Be always in awe

Fr. Roy Cimagala .

IT may sound unrealistic and impracticable, but it happens to be the ideal condition for all of us to be in. If we truly believe in God, if we live fully by our faith, we would know that we have a tremendous treasure in our life and that the only proper way to correspond to that reality is to be always in awe.

Yes, we have to do our part in what we may call the game or the drama of our life, and it’s true that our part is no laughing matter. It is horribly serious! It would require of us nothing less than total detachment from earthly things, even from our very own life.

But then again, if we manage to do our part and place our life entirely in God’s hands, we have no reason whatsoever to fear or to worry. In fact, we have every reason to be cheerful, confident and in awe.

God has taken care of everything that can happen to us in this life. We just have to go along with his will and ways as revealed to us fully in Christ and as executed for us even up to now and till the end of time via the many instrumentalities that the Church now provides.

We have been left with God’s word, with the sacraments, with the ever moving testimonies of the heroic lives of saints.

Every situation in our life, whether considered humanly speaking as good or bad, is given a way of how it can sanctified, of how it can be a means and an occasion to be with God, to give glory to him, to be occasions to develop and to show love.

God gives us his grace, a participation of his divine life even while we are still here. He is not sparing in giving that grace.

Whenever we commit a mistake or even a grave sin, he is quick to forgive. As St. Paul once said, “Where sin has abounded, grace has abounded even more.” (Rom 5,20)

We, of course, have to live this awe with naturalness. We should not flaunt it. The genuine awe that is based on our vital union with God will always be expressed in humility. And it is very much compatible with human suffering and that attitude of wanting to serve and not to be served. It is never arrogant, vain and self-absorbed.

Very seldom would it manifest itself in some extraordinary ways as in those cases of ecstasy, levitation, bilocation, transfiguration and the like that some saints experienced. Ordinarily, it is lived without grabbing attention from anyone. But definitely, it would be observed and seen by others one way or another.

We need to study and know more about what our faith tells us about God and us with the view of acquiring that conviction that God loves us so much as to effect in us that state of joy and awe.

When we notice that we are easily affected by the problems and difficulties we encounter in life, or when we seem to be always bored and feeling dry, it is a clear sign that we not living our faith, maybe because we have not studied it well and embodied it in our life adequately. The true life of piety is not yet developed. The state of joy, peace and awe is not yet achieved.

We have to realize that to be always in awe would enable us to have the proper attitude toward God and others.

We would be thankful to God and we would show it by doing a lot of good without counting the cost nor expecting any reward. We would also be generous in our self-giving to others.

Let’s see to it that we are striving to attain this state of awe, joy and peace in our life.

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Touch base with God always. This is what we should do everyday, even if we give it only a few minutes. That short period of prayer and meditation will surely give us the proper tone and color for the day, whatever may happen along the way.

This is what Christ himself did. There are so many references in the gospel of how Christ would get up early in the morning, even way before daybreak, and go to certain place just to pray, to talk with the Father.

Christ always felt the need to touch base with the Father.

In fact, before he launched his public life, he had to spend forty days in the desert to pray and fast. And to think that he is God himself! It gives us the idea that even in that Trinitarian nature of the one God, there is a perpetual knowing and loving among the three divine persons, a perpetual praying and relating with each other.

Being the image and likeness of God, we too should realize that we need to touch base with God in the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And we should do this daily.

No wonder that all the saints, whatever their particular conditions and situations were, were always men and women of prayer before they were known for some spectacular feats and anything else.

It’s important—in fact, indispensable—that we touch base with God always because without him we are nothing, even if we manage to show ourselves to be something or to have done something great for a while.

Touching base with God will give us the proper and constant perspective amid the changing circumstances of our daily life. It will remind us of who we really are, where we came from and where we are supposed to go. It will enlighten us about the proper attitude we ought to have toward our daily work, concerns, projects, duties, etc..

We have to do everything to overcome whatever obstacle there may be in fulfilling this most basic daily duty. We have to stir up our faith. We have to fight against our laziness, both physical and mental. We need to find time and in fact give priority to it. That’s because nowadays, there are just so many things that are so alluring as to grab us away from this duty.

Touching base with God will put us in the best condition to face the day, whatever way it will turn out. It will prepare us to react properly both in good times and bad. It will reassure us that God is in control of everything, and gives us all the appropriate means to handle whatever predicament we may be in.

Touching base with God will also remind us that our life here on earth is a pilgrimage to our definitive homeland. We do not have our definitive home here on earth (cfr. Heb 13,14) Everything that we do should be a step forward to that homeland.

Touching base with God will also remind us that we are actually co-creators with God and co-redeemers with Christ of our own selves. It will sharpen our sense of duty and priority amid the many competing values and tasks we have to choose along the way.

To touch base with God is actually not difficult to do. All that is needed is the right disposition of faith, hope and charity with their corresponding ‘requirements.’ In the practical level, all that is needed is just a few minutes, usually in the early part of the day, and an appropriate place that is conducive to prayer and meditation.

Let us encourage everyone to develop the habit of touching base with God everyday. We need to have catechesis on this, and practical lessons and even classes to put this practice in place in the life of everyone, especially the young ones.

E-mail: roycimagala@gmail.com