Ang mga ilaw na hindi pwedeng mapundi (The lights that must not burn out)

We cannot teach or demand excellence from others (in my context, demanding excellence from my students) without discussing responsibilities. In a way, staying mediocre is more convenient because it means less responsibilities. It’s also less risk in terms of avoiding burning out.

The challenge is that we cannot let our students burn out too. Sila ang mga ilaw na hindi pwedeng mapundi. People are not lightbulbs or candles that can be disposed and replaced.

How can we demand excellence without leading to burnout?

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Matthew 5:13-16. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-164: JUNE 13, 2023]

A tangible and literal unconditional love

Please pardon the imagery if this is sensitive for you. Witnessing my wife breastfeed my son and learning how a mom’s breastmilk can adapt its nutrients based on the needs of the child is nothing short of amazing.

I would even go as far as saying that it is a tangible and literal form of unconditional love – the baby cries, then the mother gives without expecting anything in return. The body produces just the right nutrients to nourish not one’s own body but another.

Three months of sleepless nights into raising my son, we’ve already gone through challenges. I realize and am grateful for all the things that went right for my son to continue being healthy and resilient against various illnesses (we just came home from the hospital). So many things have to fall into place to nourish a baby.

And nothing is as compelling as witnessing my wife truly become a mother, ready to care and nourish our son.

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John 6:51-58. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-162: JUNE 11, 2023]

Where does insight come from?

We must pay attention to our experiences, for these can trigger questions for reflections.

The formation of insight indeed happens inside us, not outside us. When we gain information from others, it is simply a transfer of knowledge. But when the information or experience resonates with us, we allow insights to form.

In a way, the term “extract insight” or “extract meaning” seem to be misrepresentations of the authentic insight experience. We can be provoked, triggered, or inspired by external entities, but it is us who must keep an open mind and heart.

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Mark 12:35-37. The Holy Spirit inspired David to say: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here on my right until I put your enemies under your feet.’

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-160: JUNE 9, 2023]

Living with

Having a family of my own while also being part of a bigger family (and community) punctuates how essential it is to live with others. Even as an introvert, I find that there is strength and inspiration in being able to live with people we love.

Indeed, as we truly live with each other, we can approximate what it means to have a great spirit emerge out of our genuine love towards one another.

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Mark 12:18-27. He is the God of the living, not of the dead.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-158: JUNE 7, 2023]

Subtle greed is insidious

When I was an undergraduate student, during my frosh year, I was guilty of an insidious mindset. I thought that the best way was to have the least amount of effort for the highest amount of grade. Positively, this could be framed as “working smart”. But negatively, with hindsight, I’d frame this mindset as “subtle greed”.

This mindset is insidious because it breeds entitlement and predisposes a person to game the numbers. It can put authentic learning on the sidelines. This mindset initially made me view grade consultations as a game of haggling, bargaining, and negotiating with my professors. Now, I realize that this mindset made me an inauthentic student during my early college years.

Looking at my journey in college, I recall meaningfully the courses that I barely passed or those courses where I put a lot of effort but was very satisfied with a 2.5 grade (in the DLSU system, 0.0 is fail, 1.0 is pass, 4.0 is exemplary). Now, as a teacher, I lament instances where students would bargain not to pass a course, but to turn a 3.5 into 4.0 under the pretense of being a Latin honors candidate.

Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of myself in my latter years as an undergraduate and carried a respectable work ethic in my masteral and doctoral journey. Indeed, the best way is a reasonable amount of effort for the highest amount of learning – that time, I knew my weaknesses, what I was willing to sacrifice, and what I needed to preserve to maintain my mental health. And this mindset, I’d like to believe, put me in a space where I can better thrive as a whole person.

The tricky thing with “subtle greed” is it’s hard to notice and easy to justify. It takes a very sober understanding of our weaknesses to stare at ourselves in the mirror and say: “This is not good enough, this is not who I am, and this is not who I am meant to be.”

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Mark 12:1-12. But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner’s son. Come on, let’s kill him, and his property will be ours!’

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-156: JUNE 5, 2023]