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| http://tinybuddha.com/blog/path-freedom-stop-controlling-defining-yourself/ - by Falan Storm |
I got the title from
my 3-minute retreat material (www.loyolapress,com). Let me quote further the article which states
that “
Sound strange? (the title).. when we depend on God for what we truly need, we
discover an inner freedom, which is God’s gift. Recognizing our dependence on God frees us
from working so hard to accumulate things that we can’t take with us when we
die. The only treasure worth working for
is the Kingdom of God. Nothing else
matters.”
Truly the statement
is strange yet I found great treasure of
truth in it. With all the “lies” going
on around us everyday such as getting more and be popular, be in the spotlight
by highlighting all our accomplishments, I get to feel a momentary happiness at
being acknowledged. I am not even certain
of the word “happiness” if I could ever use it with what I feel. I just feel strange at it.
The drive to do
something at this time in my life has a lot to do with my little girl. I feel like working so hard to secure her
future. She is just 3 years old and I am
not even comfortable talking about death as it means permanently leaving her.
You see I have to gather my courage to state death. But looking at it makes me think more of
simplifying life.
But how could less
material possession mean more freedom? As I look at it, more of it means
attachment. More of it would make us
more attached to earthly life…and fear death more. Simplifying life would mean unattached and so
we can just leave anything anytime. It would
also mean trusting God more to take care of those we left behind.
That’s the greatest
freedom of all. And we can all the more
be free to extend ourselves without really focusing on giving material
things. As it is true that any gift is a
symbolic representation of the self. But
then still the greatest giving that the bible stated is the gift of self.
When my mother died,
I thought of God as being punitive. I
thought He took away the one that I love so much. Yet at the moment, my mother’s death turned
out to be that “seed of heroism”, a shedding
of a blood for the one she loves. Her
death turned out to be the greatest growth and purification of my person. From her death, I learned to live life
acknowledging the fact that our life is not permanent. I looked forward to living my life well as my
own mother lived her life well training and shaping us in love and sacrifice through her mission - motherhood.
We didn’t have much
of materials possessions. My mother’s
simple desire was to own a small house and see her children finish their
studies. When she died, she did not have
the second one in me yet. I was then
struggling over her death that I thought of dropping out of school. But then I felt her everytime I would think
of giving up. I thought of a mother who
never gave up on praying and hoping despite physical distance. I felt her strong faith in God.
Her last statement
before her death “ please take care of my sons and daughters” was still her
concern prior to her last. Yet at this
time in my life, I know in my heart, that she truly stored her true
riches. Her letting go and embrace death
was her total surrender and submission to God’s will for us as a family. She did not spend her days on earth storing
materials possessions. She spent most of
her time loving us so heaven can be hers.
She had to go as God
commanded. God found her so free to go…:-)
Reference :
