The song “Young Dumb & Broke” is a chill listening music especially for teenagers as the lyrics talk about love and commitment as experienced by high-school students. Written by a 19-year-old American singer named Khalid, the song topped the charts in the Philippines last year. Taken outside its context, the title of the song can, however, be demeaning. That’s why some people were dumbfounded when an inspirational speaker audaciously referred to a group of graduates as young, dumb and broke in his opening lines.
The graduates were obviously young—all millennials. But the speaker, a “millenior,” urged the graduates that, as they age, they should remain young at heart. “After all,” the speaker said, “a youthful spirit has the bold and daring attitude to think that his body can do all things that his mind conceives.”
In the case of being dumb, the speaker said that everyone in the auditorium, including himself despite his professional achievements, were dumb, but not in the literal sense of the word. He said that all are dumb only to the extent that all of them would never know everything in life. Amazingly, an average human being only uses up to 30 percent of his brain capacity. Thus, the speaker urged the graduates to keep on studying, reading, and asking the right questions to be “less dumb.”
The speaker then focused on the state of being broke. In American slang language, being broke usually connotes financial hardship. But being broke or broken can also mean difficulties in many other areas, such as being heartbroken when a loved one decides to end the relationship or being intellectually broken when one fails a subject or an exam.
The speaker then told the young graduates, “when that time comes, they should neither look down in defeat or embarrassment nor look to their right or left and dare try to lay the blame on others.” Instead, the speaker encouraged the audience: “When you are broken, look up and say thank you God. Rejoice and be thankful for He allows these difficulties in our lives to make us better if not the best persons we could ever be.”
Author Brian Tracy once said to give thanks for all things, both good and bad, knowing that they lead us toward achieving something bigger and better. Just as the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 7:14, “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.”
My journey in faith has taught me that being broken is another form of blessing for it is His way to draw me closer to Him. And that is exactly the case of Lito De la Cruz, a 47-year-old messenger who has been with Philippine Airlines for more than 20 years. With four children, a sick wife who undergoes dialysis three times a week, and a salary of not more than P20,000, Lito has been living in a state of financial brokenness. Despite all these, he has never been absent from work, has yet to refuse a task given to him by his superiors and always finds odd jobs, usually to assist car mechanics, to augment his modest take home pay. He remains thankful to PAL for giving him a decent job and thankful to God for giving him the opportunity to help others.
In reference to the Bible, Romans 5:3-4 states, “…but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” In the words of his superior, Lito “doesn’t show others his family issues and just continues with his tasks with a positive attitude.” Those around Lito think that his faith in God keeps him cheerful and focused on helping others. For me, Lito is the embodiment of what Stephen Hawking said, “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. Where there’s life, there’s hope”. When the speaker gave Lito the opportunity to speak before the same set of graduates, Lito simply told them to never lose hope. Kapit lang! His heartfelt speech moved most of the graduates into tears and, at the same time, inspired them to face difficulties, now and in the future, with an eternally optimistic attitude. Lito was recognized as one of two Individual Contributors of the Year during the PAL Star Awards a few months ago.
If Khalid’s 2017 song “Young Dumb & Broke” aptly describes graduates, the upbeat 2013 song “Safe and Sound” fittingly describes Lito—an antidote to the tendency of others to think of the worst in everything. The writers of the song “Safe and Sound” espouse the idea that things will always get better and that there are a lot of things to be positive about.
When inspirational author Rick Warren lost his son a few years back, he was broken. When his son Matthew took his own life, Rick Warren stopped preaching for four months and spent eight hours a day alone reading the Bible. In an interview after his son’s death, Rick said that people cannot handle pain or brokenness unless they understand there is a purpose. He said, “What you need in tragedy is not an explanation, you need the presence of God.” And His presence allows us to grieve with the comfort that everything will turn out fine. The unexpected death of Rick’s son resulted to shock. After the shock came the sorrow; then sorrow led to struggle. But the struggle eventually led Rick to the stage of surrender to Him, which is always a good thing. Our brokenness compels us to seek His mantle of protection. And under it, we feel safe and sound.
The song “Safe and Sound” starts with the lines—“I could lift you up. I could show you what you want to see and take you where you want to be. You could be my luck even if the sky is falling down I know that we’ll be safe and sound.” I strongly believe that our Lord sends people like Lito to those young, dumb, and broke people, myself included, to make us feel safe and sound!