Reconnecting Our Technological Gaps

Kuya Gil Boy and Ate Liza learning how to make an email account. I’ve become a one day computer teacher to my old folks 😛

I wanted to chuckle as my brother and my sis-in-law learned how to make an e-mail account. But I couldn’t. They were just too serious then. I can’t believe how we’ve all aged well.

As Kuya Gil Boy and Ate Liza dropped by to ask how to send a file to my own e-mail account (due to the massive lack of USBs in the house), I explained to them that they can’t send it without having an account themselves. So, I had to help them make one. While explaining why a username should be unique or why a password should be complicated, Ate Liza made notes on the step-by-step process on paper. I smirked deep within as they argued between themselves what username to create or what to jot down on their paper.

It was a funny moment for me. And yet, I am surprised what a huge jump my generation has gone from theirs.

Oh, by the way, I’m more than a decade younger than my two siblings.

Looking at them, I couldn’t believe how fast our generation has accelerated. From cassette tapes to micro USBs, we’re now beyond our parents’ imagination. My mom, just like most of the retirees in her generation, is afraid of learning how to use the computer. She told me how the older teachers in the school she once taught lost enthusiasm in learning the computer because of that impatient, rude, young instructor. Somehow, the gap between the older and the younger generation is not only through technology, but in values as well.

My parents lived in a time when everything went slowly. Even my Kuya was torn between the provincial society and the cultural revolution in the 70’s and 80’s. My generation is a microwave generation — we want it all fast and instant. The thinking and mindset between our generations varies. Because of the slow pace of the first decades after Commonwealth, I observed how old people in my mom’s generation tend to be patient. Most kids in my time have the tendency to be impatient.

And so, just like the young computer teacher my mom described, I felt I had the tendency to be impatient, too. It’s because in our viewpoint, we expect everyone to know what we know and learn as fast as we kids do.

But here is a lesson my generation should learn. I could have raised my voice while teaching my folks, expecting them to catch up as fast as I expect them to. But I have to remember that their thinking is not my thinking.

The style of education they received is not the same as mine.

I realized that while teaching my folks the art of e-mail creation, I felt that technology is a way to connect between our generations. I was able to share to them what I know, and somehow helped them in their need.

As we young people teach our older folks, I hope we learn how to reset our value of patience. In this way, we can connect with them.  Not only would they learn from us, but we learn from them, as well. Love is needed while teaching, whereas we set aside their incapacity and help them get through it.

Deafening the Political Word War

Noisy, crowded, brightly colored, and tense. That’s how I can describe a kick-off campaign rally. Yesterday, marked the beginning of the campaign season for this year’s elections. As mono-

People flood Plaza Miranda for the Team Pnoy Kick-Off Campaign

colored groups poured into the rally site, so did the huge tarps and placards bearing the names of the senatoriables. It was a tense moment…maybe because of the atmosphere of the crowd hype then.

I was assigned to Team PNoy, the admin block. I felt like being drowned in a sea of yellow while the giant tarps tried to block our view.

All twelve candidates were given eight minutes to speak to the crowd. Some laid a glimpse of their platforms, some their dramatic life story, and some, as expected, gave their enemies some good bashing. One called the past administration as thieves, the other ranted on him being cheated in the past elections, and another emphasized on not to believe the “others” who were “pretending to ride with their platform”.

But during the days before the start of the kick-off campaigns, the word war between parties was already at bay. From “new opposition” claims to “racist” remarks, the media noted them all. Not one from both sides missed to answer the rant of the other.

It was sickening. The battle of politics has turned into a sour word war. And for me it’s a dirty game.

When I talked to a spokesperson of an election-regulating body in the Philippines, he mentioned that they cannot stop these parties or candidates from making personality-bashing at their campaign. Nothing in our law prohibits such campaigning. Besides, our constitution itself upholds the freedom of expression as we belong in a democratic country. He warned candidates to be mindful of such a campaign strategy. Not everyone buys it.

True enough, in all the five or more people we interviewed from the public, nobody likes the idea of personality bashing. All talk but no work, one of them says.

The dangers of negative communication. I wonder how far will such a war of words go.

It’s easy to criticize. It’s easy to show the ugly side of your enemy. It’s an effective way to make the crowd see you’re in the right standing while the other is not. But such a strategy is the downfall of both sides. Not only will his rival get a bruise from his words; the one who threw will get a bad score from the public.

Such a strategy is as immature as kids who fight back when being teased for having a bad hairdoo.

How desperate can one become just to get into power? This is how far we have gone in our brand of politicking. Aside from empty promises and dramatic stints, we’ve resolved to picking a fight through words and ego-lambasting. But by doing so, it does not uplift who a candidate really is. Besides, one should be campaigning for himself, not embarrassing another.

I just hope that the public would realize that words alone are not the basis for choosing the best candidate (or the “lesser evil” as someone called it). Words do not make up who are worth to lead this society. Besides, while it’s still election season, all voters must choose who are fit to execute the roles a government position demands. Does the personality of that candidate fit the role to be a senator, a congressman or a local government leader? Do they have the skill, wits and political will of a lawmaker and leader? Do they have the heart to lead the public through their unique roles in the government?

Those word wars can’t reveal the answers for those questions. I hope every candidate will just be honest in their works. No more personality-bashing, please. It’s time to prove integrity by works and character alone.

War of the Unseen Worlds

I live in two worlds. One seen and one unseen.

I can’t believe how my world changes when I go out into the field, when I mingle with people whose perception are not the same as mine. It’s hard to fathom and to explain to them, and I always have a hard time explaining what I see from what they see.

The world’s perspective is never the same as those who had seen the light in Christ Jesus. I can’t force you the truth. No, I don’t want a debate. But my heart always ache when people tell me that this is how things should be — when the world tells you to plan this way without seeking the Lord.

I can sense how free it is to be with people whose hearts are hungry for God; who in their longing to see the truth and righteousness, see the Lord; and whose surrendered lives exhibit pure love to others.

This is the world that I love to be in, when eyes do not look at others with lust and when voices are raised in one accord to worship the Lord. This is the world of freedom.

But once I leave such a place, I see a desolation. Here, I find people whose perspective are trapped in the “normal” course of life; in such a place, hearts have become calloused with the degradation that sin has caused into this world.

This is the plain where I find people dying around me. This is the field where hope and vision are stolen from mankind.

How I ache for all to know how great God’s plan is for everyone.

From the beginning, even before we are formed in our mother’s womb, He knows what’s the best for us. We’ll be surprised that maybe our ideal age to marry does not match His, and even our dream career is never the same as He has in store for us. For most of the time, we tend to follow our senses, thinking that this is it. But what we don’t know is that our identities and destinies can only be known if we surrender to the Lord what has been instilled into us. In the beginning, the Lord has already planned the best for us. But we have been deceived by a blinded world, telling us to follow a “normal” pattern of events (which mostly lead to a dead end). Yet until now, even the people of the free are trying to grasp their true identities. I myself is in progress to know who I really am. But God, in our quest to know who we are, show us little by little. And with this, we are surprised with the truth He shows us day by day.

Yet, I can hear people in the dying plain tell me to use lucky charms to find “the one”. The people in the world of freedom use the Word of God to fight with “the Victorious One”.

The people in the dying plain tell me to fall out of love and catch the guy I like. The people in the world of freedom encourage me to fall into His steadfast love and be caught in His everlasting faithfulness.

The people in the dying plain do not walk in wisdom. The people in the world of freedom walk in freedom and light.

But this is not a reason for me to hate the people in the dying plain.

The Lord has longed for the people of the world of freedom go out and give life to the people in the dying plain. Their perspective is never the same as mine, unless they encounter the heart of God whose love is beyond human passion. Most of the time, I wish to stay in the church for the rest of my life. But what use is my light if I don’t go out into the dark world to guide the people of the dying plain. Besides, it’s not me who gives out this light, but it is the Lord who radiates through me.

Most of the time, I am afraid; I fear the mob that will fixate on me. But what reason should I fear? Don’t I have a great God who will defend me?

I am on training. Yes, I’m no mighty preacher or any famous televangelist. That’s why in this season, the Lord tells me to rest in His presence that is in everywhere I go.

Yes, His presence is not only in the world of freedom. His presence is also in the dying plain. All I have to do is let go of my anxieties, open my eyes, and see Him set the captives free.

A New Season After the Rebirth

82 or 28? Age doesn’t matter. As long as you’re loved and you love, that’s more than enough 🙂

I’m now 28…and excited for the new season in my life.

A lot of people would tell me that I’ve arrived in the marrying age. In this era of instant attraction and microwave relationships, to find someone like me is alien. But I wouldn’t mind. I don’t want to go with the world’s standards. I want to claim my inheritance only found in my Father’s heart.

And my birthday is unlike any other…I spent it alone with my beloved Bridegroom God.

Days ahead, I was very excited. I sensed that this is a new season for me (not minding my age). I kept on nudging God to surprise me. And He did. But it was not as expected.

First, He surprised me with greetings, a day before my actual birth date. Receiving heartfelt greetings is more than receiving a thousand gifts to me (especially when I received text messages and calls from friends on my very birthday). Let me tell you, to be loved is more than gaining the whole earth. That’s why I was even more excited by then.

Next, the Lord brought me to a sanctuary I’ve never been. Unlike in the other prayer mountains I usually go up with friends, I ventured out to this new place — alone. Now, that’s an adventure. I believe it was a prophetic gesture…it’s like declaring that I’m ready to go to this new season that I’ve never been before.

Save for the caretaker (who became my instant friend), I had the whole Prayer House to myself. Now, this is a treat. I can scream and sing at the top of my lungs to the Lord with Habakkuk, my guitar. But that was not the case. I guess for about 63 percent of my stay, I slept.

Ok, so this is a sleeping date, Lord. I wondered why.

Then, I received my ultimate surprise.

I asked for a Word. Scanning in Exodus to look for Moses prayer to asking the Lord to show him His glory, I was led to Exodus 33:13, “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you…”

Cool prayer! I thought to myself. I did pray it, and just as the Lord had answered Moses in verse 14, I believe He gave me the same answer.

“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

The rest of the words in the page became blurred. This one was the shout out in this season. As I reviewed the prayers and the prophecies given to me at the beginning of 2013, the main word was “REST”.

And from the pain, the toil, the struggles I had in the latter part of 2012, the birth pains have ended. I am now in a season of resting in His presence. The conception has been done. I am reborn.

From learning from Romans 5:3-5 (and praying it), I’m now given Exodus 33;13-14 as the word for this season. I believe the Lord wants to teach me to completely abide in Him. To rest also means to abide and to trust in His presence which will stay with me as I walk into a room, or as I stay in my beat, or go to a violent rally, or at the toils of my job. It’s a promise at the same time, and such is the loving promise He gave me that I have to be willing to have my heart and character refined in this time of rest.

I believe this resting period is a preparation to greater things He is preparing for me. I believe this is a short season before I step out of the boat and walk on water.

Such is my surprise. Now, call me alien. The things I’ve received is not as tangible as this physical world but these are more than enough for me. Should I be scared in the coming days? I should never be. The coming days are unsure but I’d rather face it with anticipation for I have received a promise that is more than silver and gold. I’m also very glad to know how much I am loved. To have love from others and to give away love is more fulfilling than gaining fame and power.

Surprise me more, Lord. 🙂