Confession of the Confused

By: MAJOR STEPHEN L CABANLET PN(M)

Every person has to find a path to follow in order to reach that goal for which they were given breathes for. To be able to know that there is a path to follow, by itself, is a leap because not everyone is given a chance to have this kind of realization. It is a hard earned wisdom birthed by the hurt and pressure of life’s inevitable comedy thrown to shape and sharpen character. Although no one is immune as all experience, and at some time sliced by tragedy, most people are moulded only skin deep. Hiding in false pretence of bravery and superficial knowledge, their weakened and tenderized soul paralyzes others. Like a dark cloud in the horizon, they conceal the guiding star that lights the path of the enlightened.

As for the one who writes, the reason to continue fighting for breath is peace in every inch under the sun. Believing in the power of brute force to bring chaos into order, the warrior’s path was threaded boldly and blindly. Every victory won was celebrated not minding that it was priced, an ounce of victory for a pound of crushed innocent soul. That “there is a very thin line dividing bravery and foolishness” is an understatement. But foolishness is a stage of life cycle, it ends where wisdom begins. Wisdom commence in the acceptance that it is normal to be afraid and that bravery is not synonymous with “unafraid”. Being brave is threading the path to peace by every means, including a gun less means.

Divide and conquer, instill fear then conquer, use religion to conquer, educate and feed then conquer, surely it is wise to learn from history which is the most effective and lasting means to “influence peace”. Surely camouflage is not just to hide and protect a soldier from the enemy in the wilderness; it is also a symbol of the capacity of a soldier to take the shape and blend with the winds of change. Surely marines are conceived to straighten conflict primarily with iron fist, but marines are also born agents of peace, therefore it will apply all means possible to carry out its mission of bringing stability even to the point of risking to rest the muscle. Then using first the brain then the heart, instillpeace thru peaceful means, influence peace by educating and feeding the body and soul of the vulnerable members of the brother enemies.

Simple as it may sound the peaceful campaign becomes hard when met with indifference. Insisting on brute force and forgetting the basic law of nature that force begets force as love begets love is the biggest mountain peace has to conquer. Confusing indeed because of the falsely learned reality that camouflage is made and only good at peace thru destruction. Accepting that camouflage produce stronger influence when used to care rather than scare is like the story of the monsters learning that much energy is collected when children laugh and less when they are made to cry. In the same monster story “happy” means of collecting energy is met with resistance because of the fact that monster are born to scare children not to make them laugh. But the energy crisis of the entire monster town forced even the scariest of the monster to force himself to be funny because it is his duty to collect energy. He defied his nature as a monster but he was able to do his part in their society.

There is only one North Star to follow to achieve lasting peace in Mindanao. But the same single North Star illuminates myriads of path towards the elusive peace. For so long many has chosen and still chose the path of false bravery, refusing to adapt to the tides of change. For us young followers the path to take is clear, but leadership has stronger impact so to speak. The binding oath hoodwinks the mind to confusion, subordinates can only do much to follow, and subordinates can only pray much for enlightenment of the leader. In the same monster story a child’s cry can fill a bucket with energy to the brim, but a child’s laughter can light up and energize the entire city. The benefit the entire nation can someday reap by renewing the minds of the youth of Sulu today is imaginable. But to be able to do so leadership has to strip off every falsity, dress up with humility and accept the reality that even the most insignificant member of the group has a mind that can contribute, sometimes even better, for the common good. But if the leadership still chose to take the same road, an extra mile of slow but constant walk by the enlightened towards peace is better than fast and constant failure of taking the same road over and over again.