MUST YOU CARRY YOUR HEAVY BURDEN WITH LOVE AND UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE?
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
In life, it is important to understand the seasons of your life- the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of your life. The world of nature moves in rhythms and seasons. It is the same with the stars and the ebb and flow of the tides… all things around us happen in their own good time.
There is a season for everything.
A time to love and a time to fear;
A time to laugh and a time to cry;
A time to die and a time to be born;
A time to jump and a time to lie down;
A time to fight and a time to surrender;
In the midst of living with the fear of social rejection, this is certainly the time to reflect quietly on the meaning of your life from God’s perspectives and then actualize your dreams and priorities with action and courage.
At the end of the day, we also need the courage to face the ultimate realities of our life and surrender our lives to the Good Lord.
During this Lenten season, we can reflect on the closing moments of Jesus’ life and draw courage and meaning from our spiritual model.
To live a life that is threatened by slanders and gossips take a lot of courage to go on living. Outsiders will probably never understand this terrible state of mind. No psychologist in the ivory tower can appreciate or empathize the depth of your anguish unless he/ she has gone through this experience. It is like trying to understand the state of drunkenness without consuming alcohol. This is a really lonely journey on a lonely road that is filled with potholes, surrounded by imaginary demons.
In short, this is truly a journey through sheer despair. This is the journey that Jesus can empathize with us when he was hanging on the cross suffering the utmost physical pain and the sheer mental anguish and agony of shame of his nakedness, despair, helplessness and hopelessness. His wounded humanity was so saturated with so much despair that he uttered aloud, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Just imagine the Messiah, the Son of God himself, had to go to such an extent of anguish that he could verbalize such an extreme statement as to question bluntly and honestly whether God really love him!
Jesus Christ chose to go through such a traumatic experience because he wanted to understand and empathize with us so that he can be a Good Shepherd to you and me when we have to go through the valley of darkness.
Yes, Jesus really know you in your despairing moments when there is no one to turn to or no one to talk to! Yes, you can chat with the Good Shepherd because he knows what you are going through!
He knows it because he has personally gone through what you are going through now.
He is a God who has tasted the `shit’ in our broken smelly world!
He knows what it is like to feel being abandoned by his Heavenly Father!
If we choose to follow Jesus’ footsteps on this meaningful journey, then we have to know when to pray, when to bear our crosses with patience, when to suffer with courage and when to surrender totally to the unconditional love of God.
We must learn from this wise philosopher, Kahlil Gibran, the art of being hopeful in the depth of utter despair, “In every winter’s heart, lies a quivering spring; and behind the veil of each night, waits a smiling dawn.”
This wonderful writer, Marianne Williamson, ponders on the words of God, “Be still and know that I am God” and then shares with us the fruits of her meditation, “I’ve realized that no matter what the problem, the single most powerful thing I can do is be quiet- go to the place of holiness in my own heart, release my attachments and unforgiveness, and surrender myself to God.”
Food For Thought
Sometimes the past is so painful to think about that your only meaningful and viable option lies in complete surrender to the love and compassion of the loving God. Only in Him are you given the strength and courage it takes to keep on walking when every step is hard.
Submitted by David YKK
