Our highs and lows

In life, we cannot help but have high moments and low moments, good times and bad times. There are days when we are full of zeal and things, even the most difficult, appear easy to do. There are also days when we feel listless, such that even the simplest thing seems to require gigantic, heroic effort, requiring nothing less than martyrdom.

This is part of our human condition, and many causes and factors can explain that phenomenon. They can be both internal and external to us, spiritual and material, or physical, emotional, psychological, social, historical, etc. They can be beyond our control.

 It's crucial that we don't get rattled before this fact of life. Even in the worst scenarios, there is always hope. The worst of things cannot be too bad unless we want it to be. And the reason is that ultimately, we are all subject to God's all-powerful, wise, merciful providence whose sole purpose is to bring all men and things to him.

It's important that we maintain a certain stability and not lose our identity and sense of purpose in spite of these gyrations which can become wild and erratic. Usually, the ups and downs are not that often, since our normal state always seeks some kind of constancy in life. But we need to be ready when these unavoidable swings come.

 Thus, a basic attitude to have is to be sport in life.

Yes, we should try to play as hard as we can to win, to score points, to reach our goals. But we should never forget that we can also lose, or fail, in spite of our best efforts.

But we just have to move on, knowing how to get along with life, however it may unfold to us, always relying on God's grace and mercy. This sporting spirit helps us to focus on what is truly necessary to us, and not to get entangled with what are merely incidental in life, or at best are simply means and occasions to what is life's essential purpose-to know, love and serve God that redounds to loving everybody else.

I like to think of this sporting spirit as the integration of all the gifts God gives us and the virtues that we have to develop.

It is the very expression of the interplay of faith, hope and charity, and all the other virtues of fortitude, prudence, humility, simplicity, obedience, order, etc.

 It's this sporting spirit that would enable us to be overcome our awkwardness and to infuse us with a certain elegance and poise especially in some difficult moments. It would enable us to have enough humor without getting frivolous and losing our sobriety.

We have to reassure ourselves that we are still capable of a normal state of stability in spite of the vagaries of life. First, because we have some spiritual faculties, namely our intelligence and will, that, in theory, are exempt from the ups and downs of life, precisely because they are spiritual.

We just have to make sure that we do not allow these faculties to be held captive or fully dominated by our varying earthly and material conditions. We should not allow them to be at the mercy of mere sentimentalism, or some disordinate attachments to earthly things, not even to our most brilliant but purely human philosophies, ideologies, etc.

That's why we have to be always on guard, always praying or being in the presence of God. This would enable us to discern what God is trying to show us regarding how to react and behave in the different circumstances and situations of our life.

These powers, given to us by God our Creator and Father, would enable us to hold on to the eternal and universal truths, irrespective of how these truths are interpreted, understood and lived in the different ages, cultures and lifestyles of the people.

When properly engaged with their source, pattern, laws and purpose, who is no one else but God, these powers would enable us to avoid getting spoiled because of our successes in life as well as falling into despair when we suffer defeats.

When properly used, these powers would enable us to find meaning and purpose in everything that can happen to us in life. They would enable us to live what St. Paul once said: "To them that love God, all things work together unto good…" (Rom 8,28)

We have to do everything to hook these spiritual powers with God, and avoid the dangers of subordinating them to merely passing circumstances of our earthly life.