The Pressure Is On

The bad weather and my satisfaction on the way my three blogs look like gave me more time to read.  This book has been long overdue.

Last night, I realized that maybe another reason why I have been putting the book down more often is that I easily get tired with the story.  Tired in the sense that I feel for what the hostages are going through.  They spent most of the day walking with no definite destination.  They stopped when it's night to get some rest.  But sometimes, they also had to walk at night because they had to get away from the soldiers.

But what the book has made me realize so far is the awesome faith that both Martin and Gracia have.  They find goodness in every situation, even though how hard it was.  It's not easy having to deal with what they were going through and Martin and Gracia knew it wouldn't be easy.  But as they went along, every hard time is an opportunity for them to see God's grace.

Somehow, no matter how they kept on walking, they are being tracked down by the AFP soldiers, forcing them to be 'mobiling' most of the time.  Meanwhile, the third of the three Americans, Guillermo, was taken by their captors and haven't been back.  They weren't sure if he was killed or what, but they definitely haven't seen him so far.

I don't know if this was every Abu Sayyaf's dream, but one of Gracia's guard told her that his dream was to die in a holy war in Afghanistan.  Because he believes that dying in a holy war is the only way to get him to rest in paradise.

One of the hostages seems to have suffered from Stockholm Syndrome, and I have yet to find out if Gracia will be able to persuade her that what she feels might just be temporary and might not be the same feeling once they are rescued.  For some late bloomers like me, Stockholm Syndrome is when the hostage gets sympathetic with the his/her captor and/or even falls in love with him/her.