I first met Neil in the summer of 2009 in Quezon, The Philippines, while on a training trip. Neil is actively involved in his community of Jesus-followers at his university, Uni. of Philippines Diliman. He's an avid reader and writes such good poetry! His poetry fascinates me because it paints such vivid pictures and evokes unsaid feelings so well. Check him out at http://mrkenri.tumblr.com.
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LegacyNeil Mark Enriquez
When I look at the stars in the clear night, it always brings me the old memories, vivid ones of my childhood. Memories that time could not erase. The longer and harder I look at them, the farther my memories would take me back. Good memories that feed the warmness in my soul. I looked at them and remembered that it was the same thing that I looked up during the night when I would dream of my future.
I was born in a generation when computers were not as fast as your smart phone and every book was a hidden gem of knowledge. It was time when cell phones were as big as blocks, and cassette tapes were the popular thing next to compact discs and where the walkman would find its way onto my belt.
The heat of the sun during the afternoon was not enough to stop me from going out and playing with my friends. Running was a way to survive the usual games of tag and dexterity was needed in war games and childish rivalries sometimes turned into something similar to Fight Club.
We are so prod that we lived in that generation; we grew up and made those good old things a part of us, which I'm sure we will never forget. We will never go back to those times again, we will always grow up but we will forget how it feels to be that child and play again.
Smart phones and portable gaming consoles find the hands of the younger generation today; most have never gone to play with kids in the streets and run with others. Not even getting a few bruises, the battle scars of fighting and experience. They will never see our days when we were always outside with the friends we saw and played with almost every day.
I believe they are missing out on the fun part of being a kid - plans on how to beat up the other rival group on the other block, and the best way to sneak out of the house is to climb the fence; and the best way to bring down your opponent in Tekken is to press all the buttons and pray that the ultimate combo comes up.
We grow up and it's true that we change and put childish things away, but the child in us never goes away. It's there and it will never go away because it is part of us and always will be. We will have our jobs and our lives will be much more complicated than it was before, and you will dream of those days when everything you asked for was within the reach of your mother's hand, like a toy or you bear.
When I see my baby cousins, I think and wish that I could share some of the best moments in my childhood with them. Let them play in the sun as I did, let them run as I did, let them do art on their first canvas (which was the wall). They will never share the same experiences as us, but we can let them feel what it was like during our time. Good old times...the brightest memories of our lives.
When we grow up we do not live for ourselves anymore. We live for others. When we graduate after high school and college, we think that we are here to change the world, yet we can't always get everyone's approval. The old guys will be skeptical about it and your peers might even see you as a man with big ambitions impossible to fulfill. You might even be disheartened and discouraged as you see that it is very hard to change the world with these persons around you.
I believe that the future belongs to the children, like Jesus said, "For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children." He was talking about the power of children. The potential they possess is so much more than what we can think of. So I'd rather not change the old men or some of my peers, though I'd give some a chance. But children...I'd pour my time and teach them what the good things are, the time in the past that I enjoyed and loved, tell them of the future that they can be in.
If every kid in the world is being cared for and loved, I think the media would run out of bad news and they would have to change how they sell news or shut down. That's how good it is, it does not take an award-winning idea or prize-winning discovery to change the world. Although it helps, it doesn't make up a fraction of a power of change that love can bring. Being the person that the child looks up to or the person who inspires them is good enough.
That child in you will remember everything and will be the one side of you that will teach and inspire these kids. You can't talk to them in your adult mindset, you have to become a kid again in order to make a lasting connection with the younger ones. It will reward you a hundredfold or maybe even a thousand as these kids will also share with the next generation what their childhood was like growing up.
You make lasting memories with the children, like what my father did, and you will never forget how it was when you were a kid - those carefree and wonderful moments that never lose its colors and warmth. You can only share love when you know you are loved. You cannot give without sacrificing and when you give love you are also giving a part of yourself to others.
The next time someone looks up and sees the stars in the clear night, it will not be me but some other kid with wonderful memories of you or me.
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"Life and society" will feature various people from different walks of life and various parts of the world. New posts are up every Monday and Thursday at 6pm (GMT +8 / Singapore time) through the first week of 2012. On Thursday (Dec 1), I'll be featuring Daryl Wong, a musician friend whom I've done a couple of covers with, like this, this and this.
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