My "Summum Bonum"

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you...

Today I have learned an important phrase through the homily of Father Mario Sobrejuanite (aired over Studio 23 every 9:00 A.M.).  Summum Bonum is a latin phrase which stands for highest good.

While many are already in their journey, some are still unable to understand what they should look for to attain happiness. In fact, many have gone to their rest not being able to grab a hint that for a life to be fully lived, one has to identify his “summum bonum” and has to pursue for it no matter what.

Ones “summum bonum” differs according to the status and the kind of perspective one keeps. To some, accumulating wealth and living a comfortable life might be a worthy goal to chase; to others, finding the right person to love and to some more others, getting out from a very unhealthy relationship. But in some parts of the world “summum bonum” has been reduced to a meal for a day, a room for shelter, and paradoxically death. This makes us luckier than those whose only option is to choose death as answer to their unending struggle.

The realm of spirituality urges us to seek for God as our “summum bonum”. I strongly agree that indeed if you have a God you can call your highest good, everything else follows. When your greatest pursuit in life is to be in communion with the God you believed in, you get the best of life along your journey.

When you have God in mind while building up your wealth, you don’t accumulate more and more for selfish reason. Your aim is to increase your riches so you can share to as many as possible. When you have God in your heart while going into a romantic relationship, your end goal is not to hurt but to create a happy family with that person.  When you have God in your daily dealings, your aim is to establish good human relationship with those you meet. And all through these, you not only traverse the best road life can offer on your way to your “summum bonum” but you also get the most out of life as if you have already reached your goal.

At times along the way, we divert our energy to the many enticements our material world offers.  And oftentimes we lose sight of our target and even become so attached with the fleeting things we mistakenly identify as equal or even of greater value than our “summum bonum”. The good news is, we can always “refresh” our lost goal and continue to pursue what really matters most. And to refresh means to forgive those who have wronged us; to reconcile with those we have hurt; to rekindle old friendships that have gone cold for quite some time; to be more generous for the needy; to live a healthy lifestyle; to shift focus everyday on the things, events, people that make us better person inside and out and etc...

Today I have not only learned two latin words. Today more than ever the phrase “summum bonum” reminds me that life must not only be beautiful. Life must be meaningful as well. Choose God to be your “summum bonum” and you will have a blessed life here and in the hereafter.

Having Faith Faithfully

Having faith is to walk in the dark and to continue walking despite the seeming absence and silence of God.

Faith is amazingly a big word. It is a special key to all of life’s padlocks. That is what I believe it is. One has to have faith to live a life. Otherwise, life becomes hard and meaningless.

After watching  Father Mario Sobrejuanite’s homily over Studio 23 (October 03, 2010), I can’t help but agree that faith is indeed of two aspects: BELIEF and TRUST. Belief, as he expounded, is something that is in the head while trust is what is in the heart. In other words, to believe is to recognize an idea, a person or a thing supported by a fact while to trust is to believe unconditionally.

With that in mind, faith therefore is accepting those that are visible and justifiable and recognizing those that are beyond explanations.

When I decided to quit working three years ago (for health reason), I was terrified where a jobless life would lead me. I have a monthly amortization to attend to and I have the usual expenses to incur every day. I was afraid I have to admit. But more than the fear was my faith that God will always find ways for me. And true enough He provided everything and is continually supplying my daily needs small and big alike until now.

Faith to me is trusting God’s will. Faith is believing that God has plans for us. When we start to trust God, everything falls into its proper place. We become awed with the things that we don’t realize we are capable doing of. We attract people who bring unforeseen opportunities. We start to open up ourselves to changes that surprisingly help us become better persons.

Having faith is really having control over all the energy in the universe. When we trust that our dreams will come true no matter what, we are ordering the universe to manifest the details on the fulfilment of what we think we can have or what we dream we can become.

Faith brings positivity too. When we have faith in our hearts, we see only the positive implications to all the incidents that unfold everyday. We automatically find good reasons why an event has to take place. We become less critical of our failures and that of others. We start to see the glass half full and not half empty. And this is good because as we become positive energy-driven, we attract only positive things and events to manifest in our lives.

Today I don’t anymore say to myself “ I am unemployed.” Because I don’t perceive my current state as a misfortune. Today, I am very self-assured to say I am on a new chapter of my life. And with faith, I am confident to realize the dreams I have in my heart.

When Forgiveness Becomes Us

Father Mario Sobrejuanite’s homily (aired over Studio 23) last Sunday on the gospel about “The Prodigal Son” brought me into thinking. You see, this favourite priest of mine never fails to ignite my inner sense every time he slices up the whole gospel relating every detail into stories that burst into flames of moral lessons that most of the time bring me into tears of affirmation. Thank you father Mario.

The Prodigal Son tells everything about forgiveness. Forgiveness at its highest degree and meaning. And I couldn’t help but go into raptures over the love behind that unconditional act of a father. A father who is never attached to revulsion and resentment after a son’s seemingly act of insolence. His is an example of how we should live out our lives. Of how we should reach out to every person we meet, reaching out with a forgiving heart and mind. But of course this is just as easy to say as it is hard to practice. When i say hard, I really mean at the risk of going under our pride and self-centeredness. And boy is it so hard to give up this evil thing called pride.

Cherie Carter – Scott in her book IF LIFE IS A GAME, THESE ARE THE RULES pointed out that sometimes we may resist learning to forgive because sometimes it feels good to blame people for their mistakes. It makes us look superior and righteous when we can look down our nose and hold a grudge toward someone who has wronged us. But this feeling feels enjoyable only for a very short time. Eventually, carrying a baggage of resentment becomes exhausting and even destroys the very foundation of our inner peace. The negativity that comes along with holding grudges does not only pull us down but tears us into pieces. And when we are torn apart, we become susceptible to illnesses and unhappiness.

We have a choice to live in forgiveness and unforgiveness as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler put it in their book Life Lessons. When we do not forgive, we hang on to old wounds, hurts, and upsets. We keep the unhappy parts of the past alive and feed our resentments. When we don’t forgive, according to them, we become slaves to ourselves. And becoming slaves to ourselves simply means making pride, negativity, and self-righteousness the core of our lives. Forgiving does not only free the offenders of their wrong. Forgiveness most importantly frees us of our inner desolation. And in effect by forgiving we are actually making our lives easier and a lot happier.

By experience, I have been to a lot of indignation. And each time, it was always so hard for me to let go of the transgression. When we say “I forgive you but I won’t forget what you ‘ve done” , in reality we don’t really forgive. There’s no such thing as conditional or partial forgiveness. Forgiveness is a single act that can never be given in installment. We either forgive or be stuck in a life of wounds. And the bad thing is, living a life of wounds means being in pain everyday of our lives. Ouch that feels bad.

The old maxim that says “time heals every wound” should be “with forgiveness, time heals every wound”. Because when we stay wounded, healing never takes place. We are stuck in a time of pain for as long as we don’t forgive. Time only starts to heal when forgiveness takes place. Deciding to forgive is not dependent on time. It is dependent on our will to forgive. When Jesus forgave one of the criminals in the Calvary, He did not wait for any specific time to forgive. He instantly forgave because that was His will. Jesus is forgiveness Himself.

Forgiving is always and will always be very hard. But here is a secret. Let’s practice to be like Jesus. Let’s make Him the core of our lives. Let’s emulate the very example he showed at the Calvary. And by so doing we become Christ-like gradually. And then we’ll be awed with how life becomes happier, easier, and worth-living.

Let’s practice forgiving every day until it becomes natural like breathing. One day we’ll wake up and realize forgiveness becomes us already.

The power of word

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Perhaps the most inevitable gesture anyone can do unless one is mute is talking. Yet even mute people sometimes utter strange words which only they can understand. Talking takes 90% of our waking hours. At least one still talks even when mouth is closed (with the advent of text messaging). Texting even talks more, only very silently. For that, one should not only be wary of what words to blow but should also be mindful of how these words appear to the hearer. More so if one is texting as emotion of the text is very much dependent on how the receiver takes it.

I have this text mate once, who started a word war with just the word “dense”. And boy was it so intense that we ended up not meeting at all. You see, even silent words can ruin the deepest of relationships. I have witnessed lots of friendship ended with just a slight gesture of not talking at all. Stillness even hurts more than talking itself. And that’s in fact what happened between me and my close friend. I need not elaborate.

The very best one can do is to see to it only sweet and soft words are blown out of the mouth. With beautiful words life can actually become light and comfortable amidst the harshness of every situation (be it economic or social or cultural) one deals with.

 Unfortunately, however, there are people who have naughty words already in their genes. And for these people seeing the negative effect of those words can be as delightful as they are ruinous to the recipient. And mind you, they are as harmful to the recipient as they are to the bearer. I’ve seen people lost their lives simply because of an appalling word. I’ve seen marriage broke because of a single abysmal comment from a spouse. I’ve seen best friends torn apart by just a simple inexcusable utterance of words. That’s how powerful a word is. But as destructive as they are, words can also be the most powerful tool to change lives. I’ve seen people soar high with their career because of just one encouraging word. I’ve read and heard stories of great people whose lives have been transformed by just a single cheering word from an unexpected stranger.

 The magic of sweet and nice words can always transform even the most impossible situation. I bet you have been witnesses of all those magical transformations with the people close to you.

I have always been an advocate of saying sweet, soft and nice words. There’s always an unexplainable result when one says beautiful and lovely words. The effect is mutual and instant. It simultaneously uplifts the spirit of the recipient and the bearer. There’s no quarrel to that. And I wish people realize how enriching life can become if we practice talking beautifully. Let’s be bearer of powerful life-changing words. It always pays to be one. Believe me.