Lenten Retreat: A Reflection
Retreat is just simply rest from the worldly concerns. Resting in a retreat does not, however, mean doing nothing and just relaxing from the worldly cares. While on a retreat, we focus ourselves on our past experiences. Since it deals with the past, we should take a break in our busy lives and look back in the past. For a successful retreat, we must have a deeper philosophy about true happiness, eternal love, and great faith to help us assess our lives.
When can we tell we are happy? Is it when we are with our friends, families, and our special someone? Does the fulfillment of our dreams bring us happiness? Is having fame, glory, and power a happy life? There are multitude of ways of measuring, quantifying happiness. Since happiness is abstract and appeals ony to the emotion, such measures always fail though. Happiness is very subject. It is fleeting to others but eternal and forever to some. It may just simply be joy or it may be catharsis.
I tell you, happiness depends not outside but inside of us. If we truly desire happiness, we should not want it but we should be willing to lose everything for the Supreme Master. However, we must lose all attachments to our wants not instantly but gradually. These attachments with things or other people whom we would not want to lose are our own demise. For us not to be unhappy, we should surrender everything and everyone to Him, even our lives.
Love is a mystery in itself. It comes unexpected in our lives. It leads us to do things we never know we could. The same is true with loving a person like your parents, siblings, friends or a more special friend. But once you love a person and never let go, then I tell you that what you feel is not love but a selfish fruit of your self-love. As humans, we are lovers and we think that if we do not love ourselves then we also do not love others. On the contrary, it is when we love Him that we will follow Him and we will be able to love like Him — a selfless kind of love.
Above all, my fellow Christians, it is with great faith that we will be able to fill the spiritual void in us. With faith, we can strengthen our love and attain a happier life. If we are happy, we are also contented more than mere satisfaction can bring. If we love, we are also concerned with others that we are willing to lose them for the better good. Finally, if we have faith in God we will be truly happy and eternally in love with Him through ourselves, through others, and through everything else. Amen…
Retreat is just simply rest from the worldly concerns. Resting in a retreat does not, however, mean doing nothing and just relaxing from the worldly cares. While on a retreat, we focus ourselves on our past experiences. Since it deals with the past, we should take a break in our busy lives and look back in the past. For a successful retreat, we must have a deeper philosophy about true happiness, eternal love, and great faith to help us assess our lives.
When can we tell we are happy? Is it when we are with our friends, families, and our special someone? Does the fulfillment of our dreams bring us happiness? Is having fame, glory, and power a happy life? There are multitude of ways of measuring, quantifying happiness. Since happiness is abstract and appeals ony to the emotion, such measures always fail though. Happiness is very subject. It is fleeting to others but eternal and forever to some. It may just simply be joy or it may be catharsis.
I tell you, happiness depends not outside but inside of us. If we truly desire happiness, we should not want it but we should be willing to lose everything for the Supreme Master. However, we must lose all attachments to our wants not instantly but gradually. These attachments with things or other people whom we would not want to lose are our own demise. For us not to be unhappy, we should surrender everything and everyone to Him, even our lives.
Love is a mystery in itself. It comes unexpected in our lives. It leads us to do things we never know we could. The same is true with loving a person like your parents, siblings, friends or a more special friend. But once you love a person and never let go, then I tell you that what you feel is not love but a selfish fruit of your self-love. As humans, we are lovers and we think that if we do not love ourselves then we also do not love others. On the contrary, it is when we love Him that we will follow Him and we will be able to love like Him — a selfless kind of love.
Above all, my fellow Christians, it is with great faith that we will be able to fill the spiritual void in us. With faith, we can strengthen our love and attain a happier life. If we are happy, we are also contented more than mere satisfaction can bring. If we love, we are also concerned with others that we are willing to lose them for the better good. Finally, if we have faith in God we will be truly happy and eternally in love with Him through ourselves, through others, and through everything else. Amen…
(With loving thanks to my former student, Biboy.)
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