Aug 31

When we were young, and our parents were leaving for work out of town, we
thought they would leave us forever and we cry because we cant bear the thought
of losing them. Seemingly, we, as children, were selfish to keep our parents close
and make it hard for them to leave. Of course, as matured individuals, we know that
our parents when going out of town arent gone completely. We know theyre going
to go back. But even us now still cant let go, if possible, our parents and loved
ones. When if for example, you are a child of an overseas worker, you still cling to
him and miss him. When you are the wife, you probably want to contact him or chat
with him through the Net or to make him come home occasionally. Its humans
nature to fear losing someone or in a simple sense, being away from him/her. One of
my classmates even commented that she doesnt want a seaman for a partner. And
when we lose someone such as our grandmother, we wail. As were adults now, we
might not seem as selfish as the first example when we were children, however,
truly, there is to some degree, selfishness because we, as much as possible, dont
want our loved ones to go up that elevator and into heaven, or go to some place to
work. In the case of Peter in Matthew 16:2127, saying that Jesus mustnt say that
he will die, or even ruminate on that thought, Peter was like a child, wanting Jesus
to be forever at his side, or at least, for a long time. However, like a parent working
overseas for the future of his/her children, Jesus cannot abstain from offering
himself and die, for the future of humanity.
Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow
me, said Jesus. If we wish to follow him, that is, to go to heaven or in the simplest
sense, follow his footsteps and live a good life, we must be prepared to risk our
comfort zones, and take a cross. We must be prepared of the hardships that come
with being good. When you help or donate, you cannot be chained to your material
things because when you are, you cannot give whole-heartedly, meaning perhaps,
you dont give for the purpose of giving; you might be helping or giving only
because of social pressure, to look good and gain admiration. In the weakest wave,
temptation or hardship, such as buying a gadget instead of contributing to your
brother/sisters college fund, or contributing to a social support or advocate group,
we might falter.
If we can set aside our childish whims on having our own immature wills being
serviced and our preference to worldly luxury and put ourselves in service to Gods
will, we will have lived a good life.