It’s raining heavily outside as I write this and the time says it’s 2:14pm. I wonder if the rainy season has officially started because it’s been raining cats and dogs almost every afternoon. It’s a boon for my plants but it is impossible to remove those stubborn weeds when it is raining. I really need to root them out because they are now taller than my peanut grass.
Well, consider this another month-ender blog. The month of May has been a kaleidoscope of events that will not only affect the nation as a whole but the way we see how important political maturity is. Take that to mean that finally we are seeing the dawn of having some of our politicians set aside their self-interest and think of their constituents for a change. And I really hope this would serve as a catharsis for us, to heal the wounds of a broken nation, sparring and tearing each other apart by barbed words freely posted everywhere. Enough said, I guess! Life no matter how we see it, will always be a constant journey of challenges and contradictions. The way we face the journey would spell the big difference.
Yesterday, I finally received the package sent by Odette, an online friend from our Catholic site on Facebook. We’ve known each other for less than a year but I feel as if she is the sister I never have. She made me choose what books I wanted to have and I told her, it would be by Richard Paul Evans of course. He’s been on my mailing list for several years now but his books are hard to find here. I was lucky enough to buy a copy of the first series of The Walk, then a close friend from Canada sent me Miles To Go last January as a Christmas gift. The third book came out last May 12 and I am now the proud owner of a hardbound copy of The Road To Grace along with two more paperback copies that I haven’t read yet.
I finished reading it last night. It was a light read, all of 234 pages and I was somewhat disappointed that the story has to end the way it did. Or maybe, the author is saving the best for last because there are two more books in the series that I have yet to wait for, still unwritten, as of now. I found myself though reflecting on so many things while reading.When we are hurt, forgiveness is something so hard to do but unless and until we forgive,it would remain a tight bind that would affect our lives forever. When we forgive, we free ourselves from hate. You might say, it’s easier said than done but we have to do it if only to make our life normal again, the way it was, without hate and betrayal always lurking around.
I love to share with you some worthy quotes I found in Richard’s book:
- One can never know what a new road will bring.
- Once you have opened the book to another’s life, the cover never looks the same.
- As we walk our individual life journeys, we pick up resentment and hurts, which attach themselves to our souls like burrs clinging to a hiker’s socks. These stowaways may seem insignificant at first, but, over time, if we do not occasionally stop and shake them free, the accumulation becomes a burden to our souls.
- To forgive is to unlock the cage of another’s folly to set ourselves free.
- The trapped are less concerned with rules than escapes.
- What we feel to realize is that, grace is a destination, it is the journey itself, manifested in each breath and with each step we take. Grace surrounds us, whirls about us like the wind, falls on us like rain. Grace sustains us on our journeys, no matter how perilous they may be. We need not hope for grace, we merely need to open our eyes to its abundance.
It’s raining still and the month of May will be ending soon. And it was not so long ago that I was humming the tune of First of May by the Bee Gees then Robin dies and it will never be the same again because only one brother is left. The days end so soon and June is almost here! If my friend were here, she would say, “happy new month”. That was our standard greeting years ago when we were still students. And here’s the last line of the book by Evans. He shared this from his wall at Facebook.
Dreams And Escapes 
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