Journey 245: Reaching Out

Everyone, in most parts of their lives, has to endure problems, trials and challenges which span from relationships, finances, work, marriages, commitments, vows, and the ever pressing concerns of health. In it, we value no one but ourselves and the only way to cope up with the challenges that comes our way is to understand why it has been there and why it has happened and what lesson has it there to teach us.

My first brush at life’s challenges comes unexpectedly and neither I nor anyone can ever understand why it has to happened so suddenly and so unexpectedly beyond my comprehension. I am stressed and depress yes, but I am prayerful and hopeful too. I had been tortured emotionally but I am getting through there. I am pained yes, but I knew this trial will pass. I am bruised yes, but I know this too shall heal. All my pains and the challenges that comes my way are constant reminder for me to reach out, not on my own and for my victory’s sake but reaching out to those whom I have left behind – my God, my family and my friends. Reckoning hard enough, I had been on the high-speed highway driving to nowhere but surely, am anchored in what God’s purpose for me. It is just unfortunate that in so doing, I have been speeding pass many others who are there to support me through.

I am grateful for my closest friend who has cancer who shared to me the film Fireproof and watched it as well as reflected on it. He knew my predicaments and he knew too well who I am in my life. He and I shared a life that only the best of friends knew and I am continually is grateful for the wonderful blessings God has given me when he shared his thoughtful suggestion about the film to reflect on. I in fact was reminded by him that we all have all our problems that we just have to face it head-on.

A friend of mine too, as with many countless others, have informed me that she has cancer. It broke me harder since I am surrounded by friends and family who are with cancers. I have already in my mind how many of them have been in the phases of life with cancer. I could not and never fathom why they, so young, has to endure it. I say to myself that one day, the physical pains will be redeemed by the renewed spirit to be an inspiration. I thought that life has to be as simple as living until our twilight years and rest peacefully in our time but God has higher purposes and direction. We are never drivers of our lives but we are mere passengers, though we have the option to hop in or not. In our life’s struggles, we have everything that others have not of which I believed will be one of the reason why God wanted us to share, share our life, our experiences and our ability to make a difference.

Reaching out is like this little boy with a twig trying to reach out a branch. It is by experiencing what we had been given that we may reach out. Reaching out to those who have made our lives significant and meaningful. It is through reaching out that our pains will be replaced with joy. It is by reaching out that our struggles will end with such victory that only we can all appreciate and share. It is by reaching out that we carefully evaluate where we are at the present and decide where we are heading in the future. It is by reaching out that we know God better, much more than we allow ourselves to know.

Journey 214: My Shadow stood Still

In our journeys through life, one has to always be observant how our shadows can very well speak of who we are at the moment and how we can become in the coming days, months and years. When we walk, we felt alone, but we never noticed that a shadow keeps us company. We never even appreciated that our own selves is the best companion one gets in this world, no talks, no complaints, no whatever, just nearby. It mirrors the way we do each day and night. It echoes what we think of doing and it symbolizes the kind of kindred spirit we so leave in each path we took.

The only difference one man gets out of this world is that they long for companions who appreciates them, tell them in approving nod that they were doing good and great, striding through life like a honcho but one must never fail to appreciate that there are families and friends, even strangers from faraway places who follow our trails, no complaints, no talks, just following us by. They too needs our constant guidance and reflection. We make life worth living if we learn to appreciate those faceless, voiceless strangers who get inspired by our life. The way living should be full of unexpected turns, reaching out on trees or catching up on falling stars. It is through it that we understood that the life we live are inspirations for others to keep living too. One must also understand that countless others whose shadows were left unrecognized are just wandering off. Could you tell yours to stand still?

When you learn to appreciate yourself and what you had lived for, then your shadow shall embrace you. Silently, it will reach out to you in such enormous passion that your radiance shall be felt way ahead of you. When you learn to appreciate the strangers in your life, then you will learn to value that your life is just a pebble in the shore, living, squeezing space and getting drifted farther on to sea – never alone, but with countless millions whom we never knew in a lifetime. It is living for others that makes the difference and through it, by appreciating them that our shadows may stand still – nearby.

Journey 181: Of religiosity

When we are taught to be religious when we are young, we mimic what the older people do in churches. One can never be missing out of opportunities while growing up of these practices on Sundays and Saturdays to some. We are fond of mimicking what others do. As a child, we feel great feeling the warmth of the spirit when we enter churches, even when are of age, we still feel the same, only we have more worries to pray for.

When we are young, we see the Church as a refuge and a stronghold for peace and tranquillity – of course, minus our own worries and anxieties. When we grow older each passing day, we see the church as a bastion of hope and our source of strength when we are all bombarded by challenges, trials, worries and anxieties. Many of us flock to the church because we have favors to ask from our Lord, some about love-life messed up, some about financial freedom and debt, some about family torn apart, some about children erring away, some about our uncertain future, some our employment, some our hurts and disappointments both at work and at the home, some are about our own health and the hospital bills and lists go on but in hindsight, do we really look at our coming to churches to talk about our own spirituality? Do we seek solace in the wisdom of the Lord guiding us spiritually and forget about the things of the world?

Most often which is sad, we come to church because we have problems to seek answers to. We come to church because we wanted to pour out our disappointments, heartaches, pains, and many others of this world and never even realized that after each coming and goings, we forget the higher opportunity of coming inside the church and that is to “forget about the world” and care for our “spiritual and eternal world”. Is it not because we are too engrossed with what is in the world that we tend to forget about our own spirituality. Remember, caring for the world and what is in it through the church do not give meaning to your spirituality but of course, it provides you the conduit to be more religious. In sum, one must, by all means, take care of his or her spiritual world rather than getting peace with what is in this world. Material richness and those that give us temporal happiness is never a substitute for what is much higher – spiritual and eternal peace.