Mio

Mio is my five-year-old grandnephew. During our family gatherings he usually plays alone, plays with his toy cars and robots, and asks the smartest and most unexpected questions that reminds me of my own son, Nico when he was Mio’s age. He is smooth and fair skinned and according to his mother, has “the longest eyelashes in the world” that makes him very much an attention-getter from people especially of the female kind.

He is a much-loved boy, being the only boy among four grandchildren of my younger brother Joe. My nephew Jon dotes on him like a true father, while my brother Joe has treated and raised him like a son. You see, Mio’s mom, my niece Jasmine is a single mom. But that is not the reason why I am writing about him now.

Mio the innocent, loveable, and everyone’s darling of a little boy is now stricken with ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia), a form of cancer that attacks the boy’s white blood corpuscles leaving him easily susceptible to attack of infection due to a weakened immune system.

My brother Joe, who is probably the closest to him after his mother, is devastated and so are the rest of the family. His mother Jasmine, who just recently landed a most demanding job hoping to secure a bright future for her son is, to say the least, shattered to pieces. “I don’t get it!” she says, “I just don’t get it!”

I am sure the unspoken question for me, as an elder in the clan and a former priest, in Jasmine’s mind as well as in the minds of my family and immediate relatives is the question “why”. Why Mio, who is an innocent boy? Why him? I can respond, “Why not?” But I am sure it is not an acceptable answer.

I can answer too in a negative way. It is not a punishment for the sins of his parents. It is not, as the pious would say, God’s will or part of God’s plan that we should just accept, nor it is a cross placed on Jasmine’s shoulder because God knows she can carry it. I honestly do not think so.

There are more answers, biblically and theologically profound like what William Young proposes in his book “The Shack”. In that book God’s answer to the problem of evil goes: “At this point all I have to offer you as an answer is my love and goodness, and my relationship with you; essentially what Jesus offers us in the Gospels, not an intellectual answer but a relationship.” But I do not intend to go there now.

I have been asking the same question ever since God knows when and I have come to the conclusion that there is no answer that would satisfy me. I have stopped asking the question and discontinued looking for answers until I read a certain Rabbi Moss who has this very Christian thing to say: “So keep asking the question, why do bad things happen to good people. But stop looking for answers. Start formulating a response. Take your righteous anger and turn it into a force for doing good. Redirect your frustration with injustice and unfairness and channel it into a drive to fight injustice and unfairness. Let your outrage propel you into action. When you see innocent people suffering, help them. Combat the pain in the world with goodness. Alleviate suffering wherever you can.

We don't want answers, we don't want explanations, and we don't want closure. We want an end to suffering. And we dare not leave it up to G-d to alleviate suffering. He is waiting for us to do it. That's what we are here for.”

This answer resonates with me not only as I can see it happen in my life but also as I see it happening now with other people in Mio’s case. Consider the following:

The whole Mendiola clan (my family and my siblings’ families), individually and as a whole, has taken steps to help Jasmine and Mio by digging deep not only into their well of prayers, but also into their common bank account that the clan had established for cases like Mio’s. Jasmine’s friends and even non-acquaintances have also reacted in a way that is overwhelming and even mind-boggling to some.

Mio's mom Jasmine is not giving up. She continues to ask the question why is this happening to her Mio. She has stopped looking for answers, instead she has decided to fight for her son's life. She has started a blog, where she expresses her emotions and feelings that is raw and sometimes irreverent, to ask for help. Help she is getting indeed and how!

These are what other people have done for Mio so far: (From Jasmine’s blog http://miofightscancer.blogspot.com).

• Mio’s ninang (Godmother) has set up a bank account for those who want to send donations for Mio.
• Jasmine is a professional make-up artist, aside from being a freelance writer, and one of her colleagues now sells beauty products in her website for Mio.
• An Art Director in Singapore and a former colleague of Jasmine is coming up with a prayer rally called Mio'clock. He's building a logo to initiate prayers at 8am, the time Mio was born, to be sent to the high heavens for Mio's recovery.
• Another godmother of Mio has taken upon herself to be the point person/ representative in coordinating projects that can raise money to fund Mio's treatment.
• Two of Jasmine’s friends are organizing a Mio Marathon, a fun run in the works to raise funds for Mio.
• Another friend had the brilliant idea of using Mio's drawings as a template for some artsy things that can generate funds for him.
• Piso Para Kay Mio. (Pwede rin namang hindi piso!) but a good friend of Jasmine informed her that she's decorating a can that she'll bring around to solicit donations for Mio.

Come to think of it, when Jesus was confronted with evil or pain in other people, He did not look for answers to the question why. Instead, He acted right away. He eased the pain, He looked for ways to feed the people, He cured a disease.

What else can I say? People have continued asking the question why bad things happen to good people and stopped looking for answers because there is actually none; instead they have started formulating a response and they are doing something if only to alleviate even a little pain.

Come to think of it too, Mio’s name is the Spanish for “my” or “mine”. Apparently people have taken it literally and have adopted Mio’s cause as theirs too.