Wandering Mind and a Tweet

Strained eyes

The fine black and white print of the Rules of Court has robbed what is left of my aided vision. For a moment, It seems like staring into an abstract piece of art contained in a small page of mostly gray and edges of white. Its sheer volume creates some sort of magical effect that jumbles all remnants of memories of the lesson I tried to store. All the meticulous specific steps, logical as it maybe, initially are all jargon and cloudy.  My mind slowly drifted, disengaged from the subject matter before it. Now I find myself constructing these words trying to immortalize the feelings of the moment. One dominant aside from the last bang of Civil Procedure final exam is the Ateneo Human Rights Internship. This has given rise to mix feelings of excitement and anxiety to say the least. For two months, my longest so far, I will be away from the comfort of familiarity and well – comfort.

And in the midst of this wandering mind was a tweet.

There it is an affirmation of the journey ahead. This kind of education that I had since the moment I learned ABC sees itself differently. We are taught that this education is not merely a tool to equip ourselves with the necessary skills to compete in the economy; it is much more than that. It is primarily a work of liberating the self and in consequence, the commitment to use this education for the liberation of others. Such lofty words but it makes perfect sense. That I think, is the meaning and purpose of life - Discover the gift of self and share it to the world especially those who are powerless and voiceless, those who cannot even think for themselves.  

In the internship, we are to choose sectors in which to work with. There are several but I have already decided to choose either the urban poor or labor sector. I do think that my background in economics would do well here and the idea of serving the margins in the urban centers reflects my personal experience growing in the heart of Cagayan.

As the sun sets, I pray that I be sensitive enough to see Christ in the poor that I serve – away from the familiar. I pray that I have the courage to engage and to immerse in the life of the marginalized. And I pray that I be competent enough to use the knowledge of 2 years in law school to aid them in the most committed way. 

Fundamental Roots

2 years into my law school life, mid-time in the ideal 4 year trek, and it seems my gasoline tank is close to empty. That is, the gasoline that drives me to do an extra bit of effort seems to slow as time goes. Just like a child who realized that Santa isn’t real. The lofty law school ideals now reduced into realistic battles with self and professor that we face every day. This is but normal I guess. Economics calls it the law of diminishing marginal utility. In practical wisdom, it might be called growing up. The eyes that once saw beauty now sees meaningless repetition in the books. Being tired is a human and normal thing, especially in an environment that frustration is a daily fact of life.

But in the midst of all of this, we must resist the zombie mentality that is very much pervasive in our domain. The challenge is to consistently ground every moment of our learning into the image that learning the law is learning a new, yet ancient language that speaks of how humanity sees its worth and appropriate what is right and wrong. What is just and fair and all struggles and wars fought in between. It is the language that is still evolving from the moment man learned how to live with others. I guess by conjuring this imagery it brings color, beauty and meaning to the bland black and white monotonic rhythm of law books.

I guess the best way to always bring color to these provisions is to enrich yourself with experiences that help deepen and sharpen why such language is made and how such language operates in the world. And that means going back to the roots, to the basics, to the why, to the faces in which it ought to serve.

And this summer, I am to embark on a journey which I hope will sharpen and deepen my quest for those “fundamental roots”. This is not just a chance to technically learn. This is a rare chance to determine the trajectory of my legal philosophy and most especially, aid in forming my person in this complex Filipino society in the context of legal action. The Ateneo Human Rights Intership Program invitation is a grace. 2 months of life changing experience.