When Jesus Takes the Wheel

     Life is pretty much like driving a car and cruising along roads, going from one point to another. For the lucky few, I envy them for having an early distinction of where they ought to go: a clear foresight of their aspirations, their goals, and their desired-achievements. But for the rest (and that includes me), going from point A to point B is not as easy as drawing one straight line, since we have no clear idea of what and where point A or point B should be.  I think you can agree with me if I say that living one's life clueless can predispose the person in taking wrong turns along the way, meeting dead ends, getting caught up in roadblocks, ending up stuck in traffic or just basically LOST. 

     The unfortunate events on the road of our lives are the perfect images of our mistakes, the wrong decisions made, the momentary episodes of stupidity, the lapses of rational thinking and the period of being tactless. These are obviously events that deserve no bragging rights and if we could bury them, we'd bury them further than six feet under!

     Well, it happens! I'd expect you'd be banging your head on either the steering wheel or dashboard for getting yourself in some pit stop of absurdity but in such desperate and helpless times, we end up taking a pause, stare and wonder: "What next?"

Calming the Storm in Me

 

     For us Filipinos, we are all too familiar with the circumstances and scenarios unfolding in the occurrence of a storm. 

     Strong winds. Battering rains. Flash floods. Broken homes. Uprooted trees. Displaced families. People either missing or dead. Prevalence of diseases. Scarcity of basic needs. 

     It is every bit of a tragedy that forces us to become vulnerable. We are, without a choice, stripped away from the safe and stable conditions of a normal life. For those who have suffered the extent of its wrath, it is a nightmare they wished it never came to life.

     And yet the unfortunate events that arise from such a calamity is anything but different from a kind of "storm" that dwells in the depths of our being.

     It is the kind of "storm" that rattles the core of our self-esteem and beliefs, making us feel the same sense of vulnerability. It is the kind of "storm" that engulfs us into this abysmal shadow, taunting us, harassing us, and haunting us with ideas claiming that everything we hold true and good about ourselves will be crippled down. 

     It is the kind of "storm" that bears the towering waves of FEAR, the dark clouds of DOUBT, the heavy rains of "I CAN'Ts" and "WHAT IF's", the startling lightning of LIES and DECEIT, and the terrifying thunder of ANGER, and all other negative emotions. 

     Having to carry all that inside bears so much weight and it pushes our understanding, our beliefs, our grasp of reality, and our treasured goodness out of its place. We become EVACUEES of our inner turmoils; displaced and out of touch from our true selves.

     And in this moment of weakness.

     In this moment of helplessness.

     To whom do we turn to?