Ningas Kugon
Elder Won Yong Ko
A member of the Philippines Area Presidency
Happy New Year! Manigong Bagon Taon!
The year of 2010 has come into our lives while the year of 2009 has become part of history. I hope that everybody enjoyed many blessings in 2009 as an individual, as a family, as a member of ward/branch and further of the stake/district. I wish that the Lord’s choicest blessing be upon every member in the Philippines continuously this year.
Whenever a new year comes we develop New Year Resolutions. I do not know how many items a person has put into his/her own list of new resolutions. Usually people are excited when they write down their resolutions and put a strong commitment to becoming a better person by achieving them. However, it is not easy to sustain the feeling of commitment. We often hear people say, “Oh, I am just an ordinary man.” With disappointment, we go back to our old ways.
One of the words I have learned since I moved in the Philippines is “Ningas Kugon”. The Kugon is a grass used in building roofs and easily gets burned. Ningas means burning with fire. So, when people say ‘Ningas Kugon” it means that it is quickly burned and rapidly disappears. People say that this is one of the natural characteristics of Filipinos which is the reason why people cannot sustain the feeling of excitement or commitment.
But I have a different opinion. “Ningas Kugon” is not only found among Filipinos. We can find a similar characteristic in many other countries. For instance, in Korea where I am from, there is a saying “Jak-Sim-Sam-Il” (in Chinese word 作心三日) which means “Resolution good for only three days”. The reason why we have this word is because many people make up wonderful and impressive resolutions especially for the New Year but they cannot carry them out even for three days.
So, “Ningas Kugon” or “Jak-Sim-Sam-Il” is a word indicating our weakness in keeping and fulfilling our resolution or commitment for a long period of time. Or if I say more directly it is a word to excuse our lack of effort in being faithful to our commitment.
Heavenly Father knows our weaknesses and gives us wonderful counsel to overcome them. When we read the teachings of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, we can find the solution for our weaknesses. King Benjamin gave a wonderful sermon to the people before he conferred the kingdom to his son, Mosiah. After giving his message, he wanted to confirm who among those who heard his voice believed his teaching. The people then answered with one voice saying, “… Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”(Mosiah 5:2). What a wonderful “Ningas Kugon” expressed by the people of King Benjamin!
When we hear the wonderful counsel and teaching from our leaders like President Monson or our stake and district president or our bishop and branch president we have the same feeling and determination like the people of King Benjamin.
However, there are a couple of differences between the people of King Benjamin and us today. This knowledge will help us stop “Ningas Kugon” and move forward in becoming faithful Saints. First, the people of King Benjamin made a very serious commitment which is called “mighty change” and made a covenant with God which is a “righteous covenant”. Because of the covenant they were spiritually begotten again. They were born of Jesus Christ and became His sons and daughters and are now called the children of Christ. We have to make a more serious determination and commitment like the people of King Benjamin. The feeling of excitement and willingness should accompany our determination so that we can keep our commitments longer.
But this is not enough. King Benjamin knows the weaknesses of people like us. He “appointed priests, to teach the people, that thereby they might hear and know the commandments of God, and to stir them up in remembrance of the oath which they had made…” (Mosiah 6:3). Today we have bishops and branch presidents who are teaching us like the priests which were appointed by King Benjamin. Every week we partake of the sacrament to renew our covenants with God. We can stir up our remembrance and our covenants everyday when we pray and read the scriptures.
I wish that every member is renewing his covenant at home, at work and in the Church. If the Kugon easily gets burned and disappears rapidly, we should light up the Kugon every day whenever we pray and every week whenever we go to church. Through this we can enjoy the burning spirit of our commitment in achieving our resolutions throughout the year. We can come closer to Jesus Christ and receive more abundant blessings from Heavenly Father. This is my humble prayer for all of us as we begin 2010 in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
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