IT has often been said that the good deeds of each one of us shape and strengthen the good of our country. And each good deed gives luster to our name. Naturally we all can add luster to the name and reputation of our country by going about our life, trying to do as much good as possible.
We could also add shine to the Philippines and the name "Pilipino" if we ceased and desisted from holding malice towards anyone, particularly towards any of our fellow citizens.
A start in this direction can be made by thinking well of the others. This is reinforced by each one of us acting as uprightly as possible. In fact, our own upright life would make it easier for us to think well of others. A sage once asked: "Why do you look about you and listen and read and talk with such a mean intention, and why do you try to gather up the ‘bad things’ to be found?" He then made this observation that those "bad things" may not be "in the intention of others, but only in (our) own soul" (Furrow, 578). Yes, indeed, there is often selfprojection: We see so many bad things around us because there is so much evil in us.
It is for this reason that responsible citizenship demands that we look at others with a broad mind and open heart. We can not and should not "measure our neighbor by the narrowness of (our own) mind" (Furrow, 580). Nor should we listen only to "the words (we) carry in (our) own heads" (Furrow, 575). Rather, we should all try to see our fellow citizens under the best possible light. We should be encouraging them and understanding them, respecting the entitlement they have to their own good name, always presuming their best intention. Let us remember that many times the "evil we discover (in others) exists (only) in our own minds" (Furrow, 582).
How different our land would be if we observe the fullest restraint before accusing others of wrongdoing and throwing stones at the glass houses in which they are entitled to live. How much better our situation would be if we never twist the "truth" or manufacture it so our "errant ways can be justified" (Furrow, 569). How much time and effort would we save for focusing on our people’s development if we all put greater "mistrust (in) our own wretchedness" (Furrow 585) and greater trust in others’ uprightness!
Is this naïve? Is this way of acting and thinking very much up there, up in the clouds way above us? It may be so. But let us remember that we have a "most beautiful and promising" land, which may have cartloads of charlock, poppies and couch-grass." But for the most part we also have in our land "upright and responsible people." These are the "golden ripe ears of wheat" (Furrow, 588). We must "collect" them and make them support all others who are working for our country’s development. Indeed, the challenge for us is to have more of the wheat and rice in our land, and to uproot the wildly encroaching weeds so deeply embedded in our own minds and hearts.
We all can make a great start by refusing to "pick up the calumny (and slander so blithely and freely) spread around in our midst; for to do so is "to become a refuse-collector" (Furrow, 589). We can go even farther by refusing to speak when we can not speak well of our country and our fellow citizens in our own land, and much more so when we happen to be in other lands.
