"LIGHT AND GLITTER"
(English version of "Ang Ningning at Ang Liwanag")
by: Emilio Jacinto
Glitter hurts the eye and deceives. Light favours sight and shows things as they are. Glitter is fallacious. Let us seek light and do not let us be deceived by the false glitter of the wicked. Does a brilliant carriage pass as drawn by spirited horses? We salute and consider that he who sits in it is a person of social standing. But, perhaps, he is a thief and the jewellery and vain show of honesty may conceal a perverse heart. Does a poor man pass us, bent under the heavy burden he is bearing? We smile and ask ourselves where he stole that which he is carrying. But, thanks to the light, we can see by the sweat of his brow and the fatigue of his body that this man is living by his own toil. Alas! It is the custom to worship glitter and reject light. This is the reason why man and nations are suffering misery and pain. Treason and perversity seek glitter in order to conceal their falseness from the eyes of the spectators; but honesty and sincere love go naked and allow themselves to be seen confidently by the light of the day.
