WE need to build and strengthen our
sense of continuity,
now that we are in a world of multi-tasking, diverse concerns,
disparate events, competing and even conflicting interests.
We need to know how to put them together as in a synergy,
integrating them into one meaningful and somehow consistent and
organic whole. It’s like weaving a fabric of different threads and
producing a beautiful piece of cloth, or a seamless garment like that
worn by Christ himself.
We also need to know how to move from thing to another,
without getting stuck at a certain point, the previous phase, no
matter how different from the succeeding one, actually preparing and
launching us to the next.
This again is another challenge of our modern times. We
cannot deny that many people today, especially the young, are
floundering in this particular aspect of the today’s challenge.
They can appear to be doing and achieving many things, and
yet they don’t get the corresponding reward of satisfaction. A
paradoxical predicament besets them—they look filled with many things,
and yet they feel empty. The more they do many different things, the
more the urge to escape from them builds up.
They feel forced to do things, they feel used and
prostituted. They can hardly relate what they are made to do to a
bigger picture of things. And so they also become very prone to seek
improper and harmful compensations, as in, recourse to drugs, drinks,
sex, etc.
Others literally get sick, if not physically then, worse,
mentally and emotionally. They feel their health, physical, mental and
emotional, not to mention the most important, spiritual, ebbing way.
Incidence of cases in this area has increased drastically
today. Young people especially, the most vulnerable sector since many
of them are not actually prepared to take on the more subtle demands
of their work, often fall into conditions approaching what is called a
bipolar disorder.
They seem unable to control their high and low moments and
tend to fall into violence either on themselves or on others. Actually
they swing from one pole to another, from moments of hyperactivity and
invasiveness to moments of indifference and apathy, from excitement to
sadness.
All these observations only show the urgent need to
develop a sense of continuity in our life and in all our activities
and concerns. What should we do to face this challenge? What
principles should be highlighted? What plans and programs can be made
to tackle this challenge very realistically?
It’s good that, first of all, we raise the public
consciousness of this issue, since most times, it is simply taken for
granted, and often considered not very important and urgent.
And then we all need to realize more deeply that the basic
and ultimate principle to help us build a sense of continuity is our
vital union with God. As Creator who continues to govern us till end
of time with his divine providence, God holds the law that contains
the unity and continuity of everything in our life, including our
mistakes and sins.
It is only through him, when we try to know his will at
every moment, that we can achieve a sense of continuity since he is
the one who governs everything and leads things to their proper goal.
Our main problem, which we should try to overcome, is that
we tend to work simply on our own, just following our own will, our
own plans, and relying simply on our natural powers. We should
immediately dismiss this kind of thinking, for the simple reason that
it simply does not hold water.
This will, of course, require a lot of humility, because
we are all dominated by a deep-seated pride and vanity that can blind
us from the objective reality of our total dependence on God, even as
we also depend on ourselves completely.
From there, we should avail of a personal plan of life
that contains certain acts of piety, spread throughout our day, our
week, months and years, that would keep alive our need for God.
This should include a time for prayer, continuing study of
the doctrine of our faith, recourse to the sacraments, never-ending
ascetical struggle to develop virtues and fighting against sin and
temptations, etc.
Very often during the day, we need to pause and ask
ourselves: Is this what God is asking me to do at this moment? Is this
how God is asking me to do?
And then, we should launch into an active apostolate, both
personal and collective, so that this indispensable need for God is
lived by all, and help us build a sense of continuity in our lives.
now that we are in a world of multi-tasking, diverse concerns,
disparate events, competing and even conflicting interests.
We need to know how to put them together as in a synergy,
integrating them into one meaningful and somehow consistent and
organic whole. It’s like weaving a fabric of different threads and
producing a beautiful piece of cloth, or a seamless garment like that
worn by Christ himself.
We also need to know how to move from thing to another,
without getting stuck at a certain point, the previous phase, no
matter how different from the succeeding one, actually preparing and
launching us to the next.
This again is another challenge of our modern times. We
cannot deny that many people today, especially the young, are
floundering in this particular aspect of the today’s challenge.
They can appear to be doing and achieving many things, and
yet they don’t get the corresponding reward of satisfaction. A
paradoxical predicament besets them—they look filled with many things,
and yet they feel empty. The more they do many different things, the
more the urge to escape from them builds up.
They feel forced to do things, they feel used and
prostituted. They can hardly relate what they are made to do to a
bigger picture of things. And so they also become very prone to seek
improper and harmful compensations, as in, recourse to drugs, drinks,
sex, etc.
Others literally get sick, if not physically then, worse,
mentally and emotionally. They feel their health, physical, mental and
emotional, not to mention the most important, spiritual, ebbing way.
Incidence of cases in this area has increased drastically
today. Young people especially, the most vulnerable sector since many
of them are not actually prepared to take on the more subtle demands
of their work, often fall into conditions approaching what is called a
bipolar disorder.
They seem unable to control their high and low moments and
tend to fall into violence either on themselves or on others. Actually
they swing from one pole to another, from moments of hyperactivity and
invasiveness to moments of indifference and apathy, from excitement to
sadness.
All these observations only show the urgent need to
develop a sense of continuity in our life and in all our activities
and concerns. What should we do to face this challenge? What
principles should be highlighted? What plans and programs can be made
to tackle this challenge very realistically?
It’s good that, first of all, we raise the public
consciousness of this issue, since most times, it is simply taken for
granted, and often considered not very important and urgent.
And then we all need to realize more deeply that the basic
and ultimate principle to help us build a sense of continuity is our
vital union with God. As Creator who continues to govern us till end
of time with his divine providence, God holds the law that contains
the unity and continuity of everything in our life, including our
mistakes and sins.
It is only through him, when we try to know his will at
every moment, that we can achieve a sense of continuity since he is
the one who governs everything and leads things to their proper goal.
Our main problem, which we should try to overcome, is that
we tend to work simply on our own, just following our own will, our
own plans, and relying simply on our natural powers. We should
immediately dismiss this kind of thinking, for the simple reason that
it simply does not hold water.
This will, of course, require a lot of humility, because
we are all dominated by a deep-seated pride and vanity that can blind
us from the objective reality of our total dependence on God, even as
we also depend on ourselves completely.
From there, we should avail of a personal plan of life
that contains certain acts of piety, spread throughout our day, our
week, months and years, that would keep alive our need for God.
This should include a time for prayer, continuing study of
the doctrine of our faith, recourse to the sacraments, never-ending
ascetical struggle to develop virtues and fighting against sin and
temptations, etc.
Very often during the day, we need to pause and ask
ourselves: Is this what God is asking me to do at this moment? Is this
how God is asking me to do?
And then, we should launch into an active apostolate, both
personal and collective, so that this indispensable need for God is
lived by all, and help us build a sense of continuity in our lives.
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