A close encounter…
Bro. Robert Sangel
3rd of November 2008… This was the usual hectic Monday afternoon as they say. I dressed up, packed my things and prepared to go to work. On my way towards the terminal, I saw a man who seemed to be in a hurry. He was just a few steps ahead of me. Upon seeing him, I just pondered why this man needs to rush considering the fact that there were many vans in line. When I approached the terminal, I just realized how lucky that man was for he was just in time to be the last passenger needed for the van to be fully occupied. Should I have come a bit earlier, I could have occupied that slot and arrived earlier in the office. Well, maybe, I just need to try my luck on the next one available. Then, another van came. I was the first to occupy said vehicle. During that time, I was confident that it would be filled shortly enough to lead me towards my destination on time. But I was wrong. I almost fell asleep waiting for other passengers, until I decided to step down to go to a nearby area where buses are passing by. I just don’t need to waste my time waiting any longer without knowing what my fate in that van would be…
As I was approaching Checkpoint, I saw an air-conditioned bus going to Cubao. That’s what I have been looking for, perfect! I hurriedly stepped down the jeepney and started waving my hands in order for me to be seen. But the driver seemed not to have noticed my gestures and continued going away. I even ran after it but it was too late. It had already gone far. I was really disappointed that time but I just thought of riding on other available bus passing by. After a couple of minutes, another bus came. It was just an ordinary one going to Alabang and didn’t have any passenger at all. The bus stopped just a few steps in front of me. Actually, I never thought of riding in that bus for that was of a different route. It maybe of different path but it could actually lead me nearer to my destination. I just need to take two rides. But I didn’t buy that idea. The bus stopped for quite some time and then moved away. Another air-conditioned bus approached by. This time, the bus had LRT/Taft/Buendia as its destinations. I approached near the bus only to find out that there were already several passengers standing and there were no longer available seats then. Despite of time constraints, I still opted not to ride because I’m not comfortable standing on longer trips. After a couple of minutes, came two buses simultaneously. The first one was going LRT /Taft/Buendia and the second one was going to Cubao. I just let go of the first one and immediately approached the one going to Cubao. Apparently, there were no longer available seats. I was already willing to stand so that I could reach my destination on time but unfortunately it didn’t have any space even for standing passengers. I immediately stepped down the bus hoping that the first one would still be there for me to get in to. But it had already gone far….
That was such an upsetting day for me. I decided not to report to work for it was too late. Anyways, I still have 11.5 more vacation leaves to consume. Not bad at all. On my way back home, I just wondered why I started preparing myself earlier and yet found myself nowhere. But I guess there’s no one to blame except for myself because I was not too careful with my decisions…
“There may be instances wherein we are already expressing the love but we tend to lose patience along the process”
This scenario is quite timely in relation to the discussion that we had in the CFC- SFC community about the deeper expression of love. It is indeed greatest feeling that one could ever have. As mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. These passages clearly define the true essence of love.
But sometimes we tend to take for granted the affection being shared with us by our loved ones. It is just a similar case with that of the first van that I had encountered. I was thinking that the terminal would never run out of vans to accommodate each hopeful passenger so I just let myself being left behind. Let’s learn to appreciate and at the same time put importance on spending moments with our loved ones for we’re not sure when these would last..
There may be instances wherein we are already expressing the love but we tend to lose patience along the process. This is somewhat comparable with the next van which I had encountered. I waited so long for it to serve its purpose and yet I still became entrapped by my weakness. In the expression of love, patience is one of the important factors to consider. As love grows deeply more patience is then being required.
At times, we may think that we have been expressing much love without knowing how others would perceive such emotion. This may be painful especially if we don’t feel the appreciation for such love in return. This is rather similar with my experience with the air-conditioned bus going to Cubao. Nevertheless, let’s still pursue to be more affectionate with the people around us in as much as what God wants us to do.
“There will always be disparity in every relationship and true love evolves towards the acceptance of each other’s innermost strengths and weaknesses”
Biases and resistance to imperfections are clearly being identified on my decision not to ride the bus going to Alabang. I actually jumped into conclusion without taking into consideration its good points. It is to some extent the same thing with love. We always tend to look for a perfect match. But there’s no such thing as “perfect match”. There will always be disparity in every relationship and true love evolves towards the acceptance of each others innermost strengths and weaknesses. In a relationship, it’s inevitable to have the so called “give and take”. But the deeper meaning of love depends on how well we expressed this feeling unconditionally. That’s how love works.
Fear of suffering is being emphasized on the next bus that I had encountered – the one going to LRT/Taft/Buendia without available seats to offer. I could have reached my destination should I opt to endure standing on the entire journey. At times, we tend to let go of our emotions just because we are afraid of pain and suffering. We tend to play safe in everything as well as in the expression of our love. We tend to be afraid of giving sacrifices for uncertain things. We even wished to envision the outcomes for every undertaking that we are going to pursue. How could our lives be given those circumstances? Does not make sense right? Trials, pain and sufferings somehow add spice to life especially if we manage to surpass against these odds out for love…
There will also be instances wherein we will be trapped with alternatives just like the last two buses which I had come across. We need to be more decisive by carefully putting empathy on the strong and weak points and start working on the resolution of the weak points. We also need first to identify on our own criticisms before moving towards others. These could somehow help us be more courageous towards the expression of our love along the way. The journey of love is a continuous struggle. It would always seem to be a roller coaster ride and the best way to deal with this is to seek for HIS guidance constantly…
At any given circumstances, let’s not be afraid in showing love for this is the ultimate reason for our existence and makes our lives meaningful as well….
Related Article: Loving thy neighbor (Extended version)
