There are things you thought could make you happy. You looked up to it and focused your whole attention into it. You devoted all your waking hours and your sleepless nights. You pursued it no matter how difficult it has become. You held on to it only to find out that the end of your journey, it would never give you the fruits you have desired for so long. You have striven so much only to be disappointed in the end.
On the other hand, there are things that came gently and unannounced, made its way slowly into your heart and unexpectedly brought you warmth, joy and hope. …
People talk as though letting go is only about letting the bad things go and moving happily on from there. But the truth is that when you let go, you must also accept losing all the good things you've been holding on to.
To let go, you must separate yourself from something that has been a very important part of you.
Many times, it means a catastrophic shattering of your connection to almost everything it has touched in your life.
When you let go, you suffer a kind of fall that makes you not only sad but very much afraid. It's a feeling of being lost, of suffocating in darkness, of being so empty you feel like you don't know yourself anymore. …
No matter how much we seem to understand everything, it breaks our hearts to ever see anything beautiful die.
It seems we weren’t really made for sad endings, and parting is hardly a word we recall when we enter into a relationship.
Should a relationship end even if you still love each other?
I used to think love is all we need to keep a relationship. It sounded so simple, so tested, and so romantic. But few of us dare try to answer these questions: What kind of love do we really need? What kind of love can make a relationship work? Is it a love that lets the other person be true to himself? …
How can we even begin to love Someone we cannot even see? But if we say we can only love those whom we see, do we also say that the blind cannot love? If we say we can only love those whom we can hear, do we also say that the deaf cannot love as well? Yet we all know such things cannot be true. For all we know, those who cannot see or hear can love even far better than we do, for they rely not on such things to know a person well.
Ah, but some may argue that even those who are deaf or blind can still touch those whom they profess to love. Maybe it is in this last resort to the senses that we can still base our love upon. …
I was listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz’s Day 11 podcast of The Bible In a Year when I realized something I never understood before about Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac.
11 The LORD’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place “The LORD Will Provide”.* As it is said to this day, “On the LORD’s mountain, it will be provided.” …
I think that there is no better time than now to read “Seeking Serenity In Uncertain Times” by Grace Sanford. In a world changed by a pandemic and filled with so much uncertainty, in a world where fear is just around the corner, we need as much help as we could get to give us the courage we need to carry on.
Written by someone who understands what pain and suffering are all about, this book is filled with valuable nuggets of wisdom that would console you and calm your anxious mind.
For 52 weeks, you can find a guide to keep you on track, reminding you of the hope you can still have, and urging you to ponder deeply on what matters most in your life. …
Perhaps I’m not the only person who’s had a dilemma about God’s Mercy and Justice. It’s not easy to reconcile the two, especially for people like us whose wisdom falls short of the wisdom of God.
Many times, I’d rather focus on God’s Mercy. I have to admit that it’s because I need it. I often fall into sin and I’m truly grateful for His immeasurable love. I want to know that I can be forgiven, and that someone understands my shortcomings.
On the other hand, whenever I hear about the sins people commit against others, I can’t help but invoke God’s Justice. I’d like the guilty to be punished. I want to give the victims of crimes the justice that they deserve. Once again, I am grateful because I know that there will be a Judge who will be really fair and who will not have any selfish agenda for His judgments. …
I think our biggest regret in life later on, especially at the end, is that we haven't loved enough.
Time passes by so quickly, and quite often, we take for granted the opportunities we have to show how much we care. Sometimes, we focus so much on how much we’ve been offended or hurt that we forget how our loved ones feel. …
I have always disliked the phrase “perfect is boring”. I could somehow understand where such a sentiment is coming from, but I just couldn’t agree with it.
Why should something perfect be boring? If it’s boring, it wouldn’t be perfect at all.
Perfection is wholeness, beauty, truth, and wisdom. When something is perfect, we can’t help but admire it. We aspire for it! That’s what we naturally do.
Perhaps people confuse our unrealistic drive towards perfection with perfection itself. While there is nothing wrong with perfection, we could be wrong in our assumptions about it.
This is quite evident in our spiritual growth. While we were commanded to “be perfect” (Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. — Matthew 5), we were not expected to be perfect instantly or through our own efforts alone. …
No, I will not apologize. I will not apologize if I were perfect and I don’t make mistakes. But since I am imperfect and I fail to love you as I ought, I will say I’m sorry. I will never let pride get in the way. Your love is more important to me. And saying sorry is far easier than letting you go.
How many times have we failed to save a relationship all because we have let pride get in the way?
Being able to say ‘sorry’ is a strength that many people fail to recognize. Maybe that’s why many of us are so hesitant in saying it. We’re afraid to have other people think we’re weak. …