Luab: The world doesn’t revolve around you

YOU cannot live for yourself alone! That would be a very selfish act. Selfishness is what has brought this nation down.

“People who were the perpetrators of graft and corruption were really the proponents of selfishness. They did it big! What about us?” I’ve heard this statement over and over again! Here’s more: “I have the right to be happy! What do you want me to do, just work and work and work? What about my golf? My casino? My ballroom dancing?”

Updates on President Benigno Aquino III's presidency

No man is an island. Heads of families must look to the financial status of their families. Can you afford to go to your favorite “games”? Can you afford in terms of time and money to attend just to your favorite “games”?

How much of your income goes to these games? Is there enough left for the right kind of food for your family? How much time are you denying the company of your family?

People say moderation is the name of the game. I agree! But how much will power do you have? Is your ego easily satiated or do you need the false friends who play up to your ego?

A man once had a beautiful family. He first went in for wine, then women till finally he had to sing a sad song. Why? His wife left him and brought their children with her to the states. In her case the adjustment was easy. She had stable finances. But what of the wives and children who are dependent on husbands for survival?

Last week, I really witnessed another case of selfishness. A mom didn’t want her teenage daughter to go with her to a party. Her daughter wanted so badly to go with her. In righteous indignation this mother turned on her daughter and in front of us gave her a scolding she will never forget!

“You will not spoil Mommy’s afternoon! I want to have fun and I won’t be able to do that with you around. Isn’t it enough that I feed you, clothe you and send you to school? Must you always spoil Mommy’s fun?” Of all the unthinking selfishness, this takes the cake! And all because the mommy wanted to speak freely with her friends.

Selfishness is not an incurable disease. A good prayer life will always bring us closer to God’s desire to help us love our neighbor, in the way God loves us. If we can only remember that the world does not revolve around us alone, the tragedy brought about by Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza in that hostage fiasco would never have occurred!

So how do I end this sharing on a positive note? I’m writing this article after I came from a session on Teilhard de Chardin’s “The Divine Milieu, Explained” by Louis M. Savary.

The book is heavy but the session is being made easy by our mentor Sister Sonia Arao of the Cenacle sisters.

What struck me especially today Aug. 26 (I’m writing my article for Sept.5 now) were the lines “We find God’s imprint and spirit in everything happening today. If we are astute enough we can see and feel God’s pervasive and perceptible presence all around us, as easily as we can sense the atmosphere we breath.”

Today, at 7 p.m., I got God’s breath of happiness in the form of a package I picked up from Johnny Air Cargo. It was exactly, absolutely an answer to what I wanted most. Thank you Lord and thank you dear friend for thoughtfully choosing the right gift for me. I am placing the gift in my treasure chest under lock & key. That is how precious it is. My cup of happiness did overflow.

So as we walk in God’s sea of love and grace we are mindful that while the world does not evolve on us alone, God is with us every inch of the way, every time of the day in our innermost thoughts, desires and love.

In the face of God’s generosity how can we even think of being selfish?