The God Stealer Reflection 652070

Eclarinal, Gabrielle Eleina P. 4ID-1

September 26, 2016 Prof. ________________________

THE BELIEVER AND THE REALIST: WHAT WAS IT THAT WAS ACTUALLY STOLEN?

The world covers about two kinds of people, the man and the woman, the young and the old, and/or the rich and the poor. But in this context, we have the believers and the realist. There are two versions, on how the answer to a simple question of who the God stealer really is. But the question doesn’t have a concrete solution, for it would only base on the person pondering upon it. The two types of people, the believers and the realists, would have different aspects of course, but the validity of it would depend, as was stated. The realist would straight forwardly point out the obvious flaw to the person who actually committed the crime of stealing. But a believer, would state that morally neglecting what is valuable, what is considered sacred even, is even more preposterous than of a person “just” taking an idol he was originally supposed to believe in. Thus, stealing and reprobating the significance of a hundred year old tradition. As a realist, I must it the intriguing response believers had lain upon, and I respect that. Though, it shouldn’t have to provoke a person from defying his own. It had been a long journey for Sam Cristie, a man who aspires to witness the totality of the world, but a longer journey for Philip Latak, whose roots are of ancient and sacred but sadly overcome by greed and forgetfulness. Why was it a longer journey for Philip, they’ve been on the same journey with the same destination, though why was it? To Sam, this might have been another trip of experiencing diverse cultures, a different environment, and new people. But to Philip, though his mind was wary of his sick grandfather he left years ago, this was his home land, and even if he had the same mindset of witnessing the world just like his companion Sam, coming back home might have always been at the back of his mind. They had different reasons, why they had set foot on the mountainous, fulfilling region of the Ifugao province. One wanted to know, and the other one had long forgotten the answers. But it was a dangerous journey of curiosity, of one too anxious to know and one too eager to recall. One had to be the God stealer, but who? Was it Sam, who was keen on acquiring an idol for himself? Though his means were only of obtaining a keepsake. Or was it Philip, who initiated on stealing his grandfather’s precious God? As valuable as he knows it would be, the means of his intention was only as some kind of reimbursement for the friendship he had with Sam. So herein would lay the two kinds of people, the realists and the believers. See, the realist would be convinced that Philip was the God stealer; after all, he did steal the idol away from his grandfather, even though his friend warned him not to. He was the one who initiated on acquiring this precious memento for his dear friend, even though he knew the consequences and its ultimate value to his own kin. The realist would point out the regret he had of losing the person who gave him his own blood, the reality that he could not take the blame for himself. While the believers would position that Sam was the God stealer. Even if Philip never acquired him his grandfather’s God, he would have attained one nonetheless; whether it be from another person in need of something he’d have in exchange, or

have one made especially for him, his own token of the vast green lands of the region, entirely overlooking its precious tradition. To those who believed, this was their tradition and their culture only to be taken granted by a stranger. This mattered, so what good would it have brought Sam by promiscuously tainting an entirely different culture’s belief? I have deliberated upon two distinct answers, one I cannot answer wholeheartedly. But to be honest, after reading the story, the character automatically in mind of being the “God stealer” was Philip. But then the curiosity of why would one chose Sam as the “God stealer”, struck me. And thus, the believers had the answer. Contemplating upon which of it was valid and which of it wasn’t, boggled me. For as an itted realist, the believer’s had their point. It was as if I had questioned whether or not my God exists, and it frightened me. I am a realist, but the unconditional belief that there is a higher being above is within me. I it Philip’s grandfather’s claim on the soulless people gallivanting these highland city, swallowed in money and power, intrigued and questioned me. In a way, maybe, I have lost a part of my soul. For I see importance in material things, though knowing how highly insignificant they may be in the real world. And I believe on the absolute existence of God, even though I understand other people’s views about how the entire belief is irrational. But in a context, the realist in me grows deeper every day, especially after how people brood over our country’s moral state of calamity. The explanation might come off shallow, pointing out Philip as the God stealer, solely because of the obvious fact that he did steal the idol, though it is the reality of the situation. And even though it displayed how emotionally unstable he was by the end of the story, it just proves to show that beneath all his hypocrisy on the utter belief of his people, in the end I guess he found what he had long forgotten years ago. He was succumbed on the friendship he had with Sam, desperately trying to compensate to a person he never owed, betraying his own kin, betraying his own originated beliefs that brought upon him. I understand how living in a small town for a long period of time, would make you feel suffocated, but the journey starts and ends there. What Philip was looking for wasn’t a new beginning; it was a reason to keep believing. For if he hadn’t left, would he have realized the greatness his culture had all along, the love his grandfather proved and showed him beyond all his years of trying to forget?