Faith, Hope and Lots of Love For 2011 and Beyond

Faith, Hope and Lots of Love For 2011

I would like to start my new year contemplating about faith, hope and lots of love because our empirical reality does not so much inspire confidence and hope. Even as the practical act of plotting, preparing and planning the work of the near future are material acts, still the result is best if one is inspired. And Christmas is a great season from which to draw inspiration because it is a reminder of the more profound things in life. As Howard Thurman says “ When the song of the angel is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the king (and queen) and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers ( and sisters), to make music in the heart.”

I think it fits a pattern that when one is in midlife, one engages in musings about our mortality and our moorings in life. My moorings are work, family and community. I actually woke up this morning thinking about what I want to do in the next decades. And then I realize that I want to simplify my life. While other heirs will probably focus on property partition now, my frame of mind is about community property and passing on the legacy to the successors who are interested in watersheds and forests. Perhaps, this is so informed by the cycle of climate change that we are experiencing now. So, here is to hoping that if we do our share of preserving and protecting our mother earth, we will experience a renaissance and respite from all the ravages of the rains, storm surges and floods.

Meantime, let us be trapped in the moment. Our work has a way of colonizing our life and future and thus how we spend our minutes, hours, days and years. Therefore, my message to the younger generation who are studying and contemplating the future is to really find out what you want to do and how you will want to spend the relentless moments in your work or career or vocation in life. But, as all things are learned, one must be exposed to all these work possibilities. It is just unfortunate that the laws of the market such as supply and demand, more often, have a way of determining our choices. This is why many of our young just consider most jobs available now as a stop gap measure towards their quest for the real career that we hope will be an expression of their personalities.

But, I guess one can have many careers in succession or many avocations all at the same time. Teaching and writing can be avocations. Of course, they can be careers, too. When I retire, I want to organize a venue for farmers to sell their fruits and flowers, a venue for artists to display their art, to organize a venue for wellness and for healers and peacemakers, a venue for the literati and writers to share ideas all in one place, and a venue for menopausal women to share this passage in life. And then I realize that all these would require monies and management. So, I am back to reality: the material basis of my pursuit of the finer things in life and what I have to do to realize a paragon of a paradise on earth.


In closing, let me share a line or two that I read a long time ago ( actually from a book by Roderick Gorney) which to me has been an article of faith : It is that happiness is a result of our zestful engagement in love, work and play. That happiness is just a derivative or a by - product of the work that we love to do and a result of our meaningful engagement in our relationships and with our loved ones.