Tell it to SunStar: We will transform

(This is the homily of Fr. Roberto Ebisa, SVD, during the mass that opened Cebu Press Freedom Week on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019.)

In the jungles of Africa, they have a special way of catching monkeys... They will unhusk a coconut fruit... then bore a small hole on the coconut shell just enough for the hand of the monkey to pass though it... take out the coconut meat and replace it with a nut which is very aromatic... and finally attach the coconut shell with the nut inside on the trunk of a tree...

The monkeys playing on the branches of the tree... smell the nut and... jumping here and there discovers the coconut shell, with the hole and presto—puts its right palm inside and grabs the nut, and with hand in fist shape holding the nut pulls it out from the coconut shell... It will never be able to take out its hand... as it will NEVER LET GO of the nut... Even if its wrist is bleeding, it stubbornly holds on to the aromatic nut. And in the end it is caught... and becomes a delicacy of course... By not letting go, it has given up everything: LIFE ITSELF.

Media practitioners, all of us in the print and broadcast industry are facing a similar situation today. The monkey is caught because LETTING GO was never part of its vocabulary. If only it would LET GO, simply open the palm of its hand and release the nut, then it would still be alive and kicking, jumping on top of the trees.

We have to learn to let go of our usual way of doing things, if we want to survive and remain relevant in the midst of the ever changing media landscape. By letting go, I don’t mean to give up. By letting go, I mean to welcome new ways of doing things, new possibilities, re-invent ourselves....

The Serenity prayer of Rheinhold Neibur should put us in perspective here: God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

How are we to do it? What kind of attitude must we have as media practitioners in order to withstand the Herculean challenges lurking above and around us in the media industry today?

As we kick off Press Freedom week, the Gospel presents us with not just one but three parables: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost son. We can pick up some points from these parables in our treacherous journey today as press people.

What we are facing today as media practitioners may be likened to losing something very dear and precious to us, our COMFORT ZONES, our usual way of doing things in the press. Everybody is now a news writer, editor, publisher—rolled into one. Gatekeepers are given prolonged vacations! Veracity seems a matter of the past as velocity takes center stage: the first one to post, the first one to share, the first one to tweet—the first, the first, the first... never mind verifying the facts. I’m not even talking about the legions who willfully distort the facts, purposely sowing seeds of disinformation: fake news...

This is where we are now. We lost our comfort zones, turned upside down! And when we lose something, we become very anxious, irritated and oftentimes irrational. We should learn from the attitude of the protagonists in the three parables today...

My dear friends at the heart of these three parables is a powerful message for all of us in what seems to be uncertain times of the media industry. And the message is HOPE. HOPE is a knot that ties the three parables, and this is the same knot that I wish and pray will bind us all together. There is hope to find and discover that which is lost. To embrace this hope one must have an unceasing fire to look for it: to do everything in one’s capacity, not too leave any stone unturned, never to give up. This is the attitude found in the three characters of the parables: the owner of the lost sheep never gave up against all odds to find the lone sheep that was lost; the owner of the coin unceasingly looked for the lost coin and the prodigal son after getting back to his senses, made the journey back home silently hoping that his father will forgive and still accept him...

Let the words of Andre Gide, the French Nobel prize winner in literature, be an inspiration in our search for meaning as our comfort zones are challenged within and without:

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

In the early ‘70s, a small book was published, only more than a hundred pages... written by Trina Paulus... the title of the book is “Hope for the Flowers.” It tells of the story of two caterpillars: Stripes and Yellow.

Stripes was convinced that there is more meaning to life than just eating leaves, we are meant to discover what is up there in the sky... Started the search and met another caterpillar, Yellow... Together, they journeyed and one day they saw a pillar of caterpillars... This must be it... started the climb... stepped on one another, kicked one another in an effort to get to the top... tired they went down...Stripes’ desire never died, so one day, he left once again, leaving Yellow behind and this time he made the strong resolve to really reach the top.... He succeeded.... ON THE TOP there was nothing... just more pillars of caterpillars on the far distant... sadly he went down... In the meantime Yellow still believed there was something really greater than just eating leaves... She listened more to her inner self and her heart and discovered it. She patiently weaved a cocoon, covered herself and stayed in the darkness of uncertainty for weeks and when the right time came: transformed herself into a lovely butterfly. And what was more important was the discovery that she could fly and not just crawl! And well, she was able to teach Stripes how to weave a cocoon... and he did while Yellow patiently waited. And when the time was completed, he also emerged a robust butterfly and together they flew and journeyed to distant isles...

The journey of staying and re-inventing, for the media practitioners is a mountain climb. Several journalists have left because of hardship and uncertainty. But there are still many of us who decided to stand brave and stay. For just like Stripes and Yellow, we believe there is more waiting for us in the midst of the digital revolution; that there will be joy in the end so much like the three parables in the Gospel of today.

We in the press are far greater than the challenges haunting us. It is okay to be afraid, but we don’t let fear cripple us. We are not like the monkeys of Africa who did not have the courage to let go. We will adapt, we will transform, we re-invent ourselves, and there will be rebirth... we are butterflies! Yes, we can fly... Amen.

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