The paradox of our time

George Carlin was one of the leading comedians of the United States, thirty years ago. Older now, he wrote this little article on The Paradox of our Time – his reflections on what has happened to us as the years roll by.

"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We spend more but have less, we buy more but enjoy less.

"We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge but less judgment, more experts yet more problems, more medicine but less wellness.

"We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life. We’re added years to life, not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space, but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

"We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

"Remember: spend more time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember: say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

"Remember to say: ‘I love you’, to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all, mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend a heart when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment, for some day that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

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Another paradox of our time is that our Philippine media is filled with vivid stories of crime, corruption, immorality, violence and murder. Surveys are published to establish that our Filipino youth are drifting away from God, from organized religion, and from the Ten Commandments.

Yet religious orders from all over the world are coming here, precisely to recruit vocations! We have two hundred religious congregations of Sisters who are training our young girls in the spirit of their apostolate and then sending them to their Mother Houses in Europe, or in America. And these Filipina nuns become Superiors, pillars of religious strength in congregations that were founded in France, in Germany, in Italy, in Canada.

Our media and our surveys say that our young men have lost faith in the Catholic Church, that religion is no longer a positive force in their lives. Yet we have Filipino missionary priests in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia; Filipino priests in Africa, in South America, in France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Russia. The first Bishop of Mongolia, consecrated only recently, is a Filipino!

And vocations are growing. They are growing slowly, but they are growing. Tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 30, the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, will hold a seminar on vocations for young men at Loyola House of Studies on the Ateneo campus in Quezon City. It will run from 8 am until 5 p.m. They will present, dispassionately, the things that are necessary to become a priest, or a brother. The signs that God is calling. The stages of formation. The subjects that are studied in philosophy and theology. And then the various apostolates that are open to those who are trying to serve God in a consecrated life.

If a young man is interested in this: how to discern what God wants you to do, how to find the best way for you to spend your life, how to discover the most reasonable, logical way for you to live – this kind of seminar is a big help. The directors are instructed by the Church to be neutral. Not to push a soul toward the religious life, or toward marriage. To stand in the middle, as a balance. This seminar is one of the few events where the director is really out to help the one making the discernment. To help him find his place in the sun, his corner of the sky.

You don’t need an invitation. Just go. The young Jesuit Scholastics will welcome you, and help you as much as they can. You can contact Loyola House of Studies this way:

* Phone: 426-61-01, local 3408
<* Telefax: 426-61-12 or 426-59-69
* E-mail : [email protected]
* Website: www.ignaciana.org.

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Another paradox is the feeling that the Filipino artist is inferior. Yet nineteen Filipino actors played in the original production of Miss Saigon, after Cameron Mckintosh had screened actors all over the world. In the starring role of Kim, Lea Salonga won top awards both in London and in New York. Oscar Yatco is conducting a German Symphony Orchestra in Berlin. Chino Gutierrez, a brilliant violinist at the age of twelve, is amazing Austrian audiences in Vienna. Our Bayanihan Folk Dancers have gone around the world many times, accepted everywhere as star performers. Honey Barredo was the Prima Ballerina in Atlanta, Georgia. And the Madrigal Singers won first place over all the leading choral groups in Europe.

Last week the Philippine Ballet Theater presented The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. They were coached by a Russian Ballet Master, ANATOLI PANASSIOUKOV, but there was nothing in that Russian Ballet that our Filipino dancers could not do. They were graceful, beautiful at all times, and moving fast as light.

A ballet troupe is as strong as its weakest dancer. But the Philippine Ballet Theater had no weak dancers. Every one of them had a few precious moments on center stage, where he or she carried the whole show. The choreography is difficult, but they performed effortlessly, naturally, dramatizing the story with deep emotion that showed in their eyes, in their faces, in their bodies, in every motion, from head to toe.

Inday Gaston Mañosa, the Executive Director, wants to take this production through the Philippines and through the countries of Asia, to show that the Asian dancer can be world class. Our Philippine dancers not only can be – they are – among the finest dancers in the world.