The Human Drama and Our Redemption Stories

We are born in a world of binary oppositions: It is a world of laughter and tears, of sorrow and joy, of good and evil, of love and hatred, of beauty and ugliness, of pleasure and pain, of toil and rest, of ups and downs. Literary writings, biographies, and non-fiction stories have been written by known or not-so-known writers to tell of the human drama throughout the ages in different settings around the world. The stories tell of human failures and victories, of war and peace, of evil and good. The daily news tells us of stories of different kinds in our nation or in other nations.

However, the unpleasant side of the binary oppositions seems to shout loudly at us. We, especially those who are not born with silver spoons in their mouths, are enjoined to daily toil, work, and labor to earn a living. We experience hardships and sicknesses of all kind. We hear about conflicts and witness human suffering in our own country or in other parts of the world. I wonder why God would allow this world to go on like this – with all the sorrow, evil, horrors, and blight in it. I wonder further why we should be born in this world to witness and even experience its woes.

We find that this world is too obviously groaning for its redemption. Our early Christian catechism or Sunday school teaching says that due to the violation of God’s commandments, the curse of suffering, sickness, death, and the proneness to depravity and sin came upon each and every human being and upon this planet. However, God sent His only beloved Son to redeem the world from its accursed state that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life.

Those who believe in Christ have been redeemed from their sin-accursed condition and have been washed with His blood. Each of the redeemed has a redemption story to tell and to sing in eternity to the praises of the Lamb. There is the story of the irritable person who had to struggle with the grace of God to become amiable and patient. There is the story of the former drug addict, the rapist, the sex worker, the adulterer, the pleasure-loving, the murderer, the jihadist, the agnostic, the egoistic, etc. who through God’s grace has been redeemed, changed, and transformed.

I see the answer to my own questions. We are born into this world of binary oppositions so we can exercise our freedom to choose between good and evil, between believing and accepting Christ or not. We are here to grow in every virtue and be purified from our sinful tendencies just as gold is purified by fire. When we are purified through suffering and trial of every kind, we can shine like gold and other precious jewels to adorn God’s kingdom forever.

We are here in this world of binary oppositions so we can participate in the human drama and tell our own redemption stories – if we choose to be redeemed from our sin-prone conditions. Then at God’s appointed time, this groaning planet will be redeemed as well, changed, renewed, and transformed.

Angels cannot sing of their redemption stories for their nature and life as pure spirits is different from humans who have both bodies and spirits. So many stories of human lives have been lived through the ages, and at present, our stories are being lived. When we exit this world, our stories will then be told. Let us make sure that the stories about us will be about how generous we have been, how patient, how considerate, how helpful, how loving we have been, not how selfish, how vain, how unjust, how inconsiderate we have been. In the hereafter, we can know each other’s stories, and continue to write our stories of love and praise to the God of Love as eternity rolls on.

About the author: Belinda F. Espiritu is a faculty member of the University of the Philippines Cebu. She holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature and a PhD degree in Communication. She would like to hear from the readers about their feedback or comments on her articles through her email address: belinda.espiritu@gmail.com to set a conversation going even after her articles have been published.