A Mantra Taught by Heroes: In the Dark, We Find the Light

         Stories in the past portrayed the might of heroes. Some of them carried a pen
to conjure a book powerful enough to stir a revolution. Others catapulted themselves
to fight foreign invaders despite knowing well that it could lead to their demise. Some
awakened the reader’s compassion for how resilient they carried their virtues that
even a public execution cannot eradicate. Words across historical books emitted
their strength; they are clad with the cape of bravery and the spirit of will. In their
blood runs the nation’s pride. The remarkable thing about every martyr is how they
grip the light of hope within them despite the looming darkness around. They
bestowed so much belief in their ideals and fought bravely for it that even death
cannot tarnish its pact. It is perhaps, the flame that keeps their identity burning
throughout the centuries. Their physical bodies left but their existence remained.
Tales of past heroes taught us the mantra of hope. As the nation transforms into
modernity, with the freedom that the heroes of the past redeemed from invaders, the
same teaching carries its significance. It is in our duty to repeat the chant as the new
heroes of today tackle unforeseen darkness. 
         Frontliners, by definition, are the people standing at the forefront of a
battlefield. While their positions must require a herculean amount of courage and
strength, it also entails high vulnerability against enemies. The thing is, the foes
lurking around are much trickier to defeat because it cannot be simply detected by
sight. The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) attaches itself to a human
body to be distinguished. It had swept the world into an unprecedented health crisis.
People resorted to the usage of face masks for survival. The infected people were
supported by tubes to continually gasp for air. Frontliners, the new heroes of today’s
era, carry the burden of service over their safety. They come in the form of doctors,
nurses, medical workers, soldiers, policemen, pharmacists, grocery clerks, janitors,
and other workers in duty to provide sustenance for the rest of humanity staying at
home for security. Their immense bravery in providing services for the population
deemed them worthy of a noble calling: heroes. 
         Every new entry of a patient into hospitals calls for the urgent attention of
medical workers. The presence of soldiers and policemen are highly demanded in
their respective posts to ensure that everyone is following safety measurements in
the public. Grocery clerks and staff are doing their best to sanitize and set the malls
up in a motion to sustain people’s necessity. As COVID-19 infection spreads like
wildfire day by day, this predicament equates their heightened absence in their own
homes. As Filipinos, our culture emphasizes the integral role of the family as the
source of our strength in these trying times. In every frontliners’ hearts howl the need
for comfort and the weight of being apart from their families to prioritize the mass
public. Their sacrifices for the nation reminded us of the selfless surrender of the
past heroes for the sake of the many. While most of us are confined within the
vicinity of our homes, it cannot be denied that we too are fighting silent battles of our
own. The normal days of hustle and bustle back then put us in a perpetual state of
unsettlement. Some jobs are halted, gatherings are prohibited, and incomes are
limited. As humans, the need for connection towards other people is an innate
mechanism that enabled us to survive. When deprived of physical contact, yearning
for social interaction grows within us. We are then secluded in our homes, trapped
within the spaces of our minds. Some questions constantly awaken our fears. When
will the pandemic end? How will the lower sectors recuperate to the new normal way
of living? What if the COVID-19 can’t be contained by the government anymore?
Anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems become common among
households from the incessant knock of worries constantly fleeting within our
thoughts. Most importantly, it captured the inequality present in the world. Domestic
violence among households, unpaid labor among women, distraught budget, the
burden of online classes towards the poor students, and other injustices that
rendered conflicts to everyone’s life. Nobody is born as an ideally adjusted person.
Everyone is affected by the branches of effects the pandemic imprinted in the world.
And so, we cope. 
One paradoxical concept might keep us treading the unsteady roads that this
pandemic laid before for us and that is — misery gave birth to hope. Without
darkness, one cannot value the power of light. It is not by means, a way to glorify
despair but to treat it as the beacon for good things to pour through. To be filled with
hope is probably one of the most magnificent experiences a human can carry - to
continually thrive in the dark because the path would eventually lead to light. One
might have her mental health at stake by staying too long at their homes, confine
with the spaces of their minds. Or a medical worker in frustration from not attending
their children’s birthday because their work urgently needs their presence. One might
also be in a state of misery through bidding goodbye to a loved one terrorized by
COVID-19 through a mere videocall. Whatever the state of desolation one has been
through, the light will eventually come through. It is through these dark times that we
put so much value to happiness and peace when it comes. We unite in our struggles
because we are collectively calling out for healing. It is in our united chant of hope
that drives humanity closer than ever before. Through pain, we learn the value of
kindness towards each other. It is through scarcity that brought us the drive to
provide for the poor and the sick. Humanity huddled together for the warmth of
comfort the pandemic took away from us. It is through the dark times that taught us
how to be the light for each other. 
The heroes of the past were also stuck in an unprecedented crisis; the
deprivation of freedom. Hope was what led Jose Rizal to create Noli Me Tángere
and El filibusterismo, knowing that through the record of the Filipino’s past of
struggle, it could steer the ship of nationalism within every reader. Gregorio del Pilar
fought hard at the Tirad Pass; every bullet carries the emblem of strength in never
giving up. The three priests of GomBurZa carried the weight of their patriotism and
compassion for the Philippines even in the face of death. Every hero in the past
fought for the good of all, they scorched their throat from screaming for freedom. The
same blood of heroism flows through frontline workers of today. They are fighting for
the good of all as they scorched their safety from saving lives. The bruises in their
cheeks from wearing face masks every single day symbolizes the wounds of
bravery, fortitude, and courage in facing the peril of COVID-19. It is up to our
memories to keep their heroic deeds alive so it could keep the torch of hope awake
for the next centuries to come. To record our struggles is a means of putting
everything in the past as we look forward. Someday, all of this dilemma will take part
in the pages of history books. It is therefore a need to impart these tales for the
future generations to come, in hopes that the mantra will burn ever so brightly within
their hearts until an unpredictable misery happens in the future again. Despair calls
the power of healing. Misery brings hope. In the dark, we find the light.