Reinvent, recover, move on

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WE have to be prepared for the ending of this stay-home dispensation. Hopefully it will be soon. We just cannot be held in lockdown mode indefinitely. One day, we just have to go out and try to do the usual business as normally as possible.

Definitely, things will not be the same. There may be new circumstances that will only have a short life-span. We just have to bear them and try to make the most out of them. But we also have to be ready to contend with those that may last till death.

The important thing is that we should not allow ourselves to be dominated by gloom, sadness, feeling of frustration and discouragement just because things would not be the same as they were before the pandemic.

We just have to learn to move on, doing whatever is necessary to adapt to the new things that will surely come about. No need to waste time to lament over lost opportunities, quashed dreams and ambitions. To be sure, life still has a lot more to offer us, and it’s up to us to face the new challenges that actually offer us new opportunities.

Thus, we have to learn to be resilient, knowing how to re-invent ourselves to tackle more effectively these new challenges and opportunities. Let’s remember that if one door closes, another one opens. Let’s recover our zest for life. And if need be, let us just grin and bear it, never allowing our smile and sense of humor to disappear.

Let’s remember that God is always in control, and that with him everything works always for the good, including things that can cause us great pain and suffering. Thus, the first thing to recover and to keep strong and vibrant should be our spiritual life, our life of faith, hope and charity, our piety, our prayer and spirit of sacrifice.

We already have all the means to protect ourselves, defend and conquer the bad spirit that can insinuate itself into our life. We have God’s word, we have the sacraments, we have the edifying life-testimonies of saints and many other holy men and women, including those who are still alive.

It’s really up to us to choose which way we want to take in facing a new chapter in our collective life after this horrible pandemic. Of course, we need to study things very well. We have to learn to listen to all parties with different and even conflicting views, then weigh the various possibilities and options they offer us.

There will always be some kind of general guidelines that all of us should follow. But in the end, what we choose should be something that is adapted to our personal situation.

And while we have to make our own decisions, always taking some unavoidable and calculated risks along the way, let’s always assume a sportsman’s attitude. We should do our best to play the game of life to win, but we should not forget that in spite of everything, there is always the possibility of a loss or a defeat.

So win or lose, up or down, we should just move on, knowing what is absolutely essential in our life that can always be attained by us, no matter what happens in our life. If we have the proper spirit, we know, as mentioned above, that everything will always work for the good in him who is with God.

Thus, the ultimate secret, the most reliable key to the real success of our life, is to be with God. Let’s remember that he was the one who started everything in us, and he will also be the one to complete and perfect things. Ours is simply to go along with him in good times and bad, in our successes and in our failures.

This truth of our faith should never be lost as we enter a new, post-Covid19 phase in our life.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com