The thoughts of a teacher

Doctor Onofre Pagsanjan gave the keynote address at the National Convention of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, on their Diamond Jubilee.

He wrote it at 3:00 a.m. . . . . .Then he re-wrote it, at 3:00 a.m. . . . . And then he re-wrote it again, at 3:00 a.m. So it really has a place in this column. Here are some excerpts from that address – the beautiful thoughts of a teacher.

"The theme of our convention is: ‘The CEAP Diamond: Facets of Learning, Faces of Love’.

"The diamond is the most precious of stones. It sparkles the most. But the diamond sparkles only when it reflects light. The diamond in a completely dark room does not sparkle. It needs light to sparkle. Without light the diamond is like the coal from which it came – dark and dead. It is light that gives the diamond life.

"The diamond we are celebrating in this convention is the CEAP. And the CEAP is us – you and me, your school and my school. And the only light that can give our CEAP. Diamond full splendor and power is the LUX DOMINI, the Light of the Lord.

"I am a high school teacher. More specifically, I am a first year high school teacher. My only credential to speak in this convention is that I have been a high school teacher for 55 years, and that at 79 years old, I am still teaching in the classroom. I am a family man. I have three children, three in-laws, two grandchildren, and only one wife.

"I came from a poor family in a depressed area near Tondo. Poor boys like me dreamt about and hungered for the quality education that the more expensive schools gave. How was a poor boy like me able to study at the Ateneo? Many kind people helped me along the way, and I will be forever grateful to them. But it was my Inay who first lit the flame of that hungry dream in my life.

"When I was a little boy, my Inay would clasp my forehead and say spiritedly, almost fiercely, ‘Anak, wala tayong panlaban sa ating kahirapan kundi and utak mo.’ . . . ‘Son, only with your brains can we do battle with our poverty.’ I caught the fire in her voice and the dream in her eyes. And I learned the first important lesson in my life – to DARE DREAM! Perhaps we should inspire our students to look up at the stars before the world entices them with mud.

"If I were to draw from my memory only one picture of my mother, it would be this: my Inay still sewing baby dresses at two o’clock in the morning, her eyes squinting because we had no money to buy her eyeglasses. For every baby dress she finished sewing, she would earn three centavos more for my baon, my lunch money.

"My mother spat blood three times. She got sick with tuberculosis from excessive work and endless scrimping. But dream she did; sacrifice she did for my dream, for our dream. And send me to the Ateneo she did.

"This brings me to the second important lesson she taught me. ‘Anak, kapag nangarap ka, kapa y espada!’ . . . . ‘Son, when you dream, give it all you’ve got!’ . . . . My Inay taught me that it was useless to dream, if I was not willing to pay the price of my dream. She taught me to fuel my dream with passion. Buhos! Hala, bira!

"Perhaps it is of prime importance that we, teachers, early on ingrain in our students the valuable habits of hard work and persistence, without which all the dreaming and wishing are as useless as chalk dust on the floor. Buhos! Hala, bira!

"Perhaps the greatest teacher I’ve had in school was Father John P. Delaney, S.J. He was the principal of the Ateneo High School when I was in senior year. Later, he was assigned chaplain at the University of the Philippines. What a charismatic teacher he was! What a magnetic role model! He was able to set aflame the spirit of his students both at the Ateneo and at UP with the fire of his idealism sprung from his love for Christ especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

"Up to now, I still take my students to the UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice, which Father Delaney helped build some 50 years ago. I tell my students that this chapel brings to mind much of what I learned from Father Delaney, convictions that still fuel much of the energy and enthusiasm I feel in my everyday life.

"Permit me, please, to focus on four features of that chapel, four facets of learning.

"First Feature. The chapel is circular, and the altar is right in the center of the circle. Father Delaney would ask us, ‘What do you put in the center of your life? What do you value most? Money? Power? Prestige? Want what is truly most valuable, what truly lasts’.

"Then he would say, ‘There is only one thing that you should desire unconditionally – that’s God, or goodness, or closeness to God, or peace with God, or at-oneness with God. All other things you desire only if they do not cost you your goodness or your closeness to God.’

"Dare DREAM, yes. Feed your dream with PASSION, yes. But make sure your dreaming and your passion forge ahead in the right DIRECTION.

"Second Feature of the UP Chapel. The chapel has doorways but no doors. This chapel cannot be closed; it has no doors. Like the Heart of God – always open to me.

"Is it like my heart? Is my heart always open to God?

"Third Feature of the UP Chapel. The chapel has murals by Vicente Manansala, National Artist for Visual Arts; floor design by Arturo Luz, another National Artist for Visual Arts. The architect of the chapel is Lindy Locsin, National Artist for Architecture. The crucifix is carved by Napoleon Abueva, National Artist for Sculpture. Four National Artists in one students’ chapel!

"And yet, 50 years ago, these National Artists were struggling beginners. Father Delaney, like all good teachers, could spot talent and goodness and bring out the BEST in his students. Humbly, we, CEAP teachers, beg the Lord of the Harvest that we too may bring out the BEST in our students. The BEST, please, dear God, we beg, not the BEAST.

"Fourth Feature of the UP Chapel. The crucifix in this chapel has a ‘CHRIST’ with outstretched arms that are too long, too extended, anatomically disproportionate. The horizontal distortion is intended.

"We ask Christ how much He loves us. He opens His arms in the widest gesture a man can make. But this Man on this cross is not only MAN. He is also GOD. Father Delaney inspires the sculptor to distort reality. ‘Extend the welcoming arms’ he said. ‘These are the loving Arms of God!’

"The UP crucifix is not a lesson in anatomy. It is a lesson on how God loves and a lesson on how we, teachers in Catholic schools, should love. God welcomes, calls everyone into His loving embrace: the billionaire and the beggar; the Ph.Ds and the unlettered; the virginal and the harlot; the ‘somebody’ and the ‘nobody’; the wise man and the fool. Everyone.

"In the Heart of Jesus, our Model Teacher, there is a special place for His special people: the LOST, the LEAST, the LAST, the LONELY. In our hearts too, there should be a place for the students Jesus would want us to take special care of: our own LOST, our own LEAST, our own LAST, our own LONELY.

"Father Delaney said that if he were to choose a patron saint for teachers, he would choose John the Baptist. We asked him why. Because, he said, people listened to John the Baptist, and they followed not him, but Christ.

"Everything begins with a dream. Dare dream. Fuel it with passion. Give it direction. Temper it with compassion. Put it in God’s hands. And the dream takes shape and sparkles. Like a diamond!"

* * *

There is a daily texting service called: "One Minute With God."

You can reach it on Globe by texting: "REUTER@2978".

You can reach it on Smart by texting: "REUTER@326".