Inspired and Blessed by Bob Acebedo
Inspired & Blessed

As Long As You Live, There Is Hope

Jun 30, 2021, 3:28 AM
Bob Acebedo

Bob Acebedo

Columnist

“As long as you are alive, you are free to choose. Hence, with the virtue of hope, you can choose not to give up but to go on forward; you can choose not to quit but to keep on trying; you can choose not to rely on yourself but to pray for God’s help to “make the impossible possible”. Because in the “godness and goodness” of God, nothing is impossible.”

Let me start this piece with these profound lines:

“Never grow tired of living your life. Never ever quit moving forward. Never stop trying. Because you never know how many persons are silently counting on your struggles or are inspired by you. Because as long as you live, there is hope.”

There’s no denying that in this perilous time of lingering pandemic abattoir, suffering and pain have been accentuated more than ever. Especially for those who have been afflicted by the killer virus – or more so with the unabated number of deaths racing along with the COVID variants – the decibel of suffering has been raised a hundred times more.

Are we living in “rock bottom” times? Have we reached the end of our rope? And “hope”, having seemingly lost its significance, has remained what it is: a plain empty word?

Now, appropriately so, it is thus worth unravelling the exigency and meaningfulness of our opening quote.

Curiously, in such times of extreme suffering and pain, of hopelessness, are there yet veritable reasons for not giving up? Let me proffer some.

One, no matter how miserable or hateful the situation is, the truth is that in this life nothing is permanent. Life changes every second.

The pain or misery will pass too.

This pandemic, too, will pass.

What is more important under such circumstances of “rock bottom” misery is not to quit but to face, minimize or contain, if not overcome, the overwhelming suffering.

What is more exigent is not to give up but to transcend or surpass the wrenching suffering or pain.

How? By trying to find meaning for it – and thus transform it into “sacrifice” (acceptable suffering in view of a higher good or meaning).

And one way of giving meaning to suffering is by seeking the company of God through prayer.

Two, which for me is the most compelling reason for not giving up even under worst circumstances, is: your loved ones are counting on you.

Undoubtedly for most of us, one of the most fundamental reasons for clinging on to dear life or continue living is the fact that our loved ones do need us in as much as we need them too.

In other words, we are not through yet with our sublime mission in life.

As a matter of fact, there have been countless accounts of people who have been through NDE or near-death experience have attested that their reason for coming back to life is their child, spouse, sibling, or kin.

Three, another reason for not giving up amid “bottom-most” moments, is: other people are drawing inspiration from you, from your dire situation.

Indeed, you never know that someone else may just not give up because he or she has seen you refusing to give up.

And the moment you give up, others – your loved ones especially – might just likewise throw in the towel and follow suit.

The bottom line is, be inspired even as you inspire others; be blessed even as you’re a blessing to others.

Finally, as underscored by our opening quote and our title as well: as long as you live, there is hope. The virtue of hope, spes in Latin, impels us to have a fervent desire and at the same time a confident expectation for a positive outcome, trusting – as moved by faith and love – not in ourselves but in God.

But, how can hope be a basis for not giving up?

The Latin maxim is clear: Dum vita est, spes est. While there is life, there is hope.

In other words, as long as you are alive, anything is possible – that is, even including the possibility of miracles, which may be described as something supernatural or beyond natural, or in layman’s perspective, “making the impossible possible”.

Another point is that, as long as you are alive, you are free to choose.

Hence, with the virtue of hope, you can choose not to give up but to go on forward; you can choose not to quit but to keep on trying; you can choose not to rely on yourself but to pray for God’s help to “make the impossible possible”. Because in the “godness and goodness” of God, nothing is impossible.

Again, Dum vita est, spes est. While there is life, there is hope.

Tags: #commentary, #columns, #InspiredandBlessed


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