Turn weakness to strength

If we could only acquire this skill of turning weakness to strength, our life would be truly wonderful, full of joy and peace, and effectiveness to carry out all the duties we have! And this is no exaggerated, gratuitous aspiration, since there's real basis for it.

Very often, we find ourselves depressed and frozen into inactivity and idleness that sooner or later would trigger worse conditions, because of our personal weakness and miseries that seem to persist in spite of our best efforts to avert them.

We should not worry too much about this sticky predicament of ours. While it's true that our automatic reaction to these things is that of sadness and worry, we should realize that we have a way to get around them or to be released from their stranglehold.

What we have to do is to go spiritual and supernatural, that is, to go to God. We need to say goodbye from our all-too-human way of looking at things, since that is simply inadequate to tackle the realities of our life, many of them harsh and unmerciful.

Besides, that is what is really meant for us. We have been designed and wired for the spiritual and supernatural life, a truth that we need to chew well since it is not immediately obvious or felt. That's why we need to do some self-disciplining and all that.

When we go spiritual and supernatural, that is, when we pray, offer sacrifices, avail of the sacraments, develop virtues and wage a continuous ascetical struggle, we can be with God, and we can join St. Paul in saying, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” This is how we can be truly realistic about our weakened humanity.

The apostle of the Gentiles-that's us in general-also said that it is precisely in his weakness that he is strong, precisely because he uses his weakness as the very reason to go to God, the source of all strength.

Let's hope that we can develop that kind of attitude, first by widening our perspective to include the truths of faith and then meeting the demands our faith asks of us.

We should not shun from our faith. It's what gives us the entire picture of our human condition, and with the other virtues of hope and charity, it works out our ideal life as a person and a child of God, and not just of the flesh or of the world.

Yes, our life has to be a life of faith, hope and charity. It cannot simply be a life of food and drinks, social and professional, or cultural, etc. We are bound with God. We have to correspond to that reality, because even if God meant us to be with him, he cannot force us to be with him.

Let's hope that we can discover that deep yearning in us to be with God, a yearning that God himself, our Creator and Father has put in our heart, and fan it to a flame, burning us in such a way that we will always feel the need for him, that we become passionate about it.

 I imagine that our ideal feelings for God could be described in the way a soulful song of Alicia Keys would put it: Some people want it all / But I don't want nothing at all / If it ain't you, baby / If I ain't got you, baby / Some people want diamond rings / Some just want everything / But everything means nothing / If I ain't got you, yeah... / Nothing in this whole wide world don't mean a thing / If I ain't got you with me...

Human as we are, we need to express our deep yearning for God in the language, the rhythm and the music that the young these days, out of passion, express their most intense desires. We should not afraid to do this, because whatever is human can always be purified and elevated to the spiritual and supernatural.

Our relation with God need not be confined in its expression in the classic Greek or Latin languages, or dressed up in some Gregorian chants or Church hymns. We can use the language and the music of the street if that is how our heart is more comfortable with. We just have to make the necessary adjustments.

Let's hope that we will always look for God. Christ himself advised us so: “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

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