(Do you know where we’re going to . . ?)

By Felicidad D. Javier ‘Liit’ Javier last appeared in Misyon in the March-April 2008 issue when she recalled her time as an Associate Missionary of the Assumption in Cameroon. People nowadays trek the lonely road of isolation . . . fewer risks, no commitment . . . just me and my selfishness and the concept of my world behind the walls of reality and enveloped in many painful realizations. Just observing people’s habits and behavior, especially in the home among children and adults, I see the sad reality that, without our knowing, we are slowly going down the pit – that ‘sinkhole’ where we have built a little monster of character - insensitive, indifferent, defiant, self-serving and lacking in charity.

I check myself and saw that even I have succumbed to the easy way out, being very ‘un-neighborly’ (read: ‘walang pakialam’), looking in the other direction – that of complacency and mediocrity, mirroring the same monster I see in others. Are these ‘the signs of the times’? I have taught Catechesis/Religion in high school for ten years and tell myself that these students are the children of my generation, of my classmates. Their behavior and mindset come from their parents, my peers, and it is painful to see how things have regressed . . . the lack of moral values, of respect for elders or authorities, of appreciation for learning, their just being lax in everything they do. I ask myself what kind of value formation we’ve passed on to this young generation. Are we a failure when it comes to passing to the youth what we have received from our elders and teachers?

Did we lack the necessary tools or skills to become role models for them? How fast we have changed and adapted to this present culture of survival, of domination and manipulation! I wonder where it all started and how we can turn around if indeed there is some remote possibility of that ever occurring or happening. Ten years ago I felt the awareness that these values might become more acute like a rampant disease, but then my hopes were high that probably after the successful World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II in Manila in January 1995 things could get better. Unfortunately, what is acute now has become chronic and my consciousness speaks much more of fear and the lack of ability to do something to prevent further degradation. The youth of today have changed. They have built a new sense of identity that we adults have difficulty in understanding, eg, multi-tasking, ‘miss or over’, their use of gadgets in communication, their lack of identifying feelings or of plain sensitivity. How many of today’s youth fully understood how conscience can make and break them? They know but cannot assimilate, probably because they lack the ability to reflect and have not seen how it works due to a confused system of role modeling. They must have seen on occasion but this didn’t seem to have carried much weight or brought about a strong conviction for it to become a value or character.

As I write this, I have a strong feeling of apprehension that things will get worse before they can get better. The breakdown of morality in all sectors of society including the Church and especially in our homes is a stark reality we can’t continue to ignore, downsize or put up with for fear of ‘compromise’ because we are no longer sure that we are in control of the situation. Is there HOPE? Yes!!! And yes!!! BUT . . MAYBE and UNTIL . . . WE embrace the REALITY and the PROBLEM , no sugar-coating, no-defenses, but seeing things AS THEY ARE . . . in their MICRO OR MACRO STATE . . . This SOCIAL VIRUS in our homes, community and society as a whole will remain static, chronic and ever-growing if we don’t address it. If we are slowly doing something for our environment and the preservation of our eco-system, we must also focus on and get a grip on our value system. All of these things are interconnected in the web of life. If we see corruption macroscopically, we know in our hearts (microscopically) that we ourselves are corrupt too in one way or another. Perhaps, while we LOOK, let us SEE too – speak rather than talk, run through it rather than walk, gather our wits and find in our hearts and minds to re-create, re-store, re-form and re-solve the issue of morality – the basic values which our great-grandparents held dear and which kept their communities, homes and society ideal for human growth and development. All it takes is these WORDS: — I WILL DO IT (AKO MISMO??!) How? THE BEST I CAN . . . to the very point where GOODNESS HAS STARTED. It may be scary, but then, everything starts with a single step . . . the best shot! PRAYING FOR LUCK!!! AND more . . .! You may write Liit at: 83 M.H. del Pilar St, SFDM, 1105 Quezon City, Philippines, or email her at liitjav@yahoo.com