All of us, in some way or another, are of service to people. For example, political appointees serve the public in general. And, once displeased, the appointing authority has the authority to remove such officers from their posts. All public officials are accountable to the people and must serve them with utmost responsibility. Some public servants apply for the opportunity to serve. Some are elected to the position. Some are invited. A few are chosen. And, in exchange of this opportunity of serving our country and our people, they run the risk of being fired.
When we talk of servants, the first few people who come to mind are housemaids, waiters, helpers or any other person in any service-oriented establishment. These people are paid to serve and to please those who pay their wages. These people are happy to receive tips, bonuses, a pat in the back or any other compliment from the people they serve. Unfortunately, they are prone to be fired, especially when expectations are not met.
Just think of Peter Lavina. Ismael Sueno. Jose Vicente Salazar. Dionisio Santiago. Terry Ridon. Marcial Amaro. All of them were unceremoniously fired by President Duterte. Some were fired due to some excessive official trips abroad; others due to corruption allegations (not charges). Public humiliation fosters employee resentment, harms morale and destroys motivation. In hindsight, there must be a better way of letting them go.
I personally know some of the aforementioned public servants. Their careers and personal lives undoubtedly suffered after their abrupt termination. In life, we have all experienced being a servant to others—through our family, the community and our employers. And, while being servants, we all experience some form of setback, personally and professionally. Whenever we receive disheartening news, it is normal to be discouraged, although such feelings should only remain for the time being. Some become stuck in self-pity or resignation. It takes courage to regain our composure from a setback.
But pastor and inspirational author Joel Osteen considers a setback as a setup. It all boils down to a matter of perspective. In Osteen’s words, “But if we’re going to see God’s best, we have to have a “bounce back” mentality. That means, when you get knocked down, you don’t stay down. You get back up again. You have to know that, every time adversity comes against you, it’s a setup for a comeback!” My golfer friend Natus always tells me that there is opportunity in every adversity. After all, as Nelson Mandela once said, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Take the case of a dear friend whose student record is blemished by one failed subject, pediatric dentistry. She felt humiliated to a certain extent considering that academic failure in her family is unacceptable. But she managed to bounce back later in life as she now has a flourishing dental practice in Taguig and is now known, ironically, as one of the better pediatric dentists in the Philippines!
A former student of mine also experienced the same fate as my dentist friend. Vincent Bartolome has never failed in any subject until he had me as a professor. He had to take the subject, wills and succession, more than twice as a law student. Instead of quitting law school, he took the subject year after year, and, audaciously enough, under the same professor! He even had to take the Bar examinations more than once. But his eternally optimistic spirit never wavered. His bounce-back mentality eventually bore fruit as he is now, fatefully, the chief legal counsel of that same school in Manila and is a partner in a thriving law firm based in Quezon City. Vincent displayed not only courage but also tenacity, which, to me, is a higher form of courage as it denotes controlled audacity and unlimited persistence. Amid all the setbacks, Vincent just kept on bouncing back.
Regardless of our setbacks, how we see these events ultimately dictates their impact in our lives. In the Bible, Proverbs 24:16 says, “For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again…” While we can fall many times, we can just bounce back as many times! A setback is merely temporary, and it is almost always His way of testing the fortitude and faith of those who believe. For those who were removed from their government posts—Peter Lavina, Ismael Sueno, Jose Vicente Salazar, Dionisio Santiago, Terry Ridon, Marcial Amaro and those who have served the public under the Duterte administration but lost the trust of the President—be reminded of what the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:10, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
Whether we have setbacks in our work, in school or in relationships, let us all be assured of what American novelist Harper Lee said in her best-selling book, To Kill a Mockingbird: “Things are always better in the morning.”
For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.