Category: Spirituality

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Spirituality

A Lily and a Loaf of Bread

“When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.” A Lily and a Loaf of Bread

“When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.”  – Chinese Proverb

We do not live only for bread.  We live for each moment of beauty, of awe, and of love.  We need moments where we transcend the mundane to crossover to the glorious, for we are after all, not only flesh, but heart and mind and soul.

It is not that we should forget the physical, but that we should always remember what’s beyond that.  It is not that we should take for granted this life on earth, but that we should always remember the eternal, for there is where our true home is.

When we get so stressed working for a living, maybe it’s time to pause and see the reason why we’re working so hard for.  Work is not an end in itself.  Work is something that we do so we could continue to nourish what’s really important in life.

Better yet, the work that we do should be that kind of work that does not require us to leave our hearts at home.  The best kind of work is that kind of work that can nourish both our body and our soul.

(How much time are you devoting for you physical wellbeing today?  How much time are you devoting for your spirit?  Stress is not the key.  The key is balance.)

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Spirituality

How God Heals Our Inner Wounds

how God heals our inner woundsHow God Heals Our Inner Wounds

There were times when I wondered why God hasn’t provided for me more. It is true that He has never left me in lack, but I saw people who were far better blessed and comfortable. Why couldn’t He bless me in the same way? Doesn’t He love me, too?

If it is true that such times of ‘waiting’ in my life (times of searching for a new direction or purpose when nothing seems to be happening)  is for my own rest and recuperation so I can prepare for my next mission, why couldn’t I have a better rest? That kind of pause where I need not worry about income and where I need not experience the problems I have been experiencing.

One evening however, as I was praying the rosary, I’ve realized that God has done this because He was healing my wounds. And before such wounds could be healed, they must first be exposed. Problems, discomfort and darkness expose our wounds. If I had been given a more comfortable life outright, I might not even have known I’ve had them!

And then suddenly, I remember my prayer to God… that He may heal me and make me feel how much I am truly loved.

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Spirituality

What Does It Take to Have Faith?

what does it take to have faith 2012 2

What does it take to have faith?
a trusting heart?
credibility of the person concerned?
good experience?
a big chance of an event happening?

Why is faith necessary anyways?
couldn’t we just act out of valid proofs?
couldn’t we just value things
that are a hundred percent certain to succeed?

I don’t know either
I can’t say I have all the answers
whoever does?

I just have faith that somehow
things do turn out for the better
and that there is a reason for everything
that happens around us, and within us

There is so much going on
that we can’t understand
but it is either that everything is futile
or that everything makes perfect sense somewhat

It is either this life is
the most tragic event there is
or by faith, this life is
the most beautiful thing that ever took place in time!

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Spirituality

Must God Give Us Everything We Ask For?

must God give us everything we ask for 2012Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. Faith is the belief that God will do what is right. – He Still Moves Stones

How many times have we desired that our loved ones do what we wanted them to do?  We think that if only they would do everything we desire, we’d have no more problem and we’d all end up happy and contented with our lives.  But is this really the case?

What if the person we love the most indeed does nothing else but follow our every command?  Worse, what if they don’t do anything unless we tell them to do something?  What if they consult with us every little thing that they’re about to do?  Would that satisfy us?  I believe not, for  if this is to continue, all that we’d have in the end are mere puppets that we control and nothing more.

If we end up with mere puppets, we’d also end up lonely because we’d end up with people with no real consciousness and identity.

How many times have we wanted God to do the same and answer our every prayer?  Why is it that God doesn’t always give us what we ask for?

 

1. Giving us everything would invalidate God has having his own mind and personality.

 

God is not a genie who would follow our every wish just so we’d set Him free from the bottle.  God is already free and He is free to grant our prayers or not to grant them depending on His infinite wisdom.

 

“God is an ocean, a fire, a living fountain…That is the essence of prayer:this contact with a living God, a God who reacts, not like a simple inanimate being but like a living person, with a thrill of joy, with the gift of Himself.-Where The Spirit Breathes”

 

2. We don’t always know what’s best for us

We’re often incapable of knowing the things that could truly make us happy.  We’d want something and then once we acquire it, we’d want something else.  We want the kind people who could hurt us the most.  We yearn for those things we’d only regret later on.

If God were to give us automatically our every wish, He may just do us more harm than good.

 

3. If God always gave us everything, our faith would not be strengthened because we’d always interpret that God is deserting us everytime things don’t happen our way.

We are not only to live by reason, but also by faith.  This is because we don’t know everything, and for us to gain the best things, we have to trust the One who knows all things.

There are many things whose end we couldn’t see yet, but will eventually turn out for our good.  If God gave us only things that benefited us for the moment, our faith would be crippled and our relationship with Him wouldn’t grow.  We’d also feel afraid and alone, thinking nobody else is in charge when we can no longer take care of ourselves.

 

4. God wouldn’t have the ability to surprise us anymore.

If God gave us only the things we ask for, how else could He surprise us with His gifts?  God is not only a Provider, but a Father and a Lover who loves and yearns to make us smile!

 

God does not always give us what we ask for, only those things we ask for from deep within our soul –  our greatest and most sacred desires, for such are the desires that are most aligned to our perfect joy!

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”(Psalm 37:4)

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Spirituality

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

why do bad things happen to good people 2012Why do bad things happen to good people?  And why do good things happen to those who are evil?

But I had nearly lost confidence;
my faith was almost gone
because I was jealous of the proud
when I saw that things go well for the wicked.
-Psalm 73:2-3

Lord, if I argued my case with you,
you would prove to be right.
Yet I must question you about matters of justice.
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why do dishonest people succeed?
-Jeremiah 12:1-2

Why doesn’t God set a time for judging,
 a day of justice for those who serve him?
People move property lines to get more land;
they steal sheep and put them with their own flocks.
They take donkeys that belong to orphans,
and keep a widow’s ox till she pays her debts.
They prevent the poor from getting their rights
and force the needy to run and hide.

So the poor, like wild donkeys,
search for food in the dry wilderness;
nowhere else can they find food for their children.
They have to harvest fields they don’t own,
and gather grapes in vineyards of the wicked.
At night they sleep with nothing to cover them,
nothing to keep them from the cold.
They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains,
and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.

Evil people make slaves of fatherless infants
and take the children of the poor in payment for debts.
But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them;
they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.
They press olives for oil, and grapes for wine,
but they themselves are thirsty.
In the cities the wounded and dying cry out,
but God ignores their prayers.

-Job 24:1-12

Is there anything more heart-wrenching than seeing the wicked succeed while the innocent continue to suffer because of the wicked’s evil schemes? Why must bad things happen to good people and why must good things happen to those who are bad?

1. God is using difficult times to help good people grow

The Lord said,
Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people,
how can you race against horses?
If you can’t even stand up in open country,
how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?

-Jeremiah 12:5

God is helping us understand the wound of others so we can be better instruments of His healing.

Without tasting sorrow, how could we lead others out of the dark?

The wisdom we learn from grief is often greater than that we learn from happy times, it is the kind of wisdom that can overcome darkness and that can transform every suffering into strength.

2. God has a greater plan that has not yet reached its end

Then Moses turned to the Lord again and said,
Lord, why do you mistreat your people? Why did you send me here?Ever since I went to the king to speak for you, he has treated them cruelly. And you have done nothing to help them!
-Exodus 5:22-23

Then the Lord said to Moses,
Now you are going to see what I will do to the king. I will force him to let my people go. In fact, I will force him to drive them out of his land.
-Exodus 6:1

We can only see what happens for a short period of time, for the duration of our short life on earth at most.  We do not know what happens thereafter.  And we surely don’t know what God has in store for us for eternity.  God sees the big picture, and He sees the most beautiful things in store for those who trust in Him.

“…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

3. Evil people are given mercy and a time of grace to change

God’s wisdom is infinite.  He knows our every tear, our every sigh. He knows our parents.  He knows how we grew up.  He knows our every lack.  And because He knows such things, He is also merciful.

He gives every person the opportunity to change.

4. We are taught humility and faith by acknowledging how much more we do not know

Then Job answered the Lord.Job
I know, Lord, that you are all-powerful;
that you can do everything you want.
You ask how I dare question your wisdom
when I am so very ignorant.
I talked about things I did not understand,
about marvels too great for me to know.
You told me to listen while you spoke
and to try to answer your questions.
In the past I knew only what others had told me,
but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
So I am ashamed of all I have said
and repent in dust and ashes.
-Job 42:1-6

The truth is the we do not know everything yet, and we never will.  We await for God’s revelation and we trust in His wisdom and love.

If God is going to lead us for all eternity, we’ve got to learn to trust in Him.

Words from St. Therese of Lisieux:

“It was a very great trial, but he whose Heart never sleeps taught me that he performs miracles for someone whose faith is like a tiny mustard seed.  He does this to strengthen a faith so weak, but for his close friends and for his Mother he works no miracles before testing their faith.  He let Lazarus die, though Martha and Mary had sent word that he was ill.  And at the wedding feast at Cana the Blessed Virgin asked Jesus to help the master of the house, but she was told that his hour had not yet come.  But what a reward they got when the water was turned into wine and Lazarus rose from the dead!”

5. We are being led to our greatest joy – God Himself!

When you pray that God may help you feel His love for you, don’t be surprised if He takes away your job, your health, your friends, your dreams, your noble mission, even your most beloved.  God can take them all away for a time so you may know that His love for you is enough.

Do we love God because He provides us with gifts?  Or do we love those gifts more than we love the giver Himself?

Times of trials give us the opportunity to seek God Himself, to be stripped away of every treasure that we know so that we may know who our real treasure is.

All the other things we cling on to will eventually disappear.  They can be stolen away from us, they can rot, they can leave.  God wants us to have a firm foundation in Him so that no one could ever take away our joy.

“Did you notice my servant Job? the Lord asked.  There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.

Satan replied,   Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. But now suppose you take away everything he has he will curse you to your face!”
– JOB 1:8-11

Times of crisis are times of great opportunity in order to prove our friendship with God.  They declare the authenticity of our faith.  And after we have been duly pruned, after the things we treasure have been banished away from our hearts, God restores them to us, even more than the blessings he took away.  This time, He knows our joy would always be intact and that we could now have everything without being possessed by our own possessions.

“Then, after Job had prayed for his three friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had had before… The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than he had blessed the first.”
-JOB 42:10,12