About a week ago, as I was walking along a road that leads to a church, I saw this man running after a white van signalling the driver for a parking space which was reserved for those church goers. The man looked excited and so determined to get that extra money out of that parking space that he was offering. Behind him were other men and a woman who was also shouting for open parking spaces. That startled me a bit. How could these people be so thrilled at getting a few pesos that might just be enough to buy a kilo of rice to feed their family for just a day? But then I realized, this scenario is not new to me, for I have gone thru this myself. So, why is this man running for his life for a meager sum of money? The answer is simple. Survival.
As I continue my journey, propped up comfortably in an air conditioned bus, I saw another man carrying dog leashes, those cheap reading glasses, inexpensive belts fit for a pauper, and other stuff that he had to sell door to door, or to passers by, enduring the scorching heat of the sun, looking so hopeless, feeling sorry for himself that no one seems to pay attention to his wares. Why does he even do this, I ask? Survival.
The voyage continued on. And then the bus passed by a wet market, and I saw, these people, selling their goods, carrying heavy loads, offerring their merchandise to their prospective customers, waiting for their first sale of the day, and then I look up and wonder again and got the same answer. Survical.
What’s more amazing is that scene that reverberates in my head. That despite the struggles, the sweat and the tears, the few coins and paper bills that they might take home, I could still see their smiles, heard their loud laughter, and marvelled at that shining beam of hope and those sparkle in their eyes. And I realized why? They’re …….surviving.
It’s true. Life may be difficult, and harsh, and exhausting and unfair at times. The battles may ssmed futile, the harships unending, people’s judgment’s unnerving, the pains and the heartaches make us miserable and crumble and crush on the ground. And our will to fight back against all the odds lashed out on us, at times are just too heavy to bear.
And then as we figure out the answers to all these, we look up and wonder if our lives are meant to be this way. If Suffering is really a given, or just an option. If Failure is embedded at the very core of our existence or just a Challenge we need to overcome, if Pain is indeed Inevitable or just a state of mind, if Loneliness is the story of our lives or just another Episode.
And with all these in mind, we still seek to find the purpose why they happen. And as we trod along each path, we uncover these undeniable Truths. Maybe Life really is complicated, and difficult, and miserable, and incomprehensible, and challenging, and mind boggling, and unfair. Maybe it’s not what we expect it to be, or not what we dream of. That no matter how much we try to do our very best to make it better, it just stays the same.
But then, we look up again and search for God’s face and beg for answers. And instead of offering a response to us, He gives us a gentle nod which seemed like He wanted us to figure out the answers for ourselves. That in our own humble understanding, we realize that this is just the way it is. That in the Grand Scheme of things, our existence is beseech with heartaches, and anguish, suffering, desolation, despair, misery and complication But as we journey on, we come to this place of awareness and acceptance, LIFE truly is TOUGH, bu as long as we believe that there is a PURPOSE in every test of faith that we need to surpass, and that every bumpy road leads to a marvelous DESTINATION, and every sadness is a passage to unending HAPPINESS, and each failure will lead us to a triumphant VICTORY and one day, all our CROSSES will take us beside the loving arms of the ALMIGHTY, then LIFE still is WORTH LIVING, and the world is still BEAUTIFUL!
No comments:
Post a Comment