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Warrior of Light Online When he learns to handle his sword, he discovers that his equipment has to be complete – and that includes armor. He goes out to look for armor and hears what some vendors propose to him. "Wear the breast-plate of solitude," says one. "Wear the shield of cynicism," answers another. "The best armor is not to get involved in anything," suggests a third. The warrior, however, does not listen to them. He goes serenely to his sacred place and dons the indestructible cloak of faith. Faith softens all blows. Faith changes poison into crystal-clear water. His angel whispers to him: "Yield everything." The warrior kneels down and offers his victories to God.

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Anchor and Center

this is God's Work

GK is God's Kingdom
God's Kingdom is not a place
it is a state of peace
state of solidarity

Heart of our work is the community
but what it really is - the heart of our mission is the community spirit
the community spirit of bayanihan
being hero for each other

this is our anchor and our center

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

SEED Grad Camp

Pag-asa


Hope in my heart that everything done in good intentions will give birth to the right directions


What is it do we hope for?

Ano ang mga pinakamahalaga sa buhay natin

Madaling umasa kung nakikita - pero paano kung hindi mo nga nakikita?

Hope is about change - transformation - it is about travelling from one point to the other - it is a process - it is a journey. Hope requires commitment

Tita Celia

Hope like commitment is about the Other - never selfish - never about the self - unconditional - isang pagtataya na hindi mo alam kung may mangyayari o wala

SEED Batch 1

Regardless of the risk - we hope, we commit - commitment to hope is a life that is lived life filled - life lived in fulfillment, buhay na itinaya para sa iba ay buhay na puno, buhay na siksik, liglig at umaapaw

Personal story - GK as destination
25 y/o - Before Heaven. Started writing at 25yo but when I joined GK, I stopped writing and started experiencing

GK is not the destination - it is the process of hoping - the journey we choose - GK is not the answer to our hopes - it is the vehicle for us to unlock our capacity to hope - to have a dream. The fulfillment of our hopes is still reliant on us - on you. This is now about leadership - choosing to lead yourself - making a choice and a decision - but make the right choices and decision.

Hope is grace. It comes from a special place - our connection to our faith. It is by God's grace that we witness hope, that we feel hope. Hope crosses the line, leading yourself to where you want to go.

Farm provision 

Hope builds, hope creates.
Hope is encouraged in community. It is not built alone. Danger is the community that discourages hope, dwells on misgivings, on disappoints and failures, where the anchor of hope is not the other - it is about the other - but not anchored on the other - hope comes from our center - our core.

My brothers in GK
Tita Fe

So - What do I hope for - ano ba ang mahalaga sa akin?
My hopes have changed from the self to the community
I hope for land for the landless
I hope for home for the homeless
I hope for food for the hungry
I hope for light for those in darkness

Hope is a transformation
Hope is about commitment
Hope is a process
All hope is grace. So it creates, so it builds.
Hope is real in community

For me - Hope has a name and it is each one of you. As we are community of hope - this is where I draw my hope from - from each one of you.

Ang buhay na walang pag-asa ay buhay na walang dahilan, walang direction, buhay na nagwawala.

Challenge
Hope is made real because it is heard

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Solidarity Assembly - Make your dreams come true - honoring God's gift

 



My dreams were simple.
Finish school and help my parents.
My parents' dreams were simple.
Get my kids to finish school.

Every single day was towards that simple dream.
Studied very well, was a good kid.

Did not get mysef distracted.

My ultimate crush was my date to my highschool prom, text text and he asked me out a few times.
But my dream was my higher purpose. 
I had a simple dream.
To finish school and help my parents.
 
Ateneo was hard, all my classmates were all top students of their schools.  I was class salutatorian of my class but classmates also were.
Did not get myself distracted with competition.  I studied very well and always gave it my best shot.
I never got into the honors list, but that did not distract me.
I had a simple dream.
To finish school and help my parents.

I love performing, and I thought was very good at it. I could sing, I could act and I could dance.  and in the performing world - that was the best recipe.

I was entertaining the thought of auditioning for cheerleading but it had a lot of practices.
I gave up dancing in highschool because my parents said it could not put food on the table.  Mag-aral nalang daw ako mabuti.
I had a simple dream.
To finish school and help my parents.

I gave up singing very early because even if I wanted to be a classical singer, I could not read notes. I was in the Ateneo Glee Club. It was a choice of learning how to read notes or studying for my accounting exam.
I had a simple dream.
To finish school and help my parents.

I gave up musical theatre because when I tried doing it professionally, it could not pay much and it could not help my parents.
so I did not allow myself to be distracted.
I had a simple dream.
To finish school and help my parents.

So I did - I finished school and helped my parents.

So I discovered my simple dream gave birth to other dreams, my brothers' dreams.
Because I helped my parents send my brothers to school.

My brothers finished school and also helped my parents.
My mom's dream to have a grocery cart full to groceries became a reality.
My mom's dream to fly with benefits of a flight attendant became a reality.
My mom's dream to go to Maldives became a reality.
And it all started with a simple dream.

Dreams direct reality. Hindi siya predictor of reality, but serves as a compass for the reality we choose. 
 
Dito din tayo nagkakaroon ng reality check, ano ba ang meron tayong hawak na pwedeng magamit to make our dreams a reality. 
What are our strengths? 
What are our interests? 
Big dreams to be in Pinoy Big Brother or become the Voice are good but are these yours?
Start with simple dreams.
Sinplicity of the weekend.


Dreams are reflections, like mirrors, they tell us how we look at ourselves.  Malaki ang tiwala sa sarili, malaki ang tiwala sa katuparan ng pangarap. Usual exercise of looking into a mirror and asking yourself - how do I look at myself?  It might tell you how your dreams will come true.

Choosing to find joy in our dreams. Even in the midst of 

Jerick's story.

I have a simple dream.
For others to see their simple dreams become reality.
This is my gift.



In a lot of sharings and processing sessions with SEs, I would always share about dreams and how important it is to be the starting point.  

All entrepreneurs should start with that singular dream.

But I have found out we have emphasized through the years is the WHY

While we dream, it is important to go back to our WHY

One - this is our anchor point.  Everytime we get lost - we need to go back and be reminded of our WHY - otherwise we can never come back.

Anchor - CENTER.  Dito tayo nangggaling.

Simple dream
Finish school and help my parents - no matter what.

Like all families, we encounter challenges.

For my family - it was being the second family.

Fighting for the simple dream became a challenge.

At some point - I became a parent.

I was the family's breadwinner.
I was my mom's ally - become the disciplinarian.
I had to project that I was stronger.

For me and my brothers we fought for our dreams.

Everytime I get lost - I go back to my family.
Show family photo.

Last year - my father decided to reconnect.  Show family photo with dad.

Show video of the engagement

He fought for his dreams.


Week 1 Value of simple dreams.
Week 2 The journey of realising our Dreams is filled with challenges so we search for our anchor, our center, that always brings us back to our dreams.
Week 3 Fighting the dream killers of hardships, doubt and fear.
Week 4 Race to the finish. Value of our dreams is not in the destination but in the journey, the process.  The race that unlocks who we are.  The race that allows us to be grateful for support, our family. The race that rewrites who we are, our capacity to be faithful to the dream, the promise.

Courage to Commit
- let go - face your fears - this life is not ours
- fulfill a promise
- families

Commitment
1 - having faith
- process of becoming
2 - despite bad times
- long-term
4 - about the "other"

Letting Go - being a control freak

Prayer Journal - May 2010

These prayers led me here - it was about having faith - commitment was about having faith

Commitment's different faces in my life
- my brother disappointing us - he lied to the family saying he was going to school 
- there was this boy from work - i did not feel he had the capacity to commit

A commitment needs to be said - and have faith that it will be the process of becoming

My perfect example of commitment is my mother - during a fight with my father - mothers day special

- Tajen calling - IT IS WHAT IT IS

Commitment is long-term - it is despite of the bad times

Doing the farm is a test of my commitment - whether I was capable - 

Jumping jobs

Then i met the farm

Different times I was a witness of commitment
- Shanon during summit and malolos
- tita celia
- tita aida
- tita tess
- auie and max
- billy
- fabien

Commitment was about myself - but the farm taught me that it was about the "other"

In the farm I realized Commitment is about Shanon, Abby, Loleng, Tita Jen, Rob, Rad, Jeth. 


A commitment needs to be said - and have faith that it will be the process of becoming

Commitment is long-term - it is despite of the bad times

Commitment is about the "other"

Commitment to Family - Pagpaparaya

Commitment to God and Country - unconditional








Monday, June 4, 2018

Solidarity Assembly - Luis O

 What is the title of your book


Solidarity is about hope
Hope is not done alone
GKEF or SEED or GK is not our final destination

Hope's anti thesis is discouragement

Source of discouragement is
Circumstance that will lead to despair
How can hope be real in time of despair

Solidarity is about hope
Hope is not done alone
Being a Builder of hope is about leadership
Solidarity happens because of leadership

Hope is not dependent on your leaders but you

Being good is not good enough

Solidarity happens because of leadership

Leadership is refusing to do it alone

Leadership is about service, accountability, build an authentic community