Nine Questions for Christmas – Seventh One
19 Dec 2024
When we were children, one thing that would most probably make us cry was when we got wounded. Whether we slipped, played roughly or experimented too much, being wounded would result in tears, maybe even fears. As we got older, we encountered more painful wounds than physical ones, some leaving scars so deep that they influence our choices and actions in a limiting or unhealthy way. But we ask:
Might our woundedness become joys and blessings?
For sure, we know that they may. We have heard all the sayings about growing pains, learning from our mistakes, being stronger from falling and failing. This season when we remember that the Savior was born in our midst, we can trust even more that they might, that they do. For we are not left to alone, and there is a God who makes things better, who straightens the crooked lines of this world, who moves our wounded soul to know love.
God could have chosen not to be here, leaving us and this world to wallow in our woundedness. But it is precisely in this messy, sinful and lost world and with us, stubborn, hard-hearted and damaged as we are, that He decided to come. And may we believe that there is no space too shallow, no time too late, no person too marred that His love has not come to save. Christmas is about all of us who are wounded but more importantly, it is about a Lover who holds us and heals us.
Noong mga bata pa tayo, isa sa mga maaaring nagpaiyak sa atin ay kapag nasugatan tayo. Nadulas man, sumobra sa paglalaro o naglikot nang labis, nagdulot ang pagkakasugat ng pagluha, maging ng pangamba. Sa ating pagtanda, nakaranas tayo ng mga masasakit na sugat higit pa sa uring pisikal, mayroon pang iba na nagdulot ng malalalim na marka na nag-uudyok sa ating mga pagpili at pagkilos sa nakahahadlang o nakapipinsalang paraan. Subalit tinatanong natin:
Maaari bang magdulot ng galak at biyaya ang ating mga sugat?
Tiyak na batid natin na ang tugon ay oo. Narinig na natin ang mga kasabihan tungkol sa mga sakit ng paglaki, pagkatuto mula sa ating mga pagkakamali, at pagiging malakas matapos madapa at mabigo. Sa panahong ito na inaalala nating dumating ang Tagapagligtas sa ating piling, maaari tayong higit na magtiwala na oo, maaaring magbunga sa mabuti ang mga mapait. Sapagkat hindi tayo pinababayaan, at may Diyos na pinagbubuti ang lahat, na nagtutuwid sa mga baluktot na guhit nitong mundo, na nagpapakilala ng pag-ibig sa ating sugatang kalooban.
Maaaring hindi dumating ang Diyos dito, at hinayaan na lamang tayo na malugmok sa ating pagkakasugat. Subalit dito nga mismo sa magulo, makasalanan at nakaliligaw na mundo at sa atin, kahit pa sutil, matigas ang loob at wasak tayo, na pinili Niyang makiisa. At nawa manalig tayo na walang puwang na ubod nang sikip, walang panahong huli na, walang taong ganap ang pagkakasugat na hindi Niya sinuong upang iligtas. Ang Pasko ay tungkol sa ating lahat na mga sugatan subalit mas mahalaga rito, ito ay tungkol sa isang Mangingibig na hinahagkan at hinihilom tayo.
Can we allow ourself to hope and dream?
Have we experienced what being cherished means?
Racing through life, can there still be more?
Is it possible that something better is in store?
Spirits searching and yearning ask: do we have a home?
Through the changes, is there solace in the unknown?
Might our woundedness become joys and blessings?
#aihninequestionsforchristmas #ateneoishome