LovEmail to the Filipino Youth

By S. Bill Jimenez

Minamahal kong mga Kabataan:

I take this opportunity to write you and express my hope and faith in your capacities and latent potentials for greatness. Our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, who dedicated his earliest work to the Filipino youth, confidently asserted: “The youth are the hope of the Fatherland.” Benjamin D’Israeli also stated, “The youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity.” To us, you are not only the hope and trustees but also the pride of your parents, community and country.

While back in the home country, I was involved as a researcher in a national study on population matters sponsored by the Ford Foundation in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Culture. One of the questions I asked parents was on why they want to have children.

Their answers boiled down to these truths: children are our hope, pride, blessings and joy. Because of this, they struggle to overcome every obstacle in order for their children to get an education. They adhere to the dictum, “Poverty is not a hindrance to education when there is will and determination.” They believe that if educated, their children can be better citizens and that will ensure their survival, if not success, in the career world.

It is incumbent upon you, therefore, to prepare yourselves for the future. Strive to continue the pursuit to excellence. As you succeed in the educational and economic fields, you must not neglect the equally important aspects of life: social, moral and spiritual. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is your best model–real Hero. As Thomas Carlyle aptly stated, “Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of man you are.” Fix your eyes on Jesus, “the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Luke writes of him: “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52. His was total and balanced growth and development involving spiritual, mental, physical and social.

To grow in wisdom, keep on reading worthy books and magazines. But you must balance your secular reading diet with spiritual food. The Bible is your number one source for the latter. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every goo work” (2 Timothy 3:17).

Always strive to promote harmony and unity in the home and decency, order and discipline in your dealings with others.

Be constructively busy! Avoid empty and boring pursuits. As Kierkegaard has well said, “Boredom is the root of all evil.” Invest therefore your precious time and effort in worthwhile pursuits. Godly pursuit, for one thing, is exalted and lasting. The great psychologist, William James, addressed it this way: “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”

Human frivolities and passions most often lead to destruction. As the wise man says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12). You, therefore, need God’s direction as the prophet Jeremiah realized it long time ago: “I know, O Lord, that man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

Long time ago, some great men of God addressed their writings to young men and women like you. In the Old Testament, the Preacher writes: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9-11).

In the New Testament, we find the apostle Paul exhorting the young Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believer in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

With the foregoing thoughts in mind, the future is now yours. You can carve your niche and share your time, treasure and talent in the enrichment of the free society where you now belong. At the same time you can share your blessings for the uplift of our beloved Philippines.

Finally, meditate and claim this prayer of King David: “Show me you ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord” (Psalm 25:4-7.

With love and prayers,

Lolo Bill

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