“Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy – for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision.” – Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain
I have seen so much beauty in this life,
I have felt overflowing love,
I have been happy,
I have been filled with so much joy!
But O, I have also seen so much hatred
and violence and apathy,
I’ve felt so much sorrow
that almost drained my eyes of tears.
I have seen how something so beautiful
could suddenly be corrupted, twisted,
decayed and left to waste.
I have seen how something so wonderful
could suddenly end,
and how something so precious
could suddenly be taken away from you,
tearing both your heart and soul.
What is this life worth then?
What does it all mean?
Why must darkness spoil the light?
Why must love be filled with pain?
Is there a way to restore everything
back to wholeness?
Is there some chance that good
might not end in evil things?
Only God holds the key.
From everlasting to everlasting,
the One who changes not,
whose Light has never grown dim,
and whose beauty never fades,
He alone can save
and keep what’s good and beautiful and true.
Left to ourselves we grow weak.
We turn love to hatred,
we hold something beautiful
and it soon withers away and dies.
With God however, all things are kept,
cleansed and made whole.
Sorrow turns to joy,
Suffering turns to strength.
We approach in ignorance,
and we leave with wisdom;
We approach in fear,
and we leave with courage.
We live forever in LOVE!
There are times when I feel like the world is unfair.
Why is it that there are children who are born to very rich families and provided with more than they could ever need while there are children who are born in poverty with mothers who could hardly feed them?
Why is it that there are children who are so loved and taken care of while there are children who are sexually molested and abused by their own parents?
Why is it that there children who are so fortunate to be able to study in exclusive schools while there are those who couldn’t even go to school because they needed to work, to find some junk in heaps of garbage just to help their family?
Why is it that there are children who could enjoy their childhood and be happy playing with other children while there are those who have disabilities or who are already sick and dying of cancer?
And all along, people tell us to be happy, as though there is nothing wrong in all the world, and as though everything is fair and just.
There is injustice everywhere. There is lack of love everywhere. And even if people declare peace, there is really violence and evil.
The world is unfair. But I guess we can only say that if we believe in ‘fairness’ and ‘justice’, if we believe in God. And if we do, we don’t believe that this world is all there is. There will be a time for fairness and for justice. There will be another world far better than this dark one we’re living in. For now, we have the opportunity to be true instruments of peace.
“Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss. Truth will spring from the earth; justice will look down from heaven.”– Psalm 85:11-12, NABRE
“You will be called by a new name, a name given by the Lord himself.” – Isaiah 62:2, GNT
Who am I? Who do I really want to be? Who should I be?
Could such questions become our stumbling block in discovering our true vocation and identity?
There are times when I must admit that I’m afraid somewhat to not get the answers I want. There is a fear in me that the true self I might find wouldn’t be as good or as special as the false self I have always tried to build on my own.
I must understand however that it is only the true self which can give us fulfillment. It is this TRUE SELF that is best both for me and for those around me. The false self may be easy to build, but it would also easily crumble. It is touchy and defensive and survives in trying to cover up what is real deep within. While I may fool the world with an illusion of it, I would always have to live with who I really am.
It isn’t easy however to shift from creating an illusion of a false self to achieving one’s true identity and purpose. It would require that I die first to myself and that I surrender to God’s purposes for my life. Only in the Maker could the instrument ever find its real worth.
“See what I was in myself and by myself. I had destroyed myself, but He Who made me remade me.” -St. Augustine
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die… a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”– Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, NIV
Have you ever found yourself looking at a beautiful scenery that you felt you could fix your eyes upon its beauty and never ever tire of looking at it? Have you ever listened to such an enchanting song that you felt you never wanted it to end? Have you ever experienced such a blissful moment that you wanted to remain in it for as long as you ever could?
There are moments when we are blessed like that, moments when we are not filled with anxiety for the future or regrets for the past. All that we know is that we are happy in the present, and if we could choose to, we’d rather freeze that moment and never let it go.
It is true that many times, we can’t always predict those moments. We could never copy exactly a beautiful moment so we could repeat it over and over again.
But we could allow for more of those moments to come into our lives by spending more quiet time instead of always hurrying about. We could allow more of those moments if we could let go more of our anxieties and try to fix our eyes on what is good and positive instead of what is lacking in our lives.
There are moments that are more powerful than minutes, minutes that are more important than hours, and hours that are even more precious than days wasted and unlived. How are you spending the moments that you have today?