Building Fires and Digging Wells for 
those Coming After Me
Vespers, 6th St. Mary’s School 
Association Grand Reunion
10 April 2003
FRANK I. O. LONGID SR.

It is good to be here for this reunion. At the risk of
sounding melodramatic, my wife and I considered not
coming to this event. For as many of you know, I
haven’t been in top physical shape for quite sometime
now. Just recently, my lab test say that my PSA is
quite elevated, prompting some of my loved ones to
suggest that it might not be a wise idea to come up
for this reunion and shouldn’t I instead advance my
scheduled trip to Germany for treatment. But God is
all merciful and with my faith that He will see me
through, I decided to come. I guess sometimes we have
to forego personal concerns to get things done. There
is so much to share among ourselves, so being
elsewhere at this time would have caused me great
personal anguish. I believe that through sharing
personal experiences and insights, we can arrive at
creative responses to the concerns of the school.

As we look around, we see former classmates, former
sweethearts, former rivals and present spouses. We see
the boy or girl who broke our heart or whose heart we
broke. Broken hearts notwithstanding, this is a great
day for reminiscing and for celebrating. No doubt we
miss some faces; friends who we hope should be here
but are not here for one reason or another. There is a
war raging in Iraq, (there are in fact text messages
saying that Dagdag has been surrounded and is under
siege and that Masla has fallen), the SARS virus is
spreading especially among South-East Asian countries,
somebody has to watch the house, feed the pigs, take
care of the chickens, etc… The reasons for not coming
are legion. Others have gone beyond the sunset so you
do not physically see their faces today. Yet, Easter
reassures us that, in fact they are all here with us.

But more than an occasion for reuniting with friends,
former classmates and former teachers, our coming
together today is an act of thanksgiving for the gift
of having studied in St. Mary’s School, for the
foundation on which our life successes are based. We
walk the world more confidently because of the
opportunity to have passed through the corridors of
our alma mater under the training and discipline of
dedicated, committed and competent ministers,
administrators and teachers, many of whom, to quote
the late Dr. Scott in his many fits, “crossed the
Pacific Ocean to teach and not just watch bumps
sitting on a log.” Despite the problems confronting
our school, let us then beat the gongs and sing and
shout our thanksgiving from the rooftops. Let us
proclaim our gratitude, for the firm grounding that we
received from the school.

Because of the enormity of the problems confronting
the school now, it is understandable that we should
sometimes feel sad and pessimistic about its future.
But as the author and evangelist Bruce Larson said:
“Grimness is not a Christian virtue”. Larson reminds
us that the early Christians remained confident and
happy in the face of tremendous difficulties. Acts
2:46 describes their behavior as follows: “…They
continued daily in the temple with one accord…
breaking their bread and eating their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart.” Let us do likewise
and let each and every former student of St. Mary’s
School make a personal commitment towards the nurture
of the school. It must be something you can uphold
even if a world war breaks out, somebody grabs your
land, or your espouse runs away with another. Give
more when you receive a windfall, or when you feel a
bit more generous, but pledge something you can
sustain at any cost, and under any circumstance. Let
us listen to St. Paul in his 2nd epistle to the
Corinthians (:7-8:
Each one must do as he has made up his mind,
Not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God Loves
a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with 
every blessing in abundance, so that you may always 
have enough of everything and may provide an 
abundance for every good work.”

No effort is too small. As in our traditional
“Ob-obbo”, communal labor brings about a synergy far
more powerful than the sum total of individual
efforts. As in basketball, every point counts. It
remains that the main task of the SMSA is to generate
material and fund support for the school. St. Mary’s
School needs our support and it needs it NOW!

Great causes are won by ordinary people pooling their
talents and their resources. And yet you are not just
ordinary people. The key is to get us all motivated
and get our acts together. What greater motivation can
there be than the thought that had it not been for the
unselfish and charity of others, most of us would not
be where we are today.

It is urgent that we define in concrete terms what we
can do for the school as individuals and as an
association. We are not being asked to do a great
personal sacrifice or do something that will
impoverish us or deprive us of the right to lead
normal lives. Our generosity will not nail us to the
cross. It may mean though that we shall have to forego
inconsequential, if not harmful or even downright
sinful, cravings or habits so we can set aside a
little for the school. That way, we promote a
healthier lifestyle and at the same time exercise our
magnanimity. You get that good feeling when you know
you are involved in something bigger than yourself and
when you know that what you are doing is an act of
thanksgiving. A charitable act sets in motion a train
of positive events that goes much farther than the
very act itself. The motto of the school “Adi Tako
Bokodan Di Gawis”, (which, incidentally is a quote
from a pagan prayer), reflected in the philosophy that
“what goes around comes around”, triggers off positive
vibrations. Eastern philosophy talks about good karma,
affirming the ancient wisdom that people are enriched
by the very act of giving especially if it is
propelled by a deep sense of gratitude. The pebble you
throw into the lake, like the little gift you offer
from honest toil, causes ripples that are transformed
into cosmic waves. Momentous events do start from
small beginnings.

Giving is the yardstick of kindness and compassion.
It sublimates the soul. True giving is effortless. It
does not seek to control or manipulate but to set free
and liberate. As we celebrate Lent, we remember how
the Lord Jesus Christ freely gave himself so that we
may have life and have it abundantly. Too often we
cling too much to our material possessions and are
often tempted to say that we should keep them at
whatever cost because they are the product of the
sweat of our brow. But that is not the way of the
pilgrim. The pilgrim has a higher purpose in life and
is not overburdened by earthly baggage. He travels
light. He shares his tent, his food and his drink for
he knows that he is just a steward of the bounty that
God has given him. It is in giving that he fulfills
himself. This brings to mind an anecdote about Gandhi,
who, on boarding a moving train lost one of his
sandals. His spontaneous reaction was to unlace the
other sandal and toss it at the sandal that earlier
fell beside the tracks. He knew that whoever would
come across a single sandal would have no use for it;
nor would he have further use for the one sandal that
remained on his foot. How often do we selfishly cling
on to things that we actually do not need.

Giving goes beyond the material as learn from Chapter
4 of the Book of Acts. The last few verses describe
how the believers donated generously to the Church,
and singled out the wealthy Barnabas for selling all
his possessions and giving all the proceeds to the
Church. In the early verses, however, the book also
speaks of another type of giving and that is the
GIVING OF SELF as illustrated by Peter’s reaction to
the lame beggar asking for alms. Peter said: “Silver
and gold have I none but such as I have, I give thee…”
suggesting that money and material donations cannot
substitute for PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT. We must be
personally involved.

As the Rev. Peter J Gomes, one time head minister of
the Harvard Memorial Church, said in his sermon on the
Bible and Wealth, philanthropy (or its sister,
charity) is not limited to the wealthy. It means “love
of mankind” and “proceeds not from necessity but from
love.” Gomes reminds us that in the parable of the
widow’s mites, God blesses the large and small donors
equally. For charity he says “does not proceed from
abundance or surplus giving but rather from one’s
proportionate ability to respond to the need.”

No deed is too small if done out of selflessness. You
plant a pine tree not so much for yourself but for
your children. The faith that moves mountains starts
with the grain of mustard seed. Great oak trees grow
from small acorns. Oh, the world is full of such
parables! The first students of St. Mary’s School had
a goat shed for a school and I don’t have to tell you
where its former students are now. This is payback
time! But we are not just paying for past debts but
doing what we should do now for the present and the
future. We are the fruits of seeds planted before us
by people we have never known or seen. From ourselves,
let us plant new seeds for those coming after us, as
those who preceded us have done for us. Let it not be
said that St. Mary’s School closed because those who
benefit from it have not been grateful enough to
sustain it. It should never be said that “ONCE UPON A
TIME, there was a great school called St. Mary’s
School.”

Before I conclude, experts have given depressing
assessments about the global downtrend in the
educational system. Teachers and students are not as
sharp as they used to. Modern technology seems to have
blunted the minds of those in the academe. St. Mary’s
perhaps has not escaped that indictment and yet the
acceptance of a reality should not lead us to stupor
or inaction. On the contrary, let us see how we can
straighten out our own backyard given the general
environment schools find themselves in. Trends can be
reversed from the local levels. Great movements have
started from small countryside villages or provinces
like Nazareth, Urvela and Yen-an. This is an
opportunity for St. Mary’s School to shine as a
beacon. But we need dedicated men and women, disciples
so to speak, to spark the flame and keep the fire
going. “DINMENAT NAN TAGOWAN” We need to stoke the
hearth because its flame is as strong as we make it
strong.

Let not our enthusiasm be dampened by circumstances
no matter how distressing. We have to face problems
squarely and work together to get rid of the road
blocks. We have to be scientific in our approach and
not allow ourselves to be bogged down with trivial
matters or on the other hand brush off conditions that
need surgical execution, while respecting the
integrity of the school. Alumni and former students,
individually and as associations, are known to be very
good at giving unsolicited advice to their alma
maters, sometimes giving the impression of an
adversarial relationship. SMS alumni have not been
totally spared from this temptation but I am glad to
say that generally we have encouraged and maintained
an honest-to-goodness healthy interaction with the
school.

Finally, let me share to you the wisdom of a dear
friend who, two reunions ago said: “I warmed myself
with fires built by other people I have never seen,
and drank from wells they dug. I therefore should do
likewise for those coming after me.” That is from
Maximo Batong of Class 1956. It does not matter if his
was an original quote or he was simply paraphrasing
somebody. What matters is that, I am quite sure he
would not have come up with that gem if he did not
study at SMS.

That would make a nice pledge preamble for all of us,
I would say. “I warmed myself with fires built by
other people I have never seen and drank from wells
they dug. I THEREFORE SHOULD DO LIKEWISE FOR THOSE
COMING AFTER ME.” As Sagada elders are wont to say “ta
waday sa das-an di ongong-a”

God Bless St. Mary’s School, its faculty and
students, and above all, God Bless its former
students! 






















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