Amongst the Unseen Ruin

I search for it among the shattered glass and broken foundations of countless lives. It is here. I can feel it, can almost see it, as fleeting as it is. There! Then in a wisp it is gone.

I know it for what it is. Live long enough without it and you come to recognize it immediately. You may have your name for it, but I call it Hope.

An interesting notion, is it not? To believe in something against all odds. To imagine what can be when all logic in the Multiverse supports only what is before our eyes. It’s dangerous, as dangerous as it comes. For as transformative as it can be, it can be lost. And then where would we be?

There is a resilience here that I have not before seen. It’s in their eyes and their hearts. It is that of the human spirit. Devastated by tragedy, there are smiles amongst the sadness. It warms me to no end, nourishes my sometimes weak spirit. And it is quite glorious to witness firsthand.

As soon as Jet, my ground contact in Tacloban, met me at the airport and we entered the back of the UN truck – 8 of us in all; 3 newbie volunteers including myself – I knew I was in the presence of something special. There were laughs shared almost immediately, smiles and warm hearted gestures exchanged. Levity is important in life, but it is never more critical than in the most serious of times. It reminds us that it was not always like this and that one day, universe willing, it may be what it was again.

Hope.

My contacts give us the “tour”, telling us what it used to be like. “This *was* a beautiful view,” Ron says as we stand at the dividing line between earth and sea. It’s always past tense. But the way they describe it you can almost see it. Almost.

The two caskets nearby, one shattered, the other unopened, are stark reminders of what’s at stake here.

It’s not just life. It’s not just ensuring that people are fed, watered and sheltered. It’s not just the satisfaction of the first layer of physical needs of Maslow’s Hierarchy. It’s the top layer — the human spirit. I believe Maslow was wrong. I believe we aren’t linear in our needs and aren’t so predefined as to only achieve the greatest potential of our humanity by first “satisfying” all the needs below it in sequence. No, my friend, we are much greater than that in all regards. The people here prove that when they raise their hands in greeting and smile in all sincerity of human kindness.

It is a tribute to us all that amongst ruin we can be strong. Amongst chaos, we can hold tight to our ideals and our compassion. And in the face of monumental odds, we can band together — whether in the back of an 8-person truck or united as a world shoulder to shoulder — and set out to do some good.

And that, my friend, gives me hope.

All the best tonight on your travels from here to there wherever you decide your “their” to be.

David