of being like Cuba: no electricity, no light, no food, no nothing. We hope to God not, but we can't be so sure, what with our dependence, or seemingly, in psychological terms, codependence, not even interdependence. Our degree of enmeshment with faraway republics, kingdoms and monarchies, sultanates, emirates, 'people's republics,' even political Islamist 'republics,' is such that we don't even see it as existing and as close to us as breathing.

Now that we are suddenly flooded with words such as oil embargo, detente, balance of power, axis of evil, Great Satan, Little Satan, proxy wars, we are left speechless, unable to move and decide at the suddenness of it all. In denial. These are all signs of trauma.

Will we keep our jobs? How are we going to eat? Where to find our next meal? What will happen to our family? The remittances from the Middle East -- how long will they last? How do we repatriate our family members trapped there, if at all? Here at home, where do we run to, to survive? We don't own underground bunkers equipped with the right things, with food that could end months without rotting. We don't have underground shelters where we could hide in, just in case. Which self-sustaining farm or forest or jungle could we stay in that could provide us a steady amount of rice, root crops, huts, fruits, vegetables, game or meat, fowl, eggs, water to drink?

Our world has turned into, if not a literal warzone, at least an economic war zone. Who knew a mere closure of a strait could easily turn this world upside down? Who knew we were this vulnerable? Who knew this world is so frail?

We must be resilient. Should have been all along. In worst-case scenarios, we run the risk of going back to our pre-modern, primitive ways. Walking to get to where we want to be. Backyard raising of grains, beans, fast-growing vegetables, chickens, pigs, goats. Cooking with firewood or charcoal and clay stoves. Preserving food in vinegar or salt as pickles and jellies and jams or letting them ferment. Foraging for herbs, weeds, fruits, piths, corms, bulbs, tubers, runners, shoots, insects, grubs, cocoons, twigs, buds, embryos we've heard in some videos as edible. Reverting to the carabao, sled, harrow, rafts, boats, bicycles, horse-drawn cart, mortar and pestle, and organic composting. Barter trade. Neighborhood food exchange. Community pantry. Ambulant stores and vendors. Home service. Herbal remedies. DIY home remedies. Old-fashioned cleansers. Nipa huts.

Hand-pumped deep wells, artesian wells. Carpooling (if there's any sachet of gasoline left). Face-to-face meets or grand eyeballs. Bandillo, umalohokan (town crier), and kungkong (indigenous bamboo implement). Printed paper. Radio. Analog. Legacy media (if and when there is electricity and connectivity).

Apart from our armory of traditional foodways and culture, our only armor now is faith. And inspired words from God.

"Do not be afraid for I am with you." "I love you and you are mine."

***

You Are Mine

(a song by David Haas)

"I will come to you in the silence

I will lift you from all your fear

You will hear My voice

I claim you as My choice

Be still, and know I am near

I am hope for all who are hopeless

I am eyes for all who long to see

In the shadows of the night,

I will be your light

Come and rest in Me

Do not be afraid, I am with you

I have called you each by name

Come and follow Me

I will bring you home

I love you and you are mine

I am strength for all the despairing

Healing for the ones who dwell in shame

All the blind will see, the lame will all run free

And all will know My name

Do not be afraid, I am with you

I have called you each by name

Come and follow Me

I will bring you home

I love you and you are mine

I am the Word that leads all to freedom

I am the peace the world cannot give

I will call your name, embracing all your pain

Stand up, now, walk, and live

Do not be afraid, I am with you

I have called you each by name

Come and follow Me

I will bring you home

I love you and you are mine."

***

God, save us! We are afraid, we feel helpless. Lord, forgive our complacency. We are so dumb we only realize the import of things the moment they are gone.

We've learned our lessons now.

Crisis, the Chinese say, is where secret opportunities abound. Show us where those are hiding in plain sight.

We beg you to spare us from the evils of war!