The Tide!
Tide is Time! Tide is timing!
Low tide. High tide. Tide is timing. Tide is time. Tide or Time.
It’s the moment – the Kairos.
Fishermen wait for the tide. Crabs wait for the tide. The Matura’s baby turtles wait for high tide, burst into the world, then take the high tide to negotiate the wide, wicked, reckless tides of the ocean.
There is a tide for everything, – a tide for every activity under the heavens:
a tide of birth and a tide of
death,
a tide of planting and a tide of
uprooting,
a tide of killing and a tide of
healing,
a tide of tearing down and a
tide of building,
a tide of weeping and a tide of
laughing,
a tide of mourning and a tide
of dancing,
a tide of scattering stones and
a tide of gathering them,
a tide of embracing and a
tide of refraining from
embracing,
a tide of searching and a tide
of giving up,
a tide of keeping and a tide of
throwing away,
a tide of tearing and a tide of
mending,
a tide of being silent and a
a tide of speaking,
a tide of loving and a tide of
hating,
a tide of war and a tide of peace.
Tide is time. Tide is timing. What determines the tide? The Wind, God’s Breath, the origin and direction of which our ignorant minds cannot fathom.
But the Wind happens. The Tide is ready for it.
It’s open.
It discerns.
It’s obedient.
It’s flexible like the coconut tree.
It’s unresistant.
It’s not stubborn.
Our ancestors felt the painful tide in the belly bottom of cruel ships, the hopeful tide and painful tide of giving birth in the belly bottom of the plantation. They ride the high tide of emancipation and independence.
Now. It’s the COVID-19 tide.
Now. From what direction is the Wind blowing? What’s the Wind saying to us? Through whom is the Wind speaking in this COVID-19 tide? Is it the artists, the poets, the scientists, politicians, theologians, liturgists, catechists, homemaker?
For those who have ears to hear, listen to the Wind, feel the Wind. Take the tide.
It’s tidal time.
Beloved Reflections 