| Subject: Mng. Aie's Epistle to Dugong CYF Summer Camp USA 2004 |
Author:
Boni
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Date Posted: 23:55:40 07/18/04 Sun
LIGHT ON THE JOURNEY
From across the seas….. Receive our HUG of greeting. The light that shines on you is the same one that shines on us miles and miles away. May its warmth bring us all close to you today and for the rest of your Camp.
Let me honor your invitation to join you through this message...
I am tempted to write this in Ilocano... but I remember the children. They are the reason for every comp we put together...aching bones and all. This is also for them...
The Paradoxes in our lives
Truly, life is full of seeming contradiction...paradoxes.
Mga Dugong CYF of past generations... we may be getting on in years but we will ever be so young at heart; we make the past meet the future by what we do in the present. We may be miles and miles apart, but we are together. Adayo ngem agassideg (so far and yet so near)... awanen ngem adda nga kankanayon (gone, but ever around)...
When was the last time we were all together in a camp such as what you are having right now (with much less provisions, of course!)? I know most of us no longer remember dates. But I am sure we all remember the occasions...The ESSENCE of such occasion or events is what we bring with us still. The stories of our lives...the string of memories...are never of dates. Why do we remember? They have no meaning to others unless they are shared memories. They eloquently speak of WHO WE ARE. I guess that’s what growing up does to us. Our sense of continuing journey becomes richer and stronger because we look back and like what we see...how we struggled and came through. How we continue to struggle assured that that, yes, God will make a way. How the worst of times brought out the best in us. Daisy’s epitaph says it all “...the time is here for me to leave this life. I have done my best in the race. I have run the full distance and I have kept the faith...” 2 Timothy 4:6-7. She must be smiling, urging us on to “run the full distance...and keep the faith.”
Each one of has our own stories to tell...of the joys and pains of our own life-faith journey as persons, as families...in company (no matter if separated by land and sea) with kindred spirits. The Dugong CYF sense of being a faith community on a journey is apparent in the sheer stubbornness to let go of childhood dreams...We dare to tread yet untrodden paths with a BIG space for God’s leading and Grace. A group seeking to make a difference. How close can we get to the heart of what the journey of our lives is all about?
How far have we come?
How has it been for Dugong CYF all these years? From where I look, we continue to walk a path not always strewn with flowers. We have, often enough, gotten ourselves into situations that threaten our commitments. We are busy with so many other things.
In 1998, from two continents and after 2 decades (!), Daisy and I meet up again with Steve (and Aleli) at Yosemite. We easily picked up from where we left off...in the 70’s! Different circumstances but the same SPIRIT. While there, we also met up with Boni. He literally brought us “spirits” to bring home! Then, in 1999, the “old group” came to life in CONDORA. We found each other again. And growing, across generations, across continents. What is round, indeed comes around! There has been no stopping it since then. Boy T. made sure of that though our website. In small and big steps, now we have our Dugong CYF Foundation, Inc. We are far from making any big dramatic results. It’s an uphill climb, but we’ll get there…by God’s grace. And a lot of focused effort, too, I must say.
Of course, our common dreams and plans only make up a map of sorts. We know that having a map for the journey is good. But a map is not the territory. We have to walk it ourselves. That is what a journey is all about.
Is this beginning to sound like a sequel to Daisy’s “Our Hideaway”? If it is, I wish right now that I had her gift of eloquence and ease in writing.
The Light on the Journey
A long and arduous journey, indeed. The Israelites had their cloud by day and their light by night so they can travel day and night. “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people” Exodus 13:22.
From where will our own light on the journey come from?
Someone once said, “In the heart of a paradox, we find the kernel of truth.” At the heart of each paradox in our lives, there we find the light we need on the journey. The light that will help us make the right choices. Each step of the way. Each blind turn on the road. The more paradoxes we recognize and understand, the brighter the light turns out to be. Malayo man, malapit din... bulag na nakakikita...mag-isa pero hindi nag-iisa...walang sariling anak pero maraming tunay na inaanak, walang pera nakakulong pero malaya, nandito kahit di nakikita... The journey is full of paradoxes. And why not? At the heart of each paradox is the light we need...to be able to make the right choices. Each step of the way. And lest we forget, we are in good company... in-dwelling Holy Spirit that empowers us and keep us in close.
The paradox of who we are: agi-innadayo ngem agiinnasideg. Busy but not busy to attend to the essentials of the continuing journey. We seem not to feel the distance. Walang kapaguran. There are enough shared memories for bridges, inspiration. A shared faith that has no need for bridges to cross.
The paradox of whose we are. God has given us each other to belong, to fellowship...a support group. But God also called us to go beyond ourselves…from the nice feeling of getting together to that of service to others. To share out gifts as a group. Here for ourselves, our children. Here, too, for the wider community. We may know not very clearly at this point what all these efforts are taking us. What we know is WHOSE we are. We trust and obey.
The dynamic tension of those seeming contradictions can sap our energies…as persons, as a community apart physically. But understanding and living out the dynamics of such tension, will give us the light, the empowering light of the Holy Spirit that we need on our continuing journey.
The God we serve gave us enough light on the journey. We need not look far. It’s within us all...all the time. May it shine through.
Let me end with two (2) stories and a poem.
Story 1. A Filipino pastor missionary in Africa was on his way to officiate at a village wedding. Of course he wore his barong and “balat” na sapatos. He knew it would be a long walk. But he was already used to that. He whistled a favorite hymn as he went his way...up...down hills. “No sweat,” he said. Until he came to a river. He looked around for some kind of a boat to get him across. There was none. The only way it seemed was to use some stones spread out to the other side of the river. “That should be easy”, he thought. He tried once, he almost fell. He tried again. He could not even get to the next stone. He could not keep his balance. He tried and tried again. He was starting to lose hope when he saw villagers coming his way with big bundles that looked heavy, on their heads. Without changing their pace, one after the other, they crossed the river using the stones. He grabbed the arm of the last one, “Please wait, I need to cross too, but I cannot figure out how to do it. You are all carrying such heavy loads but the others made it look so easy. What is the secret?” he pleaded. “Secret?” the woman was bewildered, “what is the problem of this nicely dressed young man?” she asked herself. Then she understood the problem of the pastor. “Oh...that (pointing to the load on her head) is the secret,” and moved on.
Yes, as wayfarers, often times we need to carry our cares and concerns with grace to keep out balance along difficult parts of the journey.
Story 2. You all know about “The Footprints in Sand.” Like in the poem story, someone was looking back at her life journey, with the Lord. At the start, she saw two sets of footsteps. “Ah, yes I know Lord, you walked with me during this stage and most of the way.” Then, at some point, there was only one set, “Oh, here, you carried me. I would not have been able to make it on my own. Several times, you did” Beautiful life story. And then, she saw footsteps scattered all over the sand with no apparent order, steps seemingly pointing nowhere. She was shocked. “What’s this? I don’t understand. Lord, did we fight? Were you angry at me? Why?” The Lord smiled, “Don’t you remember? We danced. In celebration.”
We all need moments of celebration throughout the journey. Maybe not just moments. The whole journey should be one continuous celebration of life with the Lord. May all of us be ever up to date with the latest dance steps of the Lord.
Poem. Manang Puring read this poem as we lit our campfire during the first Dugong CYF General Assembly. She held the torch and then passed it on to each one around as we sang…..yes, you guessed that right!... “Pass It On”. The poem was written by someone nameless. It is entitled “Hold High the Torch”. Let it speak for itself.
“HOLD HIGH THE TORCH”
Hold high the torch! You did not light its glow---
‘Twas given you by other hands, you know.
‘Tis yours to keep it burning bright,
Yours to pass on when you no more need light;
For there are other feet that we must guide
And other forms go marching by our side;
Their eyes are watching every smile and tear;
And efforts which we think are not worthwhile,
Are sometimes just the very help they need,
Actions to which their souls would give most heed;
So that in turn they’ll hold it high;
And say, “I watched someone else carry it this way.”
If brighter paths should beckon you to choose,
Would your small gain compare with all you’d lose?
Hold high the torch! You did not light its glow -
‘Twas given you by other hands, you know.
I think it started down its pathway bright,
They day the Maker said: “Let there be light.”
And He once said, who hung on Calvary’s tree --
“You are the light of the world. . . . Go! . . . Shine --- for me.”
May your Campfire glow. And may its light reflect the Spirit within you. Keep it burning bright!
Amen.
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