The good accepting attitude

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

 

WE need to know and to develop the right accepting attitude in our life. Things can get so complicated that if we do not know what this right accepting attitude is, we surely would be lost.

We know that there are things that are beyond our control. In fact, most things are, I believe. There are personal weaknesses we cannot avoid, and people, events and things that are not to our liking. We will always have differences and conflicts among ourselves, not only in matters of taste and opinion, but also in some serious matters like our core beliefs and faith.

We have to know how to deal with this unavoidable condition in our life. And one way of doing that is precisely to know how to accept things as they are without, of course, neglecting the duty we have to do whatever we can, if given the chance, to put them right if they are wrong, or to make them better if they are not good enough.

Obviously there are situations when we should just let things be, since there is really no need to change them. We have to learn to live in a world where a great range of diversity in terms of cultures, lifestyles, mentalities, attitudes, etc. would always be around.

Part of a good accepting attitude is the ability to be flexible and resilient without getting confused and lost about what is absolutely right or wrong, true or false, real or unreal. We have to know how to adapt ourselves properly to different kinds of people and our own condition.

This would presume that we have a firm grounding on what is absolutely right and wrong, good and evil. And this could only mean that we believe in God, in a Creator who is the original author of all things in this world. He is also the one that takes care of everything all the way to the end of time and of the world.

Yes, a good accepting attitude would include the firm belief that God takes care of everything through his constant providence over all his creation. He knows what to do in any condition that we and the world would get into.

We should not regard this belief in divine providence as some kind of fatalism where we believe that events are fixed in advance such that we are powerless to change them. We are free beings, and we somehow are responsible as to how our life and world should turn, even as God himself is in complete control also of everything, whether things turn good or bad according to our human standards.

A good accepting attitude would include a good sporting spirit that knows how to let go of certain things and to move on in spite of whatever. It makes one calm, with a good sense of confidence and direction, knowing that while there are things that are beyond one’s control, God is always in control and knows how to derive good even from evil.

The sporting spirit that is part of a good accepting attitude would just be game with whatever setbacks, difficulties and all forms of suffering that may come our way. With this accepting attitude, we would know that more than us, it is actually Christ who bears all the pains involved. We would just focus on what can be done if there are things that need to be done.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com