Today, I've decided that I want to make a change. I don't know how long this self-realization will last, but I hope it doesn't fade.
I grew up in a Catholic School full of outreach activities for elderlies, homeless children, needy families, and the like. It wasn't much of a big deal to me back then. But then all it took was three years of not doing those things to make me suddenly bawl out and cry for no particular reason. All of a sudden, I just knew I wanted to help.
I remembered a few months ago, I started talking to Him. I barely do that, to be honest. It was the exact same situation. I was lying on my bed at 1AM and started crying. In fact, every once in a while that happens to me, I cry for no reason, and I just know it in my gut that I need to have a talk with Him.
The last time I did that, I remember telling Him to transfer my blessings to those who actually need it. "I have more than enough", I told Him, "and if You have any more, don't give it to me. Give it to someone who needs it more than I do. I'm sure someone out there would die to have a piece of what You're giving me."
"Just give me a sign", I told Him, "and I'll help You out."
I wanted to do something. I asked Him to put me in the path of those who needs my blessings. And so I started looking at the world around me not in a different perspective, just a better one. I started looking more closely at the people around me.
Manila is a jungle, it's full of people that needs help. We just get so used to it that we look at them as if they don't exist. The beggars entering your jeepney, wiping your shoes, I see a lot of people giving them dirty looks and telling them to stay away. Why can't they just appreciate that act of kindness? Instead of despising them, maybe a simple five peso coin wouldn't hurt your wallet. A five peso coin means a lot to those kind of people. You never know how the littlest things you do could actually mean the world to someone else.
I asked my friend if I could tag along the next time she visits Hospicio de San Jose. It's a homeless shelter that we visit every year ever since I was a kid. But because I've been very busy with college, I haven't visited in a while. I thought that tonight might actually be God telling me that giving beggars a few coins doesn't complete my mission. Tonight might be Him telling me that I need to take a bigger step.
I believe self-realizations like these aren't really our brains talking, sometimes it's God's way of communicating to us in this busy system. On February 14, which is Valentine's Day, I'm gonna take a stroll along Manila, wherever my feet takes me. May God put me in places where I am most needed.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
0 comments:
Post a Comment