Blessings and Sharings

"Nothing is more practical than finding God
that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you will do with your evenings,
how you will spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love
and it will decide everything"

- Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

Last night, as i was praying and reflecting, i realized that i am truly blessed...and i smiled myself to sleep.

The quote above tackles one of the questions which people,at least subconsciously, ask themselves every day : the question "why?". What makes me wake up in the morning? What inspires me to move, to speak, to live? As the Philosophy of Ethics might put it, what is it that makes me happy? not just momentarily happy, but truly, absolutely, peacefully, timelessly happy. I guess it's safe to assume that at the end of it all, this is the greatest human quest and ambition...but what does this really mean? In what state in life does this, at least, pseud0-perfection exist?

"Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything" - in these beautful words, God speaks and gives us the answer. It is in being in love that one can smile with reasons beyond reasoning, or sometimes even, reasons devoid of any resoning whatsoever. In my life, God has been so kind to share with me so many glimpses of this beautiful 'state'.

In the past year or so, i too, have fallen in love. I shall not make any more excuses saying that i am in love with God, or art or any abstract ideal so as to avoid intrigue. I am in love with the most beautiful being, friend, and partner. In philosophy class, it always made sense to me when my instructors say that we humans yearn for something "absolute". It is true. We humans are hungry for something constant in our lives, something to hold on to, something which, if possible, would not change, despite the world that is constantly changing. We all look for something, that will be a source of hope, despite the disasters and many diffferent unfortunate events that are occuring. Simply put, most if not all, look for someone to share our lives with. Romantics would give different names for this person, "the soulmate", "the one", etc., and as for me, God has blessed me with more than a name, he has given love a face and a soul for me to see and experience. Ever since, i've heard so many stories about love, and read so many concepts that make an attempt to explain it, yet at this moment in my life, i realize how real they all are. I guess the greatest proof i could think of right now is what retreat masters call "consolation"-moreso, a "causeless consolation" (I forget the term, so maybe this can suffice for now)...when you close your eyes, think of her smile, then instantly, you smile too, even in the worst conditions, even in the most stressful situations.

At least for now, i think i've found my "constant". I hope and pray that she truly is.
...and hope and pray too that others may also find their own "constants' in life, that each one would find meaning, even beyond meaning itself or devoid of it, that everyone may, even just for a moment, fall in love, and realize that this beutiful phenomenon exists, making life truly, undeniably, beautiful.