WE live in stressful times so it’s not surprising lots of people are experiencing anxiety and depression.
The main source is this feeling that the mutating virus has made our life seem meaningless.
And life without meaning is indeed a tragedy.
For me, the best way to combat this is to make a daily list of blessings that I’ve received in my life.
First blessing I want to be thankful for is my faith in the Lord.
I was born a Catholic but not a practicing one, the opposite of my late wife Vicky who is a devout Catholic.
At the start of our marriage, she’ll go to mass on Sundays by herself and she never forced me to join her, bless her soul.
I only started going to mass with her when our two kids were already toddlers. By then, many religious organizations were convincing us to join them as a couple and we’ve attended many seminars.
I noticed all the testimonies are about people who only recognized or went back to the Lord after they’ve gone through some sort of calamity, like surviving cancer or an unfortunate accident.
It dawned on me that God has been so good to me all my life and yet I do not acknowledge Him.
When my wife and I went to the Manila City Hall to get our marriage license in 1976, I told her: “We’ll only have two kids. A boy and a girl.”
And she said: “How did you know?” My reply: “Basta”.
And the Lord gave us the two greatest gifts in our marriage, MM and Hannah, who brought us so much joy and fulfillment.
MM was born on January 7, Hannah on January 10 the next year. I was born on January 19 and Vicky was born on January 30. God loves us so much!!!!
Soon after that, I started going to mass with our whole family and became active in other church activities.
I acknowledge that I live a happy, satisfying life because everything is grace from the Lord and I’m happy I recognized it before something bad happened to me or anyone in our family.
So the first number in my list is reserved for the Lord’s palpable presence in my mortal life. Thank you, Lord!!!!
And now, it's time for you to make your own list to prove to you that life is worth living because of the many blessings the Lord has given you.
