The date was August 18, 2005 when Mr. Christian Faust and I first met. I was at that time a teacher of introductory courses in sociology at ABE International College of Business and Accountancy and also playing in a band. After almost every performance that we had at his place in Leon Guinto St. Malate Manila we discussed about topics ranging from the metaphysical to politics and the current economic situation of our country. We often times found ourselves at 5 o’clock in the morning still exchanging ideas and having a few beers. Boy, it was enlightening, enlightening to the point of having hangovers of what we talked about the following day.
There always comes a time in a person’s life where he/she would have doubts about their purpose for existing. I was caught up in that psychological flaw of human existence and started not to see anymore my social responsibility in teaching. I resigned from my teaching post and went into contemplation. For months I was soul searching, even going to Taal Batangas to spend the night in the car there trying to have a firm grasp of myself. It came to an instance wherein all these contemplating seemed pointless without action.
As I have said, for months I have been soul searching until one day it all became clear to me. I wanted to do something worthwhile; one that can be measured by the parameters of development. There was only one person that I could think of regarding that wanting: Mr. Christian Faust. I joined FLSS Group of Companies last June, 2006 and that was when the next chapter of my adventure started.
At night time, we would walk and drive around the streets of Leon Guinto and the whole Malate district to observe the people living in the streets. One night, after having dinner we stopped and got out of the car at a busy area near the Malate Church. We stood at a corner for a few minutes to have a look at what was happening then Christian asked me: Jonathan, what do you see? At one moment I was dumbstruck and did not know what he meant by that question. I answered: I see people with different walks of life living in harmony with each other, because for me that was the most obvious thing to answer. No, mate, Christian answered, look beyond that. According to him, not everything that can be perceived by the eye is always true.
We may be living in one physical environment, together in one area but are living worlds apart. What is meant by this is that, humans are by nature rational and complex beings and are therefore different in their perceptions when it comes to life depending on the realm that they are living in. Expounding on this thought, some people may think of life as an adventure, some as a burden, some as a bland experience, and some as a responsibility.
This may lead us to think if man or mankind is really born free. It’s a philosophical undertaking that can have different answers. In my point of view there is no such thing as freedom, it is just a concept of how to satisfy human greed. We are all governed by all the forces around us, just like we do not have the option of selecting our parents, the color of hair, skin and eyes that we have, gender, and rank of society that we are brought up in. All that remains are the choices that we make after we are born taken into consideration with the conformities that we have to undergo. At the end of the day, it is up to us to make the right decisions for ourselves and the people around us.
Christian would ask me, Jonathan, what is the first thing that you think about and do when you wake up in the morning? An answer worth thinking about:

I make sure that I’ve done all my responsibilities for my staff and all the people whom I work for, then I think of what I’m going to eat for breakfast. Compassion should never be an afterthought; rather it should be the inspiration to change what must be changed, to do what must be done when it should be done, for the needy, for the poor. That means today and not tomorrow.(C.P.W.F.)