I Take off the MASK!

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“If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.”- Pope Benedict XVI

How can you hope against all hope? How can you continue to believe that there will be a way even when there seems to be none? How can you see joy when your eyes are full of tears?

Only in love can we find that hope. Only in love can we continue to believe. And only in love can we see.

For love is light and life and power. Love is the way that cannot be blocked, the river that cannot be stopped from flowing.

Love can break down the strongest walls. It can overcome death itself with its consuming fire.

Love is the very foundation of the world. Everything else may cease and fail, but not love.

“Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
for love is strong as death…
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a very flame of the LORD.
Many waters can’t quench love,
neither can floods drown it.”
-Song of Solomon 8:6-7, WEB-BE

“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” – George Washington Burnap

We may not realize it, but everyday, we wake up with hope in our hearts. We HOPE for something to happen. We HOPE for things to get better. We HOPE for certain problems to go away.

Without hope, we soon lose our away. We lose our dreams. We lose interest in living.

Why do we lose our hope?

We lose our hope when after we’ve worked so hard for our dreams, we’re still unable to reach it.

We lose our hope when we see that hope is dashed all around us by things we cannot control.

We lose our hope when the best people we put our hopes upon disappoint us.

In the end, we find out that we lose our hope because we have put our hope in all the wrong things and in all the wrong people who could never keep it alive.

Where is your hope?

If you wish to be truly happy, you have to put your hope where it cannot be overcome. You have to put it where not even the gloomiest of days could defeat its light.

Put not your hope in a given timetable. Put it rather in the fullness of time when you will realize your greatest dreams.

Put not your hope in people behaving in a certain way. Put it rather in that blessed moment where love will be fully realized in them and you will know how deeply you have been loved.

Put not your hope in this life only. Put it rather in the God’s Hands where this life is but a moment and where eternity far exceeds your grandest desires.

Let your hope be inextinguishable. Let its flame give light to your joy, a joy that no one could ever take away from you.

“We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts…” – Romans 5:2-5, WEB-BE

“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.” – Charlie Chaplin

Nothing is permanent in this life. Not sorrow. Not happiness. Everything passes away.

If you have sadness now, take comfort in knowing it cannot last forever. If you have problems, they can be solved. We need not add more sorrow for our present grief.

On the other hand, if you are happy now, be wise in knowing you may not always possess what you have. If you are rich now, your wealth can be taken away and you will weep for what you have lost. So enjoy what you have while you still have it. Love the people you have in your life while you still have the time.

We are but pilgrims in this life. We arrive at some place and then sooner or later, we shall have to depart.

It isn’t that we should weep for what we cannot control, but that we should rejoice for everything that is given us. It isn’t that we should not aim to possess anything, but that we should lift our hearts to possess those things that will last for all eternity.

But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they didn’t weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn’t rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t possess; and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away. But I desire to have you to be free from cares. – 1 Corinthians 7:29-32, WEB

“In every friendship hearts grow and entwine themselves together, so that the two hearts seem to make only one heart with only a common thought. That is why separation is so painful; it is not so much two hearts separating, but one being torn asunder.”- Fulton J. Sheen

What do we look for in a friend? Are we looking for someone who will always be there for us? Are we looking for someone who is honest and who can keep our secrets? Are we looking for someone who can understand us?

Sometimes, I think people don’t really know what they are looking for. And because they do not know, they do not find.

They think that friends ought to be perfect. They think that friends are those who will never let them down. But who could qualify for such standards?

This does not mean however that we can’t really find friends. It doesn’t mean also that we have to stop looking.

When we start looking for them however, let us think again whom we desire to find.

Are we not looking after all for someone whose soul is somewhat similar to ours? Someone who can see our pain yet also see our courage?

Are we not looking after all for someone whose beauty gives us true delight? Someone who though imperfect, has that certain goodness we wish we had or wish we saw in ourselves?

A friend is someone whose soul is similar to yours. And what joy it is to be able to see that soul, and to see how beautiful it really is!

“And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”
-Kahlil Gibran

A man of many companions may be ruined,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
-Proverbs 18:24, WEB

Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13

“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”
-John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

There are many things that can happen after the storm. Things may not be the same anymore. Many things could even be broken. Many things could be lost.

Yet for those who were able to make it through the storm, they are the ones who come out of it better and stronger than before. They are the ones who see a new kind of sunrise, a new life they have won through their struggle in the dark.

Whenever a storm tries to break you, let it break only the outer shell that covers the beauty and strength of who you really are.

“The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places.” – ERNEST HEMINGWAY

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.” – Isaiah 43:2, WEB