Heaven in Our Hearts: Soaring High on Earth

The world is in dire need of environmental protection and preservation. Today, we are constantly bombarded with news of natural and man-made disasters that ravage our environment and disrupt our ecosystem, profoundly affecting our lives. The urgency of this situation calls for immediate action and a collective sense of responsibility. 

Deforestation, illegal logging, forest wildfires, and illegal mining are not just news headlines. They are the harsh realities that we, as a global community, are facing. Some of these activities are natural, but the majority are a result of unchecked industrialization and unbridled greed. We must not only hear about these issues but also empathize with the victims and the environment itself.

In the Philippines, we have several groups and personalities: environmental warriors, environmental activists, and Philanthropists who deeply show their love and concern for our ecological welfare. One of those personalities I genuinely admire and respect is Gina Lopez, who advocated and founded several foundations supporting environmental protection.

I consider Gina Lopez the Mother Teresa of the Philippines. She has been a missionary in Europe, Africa, and India for two decades, developing a Divine consciousness by devoting her time and energy to serving the marginalized, underprivileged, and poor in love and spirit.

With the higher consciousness she attained in her mission abroad, she returned to her origin in the Philippines to spearhead the Foundation of one of the country's largest media companies. She founded the Bantay Kalikasan, which cause is to protect the environment and natural resources. She was also active in the rehabilitation effort of the Pasig River and one of the advocates for the La Mesa Ecopark considered the last and remaining forest in Metro Manila.

Team building at the LA Mesa Ecopark in May 2011

Gina Lopez may not be able to witness how far her efforts have gone since she passed away, but her spirit, as she said, will always be alive. She will remain a well-loved personality since she has touched so many lives through her breakthrough projects and various social development programs.

Gina Lopez was a visionary. She had a great love for Filipino people. Once, she uttered that if 'heaven is made from people's hearts, she thinks that we can build heaven in the Philippines' and profoundly believed that we could fly high and make things happen. This is her vision, and if we think we can do it, we will experience a piece of heaven on earth, not a fantasy but our shared reality.

Gina Lopez envisioned a sustainable natural environment through Ecological tourism, also known as Farm tourism. She was one of those who believed that we could achieve prosperity through harmony with nature.

As an environmental advocate, I support the emerging rise of the country's farm tourism industry, which will become a living trend not only today but in the years to come.

Our love for our country can be shown through the environment in which we live. We envision the next generations breathing fresher air, being under the shade of a tree, seeing the forest, and benefiting from the natural resources we have protected and preserved.

We may have lost a strong leader and Environmental protector, but her legacy will remain in our hearts as she envisioned the heaven we all deserve to live in.

© 2019 Del Cusay

Road to Summit: Unloading Our Emotional Baggages

There are times when we feel stuck in our lives. A heaviness in our hearts causes us to slow down or quit, to end the game and breathe out the pain.

That heaviness on our being may result from past traumas, such as a difficult breakup or the loss of a loved one, anxieties like fear of failure or social anxiety, guilt from past mistakes, and toxicities from people and the environment, such as a toxic work environment or a toxic relationship. We call it 'emotional baggage,' which is unwanted and causes us to pay the price.

Like in our travels, we never wanted to pay for excess baggage at the airport counter, which costs us more. It causes us inconvenience, stress, and a bad experience. I remember that, sometime in 2014, when I was at Kathmandu Airport in Nepal, I was going back to New Delhi in India when the airport counter lady charged me more for my excess baggage. Without much cash in my wallet, I left to withdraw from the ATM for a while. From that moment, I was uneasy, but luckily, I could get my money to pay for the price of my excess baggage, and I felt so bad.

From that horrible experience, I can relate it to the present reality of carrying for more and paying the price. Our lower emotions like anger, jealousy, pride, and rage take away the peace in our hearts. That heaviness from the inside prevents us from moving fast forward since we are distracted by so many rumbling thoughts and the roller coaster of emotions.

One of the reasons we are stuck is because of the attachments we have to someone or something from somewhere. Or it could be the other way around when someone is so attached to us that we suddenly become mentally connected.

When this excess emotional baggage affects our well-being, there's a way to escape before we become totally stuck. This escape involves acknowledging the emotional baggage, understanding its roots, and then actively working to let it go. When we recall in detail what went wrong, we start to be guided by a compass in the right direction toward the desired destination.

When we decide to escape the burden, we experience a profound emotional freedom as we ascend to the Summit. There, we take a deep breath, immerse ourselves in the present moment, and savor the tranquility. Without even realizing it, we shed the weight of emotions that once caused us pain and sorrow. This is a significant step towards our mental health and overall well-being, a feeling of liberation that is genuinely empowering. 

At the Summit, we exhale what is unnecessary, what doesn't add value to our lives. And when we feel the lightness, we are prepared to embark on the next adventure on our journey to forever. We are ready to love again, for this is the right thing to do, and we have made the right choice. To live and laugh again, to love and be whole again. This readiness to love again is a beacon of hope, a sign of our emotional growth and healing.

© 2019 Del Cusay

Eid'l Adha: Its Interfaith Significance

This day marks the Islamic celebration of the 'Festival of Sacrifice', known as Eid-al Adha. Despite being declared a holiday, this festival was unknown to me for many years, and I hadn't understood much about its religious significance until recently when I participated in an Islamic and cultural immersion at the Manila Golden Mosque in celebration of the end of Ramadan or the Eid'l Fitr: A Moment of Peace.

Community Immersion at Manila Golden Mosque during the celebration of Eid'l Fitr on June 5, 2019

Eid'l Adha is when Muslims from around the world commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim or Abraham to sacrifice his son. What's interesting about this festival is the similarity of the same story in Christianity found in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament.

In the Quran, God appeared to Abraham and was told to make a sacrifice for his son, Ishmael. In the Bible, the son of Abraham to be sacrificed was Isaac. Then, just before Abraham ended his son's life, a lamb was replaced by God instead of his son. That was a test of faith given by God to Abraham, and he passed it faithfully.

In a deeper sense and in today's significance, the son of Abraham may not be just a literal person but something valuable in us, a part of us that we are most attached to. It could be an attachment to someone, a worldly possession, or obsolete thoughts.

These attachments take away our precious time with God due to divided attention. When God tested Abraham to sacrifice his son, it was like God's telling Abraham to pay attention to Him and obey His will so that Abraham could follow wholeheartedly when his attention was undivided and to God alone.

In our reality today, God may be talking to and commanding us on what to do, but we choose to ignore Him or simply don't focus on listening to Him. We are preoccupied with daily activities, work, or building relationships with our family and the community. Still, we only give him a little time and attention due to many physical, mental, and emotional distractions.

It's also a reality that God may take away something valuable or someone we love and that we have nothing to oppose but to accept it wholeheartedly because that is His will, which is the Divine plan. Then we realize that God is in total control of everything, even the breath we take and our last breath on earth. 

Eid'l Adha is not just significant among our Muslim brothers and sisters because all of us, regardless of faith, may have learned about the sacrifices that we have to make.

Today, we may be sacrificing to save us and uplift our souls. We may offer a relationship with someone, a friend, or a group. This is where we let go of things that do not give much value to our being but just give us pain and sorrow.

When we let go of old habits and obsolete beliefs, we take on a fresh idea, accept a new relationship, and nurture what is ideal for God's glory and Divine love. That's an interfaith significance we all can learn from our Muslim brothers and sisters.

We do not hate but cultivate more profound understanding, acceptance, and belonging. We do not fear, but we face reality stronger and more steadily. We do not ignore but co-celebrate with humility and love to our Humanity. We live to co-exist and can live harmoniously, peacefully, and happily.

© 2019 Del Cusay