WE have heard this often enough, that our people have become apathetic when it comes to problems confronting the country. We may know only too well the problems we face as a people: We are confronted by them every day. But many of us do not know what to do about them in the first place; and even if we knew, many of us have come to doubt whether we could make any difference at all.
Let us remind ourselves, however, that our country is in very dire straits. We are in conditions almost as disastrous as those in a time of war. A sage and a Saint had written several decades back that "in time of war everybody plays a part" (Furrow, 408). It is not just the regular army that has to do the fighting; every citizen needs to get involved. Each one has to do his or her share.
That involvement would demand good organization and discipline. We have to pull together in solidarity with other responsible citizens in our respective sectors. We also need discipline in getting our organizations to work properly, efficiently, and effectively. We do not have the luxury of simply "lying down under the shade of a tree, and (of) dreaming about winning the war all on (our) own" (Furrow, 409). In other words, we cannot hope to win the war for our country by remaining as foot-loose guerrillas fighting on our own. We have to organize ourselves into a well-disciplined army of responsible citizens.
By closely uniting ourselves with our fellow citizens and working closely with them for the common good of our country, we could endure and overcome all the stresses and strains that come with nationbuilding. The typhoons may come; they may shake our society down to its very core; they may even uproot decadesold structures. But we can "remain confident (that we can not) be blown away, if (we) remain united" (Furrow, 411).
So much is at stake, then, in our being united through the organizations we belong to and the local communities, let alone our national community, which with determination, pluck and generosity we need to push towards progress. First and foremost, all of us must remain united in resolving never "to leave (our work) unfinished, or to do things badly" (Furrow, 412). Staying in our respective places, attending to our respective duties, we could effectively rebuild our nation in solidarity with other responsible citizens by doing everything we have to do in the ordinary circumstances of our life exceptionally well. This is the one right we have to insist on. Let us listen to this sage advice, "aspire to have no more than one right: That of fulfilling your duty" (Furrow, 413).
Insisting on this one right of fulfilling our ordinary duties extraordinarily well would impose a heavy burden upon each of us. It would give us very heavy wings to carry. We do have to look at those burdens, those heavy wings in this way however: "If you did not have them (those heavy wings), you would (not be able to fly and lift yourselves up). You would fall into the filthiest mire" (Furrow, 414).
This is the discipline that responsible citizenship demands from each of us, the discipline of carrying the heavy burdens of everyday duties "with a clean and sincere love" of country (Furrow, 415). That discipline should make carrying any heavy burden seem light.
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