Enabling

ONE of the sweet challenges I have as a chaplain of a
technical school for boys is to open new horizons to these kids who
often are entangled unnecessarily and uselessly in some predicaments,
most of which are actually just trivial. Together with that is the
delicate task of motivating them and helping them unleash some hidden
and untapped well of potentials that they have.

            I know that practically all of them have good intentions
to gain some degree of success for themselves and for their family in
the future. Besides, many of them show good capabilities in the many
aspects of human development. A good number excel in diligence, others
in creativity, still others in leadership and technical aptitude, etc.

            But very often, because of a host of problems and
difficulties, they get stuck at a certain level. These problems and
difficulties could be financial, emotional, and even psychological. In
these latter aspects, one can easily detect wounds and scars.

            It’s a pity because all these problems and difficulties
are really not that serious or unsolvable or incurable, and yet these
manage to slow them or prevent them from actualizing the many great
possibilities that they have.

            It’s when I win their confidence and they begin to talk to
me about their personal lives that things start to happen. What I
usually hear from them are what I consider as small things, but are
considered big to them.

            Almost invariably, I notice in them an erroneous
conscience, either lax, scrupulous or perplexed. Thus, the task of
clarifying things and liberating them from their errors in thoughts,
words and deeds takes place. I actually see them relieved when their
burdens of conscience, real and imagined, have been unloaded.

            After giving them some suggestions and pieces of advice, I
reassure them that things are really not that serious, that there’s a
lot of hope, that the future is actually bright.

            I focus more on their spiritual life which I consider as
the foundation of the developments in all the other aspects of their
lives—personal, family, social, their studies, etc.

            I see to it that their mind and heart, their thoughts,
desires and intentions, are filled with love for God and for others.
Of course, how this love is developed and lived has to be spelled out
concretely, always deferring to their specific circumstances. I tell
them to keep close watch on what and how they think, judge and reason
out, telling them to begin and end things always with God and others.

            That is why they are also taught to appreciate the
importance of prayer and how to do it.

            But it would not be good if all the spiritual and moral
inputs remain in the theoretical and exhortatory levels. These always
need to be related to their concrete circumstances. Otherwise, a
dichotomy between faith and life, between theory and practice, between
principle and performance is created.

            These kids always need to be encouraged and to be shown
ways of how they can improve and grow in their spiritual life as well
as in the other aspects of their life—in the way they study and work,
for example. In fact, they need to develop a certain spirituality that
would guide them in their work.

            Each one has a learning curve that needs to be respected.
Some move and learn faster than others. Some easily get things with
good consistency, while others are very erratic and awkward,
especially at the beginning.

            I always encourage them to be sport in this endeavor,
trying their best to reach their goals but not too serious when faced
with difficulties, setbacks and failures. Of course, those who tend to
chalk in more victories have to be taught how to be humble and
magnanimous.

            I always encourage them to begin and begin again, when
they encounter some failures along the way. I prod them to make
improvements in everything that they get involved in. They have to be
increasingly productive, efficient and effective. In short, they have
to develop a good character that will work well for them in any
season.

            Guiding and motivating them require a lot of patience. But
what can also help is to always keep in touch with them even when they
already get out of school. With the new technologies, this task has
become more facilitated.


           It cannot be denied that life has many more things to
challenge them, especially when they are already out of school and
start living and working on their own. They have to be prepared and
enabled to face all these.