Yes, we can!

By Cyrus A. Natividad

There is a story about a teacher who arrived in his class where the students have started to make much noise. He knew that he would be giving them a difficult exam that day. There were some students who anticipated the exam negatively, setting an atmosphere of reservation and uncertainty in the classroom. The teacher moved in front of the class and with a piece of chalk wrote, “I can’t.” Students howled in reaction to what he wrote. Then he asked, “What will you do to pass my exam?” A long moment of silence passed, but no positive reaction came from the class. Then from a seat at the back, a quiet boy went to the board and erased the apostrophe and the letter T. The whole class stood up to see what was written on the board this time and in a chorus read, “I can.”

As we welcome the new year, let us set aside who we are, where we come from, what belief and principles we have, whether we are rich or poor, of higher or lower educational achievements. For whatever desire or plan we need to achieve in 2018, none of those I mentioned is the greatest factor in gaining success. Many popular, rich, and powerful people in history have, in later years, landed in jail, committed suicide, or have become unpopular.

Success, or the lack of it, may be attributed to faith and commitment. It is a matter of mind-set combined with faith in God and a belief in one’s capacity. But above all, let us accept Jesus in our lives for only he can provide us the strength and perseverance, and will make us able. In the Bible, we are reminded by the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary, “With God, nothing is impossible.”

Yes, we can!