On the Way

John 14,1-6. 
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.
Where (I) am going you know the way."
Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Sometimes in our lives, we reach a point where we evaluate ourselves how far we’ve gone with our goals. And it’s inevitable that we think we’re still far away from achieving it. (Good for some who think they’re on their way to the goal). But how about those who are not even half way of their journey?! I know the road in achieving our goals is rough and it helps to be prepared for it.

First, we think the things we should do to reach our goals. I attended a high school commencement exercises last night and I like the commencement speaker. She wasn’t boring and knows who she is talking to - teenagers. She gave a five-item list on preparing the students for the life ahead of them.  I like the third one (I forgot the other four coz I kept thinking about the third. Hehehe). The number three item: Be OPEN TO CHANGE. I used to think that I’m always open to the possibilities that may happen in the future. But not until last night. Maybe half-open only. Or maybe, I’m not that open at all because I realized that I hold on to my past so much – when it comes to friendships, family relationships and the likes. I find it hard to build new relationships because I tend to compare the new with the old ones. In the end, I envy my friends, family members who have built “strong” relationships with others (I may not be that expressive of how envious I am and I think I’m becoming selfish with this kind of attitude).This does not hold true only for the social aspect of my life. Do you think I have psychological problems?

Most of the time, our minds are so specific in enumerating the things we should do to reach our goals that we tend to forget who should be our number one guide. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. It is important that we should put God in every thing we do. It’s true, that along the way, we encounter hardships and sometimes failures. But we should not give up because these are just temporary stops. God only tests our faith in Him and what we'll learn from each stop. And once we finished and passed the test, surely, God has prepared a place that’s worth our effort and we totally deserved.

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It’s really hard to put all your thoughts into writing such that not all the things you want to say and how you feel can be put to words. Maybe this is just applicable only to me because there are others who can express themselves very well. Oh well, at least I tried!

Written on April 19, 2008