Rejoice in hope, patient and enduring in tribulation, constant in prayer

Our First Post…

Well today is the day, here I come...an attempt to crystallize and share with the world those learnings, feelings, experiences and insights that I have been able to collect through my journey of faith.  Please, let’s temper expectations and don’t anticipate solemn metaphysical revelations. I am simply excited with the opportunity to kick this project and embark in something that I have been yearning to do for so long.  Finally the day has come and here you have it, “pen to paper”, or maybe it is from “keyboard to screen”.  As I begin, I also come to realize that like many things that I have pursued through my life, I have jumped into the challenge, hoping to tackle it and drive progress forward, but without probably giving to it the right amount of pondering, planning and reflection.  Well, I guess that is exactly the way I like it.  If God has placed this yearning into my heart, I am certain that through the journey and the stumbling, I am going to find the path and learn the ropes.  I believe that all of our lives have meaning and purpose, yet it seems that for many of us,  there is an inherent struggle to clearly see the road, follow the map and find the directions. This blog project is just a simple and humble attempt to help my spiritual GPS and position my simple soul within the context of  this mysterious journey that we call life.  By writing and sharing I am hopeful that along the way, a few travelers like me could be helped to find a fruitful path.  I trust that over the next few weeks I will find a path and inspiration towards those subjects, readings, circumstances and events that ignite my passion and spirituality and allow me to write some relevant reflections not only for me, but for those that may share similar experiences or interests. Ideally we could all engage in a productive dialogue with you sharing your own thoughts, ideas and yearnings. 

Now, with all that said, how do we start, what could kick this off?  Probably with something personal, something to bring context to my current journey.  Let me start by sharing that a while ago, maybe a long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, in  a very stressful time in my life, when work was at its hardest, I found myself facing the aftermath of circumstances that I felt threatened to erase those things that I had worked so hard to achieve.  In my disturbed perception, all the hard work and the personal investment that I had applied to my life and career had no other choice but to flush themselves down the proverbial water-closet.  I was angry.  I was upset. I was living confined within the walls of a crippling fear, fueled by  crushing anxiety and depression.  At that point, I felt that my circumstances slowly asphyxiated me, negating not only vital air, but all the joy and hope that I was looking forward.  On top of that, self-pity and disappointment were the main courses on my life’s menu with a double dose of guilt as my bitter-sweet dessert.  I knew and felt that I had brought all that upon myself by allowing my personal demons to defeat my better judgement, yet I struggled to be fully accountable, to own, to fix it,  I was allowing myself to be a victim.

Let’s fast forward to today, and I am happy to tell you that I am blessed to have overcome those dark days, knowing that my life, story and attitude have turned around.  If you expect the story to turn into a magical and fantastic moment of redemptive fate, bright lights and some celestial voices,  well it did not happen like that.  What did happened is that with the help of many wonderful people I found some incredible wisdom and spirituality to apply to my life.  They helped me work very hard to overcome all that negativity and ballast that was sinking my spirituality and well being.  First, I had to look at the mirror and accept my accountability and commit to real personal change.  With that critical step under my belt and with the blessing of some good counsel I was able to obtain a deeper grasp of my concept of faith.  I knew I was not alone,  God was indeed available, but I also learned that God was not my personal vending machine, ready to deliver what I wanted and selfishly prayed for.

True faith is about trusting God with his Providence and Divine Will.  My praying started to evolve and move away from the cajoling of a conceited child begging to get his way,  to a sincere effort to try to find and search for God’s will and its acceptance. In my personal life, that path to faith is my challenge.  Some of us are very used to taking care of ourselves, we want to always project confidence and thrive on the self-reliance of professional achievements and the adrenaline of  driving for all sorts of solution for all the issues around us.   It is a funny thing what happens when you come to realize that your life purpose is not to be the Alternate Master of the Universe.  When you open your heart to humility and faith, all of the sudden you begin to understand the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians:  “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10 GNBDK).  That acceptance, opens our understanding to a true and endless source of resilience and strength through faith.

  

Should we then stay still and wait for an army of guardian angels to get busy?  Obviously not, that is not the way it works, and seldom do we see or hear in the news that a celestial host came down to take care of business.  What I have learned is that we must persevere, continuously pray for God’s will while working hard trying to move forward.  We must continue  to trust even when all you hear is silence or the results are not to your liking. That my friends could be very hard particularly when your incipient faith is at its weakest.  Facing that scenario is when these beautiful verses from Paul the apostle came into my life, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”  (Romans 12:12 ESV). I found in those verses a very useful guide to sustain me through the hardships, the uncertainty and the darkness. Many times, when things looked dreadful, circumstances were crushing my spirit, I read those verses and understood that we have a powerful recipe to sustain us.  Hopeful joy, patience and constant prayer come as critical ingredients, working together to lift our spirit and comfort the soul.  With those verses as an inspiration for the title of my blog I want to kick off this effort, and pray that these and future pages become a fruitful reflection for our spirituality and a joint collaboration to bring us closer to God and His infinite love, inspiring us to find a life of purpose and gratitude.