We shoot for the stars and miss

I could almost imagine the curdling frustration rise out of his skin, a man driven by his vision, his passion, and fired by his power only to be slammed incessantly upon the obstacles of bureaucracy, the law and the obstinate demands of common men with common day to day needs that cannot be replaced or will not be replaced by concepts or claims of lofty ideals. Nearly in tears he is forced to consider that perhaps it is not his destiny to change the nation, but merely be the fire starter for people who would consider the proposition for a nation and government rid of corruption. He is tired, he consoles himself in what he believes, and holds on to a slowly shredding rope of hope, that in the end people will judge him as he sees himself. That was President Noynoy Aquino during his State of the Nation Address.  

Our folly is to believe that we are destined to achieve monumental greatness. We buy into the delusion that in life we are expected and destined to live out a series of successes, at an ever-increasing level of accomplishment and perhaps prominence. Like our yearning for eternity we pursue significance at the level of our chosen heroes.

It never occurs to us during the race towards significance that most of us have been chosen, appointed and anointed to do “one thing” whether great or seemingly mundane, our active obedience or casual action makes all the difference.

The teacher, the pastor, the prophet, the caretaker, the nurse, the housewife, the President, to each of us is given a specific mission, and although we all dream of greater things, of bigger things, what will brings us true peace of mind is discovering that one thing and embracing it. Only then will we have peace of mind and maybe, just maybe, enough time and energy for “big things.” Unfortunately, because of our training, education and upbringing, as well as our human nature, we shoot for the stars and miss. We rebel at life itself and reject the notion of limited roles and mundane assignments. “There must be more to life than this,” we say. We harness all our good intentions, somehow believing we can influence the stars if not God himself, yet we discover that often all our good intentions are not even enough to influence mere mortals. Then all the blocks that make up our ambition, vision and goals come crumbling on top of us. In our moment of exhaustion, when we are humbled, God speaks to us and points the way.

There are many mothers and fathers who never achieve fame or power, yet they raise the next generation of better Filipinos. There are thousands of unsung heroes we call teachers with only one mission: to train up intelligent Filipinos. Jesus only had 3 years and 12 misfits as his disciples yet he has changed human history. He shared many parables, performed major miracles, but his single purpose was to pay the price for our sins. What all of them have in common is that they all loved what they were doing and for whom they were doing it. Yes Mr. President, the Filipino is worth fighting for but it would be a lot easier for you if you simply “Love the Filipino.”

I once pointed out in this column that every President I have known from the time of Ferdinand Marcos to the present have one thing in common — God placed them to perform one very clear task, everything else they did on the side was either a blessing or a curse. Marcos stopped the communists, Cory transitioned us through a bloodless revolution, Ramos gave hope and aspiration through the ethics of hard work, Erap brought a short-lived focus to poverty and hope for the poor, Gloria put in sound economic fundamentals in government, Noynoy’s lot is to fight corruption and thereby bring fear of judgment into government. Even the late Senator and hero Ninoy Aquino changed the course of Philippine history not by living but by dying for the Filipino. 

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The higher one’s stature the more likely one believes that “We have the answers – We are the solution. Sadly that is when we become part of the problem.

It just occurred to me that all the Presidents of the Philippines, the present one included have one thing in common, they decided to run the business of government but excluded all the career officials from being “in-charge.” In fact all the presidents prevented career officials from performing “the role of their lives.” Instead every President appointed cabinet secretaries whom they deemed knew enough about a certain department or had a particular desire for it. Unfortunately the appointment was rarely about competence but the president’s confidence.

For decades this has been a recurring mortal sin and offense committed by politicians against government employees and career professionals. Every outsider appointed to head a department or bureau is the equivalent of a “No confidence” vote of a president against the agency. This message was conveyed to me by several career executives in government who summarized their experience by retelling how representatives of P-Noy came into agencies with a common mantra: “The bureaucracy is so corrupt and needed to be purged.”

Aghast, humiliated, angered, many of them went to their quiet little corners indignant at the sweeping generalizations made by political appointees against them. Four years after, the insult and the resentment remains as if it was done only yesterday. Charity they say begins at home. Perhaps it is time for the President to restore confidence in his own “house.”

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