Kayo ang ilaw ng sanlibutan. Hindi maikukubli ang isang lungsod na itinayo sa ibabaw ng isang burol. Hindi nagsisindi ng ilawan ang mga tao at ilalagay lamang sa ilalim ng isang takalan. Sa halip, ilalagay ito sa ibabaw ng isang patungan, nang sa gayo’y magbigay liwanag ito sa lahat ng nasa bahay. Sa gayunding paraan ay paliwanagin ninyo ang inyong ilaw sa harap ng mga tao, upang makita nila ang inyong mabubuting gawa at luwalhatiin ang inyong Amang nasa langit.
Pagbasa
Mateo 5:14-16 (FSV)
We continue with our season of rainbows and pride month series with a famous reading today from the gospel of Matthew. Usually, itong reading na ito is always together with verses about salt. Asin. But before that, does anyone remember my preaching about this during last year’s anniversary and official opening of the Wilshire Chapel?
For today, we will interpret it a little differently in the context of queer struggle and fighting for our rights.
Jesus says, you are the light of the world. Kayo ang Liwanag ng daigdig.
Remember that Matthew wias writing the Jesus story and teachings in the light of the persecutions of Rome and their separation from the Jewish community after the destruction of Jerusalem. So when Matthew writes that about Jesus saying, you are the light of the world this is also specifically telling the persecuted Christians – You are the light of the world.
Sa kabila ng violence laban sa inyo ng occupying government of Rome and despite being excluded by the Jewish community – patuloy kayong magliwanag. Wag nyong itago ang Liwanag nyo. Let you light shine for everyone to see. Wag kayong matakot na magning-ning at patuloy na magliwanag sa mundong nababalot ng dilim at lagim.
We can say the same right now. There remains discrimination and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ people by majority Christian groups. Here and there, and every so often LGBTQIA+ people experience violence, verbal and physical abuse, exploitation, and economic hardships like the early Christians under empire. Sa harap at kabi-kabilang mga chakang ganap at atake, Jesus tells us today as he told them before he died, and as he told the community of Matthew through the gospel writings, kayo mga accla ang Liwanag sa mundo. Ipagpatuloy nyong magning-ning. Wag intago ang makulay nyong Liwanag. Jesus in the gospels tells them as they tell us today:
paliwanagin ninyo ang inyong ilaw sa harap ng mga tao, upang makita nila ang inyong mabubuting gawa.
And when Jesus tells speaking this through the written gospel of Matthew, it is always addressed to a group of people or community. Therefore, As Jesus was telling this to the crowd and the author of Matthew is writing this for his Jewish Christian community, so are we being told of this both as individuals and as a community of mostly queer Christian of today.
To continue fighting for our rights we need to shine our light and help others shine theres.
So hindi lang maging woke at magpa-woke. Magning-ning at magpa-ning-ning as well.
How do we do this?
- Developing Yourself:
- Character and Values, and personal awareness of your imperfections
- Your skills and critical thinking
- Know when to Shine and Not to Shine within the larger movement
- Let others shine beside you and after you.
Developing Yourself:
Kung kaya naman nating magning-ning at magliwanag ng Maganda, makulay, at scented pa, why not? Wag tayong makuntentong magliwanag bilang cheap or poor quality na kandila. And when I say cheap I don’t mean that in terms of economic or being anti-poor. What I mean in terms of high quality candle that burns would be in terms of character and skills. Kung tayo na rin naman ay magliliwanag dapat magliwanag tayo ng maayos at maganda. Hindi makalat at hindi masakit sa mata. Hindi rin fire works lang na bombastic, maingay, pero panandaliang pa-show-show lang.
To shine you have to develop two things about you: Character which includes values, and your skills.
Develop Character:
Develop character and values. Because only those with good character and firm values will ultimately shine without much effort. People will naturally see you shine when you have developed good character and values. Mabuting pagkatao, asal, at pakikipagkapwa including professionalism sa lahat ng bagay na inyong ginagawa sa personal, sa pamilya, jowa, at mga kaibigan, sa trabaho, sa community, sa ministry at advocacy. Develop character and values even if you are not a leader yet. A solid character will also the source and core of your inner strength and resilience when bad things happen, when you fail, commit mistakes, or make wrong decisions. Sa mabuting character huhugutin ang lakas ng loob at tapang na harapin ang mga chakang pangyayari sa ating buhay at mga ginagawa. Ang taong gustong magliwanag agad-agad pero hindi nagdedevelop ng character at values will eventually face a lot of problems and hardships because the lack of character and values in leadership will ultimately show ego, selfish motives, and intentions that wish to only exploit others. Part of developing character and values is having the self-awareness of your own imperfections and tendencies so that you can manage and/or mitigate them. Part of developing character is finding the inner strength to admit mistakes and failures, and when you do to overcome them and try again. Developing character and values is also developing patience and calmness to not be reactive but rather respond to both negative and positive situations intelligibly.
The stage of public life and the spotlight will be unforgiving and will eventually showcase and even amplify negative character and evil intentions, if not sooner, definitely later. There is nothing hidden that will not come to light specially for those who think that the stage of public life, the platform of advocacy, and the spotlight cast upon them are things and spaces to be exploited for one’s own sole benefit.
Gusto mo magning-ning – patiently develop your character and values, and your capacity to be self-aware. Develop your character by learning from mentors and teachers; learning from historical events and experiences. Learning from your own BS in the past. Learning from other people’s BS. Develop character through service with or without recognition.
Those who develop their sense of self – character, values, and sharp self awareness – are the ones who will truly and naturally shine and be recognized.
Your skills and critical thinking – Syempre hindi naman puro character lang. Medyo kulang kung puro character pero walang skills and critical thinking. Hindi pwedeng Ms. Friendship lang then waley na. Kaya nga maski pageants, some of them, may pa-talent portion and pa-question and answer. Hindi pwedeng puro ganda at pa-friendship lang si accla. Dapat talentado at brainy rin. Ang ating pakikibaka ay nangangailangan ng mga gagampan, maglilingkod, at maglelead na merong kakayanan, talento, at talino. Hindi pwedeng puro mema lang at dinadaan lang sa pa photo-op. Develop what is uniquely your skills and your intellectual capacity. Know what you are good at that the world desperately needs; that the LGBTQIA+ movement desperately needs to push our shared justice work. Dito, I also want to re-echo Paul in his 1st letter to the Corinthians when he talks about the variety of gifts, talents, and functions in the church community. Paul asks, are all apostles? Are all preachers? Are all prophets? No. Each according to gifts that the Spirit in accordance to the larger and wider work of the community.
Know when to Shine and Not to Shine Within the Larger Movement –
Whatever you do, whatever you say, and how you do and say things, and when, You should always consider this from the Bigger picture. Ang ating focus ay yung mission na inaatang sa atin at bahagi tayo. Kaya tayo nag-vovolunteer; kaya tayo nagiging leader; kaya tayo nagsasalita o tumatayo sa harapap; sa simbahan or sa advocacy, it is because of the mission, vision, and goals of the organization and how that organization is part of the larger work of the movement. For example, sa HASH, LoveYourself, or sa PANTAY, magvovolunteer ka duon kasi you firmly believe sa unique na work nung organization and how that work of the organization makes a difference. Hindi naman dahil para maging STAR ka ng pasko sa organizationa na yun. To shine your light, you need to consider the bigger reasons within the bigger space.
Itatanong mo sa sarili mo palagi kung ikaw ba ang dapat magshine on a specific space, event, situation, project, or group of people. Yung particular skills mo ba ang nararapat para duon? Hindi yung ang tingin mo sa organizations or sa simbahan ay stepping stone TO BE SOMEONE. I’m not saying it is not but you are looking and thinking of it in a wrong way and at the wrong things kasi mas nakafocus ka dun sa Magandang mesa or sa Maganda candle holder kung saan nagnining-ning yung iba kesa duon sa rason kung bakit sila nagnining sa mesa or candelabra where sila nakalagay.
So dapat honest, humble, and careful tayo sa mga invitations or mismong tayo presenting ourselves for something kung nabubulagan lang pala tayo ng need to be SEEN and validated. Kasi ending nyan, baka mapahiya ka lang din kasi when the time comes you are not equipped for the role or the task, o kaya naman hilaw ka pa.
Naalala ko yung isang CNN Philippine interview with a doctor. Yes, medical doctor sya pero obviously hindi mo expertise yung HIV and AIDS at sa malamang you have barely exposed yourself medical work and community work sa HIV and AIDS. And so the interview was a disaster and na-call out yung CNN for interviewing a medical doctor who doesn’t know what he was talking about. Yung doctor din, kung text book lang ang alam mo at hindi ka naman nainvolve sa medical work and community work with HIV and AIDS, bakit ka magpapa-interview? Bakit hindi ka nag-refer ng ibang kakilala mong doctor who is in that field? Bakit? Ego and the desire to be interviewed by CNN. Know when you are not the right light to shine in a given space, situation or event. Baka instead na makatulong yung Liwanag mo, ang ending mapasao ka, mapaso ang iba, at mapaso ang ating movement.
On the matter of shining in the right place and right situation for the right reasons. If you are given the space, platform, or the role where you and your skills can shine do so excellently as best as you can. Pag ibignigay naman sayo, live up to it. Use it for optimum effect. If the mantle of leadership is given to you, panindigan at patunayan mo. For when much is given, much is expected and demanded. Hindi yung volunteer ka or leader ka tapos hindi ka gumagampan and you do not put your heart into it. When it is your time to shine and you are the right one for it, BLAZE. Magliyab. Mag-alab. But have the awareness and the humility to know that leadership, volunteer work, or to be represent your organization, whatever it is, it is a privilege given to you for a short period of time. Your position of power, your speaking engagement, an event that showcase your creativity will never last. Being a pastor or a leader is given and not something you deserve or own. Other people and institutions are the ones who call you a leader. You do not claim that for yourself. Maski naman sa corporate pag napromote. Ikaw ba ang nagpromote sa sarili mo?
The company promotes you because they see your potential and see that you have the skills for the particular position. So when you are given the role, position or the platform use it for the best. Use it to advance justice work. Use it for the good of people and to further develop yourself. Wala naman masama kung idevelop mo sarili mo while in the process at mas lalo ka pang matututo basta’t hindi excessive at hindi in a way na ineexploit mo ang ibang tao or mga subordinates mo, and hindi to the detriment of the Bigger Picture. To shine our light, we need to know when, where, and how to best shine our light and when not to, always considering the mission, the vision or the bigger picture.
Let others Shine with you and after you.
You can never have too much light in darkness. All lights are welcome to contribute. Your light is not deemed when there’s another light shining. And it is necessary to have other lights who will shine after you have been totally spent.
It is so egotistical and also leadership unbecoming if you think na ikaw lang ang dapat na magning-ning sa simbahan, sa adbokasiya, sa trabaho, sa magkakaibigan or sa pamilya. It is also egostistical to think na pwede mong ma-outshine ang iba. May kanya-kanya tayong galing, talino, at kapasidad na may kanya-kanyang moment of shinning at paraan ng shinning. We have to celebrate this. We have to appreciate the light of each person and what light they offer to our lives, our communities, to our church, and to our advocacy. Let us also not think that we will be the one to shine forever and ever. We have to search out, recognize, nurture, and feed the light of younger ones gently and patiently with some space for certain mistakes and failures. Kasi dun lang din sila matututo sa kanilang own failures and mistakes which will refine them the same way that you have been refined. And if we want our light to shine continually long after we are gone, we can only do so when we pass on some of our light to the next generation of queer Christians, queer pastors, allies and friends, other activists and advocates.
Shine your light and let your goodness be seen, Jesus says. Pag-liwanagin ang sarili sa kabuuan at katotohanan ng kung sino ka at ano ang maibabahagi sa iba at mga aba. Magliwanag sa pamamagitan ng paglilingkod, pakikisangkot, at pakikibahagi. Wag sarilinin at angkinin ang spot light o ang malawak na entablabo. Alamin kelan at saan ka dapat magliwanag. Kilalanin ang Liwanag ng iba. Magliwanag ng magkakasama. Ipasa ang Liwanag ng mabuting balita at pakikibaka. Bigyang chance na magliwanag din ang mga Kabataang accla na magpapatuloy after natin. Let us continue to fight for our rights by shinning our light together with the light of others. Ipaglaban ang kulayaan sa pag-aalab ng sarili at sap ag-aalab ng iba. Magning-ning at magpaningning in Jesus name, our one true light.
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