Article & Journal Resources

By Jesus P. Estanislao

MANY of us may not realize this, but we all have a duty to build ourselves up as reliable and dependable individuals, who bring to day-to-day life our love for our country and people. It is a serious duty for all of us to have so much good to share such that we can then "hand out this (goodness) to others," particularly our fellow citizens. The long and short of it is simple: We have to be as good as possible so we can then help others become better.

It is to help our fellow Filipinos to become much better in every facet of life – from the material and the physical to the social, professional, cultural and spiritual – that we should always be "striving to change the course of our life in whatever way is necessary, so that we can bring (ideas and ideals) to those who live without ideals." This is a tall order, especially in this day and age, in our country, where many have narrowed their focus on one main ideal, the material comfort and pleasure they can have in life.

To serve such a tall order, we should be under no illusion. We – all of us – are called upon to show and spread "charity and love" in our land. These are the "great and marvelous treasure." They give real "consolation (that) really brings home the certainty of having God close to us, and (this certainty) shows itself in the charity our neighbors have for us and in the charity that we have for them." These are big words, but can they be made real in our land?

They can become reality mainly through the small acts of love and care we show each other every day as we go about discharging our ordinary duties at home, at work, and in our social inter-action with friends and peers. These acts we perform in the normal course of living our day. They may be so regular and ordinary that hardly anyone notices. They may "pass unnoticed, (nonetheless they are) most effective"; and the operative principle to go by is to "shun public display." We need not call attention to the many good, small deeds we do each day. This advice is well worth following: "try to ensure that people don’t notice when you lend a helping hand; try not to be praised or seen by anyone… so that, being hidden like salt, you may give flavor to your normal surroundings…and you will be helping to give to everything about you a natural, loving and attractive tone." This is radically different from what we see every day in our midst, where we have too many people calling a lot of attention to the things they do that only on surface look good. We are dazed and dazzled by so much spin that blows out into a mountain of publicity even a molehill of good that is being done.

We do have to change course and redirect our orientation. The course we need to take is towards more substantive good and less propaganda. The orientation we need to have is much more towards others, whom we must genuinely help, and much less to ourselves, who should go with less self-praise and self-aggrandizement. Indeed, the proper course, the "only one worth while (is to) have a loyal friendship with all" our fellow citizens so they too would be "noble, generous and cheerful." Each and every Filipino, across generations, should be in our radar screen: And their personal improvement in all facets of life should be our consuming passion: We should not rest until we have accomplished so much in this regard, in a quiet and often unheralded manner, sans publicity and hoopla.