A sense of the sublime

            IT’S always good that we develop and keep a sense of the

sublime. After all, if we are truly consistent to our Christian faith,

we know that we meant to be God’s image and likeness, children of his,

meant to share in his very own life in heaven. Ours is a dignity like

no other.

            And we should always be aware of it, irrespective of how

our life here on earth goes. We are not meant for a dark, sad life,

full of suffering only. We are meant for a sublime life with God.

            To be sure, developing this sense of the sublime is not a

baseless and gratuitous exercise. It is what God wants us to have,

since we truly are children of his. It is not our invention. It is,

first of all, his will for us to which we have to correspond.

            We should not feel uneasy about this truth, because on the

part of God, he will do everything to make what he wants of us to be

fully realized. All we have to do is simply to go along with his will

and ways.

            This sense of the sublime will do us a lot of good. Even

psychologically speaking, it is a tremendous help. Imagine the calm,

serenity and confidence it can give us! Imagine the joy it provides us

even as we go through the drama of our earthly life that is often

described as a vale of tears.

            But the real good that it gives us far exceeds what it

does to our psychological self. It is what shapes us into God’s

children. It is a clear mark that our faith, hope and charity are

strong and working. In short, that our spiritual life is healthy

despite all the trials and challenges we will be facing in this life.

            We should develop this sense of the sublime by often

reminding ourselves of who we really are. That way, we would somehow

be in a state of awe and amazement. We would somehow feel reassured

that despite our limitations, weaknesses, failures and even sins,

there is always hope to attain our original and ultimate dignity

because God will always be on our side. We just have to put ourselves

in his side too.

            Perhaps as a concrete way of developing and keeping this

sense of the sublime, we should cultivate the practice of thinking

that we are entering heaven to be with God when we end the day and

have our rest.

            Irrespective of how the day went, whether it was good or

bad, that is how we should think. Anyway, we know by our faith that as

long as we do our part, it is God our Father who will complete and

perfect everything. There is really nothing to worry.

            We should see to it that our sense of the sublime is not

based on earthly things only, like health, wealth, power, fame, and

much less, the sinful worldly allurements that can only give us a fake

sense of joy. Sad to say, many people are driven mad mainly by these

things.

            What should drive us ‘crazy’ is the truth that we are

children of God. It is a conviction that will give us all the good

that is proper to us without falling into pride and conceit. On the

contrary, that truth would make us humble and simple, since we would

be convinced that there is no need for us to be proud. We would have

the best when we have the proper sense of the sublime.

            This proper sense of the sublime would make us work only

for the glory of God that in the end will redound to our own glory,

since we would be sharing the very glory of God. We would not be

tempted to seek false glories!