The Graceful Modern Day Hero

Within the lovely town of Tadianga, Tuba, Benguet, lies the BenCab museum which caters to hundreds of true blue Filipino works, and serves as base for a young woman whose loyalty to our country is as pure as every single artifact within the museum. Her name is Gracelynn— a young Pinoy who is dedicated and passionate about her work, much like how Rizal had been back in his days. She is the BenCab museum guide, and she is our modern day hero.

Our modern day hero is a proud Benguet local, and she prides her town for having such cool climate and for being a home to kind locals. Gracelynn’s day begins early in the morning, and with her work as a Museum guide, she has to lace her early mornings with a wide smile offered to museum visitors. Despite having to start her day early, our modern day hero still finds enjoyment in her work. In fact, she doesn’t find her work to be too difficult, and that makes her happy. In her twenty-five years of existence, Gracelynn has had plenty exposure on all things related to Rizal. Gracelynn knows of Jose Rizal’s literary works, particularly the Noli me Tangere, and she has so much admiration for Rizal’s heroism. She recognizes Jose Rizal as our national hero, and she believes that Jose Rizal got awarded that title because he selflessly offered his life for his countrymen.

Several parallels can be observed between Jose Rizal and our modern day hero, and religion is one of them. Both Jose Rizal and our modern day hero grew up in a Christian family, and much like Jose Rizal, our modern day hero grew up in a big family. Jose Rizal had a family size of thirteen, and our modern day hero has eight— not same in numbers, but both big families nonetheless. Both Gracelynn and Jose Rizal also shared a tight bond with their families; and as Gracelynn put it, the two of them are both God -fearing.

Among the many parallels present, the biggest parallel between one of our country’s greatest heroes and our modern day hero would probably be the great love and loyalty that they have for our country. Jose Rizal showed his love for our country by fighting for equality and by awakening the sense of patriotism among our countrymen through his writing. Gracelynn, on the other hand, shows her love for our country in a different way. She shows her love for our country by keeping the roots of our culture alive. As a museum guide, Gracelyn imparts the importance of our culture with each artifact that she shares to every single person who sets foot inside the BenCab Museum. Jose Rizal used written words, while Gracelynn used spoken words and live artifacts.

Despite the many parallels they have, our modern day hero and Jose Rizal don’t agree on one thing— the prestige of the youth. Jose Rizal believed that the youth is the hope our nation. Gracelynn, however, is not so sure that Jose Rizal’s belief still holds true. Jose Rizal had so much trust and belief in the youth but Gracelynn feels that not all youth can be depended on. In fact, our modern day hero believes that Rizal’s wonderful values aren’t even nurtured within our country’s youth anymore. Gracelynn feels that the youth today no longer even recognize Jose Rizal as a hero. Gracelynn’s assessment of our youth is saddening, especially for someone like her who has so much respect over Jose Rizal’s heroism for our country. It’s truly unfortunate that she believes there’s no one at present time who parallels Jose Rizal. Unbeknownst to our modern day hero, there’s no need for her to look far to find someone that can parallel Jose Rizal, because she herself imbibes the same values that Jose Rizal cultivated.

If given the chance to speak to one of our country’s greatest heroes, our humble modern day hero only has one thing to say— ‘thank you’. Gracelynn’s words are simple, but they are probably the words that Dr. Jose Rizal deserves to receive the most. Many speak of Jose Rizal’s greatness but not all of them actually take time to stop and find in their hearts the sense of gratitude over Jose Rizal’s heroism. With Gracelynn, two simple words of gratitude are enough. The rest of her gratitude, she conveys through her work.

From the past until now, our country’s struggle has always been with regards to keeping our identity as Filipinos. Back in his days, Jose Rizal fought to defend our Filipino spirit against the abusive colonial forces of the Spaniards. Now, Gracelynn does her part by keeping the essence of our Filipino spirit alive amidst the tumultuous influences of the modern west. The battle in the past was led by Jose Rizal, but the present battle is now led by Gracelynn and the rest of the modern day heroes. It’s now up to Gracelynn and other modern day heroes to continue the fight that Dr. Jose Rizal started. Our colonizers may have left our country, but our colonial mentality is yet to be fixed; and with Jose Rizal gone, it’s only up to Gracelynn and other modern day heroes to make sure that Jose Rizal’s sacrifices will not be for naught.

#hero