“At present we are looking at a confused reflection in a mirror.”
Why do I still desire for what I have desired? Where does lie the riason d’etres of my quest for happiness? Behind this question is an undeniable fact that in t
his life no one can fulfill our longing, nor any creatures satisfy man’s desire. The world of experience is transitory. For who can assure happiness which is not superficial? Our prowess for the quest of happiness is confusing because the more we search for happiness to fill our longing, the more we realize that we are empty. We are happy at present but at the end of the day as we retired for bed, emptiness is running to catch our deep desires. Nonetheless, our desire for happiness is unending and limitless for our minds, by virtue of the soul, never stop to reach for what is wholesome. Succinctly when we stop to desire for the infinite we cease to exist. Rick Warren remarkably pointed out in his book, Purpose Driven Life, he said: “You were not put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity”. So our desire for happiness is a manifestation that we are also an eternal being. That man is made for eternity.
Openness to the Transcendent
“You are my God, my happiness lies in you alone”. (Psalm 16)
Pointing out the veracity that our knowledge of infinite is vague and that our nature has the natural desire for the eternal, we can derive an implicit implication that we have the duty to be “open”. Openness should not limit our notion and understanding on the knowledge of a transcendent being upon the realization of our finiteness due to the unaddressed happiness. Pretty much to say, it is our duty to acknowledge the existence of a transcendent being in order to build a necessary relationship. A relationship present in man and in the transcendental. Man’s relationship to the transcendent is a vertical relationship which is necessary. Without which man ceases to exist. St. Thomas Aquinas affirmed this relationship of finite being to the infinite being in his Doctrine of Participation. “Man is related to God by participating in his essence.”
I believe this relationship is a result of the benevolence of God he shared to each one of us. This relationship is becoming deeper and deeper if we acknowledge our nothingness to God. “Who is man that you care for him, mortal man that you keep him in mind. Yet you have made him little less than a god” (Psalm 8). And yet that sublime act of acknowledgment is a pleasure to Him. And there we can say that God is not anymore a God of the mind but a God of our experience.
Putting it in the context of the seminary formation, I will only realize the will of God for me if I come to know him. Studying him is not just putting him in my mind but putting him in my heart. Knowing his will is also being open to his inspiration. Listening to his voice in the beauty of silence and prayer is an act of openness. Letting God moved my heart and be docile to his promptings. Let me end my reflection by quoting St. Anselm showing us that God is the only possession we need after all our journey. He said, “If we only experience God we will be amazed by His grandeur, overwhelm by His immensity and bewildered by His abundance.”
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