Diane Solver

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body; what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

I looked at the birds feeding at the grains of rice I’d scattered on the soil. They eventually came near the place where I stood, and eat the grains fearlessly together with the chickens. The chickens greedily hurt the small birds causing them to move some distance. Then, I thought, that even other creatures can be selfish and unkind to small ones. Why does weak creatures always been under the power of the great? Can’t they live equally in this world?”

“Pahagad maluto…” (begging for rice). I remember the person who always say this before. He had no home, no shelter, no roof or regular place to stay in. he sleep anywhere during hot or rainy days. He lived the same way like animals feeding for left-over foods given by some people. They call him “Berto” and since I was a kid, he’s already there. He was “blessed” by being mentally retarded person. One of such people who suffered the worst way of life, being unwanted by the society.

People in our town knew him toowell. He always beg, walk along the roads or in every store or house that he thought would be kind to offer him some sorts of throw-away foods. Foods which can fill his aching stomach. From door to door, he was treated badly and sent him away without receiving anything. Some people chased him, and it was one of those sad days, when hands were closed to help him. He sat in every corner where he can feel more comfortable during cold days. But life goes on. And I wonder how he survived. Perhaps, he has his own world, the world far from the reality. A place where people couldn’t hurt him and where life can be simple, so beautiful.

He seldom talks or says some words. And as he begs, whether he had received something or not, he always smiled in return. Some people hurt him, spit on him or throw some stones for him to go away. But he didn’t fight nor save himself from the cruelties of other people.

I didn’t saw him since I graduated high school. I didn’t walk along the street where I always saw him waiting for nothing, or maybe, waiting for the day turned into night. I don’t know where he is now. He had vanished, went somewhere like how birds flew from place to place. He was just one of many mentally retarded people who was abandoned by the society and neglected by others. I know that he is happy living in this world like other creatures, specifically like a bird whose life is in the hands of God the Almighty.

I’ve learned in the first year of my high school life that those unwanted people, those mentally retarded are more blessed than the normal one. They are not guilty of their sins. They are innocent or unaware about the things that are happening. And therefore, they are more closer to God than anybody else.

I thank God that He gave me the strength to accept things which cannot be changed. And I'm happy that He gave me the courage to hold on and be brave to face it. Not all things can be perfect. I've learned that we must be contented and satisfied with what we have. For what God wants for us is greater than what we preferred to be.