STEADY YOUR TREMBLING KNEES
Anyone who has hiked up a mountain knows this. It is not so much the climbing that is difficult, as the coming down from the mountain. Guess where it hurts most — the knees! Knees wobble after many grueling hours on the way down.
This portion of the climb is anything but fun. One needs a walking stick. One looks for something to hold onto to steady wobbling knees. One finds it doubly difficult as it is even harder to break the inertia by stopping, sitting, or resting. Like in everything we do, once we’ve “been there, done that,” all excitement has gone. The euphoria of being on top of the world has worn off, and all that remains is to get back home soonest.
We all have read about midlife crisis. But we don’t have to be experts of developmental psychology to know that the most difficult portion of any journey, or any activity for that matter, is when one navigates through midstream. This is when boredom sets in. This is when discouragement, like a monster, rears its ugly head. This is when most people give up and when accidents and injuries are most likely to happen, when attention and focus are replaced by ennui and fatigue.
I have to be honest with you. I have always been a very passionate man, and I did my duties responsibly — up until midlife, when boredom and cynicism began to set in. I felt things were going nowhere, and the country was getting more corrupt and showbiz-crazed, and that my students were giving me annual proof of the so-called “law of diminishing returns.” In short, there never was anything right with the world!
Today, the readings give us a shot in the arm. We are midway through Advent, and middles are muddles to pass through. We can either forge ahead or throw in the towel. We are impatient like the gospel characters who could not seem to wait: “Are you the one who is to come?” The Lord, through Isaiah, rouses us: “Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What do you do when you feel that your hands are “weary” and your knees are “trembling”? Let the Lord strengthen you today.
Dear Jesus, I need You. Help me to continue this journey called life — till You call me Home.
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