Ending the day well

Fr. Roy Cimagala .

JUST as we like to begin the day well, we should also like to end the day well. That is always the ideal we want to pursue, though many, if not most times, we fail to do so. And the problem is actually because we do not know what ending the day well is.

For many of us, ending the day well usually means that there should be no problem that would weigh heavily on our mind and heart as we go to bed. This, of course, is not realistic, since especially nowadays life is full of challenges, issues, difficulties, etc. We simply cannot cope with all of those.

If our criterion for ending the day well is that there should be no problem at day’s end, then we will never end our day well. We need to be more realistic about this and consider the fact that usually at day’s end, there will always be unfinished businesses, let alone, problems unsolved, challenges not yet tackled.

Ending the day well, for sure, should mean that we can manage to feel good as we go to bed. There should be peace and joy, the sensation that despite the drama of life, things are resolved somehow. We should feel the sensation that we have arrived home somehow, a sense of reaching our final goal.

This can only happen if ending the day well is associated with reconciling ourselves with God regardless of how things in our life are at the end of the day. With God, everything is taken care of.

Remember Christ saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt 11,28-30)

It would be good if we meditate closely on these words so that we strengthen our faith which is what should guide us in understanding how we can end the day well, rather than our own human estimation of things.

Aside from telling us where we can find our proper rest, these words somehow tell us also that whatever we do during the day should be considered as a burden that is not only ours, but also Christ’s. Our problem is that we consider our earthly affairs simply as ours. We have to overcome and correct this wrong attitude.

Of course, the underlying problem here is that many of us do not know how to deal with God, how to refer everything to him. We often think that our earthly affairs and concerns are simply ours. If we ever go to God, it is only when we have some difficult or unsolvable problems.

Many of us have forgotten that our life, whether we are aware of it or not, is actually a shared life with God. The ideal, of course, is that we should always be constantly aware of that basic truth, so that whatever happens, even in our worst scenario, we still can feel secure that everything will just turn out right.

There would be no real reason to feel disturbed or to fall into sadness, anxiety and even depression. Even in our worst situation, like when we really have committed a big, stupid blunder, things can still be made right, because we can always say, Sorry, and God will always understand and forgive us.

Remember the parable of the prodigal son. (cfr. Lk 15,11-32) The spoiled brat in the end decided to go back to his father. And the father was very happy to have him back.

Let’s strengthen our faith in the all-powerful providence of God who is always in control of whatever happens in our life. As the Book of Ecclesiastes would put it, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” (3,1-8)

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We really should learn to pray. If there’s a skill which is fundamentally indispensable in life, it is the art of praying. When we really manage to pray, we would truly be in touch and in union with God.

And in that state, even while we are still here on earth, we would already have a foretaste of our definitive state of life. That is when, as described in the Book of the Apocalypse, “He (God) will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.” (21,4)

Praying is our way of uniting ourselves with God, our Creator and Father, with whom we are supposed to be always with, since our life, as an image and likeness of God, is meant to be a shared life with God.

Praying is to our spiritual life what breathing and the beating of the heart are to our biological life. That is why St. Paul clearly said, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes 5,17-18)

When we manage to truly pray, we can also manage to protect ourselves from all kinds of evil, and to heal whatever wounds and weaknesses we may have because of our sins. A sense of holy invulnerability can come to us. We can find peace and joy in spite of the drama of our life.

That’s because when we pray, we unite ourselves with Christ, and with him no evil can affect us badly. We may not be spared from suffering, but we would know how to convert that suffering into a means of our purification and eventual salvation. With him, everything will work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28)

It is when we manage to truly pray that we comply with what St. Paul said about putting on the armor of God. It might be good to remit here his very words: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms….” (Eph 6,11-12)

We really have to learn how to pray, and I mean, real prayer, not just an appearance of prayer, which happens to be common these days. Perhaps the reason why our prayer does not seem to have the response we want is because our prayer is not really prayer.

When we truly pray, we would really get in touch with God. We would know how to deal with him. We would know what he is showing us and how he is intervening in our life. Our life would go in synch with God’s providence, with his will and his ways.

It’s always worthwhile to spend time and effort to learn how to truly pray. Especially these days when we are dragged by a strong current of activism and secularization, we need to really force ourselves to learn this indispensable skill.

We just cannot resort to prayer during special occasions when we are faced with some difficulty. Prayer is not meant to be the remedy of last resort. It is what we have to do always, both in good times and bad.

At the beginning of the learning process, things might be a bit difficult. We might feel awkward. That is to be expected, but we just have to go on, sometimes forcing ourselves a little, making many acts of faith, hope and charity, until we can overcome that learning curve and start to fly like a professional in our prayer.

To be truly human and Christian, we need to pray. Otherwise, we may just look like a human being but in reality are not. Humanity and Christianity are not a matter of biology. They are a matter of being intimately united with God!

E-mail: roycimagala@gmail.com