The 5th session with the Republika’s Consul On Learning

Ton: Whow! Consul! Midterm exams are finally over! Another major battle is over but the casualties are yet to be counted. Basically consul, I don’t have any apprehensions about the scores but there is one thing we need to talk about. It is not the score results and dealing with them but it is about learning in general. Can you like you know, give me one of your “philosophical” discourses about why I need to learn aside form the fact that my parents pay for it.

Consul: Young one, 1^st I would like to congratulate you for being confident about your exams. Confidence in any action signifies a well prepared spirit. You did your part, let God do the rest. Hmmm… learning you say? Young one, simply being a human person endowed by intellect by a Being gives us the drive to learn.

Ton: Bitaw bah, I just realized that having intellect and ability to love differentiates us from the animals. Intellect basically is nurtured through learning.

Consul: Correct! Intellect is a gift, a gift from God. As a borrowed thing, we have the obligation to take care of it. Not just take to take care but to nurture it. Learning is not enough, what is complete young one, is reflective learning then action to apply that knowledge.

Ton: Wow! That is nuclear! IPP na yan ha! You made me think consul. I realized that learning must not be treated as a “habit” but as a life process. It needs an active mind. We learn everyday, every moment and with the use of our minds translate that learning’s into action. It is action that leads to a change for the good but with that component called “reflective” in it. It seems like I am urged to process all knowledge as coming from God, a grace that must be cultivated, a knowledge that can never be complete without it being applied for the good.

Consul: Yes, it is indeed in learning that humanity evolved. But I warn you young one, be cautious in acquiring knowledge. Be mindful of its substance. Never let a distorted thought infest your mind. Be critical and analyze. Use your conscience to filter all ideas for it to be free of biases and errors.

Ton: Thank you consul, you basically drew a flow chart about reflective learning. Basta. Embrace all learning’s as a grace from God. Then, Practice myself to process through my experiences and reflect upon it and finally act.

Consul: We never cease to learn. It is a life long process. What makes it worth while is applying it to extend God’s love.

Ton: Wow! Thank you so much consul! You indeed gave me a new insight about knowledge, learning and those kinds of things.

See God in all things

God loves you!

Heroic Leadership 1

The 4th session with the Republika’s Consul

On Mission

Ton: Consul, I have something to tell you with absolute significance! I am actually running for a public trust these coming XU elections 07! Basically consul, I am kinda nervous.

Consul: Excellent my young one! It is indeed a noble act to give back what God gave you through this line of service. What are you running for?

Ton: I’m running for year-representative in the School of Business and Management Student Council. It is not relatively a big burden.

Consul: Hmmm… burden you say? All responsibilities are not a burden young one, it only becomes one if you consider it a burden. It is more of a mission given to you by your peers. You and your co-officers are now mediators, implementers and planners of sorts. You and your co-officers are now catalyst for change young one with a bigger pool for the magis.

Who’s your daddy?

Ton: Cge consul, I am really setting my mind into it. I’m setting it every moment to receive this trust as a mission, as something more, as something divine consul! But still there is that feeling of what if.

Consul: Young one, it is normal for you to feel that uncertainty but you can always reinforce it with a prayer. Continue to nurture the principles you believe in because at the end, these principles are your strengths for this mission.

Ton: Thank you very much consul! The Heroic Leadership book is really of use ha! I’m really trying to furnish my self-awareness exercises. It seems like the spring board of re-energizes spirit comes to the fact that I now slowly realize my weaknesses, strengths and mission in this present time.

Consul: Yes! Self-awareness is the core of any Heroic deeds because it is our understanding of ourselves that feeds our consciousness to the fullest and act through it.

Ton: Thank you very much consul! You indeed gave me a boost! Next time, I hope we could talk about the three other pillars that practically fuelled the Jesuits to do heroic deeds.

See God in all things

God loves you!

a pale blue dot

The 3rd session with the Republika’s Consul

on the cosmos and learning from it

Ton: Consul, I came along with this picture. I 1^st heard of it in An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. This picture is about us. All of us. Well, actually it’s a picture of earth taken from a satellite millions of miles away from earth. Earth simply appears to be a small pale very pixilated blue dot floating in the dark cosmos. It really made me think. And think deep.

Consul: The pale blue dot is us. It is indeed where humanity evolved, all human wrongs, all human accomplishments, all the things, places and people we know of is on that pale blue dot young one. It indeed radiates something, something humbling, yet marvelous.

Ton: Exactly consul! It seems like, even how great we think we humans are, it just happened on a tiny dot in a film. All the wars, the famine, all we strived for, all we fought for happened on that dot! It really amazes me because the very idea of our existence as microscopic bits of life in the universe translates into a wonder, a divine wonder.

Consul: Young one, this image constantly reminds us, all of us that there is something greater than this reality. That in all of humanity strived for; we still are small living things In God’s vast universe. At the same time, it reminds us to be caring. Caring for our home for this is the only one we have in the vast darkenss of the cosmos.

Ton: Thank you consul! It is indeed true that when I think about this picture, it really has that divine effect in me. It enforces my faith and urges me to act about the environment. Whoh! What a great fundamental idea for a new environmentalist! Thanks consul!

God loves you!

constant war within 2

The Consul’s 1st discourse on the dark side and how to combat it part 2

Socrates’ immortal words – “An unexamined life is not worth living”. St. Ignatius really took this statement seriously. In his Spiritual Exercises, he created an innovative prayer designed to recall a day’s event examining all our thoughts and actions. A daily silent recollection which starts in the morning, noon and evening recalling all our actions; good or bad, recalling our core values, reminding us of our mission, thanking God for all the blessings from a stranger’s smile to a cup of milk and resolving to do better for the next day. A simple 5 minutes of silence and prayer twice a day gives something to the soul which worldly pleasures could never substitute. It acts as a spring board for new energy to win the day. It reinvigorates our soul. It re-energizes our spirit. It pushes us to be more heroic. This is the Awareness Examen, a prayer that helps us to become more aware of God’s presence in our day. With this very fast moving world, it is essential for the soul to pause daily even for five minutes just to talk to our God, the ultimate source of all our energy thus combating laziness, pessimism and other traits of the Dark Side. This is an essential practice as a soldier for God.

1. Asking for Insight from the Holy Spirit.
2. Looking at my day. Recall a moment by moment account for the past hours.
3. Thanksgiving. Thanking God for all the graces received for the day. It can be from a simple new lesson, a meeting of an old friend or a new life realization.
4. We ask Forgiveness. With the gifts, we note the gaffs. We recall our failure to respond to God’s love and all our errors.
5. Looking to Tomorrow. Ask God to invigorate our spirits more, affirm more our core values, and resolve to be more heroic as a soldier of God.

God loves you!

constant war within

The Consul’s 1st discourse on the dark side and how to combat it part 1

Lust for power, deep attachment to fame and riches, the passion and desire to be the most important, the most needed, the sought after and the most recognized and an oversized ego led to the self-destruction of countless heroes. The dark side is within us all.

Think about it. Not being still, not listening, not praying and always preoccupied of thinking about yourself will lead the dark side to control you.

Pride young one leads to jealousy, jealousy leads to anger, anger leads to suffering and suffering leads to hate. It is the most contagious and most common disease in humanity. People fall pray to its seductive ways and when engulfed, it will for ever lead your destiny. Do not despair. As human as we are there is always the seed of goodness which lays in every one of us. Goodness that grows when we resist our own dark side by knowing our weaknesses, our values, our principle, our strengths, our actions and our emotions hence, by knowing ourselves fully. Goodness that grows when we examine ourselves constantly in morning, noon and evening. Goodness that grows when we embrace God in our lives.

Defeat them!

Be still once in a while, look and listen to God’s presence in all things, correct the errors, give thanks and act in response to His love. Daily.

God loves you!

learning from the general

The 2nd session with the Republika’s Consul on looking and learning from a mentor

Ton: Consul, I finally have the time to share a thought or two about people we call mentors.

Consul: Yes. Mentors young one are the people older or even younger than you who you consider formators and molders of your mind and heart. Seek one with caution and observation but be generous and open for you will grow well with them. Mentors are the one who inspires you not the one that makes you insecure. They have this uncanny ability to fuel your drive not to suck you of your energy. So learn from them because they are learning from you.

Ton: Yah! Basically I consider all the people mentors. One way or another they contribute a nugget of lesson to me and you but there is always a top in every list. Consul, I wish to share to you my mentor, Fr. Xrysz, sj. A brilliant Jesuit who not only reminded me of who I am but tapped the infinite seed that grows in me. He was actually the moderator of the Light Cavalry Leadership Community and I chaired that organization so it is only natural for him to be my moderator slash mentor.

Consul: Ah. In just a brief collection of sentences, what have you discovered about yourself and the world?

Ton: Wups! To long to enumerate in detail but can be summarized into one word. The mushy word we call – LOVE. I feel that this notion he implanted in my heart almost a year ago grew into so many branches that I can’t enumerate them all. The ambiguous and abstract word called love evolved into a notion that dug deep into all aspects of my life from my studies, my ideas,my human relations, my management and organizational values, leadership values, my prayers, and my technical stuff. Imagine that! It is the word that binds the seemingly impossible thoughts into one! God is love. God binds it all. He always reminded me that the people who are to powerless to dream for themselves and even those who don’t even care be the forefront of my heart. To sum it all up Consul, I rediscovered the beauty of God in Fr. Chris. In how God works in all of us. Making us do great things for others.

Consul: Yes. It is indeed a good realization that this man helped you ignite something that is already in you and not just in you but in all of us. We all have that seed of infinte. That realization of “Love”, the seed that grows is being buried today by too much materialism and by a world that simply wants to fast track everything.

Stop, look and listen.

Ton: Exactly consul! Fr. Chris made me still, listen, pray and respond! He somehow made me embrace each experience, each second as God’s way of giving me gifts because in each experience I learn something. Amazing notion!

Consul: He has given you much indeed. It is indeed up to you young one to nurture this “divine” realization. Be still. Do listen and pray. And respond with heroism and innovation. The seed is growing with the correct fertile soil.

Ton: Thank you Consul! Until next time.

God loves you!

A day before battle

The 1^st session with the Republika’s Consul
on preparing for battle with new weapons

Ton: Tomorrow will finally be the 1^st day of the school year 2007!

Consul: Back to the routine way of living you say?

Ton: I think not. The holiday break led me to a new soul and God searching sessions that pretty much resulted to a beef up of my energetic spirit, new motto and new inspirations. Nothing beats the old Jesuit practice of self-awareness, discernment and prayer! Diba!? Imagine, after 13 years of Ateneo education, the teachings are finally touching my heart! Hahahaha! I am now training my thoughts to constantly do these exercises. To be contemplative in action! Reflection on the move! To destroy the sith in me, to help souls!

Consul: Ah, inspired you are. Much the ateneo have given you. What inspired you?

Ton: Actually it was triggered by a book. I borrowed this book, Heroic Leadership a couple of times already and have been reading it twice. This book is my inspiration and I wish all of you will read it. Oh yah! I also reviewed my Ogilvie retreat palancas and a certain palanca invigorated more of my soul. The palanca of Xrysz, sj. It reminded me of my mission and who I am. Soon, I wish to quote some of it to you.

My mentor and I

Consul:He is indeed a great mentor. In the other hand, do you sense fear tomorrow?

Ton: Hmmmm… I sense fear within myself aside from the fact that tomorrow is our PE practical exam!!! . I fear with what will I respond tomorrow’s experience equipped with this renewed spirit and mission. But mind you consul, I am exited for tomorrow’s battle. I just hope I can face the pressures of academic life fully armed and responsive with this new spirit and new way of doing things.

read this! it will fill you!

Consul: You are much prepared in spirit. In any battle young one, it is the spirit that must be sharpened. Recall all your values and feel the presence of God in you. This will catapult a new and more energetic spirit in you ready for any battle. May God be with you!

Ton: Thank You Consul! i wish to talk more about this mentor of mine soon.

God Loves You!