Make Me a Channel of Your Peace
Saying Goodbye is Never Easy
One of the last big moments for me during my time in The Philippines occurred during the closing ceremony at LegaSci school. It was a performance of a beautiful song and it has stayed in my heart. I think back to it often when I am remembering my time and my students there.
The song is called "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace - The Prayer of St. Francis". I heard this song often growing up in church and it's sweet, gentle melody has always brought me peace. But that day, at the end of week full of learning, teaching, and sharing, it affected me more deeply than it had in a long time. Perhaps because it was sung my one of my students - a young woman with an angelic voice and a sweet personality - and her classmate, or perhaps because they sung it in English and Tagalog, or perhaps that song seemed to represent all of the goodness of my trip and my hopes upon my return to the United States, but I cried. Not just little tears to dab away at the corners of my eyes. But big ones that rolled down my cheeks as my heart swelled with gratitude, love, and hope as my thoughts on how this experience has changed me.
Connecting Filipino Values
Throughout this blog series, I have looked at how the four core Filipino values were present in my time abroad. The choice and performance of this song highlights several of them beautifully.
Maka-Diyos - the belief in a higher power. The song is a prayer, asking God to make the singer His servant so that he can follow in the steps of Christ.
Maka-Tao - the belief that all are worthy of respect. The singer asks to be a vessel of peace, love, and understanding.
Makabansa - the love of country. The performance was done in both English and Tagalog showcasing the deep pride and connection Filipinos have to their language and culture.
It reminds of how integrated these values are in daily life there and that when the foundation of learning is not the ABCs or 123s, but value for yourself, others, and your country, how much deeper of an impact education has on who you are and remain.
Channeling Peace & Good Will
The lyrics of the song themselves are a wonderful representation of what it means to be a global citizen. They ask for empathy, understanding, connection, and to ultimately live not for ourselves, but to make our time here on earth better for everyone we come across.
Lord make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
And where there is sadness, joy.
O divine master grant that I may I may never seek,
so much to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
For it is in giving that we receive -
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it’s in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Global competency is more than having a well-rounded perspective of the world. It is committing ourselves to moving from understanding to empathy to compassion. And action involves action. It is the actions of the song: consoling, understanding, loving, giving, and forgiving. It is not enough to simple be; we must do.
Until Next Time
As is the custom in the Philippines, saying goodbye is to indicate a temporary separation and not a final farewell. It is my sincerest wish to go back someday and reconnect with all of the generous, kind, warm people I met during my time. They have all left marks on my heart in the most positive way. So I do not say, goodbye, I say "Hanggang sa muli. Until next time."
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