Christ became my number one musician. To me, His image will always be a jovial but firm Christ --- a hipster, a friend, a brother. He gives me the boost to go on and on and on with life. Struggles are a phase and will always be gone at any point in time. It all depends on how you built up your relationship with Christ.
But not only is He a friend, He is my Savior. No words expressed in any book or in any translation of the Bible can describe how much He has done for me ever since I left my home and lived alone. He understands me when I am furious. He is always there to provide whatever I need. He gives my a light tap reminding me that what I am doing is against His will. And He seldom leaves my side.
I may not be the best person. I may not be a very good person. In fact, I am a person full of flaws... full of mistakes... I am a very sinful person. However, I always check-in on Him and ask Him: "What am I going to do?" In His presence, I am small; seemingly insignificant. But whenever He uses me for His Holy purpose, I submit to Him completely.
Why do I always get into trouble? Because I am human. I make mistakes. I commit them intentionally. Unwary of its repercussions. But what does He do? Did Christ ever leave me? I don't think so. Because if He did, I would be literally dead by now. As a human, I feel lonely at the end of the day. I even blog about those moments! Loneliness is a natural emotion for humans to feel. The sense of seeing no one physically gives any man a sense of loneliness.
However, at the end of each day, out of all the mistakes and sins I commit, I always believe that Christ is always by my bedside, patting me on the back and comforting me whenever I feel remorse and guilt from what I did. The sad part is not everyone realizes that. Because of the natural human structure and "recall" or memory, we can never start again with a clean slate. It is always waking up that makes us realize that what happened yesterday MUST be a part of today. I don't know if that makes any sense but I think you get the idea.
Again, I think it is humanly and Godly wrong to keep on doing bad things. But as Christ puts it, we must forgive, spite of all the things that happen to us. He oftentimes call us the "hypocrites" because we show other how valuable we are and how wise we are and how knowledgeable we are in interpreting and understanding the scriptures, yet we do not live these words in our lives. In fact, we "study" His words just so we can quote our advice from the Bible. I think it's unfair. God did not give us the Word ti interpret and understand; He gave it to us so that WE ourselves can have a revelation about it and apply it for our OWN daily lives. I could just imagine Christ laughing His heart out while you struggle the understand the complexity of His simple teachings.
Everyday, we encounter these people. People who are so full of knowledge about the "word". (Notice the capital "W" and the small "w", pertaining to the "word" defining a word, and the "Word" defining Christ's teachings). Their rudimentary knowledge and skills that came from far across the land! The interpretation on how we should praise God. Their earthly interpretation about God's will on choosing how and where and what do we do when we worship God.
God is so simple, that He is so profound. He is a straight-to-the-point God. A Father figure. Our Creator. And He should never be mocked. But people put words in His mouth. The so-called "liturgists" know so much about God---at least that's what they think. As a parishioner, I personally never EVER looked at priests or bishops or popes as "holy". I see them as humans, delivering God's message. They level off the playing field for those who cannot understand the Word. And by golly, some use it to their advantage.
Nowadays, it is common for me to see these men smoking and drinking. I see them stepping out of priesthood and marrying. I see them with fancy cars and fancy possessions. What about their vows that our teachers keeps on reiterating in out heads when I was young? Poverty, chastity and obedience. Where are those? Did they change the rules so that Padre Damaso can marry or own hundreds and thousands worth of lands?
I never saw the word religion in any of the four gospels of the Bible. Jesus never talked about religion. What about God? God never talked about religion. The word "religion" shows up at books involving the apostles and other servants of God. A cooked-up term to call those who worship Him, "religious". Religion, is not about faith or relationship with God. It pertains to a group of people sharing one belief, one faith. For me, the word "religion" causes divides. It's so ironic. I grew up believing about religion, but never really got to know Christ. I learned more about the life of our parish priest or local pastors or ministers, but never about Christ. What we should be teaching our children should be about how God loves us so much, that in spite of our sinful ways, His Son died on the cross to save US. Not some cooked up dogmas, written by human hands.
Don't get me wrong! Whatever you believe, I respect, truly. I just expressed my opinion and I do not expect for anyone reading this to change their perspective. I was just thinking, what if Christ were here in the flesh. What would His religion be? Ever since, the world is divided in many ways: culture, religion, language, color, race, etc... What if we removed all those factors and treated every creature on earth as our own brothers and sisters? What if we just praised God and exalted His Holy Name and thanked Him for everything we have now? What if we were contented with what God has provided us and lived under the greatest commandments: Love GOD above all things and love your neighbors as you would yourself? What if we all believed in repercussions and what we do to other people, would be done unto us? There are so many questions but only one answer: Love.
If we love our neighbors, we wouldn't lie, cheat, steal, kill or dishonor them. If we love God above all things, we would do as He says and spread peace, kindness and love to everyone and everything He created. LOVE is such a big word that we can't even understand its true essence. But deep inside, it is instilled in us. How GOD gave us His love, so must we to His creation.
It's not about the songs we sing in service. It's not about how good a preacher is. It's all about being bold enough as parents to make our children's foundation about GOD and His unconditional LOVE stronger. How we teach them to become good people---to become contented with what GOD provides.
And what about the existing population? Well, they are grown-ups who grew up in a twisted society. We already know that we do wrong, but we hate to admit it and move on. Always factoring that "I was on earth first so I am always right." or "I am in authority, so I am the law." Well, if that's the case, if you have a close mind, there is no hope for you then, is there? Remember: Christ is watching over you.
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