For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.1
Every year we earmark milestones to celebrate as a reminder to what we hold dear.
“The EDSA Peoples Power is one such event which we remember every February 25.
“The People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986) was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that began in 1983 and culminated in 1986. The methods used amounted to a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. This case of nonviolent revolution led to the toppling of President Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of the country’s democracy.”2
Another event is our Independence Day. “Independence Day (Filipino: Araw ng Kasarinlán; also known as Araw ng Kalayaan, “Day of Freedom”) is an annual national holiday in the Philippines observed on June 12, commemorating the declaration of Philippine independence from Spain in 1898.”3 “On this day in 1898, the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands in the western Pacific Ocean named after Spanish King Philip II, declared independence from Spain after more than 300 years of colonial rule.”4
As important as these events are, there is one celebration that should be primary—our freedom from death. Death comes to us in one form or the other. And to some the fear of death is debilitating; it grips and takes hold. Have you pondered the thought?
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.5
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.6
Notes:
1. Galatians 5:1
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_People_Power_Revolution
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(Philippines)
4. https://www.rappler.com/technology/news/232857-google-doodle-philippine-independence-day-2019
5. John 3:16-18
6. Romans 15:13
7. Picture #2, The walk to Sto. Domingo Church on 22 Aug 1986, lifted from Alfonso P. Policarpio, Jr, NINOY The Willing Martyr, p.206
8. Picture #3, EDSA People-Revolution, 23 Feb 1986, taken by Romeo Mariano, https://www.rappler.com/nation/123662-in-photos-not-just-4-days-edsa-revolution
