Good afternoon graduates.
Congratulations. Basic education is the most important
part of your educational journey because without the basic skills and
competencies you have acquired during these years, you would not be able to
build upon, to proceed to the higher learning, the high school and the
tertiary level.
In the school where I am teaching it is the practice
of the graduation committee to look for outstanding alumni; graduates who have
done well. So, the speakers that have graced the podium were lawyers, doctors,
managers, businessman, and politicians, people who have achieved financial
success as well academic prominence; people who could inspire pupils to strive
to be the best of what they could be.
Now, what is weird is that I am standing here in front
of you a man with no financial success to speak of and no academic achievements
to brag about. Truth to tell, my dear graduates, it took me almost twenty years
to finish a degree in college. I was
thirty three years old when I woke to the fact that I have a family but I have
no education and believe me, when a person has no education, finding a purpose
in life is like a violin without its strings trying to find its part in an
orchestra. So, DepEd's theme for 2012 graduates"Your Gift of Learning, Our tool for Nation Building" very much reflects this understanding.
Our society is founded on the rule of utilitarian economy, that
means everything and everyone must have a role to play and to contribute for
the harmonious running and turning of our society. So we have the educators,
then we have the builders, then we have the sciences, the humanities and so
forth. So, to fit in into this economy or order of things, one must have the
necessary education and trainings. We must accept the fact that natural
intelligence and the Filipino’s propensity for discarte is not enough to cut it, or to assure a sustainable living
in these trying times. You must have plans, a goal that you want to achieve. Your plan is not for yourself alone but you must take into considerations the truth that your education is also one of the fundamental building blocks for nation building. Take the time to plan your story now, your goal, your part in the society or else instead of a contributor to general welfare...pray that you or even one of you becomes a burden of our society.
Mine is not an
inspiring story, it is in fact a depressing one. I have no success to speak of;
I have a lot of failures to meander about. But despite it all, I have overcome
and still overcoming experiences to talk about which I hope would warn and
inspire both the graduates and the parents. My testimony is that of Solomon pointing to the suffering and the failures shouting: Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets. Pro_1:20
Here’s my circumstance: I graduated from elementary school a
valedictorian of the batch; I have reached the regional level in science competitions
and quiz bees. During sophomore year, I was an associate editor of the school
paper. I was sent to regional science fairs and quiz bees. I also topped the
National College Entrance Examination for the school that earned me an offer
from Senator Salonga’s scholarship program. But I lost sight of things. I got
so distracted that I have forgotten about my studies and instead I had fun. I
was having fun while my classmates were earning degrees. I was having fun while
my classmates were establishing a career. I was having fun until I found out that I have
run out of time.
Young as you are
graduates; you must have a proper appreciation of time. Ecc_3:1 To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A
writer has this to say about time: We came from the
past which is no more; we go into the future which is not yet; ours is the
present. The past is ours only in so far as we have still the present; and the
future is ours only in so far as we have it already present. We possess the
past by memory, and the future by anticipation. But what is the nature of
present itself? If we look at it closely, we must say: it is a point without
extension, the point in which the future becomes the past; when we say to ourselves,
“This is the present,” the moment has already been swallowed by the past. The
present disappears the very instant we grasp it. The present cannot be caught;
it is always gone
Time is precious. Mat 26:7 A woman
came in with a bottle of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus' head. But when his disciples saw this, they became
angry and complained, "Why such a waste?
We could have sold this perfume for a lot of money and given it to the
poor." Jesus knew what they were
thinking, and he said: Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a
beautiful thing for me. You will always have the poor with you, but you won't
always have me. She has poured perfume
on my body to prepare it for burial. You
may be sure that wherever the good news is told all over the world, people will
remember what she has done. And they will tell others.
The Lord was thinking: this woman has done me good, she is spending
money and more important she is spending time with me, "you will always have the
poor." Parents look at your children, in a few months from now, they will bean
adult, you would not be able to hug them like a child, kiss them like a child,
time will pass by so fast that do not let any moment of it pass without making
the most of it especially with your children for time spent with them is time
invested in them an investment whose interest is beyond monetary value. The
more time you spent with your children, the stronger they become.
I have learned the value of time only when so much of it has passed by me unproductively.
Take very good care of your time. Your graduation from elementary school is not
just an academic moving up it is also development from childhood to teen-ager
or young adults. There will be lots of changes. In a few months, you will have
already have moved on: new school, new friends, new ways of having fun a lot of
new people and new things. There will be a lot of awakenings, and there be will
a lot of surprises.
Here are
interesting facts: Cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths
and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year. The number is quite
staggering. To think that many of
us could talk, walk, watch TV, almost do anything while texting who could
imagine that such simple and harmless texting could take so many lives. An
average video game player spends 23 hours per week playing computer games and
if you add up all those seconds and minutes…great part of our lives is spent on
things of little or of no consequence--purposeless.
How about you parents how
are you making sure you’re your children is not wasting their precious time…are
you spending quality time with them. Quality time is not eating out in fastfood restaurants, it is not going out to Enchanted Kingdom, it is not cramming time into little time. Quality time is spending quantity time. Are you there when your children eat, when they study, when they get hurt.
We
have an internet connection in the house, and I have noticed that everytime I
come home from work, my daughter was on the PC and I could not remove her from
it. What I did, was to cut the internet
connection, so I saved money and I saved time and in the process, I may have
saved our relationship. Internet, games, celphones are not bad if used
properly…if not, think of the precious time lost. Imagine playing the violin 23
hours a week, imagine playing basketball or any sports 23 hours a week, and
imagine reading books 23 hours a week…imagine the possibilities.
Time is what we all have. Time is where God's plans for us is revealed and happened.
God has plans for your lives which are
revealed a little at a time. Just like your education, God reveals his plans for you a little at a time. When you were in the primary you learned the basic of
reading and writing and numbers. In the intermediate level you are introduced to
grammar, compositions and math problems. Each grade level some new truths and
some new exciting concepts are revealed to you.
Paul said it very well: "I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done."
In the same way, God reveals
his perfect plans for you in mysterious yet understandable manner all we have to do is give time to stop, look and listen, take time to what God is revealing to you everyday.
There’s a
certain Italian harbor that can be reached only by sailing up a narrow channel
between dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years, many ships have wrecked,
and navigation is hazardous. To guide the ships safely into port, three lights
have been mounted in the harbor on three huge poles. When the three lights are
perfectly lined up and seen as one, the ship can safely proceed up the narrow
channel. If the pilot sees two or three lights, he knows he’s off course and in
danger.
God has also provided three beacons to guide us. The same rules of navigation apply – the three lights must be lined up before it is safe for us to proceed. The three harbor lights of guidance are 1. The Word of God 2. Prayer 3. Circumstances.
God has also provided three beacons to guide us. The same rules of navigation apply – the three lights must be lined up before it is safe for us to proceed. The three harbor lights of guidance are 1. The Word of God 2. Prayer 3. Circumstances.
I do not believe that there are formulas for success but I know that there steps to achieving success--it all begins with a proper understanding of time and the proper way of discerning opportunities God has given you: start with your education and the rest will follow. Education is your parent's gift to you--it is part God's plan for you.
Jer 29:11-13 I will bless you with a future filled with hope--a future of success, not of suffering.
6. And do take the time to nurture your relationship with the Lord.
Jer 29:12-13 You will turn back to me and ask for help, and I will answer your prayers. You will worship me with all your heart, and I will be with you .
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