Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the term. Yet, as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece.
-Pope John Paul II
Have you ever wondered how only God can love us unconditionally? Because only God is perfect and need not anything from us. If He will love us, we can be certain that it’s not because He wants anything back.
We can’t love like that. Our love, however good is still conditional. We want something in return because we are not perfect, and we try to get from others what we lack.
That is the reason Jesus gave us two commandments, why we needed to love God first. In truth, it is a command to allow God to love us, to be so embraced and ensured that we couldn’t ask for anything more. In that way only can we love others truly as God has loved us.
That kind of love is therefore not waiting for any condition or reward. That love is also not boastful, self righteous or looking down upon another person because it knows that whatever love it can give has come not from itself but from God, like the moon reflecting only the light cast upon it by the sun.
It is hence our first duty to seek God’s love, to know, to believe, to feel, to be enveloped in the Light of God’s marvellous compassion. All else that follows are but mere expressions of our gratitude for the priceless gift we have received.
Whenever I feel injured or angry against another, it is most likely because I felt unloved at that time and the solution is not to continue seeking it from the person concerned but from God Himself.
In this life we’re living in,
it’s so easy to forget
and so difficult to keep watch
and to stay awake
So many things
distract us and bombard us
with temptations and lies
we sooner or later accept as truth
and allow to dominate even our subconcious minds
Passions, tastes, excitement,
hobbies, competition, entertainment,
things that entrance us
making us believe they’re the only thing there is
To such a life
even sorrow is a gift
if it could awaken us
if it could help us realize
these are not the end of all our hopes
Declare then this paradox
and see that none can ever have complete
happiness in the present life
For to follow the way of comfort all the way,
one must succumb to forgetfulness
and thus suffer later in one’s path
On the other hand,
to follow the way of wakefulness
one must carry his cross
so as not to let the flame of love
die out from his heart
Imagine a world
where you can’t bring anything
you ever owned
not one valued possession
not a single penny you can toss
Imagine a world
where titles and status mean nothing
where authority belongs not to you
Imagine a world
where no man stands taller than another
and where beauty comes not only from you
Imagine a world where you can’t hide anything
nor busy yourself with things that make you forget
just how empty you are within
how angry
how insecure
or how afraid
Imagine such a world
And then try to imagine once more
Imagine a world where no one starves
nor longs for shelter
where no one gets sick
and no one ever grows old
Imagine no pain
and no death ever
that would make you weep
a world where you need not
depart from home
from the people you love the most
imagine never having to be alone
Imagine a world
where you are accepted and understood
for who you really are
Imagine you are loved
like you have never been loved before
Imagine such a world
and then open up your eyes
What do you see?
What is it that you truly desire to do?
What is the meaning of our life
if we are but a mist that quickly goes away
like a rose that blooms but for a day
What does it matter then that we have
ever passed this way?
Whatever happens
to the smiles we have smiled
to the tears we have cried
Whatever happens
to dreams we dreamt and reached
to failures that turned out bitter-sweet
Whatever happens to raindrops that fell
if thou shall not rise again towards heaven
and be made purer than it has ever been
Whatever happens
O whatever happens
if thy fallen soul
shall not be redeemed
Yea by now I can only pray
I can only believe
that everything is not meaningless
that there is reserved a destiny
even for a withered flower
even for mist that quickly goes away