Depression
In the last 2 months, many of us have read about the medical condition called depression, because at least two very noted personalities we read are said to be suffering from it. One is a very young world-renowned lady athlete and the other a former president of the Philippines in his 60's. The latter died a week or so ago.
Over the years we have heard so much about this condition which used to not get much attention. But now we are told it is a very serious condition and must be given much importance. It is not only a very real, consumptive, and debilitating ailment but could also be career-ending and even life-threatening. And for many necessitating the engagement of professionals specialized in such conditions.
Growing up we typically and nonchalantly associated depression with loneliness, sadness, or even melancholy. So we did not really give it the gravity that medical professionals now have invested in the condition. After all, most if not all of us went through such forlorn periods of feeling very low, to a point that at times we did not even want to get out of our beds to face the world.
I remember my own episodes when I was still single and unemployed. But somehow we out-grew it. Not that the condition has deserted us for life, but somehow we have been able to lessen not only its gravity but its frequency. And somehow also we learned to tackle with it, each in our own ways. For many, maybe the resolution is when we turned to a higher power and lodged the providence of our health and safety in that kind of faith.
Still as mere mortals with very limited knowledge and understanding of such an insidious and almost invisible enemy, we have to surrender our ignorance and rely trust on others who are better equipped.
Still, we should resolve to continue our own searches for truths about it. And thus they ought not be stifled, neglected, or even dismissed by others. We can only be better persons if we are curious about its ramifications.
Gay Marriage
This issue is so loaded with heavy paradoxes, one wonders how it continues to float.
Many supporters of the ruling are beaming with almost unexplained bliss and pride, like heaven has been opened to them.
No problem there. Man is known to welcome temporal bounty like there Is no tomorrow, or like it is the be-all and end-all of existence.
Yet the cause of happiness can be explained in such a manner as to show the resultant over-celebration as undeserved because the decision was far from convincing, though still historic. Far from being unanimous, a 9-man court of the US all appointed for life by the US president, religiously divided into 6 Catholics and 3 Jews, voted 5-4 to grant equal status to gay marriages with traditional marriages the latter strongly espoused and supported by all religions, like Catholicism and Judaism. And if I may add, equal only with regard to enjoyment of benefits dispensed by the Federal bureaucracy. They could not have ruled about its cultural and religious ramifications, because after all that would be obviously beyond the purview of this court.
Anyway, the hairline decision came because 2 Catholic court members decided to break away from traditional teaching of their religion. Kennedy many say was simply being true to form, taking sides away from traditional or classical truths espoused by the citizenry. The other, Sotomayor, most likely because she is most liberal having been appointed by the current administration, to represent two minorities, women and Hispanic.
The more impactful thing here is that because of the role of the US in the world, this will open the floodgates for the rest of the world with regard to this issue. A paradox indeed, germinated by an unconvincing decision riddled with dissension not only from the court’s own members, but also the citizenry. Mind you, amid the recent trends as reflected by survey polls which show people favoring gay marriages in the majority, not only in the US but in the rest of the world.
As a species we continue to be an enigma.
